Magister Educationis - MEd / This study investigated how workplace educator development programmes prepare workplace educators for their roles and responsibilities in facilitating learning in the workplace. Framed by the literature, the research shows that workplace educators’ qualifications prepare them for facilitating learning in the workplace. The most important findings show that their qualifications have prepared them for their roles and responsibilities in facilitating transformative learning within the workplace. Furthermore, the findings show that their qualifications, roles and responsibilities in facilitating learning in the workplace also impacted on workplace educators’ own thinking, prompting them to question their own values and beliefs. This perspective transformation allows for workplace educators better facilitating transformative learning in the workplace.

Magister Commercii (Industrial Psychology) - MCom(IPS) / The study examines three emerging salient themes. Firstly, it highlights the current perception of informal learning in the workplace which has multiple definitions and descriptions. The second theme draws attention to the sociocultural structures and the impact on individual engagement in workplace learning. The last theme illustrates the potential of informal learning and how individuals and their learning environment at work cannot function independently. Employees no longer have time for the inefficiencies of the past, old-style training they want to be co-participants in learning not simply receivers (Cross, 2007).By diagnosing the current status of informal workplace learning, the research examines the employee engagement, the perceived factors that affect learning engagement and explores the links between informal workplace learning and the performance of the organisation. Against the background of informal learning in the workplace, a learning organisation has been characterised, as an organisation that has development in place that supports learning and recognises the value of learning and extends itself towards the enhancement of employee’s proficiency and transfer of learning to others (Berg & Chyung, 2008).

Magister Legum - LLM

Philosophiae Doctor - PhD / Skills development policies in South Africa and further afield consider learning in and from the workplace as critical to the training of artisans at intermediate level. Since the inception of democracy, South Africa has become part of a globally competitive economic arena where highly skilled workers capable of engaging with new technology in a changing environment are increasingly required. Continuous innovation, it is held (Kraak, 1997), is dependent on the presence of two knowledge forms in society and work: an abundance of formal (scientific and technological) knowledge, and skilled worker 'know-how' or tacit knowledge. In the present system of technical and vocational education, theoretical learning and some practical skills are obtained in institutions, mostly in the recently renamed TVET colleges, while job specific training occurs through prescribed periods of work placement. In light of common assumptions about the value of workplace learning, this research was concerned with exploring whether, and how such learning is taking place. It sought to understand the methodologies, practices, and affordances available to learning in the workplace, from the perspective of candidate apprenticeship/learnership students. To this end this study employed a qualitative approach for investigating how candidates experienced and interacted with the 'real world environment' of the workplace. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with a purposively selected sample comprising candidates engaged in programmes that necessitated a workplace learning component, namely, the apprenticeship and learnership in fitting and turning, motor/diesel and the auto electrical trades. Data analysis was undertaken using both Atlas ti software and manual methods for coding and identification of themes. Lenses used to describe and explain learning in the workplace included the conceptual frameworks of Engestrom‘s (1987) Activity theory; Vygotsky‘s (1978) notion of learning via the 'expert other' within a Zone of Proximal Development; and Lave and Wenger‘s (1991) theorising of situated learning in Communities of Practice. This triangular juxtaposition of complementary theories formed a richly informative explanatory system for my further exploration. As a qualified artisan myself I was familiar with the negative connotations of a historical 'sit by Nellie' approach, a phrase used to caricature the way apprentices learned in the past, by simply being passive observers of the experts. However, my findings were to reveal a vastly different picture of learning in this modern, visual and tactile age. Learners in this study experienced a range of learning modalities, methodologies and affordances that were reported in 'thick' descriptions, building a vivid picture of engagement and interaction. In addition to the abundance of learning opportunities candidates experienced, their responses revealed the indisputably central role played by 'expert others' in moving them towards competence – the expert artisan emerging as the quintessential didactic practitioner. This thesis proceeds to highlight the experiences of candidates on their learning journey in the workplace, and suggests recommendations in respect of these. Key learnings are distilled, which ultimately point to the need for collective effort in appreciating and retaining for the benefit of future generations of artisans, the mentoring potential that exists in our expert artisans wherever they may be found.

