Includes bibliographical references (leaves 74-77). / Following South Africa's democratization in 1994, the country has undergone significant transformation in virtually all spheres of life. In the rural local governance arena this transformation has been characterized by tensions and contradictions arising from uncertainties about structures of local governance. In post apartheid South Africa we have a situation which may be described as having two bulls in one kraal i.e. traditional authorities and newly elected democratic councillors sharing the responsibility of government. The presence of these two centres of power at the local level serves as basis for conflictual relationships and competing discourses and this impact badly on service delivery. While the current legislation on rural local governance is rich in issues pertaining to redress and equity, the reality on the ground is that rural-urban inequalities are perpetuated. This research seeks to offer insights into this situation.The study focuses on the role of traditional institutions in rural development and more specifically in school governance in rural communities. In the case of schools, traditional authorities and school governing bodies represent these competing discourses. During the apartheid period traditional authorities were directly involved in schooling and they were part of school governance, working hand in glove with school communities. This relationship was redefined in 1994 and consequently traditional authorities were excluded from schooling. The aim of this study is to investigate the consequences of the exclusion of this institution from school governance by comparing ways in which governing structures operated and impacted on education practices before and after 1994. The study is therefore trying to answer the question: What were the advantages and disadvantages of the involvement of the Qwebe-qwebe traditional authority in schools under its jurisdiction before 1994 and what was the significance of its exclusion after 1996? The study draws on Ray's concepts of shared and divided legitimacy to conceptualize shifts in the role of traditional authorities in relation to school governance before and after 1994. This is a qualitative case study. Most of the data were collected through interviews. The data was analyzed in order to foreground the relationship between the legitimacy of the modem state and that of traditional leaders in relation to school governance functions. The study concludes that traditional leaders fulfilled a number of functions that supported schools before 1994. New state structures have not been able to take on these functions effectively. As traditional leaders are competing with new government structures for legitimacy and support this competition further undermines the effectiveness of these structures.

Includes bibliographical references (leaves 97-106). / This thesis aimed to investigate whether there is a gender bias in the way teachers discipline boys and girls. The study was conducted in an affluent school in Cape Town and consisted of 113 participants, 97 students (48 boys and 49 girls) and 16 teachers and staff (6 males and 10 females). The data showed that although teachers assume they are being gender neutral in the way they respond to misdemeanors committed by boys and girls, in reality, this is not the case. However, even though the biases of the teachers are largely unconscious, the students were very much aware of the biased nature of the teachers. The data also revealed that male and female teachers react and respond differently when they discipline boys and girls and that male teachers focus more on serious offenses whereas female teachers focused on the less serious offenses.

The research investigated the differential effect of language of teaching and learning (LoLT) on learner performance in relation to learners' first language (L1) (isiXhosa) compared to their second language (L2) (English) by researching a sample of comparable primary schools that followed one of two LoLT models; either: • An early-exit transitional LoLT model, which employed isiXhosa as LoLT until Grade 4, where a transition to English LoLT occurred; or • A straight-for-English LoLT model, which made use of English as LoLT from Grade 1 and throughout all grades. The research was conducted in two parts, A and B. Part A indicated which LoLT model was associated with higher learner performance, and Part B determined the extent to which Part A's findings reflected LoLT model implementation, as well as the ways in which this implementation affected performance. Part A quantitatively compared the performance of 14 714 (average dataset size) learners in 2012 and 2015 Western Cape Education Department (WCED) Systemic Testing of Language and Mathematics from 135 (average dataset size) National Quintile (NQ) 1–3 schools which followed different LoLT models cross-sectionally and longitudinally. Comparisons drawn by the research were tested for statistical significance. Part A found that: • Grade 3 learners in L1 LoLT contexts performed better than Grade 3 learners in L2 LoLT contexts. • The performance of learners in the early-exit transitional model of LoLT declined after the point of transition to L2. • Learners who had had more years of exposure to L2 LoLT performed better in Grade 6 when taught and assessed in the language than learners who had had fewer years' exposure to the language as LoLT. Part B qualitatively studied a sample of 5 schools from Part A identified from each of the LoLT models, visiting them to investigate how LoLT model implementation affected learner performance. 11 teachers were surveyed using comparative rating scale response item questionnaires and 14 teachers as well as members of school management were interviewed using structured interview schedules. Part B found that: • Particularly where English was LoLT, the greatest challenge was teachers' and learners' inability to use the LoLT in order to teach and learn. • Teachers and learners typically employed mixed-language-use practices to communicate during lessons that deviated from the LoLT, constituting LoLT non-implementation to the extent that LoLT descriptors were inaccurate. • Schools designated as following a straight-for-English model were unintentionally implementing a rough dual-medium (two-way immersion) LoLT model which outperformed schools following an early-exit transitional LoLT model by Grade 6. • The transition of LoLT from L1 to L2 at Grade 4 in early-exit transitional models was non-conducive to educational outcomes from the point of transition onwards. The research concluded that a dual-medium late-exit transitional LoLT model with gradually increasing L2 LoLT/gradually decreasing L1 LoLT use from Grade 1 up to the point of transition should be advocated for. From the point of transition, the L2 beshould used as sole LoLT for the rest of schooling , while the L1 should be taught as a subject during this time.

