Thesis (MPhil)--University of Stellenbosch, 2003. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The central question that this research study addresses is whether higher education institutions in South Africa are sufficiently meeting the needs of their students, by contextualising and integrating their academic curricula with service delivery in communities. The higher education sector has been criticized for not adequately promoting and developing social responsibility in the context of civic awareness among their students. This study suggests that service-learning could become a vital force in educational change and promote social equity by enabling the advancement of historically disadvantaged communities. Service-learning could thus be the vehicle that links academic learning outcomes, service in communities and civic education. The purpose of this study is to explore the theoretical foundations of servicelearning in order to achieve a deeper understanding of what service-learning entails. The Occupational Therapy Department of the University of Stellenbosch was selected as a case study to critically assess to what extent it has conceptualised, planned, implemented and assessed its service-learning programmes in terms of the key elements, principles and goals of service-learning. The research strategy for this study is a qualitative case study. Qualitative data was obtained through the completion of an open-ended questionnaire by the final year Occupational Therapy students. Semi-structured interviews were also conducted with the head of the department and different representatives of the community project that was selected for the purpose of this research study. The study concludes that the Occupational Therapy Department did in fact, integrate its academic curriculum outcomes with service delivery in the community. However, the development of civic awareness among students needs to be explicitly linked to the academic learning outcomes and service delivery in communities. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die vraagstuk wat hierdie studie probeer aanspreek, is om vas te stel tot watter mate instansies vir hoër onderrig en opvoeding in Suid Afrika die behoeftes van hul studente aanspreek. Die instansies word gekritiseer dat hulle akademiese kurrikulums nie genoegsaam geïntegreerd is met dienslewering in die gemeenskap nie, en dat hulle ook nie genoegsame sosiale verantwoordelikheid en gemeenskapsbewustheid by hulle studente aanmoedig nie. Hierdie studie stel voor dat diensleer gebruik word as 'n tegniek vir opvoedkundige veranderinge en die bevordering van sosiale gelykheid vir die bemagtiging van histories benadeelde gemeenskappe. Diensleer kan dus gebruik word om akademiese leer uitkomste, dienslewering en burgerlike opvoeding te verbind. Die doel van hierdie navorsing is om die teoretiese basis van diensleer te ondersoek om sodoende 'n deeglike begrip te kry van wat diensleer werklik behels. Die Arbeidsterapie Departement van die Universiteit van Stellenbosch is gekies as gevallestudie om vas te stel hoe hulle hul diensleer programme konseptualiseer, beplan, implementeer en assesseer, t.o.v. die kern elemente, beginsels en doelstellings van diensleer. Die navorsingstrategie wat aangewend is om die doel van hierdie navorsing te bereik, is 'n kwalitatiewe gevallestudie. Kwalitatiewe data is verkry deur die voltooiing van 'n ope vraelys deur die finale jaar Arbeidsterapie studente en deur semi-gestruktureerde onderhoude met die hoof van die Arbeidsterapie Departement en verteenwoordigers van 'n gemeenskapsprojek wat gekies is vir die doel van die studie. Die studie het vasgestel dat die Arbeidsterapie Departement se akademiese kurrikulum uitkomste wel met dienslewering in die gemeenskap geïntegreerd is. In die lig van die navorsingsbevindinge word 'n aanbeveling gemaak dat die ontwikkeling van burgelikebewustheid en sosiale verantwoordelikheid ten opsigte van gemeenskapsbehoeftes, direk verbind moet word aan akademiese leer en diens uitkomste.

