EDUCARE - University of South Africa

EDUCARE
Journal of the Faculty of Education
Editor
ProfWFSoÈhnge
Editorial staff
Prof G D Kamper
Dr L Higgs
Dr C Meier
Dr J D Rossouw
Mr M Sarakinsky
Dr A van Schalkwyk
Dr W A van Schoor
Editorial advisers
Prof P Higgs (University of South Africa)
Prof S Weeks (University of Botswana)
Correspondence:
Prof WF SoÈhnge
EDUCARE
University of South Africa
PO Box 392
Pretoria
2003
Republic of South Africa

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Educare
Volume 30 (1+2) 2001
(v)
Editor's Page/Redaksioneel
1 Why philosphy for children in South Africa?
P Higgs & L Higgs
14 The globalisation debate and implications for higher education
E Lemmer
33 A survey and appraisal of progressive education in the USA
I A Coetzer
50 Let's revisit competence-based teacher education
WJ Fraser
73 A survey and appraisal of Outcomes-based Education (OBE) in
South Africa
IA Coetzer
94 A Historical-educational perspective of urbanisation and its
contribution to the street child phenomenon in South Africa
C le Roux
115 Preparing South African educators for school-familycommunity
partnerships
NvanWyk
140 Recognition of prior learning - a few words of caution
MM Nieman
165 Die bepaling van 'n realistiese prestasievlak
GBester
185 Sportsielkunde as komponent in die opleidingsprogram van
vakonderwysers
J G le Roux & GE Pienaar

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208 The Swiss missionaries' educational endeavour as a means for
social transformation in South Africa
BMC Masumbe and IA Coetzer
229 Coping skills for street children
HM Vogel
249 Adolescent substance abuse: perspectives on club drugs
SM Hoberg
272 The issue of perception: some educational implications
ALewis
289 Educational change: is it possible
JA Slabbert
306 The internet as an important instrument in training and learning
in distance education Ð a cursory review
FJ Pretorius
326 Professional portfolio building Ð alternative assessment strategy
in teacher education
PH du Toit
345 Appendix A

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Editor's page
The articles in this number of EDUCARE present a scope of
research which includes philosophical, theoretical as well as
empirical considerations, all of importance to educational theory
and schooling.
Volume 30 of EDUCARE appears against a background of 30
years' existence during which time span some 349 articles were
published. The spectrum of themes covers theoretical and
practical issues indicative of the discipline of education and its
various sub-disciplines. The original intention was explained by
the first editor, Prof JD Vrey, in volume 1, 1972 as follows:
The faculty wishes to provide information for its students about the
content, theories, views and approaches to pedagogics as a particular
form of practising science.
Since 1972 this policy was adhered to according to changes and
developments related to scientific-scholarly endeavours in the
field of education. It should be mentioned that the following
lecturers made valuable contributions as editors to the existence
of EDUCARE: Proff. JD Vrey (1972±1976), CJG Kilian (1977±
1979), TL Verster (1980±1983), PC van Wyk (1984). Since 1985 the
present editor is serving in this capacity.
In 1994 a full democracy was constituted in South Africa. The
following editorial comment from that year's edition of EDU-
CARE is still the basic editorial tenor of the journal:
Critical theoretical self-reflection coupled with differential theoretical
thought processes made possible by a multitheoretical and multi-

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disciplinary frame of reference, opens up educational vistas and
theoretical discourses.
In a universe of infinity all dimensions of human life, all domains
of society, in fact the universe in its totality and in all its parts,
are displaying the evidence of a fundamental process of change,
development and re-organisation. Educational reflective considerations
are confronted by the development of meta-theoretical
analyses about anthropological and epistemological notions
which are paradigm related and will exert fundamental influence
on educational thought, theory and practice. The status of
knowledge and schooling in view of lifelong learning is reflected
upon. Society is informatised at a tempo which gives an
indication of the influence of information technology.
The journal wishes to provide for a forum where such issues and
serious questions are dealt with in view of scholarship and
schooling within the parameters of the editorial policy.
The editorial policy is to publish research and review articles about
issues relevant to the theory and practice of any field of education.
Contributions are submitted to a review process whereby issues (e.g.
relevancy and formulation of problem), content (e.g. context, discussion,
originality) and presentation (e.g. style, language and technical
editing) are taken into account in accordance with internationally
accepted criteria.

Why philosophy for children in South Africa? 1
Why philosophy
for children in
South Africa?
Philip Higgs
Department of Educational
Studies
Unisa
Leonie Higgs
Department of Secondary
School Teacher Education
Unisa
One of the most immediate challenges confronting education in South Africa at present
is the establishment of a democratic ethos and a culture of human rights supported by
educational programmes and practices conducive to critical discourse and experimental
thinking, cultural tolerance, and a common commitment to a humane, nonracist and
nonsexist social order. With this challenge in mind, we set about exploring in this article
the educational possibilities of the Philosophy for Children programme that was
developed in the United States by Matthew Lipman, and which encourages the
development of critical thinking and social skills.
1 INTRODUCTION
Over the past six years, South African society has been set on the road
to becoming a democratic society. This transformation has far reaching
implications for educational thought and practice, and especially for
educational discourse and the role that it can play in laying the
foundations of a critical civil society. The present ANC led government

2
has advocated an educational discourse conducive to critical thinking
as an integral part of its education programme and of its drive to life
long learning. In this article we reflect on the Philosophy for Children
programme initiated by Matthew Lipman and argue that the philosophy
behind Lipman's programmes could contribute to those attempts
being made to lay the foundations of a critical civil society in postapartheid
South Africa.
2 THE CURRICULUM IN EDUCATION IN SOUTH
AFRICA AND CRITICAL THINKING
There is a plethora of literature that vividly depicts how the Bantu
Education and Department of Education and Training (DET) system
was used by the apartheid government to perpetuate rote learning and
passive acceptance of ``the facts''. There are many examples, both overt
and covert (hidden curriculum), that illustrate ways in which apartheid
education tried to maintain and reinforce the status quo. It would
not be an exaggeration to state that this apartheid education system not
only encouraged the idea of the passive learner, but also actively
discouraged critical thinking.
The call for critical thinking to be centrally integrated into the
curriculum is not a new one. The importance of critical thinking has for
a long time been associated with an alternative curriculum and was
articulated in South Africa as early as 1986 in the demand for ``People's
Education''. Although couched in a different discourse, the youth, then
organised under the Congress of South African Students (COSAS), in
demanding ``People's Education'', were challenging the hegemonic
and oppressive syllabus which characterised the Department of
Education and Training (DET) curriculum. Father Smangaliso
Mkatshwa, in defining people's education, referred to it as an
education ``which prepares people for total human liberation; one
which helps people to be creative, to develop a critical mind, to help
people analyse; one that prepares people for full participation in all
social, political, or cultural spheres''.
In direct contrast to the previous apartheid government, the ANC led
Government has advocated an educational discourse that will be

Why philosophy for children in South Africa? 3
directed at supporting a culture of human rights by educational
programs and practices conducive to critical discourse and experimental
thinking, cultural tolerance, and a common commitment to a
humane, nonracist and nonsexist social order ± (see White Paper on
Higher Education Transformation, 1997:7). It has also incorporated
critical thinking skills as an integral part of its education programme
and of its drive towards lifelong learning. This is clearly articulated in
many policy documents, such as the National Basic Education and
Training Framework (1995:1), which states that ``(a)dult basic education
and training have been successfully used and can be used to help
promote the principles of cooperation, critical thinking, and civic
responsibility and equip people for participation in a high skills
economy and society as a whole''.
It is not only at the level of Adult Basic Education and Training (ABET)
that the developing of critical thinking is taken seriously. At the other
end of the education continuum, the National Qualifications Framework
(NQF) in the White Paper 3 Programme for the Transformation of
Higher Education [August 1997:6], lists as a major goal for higher
education, ``the production of graduates with the skills and competencies
that build the foundations for lifelong learning, including
critical, analytical, problem-solving and communication skills, as well
as the ability to deal with change and diversity and in particular, the
tolerance of different views and ideas. (SAQA Bulletin vol 1, no 1,
May/June 1997, and NSB Regulations, March 1998)
3 WHAT IS THE PHILOSOPHY FOR CHILDREN
PROGRAMME?
The promotion of critical thinking skills in education has been
addressed extensively (see, for example, Peticolas 1998:24±37; Ikuenobe
1998:73±94; Puolimatka 1998:44±60; Ennis 1998:15±33; Hare
1998:38±51; Higgs 1999:121±142; Daniels 1998:79±82). In these instances,
the concern is with getting learners to think critically, which is
perceived to be the primary object of critical thinking in the classroom.
In fact, Hare (1998:39) argues that critical thinking has received far
more attention in the recent past than any other educational aim and is
now widely though not universally viewed as an ideal which should

4
transform the manner of teaching and the learning of learners. Of the
many attempts at promoting critical thinking in the classroom, the
Philosophy for Children programme has over he past few decades
made a significant contribution to the establishment of a critical culture
in the school curriculum worldwide (see, for example, Splitter 2000;
Cam 1999).
Philosophy for Children is a well-known programme created by an
American philosopher, Matthew Lipman who has written extensively
on the subject of critical thinking and social skills in school context
(see, for example, Lipman 1980;1988; 1992; 1996). Philosophy for
Children is an attempt to take the discipline of philosophy and
reconstruct it for children in such a way that they can appropriate the
concepts and methods and come to think for themselves about matters
of importance and care about doing so. With its curriculum that ranges
from day care centre age to 18 years of age, it aims to acquaint children
with the tools that are required to think well about their own thinking
while at the same time discussing philosophical issues that arise in
their own experience. The focus is on the doing of philosophy rather
than learning about philosophical systems or specific philosophers of
the past. One will find most of the ideas of the major philosophers of
the West, and some of the East and African presented in a dialogical
mode that encourages children to think for themselves about the
meaning of these ideas.
Various versions of the Philosophy for Children programme for
different levels, from preschool to secondary school, use group
discussion techniques to help learners consider such philosophical
ideas by means of a process of inquiry, inductive reasoning and the
nature of explanation through stories that are focussed on everyday
events and problems. The programme is also structured to encourage
logical and reasonable thinking as well as probing questions from
ethics, metaphysics, aesthetics and epistemology. In this sense, Cairns
(1994:44) observes that, philosophy practised in Philosophy for
Children programmes, allows children to operate in a complex world,
where the need for discussion, problem solving, making choices,
listening to others, taking initiatives, and understanding their own

Why philosophy for children in South Africa? 5
beliefs, is essential. In the light of this, Lipman (1995:69±70) argues that
philosophy needs to be made an integral part of primary and
secondary school education in order to help children think for
themselves so they can discover the rudiments of their own philosophy
of life and develop a more secure sense of their own identities (in Le
Buis, Schleifer and Caron 1993:77).
Le Buis (1993:77) notes that the Philosophy for Children programme
was developed during the 1970's and 1980's to address the low level of
thinking skills exhibited by university and secondary school learners in
the United States. A programme of studies in Philosophy for Children
from grade one upwards was based on eight novels with accompanying
instructional manuals to assist the teacher in extracting the
philosophical issues from the novels the children choose to read. In so
doing, Laird (1993:39) points out that the Philosophy for Children
programme makes thinking skills explicit in that students are exposed
to numerous philosophical, social and personal problems related to
everyday occurrences in their life world. The object of the exercise,
however, is not to seek for ultimate answers to these problems but
rather, that in being confronted with such everyday problems one
exercises judgement by weighing all the considerations, and then
arriving at an answer based on consensual agreement.
4 THINKING AND PROBLEM SOLVING
In the Philosophy for Children programme, critical thinking is
inextricably linked to problem solving. In short, critical thinking is said
to involve thinking well in the attempt to solve problems. In this
regard, Lipman (1995:22) makes a distinction between thinking and
thinking well and he believes it is the school's role to encourage
children to think better. Sprod (1995:24) argues that good thinking is
holistic and being a good thinker is more than being good at a number
of individual thinking skills.
As for the exercising of holistic thinking, Lipman (1995:64±67)
comments on the trio of modes of applied thinking and judgement as
follows:

6
4.1 Critical thinking
This mode of thinking is mainly rule-governed and is devoted to
problem-finding and problem-solving. It is highly inquisitive thinking
and extremely deliberative, continually examining and weighing
alternatives in the light of explicit standards and criteria. Critical
thinking is often justificatory, devising reasons and arguments for
particular opinions and conclusions. Critical thinking is conducive to
judgement, self-corrective and sensitive to context.
4.2 Creative thinking
Critical thinking is rule-guided and creative thinking need not be ruleguided
but could be rule-defiant. Critical thinking is mainly expressed
in linguistic utterances where language is one media through which
creative thinking can choose to express itself. A person can also think
creatively in any artistic medium i.e. stone, wood, paint, tones words
etc. Critical thinking employs criteria on an individual basis whereas
creative thinking employs contrasting criteria all at once. Creative
thinking is more concerned with the creation of meaning than with the
discovery of truth.
The two major modes of creative thinking are invention and discovery.
If we refer to the works of arts and crafts we have to refer to the various
forms of intelligent discovery of that world, and intelligent discovery
is a form of creative thinking.
Lipman (1995:66) postulate that it would be incorrect to put creative
thinking in the same category as aesthetic criticism, as aesthetic
criticism cannot function effectively without appealing to reasons,
criteria and standards, and therefore it is an enclave to critical
thinking. Creative thinking may employ reasons and criteria without
appealing to them.
4.3 Caring thinking
Lipman (1995:66±67) says there may seem to be a discrepancy between
doing as a mode of active judgement and caring as a mode of thinking.
He also refers to doing and caring on the one hand, and evaluation and

Why philosophy for children in South Africa? 7
cognitive objective thinking on the other hand. It is important to
distinguish evaluative thinking from valuative thinking. Evaluative
thinking involves asking why something is valued and valuative
thinking employs the values in the thinking. As Lipman (1995:67)
claims, valuing is not so much a way of analysing as a way of caring
(Lipman, 1995:67).
Lipman (1995:69) also refers further to active thinking and affective
thinking as ways of caring thinking. By our actions we demonstrate
what it is we care about and to what extent. The movements of our
body, body language, aggressive actions refer to active thinking.
Affective thinking also refers to emotions as forms of judgement.
Nussbaum (in Lipman, 1995:67) says that emotions are a kind of
thought and like any thought they can go wrong. Therefore emotions
are not merely the psychological consequences of human judgements
but they are those judgements themselves.
As regards the practise of judgement, Lipman (1997:70±71) identifies
some of the aspects of the Philosophy for Children programme which
correlates with the following aspects of thinking ie:
. Philosophy for Children is presented in narrative form ± as
novels, short stories and/or comic strips. This fictional
approach with fictional children presented as members of a
community of philosophical inquiry is able to combine
critical, creative and caring thinking by presenting models of
reasoning and feeling, of evaluating and valuing, of inventing
and discovering.
. The skills cultivated by doing philosophy are vital for early
education. These include inquiry skills, reasoning skills,
concept-formation skills and translation skills.
. The pedagogy by which children do philosophy is that of the
community of inquiry. This means that the cognitive
practices outlined in the fictional model can be put into
actual practice in the classroom.

