Moral degeneration is a universal phenomenon which negatively affects many societies, also the South African society. The South African society, with specific reference to family life and school life is experiencing a serious moral breakdown. The media is constantly reporting this breakdown, which is evident in social ills such as a general lack of discipline and self-discipline, violence, poverty, unemployment, a high crime rate, promiscuity, school vandalism and corruption. The literature study indicates that these moral ills have negative implications for society and for education, and that they are mainly the result of a lack of a positive value system in society as a whole. This study aims at determining the role of “values education” in addressing the problem of moral degeneration. The conceptual framework upon which the study is based is known as social reconstructivism. It is a philosophical theory which proposes that society should be transformed by addressing the social problems which it experiences. An ethnographic research design and grounded theory were employed. Questionnaires were distributed to 200 learners from four public schools in order to determine their value systems. Trends that were found after the analysis of the questionnaires were further explored by means of in-depth interviews with some of these learners. The main data collecting instrument was the semi-structured interview (individual and focus group interviews). The participants were parents, principals, teachers, community leaders and learners, who are all important stakeholders in education. Data were collected in the Eastern Cape Province over a period of five months. The empirical research findings were compared to literature findings. Both these findings revealed that, to an alarming extent, the moral code in South African society is on the decline. Currently education in the home, school and community does not convey a positive value system to learners - thus perpetuating the problem of a society in decline. In the light of the findings, guidelines have been developed in order to improve school practices and to suggest possible solutions to the social problems that endanger the future prosperity of the South African society. / Education / D. Ed. (Socio-Education)

The study sought to explore the priorities and practices of educators with regard to the mediation of moral qualities/democratic virtues related to education for citizenship by means of a case study in one school. In South Africa educators are regarded as among the stakeholders responsible for the mediation of values and morals in children and youth so that they will be effective citizens of democracy. Hence the school is seen as an important context in which this could take place. Citizenship education usually contains a moral element. Practices of moral development generally draw on the work of Kohlberg, which is linked to a Piagetian understanding of development. Vygotsky&rsquo / s approach focuses on the contribution that the context has on cognitive<br /> development and suggests that this may also be important for moral development. However there is little evidence available concerning the effectiveness of specific interventions. Two groups of educators and one group of learners were interviewed.<br /> Educators were asked what moral qualities/democratic virtues they regarded as important to nurture in the learners at this school and what they did to nurture these virtues. Learners were also asked the same question and what they saw their educators doing in order to mediate these moral qualities/democratic virtues. Any constraints and successes were explored together with what educators thought could be done to improve the situation. The theoretical understanding of the research was constructivist and it followed a qualitative case study approach. Data were collected using semistructured interviews and were analysed using a thematic analysis approach. Before the research was undertaken permission was sought from the Western Cape Education Department and the study was conducted following the guidelines for ethical research set by the American Psychological Association. The main priorities that emerged as moral qualities/ democratic virtues that educators thought were important to nurture, were accountability, respect, and commitment to &ldquo / being good.&rdquo / Socially desirable behaviours that were highlighted were the following: economic initiative, citizenship, and politeness and consideration. Cognitive qualities that they thought were important to nurture were the following: open mindedness, literacy, and numeracy. There were also skills that the educators thought were important to nurture in their learners which did not seem to have a moral dimension. The main practices mentioned were: modelling, active instruction and discussion, and discipline. Educators highlighted the importance of consistency throughout the school. Constraints mentioned were the following: lack of discipline, socio-economic factors, and lack of parental involvement. Supportive factors mentioned were parental support, and consistency and collaboration.

