Doctoral Degrees (Education Policy Studies)

Permanent URI for this collection

https://scholar.sun.ac.za/handle/10019.1/501

Browse

Now showing 1 - 20 of 74

Analysing educational leadership in relation to deliberative democracy: towards a defffensible form of school leadership
(Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2021-12) Isaacs, Akeda; Waghid, Yusef; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Education. Dept. of Education Policy Studies.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Debates about developing a more equal society should consider evaluating the role of education by reimagining school leadership’s nature and scope in developing the foundations for a just society where human equality is an ideal norm. While there is a growing unease with the neoliberal agenda of education, visible through state policies and practices, not much research exists on school leadership’s role in developing cosmopolitan norms through a cosmopolitan- oriented education that enhances and teaches democratic citizens to thrive in a globalised world. I believe school leaders play a critical role in advancing social justice and democratic citizenry in education as they are ideally placed for developing and enacting just school policies and developing spaces for deliberation in the school environment. The current neo-liberal debates of leadership as an instrument of control and risk management has led to politicisation of school leadership’s role as one of compliance and local power distribution. More than two decades after democracy, South African schools continue to be poles apart. After apartheid, policy reforms facilitated the democratisation of schools addressing challenges of social justice through equity and redress. The Curriculum Assessment and Policy Statement (CAPS), developed as part of the democratisation process, emphasises the development of academic ability, but the implementation thereof reduces opportunities for critical thinking and deliberation in the classroom. The curriculum’s aim to deliver quality teaching and learning is not clearly evident with many learners struggling to read. Another decentralisation mechanism, school-based leadership, inclusive of governing bodies, was established to manage schools. Although, one of the main functions of the school governing bodies is the development of school policy in line with the constitution, research highlights the inequalities at school level. Two decades after apartheid, public schooling is tormented by dysfunctionality and increased violence. Learners most at risk of being affected by violence are from disadvantaged schools. Schools cannot be divorced from their communities and they carry the legacy of their apartheid histories. Democratisation through its policies, cannot obliterate the discourse of violence inherent in apartheid, unless the curriculum creates the space for different pedagogical encounters, and teacher training is adapted to address the challenges, and in so doing, creating alternative philosophies and worldviews. This dissertation explores the concept of forgiveness to frame deliberative encounters with others, creating a curriculum of refuge, thus paving the way for a re-orientating that can foster healing in a society with historical conflict between different groups. I advance an argument for reconceptualising the philosophical framework and foundational principles of school leadership via the inclusion of deliberative democracy, cosmopolitan education, and the concept of forgiveness in teaching and learning. The dissertation explores the concept of deliberative democracy and cosmopolitan education. Furthermore, it examines the commensurability with a defensible form of school leadership, examining the implications for the development of democratic citizens. I analyze the concept of deliberative democracy as a philosophical framework to assist leadership in understanding the practical implementation of the moral and ethical dimensions of schools. This deals with diversity, identity, and an understanding of the role of leadership in advancing democratic education systems. The dissertation explores the development of democratic citizenship, with its claims of justice for all individuals, as a prerequisite for cosmopolitanism, and for cosmopolitan education to develop the recognition and acknowledgement of rights and responsibilities. One of the research’s main findings is the role of school leadership with a cosmopolitan orientation, inclusive of deliberation and a social justice ethic, as a contributor to a democratic and more peaceful world. Another is the inclusion of forgiveness, as a concept and lived experience in pedagogy, contributing towards democratic education. Forgiveness taught as both a normative value and concept, and from the perspectives of the forgiver and perpetrator. The significance of its inclusion in the education of a pluralistic society, seeking to advance democracy and to live in a peaceful world, whilst recovering from the ravages of apartheid, colonisation and its consequences of continuing violence and poverty, is explored. I examine leadership’s role in creating cosmopolitan spaces for iterations and engagement to enable an understanding of the relationship of the self and the other. Iterations and engagements foster the development of critical thinking and imagining a peaceful, forgiving, and democratic society that can be shared.
