Aspects of the biology of Caffrogobius Caffer (Günter) (Pisces : Teleostei : Gobiidae) in the Eastern Cape
- Authors: Butler, Graham Stuart
- Date: 1981
- Subjects: Osteichthyes -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: vital:5345 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1006849
- Description: Several strategies used by the gobiid fish Caffrogobius caffer enabling it to colonise the harsh intertidal environment in the eastern Cape were studied. Q. caffer is opportunistic in its use of available food resources and feeds throughout the day with a slight tendency towards crepuscular peaks of feeding activity. The system of space utilisation used by C. caffer is so organised that all individuals of the population have access to patchily distributed food resources. Current velocities occurring over high tide limit the movements of Qo caffer and interpool movements occur only during the initial stages of a rising tide and in the final stages of an ebbing tide when the current velocities are below the tolerance limit of Q. caffer. The epifauna associated with the alga Ulva rigida, which forms an important constituent of the diet of the intermediate size classes of Q. caffer, was examined and it appears that this epifauna is an important source of food to Q. caffer. This report presents the results of the first detailed study of the biology of an intertidal fish in southern Africa.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1981
- Authors: Butler, Graham Stuart
- Date: 1981
- Subjects: Osteichthyes -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: vital:5345 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1006849
- Description: Several strategies used by the gobiid fish Caffrogobius caffer enabling it to colonise the harsh intertidal environment in the eastern Cape were studied. Q. caffer is opportunistic in its use of available food resources and feeds throughout the day with a slight tendency towards crepuscular peaks of feeding activity. The system of space utilisation used by C. caffer is so organised that all individuals of the population have access to patchily distributed food resources. Current velocities occurring over high tide limit the movements of Qo caffer and interpool movements occur only during the initial stages of a rising tide and in the final stages of an ebbing tide when the current velocities are below the tolerance limit of Q. caffer. The epifauna associated with the alga Ulva rigida, which forms an important constituent of the diet of the intermediate size classes of Q. caffer, was examined and it appears that this epifauna is an important source of food to Q. caffer. This report presents the results of the first detailed study of the biology of an intertidal fish in southern Africa.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1981
Studies on an autolysin produced by clostridium acetobutylicum
- Authors: Webster, Jocelyn Rowena
- Date: 1981
- Subjects: Clostridium acetobutylicum , Autolysis , Bacteriocins , Proteins -- Synthesis , DNA -- Synthesis , RNA -- Synthesis
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: vital:3893 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003724
- Description: An extracellular bacteriocin-like substance produced by Clostridium acetobutylicum was detected during studies on an industrial fermentation process. The bacteriocin-like substance was not inducible by either ultraviolet light or mitomycin C, and its production was not associated with the induction of a protease. Studies on the mode of action of the bacteriocin-like substance indicated that it had no significant effect on DNA, RNA, or protein synthesis, and it did not cause the loss of intracellular ATP. However, the bacteriocin-like substance was able to lyse SDS-treated cells and cell walls of C. acetobutylicum and was identified as an autolysin. Some of the characteristics of this extracellular autolysin were determined, and after purification it was shown to be a glycoprotein with a molecular weight of 28 000.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1981
- Authors: Webster, Jocelyn Rowena
- Date: 1981
- Subjects: Clostridium acetobutylicum , Autolysis , Bacteriocins , Proteins -- Synthesis , DNA -- Synthesis , RNA -- Synthesis
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: vital:3893 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003724
- Description: An extracellular bacteriocin-like substance produced by Clostridium acetobutylicum was detected during studies on an industrial fermentation process. The bacteriocin-like substance was not inducible by either ultraviolet light or mitomycin C, and its production was not associated with the induction of a protease. Studies on the mode of action of the bacteriocin-like substance indicated that it had no significant effect on DNA, RNA, or protein synthesis, and it did not cause the loss of intracellular ATP. However, the bacteriocin-like substance was able to lyse SDS-treated cells and cell walls of C. acetobutylicum and was identified as an autolysin. Some of the characteristics of this extracellular autolysin were determined, and after purification it was shown to be a glycoprotein with a molecular weight of 28 000.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1981
Mantle xenoliths from the Abrahamskraal kimberlite : a craton-margin geotherm
- Authors: Nowicki, Thomas Edward
- Date: 1991
- Subjects: Kimberlite , Kimberlite -- Inclusions
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: vital:4898 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1001557
- Description: The Abrahamskraal kimberlite pipe (group I) occurs approximately 5 km to the south-west of the geophysically defined margin of the Kaapvaal craton in the central Cape Province, and contains a variety of crustal and mantle xenoliths. This study focusses on xenoliths of deep-seated origin (mantle and lower-crustal), and in particular on garnet-orthopyroxene bearing assemblages which are amenable to thermobarometric techniques. Four major types of deep-seated xenolith have been identified, i.e. peridotites, dunites , eclogites, and garnet pyroxenites. The petrographic features and mineral compositions of these xenoliths are described . Pressures and temperatures of equilibration have been calculated primarily using the garnet-orthopyroxene thermometer of Harley (1984), and the Al-in-enstatite barometer of Nickel and Green (1985). The peridotites are coarse-textured (Harte, 1977), magnesium -rich rocks, and are typical examples of the common type I peridotites which generally dominate mantle xenolith suites in kimberlites. Garnet peridotite xenoliths define a geotherm which lies along a typical theoretical conductive geothermal gradient for shield areas (Pollack and Chapman, 1977), and which extends to a maximum pressure of 41 kb (~130 km). Comparison of the Abrahamskraal geotherm with that constructed for the northern Lesotho xenolith suite (calculated using the same thermobarometer couple), suggests that the lithosphere at the Namaqua /Kaapvaal boundary is not significantly thinner or hotter than that underlying the craton. Modelling of the craton boundary under the constraints provided by the Abrahamskraal geotherm, and by the distribution of diamond-bearing kimberlites in southern Africa, indicates that the Abrahamskraal kimberlite has sampled relatively thick, cool , Namaqua lithosphere. It is suggested that, in terms of diamond distribution, the age and magmatic history of the Namaqua lithosphere is of greater significance than its thickness. Two varieties of dunite occur at Abrahamskraal. Coarse-textured dunites with Mg-rich olivine compositions similar to those of the peridotitic olivines, probably originated by similar (but perhaps more extreme) processes to those which formed the peridotites. A finer-grained and relatively Fe-rich variety of dunite may represent ultramafic cumulates formed by fractionation of basic or ultrabasic magmas within the mantle. Two varieties of eclogite have been distinguished. Coarse-grained eclogites which yield relatively high temperature estimates, are believed to have originated from depths similar to those determined for the garnet peridotites, i.e. from the lower lithosphere. A distinctly finer grained variety of eclogite, yields significantly lower temperatures which may be based on frozen-in equilibria. A maximum depth of approximately 87 km (~ 27 kb) has been estimated for these xenoliths, but they may have originated from significantly shallower (possibly lower-crustal) levels. The garnet pyroxenite xenoliths are generally orthopyroxene-rich rocks which contain varying amounts of garnet (8 to 33 %) and clinopyroxene (0 to 64 %). Textural features indicate that the garnet and possibly some of the clinopyroxene has exsolved from an originally A l -rich orthopyroxene. The rocks are significantly more Fe-rich than the peridotite xenoliths, and their constituent minerals show a wide range of Mg/Mg+Fe ratios. The pressure-temperature array defined by the garnet pyroxenites is approximately isothermal, and spans a depth range from approximately 30 to 95 km. It deviates strongly (to higher temperatures) from the ambient geothermal gradient at the time of kimberlite emplacement, as inferred from the garnet peridotite xenoliths. The pressures and temperatures calculated for the garnet pyroxenites are based on mineral equilibria which are believed to have been frozen-in during cooling from an intial hightemperature (probably molten) state. Qualitative modelling of possible cooling paths in pressure-temperature-composition space, indicates that the apparent depth range displayed by the garnet pyroxenites, approximates the true depth range over which these rocks were emplaced. However, the apparent pressures calculated from core compositions are significantly lower than the true pressures at which the original rocks formed . The garnet pyroxenite xenoliths appear to represent a major, possibly Namaqua age (~1000-1400 Ma), magmatic event involving the emplacement of large amounts of mafic magma over a significant depth range in the shallow upper mantle
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1991
- Authors: Nowicki, Thomas Edward
- Date: 1991
- Subjects: Kimberlite , Kimberlite -- Inclusions
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: vital:4898 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1001557