8
. The classroom community of philosophical inquiry can be
preparatory microcosm not only for further stages in formal
education but for one's later life as a participating member of
ademocraticsociety.
The exercise of critical thinking in the solving of problems is, therefore,
seen to be developed in a communitarian context which is encompassed
in the notion of a classroom community on inquiry.
5 PHILOSOPHY FOR CHILDREN AND THE
CLASSROOM COMMUNITY OF INQUIRY
Philosophy for Children employs a pedagogy called a ``community of
inquiry'' which has its roots in the Socratic method and whose title is
borrowed from the American philosopher Charles Peirce. The community
of inquiry involves the claim that deliberative and collaborative
communities are exceptional in their ability to foster critical,
creative and caring thinking leading to sounder reasoning, understanding
and judgement. Participation in a community of inquiry is not
only a journey in self-discovery but in self-creation and world-creation.
Children learn, as Sharp (1994:4) notes, how to ask themselves what
kind of citizens they would like to be or what kind of worlds they
would like to live in before making judgements.
The creation of a community of inquiry, according to Wilks (1994:1),
has dialogue at the centre of its methodology and tolerance of other's
opinions as central aim. At the same time, Wilks identifies the
following skills which are encompassed by this dialogical approach:
. participants view each other as rational and reasoning
persons who value the process of the enquiry
. reasons for views being expected and respected are seen as
part of the dialogical process, and
. participants are expected to be self-critical and self-corrective.
These skills ultimately develop with practice and enrich programmes
which foster philosophical enquiry.

Why philosophy for children in South Africa? 9
Furthermore, children create opportunities to discover values in their
own classroom communities of inquiry. In these communities they can
clarify for themselves concepts such as freedom, rights, personhood,
truth, common good, community, justice. Such a community of inquiry
is, therefore, also a social enterprise that enables children with
different backgrounds to make their voices heard. It is, as Sharp
(1995:48) concludes, pluralistic in nature in that it encourages a
plurality of perspectives and interests instead of a monopoly of one
perspective or point of view. The community of inquiry aims at the
transformation of persons and changing one's perceptions of how one
relates to the world and to other people. In this regard, the aim is
always, Sharp (1994:4) asserts, to create something better ± that is more
just, more reasonable, more beautiful than we had before.
Lipman (1998:277) also stresses the importance of recognizing that the
Philosophy for Children programme and its pedagogy can contribute
to improving the quality of life in a democratic society. Philosophy for
Children programmes produce higher order thinking amongst learners
and it does so by distributed thinking in the community of inquiry
classroom. Distributed thinking and higher order thinking are
characteristic of the citizens in those societies that exhibit a higherquality
democracy. Education for higher order thinking is quality
education for all, and the criteria by means of which it is identified are
critical thinking, creative thinking and caring thinking. According to
Lipman (1998:277), distributed thinking also refers to ``shared cognition''.
For example, a classroom discussion can be an example of
distributed thinking because the learners of the class answer one
another's questions, emulate others' questions, build on one another's
inferences and so on.
6 THE STRENGTHS OF THE PHILOSOPHY FOR
CHILDREN PROGRAMME IN A PEDAGOGICAL
CONTEXT
Sharp (1995:45±46) identifies the following as the strengths of the
Philosophy for Children programme for pedagogical endeavour in that
it promotes:

10
. ethical inquiry: engaging children in investigation of problems
dealing with the role of moral values and norms in
human conduct
. aesthetic inquiry: engaging children in exploring problematic
issues that involve the relationship between artistic creation,
aesthetic appreciation and aesthetic criticism
. metaphysical inquiry: encouraging children to reach for
greater and greater generality in their understanding of the
world and its working
. logical inquiry: engaging children in reflection on the rules of
inquiry and whatever principle are appealed to when
thinking about thinking
. epistemological inquiry: havingchildrentoseektoanswer
questions such as ``What counts for truth?'' and ``What is the
relationship between truth and meaning?''
These forms of inquiry are directed at applied thinking in the
endeavour to exercise sound judgement in the act of thinking well.
Reasoning and judgement are ideally what educational institutions of
an ideal democracy should cultivate. Citizens of a democracy, as
Lipman (1998:277) states, need to acquire the ability to judge the advice
of the expert with regard to information.
Doing philosophy as advocated in the programme for Philosophy for
Children provides children with a rigorous methodology of linguistic
and logical analysis which will stand them in good stead as they
assume more responsibility in society. However, doing philosophy
well involves more than conceptual clarity. It also involves oral
imagination and insight. It requires a sharpened eye to distinguish
what is from what ought to be. Doing philosophy within the context of
a community of inquiry acquaints children with the repertoire of
distinctively philosophical concepts that are important to children, but
not dealt with specifically by other disciplines in the existing school
curriculum. Examples of such concepts are justice, personhood,
freedom, democracy, friendship, self and identity. These concepts are
used over and over again in textbooks, but rarely are children prepared

Why philosophy for children in South Africa? 11
or encouraged to ferret out for themselves the underlying assumptions
of the author with regard to such concepts. In most cases, as Sharp
(1994:10) observes, authorial presence is disregarded in favour of
information for children to memorise.
It is in this sense that the practise of philosophy in the programme of
Philosophy for Children is liberating; it liberates the child from the
possibility of being no more than an unaware pawn in the system of the
written, printed and spoken word. The programme allows children to
recognise when anyone in authority is using an unexamined philosophical
concept and to question assumptions that are being made with
regard to its meaning.
From an educational point of view, the classroom community of
philosophical inquiry is consequently the most efficient way of
bringing about dialogue with others and with the self about matters of
importance while at the same time strengthening reasoning and
fostering collaborative inquiry and good judgement. If philosophy is as
the ancient Greeks claimed `a love of wisdom', and if one thinks of the
doing of philosophy as advocated in the programme of Philosophy for
Children, as a conversation in which all voices ought to be heard, then
such a practice would embody a respect for the dignity of each
individual in the group however diverse, while at the same time serve
the end of liberating children to think for themselves about matters of
importance. In such a context, Philosophy for Children is a social
enterprise that enables children with different backgrounds to make
their voices heard. In a word, it is pluralistic: it encourages a plurality
of perspectives and interests instead of the monopoly of one. But it
does not encourage the view that one opinion is as good as another.
The challenge of the communal inquiry is to embrace a wide range of
disparate and often conflicting views and forge out of them new
perspectives and horizons.
To be a participant in a community of inquiry is to learn to see oneself
in relation to the other and to reflect on thoughts that are other ± to that
which is not oneself. The different, the foreign, the unique is to be
sought out, appraised and understood. This assumes the ability to see

12
the world from the other's point of view. Such collaborative deliberation,
according to Sharp (1994:12) opens the child up to the pull of
ideals which find expression in love, goodness, beauty, freedom and
justice.
7 CONCLUSION
The authors believe that the Philosophy for Children programme can
make a positive contribution to attempts at transforming the education
curriculum in South Africa. This programme will offer an appropriate
framework to foster an authentic reflective educational practice in
South Africa directed at laying the foundations of a critical civil
society. Global change also, challenges us to devise new values and to
reflect on the fundamental issues of how we live. In other words what
are our ultimate values and what do we take as our goals in life? What
kind of society do we wish to establish in order to reflect these values
and goals? If we don't start reflecting seriously on these issues we are
likely to be led by forces of the free market into a direction that will be
individually unsatisfying and collectively self-defeating. Also, the
process of education in a democracy is a process of developing citizens
and this process covers such issues as our ability to think, reason, make
sound judgements and converse, and their relation to each other. In
short, teaching children how to think well and make good judgements
are central to the civic education of children in any democracy. And in
this context, the programme of Philosophy for Children would be seen
as a significant agent in the promotion and development of such
critical thinking and social skills for democratic citizenship.
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Daniels, L R. 1998. Some critical thinking concepts revisited. Prospero, 4(2).
Department of Education. 1995. National Basic Education and Training Framework.

Why philosophy for children in South Africa? 13
Department of Education. 1997. White Paper on Higher Education Transformation.
Ennis, R H. Is critical thinking culturally biased? Teaching Philosophy, 21(1).
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Lipman, M. 1991. Thinking in education. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
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Lipman, M. 1998. ``Teaching students to think reasonably: some findings of the
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14
The globalisation debate
and implications for
higher education
Eleanor Lemmer
Department of Further Teacher
Education
Unisa
Globalisation has become the buzz word of the new millennium. It is frequently
presented as an inevitable economic process which is beneficial for most with little
interrogation of the construct. However, globalisation is a highly contested concept with
not only economic but far-reaching social and cultural dimensions as well. This article
outlines the debate surrounding globalisation and its possible effect in domains such as
the economy, the political domain, communication and cultural forms, issues of equality
and the world order. Furthermore the implications of globalisation as a driver of change in
education are discussed with reference to higher education. Globalisation has been
linked to the performative role of higher education, new modes of knowledge production
to suit a global economy and the impact of information technologies on learning and
research. Finally conclusions are drawn about the current and future demand for higher
education worldwide.
1 INTRODUCTION
Globalisation has been touted as a major driver of change in the
development of education in general and higher education in
particular. The contemporary university reflects radical shifts in form
and function in a global environment (Barnett 2000:114). Some
observers of change in higher education have described the university

The globalisation debate and implications for higher education 15
as a contested institution threatened by globalising forces; other
maintain that the university remains a robust institution in spite of dire
predictions as to its future in a global environment (Scott 2000:1). This
article points out the complexity of the concept of globalisation and
identifies, characterises and clarifies some of the debates surrounding
the phenomenon. Against this background, the implications of the
multiple effects of globalisation on higher education are discussed in
terms of the role of the university in a global economy; new modes of
knowledge production and the impact of information technology on
learning and research. These developments are important influences on
the demand for higher education in future.
2 GLOBALISATION AS A DRIVER OF CHANGE
The term globalisation has quickly assumed its place in our current
vocabulary (Robertson 1992:8), however, no single universally agreed
upon definition of globalisation exists. Moreover, the practice and
significance of globalising processes differ widely. Globalisation does
not represent the even and inevitable experience for all parts of the
world and all communities as is commonly presented by the media
(Popkewitz 2000:4). What appears a globalising process for some, is a
localising process for others (Bauman 1998:2). To some it is even a
perceived set of changes, a construct manipulated by state policy
makers to inspire support for or negate opposition to other changes
(Burbules & Torres 2000:2). Similarly various authors have quite
different views on how globalisation is affecting educational policy in
all parts of the world. Thus globalisation as a concept as well as in its
relation to education is a widely contested domain and conflicting
schools of thought should inevitably mark any discussion of globalisation.
2.1 The problem of conceptualising globalisation
A crude version of the complex debate surrounding globalisation,
would involve the globalists who regard globalisation as a dramatic
new interrogation of established paradigms, and the sceptics who
dismiss its significance (Held & McGrew 2000:2). In practice a variety
of positions on the sceptic-globalist continuum occur and this, together

16
with insights emanating from different disciplinary strands, adds to
the richness of the debate. The main areas of discussion with regard to
global processes can broadly be seen in terms of reconfigurations of the
economy, the political domain, communication and cultural forms,
issues of equality and the world order. With reference to these
domains, globalists argue that the globalising process is marked by
interconnectedness and the consequent displacement of time and
space; global informational capitalism and a transnational economy;
the erosion of the nation-state; an emerging global popular culture
facilitated by a global communications network; growing inequality
between nations and mutilayered global governance. Conversely the
sceptics interrogate these positions as is illustrated in the ensuing
sections. However, the brevity of the following description of the
debate runs the risk of an over-simplified dichotomous account of
globalisation. Notwithstanding the literature shows that the polemic is
extremely extensive, complex, ambiguous and shifting (Burbules &
Torres 2000:13).
2.2 Globalisation and the economy
Globalisation is most popularly associated with the economy. Economic
globalisation is usually seen to be the core of globalising
processes in general with the economic factor construed as the main
driver of globalisation (Edwards & Usher 2000:17). Certainly certain
world economic trends are unmistakable, irrespective of the significance
given to them by different observers. Global economic restructuring
since the late seventies demonstrates the following features (cf
Burbules & Torres 2000:6):
1 An international division of labour and economic integration
which is marked by new exchange relations and arrangements.
2 Greater importance of the production of information and
services, especially in developed countries, over that of
manufacturing functions.
3 The replacement of the hourly wage by piecework remuneration
and short term contract work; a weakening of the power
of unions and the waning of capital labour conflict.