A conceptual analysis of a reflexive democratic praxis related to higher education transformation in South Africa
(Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2001-03) Waghid, Yusef; Steyn, J. C.; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Education. Dept. of Education Policy Studies.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The central question of this thesis is whether education policy frameworks are sufficient to transform the higher education system in South Africa. I hold that higher education policy initiatives promulgated in statutory documents such as the White Paper 3 on Higher Education Transformation of 1997 and the Higher Education Act of 1997 are not sufficient to guide educational transformation in universities. My main claim is that as higher education role players we also need to pursue practices driven from "inside" (Gutman 1998: 34) whereby we can develop the "strength of will" to contribute towards initiating equal access and development and, enhancing accountability and quality at our universities. I hold that in order to practice higher education transformation from "inside" (Gutman 1998: 34), one can justifiably pursue a reflexive democratic praxis for the reason that it involves a form of "doing action" with some worthwhile, rational end in mind. It has to do with engaging in reflexive and democratic action attuned to social experience, more specifically higher education, where possibilities may be contemplated, reflected upon, transformed and deepened. To deepen our understanding of our actions involves asking questions about "what we have not thought to think" (Lather 1991: 156). I argue that philosophy of education, more specifically conceptual analysis, is an indispensable means by which we can develop such a deeper, clearer, more informed and better reasoned understanding about the current shifts in higher education transformation in post- apartheid South Africa. Simultaneously, I use conceptual analysis to show why and how the idea of a reflexive democratic praxis can become a "satisfying sense of personal meaning, purpose, and commitment" (Soltis 1998: 196) to guide our activities as educators in the higher education realm. The general principle, which shapes a reflexive democratic praxis, is rationality. Rationality is shaped by logically necessary conditions such as "educational discourse", "reflexive action" and "ethical activity to promote the moral good" in the forms of truthtelling and sincerity, freedom of thought, clarity, non-arbitrariness, impartiality, a sense of relevance, consistency and respect for evidence and people. My contention is that appealing to moral notions of rationality is where the strength of a reflexive democratic praxis lies. In this sense I further elucidate rationality which I argue can create spaces for achieving democratic education which, in tum, holds much promise for shaping teaching and learning through distance education, research and community service in the context of higher education transformation in South Africa. I use "touchstones" which evolve out of rationality, namely access, relevance and dialogism, to show how the idea of a reflexive democratic praxis can contribute towards shaping higher education transformation in South Africa. I provide an overview of the South African higher education policy framework, in particular its concern with issues of equality, development, accountability and quality, which can be linked to and guided by "touchstones" of a reflexive democratic praxis. A reflexive democratic praxis implies a shift towards socially distributed knowledge production which in turn shapes higher education transformation. By reflecting on instances related to the institution where I work, I argue that a more nuanced understanding of higher education has the potential to initiate equal access and , development on the one hand, and to enhance accountability and quality on the other hand. I conclude with the idea that a reflexive democratic praxis can provide higher education practitioners with a conceptual frame to organise their discourses in such a way as to contribute towards transforming their activities and that of their institutions. In this way they might contribute towards addressing the demands of equality, development, accountability and quality in South African higher education. KEYWORDS: Philosophy of education, conceptual analysis, reflexivity, democracy, praxis, higher education, transformation and South Africa.
A conceptual analysis of transformation at three South African universities in relation to the national plan for higher education
(Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2004-04) Van Wyk, Berte; Waghid, Yusef; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Education. Dept. of Education Policy Studies.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This dissertation explores the notion of (higher) education transformation in relation to logically necessary conditions which guide the concept. These logically necessary conditions (constitutive meanings) include: equity and redress, critical inquiry, communicative praxis, and citizenship. I explore how instances of these logically necessary conditions manifest in institutional plans at the universities of Cape Town, Stellenbosch, and the Western Cape. My contention is that these institutional plans seem to be tilted towards the exclusive implementation of performance indicator measures which might undermine deep educational transformation. In turn, deep educational transformation requires that logically necessary conditions be framed according to an African philosophy of educational transformation. KEYWORDS: Higher education, education policy, transformation, conceptual analysis, logically necessary conditions.
Critical student agency in educational practice: a South African perspective
(Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2016-12) Isaacs, Tracey; Waghid, Yusef; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Education. Dept. of Education Policy Studies
ENGLISH ABSTRACT : Violating students’ inalienable and unassailable rights to human dignity could be considered a concrete manifestation of how inequality is perpetuated within a society. By infringing upon human dignity, the potential to tolerate poverty and unemployment is unleashed, creating possibilities to transgress language and religious rights, and accommodate inequality. In this potentially under-served and undermining context, it becomes apparent to ask the question: How could students utilise critical agency to mitigate the effects of capitalist hegemony and ideology in order to bring about a measure of equality in a South Africa classroom, community and society? This research question highlights the status of a sampled group of disadvantaged and marginal students in the schooling system, as they could be regarded as the most vulnerable and threatened participants in the schooling experience, whose human rights are brought into question every time they encounter the schooling situation. Since ruling class hegemony is so pervasive and intrusive in the lives of economically, culturally and linguistically marginal students, they are usually measured against the markers of values, beliefs, norms and standards that are alien to their lived realities and experiences. Often poverty sets the poor apart from their more affluent peers in society, as the poor do not display the level of success envisioned by curriculum planners and administrators. The omnipresence of capitalist or ruling class hegemony makes it almost insurmountable to overcome poverty and inequality. Or does it? The deliberate choice of a philosophical research methodology in this study is designed to gradually clarify meanings, and make values manifest, even while it seeks to identify ethics. As such the study report was mapped out through an interpretivist research approach. Operationally, the data was sourced from written material and verbally expressed ideas that highlight education policy, teacher education and concrete classroom experience. This study focussed firstly, on an investigation of the indicators of critical agency in students from under-resourced school environments within the dominant research literature and secondly, on discovering whether the activation of critical agency can expose students towards becoming individuals and critical thinkers who strive for personal freedom and equality as they are confronted with the stark reality of their lived experiences (specifically the causes and effects of their lives under capital and the possibilities for change).
Critical theory and school governance : advancing an argument for democratic citizenship
(Stellenbosch : University of Stellenbosch, 2005-12) Adams, Faried; Waghid, Yusef; University of Stellenbosch. Faculty of Education. Dept. of Education Policy Studies.
