Arising from a literature study, the notions of quality and quality assurance (QA) were
described. A literature study was undertaken regarding the current South African national
QA policies on teacher education. A case study was conducted at Tshiya College of
Education, which merged with the University of the North: Qwaqwa Branch during the
rightsizing of higher education in 2001. The establishment of a QA system for teacher
education, on micro level, was critically described.
Action research was used to investigate the process of QA. A steering committee was
established. Two QA seminars contributed toward an awareness campaign. A SWOTanalysis
was done. A QA policy was designed, including a framework-for-action which was
action researched by volunteers. Researchers developed their own improvement plans
by: compiling their job descriptions; rating their effectiveness of task execution; and
attending to emerging quality gaps to determine focus areas. Professional development
was emphasised. Improvement plans for Micro Teaching and Media were action
researched. Taxing circumstances, resulting from the higher education transformation and
its effect on the research, were reported.
Data emerged from describing the action research phases: planning, implementation,
observation, and reflection for re-planning. Self-, peer-, and student-assessments were
utilised. Apart from discussions and meetings, the researchers kept diaries and forms
were designed for assessments. In both improvement plans, reflection-in-action led to
identification of unforseen weaknesses which were addressed as side-spirals of the original plans. Reflection-on-action took place at a formal meeting to which external
evaluators were invited. Strengths and weaknesses were determined and findings
corroborated and clustered toward final recommendations.
Intrinsic motivation was described as a precursor to involvement in QA.
Leadership/management/planning was seen as creating infrastructure to encourage
employees to focus on quality and movement toward the institution's vision.
Implementation was described as taking action to put a realistic plan into practice.
Teamwork was identified as a hallmark of action research and emphasis was placed on
collective wisdom. It was concluded that meritorious modelling meant that educators
should lead by example / Educational Studies / D.Ed.(Education Management)
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:unisa/oai:umkn-dsp01.int.unisa.ac.za:10500/1046 |
| Date | 31 January 2002 |
| Creators | Smuts, Elizabeth Magdalena |
| Contributors | Lemmer, Eleanor M. |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
| Format | 1 online resource (307 leaves.) |
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