Moral degeneration is a universal phenomenon which negatively affects many societies, also the South African society. The South African society, with specific reference to family life and school life is experiencing a serious moral breakdown. The media is constantly reporting this breakdown, which is evident in social ills such as a general lack of discipline and self-discipline, violence, poverty, unemployment, a high crime rate, promiscuity, school vandalism and corruption. The literature study indicates that these moral ills have negative implications for society and for education, and that they are mainly the result of a lack of a positive value system in society as a whole. This study aims at determining the role of “values education” in addressing the problem of moral degeneration. The conceptual framework upon which the study is based is known as social reconstructivism. It is a philosophical theory which proposes that society should be transformed by addressing the social problems which it experiences. An ethnographic research design and grounded theory were employed. Questionnaires were distributed to 200 learners from four public schools in order to determine their value systems. Trends that were found after the analysis of the questionnaires were further explored by means of in-depth interviews with some of these learners. The main data collecting instrument was the semi-structured interview (individual and focus group interviews). The participants were parents, principals, teachers, community leaders and learners, who are all important stakeholders in education. Data were collected in the Eastern Cape Province over a period of five months. The empirical research findings were compared to literature findings. Both these findings revealed that, to an alarming extent, the moral code in South African society is on the decline. Currently education in the home, school and community does not convey a positive value system to learners - thus perpetuating the problem of a society in decline. In the light of the findings, guidelines have been developed in order to improve school practices and to suggest possible solutions to the social problems that endanger the future prosperity of the South African society. / Education / D. Ed. (Socio-Education)

This study explores teachers’ understanding of character education, their perceived role in curriculum development, implementation effectiveness, and their teaching practices. This two-part investigation surveys teachers from two schools, followed by an interview process with six of those participants. The school staffs of one elementary school and one elementary-junior-high school were surveyed to provide a general overview of teacher understanding of expectations, their knowledge of character traits identified in the curriculum goals of their Board of Education, and opinions about how their current teaching practice addresses the development of character. The interview data provided indepth information about teacher interpretation of character by their Western Canadian urban Public Board, details about their current teaching practices, including techniques and strategies incorporated, and their feelings about how character education should be taught in the school. The research revealed that teachers were generally unaware of the board’s curriculum expectations of the 11 character traits to be taught in school. There were mixed responses about who was responsible for teaching character: Some felt the responsibility was on the parents, while others felt it should be all adults. The study found that teachers were, in fact, currently teaching and assessing students on many of the traits identified as being significant as part of the hidden, lived curriculum. / ix, 95 leaves ; 29 cm

The study sought to explore the priorities and practices of educators with regard to the mediation of moral qualities/democratic virtues related to education for citizenship by means of a case study in one school. In South Africa educators are regarded as among the stakeholders responsible for the mediation of values and morals in children and youth so that they will be effective citizens of democracy. Hence the school is seen as an important context in which this could take place. Citizenship education usually contains a moral element. Practices of moral development generally draw on the work of Kohlberg, which is linked to a Piagetian understanding of development. Vygotsky&rsquo / s approach focuses on the contribution that the context has on cognitive<br /> development and suggests that this may also be important for moral development. However there is little evidence available concerning the effectiveness of specific interventions. Two groups of educators and one group of learners were interviewed.<br /> Educators were asked what moral qualities/democratic virtues they regarded as important to nurture in the learners at this school and what they did to nurture these virtues. Learners were also asked the same question and what they saw their educators doing in order to mediate these moral qualities/democratic virtues. Any constraints and successes were explored together with what educators thought could be done to improve the situation. The theoretical understanding of the research was constructivist and it followed a qualitative case study approach. Data were collected using semistructured interviews and were analysed using a thematic analysis approach. Before the research was undertaken permission was sought from the Western Cape Education Department and the study was conducted following the guidelines for ethical research set by the American Psychological Association. The main priorities that emerged as moral qualities/ democratic virtues that educators thought were important to nurture, were accountability, respect, and commitment to &ldquo / being good.&rdquo / Socially desirable behaviours that were highlighted were the following: economic initiative, citizenship, and politeness and consideration. Cognitive qualities that they thought were important to nurture were the following: open mindedness, literacy, and numeracy. There were also skills that the educators thought were important to nurture in their learners which did not seem to have a moral dimension. The main practices mentioned were: modelling, active instruction and discussion, and discipline. Educators highlighted the importance of consistency throughout the school. Constraints mentioned were the following: lack of discipline, socio-economic factors, and lack of parental involvement. Supportive factors mentioned were parental support, and consistency and collaboration.

