*Wits School of Governance (ETDs)
Permanent URI for this community
Browse
Browsing *Wits School of Governance (ETDs) by SDG "SDG-4: Quality education"
Now showing 1 - 6 of 6
Results Per Page
Sort Options
Item Determinants of evaluation use within the South African education sector(2020) Zuma, Thabisile AmandaCentral to the discipline of monitoring and evaluation (M&E) is the issue of evaluation use. This preoccupation with evaluation use is due to the fact that whether you are a commissioner of evaluation or an evaluator, there is an expectation that evaluations will lead to use. The purpose of this research was to understand what evaluation use is and what its determinants are, based on the perspectives of three organisations in the education sector. The findings revealed and the factors that influence evaluation use can be categorised into two groups, namely characteristics related to the evaluation, and characteristics that are related to the organisational setting where findings are expected to be used. While there may be multiple stakeholders in an evaluation, the responsibility to ensure use lies mostly with the commissioners and the evaluators. Each of these key stakeholders has specific responsibilities that create a conducive environment for evaluations to be usedItem Evaluation process use in the University Capacity Development Programme at Walter Sisulu University(2021) Mantshongo, MandlaThe study investigated the effect of evaluation process use as a mechanism in the performance of the University Capacity Development Grant at Walter Sisulu University (WSU). The significance of the study was to enlighten the project leaders who participated in the evaluation process to acknowledge the changes that have arose, and the learning associated with that the process. Literature identified the lack of clearly defined measures of the process changes with regards to the performance of projects in the context of higher education and further understanding of the effectiveness of the involvement or engagement of stakeholders in the process of evaluation. This research adopted the qualitative approach as the method that was utilised in collecting the data. Both primary and secondary data collection methods were used to undertake this study in the form of semi-structured interviews through Microsoft Teams adopted due to the COVID-19 restrictions, focus groups, and document review in the form of progress reports and assessment reports. Fifteen participants participated in the data collection with seven individual semistructured interviews and two focus groups each made up of four participants. The findings of the study demonstrated that: (1) individual thinking or behavioural change cannot be solely attributable to process use as there are other factors that contribute to change, (2) the change and performance could be measured or viewed differently at different levels such as at individual, institutional, evaluators and funders/DHET level, (3) Learning is inevitable to the stakeholders involved in the process, however, the skill transfer to other members who did not participate in the process is lacking, (4) non-conceptualised and non-researched interventions and (6) no convergence in findings for implementation that influences the change of institutional culture. Overall, at individual and project level there are glaring changes in implementation of a project rather than on the performance of UCDG.Item Examining the extent which the SAIVCET support institute for TVET colleges in South Africa has accomplished its primary roles one to six(2023-02) Tutu, BongiweThe National Development Plan (NDP) envisions South Africa’s economic transformation by focusing on higher education and skills development. Since its adoption in 2012, it has emphasised the crucial role of Technical, Vocational Education and Training (TVET) colleges as the major institutions to improve education, skills development and to enhance economic growth. Despite this realization, there are shortfalls that remain within TVET colleges, whereupon the NDP states, “the FET (TVET) system is not effective, it is too small and the output quality is poor” (NDP, 2012: 40). The Department of Higher Education and Training (DEHET) established the South African Institute for Vocational and Continuing Education and Training (SAIVCET) to support the TVET colleges. The SAIVCET was established on six primary roles and three implementation objectives. Using the qualitative survey research approach, adopting questionnaires and semi-structured interviews to gather and assess data, this research examines the extent to which the institute has accomplished the six primary roles and fulfilled the purpose behind its establishment. Through the purposive sampling of the research participants used, this research has found that the rationale and importance for the SAIVCET to strengthen the TVET and CET sector is unquestionable. However, research findings and conceptual analysis indicates that there have been challenges to the formal implementation of the SAIVCET. The institute was projected for 2012, however has yet to be established due to funding and governance constraints. As a result, SAIVCET has no governance structure. In the interim, a “SAIVCET Project” which is an informal body was formed to fulfil some of the functions and primary roles of the main SAVICET body. In a recent 2020/21 DHET Annual Performance Plan, the SAIVCET is still presented as a planned initiative, which has been projected for implementation in the period 2020 – 2025 (DHET, 2020: 10). In examining the primary roles of the SAIVCET support institute for TVET colleges in South Africa, this research has found that, the extent to which the SAIVCET, even as acting through the SAIVCET Project, fulfilled its primary roles is poor. The findings indicate that the SAIVCET has attained average to poor results in effectively fulfilling of its primary roles. Each of the primary roles