Masters in Public Administration - MPA / This research is an attempt to determine the extent to which the Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) in higher education promotes social transformation. Through analysing the case study of the University of the Western Cape (UWC) RPL programme, some conclusions on this matter were drawn. This research, a qualitative study, analyses key official documents, institutional reports, learning portfolios - produced by RPL candidates wherin they narrated their autobiographical learning histories - extensively. In addition, qualitative data were incorporated into this study to assist in the construction of the context within which RPL is being offered. / South Africa

South Africa has experienced three significant curriculum reforms since 1994. The first of these replaced the ‘apartheid’ curriculum with C2005 based largely on Outcomes Based Education. In the second stage C2005 gave way to the National Curriculum Statements, a simplified version of C2005. Finally, the NCS was replaced with CAPS. This research study investigates the perceptions, attitudes and experiences of teachers implementing these curriculum changes. It focuses in particular on Foundation Phase in 2012, the year in which CAPS was implemented in that phase. It took the form of an interpretive case study, using qualitative data generating and analysis techniques. Principals and selected teachers of two primary schools in Grahamstown – an ex-Model C school and a performing ‘township’ school - were the respondents of the study. Data were generated chiefly through questionnaires and semi-structured interviews, supplemented by document analysis and observation. The findings revealed that the teachers in this study are frustrated and angry about the frequency of curriculum change in South Africa. Respondents are particularly critical of OBE and the NCS. While they welcome the need for a departure from ‘apartheid’ curricula, they feel the pedagogical underpinning of the NCS – with its emphasis on learner-centredness – disempowered them as teachers. Hence, they welcomed CAPS which seems to return to content – rather than skills and attitudes – and re-instates the teacher as the chief giver of knowledge and manager of learning.

Life Orientation is a new learning area in the National Curriculum Statement. The Learning area promises to improve the quality of education for all the South Africans. This study was founded upon the Structural Curriculum Theory to investigate how secondary school teachers understand, response to and implement Life Orientation. Life Orientation is a core subject area according to the Department of Education. A total number of thirty six Life Orientation teachers form five secondary schools in different circuits in Gert Sibande Region in Mpumalamga Province participated in the study. Data was collected through the focus group, individual interviews and qualitatively analysed. The results revealed that teachers are frustrated, lack knowledge, understanding, has negative response and are ignorant in implementing the subject area in schools. Teachers lack sufficient support, not suffiently qualified, disregard the importance of the subject area, low status of the subject area, limited time allocation for the learning area. In the light of the results, recommendations are made with regard to the study on training monitoring and support of teachers. The Department of Education should increase school-based support visits and monitoring by district officials. These visits should be more intense and should include practical demonstrations of curriculum implementation. District officials must monitor progress by following-up previous visits. Heads of Department should exercise control and provide guidance with regard to curriculum implementation. Learning area teachers and the Heads of Department should be empowered by the Department of Education through scheduled workshops. Specific emphasis should be given to the interpretation and practical implementation of the learning area policy components. Heads of Department should deliberately create opportunities for Life Orientation staff to collaborate to exchange creative ideas and information that will improve teachers’ understanding and interpretation of the curriculum. Schools should acknowledge the status and importance of the learning area. Life Orientation should not be disregarded and deliberately allocated to ineffective teachers or to fill up gaps in the timetable of teachers. Teaching Life Orientation should not be imposed on teachers. Higher Education Institutions should have programmes that will prepare teachers as specialists in Life Orientation as a learning area. The Department of Education and Higher Education Institutions should actively recruit students to become specialists in Life Orientation as a learning area for better implementation of Life Orientation in South African schools. / Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2011. / Early Childhood Education / unrestricted