Thesis (MEd)--Stellenbosch University, 2014. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Multigrade teaching has been used in Namibia since the introduction of formal education; however, it became more prominent after independence, when the government proposed it to be the norm. Yet, regardless of its prevalence in rural schools – as high as 40% – qualified teachers are still not trained to teach multigrade classes. The primary aim of the research study therefore was to investigate multigrade teaching at three rural primary schools in the Ncuncuni circuit in the Kavango region. By employing a phenomenological methodology, the study explores the experiences and challenges as encountered in multigrade classrooms by six teachers. While a number of the challenges are common to experiences in typical monograde classrooms in Namibia – such as shortages of resources, poor parental involvement, and high rates of learner attrition – there are others that are specific to a multigrade setting. Given the growing number of multigrade schools in Namibia, particularly in rural settings, where infrastructure is already poor, the urgency for properly trained multigrade teachers can no longer be ignored. Among the key recommendations made by this study is that appropriate and sufficient teaching and learning materials, such as self-instructional and self-learning materials, should be provided to schools offering multigrade teaching. In acknowledging that the introduction of professional training will take time, and that the current teachers in multigrade classrooms are in dire need of support, the study would also like to recommend support from regional offices in the form of specialist advisers. There are numerous teachers in multigrade classrooms – many of whom will never receive any formal training. These teachers require immediate and on-going support if the Ministry of Education hopes to provide quality teaching and learning to learners.

Thesis (PhD)--Stellenbosch University, 2014. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This study is a multi-site ethnography that focuses on young people from one low-income, Cape Town neighbourhood, an area that I got to know well between 2008 and 2012, when I worked and conducted research there. I explore how young people from this area, that I call Rosemary Gardens, learn in three different places. These places are, firstly, classrooms at Rosemary Gardens High School, secondly, a community-based hip-hop/ rap group called the Doodvenootskap, and, thirdly, a youth radio show called Youth Amplified, which involved many young people from Rosemary Gardens. In each of the three places a ‘spatio-dialogical’ analysis was used to examine learning that emerges through collaborative interactions between people. Dialogic learning may take place when young people are exposed to multiple, different perspectives, which manifest through language. This form of learning is ‘spatialised’ because it occurs through sets of social relations that coalesce at particular moments to form ‘places’. Places are junctions or points of intersection within networks of social relations. I use the work of Bakhtin (1981; 1986) and Bourdieu (1977; 1991) to illustrate how, in each of the three places, language operates as a socio-ideological system that is divided, in flux and differentially empowered. This work on language as a social system was put into conversation with Lefebvre’s (1991) spatial theory, producing tools that were used as lenses through which to interpret the ethnographic fieldwork. What emerged was the centrality of the workings of language as a social system at Rosemary Gardens High School, Youth Amplified and amongst the Doodvenootskap. The control desired by educators, combined with the bureaucratic forces that restrict spontaneity in their teaching practices, resulted in the use of highly prescribed language forces dominating dialogic interactions at Rosemary Gardens High School. The different cultural influences and historical traditions, which produce the Doodvenootskap, led to the group reclaiming and reinventing varieties of language. At times this produced more sufficiently interactive forms of dialogic learning, amongst this group, and on other occasions they merely reiterated the words of others, without reflection or rigorous thought. Critical pedagogy, at Youth Amplified, laid the foundations for multiple contrasting perspectives and different linguistic forms to manifest. In the media and in the imaginary of the South African middle and upper classes, schools in neighbourhoods that were formerly reserved for ‘Black’ and working-class ‘Coloured’ children are generally perceived to be dysfunctional places. Young people who live in the neighbourhoods in which these schools are located, are assumed to learn very little. Research with youth from Rosemary Gardens discovered that this kind of negative portrayal is only one view of a multi-faceted set of stories. On a daily basis, young people from Rosemary Gardens use language in interactions with peers and adults, exchanges that shape their consciousness and influence how they make sense of the multiple social worlds which they partially produce.

