Department of Education Policy Studies

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An academic leadership model for transformation towards learning organisations in higher education
(Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 1998-12) Van der Westhuizen, Andre Jeanne; Kapp, C. A.; Bitzer, E. M.; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Education. Dept. of Education Policy Studies.
ENGLISH SUMMARY: The pressures and demands for change and transformation are not bounded by national borders or geography and the complex challenges facing higher education call for a diversity of viewpoints and approaches. Institutional leadership must adjust to realize the full potential of institutions. Leaders will have to look beyond their own self - interest and meet the emotional needs of followers and find a radically new understanding of what it is to be effective. The study indicates that higher education institutions must have the will and the ability to adjust and respond to rapid change. It will be the responsibility of the leader(s) to define reality, to have an understanding of the past, the present and the future. Leading requires a refocusing of the mind, that includes fundamental beliefs, knows what it aspires to and where it is going to. Organisations have become so complicated that conditions must be created that are flexible enough that they can create a value system and learning culture that will inspire employees to participate enthusiastically, and at the same time enable and empower followers and individual leaders. However, before leaders can lead others, they must learn to lead themselves. Leaders have to understand that self - leadership is the power that drives new "boundaryless organizations." Such strategies help to create organisational culture where people value strong leadership and strive to create it. For higher education institutions to be able to survive the next millennium, they will have to strive for empowering their workforce and becoming learning organisations. Employees must experience the aliveness of a learning organisation, of something that has to do with the "whole"(Senge, 1990:339;371). The format of the study is that of a literature review of the leadership, transformation and learning organisations disciplines for the purpose to identify patterns and regularities to provide a systematic representation to be able to create a model. The model for academic leadership to accommodate change and transformation provides the institutional culture for leadership development and becoming learning organisations. The model gives a "(w)holistic" viewpoint on how leadership development in institutions can create the "space" to become, not only, learning organisations, but boundaryless organisations as well.
Assessing learner needs for student academic support and development in the Early Childhood Education Department of the South African College for Teacher Education (SACTE)
(Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2001-03) Phatudi, Nkidi Caroline; Bitzer, E. M.; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Education. Dept. of Education Policy Studies.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: SACTE is a distance education provider for practising educators in the Republic of South Africa. As a distance education provider, SACTE has to rely on teaching and learning media other than the tutor for providing service to its students. Study manuals are the main means of subject delivery the college employs. The college, however, cannot always reach its students through the media used, which in this instance is the study manual. This conclusion was reached after numerous telephone calls and letters from students requiring urgent assistance in connection with their studies. The researcher therefore felt that a need existed to find out the type of problems students encountered that prevented them from optimal performance as students and as teachers. The purpose of this study was to determine learner needs in the department of Early Childhood Education, and how they can be dealt with to improve the academic performance and the classroom practice of its students. The premise the researcher worked from, was that students of SACTE experience learning problems, thus they are unable to attain good academic performance, and this affects their classroom practice. A research survey was carried out to determine the type and the nature of problems that existed amongst the students. Two questionnaires were sent out to the ECE students and the academic staff. The following key questions were posed in the questionnaire for students: • What type of educational background do students have? • How long have students been registered with SACTE? • To what extent do they benefit from a tutor system if they have access to it? • To what extent are the study manuals 'accessible' to them? • If study manuals are not accessible, what are the problems and what suggestions do students have to