received consolidated scores that are below average (below 50 percent) from the participants’ primary data. The conceptual framework and analysis further indicates the lacking impact of the institute, particularly under assessments of the Good governance framework and the Education policy implementation framework. This research recommends DHET uphold publishing annual reports to the functions and progress of the SAIVCET and SAIVCET Project, in order to enable public awareness and engagement on developments within higher education. Further, this research recommends a two-year progress review of the SAIVCET once it has been established. Further, this research study recommendscoordinated efforts among various ministries, stakeholders, public and private sectors and higher education institutions, on the functions and resources for SAIVCET. Furthermore, this study recommends an institutional push for shifts in mind-sets, particularly among employers with bias when selecting candidates from higher education institutions and TVET colleges. Furthermore, this research recommends funding and resources, which are allocated without reservations, but for the sole purpose of advancing progress, transformation and human development. This requires rigid policy interventions within South Africa’s education system. This research can be used to build on new and existing studies of frameworks on TVETs and SAIVCET.Item Oversight of and access to education for undocumented international child migrants in South Africa(2022) Hwati, RoselineA huge number of people migrate internationally every year because of different ‘push’ and ‘pull’ factors ranging from socio-economic challenges and lack of respect for political rights. Among the people who migrate internationally, there are also children involved who migrate with their families and there are many unaccompanied children. Due to the different challenges that are experienced in African countries including exorbitant passport fees, many people, including children, end up migrating illegally. This study interrogates the oversight role and support of the Gauteng Department of Education (GDE) on ordinary public primary schools in Johannesburg East District. This is because undocumented child migrants’ approach ordinary public primary schools in townships to access education. Research has shown that undocumented child migrants still experience challenges in accessing education regardless of the international and regional instruments that are in place to safeguard their rights. This study showed that oversight by the GDE is at play in the Alexandra township. There is an “open door” policy in which school officials can easily consult in the event that they do not understand something about the Schools Act and the Admission Policies that are adopted to allow undocumented international child migrants access to education. The study showed that schools generally tolerate undocumented child migrants as they are not turning them away on the basis of lack of documentation or inability to pay school fees. The study showed that a positive relationship exists between implementation of policy and understanding of policy and support from the Gauteng Department of Education which shows that it is not the understanding of policy that matters when it comes to admitting undocumented international child migrants but support received from the Gauteng Department of Education.Item Participants’ Perceptions of the effectiveness of CLEAR-AA’s Development Evaluation Training Programme in Africa(University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2020-02-27) Ramasobana, Mokgophana; Morkel, CandiceIn the past few decades, monitoring and evaluation (M&E) capacity-building programmes and training budgets aimed at addressing the rising demand for M&E skills have been increasing. Over the same period, extensive research focusing on the broader evaluation capacity development (ECD) spectrum has been commissioned. However, insufficient research assessing the effectiveness of M&E capacity-building programmes has been conducted; therefore, their contribution towards building skills and knowledge is unknown. In this study, qualitative research aimed at assessing the effectiveness of the Development Evaluation Training Programme in Africa (DETPA), delivered by the Centre for Learning on Evaluation and Results – Anglophone Africa (CLEAR-AA), was used as a case study to begin to understand how Kirkpatrick’s (1959) training effectiveness model could be applied to understand the DETPA training programme implemented in Africa. This is informed by DETPA’s popularity in the region and plans to scale up and implement the programme on an annual basis. Therefore, conducting this assessment contributes towards the improvement of the programme. Using Kirkpatrick’s model, semi-structured interviews were conducted aimed at assessing participants’ perceptions on whether or not the DETPA programme has contributed towards building their individual capacities (skills and knowledge), influenced their individual behavioural change as well as organisational behavioural change. The interviews were also aimed at ascertaining their perceptions regarding the gaps of programmes such as the DETPA. This study focused on the participants of the 2017 programme, which also marked the launch of the DETPA. For the purpose of research rigour interviews with different categories of respondents were conducted as follows: ten (10) DETPA 2017 participants, one (1) DETPA facilitator, two (2) DETPA moderators and four (4) line managers of participants. The findings are not generalizable, as the purpose of the study was not to conduct a quantitative analysis of the perceptions of participants, but to better understand how individual participants personally experienced the potential effects of the DETPA on their individual and organisational capacities. Based on the participant’s perceptions, the programme has been