In this dissertation I critically explore school governance in relation to a liberal conception of deliberative democracy incorporating an argument for democratic citizenship. The notion of decentralisation and representative democracy informed collective decision making with the advent of South Africa’s constitutional democracy. This emphasis on participatory democracy aims to enhance nation building/citizenship as South Africa endeavours to sever its ties with its Apartheid past. Entrenched in the practice of representative democracy particularly in the context of schools is educational governance implemented through School Governing Bodies (SGBs). I argue that the legitimate learner and parent voices seem to be excluded from SGB practices – a notion which reinforces the presence of weak democratic practices. My concern is that SGBs in disadvantaged communities do not necessarily adhere to the tenets of democracy as accentuated in the Constitution of South Africa, incorporating the Bill of Rights and the South African Schools Act (SASA of 1996). A weak form of democratic practice seems to manifest itself when the SASA and the implementation thereof are inconsistent with each other, resulting in school governance practices operating in a manner contrary to what the Act purports. The promotion of democracy customarily involves protecting the legitimate (individual and community) interests of all. It is in this context that this dissertation attempts to find a route towards stronger democratic practices, therefore endorsing some of the principles of the South African Constitution, the Bill of Rights and the SASA. I argue that SGB practices seem to undermine these legitimate interests thus posing a dilemma for democracy. In addition current SGBs do not seemingly establish conditions according to which deliberative democratic practices can be achieved. And, unless SGBs also connect deliberative practices with citizenship as well as to “experiencing what is Other”, it would remain weakly democratic. For deliberative practices to happen I propose that conditions ought to be established whereby reasonableness and the incorporation of “the Other”, that is, learners and parents need to be included through pedagogic attentiveness – what can epistemologically referred to as “witnessing the “unknowability of the Other”, can counter such a weak democracy. In other words by including the marginalised voices that are seemingly excluded from SGBs, the potential to move towards strong democratic practices shall be enhanced.
A critical-hermeneutical inquiry of schools as learning organisations
(Stellenbosch : University of Stellenbosch, 2010-12) Beukes, Cecil Joseph; Van Wyk, B.; University of Stellenbosch. Faculty of Education. Dept. of Education Policy Studies.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: In this critical-hermeneutical inquiry into schools as learning organisations I use the service provision model of the Western Cape Education Department (WCED) as an exemplification of the concept of a learning organisation. In this inquiry, which is conceptual in nature, I explore whether their service provision model is sufficient to turn schools into learning organisations. With the establishment of Education Management and Development Centres (EMDCs) in the Western Cape, the WCED expressed its intention to develop schools in the Western Cape into learning organisations. I do a literature review to develop a conceptual framework of a learning organisation. From the literature review I constructed five constitutive meanings of a learning organisation. These meanings serve as conceptual lenses to explore how schools can be developed into learning organisations. Furthermore, I analyse some of the WCED service provision policies against the five constitutive meanings. These constitutive meanings include quality, inclusivity, collaborative teamwork, communication and power, which determine if the WCED policies are consistent with its objective to develop schools into learning organisations. Through my analysis I found that the WCED‟s policies are not compatible with all constitutive meanings. This led me to conclude that the WCED‟s understanding of a learning organisation is fundamentally and conceptually flawed as the WCED‟s service provision model operates within a controlled and regulated environment at the expense of internal school development. Interviews and the interpretation of data further reveal that the WCED‟s service provision model is not adequate to develop schools into learning organisations. This flawed understanding may have resulted partly in the WCED‟s adoption of a single, unitary managerialist approach to their service provision model because of the strong emphasis on compliance rather than cooperation that should exist between schools and the WCED. Based on the constitutive meanings I constructed for a learning organisation, I conclude that a managerialist approach serves the WCED‟s interest more than it serves the interest of teachers and classroom practice. The main argument of this study is that a communicative deliberative idea of democracy could reconceptualise the WCED‟s inadequate understanding of a learning organisation. A key aspect of developing schools into learning organisations may begin with instituting better lines of communication which should include elements like reflexive discussion, communicative freedom, consensus and decision-making processes. These elements form the basis of what constitutes a learning organisation. This reconceptualised notion of a learning organisation can best be done through deliberative democracy with its emphasis on public argumentation with equal opportunity with the aim of arriving at an agreed judgement. This study suggests that the WCED adopts a communicative deliberative idea of democracy as a notion of communication which is a more ideal vehicle that could assist in developing schools into learning organisations.
Cultivating democratic citizenship education in schools :implications for educational leaders
(Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2007-12) Galloway, Greta Marie Mandy; Waghid, Yusef; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Education. Dept. of Education Policy Studies.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: In this dissertation I critically explore educational leadership and management practices in relation to how current school principals lead and manage schools in a democratic society. The aim of this study is to explore to what extent school leaders and managers are transformative in their approach to deepening democracy in schools. In order to contextualise my understanding, I choose to tell my story. Therefore, I give a narrative account of my personal career experience as a teacher, and specifically as a school principal. I argue that educational leaders and managers continue to think and act according to traditional notions of leading and managing school practices. I contend that educational leadership and management practices ought to change in order for schools to transform into institutions implementing democratic practices in a more thoroughgoing way. I argue that current understandings of leadership and management in schools seem to be embedded in positivist tendencies that undermine transformative practices in schools and that positivist leadership and management engender thin forms of democratic school practices. I show how positivist theories of educational leadership and management connect with indefensible forms of leading and managing, namely skewed authority, gender discrimination and exclusion of cultural diversity. I contend that school leadership and management practices ought to be reconceptualised in relation to a framework of democratic citizenship education. Cultivating democratic citizenship education with reference to the seminal thoughts of Jürgen Habermas, Seyla Benhabib and Iris Marion Young will hopefully strengthen my argument for social justice, renewal and redress in school practices. These theorists have shaped the thinking and actions of educational leaders and managers to provide a critical understanding of transformative educational leadership and management practices in schools. Such ideas conceptualise a critical understanding of deliberative leadership and management practices as constructs for deepening democracy in schools. It is within this context that the dissertation explores a pathway towards deepening democracy in schools through a deliberative leadership and management approach. Such an approach has the potential to cultivate communicative democratic moments in educational leadership and management practices through engaging the voices of “others”. For deliberative leadership and management practice to manifest itself, I propose that conditions ought to be established whereby the democratic rights of “others” as incorporated voices in classroom pedagogy, school management and school governance engender deeper citizenship through the inclusion of these “other” previously marginalised voices. By embracing the voices of “others”, the potential is created to move towards deepening democratic leadership and management practices which can possibly engender “schools of hope” for the future. Keywords: Educational leadership, educational management, positivist, critical, citizenship, deliberative democracy, communicative democracy
Cultivating socially just responsible citizens in relation to university accounting education in South Africa
(Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2019-12) Terblanche, Judith; Waghid, Yusef; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Education. Education Policy Studies.
