ETD Collection

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    The application of adult education principles to school-based curriculum changes: a case study of a school-based curriculum change for Hebrew literature at a Jewish day school (Grades 8-9) in Johannesburg
    (2014-04-10) Herman, Chaya
    This case study explores, through critical reflection, the process of a school-based curriculum change (SBCC) and examines to what extent the application of adult education principles facilitates this process. The change is related to three issues: the process of curriculum development; the shift towards professional development based on adult education principles; and the changing role of the consultant in relation to curriculum development. Tire consultant came to realize that in order to promote school based curriculum development it was necessary to work with the head of the department and the teachers in a participative mode, rather than taking a stand as a curriculum development expert. The research findings suggest that in order to apply adult education principles to teachers’ professional development, the consultant needs to move from consultancy based on an expert role towards consultancy based on a process role. The research proposes that professional development based on adult education principles and teamwork could be a promising introduction to a secondorder change promoting a school culture of teamwork and critical reflection. The researcher came to question the appropriateness of a case study based on participant observation as a research methodology in the workplace. She suggests that an action research could be more advantageous to promote a second-order change and could be more in line with adult education principles.
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    Unmasking the monster: using contemporary performance to deconstruct Ga cultural myths that silence the self
    (2010-11-29) Anang, George Adjetey
    This study explores how contemporary performance, through a practice led process, can shift the consciousness of entrenched Ga cultural myths that silence the self. In doing so, this study attempts to reveal how cultural mythology plays an integral part in why the Ga people continue to make illness invisible even in the face of the growing crisis of HIV/Aids in Ghana. The study argues that continued silence rather worsens the condition of the victims, and posits that breaking the oppressive silence through contemporary performance’s deconstruction of cultural mythology offers a chance of liberation. This study employs qualitative research methodology within a practice as research paradigm and is achieved through a collaborative practice as research performance process. The performance process draws upon the personal experiences of the collaborators who use stories, games, dances and masks that emanate from the collaborators’ respective cultures in Ghana. The research data comprises photographs, journaling and informal dialogue. It also consists of interpreting phenomena brought to bear on the process. This research places emphasis on the process of exploration as opposed to a final product. In Chapter One the reader is introduced to the history and journey of the self. Chapter Two focuses on the theoretical underpinnings of this research while Chapter Three, an exploration of methodology, demonstrates how elements of the creative process form the base of contemporary performance. Finally, in Chapter Four the researcher draws a number of conclusions based on the outcome of the process oriented performance. This study concludes that the contemporary performance processes offer a constructive alternative towards inciting a shift in the consciousness of Ga cultural myths, without disregarding the ingenious indigenous knowledge of the Ga community. It also shows how the process of contemporary performance can become a means of self-development and change. The study demonstrates how in the midst of the constraints and fear that cultivate silence, often promulgated by the Ga communal ideal, the individual can still discover and give expression to his/her unique voice.