Thesis (PhD)--Stellenbosch University, 2014. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This dissertation argues that, for several reasons, school boards serving the various Seventh-day Adventist schools in the Western Cape have not carried out their functions and responsibilities effectively and efficiently. Although the school boards meet on a regular basis, there appear to be several problems that contribute to a lack of effective performance by the board. Through an analysis of data constructed from interviews and questionnaires, the study reveals that many board members feel that they are not fully equipped to carry out the responsibilities of a governor, and furthermore that they do not belong because they do not feel a part of the decision-making process in the school. They therefore are willing to spend time and effort to equip themselves for the task through capacity building programmes and ongoing training. I contend that, in addition to capacity building programmes, the voices of individual members need to be heard as they participate, deliberately, in decision-making processes. This dissertation contends that if the boards are to function optimally, all stakeholders, particularly the school board members, should engage in capacity building programmes and also experience deliberative, democratic citizenship. They must be given an equal voice to participate in deliberations concerning policy formulation and other decision-making processes. This will help them to realise their democratic right to participate and also to experience inclusivity as a free member of the society in which they live. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Hierdie proefskrif argumenteer dat skoolbestuursrade wat verskillende Sewende-dag Adventisteskole in die Wes-Kaap beheer om verskeie redes nie hulle pligte effektief en doeltreffend nakom nie. Hoewel die beheerrade gereeld vergader is daar blykbaar verskeie probleme wat bydra tot ’n gebrek aan die vervulling van hulle pligte. Deur die ontleding van data saamgestel uit onderhoude en vraelyste is daar gevind dat veral die raadslede, en tot ’n kleiner mate ander belangstellendes, voel hulle is nie ten volle toegerus om die verantwoordelikheid van ’n raadslid te dra nie. Hulle voel ook dat hulle nie deel is van belangrike beslissings wat in die skool geneem word nie. Daarom is hulle bereid om tyd te maak om hulle vir die werk van ’n raadslid toe te rus. Ek hou voor dat behalwe vir die gebruik van kapasiteitsbouprogramme moet die individue se stemme gehoor word en moet hulle ’n kans gegun word om saam te praat en ook aan belangrike beslissings deel te neem wat verband hou met die skool en die opvoeding van die leerder. Hulle moet hulle demokratiese burgerregte uitvoer, deelneem aan die ontwikkelinge wat in die skool plaasvind en daardeur sal hulle stemme ook gehoor word.

Thesis (MEd)--Stellenbosch University, 2013. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The purpose of this study was to determine the nature of the youths` subjectivity at a school in a diverse rural mining environment. The study was done in an isolated rural mining environment. Space is an important point of departure and a thorough background of the contextual factors are given. The participants in this study are daily confronted with challenges such as long distances, poverty, unemployment and alcohol and substance abuse. Space, subjectivity and cultural capital are used to understand youth development and youth experience. The main premise of the study is that the environments of these youth greatly overlap. There is a dynamic relationship between their living and school environment. Distinctive processes, social networks, relationships and cultural groups are found in each of these environments. Another focus of this study was to determine how these young people bridge their different lived spaces, negotiate and adapt within these environments. Qualitative reseach methods were used in formal and informal interviews. Participants had the opportunity to present their experiences in storyline. A narrative-based, interpretive, -descriptive research paradigm was the most appropriate research method of capturing the wide variety of living experience. The study demonstrates how these youth are positioned within their environments in order to embody their space subjectivity. By making use of their own resources, networks and interactions, they navigate their overlapping spaces and thereby lead meaningful lives. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die navorsing in hierdie studie wou die aard van jeugdiges se subjektiwiteite by `n skool in `n diverse plattelandse mynbou-omgewing vasstel. Die studie vind plaas op `n afgeleë plattelandse mynbou-omgewing. Ruimte is `n belangrike vertrekpunt en `n deeglike agtergrond van die kontekstuele faktore word gegee. Die deelnemers in die studie word daagliks gekonfronteer met uitdagings soos ver afstande, armoede, werkloosheid, tienerswangerskappe en drank-en dwelmmisbruik. In die studie word die lense ruimte, subjektiwiteit en kulturele kapitaal gebruik om jeugwording en jeugmeemaking in `n plattelandse mynbou-omgewing te verstaan. Die hoofuitgangspunt was dat die omgewings waarin die jeugdiges hulle bevind, veelvuldig oorvleuel. Daar bestaan `n dinamiese verwantskap tussen die jeugdiges se woon- en skoolomgewing. Binne elke ruimte is daar eiesoortige prossesse, sosiale netwerkverhoudinge en kulturele groepe. Die studie fokus ook op die maniere hoe hierdie jeugdiges hul verskeie beleefde ruimtes oorbrug en hoe onderhandeling en aanpassing binne die ruimtes plaasvind. Kwalitatiewe navorsingsinstrumente: formele en informele onderhoude is gebruik om my navorsingsvraag te beantwoord. Die deelnemers is geleentheid gegee om hulle ervaringe in storielyn te weergee. `n Narratiewe interpretatiewe beskrywende navorsingsparadigma was die toepaslikste om die ryke verskeidenheid van geleefde ervaringe oor te dra. Die studie toon hoe die deelnemers op spesifieke maniere deur hulle omstandighede geposisioneer word ten einde vergestalting aan hul jeugsubjektiwiteite te gee. Deur gebruik te maak van hul eie bronne, netwerke en interaksies navigeer hierdie deelnemers hul oorvleuelde ruimtes om sodoende sinvolle lewens te leef.