perceived to have the following effects: generally, the findings indicate that the overall programme was perceived by participants to have contributed positively to their M&E capacity development. It was specifically perceived to have contributed towards improving their skills and knowledge as well as to some extent to have contributed towards sustaining the transfer of skills. In addition, there was mixed feedback on whether the programme has contributed towards improving participants’ organisational performance. In terms of the perceived gaps in the programme, it was significant that participants proposed that CLEAR-AA should consider integrating the Made in Africa Evaluation (MAE) philosophy throughout the entire DETPA, as it is currently only included as a single module. This elevates the role of local or contextual approaches in understanding the effectiveness of training programmes delivered in the African diaspora. In conclusion, this study recommends that further empirical research should be conducted to better understand the mechanisms by which training influences skills and knowledge acquisition as well as organisational effectiveness in M&E, as well as to allow for the generalisation of these findings.Item Teacher perceptions of effectiveness of a mathematics teacher professional development programme(2020) Sojen, JayaSouth African learners face serious deficits in mathematics learning at the schooling level. Low learner performance is more pronounced in the case of low-quintile schools. Several factors have been reported to contribute to low learner performance in mathematics. One of them is teacher quality. Because teachers are the only support for learning for learners from disadvantaged socio-economic backgrounds, it is imperative that teacher quality is improved in order to improve learner achievement in low-quintile schools. Eventhough several mathematics teacher professional development programmes have been implemented in South Africa to improve teacher quality, small-scale qualitative studies, in the form of classroom observation and perception studies, report that these teacher professional development programmes lack in quality and focus on content, and that they are delinked from the classroom context, thereby lacking effectiveness. The purpose of this research was to evaluate one such mathematics teacher professional development programme, the Mathematics Teacher Professional Development Programme (MTPDP), implemented in six schools in Ivory Park in the Gauteng Province. This study intended to explore the teachers’ perceptions of the effectiveness of the MTPDP through capturing the teacher experiences of participation in the MTPDP vis-à-vis exploring the teachers’ perceptions of the effectiveness of the design attributes of the MTPDP, the new knowledge acquired of content and pedagogy and the change in teachers’ classroom practice. The conceptual framework proposed by Desimone (2009) for evaluating the effectiveness of teacher professional development programmes informed the conceptual framework used in this study. Desimone’s (2009) framework presents an action model akin to a theory of change model (Boylan, Coldwell, Maxwell, & Jordan, 2018) to evaluate the impact of teacher professional development programmes in bringing about improved learner outcomes. The critical design attributes of a professional development programme enable positive teacher experiences of participation, thereby enabling teacher acquisition of knowledge and by extension a change in teachers’ classroom practice (Desimone, 2009). This leads to impacting positively on teacher instruction and thereby improving the learner outcomes (Desimone, 2009). Thus, the model represents a connection between critical features of professional development, teacher knowledge acquisition, change in classroom practice and learner outcomes as a continuum of change for evaluating the effectiveness of a teacher professional development programme. This research pursued a qualitative approach with an interpretivist case study design. A sample of eight teachers was interviewed using semi-structured interviews. The thematic analysis highlighted that the teachers perceived the effectiveness of MTPDP as enabling teacher learning, enhancing teacher knowledge, improving teacher self-efficacy and bringing about transformation in teachers’ classroom practice from a predominantly teacher-centred practice to a learner-centred practice. Broad design features of the MTPDP, namely the content-based workshops and the classroom-based component of MTPDP were perceived as effective and found strong resonance among the teachers. The design attributes of ‘coherence’, ‘content coverage’, ‘active learning’, ‘sharing ideas and teacher collaboration’, ‘modelling classroom delivery’ and ‘monitoring classroom implementation’ were perceived as effective by the teachers in enabling learning. The acquisition of ‘knowledge of introducing subject matter’ and ‘knowledge of multiple strategies’ were perceived as effective in enhancing teacher knowledge. The acquisition of ‘knowledge of multiple strategies’ garnered the maximum buy-in from the teachers and was perceived by them as the sustainable feature of the MTPDP. The acquisition of knowledge enabled by these features of the MTPDP in a safe learning environment was perceived as effective by teachers leading to improved teacher perception of self-efficacy, leading to a transformation in teachers’ classroom practice from a predominantly teacher-centred practice to a learner-centred practice. Thus, the teachers’ overall perceptions of effectiveness of the MTPDP along the continuum of change informed by the conceptual framework of Desimone (2009) was positive. Though the teachers perceived the MTPDP as effective, the effectiveness would have been only at a superficial level as the low content knowledge of teachers may hinder new teacher beliefs from wholly manifesting in classroom practice.