The purpose of this study was to establish what difficulties Grade Seven educators were experiencing in the implementation of Curriculum 2005, a new national outcome-based curriculum with wide ranging aims. A qualitative approach, using a case study method, was employed and mainly in-depth interviews and observations were conducted. Six Grade Seven educators in a variety of schools were interviewed at length about the wide ranging problems they experienced in introducing C2005 into the classrooms for the first time in 2000. The interview data was supplemented by personal observations of most of these educators in their schools. The research study was undertaken in a predominantly rural district of one region of the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Education. The findings of the study are presented and these are interpreted and discussed under two categories: these being the kinds of difficulties enunciated by the educators and the researcher's observation of identified features of problems. The key findings of this research study are the following: • Educators use inappropriate teaching styles • Educators lack a conceptual knowledge of Science • Educators lack the skill to teach practical work • Educators avoid selected aspects of C2005 • Assessment, recording and reporting is a threat to educators • Educators are not able to use learners' knowledge • Educators display a waning interest in the implementation of C2005 • Educators are stressed out • There is an increased workload on educators Educators lack qualification, training and teaching in outcomes - based approaches • Educators do not have parental support • There is a lack of guidance on what to teach • The lack of resources is a major obstacle for the implementation of C2005 • Educators lack a commitment to teach Natural Science • There is a lack of support from principals and school management teams Finally, recommendations are made for the successful implementation of C2005 as well as suggestions for further research. / Thesis (M.Ed.) - University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2001.

This work discusses issues of curriculum in terms of a case study of curriculum reform at a South African medical school, from the viewpoint of a clinical department of which teaching input is predominantly postgraduate rather than undergraduate. Concepts of curriculum and content are explored. A distinction is drawn between different uses of the term 'paradigm'. The context underlying the current educational climate nationally and internationally is described, and the course of medical education and teaching in anaesthesia traced historically. Results of a questionnaire circulated amongst general practitioners in KwaZulu-Natal, and informal interactions and semi-structured interviews with members of staff and students at the medical school, are documented. The general practitioners were broadly in favour of the changes contemplated by the Curriculum Development Task Force and indicated support for movement towards newer modes of teaching and learning. Staff and students were more equivocal about proposed change, conceding their conservatism and pointing out practical problems with initiating change in the direction envisaged, but appearing willing to proceed. Anaesthetics staff on the whole seemed more optimistic about change; they differed from the GPs, other staff and students in advising against attempting to teach specific - as against generic - anaesthetic skills to undergraduates. The responses of the different groups' opinions are discussed against the national and international background in terms of curricular paradigm, educational strategies, curriculum content and aspects of change. It is concluded that Medicine in general has operated in the natural science paradigm and that a degree of inertia has resisted changes suggested for at least the past century. The impetus for change from within medical schools, the profession and society at large is now such that transition directly to a critical mode, strongly influenced by postmodernism, is pending, the effect being that of a Kuhnian paradigm shift. The interdependence of curriculum as a whole and of content - one of its elements - is noted. Local teaching changes in Anaesthetics are compared with those of the faculty as a whole and the interaction of the now fragmented elements of anaesthesia core teaching with the reform process are sketched. / Thesis (M.Ed.)-University of Natal, 1999.

