In general, a particularly complicated and difficult relationship has existed between parents and educators, due in part, to the fact that educators have always been seen as the experts and proverbial holders of knowledge in the educational process while parents have been seen to be peripheral to this process. This inequality is seen to be problematic as a child's significant learning is increasingly understood to occur in both the home and school contexts. This study explored the perceptions of a selection of parents and educators across the three levels of the educational process with the aim of facilitating a dialogue amongst all the participants in order to establish partnerships that would assist in the integration of the formal and informal learning processes. Using the Dialogue Game as a research tool, the participants in this study revealed many of the dilemmas that inhibit the establishment of partnerships between the two contexts. While the educators appeared resistant to the idea of a partnership as they perceived themselves to be 'experts' in the area of education, parents were aware that significant learning occurs in many contexts, but felt unconfident in their abilities to educate children. Some of the findings from the current study mirror those of two earlier studies (Van der Riet, 1997 and Danckwerts, 2002) conducted in the Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal, respectively. Although all three samples were drawn from different socio-economic and cultural groups, the findings would suggest that the parents and educators of South Africa have essentially similar perceptions regarding formal and informal education. / Thesis (M.Soc.Sc.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2004.

<p>In South Africa, some of the problems experienced in moving towards an inclusive education system are a lack of resources, a lack of commitment and a poor understanding of how to aid successful inclusion. The implementation of inclusion is a process that has been initiated by Education White Paper 6 (Dept. of Education, 2001) and is still in the process of developing the necessary education support. This study aimed to investigate the collaboration between the District Based Support Team, the School Based Support Team and the School Governing Body which represents the parents. The main objective was to investigate how the above bodies support and assist learners who experience barriers to learning, development and participation through a collaborative and consultative problem approach.</p>

Addendum and errata are pasted in onto back end papers & back pages. / Copy of author's previously published article inserted. / Bibliography: leaves 451-466. / 466 leaves ; 30 cm. / Title page, contents and abstract only. The complete thesis in print form is available from the University Library. / Deals with two issues: (1) teacher's implementation and utilisation of a personal safety program in South Australia (the Protective Behaviours program) and (2) what children learn about personal safety by participating in the program. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Adelaide, Dept. of Psychiatry, 1996

This study pointed out that without parental involvement in the children's education, the latter cannot fulfil its pre-set goals. The family together with the community, have to contribute a lot to the development and improvement of the education system. Implications of parental involvement, together with parents, and children's rights was discussed. The latter fact was supplemented with the educational laws of South Africa and the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa. To determine the problems experienced by teachers in dealing with parents, concerning school related matters, teachers and parents' responses are discussed in this study. In this study America and Britain have been put as examples as far as parental involvement in children's education is concerned. It was concluded that the government together with the parents have to take drastic steps to rectify the situation in the rural areas of the Eastern Cape Province. / Educational Studies / M.Ed. (History of Education)

Thesis (MTech (Education))--Peninsula Technikon, 2003 / Teaching and Learning cannot take place in an unsafe environment. The school plays a central role in the socialisation of a child and it is critical that schools offer a safe environment in which learning can take place. This study attempts to investigate school stakeholder perceptions of the Safe Schools Programme of the WCED and its impact on the learning environment of one primary school in the Mitchell's Plain district. The study as a whole is set against the research literature on crime and violence in schools. The literature surveyed covered the following aspects: (I) What constitutes crime and violence in schools; (2) The effects of crime and violence on the school environment; and (3) Approaches to reducing crime and violence in schools. This research project is a case study of school stakeholder perceptions of the Safe Schools Programme of the WCED as implemented in one primary school. Qualitative research techniques were employed and data was collected by means of individual semi-structured interviews with the acting principal and the safety officer of the school. A focus group interview was held with a group of educators and support staff members. Learners were excluded from the study as the aim was to determine the perceived impact of the Safe Schools Programme on the learning environment at the school. Primary school learners may perhaps not be able to articulate their views on the issue under research. Parents were not included in this research process but could be a valuable source of data for future research.