The globalisation debate and implications for higher education 17
4 A shift from the Fordist model of production to one marked by
increased flexibility and the speedy movement of goods and
information from one place to another.
5 The growing importance of capital-intensive production
leading to the redundancy and de-skilling of large sections of
the workforce and an increase of part-time and home-based
workers.
6 An ever-increasing gap developing between more developed
and less developed countries.
The debate around economic restructuring focuses on four basic issues:
the extent to which economic activity is being globalised; the new form
of capitalism which is sweeping the globe; the extent to which
economic globalisation is subject to proper national and international
controls and the threat posed by global competition to national
economic strategy and the welfare state. The globalists maintain that
contemporary global economic interaction has assumed a historically
unprecedented scale and size. Global production by multi-nationals
(currently about 600 corporations) controls 25% of the world's
economy and 80% of the world's trade (Burbules & Torres 2000:7).
Migration of labour is increasingly globalised and national economies
are deeply enmeshed in global systems of production and exchange.
Global financial integration produces a convergence in interest rates
and economic crises with the result that national economies no longer
operate as autonomous systems of wealth creation as the importance of
global economic activity supersedes the latter. The global economy has
become a capitalist global economy that is organised on the basis of
market principles and production for profit. This has brought about a
new global division of labour in which multinationals out-source
manufacturing production to newly industrialised and transition
economies, thus reorganising developing countries into winners and
losers. As global competition increases, governments are unable to
maintain existing levels of social protection or welfare state programmes.
In contrast, the sceptical school holds a more cautious interpretation of
the contemporary global economic trends mentioned above. The latter,

18
it is argued, only reflect a limited degree of economic and financial
integration (Held & McGrew 2000:18). The integration of the global
economy is seen as mainly between the major Organisation for
Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries to the
exclusion of most of the rest of the world. Far from a globalisation of
the economy the sceptics see a growing regionalisation of economic
activity around three blocs: Europe, Asia-Pacific and the Americas.
They deny the prevalence of a global capitalism and argue that even
the activity of multinationals is rooted in and dependent on local and
national economic conditions.
2.3 Globalisation and the political domain
The emergence and importance of globalising economic processes have
led to the questioning of the competence of the nation state to govern
and the definition of what constitutes a civil society (Popkewitz
2000:8). Globalists argue that the nation state in late modernity is no
longer a unitary phenomenon with a set of singular purposes (Claassen
2000:28). Instead due to the pressure exercised by transnational
networks, such as the United Nations (UN) and its specialised
agencies, international lobbies and social movements (eg the Green
movement), the state has become a splintered policy-making arena.
Sovereignty has become a shared exercise on many levels due to the
power of intergovernmental organisations which displace national
interests and boundaries. The most common example of the latter is the
European Union (EU) which represents a novel system of governance
where sovereignty over a number of common issues is pooled. In other
parts of the world, particularly in the Asia-Pacific, interregional
groupings are also emerging. Military arrangements, the manufacture
of military hardware, the fight against organised crime and the fluid
movement of goods and services and private capital across borders is
one of the areas which creates the opportunity for greater international
cooperation. According to the globalists, these factors strengthen
global interconnectedness and lead to a weakening of the nation state.
Consequently, the sovereignty of states is displaced by regional and

The globalisation debate and implications for higher education 19
global power systems. Moreover, states cannot supply goods and
services to their own citizens without international cooperation. This,
according to the globalist position, is strong evidence of a reconfiguration
of political power (Held & Mc Grew 2000:11±14).
Adherents of a sceptical stance towards globalisation refer instead to
the powerful and omniscient position assumed by the nation-state
during the late twentieth century. According to them, at the onset of
the new millennium the modern national state system has reached a
climax and is supported by international organisations like the UN.
The modern national state characterised by a democratic-representation
democracy has become the dominant political form and is still
recognised as the basic unit of world order. Moreover, even the OECD
states rigorously exercise their sovereignty ± the entitlement to rule ±
and their autonomy ± their capacity to choose appropriate forms of
political, economic and social development. Against this background,
the sceptics contest any alleged weakening of the nation state
(Baumann 1998:73).
2.4 Globalisation, communication and cultural forms
The consolidation of the modern nation state which evolved during the
past centuries is linked to governments' endeavours to create a
national identity that legitimises state power and consolidates policy
(Popkewitz 2000:9). Among others, this was effected by the creation of
a mass education system, an effective communication system able to
disperse common ideas necessary for the development of a common
culture and the creation of an economy which allowed mobility within
a bounded system (Held & McGrew 2000:17).
In the view of the sceptics, the aspiration for national identity and
nationalism which spread from Western Europe around the world in
the last century is so powerful that it is not likely to be eroded by
transnational forces and the development of a global mass culture.
New forms of information technology only reinforce forms of national
life and intensify their impact. New flows of information may narrow
distance, but bolster difference and the awareness of ``the other''. Thus,
local and national culture remains robust. As can be expected, the

20
globalists take issue with this argument. While they acknowledge the
continued existence of national identity and cultural nationalism, they
contend that the scale, intensity, speed and volume of global cultural
communications is unprecedented and cannot be controlled by
national governments (Held & McGrew 2000:18). An outcome is a
rapid global diffusion of ideas and cultures through the linguistic
infrastructure provided by English. This embraces a range of activities,
such as a global lifestyle, global sports, increased presence of world
religions, global gambling and the global distribution of entertainment
products, to mention but a few. The diffusion of commercial culture is
driven by companies (eg McDonald, Nike, Benneton) not countries
(Burbules & Torres 2000:11). A geographic situation is less important to
workers who may seek and obtain employment virtually anywhere.
This has led to what Capella (2000:227) terms a fading citizenship.
Moreover, national identities are displaced from their rootedness in
specific localities through expanded travel and tourism. Cultural flows
together with commitment to global or regional objectives such as the
protection of the environment or human rights create an emerging
global consciousness and incipient global civil society (Held &
McGrew 2000:18, 19).
2.5 Globalisation and equality
Current economic globalisation is linked to an accelerating gap
between rich and poor nation states as well as between peoples in a
single country, within the global economy, thus shaping new global
patterns of hierarchy and inequality. This clearly signals significant
implications for the world order and global security. Here the debate is
extremely complex, even within the globalist school. Thinkers of a neoliberal
persuasion regard the creation of a single global market through
the organisation of free trade, capital mobility and global competition
as the forerunner of eventual modernisation and the development of
impoverished regions and communities. Thus, globalisation heralds a
more positive condition for a more stable world. Others regard
economic globalisation as responsible for the globalisation of poverty,
both among rich and poor nations as well as within societies.
Affluence, whether on macro or micro level, is thus determined by the

The globalisation debate and implications for higher education 21
capacity to benefit from global markets. If this argument is followed,
cosmic globalisation polarises and could create conditions for world
conflict. To avoid this, a new global agreement is needed among
nations to tame the negative forces of economic globalisation (Baghadi
2000:1).
To the sceptics who are oriented to a traditional Marxist position, the
prospect of a global solution to inequality is unrealistic. They recognise
a new deepening of global inequality due to the marginalisation of
economies who fail to match the demands of global competition. In this
world of poverty and deprivation, the affluent West through mechanisms
such as the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF)
exercise inordinate control over national destinies. This process can
only be reversed by a socialist international order. Once again, other
proponents of this school reject the idea of a socialist panacea to global
inequality. Furthermore, they discount the idea of globalisation alone
as the cause of world poverty. They recognise a complexity of national
factors and global factors as contributory constituents to poverty and
consequently regard its solution to lie, albeit partially, in national
welfare systems and the pursuit of national wealth and power (Held &
McGrew 2000:20).
2.6 Globalisation and the world order
Throughout the modern period, the political good of the nation-state
has been at the centre of political relations. This view rests on the
assumption that a political community is constituted and bounded
when: its members share a common socio-cultural identity; the
members share the notion that they are a people who should govern
themselves; an institutional structure exists on the behalf of the
community; congruence exists between the governed and the government
and; members enjoy a certain kind of equitable treatment.
Globalists contest all the last-mentioned points. According to the
globalist position, the political good is no longer found in a territorial
polity but is entrenched in overlapping communities and in an
emergent transnational civil society and global polity. They point out
that individuals increasingly have complex loyalties and multi
dimensional identities as a result of the globalisation of economic and

22
cultural factors and the reconfiguration of political power. Movement
of resources and interconnectedness of political communities create an
idea of overlapping fortunes which require collective answers.
Individual communities no longer can rely only on local and national
support but also require multinational backing if they are to be
sustained and promoted. Complex economic, social and environmental
processes and international agencies affect and even alter what a
national community can ask or expect from its government. Even the
rights and duties of individuals entrenched in national constitutions
need to be underwritten by global laws and institutions (McGrew &
Held 2000:22).
2.7 Crucial characteristics of globalisation
The brief discussion serves to illustrate that globalisation is no
entrenched given as is often touted in lay circles, and the debate is
lively. Burbules & Torres (2000:2) mention that the claims of global
change may be exaggerated and more limited than argued. Yet
common ground held by protagonists on both sides of the polemic can
provide some description of a concept which is both paradoxical and
complex. Such a description could read as follows: Recent decades
have seen the growth of entrenched and persistent patterns of
worldwide interconnectedness, which have enmeshed states and
societies in worldwide systems and networks of interaction. Hence
there appears an embedding, but not displacement, of local, regional
and national orders of life in more expansive sets of interregional
relations and networks of power. Time and space have been
reconfigured since they no longer impose fixed barriers to many forms
of social interaction and organisation (Edwards & Usher 2000:19). In
addition, the process in which global and local transformations may
take place is dialectic by nature, affecting the local and global
reciprocally (Giddens 2000:92). The changing nature of communication,
the speedy diffusion of technical change and the spread of
capitalist economic development have created new interregional and
global competition in the political, economic and cultural domains
which are challenging old hierarchies and generating new inequalities
of wealthy, power privilege and knowledge. Furthermore, transna-

The globalisation debate and implications for higher education 23
tional issues call into question the traditional role, functions and
accountability of national governments. While the process does not
imply the existence of a new and harmonious world order, the
expansion of international governance at regional and global level is to
be observed. Finally, the process should not be seen as universal: it is
experienced unevenly by different communities and countries and
significant segments of the world's population are largely untouched
by its workings (Held & McGrew 2000:4; Edwards & Usher 2000:19).
3 IMPLICATIONS OF GLOBALISATION FOR HIGHER
EDUCATION
The globalisation debate has certain implications for higher education
and particularly the university. Alarmist circles have predicted the
demise of the university, the diminishing importance of scholars and
the corporatisation of research. However, at the very least, it creates
the environment in which universities must operate in the twenty first
century. Many trends in the organisational, pedagogical and technological
delivery of higher education are underway as a result of
globalisation. This section examines the impact of globalisation on
higher education institutions, primarily focusing on the changing role
of the university and of scholars who work in higher education with
particular attention to the latter's role in knowledge production. It also
considers the impact of information technology and communications
(ITC)onlearningandresearch.
3.1 Performativity and higher education
The question of how the university, in its role as producer and
transmitter of knowledge is affected by globalising processes was
highlighted as early as 1984 by Lyotard in The postmodern condition.
Among others, the processes focussed on by Lyotard were the impact
of information technology and computer-mediated communication
and their link to the idea of performativity. Lyotard regarded the
modernist paradigm as reconstructed in terms of what can contribute
best to the efficiency and effectiveness of the socio-economic system.
The task of the university is thus redefined as producing the knowledge
specifically needed by people skilled in those capacities that are

24
indispensable to the contemporary globalised system. This means
particularly the knowledge and skills needed for maintaining a
competitive edge in a cutthroat world market in conditions of
globalised capital (Lyotard 1984:xxiii).
According to Lyotard (1984:xxiii), higher education is faced with a
scepticism towards the metanarratives or foundational theories
developed during the Enlightenment. As the global economy moves
from Fordist reproduction to a consumption society focussed on
information and services, the grand functions of the university, that is,
the metanarratives of speculative unity and of emancipatory humanism
lose ground (Lyotard 1984:33). The metanarrative of speculative unity
sought to unify scientific knowledge by the master discourse of
metaphysical philosophy. This lent knowledge a legitimacy found in
itself, not in a principle of usefulness, either to the State or civil society
(Lyotard 1984:34). The metanarrative of emancipatory humanism
refers to individual freedom through knowledge, which, in turn leads
to progress (Lyotard 1984:32). But in the postmodern world of the late
twentieth and early twenty first century, these metanarratives have
become epistemologically bankrupt and thus they can no longer
legitimise science or higher education institutions.
This displacement of metanarratives permits a redefinition of knowledge:
knowledge becomes ``technically useful knowledge''. Knowledge
is exteriorised with respect to the knower while the educational
processes between learner and teacher are reconstituted as a market
relationship between producer and consumer. Knowledge is exchanged
on the basis of the value it has for the consumer, it becomes `value
added' (Lyotard 1984:4±5). The world of international relations is read
as a place where competitive advantage is based on knowledge and its
applications in the economy (Lyotard 1984:48). Consequently certain
knowledge is more important than other. Technoscience is prominent
because of economic usefulness, the creation of competitive advantage
and its translatability into information (computer) knowledge (Lyotard
1984:48).
Lyotard's observations are even more incisive than a mere concern

The globalisation debate and implications for higher education 25
about the advantages of access to certain disciplines over others. By
removing the traditional basis for legitimising knowledge, the
subjugation of science and the university to a new ideological legitimation
is possible. In this climate, the primary goal of higher education
(and of knowledge) becomes the optimal contribution to the best, the
most efficient performance of the social system. Lyotard calls this
criterion for legitimation, performativity, aptly described by Bloland
(1995:536) as ``... the capacity to deliver outputs at the lowest cost, [a
principle] which replaces truth as the yardstick of knowledge''.
Subsequently, performativity supplants the agreed upon, rational
criteria for merit and instead efficiency and effectiveness become the
exclusive criteria for judging knowledge, behaviour and social
systems. In particular, the university becomes subject to a postmodern
condition in which its historic claim to have special knowledge, to be
creating special knowledge and to be testing truth, is undermined:
``The question now asked by the professionalist student, the State or
institutions of higher education is no longer `Is it true?' but `What use
is it?' In the context of the mercantilisation of knowledge, more often
than not this question is equivalent to: `Is it saleable?' ... `Is it
efficient?' '' (Lyotard 1984:51). In effect, this removes from the
university its traditional defence against cooption by the state with
regard to its key practices: for example, the decisions affecting the
exclusion or inclusion of certain knowledge in the curriculum; the
privileging of certain fields of study; the introduction of new
management practices or new and external definitions of excellence.
Instead of competence measured by the criteria: true/false, just/
unjust, a technical game of efficiency and inefficiency is played in
which the key questions during university decision-making are: ``Is it
sellable? Is it translatable into information?''
Against this background, Lyotard (1984:xxv) predicts a bleak future for
the university which now should ``... create skills, and no longer
ideals'' (Lyotard 1984:48). The university loses its monopoly in the
production of knowledge. Instead of the acme of higher education
system, it becomes a mere component of the market made up of
innumerable competitors ± the technikon (polytechnic) which looms
supreme, private research institutes, think tanks, industrial and

26
government laboratories and corporate classrooms, to mention only a
few. Hence universities are forced increasingly to reconstruct themselves
as commercial enterprises competing in the knowledge business
(Edwards & Usher 1994:175). In this context the scholar's role shifts
from a calling requiring a cultural outlook to one which requires mere
technical expertise (Lyotard 1984:53).
3.2 Higher education's performative role in a global
economy
The traditional role of the university, namely the disinterested pursuit
of knowledge has been replaced by a view of higher education in which
universities are meant to serve society foremostly by supporting the
economy in the provision of qualified manpower and the production of
knowledge (Gibbons 1998:1). Thus governments frequently cast the
need for higher education reform in economic terms, particularly in
relation to the preparation of a workforce capable of participating in
the knowledge industry within a competitive global market. Education,
and particularly higher education, is described as the key
component of a country's ability to improve or even to maintain their
economic welfare. This is also true of South Africa which is
endeavouring to achieve national economic growth, improve employment
and alleviate poverty while establishing a position within the
southern African region and the global economy. Sharp criticism of the
higher education sector by government, business and industry has
been framed by the need to produce sufficient numbers of higher level
graduates with the cognitive and social skills and competencies needed
to make South Africa globally competitive (Council for Higher
Education 2000). As the distinction between knowledge and commodity
are collapsed, the outcomes are visible in shifts of government
funding. An analysis of higher education in four established industrial
countries (the USA, UK, Canada and Australia) shows that higher
education has indeed been directed towards national wealth creation
and away from its traditional concern with the liberal education of
undergraduates (Slaughter 1988:56).