- Description: The Abrahamskraal kimberlite pipe (group I) occurs approximately 5 km to the south-west of the geophysically defined margin of the Kaapvaal craton in the central Cape Province, and contains a variety of crustal and mantle xenoliths. This study focusses on xenoliths of deep-seated origin (mantle and lower-crustal), and in particular on garnet-orthopyroxene bearing assemblages which are amenable to thermobarometric techniques. Four major types of deep-seated xenolith have been identified, i.e. peridotites, dunites , eclogites, and garnet pyroxenites. The petrographic features and mineral compositions of these xenoliths are described . Pressures and temperatures of equilibration have been calculated primarily using the garnet-orthopyroxene thermometer of Harley (1984), and the Al-in-enstatite barometer of Nickel and Green (1985). The peridotites are coarse-textured (Harte, 1977), magnesium -rich rocks, and are typical examples of the common type I peridotites which generally dominate mantle xenolith suites in kimberlites. Garnet peridotite xenoliths define a geotherm which lies along a typical theoretical conductive geothermal gradient for shield areas (Pollack and Chapman, 1977), and which extends to a maximum pressure of 41 kb (~130 km). Comparison of the Abrahamskraal geotherm with that constructed for the northern Lesotho xenolith suite (calculated using the same thermobarometer couple), suggests that the lithosphere at the Namaqua /Kaapvaal boundary is not significantly thinner or hotter than that underlying the craton. Modelling of the craton boundary under the constraints provided by the Abrahamskraal geotherm, and by the distribution of diamond-bearing kimberlites in southern Africa, indicates that the Abrahamskraal kimberlite has sampled relatively thick, cool , Namaqua lithosphere. It is suggested that, in terms of diamond distribution, the age and magmatic history of the Namaqua lithosphere is of greater significance than its thickness. Two varieties of dunite occur at Abrahamskraal. Coarse-textured dunites with Mg-rich olivine compositions similar to those of the peridotitic olivines, probably originated by similar (but perhaps more extreme) processes to those which formed the peridotites. A finer-grained and relatively Fe-rich variety of dunite may represent ultramafic cumulates formed by fractionation of basic or ultrabasic magmas within the mantle. Two varieties of eclogite have been distinguished. Coarse-grained eclogites which yield relatively high temperature estimates, are believed to have originated from depths similar to those determined for the garnet peridotites, i.e. from the lower lithosphere. A distinctly finer grained variety of eclogite, yields significantly lower temperatures which may be based on frozen-in equilibria. A maximum depth of approximately 87 km (~ 27 kb) has been estimated for these xenoliths, but they may have originated from significantly shallower (possibly lower-crustal) levels. The garnet pyroxenite xenoliths are generally orthopyroxene-rich rocks which contain varying amounts of garnet (8 to 33 %) and clinopyroxene (0 to 64 %). Textural features indicate that the garnet and possibly some of the clinopyroxene has exsolved from an originally A l -rich orthopyroxene. The rocks are significantly more Fe-rich than the peridotite xenoliths, and their constituent minerals show a wide range of Mg/Mg+Fe ratios. The pressure-temperature array defined by the garnet pyroxenites is approximately isothermal, and spans a depth range from approximately 30 to 95 km. It deviates strongly (to higher temperatures) from the ambient geothermal gradient at the time of kimberlite emplacement, as inferred from the garnet peridotite xenoliths. The pressures and temperatures calculated for the garnet pyroxenites are based on mineral equilibria which are believed to have been frozen-in during cooling from an intial hightemperature (probably molten) state. Qualitative modelling of possible cooling paths in pressure-temperature-composition space, indicates that the apparent depth range displayed by the garnet pyroxenites, approximates the true depth range over which these rocks were emplaced. However, the apparent pressures calculated from core compositions are significantly lower than the true pressures at which the original rocks formed . The garnet pyroxenite xenoliths appear to represent a major, possibly Namaqua age (~1000-1400 Ma), magmatic event involving the emplacement of large amounts of mafic magma over a significant depth range in the shallow upper mantle
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1991
Transkei College of Education students' perceptions of fieldwork in geographical education
- Authors: Ngquba, Tokozile
- Date: 1992
- Subjects: Geography -- Fieldwork -- Study and teaching Teachers -- Training of -- South Africa -- Transkei
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: vital:1806 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003691
- Description: The understanding of geographical concepts and the development of skills requires the use of appropriate teaching strategies. Modern school geography incorporates a wealth of techniques and embraces a wide range of strategies which are directly suited to achieve the aims which are central to current geographical education. Techniques which directly involve the learner are perceived to be the most valuable. Of the many participatory strategies suited to the teaching of geography, fieldwork is accepted as the most worthwhile. This study investigates student teachers' perceptions of fieldwork in their college studies and as a teaching strategy. Extensive literature on fieldwork in geographical education was analysed. A survey was conducted to assess the student teachers' fieldwork experiences. The results reveal that fieldwork is neglected in Transkeian schools and Colleges of Education, despite the fact that it is required by school syllabuses, and the fact that in many areas suitable sites are readily accessible. Conclusions are drawn and recommendations made for the inclusion of fieldwork in geography courses at Transkei Colleges of Education.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1992
- Authors: Ngquba, Tokozile
- Date: 1992
- Subjects: Geography -- Fieldwork -- Study and teaching Teachers -- Training of -- South Africa -- Transkei
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: vital:1806 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003691
- Description: The understanding of geographical concepts and the development of skills requires the use of appropriate teaching strategies. Modern school geography incorporates a wealth of techniques and embraces a wide range of strategies which are directly suited to achieve the aims which are central to current geographical education. Techniques which directly involve the learner are perceived to be the most valuable. Of the many participatory strategies suited to the teaching of geography, fieldwork is accepted as the most worthwhile. This study investigates student teachers' perceptions of fieldwork in their college studies and as a teaching strategy. Extensive literature on fieldwork in geographical education was analysed. A survey was conducted to assess the student teachers' fieldwork experiences. The results reveal that fieldwork is neglected in Transkeian schools and Colleges of Education, despite the fact that it is required by school syllabuses, and the fact that in many areas suitable sites are readily accessible. Conclusions are drawn and recommendations made for the inclusion of fieldwork in geography courses at Transkei Colleges of Education.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1992
The construction, implementation and evaluation of a transactional analysis stress management course for adolescents
- Authors: Ritchie, Harriet Anne
- Date: 1993
- Subjects: Transactional analysis Stress in adolescence Adolescent psychology Stress management
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: vital:1461 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003342
- Description: Stress is a problem in today's world and adolescents are not exempt from suffering its ill effects. Currently no stress management courses are offered as part of the formal guidance programme in high schools or in the community. This pilot study is an attempt to construct a stress management course based on the concepts of Transactional Analysis. The course was implemented with a multi-racial, standard eight group of nine boys and girls. The course was evaluated qualitatively and quantitatively. The quantitative measures proved to be inappropriate to this study and did not render any useful information. The study found that the scholars expressed that they had changed in their handling of their daily stressors as a result of the course. Personal growth had also taken place. The findings of this research are discussed in terms of the important implications they have for school guidance programmes.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1993
- Authors: Ritchie, Harriet Anne
- Date: 1993
- Subjects: Transactional analysis Stress in adolescence Adolescent psychology Stress management
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: vital:1461 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003342
- Description: Stress is a problem in today's world and adolescents are not exempt from suffering its ill effects. Currently no stress management courses are offered as part of the formal guidance programme in high schools or in the community. This pilot study is an attempt to construct a stress management course based on the concepts of Transactional Analysis. The course was implemented with a multi-racial, standard eight group of nine boys and girls. The course was evaluated qualitatively and quantitatively. The quantitative measures proved to be inappropriate to this study and did not render any useful information. The study found that the scholars expressed that they had changed in their handling of their daily stressors as a result of the course. Personal growth had also taken place. The findings of this research are discussed in terms of the important implications they have for school guidance programmes.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1993
Art marketing and management
- Authors: Anderson, Larna
- Date: 1995
- Subjects: Art -- Marketing Art portfolios Art -- Finance Art -- Economic aspects Community arts projects
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MFA
- Identifier: vital:2392 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002188
- Description: Formal art education equips students with skills to produce artworks. A formal art education may increase the opportunity for employment, however, art-related employment is very limited. Art graduates would be better equipped to market and manage art establishments or their own careers if art education were to be supplemented with basic business skills. Artists who wish to earn unsupplemented incomes from their art should undertake to acquire business acumen. This includes being presentable to the market place in attitude and appearance. It also includes aptitude in art, marketing and management. Role models and non-models of success and failure in business should also be observed. Art graduates should adopt applicable tried and tested business methods. Good marketing is a mix of business activities which identifies and creates consumer needs and wants. Marketing activities involve research, planning, packaging, pricing, promoting and distributing products and services to the public to create exchanges that satisfy individual and organisational objectives. Art products include artworks, frames, art books and art materials. Art-related services include the undertaking of commissions, consulting, teaching, free parking, convenient shopping hours, acceptance of mail or telephone orders, exhibitions, ease of contact, approval facilities, wrapping, delivery, installations (picture hanging), quotations, discounts, credit facilities, guarantees, trade-ins, adjustments and restorations. Good management is a mix of business activities which enables a venture to meet the challenges of supply and demand. There is a blueprint for management competence. The three dimensions of organisational competence are collaboration, commitment and creativity. Self-marketing and management is an expression of an artist's most creative being. It is that which can ensure and sustain recognition and income. Artists, like other competent organisations and entrepreneurs from the private sector, should operate with efficient manufacturing, marketing, management and finance departments. They are also equally important and therefore demand equal attention. Artistic skill together with business acumen should equip the artist to successfully compete in the market place. There are no short-cuts to becoming an artist but there are short-cuts to becoming a known and financially stable artist. Understanding marketing and management could mean the difference between waiting in poverty and frustration for a "lucky break" (which may only happen after an artists's death) and taking control. Success should be perpetuated through continuous effort.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1995
