ethanporcaro/eric-fulltext-meta huggingface dataset:
Educators and the Quality of Their Work Environment: An Analysis of the Organisational Climate in Primary Schools
Author: Vos, D.
Date: 2012-02-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Work Environment,Elementary School Teachers,Organizational Climate,Statistical Analysis,Questionnaires,Principals,Administrator Behavior,Teacher Behavior,Performance Factors,Foreign Countries

The prevalent organisational climate in primary schools in the North West Province was determined in order to formulate management strategies to increase the organisational climate. For this purpose, a quantitative research method, founded in post-positivistic points of departure, was applied. In the process, the Organizational Climate Description Questionnaire--Rutgers Elementary (OCDQ-RE) was applied in order to determine the behaviour of principals and school educators. The investigation indicated that the behaviour of the principals and that of the educators contributed only to an average degree to the establishment of a more effective organisational climate in the primary schools investigated. Furthermore the exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses indicated that certain items in the original climate questionnaire, which were grouped in the directive behaviour of the principal, were viewed by the respondents in South Africa as supportive but, in some instances, also as restrictive.
Interpreting Foucault: An Evaluation of a Foucauldian Critique of Education
Author: Woermann, Minka
Date: 2012-02-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Criticism,Educational Principles,Educational Practices,Politics of Education,Ideology,Educational Theories,Relevance (Education),Ethics,Political Power,Educational Philosophy

The potential strengths and weaknesses of a Foucauldian critique of education are discussed and evaluated. The article focuses specifically on the value of Foucault's work for critiquing social and political ideologies prevalent in education, which is understood as a societal institution, and hence, as a modern regime of institutional power. In terms of strengths, the ability to raise issues of knowledge, power and contestation that are traditionally ignored in educational theory is addressed. In terms of weaknesses, Foucault's problematic use and understanding of power and his apparent rejection of objective truth are investigated. The critique develops at the hand of influential, but competing, interpretations of Foucault's contribution to the field of education in particular, and philosophy in general. It is argued that these influential readings of Foucault gain traction within specific discourses (such as education), and should thus be subjected to critical scrutiny.
Governing Bodies and Learner Discipline: Managing Rural Schools in South Africa through a Code of Conduct
Author: Mestry, Raj
Date: 2012-02-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Governance,Secondary Schools,Discipline,Discipline Policy,Ethics,Qualitative Research,Compliance (Legal),Policy Formation,Rural Schools,Law Enforcement,Barriers,School Councils,Focus Groups,Interviews,Administrator Attitudes,Educational Legislation,Familiarity,Functional Behavioral Assessment,Punishment,Social Influences,Environmental Influences,Positive Behavior Supports,Foreign Countries

The South African Schools Act of 1996 provides that school governing bodies (SGBs) should adopt and assist in the enforcement of a learner code of conduct to maintain discipline effectively. This study focuses on the perceptions and experiences of SGBs in managing discipline in rural secondary schools through the design and enforcement of learner codes of conduct. A generic qualitative research paradigm was used to gain insight into the effectiveness of and factors impeding the enforcement of learner codes of conduct in rural secondary schools. For this purpose, data were collected from six secondary schools in the North West Province by means of focus group interviews and analysed according to Tesch's method of open coding. One of the major findings of the study revealed that many rural school governors still lack the relevant knowledge and skills to design and enforce a learner code of conduct effectively. The literacy levels of the majority of SGB members (parents) make it difficult for them to design and enforce the learner code of conduct, even though the department may have provided training. Furthermore, parent-governors are far removed from the day-to-day operations of the school, and consequently fail to contextualise the seriousness of discipline problems as well as to enforce the learner code of conduct effectively.
Educators' Roles in Developing Adolescent HIV/AIDS Knowledge and Attitudes within School Culture
Author: Chabilall, Jyothi
Date: 2012-02-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: School Culture,Adolescent Attitudes,Adolescent Development,Teacher Role,Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS),Semi Structured Interviews,Principals,Counselor Attitudes,Sexuality,Muslims,Epidemiology,Grade 10,Health Education,Parent Aspiration,Cultural Influences,Foreign Countries,Qualitative Research

