Eth303t Assignment 01 PDF

Antonette Emerentia Trosee Student no. 51583402 ETH303T Unique No. 296573 Assignment 01

Table of Content

1.

Question 1

1.1 The factors making education provision in post-modern

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societies an extremely and complex specialised task. 1.2 The composition composition of the education education system.

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1.3 The role of the South South African Council Council of Educators.

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1.4 Educators and and parents as partners.

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1.5 Governing bodies, their their responsibilities and their relationship with educators. 2.

Question 2

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2.1 Managing the school is a process consisting of four fundamental management functions. Discuss.

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2.2 The educator is not merely a manager but but a leader. What is leadership and what are the implications contained for the educator in the quest for democratic leadership? 3.

Bibliography

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QUESTION 1 1. Write a paragraph of approximately half a page on each of the following topics: 1.1 The factors making education provision in post-modern societies an extremely and complex specialised task It has been noticed that most contemporary societies are multicultural, which means that many languages are spoken; various religions are practised and different ethnic groups who contribute their own cultural heritage. In the development stages of a learner they are encouraged to find personal meaning from the learning; the e ducator must however find a connection for the learner to find their true self and also focus on the educational needs of learners. Here are a few points which address teaching and learning in the development stages and educational needs: 

Knowledge about ways in which to live and learn in an open system in which there is considerable ambiguity and serendipitous development;

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Information literacy skills for students and awareness by students of their own selection bias; the educator leads their students through the data and information to the knowledge that is involved with the purposes of the course of studies;

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Creation of individual plans wherein the learner is an active participant; creation of partnerships between teachers and students in learning a body of knowledge within a contemporary context;

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Meta-strategies (or meta-cognitive strategies) are required; students learn how to learn;

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Learners are encouraged to formulate and engage a clear, stable, sustaining image of self.

Each learner is unique, their interests, aptitudes and diverse vocational aspirations are areas that effective teachers understand and try to learn as much as they can about their students. End of question 1.1

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1.2 The composition of the education system There are different models that can be used to describe a system of education. The South African system of education is distinguished in four broad categories. School and other types of educational institutions;   Governance and management structures; Support or auxiliary services;   Various stakeholders with an interest in education. This system of education strives to meet the diverse needs of learners, in accordance with learners’ ages and development phases. Pre -primary, primary schools, secondary schools and institutions of higher education, including universities, technikons and colleges these are referred to as institutions for education and training in the formal schooling system. The system also depends on an effective and efficient system of governance and management, to help provide education and training in a planned and or ganised manner. The support or auxiliary services provide teaching practitioners with specialised help where possible for example: School health services;   Feeding schemes; Media and library services;   An examination service;  School hostels;  Transport services. The stakeholders have a keen interest in a country’s education, for instance, the government, parents, the community, teacher organisations, unions and work providers; they form an integral part of the system.

In closing the learners are the core around which every activity in the system should revolve. End of question 1.2

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1.3 The role of the South African Council for Educators (SACE) SACE is the professional council for educators’ that aims to enhance the status of the teaching profession through appropriate Registration, management of Professional Development and inculcation of a Code of Ethics for all educators.

The council aims to enhance the status of the teaching profession and to promote the development of educators and their professional conduct. The Council performs its political and administrative functions through committees and its employees. In performing these functions, the committees and staff are guided by the following set of values:    

Service oriented Openness and Transparency Quality Professionalism

The role of the SACE is to develop, promote and maintain standard of professional conduct. To revive its code of professional ethics and disciplinary procedures; produce annual report on the review of cases submitted; develop a concept document and programmes that would assist in improving educators’ perception about its role in disciplining them. Section 12(5)(a)(xiv) of the Education Labour Relations Act No. 146 of 1993 expressed the function of the ELRC as “the registration of professional educators, and the keeping of a register or roll of such educators for the purpose of regulating qualifications, standards and professional discipline and their admission to the education profession (ELRA No 146 of 1993:12)

End of question 1.3

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1.4 Educators and parents as partners It has been said that teachers and parents form a great team when it comes to the education and development of children. Therefor it is of utmost importance that these two groups of adults work together and collaborate. According to Epstein, there are five key areas of home-school relations – communication; assisting parents with parenting tasks; volunteering; learning at home; decision making. 1) Communication This includes school-to-home as well as home-to-school communication. It can be verbal or written communication. This could be in the form of newsletter (written) or parent evenings and conferences (verbal). 2) Assisting parents with parenting tasks Many parents have full-time jobs and are single parents; they find it difficult to cope with the responsibilities of parenthood. Teachers are in a position to assist parents/caregivers by arranging workshops on discipline, developmental stages of the child, safety, nutrition and home conditions that support education at all grade levels, among other things. 3) Volunteering One of the many areas that parents can get involved in their school is by volunteering. Areas such as fundraising, field trips, coaching sports, administrative tasks, tutoring and many more are just some of the areas parents can volunteer their time and assistance. 4) Learning at home Whilst parents cannot be actively involved in the school, they can be supportive of their children’s learning. This can be made possible if school draw up homework policy, with the learners’ and parents input, communicating the policy to parents regularly. 5) Decision making Although most decision is made by the governing body of the school some decisions should not be limited to them only but parents should be consulted on issues affecting their children.

