3. Electronic Theses and Dissertations (ETDs) - All submissions
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Item Exploring induction and professional development opportunities for early career teachers in selected South African public schools(2019) Kadenge, EmureThis thesis intended to explore and develop an understanding of current practices and specific processes used to induct early career teachers in a few selected South African public schools. To develop this understanding, this study posed the question: What are the existing practices of induction and professional development available in selected South African public schools to provide early career teachers with learning opportunities to strengthen their repertoire of professional skills? This overarching question was explored through the following sub-questions: (i) What are the main on-the-job/professional challenges experienced by early career teachers? (ii) How are early career teachers inducted and professionally developed in their respective schools and district? (iii) How do existing practices of induction and professional development influence early career teachers’ practices and commitment to the profession? And, (iv) How, if at all, can early career teacher induction and professional development practices be improved and sustained? My research was an empirical phenomenological study that gathered data through focus group interviews, individual interviews, observations and document searches and analysis. The participants were 23 ECTs from five public high schools, which composed two township and three former Model C schools, three school-based mentors from one of the five schools and four district officials who were responsible for the induction of newly hired teachers in the district schools. I found, in response to sub-research question (i), that ECTs were facing serious challenges, especially with the technical aspects of their professional work such as disciplining learners, lesson planning, assessing learners, compiling statistics and managing time. They were also struggling with their respective schools’ social politics outside the classroom where senior teacher colleagues were resentful and very hostile towards them and this phenomenon was particularly profound in the township schools’ context. ECTs’ challenges were worsened by the fact that schools were hardly supporting the ECTs and left them to devise their own survival strategies which were not always in the best interest of the learners, the teaching profession or the country as a whole. In response to sub-question (ii), the data showed that most schools do not have formal structures in place to induct and professionally develop ECTs. Of the five schools that participated in the study, only one school (Peculiar High School) and the district office had formal ECT induction structures. In respect of these two, the data showed that the school largely conceived ECT induction as support by focusing on the acculturation of new teachers into the school community and providing guidance on various aspects related to the new teachers’ professional duties. The district, on the other hand, seemed to conceive teacher induction as administrative monitoring with increased performance standards for teachers as their emphasis was on ensuring that the new teachers comply with various policy frameworks that govern their work. In response to sub- question (iii), the data showed that, because of the absence of well-conceived and systematic induction programmes, ECTs were largely dissatisfied with their job situations. As a result, the study identified three categories of ECTs in relation to their practices and their levels of commitment to the profession: (i) the turnover intents (ECTs who were dissatisfied that they were resolute on leaving the profession); (ii) the ‘bad apples’ who were intrinsically inclined to merely survive in the profession without the drive to positively impact their learners or the profession, and lastly, (iii) the ‘agentic individuals’ who were self-directed to stay in the profession and use their agency in a developmental way. For sub-question (iv), the data indicated that ECT induction programmes are definitely needed in South Africa. The data, however, pointed to two important considerations to carefully contemplate on: What should the induction focus on? And, how should the induction be organised (i.e. who is best positioned to facilitate the induction and where should it be done)? The study concluded that, at this point in time in South Africa, there is pressure to improve teacher and teaching quality hence the induction ought to focus on developing ECTs’ professional skills needed for them to effectively perform their core teaching responsibilities. Although school-based induction that is done in the context of practice seemed more viable, the study ended up settling for an approach that acknowledges the important role played by both the school and the district in the proposed School-District-based ECT induction model. My work contributes to the literatures on how ECT induction is conceptualised at the school and district levels in the South African context by reporting on how ECT induction was understood, enacted and the nature of social relationships that underpin it in these different sites. These findings could be of interest to policy makers who can use these insights to begin to think about how prefigured contextual conditions across the different school and district contexts in South Africa will influence the manner in which nationwide ECT induction practices will most likely play out. The findings could also benefit schools and districts in as far as determining how best they can work together following the four steps of the School-District-based ECT induction model proposed in this study. As a result of my study, further research might well be conducted on the induction of ECTs in the South African public schooling context in order to understand the prefigured contextual conditions that are at play in the primary schooling context. This study has been a building block that has certainly opened up a new research agenda on early career teacher professional development through induction.Item North-South partnerships in public higher education: a selected South African case study(2019) Chasi, SamiaThis study is concerned with how North-South partnerships in public higher education are managed in South Africa. It offers a global South perspective, with a particular focus on how the challenges inherent in such partnerships, which relate to imbalances in resources, knowledge and power, can be addressed. In doing so, the study highlights the need that Southern institutions have for more equal and balanced partnerships with their Northern counterparts. Facilitated by a postcolonial framework, the study takes a critical look at North-South partnerships in South Africa, recognising that such partnerships have to be understood with the country’s legacy of colonialism and apartheid in mind. In this context, a discussion of the concepts of coloniality and decoloniality is linked to transformation, decolonisation and Africanisation as some of the most pertinent issues affecting South African higher education institutions today. Furthermore, the critical discussion of North-South partnerships enables critical engagement with the global phenomenon