Social scientists as policy makers: E. G. Malherbe and the National Bureau for Educational and Social Research, 1929-1943

African Studies Seminar series. Paper presented 8 March, 1993.This essay is a history of the origin, elaboration and implementation of this politics of knowledge in the National Bureau of Educational and Social Research. Established in 1929 as an information gathering and research division within the South African Union Department of Education, the Bureau became the center of the development of a new relationship between social science and policy in South Africa. Four years after it was founded the Bureau's potential influence increased with the substantial grant from the Carnegie Corporation of New York. This foreign funding would enable the Bureau to sponsor, conduct, and publish social science research, as well as to build a national library on educational and social sciences. Although temporarily closed in 1940 for the duration of the Second World War, the Bureau continued to exert influence on State policy until its incorporation into the Human Sciences Research Council in 196

Freiwilliges Engagement in Stiftungen

Die Mehrzahl der deutschen Stiftungen arbeitet mit Freiwilligen zusammen. Aber was sind die Beweggründe dafür? Dieser Frage geht die Studie "Freiwilliges Engagement in Stiftungen" nach. Zudem wird das Thema Anerkennung sowie die praktische Ebene der Zusammenarbeit beleuchtet.Zusammengefasst liegen folgende Fragen der Studie zugrunde:* Gründe für die Zusammenarbeit: Weshalb arbeiten Stiftungen mit Freiwilligen zusammen? * Freiwillige gewinnen: Wie finden Stiftungen und Engagierte zusammen? Gibt es Schwierigkeiten bei der Suche?* Mit Freiwilligen zusammenarbeiten: Wie ist die Zusammenarbeit strukturiert? Welche Herausforderungen ergeben sich?* Anerkennung: Wie steht es um die Wertschätzung der Freiwilligen?Grundlage der Studienergebnisse sind eine Online-Befragung unter den Teilnehmenden des StiftungsPanels sowie Interviews mit Stiftungsexpertinnen und -experten.A study on volunteers active in German foundations

Bureaucratic accountability in the education action zones of South Africa

The Education Action Zone program me in Gauteng p rovince, South A frica, has been w idely seen as a very successful school improvement initiative, with particular significance as it represents a unique model of top-down, bureaucratic accountability as a vehicle for turning- around dysfunctional secondary schools. In this article I evaluate the impact of the initiative through an analysis of the senior secondary examination results for 1999 –20 02, in the 70 schools involved in the programme. It was found that the EAZ schools made significant gains in the overall pass rate, university pass rates, number of 'A' symbols, and average mark. The results of comparative analysis confirmed the overall success of the programme. However an alternative explanation raised ques tions about the mechanisms of improvement by uncovering a relationship between gains in examination results and learner exclusion. Keywords: education action zone, learner exclusion, school improvement, school intervention programmes South African Journal of Education Vol. 26(3) 2006: 369–38

Does higher education expenditure generate higher learner achievement? A study of historically disadvantaged schools in Gauteng

There is a growing body of research that examines the relationship between learner achievement and the resource characteristics of educators. To help policy-makers and researchers use and build on this body of knowledge, I analyse the relationship between six measures of educator and educator-related characteristics: learner-educator ratios, per learner personnel costs, average educator costs, educator qualifications, educator years of experience, and percentage of temporary teachers in a school, using two years of data (1999 and 2002) in the province of Gauteng. The implications of the indeterminate findings in the light of the limitation of the study are detailed and directions for future research are proposed. South African Journal of Education Vol.24(4) 2004: 264-26

The Portuguese clergy and the European universities in the 12th and 13th centuries

Even before the foundation of the first Portuguese University in Lisbon (1288/89), the Western Iberian region maintained close contacts with the nascent European academic culture. The advance of the Cluniac movement, the penetration of the Iberian Episcopate by French clergymen and the growth of papal influence in the Iberian Peninsula were fundamental for the development of those contacts. During the 12th century Santa Cruz de Coimbra became one of the most dynamic cultural centres of Western Iberia and played an important role in linking the region with the leading French centres of learning. By the end of the century, the influence of Bolognese jurisprudence became more important and offered excellent career opportunities in cathedral chapters, particularly in Northern Portugal. Finally, the newly founded Spanish Universities of Palencia and Salamanca exerted a strong impulse upon Portugal, having a large contribution to the emergence of the first Portuguese University.Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologi

Stratospheric scattering of radio waves and the Jicamarca radio telescope

Radar backscatter from the 15 to 35 km height range provides information about the dynamics and turbulent mixing of the stratosphere. The 3-dimensional space spectrum of turbulent fluctuations, the mean wind velocity, and the root-mean-square velocity fluctuations are directly related to the autocorrelation function of the scattered signals. The theory and mechanisms of stratospheric scattering of radio waves is discussed. The equipment and procedures used in previous experiments at the Jicamarca Radio Observatory are examined in detail, and are found to require modification in some cases. The theory of phased arrays is presented, and the correct and complete array factor pertinent to the Jicamarca antenna is derived. Information about the side lobes and precise positions of various beams is considered, and three beams are selected for use in a proposed stratospheric backscatter experiment. The phasing cables needed for the implementation of two off-vertical beams are available at the observatory, while new phasing cables must be manufactured for the realization of the vertical beam

Topic-Focus Articulation in Taqbaylit and Tashelhit Berber

This paper deals with the form/function mapping of information structure on word-order in two Berber lects, Taqbaylit (Kabyle) and Tashelhit (Shilha). We claim that the general assumption according to which Berber should be strictly VSO is wrong, and we argue for a more cautious approach, that takes into account language variation inside Berber. We show that pragmatics trigger the emergence of (relatively stable) discourse-confi gurationality, without giving rise to a VSO>SVO shift. We compare Taqbaylit and Tashelhit in terms of information structure and word order variation, and come to the conclusion that, while there is good reason to classify Taqbaylit as discourseconfi gurational, Tashelhit is somewhat more restrictive in terms of word order fl exibility. We link those characteristics with case-marking: the distinction between free state and annexation state is more clearly a dependency-oriented phenomenon in Taqbaylit, while it corresponds more closely to a subject (or marked nominative) versus absolute case system in Tashelhit.Peer reviewe

The Constitution in the Classroom: Law and Education in South Africa 1994 - 2008

About the publication The law on education and educational practices in South Africa would exhaust the capacity of any meaningful monograph. Instead, the authors of this book engage six discrete topics that refl ect the broader currents and conflicts in South African education debates: (a) school choice; (b) school fees; (c) the right to an adequate basic education; (d) single medium public schools; (e) school governing bodies; and (f) independent schools. The book has two further aims. First: To move beyond the debates taking place separately in the education policy community and the legal academy, and to demonstrate how these disciplines, working in concert with each other, can advance our understanding of law and education in South Africa. Second: To show that the ANC’s complex education agenda must mirror the egalitarian, utilitarian, democratic, and communitarian commitments found within the Constitution. How these competing political claims refl ected in our basic law play themselves out in the enabling education legislation, the case law and government education policy, frames each topic assayed in this work. About the editor: Stu Woolman is the Academic Director at the South Africa Institute for Advanced Constitutional, Public, Human Rights and International Law. Brahm Fleisch is Associate Professor in the Division of Education Leadership and Policy Studies in Wits School of Education.Publishe