This dissertation examines personnel/staff development at Nazarene College of Theology (NCT) in Siteki, Swaziland. The argument developed is that an educational institution needs a personnel development programme that will continuously improve the teaching skills of its teachers/lecturers and improve their performance. A literature study was used to investigate the historical and educational developments that occurs at NCT. Data was collected by means of two interviews. The study was limited to a small group of eight respondents since the entire staff at NCT amounted to that number. The findings indicated that two activities, namely, continuing education and participation in academic/professional conferences are being used. The findings also revealed the limitations related to the high cost of tertiary education, personal problems, the length of time to complete a university course and a lack of adequate staff development policy. Based on these findings, brief recommendations to improve practice of staff development are suggested. / Educational Studies / M.Ed. (Education Management)

The study investigated the nature and quality of in-service education and training programmes organized for Further Education and Training (FET) mathematics teachers in the Greater Taung Area. The researcher is of the contention that more could be done to improve the process and the effectiveness of in-service training in the area. An extensive literature study provides a theoretical foundation and exposes some critical issues for effective in-service training programmes. The qualitative approach is used in the case study. The data were analysed through inductive analysis. The major research findings are that there are no formal processes of identifying the needs of mathematics teachers and further, teachers are not monitored and supervised after in-service sessions. It is recommended that the needs of teachers be identified by the school before inset. For effective monitoring and supervision of mathematics teachers after inset, it is recommended that each cluster within the Area Project Office (APO) should have a subject specialist for mathematics. / EDUCATIONAL STUDIES / MED (MATHS EDUC)

Background: The Continuing Professional Development (CPD) Framework established by the South African Nursing Council (SANC) states that organisations have a responsibility to create enabling environments in which the development of nurses can take place. Aim: The aim of this study is to assess the CPD of nurses at a public hospital in KwaZulu-Natal. Method: A quantitative descriptive design was followed. Convenience sampling yielded a sample of 166 nurses consisting of the registered nurse (63.2%) and enrolled nurse categories (36.8%). Data collection was done using a self-designed questionnaire. Statistical analysis was done using the Statistical Analysis System (SAS) Version 9.4 programme. Results: The findings revealed that CPD was ranked the least important area in terms of management priorities. Key barriers to development included staff shortages, lack of funding, poor resources and competing personal responsibilities. The study found that CPD had positive outcomes for nursing practice. / Health Studies / M.A. (Nursing Science)

This study investigated the relationships between diverse variables and secondary school pupils' Mathematics achievement. It also dealt with the relative contribution of each variable to Mathematics achievement and the significance of differences in Mathematics achievements when pupils' gender and home background as well as teachers' experience, gender, education, in-service education, homework assignment and testing frequency are taken into account. A questionnaire was administered on 163 standard 8 pupils. I The most important findings of this study were: {1) There was a significant relationship between pupil variables and Mathematics achievement. (2) Pupil variables, particularly self-concept, contributed significantly towards the variance in Mathematics achievement. (3) Pupils who wrote tests often (more than once per term) achieved significantly less than students who wrote tests less often / Psychology of Education / M. Ed. (Psychology of Education)

