The purpose of this Master’s thesis was to examine different factors influencing the process of establishing and developing school libraries in relation to the implementation of a new outcome based curriculum, Curriculum 2005. The main focus was on under resourced areas and a field study was conducted in 1998 in the Western Cape Province during the first year of implementation. As a frame a Swedish – South African school library project, that lasted between 1997- 2002, was used. The findings from the field study were analysed according to a model identifying different factors influencing the process of implementation ofeducational change in underdeveloped countries. Four evaluations of the project were incorporated in the analysis with the aim to enhance the findings from the field study but also to question them. The aim was not to evaluate the project itself. The conclusions reached were that several ofthe factors found to affect the implementation process were not specificfor under resourced areas, but could also be found in the research regarding developed countries. Some factors were however found to be specific for many of the under resourced areas, such as shortage ofadequate learning resources, especially in the indigenous languages, dependence on external support such as voluntary workers and donations, infrastructural problems, absence of possible co-operating public libraries, locked libraries due to security problems etc. Many of these factors couldbe referred back to inherited inequalities. / Uppsatsnivå: D

Tile research focuses on the role played by the school in preraring learners for self-employment. It seeks to establish the extent to which entrepreneurial knowledge, skills and attitudes are being promoted ai school thus equipping learners for ihe world of business once they leave school. The study is undertaken ag~i the background of very high mte of unemployment currently facing South Africa. A nmnber of factors, such as high population growth, globalisation and a variety of other socio-political circlUllStance have resulted in the shrinkage of job opportunities in the formal sector of the economy. The unemployment problem mostly affects the rural schoolleavers, among other groups, in the community. Small bu.'$ine.<Js development is generally seen as the most promising solution to the unemployment problem. Preparing learners for entrepreneurship is therefore the most serious challenge facing schools today. The school is required to deliver the kind of education that will make it possible for learners to start and develop their own businesses once they leave school. Hence the quest for education that is relevant to the needs and aspirations of society. A qualitative study undertaken with rural schoolleavers who own small businesses reveals that the school has not yet taken delibemte steps to tester entrepreneurship among learners thus preparing them for self-employment when they leave school. Again it bas been demonstrated that schools have great potential to inculcate entrepreneurial knowledge, attitudes and skills once they can start working in close co-operation with the community. A shift from traditional approaches to teaching and learning to the progressive (entrepreneurial) approaches can contribute greatly in producing learners who are ready fbr life as independent, creative and influencial business leaders of the future. / Educational Studies / D.Ed. (Comparative Education)

This study focuses on the concept of Active Learning (AL) and the related concept Active Leamer Participation (ALP) as it features in the Literacy Learning Programme of the Foundation Phase of Curriculum 2005. The aim of the action research project, conducted at four schools in the Durban district of K waZulu- Natal, was to find a model of AL in order to provide guidance on teaching for ALP. The study involved the researcher working collaboratively with five Foundation Phase educators over a period of four months. Results of the study indicated that teaching in the sequential stages of classbuilding and teambuilding, whole class discussion, group work and individual work increases learners' active participation and ownership in terms of the learning experience. These stages form the model of active learning. Due to the spirit of camaraderie and partnership that developed in each stage, the research team is inclined to call it "The Tirisano Model of Active Learning". / Educational Studies / M. Ed. (Didactics)

M.Ed.

This is a four year longitudinal study into learner experiences of transition from the General Education and Training band to the Further Education and Training band in science. The study focused on Natural Science in the GET band and Physical Science in the FET band and used both quantitative and qualitative methods. The learners who participated in the study were a unique cohort. They were in grade 1 when Curriculum 2005 was introduced in 1997. They were also the last group of learners in 2005 that completed their compulsory schooling (grade 9) under the outcomes based C2005 in which content was not prescribed. The curriculum was revised and content was re-introduced in 2006 when they started grade 10 (FET) with teachers who were mostly not trained in Outcomes Based Education. In 2008 they were the first matriculants from the new curriculum. Their progress and experiences from the GET band to the FET band should have therefore generated a lot of interest from both the political and educational perspectives. This study is exploring their particular situation. There is a gap between curriculum 2005 and the National Curriculum Statement. Learners in this study who were doing grade 9 Natural Science in 2005 under c2005 were greatly disadvantaged by the curriculum that did not prepare them adequately for grade 10 Physical Science. Initially, there was an increase shown in interest in science from grade 9 to grade 10 but this interest declined as learners progressed to grade 12. During their progress from the GET phase to the FET phase their transition was characterized by a decline in interest in Physical Science caused by lack of practical work, loss of the closer student-teacher relationships and disappointment when their expectations of teaching strategies were not met. They themselves described the transition as difficult. However, the achievement in the examination of those who were post positivist-oriented was better than the achievement of those who were empiricist-aligned. When faced with problems of conceptual understanding, they resorted to guess work and rote application of concepts and algorithms. Although these findings were derived from a study of learners in only one school from a poor township in South Africa, they are consistent with other reports in the literature. Copyright / Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2009. / Science, Mathematics and Technology Education / unrestricted