The globalisation debate and implications for higher education 27
3.3 New modes of knowledge production
New ideas affecting teaching and learning and which type of
institution are best suited to provide education are impacting
universities worldwide, which are no longer able to determine
internally what and how students should learn. In this regard, Gibbons
(1999:4) has effectively elaborated the new knowledge paradigm and
the dilemmas that it presents to the work of higher education. In what
Gibbons has termed Mode One, knowledge production has traditionally
been based on the disciplines, which have provided the guidelines
for what counts as good science and what students need to know if
they are to become good scientists. According to the emergence of a
new Mode Two, the new mode of knowledge production and
distribution, knowledge is produced and disseminated in the context
of application. Knowledge production is multi-disciplinary and
characterised by a heterogeneity of skills. Mode Two is more socially
accountable and reflexive and requires an expanded system of quality
which is no longer dependent primarily on peer review but on a wider,
more temporary and heterogeneous set of practitioners, collaborating
on a problem defined in a specific and localised context (Gibbons
1998:5). This constitutes the major challenge to the core business of
universities ± teaching and learning and the way research is done. It
also creates the opportunity of other knowledge providers to enter the
market for students and brings into question the need for a traditional
professoriate. Similarly South African higher education has not
escaped the implications of Mode Two. The monopoly held by the
traditional higher education system is increasingly challenged by
private provision of higher education. Business and industry provide
new areas for research and the academic disciplines have been
challenged by a new outcomes based programmatic approach to
learning and teaching.
3.4 Information technology and communication and
learning
A new factor only partially realised by Lyotard in the early eighties is
the proliferation and increasing dominance of information technology
and communication in the role of knowledge production and

28
dissemination. Information technology and communication have
served to accelerate the trend towards individualised learning but not
in the traditional paradigm of liberal education (Burbules 2000:384).
Individualised learning through the transmission of electronic texts
renders the involvement of the learner more active and complex. The
authority of texts are undermined as texts become hyper texts in which
the learner becomes an author who can access information, interact
with it and with other learners without attending a traditional
institution through the use of the Internet, E-mail, CD ROMS and
hypertext. What learners require is not only disciplinary content as
prior but the ability to use and work with information technology and
communication. This goes far beyond mere technical skills such as the
ability to gather discrete bits of information but the ability to arrange
them in new ways to produce knowledge and not merely information.
This calls for the skills and competences of symbolic analysis and
creates a kind of transdisciplinary in which hitherto compartemenalised
and separate knowledge is brought together and reconfigured as
new knowledge (Edwards & Usher 2000:80). Moreover, the range of
new technologies allow academic practitioners to move from centre
stage to a ``guide on the side'' as learners increase their ability to
acquire and utilise knowledge. Synchronous and asynchronous learning
activities become possible. Synchronous activities include learning
opportunities with the lecturer present in the same or another location
to the learner. Asynchronous activities can involve accessing archived
learning material anytime and anyplace, thus breaking boundaries of
time and space (Cogburn 2000:3).
3.5 Information technology and communication and
research
The effect of information technology and communication in a
globalising environment has impacted in various ways on one of the
primary functions of the university, that is research. This has created
virtual communities of researchers placed far distant, yet marked by
some measure of collegiality and collaboration (Burbules 2000:337).
Increased collaboration has been demonstrated in the fields of
mathematics, physics, biology and chemistry. Experiments, in particular
in physics, have been conducted among large groups across the

The globalisation debate and implications for higher education 29
Internet. The speed whereby research outputs can be disseminated by
means of information technology and communications has allowed
research outputs to impact more swiftly on curriculum and pedagogy,
especially in the forms of flexible, open and distance learning (Mason
1998:27). Electronic publishing has affected the market for scholarship
in various ways. Interestingly there has been an expansion of paper
based academic and professional journals due to the cuts in production
and distribution made possible by globalising technologies. In addition,
research is distributed by means of terrestrial and satellite
television, videos, CD ROMs etc. Research conferences are more easily
attended in a globalising world of cheaper travel and more permeable
national borders. The World Wide Web has made the distribution of
papers and conference proceedings possible. Nor is this use restricted
to organisers or institutions but individual academics are creating their
own home pages where interested ``surfers'' may access their research.
Chat rooms, electronic conferencing and bulletin boards make
academic exchange almost instant in a world where time and space are
displaced (Edwards & Usher 2000:82). Finally, new methods of
collaboration result in changes in status and hierarchy among
researchers. Electronic communication affords fewer clues to status,
rank and gender than face-to-face-communication. Consequently,
discussions made by virtual groups are influenced less by the status of
the proposer of a decision or an idea; cooperation between more junior
academics and more experienced academics stimulates research and
leads to fruitful joint publications and the rates of publication are being
seen to increase (Zlatuska 1999:3).
4 CONCLUSION
While the debate surrounding globalisation should not be ignored, it is
a process that enhances the importance of knowledge and information.
Thus, it has concomitant implications for knowledge, education and
training. According to an earlier appraisal of globalisation, the
dominance of performativity as criterion for assessing higher education
endeavours and the dual impact of both the latter on higher
education tended to be pessimistic (Margarth 1999:2). However,
educationists in the late 90s have begun to see globalisation, not only

30
as a tool of destablisation, but also as an incentive to change and even
re-enchant the university, thereby restoring to it new creativity and
vigour (Davies 1999:1). In this vein, Margrath (1999:22) predicts that
the international push for mass higher education will continue well
into the twenty-first century, strengthened by the increasing availability
of virtual campuses, offshore campuses and the demand for
international education. This is corroborated by Blight, Davis &
Olsen's (2000:96) analysis of the current demand for higher education
in OECD countries. It is argued that all economies require persons who
are knowledgeable and skilled in the use of technology and that a welleducated
population is indispensable for economic growth. Secondly,
the economic value of higher education is increasingly important to
national governments which reckon it to be determining factor in
global competitiveness. Thirdly, the concept of lifelong learning is
linked to social and economic well-being. Higher education cannot
disregard the demand for lifelong learning; failure to do so is to lose its
market position. Subsequently, in a global economy higher education
institutions must market themselves as necessary elements for the
well-being of the economy in order to secure scarce funding and
resources from government, business and non-governmental agencies.
Finally under conditions of performativity, higher education appears
to be set for survival even though its scholars are considered
knowledge workers in the business of producing relevant knowledge
valorised as a tradable commodity in a global economy.
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A survey and appraisal of progressive education in the USA 33
A survey and appraisal of
progressive education in
the USA
IACoetzer
Department of Educational
Studies
Unisa
The aim of this research article is to present a survey and to appraise the principles and
practices of progressive education in America since its inception around 1890 to its
demise in 1957. The rationale behind this approach was to enable the researcher to
investigate the corresponding principles and practices of progressive education in the
USA with that of outcomes-based education in South African Schools and to establish
the anticipated success and/or failures of the proposed education transformation in the
RSA in a follow-up research article, titled A survey and appraisal of Outcomes-Based
Education (OBE) in South Africa with reference to progressive education in America.
1 INTRODUCTION AND HISTORICAL CONTEXT
Progressive education, also sometimes called ``modern'' or ``new''
education, is the name given to the broad educational reform movement
that sprung up in America around 1890.
Francis W Parker (1837±1902) who was called ``the father of
progressive education'' (Cremin 1961:129) published his ``Talks on

34
Pedagogics'' in 1894 in which his ideas about the ``new'' education
were explained. His progressive school called the Cook County School
which was established around 1890 was organised as ``a model home, a
complete community and embryonic democracy'' (Cremin 1961:132).
Progressivism in American society was part of a larger response in the
Western world to the massive forces of industrialism, urbanism,
migration and modernism which were shaking the roots of traditional
society since the late nineteenth century. The basic claims by
supporters of progressive education are inherent in Western education:
improvement of education and vocational training as recruiting
elements in public life and a democratic society (Ro È hrs & Lenhart
1995:11; Cremin 1961:viii; Dewey 1939:4, 115).
During the period 1890 until World War I the progressivists
represented themselves as a resistance or contra-movement against the
so-called essentialists or proponents of traditional education who
according to them only educated the young generation for the status
quo. The criticism of the progressivists were mainly targeted against
certain tenets of traditional education (Kandel 1958:177):
... the daily and hourly routine, the fixed time-schedules, the strict
discipline, rote learning, a curriculum planned in advance, imposition
and examinations on what had been memorized, and, in general,
authoritarianism dominating teachers and pupils alike.
The educational practices of the so-called traditional school in the USA
were also observable elsewhere. During 1926±1927, shortly after World
War I, a prominent supporter of progressive education, the eminent
American educationalist William Heard Kilpatrick (1871±1965) took a
trip around the world, visiting schools and universities on several
continents. According to Tenenbaum, his biographer, Kilpatrick was
struck by the fact that ``the schools did not prepare students for life in
their immediate environment. They were formal, bookish, dominated
by rigid examinations'' (Tenenbaum 1951:253, 257). Kilpatrick's own
approach to education is discussed in his essay ``The Project Method''
of 1918, a genuine product of the American progressive education

A survey and appraisal of progressive education in the USA 35
movement. The project method is generally considered a means of
developing independence and responsibilities in school pupils, and to
instil social and democratic modes of behaviour (Ro È hrs & Lenhart
1995:307). To achieve these means Kilpatrick made the motivation of
the pupil the crucial feature of the project method. Whatever the
learner undertook, so long as it was done ``purposefully'', this was a
project. The projects had four phases: purposing, planning, executing
and judging (Ro È hrs & Lenhart 1995:312).
Kilpatrick's project method had a huge impact on progressive
educational reform movements in America. The ``comprehensive
school'' movement, the movement for ``community education'', ``open
curriculum'' and ``practical learning'' make reference to the project
method where implementation of their programmes is concerned
(Ro È hrs & Lenhart 1995:307). These movements and eminent progressivists
like Francis Wayland Parker and John Dewey who was the
world's best known progressive educator, scorned the rote learning
and rigid subject-centred instruction of the traditional schools. The
``joyless'' education, so they argued, had to be replaced by the
expressiveness and spontaneity of the child. J R Squire (1972:328) who
researched progressive education in-depth contends that the discourse
of the progressivists can be expressed in a number of phrases; namely
the school as a miniature community, learning by doing, project method,
units of study, education as development, creativity, growth, activity,
self-expression, experience, play, interest, freedom, meeting the needs and
interests of the student, educating the whole child, development of
personality, social and emotional adjustment and lifelong learning or
continuing education (Squire 1972:328).
In order to be able to accomplish the aim of a proper survey and
appraisal of the progressivists in America the author deems it essential
to discuss the principles of the so-called Progressive Education
Association (PEA) which was founded in 1919 and dissolved in 1955 ±
the last issue of its periodical ``Progressive Education'' was published
in 1957 ± and on which the philosophy and educational practices of the
progressivists were based.

36
2 THE PRINCIPLES OF THE PROGRESSIVE
EDUCATION ASSOCIATION (1919±1957) IN
AMERICA
2.1 Freedom versus control
Progressive educators fought against direct interference and formal
control by teachers in the classroom. Through their child-centred
approach they instead valued freedom of activity and expression by
the child to replace the passive question and answer method of
traditional education.
Pupils were allowed to move around freely in the classroom to
communicate with fellow learners because the progressivists believed
(Rugg & Shumaker 1969:55±56):
Free the legs, the arms, the larynx of a child and you have taken the first
step towards freeing his mind and spirit.
Progressive educators believed in satisfying individual differences ±
no more than twenty pupils were allowed in the classroom ± and they
would mostly agree that one important test of a successful classroom is
its effectiveness in eliciting a variety of responses from different
children.
2.2 Child-centred versus teacher-centred initiative
In the progressive schools the educator-teacher relinquishes the role of
instructor and becomes instead an initiator, observer and adviser of the
activities of the pupils.
Nine years after the Progressive Education Association (PEA) was
formed two eminent American progressivists, H Rugg & A Shumaker
published The Child-Centred School (1928) in which the modus
operandi of these schools is explained as follows (Rugg & Shumaker
1969:57)
In the child-centred school ... pupils are alive, active, working hard,
inventing, organising, contributing original ideas, assembling materials,

A survey and appraisal of progressive education in the USA 37
carrying out enterprises ... boys and girls ... share in their own
government, in the planning of the program, in the administering of the
curriculum, in conducting the life of the school.
William Heard Kilpatrick who was an active participant in the group of
``reconstructionist'' educators who represented the reformist stand of
progressivists during the 1930's arrived at the conclusion reached by
other American educationalists that innovative, progressive studentcentred
education can survive only in a democratic environment and
school structure, and that ultimately the political context must be
consistent with and support innovative classroom practice (Iversen:
chapter 9). Rugg & Shumaker (1969:2) also emphasised the importance
of democracy because the new school so they contended ``is a child's
world in a child-size environment. Here he lives in a democracy of
youth. His needs, his interests as well as adult insight concerning his
future life, determine what goes on in this school''.
2.3 The activity school
John Dewey (1859±1952) was the world's best-known progressive
educator. His Laboratory School at the University of Chicago (1896±
1903) remains the most-studied experimental school in history, and his
classic Democracy and Education (1916) is one of the most important
books on education. Dewey equipped his activity or practice school at
the University of Chicago with the materials and implements of real
life. By means of activities such as conversation, inquiry, construction,
artistic expression, and a harmonious group life Dewey sought to
promote the child's mental growth ± to enable the pupils to carry over
their school experience into the life of the community (Cremin
1961:120±135; Noble 1961:485±6).
In the progressive schools, also sometimes typified as activity or play
schools, the learner is active, growing and competence-directed.
Learning which allows the individual to interact continually in a
purposeful and active way with subject-matter, teachers, peers, and
surroundings, so the progressivists argued, ``seems likely to produce