Made available in DSpace on 2016-06-02T19:39:24Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 4132.pdf: 18726480 bytes, checksum: ad21a7b96e22c993a3a40dc585ceeee7 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2011-11-11 / This thesis work evaluated the formative potentialities in mathematical explorationinvestigation for the professionals teaching mathematics for children from six to eleven years old pre-school teachers, teachers of the elementary school, and a professor of mathematics (student in pedagogy) focusing: (a) the development of exploratoryinvestigative activities in a group of teachers which periodically meet together for share new professional experiences, and (b) professional pedagogic practices developed with reference to the mathematical exploration-investigation. The main question was described: What are the formative potentialities of the mathematics exploration-investigation for teachers engagement in developing mathematics teaching? . The context of this work was to obtain the data collection of a continuous forming group involving the participants and the researcher, in order to investigate this thesis qualitatively in narrative style evaluating the life experiencing representation, valuing the perspectives of the group participants, producing a text based in a continuous movement for life, representing, evaluating, and representing again. The material analyzed was composed by: video recordings transcribed by the researcher; written and oral narratives from researcher and participants; researcher´s diary notes; written data of teacher and their students and pictures. According with the data of the authors who analyze the mathematics explorationinvestigation, the professional apprenticeship, and formation in their life we could conclude that the explorative-investigative activities were the responsible for the increasing teachers knowledge of geometrical contents in their substantive and syntactic structures, and reflections about didactic resources. Besides, it was possible to evidentiate elements that relate tasks in a sequence, and the activities developed as promoter of problematization of professionals practices of the teachers. In the classroom of the first years of the elementary school, the activities were transformed in opened problems and explorationinvestigativon, with encouraging the creation of an environment of negotiation of meaning and communication of ideas with the children. This has enabled teachers apprenticeship for improve their knowledge about their students and how they might arguing, questioning and establishing investigative positions in geometry class and in other contents and about way of teacher s intervention to enable such situations. / Esta tese investigou as potencialidades formativas da exploração-investigação matemática para o professor que ensina matemática para crianças de 6 a 11 anos professoras que lecionam nos anos iniciais do ensino fundamental, uma professora da educação infantil e uma professora de matemática, graduanda em pedagogia tendo como foco: (a) o desenvolvimento de atividades exploratório-investigativas em um grupo de professoras que se reunem periodicamente e (b) as práticas pedagógicas das professoras que foram desenvolvidas com referência à exploração-investigação matemática. A questão diretriz foi delimitada como Quais são as potencialidades formativas da exploração-investigação matemática para o conhecimento do professor e de suas práticas? . Tendo como contexto de constituição dos dados, um grupo de formação contínua com as participantes e a pesquisadora, na perspectiva da pesquisa qualitativa, esta tese, em estilo narrativo, analisou a representação da experiência vivida, valorizando a perpectiva das participantes no grupo, resultando em um texto constituído em um movimento contínuo de viver, representar, interpretar (analisar) e novamente representar. O material analisado foi composto por videogravações e respectivas transcrições feitas pela pesquisadora, narrativas (orais e escritas) da pesquisadora e das participantes, diário de campo da pesquisadora, registros escritos das professoras e dos alunos e fotografias. Tendo como fundamento autores que tratam da exploração-investigação matemática, das aprendizagens de professores e destes como profissionais protagonistas de sua formação ao longo da vida, dentre os resultados, destaca-se que as atividades exploratório-investigativas foram favorecedoras da ampliação dos conhecimentos de conteúdos geométricos das professoras, em suas estruturas substantiva e sintática e pelas reflexões sobre o uso de recursos didáticos. Além disso, foi possível relacionar uma ou mais tarefas em uma sequência e identificar as atividades desenvolvidas como promotoras de problematização das práticas das professoras. Na sala de aula dos anos iniciais do ensino fundamental, as atividades se desdobraram em problemas abertos e em exploração-investigação propriamente dita, favorecendo a criação de um ambiente de negociação de significados e comunicação de ideias com as crianças. Isso permitiu aprendizagens docentes, pelo melhor conhecimento sobre o que as crianças já sabem, como elas podem argumentar, questionar e estabelecerem posturas investigativas que ultrapassam as aulas com conteúdos de geometria e sobre os modos de intervenção do professor para possibilitar tais situações.

