The purpose of the paper is to determine why today's youth are so physically inactive by examining the role and efforts of physical education, and the state and federal governments responsibility in supporting these programs, in fighting today's obesity epidemic by creating generations of healthy and physically active children. Research led to the determination that states have failed to maintain and improve physical education resulting in a physically inactive youth. Therefore, the nation should look to federal legislation to support state-led physical education, which this paper found to be constitutional if the enactments followed the provisions established in South Dakota v. Dole. Examples of recent physical education bills, most specifically the FIT Kids Act, are briefly analyzed for effectiveness and likeliness of enactment. Lastly, the determination is made that federal legislation has failed because of the view that physical education is not a "core" subject, preventing programs from receiving Title I and Title II funding. The findings are useful in light of the numerous attempts to get children physically active.

The South African education system has been undergoing a process of transformation and democratisation. An historical overview of democracy in the South Africa education system confirms that the system had developed to become a highly centralised and bureaucratic system during the twentieth century, but it was transformed in 1996 to afford a greater degree of parental participation through local school governing bodies. Democracy is founded on a belief in individual rights, equality, and self-government by the majority of the people. The moral authority of the majority is based on the notion that there is more enlightenment and wisdom between many than in a single man. However, the power of the majority is always limited by the prerequisite of the rule of law and the implicit requirements of legality and justice. This implies that bureaucratic or undemocratic exercise of power by the majority or any person, including the state, would be contrary to the requirements of legality and democracy. An overview of the theories of democracy explains the complexities of the different orientations and ideological approaches to democracy. Critiques of democracy have identified an elitist, inegalitarian, and antiparticipatory core in liberal democracy. The sensible approach to these weaknesses of liberal democracy is to integrate the best features of the various theories of democracy towards a workable solution to manage the systemic conflicts. This includes the formal application of checks and balances and the substantive adjustment of the executive, legislative and judicial practice to maintain a harmonious equilibrium between equality and liberty. The theory of deliberative democracy suggests an additional way to improve substantive democracy. There is an inextricable link between democracy, education and the law. The South African Constitution provides for representative (political) and participatory democracy, as well as for the enshrinement of fundamental rights such as the right to basic education. In addition, the education legislation and policies contain numerous provisions that prescribe and necessitate democratisation of the education system. However, the empirical results of the study show that a number of controversial bureaucratic practices and a tendency towards increased centralisation of the system, constrain democratic school governance. The most prominent undemocratic practices in the system inter alia include: the over-politicisation of schools by the dominant teachers’ union; the bureaucratic appointment of educators; the interference by teachers’ unions with the appointment of educators, the bureaucratic imposition of English medium language policies on Afrikaans schools; and • the ambivalent attitude towards inclusive education. An investigation into the knowledge levels of senior education administrators, school principals and school governing chairpersons, which participated in this study, revealed that their knowledge of participatory democracy and Education Law was superficial. This ignorance of these stakeholders in education compounds the problem of effectively administering, managing and governing schools in a democratic manner. Conclusions drawn from the evidence of this study suggests that certain of the encumbrances to democracy in schools and the system can be attributed to systemic weaknesses, as well as to misconceptions and the misapplication of democratic principles. Finally, the study proposes two models to improve democratic school governance. The first model suggests a theoretical framework for improving the power relations, knowledge, civic attitudes and democratic values. The final model, which is based on the first theoretical model, proposes that Area School Boards be statutorily established to govern defunctive schools and that deliberative forums should be established and implemented within the organisational hierarchy of the education system. / Thesis (Ph.D. (Education))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2009