Thesis (MEd)--Stellenbosch University, 2013. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Ouers se betrokkenheid by hulle kinders se opvoeding binne ’n vennootskap tussen die huis en die skool het in Suid-Afrikaanse onderwys sedert 1996 toenemend belangrik geword. Ouers is hulle kinders se primêre opvoeders en lê dus die basis vir hul kinders se formele opvoeding. Dit is dus belangrik dat die huis en die skool moet saamwerk as vennote aan die opvoedkundige ontwikkeling van die kind. Die Suid-Afrikaanse Skolewet, Wet 84 van 1996, bevestig die belangrikheid van ‘n vennootskap tussen die huis en die skool, sowel as die noodsaaklikheid dat ouers ‘n bydrae moet lewer tot hulle kinders se opvoeding. Ten spyte van die waarde wat ouerbetrokkenheid bied, blyk dit asof daar tans steeds min of geen sprake van ouerbetrokkenheid by sommige ouers is nie, veral diegene wie se kinders voorheen-benadeelde primêre plattelandse staatskole bywoon. Hierdie studie het die navorsing van die mate van ouerbetrokkenheid van veral ongeskoolde, semi-geskoolde en arm, werklose ouers in die opvoeding van hul kinders ten doel. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Parental involvement in learners’ education in the form of a partnership between the home and the school has become very important in South-African education since 1996. Parents are the primary educators of their children and thus lay the foundation for their formal education. It is therefore important that the home and school work together as partners in the learners’ educational development. The South-African Schools’ Act 84 of 1996 confirms the importance of the partnership between the home and the school as well as the necessity of parents to make a contribution to their children’s’ education. Despite the value of parental involvement, there still seems to be no or a limited degree of involvement of some parents whose children attend former disadvantaged, primary schools in rural areas. This study aims to research the levels of parental involvement of especially illiterate, semi-literate, poor and unemployed parents in the education of their children.

Thesis (MEd) -- Stellenbosch University, 2010. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The new Technology curriculum was included in the National Curriculum Statement (Department of Education, 2005) as part of the broader intention of serving as the vehicle for reconstructing our society and our orientation towards education for the 21st century. In this narrative I will start by exploring the congruence between the technology curriculum, globalisation and the knowledge economy, the related discourses and the expectations these create for technology education in the Further Education and Training and General Education and Training bands in secondary education in South African schools. I will continue by critically engaging with the discourses and school-based patterns of engagement that shape the technology curriculum as well as teaching and learning practices in a secondary school. By locating my arguments within Pierre Bourdieu’s theories of habitus, field and strategies, as elaborated on by Lingard and Christie (2003), as well as Foucault’s theory of power, this narrative will engage with the perceived gap in the policy implementation process. This gap consists of a myriad of contextually interrelated factors that interact with the achievement of the prescribed outcomes and ultimately the intention of shaping learners for meaningful participation in the knowledge economy.

