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Index
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Question 1.1 1 2 Question 1.2 ..3 Question 1.3 ..4 Question 1.4 .5 -7 Question 1.5 8 - 9 Question 2.1 10 Question 2.2 11 - 12

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Question 1 1.1 The factors making education provision in post-modern societies an extremely and complex specialized task.
Introduction: Education provision is a specialised and extremely complexed task. In post modern societies there are many contributing factors. These factors include: diversity of society, individual learners, our rapidly changing world, skills required in the contemporary world of work, challenges specific to SA and crucial demographic factors. I will now discuss each of these factors. 1.1.1 Diverse Society: Societies in which education is provided are multicultural. They have a unique cultural heritage which is formed by different ethnic groups, variety of religions practiced and many spoken languages. This diversity means that there are many different learners needs which need to be kept in mind. It also affects the level and kind of education provision necessary to produce a quality level of education. This makes the teachers task an even more difficult one, teachers have so many variables to deal with in trying to get t o know, understand and effectively teach their learners. 1.1.2 Individual learners: Because learners are unique individuals with different backgrounds, abilities, interests and personalities, provision of education is made even more of a challenging task. To complicate matters, some learners have physical and emotional challenges. E.g.: mental retardation, sensory impairment, communication disorders, emotional behavior disorders, learning disability, physical disability. Educational environments, teaching methods, syllabus content and teacher competency/training would have to be suitably adjusted or prepared to deal with any challenges the learners face, in order to allow all learners access to education of the same quality. 1.1.3 Our rapidly changing world: We live in a world that is constantly changing. These changes are occurring at a very fast rate. Two facets of change in our world are the economy and technological innovations. 1.1..3.1 Economy: The world economy is changing into a global economy. Intense competition exists even though there has been increased cooperation between countries, Many countries economies are still developing but there is still a vast difference between first world and third world economies. 1.1.3.2 Technological Innovations: Many technological advancements mean that technology should and can help to make education more effective and applicable. Teachers need to be suitably trained to use technology in their teaching and also to be able to teach their learners to use all available kinds of technology in order to be on par with capabilities and make the best possible use of all available resources. Not all schools are able to make use of technology as many are under-resourced, understaffed and do not have enough funding. Page 1

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1.1.4 Skills required in the contemporary world of work: The post-modern workplace requires more than just an increased ability in basic numeracy and literacy and a healthy work ethic. It needs employees to have good interpersonal skills, communication skills, independent learning, critical and creative thinking, the ability to solve problems, work effectively in a team and be adaptable. This means that not only should an employee or school leaver be able to read and write and be willing to work hard for the days earnings but have numerous extra skills which would enable the employee to function effectively within the workplace, get on with co-workers, superiors, etc and also feel confident and competent in their position. These skills would need to be either already possessed or learnt along the way or acquired in school. This would mean that the school syllabus and timetable would need to be adjusted to fit in this essential element in order to produce more workplace ready students. 1.1.5 SA challenges because of the previous political system: South Africas education system was very different during the Apartheid Era from what it is now. During that time Bantu Education was in place. Education provision was done according to race. White learners were given of the best educations and other races, especially black Africans, were given minimal instruction. Government funding for Bantu Education schools was also minimal. Many schools has dilapidated buildings, inadequate instruction, lack of teaching and learning resources, overcrowded classrooms and poor teacher training. Many of those schools still run and it is a great challenge to try and improve the abovementioned conditions. 1.1.6 Crucial demographic factors: Important factors included under this heading are: shortages of schools & trained teachers, vast annual population growth, great variety of official languages (11), range of social, religious and ethnic groups, problems relating to HIV/AIDS and the need for a relevant and revised curriculum. All these factors, in some way or other, need funding to help turn them into positive factors. This will obviously take a lot of planning, budgeting and hard work and will take time to try and aid in making education provision a less complex task.

Conclusion: After discussing the aforementioned factors I realise exactly how specialised and extremely complexed the task of education provision is in South Africa. Some of the factors I discussed are general and can and do affect other countries. Apartheid is one of the factors unique to our country. Often a countrys history has a far reaching effect on education and other elements in society, like its cultures and traditions. I can confidently conclude that education provision in post-modern societies is truly an extremely complex and specialised task.

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1.2 The composition of the education system.