ENGLISH SUMMARY : The aim of this study – situated within the particular South African context that has been marred by systemic inequality and social injustice – was to determine whether higher education institutions could cultivate and nurture socially responsible democratic citizens. Secondary research questions focused on the required teaching and learning practices that support democratic citizenship education, and on the identity of the university educator responsible for implementing these teaching and learning practices. In particular, the focus was on the advantages of utilising deliberative encounters as a pedagogical strategy in higher education. In the development of the study, the emphasis particularly shifted to the consideration of whether deliberative encounters could assist in cultivating socially responsible chartered accountants. The research approach used was pragmatism, which was appropriate to focus on the possible responses to existing societal problems. Within this framework, deconstruction was applied as method in order to determine whether any marginalised voices were absent from this particular discourse. Through applying Foucault’s genealogical analysis to the chartered accountancy educational landscape in South Africa, three mechanisms of disciplinary power were identified, namely the accreditation process, the issue of a competency framework and the writing of an examination. As a result of these mechanisms in operation, it was found that critical thinking pertaining to knowledge construction, the decoloniality of the curriculum, deliberative encounters as teaching and learning practice, and principles in support of the ubuntu practice were largely absent from the chartered accountancy educational landscape. In response to the above-mentioned findings, the study proposes that the re-education of the chartered accountancy profession should include a re-negotiation of the relations and roles of each stakeholder involved in the education process. The study further argues for a transformation in terms of the identity construction of a chartered accountant. Chartered accountants should primarily identify as responsible future business leaders with a unique professional skill set as secondary requisite. Furthermore, various teaching and learning practices that support democratic citizenship education and which could result in the cultivation of socially responsible chartered accountants should be adopted by chartered accountancy university educators at higher education institutions.
Democratic citizenship education and its implications for Kenyan higher education
(Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2015-12) Chiroma, Jane Adhiambo; Waghid, Yusef; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Education. Dept. of Education Policy Studies.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Violence in Kenya undermines the role of Kenyan higher education in the transition to democratic practices. This dissertation analyses democratic citizenship education (DCE) and its implications for Kenyan higher education. Higher education as used in this dissertation is centred on the university. The dissertation addresses the main research question, namely: How does a defensible deliberative conception of democracy help us to think differently about higher education in Kenya? This main research question is investigated using the following sub-questions: What space might there be for democratic citizenship education to help Kenyan higher education institutions address ethnic divisions in the country? How can democratic citizenship education in Kenyan higher education reshape ethnic identities and overcome ethnic tensions? Philosophy of education, as the approach used in this dissertation, enabled this research to reach its goal, which was to establish how DCE can help university education in Kenya resolve ethnic violence. In doing so, this dissertation argues that an extended view of liberal DCE – DCE in becoming – fits in with deconstruction as a reflexive paradox that retains the critical potential of DCE. Deconstruction potentially creates space for reimagining the possibilities of the university as a critical and democratic institution. Deconstruction as a method enabled this research potentially to claim openness in thinking about university education in Kenya to unforeseeable in becoming – being other than it currently is, so that it can contend with issues of ethnic violence in whatever singularity. This dissertation found that Kenyan higher education is already conceptualised in liberal DCE in a predetermined sense of belonging, although in a limited form, and that it is actualised, which means that it cannot resist violence. Therefore, a reconceptualised view of DCE in becoming is engendered in the potentialities of speech and thought and withholding rash judgment – as a way of curbing violence. Further, the findings demonstrate that DCE in becoming potentially can enable students and teachers to learn to think autonomously and to respect others with whom they co-belong. DCE in becoming potentially can contribute to the discourses and pedagogical encounters needed to cultivate responsible, relational, emancipative individual agency in becoming humans who respect and co-belong to the coming community.