Since 1994 South Africa has changed dramatically in all spheres, not least of which in the sphere of education. Not only are all schools now open to learners of all races, cultures, religions and language groups, but class sizes have also been standardized leading to the redeployment of a number of teachers from previously advantaged schools. Many schools have also changed from being single-medium to parallel-medium or double-medium schools. Some schools have been accorded Section 21 status, which makes their school governing bodies responsible for the financial affairs of their schools while others have been altogether exempted from school fees. The State has also introduced feeding and school transport schemes and has launched a number of initiatives aimed at teacher upgrading. It is clear, therefore, that the forces that led to political, social and economic change are now also changing school teaching, learning, leading and management. On the teaching and learning fronts schools have seen the introduction of two versions of an outcomes-based curriculum, the mainstreaming (inclusion) of learners who were previously marginalized because of mental and physical disabilities, and a new emphasis on active learning, critical thinking and group work. On the management and leadership front schools have seen the introduction of shared ownership of schools, with school governing bodies being tasked with school governance while the principal and his management team are responsible for the day to day management of schools. The primary means used by the State to effect these changes in schools is the development of policies aimed at redressing past imbalances at schools coupled with extensive staff training, especially those staff members expected to ensure the smooth implementations of policies towards educational transformation. Since principals are responsible for the day-to-day management of schools it follows that they are the ones who represent the various departments of education at school level. They are also, however, the ones who have to ensure that the voices of the teachers, learners and parents forming part of their school community are heard at government level. They therefore find themselves in the middle of two groups of people whose needs are often different but both of whom they – the principals - represent. It is principals, therefore, who most often bear the brunt of change and/or are the target of criticism from above or below. Being a principal myself I empathize with the position in which principals of South African public schools find themselves during these times of change. It was my personal experience, coupled with my exposure to other principals’ experiences of change, experiences often discussed at principals’ workshops and meetings, that made me decide to conduct an inquiry into principals’ experiences of change. It was while I was reading up on the topic that I became convinced that the most appropriate way of investigating these experiences was through the collection and analysis of principals’ first-hand accounts of change and the challenges change posed for them at a personal and professional level. I therefore opted to use narrative methodology in collecting, interpreting and presenting principals’ stories of change. Also informing my inquiry was the fact that, notwithstanding all the research that had been conducted into educational change in South Africa since the demise of apartheid, very little attention had been paid to principals’ experience of change or of the real impact of change on schools and the people who worked there. I asked myself whether things had really changed or whether the changes were merely superficial. Informing my inquiry was an urgency to find out what has really been happening in schools since 1998, when policies were first implemented. Could policy makers really claim that what they had formulated translated as intended into educational practice, and would those changes be sustainable over time? What happened in the interim? What happened to school principals? What were their feelings and experiences about the educational changes that had occurred from 1998 to 2008? What are they thinking now? Have they changed as individuals? Have their performance, leadership and/or management styles changed over the years, and if so, in what ways and why? Put differently, what was new about the way they conducted themselves and/or managed their schools? Have they learnt anything during the past ten years that could assist them in managing their schools differently than they had managed them prior to 1994? What I found was that, while the principals who participated in my study were very different in terms of culture, gender and personality, they were all challenged and are still being challenged by change and the way in which it has upset their own and their respective schools’ equilibrium. Even so, none of them are entirely negative about the changes that have been effected. Rather, they all have their own ideas about how change can be sustained and utilized to improve not only the quality of education but also human and other relations in the country. The conclusions I reached as a result of my research findings cannot be generalized across schools or made applicable to principals across the country since the study was conducted in a very specific region of the Gauteng Department of Education with a relatively small sample of schools. I am, however, of the opinion that the findings are significant in that they indicate commonalities and differences between principals that could be ascribed to race, culture, history and gender. Consequently I believe that, should the study be replicated in other contexts, it is quite possible that the same themes might emerge, thereby creating the possibility of making the kind of generalizations that could be of use to policy makers and/or educational change agents of the future. / Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2009. / Education Management and Policy Studies / unrestricted

The current investigation was conducted in the Mthatha Education District. It sought to investigate factors affecting the implementation of the National Curriculum Statement (NCS) in the Mthatha schools of the Eastern Cape Province in South Africa. Literature reviewed showed that teachers, as the key role players to the implementation of the curriculum in schools, are still experiencing difficulties in implementing the NCS. It is thus important to establish and investigate the factors affecting the implementation of the NCS. The research was both exploratory and explanatory in nature and adopted a mixed method approach. Questionnaires were distributed among 210 teachers who were randomly selected from 363 schools in the Mthatha Education District. Out of 210 teachers who were provided with questionnaires to fill out, it was 148 (70.5 percent) of them who completed and returned the questionnaires. Semi-structured interviews were conducted face-to-face with 10 purposefully selected teachers to collect the data from those who participated by filling out the questionnaires. The researcher analysed the data both quantitatively and qualitatively. The data was presented, analysed and discussed according to themes derived from the main research question and sub-questions. The quantitative data (closed-ended statements) was analysed statistically by means of the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS). In the case of the qualitative data (open-ended statements in questionnaires and interviews), similar responses were analysed in themes as per the research question and sub-questions for easy interpretation. Note-taking and tape-recording were done during the interview sessions. Qualitative data were transcribed, coded and analysed. The findings which emerged from the study indicated that intermediate-phase teachers experienced difficulties in implementing the NCS. These were attributed to, amongst others, a lack of resources such as learning material and infrastructure, redeployment of teachers, a high learner teacher ratio, inadequate in-service training and support from the DoE. These factors need to be addressed to enhance the implementation of the NCS and to avoid the repetition of those shortcomings in any future envisaged changes to the curriculum such as the implementation of CAPS.

