D.Phil. / In the Republic of South Africa, higher education institutions today are challenged with the need to address a number of pressing demands. In a new democratic dispensation and following the imperatives set out in the National Plan for Higher Education in South Africa (2001), universities have widened participation to students from all population groups. With the ultimate goal of successful throughput, equal opportunity and access must be provided to all prospective students. However, already in 1996 it was acknowledged that equity of access needs to be combined with equity of success. The White paper (1997, clause 1.18) underlines that the principle of equity requires “fair opportunities both to enter higher education programmes and to succeed in them.” Though equity of access, and hence a more representative student body has been greatly achieved, present statistics and national research findings still confirm ignificant challenges in the retention and successful throughput of students. These results suggest that challenges in this regard remain unresolved. A less contradictory relationship between access to university education and academic success at university level needs to be cultivated. More effective admission and selection decisions, together with the identification of accurate predictors of academic success, can make a positive contribution in solving this dilemma. In the past, selection and placement decisions for studying at a university were made primarily on the basis of performance-related criteria and other cognitive variables. In this study the researcher wanted to determine whether the non-cognitive factor of personality, more particularly as it is represented in the Big Five model of personality (Digman,1990; McCrae & Costa,1987; Goldberg,1990), can be used as predictor of academic achievement (and consequently as a proposed instrument of selection and placement) in a multicultural South African context. The Big Five model of personality represents a hierarchical organisation of personality traits in terms of five basic dimensions called Extraversion, Neuroticism, conscientiousness, Openness to Experience and Agreeableness (McCrae & John, 1992). Although the predictive validity of the Big Five factors in academic achievement has often been researched internationally, less research in this area has been completed in South Africa. Recent work in South Africa showed that measurement equivalence across population groups can be established for South African samples; less work had been done on the equivalence across population groups of the predictive validity of the Big Five factors with reference to academic performance. The overarching aim of the present study was therefore to investigate the relationship between the Big Five personality factors and the academic achievement of first-year B Com university students in South Africa, as well as to examine whether these relationships are equivalent for African and white students. In order to achieve this goal the incremental predictive validity of the Big Five personality factors, compared to cognitive ability, in the academic achievement of students was explored. In addition, the predictive value of Population group above and beyond that of intelligence and personality traits was researched. The possible interaction between the Big Five personality factors and Population group was explored in the final step.

Schools are essentially concerned with people and the development of knowledge and skills. Schools require leadership in order to achieve their goals. Furthermore, schools are tasked with being relevant in their contemporary societal contexts as well as for society in the future. Regarding the type of leadership in schools, Sergiovanni contends that schools need special leadership because they are special places, because they are lifeworld intensive and because “school professionals don’t react warmly to the kind of hierarchically based command leadership or hero leadership that characterizes other kinds of institutions” (2000:165 - 166). Against the backdrop of this commonly held belief, this research project undertook to investigate a school where the new curriculum had been successfully implemented in a context where there was absent leadership. In order to gain a deeper understanding of the phenomenon, the school type and context, the human interventions and the school culture were considered. The qualitative approach was selected for this research with a grounded case study as the relevant research design. Epistemologically, this research is located in the constructionist paradigm and an interpretivist theoretical perspective will be employed in the research project. Interpretivist philosophies promote the notion that human action can be distinguished from physical objects by virtue of the fact that they are inherently meaningful. The data were collected by means of some semi structured interviews and a dyad interview. Both convergent and divergent questions were posed to the participants in the data collection strategies. The process of data analysis was approached from a grounded theory perspective. This approach requires that a theory should emerge from the data rather than the data proving or disproving an existing theory. Six themes were identified through the process of data analysis. These themes were then processed into five findings which collectively developed and compiled a substantive theory. The findings of this study revealed that schools require leadership. Leadership should be considered in its broadest sense with all educators possessing the potential to lead. In addition, the appropriate use of power and authority were identified as essential ingredients for successful leadership. School culture was also found to be an essential component of successful schools. Not only is school culture essential for the successful daily functioning of schools, but an appropriate school culture is imperative for dealing with change and the successful implementation of new policies, curriculum and school reform initiatives. A collaborative school culture was identified as the type of school culture that is appropriate and that would support and facilitate the management of change. In light of the findings, implications for policy and practice are presented and suggestions for future research are made. Lastly, the limitations of the study are noted and the conclusions of the study discussed. It is hoped that this study will assist policy makers and school principals to seriously consider their leadership style in terms of sharing power and authority and in the creation of school culture that are empowering and positive, one that considers individual potential as well as group cohesiveness. / Prof. B. Smit

This study is aimed at investigating the role of the School Management Team (SMT) in school improvement. The investigation was carried out using the qualitative approach and the study is underpinned by the interpretive paradigm. The declining performance of some schools academically as reflected by the end of year results, as well as the confusion that engulfed me on assuming duty on my appointment as a head of department of Science and, therefore, becoming part of the SMT in my school, encouraged me to investigate the role of the SMT in school improvement. The study covers, among others, the following areas: § Functions performed by the SMT members. § Challenges faced by the SMT members in their management practice. § Ways of addressing these challenges. Methods of data collection used in this study were interviews, questionnaires, own observations as well as the analysis of documents. The main recommendations emanating from the study are that SMT members should be better equipped for their roles through workshops and in-service training and that the respective roles of SMT and School Governing Body (SGB) members should be better demarcated by the Department of Education.

