The effectiveness of mentoring in the Distance Teacher Education Programme at the Lesotho College of Education: student teachers' and tutors' perceptions

In response to the need for more qualified primary school teachers in Lesotho, the Lesotho College of Education (LCE) introduced the Distance Teacher Education Programme (DTEP), an in-service training programme for unqualified and underqualified teachers. As part of the curriculum in this programme, the more than 1 200 student teachers who were enrolled needed to be supported and mentored, but were served by only 16 tutors in six different regions. As one of the tutors and mentors in the DTEP, the researcher (LM-M) undertook a qualitative perception survey through focus group discussions with student teachers and tutors in the DTEP. The researcher was able to evaluate the mentoring system in the DTEP according to the functions of effective mentoring, as identified in a literature review. The e strengths and w weaknesses identified in the survey are highlighted and recommendations are made for different stakeholders on how the mentoring system can be improved. South African Journal of Education Vol. 26(3) 2006: 383–39

Implementing a flexible structure in undergraduate science curricula

A proposal for undergraduate curriculum reform in South Africa: The case for a flexible curriculum structure” (CHE, 2013) suggests a number of scenario (models) in order to increase the number of graduates nationally. For the past 20 years South African higher education institutions were expected to start implementing a number of new policies and to align their internal functions and structures more optimally towards increased access, student throughput and quality teaching and learning, amongst other policy indicators. Since 1994, the SA government has been steering a radical transformation and restructuring of higher education, which kicked off with the White Paper on HE transformation (1995), the latter which formally culminated in the Higher Education Act 101 of 1997. Policies are generally developed in response to challenges, problems or inadequate progress in respect of nationally identified strategic goals or targets. Some policies are geared at national quality enhancement, in the process, establishing new national structures with dedicated terms of reference and responsibilities. Policies are thus created to bring about desirable change and are generally regarded as strong symbolic indicators of national intent (Bunting, 2008; Bunting, 2004). This paper reports on a sample of national and institutional policies and the directives stemming from them. The pertinent emphasis on an increase in the participation and eventually the academic success of undergraduate students in Science programmes is linked to insights brought about by increasingly improved National Senior Certificate (NSC) results, especially over the last decade. The quantitative investigation compares the academic performance of 1563 main stream first year degree students with 2110 extended degree students in seven fundamental science modules at the University of Johannesburg. Mean values were compared and regression provided predictive value of the different modules on performance. The enquiry culminates in speculation on the implications that the above mentioned Flexible Curriculum Structure might bring about and the dataset investigate flexible curriculum in practice at the University of Johannesburg

Social Media: A Method to Recruit Students into Undergraduate Nursing Programmes

Alternative methods to recruit students into the nursing profession need to be explored and utilised. Social media has the potential to be a very potent recruitment aid. The study seeks to describe and explore some of the social media that could be utilised to recruit students for the nursing profession. A qualitative study (explorative and descriptive in nature), using a literature review and electronic survey-questionnaires was used to elicit suggestions from authors and nurse educators on student recruitment via social media. Quantitative data validation was performed. The study made use of an online tool to reach national and international lecturers. Nurse educators from nursing education institutions (NEI) in South Africa as well as nurse educators from international NEIs constitute the study participants. Result shows that contemporary literature supports the use of social media in student recruitment practices. Most of the participating nurse educators were also making use of their own NEI’s website while a limited number of nurse educators make use of alternative social media such as Facebook and LinkedIn.Health Studie

Enhancing the well-being of support services staff in higher education: The power of appreciation

Orientation: A literature search for studies on the well-being of support staff of higher education institutions (HEIs) produced very little results. Appreciation was then used to identify elements that might enhance the well-being of a selected HEI’s support staff. Research purpose: The aim was to explore the strengths of a selected HEI that might serve as driving forces for enhancing its support staff’s well-being. Motivation for the study: The lack of research on the well-being of support staff motivated the study. A need was identified to explore driving forces that might enhance their well-being. Research design, approach and method: A literature review guided by theoretical perspectives and theories on staff well-being was conducted. Subsequently, a qualitative action research design involving an Appreciative Inquiry (AI) workshop with support staff of an institution was followed. Main findings: The following strengths that might serve as driving forces for enhancing the well-being of the institution’s support services staff were identified: hard-working and dedicated support staff, positive relations among colleagues, a willingness to adapt to change,good remuneration and benefits, job security and a supportive work environment. Appreciative Inquiry was found to be well suited for identifying such strengths, as opposed to methods that focus on identifying problems or weaknesses of an organisation. As a result of this study, the relevant institution might react and build on these identified strengths towards promoting the well-being of its support staff. Practical/managerial implications: Institutions should make an effort to enhance staff well being. The results of the study could also be used to encourage HEIs to use AI to establish optimal staff well-being. Contribution/value add: The study confirmed the power of appreciation to identify the strengths that might serve as driving forces for enhancing the well-being of support staff of an HEI