Department of Education Policy Studies

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Browsing Department of Education Policy Studies by browse.metadata.advisor "Du Plessis, W. S."

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    Die vennootskapskonsep in skoolonderwys in die RSA
    (Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2002-12) Kleynscheldt, Rudolph Johannes; Du Plessis, W. S.; Steyn, J. C.; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Education. Dept. of Education Policy Studies.
    ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The practice of partnership to the benefit of education is as old as education itself: Partners of education were involved in the most primitive societies. Partners are still of indispensable importance in postmodern societies. This study points out that the conventional partners to education (parent, church and state) have been of importance through the centuries and that partnership involvement should be of increasing importance in times to come. Concurrently, it has become necessary to involve new up-to-date supplementary education partners to address the numerous challenges in the field of education. The parent comes to light as the first and foremost partner in education and is therefore worthy of the connotation primary education partner. History illustrates how certain communities, due to specific perspectives on wond and life, ideologies and educational institutions, tried to scale down the functions of this partner. Nowhere, however, could it be achieved successfully, without serious harmful consequences for the child who is to be educated. The safety and security that the child experiences in the parental home and within the family structure is of the utmost importance for the young child. The proliferation in the number of parentiess children as a result of an increase in the divorce rate, family murders and especially the pandemic MI virus is alarming in this respect. Additional partners will have to be found to address the child's need of security. The anchor provided by participation in religious activities is likewise for the developing child of importance. In addition, the church, in the widest sense of its meaning, emphasizes certain norms and moral values. It provides programmes, which ensure to prevent the youths from derailment along dangerous and destructive routes. The church needs to be admitted and invited to be an essential partner. The state is justly being viewed as a chief partner to education and training, on account of its functions such as the funding of formal education, the provision of a general curriculum and the making of legislation governing education. This important position in the education partnership does not mean that the state should play the dominant role. It does not qualify the state to prescribe to the other partners how they should perform their roles. Partnership presupposes c0- operation and stringent prescriptions by the state would be unacceptable and counter-productive to the respective partners. The conventional partners will have to realise that each has a meaningful contribution to make, which cannot be substituted. by anyone of the others, A comparative study of partnership in Kenya, Cuba and Germany serves as a background study. In an ever-fast changing wortd in which extremely heavy demands are made to education and its partners, it is clear that new education partners have to be found to assist the school. The conventional partners are just not able to fulfit the task by themselves. This study identifies a number of supplementary partners that could, on account of the particular challenges facing· education in South Africa, make a valuable contribution. Partners deserve their position as partners due to the functional role that they could play at a specific stage in the ongoing process of education development. As times change, and new needs come into existence, other partners will have to be identified to support the existing, conventional partners.
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    Filosofies-opvoedkundige perspektiewe op 'n interaktiewe funksionele model vir onderwysvoorsiening in Suid-Afrika
    (Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 1999-10) Wyngaard, Audrey Theodora; Du Plessis, W. S.; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Education. Dept. of Education Policy Studies.
    ENGLISH SUMMARY: A study was concluded to determine the extent to which distance education, co-operative education and community colleges can be combined in an interactive model in order to help solve current educational problems in South Africa. The current state of educational provision in South Africa is analysed to identify certain problem areas in the system. Important educational reports which appeared over the years and greatly influenced the developments in this field, are examined. These include the De Lange report, the Educational Renewal Strategy and the National Education Policy Investigation Report (NEPI). Discussions of different teaching modes such as distance education, co-operative education and the concept of community colleges appear in separate chapters. Special attention is given to new trends in each teaching mode and to their application in the interactive model. A comparative study of the philosophy of distance education is conducted. A discussion of co-operative education especially focuses on the pragmatic undertones in the philosophy of this teaching mode. At both distance education and co-operative education, national trends receive special attention. The discussion of community colleges is focused on the different community concepts which provide for the needs of specific communities. In chapter 6 the interactive model is developed. This model consists of distance education, cooperative education and the concept of community colleges. Two possibilities are identified. Diagrams illustrate the way in which the model works. The criteria which the interactive model should comply with, are examined. The main focus fell on educational, welfare, social, economical and democratic criteria. A profile of learners who will probably benefit from the interactive model, is compiled. Focus points included their socio-economical circumstances as well as the way in which the implementation of this model will provide for their needs. In the last chapter the interactive model is evaluated in terms of the formulated criteria. A prototype is developed to illustrate the implementation of the model while there is determined whether the policy documents indeed allow enough space for this implementation. It concludes by noting that there is currently a general awareness of a need for effective ways to improve the accessibility of educational provision. One solution is to design models like this interactive one in order to provide for students' needs.