- Authors: Anderson, Larna
- Date: 1995
- Subjects: Art -- Marketing Art portfolios Art -- Finance Art -- Economic aspects Community arts projects
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MFA
- Identifier: vital:2392 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002188
- Description: Formal art education equips students with skills to produce artworks. A formal art education may increase the opportunity for employment, however, art-related employment is very limited. Art graduates would be better equipped to market and manage art establishments or their own careers if art education were to be supplemented with basic business skills. Artists who wish to earn unsupplemented incomes from their art should undertake to acquire business acumen. This includes being presentable to the market place in attitude and appearance. It also includes aptitude in art, marketing and management. Role models and non-models of success and failure in business should also be observed. Art graduates should adopt applicable tried and tested business methods. Good marketing is a mix of business activities which identifies and creates consumer needs and wants. Marketing activities involve research, planning, packaging, pricing, promoting and distributing products and services to the public to create exchanges that satisfy individual and organisational objectives. Art products include artworks, frames, art books and art materials. Art-related services include the undertaking of commissions, consulting, teaching, free parking, convenient shopping hours, acceptance of mail or telephone orders, exhibitions, ease of contact, approval facilities, wrapping, delivery, installations (picture hanging), quotations, discounts, credit facilities, guarantees, trade-ins, adjustments and restorations. Good management is a mix of business activities which enables a venture to meet the challenges of supply and demand. There is a blueprint for management competence. The three dimensions of organisational competence are collaboration, commitment and creativity. Self-marketing and management is an expression of an artist's most creative being. It is that which can ensure and sustain recognition and income. Artists, like other competent organisations and entrepreneurs from the private sector, should operate with efficient manufacturing, marketing, management and finance departments. They are also equally important and therefore demand equal attention. Artistic skill together with business acumen should equip the artist to successfully compete in the market place. There are no short-cuts to becoming an artist but there are short-cuts to becoming a known and financially stable artist. Understanding marketing and management could mean the difference between waiting in poverty and frustration for a "lucky break" (which may only happen after an artists's death) and taking control. Success should be perpetuated through continuous effort.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1995
Asleep in a glass coffin: fairy tales as illuminating attitudes to women in the novels of Charles Dickens
- Authors: Daly, Robyn Anne
- Date: 1996
- Subjects: Dickens, Charles, 1812-1870 -- Criticism and interpretation Dickens, Charles, 1812-1870 -- Folklore Dickens, Charles, 1812-1870 -- Characters Women Dickens, Charles, 1812-1870 -- Symbolism Fairy tales -- History and criticism
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2227 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002270
- Description: The field of research of this thesis covers three main areas: the novels of Charles Dickens; fairy tales and storytelling; and notions of women as reflected in feminist literary theory. A reading of selected novels by Dickens provides the primary source. That he copiously drew on fairy tales has been explored in such notable works as Harry Stone's, but the thesis concentrates on Dickens 's propensity in his creation of female protagonists to give them a voice which is vivified through fairy tale. The analysis of fairy story through narrative theory and feminist literary theory functions as the basis of an exploration of the role female narrative voices play in a reading of the novels which reveals a more sympathetic vision of the feminine than has been observed hitherto. The context of this study is Victorian attitudes to women and that modem criticism has not sufficiently acknowledged Dickens's insight into of the condition of women; much of this is discovered through an examination of his use of fairy tale wherein the woman is bearer of imaginative and emotional capacities magically bestowed. The research aims to counter the view of Dickens's novels as being sexist, through the iIluminatory characteristics of fairy tale. Dickens activates his women characters by means of their often being tellers of tales replete with fairy tale imagery, and their tales are almost always seminal to the novelist's moral purpose.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1996
- Authors: Daly, Robyn Anne
- Date: 1996
- Subjects: Dickens, Charles, 1812-1870 -- Criticism and interpretation Dickens, Charles, 1812-1870 -- Folklore Dickens, Charles, 1812-1870 -- Characters Women Dickens, Charles, 1812-1870 -- Symbolism Fairy tales -- History and criticism
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2227 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002270
- Description: The field of research of this thesis covers three main areas: the novels of Charles Dickens; fairy tales and storytelling; and notions of women as reflected in feminist literary theory. A reading of selected novels by Dickens provides the primary source. That he copiously drew on fairy tales has been explored in such notable works as Harry Stone's, but the thesis concentrates on Dickens 's propensity in his creation of female protagonists to give them a voice which is vivified through fairy tale. The analysis of fairy story through narrative theory and feminist literary theory functions as the basis of an exploration of the role female narrative voices play in a reading of the novels which reveals a more sympathetic vision of the feminine than has been observed hitherto. The context of this study is Victorian attitudes to women and that modem criticism has not sufficiently acknowledged Dickens's insight into of the condition of women; much of this is discovered through an examination of his use of fairy tale wherein the woman is bearer of imaginative and emotional capacities magically bestowed. The research aims to counter the view of Dickens's novels as being sexist, through the iIluminatory characteristics of fairy tale. Dickens activates his women characters by means of their often being tellers of tales replete with fairy tale imagery, and their tales are almost always seminal to the novelist's moral purpose.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1996
Lecturer and student perceptions of an academic writing task
- Authors: Olivier-Shaw, Amanda
- Date: 1996
- Subjects: Education, Higher Communicative competence Thought and thinking -- Study and teaching (Higher) Academic writing -- Study and teaching Philosophy -- Study and teaching (Higher) Language and education -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: vital:1665 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003548
- Description: This research considers the perceptions of an academic writing task held by a lecturer and first year students in the Philosophy department at the University of Zululand. The research takes as its starting point the following premises: that language is inextricably linked to learning; that each academic discipline has a particular discourse which students have to acquire in order to participate as accepted members of the academic community; that learning proceeds most effectively when teaching starts with what is known and moves into the unknown; and that learning takes place through experience and involvement, rather than transmission. The research suggests that many first year students bring with them to university an understanding of the nature of learning and of knowledge which makes it difficult for them to understand the implicit rules of the discourse of analytical philosophy. My investigation uncovered several of these rules in the study guide written for the course, but it appears that students were not able to discover them and, as a result, experienced great difficulty in fulfilling the assignment task in a way which promoted their understanding of the content. The research also shows that the lecturer's expectations of the task were far removed from the manner in which the students implemented the task. It is argued that the students appear to have reverted to their established writing strategies which consisted of simply repeating what the 'authority' has said. From this it is argued that unless rules of the discourse are made explicit to students, and students understand the content of the course, they will revert to copying and relying on other sources to tell them what to write. One way of making these rules explicit and encouraging students to integrate new knowledge with previous knowledge which they bring with them to university is through providing well-structured writing tasks, and where necessary, developing clearly defined assessment procedures. Writing is the principal means of mediation between the lecturer, who is trying to offer students entry into the discipline, and the student apprentice trying to make sense of the discipline and find his or her own 'voice' within that discipline.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1996
- Authors: Olivier-Shaw, Amanda
- Date: 1996
- Subjects: Education, Higher Communicative competence Thought and thinking -- Study and teaching (Higher) Academic writing -- Study and teaching Philosophy -- Study and teaching (Higher) Language and education -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: vital:1665 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003548