Democratic citizenship education in Ghana : Implications for teaching and learning in Ashanti Schools
(Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2020-12) Osei-Owusu, Benedict; Waghid, Yusef; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Education. Dept. of Education Policy Studies.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This study sought to assess the implications of democratic citizenship education (DCE) and its influence on teaching and learning in basic education in Ghana. The study argued that a deliberative DCE would hopefully empower all Ghanaian citizens to participate freely and equally in different activities in which they can engage themselves, express their ideas by way of argument, and justify their reasons for their various stances. This study used the interpretive theory as research methodology (paradigm) and three other distinct methods of inquiry, namely deconstructive, conceptual and narrative analysis. Philosophy of education was the main approach used in the study, which enabled me to reach my goal, which was to establish how educational policies offer opportunities for the cultivation of DCE to help citizens solve societal problems. The ideas of philosophers of deliberative DCE, such as Callan, Gutmann, Benhabib, Young, Nussbaum, Appiah, Wiredu and Gyekye on DCE tenets were discussed in relation to their distinctiveness in Africa and how they converge with Western ideas on DCE. The main research question addressed in the study was: Do the educational policies in the Ashanti region of Ghana offer opportunities to cultivate DCE in the Ghanaian society? This main question was supported by the following sub-questions: What is DCE within the liberal framework? To what extent is Ghana’s educational policy documents informed by DCE? What are the implications of educating for DCE for teaching and learning in Ashanti schools? I found that liberal DCE in Ghanaian basic education is inadequate as it gives distorted views of participation, deliberation and belonging, and shows limitedness in its conceptualisation of DCE because of its nationalistic approach that narrows education to national development and neglects humanistic overtones. Indeed, it is through this engagement that citizens come to understand each other, recognise their misunderstandings and misconceptions, and become abreast of things with which they were hitherto not familiar. In light of the above findings, I argue that DCE-in-becoming could potentially enable learners and teachers to think autonomously and respect others with whom learners co-belong. More so, DCE-in-becoming could build a strong society through civil engagement that would create a social structure for interaction and democratic advocacy, transparency and openness in dealing with tension emanating from political, ethnic, social, religious and economic life. Furthermore, a reconceptualised view of DCE-in-becoming will create an environment of collective identity, reasonableness, inclusivity and reciprocity to help educators deal with the challenges, possibilities and opportunities entailed in having different bodies in schools and classrooms for debates and discussions that would involve all learners. Finally, education-in-becoming has the potential to open the space for contributing and recognising the foundation for re-imagining DCE in Ghana. Ghana is in the process of achieving such education of DCE-in-becoming as a result of recent efforts by government. This can however only be achieved successfully if we can provide opportunities for learners to become familiar with the associated DCE tenets to deal with problems in JHS teaching and learning in the Ghanaian educational system.
Democratic citizenship education in Zimbabwe’s higher education system and its implications for teaching and learning
(Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2018-03) Monicah, Zembere; Waghid, Yusef; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Education. Dept. of Education Policy studies.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT : This study sought to access the implications of democratic citizenship education for higher education in Zimbabwe between 1980 and 2015. Critical inquiry was used as the main research design and it was adopted from social reconstructivism and transformation as frameworks informing this research. The research used deconstruction as method, and this enabled the research to claim openness in thinking about university education in Zimbabwe to unforeseeable in becoming – being other than it is today, so that university education can contend with issues of inequality, corruption as well as electoral and ethnic violence in whatever singularity. The main research question addressed in the research is: Does the Zimbabwean higher education system contain a justifiable form of democratic citizenship education? This main question was supported by the following sub-questions: To what extent is higher education in Zimbabwe informed by DCE? How committed are universities in Zimbabwe to educate for DCE? How did the economic and political situation in Zimbabwe between 1980 and 2015 determine the form of DCE in higher education institutions of learning? How does a reconceptualised notion of DCE assist Zimbabwe’s higher education to address problems associated with social inequalities? In the light of the above research questions, this researcher gathered that Zimbabwe’s higher education requires an extended view of liberal DCE for it to be able to fulfil its transformational and reconstruction agenda. This is in line with deconstruction as a reflexive paradox that reinforces the potential for DCE. The researcher also found that higher education in Zimbabwe is already conceptualised in liberal DCE but in a limited form, and that it is actualised, suggesting that it cannot resist electoral and ethnic violence. More so, having literate citizens is not enough. Citizens must be literate in terms of the principles of democratic living, so that they may learn to participate democratically in the day-today activities of the communities where they live and shun violence. In the light of the above findings, the researcher recommends a DCE in becoming because this could potentially enable students and teachers to learn to think autonomously and to respect others with whom students cobelong. Furthermore, DCE in becoming could contribute to the discourses and pedagogical encounters needed to cultivate responsible and emancipative individual agency in becoming humans who respect community values and co-belong to the coming community. Finally, education in becoming has the potential to make students see things differently, which will prevent them from making rush judgements. Such an education is still in becoming in Zimbabwe; it has not yet been reached, but is still a process of becoming, which can be reached if teaching and learning enable students to enter into speech and thought without rush judgement.
Demokratiese onderwys in Namibiese primêre skole : vlak of diep?
(Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2005-12) Kotze, Chrisna Gloudina; Waghid, Yusef; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Education. Dept. of Education policy.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: To make sure that democracy in a country such as Namibia with a relative young democracy develop and remain intact, citizens who committed themselves to democracy are needed. Education plays a central role in the realisation of this goal. Although democracy is one of the central goals of the Namibian education policy, it is by no means a guarantee that deep democracy is realised in primary schools in Namibia. Before I started this investigation, I first determined if a philosophical approach is a suitable research mechanism for research about education. I came to the conclusion that a philosophical approach is very relevant and offers many possibilities for research about education. Furthermore, I discovered that the concern about the impact that philosophy has on education and teaching in particular, seems to be ungrounded. With this philosophical investigation in mind, particularly through the investigation of concepts such as 'democracy', 'democratic education' and 'democratic citizenship education, I try to determine what deep democratic education involves. I investigate the link between democratic citizenship and democratic education on the basis of three different theories, namely liberalism, communitarianism (liberal, left, right communitarianism and civic republicanism) and deliberative democracy (public reasoning, discursive democracy and communicative democracy). It is my contention that deliberative democracy as an educational process provides more possibilities to bring about deep democracy in schools. The transformation of education in Namibia after independence in 1990 is investigated to determine to what degree the education system has been successfully democratised. An in-depth study of the teaching approach used in schools in Namibia, is explored to determine if it meets the requirements to educate learners to be responsible democratic citizens who can fulfill their duty in the democratic society of Namibia. The central issue, which this dissertation addresses, is that learner-centred education, the approach that is used in Namibian schools, does not ensure deep democracy in Namibian primary schools. Learner-centredness holds that the learners' needs should be central in the teaching and learning process, while the role of the teacher is that of facilitator. There are many factors, on the learners as well as on the teacher's side, which prevent the successful implementation of this approach. I hold that although these deficiencies can be solved in the course of time learner centred-education can still not ensure deep democratic education. The problem is that learner-centred education does not have a democratic civic education agenda and is attuned to an instrumental point of view which constitutes education. It is my contention that if learner-centred education can be supported and adapted so that it is provided with a democratic civic education agenda, it has the potential to contribute to manifest deep democracy in primary schools in Namibia. To achieve this goal teachers who are committed to democracy and who are willing to transform their classrooms in forums where learners can practice the competencies of deliberative democracy, are needed. I hold that democratic civic education is about the development and promotion of learners' communication capabilities, to make a logical argument and to reason, as well as their ability to think critically and practice reflection.
