The qualitative case study reported in this dissertation outlines the principal findings of an investigation on four teachers' understandings of the concept of learner-centredness in the Revised National Curriculum Statement (RNCS) in two Durban township high schools. The RNCS as the name suggests, is a revised National Curriculum that is both implemented and trialed in the General Education and Training band of schooling in South Africa. One of the features of the RNCS is its learner-centred pedagogy. The purpose of the research was to investigate teachers' understandings of the concept of learner-centredness in the context of outcomes-based education and the RNCS. The ways in which the meanings they assign to the concepts, as well as their perceptions of theirroles and identities in enacting learner-centred pedagogy in their classrooms as shaped by the context in which they operated was investigated A major finding of the study is that teachers' understandings of the concept of learner-centredness tend to be influenced by the context in which they work in terms of the school culture, as well as their understandings of their new roles and identities in the context of the RNCS. This means that, in part schools' cultural and social processes play a major role in shaping and reconstructing both the experiences and roles of teachers in the context of educational innovation. This has implications for the content and processes of teacher professional development and in-service education programme, as well as the organisational development of schools in preparation for curriculum change. / Thesis (M.Ed.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2005.

In the past apartheid era, the South African education system was dominated by hierarchical structures. Top-down leadership in schools reflected a singular view of leadership. The principal’s position of power and authority had to be maintained. When democracy prevailed post 1994, the task team report on Education Management and Development (1996) called for a move towards a more participatory and democratic management style in school. The purpose of this study was to describe how teacher leadership was enacted by three post-level one educators in a semi-urban primary school in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa and to investigate factors that enhanced and hindered this enactment. The research was located within the interpretive paradigm and was qualitative in nature. I adopted a case study approach and tracked three teacher leaders in a school in which I taught. This study was conducted within a theoretical framework of distributed leadership. Data were collected over two semesters, from October 2008 to March 2009. Data collection methods included school observation, questionnaires, a focus group interview, participant self reflective journaling, participant observation and individual interviews. Data analysis was mainly qualitative using thematic content analysis but data were also analyzed quantitatively where questionnaires were entered into the programme called the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS). / Thesis (M.Ed.) - University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritburg, 2010.

Many changes have occurred in the South African education field since 1994. New education policies came into existence that were aimed at shifting from the management practices, which have been traditionally top–down and authoritarian, to more democratic and participative styles of leadership and management. However, despite all the policies that have been put in place, relationships in the majority of schools remain hierarchical with very little shared decision–making. Many South African schools in reality are still organised as hierarchies. Despite the introduction of democratic decision making structures such as the School Management Team and the School Governing Bodies, in practice in many schools principals still make all the decisions and hand them down to the rest of the staff. Many principals find it difficult to change from a highly authoritarian, hierarchical way of thinking to one that requires sharing of control with teachers, parents and students. Therefore, the aim of this study was to find out how teacher leadership was enacted by Level one teachers in one township high school and to investigate the factors that either enhanced or hindered this enactment. The whole study was conducted within an interpretive paradigm. I used this paradigm because as a researcher I believe that people define their actions by providing different interpretations of the situations they find themselves in. I also agree with Guba and Lincoln (1989) who state that the “evaluation outcomes are not descriptions of the ways things really are or really work” instead they “represent meaningful constructions that individual actors or groups of actors form to make sense of the situations they find themselves in” (p.8). Case study methodology was used to frame the investigation of the research questions. Quantitative data were collected through a survey questionnaire from all staff members who were my secondary participants. Qualitative data was collected from my three primary participants, through the use of focus and individual group interviews, self reflective journals and observations. / Thesis (M.Ed.) - University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2009.