- Description: This research considers the perceptions of an academic writing task held by a lecturer and first year students in the Philosophy department at the University of Zululand. The research takes as its starting point the following premises: that language is inextricably linked to learning; that each academic discipline has a particular discourse which students have to acquire in order to participate as accepted members of the academic community; that learning proceeds most effectively when teaching starts with what is known and moves into the unknown; and that learning takes place through experience and involvement, rather than transmission. The research suggests that many first year students bring with them to university an understanding of the nature of learning and of knowledge which makes it difficult for them to understand the implicit rules of the discourse of analytical philosophy. My investigation uncovered several of these rules in the study guide written for the course, but it appears that students were not able to discover them and, as a result, experienced great difficulty in fulfilling the assignment task in a way which promoted their understanding of the content. The research also shows that the lecturer's expectations of the task were far removed from the manner in which the students implemented the task. It is argued that the students appear to have reverted to their established writing strategies which consisted of simply repeating what the 'authority' has said. From this it is argued that unless rules of the discourse are made explicit to students, and students understand the content of the course, they will revert to copying and relying on other sources to tell them what to write. One way of making these rules explicit and encouraging students to integrate new knowledge with previous knowledge which they bring with them to university is through providing well-structured writing tasks, and where necessary, developing clearly defined assessment procedures. Writing is the principal means of mediation between the lecturer, who is trying to offer students entry into the discipline, and the student apprentice trying to make sense of the discipline and find his or her own 'voice' within that discipline.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1996
A case-study of principal succession : the experience of a high school principal and staff
- Authors: Dowding, Susan Patricia
- Date: 1997
- Subjects: Educational leadership School principals -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: vital:1440 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003321
- Description: This is a study of a principal succession In a non-racial, multicultural High-School in the North West Province of South Africa, formerly the independent homeland known as "Bophuthatswana". I was employed at the school at the time and am, therefore, a complete member-researcher. I use a qualitative research approach which relies mostly on in-depth interviews, individually and in groups. I chose my sample by administering a short biographical questionnaire. I have sought to establish "what is happening?" in the succession process by reporting the insights and experiences of a staff and its new principal. While I use the stage frameworks of more traditional researchers in succession to provide a coherent structure for my analysis, I use the organisational socialisation perspective extensively to analyse the insights provided by the staff and principal. Unlike other principal succession studies, I include the insights of both the principal and the staff. The organisational socialisation approach emphasises that succession is an interactive, multidirectional process. My study reinforces many of the observations of other researchers in leadership succession, whether in business or Education. However, two elements of succession emerge which appear to be unique in terms of other succession literature. These elements include the impact of socio-political events and what I call "ethno-cultural" aspects on the succession socialisation process. I provide examples of the influence these factors exert in this principal succession. This study is therefore of potential significance to administrators in both Education and business in the South African context where there are significant changes taking place in the power structures and ethnic makeup of relevant organisations. I also identify a number of areas for further research.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1997
- Authors: Dowding, Susan Patricia
- Date: 1997
- Subjects: Educational leadership School principals -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: vital:1440 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003321
- Description: This is a study of a principal succession In a non-racial, multicultural High-School in the North West Province of South Africa, formerly the independent homeland known as "Bophuthatswana". I was employed at the school at the time and am, therefore, a complete member-researcher. I use a qualitative research approach which relies mostly on in-depth interviews, individually and in groups. I chose my sample by administering a short biographical questionnaire. I have sought to establish "what is happening?" in the succession process by reporting the insights and experiences of a staff and its new principal. While I use the stage frameworks of more traditional researchers in succession to provide a coherent structure for my analysis, I use the organisational socialisation perspective extensively to analyse the insights provided by the staff and principal. Unlike other principal succession studies, I include the insights of both the principal and the staff. The organisational socialisation approach emphasises that succession is an interactive, multidirectional process. My study reinforces many of the observations of other researchers in leadership succession, whether in business or Education. However, two elements of succession emerge which appear to be unique in terms of other succession literature. These elements include the impact of socio-political events and what I call "ethno-cultural" aspects on the succession socialisation process. I provide examples of the influence these factors exert in this principal succession. This study is therefore of potential significance to administrators in both Education and business in the South African context where there are significant changes taking place in the power structures and ethnic makeup of relevant organisations. I also identify a number of areas for further research.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1997
A case study of a teacher's questions in an English Second Language (ESL) classroom
- Authors: Nhlapo, Malefu
- Date: 1999
- Subjects: English language -- Study and teaching English language -- Study and teaching -- Foreign speakers -- Case studies
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: vital:1435 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003316
- Description: This research study seeks to explore and understand the way a Form C (the third year of high school) teacher asks questions in an English second language (ESL) classroom in a high school in Lesotho. As this is a small-scale study on a teacher’s questions in a familiar setting, an ethnographic stance was adopted. The researcher adopted the role of non-participant observer, recorded three different lesson types and took observational notes. She transcribed the lessons and used the transcription to interview both the teacher and the students. The interviews were recorded and transcribed by the researcher. She then analysed the classroom and interview data and invited the teacher to respond to the analysis she had made. The interview was also recorded and transcribed. The findings indicated that the teacher asked most questions in the three lesson types. He asked mainly lower order question. However, the nature of the questions varied according to the intentions of the teacher, even when the lesson type was the same. Although it is difficult to generalize from a small-scale study like this one, it is believed that this study has been beneficial in raising awareness about the nature and role of questions in classroom interaction, and also in raising awareness of the teacher. Consciousness raising may be essential to educators and researchers. Moreover, this research may enable educators to theorize their practice. This research demonstrates the need for teacher development. It argues that knowledge should be linked with the skills. Therefore, it proposes the need for teacher education to include an explicit focus on questioning since questions are an integral part of teaching and learning. It further proposes the need for teachers to plan their questions carefully as good questioning strategies may facilitate learning. To my knowledge, existing research on teachers’ questions has not linked the cognitive, linguistic and pedagogic functions of teachers’ questions. This study draws from literature on these three areas while acknowledging the importance of taking into account contextual issues in analysing teachers’ questions. It therefore concludes that, content, curriculum, and the teacher’s intentions and his/her ideologies cannot be ignored in the study of a teacher’s questions.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1999
- Authors: Nhlapo, Malefu
- Date: 1999
- Subjects: English language -- Study and teaching English language -- Study and teaching -- Foreign speakers -- Case studies
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: vital:1435 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003316
- Description: This research study seeks to explore and understand the way a Form C (the third year of high school) teacher asks questions in an English second language (ESL) classroom in a high school in Lesotho. As this is a small-scale study on a teacher’s questions in a familiar setting, an ethnographic stance was adopted. The researcher adopted the role of non-participant observer, recorded three different lesson types and took observational notes. She transcribed the lessons and used the transcription to interview both the teacher and the students. The interviews were recorded and transcribed by the researcher. She then analysed the classroom and interview data and invited the teacher to respond to the analysis she had made. The interview was also recorded and transcribed. The findings indicated that the teacher asked most questions in the three lesson types. He asked mainly lower order question. However, the nature of the questions varied according to the intentions of the teacher, even when the lesson type was the same. Although it is difficult to generalize from a small-scale study like this one, it is believed that this study has been beneficial in raising awareness about the nature and role of questions in classroom interaction, and also in raising awareness of the teacher. Consciousness raising may be essential to educators and researchers. Moreover, this research may enable educators to theorize their practice. This research demonstrates the need for teacher development. It argues that knowledge should be linked with the skills. Therefore, it proposes the need for teacher education to include an explicit focus on questioning since questions are an integral part of teaching and learning. It further proposes the need for teachers to plan their questions carefully as good questioning strategies may facilitate learning. To my knowledge, existing research on teachers’ questions has not linked the cognitive, linguistic and pedagogic functions of teachers’ questions. This study draws from literature on these three areas while acknowledging the importance of taking into account contextual issues in analysing teachers’ questions. It therefore concludes that, content, curriculum, and the teacher’s intentions and his/her ideologies cannot be ignored in the study of a teacher’s questions.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1999
Environmental youth clubs in Namibia : what role do, could or should they play in environmental education?
