An evaluative case study of curriculum development and implementation in PELUM College
- Authors: Mukute, Mutizwa
- Date: 2001
- Subjects: Curriculum planning -- PELUM College (Zimbabwe) Curriculum planning -- Zimbabwe
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: vital:1922 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1007423
- Description: This evaluative study examined the development and implementation of a multi-disciplinary agroecology and community development curriculum by PELUM College Zimbabwe, The college, which emerged to implement the curriculum, comprises of non-govemmental organisations, university departments and government agencies coordinated by PELUM Association, PELUM supports participalory ecological land-use management and the curriculum was aimed at community development workers, The curriculum's four pillars were: community development facilitation; natural resources management; sustainable crop and animal production; and organisational management. The study explored the conceptual integrity of the socially-critical oriented curriculum, focusing on the written curriculum; resource material development; participation; praxis; assessment and accreditation; as well as project planning and implementation by trainees, The methodology was essentially interpretive, with a participatory and praxiological orientation inspired by the socially critical framework of the curriculum, I gathered data over two years, analysing documents covering a period of nine years, and involving about 75 participants in the research through questionnaires, in-depth semi-slructured interviews and focus group discussions, My key findings were that the curriculum and the participatory process in which it had been developed and implemented had potential to address pedagogical and developmental shortcomings of more conventional curricula, The major weaknesses in the curriculum and its development arose from the under-utilisation of the curriculum framework that should have guided participation and decision-making, I examined tensions in the curriculum implementation, finding them similar to those experienced in other environmental education programmes in the reg ion, In keeping with the praxiological and formative orientation to the evaluation, I conclude with recommendations specific to the case under study,
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- Date Issued: 2001
Community knowledge, cohesion and environmental sustainability : an educational case study in Clarkson
- Authors: Uithaler, Eldrid Marlon
- Date: 2001
- Subjects: Community life -- South Africa Social participation -- South Africa Community development -- South Africa Competency-based education -- South Africa Competency-based education -- Curricula
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: vital:1453 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003334
- Description: An ethnographic case study was done in the rural community of Clarkson which lies at the foot of the Tsitsikamma Mountains in the Eastern Cape, South Africa. Rural communities gathered and developed local wisdom on the natural resources around them. The study shows that in the past, life in Clarkson was characterised by such shared wisdom, an abundance of natural resources, as well as strong community cohesion. With the advent of modern lifestyles community cohesion and practices were disrupted and today, people living in Clarkson are less dependent on each other and on local resources. This study suggests that some of the past wisdom, community knowledge, practices and skills that existed for ages in Clarkson, can still be useful today in the context of environmental sustainability. The incorporation of this knowledge into the new outcomes-based education curriculum in South Africa and the local school curriculum, is explored.
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- Date Issued: 2001
An exploration of environmental understanding among primary health care providers in an Eastern Cape community
- Authors: Hepburn, Mary Patricia
- Date: 1999
- Subjects: Medical care -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape Medical care -- Rural areas Environmental education -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape Community health services -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: vital:1533 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003415
- Description: This study explores environmental understanding among the health care practitioners serving a rural community in the Eastern Cape Province in South Africa. During the preliminary phases of the research, the decision was made to adopt a participatory approach to the inquiry as far as was possible. Semi-structured interviews, participant observation and focus group discussions were the techniques chosen to focus the participants' thinking about: the meaning of environment, environmental issues and problems which impact on health, and, environmental education in practice. Comparisons between the recently transformed health education idea proposed by the World Health Organization (WHO), known as "health promotion", and a popular environmental education model are made. It is argued that many of the obstacles to effective health education described by the participants in the study can be overcome by using environmental educationlhealth promotion approaches. The findings show that the health practitioners studied relate to a wide range of environmental issues with varying levels of engagement. They are influenced by changing values, their feelings about indigenous knowledge, and their notions about how people should respond to the environment. An urgent need for more and better communication among the different levels of health practitioners is identified. Finally, it is recommended that health care practitioners be supported with opportunities for professional development which can lead to a confident, seIfreflective approach to health education.
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- Date Issued: 1999
An investigation of environmental knowledge among two rural black communities in Natal
- Authors: Mtshali, Cynthia Sibongiseni
- Date: 1995
- Subjects: Wild plants, Edible -- South Africa -- KwaZulu-Natal -- Folklore Zulu (African people) -- Folklore Animals -- Folklore Environmental education -- South Africa Medicinal plants -- South Africa -- KwaZulu-Natal -- Maphumulo Medicinal plants -- South Africa -- KwaZulu-Natal -- Ingwavuma
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: vital:1623 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003505
- Description: This study elicits and documents knowledge of the natural environment amongst two rural Black communities in Natal namely, the districts of Maphumulo and Ingwavuma.Twenty members of these communities who are older than 60 years of age were interviewed, as older people are considered by the researcher to be important repositories of environmental knowledge. This study records a variety of animals hunted in these communities and discusses various activities associated with this activity. It examines the gathering and the use of wild edible plants like fruits and spinach, and of wild plants alleged to have medicinal value. It reviews indigenous knowledge related to custom beliefs and prohibitions as well as traditional laws associated .with animals and trees. It also considers how this knowledge can contribute towards the development of Environmental Education in South Africa. The data was deduced from the responses elicited from semi-structured interviews. The data was analyzed qualitatively.