The study aimed at exploring curriculum responses to community-based air pollution. This was done through an analysis of educator and learner perceptions of community-based air pollution and an examination of how the curriculum (teaching and learning content) responds to local air pollution. The key forms of the study - (what are the perceptions of educators and learners to community-based air pollution and how do educators and learners respond to community-based air pollution within the formal curriculum). Ethnography as a qualitative methodology was adopted in the study. This methodological tool created spaces to understand curriculum responsiveness in the context of wider social and political power relations in the South Durban Basin. Ethnography suited the study since it was a unique example of educators and learners in real situations and lived experiences, and enabled a clearer understanding of the theory and praxis of curriculum. The primary research methodology used in order to gather data to answer the research questions was observation, participant observation and interviewing of educators and learners. This study was conducted with educators and learners in the Further Education and Training phase (Grade 10), within the Human and Social Sciences in the year 2006 . Curriculum responses to community-based air pollution in Geography and Life Orientation were investigated. Learners were traced from previous primary schools in the area and who were in Grade 10. It was found that all participants in the study were knowledgeable and well informed about air pollution through consistent exposure to local air pollution. Collectively, they presented a sense of enduring struggle against community-based air pollution. They have been part of the struggle for clean air for many years and reside in the South Durban Basin. Participants display perspicuity in respect of how air pollution infects and affects them . Attempts at including community-based air pollution into the curriculum have been sporadic and at times incidental from learners' point of view . On the other hand, educators' responses were very constructive and established . Furthermore with reference to curriculum response to the subjects Geography and Life Orientation, both educators and learners responses were similar in that they displayed sophisticated accounts of knowledge of community-based air pollution. There was a deep sense of understanding of content and related to lived experiences. It was also found that educators and learners choose to live optimistically amidst the air pollution at Valley Secondary. Issues of class, poverty and powerlessness emerge from the data - these govern the lives of educators and learners. Participants in the study provided several motivations for Environmental Education to be included as a separate subject for future curriculum initiatives by the Department of Education. The recommendations included a strong need for responsive teaching to community-based air pollution. Learners should also be guided on how they should handle air pollution incidents. Recommendations in respect of re-organising the existent Environmental Club at Valley Secondary School also emerged. There is a clear sense that schools in the area should mobilise against the cooperate giants. Recommendations were provided for Curriculum Planners , Policy, and Policy Makers at the level of the Department of Education for the inclusion of Environmental Education as a separate subject rather than a devolved input. / Thesis (M.Ed.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, 2007.

The Department of Education's commitment to transform the South African Education system from the apartheid era to the new democratic era has proved to be a challenging one. Overwhelming evidence indicates that conflict, violence, substance abuse and teenage suicides are escalating. Education has reached an impasse! Moral degeneration is increasing exponentially implying that academic or "book knowledge" alone is inadequate in addressing these issues. It is therefore imperative that existing strategies as well as new approaches in education be closely examined and revisited if necessary in order to reverse the present state of society to one that is safe and acceptable for all life forms. This research seeks to explore what values are being taught or caught at school and how these values are interpreted and expressed both by learners as well as educators within the school. The research has been conducted at two primary schools in the Durban area of Kabuli- Natal. One is a public school that is directed solely by the National Curriculum Statement. The other is an independent school that is directed by the NCS as well as a value-based education programme. This study has used the qualitative approach and is set within the interpretive paradigm. Semi structured interviews were used as the primary research instrument to generate data. In addition to this, observation and document analysis were used. These multiple methods have assisted in triangulating the data received in order to identify commonalities as well as inconsistencies. The analysis indicates that the aspect of human rights, respect and responsibility (3R's) is contained in the National Curriculum Statement and in the South African Constitution. However the major discrepancy lies in the effective promotion and implementation of these values at school. Findings show that learners displayed a clear understanding and appreciation of values when these values are integrated and reinforced everyday. This study concludes with the idea that a concerted effort must be made to promote the teaching of human values at schools. / Thesis (M.Ed.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, 2007.

The literature has shown that the traditional way of assessment which is paper-pencil tests and/or examinations has always been the most dominant and trusted form of assessment. This study investigated assessment practices of Zenon high school teachers in Lesotho. Assessment practices investigated by this study are of teachers from all subjects taught at the above-mentioned school. The study has been based on formative and summative assessment concepts. To answer one overarching research question, a case study approach has been used. Questionnaires were administered to 28 teachers in one school. Teachers' assessment documents and learners' exercise books were analyzed. The data collected were analyzed by means of tables and graphs. The findings from 14 teachers revealed that teachers use various assessment techniques to assess learners, but the most dominant form of assessment employed by teachers in all nine subjects is traditional paper-pencil tests/examinations. Teachers use traditional tests/examinations because they are convinced that it is the best way through which they can discover how learners have acquired what they have been taught. Alternative assessments or assessment techniques that require time to complete like practical projects etc are rarely used by teachers. / Thesis (M.Ed.) - University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2006.