Prior to the landmark 1994 democratic elections the South African education system was unequal and departmentalised. The transformation in South African politics was reflected in the changes implemented in the education curriculum. A massive shift in the basic education process was put into operation, in an attempt to create an amalgamated system which would equally benefit all learners (Hackenberg, 2002:20). These curriculum alterations created a lot of dissatisfaction and a sense of frustration among the teaching fraternity (Maphalala, 2006:7 and Knight, 2005:27). The basis of this study focuses on my concern that teachers, already tense and overworked, face many challenges when curriculum modifications occur, and may find it extremely difficult to cope with them. The associated challenges may lead to excess stress, adversity and teachers becoming ill. For this research study I evaluated how teachers confront and cope with the challenges associated with changes to curriculum. The method and success of these coping skills and the management of curriculum revision is directly linked to certain issues, which may exacerbate problems stemming from these changes and have negative effects of on the teachers themselves. This study is a narrative of teachers’ experiences and was primarily conducted in the Umlazi Circuit of the KwaZulu Natal Department of Education. Purposive sampling was utilised by me, whereby the respondents, teachers who had over twenty years of teaching experience, were carefully selected from four primary schools and one secondary school. The study used the qualitative research approach within the interpretive paradigm, allowing for an in-depth insight into the challenges faced by teachers with changes to the curriculum. Data was collected through semi-structured interviews and observation. The data was later analysed using codes, themes and categories. This analysis revealed that curriculum changes cause teachers to experience many challenges in the classroom. These challenges include, amongst others, lack of resources; discipline problems; excessive workloads; overcrowded classrooms; and insufficient professional development workshops.

The purpose of this study is to understand why and how media education became legitimate in the Ontario educational system in the 1980s. The theoretical focus is on how a new social movement (the new social movement in Ontario) led to the legitimation of a new social curriculum (the media education program). This study on media education in Ontario is contextualized in the epochal shift to the information society. Adopting the approach of historical sociology, it documents the influence of those social forces which gave rise to media education and investigates how key individuals brought media education into schools. In the 1970s and 1980s, the societal shift brought with it rapid development in media technologies and induced new social tensions. This study finds that the conceptualization of the mass media as "invisible curriculum," the ideology of techno-cultural nationalism and the moral controversy over media sex and violence directed public attention to the importance of media literacy. The media literacy movement in Ontario subsequently placed media education in the formal school curriculum. Legitimating media education can be regarded as a social and educational response to the technological changes in the information age. This study also indicates that less powerful groups in the community and the educational field were able to put a body of low-status knowledge into the formal school curriculum. In order to analyze the process from social movement to subject formation, a theoretical framework is put forward identifying strong justification, effective lobbying, proper positioning and unofficial support for curriculum-building as the four key elements for legitimating a new social curriculum. Instead of justifying media education in terms of utilitarian and academic values, the advocates emphasized the pragmatic solution provided by the new curriculum to social problems. The manipulation of public support by creating a "climate of opinion" was vital to the success of lobbying. "Subject inhabitancy" was an effective way to find a curricular niche for a new social curriculum. Finally, the advocates' support for the curriculum development and implementation played an important role in strengthening the government's confidence in mandating a new program. / Education, Faculty of / Graduate

This study is an exploration of power and how it is manifested in curriculum making. More specifically, it examines the responses of actors in the physics curriculum network to a proposal to introduce a Physics, Technology and Society (PTS) version of physics in the secondary schools of Bahrain. The proposal to introduce PTS created a point of entry to explore issues of power in curriculum making and highlight some of the strategies that actors used to maintain or reconstruct power relations. Data collection consisted of three phases during which interviews were conducted with Ministry of Education personnel, university physicists and physics educators, physics teachers, university and secondary students, and industry representatives. Interviews focused on responses to: 1) an example of PTS materials (Phase One); 2) the views of other actors (Phase Two); and 3) the Ministry's decision to proceed with piloting of the PTS materials (Phase Three). From Actor-Network Theory (ANT), the responses of the various actors can be understood in terms of their efforts to maintain or reconstruct the school physics network. Furthermore, the study shows that curriculum making can be seen as a networking process in which the success of the various actors is linked to the size and strength of the networks they are able to mobilize to their position. From this point of view, the Ministry, drawing primarily on local networks, is seen to move cautiously in response to the extensive international network which university physicists maintain and which provides high status pathways for students. Power relations are network effects, and in exploring them one gains a better appreciation of the network that constructed them. Therefore, this study illuminates aspects of the school physics network, revealing its constituent actors, the strength of the links between some of its actors, and the establishment of the curriculum as an obligatory passage point. Conclusions pertaining to the nature of this network and the strategies employed by actors in constructing and maintaining power relations as they engaged in negotiating the physics curriculum are drawn. Finally, these conclusions have implications for policy in curriculum change and, more specifically, for addressing issues of power and problems that emerge when fundamental changes in secondary science are introduced. / Education, Faculty of / Curriculum and Pedagogy (EDCP), Department of / Graduate

M.Ed. (Education Philosophy) / Please refer to full text to view abstract

[abstract missing] / Education, Faculty of / Language and Literacy Education (LLED), Department of / Graduate