There has always been a division between technical educators and technical students and the "so called" academic educators and academic students. In the apartheid days those who pursued a technical college education were shunned as those who could not cope with the rigors of academia. Technical college education was perceived as less desirable and for slow learners. Fundamental social changes have placed new demands on the Further Education and Training sector ( FET). It has become imperative to move away from the traditional divides between academic and applied learning, theory and practice and knowledge and skills. Through the National Curriculum Framework, South African Education has been given a historic opportunity to strategically shape and transform the current disparate education and training system into an integrated system that addresses the needs of the learners, the economy and the community. The new FET policy structure within which Technical Colleges operate will stimulate and empower learners to acquire knowledge and skills for employability and relevant values to respond to challenges confidently. The new curriculum moves towards a flexible access to further education, lifelong learning, higher education and facilitates the transition from school to work while ensuring that education and training is a quality provision aimed at equipping learners with competencies to find jobs. This study explored the curriculum experiences of haircare and cosmetology students at the Cato Manor Technical college. The study focused on the following critical question:- How do haircare and cosmetology students at Cato Manor Technical College, experience the theoretical and practical component of the curriculum? A case study technique was employed to explore the curriculum experiences of the haircare and cosmetology students at the Cato Manor Technical College. Data was collected by administering questionnaires to all second year and second semester students enrolled at the college during 2001. The findings of the study revealed both positive and negative aspects of student experiences of the curriculum. In the study the student profile revealed that the students enrolled at the college were matriculants and there was a wastage of time and duplication of efforts as the program was a Further Education and Training and not a Higher Education programme. The study of the curriculum issues showed that the students thoroughly enjoyed the programmes and were competent. They indicated, a preference for the practical component of the curriculum, and that the theory component should remain unaltered as it was necessary to have a knowledge of the theory to be applied in the practical component. Also evident was the personal experiences of the students that revealed excellent racial relationship and collegiality that existed amongst staff, students and management. The study revealed job opportunities and self-employment as some of the reasons for pursuing the programme. The negative aspects were the lack of counseling and student support services at the college and duplication and a wastage of time. Also evident was the lack of adequate resources that was impacting negatively on their work. The study concludes with recommendations some of which were:- The College in collaboration with the Department of Education must invest in career guidance and counseling, and student support services. The Haircare and Cosmetology department must devise and implement new strategies to assess the practical component of the programme. The college must invest in provision and up-grading of resources. Provide marketing strategies so that the student population will represent all race groups and not only Indian and African students. Despite the negative contributing factors, this department can maintain its growth pattern by addressing its weaknesses and maintaining its strengths and opportunities that exist. / Thesis (M.Ed.) - University of Durban-Westville, 2001.

The purpose of this study is to determine and explain the problems faced by educators teaching learners experiencing learning problems in mixed ability classes. A qualitative research technique, which aimed at studying educators in their natural settings , was used. To achieve this aim the study was conceived as a case study of grade one educators from three Primary Schools at Mpophomeni Township. A self-designed interview schedule that was supplemented by observation schedule was used to collect data. The interview schedule included questions relating to mixed ability classes, learners with learning problems, outcomes based education, problems experienced by educators in their classroom practices and the ways of coping with such problems. School, educator and classroom resource profiles were also used in the study to gather information that might be useful in the discussion of the findings. The research sites were three Primary Schools at Mpophomeni Township. In these schools there were eleven grade one educators who formed the population from which a sample of six educators was randomly selected. Three of the six educators who formed the sample were interviewed and observed while the other three were only interviewed. Interviews were tape-recorded and transcribed for data analysis, which was done descriptively. The findings of the study revealed that educators had problems when they were dealing with the content, assignments, assessment and resources and when they discipline learners. It also revealed that most of the problems were due to the introduction of curriculum 2005 in grade one in 1998, and the fact that educators were not trained to teach learners experiencing learning barriers. The study concluded that insufficient in-service training and the introduction of curriculum 2005 were the main causes of educators' problems, and a call to recontextualise the learning environment, which includes educators and the context in which they teach, was made. / Thesis (M.Ed.) - University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2001.