- Authors: Botma, Connie
- Date: 2000
- Subjects: Environmental education -- Namibia Environmental education -- Study and teaching -- Namibia Youth -- Societies and clubs Youth -- Namibia
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: vital:1519 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003401
- Description: Although the existence of wildlife clubs in Africa dates back to the start of the environmental movement in the 1970s, youth involvement through environmental clubs only commenced in Namibia in 1992. I became involved with the clubs in 1995 when I was employed by the Rossing Foundation Environmental Education Project to encourage, support and coordinate environmental clubs in Namibia. During the last three years the number of Namibian clubs has increased from 20 to ±85, and they are now established in most geographical regions of the country. During my involvement with the clubs I became increasingly interested in the philosophical underpinnings of youth movements like clubs and started questioning what we could expect from the youth and what could be achieved through the clubs. One of my main concerns was whether youth could make a significant improvement to the quality of their lives and their environment through these clubs. The aim of my research was therefore to describe and reflect critically on the role of environmental youth clubs in environmental education in Namibia. My study was guided by a socially critical orientation which emphasises the construction of meaning through social dialogue and critical reflection. I chose an interpretative research strategy and generated data mainly through semi-structured interviews, participant observation, a focus-group discussion and a workshop. Due to the focus of the research I purposefully selected the sample of existing youth clubs to be included in the study. The iterative strategy of gathering and interpreting data in successive cycles allowed for continuous reflection throughout the research process. It also allowed me to identify key patterns and trends in analysing and interpreting the data. The study findings suggest that environmental clubs do playa role in learning about environmental issues; in developing personal and social identity, confidence and a sense of purpose in society; in establishing new and supportive relationships between teachers and learners and with other community resourde people; in creating opportunities and enabling exposure to diverse learning environments, options and alternatives; and ih fostering the orientation and skills needed to effect meaningful d1'inges in the environment. The findings also suggest that environmental clubs could make a significant contribution to environmental education, providing that they incorporate a socially critical orientation, gain greater recognition from significant adults and education officials, collaborate with other projects and organisations, and use guidelines of models such as the action research framework to ensure relevant and effective action projects. The main challenges to environmental clubs in Namibia include changing perceptions that youth do not have much to contribute; improving relationships between clubs, schools and communities; dealing with the tension between the possible disempowering effect of central control and the need for more formalised structures in order to gain official recognition; and developing strategies to ensure the clubs' sustainability in the future.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2000
- Authors: Botma, Connie
- Date: 2000
- Subjects: Environmental education -- Namibia Environmental education -- Study and teaching -- Namibia Youth -- Societies and clubs Youth -- Namibia
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: vital:1519 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003401
- Description: Although the existence of wildlife clubs in Africa dates back to the start of the environmental movement in the 1970s, youth involvement through environmental clubs only commenced in Namibia in 1992. I became involved with the clubs in 1995 when I was employed by the Rossing Foundation Environmental Education Project to encourage, support and coordinate environmental clubs in Namibia. During the last three years the number of Namibian clubs has increased from 20 to ±85, and they are now established in most geographical regions of the country. During my involvement with the clubs I became increasingly interested in the philosophical underpinnings of youth movements like clubs and started questioning what we could expect from the youth and what could be achieved through the clubs. One of my main concerns was whether youth could make a significant improvement to the quality of their lives and their environment through these clubs. The aim of my research was therefore to describe and reflect critically on the role of environmental youth clubs in environmental education in Namibia. My study was guided by a socially critical orientation which emphasises the construction of meaning through social dialogue and critical reflection. I chose an interpretative research strategy and generated data mainly through semi-structured interviews, participant observation, a focus-group discussion and a workshop. Due to the focus of the research I purposefully selected the sample of existing youth clubs to be included in the study. The iterative strategy of gathering and interpreting data in successive cycles allowed for continuous reflection throughout the research process. It also allowed me to identify key patterns and trends in analysing and interpreting the data. The study findings suggest that environmental clubs do playa role in learning about environmental issues; in developing personal and social identity, confidence and a sense of purpose in society; in establishing new and supportive relationships between teachers and learners and with other community resourde people; in creating opportunities and enabling exposure to diverse learning environments, options and alternatives; and ih fostering the orientation and skills needed to effect meaningful d1'inges in the environment. The findings also suggest that environmental clubs could make a significant contribution to environmental education, providing that they incorporate a socially critical orientation, gain greater recognition from significant adults and education officials, collaborate with other projects and organisations, and use guidelines of models such as the action research framework to ensure relevant and effective action projects. The main challenges to environmental clubs in Namibia include changing perceptions that youth do not have much to contribute; improving relationships between clubs, schools and communities; dealing with the tension between the possible disempowering effect of central control and the need for more formalised structures in order to gain official recognition; and developing strategies to ensure the clubs' sustainability in the future.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2000
Research portfolio
- Authors: Mungongi, Fillemon
- Date: 2004
- Subjects: Education, Elementary -- Namibia Teaching -- Namibia Educational change -- Namibia English language -- Study and teaching (Elementary) -- Namibia Curriculum planning -- Namibia
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: vital:1937 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1007716
- Description: 1. The contextual analysis and curriculum evaluation. This paper ... aims to investigate the Upper Primary Education Curriculum with specific emphasis on the subject syllabus for English Grades 5- 7. The paper shall attempt to look at the rationale, goals and aims as well as the learning content located in this subject curriculum. It will further investigate the sociohistoric and economic context in which this curriculum has been designed; the learners for whom the curriculum is designed and the learning environment in which the curriculum is presented. 2. The epistemological foundation of the reform process. This paper attempts to explore the theory of knowledge that underpins the practices of behaviourism and constructivism. 3. The literature review. The purpose of this literature review is to examine the effect of methodology in teaching English as a second language in primary schools. It is to find out the ways of teaching English that can produce good results. It is also to find the styles of teaching English as a second language that make some teachers less effective so that such teaching styles can be discouraged. When English was introduced as the medium of instruction in Namibian schools, primary school teachers were retrained and upgraded. 4. The research proposal. The aim of the proposed study is to explore a selection of learners' perceptions of ESL classroom teaching and learning activities. Through this it is hoped to cause greater illumination on the nature of learning and teaching English. 5. The empirical study (research paper). This interpretative case study hoped to find out from learners themselves about their perceptions of ESL classroom teaching and learning activities. A variety of research tools were used, including questionnaires, interviews, observations, interactive workshops and focus group discussions, all of which provided a rich source of data for interpretation. The research findings of this study clearly indicated that there is a mismatch between the teachers and learners' perceptions about the language skills and tasks encountered in the classrooms. From what was gained from the participants in this research, tentative suggestions are made.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2004
- Authors: Mungongi, Fillemon
- Date: 2004
- Subjects: Education, Elementary -- Namibia Teaching -- Namibia Educational change -- Namibia English language -- Study and teaching (Elementary) -- Namibia Curriculum planning -- Namibia
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: vital:1937 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1007716
- Description: 1. The contextual analysis and curriculum evaluation. This paper ... aims to investigate the Upper Primary Education Curriculum with specific emphasis on the subject syllabus for English Grades 5- 7. The paper shall attempt to look at the rationale, goals and aims as well as the learning content located in this subject curriculum. It will further investigate the sociohistoric and economic context in which this curriculum has been designed; the learners for whom the curriculum is designed and the learning environment in which the curriculum is presented. 2. The epistemological foundation of the reform process. This paper attempts to explore the theory of knowledge that underpins the practices of behaviourism and constructivism. 3. The literature review. The purpose of this literature review is to examine the effect of methodology in teaching English as a second language in primary schools. It is to find out the ways of teaching English that can produce good results. It is also to find the styles of teaching English as a second language that make some teachers less effective so that such teaching styles can be discouraged. When English was introduced as the medium of instruction in Namibian schools, primary school teachers were retrained and upgraded. 4. The research proposal. The aim of the proposed study is to explore a selection of learners' perceptions of ESL classroom teaching and learning activities. Through this it is hoped to cause greater illumination on the nature of learning and teaching English. 5. The empirical study (research paper). This interpretative case study hoped to find out from learners themselves about their perceptions of ESL classroom teaching and learning activities. A variety of research tools were used, including questionnaires, interviews, observations, interactive workshops and focus group discussions, all of which provided a rich source of data for interpretation. The research findings of this study clearly indicated that there is a mismatch between the teachers and learners' perceptions about the language skills and tasks encountered in the classrooms. From what was gained from the participants in this research, tentative suggestions are made.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2004
Strategies used by subject advisors and facilitators to support lesson planning with an environmental learning focus : a case study of the Eastern Cape Neep-Get cluster
- Authors: Mbambisa, Nomaledi Peggy
- Date: 2005
- Subjects: Educational change -- South Africa Education and state -- South Africa Environmental education -- South Africa Competency-based education Curriculum change -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: vital:1926 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1007586