This research sought to investigate middle management‟s roles in implementing the new curriculum at grade 10 -12 levels; it involved a small qualitative study of two schools in the KwaZulu-Natal midlands. At a policy level, the role of middle managers at school level in South Africa has changed. The transformation of the curriculum in South Africa placed a need in all spheres of the education system to be flexible and innovative in accepting change. In fact this need for change is mostly required by the middle management of the schools who bear the brunt of working with teachers and learners in implementing the new curriculum. Hence this qualitative study was undertaken to investigate their roles. In investigating the topic the following three questions were considered as of critical importance in understanding middle managers roles in the new curriculum. The first question explored middle managers‟ main roles in implementing the new curriculum. Secondly it explored how middle managers responded to the current reform process at the FET level, and lastly it investigated how middle managers intertwined assessment in implementing the new curriculum. The review of the literature focused on curriculum implementation internationally and locally and also explored the role of the middle managers as leaders and managers in the curriculum implementation process. The study took place in two rural schools and participants included four middle managers (three heads of department and one principal). Data were collected using semi-structured questionnaires and interviews. A selection of documents (planning and teaching documents) was also collected for analysis. In a nutshell analysis revealed that endeavours were made towards the planning process. There was a presence of the subject framework, work schedule and the lesson plan. This indicated that the initial process of designing the learning programmes was being done. However, data revealed that middle managers fulfilled a management rather than leadership function. Their roles consisted largely of curriculum implementation processes at the expense of curriculum innovation and change. Barriers included a lack of time for proper planning and innovation due to a full teaching load as well as a lack of training by the Department of Education in the area of curriculum development and innovation. / Thesis (M.Ed.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2008.

Nowadays, change becomes more and more a continuous basis of the educational systems for their improvement. People increasingly need to tackle and cope with their organisational environments which are complex and dynamic. However, the problem is to know how to move from the status quo to the situation wherein all stakeholders should work both individually and collaboratively as inquirers and learners to investigate and solve problems. My case study is located at the heart of this context. Its purpose was to investigate why and how the process of curriculum change was managed in the National University of Rwanda from 1995. In addition, it aimed to identify how the University community should come together to handle curriculum change as an ongoing feature of improvement, and as a learning organisation. This research was carried out through a triangulation of participant observation, documentary analysis and semi-structured interviews. Throughout my case study, I observed that orientations and needs for changing the curricula in the National University of Rwanda essentially stemmed from the situation inherited from the war, genocide and massacres undergone by the country in 1994. Furthermore, initiating curriculum change came from the top management, while the basic organ to deal with development and its implementation was the Department. I noted also that it is likely the National University of Rwanda focused more on changing curriculum frameworks than changing organisational habits, behaviours, values, skills and beliefs. Although the shift to the new culture is at the centre of a learning organisation, most of the time this aspect is left untouched in practice. As lecturers in a professional organisation such as the National University of Rwanda have the skills and control over their own work, I conclude that they are in a position to play a vital role to manage curriculum change, learn from it, help students and other stakeholders learn from and take part within it. / Thesis (M.Ed.)-University of Natal, Durban, 2001.

This study explores the concepts of adversity, the facets of adversity and the nature of adversity and how teachers cope under these adversarial conditions. Adversity is a phenomenon that is challenging to grasp yet it affects people daily. In this study, “those people” are the teachers whom I have engaged with. Adversity comes in different forms and under different circumstances and is very much a part of every persons life. These forms include physical structures, emotional inter-relationships and social interaction with teachers, learners and the community. Adversity in the context of this study means to have a great measure of misfortune, hardships, difficulty, danger, harsh conditions and hard times as these have negative connotations to it. The participants in this study share, impart, reveal and disclose both their personal experiences at home, with their families and professional experiences at school with the main stakeholders being the learners. The professional experience of adversity includes teacher intensification, for example, more administrative work, large class sizes, teaching second and third language learners, lack of promotion opportunities, educators with HIV/ AIDS, lack of educational resources such as computers and overhead projectors, changing curriculum, multicultural educational challenges, more meetings during school time and school fund raising. Educators salaries and their qualifications were another issue that needed to be addressed. Teachers reflect on their efforts to pursue tertiary studies, the cost they have incurred and the sacrifices they have made to achieve their diplomas and degrees. With this in mind teachers find that the remuneration they receive for the sacrifices they have made certainly do not match the efforts of their endeavors. Years of studying and the intellectual capacity needed to acquire a teaching diploma and degree remain unrewarded. Teachers continue to compare the salaries of employees in the private sector to those of the public sector. Teaching therefore, seems to more of a service than that of a ‘job’. The financial rewards for teachers continue to allude them. The state does not provide sufficient incentives for teachers to remain in the profession. Therefore, many teachers look for ‘greener pastures’ .Teachers find employment outside the teaching profession in the private sector or even x emigrate to cities like London to seek better financial rewards. Teachers acknowledge that to teach, one requires passion and dedication and zeal for it. This study concentrates on how teachers cope, manage, handle and deal with such conditions in the school setting. These conditions include high volumes of administration, learner apathy, miscommunication with senior management and the employer, handling difficult learners and parents and coping with limited resources. This study reveals how teachers survive these difficult conditions. It further explores the reasons and factors that motivate these teachers to continue teaching. / Thesis (M.Ed.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Edgewood, 2011.

