Department of Education Policy Studies

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Browsing Department of Education Policy Studies by browse.metadata.advisor "Davids, Nuraan, 1970-"

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    An exploration of automatic learner promotion at three schools in Namibia: Implications for quality education.
    (Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2022-12) Mbudhi, Liina Frieda; Davids, Nuraan, 1970-; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Education. Dept. of Education Policy Studies.
    ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The study aimed to explore the implications of the automatic learner promotion (ALP) policy on the quality of education at three primary schools in the Erongo region of Namibia. The study employed a qualitative, phenomenological case study design. The objectives of the study were as follows: to gain insights into teachers’ understanding and implementation of the ALP policy; to ascertain the effects of ALP on learners and teachers, and hence, learning and teaching; and to determine the implications of the ALP policy on the quality education at the three schools. The data for this study was constructed from a purposively selected sample of six teachers, six heads of department and three school principals drawn from three state primary schools. In addition to conducting semi-structured interviews with a total of fifteen participants, the ‘National Promotion Policy Guide for Junior and Senior Primary School Phase’ (National Institute for Educational Development (NIED)) (2015) was analysed. The study found that only one of the three primary schools implemented the policy as required and stipulated in the ‘National Promotion Policy Guide for Junior and Senior Primary School Phase’ (NIED, 2015). Although the teachers and principals shared a common conceptual understanding of the policy, they had different understandings of how to implement it or whether to implement it at all. They also differed in terms of who was responsible for implementing the policy and the additional support required by learners who had been automatically promoted. Nevertheless, there seemed to be agreement that the negatives of ALP outweighed the positives. This perception was informed by several key factors, which included a lack of support from the Ministry of Education; unpreparedness and unwillingness by teachers to provide the extra support required by learners who had been automatically promoted; and the tensions between learners who had met the minimum grade requirements and those who had not but were promoted regardless. The study found that most participants viewed the ALP practice as compromising the education quality. Instead of assisting learners who struggled academically, such learners continued to struggle in the next grade. Their lack of competencies in their previous grade meant they were continually compromised and disadvantaged in acquiring new competencies. The difficulties experienced by these learners were compounded by a lack of interest, support, and motivation from teachers. The study recommends extra support to the teachers to eliminate the challenges they face. Policymakers are encouraged to consult teachers when developing the policies and conduct workshops sharing the meaning and significance of the policy. Policymakers are also encouraged to implement mechanisms that encourage all schools to implement national policies. The study encourages more parental involvement in the implementation of the ALP policy.
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    A feminist critique of ubuntu : implications for citizenship education in Zimbabwe
    (Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2021-03) Simba, Precious; Davids, Nuraan, 1970-; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Education. Education Policy Studies.
    ENGLISH SUMMARY : In 2015 the government of Zimbabwe announced the rollout of a new education policy that represented a curriculum overhaul at the primary and secondary school level. At the centre of this policy was the explicit introduction of ubuntu as a philosophy of education in Zimbabwe. This move took a cultural artefact and what was, until that time, an academic aspiration into policy. The move also represented the first time in Zimbabwe’s education history that an indigenous artefact would sit at the centre of mass education. About the same time, I was working for a girls’ education organisation in Bulawayo, where we were experiencing challenges of extending our feminist ideologies. The community would often ask us “but what about our culture, what about ubuntu?”. Policy changes at the national level and tension at a professional level sparked the commencement of this study and its central concern: bringing ubuntu into conversation with feminism. The central question guiding the study is: what is the feminist critique of ubuntu, and what are the implications of this critical assessment for citizenship education in Zimbabwe? In response, I unpack the notion of ubuntu in its multiple interpretations as an ethic, a philosophy, a notion enfolded in power and a framework of encounter. I use language as a vehicle of critique to read through the various interpretations. In researching an artefact like ubuntu in a context like Zimbabwe, the study employs a research orientation that is able to contend with knowledge that is not always part of the known archive, what Mbembe (2002) calls the archivable. The study is, therefore, guided by a decolonial-feminist research paradigm. The study is largely conceptual but supported