End of question 1.4

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1.5 Governing bodies, their responsibilities and their relationship with educators It is of utmost importance that each school have a governing body to promote the best interests of the school by supporting the principal and educators/teachers in carrying out their professional functions and formulating and adopting of school policies. The governing body is made up of elected members, the principal and co-opted members. In this body the parents being the majority in number. Four Responsibility of the governing body:  Promoting the best interest of the school and ensuring its development; Drawing up a constitution and developing a school policy with reference to –  language policy; code of conduct; admissions policy;  Developing a mission statement and a developmental plan; Suspending a learner from attending the school as a correctional measure for a  period of no longer than a week, pending the decision of the provincial authorities on whether the learner should be expelled; Relationship with educators: Educators could contribute to the success of the partnership 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.

End of question 1.5

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QUESTION 2 2.1 Managing the school is a process consisting of four fundamental management functions. Discuss. In managing the school the aim should always be the creation of a school and classroom environment in which effective teaching and learning can take place. There is a process which involves the following interaction and interrelated aspects; Management functions; and Management areas.  

There are four fundamental areas of school management which forms the ‘life’ of the management process according to Van Deventer (2003:75) in order to fulfil the primary aim of each school, namely the realisation of effective teaching and learning. a) Planning Planning is the first step in the management process it entails the determining of a mission, aims and outcomes for the school and will also include:  Problem solving Decision making   Policy making These functions involve all stakeholders, especially teachers, parents and pupils. b) Organising This involves establishing and organisational structures or frameworks to indicate how people and materials should be deployed to achieve the goals. Delegating and coordinating are two important aspects of the organising functions. These functions include teachers, parents and other staff of the school.

c) Leading In the third step to the management function we look at the directing of people (educators and learners) and motivating them so that their functions are aligned to the formulated goals and outcomes. Therefor leading entails: Communicating goals Motivating educators and learners Conflict management and negotiation These functions will encourage good schooling, dedicated performance by both teacher and learner and the smooth running of operations within the school structure. These are not always directed only to teachers, pupils and other staff of the school but also to the parents and community to communicate, discuss, motivate support and active participation in the teaching and learning activities organised by the school.   

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d) Controlling The principal must ensure that the school is on the right course to attain its goals. Aspects that all form part of the controlling function are: Assessment and taking corrective action Disciplinary measures when necessary.  

To achieve the set standards in the quality of teaching and learning it includes teachers, parents and other staff, monitoring the use of role models, exemplary behaviour and peer group support for setting targets to be achieved by individuals and groups within the school is also an aspect that the principal must control.

End of question 2.1

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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? Leadership can be described as the ability to lead individuals and/or groups influencing, motivating, communicating and exercising authority in such a way that the individuals or groups are encourage to strive voluntarily towards certain goals. The democratic leadership style is a very open and collegial style of running a class of learners or school. Ideas move freely amongst the teacher, learners and other staff and are discussed openly. Everyone is given an opportunity to make suggestions, and discussion is relatively free-flowing. This leadership style means facilitating the conversation, encouraging people to share ideas, and then deciding on the best possible idea and the leader must also be able to communicate that decision back to the group. Effective Democratic leadership is: 

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Keeping communication open: 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. Focus the discussion: It’s hard to keep unstructured discussion productive. It’s the leader’s job to keep the balance being open to ideas and keeping everything on-topic. 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. Respect the ideas: Not everyone will agree with every idea, and that’s ok. It is important, however, that you create a healthy environment where those ideas are entertained and considered. Explain, but don’t apologize: It’s important that the decision be communicated, but you should not apologize for deciding on what you think.

Democratic leadership style it requires firm but affectionate conduct from the educatorleader. Learners are required to respect and obey the educator-leader, their initiative and creative contributions are encouraged. Regardless of the level on which the leader operate in the school organisation (whether as principal, teacher or parent leader), they should continuously strive to improve their leadership skills, which include amongst others:       

A thorough knowledge of their learning areas; Knowledge of the learner and his/her needs; Communication skills; Interpersonal-skills; Decision-making skills; Problem-solving skills; and The ability to listen.

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End of question 2.2

Bibliography Pretorius & Lemmer, Macmillan, 2004 Teaching in South African Schools www.emcmodule2.blogspot; The functions of school management, 2008 www.schome.ac.uk; Education system in South Africa, 2007 www.voanews.com; South Africa’s education system crumbling, Voice of Africa, 2010 www.youtube.com; Educational Portal, Four functions of management: Planning, organizing, Leading and Controlling, 2013 www.leadership-toolbox.com; Leadership Styles: Democratic Leadership Styles, 2008

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Eth303t Assignment 01 PDF

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