of higher education internationalisation, which is dominated by Northern perspectives in terms of definitions, concepts and practices. Methodologically, the study presents a qualitative, single case study, using the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, a public South African higher education institution, as the case. Careful consideration is given to questions of positionality, particularly as the researcher relies on her experiences in the sector to offer a unique practitioner-scholar perspective. Drawing on data generated from a variety of documents and interviews, the study provides a nuanced, in-depth picture that underscores the lived realities of North-South partnerships at the University. In doing so, it critically illustrates the complexities of the notion of ‘North-South’ in relation to a university like Wits in a country like South Africa. Besides some practical suggestions for the attention of institutional management, it also offers conceptual insights into what partnerships and internationalisation should look like from a South African perspective. The study advocates for the increased agency of the global South, highlighting that Southern institutions should be less complicit and less accepting of inequalities and imbalances in their partnerships with Northern counterparts. Furthermore, it argues that changing the paradigm of North-South partnerships towards more balanced engagements contributes to moving the proverbial mountain, transforming our global society into one that is socially more just. It thus adds a small cornerstone note for the ongoing process of laying new foundations for a different and more equitable future for higher education partnerships and beyond.Item Women students as political activists(2018) Mudau, ElelwaniThe #FeesMustFall movement introduced a new era of youth uprising in South Africa; it is another example of the many social action movements wherein youth are the driving force and main voice for social change. An interest of this research project was to understand the ways throughout history that social action platforms have been utilized by those involved to assert their values and desires for social change. Social action platforms can be seen as one of the spaces in which humanity asserts its identity. Even during the #FeesMustFall protests in 2015 and 2016, it was evident that a number of identities were being mobilized; the black students’ identities are examples of such and even more was the insertion of black women students during the protests. The heightened role of women students in leadership positions during the protests was explored, especially because women had previously been seen to occupy secondary supporting roles in movements of political change. The project investigated the ways in which these women students inserted their multiple identities that had previously been seen as non-complementary; these identities became a means to address the political agenda of the #FeesMustFall movement. The methodology took a narrative approach to understanding the Experience-Centred narratives told by participants. Application of thematic analysis method produced recurrent narration of events; these particular incident narratives (PINS) (Wengraf, 2006) became important as focal points of analysis. The analysis of participants also revealed the impact of students’ individual upbringing. The family, school and other important influences played key roles in the extent of politicization of participants; from these experiences, leadership qualities were also instilled. Hence during the #FeesMustFall protest, participants were able to engage the movement in the ways they did. Due to their particular background influences, these students were not afraid to lead; neither were they timid about resisting unjust systemic measures on campus or within the movement structures. In the end it was their bodies that curbed police violence on campus.Item The narrated social and sexual experiences of black gay university students who have sex in the closet(2017) Kekana, PutukeThe aim of this study was to enquire on the narratives of black gay South African university students who are ‘in the closet" i.e. their parents do not know about their sexuality only a few trusted friends within the university space. These narratives focused on their social and sexual experiences which involved their interactions within the university as black gay men in the closet. Four black gay students from two Johannesburg universities aged 21 to 24 participated in this study. The study made use of a qualitative research design grounded in Narrative Theory. Unstructured interviews were conducted and the collected narratives were analysed using Narrative Analysis. Each participant narrated different individual experiences of the university space as well as how they negotiated their sexual practices as gay men who are in the closet. The participants offered knowledge about the university spaces that they occupied as well as the communities in which they were raised. The participants" narratives highlight the intersectional challenges black gay men from township and rural South Africa endure because of social constructs of heteronormativity, hegemonic masculinity, religious intolerance and homophobia, all which were perpetuated within these spaces. These challenges also affected their sexual experiences; influencing their lack of interest in sexual intercourse. The study highlights the importance of creating safe spaces for gay people to express their sexuality visibly. The study argues that visibility can challenge social ills experienced by gay people within university spaces and the country at large.Item Partners for possibility: experiences of cross-sectoral partnerships designed to improve school leadership in South Africa(2017) Kirori, Maureen WambuiThis study explores a partnership model designed by Partners for Possibility (PfP), a South African non-profit organization (NPO) attempting to reform the country’s education system. Through its partnerships, PfP aims to address the identified problem of weak school leadership in order to improve the educational outcomes in schools. In this model, school principals of underperforming schools are paired up with business people with leadership experience for a period of one year to address the challenges facing their schools. The model includes a 12-month structured training programme which seeks to capacitate and support the paired principal and business leader in their partnership-building process. This study provides an in-depth investigation of the experiences of the partnerships and of the influence of the structured programme on these partnerships from the perspectives of the principals and of the business leaders. The effect of social differences on the partnerships was also considered. Among the theories used in this study are critical action learning and common ingroup identity. A qualitative research design was employed and data was collected from 10 school principals of “no fee” schools and from 12 business leaders. The results of the study reveal that the functionality of these partnerships is determined by their focus, which can be long-term and transformative or short-term and tending towards resolving the school’s immediate material needs. Further, these partnerships were found to be capable of improving