Thesis (MEd)--PU vir CHO

Thesis (MEd)--PU vir CHO

This thesis deals with a specific secondary school, the Potchefstroom Gymnasium, which is known as the oldest Afrikaans secondary school in the Transvaal. Potchefstroom Gymnasium originated in 1907 as a result of the Christian National ideal and through the years provided an unique contribution to Afrikaans children belonging to the Christian religion. Thus Potchefstroom Gymnasium is considered an exponent of the Christian National Education principle (CNE principle). The Christian National Education principle had its origin in the Bible and during the Reformation of the Church in the 16th and 17th centuries, the Reformed Church, (in the Netherlands) initiated the Protestant Christian way of life - which also pertained to the education as such. In 1652 Jan van Riebeeck brought the Calvinistic philosophy with him to the Cape and in 1838 with the Great Trek it was also extended to the Transvaal As a result of the Liberal humanistic influence of the British during and after the Anglo-Boer War (1899-1902) a Christian National Education movement (CNE movement) originated and CNE schools were founded. Teaching of the Christian Afrikaner children could consequently again be presented in accordance with the CNE principles. Due to political turbulence and lack of financial support, the CNE schools had a short duration and by the end of 1906 they had all either been closed or had become state schools. The need arose for Christian National Education in Potchefstroom and the Preparatory School was founded in 1907 as a Free Christian school and was part of the Reformed Theological School. In 1915 the Preparatory School, also due to lack of funds, became a primary school {of the state) with a secondary section which was called the Potchefstroom Gymnasium. In 1916 a beginning was made to teach certain school subjects through medium of Afrikaans and this school became the first to replace Dutch with Afrikaans as the medium of teaching. In 1918 the primary and secondary sections were separated to form two individual schools. The secondary school be retained its name of Potchefstroom Gymnasium. J J A Coetsee was the first permanent headmaster of the school from July 1908 until July 1938. Under him the school flourished and became a well-known Christian Afrikaans secondary school. From August 1938 to December 1965 W de K Kruger continued in the footsteps of his predecessor at the school where the principles of CNE teaching were taught. / Thesis (MEd)--PU vir CHO, 1983

This thesis deals with a specific secondary school, the Potchefstroom Gymnasium, which is known as the oldest Afrikaans secondary school in the Transvaal. Potchefstroom Gymnasium originated in 1907 as a result of the Christian National ideal and through the years provided an unique contribution to Afrikaans children belonging to the Christian religion. Thus Potchefstroom Gymnasium is considered an exponent of the Christian National Education principle (CNE principle). The Christian National Education principle had its origin in the Bible and during the Reformation of the Church in the 16th and 17th centuries, the Reformed Church, (in the Netherlands) initiated the Protestant Christian way of life - which also pertained to the education as such. In 1652 Jan van Riebeeck brought the Calvinistic philosophy with him to the Cape and in 1838 with the Great Trek it was also extended to the Transvaal As a result of the Liberal humanistic influence of the British during and after the Anglo-Boer War (1899-1902) a Christian National Education movement (CNE movement) originated and CNE schools were founded. Teaching of the Christian Afrikaner children could consequently again be presented in accordance with the CNE principles. Due to political turbulence and lack of financial support, the CNE schools had a short duration and by the end of 1906 they had all either been closed or had become state schools. The need arose for Christian National Education in Potchefstroom and the Preparatory School was founded in 1907 as a Free Christian school and was part of the Reformed Theological School. In 1915 the Preparatory School, also due to lack of funds, became a primary school {of the state) with a secondary section which was called the Potchefstroom Gymnasium. In 1916 a beginning was made to teach certain school subjects through medium of Afrikaans and this school became the first to replace Dutch with Afrikaans as the medium of teaching. In 1918 the primary and secondary sections were separated to form two individual schools. The secondary school be retained its name of Potchefstroom Gymnasium. J J A Coetsee was the first permanent headmaster of the school from July 1908 until July 1938. Under him the school flourished and became a well-known Christian Afrikaans secondary school. From August 1938 to December 1965 W de K Kruger continued in the footsteps of his predecessor at the school where the principles of CNE teaching were taught. / Thesis (MEd)--PU vir CHO, 1983