Thesis (MEd)-- Stellenbosch University, 2013. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The research is about my story as a learning-support teacher and includes the identity growth that I experienced between the period from January 2001 until December 2012. My approach of acceptance and compassion, within the atmosphere of performativity, leads to my writing process and becomes my auto-ethnographic journey. The writing process brings about change, to experience the performative as an action of ‘doing’ (in Giroux 2000:135) and a way of being within day-to-day situations (in Denzin 2004:273). By recording my experiences within changing spaces, I hope to make a contribution to academic literature, by drawing the reader into my experiences of the forming of my identity and the explication of the writing process as a journey. Writing my introduction to this research at the end of this process, I realise that this research has not only changed my story, but also myself as a person. I struggled to bring the story to a close. This is because I have realised that my story is still changing every day. I am becoming a performative ethonographer (Denzin 2004:262) and I see concrete situations and engage in a conversation with them. And through this writing experience I have registered an enrichment in my experience. My research does not make use of questionnaires or interviews. It is action-research, experienced in everyday things. My story with remembrances was already there before the research, though never told. Ball (1996) refers to this process as identification. This is the process through which I have gone to be seen, as well as the process through which one goes to see oneself, to a specific identity (quoted by Thompson 2004:45). My story begins with questions and reflections about my being different as a white woman, within my context of the two so-called ‘Coloured Schools’. Am I carrying a white scar? (Cixous 1998). I have experienced the writing process as a way of coming into knowledge. My research leads to questions, though not necessarily to answers. The writing process leads to my looking through a different lens of gaining a better understanding. Peace. And hope. I am learning – have learnt – that hope is an ontological necessity. There is a necessity to dream, to change, and to better the lives of others (Freire 1998:8 in Denzin 2003:263). My research develops rhizomatically (Honan: 2006; Richardson & Pierre 2005, quoted in Richards 2012:3). It is written in fragments of daily action. It is written in the knowledge of the impossibility of relaying experience as it is or was. As a teller of a story, I emphasise that I do not posit my characters as objects. Rather, they are presented in this research in a relationship of trust, existing between myself and them for a period stretching beyond twelve years. Meaning cannot always be relayed in words. Suggestions of meaning can lie in the relationship between texts (Parsons 2002:32 in Le Roux 2012:xi4). / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die navorsing behels my storie as leerondersteuner-onderwyser en omvat my identiteitswording vanaf Januarie 2001 tot Desember 2012. My benadering van aanvaarding en meelewing binne die atmosfeer van performatiwiteit, lei tot my skryfproses en word my outo-etnografiese reis. Die skryfproses bring verandering, om die performatiewe te beleef as ‘n aksie van doen (Giroux 2000a:135) en ‘n manier van wees, binne dag-tot-dag-situasies (in Denzin 2004:273). Deur die opteken van my ervaring binne wisselende ruimtes hoop ek om ‘n akademiese bydrae te lewer, wat die leser intrek binne belewing van my identiteitsvorming en ontvouing van die skryfproses as reis. Ek skryf my inleiding aan die einde en besef die navorsing het my storie sowel as myself verander. Ek sukkel om die slot te skryf. En besef: dis oor my storie elke dag aangaan. Ek word ‘n performatiewe etnograaf (Denzin 2004:262) en sien konkrete situasies en tree toe tot gesprek. Ek beleef verdieping van my bewussyn deur die skryfproses. My navorsing behels nie vraelyste en onderhoude nie en is aksie-navorsing, geleef in elke dag se dinge. My storie met herinnerings was daar voor die navorsing maar dis nooit vertel nie. Ball (1996) verwys na hierdie proses as identifikasie. Die proses waardeur ek gaan om gesien te word, sowel as die proses om myself te sien, lei tot ‘n spesifieke identiteit (aangehaal deur Thompson 2004:45). My storie begin oor my wonder en peins oor anderswees as wit vrou binne my konteks van twee bruin skole. Dra ek die wit scar ?(Cixous 1998). Ek ervaar die skryfproses as manier om tot kennis te kom. My navorsing lei tot vrae. En nie noodwendig tot antwoorde nie. Die skryfproses lei tot ‘n kyk deur ‘n ander lens, ‘n beter verstaan. Vrede. En Hoop. En ek leer hoop is ‘n ontologiese behoefte. Die begeerte om te droom, te verander en menselewens te verbeter (Freire 1999:8 in Denzin 2003:263). My navorsing ontwikkel rhizomaties (Honan 2006; Richardson & St. Pierre 2005 aangehaal deur Richards 2012:3), geskryf in fragmente van daaglikse aksie, vertel binne die besef hoe onmoontlik dit is om ervaring weer te gee (Pretorius 2008:73). As verteller beklemtoon ek dat ek nie my karakters as objekte voorstel nie, maar dat ek skryf binne ‘n etiese vertrouensverhouding wat oor twaalf jaar strek. Betekenis kan nie altyd in woorde weergegee word nie. Suggestie van betekenis kan lȇ in verhoudings tussen tekste (Parsons 2002:32 in Le Roux 2010:xi4).