This paper reports on part of a study with the aim of exploring how Muslim learners' knowledge and attitudes of HIV/AIDS were influenced by family and school culture. Findings from data collected during individual semi-structured interviews with the principals, Life Orientation educators, and school guidance counsellors are discussed. Reviewed literature supported the assumption that there were collaborative relationships within school culture that permitted children to learn about sexuality and HIV/ AIDS. Bandura's Social Cognitive Theory and the Eight Gateways or &quot;entry points&quot; of school culture supported the data collection and reinforced the findings theoretically. A purposive sample was used for the qualitative case study within an interpretivist paradigm. The study indicated that the educators believed that the school should teach adolescents' about HIV/AIDS. The aim of the school was to create awareness about non-risky behaviour in terms of HIV/AIDS among the learners. Educators were aware that this education did not always lead to positive behaviour changes. The school interventions had generally engendered positive values and dependable, safe relationships that helped adolescents to make responsible decisions in the face of HIV and AIDS. Educators did concede that despite the education at school, learners had to sometimes make difficult decisions as they were tempted to behave against the principles and education within the macro-society.
The Influence of School Culture and School Climate on Violence in Schools of the Eastern Cape Province
Author: Barnes, Kalie
Date: 2012-02-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: School Culture,Educational Environment,Violence,Influences,Grade 10,Grade 11,Grade 12,Correlation,School Safety,Regression (Statistics),Questionnaires,Student Experience,Sexual Harassment,Foreign Countries,Likert Scales

This article reports on research undertaken about the influence of school culture and school climate on violence at schools in the Eastern Cape. An adapted California School Climate and Survey-Short Form (CSCSS-SF), which was used as the data-collection instrument, was completed by 900 Grade 10 to 12 learners. With the assistance of Pearson's product moment correlation coefficient, it was found that the better the school culture and school climate are at a school, the lower the levels of school violence. On the other hand, a lack of school safety contributed to learners experiencing higher levels of violence at schools. The results of hierarchy regression analyses indicated that school culture and school climate can be used to explain a significant percentage of variance in school violence. The f[superscript 2] values indicate that, with the exception of two aspects of the variance physical and verbal harassment, the results did not have any practical value. The article concludes with a few suggestions on how the results can be used to address school violence.
The Quest for a Culture of Learning: A South African Schools Perspective
Author: Weeks, F. H.
Date: 2012-02-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Foreign Countries,Literature Reviews,School Culture,Organizational Culture,Concept Formation,Attitude Change,Learning Motivation,Achievement Need,School Effectiveness,Best Practices,Change Strategies

Within the media and the literature the need is often expressed for the establishment of a culture of learning within South African schools. The contrasting view tends to be one of dysfunctional schools that have come into being, giving rise to significant learner behaviour problems and poor pass rates being encountered in practice. This paper is directed at gaining conceptual clarity as to what is meant by a &quot;culture of learning&quot; and exploring two fundamentally different views as to how such a culture can be nurtured within South African schools. The study is based on a multidisciplinary literature review to gain an understanding of the concept and the theories advocated for bringing about a culture change. A key finding emanating from the study is that the traditional culture management approach advocated in the literature may not be all that effective in practice and that an alternative approach that views &quot;culture of learning&quot; as an emergent phenomenon that has its origins in the social interaction taking place within classrooms, schools and learning communities may be more effective.
Who's Doing the Talking? Teacher and Parent Experiences of Parent-Teacher Conferences
Author: Lemmer, E. M.
Date: 2012-02-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Parent Teacher Conferences,Qualitative Research,Focus Groups,Interviews,Parent Attitudes,Teacher Attitudes,Parent Teacher Cooperation,Interpersonal Communication,Interpersonal Competence,Interpersonal Relationship,Administrator Attitudes,Group Dynamics,Delivery Systems,Expectation

The most common form of direct communication between parents and teachers in schools worldwide is the parent-teacher conference. Purposeful parent-teacher conferences afford the teacher and the parent the opportunity to address a particular topic related to the child, such as academic progress and behaviour. However, teachers are seldom trained to interact with parents, and both parents and teachers often find such encounters stressful and ineffective. This paper investigates parent and teacher perspectives on the parent-teacher conference through a qualitative inquiry. This is framed by the contributions of ecological theorists to home-school communication and an overview of extant themes in the literature. In the present qualitative inquiry, teacher, parent and learner participants were selected by purposeful and snowball sampling and data were gathered by individual and focus group interviews, school visits and the perusal of written parent-teacher conference reports. The findings indicate that parent-teacher conferences are ritualised school events in all types of schools; parents and teachers' expectations of conferences are limited; teachers are not trained to conduct parent-teacher conferences; and conferences are overwhelmingly directed at problem solution. Parent-teacher conferences are characterised by a client orientation to parents, rather than a partnership orientation to home-school relations.
Understanding and Addressing Homophobia in Schools: A View from Teachers
Author: Bhana, Deevia
Date: 2012-08-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Homosexuality,Teacher Attitudes,Sexual Orientation,Equal Education,Religious Factors,Foreign Countries,Secondary School Teachers,Focus Groups,Interviews