38
greater growth and more lasting effect than learning which focuses on
the isolated skill or discrete subject. Cognitive thinking cannot be
separated from affective response; intellectual, emotional, social and
physical growth are interrelated''(Squire 1972:376).
The progressive educators valued freedom of activity, involvement,
independence of learning and problem solving by way of the project
method because this approach would foster more spontaneity and
independence and more favourable attitudes towards learning.
A former student of Dewey's school at the University of Chicago
reported about the success of the activity school (Mayhew & Edwards
1964:407):
The Dewey school gave us the opportunity to form practical, livable
behaviour patterns. As I consider in contrast the average students
passing out of school into social and economic conditions, we were armed
for the battle, they were maimed.
2.4 The interest of the learner forms the basis of the
``new'' curriculum
Since the inception of progressive education there is a move away from
adherence to a stipulated canon of learning material codified in a rigid
curriculum and towards a preoccupation with the pressing and
unanswered questions posed by the child's own world. For this reason
the progressive schools followed a school program which reflected the
life-world and interest of the learner (Rugg & Shumaker 1969:61):
It starts from his needs and interests ... Hence the new school organizes
its program around the centres of interest rather than around academic
subjects.
The so-called broad fields curriculum of progressive schools grouped
curriculum experiences under general headings such as home life,
citizenship, production, communication and transportation. The
practice was to concentrate study around certain large centres of
interests. Courses were organized in general mathematics, general

A survey and appraisal of progressive education in the USA 39
science, general language, general social science, general home
economics, and general art. The progressivists countered subject
isolation through the introduction of, as Noble (1961:482) calls it
``integration'', ``orientation'' and ``unit study''.
In the extreme form of the ``experience curriculum'' the formal subjects
were replaced by informal group activities in response to pupil needs
and the urgency of the moment. Noble states that this development
was ``met with criticism from the general public on the ground that it
neglects the moral discipline of the pupils'' (Noble 1961:461).
2.5 Creative self-expression
In the progressive schools teachers moved away from the traditional
school or institution with its barrack-like uniformity and towards a
stimulating setting. The authors of The Child-Centred School, Rugg &
Shumaker (1969:62±64), paint a vivid picture of the school proceedings
to enhance creative self-expression in these schools :
Some will create with words, others with light. Some will express
themselves through the body in dance; others will model, carve, shape
their ideas in plastic materials. Still others will find expression through
oral language, and some through an integrated physical, emotional and
dramatic gesture.
2.6 Personality and social adaptability
The educational endeavours of the progressive teachers were oriented
less towards successful performance in examinations and more
towards the formation of a responsible personality. In this regard the
education of the ``whole'' person in a social context is central in the
progressive education programme. Accordingly there is a strong
emphasis on social and emotional education to supplement the
traditional cultivation of intellect. The dimensions of social intelligence,
empathy with one's fellows, compassion with social hardship
and a propensity for tactful help were fathomed and encouraged in
progressive schools (Squire 1972:122; Ro È hrs & Lenhart 1995:11±13).

40
These schools were not only child-centred but also at the same time
strongly community-centred because the progressives aspired to
prepare the youth for future social life, and this could be achieved by
making the school a cooperative society on a small scale.
The differences of approach to enhance personality development and
the social formation of children of the traditional schools when
compared with that of the progressive schools is clearly illustrated in
the following excerpt (Rugg & Shumaker 1969:66):
... where the old school maintained a noisy silence as the ideal schoolroom
atmosphere, the new removes the ban from speech, encourages communication
as a vehicle for social understanding and personal development.
2.7 Equality and democracy
An important objective of the PEA was the creation of a global
educational approach that would link people via education in spite of
political and racial differences separating them. In this regard GS
Counts regarded himself and the American people constantly being
confronted with the age-old ``problems of human liberty and equality
in the age of science and technology'' (Counts 1971:164). Equality, so
the progressivists believed, can only be achieved in a democratic
society.
3 THE DEMISE AND LEGACY OF THE EARLIER
PROGRESSIVISTS AND THE PROGRESSIVE
EDUCATION ASSOCIATION
Some time between the inception of progressive education around 1890
and the demise of the PEA on 25 June 1955 in Urbana, Illinois, and its
periodical, Progressive Education in 1957, the phrase ``progressive
education'' shifted from a term of praise to one of scorn. To the
American public of shortly after World War I, progressive education
seemed to be the solution for what was wrong in education; thirty-five
years later most of the ills in American education were blamed on it
(Graham 1967:143±145).

A survey and appraisal of progressive education in the USA 41
The survey of progressive education in America indicates that the
legacy of the progressivists can be typified as a success in certain
instances and a failure in other respects. The following positive
endeavours and practices to reform and improve education in America
in the era around 1890 to 1957 can be highlighted :
. The rigid subject-centred instruction by way of the passive
question and answer method of teaching and rote learning
prevalent in the traditional public schools were replaced by
the innovative project method which challenged the children's
skills of inquiry and problem solving. It also promoted
the independence of learning of the pupils.
. Whereas the older schools were formal and bookish, the
teachers in the new progressive schools humanised education
and fostered a positive attitude towards learning. They
valued the importance to instill inventiveness, originality,
spontaneity and creative self-expression in the learners. This
could be achieved because the class groups were small in
numbers and the school programme reflected the life-world
andtheneedsandinterestsofthelearnersinsteadofbeing
centred around academic subjects. Learning became a
meaningful experience for the pupils in these schools.
. Co-operative learning and the new ``learning-by-doing''
approach of the progressive educators resulted in more
energised and enlivened responses from their students so
that the young ones were questioning, debating and socialising
in an atmosphere of democracy and a milieu reflecting
community life. The progressive schools encouraged activity
andfreeconversationwiththeirteachersandpeersinorder
to grant the pupils the opportunity to interact with and to
show empathy and understanding for their fellow human
beings. Communication in groups was also encouraged to
enhance the social understanding and personality development
of the pupils.
. The progressivists accepted the need for continuing education
or life-long learning to empower individuals to cope
with the vastly altered educational needs dictated by an

42
increasingly complex society, the knowledge explosion and
galloping technological changes. They acknowledged the
essential role of continuing education in preventing human
obsolescence and preserving and furthering the development
of American society.
. The humanitarian effort of the progressivists to promote
human dignity through the establishment of equality and
fairness in their schools in order to fulfill the promise of
American democracy, must be commended. Boulding
(1988:188), a spokesperson for globalization and equality
shared this dream of progressive educators when in 1988,
about 30 years after the demise of progressive education, he
stated
As we enter the next millennium we must add the reminder that
education is now only progressive which has a planetary
perspective ± which prepares students for life in an interdependent
global village, and which acknowledges that our
interdependence includes all species with which we share this
endangered planet.
The end of an era of progressive education in America late in the 1950's
can be ascribed mainly to the following educational failures:
. Freedom has come to have many dimensions for progressive
education. Essentially it has been a freedom from externally
imposed standards and authority and a freedom toward selfdirection
and self-discipline.
Critics interpreted the freedom of the child or non-interference
of the teacher even in the form of guidance and
direction in many of the progressive ``schools'' as a call to
chaos and anarchy (Squire 1972:7). Even one of the most
eminent prophets of ``balanced'' progressive education, John
Dewey, criticized certain progressive schools who allowed
pupils unrestrained freedom. Dewey (1930:205) declared:
... some of these schools indulge pupils in unrestrained

A survey and appraisal of progressive education in the USA 43
freedom of action and speech, of manners and lack of
manners. Schools farthest to the left ... carry the thing they
call freedom nearly to the point of anarchy.
It can thus be stated that the moral discipline of the young
generation suffered in these laissez-faire circumstances.
. Progressive educators were reacting against the use of books
as texts and a prescribed curriculum that isolated subject
from subject. Instead they advocated the so-called broad
fields curriculum where courses were organized around
study units or large centres of interests such as general
science and general mathematics. The de-emphasis by the
progressivists of the traditional curriculum and against the
traditional intellectualized forms of schooling left its mark on
American education. To ask teachers, especially teachers of
average endowments, to discard both their traditional
method of teaching and their subject matter in textbooks
could lead to only one result ± uninspired and uninformed
progressive teaching.
The anti-intellectualism of certain extremes of the PEA led
AE Bestor (1953:6) to warn the American people in his book,
Educational Wastelands published in 1953, against the legacy
of these progressivists:
If we take education seriously, we can no more afford to
gamble our safety upon inferior intellectual training in our
schools than upon inferior weapons in our armoury.
The dramatic launching of the Russian Sputnik I on 4 October
1957 shook the USA as leader of the Western world. The
authorities and general public in America were brought to
the realisation by this Sputnik shock that the country's best
brain power had been shamefully neglected up to that stage.
Various investigations were undertaken to find ways and
means of identifying deficiencies in the American education

44
system. An education mission was delegated to study the
RussianeducationsysteminRussiatodeterminewhythe
Russians won the ``race in space''. The investigating team's
findings were published in 1959 in a report titled Soviet
Commitment to Education, Report of the First Official US
Education Mission to the USSR. From this report it appears
that Russian education placed the emphasis on intellectual
formation far more than was the case in the USA up to 1957.
Before pupils could complete their school career at a Russian
secondary school, they had to take Physics, Biology and a
foreign language for five years, devote their attention to
Astronomy for a year and have a grounding in Mathematics
for as long as ten years. Everything indicated that the
curricula followed in the progressive secondary schools of
America left a great deal to be desired, especially as concerned
instruction in Mathematics and the natural sciences (Coetzer
& Van Zyl 1989:124).
The fear of continued technological domination by the
Russians generated a strong national insistence on new
curriculum programmes by which the learners could benefit.
In the late 1950's JB Conant put into words the sentiment of
the post-Sputnik shock in a report titled The American High
School Today which appeared in 1959. In it Conant presents a
21-point plan in which he propagates a new approach in the
secondary schools of his country. The nucleus of his plea is
that challenging intellectual content should feature in the
curricula of American schools (Coetzer & Van Zyl 1989:125).
Wirth (1967:268) also refers to a ``post-Sputnik hangover''
that took root in America after 1957. He succinctly summarises
(1967:263) the major educational evils of progressive
education as follows:
... soft pedagogy, unruly behaviour of children ± and
perhaps even a vague subversive-ism.

A survey and appraisal of progressive education in the USA 45
Finally in a report to the American nation and the Secretary
of Education, United States Department of Education by the
National Commission on Excellence in Education, published
in April 1983 and entitled A nation at risk: The imperative for
educational reform, failures are also documented that could
at least partly be blamed on progressive education up to the
late 1950s.
Firstly, the report claims that the nation are raising a new
generation of Americans that is scientifically and technologically
illiterate. It is pointed out that many 17-year-olds do
not possess the ``higher order'' intellectual skills expected of
them. Only one-third of this group can solve a mathematics
problem requiring several steps and there was a steady
decline in science achievement scores of US 17-year-olds as
measured by national assessments of science in 1969, 1973
and 1977 (United States National Commission on Excellence
in Education 1983:8±10).
Secondly, the banning of textbooks and of learning through
reading by progressive schools could have impacted on the
literacy levels of pupils. In the report it is stated that some 23
million American adults are functionally illiterate by the
simplest tests of everyday reading, writing and comprehension
and that only one-fifth of the 17-year-olds can write a
persuasive essay (United States National Commission on
Excellence in Education 1983:8±9).
Lastly the practice of the progressivists that the performance
of learners should be assessed by themselves, their peers and
by teachers, and their credo that school marks and competitive
examinations should be abolished, fall in the framework
of criticism in the report where the necessity for
examinations requiring students to demonstrate their mastery
of content and skill is stated. Regarding the importance
of content the report states the following:

46
Textbooks and other tools of learning and teaching should be
upgraded and updated to assure more rigorous content ... as they
did in the post-Sputnik era (United States National Commission
on Excellence in Education 1983:19, 28).
4 CLOSING COMMENTS
In conclusion the legacy of about seventy years of progressive
education in America can be appraised both positively and negatively
as outlined in the article. On the positive side a number of educational
contributions can be highlighted:
. The formal and bookish instruction through rote learning
and rigid subject-centred instruction of traditional schools
was replaced by a school program in progressive schools that
reflected the life-world and interest of scholars and which
was organised around units of interest rather than detached
academic subjects. Learning became a meaningful experience
in these schools.
. The focus of progressive educators on freedom of activity,
independence of learning, inquiry and problem solving by
way of the project-method in progressive schools instilled
spontaneity, creativity and self-expression and more favourable
attitudes of scholars towards learning. These
educators realised that a successful learning environment or
classroom is based on its effectiveness in eliciting a variety of
responses from different scholars and accommodating their
individual differences (a maximum of twenty scholars were
allowed in the classroom).
. American progressive educators came to the conclusion that
innovative, progressive, learner-centred education can only
be achieved in a democratic, community-centred and cooperative
school environment. Progressive teachers thus
placed a strong emphasis on social and emotional education
to supplement the traditional cultivation of intellect to
prepare the youth for future community life.
. Their global education approach to link people via education
and democracy in spite of political and racial differences

A survey and appraisal of progressive education in the USA 47
must also be commended. In their own country American
progressivists aspired to foster human dignity and fairness in
their schools in order to fulfil the promise of establishing a
truly American society.
On the negative side criticism can be raised against a number
of educational practices in progressive schools, inter alia:
± The laissez-fair approach to discipline where scholars were
allowed a freedom from externally imposed standards and
authority, a freedom that depended on self-direction and
self-discipline impacted negatively on the conduct of
scholars. The non-interference on the part of the progressive
educator-teacher who relinquished the role of instructor
who guided and directed learning and instead
became an initiator and facilitator of learners' activities
led to unruly behaviour of scholars in many progressive
schools.
± The progressivists' de-emphasis of the traditional curriculum
as a reaction against the traditional intellectualised
forms of schooling left its mark on American education.
The launching of the Russian Sputnik 1 in 1957 was mainly
ascribed to the inferior intellectual training being provided
in progressive schools. Americans realised that the
country's best brain power was being greatly neglected,
especially as regards instruction in mathematics and the
natural sciences. The nation realised their schools were in
fact raising a new generation of Americans that was
scientifically and technologically illiterate.
± Finally progressive schools' banning of textbooks and of
learning through reading impacted negatively on the
literacy levels of pupils in terms of their reading, writing
and comprehension ability. This matter is documented in a
report to the American nation and the Secretary of
Education under the title A nation at risk: The imperative
for educational reform.