Thesis (MEd)--PU vir CHO

No existentialism exists as a thought system as such. Not only are differences obvious between theistic and atheistic fields of thought as practised by the existentialist philosophers$ but there are also fundamental differences between advocates of the system such as Heidegger and Sartre. Certain common characteristics can be distinguished. It deals with the existent human being as plunged into a situation, a rebellion against rationalization, the absolutization of human freedom the incompleteness and transience of man, a denunciation of God and the Scriptures. The above-mentioned characteristics of this philosophy exercise a profound influence on the thoughts of modern man and are therefore of immediate importance to education. As Christians we need to understand these existentialists because unlike other more complacent modern thinkers, they are honest enough to voice that sense of despair which is so widespread in our world. They speak for millions of our contemporaries for whom God is dead. They tear away the masks of optimism, self-confidence and indifference. To our mind this philosophy has contributed to a large extent to the moral decline of this decadent twentieth century. It would therefore be gross neglect on the part of Christian education if it does not determine and define the implications of this philosophy. A religious minded people cannot accept the separation of its religion from its education and hence this study was undertaken in an effort to evaluate the existentialism in the light of the scriptures in which God discloses Himself and His relation to all things. It was deemed necessary to refer to religion and calling (vocation) as these are integral aspects of man's life. It was also necessary to refer to the implications of the belief in God as the foundation for a science of education with its corresponding aim and content. Therefore reference is made to an ontological, a cosmological, an anthropological, a cognizable and a methodological basis for this philosophy of education determined by Word revelation. The phenomenological approach (method) employed by the existentialists as well as the denunciation of the God of the Scriptures, causes the total absence of any relation to God, hence the neutrality. In its full reality, however, the God of the Scriptures and the Word of God cannot for one moment be excluded from its reality and no neutrality as such is ever possible. Any educator is a human being and thus a religious being who stands in relation to God, whether he is aware of it or not. Whether he accepts it or not, does not matter. All human activity is an activity issuing from the heart and qualified by the heart, be it in obedience to the law of God or not. Hence all activities of man are religiously centred and that includes education and educating. Man was created by God, as a child of God with the task of governing and ruling over His whole creation, as he would over himself; over his fellow human being, a task which includes the rearing and educating of the child and thereby complying with the responsibility entrusted to him by his Creator. Existentialistic anthropology which considers man as an incomplete and temporary being with no ultimate goal, severs the bond of the human being at its very source, viz., God. Anthropology has contributed largely to contemporary non-recognition of values and principles in education. The Christian educator sees man as the creation of God. Only anthropology based on the Bible can reflect a truly realistic image and total concept of the child. Existentialism absolutizes human liberty and self responsibility which does not subordinate itself to any authority or principle. This approach is a cosmologic absolutization of man’s existence. Man is created by God with a given task and responsibility to do his share in the fulfilment of God’s will. The Lord God has put a radical yet correlated variety in the cosmos. This irreducible variety and interdependent relation must be accepted and investigated without relativization and absolutization and yet with the acknowledgement of God as sovereign Ruler over and Creator of man and the cosmos subject to God’s cosmic law and order. The subjectivism into which the existentialists have deteriorated has caused the relegation to total insignificance of the subject-object relationship in the actual creation. To our mind the concept that knowledge can be obtained only through subjectivity, is impossible to accept. Subject and object are cognizable because God has created them as such. The educationist as a scientist, should continually realize that his knowledge can only be partial, but in the light of Scripture he should acknowledge the sovereignity of God over the whole cosmos and over each and every activity of man and this includes education. In order to combat the godlessness of existentialism the Christian educator should practise his education, that is every subject in the light of Scripture. The determining approach, the Word of God, has illumined that which has to be researched. An attempt has been made not only to give a mere description of the field or research, but also to delve into the results with full and due consideration of what God has revealed in connection with it in His Word. The Word has therefore a function to fulfil in connection with the field of research as well as the researcher. These principles have therefore of neccesity determined the method used. Use has also been made of the analytical and comparative methods. The conclusion arrived at in this study is that the answers to questions arising from educational problems such as those with regard to the eventual aims education should strive for, the very essence of education, the reason for educating, content and method, freedom and authority, discipline and punishment, the task of the teacher, and all questions relating to the full spectrum of education, cannot be supplied by existentialism. A philosophy of education should be based. on a Christian philosophy and should include the totality of education that in its entirety depends on the revelation of the Word. / Thesis (M.Ed.)--PU vir CHO