A formal system of education needs to be established as schools can not provide for the diverse needs of society on their own. An education system is composed of the following four broad categories of structures: 1. 2. 3. 4. Schools and other types of educational systems Governance and management structures Support or auxiliary services Various stakeholders with an interest in education

1.Schools and other types of educational systems A formal schooling system has a lot of different types of institutions for education and training, which strive to meet diverse needs of learners. These types of institutions include: Pre-primary schools, Primary schools, Secondary schools and Institutions of higher education (Technikons, universities and colleges) Different schools may specialise into various fields such as: agriculture, music, general academic, science and technician. Schools are also differentiated into phases, annual stages or grades. Institutions of higher education also specialises into various fields for example universities caters for people who want to become teachers and accountants etc. 2.Governance and management structures Structures are created to provide education and training in a planned and organised manner. Examples of Structures would include the following: The Ministry of education and training, Structures for educational planning, Department of education on national and provincial levels, Control Boards Teacher registration boards and Advisory Bodies 3.Support or auxiliary services Many highly specialised tasks are included in the provision of education and training, the institutions however dont have the capacity to carry out all the tasks on their own, thus for example a teacher might need some form of additional help or support to carry out certain professional tasks. This is where support or auxiliary services come in, to provide teaching practitioners with specialised help. In South Africa some support services are inadequate or absent. Examples of support or auxiliary services includes: Feeding schemes, Media and library services, School hostels and Health services 4.Stakeholders Stakeholders such as parents, the state, community, teacher organisations, unions and work providers have a keen interest in a countrys education. They are important factors in the process of formulating new policies. The function is to provide and or support quality education and training for learners in a community. The learners are the core around which every activity in the system should revolve.

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1.3 The role of the South African Council for Educators (SACE)
SACE is a national registration council for teachers. Therefore all teachers in South Africa are obliged to register with SACE. Section 21 of the South African Council for Educators Act, 2000 requires that: every educator contemplated by the Act must register with the Council before appointment to a teaching post; and no person may be employed as an educator by an employer unless that person is registered with the Council. An educator must apply for registration with the Council by completing the Council's application form. The application must be accompanied by certified proof of the educator's qualifications, identity document and the required registration fee. Every applicant for registration must disclose to the Council details of: any previous employer disciplinary action or conviction for a criminal offence; any pending employer disciplinary proceedings or criminal proceedings against the applicant; any previous disciplinary proceedings against the applicant by the Council. The registration committee must consider every application for registration or provisional registration in the light of the registration criteria and make recommendations on the application to the Council. In considering an application, the registration committee may: request further information from the applicant; conduct any investigation it deems necessary; and convene interviews An educator who applies to register with the Council must satisfy the ethical standards contemplated in the Code of Professional Ethics for Educators. An educator: * respects the dignity, beliefs and constitutional rights of learners and in particular children, which includes the right to privacy and confidentiality; * acknowledges the uniqueness, individuality, and specific needs of each learner, guiding and encouraging each to realise his or her potentialities; * strives to enable learners to develop a set of values consistent with the fundamental rights contained in the Constitution of South Africa; * exercises authority with compassion; * avoids any form of humiliation, and refrains from any form of abuse, physical or psychological; * refrains from improper physical contact with learners; * promotes gender equality; * refrains from any form of sexual harassment (physical or otherwise) of learners; * refrains from any form of sexual relationship with learners at a school; *uses appropriate language and behaviour in his or her interaction with learners, and acts in such a way as to elicit respect from the learners; *takes reasonable steps to ensure the safety of the learner; *does not abuse the position he or she holds for financial, political or personal gain;

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1.4 Educators and Parents as partners

Introduction A school's success depends on partnerships between various groups. They must all help to create an environment for learners to grow and develop to their full potential. Here I discuss how the partnership between the educator and parents can improve the education the learners receive. 1.4.1 Partnership A successful school depends on the school community. The school community refers to all members like the school management, educators, learners, parents and community members. Partnership between all these parties contributes to the success of the school and they help to create an environment for learners to grow and develop as individuals and citizens of South Africa. Through these partnership the schools benefit by making use of the human resources that is available, they will have access to more people with knowledge, skills and positive attitudes. Parents and educators share a common goal of wanting the children to develop to their individual potential. This makes a partnership between parents and educators who is both educationally-important to form a partnership. The South African Schools Act (Republic of South Africa (RSA) 1996, Section1) the term parent refers to the biological parent, guardian, person legally entitled to custody or the person who undertakes to fulfill the obligations of a parent. Therefore the educator must be prepared to work with anyone caring for the child and not limit this relationship to the biological parents of the child. The South African School Act command the establishment of school governing bodies in all schools in South Africa. This signals a new way of government thinking and a new stage in the relationship between educators and parents. Except for governance there are 5 areas of home-school relations where it is possible for parents to become involved in the education of their children. 1.4.1.1 Communications Communications refers to school-to-home and home-to-school communications. This will include exchange of information like school programs and the child's progress. Educators and parents can make use of verbal (parents evening) or written (school newsletters) communication. Parent's evenings and conference meeting provide unique opportunities for educators and parents to meet and is generally held on the school premises. Alternative venue can be considered, like church halls or community centre. This my seem less threatening and can indicate that the school is reaching out to the community schools must ensure that the meetings provide opportunities to parents to initiate communication with the school. 1.4.1.2 Assisting parents with their parenting tasks A lot of the caregivers find it difficult to meet the child(rens) needs and cannot cope with the responsibilities and demands of parenthood. Educators can equip the caregiver with the necessary skills by arranging workshops on discipline, developmental stages of a child, safety, nutrition and home conditions. This will contribute support and increase education on all levels.

