http://hdl.handle.net/123456789/1156 2026-04-13T12:22:49Z http://hdl.handle.net/123456789/1605 Probing the level of support schools receive from education districts: a case study of Limpopo Province, South Africa Rasila, Bernard Naledzani; Kekana, Lilly; Mokgaetji, Montja Schools must get full support from education districts in management and governance as well as curriculum provisioning to ensure that all schools provide quality basic education across the province. This is according to the Annual Performance Plan 2019 – 2020 of the Limpopo Department of Education. This support is meant to provide principals with a support they need to make sure the schools are effective in areas of management, curriculum delivery and financial management. On the other hand, it has been realized that there are some principals who because of lack of support find themselves in difficult conditions. Schools around the province and the country often experience violence and poor management which can be attributed to lack of support to principals who are left handling school matters haphazardly. This study adopted the techniques of qualitative methodology where self-administered questionnaire was used on face-to-face basis to probe the level of satisfaction principals derive from the support they receive from their district offices which includes their circuit offices. It was found that in general there are principals who are not satisfied with the support and this is believed to contribute on dysfunctionality of such schools. This study provides ways to deal with identified support gaps. Article 2019-12-19T00:00:00Z http://hdl.handle.net/123456789/1603 Exploration of Involvement of Educators’ in Strategic Planning Sessions of their Department Rasila, Bernard Naledzani Educators are in the “coal-front” of teaching and learning in all schools and they therefore are key in curriculum delivery. They are at the level that drives the direction of education in terms of quality production. They are however less considered in departmental strategic planning sessions, the fora that gives the strategic direction education has to take. This leaves them with hard work to teach and develop the learners but not aware of the strategic vision, mission and goals of the education sector. This is despite that they have to be capacitated with government priorities related to education in each period of an administration as part of them changing with the Medium term strategic Frame Works (MTSF). This qualitative study used data collected from secondary sources, interviews and observations and realised that in many ways educators are not guided by priorities of government and the department in line with the MTSF as they are mostly denied opportunity to be engaged in effective levels of strategic planning. This has impact on quality of education received by the learners in particular responding to the socio-economic needs in their country. It creates disparities between the hard work educators do in classes and the expected impact. The study recommend that the educators are prioritized in terms of becoming active participants of during strategic planning in their departments. Article 2021-08-23T00:00:00Z http://hdl.handle.net/123456789/1589 SECONDARY SCHOOL TEACHERS’ AND LEARNERS’ ATTITUDES TOWARDS INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATIONS TECHNOLOGY INSTRUCTIONAL USE IN SIBASA CIRCUIT, VHEMBE DISTRICT, LIMPOPO Mulaudzi, Thanyani Lucky The main goal of this quantitative, descriptive, explorative survey was to explore and describe secondary school teachers’ and learners’ attitudes towards ICT (information and communication technology) instructional use in Sibasa circuit, Vhembe district, Limpopo province, South Africa, using the Technology Acceptance Model 2 (TAM 2) framework. ICT use in education continued to be a contentious topic globally following the COVID-19 pandemic. The reason for bringing this issue on board was the recognition that the use of ICTs for teaching and learning can improve the overall standard of teaching and learning. In this study, four hundred (400) participants from the four Proof of Concept (PoC) secondary schools with ICT connectivity for teaching and learning in the Sibasa Circuit of Vhembe-East District were purposively sampled to complete a self-administered 8 questionnaire. The study revealed that both teachers and learners understand what ICT is and both teachers and learners had a favourable attitude towards utilising ICTs to assist teaching and learning as they are using them on a daily basis for lesson preparations, accessing digital libraries as well as online learning resources. However, the quality and the quantity of ICT equipment in schools are hindering the obstructing factors in the adoption of ICTs for instructional purposes. The Department of Basic Education should increase the provision of ICT tools such as data projectors, whiteboards, and laptops and strong internet connection to schools to support effective teaching and learning .It is also recommended that the provincial Department of Basic Education should increase the extent of training for teachers and learners on how to use ICTs to support teaching and learning. Thesis 2024-01-01T00:00:00Z http://hdl.handle.net/123456789/1585 Using blended mentoring approach to support novice science teachers in under-resourced schools in Ekurhuleni South District Misheck, Semu Induction and mentoring of novice teachers are globally regarded as an important process in enabling the transition of pre-service teachers to become independent professional teachers. This exploratory study sought to uncover if induction and mentoring experiences or a lack thereof in South Africa’s under-resourced schools could be associated with the high attrition rate as highly qualified beginner science teachers consider leaving the teaching profession for greener pastures. Previous research has it that novice teachers experience shock as a result of the gap between university or college pre service training theory and reality of practice in the classrooms, leading to frustration and burnout. Botha and Rens (2018) ascertain that this gap is a defining point in a teaching career as it determines whether one stays in the teaching profession or tenders a resignation. To investigate induction and mentoring experiences of novice science teachers in this study, the researcher employed a mixed methods approach. Quantitative data was obtained through a web-based survey with respondents based in the provinces of South Africa. Qualitative data was obtained in a focus group discussion with novice science teachers based in Ekurhuleni South District. This study found out that there is a patchy and uncoordinated provision of induction and mentoring experiences for novice science teachers in South Africa’s under-resourced schools. A policy deficit by the Department of Basic Education was a cause for concern. However, the researcher recommended blended mentoring as an alternative strategy to enhance induction and mentoring practices in 21st century under-resourced schools. Thesis 2023-12-12T00:00:00Z