3. Electronic Theses and Dissertations (ETDs) - All submissions
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Item Understanding the intended and enacted National Certificate Vocational English curriculum(2017) Madileng, Mary MmatsatsiThis thesis is premised on the notion that the perceived lack of quality of curriculum delivery in the vocational education sector in South Africa is probably due in part to the weaknesses of content knowledge selected for inclusion in the curriculum of various programmes offered in the vocational education sector. The thesis examines the nature of knowledge specified in the English subject offered in the Technical Education and Vocational Training (TVET) Colleges. Drawing on Basil Bernstein’s notion of the pedagogic device, the study follows the English curriculum as it starts from the production field where new ideas are created and modified, to the recontextualization field where curriculum designers and textbook writers produce written curriculum documents, to the reproduction field where the students are taught and examined. The study further examines the English lecturers’ insights about their perceptions and understanding of the curriculum they teach from. My findings indicate that the English curriculum follows an outcomes-based design structure, and displays a lack of conceptual integration, knowledge sequence and progression. The approaches to the teaching of English which inform the construction of the intended curriculum display characteristics of a generic horizontal nature. The intended curriculum does not incorporate features that encourage a mastery of technical terms which are appropriate for different occupational fields followed by the TVET College students. The design structure of the curriculum fails to guide the lecturers in terms of unpacking approaches to the teaching of English and how to use them in their teaching, as well as clarify the progression process and ways of aligning lesson planning to the occupational needs of the students. An analysis of this curriculum identifies strengths and weakness, highlights accomplishments, and focuses on realistic policy alternatives for the TVET sector, curriculum design, pedagogical and assessment practices.Item The implementation of the Botswana Technical Education Programme(2013-08-22) Mhizha, Bose MargaretA new Vocational Educational Policy, Botswana Technical Education Programme policy (BTEP) has been launched by the Department of Vocational Education and Training to enable the learners to acquire the necessary learning experiences and attributes towards effective preparation for the world of work. The nature of the programme is such that facilitation approaches should be learner-centred. The Quality Assurance policies are aimed to support the implementation of the BTEP. However, they were factors which hindered the effective implementation of BTEP in the Technical Colleges. Consequently, the Colleges implemented the policy partially while there was non-implementation in certain programmes at some Colleges and as a result BTEP failed to increase access in the Technical Colleges as initially intended. This was the research problem of the study. The aim of the study was to explore factors that constrained the implementation of BTEP. The related literature was consulted to determine the changes that could be made to enhance policy implementation. Subsequently, document analysis and semi-structured interviews were used to determine the current BTEP delivery practices of lecturers at four Technical Colleges in Botswana, namely, Maun Technical College, Selebi Phikwe Technical College, Francistown College of Vocational Education and Training and Palapye Technical College. Thereafter, the requirements of the policy and the current practices of the lecturers were compared to determine the factors that had hindered the implementation of BTEP. Though the research identified a number of perceived policy successes, perceived policy failures were also identified as follows: Lack of capacity to implement the policy in the Technical Colleges, lack of support for policy implementation from DTVET, lack of commitment to the policy, diverse interpretation of the policy and lastly negative attitude towards the policy was also identified as a constraining factor. Regarding these perceived constraints it was firstly recommended that DTVET should ensure that there are officers who are held accountable for the progress of the implementation of BTEP at DTVET level. Secondly DTVET should develop strategies to guide and support lecturers to implement BTEP effectively. Furthermore DTVET should ensure that messages are communicated to all stakeholders and that feedback about BTEP is clear and consistent. DTVET should also encourage the Colleges to adopt the policy, mitigate resistance and manage the implementation of BTEP. Lastly DTVET should simplify strategies for implementing the BTEP policy and avoid complex initiatives. This study may provide a solution to the problem of BTEP implementation in the Technical Colleges in Botswana. I write this in particular to advice and encourage, the Department of Vocational Education and Training, Programme Design and Development Unit, Quality Assurance Unit, College Management teams and lecturers to make use of the issues raised in this study to help them improve BTEP implementation in the Technical Colleges.