Thesis (MEdPsych (Educational Psychology))--Stellenbosch University, 2008. / During the previous political dispensation, the educators in the Western Cape were captured in a process of ideological influencing. This crisis became evident in the 1976 and 1985 uproars. Although the educators attempted to act in the best interest of the learners, they were in many cases blamed by the ruling government as being liberalists. The subsequent experience of fear and anxiety endangered the emotional well-being of many educators. The election of the first democratic government in 1994 held promises of a better work environment for educators. Far-reaching transformations in education policies and the implementation of new curricula presented educators with new challenges. Disciplinary problems, multicultural classrooms, teaching in a language other than the home language, and the inclusive handling of various external as well as internal barriers to learning, became stressors that educators in the Western Cape were subjected to. The aim of this study was to investigate the influence of stressors on the emotional wellbeing of educators in high schools in the Western Cape. I aimed to determine how educators in high schools perceived their own emotional well-being. Furthermore, I explored possible reasons for this and how their emotional well-being had influenced other dimensions of their wellness. I finally focused on educators’ recommendations to improve their emotional well-being. A qualitative research design, which was guided by an interpretive paradigm, was employed. During data analysis I operated in a critical paradigm. The data was collected by means of a literature review, interviews, reflective diaries, observations, documentation and artefacts. The research findings indicated that educators generally are experiencing low levels of emotional well-being. In extreme cases it is associated with emotional illnesses such as depression and burnout. It seems as if the low levels of emotional well-being experienced by educators have a negative influence on their social and physical wellbeing. Possible reasons that can explain the low levels indicate the impact of various role players, namely the type of school, an additional work load, the head master, the school management team, colleagues, learners, parents, the Western Cape Education Department, and educators’ families and friends. In spite of the experienced low levels educators were still at times committed to their occupation. Recommendations on improving emotional well-being were associated with factors in the workplace itself.

Submitted in fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Magister Technologiae: Human Resources Management, Durban University of Technology, 2012. / The research project focussed on the effectiveness of an induction programme for newly appointed staff at Coastal KZN FET College in Kwa-Zulu Natal. The main aim of the study was to investigate the perceptions of educators with regard to the effectiveness of the induction programme for newly appointed lecturers. The key findings of the research were that newly appointed lecturers experienced various problems. The study also explored experiences faced by newly appointed lecturers at Coastal KZN FET College. The challenges arise from the lack of an effective induction programme. These problems resulted in poor productivity among newly appointed lecturers. The empirical component underpinned the review and analysis of the effectiveness of an induction programme for newly-appointed lecturers as they adjust to their entry into the teaching profession. The study also investigated the high turnover (lecturer attrition) among newly appointed lecturers as well as the possible solutions which can be implemented. The survey method was used to administer the questionnaire to all 45 target respondents using the personal method. The study adopted the quantitative research method with precoded close ended questions. The personal method was used to administer the questionnaire to all 45 target respondent and in this way a high response rate of 100% was obtained. An important finding in this regard was that the induction programme was not evaluated and improved frequently. The induction programme should ensure that new lecturers are treated with dignity and are allowed the opportunity to display their strengths and the knowledge they bring to their new College by implementing an effective induction programme. Arising out of the empirical analysis the researcher has recommended and developed a set of guidelines which could be used in developing an effective induction programme for the Coastal FET College in Kwa-Zulu Natal. The study concludes with directions for future research to expand on the body of knowledge in this field. / M