This thesis examines some of the recent literature on school improvement: namely, teacher effectiveness research, school effectiveness research, and four of the commissioned reports on education that were published in the United States during 1983. The analysis relies on a number of central concepts from the social theory of Michel Foucault, in particular his notions of power/knowledge and discipline. It is argued that these bodies of educational research are in themselves either inadequate or inappropriately employed in policy discussions, and that as a result the manipulation of students and teachers seems reasonable and necessary. It is further argued that the teaching practices and educational policies called for in this research are likely to produce unintended, and undesirable consequences which are completely at odds with the stated goals of school improvement. / Education, Faculty of / Educational Studies (EDST), Department of / Graduate

This paper concerns the development of the instructional program in Broward County, Florida, from 1941 to the present. The purposes of the paper are, briefly, as follows: (1) to give the reader a general knowledge of the manner in which the instructional program has developed, (2) to trace the history and functions of the supervisory program since its initiation in the county, (3) to give a statement of the philosophy underlying the instructional program, (4) to reveal county-wide practices as these affect the improvement of instruction, ( 5 ) partially, to evaluate the effectiveness of the instructional program in the light of prevailing nation-wide practices, and (6) to make recommendations for next steps in the improvement. / Typescript. / "Aug., 1949." / "Submitted to the Graduate Council of Florida State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts under Plan II." / Advisor: W. Edwards, Professor Directing Paper. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 49-51).

The paper reports progress in the Millville Elementary School, Panama City, Florida, in the three year period from July 1, 1949 to July 1, 1952. During this time the faculty attempted to secure information relative to the situation, discover their most significant problems, develop a common point of view, and set about, with the help of all concerned to build a better program. In this effort, the Evaluative Criteria for Elementary Schools served as a general guide. Consultative help from Florida State University was available to the faculty during the entire period. In taking stock of the situation, the types of problems discovered might well be discussed under four categories: (1) the situation from the viewpoint of the pupils; (2) the situation from the viewpoint of the faculty; (3) the situation from the viewpoint of the community; and, (4) the situation as reflected by the general conditions of the building. / Typescript. / "August, 1952." / "Submitted to the Graduate Council of Florida State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts." / Advisor: W. Edwards, Professor Directing Paper. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 62-63).

"The ultimate goal involved in the construction of this paper is to create a desirable plan of activities for an extended school program in the Richmond Hill Community. To reach this goal it is necessary to gain a clear understanding of all elements pertinent to the success of such a program. The problem with which this paper deals, then, will unfold thus: the development of extended school services in Georgia will be traced, with attention to the results of the 1952 program. Then a geographic, social and economic picture of the Richmond Hill School Community will be presented, the existing needs of the community will be cited and a suggested program of activities that might meet those needs outlined"--Introduction. / Typescript. / "August, 1953." / "Submitted to the Graduate Council of Florida State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science." / Advisor: Eugene S. Lawler, Professor Directing Paper. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 82-84).

This report sets oat to establish the need for a school-focussed staff development programme within South African schools given the changing educational imperatives in teacher education. It challenges the notion that a person with a university degree or teaching certificate is equipped for lifelong service as a teacher, by addressing the role that institutions can play in promoting professional development. The study focuses on the experiences of one school to evince teacher enhancement strategies. The methodology employs observation, interviews and a questionnaire pertaining to both the success of and the need for school-focussed staff development. The study found that the importance o f staff development increases as teachers develop new rationales and create new strategies to fit their particular context and needs. It further found that giving teachers the opportunity to make instructional innovations enhanced whole school development It stresses the need tor educational authorities to devolve more autonomy to schools, by supporting initiatives which integrate staff development and problem-solving approaches. Lastly, it makes recommendations on the induction o f professional dev elopment to facilitate structural and ideological evolution within schools. By locating this within the case study school, it found links between staff development and school achievement. Finally it stresses the need for schools to design programmes to suit fheir particular context. The study concludes by encouraging further research in the area of school-focussed staff development applicable to the South African context

This presentation will feature real world implementation examples from a seasoned interprofessional team working in a high needs primary care clinic. In Part 1 of our session (approx. 30 minutes), we will define implementation science and familiarize the audience with the EPIS framework (Aarons, Hurlburt, & Horwitz, 2011). We will also describe champion teams as a practical and efficient way to conduct implementation science on the clinic level. Part 2 of our session (approx. 30 min) will be dedicated to translating concepts learned in Part 1 to audience members' personal work via individual worksheets, small and large group discussion, and a question and answer period. Additionally, participants will gain access to an electronic toolkit with relevant articles, worksheets and materials to and build on ideas generated during the session and support their project implementation after the conference.

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