48
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United States. National Commission on Excellence in Education. 1983. A nation at risk:
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50
Let's revisit
competence-based
teacher education
Prof W J Fraser
Department of Teaching and
Training Studies
University of Pretoria
It is said that a competence-based teacher training (education) model is based upon the
outcomes-based philosophy and that teacher education has to be outcomes-based to
meet the demands of the profession. However, the teaching and training policies of many
teacher training institutions still vest within the positivist or naturalist paradigm of
thinking, arguing the fact that the professional training (education) of teachers requires
teaching and assessment models in support of the tasks and functions of such
practitioners.
This article exposes and describes competence in terms of its behavioural foundations
and functional tasks. It qualifies the necessity of authentic and performance-based
teacher education, and calls for the design and development of teacher education
learning programmes by which means the teaching competences and skills can be
achieved.
Competence-based education (CBE) relies heavily upon the qualification and quantification
of performance. It is within the definition of CBE that the author validates existing
educational (training) and evidence gathering strategies and related assessment
practices that are linked to teaching and teacher education. The concepts ``instructional
and assessment gaps'' will be raised, illustrating a decline in both teaching and
assessment reliability when teaching and assessment requirements are not met.

Let's revisit competence-based teacher education 51
1 INTRODUCTION
In 1996 the author argued that the Competence-based Teacher
Education (CBTE) paradigm was then regarded as a fairly new
inclusion and newcomer to the South African teacher education
scenario (Fraser 1996:74±75). With the emphasis then on the development
of skills and competences, it replaced the classical product
oriented teacher education model that served society for many years.
The Department of Education (2000:10) writes in ``Norms and
Standards for Educators'' that ``(t)he cornerstone ... is the notion of
applied competence'' and that competence is the ``overarching term
for ... practical competence, ... foundational competence and ... reflexive
competence''. These competences can be achieved through
competence-based or proficiency-based education and training by
taking the following five important basic aspects into consideration:
the nature (extent) of the task to be performed; the realistic
manifestation of the teaching experiences (hands-on operation during
training); the possibilities and limitations of the education delivery
system; the capability of learners to master the tasks (minimum level of
understanding and performance), and the ability of a test task to assess
whether the skills have been mastered and correctly executed (Fraser
1996:75). The following assumptions were then made (Fraser 1996:75):
a
b
c
d
e
Minimum levels of competence (exist performance) should be
linked to the nature and expectations of a specific task;
Association between the execution of a task and expected
human behaviour should be taken into consideration during
the planning phase of an operation;
The delivery systems (tuition modes) should be assessed and
adapted in terms of outcomes, subject characteristics and
human potential (capabilities);
Education and training should be operationalised in terms of
human abilities and performance criteria; and
Accountability should be assessed in terms of the association
between the nature of the task to be performed, human ability
and appropriateness of the measuring instrument.

52
2 THE FOUNDATIONS OF COMPETENCE-BASED
TRAINING MODELS
2.1 The behaviourist prescription and functional
analysis approaches towards competencebased
education (CBE)
The competence-based model that will be illustrated in this discussion,
is a deviation from behaviourist psychology that assumes that all
action can be precisely defined and explained (Morgan 1984:198).
According to Short (1985:3) competencies were called behavioural
objectives a generation ago, while the industrial age has also left a
prominent mark on teaching and training. The increasing product
orientation of our technological society has resulted in the creation of
schools patterned after factories, with accompanying priorities of
efficiency, marketable skills, measurable inputs and outputs, system
models, and social and educational engineering (Morgan 1984:198).
The point of departure of this specific CBE model lies vested in the
observation that knowledge and understanding underpin performance,
and where possible, are to be tested through it. The system
incorporates aspects of logical positivism in assuming that reality is
external to the individual and objective in nature (Hodkinson 1992:31).
Such a model could be regarded as ``behaviouristic'' because it
combines the positivist ontology with a view of learning partly based
on behaviourism. It focuses on the elements of competence and the
statements that define them (Hodkinson 1992:31). The model rests on a
description of behaviour (also called performance) in a mode or form
that can be observed and demonstrated (Norris 1991:332). It is based on
a linear scientific-technological frame of mind (Short 1985:3). Hyland
(1993:123) criticizes this specific approach towards CBE as follows:
Generally speaking, there is a tendency for behaviourist strategies to
stifle creativity and imaginative learning, gloss over individual
differences between learners and, through the reduction of learning
objectives to measurable outcomes and prespecified ends, to encourage a
mechanical ``teaching to the test'' approach.
In 1986 Popham (1986:381) wrote that authors saw the competence-

Let's revisit competence-based teacher education 53
based (teacher) education approach no longer as the sole outcome of
some philosophical preference, but actually as a system ``... imposed
on teacher educators by a disenchanted citizenry ... that doubts
whether today's teachers know their stuff''. What is more is that
competence specification, and the adoption of a competence-based
education (CBE) model, is a matter of ``functional analysis'', and not
necessarily ``behaviour prescription'' (Tomlinson 1995:181). The success
of such model depends on a careful ``analysis'' of the ``functions''
of the occupational roles in order to determine what the ``correct''
elements of competence are (Hodkinson 1992:31). Figure 1 illustrates
the functional analysis approach to be followed in the description of
performance. It illustrates how a task analysis has to be performed and
how assessment has to confirm the acquisition of required levels of
performance. Van der Wagen and Ridley (1997:24) are in resonance
with such point of departure and point to the specification of
workplace performance according to function, outcomes and performance
criteria. Such an approach coincided with the opinion that
competence has to match the rational economic evaluation of social
and organisational action (Norris 1991:339). A very clear distinction
should be drawn between what one can achieve, and how this could be
done. If the emphasis falls on the specification of the actions required
in order to achieve the outcomes in question, then the model would
surely take on a behaviourist model. Competence is then regarded as a
prescribed behavioural procedure. Competence focuses on the purpose
or outcome, with the emphasis falling on the nature of the achievement
in question ± it would then describe the specific features of the sort of
outcome a competent person would be capable of achieving. Competence
is then described as outcome achievement capacity (Tomlinson
1995:182). However, one could argue that ``competence'' is not
necessarily ``outcome''. Competence can be taught and mastered ±
outcomes that can be observed and demonstrated as final products, are
not. A designed learning programme is an outcome, but designing the

54
FIGURE 1
Profiling an educator's/teacher's functions by setting standards against the
functional expectations
Task analysis
Identify `best' teachers
!
List ten best attributes
and cluster
competences
!
Decide on validity of attributes
Teaching for competence
!
Test construction and
clustering of competences
according to attributes
"
Defining attributes as competences
and setting of standards
!
!
Test application
Curriculum development
!
Design learning programmes
! !
Assessment of competence
3 "
Assessment of performance

Let's revisit competence-based teacher education 55
learning programme is a competence to be achieved. A well-managed
school is an outcome, but managing the school to excellence also
requires a competent manager. Outcomes cannot always be equated to
competences. Outcomes are products and competences are the abilities
to perform certain functions at standards of efficiency. High quality
outcomes will very seldom be the product of incompetent behaviour.
This has lead to the argument that the competence-based approach has
no epistemological basis, implying that the model is only concerned
with what can be done and understood, rather than how skills are
developed and knowledge acquired (Whitty & Willmott 1991:314).
One should take into consideration that teaching methods are likely to
be influenced by the particular definition of the competences adopted,
and by the actual competences being encouraged (Whitty & Willmott
1991:314). For example, the competences adopted by the reflexive
teacher will require different methods of teaching and learning than
those of the industrial instructor. What has become clear is that the
traditional competence-based education (CBE) approach appears to
have adopted both approaches (functional analysis and behaviour
prescriptive), mainly because it failed to keep the distinction between
them clear (Tomlinson 1995:182). Tomlinson (1995:183) and Van der
Horst and McDonald (1998:19) remind us that we need to make this
distinction, because purposeful action always both involves action
(processes) and purpose (content). The same purpose may be achieved
through different actions.
3 DEFINING COMPETENCE
3.1 The meaning of competence
Although the competence-based teacher education (CBTE) model has
been incorporated by a variety of institutions the past decade, little
consensus was then reached regarding the meaning of ``competences''
(Short 1985:4; Whitty & Willmott 1991:309). The authors (p 310) see
competence-based education still as ``a bandwagon in search of
definition''. What is true is that we have entered an era of technical
precision with CBTE. This implies that competences should be easy to
understand, be straightforward and flexible, permit direct observation,

56
be expressed as outcomes, be transferable from setting to setting, and
meet national as opposed to local standards (Norris 1991:331). A
number of critical issues have to be raised when competence driven
instructional strategies are discussed. They are the following (Short
1985:2): (a) The different forms competence takes in particular
contexts; (b) The question whether competence can be taught; (c)
Arguments whether competence can be detected; (d) The dilemma
whether the public has the right to hold schools (and therefore also
teacher training institutions) accountable for developing competences
in student teachers and pupils; (e) The question whether legislative
mandates can guarantee minimum levels of competence; (f) The
relationship between teacher competence and student competence, and
therefore also student performance.
There is a direct link between occupational competence and the
functions that are associated with an occupation. Occupational
competence can be defined more specifically as the ability to perform
the activities within an occupation or function to the standards
expected in employment (Fraser 1996:76; Saunders 2000:37). This
coincides with the assumption that competency refers to an individual's
demonstrated knowledge, skills and abilities (KSAs) performed
to a specific standard (Association Educator 2000:1). Spady (1994:55)
adds another dimension ± that of confidence. Functional competence is
something a person is or should be able to do and is therefore the
expression of competence in reality (Fraser 1995:7). Many see
competence as something describing an action, behaviour or outcome
in the form that is capable of demonstration, observation and
assessment (Norris 1991:332). Tomlinson (1995:181) expresses himself
more explicitly when he writes that competence or skill signifies a
more or less consistent ability to realise particular sorts of purposes, to
achieve desired outcomes. The occupational standards referred to in
the opening paragraph, are the expressions of competence in reality.
They express what is expected of people in a job or work role and also
describe the performance expected of people (Fraser 1995:7). They
describe what competence means in a particular occupational area and

Let's revisit competence-based teacher education 57
do so in a manner that allows an individual's competence to be
assessed (Stuart 1990:16). A competent person is capable of certain
sorts of action: such person is capable of the actions required to achieve
the kind of intended outcome in question (Tomlinson 1995:181).
One should take cognizance of Spady's (1994:54) illustration of the
``content'', ``competence'' and ``confidence'' triangle. Spady (p 55)
explains that content or knowledge should be seen as so-called
``enabling instructional objectives'' while competence is defined as
``outcome'' in its own right. But a misinterpretation of the OBE
paradigm has created an influential fallacy in the sense that ``content''
and ``knowledge'' acquisition have often been ridiculed as less
important learning activities. Various authors substantiate and illustrate
OBE's justification for the inclusion of ``less'' content in school
curricula (Jacobs, Gawe & Vakalisa 2000:183±185; Kruger & Adams
1998:4±5; Ristau 1995:43). However, Everwijn, Bomers & Knubben
(1993:426±427) have illustrated the necessary link between knowledge
and competence. To them it is important to bridge the gap between
knowledge acquisition and the ability to apply (functional performance).
They come to the following conclusions: Firstly, the range of
functional and disciplinary knowledge and skills is limited and that
real life tasks and problems differ from the questions and problems
that are dealt with in the classroom (p 427). Secondly, generic
knowledge and skills are sufficiently effective when one deals with
function-specific issues and problems (p 427). Thirdly, knowledge
acquisition without practice and application is insufficient and
students need training and exercise to learn how to apply such
knowledge (p 427). Fourthly, students lacking sufficient domainspecific
knowledge often do not know how to use general skills and
underlying heuristics (De Corte, as quoted by Everwijn, et al.
1993:428). The essence of this argument is that subject-specific
knowledge and skills does not imply knowledge and skills beyond that
very subject and that the possession of general knowledge and skills
will not imply mastery over specific subject areas (Everwijn, et al.
1993:435).
Talking the above-mentioned into consideration, it becomes reasonable

58
to assume that a specific competence/competency could now be
regarded as an outcome (competence as product of the learning
experience) or an ability, skill or technique to achieve the desired
outcome (competence as function, process or action). It is also logical to
conclude that specific knowledge and ways of knowing are necessary
and a prerequisite for the acquisition of competence. Liddell and
Baumgarten (1995:34) support the observation by arguing that it
remains important to have hands-on experience in conjunction with
theory-based learning. As far as teacher education is concerned, it
appears to be important that disciplines or professions with clearly
identified bodies of knowledge, have distinct advantages in the
validation of their training programmes (Stedman 1985:208).
Where do standards now fit in? Standards are usually thought of as
levels of achievement or performance (Norris 1991:335) and do not
consider the underlying abilities or traits of the individual, but
describe the expectations the individual is required to meet. Standards
in themselves will not ensure effective instruction or learning, and if
inadequate and irrelevant performance objectives are used as a focus
for teaching, then these objectives will adversely affect the value of
teaching, education and learning (Developing Standards by Reference
to Functions: 1989:2). Standards are therefore competence-based,
criterion referenced, explicit and transparent statements which define
the expected achievement or learning outcome (Fraser 1995:10). The
key elements of competence are reflected by standards. What is more
important however, is that new meaning is now given to the concept of
``standard''. It is no longer an illusive controversy, but a standard can
now be operationalised in terms of concrete qualities and assessable
levels of expectation. A given standard is expressed in two parts: the
element of competence, and its associated performance criteria (Fraser
1996:80)
There are also a number of factors to be taken into consideration when
setting and applying standards to any branch of teaching, training and
education. They are the following (University of Pretoria & National
Education Group 2000:1±6):

Let's revisit competence-based teacher education 59
a
b
c
d
e
f
Standards are not meant to represent absolute prescriptions to
the teacher or to the teacher educator
Standards provide a clearly defined framework for the
knowledge, skills and experiences that are essential for the
teacher and teacher educator
Standards provide significant guidance for the development
and revision of teacher programs
Standards provide criteria for the qualifications necessary to
be appointed as teacher and teacher educator
Standards are meant to focus on the skills, knowledge and
experiences necessary to teach, and
Standards are meant to specify minimum competences of wellqualified
teachers in the first place, and also specify the
minimum competences required to teach.
3.2 Knowledge-based and Performance-based
Competences
Competence or competent behaviour is not restricted to the effective
performanceofcertainskillsonly.Twoapproacheshavetobetaken
into consideration in the definition of competence, namely competence
in the execution of a specific task and competence in knowing. Shores
and Nelson, interviewed by Gable (1991:178) distinguish between
knowledge-based competenc(i)es and performance-based competenc(i)es.
Evans (1993:145), referring to the predicament that has emerged
between the professions and society, writes that one should become
aware of the crisis of confidence in professional knowledge and a
parallel crisis of confidence in professional education. It has become
acceptable to believe that knowledge related to a specific profession,
wouldbeaguaranteeforcompetentperformanceinthatspecificfield
of interest. Hence the comment of Norris (1991:336) that ``knowledge is
evidenced in action''. According to Stodolsky (1984:14), subject matter
is regarded as the overriding factor influencing variation in instruction,
and therefore also in assessment. The same opinion is maintained
by Messick (1984:217) who writes that the nature and power of the
student's organised structure of knowledge are key aspects of
educational achievement because it either facilitates or hinders what he
or she can do in a subject area. It includes a variety of area-specific and