Made available in DSpace on 2014-06-11T19:30:22Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2010-11-30Bitstream added on 2014-06-13T18:40:24Z : No. of bitstreams: 1 candido_j_me_sjrp.pdf: 2430091 bytes, checksum: f71fd9f825d0e6ad6145cb7b0ddbe729 (MD5) / Nesta pesquisa objetivou-se estudar a formação inicial do professor de LE no contexto de laboratório de teletandem. Foca-se em quatro aspectos na graduação do professor de línguas: a orientação, a mediação, a reflexão e a aprendizagem em teletandem. Nesta pesquisa discute-se, através de um recurso tecnológico, o módulo Adobe® Acrobat® Connect™ Pro, a orientação, a mediação e a reflexão pelos alunos-professores de uma universidade estadual paulista, inseridos em um laboratório de teletandem. Neste laboratório, os alunos do curso de Letras, denominados aqui de alunos-orientadores, ministram sessões de orientação teórica e tecnológica para os alunos ingressantes no projeto Teletandem Brasil: língua estrangeira para todos, isto é, aqueles que ainda não iniciaram o seu processo de aprendizagem de língua estrangeira em teletandem. Assim, a pesquisa em questão constitui-se basicamente em três etapas: i) observação das sessões de orientação presenciais ministradas pelos alunos-orientadores no laboratório de teletandem; ii) leitura, reflexão e análise do diário-reflexivo dos alunos-orientadores acerca destas sessões de orientação teórica e iii) realização das sessões de mediação online com os alunos-orientadores pelo módulo Adobe® Acrobat® Connect™ Pro. O interesse no desenvolvimento da pesquisa surgiu pelas necessidades e inquietações na minha experiência como aluna do curso de Letras, isto é, como professora de língua estrangeira em formação inicial carente de maior orientação e reflexão da natureza que este novo contexto de ensino e aprendizagem de línguas em tandem permite oferecer. Desta forma, objetivou-se, especificamente investigar quais os possíveis impactos da experiência de orientação, dada pelo aluno de Letras, futuro professor de LE, no... / This research study aimed at investigating the foreign language teacher‟s pre-service education in a teletandem‟s laboratory context. Specifically, it focuses on four aspects in the foreign language teacher‟s pre-service education: counseling, mediation, reflection and learning in teletandem. This study discusses, through a new technological resource, the Adobe® Acrobat® Connect™ Pro, the counseling, mediation and the reflection by the pre-service students from a state university in São Paulo state, inside a teletandem laboratory. In this laboratory, the undergraduate foreigner teachers, called at this study of counselor-students, provide theoretical and technological counseling sessions to the freshman students in the thematic project named Teletandem Brasil: língua estrangeira para todos, in other words, for those students who have not started their foreign language learning in teletandem process yet. Therefore, this research is basically constituted by three stages: i) observation of the face to face counseling sessions given by the counselor-students in the laboratory; ii) reading, reflection and analysis of the reflective diaries of the counselor-students about these face to face counseling sessions and iii) realization of the online mediation sessions with the counselor-students through the Adobe® Acrobat® Connect™ Pro. The interest to achieve this research arose by the needs and concerns within my experience as an undergraduate foreign language teacher, in other words, as a teacher in a pre-service education lacking more counseling and reflection of the nature that this new context of teaching and learning languages in-tandem can provide. Thus, the study aimed to investigate what are the possible impacts of the counseling sessions‟ experience, given by the... (Complete abstract click electronic access below)

