The purpose of this study was to determine whether College of Education graduates who sought and secured employment as teachers differed on the academic variables of grade point average, student teaching evaluation, and professional recommendations from those who were not successful at securing such employment. A comprehensive review of related literature was conducted, focusing on three aspects of the employment situation: (1) teacher supply and demand, (2) the selection process, and (3) the role played by academic criteria in the selection process. A study was conducted in which students who were successful in finding teaching positions were compared with those who were not successful, on the academic variables of grade point average, student teaching evaluation, and professional recommendations. Demographic data were also collected and analyzed. The subjects were sixty-three randomly selected students from the May 19 80 graduating class of the College of Education, North Texas State University, Denton, Texas. For purposes of statistical analysis, the students were divided into the following three groups: Group A (those who successfully sought employment as teachers), Group B (those who sought such employment but were not successful), and Group C (those who did not seek employment as teachers).

This study investigated the legislation (the Education Laws Amendment Act, Act 24 of 2005) dealing with teacher selection and appointment. It focused specifically on the principles equity, redress and representivity changes in legislation. Not only do these principles encourage the equal advancement of everybody’s interests but they also serve as a means of establishing an appropriate balance between conflicting interests. The primary purpose of the study was to determine whether or not the racial group to which the school governing body members belong had an effect on the way in which they interpreted and implemented legislation, and if so, to what these could be ascribed. Five schools’ governing bodies in the Tshwane South District of the Gauteng Province were interviewed using semi structured, open-ended interviews to investigate the extent to which their staff composition has changed as a result of the new legislation. A qualitative research paradigm allowed me to adopt a constructivist/interpretivist approach to data collection and analysis. Indications from data were that the understanding and interpretation of SGBs across racial divides are influenced by their different cultural and linguistic preferences, their different political and educational histories and the contexts in which they work. These differences indicated that deeply entrenched racial stereotypes and strong attachments to a specific school culture, language or ethnic traditions could be influencing the final decision on short listing taken by the SGBs represented in my study. Suggestions are that legislation implementation should be addressed at all stages; that is, reviewing performance, considering reasons for governance difficulty or failure, designing alternative interventions, and interpreting evaluation results as an intervention practice for legislation success. Based on my research findings I would therefore suggest that the key reason for the lack of transformation in the staff composition of public schools is the short period of time that has elapsed since the promulgation of the Education Laws Amendment Act of 2005. Given that transformation is a social process and that stereotypes are key obstacles to transformation, I believe that, as far as the schools in my sample are concerned, their staff compositions will eventually change. / Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2008. / Education Management and Policy Studies / unrestricted