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1.4.1.3 Volunteering Educators can design program where volunteers are recruited, trained and organised for a variety of activities. Parents contribute in the way that they help the school fulfill the needs of the school. Parents as volunteers can help with fundraising, field trips, coaching sport and tutoring learners. It is important that the volunteer is aware of the confidentiality of the work when he /she tutors and they must work closely with the educator. Community members can visit the school to tell about certain hobbies or careers, through this they bring the real world to the class. The school can compile a register with all the volunteers who have particular expertise or hobby what they can share with the school. 1.4.1.4 Learning at home All parents can be active and supportive of their child's learning. The school can assist the parent to do this by drawing up a clear homework policy, if possible with the parents and the learners input and communicate the policy to parents regularly. 1.4.1.5 Decision-making Issues that affect the learners must be discussed with the parents and therefore the decision-makings I not limited to the governing body. This consulting empowers the parents and develops parent leaders and representatives and demonstrates democratic principles in the relationships between the school and its parents. 1.4.2 Benefits of an effective home-school partnership Establishing the home-school relationship will benefit all roll-players, that is the learners, parents, educators, educators and schools. The benefit for this relationships includes: 1.4.2.1 Improvement of academic achievements Studies made underscore that if parents participate in the school activities and encourage education and learning at home, that the child will be more successful at all grade levels. 1.4.2.2 The learner's behavioural problems decrease and their self-esteem increase The alliance between educator and parent has shown positive effect on a learner's self-esteem, fewer behavioural problems and better school attendance. 1.4.2.3 Learner's attitude improve Parents who show interest in their child's education and have high expectations for their performance, will promote a positive attitude towards learning. 1.4.2.4 Increased commitment to school work More regular homework habits is in greater harmony between the school and family there is more openness between educator and parents develops when frequent parent involvement is. 1.4.2.5 More confident parents and positive about their abilities to help their children Parents feel more positive about their own abilities to help their children when they work with the educator and they will increase their interaction with their children. 1.4.2.6 Greater understanding of the educator and their obstacles by the parents Parents find gratitude for the educators commitment and skills and the parent get to know the educator. It is also a comfort for the parent to know that the educator share their concerns about their children. Page 6

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Conclusion A successful partnership between the educators and the parents will depend on how well the program match with the parents needs. It is important to know how a child's parents are and their domestic circumstances. This will help the educator to implement many strategies to improve the relations between educator and parents.

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1.5. Governing bodies, their responsibilities and their relationship with educators.
1.5.1 Structure of School governing bodies: The SGB must consist of: The principal Elected representatives such as: Parents of learners enrolled at the school Educators employed by the school Members of staff who are not educators (secretaries, cleaners) Learners in the 8th grade or higher at the school. Co-opted members to assist with the functions but they have no voting rights on the governing body.

1.5.2 Responsibilities of the SGBs: The governing body must: Decide on an admissions policy for the school. Promote the best interest of the school and ensuring its development. Decide on the language policy of the school. Decide on what religious practices will be followed at the school. Adopt a code of conduct for learners which sets out disciplinary procedures. All these decisions and policies must be in line with national policies. The SGB must also: Adopt a constitution setting out how the SGB will operate. Adopt a school mission statement setting out the values and beliefs of the school. Decide the times of the school day. Administer the school's property, buildings and grounds. Make recommendations regarding the appointment of educators at the school.

In addition, a governing body can be given any of these functions: maintaining and improving the school's property, buildings and grounds deciding on the extramural curriculum and the choice of subject options according to provincial curriculum policy buying textbooks, educational material and/or equipment for the school paying for services to the school.

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1.5.3 The relationship between educators and the SGBs Educators as professional educators should share the responsibility of making the partnership between the interested parties work efficiently, rather than leaving it entirely up to the principal. Educators can contribute to the relationship in the following ways: by trusting and respecting the partners by sharing goals and values by sharing a common vision by opening up the communication by promoting teamwork by respecting the roles of the different partners.