by an empirical element in the form of narratives from eight female educators from Bulawayo. Being feminist in orientation, the study places the female voice at the centre of analysis; hence the educators’ conceptions of ubuntu in and out of the classroom add weight to the feminist critique of ubuntu. I use the power of stories and re-storying throughout the study but more so in chapter 5 to analyse and present the data from interviews conducted with the female educators. My original contribution to knowledge comes in the form of a new interpretation of ubuntu. I advance another interpretation of ubuntu to subvert the inconsistencies and shortfalls of interpretations that already fill academic literature. I argue for a view of ubuntu as a social framework that mediates the encounter with the other permitting the currency of power between encountering bodies and geared towards the establishment of relationship – ukama/ubuhlobo. The decolonial feminist critique of ubuntu sees an engendering risk in a narrow conception of ubuntu as a foundation of morality and by extension, moral education. The critique found opportunities for feminist solidarity in conceptions of ubuntu as a philosophy of interrelatedness. The interpretation of ubuntu as a framework of encounter advanced in the study gives feminist scholarship in education ways to harness the good from ubuntu, to interrogate the complex encounters and resist the toxic elements of pedagogical encounters beyond the surface of performative acts by touching on the conditions that sustain and produce them. The feminist critique of ubuntu demonstrated that there is a challenge in dislodging male-centred tendencies and privileges when ubuntu is prescribed narrowly (or neutrally as is the case in the new Zimbabwean policy) as a series of observable ethics. The critique evidenced the point that the moral in education is often enacted along gendered and engendering lines, hence reproducing set binaries rather than challenging them. An expanded interpretation of ubuntu as a framework of encounter informed by a social script or isintu opens an opportunity to re-write the social script along the lines of a feminist ethics of care.
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    (How) should the language policy promote mother-tongue instruction or a straight-for-English approach in primary schooling in South Africa: what does empirical data contribute?
    (Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2023-12) Mohohlwane, Nompumelelo Lungile ; Davids, Nuraan, 1970-; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Education. Dept. of Education Policy Studies.
    ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Language is a fundamental aspect of education and broader societal construction; we interact using language and learn through it. Understanding the historical development of languages in South Africa and their current status and use empowers policymakers to think strategically about language. This imperative is informed by the unequal development of languages and the effects on education in specific languages and economic opportunities. A lack of detailed attention would maintain the persistent inequalities we find in our society. This thesis contributes to the language debate through four separate chapters. After an introductory chapter that sets out the rationale and structure of the thesis, the second chapter defines language planning, its key components, and how these have been applied to Afrikaans and African languages. The analysis showed that a systematic approach was followed for Afrikaans, while a sporadic process was followed for African languages. The political, social and religious environment to enable Afrikaans compared to African languages is discussed at length. All of this was applied through the language planning lens. The conclusion was that Afrikaans enjoyed systematic language planning and continues to enjoy this support for economic and cultural reasons. If African languages are to reach this level, similar investments in policy, status and language planning are required. The third chapter considered the current language policies governing language in society. The primary focus was on basic education. However, policies governing universities and broader society were considered. The implications for the schooling and post-schooling sector were discussed in detail, including court cases. The implications for current policies and policy debates are raised. In addition, a policy implementation framework based on ambiguity and conflict was considered and applied. It is instructive in identifying challenges and areas of redirection. The fourth chapter examined the application of the Language in Education Policy and curriculum policies. It used empirical data from two independent experiments to evaluate supporting literacy in the Home Language and English as an Additional Language. The evidence showed that supporting Home Language is more strategic at a policy and sustainability level while exclusively supporting English First Additional Language has high costs for learning. The fifth chapter applied all the lessons from the thesis to the international context. South Africa’s participation between 2006 and 2016 in the Progress in Reading Literacy Study was examined. The data analysis identified similarities and differences in a range of variables, including race, socio-economic status, and language. The chapter revealed significant gains in performance, particularly amongst African languages. It concluded with a discussion on multilingualism, identifying 25% of classrooms as multilingual.