Thesis (MEd)-- Stellenbosch University, 2013. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The political dispensation in South Africa after 1994 experienced a complete change in different spheres of life. Not only was the country greeted with a new democratic government system, but also with widespread educational reform, of which curriculum reform in schools was one of its main drivers. This study focuses on implementation dynamics related to the latest iteration of curriculum reform namely the National Curriculum Statement (NCS) that was introduced in all public schools in 2005. Educators were sent for in service training in order to implement the new curriculum in their classrooms. Continuous assessment (CASS) became the operative on everybody’s lips, though learners would be assessed according to continuous assessment activities. These assessment marks or codes, obtained by the learners, would determine progression to the next grade. This resulted in a new educator practice, namely an assessment practice. Their initial encounter was somehow problematic because they found it difficult in marrying this new practice with their teaching and learning practices due to various reasons. One of the main reasons was that the NCS was never part of their tertiary education. The study’s main point of departure is that the assessment practices of primary school educators are diverse and divergent in response to the expectations of the NCS. The study uses the analytical lenses of forward and backward mapping as well as the ambiguity-conflict model in order to investigate and ascertain the underlying relationship between educator’s assessment practices and the assessment policy. The study belongs within the qualitative interpretative paradigm, as I attempt to form an understanding of the nature and range of their assessment practices. It emphasises the manifestation of the assessment practices of educators. Qualitative research instruments, which include individual interviews, were used to answer the research question and achieve the research objectives of the thesis. The research shows how these educators experience, interpret and implement the assessment policy in unique ways. It indicates how they, in striving to adhere to the expectations of the NCS, respond by tackling their respective assessment practices in a diverse and divergent way and at times deviate from what is expected of them as set out in the NCS. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die politieke bestel in Suid-Afrika het na 1994 ‘n ommeswaai op vele terreine beleef. Die land was nie net begroet met ‘n nuwe demokratiese regeringstelsel nie, maar ook met grootskaalse onderwyshervorming, met spesifieke verwysing na kurrikulum- hervorming, wat een van die vernaamste dryfvere sou wees. Hierdie studie fokus op die implementeringsdinamieke van die Nasionale Kurrikulumverklarin (NKV) wat in 2005 ingefaseer was en wat eintlik ‘n heromskrywing of herhaling van bestaande kurrikulumhervorming is. Opvoeders was bekend gestel en van nuuts af opgelei om ‘n nuwe kurrikulum in hul klaskamers te implementeer. Deurlopende assessering (DASS) was die nuwe wagwoord op almal se lippe, want leerders sal voortaan aan die hand van deurlopende assesseringsaktiwiteite geassesseer word. Hierdie assesseringspunte of kodes sal bepaal of leerders na ‘n volgende graad vorder. Dit het ‘n nuwe opvoederpraktyk, naamlik ‘n assesseringspraktyk, genoop en opvoeders het dit problematies gevind om hierdie nuwe praktyk met die onderrig- en leerpraktyk te laat trou. Die hoofuitgangspunt is dat hierdie laerskoolopvoeders se assesseringspraktyke divers en uiteenlopend tot die verwagtinge van die NKV is. Die studie gebruik die analitiese lense van voorwaartse en terugwaartse kartering asook die dubbelsinnige konflikmodel ten einde ondersoek in te stel na die onderliggende verwantskap tussen opvoeders se assesseringspraktyke en die assesseringsbeleid. Die studie hoort tuis binne ‘n kwalitatief-interpretivistiese paradigma, aangesien ek ‘n verstaan rondom die aard en omvang van hul assesseringspraktyke probeer vorm en verstaan. Die klem val op hoe hierdie assesseringspraktyke sigself in die klaskamerpraktyke van opvoeders manifesteer. Kwalitatiewe navorsingsinstrumente, wat individuele onderhoude van laerskoolopvoeders insluit, is gebruik om die navorsingsvraag te beantwoord en die navorsingsdoelwitte van die tesis te bereik. Die navorsing toon hoe hierdie opvoeders die assesseringsbeleid op unieke maniere ervaar, beleef, interpreteer en gevolglik in hul klaskamers implementeer. Dit lewer verder bewys hoe elkeen, in hul strewe om aan die verwagtinge van die NKV te voldoen, hul assesseringspraktyke divers en uiteenlopend aanpak en tot volvoering probeer bring en by geleenthede daarvan afwyk.