The South African education system has been undergoing a process of transformation and democratisation. An historical overview of democracy in the South Africa education system confirms that the system had developed to become a highly centralised and bureaucratic system during the twentieth century, but it was transformed in 1996 to afford a greater degree of parental participation through local school governing bodies. Democracy is founded on a belief in individual rights, equality, and self-government by the majority of the people. The moral authority of the majority is based on the notion that there is more enlightenment and wisdom between many than in a single man. However, the power of the majority is always limited by the prerequisite of the rule of law and the implicit requirements of legality and justice. This implies that bureaucratic or undemocratic exercise of power by the majority or any person, including the state, would be contrary to the requirements of legality and democracy. An overview of the theories of democracy explains the complexities of the different orientations and ideological approaches to democracy. Critiques of democracy have identified an elitist, inegalitarian, and antiparticipatory core in liberal democracy. The sensible approach to these weaknesses of liberal democracy is to integrate the best features of the various theories of democracy towards a workable solution to manage the systemic conflicts. This includes the formal application of checks and balances and the substantive adjustment of the executive, legislative and judicial practice to maintain a harmonious equilibrium between equality and liberty. The theory of deliberative democracy suggests an additional way to improve substantive democracy. There is an inextricable link between democracy, education and the law. The South African Constitution provides for representative (political) and participatory democracy, as well as for the enshrinement of fundamental rights such as the right to basic education. In addition, the education legislation and policies contain numerous provisions that prescribe and necessitate democratisation of the education system. However, the empirical results of the study show that a number of controversial bureaucratic practices and a tendency towards increased centralisation of the system, constrain democratic school governance. The most prominent undemocratic practices in the system inter alia include: the over-politicisation of schools by the dominant teachers’ union; the bureaucratic appointment of educators; the interference by teachers’ unions with the appointment of educators, the bureaucratic imposition of English medium language policies on Afrikaans schools; and • the ambivalent attitude towards inclusive education. An investigation into the knowledge levels of senior education administrators, school principals and school governing chairpersons, which participated in this study, revealed that their knowledge of participatory democracy and Education Law was superficial. This ignorance of these stakeholders in education compounds the problem of effectively administering, managing and governing schools in a democratic manner. Conclusions drawn from the evidence of this study suggests that certain of the encumbrances to democracy in schools and the system can be attributed to systemic weaknesses, as well as to misconceptions and the misapplication of democratic principles. Finally, the study proposes two models to improve democratic school governance. The first model suggests a theoretical framework for improving the power relations, knowledge, civic attitudes and democratic values. The final model, which is based on the first theoretical model, proposes that Area School Boards be statutorily established to govern defunctive schools and that deliberative forums should be established and implemented within the organisational hierarchy of the education system. / Thesis (Ph.D. (Education))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2009

Orientador: Hélia Sônia Raphael / Banca: Paschoal Quaglio / Banca: Carmen Lúcia Dias / Resumo: A pesquisa teve como objetivo analisar a trajetória da concepção da avaliação da Educação Superior nas constituições e demais normas de 1961 a 2007. Para isto, levanta, seleciona e analisa os documentos legais do período determinado e os contextualiza mediante a análise dos períodos históricos a que se referem. Parte-se do pressuposto que o tema da avaliação reveste-se de grande importância principalmente a partir de meados da década de 1990 e merece ser contemplado dos pontos de vista legal e histórico, por serem escassos os estudos em legislação da educação e que contemplam a trajetória da concepção da temática em evidência. O estudo da legislação foi realizado a partir de recortes históricos: no primeiro período (1961-1968) foram encontradas 53 normas e analisadas 25; entre os anos de 1969-1988, que se constituíram como o segundo período, foram encontrados 28 documentos legais e analisados 12 e, no último período, dos anos 1989- 2007, foram levantados 268 normas, sendo descritas e analisadas 37 delas. O texto evidencia, entre outros aspectos, que o modelo de avaliação da Educação Superior brasileira passou de um modelo quantitativista e objetivista à tentativa de um modelo emancipatório, com a finalidade de atingir uma melhor qualidade e de aproximar-se da avaliação formativa defendida pelos intelectuais. Entretanto, não é definido com clareza que tipo de Educação Superior deriva da implantação e legitimação desses processos de avaliação, ao contrário dos processos de avaliação da Educação Superior presentes no período de 1961 a 1968, que foram claramente definidos como meta de impedir a criação de cursos ou aumento de vagas em cursos cujo mercado de profissionais da área já tivesse satisfeito / Abstract: The research aimed to analyze the trajectory of the evaluation design of higher education in the constitutions and other standards from 1961 to 2007. For this, raises, selects and reviews the legal documents of the period specified and contextualizes them by analysis of historical periods to which they relate. It starts from the assumption that the subject of evaluation is of great importance, especially since the mid-1990s and deserves to be recognized in the views of legal history and, being few studies in education law and to address the trajectory design of the theme in evidence. The study of law was made from historical analysis: the first period (1961-1968) were found and analyzed 53 rules 25, between the years 1969-1988, which have established themselves as the second period, there were 28 legal documents and analyzed 12 and in the last period, the years 1989 to 2007, 268 standards were raised, were described and analyzed 37 of them. It stresses, among other things, that the assessment model of higher education rose from a Brazilian model and objectivist quantitativist to attempt an emancipatory model, in order to achieve better quality and closer to the formative assessment advocated by intellectuals . However, it is not clearly defined what type of higher education derives from the legitimacy and implementation of assessment procedures, in contrast to the assessment of higher education in the present period from 1961 to 1968, which were clearly defined goal of preventing the development of courses or increase in places in courses which market professionals had already satisfied / Mestre