- Description: Over the past ten years, South Africa has undergone substantial changes, following the advent of democracy. Key amongst these changes being the transformation of educational policy. These policy changes have introduced new structural frameworks within which we operate (including myself as a subject advisor) and new roles for educators. These policy changes affect all the levels of the education system, and have an impact at school level, where teachers are now responsible for learning programme development (including a focus on lesson planning). Lesson planning in an outcomes-based education framework is a challenging aspect of policy implementation. South Africa is faced with the challenges associated with policy change and implementation. The role of the subject advisors and facilitators who support the teachers to make sense of the curriculum is crucial, as they provide the interface between policy and practice. They are the people who work most with teachers, and have a responsibility for curriculum implementation. This study aimed to explore the strategies which are used by subject advisors and facilitators to support teachers develop lesson plans with an environmental learning focus. A qualitative case study was conducted in which I looked at how the support processes were provided by the subject advisors and facilitators in the Eastern Cape in particular the NEEP-GET cluster in the Makana district. The study employed a range of data producing techniques such as questionnaires, interviews, document analysis and observation. The data was analysed to report the findings. The research indicates that some strategies are used to provide curriculum and pedagogical support and guidance, but that these are superficially treated and others have not been attempted at all. This therefore shows that further growth in this area is possible amongst the subject advisors. Recommendations relevant to both the subject advisors and the Department of Education so as to enhance the support processes and professional development of subject advisors have been made.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2005
- Authors: Mbambisa, Nomaledi Peggy
- Date: 2005
- Subjects: Educational change -- South Africa Education and state -- South Africa Environmental education -- South Africa Competency-based education Curriculum change -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: vital:1926 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1007586
- Description: Over the past ten years, South Africa has undergone substantial changes, following the advent of democracy. Key amongst these changes being the transformation of educational policy. These policy changes have introduced new structural frameworks within which we operate (including myself as a subject advisor) and new roles for educators. These policy changes affect all the levels of the education system, and have an impact at school level, where teachers are now responsible for learning programme development (including a focus on lesson planning). Lesson planning in an outcomes-based education framework is a challenging aspect of policy implementation. South Africa is faced with the challenges associated with policy change and implementation. The role of the subject advisors and facilitators who support the teachers to make sense of the curriculum is crucial, as they provide the interface between policy and practice. They are the people who work most with teachers, and have a responsibility for curriculum implementation. This study aimed to explore the strategies which are used by subject advisors and facilitators to support teachers develop lesson plans with an environmental learning focus. A qualitative case study was conducted in which I looked at how the support processes were provided by the subject advisors and facilitators in the Eastern Cape in particular the NEEP-GET cluster in the Makana district. The study employed a range of data producing techniques such as questionnaires, interviews, document analysis and observation. The data was analysed to report the findings. The research indicates that some strategies are used to provide curriculum and pedagogical support and guidance, but that these are superficially treated and others have not been attempted at all. This therefore shows that further growth in this area is possible amongst the subject advisors. Recommendations relevant to both the subject advisors and the Department of Education so as to enhance the support processes and professional development of subject advisors have been made.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2005
Teaching reading in grade 4 Namibian classrooms : a case study
- Authors: Mutenda, Josephine
- Date: 2008
- Subjects: Literacy -- Study and teaching (Elementary) -- Namibia English language -- Study and teaching (Elementary) -- Namibia Reading (Elementary) -- Namibia Second language acquisition
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: vital:1797 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003682
- Description: Literacy is currently a topic of great concern in Namibia. Learners in this country have difficulty in reading and writing, and are often functionally illiterate. This study focuses on the beliefs, experiences and practices of teachers of reading in English to second language learners in Grade 4. Grade 4 is the transitional grade from mother tongue to English as the medium of instruction. The switch to English makes teaching reading in that language especially challenging. The study is structured according to the case study mode of enquiry, with the target respondents comprising Grade 4 teachers. Classroom observation, interviews and document analysis were used as means of collecting data. The main findings revealed that beliefs and experience had an impact on the way in which reading was taught in this study. It emerged that the teachers’ childhood experiences of literacy and learning to read are perpetuated in their beliefs, their attitudes, their basic conceptualization of reading and their current practices, all of which directly affect the children in their classes. Although the teachers’ professional training also had some influence on their teaching methods, neither of the two teachers interviewed had received much in-service support on how to teach reading, and they depended to a large extent on their recall of how they had learned to read themselves. Both teachers were taught in a traditional, teacher-centered way, involving phonics, rote-learning and drilling. Because they see themselves as competent readers, they believe that these approaches were effective and worth sustaining. Tentative recommendations arising from analysis of the data indicate possible areas for improvement in the teaching of reading, and offer guidelines to help teachers cope with the challenge.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2008
- Authors: Mutenda, Josephine
- Date: 2008
- Subjects: Literacy -- Study and teaching (Elementary) -- Namibia English language -- Study and teaching (Elementary) -- Namibia Reading (Elementary) -- Namibia Second language acquisition
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: vital:1797 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003682
- Description: Literacy is currently a topic of great concern in Namibia. Learners in this country have difficulty in reading and writing, and are often functionally illiterate. This study focuses on the beliefs, experiences and practices of teachers of reading in English to second language learners in Grade 4. Grade 4 is the transitional grade from mother tongue to English as the medium of instruction. The switch to English makes teaching reading in that language especially challenging. The study is structured according to the case study mode of enquiry, with the target respondents comprising Grade 4 teachers. Classroom observation, interviews and document analysis were used as means of collecting data. The main findings revealed that beliefs and experience had an impact on the way in which reading was taught in this study. It emerged that the teachers’ childhood experiences of literacy and learning to read are perpetuated in their beliefs, their attitudes, their basic conceptualization of reading and their current practices, all of which directly affect the children in their classes. Although the teachers’ professional training also had some influence on their teaching methods, neither of the two teachers interviewed had received much in-service support on how to teach reading, and they depended to a large extent on their recall of how they had learned to read themselves. Both teachers were taught in a traditional, teacher-centered way, involving phonics, rote-learning and drilling. Because they see themselves as competent readers, they believe that these approaches were effective and worth sustaining. Tentative recommendations arising from analysis of the data indicate possible areas for improvement in the teaching of reading, and offer guidelines to help teachers cope with the challenge.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2008
An analysis of the reporting on poverty and foreign aid in Sub-Saharan Africa before and during the current global economic crisis, in BBC online (Texts)
- Authors: Achu, Stella
- Date: 2009
- Subjects: Economic assistance -- Africa, Sub-Saharan , Poverty -- Africa, Sub-Saharan , Financial crises , Africa, Sub-Saharan -- Economic conditions
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:8371 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/1257 , Economic assistance -- Africa, Sub-Saharan , Poverty -- Africa, Sub-Saharan , Financial crises , Africa, Sub-Saharan -- Economic conditions
- Description: Since 1929, the world economy has not encountered any financial crisis as severe as the case of the Great Depression, until 2007 when the fall of stock markets and the collapse of large financial institutions in the United States resulted in a worldwide recession. According to an IMF report, and as a result of the direct impact of the crisis, advanced economies such as those of the United States and Europe are suffering from a systemic banking crisis with economic output expected to contract by over 1 ¾ % in 2009. (Bourdin 2009:2) Although the crisis erupted in the United States, the effects quickly spread to countries worldwide. However, its effects are said to be more devastating for the poorest regions in the world including Sub-Saharan Africa. During the last few years, prior to the crisis, many Sub-Saharan African countries had enjoyed a growth rate of over 5%. This was partly as a result of sound economic policies and increased external support in the form of debt relief and higher inflows from economically powerful countries in the West. However, with the current financial crisis, wealthy nations have been forced to concentrate on sustaining their own economy. As a result, amongst changes like tighter immigration policies, skyrocketing oil prices and food prices, foreign aid is being withdrawn. (ibid 2009:3) According to foreign media reports, donor governments and the G8 are no longer as committed to aid as before the crisis. This research paper examines the evolution of aid to Africa in view of various contexts through a broad historical economic and political economy overview, and finally corroborates these observations with a discourse analysis of a sample of BBC online articles. The research project thus investigates in this last section, the BBC’s representation of poverty and aid in Sub-Saharan Africa before and during the current global economic crisis.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2009
- Authors: Achu, Stella
- Date: 2009
- Subjects: Economic assistance -- Africa, Sub-Saharan , Poverty -- Africa, Sub-Saharan , Financial crises , Africa, Sub-Saharan -- Economic conditions
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:8371 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/1257 , Economic assistance -- Africa, Sub-Saharan , Poverty -- Africa, Sub-Saharan , Financial crises , Africa, Sub-Saharan -- Economic conditions
- Description: Since 1929, the world economy has not encountered any financial crisis as severe as the case of the Great Depression, until 2007 when the fall of stock markets and the collapse of large financial institutions in the United States resulted in a worldwide recession. According to an IMF report, and as a result of the direct impact of the crisis, advanced economies such as those of the United States and Europe are suffering from a systemic banking crisis with economic output expected to contract by over 1 ¾ % in 2009. (Bourdin 2009:2) Although the crisis erupted in the United States, the effects quickly spread to countries worldwide. However, its effects are said to be more devastating for the poorest regions in the world including Sub-Saharan Africa. During the last few years, prior to the crisis, many Sub-Saharan African countries had enjoyed a growth rate of over 5%. This was partly as a result of sound economic policies and increased external support in the form of debt relief and higher inflows from economically powerful countries in the West. However, with the current financial crisis, wealthy nations have been forced to concentrate on sustaining their own economy. As a result, amongst changes like tighter immigration policies, skyrocketing oil prices and food prices, foreign aid is being withdrawn. (ibid 2009:3) According to foreign media reports, donor governments and the G8 are no longer as committed to aid as before the crisis. This research paper examines the evolution of aid to Africa in view of various contexts through a broad historical economic and political economy overview, and finally corroborates these observations with a discourse analysis of a sample of BBC online articles. The research project thus investigates in this last section, the BBC’s representation of poverty and aid in Sub-Saharan Africa before and during the current global economic crisis.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2009
An investigation into causes of success and failure in small businesses within the Department of Social Development in the Eastern Cape
- Authors: Petrus, Henry George
- Date: 2009