eradicate those problems? • What type of intervention would they like to have from SACTE? The aim in asking these questions was to probe the root problem which might exist, to analyse the responses and to make appropriate conclusions and recommendations based on the data gathered. The questionnaire for the ECE academic staff was based on the following aspects: • The academic staffs experience in teaching teachers; • The academic staff's experience in distance education; • What the academic staff regard as problems inhibiting students from effective learning; • Suggestions and recommendations on how to deal with the problems identified. The questionnaire for students was sent out by mail with a self-addressed envelope included for the return mail. It took almost two months before the responses reached the sender. Almost 70% of the responses reached the sender. Data analysis was done by the Statkon Service of Rand Afrikaans University. The conclusions reached from the data analysis were divided into the following categories: Social background of students: Students do not have study rooms, thus they use dining-rooms and bedrooms as study places. An average household has more than ten members. This type of a situation does not promote effective learning. Educational background of students: Almost 90% of the respondents studied in the former Department of Education and Training (DET). Their highest qualification is M+2 (matric plus two years of professional training), which implies that 56,3% of teachers are not fully qualified to be teaching, as the minimum requirement is M+3. Experience of students at SACTE: Students expressed their desire for the upgrading of the total learning environment in order to enhance learning and classroom practice. Students wanted contact sessions with tutors as they felt that they do not benefit much by studying on their own without external assistance Recommendations made on these conclusions were the following: SACTE must establish Regional Learning Centers (RLC) to alleviate the students' problem of studying in overcrowded homes. RLCs, besides being places to study at, would also serve the purpose of being resource centres as well as discussion places where study support groups can meet. Study manuals should be written with the needs of the learner in mind. The language of the study manual, examples given and the context in which they are written, should reflect the learner and not the lecturer. The 'distance' between the student and the lecturer, that is created by the physical distance, can be narrowed by introducing interactive media. Based on the survey findings, it can be concluded that there is a need to establish student support measures at SACTE that would provide for students by answering to their needs as learners and educators.
Learning assessment practices in the Education Department at the Eastern Cape Technikon : an evaluative case study
(Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2003-03) Njamela, Doris Nomonde; Bitzer, E. M.; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Education. Dept. of Education Policy Studies.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The new education dispensation and the resultant reform movement have set in motion efforts to transform the assessment of learners' work and learning. The shift towards an integrated approach to education and training based on an outcomes model, is an attempt to raise standards of leaming and teaching performance and depends in part on efforts to transform assessment practices at the micro, meso and macro levels. Policy documents and literature note that it is a matter of consensus that the type of assessment used in any education and training system affects both the curriculum and the teaching methodology. In addition, the South African Qualifications Authority (1997) suggests that assessment is increasingly to be seen as a tool for learning. The National Guidelines for Assessment produced by the National Department of Education show the need for a major paradigm shift in assessment including a shift in its main purposes. The aim of this study was to determine the nature of the current assessment practices in the Education Department of the Eastern Cape Technikon and to evaluate them using the principles of sound assessment derived from the literature study. The research strategy for this study was a qualitative case study. Qualitative data was generated through semi-structured interviews with students and lecturers in the Education Department of the Eastern Cape Technikon. The study concluded that the assessment practices in the Education Department of the Eastern Cape Technikon do not represent assessment characteristic of the learning paradigm and do not correspond with sound assessment practices. It appears that a shift from the traditional to the alternative paradigm is necessary in order to improve assessment practices currently in use in the department. Particular guidelines to this effect are offered.