The development of an education management information system from a sensemaking perspective and the application of quantitative methods to analyse education data sets
(Stellenbosch : University of Stellenbosch, 2006-12) Van Wyk, Christoffel; Van der Berg, S.; Berkhout, S. J.; University of Stellenbosch. Faculty of Education. Dept. of Education Policy Studies.
Information is a necessary resource, produced by information systems and is a key building block to the management and decision-making in any organisation. The National Department of Education’s guidelines to establish Education Management Information Systems (EMIS) in provincial departments is a recognition that proper management, planning and evaluation are contingent on quality data, data that is complete, relevant, accurate, timely and accessible. The lack of quality data and the lack of integration with other information systems hamstring the effective use of EMIS. This study addresses these limitations in three basic objectives: a) developing an information systems development model, b) applying the model in a real-life context of the development of the Western Cape EMIS, and c) applying quantitative methods on integrated data sets derived from the EMIS in the Western Cape and other information systems. The study culminates in the development of a four-phase process model for developing and using EMIS in an integrative manner that would provide a more comprehensive picture for policy and decision-making. It outlines the establishment of an information systems development (ISD) model that integrates innovative emerging trends, such as improvisation, bricolage and sensemaking, in designing and implementing information systems. These approaches postulate that beyond the numbers and quantifiable world there is a complex reality that traditional approaches do not always capture. These include, amongst other things, the atmosphere, culture and structure of an organization, together with the behaviour, emotions, knowledge and experiences of all the people who in one way or another interact with the information system. The research presents an empirical application of this developed ISD model in education management information system (EMIS) and underscores the role of information systems in everyday practice. This work practice (Practice-in-Action) approach is used to describe how the day-to-day actions and practical experiences of role players contribute to the design, development, implementation, testing, maintenance and improvement of the EMIS and is used as a lens for understanding ISD. The study further uses quantitative methods, namely education production function and learner flow-through models, to illustrate how the process of knowledge discovery in large data sets in EMIS could be facilitated. The education production function aims to identify those variables that could have a significant influence on the achievement of students in the matriculation examination. The learner flow-through models attempt to measure the effect of learner dropout and repetition on internal efficiency of the education system. Data analysis was facilitated through integration of data sets from various sources, and in turn illustrates the important role of bricolage in ISD. Through this analysis, the role of information systems of this nature to make sense of reality was highlighted. Policy making then can build on the findings from such data analyses to investigate in greater depth any trends or emerging problems, going beyond only the quantitative and macro level analysis by studies at the qualitative and micro levels.
The development of coloured education with special reference to compulsory education, teacher training and school accommodation
(Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 1991) Backman, Frederick Gedye; Heese, C. P.; Nell, W. L.; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Education. Dept. of Education Policy Studies.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This dissertation is a study of the development of Coloured education with special reference to compulsory education, teacher training and school accommodation. Although the original intention was not the establishment of separate schools, public schools established in 1822 and the mission schools eventuated into schools for Whites on the one hand and Coloureds on the other. By 1912 the separation of pupils along colour lines was complete, and in 1964 Coloured education was transferred to a separate department, the Department of Coloured Affairs. Reasons necessitating transfer were given as follows: -the needs of Coloured education would receive appropriate attention: and -Coloured people would ultimately gain control over their own education. Development had to take place within historical patterns of authority. In practice, however, it was impossible to adhere to this principle. After initial reservations, White officials accepted this and became part of the new developments. The Department developed all phases of education, including primary, technical and university education on the basis of equality with Whites. The syllabuses and curricula were based on national core syllabuses and curricula. By 1984, Coloureds effectively were in complete control of their education. Initially Coloured education was financed by a system known as financing by objectives. At present education is financed by means of a formula which is used by all education departments. However, by multiplying the formula with an "a" factor, an attempt was made to narrow the gap between the different departments. In 1905 legal provision was made for the introduction of compulsory school attendance for all White children within certain defined age groups, living within a radius of three miles of a school. As far as Coloureds were concerned, unsuccessful attempts were made in 1945 to introduce compulsory school attendance. As from 1968 it became compulsory for all pupils enrolled to attend school regularly during the year of enrolment. Then in 1974 progressive compulsory school attendance was introduced for all children within defined age groups, living within five kilometers of a state school. In 1964 the Department was faced with the following problems with regard to teacher training: -each province formulated its own training courses; -teachers were, by and large, inadequately qualified; and -the supply of teachers was insufficient for the needs. Firstly, the problem of different courses was solved by phasing in the Cape Province's courses into the other provinces and later with the introduction of new courses. Secondly, the post-Standard 8 courses were phased out and only post-Senior Certificate courses were offered. Part-time and correspondence courses were introduced to enable teachers to improve their qualifications without withdrawing from active teaching. Thirdly, the shortage of teachers was solved by giving married women permanent status, by introducing equal pay for equal work and by embarking on campaigns for recruitment of teachers. Coloured education always experienced an accommodation shortage as a result of rapid growth in enrolments and the under-utilisation of funds. Double-shift classes were introduced and various methods of building construction were used to provide additional accommodation within a short space of time. Double-shift classes were later phased out with the introduction of temporary classrooms and the application of scientific methods of planning. Development over the years was towards equality. Achieving equality is a long-term development. It not only involves the school, but also concerns the quality of life of the community. With still about eighty per cent of the Coloured population being classified as under-developed, the road ahead is a long one.