Magister Educationis - MEd / In this dissertation I set out to reflect on and examine a case study of a Namibian nongovernmental educational organisation (NGEO),the Primary Teachers Project (PTP),from 1989to 1992 focusing on issuesof educational change and the role of NGEO'sin this process. My aim is to highlight some of the factors which helped and hindered the Primary Teachers Project playing a role in educational change. The study focuses on the following four aspects: The Primary Teachers Project'sin-service education and training (INSET)model. The relationship between the Namibian Ministry of Education and the PTP. Funding relationships and their influence on the project's development. Internal dynamics within the Primary Teachers Project The dissertation begins by locating the Primary Teachers Project within the broader geographical, political and educational context of Namibia. The PTP's development between 1989 and 1992is then described. The four focus areas above are highlighted within the case study. Topical reflections on each of these areas are integrated with relevant national and international literature on INSET, educational change and the role of NGEO's. Central learnings with regard to the PTP and its role in educational change in Namibia are raised. Some of the key factors which worked for and against this NGEO's influence on educational change are highlighted. Finally, I make a number of general recommendations with regard to the role of NGEO's in the Southern African context. This study raises key factors relating to the influence of NGEO's on educational change. These are: NGEO's need to develop their understanding of the complexity of educational change processes, in order to inform INSET strategies. School-focused INSET models need to strengthen strategies for follow-up support to assist teachers to implement new ideas and practices. A combination of curriculum-based INSET and organisation development support needs to be provided at the school level to assist educational change. Organisation development processes within NGEO's can strengthen their internal capacity and critically inform their INSET strategies. NGEO's need to research and reflect on their practice and disseminate their findings, in order to improve their own practice and influence educational change at other levels of the educational system, Collaboration between different INSET providers builds the capacity for sustainability of educational change processes at school level and supports NGEO's in disseminating their knowledge and expertise throughout the formal educational system. An enabling INSET policy framework is required at national and local level to support INSET work in schools and assist the work of NGEO's and donors.

Presently all over the world, there is a great concern among teachers, parents, organisations, community leaders and higher education lecturers about the problems that beset teaching and learning particularly in the teaching programmes, for example, for under-qualified teachers studying at a distance. Most distance education (DE) programmes are concerned with education of adults and it seems fairly obvious that the research plans should be informed by the theories and research about learning in higher education institutions. In terms of teacher education, such studies could, inter alia, focus on teacher development, curriculum planning, learner support programmes, communication and evaluation of DE. DE itself refers to a field of education that focuses on teaching methods and technology with the aim of delivering teaching, often on an individual basis, to learners who are not physically present in a traditional educational setting such as a classroom. Distance learning is becoming an increasingly popular way of studying, and most universities now provide courses using this mode of teaching and learning. Today’s learners, though, are demanding high quality, consumer-focused and flexible courses and learning resources, and active learner support. This means that providers of DE need to reconsider key issues about learner support systems, to ensure that this is delivered appropriately and effectively. This study focuses on learner support in DE education for under-qualified teachers. The concept, learner support, can be traced far back to Vygotsky’s concept of the zone of proximal development, which refers to a learners’ optimal developmental potential if assistance that is timely and appropriate is provided by another person (Vygotsky, 1978). The appeal of the concept of the zone of proximal development lies in the fact that it directs attention to the need for maximum support in the learning process, and does so in a way that emphasises that good teaching is necessarily responsive to the state of understanding achieved by particular learners. Learner support systems may include the resources that the learner can access in order to engage in the learning process, for example, libraries or the resources that relate to the mediation of the communication process such as the media or technology. This study acknowledges that there are different kinds of learner support structures, but argues that there are critical or main components of support services which are registration support, learner support services, contact sessions, technological support and feedback strategies. Therefore, this study focuses on the role played by these five learner support structures as used in the programmes of DE under-qualified teachers at The University of South Africa (UNISA). Supported by empirical data, this study seeks to argue that instructional designers and tutors in the programmes of under-qualified teachers studying through DE need to ensure quality learning support as learning environments are increasingly designed according to the principles of resource-based and independent learning. In a sustainable learning environment, support must be designed according to principles that ensure that learners progress from teacher-directed activity to self-regulated activity. The challenge to deliver a high-quality learner support system, and for tutors and administrators to assume a central educational role in developing effective distance learning environments, the need for teaching and research is increasingly emphasised in research literature. Finally, it is hoped that this piece of work will help to promote more discussion and debate about the use of learner support programmes in DE institutions in particular, and in teaching and learning in general. / Curriculum and Instructional Studies / D. Ed. (Didactics)