This research was based on ‘Catholic secondary education and identity reformation in Zambia’s Southern Province. Its main purpose was to explore the nature and scope of the undesired identity reformation experienced in Catholic secondary schools in Zambia’s Southern Province as well as suggest possible ways of how the problem can be resolved. The study was guided by the following main research question ‘How has a conflict of values between the evolving Catholic education policies and Zambian national education policies affected the identity of Catholic secondary schools in Zambia’s Southern Province?’ This question formed the main basis for the achievement of the study’s overarching purpose highlighted earlier. A qualitative methodology was utilized to gather data for this research. Data was gathered using semi-structured interviews, focus group interviews/discussions and documentary/content analysis. Research participants included: the Secretary of Catholic education, the PEO, school headteachers, teachers of RE, parents and grade twelve learners. Key documents analyzed using document analysis were Catholic education policies and Zambian national educational policies. The following findings resulted from the study: a conflict of values is non-existent between Catholic education policies and Zambian national education policies; there are four real/major causes of undesired identity reformation in Catholic secondary schools in Zambia’s Southern Province; the various contemporary challenges experienced by Catholic secondary schools in Zambia’s Southern Province are responsible for the undesired weakening of the school’s ‘academic’ and ‘religious’ mission; RE has experienced undesired changes at the levels of its nature, role and place in the Catholic secondary school curriculum over the years; Catholic secondary schools in Zambia’s Southern Province can be characterized as ‘partially Catholic’; realigning Catholic secondary schools with Catholic education policy involves returning such schools back to Catholic educational practice as recommended in Catholic education policies. The main conclusion of the study was that undesired identity reformation is present in Catholic secondary schools in Zambia’s Southern Province but it is not linked to a conflict of values in Catholic education policies and Zambian national education policies. To resolve the problem of undesired identity reformation in Catholic secondary schools, all study recommendations emphasized an urgent return by the schools to educational practice as recommended in Catholic education policy if they are to regain their lost desired total-Catholic character or identity. / Educational Foundations / D. Ed. (Philosophy of Education)

This project contends that the instructional time given to language arts is the appropriate time to teach discipline. Sample lesson plans incorporating the teaching of discipline into California's third grade curriculum are offered to inspire and inform educators to become teachers of self-discipline.

The main research question of the study was: How can spiritual intelligence (SQ) be developed in secondary school students? This was motivated out of concern for the moral degeneration that secondary school students experience in South Africa. The literature review focused on the nature of SQ and how it can foster adaptive functioning and transformation in adolescents and the complexity of Religion Education (RE) in South African secondary schools. A case was made for developing educational strategies that can develop SQ in adolescents and create educational environments that not only encourages students to engage in dialogue that involves a broader conversation about religion and spirituality, but also supports transformational learning. The empirical investigation to evaluate the approach and educational strategies that were used, implemented a qualitative case study design. Gardner’s Multiple Intelligence (MI) theory and the social constructivist theory were used as conceptual frameworks. Purposive and convenient sampling was employed to select ten Grade 11 students in a secondary school in Gauteng that reflected the demographics of the country’s population. Qualitative data collection included reflective activities and informal conversation interviews. Field notes were kept and all observations were documented in a self-reflective journal. This was followed by a focus group session and semi-structured interviews. Findings revealed that the educational strategies had the capacity to develop core traits and mental abilities of SQ, provide peak experiences and enhance virtuous behaviour in adolescents. It was concluded that education should include content around the nature of SQ in conjunction with reflective and experiential activities. SQ provided a platform for epistemic relativity. It was thus concluded that SQ can be deliberately developed in South African secondary school contexts. The recommendations focussed on the role of institutions of higher learning in sensitising stakeholders regarding the relevance of SQ in South African educational contexts; training of in-service teachers; the importance of Life Orientation (LO) as conveyer of SQ and the role of the LO teacher in cascading SQ down to school students. Finally, a SQ training workshop was proposed. The study concluded with recommendations for further research. The limitations of the study were also presented. / Psychology of Education / D. Ed. (Psychology of Education)