Semantic awareness of foundation-year and first-year physics learners at the University of Pretoria
(Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2005-03) Naude, Karen Louise; Bitzer, E. M.; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Education. Dept. of Education Policy Studies.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This study investigates and measures the correlation (or "gap") between the perceptions held by learners and lecturers of learners' knowledge of selected Physics terms and the accuracy of such perceptions. Several theorists have pointed to the differences between meaning(s) of vocabulary used by specialists and vocabulary used by lay people. One of the primary sources of confusion is that the scientific terminology and lay words are identical in spelling and pronunciation but fundamentally different in meaning. With reference to a variety of social and educational researchers, this study endorses the view that, in a Physics classroom at higher education level, the lecturer and the learners occupy two separate worlds - each with unique (and potentially exclusive) terms of reference. The success of any Physics tuition in such a setting rests upon the ability of learners and lecturers to bridge the comprehension "gap" between the two worlds. Three related but independent sub-disciplines were consulted in studying this phenomenon: educational theory (specifically Science education); semantics and communication theory. Principles from each discipline are referred to in order to show that successful Science education at the foundation and first-year level of higher education could be as much a matter of communication as is it of science. The study propounds that communication in a setting where vocabulary crucial to the subject is not understood adequately by the learners, often fails. On the basis of the literature review, a pilot study was done using a modified version of Jacobs's 1989 questionnaire. The questionnaire required the respondents to indicate their confidence in their vocabulary knowledge, and then tested their actual vocabulary knowledge. As the main study, a modified formal test was administered to 216 learners and four lecturers. One group of learners (numbering 100) was registered in a foundation year programme, another group (numbering 59) was registered in an extended programme, while the third group (numbering 57) was registered in a BSc course in the Faculty of Agricultural and Natural Sciences at the University of Pretoria. Learners were asked to indicate which of four possible explanations matched the word being investigated (which in all 16 cases was a very specific Physics term which has a matching lay word which bears little resemblance in terms of meaning). In making the selection, the respondents were also asked to indicate the confidence level with which they were making the selection - in other words, how confident they were that they understood the word. The results were rated both in terms of correctness of understanding and whether the prediction of confidence matched the outcome. In addition, four lecturers were asked to indicate their prediction of the learners' outcomes - they predicted what percentage of the learners would answer correctly. In this way, the gap between learners' actual knowledge and lecturers' expectations was highlighted. In an additional exercise, the correlation between the learners' results in terms of correctness and their performance in a standard language proficiency test, Language Proficiency course scores and Physics course scores were investigated. The results showed a very low positive correlation between performance in this study and performance in the Physics and Language Proficiency courses. The results confirmed the existence of a significant gap between learners' perceived knowledge and their actual knowledge. Although the responses of the three participating groups differed from word to word (with some groups scoring higher than others on certain words), overall, the learners' perception of their knowledge differed significantly from their actual knowledge. Furthermore, a significant difference between lecturers' perceptions and the actual knowledge of learners was shown. On average, lecturers expected their learners to understand the words used 81.02% of the time, while learners only understood the words 48.53% of the time, as shown in the tests. The study concludes with recommendations (with reference to the literature) for overcoming the gap in vocabulary knowledge between lecturers arid learners.
Towards a professional learning framework for academics in a private higher education environment
(Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2017-12) Cronje, Franci; Bitzer, E. M.; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Education. Dept. of Education Policy Studies
ENGLISH ABSTRACT : Within the context of re-positioning academic professional development as professional learning to place the focus on what the lecturer does, this research tries to understand professional learning practices in a particular South African private higher education environment. Research was conducted on four campuses of one higher education brand of The Independent Institute of Education. Relatively little has been written on academic professional development- and learning in the South African private higher education domain where the incentive of publishing with recognition and additional funding accompanied by such as in the public sphere, is lacking. This dissertation reports on two cycles of action research conducted on these four campuses, culminating in thematically analysed in-depth interviews with the four academic campus managers. Their reflections on professional learning progress on a year’s work conclude in finding that proper orientation and introductions can enhance staff cohesion while the role of academic campus managers as engineers of such cohesion and designing custom-made professional learning initiatives on a campus is pivotal. Academic campus managers should spend considerable time and effort on strategising their campus programme while leadership should be decentralised to afford academic campus managers more agency to lead the team. These academic campus managers should hold leeway to award more incentives to individual performers within their teams but that they should be held accountable for actions - or lack thereof, that did not culminate in successful practices. Academic campus managers should be considered a very valuable and unique resource. In order for the role of the academic campus manager to operate optimally, central leadership should take care to appoint the most appropriate person to fit this profile and to deem them directly accountable for the state of academic professional learning on their campus. Central management should also heed the need for resources such as opening up the possibilities of monetary- and other incentives, and open up the possibilities, thereby enabling academic campus managers to use these incentives at their discretion.

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