Die vennootskapskonsep in skoolonderwys in die RSA
(Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2002-12) Kleynscheldt, Rudolph Johannes; Du Plessis, W. S.; Steyn, J. C.; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Education. Dept. of Education Policy Studies.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The practice of partnership to the benefit of education is as old as education itself: Partners of education were involved in the most primitive societies. Partners are still of indispensable importance in postmodern societies. This study points out that the conventional partners to education (parent, church and state) have been of importance through the centuries and that partnership involvement should be of increasing importance in times to come. Concurrently, it has become necessary to involve new up-to-date supplementary education partners to address the numerous challenges in the field of education. The parent comes to light as the first and foremost partner in education and is therefore worthy of the connotation primary education partner. History illustrates how certain communities, due to specific perspectives on wond and life, ideologies and educational institutions, tried to scale down the functions of this partner. Nowhere, however, could it be achieved successfully, without serious harmful consequences for the child who is to be educated. The safety and security that the child experiences in the parental home and within the family structure is of the utmost importance for the young child. The proliferation in the number of parentiess children as a result of an increase in the divorce rate, family murders and especially the pandemic MI virus is alarming in this respect. Additional partners will have to be found to address the child's need of security. The anchor provided by participation in religious activities is likewise for the developing child of importance. In addition, the church, in the widest sense of its meaning, emphasizes certain norms and moral values. It provides programmes, which ensure to prevent the youths from derailment along dangerous and destructive routes. The church needs to be admitted and invited to be an essential partner. The state is justly being viewed as a chief partner to education and training, on account of its functions such as the funding of formal education, the provision of a general curriculum and the making of legislation governing education. This important position in the education partnership does not mean that the state should play the dominant role. It does not qualify the state to prescribe to the other partners how they should perform their roles. Partnership presupposes c0- operation and stringent prescriptions by the state would be unacceptable and counter-productive to the respective partners. The conventional partners will have to realise that each has a meaningful contribution to make, which cannot be substituted. by anyone of the others, A comparative study of partnership in Kenya, Cuba and Germany serves as a background study. In an ever-fast changing wortd in which extremely heavy demands are made to education and its partners, it is clear that new education partners have to be found to assist the school. The conventional partners are just not able to fulfit the task by themselves. This study identifies a number of supplementary partners that could, on account of the particular challenges facing· education in South Africa, make a valuable contribution. Partners deserve their position as partners due to the functional role that they could play at a specific stage in the ongoing process of education development. As times change, and new needs come into existence, other partners will have to be identified to support the existing, conventional partners.
A discourse analysis of education for social justice focusing on sustainable development, equality and economic development : implications for teaching and learning
(Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2014-12) Waghid, Zayd; Van Wyk, B.; Le Grange, L. L. L.; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Education. Department of Education Policy Studies.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This dissertation offers a critical discourse analysis of the Grade 11 Economics Further Education and Training learning goals in relation to the Growth and Development Policy Frameworks promulgated by the democratic government of South Africa. Specifically, through an interpretive analysis of both text and context, this dissertation examines the possibility of an education for social justice in the forms of sustainable development, equity and economic development manifesting in a local high school, more specifically in the teaching and learning in the Economics classroom. With the aid of a critical discourse analysis of three films – An Inconvenient Truth, Into the Wild and The Gods Must Be Crazy – supported by analyses of the learners’ comments on Facebook in relation to the films and the learners’ interview comments, it was found that it is possible to cultivate an education for social justice in a classroom, as is evident from the following justifications: First, the learners and I (as educator) developed a critical awareness and acquired more informed understandings of social injustices, such as unsustainable forms of human experience, societal inequities, and the negative effects of economic under-development that work against issues of need, equality, and desert – all aspects of social justice; second, the learners were initiated into inclusive, deliberative and equal pedagogical relations through which they developed an enhanced cognitive ability to express their points of view; and third, the learners and I came to the distinct realisation that social injustice can only be addressed through an internalisation of the transformative learning goals of the Economics curriculum commensurate with the goals of the Growth and Development Policy Frameworks (GDPFs), which should provoke us into bringing about social change both within and beyond the classroom. Despite the criticism that an education for social justice is not always attentive to the learning goals of the curriculum, this study has found that it is possible to cultivate an autonomous self who is cognisant of social change; pedagogical relations that are constituted by deliberations, inclusivity and the equal expression of informed speech; and a form of human agency that can disrupt societal inequities and oppressions without always having to be told (by an educator) to do so.