Thesis (MEd)--PU vir CHO

No existentialism exists as a thought system as such. Not only are differences obvious between theistic and atheistic fields of thought as practised by the existentialist philosophers$ but there are also fundamental differences between advocates of the system such as Heidegger and Sartre. Certain common characteristics can be distinguished. It deals with the existent human being as plunged into a situation, a rebellion against rationalization, the absolutization of human freedom the incompleteness and transience of man, a denunciation of God and the Scriptures. The above-mentioned characteristics of this philosophy exercise a profound influence on the thoughts of modern man and are therefore of immediate importance to education. As Christians we need to understand these existentialists because unlike other more complacent modern thinkers, they are honest enough to voice that sense of despair which is so widespread in our world. They speak for millions of our contemporaries for whom God is dead. They tear away the masks of optimism, self-confidence and indifference. To our mind this philosophy has contributed to a large extent to the moral decline of this decadent twentieth century. It would therefore be gross neglect on the part of Christian education if it does not determine and define the implications of this philosophy. A religious minded people cannot accept the separation of its religion from its education and hence this study was undertaken in an effort to evaluate the existentialism in the light of the scriptures in which God discloses Himself and His relation to all things. It was deemed necessary to refer to religion and calling (vocation) as these are integral aspects of man's life. It was also necessary to refer to the implications of the belief in God as the foundation for a science of education with its corresponding aim and content. Therefore reference is made to an ontological, a cosmological, an anthropological, a cognizable and a methodological basis for this philosophy of education determined by Word revelation. The phenomenological approach (method) employed by the existentialists as well as the denunciation of the God of the Scriptures, causes the total absence of any relation to God, hence the neutrality. In its full reality, however, the God of the Scriptures and the Word of God cannot for one moment be excluded from its reality and no neutrality as such is ever possible. Any educator is a human being and thus a religious being who stands in relation to God, whether he is aware of it or not. Whether he accepts it or not, does not matter. All human activity is an activity issuing from the heart and qualified by the heart, be it in obedience to the law of God or not. Hence all activities of man are religiously centred and that includes education and educating. Man was created by God, as a child of God with the task of governing and ruling over His whole creation, as he would over himself; over his fellow human being, a task which includes the rearing and educating of the child and thereby complying with the responsibility entrusted to him by his Creator. Existentialistic anthropology which considers man as an incomplete and temporary being with no ultimate goal, severs the bond of the human being at its very source, viz., God. Anthropology has contributed largely to contemporary non-recognition of values and principles in education. The Christian educator sees man as the creation of God. Only anthropology based on the Bible can reflect a truly realistic image and total concept of the child. Existentialism absolutizes human liberty and self responsibility which does not subordinate itself to any authority or principle. This approach is a cosmologic absolutization of man’s existence. Man is created by God with a given task and responsibility to do his share in the fulfilment of God’s will. The Lord God has put a radical yet correlated variety in the cosmos. This irreducible variety and interdependent relation must be accepted and investigated without relativization and absolutization and yet with the acknowledgement of God as sovereign Ruler over and Creator of man and the cosmos subject to God’s cosmic law and order. The subjectivism into which the existentialists have deteriorated has caused the relegation to total insignificance of the subject-object relationship in the actual creation. To our mind the concept that knowledge can be obtained only through subjectivity, is impossible to accept. Subject and object are cognizable because God has created them as such. The educationist as a scientist, should continually realize that his knowledge can only be partial, but in the light of Scripture he should acknowledge the sovereignity of God over the whole cosmos and over each and every activity of man and this includes education. In order to combat the godlessness of existentialism the Christian educator should practise his education, that is every subject in the light of Scripture. The determining approach, the Word of God, has illumined that which has to be researched. An attempt has been made not only to give a mere description of the field or research, but also to delve into the results with full and due consideration of what God has revealed in connection with it in His Word. The Word has therefore a function to fulfil in connection with the field of research as well as the researcher. These principles have therefore of neccesity determined the method used. Use has also been made of the analytical and comparative methods. The conclusion arrived at in this study is that the answers to questions arising from educational problems such as those with regard to the eventual aims education should strive for, the very essence of education, the reason for educating, content and method, freedom and authority, discipline and punishment, the task of the teacher, and all questions relating to the full spectrum of education, cannot be supplied by existentialism. A philosophy of education should be based. on a Christian philosophy and should include the totality of education that in its entirety depends on the revelation of the Word. / Thesis (M.Ed.)--PU vir CHO

