In South Africa, Physical Sciences educators play a crucial role in contributing to equal life chances for Physical Sciences learners. This is because they have the opportunity to employ functional language features for increasing access to scientific literacy - a goal of the Physical Sciences National Curriculum Statement. However, no studies were found in the literature which explicitly explored this aspect of a Physical Sciences educator's pedagogical content knowledge in the South African context. This study employs the sociocultural view of science as a language and the complementary theoretical framework of systemic functional linguistics to explore the nature of the utterances of three Pietermaritzburg Physical Sciences educators during Physical Sciences lessons. The focus is on the functional language features of nominalisation, lexical density, functional recasting, and lexical cohesion in terms of repetition and cohesive harmony index. Using a multi-case study methodology, pragmatic paradigm and mixed-methods approach, this study provides a sophisticated description of the utterances of Physical Sciences educators in language contexts characterised by varying proportions of English Second Language to total number of learners. The results reveal that lexical cohesion, measured by the cohesive harmony index and proportion of repeated content words relative to total words, increased with an increasing proportion of English Second Language to total number of learners. Nominalisation and lexical density did not decrease with an increasing proportion of English Second Language to total number of learners. The functional recasting results provide insight into numerous types of functional recasting available to Physical Sciences educators. In addition, a model is proposed regarding how the outcomes to which the functional recasting types contribute, impact on movement towards the everyday or scientific registers of English. Furthermore, each individual Physical Sciences educator had a „signature‟ talk, unrelated to the language context in which they taught. This study has significant implications for the development of pedagogical content knowledge in pre-service and in-service education and training of Physical Sciences educators. Training programmes need to place a greater emphasis on the functional use of language in order to empower Physical Sciences educators to adequately apprentice their learners into the use of the register of scientific English. / Thesis (M.Ed.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2011.

This study was located within the critical research paradigm. It examined the ways a secondary teacher of English Home Language conceptualised and interpreted social justice imperatives in the English Home Language Curriculum Statement for Grades 10 to 12. It further examined how these conceptualisations and her understandings impacted on her pedagogical practice. The aim of the study was to initiate a discussion and engagement with critical pedagogy and critical theory in education and to recognise the powerful role of the teacher in the classroom. The study used a qualitative case study method. Data generation included document analysis, interviews and lesson observation. The methodology used for the analysis of data was Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) in view of its critical perspective and its focus on power and discourse, and the identification of oppressive discourse/s in social interactions. The participant in the study was a white, female teacher with ten years teaching experience at a fairly well-resourced school in the KwaZulu-Natal area. The study found that this teacher‘s conceptualisation of social justice, and the implications of this on her classroom pedagogy, was influenced by her own social realities. Overall, her conceptualisation of the social justice imperatives in the curriculum was rather narrow and limited to understandings that could be linked to traditional multicultural education. Four discourses of social justice embedded in the teacher‘s assumptions and pedagogical practices, emerged from the analysis: the discourse of academic excellence; the discourse of inclusivity and diversity; the discourse of affirmation and validation; and the discourse of critical thinking. The study highlighted the need for further research to support teachers in adopting a social justice approach to teaching. In order to address the social justice imperatives identified in the curriculum, South African teachers need to become critical agents of change. This could only be done by identifying their understandings about what it means to teach critically and to examine their assumptions about teaching for social justice. / Thesis (M.Ed.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2012.

Our South African schools are seventeen years after the advent of democracy still under the grip of predominantly hierarchical management with limited devolution of leadership functions to teachers. Principals and SMT’s are caught between the demands of a policy driven Department of Education, the unions who ‘control’ the teachers and a desire to transform their schools into 21st century centres of learning and teaching excellence. Somewhere into this maelstrom ones needs to factor in the expectation of teachers, parents and even the pupils who are living in a 21st century environment with all the technological trappings and a democratic dispensation which has promised to deliver a better life for all. Given the current negative view of schooling with the poor matric and grade three and six performance levels and the negative view of teachers especially after the teacher strikes of 2007 and 2010 there is an urgent need for intervention to save our education system and children. I am however not advocating a narrow view of policy intervention, which has already proven to be a failure. Such interventions fail to penetrate to the depth of the problem. I am advocating for a much more sustainable longer term intervention that must change our teachers’ views to their job, their commitment to the task and the child. I am advocating for a return to professional values and commitment coupled with a new age distribution of leadership that recognises the contribution and worth of all teachers. This recognises that all teachers have skills and insights to contribute that can change the face of schools. Given this background I attempted using a case study of five teacher leaders in an urban primary school to understand their views on professionalism, their involvement in leadership and whether the link between the two does impact positively on the culture of teaching and learning. I employed a multiple data collection method and used a questionnaire, semistructured individual interviews, a focus group interview and observations. The findings of the study indicated that there was genuine commitment to professionalism. The teacher leaders viewed themselves as professionals. They were further deeply committed to teacher leadership which they demonstrated in various ways. Their professionalism combined with their involvement in leadership spilled over into a culture of learning and teaching. Teacher leadership was present in various spheres but was limited by hierarchical school structures, time constraints and scepticism from other teachers. This relationship between teaching, professionalism and learning and teaching needs to be further researched especially in the context of South African schools in their current change environment, overshadowed by the legacies of the past. Our schools need to succeed now. Our children need it now. If the route to sustainable teacher and learner performance lies in professional leadership development, then we must explore it further without delay. / Thesis (M.Ed.)-University of Kwazulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2012.