Discourses of learning, transition and agency amongst students who attended a Cape Town high school under apartheid
(Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2016-12) Matope, Jasmine; Badroodien, Azeem; Fataar, Aslam; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Education. Dept. Education Policy Studies.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT : This dissertation explores how a group of students who attended a Cape Town High School between 1968 and 1990 navigated their schooling space and acquired various skills, knowledge and understandings to engage with the social world during and after leaving school. The learning experiences nurtured the students’ critical thinking, agency, assertiveness, self-worth, self-esteem, respect, autonomy, and desire to exercise social justice, dignity, responsibility and citizenry. I employ the works of Pierre Bourdieu to show how the students were not simply defined by their structures and contexts, but that they invariably acted back on the worlds they inhabited by employing a variety of understandings and meanings to navigate their schooling and other pathways into adulthood (Bourdieu, 1984). I also engage with the work of Paulo Freire to examine how the school’s opened the eyes and minds of students to become more fully human by reflecting and acting upon the world in ways that transform it (Freire, 1978:26). I also use Nancy Fraser’s theory of social justice to analyse how the school enables the students to overcome the social and racial barriers that inhibit them from participating on par with others and as full partners in their schooling and social interactions (Fraser, 2007). Methodologically, the study is based on the qualitative paradigm. I did extensive interviews with fourteen students. I utilised the life history and life course techniques to locate the students as individuals in time and space, and to interpret their memories and perceptions in ways that bring fresh perspectives on how they internalise learning over their lifetimes. I also interviewed four teachers to get a broader understanding of how the school’s ethos and pedagogical practices involve the students and promote their rationality and particular skills and world views. In particular the students observe that they are encouraged to participate and take responsibility positions in various activities such as debates, drama, films and sports that make them feel part of the learning process and make learning more meaningful, useful and transferrable. The dissertation thus argues that when students are agents in their own learning, they are able to develop the ability to think critically, flexibly and strategically. It argues that connecting learning to students’ contexts; dispositions and understandings enable them to develop transposable capital to confidently acclimatise to their schooling, social circumstances, and challenges.
Educational change : a support programme for educators in an inclusive school setting
(Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2003-12) Campher, Elsie J; Engelbrecht, P.; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Education. Dept. of Education Policy Studies.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: In the movement towards inclusive education, demands that quality education for all present challenges for educator support to facilitate educational change in South Africa. The proposed link between effective educational transformation and understanding and managing change stimulated the researcher's desire to develop an in-service education and training programme for educators within the concept of whole school development. Such a programme could ensure the simultaneous development of competence of the individual and the school as an organisation. The first phase of this study comprised the development of a particular in-service educator support programme aimed at addressing the identified needs of a specific target group of educators to facilitate educational transformation within an inclusive setting. The primary focus of the study was the development of educator competencies that would help educators cope with educational change by means of the establishment of school-based support teams. The content was based on a comprehensive overview of the literature on individual and institutional development as well as change. This was synthesized into four modules (Module one: change, transition, reviewing and clarifying vision and mission; Module two: leadership, teamwork and support; Module three; organisational change, the learning organisation and organisational culture; Module four: application). In the second phase an evaluation research design was used to conduct a comprehensive evaluation of the programme in order to make judgements (from an accountability perspective) to facilitate programme improvement (from a development perspective) and to generate knowledge (from the perspective of academic value). The programme was presented in ten sessions of three hours each over a period of seven months during and after which qualitative and quantitative data was obtained and combined to ensure higher quality data for the identification of outcomes. An interpretive version of content analysis was applied for the identification of patterns from which subcategories, categories and a main theme was constructed. The programme succeeded in achieving the primary objective of facilitating the establishment of school-based support teams: 95% of the schools that participated in the programme established school-based support teams. It also contributed to the development of personal and professional competency in educators that helped them cope with educational change. Participants experienced significant positive changes in their own thinking and perceptions regarding inclusive education, educational change, support and teamwork. They understood why they needed to change, and developed a better understanding of how to deal with the effects of change. From the patterns identified, the sub-categories of personal, professional and school development were constructed. Change emerged as the overarching main theme. Embedded within this were the roles of the facilitator and of transformative learning. The research flndinqs confirmed that the problem was appropriately conceptualised and that the design of the programme adequately addressed the needs of the participants. Respondents reported that they were more knowledgeable and skilful, and that they had experienced positive changes in their attitudes. These personal changes contributed to better educational service delivery and improved schools. This study demonstrated that educators can be given the support they need to cope with educational change through an in-service support programme which is needs driven and which focuses simultaneously on individual and organisational development.
Educators, praxis and hope : a philosophical analysis of post-apartheid teacher education policy
(Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2014-12) Botman, Beryl Verna; Waghid, Yusef; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Education. Dept. of Education Policy Studies.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This dissertation argues that teacher education and development policy lacks an explicit philosophy of education and a responding pedagogy that would promote transformation. Through a conceptual analysis of teacher education and development, the study points to a deficit in philosophical underpinning that calls for an inquiry into ontology − ways of being, and epistemology − ways of knowing to contribute to critical citizenship. I contend that it is in a Freirean philosophy of education and a pedagogy of hope that teacher education praxis establishes the notion of a teacher as an unfinished being. This dissertation contends that for this to become established practice, the authority of educators, teachers and learners, and their status as subjects of their own learning and teaching, have to become part of the reflexive praxis. A pedagogy of hope constitutes the unleashing of the emancipatory potential of a teacher as an agent of democratic change, authority and reflectiveness. In line with the National Development Plan and the Vision for 2030, and in order to make an impact on society, I suggest an agenda for mass-based dialogue for the re-orientation of current teacher education policy.
The effects of video- and book-comic instruction on learning attainments in science classrooms in Namibia
(Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2023-12) Haimbangu, Malakia; Jansen, Jonathan D.; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Education. Dept. of Education Policy Studies.

Browse

Browsing Doctoral Degrees (Education Policy Studies) by browse.metadata.type "Thesis"

Results Per Page

Sort Options