The structure of an education system and its curricula reflects the influence of a specific paradigm. Since the onset of colonial rule and apartheid in South Africa about everything in the South African society, including the education system and curricular issues in particular, have been shaped in accordance with the macro paradigm: the modern Western paradigm. The emergence of a new paradigm: the postmodern paradigm, created the possibility of a new order of thinking which influenced all societal domains and aspects and propelled the society into the new millennium. Since 1994 a new approach forms the corner stone of all the new South African policy documents on education. It is for this reason that the issue of an arts education curriculum is investigated from a paradigmatic point of view with reference to the modern, the postmodern and the African paradigms. Various components, roles and dynamics of educational curricula cast in the modern paradigm framework are compared with characteristics of their counterparts in the postmodern paradigm framework, and how they can influence the design of curricula, especially arts education. The contribution of an African paradigmatic perspective is accounted for. A new approach to curriculum development based on the ideals of a learner-centred education approach, an outcomes-based education approach and the integration of subjects into specific learning areas has officially been adopted as the approach for transforming education and curricular issues, resulting in the present Curriculum 2005. Within the context of the Arts and Culture learning area of this Curriculum, the study concentrates on and emphasises the integration of the four art forms of dance, drama, music and visual art in order to overcome the legacy of fragmentation of a curriculum. The study culminates in a proposed integrated arts education outline for curriculum development that defines the rationale and vision for South African arts education. The researcher contends that there is sufficient scope for arts education to contribute its unique aesthetic values to the new national curriculum in South Africa and that integration of these art forms does not in any way diminish the unique character of each. / Didactics / D. Ed. (Didactics)

The structure of an education system and its curricula reflects the influence of a specific paradigm. Since the onset of colonial rule and apartheid in South Africa about everything in the South African society, including the education system and curricular issues in particular, have been shaped in accordance with the macro paradigm: the modern Western paradigm. The emergence of a new paradigm: the postmodern paradigm, created the possibility of a new order of thinking which influenced all societal domains and aspects and propelled the society into the new millennium. Since 1994 a new approach forms the corner stone of all the new South African policy documents on education. It is for this reason that the issue of an arts education curriculum is investigated from a paradigmatic point of view with reference to the modern, the postmodern and the African paradigms. Various components, roles and dynamics of educational curricula cast in the modern paradigm framework are compared with characteristics of their counterparts in the postmodern paradigm framework, and how they can influence the design of curricula, especially arts education. The contribution of an African paradigmatic perspective is accounted for. A new approach to curriculum development based on the ideals of a learner-centred education approach, an outcomes-based education approach and the integration of subjects into specific learning areas has officially been adopted as the approach for transforming education and curricular issues, resulting in the present Curriculum 2005. Within the context of the Arts and Culture learning area of this Curriculum, the study concentrates on and emphasises the integration of the four art forms of dance, drama, music and visual art in order to overcome the legacy of fragmentation of a curriculum. The study culminates in a proposed integrated arts education outline for curriculum development that defines the rationale and vision for South African arts education. The researcher contends that there is sufficient scope for arts education to contribute its unique aesthetic values to the new national curriculum in South Africa and that integration of these art forms does not in any way diminish the unique character of each. / Didactics / D. Ed. (Didactics)

Magister Educationis - MEd / This mini thesis analyses and describes the implementation of the National Curriculum in the Foundation Phase of the primary school. On the 24th of May 1997 South Africa launched a new curriculum, Curriculum 2005 (C2005). The underlying philosophy of C2005 is Outcomes Based Education (OBE). Since the adoption of OBE and the introduction of C2005 many changes have been introduced in our schools with a new curriculum that had to be implemented hastily, which was reviewed and again introduced as the Revised National Curriculum Statement (RNCS).Teachers had little say in any of these changes and this has resulted in frustration and in many cases a lack of ability to cope with the implementation of the new curriculum.I argue that teachers do not have a common understanding of the Assessment Standards and that they still need support with linking the theory of curriculum policy to their practices and with a sound application of Integration and Progression. This research is an enquiry into the process of curriculum implementation in particular in the Foundation Phase which was tasked to be the first to adopt the changes. Change was not sustained and I highlight some of the challenges that teachers still face.A significant part of the research is the participatory action research process which is a deliberate, solution-oriented investigation into the implementation of the RNCS in the Foundation Phase to inform and change my understanding of the actual support teachers need.The study is characterized by a cycle of problem identification, planning, systemic data collection, reflection, analysis and action. With the research I am striving to understand teachers’ practices in order to improve my work as Education Specialist that supports and develops teachers in primary schools.