60
broader cognitive skills or abilities. However, one should take note of
Stedman's (1985:202) remark that an analysis of failures to meet
standards of medical performance, revealed that a lack of knowledge
was rarely a primary or even a major contributing reason for such
failures. Situational factors played a more prominent role. Golden, in
Stedman (1985:202) came to a more alarming conclusion that no
relationship exists between professional performance and formal
certification status for licensed pathologists. Licensed professionals
performed no better than those not licensed. Stedman (1985:208)
reminds us that the qualities of the faculty, competent professional
trainers and valid testing practices, are valuable attributes that will
eventually ensure competence in the professions.
4 ASSESSING COMPETENCE OF STUDENT
TEACHERS IN PRACTICE
Teacher education institutions in South Africa have much to learn from
the various professions when the assessments of student teachers or
practising teachers are at stake.
When we assess and evaluate we compare or match a candidate's
(student teacher's) performance and knowledge against the specified
descriptions of acceptable evidence or expectations that are expressed
explicitly in terms of the performance criteria (Mitchell 1990:34;
Foyster 1990:21; Sims 1991:144). A learner's performance is therefore
measured against assessment criteria or assessment indicators specifying
how the task has to be done or executed. I wrote in 1996 that the
dimensions and specifications of the final product could be used as
comparative standard of excellence, and also suggested that the
assessment could be done indirectly by weighing the candidate's
performance against the written standards the final product has to
meet (Fraser 1996:82). Assessment is in the first place about developing
measuring instruments, generating evidence and making judgements of an
individual's competence against specified descriptions of acceptable evidence
(performance and assessment criteria) (Fraser 1996:82). The assessor will
specify and lay down performance criteria (standards), and through
the use of a test (measuring instrument) gather evidence to determine
whether a candidate's behaviour meets the criteria (Fraser 1995:12).

Let's revisit competence-based teacher education 61
Assessment will be effective when the teaching has been designed in
relation to criteria that are attainable, observable and measurable, and
which arise directly from performance competences (Christian-Carter,
in Saunders and Race 1992:68).
The issue of assessing the identified competences, is framed by Hollins
(1993:97) by means of the following question: ``How can teachers
demonstrate their ability to make sense of the complex and divergent
experiences, and the social and cultural milieu, of the diverse students
they teach in ways that support teaching and learning in the
classroom?'' The assessment issue is further complicated by Norris
(1991:336) who argues that ``there is a massive mismatch between the
appealing language of precision that surrounds competency or
performance-based programmes and the imprecise, approximate and
often arbitrary character of testing when applied to human capabilities''.
4.1 Generating evidence
What is the most fundamental and crucial aspect of the assessment and
evaluation process? Many scholars see it as the selection of a suitable
measuring instrument or device that will eventually be used to
generate evidence in support of competent or incompetent behaviour
(Fraser 1995:12; Fraser 1996:82). The evidence required might be of
practical or functional origin meaning that a learner should be able to
demonstrate how well a given task has to be performed. We therefore
call for the actual physical demonstration of competence. On the other
hand, competence could also have a cognitive attribute. In such case
we could refer to a mental representation of the competence and we
could request the candidate to write or talk about what they would do
in a particular situation (Mitchell 1990:35). The reliability of evidence
supplied (assessment results) and the content or construct validity of
the measuring instrument or assessment process, will therefore be
determined by the congruency or association between the task and
function to be performed, and the measuring device selected to assess
the outcomes of performance. Assessment has to be authentic and be
tied closely to potential performance on-the-job (Foyster 1990:48). If
this is not done, a difference between the evidence that we can

62
reasonably and reliably collect from performance and the evidence
needed to make inferences of competence, the so-called ``assessment
gap'' could develop (Understanding Knowledge 1990:2). This implies
that we as assessors should ensure at all times that the conditions
required as proof of performance (task to be performed) are closely
linked or associated with the authenticity of the assessment method
(evidence gathering strategy) (Fraser 1995:12; Fraser 1996:82). For
example, the ability to manage a learning environment will best be
assessed by giving the learner the opportunity to demonstrate such
competence in practice. Assessment now becomes authentic. The lack
of evidence to support a strong relationship between scores obtained
on a test and the actual teacher performance, has become one of the
major attacks against teacher competency testing (Lehr 1986:246).
Two questions remain to be answered: does the maintenance of
standards depend on reading and writing skills only, and how could
assessment procedures bypass such requirements? Fennell's (1990a:42)
argumentisquitesimplewhenhecommentsthat``workprovidesa
natural source of evidence'' . Our basic point of departure should be
that ``different methods of assessment provide different types of
evidence about candidates' capabilities'' (Assessment of Competence
1989:5). The argument raised in the previous paragraph has already
indicated that the direct observation of work activities and the taking
of competency tests should be regarded as two important evidencegathering
methods in the assessment of competence (see Fennell
1990a:42). Numerous assessment techniques are suitable for continuous
assessment in the learning site and all education and training
practitioners should have a sound knowledge of what each technique
offers. Continuous and formative assessment would include using the
following assessment techniques: Diagnostic assessment; Achievement-based
assessment; Self-assessment; Peer assessment; Portfolio
assessment; Performance assessment; Observation sheets; Journals;
Education and training practitioner-made tests; Recognition of Prior
Learning (RPL); Project work assessment (self/peer/publicly defended
and assessed).

Let's revisit competence-based teacher education 63
4.2 Merits and disadvantages of the direct
observation of a performance
Many strategies can be applied during the assessment of performance.
However, the direct observation of a worker on a given task is
regarded by many professions as one of the most effective and relevant
performance-based assessment procedures (Stedman 1985:201). Classroom
observation scales, as quoted by Brophy, et al (1975:880±881), are
reliable instruments for measuring classroom process behaviours, and
for obtaining descriptive measures of these classroom processes. These
observations could involve checklists of behaviours assessed as
present or absent during the observation period, summary ratings
based on the observation, and/or noting the extent to which the
teacher displays or possesses certain personal attributes (Stodolsky
1984:11). Note here the emphasis on ``behaviours absent or present
during the observation period''. The fact that a specific and required
behaviour has not been observed does not necessarily imply that a
candidate is not in possession of the required knowledge and skills to
demonstrate the competence. It is a matter of ``competence'' and
``performance'' as Norris (1991:333) puts it. Competence is about
potential, while performance reflects the actual behaviour of a
candidate. Conklin (1985:13) has already indicated that demonstration
of competency in actual teaching situations while under observation
may also be required of all teachers. It has the advantage that both the
outcomes and products of an activity, as well as the processes involved
in the delivery of the final products, may be appraised. Such model of
assessment rests on the assumption that the characteristics of ``good''
or effective teaching are known and recognizable (Stodolsky
1984:11).Where the correct command of a language is not necessarily a
requirement for the correct execution of a task, the observation of an
activity allows for a fairly accurate assessment of such procedure.
Peers, administrators, and principals subject advisors and students
could conduct assessment of this nature. The role students could play
in the assessment of teachers' performance in the classroom remains a
valuable source of information to be explored by classical and distance

64
education practitioners. Not only does it apply to pre-service teacher
education but also to in-service training programmes. Killen, et al
(1996) has indicated that student observation of ``teachers in action'' is
a feasible evidence generating technique' of teacher competence.
This technique (direct observation) requires from candidates to use real
materials and equipment in representative conditions and environments
(Fraser 1995:13). The assessment is usually process orientated,
for example, when candidates are assessed on their ability to execute a
given task, such as the assembly or dismantling of a given piece of
equipment, or the application of the science process skills as scientific
competence. The design of the measuring instrument (test) should
draw on similar performances to those required in work. This implies
that the measuring instrument has to accommodate or include the
activities or characteristics of a task. For example, should we decide to
use an observational checklist to assess whether a candidate has
performed a given task accurately, then this measuring instrument (the
checklist) should contain all elements of the ``best'' or ``correct''
performance. Observations also provide information about a candidate's
knowledge and understanding, especially when it is supplemented
by questioning from the assessor (Assessment of Competence
1989:5). Unfortunately, research in contemporary testing provides no
evidence that the desired relationship exists with teacher on-the-job
success. Reliable estimates of teacher success are almost impossible to
determine (Conklin 1985:15). This means that high scores in certain
fields of competences (basic skills, subject area matter, professional
knowledge or actual teaching performance) will not necessarily
guarantee good teaching, while low scores in the same fields will
almost certainly lead to poor teaching. This phenomenon reiterates the
opinion expressed by Ryan and Kuhs (1993:75) that we as educationists
often recognize good teaching when it occurs, but find it difficult to
arrive at a consensus about what constitutes good teaching.
According to Kagan, in Ryan and Kuhs (1993:78) classroom observations
play an important role in the screening of pre-service teachers,
but has limited potential for predicting future effectiveness because it
focuses only on the lowest level of professional development of the

Let's revisit competence-based teacher education 65
teacher. Whitty and Willmott (1991:314) remind us that such approach
has become inappropriate in the assessment of high-level professional
skills, and that the knowledge and understanding essential to
performance and skills, cannot always be assessed through direct
observation in the workplace only. One has to take into consideration
that it is also much easier to assess teachers' knowledge about content,
pedagogy, and specific learners than to assess teachers' performance in
delivering instruction that will generate the desired learning outcomes
and personal responses (Hollins 1993:97). Stodolsky (1984) questions
the stability, and therefore the reliability of observation as measurement
technique in the assessment of student teachers. She requires
information on the number of observations to be performed to ensure
reliable estimates of teacher behaviours, but immediately reminds us
that the sheer number of observations will not improve reliability
(internal consistency) estimates unless the observations are taken
under instructional conditions (on-the-job performance) requiring a
similar repertoire of teaching behaviour (Stodolsky 1984:13). It will
therefore be inappropriate to assume that a representative picture of a
teacher's competence can be obtained from a small number of
observations, especially when their observations are done across
different subjects (p 17).
4.3 Main criticism against so-called minimal
competence
It has been argued that assessors who base criterion scores on a concept
of minimal competence, fail for two reasons, namely that the model has
no foundation in psychology, and that judges disagree on the
arbitrariness of the values when minimal competence has to be
specified (Glass 1978:251). She reaches even further (p 251) by claiming
that the idea of minimal competence is bad logic and even worse when
assessed from a psychological point of view. Even in the opening
paragraphs of the well-documented article ``Standards and Criteria'',
Glass (1978:237±238) writes that mastery or competence cannot be
determined in statistical or psychological ways, and that ``criterion
levels'' or standards cannot be determined other than arbitrarily. This

66
supports Outcomes-based Education's move away from the setting of
cut-scores as levels of minimum competence (Spady 1994:32 & 44) but
does little to resolve the problem of distinguishing between excellence
and inadequacy in teaching and teacher education.
Therearetwoargumentsoneshouldtakenoteofwhenstandardsare
being set. The relationship between standards and good practice or
best practice is not at all straightforward. This often causes standards
to be empirically under-determined. They are very often also the
product of conventional thought, and not that of a precise empirical
calculation. Economic and social changes also cause standards that are
set, to become obsolete (Norris 1991:336).
4.4 Why should we test for competence?
According to Lehr (1986:244) and Short (1985:3) the public had been
brought under the impression for many years that students planning
careers in education (teaching), were far from the best and brightest.
Bracey (1996:330) supports this view and goes even further claiming
that people who go into teaching are dumber than people going into
other professions. Lehr (1986:244) stressed the fact that those students
planning to major in education had lower achievement scores and
lower grade point averages than students majoring in other subjects
(University of Pretoria and National Education Group 2000:5±8). The
same argument was also often raised in South Africa in the past. Many
factors (with specific reference to social-political establishment) had an
influence on a renewed interest in competence-based education and
competence-based assessment. Dissatisfaction with pupil performance
led to dissatisfaction with teacher performance that in turn resulted in
reduced confidence in educators and institutions that prepared
teachers (Stedman 1985:204). The poor performance of teachers in
practice, brought along a number of performance-assessing strategies.
Three levels of competency testing were then identified. They were
(1) the selection tests taken by candidates before entering a teacher
education programme, (2) the testing of teachers at the end of the

Let's revisit competence-based teacher education 67
teacher education programme, and (3) the assessment of practicing
teachersforcertificationpurposesasmandatedbystatesforexperienced
teachers (University of Pretoria & National Education Group
2000:5±8).
One of the main reasons for renewed interest into competence-based
assessment originates from the passing of competence legislation for
teacher certification in many states in the USA (Wiersma & Gibney
1985:59). The fact that public played an important role in enhancing the
quest toward effective competence-based assessment by questioning
the profession's inability to come up with a systematic and widelyaccepted
approach to measure teacher competence, should be noted
(Wiersma & Gibney 1985:59). To use Conklin's (1985:15) comments:
``competency tests made the public feel good'' (University of Pretoria
& National Education Group 2000:5±8). But the problems with CBTE
have not gone unnoticed.
There is however, another factor to be taken into consideration ± that of
the relationship between competency testing and on-the-job success
(University of Pretoria & National Education Group 2000:5±8). Conklin
(1985:14) claims that reliability estimates of teacher success are almost
impossible to determine, and that passing a competency test does not
guarantee that the candidate will be a successful teacher, only less
likely to be incompetent. What is the value of high performance scores
in certain fields of specialization? Are high scores for teaching practice,
the underpinning theory supporting pedagogy, learning mediation or
classroom management guarantees for teaching success? There are
indications that high scores in mathematics, reading and writing will
not necessarily guarantee good teaching, but that low performance
scores will almost certainly lead to poor teaching (Conklin 1985:15). If
low performance scores can be regarded as sure predictors of poor
performance, then the establishment of a cut-score as a measure of
elimination is surely justifiable.
To counteract the view that student teachers have to be assessed
mainly in the workplace, and then through the direct observation of
demonstrated competences, a number of principles have been devel-

