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The social and psychological impact of rationalization and redeployment of educators : a KwaZulu-Natal case study.

The study investigated the effects of rationalisation and re-deployment
amongst a statistically sound sample of educators in the Province of KwaZulu
Natal. It examined primarily the social and psychological effects of such
phenomena in the lives and careers of educators, in a province that has gone
through political , historical and ideological turbulence, violence and
intimidation that had direct and indirect negative effects on educational
patterns and processes.
The literature review examined the various dynamics associated with these
key phenomena in the educational system, including the legal frameworks and
policies that shape the educational landscape, such the South African Schools
Act. It needs to be said that such social and educational phenomena both shape
and are shaped by the social and public policies of the democratic government
that was elected from 1994 until today.
These phenomena are an integral part of a series of processes that have been
shaped by the various educational authorities in the new democratic
dispensation, such as the various audits, new plans and strategies as well
aspects of quality assurance and the like. These are inextricably linked with
the dynamics unfolding in the educational terrain, especially in relation to
rationalisation and re-deployment. These are situations that can be faced by
all teachers, throughout the country, and it has been hoped that the
internationally accepted scientific selection of the sample will permit the
researcher to make inferences to similar or other populations.
The study basically used two sets of data collection instruments, a structured
questionnaire, and a Likert-scale type questionnaire .The questionnaires were
administered to the groups of educators who were selected scientifically from
the official lists of the KwaZulu Natal Department of Education. One hundred
questionnaires were utilised, distributed collected and analyzed. The sample
consisted of 45 males and 55 females. Amongst the sample there were
educators who were both rationalised and re-deployed.
The findings could be summarised as follows:
• The majority of teachers felt strongly that rationalization and
redeployment led to stress.
• Stress created social and psychological problems for the educator, his/her
immediate environment.
• Redeployment and rationalisation had serious negative consequences on
learners.
• Most teachers reported that they were not coping with the stress associated
with rationalization and redeployment as they created serious
psychological and social problems.
• There was no gender difference in the teachers' abilities to cope with stress
associated with rationalization and redeployment.
Most teachers expressed a negative attitude towards the policy of
rationalization and redeployment. They felt it was a policy that created serious
problems within the education system both at macro and micro level. / Thesis (M.Ed.)-University of Durban-Westville, 2004.

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:ukzn/oai:http://researchspace.ukzn.ac.za:10413/1556
Date January 2004
CreatorsThedi, Daniel Skumbuzo.
ContributorsChohan, Ebrahim Ajee.
Source SetsSouth African National ETD Portal
LanguageEnglish
Detected LanguageEnglish
TypeThesis

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