Outcomes-based education (OBE) (at least at a conceptual level) is moving from an instructionist (teacher as transmitter of knowledge) to a constructivist approach (teacher as mediator and facilitator in the construction of meaning). This shift requires teachers that move from a traditional teacher-centred classroom to a learner-centred classroom management approach. The policy originators label this shift as a “paradigm shift”, but in the training of educators in OBE, no training was offered in terms of a new approach to classroom management. In this study I argue that if OBE in the South African context really constitute a paradigm shift, then at conceptual level, it would require a new approach to classroom management. Against this background, the aim of the study is to conceptually interrogate the notion of constructivist classroom management and investigate how classroom management within a constructivist mode differs from traditional classroom management within an instructionist approach. This study is qualitative in nature and employs conceptual analysis in the form of conceptual historical analysis, conceptual cartography and hermeneutic analysis. The Wilsonian concept analysis was used to examine and distinguish between the defining attributes of the concepts “instructionist classroom management” and “constructivist classroom management” and their relevant attributes. Also, a typology of non-empirical questions applied to conceptual analysis was used. The Matrix of Paradigmatic Value Systems was used as a tool/lens to categorise “instructionist classroom management” and “constructivist classroom management” in terms of their paradigmatic roots. Credibility and authenticity was achieved through crystallisation instead of triangulation. Emerging from the literature and concept analysis, “instructionist classroom management” is informed and guided by the traditional paradigm – it is based on a mechanistic worldview. On the other hand, “constructivist classroom management” is compatible with the emerging paradigm – it has holistic and artistic features. Traditional classroom management is underpinned by the principles of scientific management whilst constructivist classroom management is informed and guided by contingency approaches to management theory. Based on the analysis done and the reflection on the data, it is posited that classroom management within a constructivist setting needs to move from traditional to contingency classroom management approach. On the surface, basic management principles such as, planning, organising, leading and control, appear to be similar, but this is a myth. For example, planning, seen from its traditional defining terms, approaches classroom management as a step-by-step process under control and directed by the teacher; and may restrict the degree to which learners become collaborators in the teaching and learning situation. Organising focuses on issues of group work and collaborates learning; control moves to accountability (where learners become part of the development of class rules and partners in ensuring order and discipline); and evaluation moves to ongoing assessment and feedback as a strategy to ensure continuous improvement and the facilitation of the construction of new knowledge. Thus, this study proposes rethinking a set of principles compatible to the emergent paradigm that should not only support the construction of knowledge in the constructivist setting, but also promote collaborative interaction. / Thesis (PhD (Education Management, Law and Policy))--University of Pretoria, 2008. / Education Management and Policy Studies / unrestricted

This study, based on a sustained, qualitative investigation into the instructional decision-making of three Grade Nine Natural Science teachers, addresses the dichotomy between policy and practice in the post-apartheid South African context. The main research questions that guided this study were: 1. How do secondary school teachers understand the critical differences between the traditional curriculum, the new outcomes-based curriculum and the revised version of this new curriculum? 2. Why and how do these teachers make strategic curriculum decisions at the interface of the three curricula in their classrooms? A comparative case study approach was taken, during which evidence of what the science teachers were doing in their classes was collected through prolonged, non-participant classroom observation of close to 30 lessons each. Insight into the rationale behind their practices, i.e. their pre-active and interactive decision-making, was gleaned from intensive pre-lesson and post-lesson interviews. The video-recording lessons were played back to them for stimulated recall of their interactive thinking and decision-making. Together with biographical interviews, teacher diaries, and the researcher’s field-notes, these instruments helped get a sense of the mechanics and dynamics of how these two science teachers make planning, teaching and assessment decisions in the fluidity of the present curriculum habitat in South Africa. The main finding from this study is that teachers do not make extensive use of their considerable decision-making space; I characterize this phenomenon as passivity in decision-making. It was found, further, that a number of decision-making frame factors have a bearing on teachers’ tendency to abdicate their decision-making authority; However, an unexpected finding was the extent to which the commercially prepared ‘outcomes-based’ learning support material shapes what happens in science classrooms. In theorizing teachers’ passivity-in-decision-making during complex curriculum change, I draw on and extend the scholarship on the intensification of teachers’ work, by arguing that South African teacher essentially cede their decision-making authority to ‘outcomes-based’ texts, in order to cope with the overwhelming and multiple threats of intensification of their work. The evidence in this study demonstrate that the veritable threats of intensification of teachers’ work, which typically accompany radical curriculum change in developing countries, stifles teachers’ opportunities to bridge the gap between policy and practice. / Thesis (PhD (Education))--University of Pretoria, 2005. / Education Management and Policy Studies / unrestricted