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2.1 Managing the school is a process consisting of four fundamental management functions. Discuss.
Introduction In any business or organisation the managers have an essential responsibility to plan, organise, lead and control. In terms of schools, these functions must be managed in order to maintain a decent/acceptable level of education and reach the goals of the school and ensure the smooth day-to-day running of the school. 2.1.1 Planning: Planning is the first step of the management process. The planning procedure can mean the difference between a success or failure in terms of goals, etc. It entails the formulation of a mission, aims and outcomes for the school. It includes functions such as problem solving, decision making and policy making. 2.1.2 Organising: Organising is the second step of the management process. The main objective of organising is the establishment of a framework or structure which organises the ways in which materials and people will be allocated for goal achievement. Organising means, inter alia, that an organisational structure should be established according to which people and material should be deployed to achieve goals. It includes delegating and coordinating. 2.1.3 Leading: Educators and learners are directed in such a way that their actions are geared towards the realisation of the formulated goals and outcomes. . The goals need to bet communicated and educators & learners need to be motivated to perform to their optimal potential. At times conflict management is necessary. Leading includes effective communication, motivation conflict management and negotiation. 2.1.4 Controlling: The principal needs to ensure that the school is on the correct path to achieve the set goals. Controlling means that one has to monitor that the school is on the right course. The function of controlling includes assessment and corrective action as well as disciplinary measures when necessary. Conclusion The success of the management of a school depends on all four of the management functions being fulfilled properly and the performance of all necessary tasks when and where applicable. Failing to use and perform those four functions correctly will lead to a mismanaged, unproductive and unsuccessful school.

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2.2. The educator is not merely a manager but a leader. What is leadership and what are the implications contained for the educator in the quest for democratic leadership?
2.2.1 Leadership is the aspect of management that energises people and sustains their momentum. It involves elements such as influencing people, giving orders, motivating people either as individuals or in groups, managing conflict, communication with subordinates and explaining the mission, goals and plans of the organisation. It also means allocating tasks, consulting and supervising peoples work and disciplining staff. There are different leadership styles. The three most important ones are: autocratic, laissez-faire and democratic. 2.2.2 Best features of the Autocratic leadership style: The instructions given are firm, obedience is a vital component in classroom behaviour and discipline is duly conducted. What the educator says, has to be done, no disobedience is tolerated. 2.2.3 Best features of the Laissez-faire leadership style: Learners are allowed flexibility. The educator is not strict, often giving learners more unnecessary freedom. 2.2.4 The Democratic leadership style: The perfect balance between the autocratic and laissez-faire leadership styles is the Democratic style. It is a combination of the best features of the abovementioned styles and is an acceptable style in terms of the teaching-learning process. Class conduct is firm yet affectionate. Respect and obedience are required in the classroom while learners are encouraged to contribute creatively and use their initiative. Participation in decision-making is made possible by the election of leaders from learners peer group. Establishment of classroom procedures and policies and suggestions of disciplinary measures are also made by learners. Discipline is practised in such a manner that learners personal potential and dignity is respected. This leadership style requires teachers , principals and parent leaders to possess communication, interpersonal, decision-making, listening, problem-solving skills and a firm grasp of learning areas and a good understanding of the learners and their needs. Conclusion: By taking the positive features of other available leadership styles, we see that the democratic leadership style is one which will help to make learning a positive experience while still maintaining order, respect, discipline and also considering the needs and abilities of all parties involved in the education process. Thus leadership can be defined as the ability to lead individuals or groups by influencing, motivating, communicating and exercising authority in such a way that the individuals or groups are encouraged to strive voluntarily towards certain goals. The implications for the educator because you have to:

Keep communication open: If the marketplace of ideas is going to be open for business, everyone needs to feel comfortable enough to put their ideas on the table. The democratic leadership style thrives when all the considerations are laid out for everyone to examine. Page 11

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Focus the discussion: Its hard to keep unstructured discussion productive. Its the leaders job to balance being open to ideas and keeping everything on-topic. If the conversation begins to stray, remind everyone of the goal on hand and then steer it back. Make sure to take note of off-topic comments and try to return to them when they are pertinent. Be ready to commit: In the democratic leadership style, you get presented with so many possibilities and suggestions that it can be overwhelming and difficult to commit. But as the leader, when the time comes, you have to choose and do so with conviction. The team depends on the clear and unambiguous mandates to be committed. Respect the ideas: You and your team might not agree with every idea, and thats ok. It is important, however, that you create a healthy environment where those ideas are entertained and considered --not maligned-- or the flow of ideas will slow to a trickle. Explain, but dont apologize: You want the advocates of the solutions that were not selected to understand that their thoughts were considered and had validity, but that ultimately you had strong reasons to go a different direction. Its important that the decision be communicated, but you should not apologize for deciding on what you think.

Bibliography Wikipedia Policy Handbook for Educators Teaching in South African schools: the teacher as leader, administrator and manager. Pretorius, Fanie & Lemmer, Eleanor (eds) 2004.

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