The quest for change in the new South Africa on political , economical and social frontiers were primarily directed at entrance into the global markets, establishing democracy and leveling the playing fields amongst South Africa&rsquo / s diverse population. Those previously disenfranchised on political, economical and social grounds waited in anticipation on the rewards for their participation in the struggle against the discriminative minority regime of the past. These rewards would be in the form of radical policy changes sometimes far removed from the realities of the ordinary citizen. These reforms especially those on the educational level would prove to be flawed with constraints not anticipated by these policy developers as well as the government of the day. The educational transformation process was thus deemed as significant in order to address equity and equality and in so doing also provide skilled citizens which are able to be globally competitive.<br /> <br /> These educational changes in terms of schools were externalised in the form of Curriculum 2005 and Outcomes-based Education. Curriculum 2005 was viewed as a planned framework (process) of curriculum innovation underpinned by factors such as redress, access, equity and development. Outcomes-based Education in turn was the approach focusing on what is learned and how learning is taken place. This study will focus on Curriculum 2005 and OBE as education transformation tools and to what extent grade 7 teachers as implementers and modifiers understand and practice C2005 and OBE in their respective classrooms. One of the biggest problems facing the educational transformation process is the fact that there exists a gap between theory (policy) and practice (implementation). This gap can be attributed to different factors present in the historical disadvantaged school context in South Africa.<br /> <br /> This study will follow a qualitative approach which is directed at an inquiry process of understanding based on a distinct methodological approach. Data- gathering tools such as direct observation, structured interviews and questionnaires will be used. The research was primarily conducted in historically disadvantaged schools in the Metropole-east circuit of the Western Cape Educational Department. The sample was made up of schools in Macassar, Firgrove, Somerset-West, Strand, Temperance Town and Sir Lowry&rsquo / s Pass.

While disparities between the declared and the enactive curriculum have been widely observed, the significance of what is actually taught has not been investigated. This study proposes that the enactive curriculum is not merely deviant from the declared curriculum; rather, it is part of the curriculum-making process. Teachers necessarily produce the curriculum as an object of study which students encounter in the classroom. This object of study expresses the teacher’s conception of what students need to learn, and is intelligibly related to what they do learn. To explore this idea, the research project focused on the study of physics and history at Year 12, where teachers used a common curriculum and worked to a common external examination. Teachers of these subjects were interviewed about their practice and what they wanted students to learn. A phenomenographic analysis of these interviews showed a systematic relationship between the teacher’s focus and the embedded metaphors s/he used to describe students’ learning. In physics and history, the teachers’ conceptions formed a parallel sequence. What was to be studied was described in a widening context: from a narrow focus on facts or algorithms, to a wider view of a body of knowledge or theory, to a relational view where the physicist or the historian was seen to construct theoretical interpretations or readings of relevant detail. There was corresponding variation in the questions and tasks in which students were engaged.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Auburn University, 2008. / Abstract. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (p. 262-279).

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Wollongong, 2008. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references: p. 289-323.

Thesis (Ph.D) -- The College of Saint Elizabeth, 2010. / Typescript. Available at The College of Saint Elizabeth - Office of Graduate Programs. "May 2010"