school performance if the partners engaged in activities that promoted teaching and learning. Despite this potential, there was little monitoring of school performance. The results also indicate that the group-learning aspects included in the structured programme could encourage the partnership to focus on short-term goals which tend not to lead to long-term sustainable change in the school. The social tensions attributed to race and class divisions were found to have a minimal effect on the partnerships studied since the partners’ common vision, namely, to improve schools, allows them to maintain their unique identity either as principals or as business leaders. Because education reform is a complex and long-term project, the recommendations following this study point to the need for a more integrative approach in the PfP process, and a greater awareness of the need for a longer time scale in order to bring about the desired transformation in schools and consequently to South Africa’s education system.Item Trends, tropes and positioning in the university research sub-system n emerging knowledge economies : a theory of research entanglement(2016) Abrahams, Lucienne AnnUniversities in 21st century emerging knowledge economies seek to build a culture and practice of research activeness and intensiveness. How do university research sub-‐‑systems position universities to push through conditions of adversity to realise research activeness and intensiveness? Based on data collected from an exploratory study of selected research active universities in India and four case studies from a single research active university in South Africa, the research finds that university research sub-‐‑systems, operating in emerging knowledge economies, are engaged in quantum research games. Research complexity and adversity; uncertainty with respect to the outcomes and impact of research; and contestation with respect to resources, values and value; renders the university research game a quantum game, leading to the research entanglement of scientist-‐‑researchers. Epistemologically located in social constructionism and using grounded theory analytical methodology, the theory of positioning universities for research activeness and intensiveness through research entanglement identifies four trends of entanglement. Research actors who operate in a habitual state of heightened entanglement are able to push through adversity. It is theorised that the position of leaning towards heightened research entanglement creates an advantage for universities towards achieving greater research activeness and intensiveness. Where the position of leaning away from entanglement is dominant, this may create institutional stasis and an inability to advance the institution towards greater research effortItem Evaluating development effectiveness assessing and comparing the impact od education intervention in South Africa(2016) Besharati, Neissan AlessandroThis research is a contribution to the field of development evaluation. Much of the evaluation practice in development and public policy remains weak in scientific validity, and challenged by issues of attribution and comparability of results across different studies. After an in-depth review of the existing literature and an analysis of the current shortfalls and knowledge gaps in programme evaluation, the research proposes a methodological framework that allows for the empirical measurement and comparison of the impact of diverse types of interventions aimed at addressing a specific outcome of interest. The evaluation framework informs decision-making in social-economic development processes, by combing elements of theory-based counterfactual evaluation, multiple-treatment meta-analysis, mixed methods, and participatory approaches. The evaluation framework is tested in South Africa by utilising the proposed package of methods through two case studies presented in this thesis, to generate evidence for policy-makers, programme managers, and investors operating in the education sector. The first is an evaluation of the impact of the corporate social investments of Anglo American Platinum in Limpopo and North West provinces, that utilised geo-spatial features of mining operations to conduct a quasiexperiment. The second is a comparative analysis of major interventions implemented in South Africa to improve learning outcomes in public schools. The education meta-analysis is the first of its kind to be conducted in South Africa, and has revealed many locally-produced impact studies which had not previously been captured by international reviews on school interventions in developing countries. The empirical work conducted in this research confirms existing theories and reveals new insights into the role of the private sector, the proximity of schools to mines, psycho-social and economic factors, learner age and home language, educational material, quantity and quality of teachers, school management, and accountability systems, in affecting education outcomes. The research highlights some of the programmes and policies which have been most effective in South Africa’s schooling sector, while cautioning about the contextual factors and methodological design features which influence the effect sizes being reported in the evaluations of development interventions. The research concludes by reflecting on the experiences, data and cost analysis challenges, and the lessons learnt from the application of the proposed evaluation approaches in South Africa’s education sector. It discusses the limitations of the framework, and how this can be further refined for future use in other countries, sectors, and development policy contexts.Item Parents' perceptions of the use of technology in South African primary schools(2016) Shunmugam, Lauren OliviaDespite 20 years of democracy, education in South Africa is still plagued by the inequalities carried over from apartheid. Concerns on issues of standardisation in education, which are linked to socio-economic status, make it increasingly difficult to determine what skills learners are leaving the schooling system with (Blignaut, 2009; Du Plessis & Webb, 2012; Lumadi, 2011; Maiyo, 2015; Watts, 2001). There is a need to bridge the gap that currently exists within education, and one way in which this is thought possible, is through the integration of technology in the classroom (Department of Education, 2004). In 2015 the Smart Schools Project was put in place to promote the implementation of technology in South African schools. One of the aims of this project is to standardise education through redressing the inequalities within the country. This study aimed to investigate the perceptions of parents, with regards to the introduction of technology within primary school classrooms in South Africa. In order to achieve the main aim of this study, perceptions of parents were explored from parents whose children were in private and government-funded schools. This study used a combination of two models in order to understand how parents’ usage and acceptance of technology could possibly influence their children’s interaction with technology. This study found that how parents come to use and accept technology is not influenced by socio-economic status. Further, it was noted that acceptance and usage impacted how they viewed technology being introduced in the classroom.