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- Date Issued: 1995
An evaluation of the interdisciplinary nature of environmental education in colleges of education in Bophuthatswana
- Authors: Akwa, Joseph Yeboah
- Date: 1994
- Subjects: Environmental education -- South Africa -- Bophuthatswana Environmental education -- Curricula -- South Africa -- Bophuthatswana
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: vital:1526 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003408
- Description: This study was aimed at evaluating the interdisciplinary nature of environmental education within the colleges of education in Bophuthatswana. Data collection was based on semi-structured interviews with college lecturers and, to a lesser extent, on observations during a workshop with environmental educators from Bophuthatswana. Knowledge was gained about college related factors which influence the varying extent to which environmental education is being implemented within the colleges of education. Lecturers' understanding of the interdisciplinary nature of environmental education and related concepts was explored. Insights were also gained into problems of implementation which included lecturers' limited understanding of the concept of interdisciplinarity, structural ambiguities, limited training and experience, and a lack of clarity in both local and international literature on environmental education concepts and terms. Specifically the study sought to illuminate the dichotomy between theory and practice, the conflict between the dominant curriculum paradigm and the new emerging paradigm, and tensions between the interdisciplinary nature of environmental education and subject-based disciplines, which lead to problems of implementation. The study could make an important contribution to the current curriculum debate on environmental education in South Africa by illuminating the dichotomy between the theory and the practice of environmental education, and the problems involved in translating interdisciplinary approaches into workable classroom practices within discipline based curriculum structures.
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- Date Issued: 1994
Towards the development of an environmental curriculum for members of the planning professions
- Authors: Long, Stanford Staples
- Date: 1994
- Subjects: Ecology -- Policy Education -- Environmental aspects Curriculum planning -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: vital:1802 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003687
- Description: In exercising their professional duties professional planners inevitably impact on the environment. In the past, more often than not, this impact has been allowed to occur without sufficient forethought, and usually to the detriment of the environment. In this research it is proposed that this undesirable state of affairs arises from inadequacies within the professional education of the planners, and that greater emphasis on the environmental education of planners is called for. From the perspective of a participative approach to curriculum development, the opinions of professional planners in the Port Elizabeth area were canvassed to establish baseline data in respect of their environmental education needs. To provide further information and a background against which the perceptions of the professional planners could be assessed, the opinions of the learned societies of the planning professions and of key environmentalists were also sought. In all these opinion surveys postal questionnaires formed the basis of the methodology employed. The extent of environmental education presently available to professional planners at tertiary institutions in South Africa and overseas, with particular emphasis on that available in the civil engineering discipline, was also investigated. The surveys revealed a strongly felt need for environmental education within the planning professions. The natural environment, the social environment, environmental ethics and interdisciplinary action all emerged as acceptable themes of the said education. A number of environmental topics to be covered were also identified. Block-release and part-time courses emerged as the most popular format for such environmental education offerings. The limited environmental education practice within the civil engineering discipline at South African tertiary institutions was noted, and the overseas practice in this regard provided useful insights. The data gathered as outlined above, formed the basis from which proposals towards an environmental curriculum for professional planners were made. Although these proposals focused primarily on the civil engineering discipline within the ambit of technikon-based educational programmes, wider multi-disciplinary applications remained an important concern. In the first instance, proposals aimed at expanding the environmental component of the existing first-qualification course were suggested. Secondly, proposals in respect of a post-first qualification, interdisciplinary, environmental study programme leading to a technikon degree were formulated.
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- Date Issued: 1994
Collaborative teacher participation in curriculum development : a case study in junior secondary general science (January 1991-November 1991)
- Authors: Naidoo, Premnandh
- Date: 1993
- Subjects: Science -- Study and teaching (Secondary) -- South Africa Curriculum planning -- South Africa Environmental education -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: vital:1451 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003332
- Description: This research report describes an investigation that involved the collaborative participation of teachers in the redevelopment of parts of the Junior Secondary General Science syllabus. The redevelopment tried to implement environmental education as an innovation. There are two central assumptions that the investigation has made. The first assumption is that the the present Junior Secondary General Science syllabus lacks environmental relevance and therefore the pupils are inadequately prepared to deal with environmental problems. The introduction of a curriculum innovation like environmental education has the potential to bring greater environmental relevance to the syllabus. The second is that such an innovation can be more successfully implemented at schools if it involves the collaborative participation of teachers in the redevelopment of the syllabus. This assumption is made since evidence suggests that curriculum change can be a process of social reconstructive process when it takes place in situ and where teachers and pupils reshape the curriculum in the classroom as the teaching and learning progresses. An action research approach was selected since it is compatible with collaborative teacher, participation in curriculum development. The research design involved three parallel case studies: 1. Clermont Zone, 2. Durban Teachers Centre, 3. Edgewood College. The research confirmed that the Junior Secondary General Science syllabus is perceived by teachers to lack environmental relevance; that teachers, while initially resisting participation in the curriculum development process, were willing to participate if it revolved around their curriculum problems. Significant features of collaborative teacher participation in curriculum development seem to be the co-creation of context by the teachers, the need for institutional support, the production of curriculum materials and the need for networking and intercontextual dialogue. Teachers initially had limited curriculum development skills which needed to be developed. This research process has implications for practical actions 'to enable' the transformation of existing curriculums, and assisting the development of a more democratic and effective education system.
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- Date Issued: 1993