Unemployment, especially youth unemployment is one of the social problems South Africa experiences today. Amongst other factors, the legacy left by apartheid continues to impact communities which were marginalised and are still vulnerable to poverty. Increasing the challenges of youth finding employment is that employers seek staff with work experience. There are in-sufficient opportunities for youth to gain such experience. Based in Shongweni, KwaZulu-Natal, a non-profit organisation, World Changers Academy (WCA) aims to empower young adults for work through life skills and leadership training courses. Their courses also help students find ways to gain valuable work experience. WCA focuses on students’ attitudes and mindsets, while also providing knowledge and skills, by focusing on the roots of problems rather than the fruits. This dissertation explores the changes which are reportedly taking place in students of the programme and factors which have influenced change in their lives. Using the framework of Transformative Learning Theory (Mezirow, 1991), the study explores the learning process and nature of change in students most impacted by the programme, to gain a qualitative insight into the change and the process of change. From an interpretive paradigm, the study makes use of case study methodology to investigate in depth, the lives of successful candidates of the programme. Multiple data sources were used to construct the case. Data collection methods used included observation; focus groups; interviews and life histories. The data analysis included using the theoretical framework in both inductive and deductive ways to explore the research questions. The study showed that, facilitated by their involvement on the programme, some students develop a strong sense of purpose and identity for their lives. They are challenged to think critically and experience a growth in self-confidence. Over time, changes in mindset and attitude are seen as changed lifestyles. Some aspects of the programme influencing change were emotional healing, trustful relationships and the authentic actions of role-models. Different ways of reflecting were observed and reflection was seen to be influential in individual change of students. The study concluded by theorizing about the catalyst for change in the South African context. / Thesis (M.Ed.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2013.

The purpose of this research was to establish what the major stressors of black High school teachers in the Kimberley Area, Northern Cape, were. At the same time the research had to establish whether gender and number of years teaching made any difference to the stress experienced. A list of 16 stressors had to be rank ordered, too. Finally, the researcher wanted to know why, if teaching is so stressful, were the teachers still doing it. This information would then be used to advise education administrators as to what to attend to in order to reduce the stressful effect of these stressors, thereby enabling the teacher to do a better job. The literature confirms the need for stress, saying that a life without stress is death. We need an amount of stress that will motivate us to achieve. When this amount becomes too much, and the stressed person feels that he/she is being stressed beyond his/her ability to cope, then distress takes over. If the person cannot cope then the person is at risk. This would be manifested physiologically, psychologically or emotionally. It is critical that coping skills are given to teachers to enable them to handle their stress well. It is very important to remember that any stressor is neutral - it depends on how the person perceives the stress. This gives rise to the fact that the same stressor will affect different people differently at different times of their life. However, stress is manageable! A survey was conducted wherein questionnaires were sent to High Schools in the Kimberley Area, some were mailed and others were hand delivered, depending on the school's geographic proximity to the researcher. The returns were analysed question by question, separating the responses of the male from the female teachers as well as the responses from each experience group. An average per question combining all experience groups but separating the male and female groups, was computed. Rank ordering of the stressors was made taking the average responses per group of questions per stressor. Finally, the main reasons for staying in teaching were also rank ordered. The key findings, guided by the research questions, were the following: (a) the top ranking stressors were not significantly different between the genders nor between the groups of experience in teaching; (b) teachers are still teaching because they "love to teach". Some suspected stressors investigated were found not to be stressors at all. The areas that will need to be addressed by the authorities so as to reduce the harmful stress effects on the teachers are: teacher unions, students' involvement in politics, time management, class composition, parent/teacher relations and promotions. When these are addressed, the teachers will be less stressed and thus able to do a good job. / Thesis (M.Ed.)-University of Durban-Westville, 1996.