One of the practices in post-primary schools of Leribe is teacher movement between schools (Teacher Mobility). This study was intended to determine factors influencing teacher mobility in Leribe post-primary schools in Lesotho. Random sampling of heads of department, teachers (transferred and not transferred), and parent representatives was carried out from the target population of all heads of departments, all teachers in different categories, head teachers, deputy head teachers, education officers and parents representatives in the Leribe district. Samples were made up 18 head teachers and 18 deputy head teachers, 36 heads of department, 144 teachers (72 transferred and 72 not transferred), 36 parent representatives and 8 education officers. Two leaders of teachers unions were part of the sample. The study used both quantitative and qualitative research techniques in collecting data. Questionnaires were used to collect data from head teachers, deputy head teachers, and heads of department, teachers and parent representatives. Education officers and leaders of teachers unions were personally interviewed because they were fewer in number. Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) was used to analyze the data and the following results were revealed by the study: The lack of facilities in schools and poor management of schools contributed to teacher mobility in the Leribe district. Teachers' preference of teaching near home and teaching in schools situated in urban areas. Unsatisfied teachers' needs and interests, lack of grants in schools and teachers' preference of teaching in better performing schools in examinations. Lack of co-operation among teachers themselves and between teachers and administration. The remaining teachers were negatively affected because of high teaching overloads. Disorganization of schools plans Students' academic performance was negatively affected. Respondents were aware of teacher mobility, however, they could not determine the extent at which it was happening. Suggestions by the respondents to address teacher mobility were as follows: Teachers must be involved in the affairs of the school and provision of equal facilities by stakeholders in all schools. Meeting teachers' needs and interests and creation of good working relationships in schools. Review of policies and rules in relation to teachers' transfers. From the findings it was noted that several factors contributed to teacher movements between schools in Lesotho and more particularly in the Leribe district. Teacher transfers were exacerbated by the teaching service regulation on transfer which allowed teachers to transfer to other schools whenever they deemed necessary. Recommendation for further research was that, research could be undertaken using a more qualitative approach in order to get in-depth information from the respondents. The further study could also be undertaken involving more than one district in the country to determine factors influencing teacher mobility in schools which the present might not have accomplished. / Thesis (M.Ed.)-University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2003.

This study explores the ways in which grade 10 girls experience violence within a single-sex high school setting in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. The focus of the study is on their accounts of witnessing violence amongst other girls in the school. The study shows that despite the view that single-sex schools are regarded as a safer option for many girls in South Africa, different forms of violence and aggression are reported by the girls in this study. Violence and aggression are not easily definable but the eye-witness accounts from the grade 10 girls in this study show how - in everyday relations - violence is gendered, raced and classed. Violence and aggression are also related to sexuality and the study shows how girls fight for boys. This study draws upon a qualitative methodological approach to identify the various forms of violence experienced within this setting. Through the process of analysing semi-structured interviews, this study has revealed that the single-sex environment for high school girls is a highly charged site of violence and aggression. Implications for understanding girls' violence, as well as recommendations to address such, conclude the study. / Thesis (M.Ed.) - University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2009.

It will be generally accepted that teacher education is an important factor underpinning the quality and success of the schooling system in South Africa. Key agenda items in the debate and discourse on the provision of teacher education, in parliamentary and extra-parliamentary circles, include teacher empowerment and professionalization, and teacher education curricula, programmes and policies in the context of an apartheid society in transition to a future democracy. The present study is a contribution to that debate. It focuses on selected aspects of the pre-service teacher education curriculum at one university Faculty. Data de rived from questionnaire surveys and documentary research are analysed and interpreted within the parameters of the critical paradigm of curriculum inquiry as these are given operational definition by the transformative model of teacher education. The analyses of student and staff perceptions of the curriculum and of curriculum and instructional structures show that the dominant form of teacher education in the Faculty embodies a technocratic rationality that serves to encourage acquiescence and conformity to the status quo in both schooling and society. It is argued that such a curriculum is an anachronism, given the prospect of a "new South Africa" that has become apparent since February 1990. In that context, the dissertation makes an attempt to offer a conceptual basis for an alternative framework in the reconceptualization of teacher education. / Thesis (M.Ed.) - University of Durban-Westville, 1991.