- Subjects: South Africa -- Dept. of Social Development , South Africa -- Dept. of Trade and Industry , Small business -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Small business -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape -- Growth , Business enterprises -- Economic aspects -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Economic development -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Job creation -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MBA
- Identifier: vital:791 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003942
- Description: The failure rate of small business initiatives in South Africa is phenomenal, and much is needed to unravel the causes contributing to such failures. Yet small businesses are playing a vital part in our global economy and in particular in terms of job creation and poverty eradication. There are internal as well as external factors that play a significant role in determining the success of these small businesses. In South Africa much emphasis is placed by national, provincial and local governments on small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to drive wealth creation and black economic empowerment. Therefore, an investigation into the factors contributing to the success and failure of SMEs is of vital importance. The South African government’s poverty eradication strategy, which is driven by the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), allocated funds for job creation programmes as a method to combat poverty and more importantly, to develop young entrepreneurs. Among the seven departments mandated by DTI was the Department of Social Development. Since the birth of the new democracy, this department has transformed from offering a traditional remedial method of service delivery to an integrated developmental approach. This approach included extensive community work, which includes job creation and economic empowerment through the establishment of small businesses. Given the availability of funding, the inability to spend fiscal budgets as per allocation as well as the charity element of receiving involved, it is important to explore whether factors contributing to the success of these SMEs are any different to the traditional business strategies. In this study, the researcher gave special consideration to the social capital element and its contribution in the context of community support as well as the ability of SMEs to become sustainable business ventures over time. The research study aims to highlight unique factors contributing to the success and failures of SMEs established by the Department of Social Development and in doing so hopes to manifest an improved understanding of the management of these SMEs. In chapter one, the researcher gives a brief description of the activities of the Department of Social Development and its mandate to establish SMEs for job creation. A brief explanation regarding the context of the problem that was investigated is also given. Chapter two provides a detailed theoretical overview of the study, focusing in particular on factors contributing to the success and failure of small businesses. In chapter three, the research design and the various instruments used are discussed. Here, emphasis is placed on procedural issues and ethical considerations. The validity and reliability of the research is strongly motivated. In chapter four the research results are discussed. Chapter five aims to discuss the findings of the research with reference to the theoretical overview outlined in chapter two. Lastly, chapter six makes recommendations to the various stakeholders who may benefit from this research. These recommendations are the most important objectives of the research and should add value with regards to the management of SMEs in future, with special reference to the Department of Social Development in the Eastern Cape.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2009
- Authors: Petrus, Henry George
- Date: 2009
- Subjects: South Africa -- Dept. of Social Development , South Africa -- Dept. of Trade and Industry , Small business -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Small business -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape -- Growth , Business enterprises -- Economic aspects -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Economic development -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Job creation -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MBA
- Identifier: vital:791 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003942
- Description: The failure rate of small business initiatives in South Africa is phenomenal, and much is needed to unravel the causes contributing to such failures. Yet small businesses are playing a vital part in our global economy and in particular in terms of job creation and poverty eradication. There are internal as well as external factors that play a significant role in determining the success of these small businesses. In South Africa much emphasis is placed by national, provincial and local governments on small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to drive wealth creation and black economic empowerment. Therefore, an investigation into the factors contributing to the success and failure of SMEs is of vital importance. The South African government’s poverty eradication strategy, which is driven by the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), allocated funds for job creation programmes as a method to combat poverty and more importantly, to develop young entrepreneurs. Among the seven departments mandated by DTI was the Department of Social Development. Since the birth of the new democracy, this department has transformed from offering a traditional remedial method of service delivery to an integrated developmental approach. This approach included extensive community work, which includes job creation and economic empowerment through the establishment of small businesses. Given the availability of funding, the inability to spend fiscal budgets as per allocation as well as the charity element of receiving involved, it is important to explore whether factors contributing to the success of these SMEs are any different to the traditional business strategies. In this study, the researcher gave special consideration to the social capital element and its contribution in the context of community support as well as the ability of SMEs to become sustainable business ventures over time. The research study aims to highlight unique factors contributing to the success and failures of SMEs established by the Department of Social Development and in doing so hopes to manifest an improved understanding of the management of these SMEs. In chapter one, the researcher gives a brief description of the activities of the Department of Social Development and its mandate to establish SMEs for job creation. A brief explanation regarding the context of the problem that was investigated is also given. Chapter two provides a detailed theoretical overview of the study, focusing in particular on factors contributing to the success and failure of small businesses. In chapter three, the research design and the various instruments used are discussed. Here, emphasis is placed on procedural issues and ethical considerations. The validity and reliability of the research is strongly motivated. In chapter four the research results are discussed. Chapter five aims to discuss the findings of the research with reference to the theoretical overview outlined in chapter two. Lastly, chapter six makes recommendations to the various stakeholders who may benefit from this research. These recommendations are the most important objectives of the research and should add value with regards to the management of SMEs in future, with special reference to the Department of Social Development in the Eastern Cape.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2009
An examination of how organisational policy and news professionalism are negotiated in a newsroom: a case study of Zimbabwe's Financial gazette
- Authors: Gandari, Jonathan
- Date: 2010
- Subjects: Financial gazette Journalism -- Zimbabwe Journalism -- Political aspects -- Zimbabwe Journalistic ethics Journalists -- Zimbabwe Newspapers -- Zimbabwe Mass media -- Political aspects -- Zimbabwe Mass media -- Law and legislation -- Zimbabwe
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:3430 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002884
- Description: The construction of journalistic professionalism in Zimbabwe has stirred debate among scholars. Critics have argued that professionalism has been compromised by the stifling media laws in Zimbabwe as well as the extra legal measures the state has enforced to control the press. Some have also argued that a new kind of journalism must be emerging in the Zimbabwean newsroom as journalism try to cope with the political and economic pressures bedeviling the country. Much of this criticism however, has not been based on close interrogation of professionalism from the perspective of the journalists in any particular newsroom. It is against this background that this study examines the constructions of professionalism at the Financial Gazette. In particular it explores the meaning of professionalism through interrogating the journalistic practices the journalists consider during the process of news production in the context of overwhelming state power. In undertaking this examination, the study draws primarily on qualitative research methods, particularly observation and multi-layered individual in-depth interviews. As the study demonstrates, the interrogation of professionalism from the perspective of newsroom practices uncovers the complex manner in which professionalism is negotiated in the Gazette’s newsroom located in a country undergoing transition in Democracy. The study establishes that when measured against normative canons of journalistic professionalism the Gazette is deviating from such tenets as public service and watchdog journalism. As the study indicates, perhaps unbeknown to the respondents, the ruling ZANU PF party hegemony is reproduced at the Gazette through choice of news values such as sovereignty and patriotism all euphemisms for ruling party‘s slogans.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2010
- Authors: Gandari, Jonathan
- Date: 2010
- Subjects: Financial gazette Journalism -- Zimbabwe Journalism -- Political aspects -- Zimbabwe Journalistic ethics Journalists -- Zimbabwe Newspapers -- Zimbabwe Mass media -- Political aspects -- Zimbabwe Mass media -- Law and legislation -- Zimbabwe
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:3430 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002884
- Description: The construction of journalistic professionalism in Zimbabwe has stirred debate among scholars. Critics have argued that professionalism has been compromised by the stifling media laws in Zimbabwe as well as the extra legal measures the state has enforced to control the press. Some have also argued that a new kind of journalism must be emerging in the Zimbabwean newsroom as journalism try to cope with the political and economic pressures bedeviling the country. Much of this criticism however, has not been based on close interrogation of professionalism from the perspective of the journalists in any particular newsroom. It is against this background that this study examines the constructions of professionalism at the Financial Gazette. In particular it explores the meaning of professionalism through interrogating the journalistic practices the journalists consider during the process of news production in the context of overwhelming state power. In undertaking this examination, the study draws primarily on qualitative research methods, particularly observation and multi-layered individual in-depth interviews. As the study demonstrates, the interrogation of professionalism from the perspective of newsroom practices uncovers the complex manner in which professionalism is negotiated in the Gazette’s newsroom located in a country undergoing transition in Democracy. The study establishes that when measured against normative canons of journalistic professionalism the Gazette is deviating from such tenets as public service and watchdog journalism. As the study indicates, perhaps unbeknown to the respondents, the ruling ZANU PF party hegemony is reproduced at the Gazette through choice of news values such as sovereignty and patriotism all euphemisms for ruling party‘s slogans.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2010
Meaning in life and sense of coherence in HIV-positive adults
- Authors: Nolte, Coenraad B
- Date: 2010
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:9857 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/1562
- Description: Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) infection is highly prevalent in South Africa and inevitably leads to an acute stage of the disease referred to as Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS). Individual variations in the rate of HIV-disease progression are, amongst others, a function of the psychological reactions to an HIV-positive diagnosis and the prevalence of psychosocial stressors. This study was conducted in the context of the salutogenic paradigm and the existential psychological theory of Viktor Frankl. Sense of coherence is a key salutogenic concept and previous studies have suggested a positive correlation between the sense of coherence and the wellbeing of HIV-positive individuals. The objectives of this research were to explore and describe the search for meaning in life, the presence of meaning in life, the sense of coherence and the potential relationships among these concepts in HIV-positive adults. The research sample consisted of 62 participants recruited from an HIV wellness clinic in the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan area. Key findings included the following: Levels of search for meaning in life and presence of meaning in life were not found to be elevated or suppressed in the research sample. No significant relationship was found between the levels of search for meaning in life and presence of meaning in life. The level of sense of coherence of the sample was found to be lower than the level of sense of coherence obtained in previous studies from healthy, mixed populations in South Africa. A statistically significant relationship was found between the levels of presence of meaning in life and the sense of coherence. In conclusion it was proposed that presence of meaning in life is a fortifier of the sense of coherence.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2010