This research explores the possibility of transforming teaching/learning practices within the English (primary language) classroom at secondary school level by using a Critical Literacy approach to classroom practice using the South African short story. It acknowledges the limitations associated with the current classroom practice as regards English primary language at most former House of Delegates' schools (HOD) where the researcher is employed as a teacher. This practice is informed largely by a Cultural Heritage approach to the teaching of text and therefore sets out to examine Critical Literacy as an alternative and, arguably a more relevant set of literacy practices. To enable this, an overview of Critical Literacy is presented. In this literacy approach poststructuralist insights are used to investigate relations of power that underpin texts. The study is theoretically located as poststructural and argues that texts have ideological purposes and investigates how the subject is constructed through the discourses that are conveyed by the language (semiotics) of texts. Further the research examines how the current classroom practice at former HOD schools incorporates the use of commercial study guides, which inscribe a simplistic and often crude version of the Cultural Heritage approach, which teacher-colleagues refer to as the 'content-thematic' approach to the teaching of texts. As three South African short stories (part of the repertoire of prescribed literature for in matriculation English in the province KwaZulu-Natal) are selected to explore how poststructuralist insights can be deployed within a Critical Literacy framework, the research first contextualises them in terms of their postcolonial framework, narrative structure and the discourses that underpin them. The postcolonial framework directs attention to the postcolonial discourses that underwrite these three stories. The narratives and discourses inscribed thereby engage with the effects of colonial practices and powers within a Southern African context. By drawing on insights derived from narrative theory, the research undertakes a critical discourse analysis of three short stories which incorporates a focus on the construction of the narratives of the short stories and the reader or subject positioning they intend. In this way the critical analysis of three short stories examines which readings and subjectivities are privileged through these discourses and which are marginalised by the text. In conclusion this research argues for the inclusion of a Critical Literacy approach to classroom practice within the outcomes based national curriculum for education, also known as Curriculum 2005 (Department of Education, 2002). It argues that the curriculum provides a space for the undertaking of a critical approach to textual practice in a more rigorous and concerted manner. It is proposed that Critical Literacy is an integral aspect of a progressive educational initiative - one that is consonant with the goals of a society undergoing political, social and economic transformation and with social justice. / Thesis (M.Ed.) - University of Natal, 2003.

The study is part of the first phase of a broader action research project that focuses on reading at a foundational level among both adults (Levels 1 and Levels 2) and children (Grade R – 4) in both IsiZulu and English, with the purpose of promoting a reading culture among educators, learners and other stakeholders in the learning community of the school. The study focused on the assessment of reading in English among Grade 4 learners at a rural primary school in Kwazulu-Natal. This focus included the methods and techniques used to assess learners reading at Grade 4 level. Also, it focused on the skills that are being assessed in reading. The broad purpose of the study was to investigate, analyse and understand the assessment of reading and the impact it had on Grade 4 learners’ development and growth in reading. The study shared the same objective as the broader project, which was to promote a reading culture. However, in order to create a reading culture, teachers need to use appropriate forms and tools of assessment and need to understand the role of assessment in the development of reading skills among young children. The purpose of reading assessment is to monitor the development of reading skills, to observe each learner’s progression in reading, and to allow teachers to design methods to assist learners in achieving desirable reading strategies. In the light of this, the study’s purpose was to identify the methods and/or forms of assessment that a teacher used to assess reading in her classroom as the basis for an intervention to improve the culture of reading at the school. The study attempted to answer the following questions: · What forms of assessments do teachers use in their reading classroom? · What reading skills are being assessed and developed? · How does the teacher assess reading? What process is used? · What types of texts are being used to assess reading in the reading classroom? In order to answer these questions the researcher used case study as the methodology and collected data using questionnaires, observations and interviews with the Grade 4 English teacher and school principal as well as kept a personal reflective journal. The data was analysed by means of content analysis and was coded according to the themes and patterns that emerged during the transcription process. To briefly sum up the findings that surfaced from the study, it was clear that the participants were aware of the importance of teaching and assessing comprehension of reading however, these were not practised in the classroom. In other words, the teacher focused on assessing decoding, pronunciation, fluency, accuracy and book handling skills; there was no assessment of comprehension. Furthermore, reading was only reading aloud and was repetitive in that learners first listened while the teacher read the text aloud, then they read the same text together as a class aloud, they read it again in groups aloud and finally were called individually to the front of the class to read a few lines from the text aloud for assessment. This reading assessment was a formative form of assessment, however reading was also assessed on a continuous weekly basis but was informally conducted. Lastly, there was a recurrence in the way the participant assessed reading in her classroom and the way in which her teacher assessed her reading while she was at school. These findings were just a few of the many findings that have been discussed in detail in Chapter Four of the dissertation. / Thesis (M.Ed)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2013.