Magister Educationis (Adult Learning and Global Change) - MEd(AL) / This study set out to determine how trainers construct their professional identities in a changing work environment in a training academy of the South African Police Service (SAPS) in the context of a police-university partnership. The study differentiates between three professional identities (academic, police and trainer) and builds on the notion that the construction of professional identity is a conscious and dynamic process, which is formed in social contexts and settings where individuals participate in communities of practice or act on affordances to participate in organisational activities. Following a constructivist methodological approach, the study involved face-to-face interviews with trainers of the SAPS Academy and an analysis of police documents in the Academy. The study portrays trainers’ professional identity construction as relational and ongoing. Trainers perceive their changing roles in the SAPS Academy as a form of progression in their professional identity where one aspires to become an academic as a form of achievement. While the SAPS Academy attempts toregulate the construction of professional identity through enforcement of policies, it strengthens police trainer identities rather than enabling the construction of the needed new academic identities. Trainers therefore have to navigate the tensions between the institutional culture and construction of professional identity. Trainers negotiate their professional identities when they become part of the trainer pool, where they join smaller communities of practice, and when they make use of affordances for learning and development. The practice of multi-skilling of trainers, an authoritarian institutional culture and challenges to academic freedom and autonomy hamper their attempts to construct academic identities at both institutional and disciplinary level. The study suggests that organisations need to understand how policies contribute to employees’ construction of professional identities, particularly when new and unfamiliar professional identities are to be constructed. Development of higher academic qualifications is not enough. Workplaces need to apply organisational policies consistently and without ambiguity. A holistic approach should be followed when organisations embark on the construction of professional academic identities as employees construct professional identities through their lived experiences. Finally, the study showed that workplaces should provide a suitable environment that would stimulate professional and academic identity construction.

Positioning itself within policy debates on the best way to deal with disputes in UK workplaces and the (potential) resultant increased interest in mediation, this thesis draws on literature from law, philosophy, psychology and management to add to the growing, but largely theoretically-underdeveloped research on workplace mediation. In this research, mediation refers to a voluntary and confidential process where parties to dispute seek a mutually agreed outcome. This process is facilitated by an impartial third-party mediator. The research offers an empirically-informed theoretical framework exploring the extent to which the use of mediation to deal with bullying and harassment is appropriate. In asking whether mediation is appropriate, it argues that it is necessary to consider whether its use is not only feasible but also fair. Using Rawls’s (2001) theory of justice as fairness to structure the discussion and focusing on cases involving sex, race and sexual orientation it constructs an argument for the use of fairness as a guiding concern for an understanding of mediation grounded in an appreciation of public values and notions of social cooperation. It explores tensions between the nature of mediation and of bullying and harassment to question the extent to which an emphasis on cost/efficiency and empowerment in mediation rhetoric may obscure questions of the privatisation and individualisation of systemic and structural problems. Within this discussion theoretical and practical questions are identified and are then explored through the use of a mixed method research design comprised of a small-scale questionnaire (N=108), interviews (N=20) and focus groups (Four groups, N=16). Samples were purposively recruited and consisted of those over 18 years old with six month’s work experience in a UK workplace (questionnaire/focus groups) and external workplace mediators (interviews). Answers to the questions are offered in the form of a framework comprised of a theoretical model and a practically-orientated schematic. It is argued that the reconciliation of potential conflicts between mediation and bullying and harassment are found in a greater understanding of the way mediation operates in practice. This understanding is guided by an appreciation that different standards of reasonableness apply to different behaviours and that individuals, organisations and the courts have differing levels of responsibility for setting and upholding these standards. In meeting this responsibility it is important an organisation is seen as a party to the mediation process since a threat to fairness arises not from privatisation per se but from a personalisation of problems of organisational and/or societal significance. Rather than reject the use of mediation in such situations it suggests the notion of ‘tailored privatisation’ offering a compromise between the concerns of privatisation and the purported benefits of mediation.

The purpose of this study was to explore employees’ knowledge at Naledi-Nkanyezi Private Hospital of the role of the employer in workplace skills development. To achieve this, a literature review was conducted which provided an in-depth knowledge of the role of the employer in workplace skills development in the South African context. The literature review looked specifically at different roles that are awarded to South African employers to train and develop their employee. These roles were classified as: financial role, human resource development role and administrative role. Although the claiming of a mandatory skills grant, the completion of a workplace skills plan and an annual training report fall within the financial and administrative aspects respectively, they were discussed separately. Furthermore the literature looked at the role of the employee as a recipient of workplace skills development programmes. The information gained from the literature review was used as the basis for the development of a survey questionnaire to explore employees’ knowledge of the employers’ role on workplace skills development. Through a systematic sampling technique a sample was selected, and a group-administered questionnaire was used to collect the data from a list of full-time employees at Naledi-Nkanyezi Private Hospital. The results obtained were used to arrive at a theoretical conclusion. The empirical study established that employees at Naledi-Nkanyezi Private Hospital have a limited knowledge of what the role of the employer is on workplace skills development Based on analysis and interpretation of the research findings, recommendations to management, human resources department, EAP personnel and to union representatives were made on how to engage employees in workplace skills development planning and implementation. / Dissertation (MSocSci)--University of Pretoria, 2013. / Social Work and Criminology / unrestricted