The two principal aims of this study were: (a) to evaluate the effectiveness of existing pre-primary education for Indian children and (b) to determine the relative effectiveness of three current school readiness programmes. Random samples of pupils, with varying preschool backgrounds, were drawn from Class i children attending selected Indian primary schools in the Greater Durban area. Information relating to the four groups formed in this way are given below: Sample A: pupils who had attended registered private pre-primary schools (N = 50); Sample B: pupils who had attended departmental bridging module classes (N = 40); Sample C: pupils who had attended community-run preprimary classes (N = 50) ; and Sample D: pupils who had had no formal preschool education (N = 30). To make the four groups comparable, variables such as age, sex, intelligence and socio-economic status were controlled. In keeping with the abovementioned aims the following sets of comparisons were made: (a) the performances, on a test of school readiness, of those pupils who had had some form of formal preschool education (Groups A, B and C) were compared with those who did not receive any such education (Group D); and (b) the performances, on a test of school readiness, of pupils who came from the three different types of preschool backgrounds (A, B and C) were compared with one another. Questionnaires were also completed by a sample of Class i Junior Primary teachers in the Greater Durban area (N = 35). Teachers were asked to comment and report on issues relating to pre-primary schools and classes, the extent of pupil readiness for Class i, the effectiveness of school readiness tests, and matters relating to the Class i curriculum. The purpose of this part of the study was to identify problems in subject areas related to preschool education so that appropriate remedial action could be suggested. There was consensus among Class i teachers that preschool education promotes school readiness. This was confirmed by the results of this study. Groups A, Band C which had received preschool education performed significantly better than group D which comprised pupils who had had no preschool education. The findings also indicated that the preschool programme offered by the departmental bridging module classes was more effective in promoting school readiness than the programme offered by either the registered private pre-primary schools or community-run preprimary classes. Teachers rated the programme offered by Departmental bridging module class to be the most effective for preparing children for formal education. The registered, private pre-primary schools came second, and the community-run classes, third. This rating was again confirmed by the findings of this study. When it came to rating the various subjects in the Class i curriculum in order of difficulty, the following rank-orders were obtained: English (most difficult) followed by Mathematics, Writing, Environmental Studies, Art and Music. They also identified specific short-comings among Class i pupils in each subject area. A number of recommendations are made so that the problems identified by the investigation can be addressed. These relate to pre-primary educational provision, resources and support services, the environment as a resource, teaching, testing and the curriculum. Education authorities, pre-primary teachers, parents and Junior primary teachers are urged to adopt a team approach in the solution of problems relating to young children's education. / Thesis (M.Ed.)-University of Durban-Westville, 1993.

The writer is of the opinion that the teaching of history is a skilled, complex and challenging activity which demands a highly professional approach. History teaching should enable children to identify and acquire certain skills and perspectives that support and develop their interest in and knowledge of the past. There has been some concern that history may not be an appropriate school subject for children and young adolescents because it requires a level of cognitive development that they may not yet have attained. Fortunately, there is a substantial body of research that addresses this question. Most of it is grounded in Piagetian theory and is concerned with the development of logical thinking in history learning (Downey and Levstik 1988:338). The writer believes that sophisticated and potentially difficult concepts like historical time, cause and effect and empathy are capable of being explained and discussed at a level that most pupils can grasp. The most frequently quoted statement of Jerome Bruner lends support to this view: "Any subject can be taught effectively in some intellectually honest form to any child at any stage of development" (1977:3). This research focused on the three pivotal concepts of historical time, cause and effect and empathy. The purpose of the empirical study was to establish how significant a role these concepts play in the teaching and learning of history at the senior primary level. The study was undertaken by means of the illuminative method of research within the context of the ethnographic tradition. The writer observed and described the teaching of history in seven schools in the Durban area. Ten lessons were given by Fourth Year students from a college of education and five were taught by senior primary teachers. The depth of teaching experience in this group ranged between one year and twenty. In most of the lessons, content predominated over the reinforcing of concepts. Teachers stated openly that they experienced difficulty in teaching the concepts of historical time and cause and effect at senior primary level. This was borne out by the pupils' oral and written responses. However, most teachers did encourage pupils to empathise with the subject matter. The results of this research suggest that there is a need to heighten teachers' awareness of the centrality of the concepts of historical time, cause and effect and empathy if the teaching of history at senior primary level is to become more effective. / Thesis (M.Ed.)-University of Natal, Durban, 1992.