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    Repositioning of technical colleges within the transformation of education in South Africa
    (Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2000-03) Van der Merwe, Theresia; Du Plessis, W. S.; Prinsloo, N.; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Education. Dept. of Education Policy Studies.
    ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Education a Training forms such an integral part of the community that it can never remain unaffected by the fundamental impact of the transformation taking place within a democratising new South Africa. The transformation of the education processes is also consistent with international trends. The drift towards decentralisation, away from the rigid formal structures and systems of the old dispensation, and the crumbling of boundaries to create a freer and more flexible dispensation, are also indicative of postmodernist thinking. This study has found that technical colleges, throughout their complex history, have admirably withstood and repelled the onslaughts on their right to exist, and that they have indeed managed to strengthen their indispensable position in the education and training system of South Africa. In spite of the wealth of instructional and training opportunities in the local and global market, colleges once again find themselves at a new crossroad with the restructuring of the South African Education system as a whole. These changes, which embrace all levels and areas of technical colleges, are also typical of a postmodernist view and include, inter alia, the following: control and management, funding, level of programmes that ought to be offered, curriculum, composition of staff corps, instructional approach, evaluation and admission policy. The only constant in most cases are the physical facilities and buildings. The nature and extent of the changes has placed the colleges at the centre of a tangle of confusion. The lack of leadership on the part of the provincial education departments and the lack of involvement of the business sector only add to the anxiety and unanswered questions at colleges. The researcher has found that technical college have enormous potential and a central role to fulfil in the development of future human resources in South Africa. Policy-makers should, therefore guard against introducing restrictive measures that would limit the focus of the colleges to the FET level. It would hamper the articulation of learners, thwart the approach of providing 'seamless education', and constrain the development of existing qualities. For once in the history of education in South Africa, there is an urgent need for policy-makers and those responsible for implementing such policies to give their undivided attention to this 'orphan', who has such a vital role to play in the economy and educational system of South Africa.
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    Die vennootskapskonsep in skoolonderwys in die RSA
    (Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2002-03) Kleynscheldt, Rudolph Johannes; Du Plessis, W. S.; Steyn, J. C.; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Education. Dept. of Education policy.
    ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The practice of partnership to the benefit of education is as old as education itself: Partners of education were involved in the most primitive societies. Partners are still of indispensable importance in postmodern societies. This study points out that the conventional partners to education (parent, church and state) have been of importance through the centuries and that partnership involvement should be of increasing importance in times to come. Concurrently, it has become necessary to involve new up-to-date supplementary education partners to address the numerous challenges in the field of education. The parent comes to light as the first and foremost partner in education and is therefore worthy of the connotation primary education partner. History illustrates how certain communities, due to specific perspectives on wond and life, ideologies and educational institutions, tried to scale down the functions of this partner. Nowhere, however, could it be achieved successfully, without serious harmful consequences for the child who is to be educated. The safety and security that the child experiences in the parental home and within the family structure is of the utmost importance for the young child. The proliferation in the number of parentiess children as a result of an increase in the divorce rate, family murders and especially the pandemic MI virus is alarming in this respect. Additional partners will have to be found to address the child's need of security. The anchor provided by participation in religious activities is likewise for the developing child of importance. In addition, the church, in the widest sense of its meaning, emphasizes certain norms and moral values. It provides programmes, which ensure to prevent the youths from derailment along dangerous and destructive routes. The church needs to be admitted and invited to be an essential partner. The state is justly being viewed as a chief partner to education and training, on account of its functions such as the funding of formal education, the provision of a general curriculum and the making of legislation governing education. This important position in the education partnership does not mean that the state should play the dominant role. It does not qualify the state to prescribe to the other partners how they should perform their roles. Partnership presupposes c0- operation and stringent prescriptions by the state would be unacceptable and counter-productive to the respective partners. The conventional partners will have to realise that each has a meaningful contribution to make, which cannot be substituted. by anyone of the others. A comparative study of partnership in Kenya, Cuba and Germany serves as a background study. In an ever-fast changing wortd in which extremely heavy demands are made to education and its partners, it is clear that new education partners have to be found to assist the school. The conventional partners are just not able to fulfit the task by themselves. This study identifies a number of supplementary partners that could, on account of the particular challenges facing· education in South Africa, make a valuable contribution. Partners deserve their position as partners due to the functional role that they could play at a specific stage in the ongoing process of education development. As times change, and new needs come into existence, other partners will have to be identified to support the existing, conventional partners.
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    Vrye kommunikasie as voorwaarde vir demokratiese opvoeding
    (Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 1999-12) Nortier, Wilhelm; Du Plessis, W. S.; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Education. Dept. of Education Policy Studies.
    ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Primarily this study aims to look at the problems regarding free communication in the democratic South Africa educational system. It reflects whether these problems can be thoroughly addressed, with specific· aims in mind, through the concept of free communication. The researcher endeavours to determine whether free communication can promote the possibility of true education within a democratic society. On the threshold of the turn of the century mankind lives in a changing and more global environment. This phenomenon of globalisation entails that all people on earth (or the globe) are seen as members of one universal global community in which no one can lead an isolated existence any longer. Virtually nothing remains permanent in this changing world and questions the urge to survive and also to respect the universal norms and values of mankind. In turn, this generalisation of values can cause the individual's personal philosophy of life to become superficial. Seeing that the individual has to have a self-reliant, thinking approach to this changing world, and needs to retain his or her own identity and view of life; the danger exists that the individual will shape the content of the concept of true democracy as philosophy of life according to his or her own personal ideological values, instead of accepting or rejecting the notion of democracy. This will cause leaders to absolutise certain democratic aspects such as equality and quality ideologically in the areas of politics, religion or even education. In the process democracy will lose its fine balance structure. The South African community is currently entering an open and transparent, but also fragile young era of transformation and reformation, that is an era where leaders in education want to rectify the faults of the historic past by the equalisation of everyone involved in education. This approach holds serious implications for education. It implies the disregard of the problems in South African education as a complex totality, which leaves the alarming imbalance in other areas of education (such as quality education) unaddressed. These educational problems show a lack of free communication regarding relevant problems. It manifests itself in a wide range of irregularities, for example, ineffective leaders in education, diverse religious and ideological composition of teachers and learners in the class situation, uninvolved parent communities, insufficient learning facilities such as the absence of electronic communication media, a low morale amongst teachers, and aids problems in schools. Free communication in media such as television and the Internet is not always used with the responsibility that is expected from a democratic freedom. If the far reaching effect and the large number of users of these electronic media are taken into account, the danger exists that the media do not only have an illuminating function but also comprise components of obscurity. Therefore it is required that learners are equipped with the necessary skill, insight and judgement to use these free communication networks to their own educational advantage. One might find solutions for the above-mentioned problems in free communication itself If government leaders, national leaders in education, school principals and teachers provide a free communication channel and communication opportunities, the problems regarding diversity might be solved. Facilities and training can also ensure that the electronic media such as the television and the Internet are used with the necessary judgement to benefit the learner. Especially the Internet as free communication medium can encourage the development of relationships beyond the boundaries of cultures and countries. It can also comprise sufficient information technology to prepare the learner for the challenges of the future.