本研究旨在瞭解苗栗縣國民小學校長分布式領導、教師組織公民行為與教師工作滿意度之現況，並分析不同背景變項之教師在知覺校長分布式領導、教師組織公民行為與教師工作滿意度之差異情形，且探討三者之間的關係，最後藉由校長分布式領導與教師組織公民行為對教師工作滿意度進行預測。 本研究採調查研究法，共計抽樣61所學校，發出708份問卷，回收569份有效問卷，問卷有效率達80.37%。資料處理分別以描述性統計、獨立樣本t檢定、單因子變異數分析、皮爾遜積差相關及多元逐步迴歸分析等統計方式進行統計分析。 本研究獲致以下之結論： 一、苗栗縣國民小學教師知覺校長分布式領導為中高程度，以「建構清楚的願景與目的」之知覺程度為最高，「營造信任的學校文化」之知覺程度最低。 二、苗栗縣國民小學教師有高程度之組織公民行為表現，以「主動助人」之表現為最高，「自我要求」表現為最低。 三、苗栗縣國民小學教師在教師工作滿意的知覺為中高程度，以「工作本身」的知覺為最高，「行政管理」之知覺為最低。 四、苗栗縣國民小學教師，因其性別、職務及學校規模之不同，而有不同的校長分布式領導知覺感受，以男性、擔任主任或組長職務、與學校規模在12班（含）以下之教師知覺程度較高。 五、苗栗縣國民小學教師，因其年齡及擔任職務之不同，而表現出不同程度的教師組織公民行為，以51歲（含）以上及擔任主任職務之教師表現程度較高。 六、苗栗縣國民小學教師，因其性別及職務之不同，而有不同的教師滿意度知覺感受，以男性及擔任主任之教師知覺程度較高。 七、苗栗縣國民小學校長分布式領導、教師組織公民行為與教師工作滿意度的知覺及各分層面，彼此之間具有正相關的關係。 八、苗栗縣國民小學校長分布式領導、教師組織公民行為對教師工作滿意度具有預測作用，以「校長分布式領導」的預測力最佳。 最後依據研究結果與結論，提出具體建議，以供教育行政機關、學校校長與教師以及未來研究的參考。 / This study aims to investigate the current development of the elementary school principal’s distributed leadership, teachers’ organization citizenship behavior and the teachers’ job satisfaction in Maioli County, and to analyze the differences in teachers of different background variables are conscious of the principal’s distributed leadership, teachers’ organization citizenship behavior and the teachers’ job satisfaction, and to explore the relationship among the three variables. Finally, through principal’s distributed leadership and teachers’ organization citizenship behavior forecast the teachers’ job satisfaction. Questionnaire survey method is adopted. The samples include 61 schools and 708 questionnaires were distributed. There were 569 valid questionnaires used finally in the statistic analysis and the usable rate is 80.37%. All data collected were analyzed by the methods of descriptive statistics, independent t-test, one-way ANOVA, Pearson correlation, Multiple regression etc. The conclusions are as follows: 1.Elementary school teachers’ perception of principal’s distributed leadership is above average while “construct clear vision and purposes” was the highest, and “shared responsibility” was the lowest. 2.Elementary school teachers’ perception of teachers’ organization citizenship behavior is above average while “helping others voluntarily” was the highest, and “self-disciplined” was the lowest. 3.Elementary school teachers’ perception of teachers’ job satisfaction is above average while “work” was the highest, and “administrative management” was the lowest. 4.There are significant differences in the elementary school teachers’ perception of principal’s distributed leadership in terms of sex, duty, and the scale of school. 5.There are significant differences in the elementary school teachers’ perception of teachers’ organization citizenship behavior in terms of age and duty. 6.There are significant differences in the elementary school teachers’ perception of teachers’ job satisfaction in terms of sex and duty. 7.There is a positive correlation among the principal’s distributed leadership, teachers’ organization citizenship behavior and the teachers’ job satisfaction. 8.Both of the principal’s distributed leadership and teachers’ organization citizenship behavior in Maioli County have a predictive effect on teachers’ job satisfaction.