In this research an attempt was made at establishing the value of the Reception Class programme. Bridging the gap between home and school has received a lot of attention in the past decade and although numerous suggestions have been put forward, a pattern of hit-or-miss has developed. This research aims to present a suggestion of successful entry into the formal phase of education for every child, regardless of colour, at a much lower cost for both authorities and parents. In an attempt to determine the success of the Reception Class programme, three measures were used: the First Grade Screening Test (AGS), the HSRC Test for 5-6 year olds and as a qualitative measure a questionnaire completed by the class one teachers of the school where the Reception children entered the formal phase of education in 1990. Results of these tests showed that the Reception Class programme was the most successful in achieving a high level of school readiness and on all three measures these pupils did significantly better than their peers who had attended pre-primary schools, crèches, day-care centres and those who had come straight from home. An analysis of test items showed that the Reception Class pupils had excelled in areas involving concentration and listening skills, fine muscle control and application of knowledge. The HSRC Test for 5-6 year olds showed evidence of well developed problem solving skills and a sound knowledge of mathematical language. Although the sample as such was found to be sufficient, a limitation of this study is the fact that all four the Reception Classes could not have been included in this research. / Thesis (M.Ed.)-University of Natal, Durban, 1990.

This is a study of the incidence of failure in Indian secondary education in Natal, in which academic performance was considered against the background of a number of variables such as socio-economic factors, family size, birth order, IQ, health, absenteeism, study and reading habits, parents' level of Western education, family income, participation in extra-curricular activities and certain behaviour and personality traits. A random sample of 1 787 pupils (1 092 boys and 695 girls) who wrote the Standard VII Academic Course examination in 1974 was selected from 16 Indian secondary schools in Natal. Data were obtained by administering a set of questionnaires to the pupils and the form-teachers. Data processing was done by the lCL computer service. The Chi-square statistical techniques was used to test for significance. The findings suggest that: (i) there are significant relationships between academic performance and the following variables: parents' level of Western education, religion, birth-order (especially among first-born boys) IQ and absenteeism; (ii) certain of the variables tested influenced the academic performance of the boys differently from those of the girls. These variables are family income, physical handicaps, reading habits and participation in extra-curricular activities. The trend was that these variables influenced the boys' performance more than the girls' performance. (iii) there were certain variables which were not significantly related to academic performance. These were: health of pupils, use of the library for borrowing books, fathers' occupation, having one's own room, family size, language commonly spoken at home and the number of times the pupils were transferred from one school to another Finally certain recommendations are suggested with a view to reducing failure at school. / Thesis (M.Ed.)-University of Durban-Westville, 1978.

The advancing technology worldwide is a challenge to every creature on planet earth. People are thirsty for knowledge and resources to achieve their goals. Resource as the word implies is anything that a teacher can use to enhance a lesson. Resources then lead to the establishment of resource centres. Resource centres are where information or media materials are accessible. This place can keep resources such as computers, audio-visual resources, books and charts. Throughout the world researchers agree that for real learning to take place, learning and teaching must be as stimulating as possible, and this can be done through the use of different kinds of resources. The objective for writing this research report is to investigate the resources available to geography teachers. This project intends to inform all stakeholders in education about the impact of educational resources, in the light of overcrowded classrooms with few or no resources and the recruitment of too few and inadequately qualified teachers as is the norm today in rural areas of Kwa Zulu Natal, South Africa. / Thesis (M.Ed.)-University of Durban-Westville, 2000.