KovsieJournals - University of the Free State (UFS)
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Perceptions of principals and district officials regarding how the school district supports principals’ instructional leadership
Get PDFThe 21st century places significant demands on our educational system. It is an opportune time to re-imagine the mission, operations, and skills expected of school district offices. The focus of this study was on the school district’s role in strengthening principals’ instructional leadership capacity for improving educational outcomes. Using a case study design, interviews were conducted with 10 principals and 14 district officials in one school district. The findings showed that district officials placed instructional leadership at the core of their role in their interactions with principals. They continued to monitor curriculum delivery and provided reports but also assumed a mentoring approach in working with principals. The study further highlighted that principals did not always implement recommendations to improve instruction at schools as they felt overwhelmed by work demands. Principals expressed the need for professional development tailored to their instructional leadership roles and on-site workshops. The findings indicate that there is aneed for greater communication between principals and district officials where principals can openly deliberate issues related to instructional leadership confronting their schools with a view to problem solving. Moreover, district officials could enable the sharing of best instructional practices among schools
Die krisis van die nasiestaat scenario-gerigte perspektief
Get PDFDie koms van \u27n nuwe wereldorde, die belofte van ingrypende politieke verandering en die herskikking van kragre her opnuut die aandag gevestig op die gebreke van die nasiestaat as daardie politieke instelling war waardes gesaghebbend moet toewys. Hoewel hierdie krisis nie nuut is nie, noodsaak die omvang van veranderinge tans \u27n waardebepaling van die siruasie en is die belangrik om kennis te neem van war die toekoms in die verband mag inhou. Hierdie artikel konsentreer op die krisis van die nasiestaatsgedagte in die huidige tydsgewrig deur die fokus re laat val op kragte en tendense war politieke verandering noodsaak, die implikasies hiervan vir die nasiestaatsgedagre en war hieruit kan voortspruic deur scenario-gerigte perspektiewe aan te hied
The structure of the Adult EAS Temperament Survey for Afrikaans- and English-speaking students in South Africa
Get PDFThe responses of 273 South African university students to the items of the EAS Temperament Survey for Adults were subjected to a principal factor analysis. Four interpretable factors were extracted and rotated to oblique simple structure. Three factors provided strong support for the factorial validity of the EAS Sociability, Anger and Activity scales. Contrary to expectations, the items of the Emotionality Distress and Emotionality-Fear scales merged into a single Distress/Fear factor. Low correlations among the factors suggest that Activity may be an independent personality dimension in its own right and not merely a facer of extroversion. In addition, Anger appears to represent a personality dimension independent of the broader Emotionality temperament proposed by Buss & Plomin 1984
The political pathology of health care policy in South Africa
Get PDFSouth Africa is currently dealing with the transformation of health care into an equitable, national health care system driven by a primary health care approach. This requires a complicated sec of administrative and, in particular political changes. The problem is exacerbated by the fact that several of the visible changes in health care hastily implemented to make good on election promises did not result from policies based on genuine community needs. This article argues that the main reason for the presence of chis health care pathology is that the government has tried to effect transformation by means of hastily constructed visible changes, despite the absence of the structures needed to drive and support these changes. It also attempts to explain why a sizeable sector of the population is unable to experience the transformation of health care as an improvement
Multiple cultures in the workplace
Get PDFSouth Africa and the African continent at large host a diversity of cultures that must be accommodated by business as customers, workers or associates. South Africa\u27s recent re-acceptance into the international community has increased the potential number of cultures with which organisations have to cope. Culture affects such diverse matters as motivation, negotiation strategy, training needs and marketing approaches. It is affected mainly by religion, language, region or group, and values. These influences on culture manifest themselves in aspects such as collectivism or individualism, communication context, consciousness of time, interpersonal roles and workplace needs. In order for management and labour to accommodate various cultures in the working environment, information on the many implications of culture is essential
Inside an outside broadcast with Goffman: Exploring radio personalities\u27 performance and interaction in engaging radio broadcasting
Get PDFRadio stations conduct outside broadcasts to create awareness of their brands, promote their business clients’ interests, invest in their communities, and interact with their listeners. The outside broadcast is considered the most difficult form of radio broadcasting. Yet the experiences radio personalities encounter during outside broadcasts are under-explored in academic literature. This study explored the factors that impact positively and negatively on outside broadcast performance and interaction; and established the interplay between these two concepts. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews with eleven radio personalities at a central South African community radio station. The data analysis was driven by theory (Goffman’s dramaturgical model of social interaction) and a thematic content analysis. The findings suggest that outside broadcasts involve four finely tuned components that work in tandem to enable radio personalities to perform and interact in meaningful ways with their respective audiences. These are control of the setting, accessibility to performing zones, teamwork, and creative script. The recommendations for best practice may assist radio stations in connecting more meaningfully with their clients and listeners
Children’s inalienable rights of access to basic nutrition in South African public schools during the COVID-19 pandemic
Get PDFThe National School Nutrition Programme (NSNP) is one of the government’s social justice and equity initiatives to provide learners in poor schools with nutritious meals that will enable them to progress academically. The programme is funded from the Conditional Grant managed by National Treasury. However, during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, schools closed intermittently, and government suspended the NSNP indefinitely. The Minister of Education announced that when schools reopen, the NSNP will be restored. Conditions over time improved and schools reopened. However, the Department of Basic Education (DBE) reneged on their promise to reinstate the NSNP. This sparked public outcry. Interest groups such as Equal Education, Equal Education Law Centre, and SECTION27 took the Minister of Education to court for violating the constitutional and statutory duties. The outcome of this case had dire consequences for all stakeholders. Using qualitative research within an interpretivist paradigm, we critically analyse the court case between Education Law Centre and Others. The Minister of Education. We also undertake an empirical study in Mpumalanga and Limpopo provinces. Six school leaders (five principals and one deputy principal) are interviewed to determine their experiences and perceptions of measures taken when NSNP was suspended during the COVID-19 pandemic. Three themes emerge, namely the ramifications of COVID-19 on poor parents and children: the schools’ inability to provide nutritious meals to children, and creative ways to help needy children from malnutrition and starvation. Findings reveal that some schools were unable to feed learners, due to financial constraints and lack of capacity, while others found innovative ways to provide learners with nutritious meal
Challenges experienced by public secondary school teachers in the application of the legal framework for their safety
Get PDFThe safety of teachers in public schools is important for the creation of a conducive teaching and learning environment. The application of the South African legal framework should ensure that teachers work in a safe environment. The phrase ‘teacher safety’ refers to the safeguarding of teachers from harm, including physical, psychological, and emotional injury. Sec. 12 of South Africa’s Constitution (1996) ensures teachers’ safety, and various local and international studies have examined their safety. The existing studies lack an exploration of the way in which the legal framework has been applied to ensure teachers’ safety from violence in public schools. The investigation reported in this article pivots on the following research question: What challenges do public secondary school teachers experience in applying the legal framework for their safety? To respond to this question, qualitative research was conducted. Data were collected using semistructured interviews. Purposive sampling was used to recruit ten experienced participants (five teachers and five principals) from five public secondary schools in the Ngaka Modiri Molema District of the North-West province of South Africa. The data were then thematically analysed. The main finding of the study is that, while there are sufficient legal measures that regulate teachers’ safety, there is a lack in the application thereof to ensure teachers’ safety in public secondary schools. This is one of the contributory factors to violence against teachers. The existing legal framework provisions should be applied by teachers to safeguard them against violence