South African schools have been found to be homophobic. Teachers can play an important role in offering a critique of homophobia grounded in South Africa's legal claim to equality on the basis of sexual orientation. Currently there is a dearth of educational research about how teachers understand and address homophobia. By drawing upon focus-group interviews with teachers based at five schools, this paper shows dominant teaching views which contribute to homophobia, although this is not the only view. Informed by theoretical framings that seek to uncover heterosexual domination, the analysis shows three interrelated discursive constructions through which homophobia is both produced and resisted by teachers. Silencing homosexuality, denying its existence in the curriculum, and religious prohibitions were found to be dominant. It must be understood however that teachers are working in a context without any intervention and support. Their views also show potential for working against the climate of homophobia. Recommendations for such work are indicated in the conclusion of the paper.
Teaching Practice and the Personal and Socio-Professional Development of Prospective Teachers
Author: Schoeman, S.
Date: 2012-08-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Preservice Teachers,Social Development,Individual Development,Student Teaching,Teaching Experience,Questionnaires,Performance Factors,Student Teacher Attitudes,Professional Development,Predictor Variables,Learning Experience,Foreign Countries,Likert Scales

This study investigates the interplay between individual and contextual variables during teaching practice and its impact on the personal and socio-professional development of prospective teachers. The purpose of the study was to survey how prospective teachers experienced the process of becoming aware of their emerging identities as teachers, and to demonstrate how the unique, individual student teachers' teaching and socio-professional identities are cultivated in the learning-to-teach process. A non-experimental survey research design involving quantitative data was used. A questionnaire, adapted from Caires and Almeida's Inventory of Experiences and Perceptions at Teaching Practice (IEPTP), was used to collect the data. The data were assessed through statistical analysis, using mean ranking scores. Higher levels of success were observed with regard to the professional and institutional socialisation, learning and professional development, and vocational sub-scales. Lower levels of success were found in the support and supervision and socio-emotional sub-scales. Ralph's contextual supervision model and exploration of feelings and emotions are put forward as measures to scaffold, respectively, the supervision and socio-emotional dimensions of becoming a teacher.
An Investigation of Strategies for Integrated Learning Experiences and Instruction in the Teaching of Creative Art Subjects
Author: Nompula, Yolisa
Date: 2012-08-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Creative Activities,Art Education,Teaching Methods,Interdisciplinary Approach,Foreign Countries,National Curriculum,Interviews,Theory Practice Relationship,Elective Courses,Educational Policy,Group Discussion,Phenomenology,Secondary School Students,Secondary School Teachers,Participant Observation,Grounded Theory

This study investigated the integrating possibilities within each creative arts subject. The objective was to optimize the limited teaching time, generally allocated to each art subject in schools, by developing a pedagogical strategy for its successful implementation. While the study was limited to South African schools, the results have global relevance and significance in the ongoing global trendsetting and discourse on arts education. In South Africa the previous National Curriculum Statement (NCS, 2002) integrated music, dance, drama and visual arts where possible, while the new Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement (CAPS, 2011) offers two elective art subjects in the senior phase (Grades 7-9), each taught separately an hour per week during school hours and one hour per week after school, thereby attempting to extend the teaching time. This qualitative enquiry used documentary analyses, teacher interviews, and student group discussions for the collection of data. Pre-determined and emergent codes based on grounded theory showed that it is possible to integrate theory with practice within one art subject by teaching theoretical work in the context of practical work, thus optimizing the limited time allocated to arts and culture education in school timetables.
Graphics Tablet Technology in Second Year Thermal Engineering Teaching
Author: Carrillo, Antonio
Date: 2013-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Technology Uses in Education,Engineering Education,Teaching Methods,Computer Graphics,Feedback (Response),Thermodynamics,Undergraduate Students,Educational Technology,Course Descriptions,Computer Software,Lecture Method,Usability,Foreign Countries

Graphics tablet technology is well known in markets such as manufacturing, graphics arts and design but it has not yet found widespread acceptance for university teaching. A graphics tablet is an affordable teaching tool that combines the best features from traditional and new media. It allows developing a progressive, interactive lecture (as a traditional blackboard does). However, the tablet is more versatile, being able to integrate graphic material such as tables, graphs, colours, etc. In addition to that, lecture notes can be saved and posted on a course website. This paper is aimed at engineering instructors considering graphics tablet technology for their teaching set up. The objective is to provide useful information and guidance by sharing experiences made using a graphics tablet for lecturing an undergraduate course on Thermal Engineering.
Children as Photographers: Life Experiences and the Right to Be Listened To
Author: Joubert, Ina
Date: 2012-11-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Photography,Democracy,Family Environment,Foreign Countries,Urban Areas,Crime,Childrens Rights,Citizenship Education,Citizen Participation,Elementary School Students,Safety,Play,Friendship,Participatory Research