- Authors: Nolte, Coenraad B
- Date: 2010
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:9857 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/1562
- Description: Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) infection is highly prevalent in South Africa and inevitably leads to an acute stage of the disease referred to as Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS). Individual variations in the rate of HIV-disease progression are, amongst others, a function of the psychological reactions to an HIV-positive diagnosis and the prevalence of psychosocial stressors. This study was conducted in the context of the salutogenic paradigm and the existential psychological theory of Viktor Frankl. Sense of coherence is a key salutogenic concept and previous studies have suggested a positive correlation between the sense of coherence and the wellbeing of HIV-positive individuals. The objectives of this research were to explore and describe the search for meaning in life, the presence of meaning in life, the sense of coherence and the potential relationships among these concepts in HIV-positive adults. The research sample consisted of 62 participants recruited from an HIV wellness clinic in the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan area. Key findings included the following: Levels of search for meaning in life and presence of meaning in life were not found to be elevated or suppressed in the research sample. No significant relationship was found between the levels of search for meaning in life and presence of meaning in life. The level of sense of coherence of the sample was found to be lower than the level of sense of coherence obtained in previous studies from healthy, mixed populations in South Africa. A statistically significant relationship was found between the levels of presence of meaning in life and the sense of coherence. In conclusion it was proposed that presence of meaning in life is a fortifier of the sense of coherence.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2010
An investigation into international transfer pricing guidelines and the anomalies arising from business restructurings by multi-national enterprises
- Authors: Stelloh, Marcus Matthias
- Date: 2011
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MCom
- Identifier: vital:879 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1001633
- Description: The number of multinational enterprises has increased substantially. In part due to the integration of national economies (the European Union), improvements in communication and technology and the opportunity to reduce costs as a result of globalisation. Transfer pricing and especially business restructuring within multinationals is a fairly new concept.Professional legal and audit firms have different views on how to approach business restructurings. This research analyses important transfer pricing aspects and the anomalies that arise through business restructurings. The research method used in this research paper is primarily qualitative, comprising the analysis of various documentary sources of data. Relevant South African and international case law, tax legislation, the OECD Transfer Pricing Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises and Tax Administrations, the Transfer Pricing Aspects of Business Restructurings Discussion Draft and other reports were consulted and analysed. Further the views of recognised legal and tax experts that have been published in technical journals and text books were also considered and examined. A hypothetical example of a business restructuring transaction was constructed in order to illustrate practical issues and different approaches to solving them. The research has argued that the arm’s length principle, which forms the bases of transfer pricing regulation, is not an exact science but theoretically it is the most suitable measure.It may not be able to incorporate all variables, such as the cost savings through synergies of multinational enterprises, but it promotes international trade and investment by ensuring that transactions are based on fair prices. Business restructurings create anomalies in applying the arm’s length principle but these anomalies can be dealt with within the regulatory structure. The business restructuring approach recommended is realistic and pragmatic, but more clarity may be needed in certain circumstances. The research has also discussed the avoidance of transfer pricing audits, including having appropriate transfer pricing policies and documentation.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2011
- Authors: Stelloh, Marcus Matthias
- Date: 2011
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MCom
- Identifier: vital:879 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1001633
- Description: The number of multinational enterprises has increased substantially. In part due to the integration of national economies (the European Union), improvements in communication and technology and the opportunity to reduce costs as a result of globalisation. Transfer pricing and especially business restructuring within multinationals is a fairly new concept.Professional legal and audit firms have different views on how to approach business restructurings. This research analyses important transfer pricing aspects and the anomalies that arise through business restructurings. The research method used in this research paper is primarily qualitative, comprising the analysis of various documentary sources of data. Relevant South African and international case law, tax legislation, the OECD Transfer Pricing Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises and Tax Administrations, the Transfer Pricing Aspects of Business Restructurings Discussion Draft and other reports were consulted and analysed. Further the views of recognised legal and tax experts that have been published in technical journals and text books were also considered and examined. A hypothetical example of a business restructuring transaction was constructed in order to illustrate practical issues and different approaches to solving them. The research has argued that the arm’s length principle, which forms the bases of transfer pricing regulation, is not an exact science but theoretically it is the most suitable measure.It may not be able to incorporate all variables, such as the cost savings through synergies of multinational enterprises, but it promotes international trade and investment by ensuring that transactions are based on fair prices. Business restructurings create anomalies in applying the arm’s length principle but these anomalies can be dealt with within the regulatory structure. The business restructuring approach recommended is realistic and pragmatic, but more clarity may be needed in certain circumstances. The research has also discussed the avoidance of transfer pricing audits, including having appropriate transfer pricing policies and documentation.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2011
An investigation into the principals' leadership roles in selected schools in the Ohangwena Region in Namibia: case study
- Authors: Shitana, Silas Shituleipo
- Date: 2012
- Subjects: School management and organization -- Namibia -- Ohangwena School principals -- Namibia -- Ohangwena Educational leadership -- Namibia -- Ohangwena Educational change -- Namibia -- Ohangwena Management -- Employee participation -- Namibia -- Ohangwena
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: vital:1614 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003496
- Description: School leadership in Namibia over past centuries was characterized by ‘top down’ administration and typically proceeded without participation of those involved other than the principals who were the sole decision makers. The notion of school leadership through teamwork (team leadership) in Namibia was formalized after the advent of democracy in 1990 and the subsequent reorganization of the education system. The notion of team leadership is embedded in theories that stress participation, teamwork and distributed leadership. It is against this background that this study sought to investigate the current understandings of school leadership and application of team leadership among principals in selected schools in the Ohangwena region in Namibia. The study is an interpretive case study of two secondary schools in the above‐mentioned region in Namibia. The research utilized three quantitative data gathering techniques, namely semi‐structured interviews, observation and document analysis. The research participants were two principals, two teachers and two school board members from each research school. The main findings of this study revealed that the notion of participation of all stakeholders in education is seen as a fundamental aspect of the current leadership thinking. However, the respondents’ vision of leadership is limited and quite traditional in many ways. There is emphasis on the need to control, monitor, and delegate rather than team leadership. Furthermore, where consultation is mentioned it seems the respondents think of the passing down of information – a cascade model ‐ as consultation, a view that is narrow and inaccurate in terms of contemporary leadership theories. While there was an appreciation of the benefits derived from team leadership, challenges facing such leadership pervaded responses. These included lack of understanding of government policies such as ETSIP and NSPIs, resistance to change and implementation of policy. The study recommends that leadership and management programs and teacher leadership development programs be established in Namibia. Finally, the study recommends further research to include Learner Representative Council and Heads of Department. These stakeholders in education may provide new insights into the current school leadership thinking.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2012
- Authors: Shitana, Silas Shituleipo
- Date: 2012
- Subjects: School management and organization -- Namibia -- Ohangwena School principals -- Namibia -- Ohangwena Educational leadership -- Namibia -- Ohangwena Educational change -- Namibia -- Ohangwena Management -- Employee participation -- Namibia -- Ohangwena
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: vital:1614 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003496
- Description: School leadership in Namibia over past centuries was characterized by ‘top down’ administration and typically proceeded without participation of those involved other than the principals who were the sole decision makers. The notion of school leadership through teamwork (team leadership) in Namibia was formalized after the advent of democracy in 1990 and the subsequent reorganization of the education system. The notion of team leadership is embedded in theories that stress participation, teamwork and distributed leadership. It is against this background that this study sought to investigate the current understandings of school leadership and application of team leadership among principals in selected schools in the Ohangwena region in Namibia. The study is an interpretive case study of two secondary schools in the above‐mentioned region in Namibia. The research utilized three quantitative data gathering techniques, namely semi‐structured interviews, observation and document analysis. The research participants were two principals, two teachers and two school board members from each research school. The main findings of this study revealed that the notion of participation of all stakeholders in education is seen as a fundamental aspect of the current leadership thinking. However, the respondents’ vision of leadership is limited and quite traditional in many ways. There is emphasis on the need to control, monitor, and delegate rather than team leadership. Furthermore, where consultation is mentioned it seems the respondents think of the passing down of information – a cascade model ‐ as consultation, a view that is narrow and inaccurate in terms of contemporary leadership theories. While there was an appreciation of the benefits derived from team leadership, challenges facing such leadership pervaded responses. These included lack of understanding of government policies such as ETSIP and NSPIs, resistance to change and implementation of policy. The study recommends that leadership and management programs and teacher leadership development programs be established in Namibia. Finally, the study recommends further research to include Learner Representative Council and Heads of Department. These stakeholders in education may provide new insights into the current school leadership thinking.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2012