The effect of academic staff development on lecturer teaching practices at a historically disadvantaged institution: lecturer’ perspectives
- Authors: Baleni, Zwelijongile Gaylard
- Date: 2021-00
- Subjects: Universities and colleges -- Professional staff
- Language: English
- Type: Doctoral theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/11260/8021 , vital:59331
- Description: This study aimed to determine the lecturers’ perspective on the role of Academic Staff Development (ASD) in enhancing and upskilling lecturers' teaching practices and strategies to improve student learning. The study was undertaken at a comprehensive HE Institution in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. This study was based on the critical theory which advances change, transformation, emancipation, contradiction, alienation and domination, tenets that academic staff development also advocates. Academic development is supported by principles upheld by critical theory, for example, empowerment, transformation and democracy. For this study, the population comprised those lecturers who attended academic staff development workshops as from 2015 to 2017 at the HDI. In line with the Quanti-Quali mixed explanatory sequential approach, I collected quantitative data from academics using questionnaires; followed by interviews to collect qualitative data. The results showed that the majority appreciated academic staff development as a career changing experience as it capacitated them to teach, grounding them in pedagogical content knowledge in addition to their discipline specialisations. Some constraining conditions to the uptake of ASD at the HDI emerged from the study. Due to the privileging of research over teaching, ASD was seen as a waste of their research time. Institutional environment constraints such as huge workloads, constraining departmental cultures; poor timing of ASD workshops, poor institutional communication about ASD activities and lack of monitoring of implementing those skills, were classified as hindrances. Finally, it is clear that lecturers are made, not born. Recommendations are that it must be compulsory for all academics to attend ASD workshops at least bi-annually. ASDs should be planned and conducted in three phases, namely, pre-workshop, workshop and post-workshop phases. , Thesis (Doctoral) -- Faculty of Education Sciences, 2021
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- Date Issued: 2021-00
An assessment of factors influencing staff turnover at Walter Sisulu University: 2010-2012
- Authors: Mpofu, Malibongwe
- Date: 2012
- Subjects: Labor turnover -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Human capital , Universities and colleges -- Professional staff
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MPA
- Identifier: vital:8339 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/d1020629
- Description: Staff turnover is a human resource management aspect which occurs in any organisation. It involves the replacement of incumbents who have vacated their posts and left the organisation by the appointment of new incumbents in those posts The purpose of the study was to investigate factors influencing the high staff turnover at Walter Sisulu University and to explore strategies which could be utilized to address it. Management has a responsibility of ensuring that staff turnover remains at acceptable levels within the organisation. Causes of labour turnover and their consequences were investigated. High staff turnover could have negative consequences for an organization. It can dent the image of the institution and also have a negative impact on the productivity, especially when it involves the loss of highly skilled and productive workers. Measurement of staff turnover and models of turnover are also discussed and analysed. Job dissatisfaction as a determinant of voluntary turnover is categorically discussed as well as its components. The relationships between management, job satisfaction, performance and turnover as well as the possibility of reducing staff turnover are also explored. An empirical study was undertaken to determine individual, job, organisational and environmental factors influencing staff turnover among staff at all levels at WSU. Interviews were used in gathering data and the findings include the fact that the high staff turnover at this university is attributed to, among others, job dissatisfaction, lack of job security, lack of development and promotion opportunities. Recommendations were made to address factors that may have an impact on staff turnover at WSU as well as strategies that could be utilised to retain staff.
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- Date Issued: 2012