After suffering heavy losses at the hands of the warriors of Zulu King Dingane (c. 1795-1840), a Voortrekker commando advanced against the former in December 1838. As it was evident that they would be faced by superior enemy numbers, the Voortrekkers were induced by A.W.J. Pretorius (1798-1853) and S.A. Cilliers (1801-1871), to enter into a covenant with God. Its exact words were not recorded, but eyewitnesses' later versions concurred that God had been requested to assist them in vanquishing the Zulu Army. Should they be victorious, the Voortrekkers undertook that they and their descendants would annually dedicate the day of the conquest to the glory of God alone. The Battle of Blood River took place on 16 December 1838, marking the Voortrekkers' desired victory. On the same day, the Covenant was fulfilled for the first time on the very battlefield. Thus the oldest Afrikaner national celebration, later known as Dingaan's Day or Day of the Covenant, came about. Initially the Covenant was commemorated in a small way by families and religious associates. In 1864 the General Synod of the Afrikaners' Natal Churches agreed that 16 December would henceforth be celebrated as ecclesiastical day of thanksgiving by all its congregations. This was the result of the efforts of two Dutch clergymen and supporters of Revival Theology, namely Revs. D.P.M. Huet (1827-1895) and F.L. Cachet (1835-1899). In 1865 the Executive Counsel of the South African Republic declared 16 December to be a public holiday in this Boer Republic. During the Anglo Transvaal (1880-1881) and Anglo Boer Wars (1899-1902), the commemoration of the Covenant inspired Afrikaners. The celebrations acquired a deeply nationalistic significance. A growing number of Covenant ceremonies were annually being organised throughout the Boer Republics and northern Natal. In 1894 the Government of the Free State also declared 16 December to be a public holiday. English-speaking compatriots and members of other races in general attached little importance to the Covenant, normally utilising 16 December for recreational purposes only. In 1910 an act was passed by Parliament according to which 16 December would be celebrated as a national holiday (Dingaan's Day) throughout the Union of South Africa, as of 1911. The celebration of the Covenant of 1838 has had an inestimable influence on Afrikaner and even South African cultural history. It played an important religious, national, social and educational role in everyday life, stimulating and shaping the Afrikaner's creativity, historical consciousness, ethics and intercultural relations. In 1952 the name of the day was changed from Dingaan's Day to Day of the Covenant. After 1994, in post-apartheid South Africa, it has still remained a public holiday, even though it is now known as Day of Reconciliation. The fact that it has been retained as a holiday is regarded as a significant gesture of goodwill towards Afrikaners. A study of South Africans' diverse attitudes towards the celebration of the Covenant of 1838, starting with the earliest commemorations between 1838 and 1910, may contribute towards mutual understanding and harmony. / Dissertation (MHCS)--University of Pretoria, 2004. / Historical and Heritage Studies / unrestricted

Philosophiae Doctor - PhD / This thesis examines the way in which the recognition of diversity can be applied as a strategy in South African education to erode the bitter legacy of colonial education. The establishment of formal education, built on a western foundation, was set up against a background of colonisation as a process aimed at political subjugation and economic exploitation. It is especially how education was utilised as a tool of colonisation in order to facilitate the above-mentioned subjugation and exploitation through a process of cultural subjugation that will be placed under the spotlight. In chapter three, the process of cultural subjugation outlined in chapter two, is related to the establishment and development of colonial education in South Africa and also how Apartheid was a form of internal colonialism with apartheid education continuing the process of cultural subjugation for political control and economic exploitation. Colonial subjugation was, however, not passively accepted by the subjugated. From the outset, subjugation spawned resistance and would eventually grow into large-scale opposition aimed at the overall casting off of the colonial yoke. This opposition eventually led to the political freedom of 1994. The political freedom of 1994 and the judicial framework for the dismantling of the legacy of colonial education would not, on its own or overnight, be able to dismantle the effects of centuries of subjugation. The dismantling of the inheritance of colonialism, together with colonial education, requires deliberate and constructive action. Such a process will have to include putting an end to the subjugation of the numerous voices characteristic of South Africa. Ending this subjugation does not mean the continuation of a position alongside and beneath a socially constructed dominant, but rather a process (a struggle?) where it can take its place impartially, alongside and equal to other voices in the greater diverse whole. It is against the above background that teaching strategies for the handling of diversity will be critically examined and for which recommendations are made for strategies, within the South African context, through which the dismantling of the colonial legacy of cultural subjugation for political control and economic exploitation can take place.