University of Macau / Faculty of Education

This research seeks to understand what it means to be a teacher and the experiences that shape what teachers do in the context of a primary school. In asking the question, What’s a teacher anyway? I produced data of teachers’ daily practices and social realities within their lived experiences. Located within an interpretive paradigm, I documented various identities and meanings of teachers which helped me to understand how teachers negotiate the multiple forces within the setting of a primary school. The research looked at teachers in their social context, since teachers do not work in isolation but are subject to particular social influences. Using the participatory approach, I produced data of the lives of two experienced teachers who work in a primary school in the eThekweni region of KwaZulu-Natal. The participatory methodology was most appropriate to gather the necessary data, as it allowed for the teachers’ voices to be heard. Against the social, institutional, contextual and programmatic contexts, data were sourced by means of career life-history interviews and photovoice. Through narrative analysis, the teachers’ stories were reconstructed and represented as identity categories through which they were able to construct their professional selves and their professional work. The findings that were generated from the two experienced primary school teachers were analysed and represented under the key themes of professional self and professional work. The findings offer an understanding of how practising teachers manage their work and themselves against all the changes and challenges of the South African educational landscape specifically in the schooling situation. Through the reconstructed stories by the teachers, the study makes visible how teacher identity shapes teachers and their work in the school. The data reveals that teachers have multiple identities of who they are and how they respond from their position as teachers, which clash with what is expected of them in the school. The findings show that teachers are unhappy with the curriculum and political shifts, as these are imposed on them in an arbitrary manner. The study contributes to a nuanced understanding of the relationship between teacher identity and teacher work. The study revolves around the teacher who tries to build an interesting relationship between the identities of “mother”, “teacher” and “caregiver”. Being a teacher, innovative ways are created to manage the administrative work and the curriculum work. The iii second teacher, an Indian male, as a person and an activist, growing up in a poor community, negotiates between the forces to make sense of what it means to be a teacher in the present shift, given the diversity of pupils and the various issues that accompany it. The teachers are working in a social reality and have to manage a range of challenges, difficulties and struggles. They find creative ways to negotiate the multiple roles and responsibilities and make sense of what it means to be a teacher. Due to excessive administrative and curricular demands being made on them, teachers are found to be experiencing tension and undue stress in their work while negotiating the multiple forces that surround them in the context of the school. To answer my research question, What’s a teacher anyway, I considered how they moved beyond their conventional roles and responsibilities as teachers, and how they endeavoured to make meaning and sense of themselves as successful teachers within the four dimensions of Samuel’s (2008) framework. / Thesis (M.Ed.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, 2010.

Thesis (DAppLing)--Macquarie University, Faculty of Human Sciences, Department of Linguistics, 2009. / Bibliography: p. 167-188. / Introduction -- Contextual background -- Literature review -- Methodology -- Pre-service teachers' beliefs about being a teacher -- Practicum students' beliefs about the teaching experience -- Teachers' first year experience: beliefs and reflections -- Conclusions. / This research focuses on the analysis of the beliefs of pre-service Mexican student-teachers from a public university in central Mexico who have learned English as adolescents or young adults. Specifically, it examines their beliefs about teaching and about themselves as English teachers in different stages of initial professional development. The participants reflected on their experiences as English language learners, students, teaching practicum students and as first year teachers in a follow up study. -- This thesis is composed of three studies that are linked by involving the same participants. The studies follow these participants through different stages in their initial development as teachers.The research is set within the qualitative research paradigm and draws on qualitative data and interpretive analysis. The data were retrieved using the following procedures: autobiographies, a focus group interview, journals, personal interviews and short narratives. -- Responses to the following research questions emerged through the different stages of this thesis. 1. What initial beliefs do pre-service and beginning students hold about being a teacher? 2. Do these beliefs evolve or change during the initial stages of their teacher development? 3. Do their experiences during their initial stages of their development influence their beliefs? -- There is little research on English language teacher beliefs in Mexico. It is considered that research in this area can contribute to the understanding of the processes of what English language teachers' beliefs are and how they evolve or develop over time and the influences that they may have on the actual teaching process. This research may contribute to bring to the attention of English language teacher preparation programs the necessity of providing opportunities for student-teachers to unpack their beliefs and reflect and view them in the light of the courses and their practice in order to create an understanding of the Mexican educational context of which they will be a part. / Mode of access: World Wide Web. / viii, 265 p