The main focus of the study was to explore how the experiences that the learners went through in the Technology class during the construction and design of artifacts, could be used to inform the teaching of Geometry in the mainstream Mathematics classes. It was important to find out how the teaching of Geometry would allow the learners to both reflect and utilize the Geometry they know, as a starting point or springboard for further study of Geometry. Data was collected through observations, structured and semi-structured interviews of a sample of twenty grade 9 learners of Mashesha Junior Secondary School of Margate in KwaZulu Natal. It was collected through observation of drawings and completely constructed double-storey artifacts at different intervals of designing. Observations and notes on every activity done by the learners for example, measurements, comparisons, estimations, scaling, drawings use of symmetry and perspective drawing were kept and analyzed. Data for the interviews was collected in the form of drawings, photographs, transcriptions of video and audiotapes. The observations in particular were looking for the Geometry in finished artifacts. Interviews with the learners were directed at how each learner started drawing a house to the finish. When and how scale drawing, projections, angles made and length preservation were used by the learner, was of utmost importance. It is believed that grade 9 learners of Mashesha have Geometric experiences which can be used to inform the teaching of Geometry in mainstream mathematics. It was found that this experience brought by the learners from the Technology construction of artifacts could cause the learners to find mainstream mathematics interesting and challenging. It is also believed that the use of projective Geometry already employed by the learners can be incorporated in mainstream mathematics so as to improve how learners understand Euclidean Geometry. In this way, it is believed, that the teaching of Geometry will allow the learners to utilize and reflect the Geometry already known to them. This Geometry would therefore be used as a starting point for further study of Geometry. Suggestions for further research and recommendations for the improvement of Geometry teaching and learning have also been made. / Thesis (M.Ed)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2005.

The study intends to contribute to successful implementation of Inclusive Education in South African Schools, by exploring learners’ experiences within the classroom and teachers views about the classroom environment. A combination of these two factors will indicate the extent how far inclusive education is being implemented in the classrooms. The school that was selected to participate in this study is located in the semi-rural area in Pinetown district. Learners participated in three focus group sessions. These sessions aimed at gathering data on learners’ experiences within classroom environment. Each group consisted of eight learners; that is, four males and four females. Focus group one was selected from grade seven; the second focus group from grade eight and the third group from grade nine. The class teachers of the selected classes were requested to take part in the interview sessions. The sessions intended to gather information on teachers’ views about classroom environment and how it impacts on their implementation of Inclusive education. The study reveals that in South Africa the problem of inclusive curriculum implementation still exists and need special attention from all stake holders involved in education. What learners experience in the classroom result from how teachers conduct their practice. It is also evident that teachers have not been properly prepared for a paradigm shift and implementation of inclusive curriculum. / Thesis (M.Ed.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2009.

In any education system “no other single factor determines to such an extent the quality of education in a country as the quality of the corps of teachers, lecturers and instructors” (HSRC 198 : 180). This factor is of greater significance in the context of the new South Africa that politiicans and educationists are planning. In planning for a uniary system of education and provincial education departments, the study investigates the organizational aspects of management of In-Service Education and Training (INSET) mainly for teachers in the Natal-KwaZulu region. The primary objectives of the study are: 1. To investigate on a macro-level the management of INSET in each of the former five education departments in Natal-KwaZulu region; 2. To establish whether: (a) there is common ground in respect of INSET amongst the various former education departments in Natal-KwaZulu; and, (b) the different control mechanisms acts as a hampering factor in sharing of resources relating to INSET. 3. To make recommendations to the Natal-KwaZulu education authority so that primarily INSET for teachers may be improved. As a background to the study, key terms were discussed and INSET models and methods reviewed. Brief reference was made to change strategies relating to INSET. This was followed by a discussion of national and regional strategies for INSET, agencies and locations for courses. To obtain a better perspective of INSET a scan of INSET provision study involving England and Wales, Scotland and several Sub-Saharan countries was undertaken. A situational analysis of INSET in each of the former five education departments in Natal-KwaZulu was followed by an empirical study. Conclusions and recommendations were then suggested. The major findings were as follows: 1. There was no structured, documented national or regional policy for INSET. 2. The funding formula for education discriminated against the Black, Indian and Coloured teachers. Funding for INSET was inadequate. 3. There was no co-ordination amongst the former five education departments as far as INSET was concerned. 4. Structures and staffing for INSET at Head Office were limited. Resulting in and ad hoc provision of courses in most Departments. Valuable human resources at schools in the private sector INSET projects and at tertiary institutions were not used effectively. This was a management flaw. 5. The expertise of the inspectorate with respect to INSET was the only common ground that existed amongst the former five education departments. However, such expertise was not shared. 6. In view of the foregoing the management of INSET in most departments in Natal-KwaZulu was not very effective. / Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of Natal, 1995.