The study is about the formulation of innovative strategies to assist teachers towards the effective implementation of the Learner Attainment Improvement Plan (LAIP). In terms of (DoE, 2009:42-43), teachers have to be competent, dedicated and caring in order to sustain learner attainment, and they have to understand the kind of learner that is envisaged by the requirements of the National Curriculum Statement (NCS). A challenge currently facing teachers together with the school management teams (SMTs) is how the goals and the values of social justice, equity and democracy can be interwoven across the curriculum. Policy on norms and standards for educators further, describes the roles and their associated competencies for the development of a teacher in South Africa; however, teachers still face challenges in fulfilling them. The results of the findings for the study revealed that the inadequate implementation of the LAIP results from public schools still being owned by the state. Hence, such schools are still having less power to enact their decisions. They are still voiceless and ostracised. The study therefore argues for a greater use of social capital, whereby the voices of all stakeholders, from the grassroots level to the top, would be heard and recognised, thus creating opportunities to strengthen communication and collaboration among them.
The study is therefore informed by critical theory, employing the principles of participatory action research. Through this methodology and theoretical framework, participants engage as equal partners in identifying innovative strategies to assist teachers towards sustaining learner attainment. In contrast with the positivistsâ approach where the researcher distances himself or herself from the human subjects being studied. The human subjects are being treated as molecules in the laboratory or as respondents who provide the researcher with data. As researchers we have to be mindful of the saying that it takes the whole village to educate a child. Opportunities for communities who better know the challenges that the schools are faced up with in terms of the implementation of effective implementation of policies such as LAIP need to be taken into cognisance. Hence, solutions to these challenges will come from them to effect change in the education system as a way of improving academic learner performance. Based on the literature review and the discussions with the participants, strategies towards the implementation of LAIP in order to improve the academic learner performance were formulated. Also, the words of Abraham Lincoln who wrote in his 1862 message to the congress: âThe dogmas of the quiet past are inadequate to the stormy present. The occasion piled high with difficulty, and we must rise to the occasion. As our case is new, so must we think anewâ, drove the participant, (Lincoln, 1953: 537).
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:ufs/oai:etd.uovs.ac.za:etd-08262013-151510 |
| Date | 26 August 2013 |
| Creators | Shangase, Blossom B |
| Contributors | Dr RJ Kgothule |
| Publisher | University of the Free State |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | en-uk |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | http://etd.uovs.ac.za//theses/available/etd-08262013-151510/restricted/ |
| Rights | unrestricted, I hereby certify that, if appropriate, I have obtained and attached hereto a written permission statement from the owner(s) of each third party copyrighted matter to be included in my thesis, dissertation, or project report, allowing distribution as specified below. I certify that the version I submitted is the same as that approved by my advisory committee. I hereby grant to University Free State or its agents the non-exclusive license to archive and make accessible, under the conditions specified below, my thesis, dissertation, or project report in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. I retain all other ownership rights to the copyright of the thesis, dissertation or project report. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of this thesis, dissertation, or project report. |
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