Esta pesquisa tem como objetivo estudar a construção do direito à educação no município de Santo André, nas décadas de 50 a 70 do século XX, a partir da análise dos orçamentos municipais do período abordado. Por considerar fundamental a perspectiva histórica para a construção e implementação da política pública, a pesquisa resgata a organização da rede pública de ensino municipal e avalia os mecanismos que foram construídos pelo Poder Público a fim de garantir o direito à educação, principalmente no que diz respeito ao direito aos anos iniciais do ensino fundamental (antigo ensino primário). Com as referências sendo as legislações da época assim como o trabalho realizado por João Correa Mascaro (1958) relativo às análises dos orçamentos públicos dos municípios paulistas no período estudado, este estudo analisa os orçamentos do município de Santo André, compondo séries históricas de dados, obtidos por meio de um levantamento minucioso, com foco prioritariamente nas previsões orçamentárias das despesas públicas com educação. Uma das problematizações feitas nesse estudo refere-se ao regime de colaboração entre as esferas municipal e estadual, no cumprimento da escolaridade obrigatória, a partir da Constituição Federal de 1946. Constata-se que mesmo antes da Lei de Diretrizes e Bases da Educação, de nº 5.692 de 11/08/1971, a qual previa a progressiva passagem da responsabilidade municipal com os encargos e serviços de educação, principalmente os referentes ao Ensino Fundamental, antigo 1º grau, o município já se comprometia com o atendimento escolar nos mais diversos níveis. Verifica-se, também, o total de recursos financeiros aplicados na manutenção e desenvolvimento do ensino, analisando as condições para a efetividade do direito à educação, nesse momento da história local, cujas transformações econômicas trouxeram um grande número de trabalhadores para a implantação da indústria multinacional na região. Assim, o estudo das leis orçamentárias, contextualizadas pela análise do conjunto de leis municipais e de outras fontes históricas, permitiu compreender, dentre outros aspectos, as concepções vigentes de educação pelo Poder Público local e sua progressiva organização burocrática como aparelho de Estado, tornando mais complexo no decorrer do período em questão. O presente texto aprofunda parte dos achados da Pesquisa \"O Direto à Educação Básica - estudo da demanda social e do atendimento público em uma micro região urbana\" a qual estudou os fenômenos que afetam a garantia efetiva do acesso e permanência das crianças, jovens e adultos em nove escolas da cidade de Santo André, uma vez que estas escolas foram instaladas no período considerado por este trabalho. / These search aims to study the construction of the right to education in the city of Santo André, in the decades from 50 to 70 of the twentieth century, from the analysis of the municipal budgets of the period approached. For a historical perspective consider essential for the construction and implementation of public policy, the search recover the organization of public education, municipal and assesses the mechanisms that were built by the Public Power to ensure the right to education, particularly as regards the right to the early years of elementary school (formerly primary education). With the references and the laws of the time as well as the work done by John Correa Mascaro (1958) on the analysis of public budgets of municipalities Sao Paulo in the period studied, this study examines the budgets of the municipality of Santo André, composing historical series of data, obtained through a thorough survey, focusing primarily on budgetary estimates of public expenditure on education. One of the problems made in this study refers to the system of cooperation between the municipal and state spheres, in the fulfilment of compulsory education from the Federal Constitution of 1946. It appears that even before the Law and Guidelines for Basic Education, No 5.692, 11/08/1971, which foresaw a gradual transition of responsibility with municipal charges and services of education, particularly those for elementary school, former 1 st degree, the council already was committed to the school attendance on the widest levels. There is also the total of financial resources applied in the maintenance and development of education, examining the conditions for the effectiveness of the right to education at that time local history, whose economic transformations brought a large number of workers for the deployment of industry multinational in the region. Thus, the study of budgetary laws, contextualized by analysis of the set of municipal laws and other historical sources, enabled understand, among other things, the existing conceptions of education through local Public Power and its progressive organization as bureaucratic apparatus of state, making it more complex during the period in question. This text deepens part of the findings of the Survey \"The Right to Basic Education - study of the demand social and public service in a micro urban area\" which studied the phenomena that affect the guarantee of effective access and permanence of children, young people and adults in nine schools in the city of Santo André, as these schools were installed in the period considered for these search.