Thesis (MTech (Education))--Cape Technikon, 2004. / The study focuses on the level of parental involvement in the primary schools situated in informal settlements. The area of research was limited to the informal settlements of the Cape Flats in Cape Town. The identified areas were Philippi, Weltevreden valley, Khayelitsha and Crossroads. The principals, members of the governing bodies as well, as a sample of parents not serving on governing bodies were interviewed on the level of involvement. A case study of schools was undertaken on governance, communication, school involvement, home involvement as well as extra-curricular activities. The findings of the research were that parents are not innovative when it comes to school activities. They expect too much from the schools. Parents do not ask too many questions. They accept what the schools tell them. Parents generally do not help children at home with their studies. They hardly ever watch their children while participating in extra-curricular activities. The researcher made conclusions and made recommendations.

M.Phil. / The problem giving rise to research on the role of the school in the reconstruction of society, is a practical one. The question is how could the school interact with society in the education of children and so play a leading role. The discussion above immediately poses several problems which may be summarised by means of the following questions. What are the social and educational problems confronting the community of Mamelodi? How can the school help in addressing these problems? To what extent can the school contribute towards the reconstruction of the community in Mamelodi? Having identified problems related to schooling in Mamelodi, the aims of the research will be established. The aim of the research is to determine the contribution that the schools in Mamelodi can make towards the reconstruction of the community

Magister Educationis - MEd / In South Africa, some of the problems experienced in moving towards an inclusive education system are a lack of resources, a lack of commitment and a poor understanding of how to aid successful inclusion. The implementation of inclusion is a process that has been initiated by Education White Paper 6 (Dept. of Education, 2001) and is still in the process of developing the necessary education support. This study aimed to investigate the collaboration between the District Based Support Team, the School Based Support Team and the School Governing Body which represents the parents. The main objective was to investigate how the above bodies support and assist learners who experience barriers to learning, development and participation through a collaborative and consultative problem approach. / South Africa

This study offers an account of reading clubs as a literacy intervention in a grade 8 English class at a former ‘Coloured’ high school in South Africa. Using Margaret Archer’s social realist methodology, it examines different practices of ‘reading’ used by learners in talking and writing about text. Archer’s analytical dualism and morphogenetic model provided an explanatory framework for this study. Analytical dualism allows for the separation of the parts (structural and cultural elements) from the people (the grade 8 learners) so as to analyse the interplay between structure and culture. The morphogenetic model recognises that antecedent structures predate this, and any study but that through the exercise of agency, morphogenesis, in the form of structural elaboration or morphostasis in the form of continuity, may occur. This study used a New Literacies perspective based on an ideological model of literacy which recognises many different literacies, in addition to dominant school literacies. Learners’ talk about books as well as personal journal writing provided an insight into what cultural mechanisms and powers children bring to the reading of novels. Understandings of discourses as well as of Gee’s (1990; 2008) construct of Discourse provided a framework for examining learners’ identities and shifts as readers. The data in this study, which is presented through a series of vignettes, found that grade 8 learners use many different experiences and draw on different discourses when making sense of texts. Through the separation of the structural and cultural components, this research could explore how reading clubs as structures enabled learners to access different discourses from the domain of culture. Through the process and engagement in the reading clubs, following Gee (2000b), learners were attributed affinity, discoursal and institutional identities as readers. It was found, in the course of the study, that providing a safe space, scaffolding, multiple opportunities to practice and a variety of reading material, helped learners to access and appropriate dominant literacies. In addition, learners need a repertoire of literacy practices to draw from as successful reading needs flexibility and adaptability. Reading and writing inform each other and through gradual induction into literary writing, learners began to appropriate and approximate dominant literacy practices. Following others who have contributed to the field of New Literacy Studies (Heath, 1983; Street, 1984; Gee 1990; Prinsloo & Breier, 1996), this study would suggest that literacies of traditionally underserved communities should not be considered in deficit terms. Instead these need to be understood as resources for negotiating meaning making and as tools or mechanisms to access dominant discourse practices. In addition the resilience and competition from Discourses of popular culture need to be recognised and developed as tools to access school literacies.

Bibliography: pages 101-111. / This minor dissertation examines the nature of cooperation between schools and business/industry in an opportunity-deprived, less wealthy, disadvantaged sector of a specific community in the Western Cape. It will attempt to show that a community created by Apartheid and stripped of both political and economic power, can demonstrate the willingness and determination to work together and with business/industry towards forming, amongst others, sound, sustainable and effective school business/industry partnerships.