An exploration of the roles of the parent SGB members in the SGB: a case study of two selected rural primary schools in the King Williams Town district

The aim of this study was to explore the roles of the parent SGB members in the School Governing Bodies (SGB) of two selected rural primary schools in the King Williams Town District. This was achieved by applying the qualitative approach within the parameters of the interpretivist paradigm. Structured interviews, semi structured interviews, document analysis and non-participatory observation methods were used at two sites that were purposely sampled. The samples in both schools were made up of SGB chairperson, SGB secretary, treasurer, one additional member, principal and non SGB parents. From the findings it emerged that the principal and SGB chairperson work in partnership in the business of school governance. However, principals seemed to dominate their SGB chairpersons who in most cases seem to be less competent than the principals. Parent SGB members seem to be dependent upon the educators in most cases on issues of school governance and they do not differentiate between their role and that of the SMT. Most SGB subcommittees seem to be dysfunctional and it was clear from the data that educators were the persons who dealt with school finances and matters of procurement. The majority of parent SGB members do not know what policies the school must adopt

Education District Office support for teaching and learning in schools: the case of two districts in the Eastern Cape

The idea of district support for schools is based on the view that local education offices are best placed to play a critical role in the promotion of quality teaching and learning. In performing this mandate whose characterisation has, over time, moved away from ‘inspection’ and ‘supervision’ both of which are seen as old fashioned and undemocratic, to support, which is seen as developmental. The aim of this study was to understand how three categories of district based officers, Subject Advisors, Integrated Quality Management System Coordinators and Education Development Officers support teaching and learning in schools. This was a case study of two districts in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa. A total of six district officials and four school based officials participated in this study. In-depth interviews and document analysis were carried out. There were four main findings. First, support for schools by three district based officials was understood and practiced as administrative tasks, mainly consisting of monitoring policy implementation and monitoring resource provision to schools. School Management Teams saw district officers’ visits as focussing on compliance rather than support. Second, some pedagogical support was given by Subject Advisors through training teachers in subject content and methods of teaching that subject. This was done through workshops and demonstration lessons. However Subject Advisors did not at any time observe actual classroom teaching to see if teachers were implementing what they had learnt at workshops. Third, none of the officers mentioned direct support for teaching and learning at classroom level. Visits by officials were not directly linked to influencing teaching and learning classroom level. Fourth, schools saw district officials as working in separate pockets and sometimes sending different signals to them, despite claims by district officials that inter-disciplinary meetings were held among district officials, however, the nature of the coordination and the use to which it is put remains unclear. There were three main conclusions, first that although the district officials’ visits to schools were described as support, they exhibited the trappings of technicism of inspection; supervision and control; and appeared to neglect the developmental aspects implied in the notion of support. Second, the conception and practice of support visits by district officials were characterised by tension between support and control. Third, at district level support to schools lacked coordination among the three categories of officers who visit schools. This has implications for quality management in schools. Given the findings and conclusions of this study; it is recommended that the issue of support for schools be the focus of a survey research for which a probability sample must be drawn in order to generate findings that are generalisable across the participating target population. Other research could focus on investigating mechanisms by which the tension between support and control can be resolved. To improve practice of a framework for the development of a coordinated district support focusing on the core business of teaching and learning is suggested

Integration of Environmental Ethics Education in the Classroom: A of Related Literature

Due to the catastrophic impact of global warming and various environmental challenges, ecological issues are a topic of discussion in every country in the globe. Researchers believed that solutions to environmental problems lie in the integration of environmental ethics education in schools to create awareness of moral values and attitudes of humans toward the environment. However, there seem to be inadequate efforts to integrate environmental ethics education into the school curriculum. This study, therefore, argues for the examined literature to find out how school teachers integrate environmental ethics education in lessons. The study adopted the qualitative systematic literature review method, and twenty-six peer-review articles were selected from the EBSCO, Scopus, and Google Scholar databases. The twenty-six selected peer-review articles were analyzed to determine the level of integration of environmental ethics education in South African classrooms. The study revealed that the internalization of environmental ethics education as a moral foundation may make humans aware of their interaction with the environment. According to literature, awareness of improved environmental ethics education assist human to behave and act ethically towards nature thereby contributing to the reduction in environmental damage and improving environmental conservation and management. The study, therefore, suggests the organization of environmental ethical awareness in-service training programs by the Department of Basic Education for teachers which will expose them and their learners to environmental ethics, disciplined behavior, and positive attitude towards their environment.

The role of school-community partnership in promoting inclusive and quality education in schools

This study investigated the role of school community partnership in promoting inclusive and quality education. The study was conducted at two primary schools in the Mankweng Circuit in Limpopo Province. Schools in Mankweng operate without guidelines regarding how to collaborate with the community to promote issues of inclusivity and quality education. The study followed a qualitative approach with a case study research design. The study population consisted of 38 participants made up of school governing body members, community leaders and school management teams. Purposive sampling was used to select three participants from each of the two schools, making a total sample size of six. Data was collected through individual interviews. A thematic approach was employed to analyse the data, by way of identifying themes emerging from the interviews. The results of the study reveal that the school management team did not involve the community because it was assumed that the community lacked knowledge on issues of education. The school management teams found it difficult to work with some community members due to their level of education. The study recommends that training should be made available to educate the community about school-community partnership to promote inclusive and quality education.http://www.journals.co.za/content/journal/jedsam2020Education Management and Policy Studie

Implementation of Teacher Development Program for Integrating Climate Change Education: Natural Sciences Teachers View

The devastating effect of climate change (CC) on the environment all over the world has been a worrisome phenomenon. The effort by the government and other stakeholders at integrating climate change education (CCE) into the school curriculum in South Africa has not yielded the desired result because of the lack of teacher professional training programs for teaching CCE in the classroom. Using the pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) theory as lenses, this qualitative study investigated the implementation of the in-service teacher development programs and their role in enhancing the integration of CCE in Natural Sciences lessons. Five secondary schools out of twenty schools that participated in the in-service teacher training program conducted by one higher education institution (HEI) were purposely selected. Data for this study were generated through one-on-one semi-structured interviews conducted with four participating Natural Sciences teachers at the selected schools. It emerged from the data that the implementation of in-service teacher development programs helped Natural Sciences teachers to integrate CCE into their lessons. The data also revealed that Natural Sciences teachers’ content and pedagogical content knowledge on CC was lacking thus they were not adequately integrating CCE in their lessons. The study concludes that the teacher training programs are responsible for teacher improved pedagogical practice of Natural Sciences teachers in the classroom and the integration of CCE. The paper, therefore, recommends that teacher professional development programs on CCE for Natural Sciences teachers be organized on a continuous basis