This treatise investigates the potential for law (including courts and tribunals) to intervene and act as a lever for the protection and advancement of the rights of the child including the right to basic education. The dissertation critically explores the debate on the educator‟s right to strike and fair labour practices and the child‟s right to education, by assessing the rights and liberties, which accrue to educators and the child (learners) in terms of existing law. The South African Constitution has made specific provision for the protection of the rights of children and the rights of educators and these rights are fundamental to the development of a society in transition. The vexed question that arises is whether these rights can co-exist in a society that has inherited a legacy of discrimination and inequality. The consequences of this legacy have resulted in the rights of educators competing with those of learners. The normalisation of the balance of these opposite rights is the challenge that lies ahead and this process will require intervention of all stakeholders rather than purely legislative intervention. This dissertation recommends a consensus-based approach, which is the most appropriate solution to balance the rights of educators with this of the child‟s right to education, as opposed to a declaration of the education sector as an essential service. It further proposes the establishment of a more structured and organised forum / institution and its sole purpose would be to deal with the individual or collective rights of educators that compete with the rights of learners.

The South African Constitution is considered as supreme law. This piece of legislation overrides all others and states in section 28(2): “A child’s best interests are of paramount importance in every matter concerning the child”. This emphasises the significance of the right of the child in South African law, by stating that children are to be protected at all cost. This section of the constitution forms the basis of this thesis with regards to the child and the protections that are to be afforded to them in instances of sexual abuse by educators. In the last several years there has been an increase in the number of cases reported on the sexual abuse, rape, violence and harassment of learners by members of the schooling community. The statistics prove that sexual violence in the schooling system in South Africa is rampant and furthermore indicate that young girls and boys are not as safe as they deserve to be. A teacher or educator is a professional, who is to act in a professional manner at all times – in the course and scope of their employment as educators. When a parent leaves its child at school for the day the educators are acting in loco parentis – in place of parent – thus these children are to be protected, nurtured and cared for in the correct manner. Sexual abuse of a learner by an educator is a gross contravention of South African legislation, the South African Council of Educators (SACE) code of conduct as well as international codes by the International Labour Organisation (ILO), the United Nations (UN) and other conventions. It is therefore fitting that any perpetrator of such violence, disrespect and transgression is to be punished quickly and harshly. Educators who abuse children are to immediately be removed from the school system through dismissal and also be tried criminally. These offenders should also be added to the SACE sexual offenders’ database which needs to be open to the Department of Education (DOE) and more importantly the general public – allowing parents to make the best possible decisions when putting their children in schools, thus ensuring their safety. However, throughout this process the rights of the child are to be protected and regarded with prevailing sensitivity, and their innocence is to be sheltered from any further psychological and emotional harm caused due to the abuse. The South African Professional Society on the Abuse of Children (SAPSAC) argues that a constitutional injunction is powerless to protect a child from being victimised and traumatised by criminal activity.1 All the more should it be incumbent upon the criminal law and criminal procedure and upon the courts, their functionaries and practitioners who regulate its procedure and apply its principles to “protect children from abuse and (to) maximise opportunities for them to lead productive and happy lives … (and to) … create positive conditions for repair to take place”. The thesis that follows, using the principles summarised here, aims to: define sexual abuse of the child, the legal position in South Africa in relation to the sexual abuse of children and case law. Recommendations will then be made and a code of good practice will be established on how to deal with educators who sexually abuse their learners promptly, effectively – without causing any further harm to the child in question.