Presently all over the world, there is a great concern among teachers, parents, organisations, community leaders and higher education lecturers about the problems that beset teaching and learning particularly in the teaching programmes, for example, for under-qualified teachers studying at a distance. Most distance education (DE) programmes are concerned with education of adults and it seems fairly obvious that the research plans should be informed by the theories and research about learning in higher education institutions. In terms of teacher education, such studies could, inter alia, focus on teacher development, curriculum planning, learner support programmes, communication and evaluation of DE. DE itself refers to a field of education that focuses on teaching methods and technology with the aim of delivering teaching, often on an individual basis, to learners who are not physically present in a traditional educational setting such as a classroom. Distance learning is becoming an increasingly popular way of studying, and most universities now provide courses using this mode of teaching and learning. Today’s learners, though, are demanding high quality, consumer-focused and flexible courses and learning resources, and active learner support. This means that providers of DE need to reconsider key issues about learner support systems, to ensure that this is delivered appropriately and effectively. This study focuses on learner support in DE education for under-qualified teachers. The concept, learner support, can be traced far back to Vygotsky’s concept of the zone of proximal development, which refers to a learners’ optimal developmental potential if assistance that is timely and appropriate is provided by another person (Vygotsky, 1978). The appeal of the concept of the zone of proximal development lies in the fact that it directs attention to the need for maximum support in the learning process, and does so in a way that emphasises that good teaching is necessarily responsive to the state of understanding achieved by particular learners. Learner support systems may include the resources that the learner can access in order to engage in the learning process, for example, libraries or the resources that relate to the mediation of the communication process such as the media or technology. This study acknowledges that there are different kinds of learner support structures, but argues that there are critical or main components of support services which are registration support, learner support services, contact sessions, technological support and feedback strategies. Therefore, this study focuses on the role played by these five learner support structures as used in the programmes of DE under-qualified teachers at The University of South Africa (UNISA). Supported by empirical data, this study seeks to argue that instructional designers and tutors in the programmes of under-qualified teachers studying through DE need to ensure quality learning support as learning environments are increasingly designed according to the principles of resource-based and independent learning. In a sustainable learning environment, support must be designed according to principles that ensure that learners progress from teacher-directed activity to self-regulated activity. The challenge to deliver a high-quality learner support system, and for tutors and administrators to assume a central educational role in developing effective distance learning environments, the need for teaching and research is increasingly emphasised in research literature. Finally, it is hoped that this piece of work will help to promote more discussion and debate about the use of learner support programmes in DE institutions in particular, and in teaching and learning in general. / Curriculum and Instructional Studies / D. Ed. (Didactics)

The problem this study addresses is the continuing ineffective teaching of English as a Second Language (ESL) despite the popularity of in-service (INSET) programmes. As a means of situational analysis, ethnographic approaches were used to investigate the INSET participants in the four-year degree programme at the University of Botswana. Responses to one inventory containing second language teaching activities showed that the activities respondents know to characterize ESL classrooms do not facilitate much verbal teacher-pupil/pupil-pupil interaction. Responses to another inventory containing idealised course content showed evidence of needs the preparation programme was ignoring. This confirmed one of two study hypotheses that: there are specific second language teaching needs being ignored by preparation programmes for primary school language teachers. Document analysis verified the assumptions about what classroom English Language Teaching (ELT) was expected to achieve. However, lesson observation revealed that the products of the programme still taught and perceived English as a mental exercise, with the following results: the lessons were complicated, uninspiring, unenjoyable, restrictive, and ineffective. Questionnaire and interview results confirmed the second study hypothesis that: the confidence of non-native English-speaking teachers (non-NESTs) with regard to competence in English, which affects the effectiveness and efficiency of their teaching, is low. As a solution a model specifying the essential programme components for preparing ELT specialists in the primary school is proposed. The proposed model is however not prescriptive and the proposed content is neither exhaustive nor limiting, but only broadly suggestive of the content of each instructional component. It is hoped that the product of the proposed model will become not only a well-educated person in the arts but also a highly proficient and self-confident person in ELT. / Educational Studies / D. Ed. (Didactics)