Bibliography: leaves 79-83. / The importance of In-service training in Botswana's education system cannot be overemphasised. The formulation of an in-service policy and deployment of resources in the support of the policy, is testimony of the government's commitment to the in-service work. In-service is highly regarded in the education system because, it is hoped that it will transform the practice of serving teachers. The implementation of policy, however, is always a complex matter. The purpose behind this research study was to investigate how the policy on in-service was understood and represented by trainers in the field of practice. This study arises from the fact that policy analysis is an area that has been overlooked in the study of in-service work. The literature on in-service, in the developing world, has ably dealt with mechanics of policy implementation, with a strong bias towards the acquisition of resources and the procedures necessary for the successful implementation of in-service policy. Investigating the way policy is understood by in-service providers has not, however, been given the attention it deserves in the field of research. The interest in this area of study was, further, given impetus by the argument that intentions of policy texts are likely to be represented differently in practice. A group of in-service trainers in a particular regional in-service area were selected for the purpose of information gathering. The selection was done on the basis that trainers were key interpreters of in-service policy. As the study depended on their subjective information, semi structured interview questions were designed as they provided trainers with some degree of freedom, to express their understanding of policy unhindered. The research study, established that policy is understood in keeping with trainers' backgrounds. This means that policy is not necessarily represented according to the intentions of the texts. Two groups of trainers are identified, viz, the poorly grounded and well grounded trainers. Trainers classified as well grounded, demonstrated a higher knowledge of policy and correctly interpreted the policy texts. This is in contrast with poorly grounded trainers who had not well read the policy texts and as a result incorrectly interpreted policy texts. The study concludes that policy representation is complex and informed by everyday understandings.

Differentiation has become a crucial policy driver in higher education systems that attempts to respond to global pressures for a highly skilled labour force, employ new technologies and adapt to unpredictable or volatile global product markets and rapid technological change. In order to be globally competitive, nations have to place knowledge production, accumulation, transfer and application at the centre of their national development strategies. This study investigates the case of Lesotho, a relatively small African country with a colonial past that has left a lasting imprint, both enabling and constraining, on many aspects of its education system. The aim of this explanatory case study was to identify differentiating trends within Lesotho's higher education system, focusing on two institutional types: the polytechnic and the university. These institutions were investigated at both institutional and programme level. The research question was "How differentiated is the polytechnic-university binary division in the public sector higher education system in Lesotho?" The sample for the study comprised two schools and two faculties at the polytechnic and the university respectively. One programme under each school or faculty was investigated.

Bibliography: leaves 89-93.

Bibliography: leaves 116-125.

Bibliography: 129-134. / If the main objective of schooling is the holistic development of the learner, i.e. the development of cognitive skills, critical thinking skills, social skills, life skills, creativity and emotional maturity, then it stands to reason that a quality school is one which contributes to such a holistic development of the learner. Therefore indicators of quality schooling would be those factors which make the holistic development of the learner possible. The important point to bear in mind however, is that these factors (indicators) in themselves are not standard nor static, they are dynamic and context-specific. It is this conceptual framework which underpins the research study. Tue research study is informed by the work of West and Hopkins (1996), Schmelkes (1996), Heneveld (1994) and Govinda & Vargese (1993), who propose a more ''whole school approach" in the measurement of school performance. The indicators of quality schooling were measured separately, but it is their collective impact that must be considered when attempting to assess the quality of schooling. Over a seven month period a co-educational secondary public school centrally situated in a community which resides in an economically and socially deprived area of the Western Cape, was closely observed and studied. The items and questions used in the questionnaires, interviews and observations were significantly influenced by the following: the work of West and Hopkins' (1996) four domains of school effectiveness; the IIEP research on increasing and improving the quality of basic education and Heneveld's (1994) model: Factors that determine School Effectiveness. The case study illustrates that when assessing the quality of schooling of any school it is important to assess all the factors that impact on the quality of schooling.

An effect of apartheid among the youth has been that transformation in educational institutions has largely not moved beyond artificial interaction. There is an obvious divide between public rhetoric of integration and private experience. A reason for this may be that the private realm is a fertile and productive space for the reproduction of prejudice, where desire is seemingly coded in private tastes and not political ideologies. Theoretically I examine how historical public discourses come to function as personal norms, expressed as personal desire not political ideology. Literature has shown that these racial ideologies function both to fetishize the Other in interracial relationships and to maintain the hegemony of whiteness in interracial contact. Through narrative interviews with a select group of white teenage girls from a mixture of schools in the Northern Suburbs of Cape Town, I analyse how historical power relations become an intimate part of our subject experience. Drawing on a psychoanalytical account of ideology I examine how their racial subjectivities are predicated on exclusionary logics that bar certain objects from being produced as desirable for them.

Includes bibliographical references. / The weak performing Mozambican education system has gone through significant changes since independence in 1975. The Government’s main focus has been on increasing access and equity to overcome the high dropout rates, high grade repetition, high pupil-teacher ratios and the low number of qualified teachers. Despite this focus, access remains a large problem for the people of Mozambique. It is particularly so, as this interpretive case study research revealed, for learners from rural areas. The primary purpose of this research, therefore, was to outline the challenges learners from rural areas face in accessing what has been described as the ESG2 (Escola Secundária geral do Segunda Grãu) cycle. This research focussed on a specific school within the Zambézia province.