The study investigated the effects of rationalisation and re-deployment amongst a statistically sound sample of educators in the Province of KwaZulu Natal. It examined primarily the social and psychological effects of such phenomena in the lives and careers of educators, in a province that has gone through political , historical and ideological turbulence, violence and intimidation that had direct and indirect negative effects on educational patterns and processes. The literature review examined the various dynamics associated with these key phenomena in the educational system, including the legal frameworks and policies that shape the educational landscape, such the South African Schools Act. It needs to be said that such social and educational phenomena both shape and are shaped by the social and public policies of the democratic government that was elected from 1994 until today. These phenomena are an integral part of a series of processes that have been shaped by the various educational authorities in the new democratic dispensation, such as the various audits, new plans and strategies as well aspects of quality assurance and the like. These are inextricably linked with the dynamics unfolding in the educational terrain, especially in relation to rationalisation and re-deployment. These are situations that can be faced by all teachers, throughout the country, and it has been hoped that the internationally accepted scientific selection of the sample will permit the researcher to make inferences to similar or other populations. The study basically used two sets of data collection instruments, a structured questionnaire, and a Likert-scale type questionnaire .The questionnaires were administered to the groups of educators who were selected scientifically from the official lists of the KwaZulu Natal Department of Education. One hundred questionnaires were utilised, distributed collected and analyzed. The sample consisted of 45 males and 55 females. Amongst the sample there were educators who were both rationalised and re-deployed. The findings could be summarised as follows: • The majority of teachers felt strongly that rationalization and redeployment led to stress. • Stress created social and psychological problems for the educator, his/her immediate environment. • Redeployment and rationalisation had serious negative consequences on learners. • Most teachers reported that they were not coping with the stress associated with rationalization and redeployment as they created serious psychological and social problems. • There was no gender difference in the teachers' abilities to cope with stress associated with rationalization and redeployment. Most teachers expressed a negative attitude towards the policy of rationalization and redeployment. They felt it was a policy that created serious problems within the education system both at macro and micro level. / Thesis (M.Ed.)-University of Durban-Westville, 2004.

In this study, an innovative 'peer tutoring' programme at a high school in KwaZuluNatal was examined. The aim of the study was to explore the limits and possibilities of this approach to enhancing learning at the school from the perspective of teachers, tutors and tutees. 30 learners who were tutees in the programme, 10 tutors, and 5 educators were interviewed through semi-structured interviews into order to examine how they were experiencing the programme. In addition, the researcher conducted non-participant observations of selected peer tutoring sessions at the school. The findings revealed that overall peer tutoring has positive benefits for learners and has the potential to enhance learning and teaching at the school. Some of the benefits that emerged are: increased motivation; enhanced self-concept; reduced inhibition; learning in a supportive, enabling environment; increased communication and dialogue; development of learner autonomy and independence. The study revealed there are areas in the programme that need to be systematically monitored, for example, peer interactions to ensure that they are not at a purely concrete knowledge telling level. Training has to ensure that deep level thinking and problem solving occurs. The active involvement of teachers is necessary at all levels, in particular to monitor discipline. The findings also suggest that the success of a peer-tutoring programme may be linked to the culture and ethos of the school as a whole. A school that upholds the principles of inclusivity, values of caring and affirming others, collaboration, and an ethos of working together may be an environment in which a peer-tutoring programme will flourish. The whole school community needs to build this kind of an ethos and culture - teachers, learners, parents, school management. / Thesis (M.Ed.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, 2005.

To me, emotions have been a source of self-discovery and self-acceptance. / Thesis (M.Ed.) - University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2004.

This study investigates the use of the Learn with Echo newspaper supplement as an educational/pedagogical tool in classrooms of adults in the Greater Pietermaritzburg area. The Learn with Echo newspaper supplement is supplied to many adult education centres in Pietermaritzburg and other areas once a week, but there is little empirical evidence of how it is used. Learn with Echo is a four page weekly adult literacy and basic education newspaper supplement. It is produced by the Centre of Adult Education at the University of KwaZulu-Natal in Pietermaritzburg. This newspaper supplement was founded partly as a response to one of the deeply rooted social problems that we have in South Africa, illiteracy. This problem is prevalent particularly among older persons who were marginalised from educational opportunities during the apartheid era. Current national statistics reveal that about half the country's adults have less than nine years of schooling, and three million no education at all (Baatjes et al, 2002). This study worked within a qualitative, as opposed to a quantitative research approach and used interviews and classroom observations as tools to elicit data. The variety of techniques used enhanced the validity, reliability and authenticity of this research. / Thesis (M.Ed.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2006.