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    Corporate social responsibility in literacy: empowering change in South Africa
    (2009-02-17T10:32:03Z) Nzekwu, Delia
    Abstract A critical equity and change enabler, literacy/education continues to prove very challenging to transform in South Africa. Having been a major apartheid resource through Bantu Education in entrenching South Africa‟s existing two worlds, business intervention in this crucial sector is the overriding interest of this research. How corporate social responsibility in education, assisted by public policy, reinforces inequality in the South African society, even as it attempts to alleviate poverty, is the thrust of the argument here around which many questions evolve. Some of the questions to which this thesis attempts to offer answers, therefore, are: What informs how business invests in education? How is public policy not an enabler of business investment in education? The objective is to determine the extent to which business investment in literacy/education can empower meaningful change in a market-driven South African society. The argument reiterated in this thesis is that Corporate Social Investment (CSI) in education has the potential to be a strong change driver. Unfortunately, its current positioning in the Broad-based Black Economic Empowerment (BB-BEE) strategy is weak and its effect on change equally weak. The extent to which CSI in literacy can facilitate transformation in South Africa is highly dependent on the elimination of the many challenges beyond the scope of business endeavour. The challenges include the low weighting of CSI in the BEE agenda which is a hindrance to mind-set change about the relevance of education to South Africa‟s transformation. Employing the qualitative method, using elite interviewing, and relying on written records, this thesis starts off by finding the South African definition of the word Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) vis-à-vis global definitions. While Corporate Social Investment (CSI), it was discovered, is the preferred word in the private sector, findings here reveal that irrespective of what it is called in South Africa, CSR or CSI, both terms are fundamentally the same because, more in South Africa than anywhere else, the moral values that drive CSR or CSI are the same. That is, social justice, equity, and transformation. In order to determine its potency in the change process, a cursory assessment of CSI in the various sectors of education reinforces the place of the definition in that process. As an „investment‟, CSI is driven by market forces. Inherent in these forces are the inequalities that motivate capitalism and CSI is not insulated from those forces. Findings here emphasise that CSI, as yet another capitalist means of intervention in education, is thus severely challenged to be more than a tip of the ice-berg in the nation‟s change process. Very importantly, this thesis shows how paradoxically, public policy through the DTI Codes of Conduct for BB-BEE further disempowers CSI in education. As a “residual element” with an insignificant weighting on the BEE Scorecard, this research argues that legislation diminishes the importance of education as an empowerment driver. The inadequate creation of jobs further makes the benefit of education to transformation even less stimulating. It concludes that although CSR or CSI has enormous potential to drive change, the BEE legislation, the conceptualisation of CSR, and other micro issues evolving around poverty conspire to limit the extent to which CSI can empower change.
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    Teaching and Learning in Racially/Culturally Diverse Classrooms in a Post-Apartheid South Africa
    (2006-11-16T12:20:31Z) Pather, Ethel Una
    As the title implies, this research concerned the convergence of race and culture in school settings. How the two categories are related is a complex matter, especially in the context of South Africa where race has played, and continues to play, a critical role in the formation of culture. The study aimed to investigate the dynamics of teaching and learning in racially diverse classrooms in three historically white former Model C Schools in Ekhuruleni East District of Gauteng Department of Education (GDE). To this end I conducted a multiple case study with Grade 8 pupils and their teachers, with a primary intention of illuminating the challenges, attitudes and emotions experienced by teachers and pupils, as well as the dynamics between teachers and pupils, and among pupils. Eight questions guided the data collection through extended on-site observation and interviews: (i) What are the experiences and challenges of teachers and pupils in racially/culturally diverse classrooms? (ii) How do teachers and pupils respond to these experiences and challenges? (iii) What preparation if any, have teachers had in order to face these challenges in racially/culturally diverse classrooms? (iv) How do teachers and pupils and pupils and pupils from diverse race groups interact? (v) What are teachers and pupils opinions about racially diverse classrooms?(vi) What is the significance of race to pupils at the three schools? (vii) How is race conceptualised and lived at school? (viii) What is the impact of the discourse of race on the lives of black pupils? The theoretical framework of this research is situated in the field of teaching and cultural diversity. In order to place the research questions and findings in the context of international and local research and debate on cultural diversity in education, I consulted a wide range of both international and local literature. The thesis presents the main research findings, in terms of four broad themes that cut across the research questions: Change, Subjective Reality and Assimilation; Discourse of Blame and Cultural Deficit Discourse; Home Culture versus School Culture; Perceived Racism or Racism as a Consequence of Change. The analysed data revealed that teachers’ were frustrated and it was evident from their subjective reality that they were not dealing well with change. Pupils preferred homogeneous groups rather than integrated groups thus there was little interaction between racial groups. Hostility was evident and in some cases resulted in fights between black and white pupils. Black pupils perceived the presence of racism among some white teachers and pupils This study could, despite its limitations, pave the way for far more elaborate studies to be conducted.. Since statutory racial integration in South Africa is only ten years old the discourse of racial diversity needs to be illuminated through extensive and intensive research. Teachers need to address both social and educational aims simultaneously as the findings suggest that unless teachers acknowledge and understand diversity in their classrooms and understands the backgrounds of their pupils; these pupils are likely to remain marginalised and desegregated schools run the risk of not contributing to social change.