This article is about an investigation of eight-year-old children's life experiences as child citizens in democratic South Africa, their right to be listened to and to participate in the democracy. Research indicates that understanding children's life experiences can influence adults' understanding of what needs to be done to support their participation in democratic processes. I employed photovoice methodology as primary mode for data generation. The young children took photos of their home environment and interpreted the content of each photo. Despite the fact that they live in a central city environment known for its crime, the findings revealed surprisingly positive life experiences. However, they did take photos of negative aspects that could harm their experiences of an open society and a free democracy. Through their photos these young participants showed their capability of acting as agents for transforming their home environment, provided that their voices are heard and they are granted the opportunity to participate in these matters.
Does Visual Participatory Research Have Resilience-Promoting Value? Teacher Experiences of Generating and Interpreting Drawings
Author: Theron, Linda C.
Date: 2012-11-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Phenomenology,Participatory Research,Resilience (Psychology),Teaching Experience,Intervention,Freehand Drawing,Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS),Rural Areas,Self Control,Mastery Learning,Behavior Change,Focus Groups,Teacher Attitudes,Teacher Characteristics,Foreign Countries

I report on a phenomenological investigation into teacher experiences of generating and interpreting drawings during their participation in the Resilient Educators (REds) intervention. All 18 teacher participants came from rural communities challenged by HIV&amp;AIDS. I reflect critically on the ambivalence in teacher experiences of drawings to highlight the complexity of employing drawings as visual method. Then, I interpret the teachers' methodological experiences through the lens of social-ecological understandings of resilience in order to address the question of how drawings, as form of visual participatory methodology, may make a positive difference and nurture participant resilience. What the teachers' experiences suggest is that drawings offer methodological opportunities for participants to make constructive meaning of adversity, to take action, to experience mastery, and to regulate emotion associated with adversity. All of the aforementioned are well documented pathways to resilience. I theorise, therefore, that researchers with a social conscience would be well advised to use drawings, albeit in competent and participatory ways, as this methodology potentiates participant resilience and positive change.
Development and Experimental Validation of a Thermoelectric Test Bench for Laboratory Lessons
Author: Rodríguez García, Antonio
Date: 2013-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Science Laboratories,Science Experiments,Laboratory Experiments,Energy,Engineering Education,Thermodynamics,Foreign Countries,Scientific Concepts

The refrigeration process reduces the temperature of a space or a given volume while the power generation process employs a source of thermal energy to generate electrical power. Because of the importance of these two processes, training of engineers in this area is of great interest. In engineering courses it is normally studied the vapor compression and absorption refrigeration, and power generation systems such as gas turbine and steam turbine. Another type of cooling and generation less studied within the engineering curriculum, having a great interest, it is cooling and thermal generation based on Peltier and Seebeck effects. The theoretical concepts are useful, but students have difficulties understanding the physical meaning of their possible applications. Providing students with tools to test and apply the theory in real applications, will lead to a better understanding of the subject. Engineers must have strong theoretical, computational and also experimental skills. A prototype test bench has been built and experimentally validated to perform practical lessons of thermoelectric generation and refrigeration. Using this prototype students learn the most effective way of cooling systems and thermal power generation as well as basic concepts associated with thermoelectricity. It has been proven that students learn the process of data acquisition, and the technology used in thermoelectric devices. These practical lessons are implemented for a 60 people group of students in the development of subject of Thermodynamic including in the Degree in Engineering in Industrial Technologies of Public University of Navarra.
Learners Engaging with Transformation Geometry
Author: Bansilal, Sarah
Date: 2012-02-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Learner Engagement,Geometry,Grade 12,Foreign Countries,Mathematics Instruction,Mathematics Activities,Secondary School Mathematics,High School Students,Geometric Concepts,Transformations (Mathematics),Semi Structured Interviews,Qualitative Research,Case Studies

This article reports on a qualitative, interpretivist study that focused on the use of visualisation and analytic strategies by Grade 12 learners when working with problems based on transformation geometry. The research was conducted with 40 learners from a Grade 12 class at one high school in the north Durban area of Kwazulu-Natal. Participants completed a written task and a smaller sample of the participants engaged in investigative semi-structured interviews with the researchers. The framework for the study was based on transformations of semiotic representations as well as the visualiser/analyser model. The findings revealed that most learners performed treatments in the analytic mode when responding to the tasks, and showed limited movement across the two modes which are essential for a deepening of understanding. The study identified one learner, however, who was able to move flexibly between the modes and who displayed a deep understanding of the concepts. The article concludes by recommending that opportunities need to be created for learners to engage in transformation geometry activities which emphasise conversion.