Because of the impact of teacher strikes on education there has been a call to declare the teacher‟s profession an essential service and thus prohibit them from striking. This call was made by the Democratic Alliance (DA). The Democratic Alliance arguments in their application to the Essential Services Committee was based on the fact that education in South Africa is in a crisis and the life-altering inconvenience this caused for children. The combined teacher unions in the Education Labour Relations Council (ELRC) expressed their concerns over the DA‟s call for education to be declared an Essential Service. The Bill of Rights grants every employee the fundamental right to strike. This is an absolute and should always be exercised under certain controlled conditions, as stipulated by the Labour Relations Act 66 of 1995. Convention 87 of the International Labour Organising (ILO) recognises the right of trade unions, as an organisation of workers set up to further and defend their interest (Article 10), to formulate their programs and organise their activities (Article 3); this means that unions have the right to negotiate with employers and to express their views on economic and social issues affecting the occupational interest of their members. This constitutes the position that the right to strike is one of the legitimate and indeed essential means available to workers for furthering and defending their occupational interest. Balanced against the right of every teacher to strike is the right of everyone to have a basic education as set out in section 29 of the Constitution. In terms of section 29(1)(a) everyone has a right, enforceable against the state, to basic education. This creates a strong positive right. Aspects of the right to education are found in human rights treaties and declarations. This right to education is contained in article 26 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948) which states that “everyone has the right to education”. The International Covenant of Economic, Social and Cultural v Rights of 1966 covers the right to education comprehensively, especially article 13 and 14. In 1989 the Convention on the Rights of the Child further confirmed this right. The right to a basic education is further enhanced by section 28(2) of the Constitution “(a) child‟s best interest is of paramount importance in every matter concerning the child”. It is significant to note that in 2007 the Constitutional Court elevated the “best interest” principle to a right. This implies that the best interest of the child would be the decisive factor in each matter that affects the child. In deciding to declare the teaching profession as an essential service constitutional rights must be balanced. These are the right to strike, the right to a basic education and the best interest of the child principle.

This study examines issues of access to higher education in Florida and South Africa. On November 9, 1999, the Governor of the State of Florida issued Executive Order 99-281 to establish the One Florida Initiative (OFI), which barred the use of race as a factor in university admissions. In South Africa, the government in February 2001 issued its National Plan for Higher Education (SANPHE). This plan outlined a framework to redress past inequities in the higher education system perpetuated by the former government's apartheid ideology. Senior university leaders in Florida and South Africa were required to implement their respective policy. The purpose of the study investigates two research questions: 1. What were the assumptions and political processes that contributed to the establishment of OFI and SANPHE policies? 2. How did the leadership at selected institutions implement OFI and SANPHE policies? Using a qualitative methodology and focused interviews with senior leaders at two universities in Florida and South Africa, this study discusses the challenges and conflicts the leaders faced in implementing their respective policy. The challenges and conflicts included those of university governance, decision-making, leadership style, diversity, affirmative action and policy making. It discusses the unique ways of implementing a policy with which one might not agree and it provides a comparative understanding of challenges faced by university leaders in Florida and South Africa. Five findings were noted from the data analysis. They are: Leaders must have steadfast philosophical beliefs about the need to broaden access for those who have been historically discriminated against; there must be an awareness of the value of affirmative action and diversity to an institution; participatory style of leadership is a characteristic common to all leaders; commitment to team dynamics was a persuasive attribute that the leaders practiced and the exercise of prudent discretion to implement a policy seemed to be an attribute that resonated with all the leaders. The study concluded with a proposition of a model to determine or to predict leadership effectiveness - referred to as the Belief/Action Leadership Style Model and recommendations of areas for further research in Florida and South Africa. This study's results are useful for policy makers and senior leaders at higher education institutions.

This collection of works involved examinations of two phenomena that currently impact music education in the United States and constitute challenges for both pre-service and in-service music educators. Article one is an exploration of college aged musicians, their experiences with critical commentary and stressful scenarios encountered in and through applied music studies, and the role that mental toughness might play in these experiences. This study examined the perceptions of college level studio teachers and their students. Results of the study indicated that significant differences in mental toughness scores existed between the studio teacher group and the students (as a whole) and between the studio teacher group and 5 of the 6 student groups. Significant negative correlations were found between students’ mental toughness scores and answers to three questions related to teacher criticism, student anxiety in lessons, and students’ frequency of hurt feelings following feedback about their performing. Article 2 examined the perceptions of in-service music educators regarding aspects of education law. Participants included music educators (N = 152; Mage = 41.7) from each of the 50 states whose teaching assignments occur primarily at the high school (grades 9 – 12) levels. Results indicated that these participants viewed their undergraduate teacher training programs, and graduate studies, as having included very low levels of legal content. Few of the participants indicated receiving additional education and training from a legal specialist, and taking part in sessions on legal topics offered by their school districts and professional associations. The legal issues receiving the greatest numbers of selections as having been experienced by the participants included 5 aspects of copyright law, religious music/lyrics in educational and performance material, and protection of student health (i.e., medical) information. The total number of legal issues selected was significantly correlated with the number of traveling groups (ensembles) with which the teachers were associated. Teachers of marching band indicated a greater number of total legal issues having been dealt with in their professional experience. And teachers of orchestra demonstrated fewer total numbers of legal issues experienced. In spite of the significant correlations, total expressions of relevant legal issues were largely unassociated with teachers of specific ensemble types.