Thesis (MComm (Industrial Psychology))--University of Stellenbosch, 2007. / Globally, institutions of higher learning are characterised by continuous change, which has significant ramifications for the success and functioning of any institution of higher learning. In this context, the aim of this study was to examine the relationship between the perceptions of academics regarding the work environment in a transforming South African institution of higher learning and their job involvement and organisational commitment. The data were gathered by means of the Academic Work Environment Survey (AWES) measuring instrument. This measuring instrument obtained extraordinarily high reliability coefficients in the study. The results of the study indicate that academics in general have a positive perception of their job involvement and organisational commitment. These positive perceptions of job involvement and organisational commitment can largely be attributed to academics’ positive experience of a number of aspects of the academic work environment, namely low levels of role ambiguity and role conflict and high levels of autonomy, task identity, work challenge, feedback and supervisory consideration. However, attention should be paid to certain aspects such as role ambiguity, role conflict, feedback, work challenge and supervisory consideration where differences among academics’ perceptions occur as a result of personal and professional characteristics, which might pose a threat to these positive experiences in future.

The following research question motivated the study: "How can education management effectively address factors influencing teachers to migrate from the teaching profession?" To answer this research question, one school was selected in Limpopo Province, which is not affected by the migration of teachers from the teaching profession; this was demonstrated by the school retaining expert and veteran teachers and its excellent grade 12 results. Factors influencing the migration of teachers from the teaching profession were researched by means of qualitative approach. Focus group interviews, phenomenological interviews and unstructured (in-depth) interviews were conducted, transcribed and analysed. The research findings indicated that education management team needs to urge the government to pay teachers attractive salaries, introduce performance bonus scheme, deal with overcrowding and lack of resources, curb violence in schools, deal effectively with corruption, improve poor learners' discipline and do away with corporal punishment. / Teacher Education / M. Ed. (Education Management)

The aim of this research was to determine the motivation levels of Zimbabwean rural secondary school teachers, and to identify and discuss the factors that influence their motivation so that management interventions could be designed to enhance teacher motivation. A quantitative research design, involving the descriptive sample survey method to collect data by means of self-administered structured questionnaire was adopted. The sample consisted of 175 rural secondary school teachers in Bikita District. The information was statistically analysed with the aid of a computer after which it was interpreted. Results indicated that teachers were not highly motivated and satisfied with their jobs, and that their motivation was affected by several aspects of their work. Working conditions emerged as a primary demotivator while interpersonal relations was a principal motivator. The data also showed that certain biographical variables affected teacher motivation significantly. Subsequent to these results recommendations to enhance teacher motivation were made. / Educational Studies / M. Ed. (Education Management)

Female academics in higher education institutions face numerous challenges in the continuously ch~nging landscape of South African Higher Education. Numerous mergers between different institutions, increasing job demands, ever increasing class sizes and the unique demands of role conflict, inherent to the female role, contribute to the manifestation of stress and burnout (80) in this population group. The research is conducted from a salutogenic paradigm, seeking to find ways of avoiding the negative consequences of 80 and contributing towards the positive experience of Work Engagement (WE) for the female academic. The research also explores the effect of the individual academics' Sense of Cohrence (SOC) on the experience of BO and WE. The research is quantitative in nature. A psychometric instrument was sent to all the permanently employed female academics employed by Unisa and TUT, measuring their levels of 80, WE and SOC. The completed questionnaires were statisticaily analysed. The findings included average levels of 80, with definite signs that the experience of 80 is on the increase. The Cy sub-dimension of BO showed increased levels. The WE scores of the female academics were just above average. The SOC scores of the female academics were low. The main recommendations were that University management need to take cognisance of the symptoms of BO that are present in this population. Strategies need to be put in place to address these issues and the experience of WE need to be treasured and grown through definite actions from Management. Female academics also need to take personal responsibility for their own wellness and act on the initial signs of 80, rather than dismissing it as mere tiredness or lack of energy. There are also a number of recommendations on actions to be taken to experience WE in the academic work that the population undertake on a daily basis / Industrial and Organizational Psychology / D.Litt. et Phil. (Industrial & Organizational psychology)