There has been a significant number of disputes being declared after every selection process each year since 1998 when School Governing Bodies were given the responsibility of selecting management staff at schools (Thurlow 2003). Also, anecdotal evidence is that there is suspicion amongst educators that unfairness and favoritism in the selection of management staff is rife. Hence, the researcher sought to develop better understanding of how the selection policy is perceived to be problematic in its implementation. With this in mind the researcher examined the perception of stakeholders, namely educators and School Governing Bodies, on the selection of management staff at public schools in a suburb in the Pinetown District. The research involved all eight schools in the Suburb which comprised two secondary schools and six primary schools. All the teachers and management staff and chairpersons of the Selection Committees of the School Governing Bodies in these schools were targeted for the study. The research instruments used for this study were questionnaires that were administered on educators and interviews conducted with the chairpersons of the Selection Committees of the Schools' Governing Bodies. The findings revealed that both the educators and School Governing Bodies were disillusioned with the current selection process. While the chairpersons of the Selection Committees expressed their dissatisfaction at the training proffered by the Department of Education, the educators indicated frustration at not being promoted and perceived the selection to be unfair and based on favoritism and nepotism. Educators also felt very ABSTRACT There has been a significant number of disputes being declared after every selection process each year since 1998 when School Governing Bodies were given the responsibility of selecting management staff at schools (Thurlow 2003). Also, anecdotal evidence is that there is suspicion amongst educators that unfairness and favoritism in the selection of management staff is rife. Hence, the researcher sought to develop better understanding of how the selection policy is perceived to be problematic in its implementation. With this in mind the researcher examined the perception of stakeholders, namely educators and School Governing Bodies, on the selection of management staff at public schools in a suburb in the Pinetown District. The research involved all eight schools in the Suburb which comprised two secondary schools and six primary schools. All the teachers and management staff and chairpersons of the Selection Committees of the School Governing Bodies in these schools were targeted for the study. The research instruments used for this study were questiormaires that were administered on educators and interviews conducted with the chairpersons of the Selection Committees of the Schools' Governing Bodies. The findings revealed that both the educators and School Governing Bodies were disillusioned with the current selection process. While the chairpersons of the Selection Committees expressed their dissatisfaction at the training proffered by the Department of Education, the educators indicated frustration at not being promoted and perceived the selection to be unfair and based on favoritism and nepotism. Educators also felt very strongly that the Selection Committees were not following procedures as legislated. The findings also revealed that both sets of stakeholders felt that the Department of Education _ should take sole responsibility for selecting management staff for schools if the perceived shortcomings are to be overcome. Recommendations emanating from the above include shifting the responsibility for the selection ofmanagement staff from that of School Governing Bodies to the Department ofEducation, co-opting department officials into the Selection Committees for their knowledge and expertise, enhancing training and capacity building programs for Selection Committees and the provisioning of counseling for unsuccessful applicants. 11 strongly that the Selection Committees were not following procedures as legislated. The findings also revealed that both sets of stakeholders felt that the Department of Education .. should take sole responsibility for selecting management staff for schools if the perceived shortcomings are to be overcome. Recommendations emanating from the above include shifting the responsibility for the selection of management staff from that of School Governing Bodies to the Department of Education, co-opting department officials into the Selection Committees for their knowledge and expertise, enhancing training and capacity building programs for Selection Committees and the provisioning of counseling for unsuccessful applicants. / Thesis (M.Ed.) - University of KwaZulu-Natal, 2006.