Despite the global and local response to the HIV epidemic, the disclosure of HIV status in the workplace is still a problem globally and in South Africa, due to the stigma attached to the disease. However, often, by “going public” about their HIV status, HIV infected people give a face to the disease. This however has not been the case in the workplace due to fear of discrimination and stigma (Lutaaya, 1999; Van der Borght, van ,Janseens, der Loeff, Kajemba, Rijckborst, Lange&de Wet, 2009:676). It has been discovered that HIV and AIDS are not only medical problems but a psycho-social issue as well. Adding to the problem of HIV status disclosure in South Africa prior to 2010, HIV and AIDS were met with denial and a lack of political will to take action and thus adding to the reluctance in HIV status disclosure. The goal of the study was to explore the experiences of HIV positive employees in the transport sector after they have disclosed their HIV status in the workplace. A qualitative phenomenological approach was appropriate for this study using in-depth interviews. And as such one question that was put forward to all participants was: How would you describe your daily living with HIV after you have disclosed your HIV status in the workplace? Fifteen participants from Organisation Alpha formed a sample for this study. Some conclusions based on the findings were that: Participants’ experiences varied from one participant to the other. There were participants who experienced support in the workplace while others experienced isolation and rejection. One issue that stood out was the experience of stigma in the workplace. The experiences felt by the participants were mostly attributed to lack of HIV knowledge in the workplace which needs to be addressed by the application of various strategies and action programmes. The study was concluded with relevant recommendations to the transport sector. Copyright / Dissertation (MSocSci)--University of Pretoria, 2012. / Social Work and Criminology / unrestricted

It is estimated that 80 percent of nurses experience some type of bullying in the workplace during their working lives, and bullying from colleagues has become a major concern. Bullying involves repeated forms of negative behaviours directed at a victim over time. More specifically, the victim is bullied repeatedly over time, with bullying ranging from mild to more severe forms that often go unreported. Bullying in the workplace may cause low self-esteem, depression and anxiety, physical illness and in some cases, the inability to work. The aim of this research study was to explore and describe community service professional nurses’ experiences of being bullied in state hospitals. The information gathered during the course of the study was used to develop strategies that can prevent the bullying of community service professional nurses in the workplace. The design of the study was qualitative, exploratory, descriptive, and contextual in nature. The population sample included all community service professional nurses in state hospitals in the Nelson Mandela Bay area. The researcher employed purposive sampling to select participants from the population of community service professional nurses employed at state hospitals. She collected data by conducting semi-structured individual interviews to gain in-depth accounts from participants and by making observations, which were captured in field notes. Data collected during the interviews were transcribed verbatim and analysed according to Tesch’s eight steps of analysis. Themes were identified through this process and compared to relevant literature. The researcher used the services of an independent coder to aid in the coding process. Trustworthiness was ensured by following Lincoln and Guba’s model of trustworthiness, which comprises the following concepts: credibility, transferability, dependability, and conformability. The researcher ensured that the study adhered to high ethical standards through the principles of justice, beneficence, non-maleficence, and respect for people.

South Africa is a society of diverse cultures, and the workplace is one of the few places that serve as a melting pot for these varied cultures. If managed well, cultural diversity has numerous benefits that can help an organisation gain a competitive advantage. However, failure to manage it can pose challenges that can have serious consequences for an organisation. The purpose of this study was to analyse the leadership of cultural diversity at Volkswagen South Africa (VWSA) and identify leadership guidelines to both enhance team performance and reduce the challenges faced by the organisation as a result of this cultural diversity. For the purpose of this study, a culturally diverse team was defined as a team of diverse individuals from different cultures or societies working together to achieve organisational success. The research was conducted by the use of questionnaire using a sample of 200 employees of the VWSA Paint Shop. The sample represents 42 percent of the total population of the Paint Shop. The study discusses the relationship of four leadership styles (Classical Leadership, Transactional Leadership, Transformational Leadership, and Visionary Leadership) with Cultural Diversity. Whilst strong cases were made for Transformational and Transactional Leadership style being the most suitable styles for leading culturally diverse teams, the researcher concluded that no single leadership style would be ideal for effectively leading culturally diverse teams at VWSA. The appropriate leadership style will instead be a hybrid of all leadership styles, thus being a leadership approach that works as a sort of “best practices” of various leadership styles.