68
oped to manage assessment (Whitty & Willmott 1991:315). According
to the authors, assessment should (a) meet national standards, and be
based upon criterion-referenced processes and explicit criteria;
(b) employ a wide and appropriate array of methods; (c) include
work-based evaluation of candidates' performance; (d) involve collaboration
between candidates, course providers, employers and assessors
(e) be independent of the pathway to assessment, and (f) be
available to individual candidates as well as to a cohort of students.
5 CONCLUSION
Teacher education and the training/education of individuals towards
excellence in a profession, finds its point of departure within the tasks
and functions required to perform within certain levels of expectation.
Standards specify these requirements and prescribe how they should
be outlined within the boundaries of the performance indicators/
criteria and the qualifying and quantifying range statements.
However, the distinction between an outcomes-based and competencebased
education model remains vague and avoiding. The justifications
and arguments that support both philosophies or approaches and their
underpinning paradigms of logic, easily become highly politicized,
often neglecting their true values and educational merits.
Occupational functions and accompanying performances require
competent practitioners whose skills and expertise are vested within
the defined tasks and functions of a profession. Tasks (jobs) and
functions have to be reassessed on a regular basis, and the appropriate
functional analysis will eventually pave the way towards relevant job
descriptions and accompanying appropriate training. A re-analysis of
teacher education is long overdue and a rejuvenation of the profession
will be beneficial to the profession.
Although the CBE-model linked to a behaviourist learning theory is
often criticized, it contains valuable elements that apply well to the
present outcomes-based paradigm of thinking. The measure of
association between the teaching profession, the instructional strategies
selected to achieve the desired levels of performance and

Let's revisit competence-based teacher education 69
competence, as well as the assessment strategies selected to measure
the acquired levels of performance, call for explicit and task-related
learning opportunities. A dilation and divorce between these three
variables contribute to an increase in the so-called ``assessment gap''
and the error of measurement. A high error of measurement will
eventually lead to a decrease in the instructional and assessment
reliability, contributing to a false perception of occupational excellence.
Authenticity in teaching, learning and assessment is an approach often
called for when competence and performance are required as measures
of excellence. We are already experiencing a return towards classroombased
teacher education and such modification should be interpreted
in terms of the requirement put to the profession to achieve the desired
job-related outcomes.
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A survey and appraisal of Outcomes-based Education (OBE) in South Africa 73
A survey and appraisal of
Outcomes-based
Education (OBE) in South
Africa with reference to
progressive education in
America
IACoetzer
Department of Educational
Studies
Unisa
The aims of this research article are to:
. indicate the differences between the traditional and the new outcomes-based
education (Curriculum 2005) approaches in the RSA
. reflect on the demise of C2005 and the introduction of Curriculum
21 (C21)
. identify and discuss the corresponding principles and practices of
outcomes-based education (OBE) in South Africa, and of progressive
education in America
. analyse the anticipated success and/or shortcomings of the transformed
education system in the RSA
1 INTRODUCTION
The new constitution implemented after the ANC government came
into power in 1994 enshrined respect for the rights of all South Africa's
citizens, with particular emphasis on the recognition of diversity. The
new curriculum with its outcomes-based approach is also well-suited

74
for the principle of inclusion and redress, and for being focused on
learners who did not receive adequate education and training in the
previous era as can be seen from national education policy developments
since 1994 (Constas 1997:682).
The important issue of the right to education in South Africa is
enunciated in the following statement by Niehaus (2000:19) as follows:
Everyone has the right to a basic education, including adult basic
education and to further education. Everyone has the right to receive
education in the official language of their choice. The state must respect,
protect, promote and fulfil these rights and should thus take reasonable
legislative and other measures within its available resources to achieve
their progressive realisation.
The following legislative measures contributed towards the progressive
realisation of the right of access to education.
. National Education Policy Act (Act 27 of 1996):
The preamble to this act states that it is necessary to adopt legislation
to facilitate the democratic transformation of the national system of
education into one that serves the needs and interests of all the people
of South Africa and upholds their fundamental rights.
. South African Schools Act (Act 84 of 1996):
The preamble to this act states that:
``this country requires a new national system for schools which will
redress past injustices in educational provision, provide an education of
progressively high quality for all learners and in so doing lay a strong
foundation for the development of all our people's talents and capabilities,
advance the democratic transformation of society, combat racism and
sexism and all other forms of unfair discrimination and intolerance,
contribute to the eradication of poverty and the economic well-being of
society, protect and advance our diverse cultures and languages, uphold
the rights of learners, parents and educators ...''

A survey and appraisal of Outcomes-based Education (OBE) in South Africa 75
The OBE educational approach is usually attractive to politicians,
policymakers and administrators during times of educational reform
that follow in the wake of sociopolitical reform, as was the case in the
RSA after the installation of the new government in 1994. According to
Van der Horst and McDonald (1997:6) this is typical of a socialreconstructivistic
view of schooling, where education is regarded as a
way to change and improve society.
The present Minister of Education, Prof Kader Asmal, has asserted the
necessity of a transformed system of education for South Africa instead
of the segregational system of the previous government:
The worst effects of apartheid were on education, particularly since
education has so many purposes ± education for citizenship, education for
culture, education for freedom and education for economic development
(The Teacher, March 2000:19)
Subsequently Prof Asmal (Pretoria News, 7 June 2000:11) observed that
Curriculum 2005 was an attempt to transform education to be ``humanrights
inspired, lively, activity-based, colourful and learner-centred ...
with the new outcomes-based curriculum, we are combining rather than
separating the acquisition by all learners of the knowledge, skills, values
and attitudes that reflect more closely life outside and after school.''
The differences between the old and the new approaches to education
in South Africa can be illustrated as follows:
Traditional education approach New education approach (2005)
. Passive learners . Active learners
. Exam-driven . Learners are assessed on an
on-going basis
. Rote learning . Critical thinking, reasoning,
reflection and action

76
Traditional education approach New education approach (2005)
. Syllabusiscontent-basedand
broken down in subjects.
. Textbook/worksheet-bound
and teacher centred.
. Syllabusisseenasrigidand
non-negotiable.
. Teachers are responsible for
learning; motivation depends
on teacher's personality.
. Emphasis is on what the
teacher hopes to achieve.
. Content placed in rigid timeframes.
. Curriculum development processnotopentopubliccomment.
. Integration of knowledge;
learning is relevant and connected
to real-life situations.
. Learner-centred; teacher is facilitator
and constantly uses
group and teamwork to consolidate
the new approach.
. Learning programmes are seen
as guides that allow teachers
to be innovative and creative.
. Learners take responsibility
for their learning and are motivated
by constant feedback
and affirmation of their sense
of self-worth.
. Emphasis is on outcomes ±
what the learner becomes and
understands.
. Flexible time-frames allow
learners to work at their own
pace.
. Comment and input from the
wider community is encouraged.
(SA National Department of Education 1997:6±7; Burke 1995:58±59)
C2005 in its original format was however reviewed on a number of
occasions to meet the expectations of the learners, teachers and other
stakeholders in education and to streamline outcomes-based education
in South Africa. This important matter is discussed in the next section of
the article.

A survey and appraisal of Outcomes-based Education (OBE) in South Africa 77
2 THE DEMISE OF C2005 AND THE INTRODUCTION
OF CURRICULUM 21 (C21)
Curriculum 2005 has been revised four times since its inception in 1995
when it was introduced by the former Minister of Education, Professor
Sibusiso Bengu, and although it was supposed to have been phased in
for all grades by the year 2005, it was actually phased out in its existing
form in June 2000. The present Minister of Education, Professor Kader
Asmal, then set up a committee to review the curriculum yet again. The
committee, headed by the University of Natal's Professor Linda
Chisholm, proposed that the revised curriculum, to be called Curriculum
21 (C21) after the present century, take the place of Curriculum
2005 (C2005). Although C2005 has effectively been discarded, lifelong
learning and outcomes-based education remain at the centre of the new
streamlined curriculum approach. The vision is to create an education
system that liberates human potential and enables South Africa's
citizens to take their rightful place in all spheres of life, particularly the
economic, social and political so that a highly educated population can
participate in all spheres of life with the confidence derived from a
complete education (Pretoria News, 7 June 2000:11; Sunday Times,
2 August 2000:01; The Teacher/Mail & Guardian, 3 August 2000:3).
Various reasons for the failure of C2005 are reported in the printed media:
. Assumption of the principles of OBE meant a unanimous
rejection of the apartheid education principles of Christian
Natural Education (CNE), but in retrospect it seems that the
ANC government may have been too hasty in its adoption of
policies to eradicate racism and sexism from the syllabus,
and may not have fully considered the consequences of these
policies (Sunday Times, 4 June 2000:22). The time framework
laid down for implementation in all grades by the year 2005
was unrealistic because curriculum reform is a slow process,
even in well-resourced and established education systems.
. The obtuse and sometimes impenetrable curriculum terminology
used by C2005 confused a lot of teachers. They could

78
not display any depth of understanding of what the new
curriculum framework was all about, and they had little
understanding of how it was supposed to be implemented
(Pretoria News, 7 June 2000:11; Business Day, 2 August 2000:2)
. A significant proportion of teachers were insufficiently qualified
for, and some even insufficiently knowledgeable about the
subject matter they were supposed to teach. These teachers were
not only expected to change the content and methodology of
their teaching, but even to develop their own learning
programmes and teaching materials. More attention had to be
given to teacher orientation, training and support as essential
ingredients of curriculum change (The Teacher, March 2000:19).
. The important matter of proper management of the transformed
curriculum was neglected. In this regard preparatory training
for C2005 mainly focused on teachers and neglected the district
and school managers who had to provide teachers with both
support and supervision (Business Day, 2 August 2000:2).
. Assessment proved to be a major stumbling block for teachers,
as became evident at inter alia parent-teacher meetings where
they had to present parents with the new report cards that had
been devised to reflect OBE practice at their school. Resources
were also constrained, and there was a high staff turnover in
government departments and schools. Textbooks and/or
learning support materials were in short supply in many parts
of the country, and the 1995 school register of needs showed that
only 30% of SA schools had libraries (Business Day, 2August
2000:2). Yet C2005 expected pupils to develop into independent
learners who ask questions, find and analyse information and
solve problems.
. Curriculum designers have tried to avoid prescribing learning
outcomes (including knowledge, skills, values and attitudes) on
a grade-by-grade basis, with the result that teachers were poorly
(if at all) informed about the specific teaching content required
for specific grades (Pretoria News, 25 June 2000:9).
The main differences between the new Curriculum 21 and the former
C2005 can be summed up as follows:

A survey and appraisal of Outcomes-based Education (OBE) in South Africa 79
Curriculum 21 Curriculum 2005
IN
. A streamlined, revised Curriculum
21
. ANationalCurriculumStatement
is expected in June 2001
that will clearly explain `what
is to be learnt and at what level
it is to be tested'
OUT
. Curriculum 2005 in its current
form
. Existing policy documents on
Curriculum 2005
. Plain English . Complex jargon
. SixlearningareasforGrades4
to 9: language, mathematics,
natural sciences, social
sciences, arts and culture and
life orientation
. History and geography, previously
neglected, will be reinstated
as a key part of the
social sciences
. There will be a strong focus on
the teaching of maths and
science with 70% of classroom
time to be spent on maths and
language teaching in Grades 1
to 3, and 50% from Grade 4
onwards
. There will be learning area
statements that will pin down
what a pupil should know and
be able to do in each of the six
learning areas
. Eight learning areas
. Technology and economic and
management sciences are to be
dropped for now in view of the
current shortage of teachers
and other resources
. The myth that reading and
maths should not be specifically
taught
. The 66 specific outcomes (targets)
against which learners
had to be tested in each grade

80
Curriculum 21 Curriculum 2005
IN
. Learning outcomes or targets
will explain what concepts,
content and skills pupils should
learnineachofthesixlearning
programmes in each grade
. Assessment standards will describe
in detail what a pupil
should be able to do and know
in each grade
. There will be a reasonable
time-frame
. Teachers will be trained in the
selection and use of textbooks
. Flexibility and teacher discretion
will be allowed in the
classroom
. There will be grade-by-grade
benchmarks or targets
. Curriculum 21 will be introduced
in the intermediate and
the foundation phase when
appropriate and will be done
by phase (Grades 1 to 3 and
Grades 4 to 6) and in the senior
phase by each grade
OUT
. Assessment criteria, range
statements, performance indicators,
expected levels of performance
and phase organisers
. Programme organisers or
themes, for example transport,
included by teachers under
language and maths, lead to
boredom among pupils
. Rushed implementation
. Macro-planning ± the practice
whereby schools choose the
same topics to teach different
learning areas
. Group work as the only learning
method
. Evaluation by phase, for example
testing a pupil at the
end of Grade 3 rather than
each year from Grades 1 to 3
. A General Education and
Training Certificate in 2002

A survey and appraisal of Outcomes-based Education (OBE) in South Africa 81
Curriculum 21 Curriculum 2005
IN
OUT
. Subject to negotiation, as from
2006 a General Education and
Training Certificate will be
awarded to pupils when they
complete Grade 9
Myths
. Curriculum 2005 has nothing
to do with content.
. In Curriculum 2005 anything
goes
. Curriculum 2005 will not involve
the use of textbooks
. Group work is compulsory for
the implementation of Curriculum
2005
Stays
. The principle of outcomesbased
education
. Learning is child-centred and
is accomplished through activities
. The same three learning programmes
for Grades 1 to 3:
literacy, numeracy and life
skills
. Critical outcomes or learning
goals that state what a pupil
should be able to learn in every
grade, including maths and
language skills, problem solving
and critical thinking
(Sunday Times, 4 June 2000:6; The Teacher/Mail & Guardian, 12 September 2000:1±4;
Beeld, 1 June 2000:1).
It needs to be noted that Cabinet on 25 July 2000 decided that since the
recommendations of the C2005 Review Committee amount to a
strengthening and streamlining of C2005 and not its phasing out, and
therefore do not depart from the original underpinning principles, and
since they maintain the thrust of the original educational and societal
goals, there is no need to change the name of the curriculum to
Curriculum 21.

82
3 COMPARATIVE PRINCIPLES AND PRACTICES OF
OBE IN SOUTH AFRICA, AND OF PROGRESSIVE
EDUCATION IN AMERICA
Before the limitations and/or successes of OBE in South Africa and
references to Progressive Education in America can be appraised, it is
deemed necessary to discuss the corresponding educational principles
and practices underpinning the educational approaches in both
countries.
In South African OBE and American progressive schools:
. rote learning and subject-centred instruction are replaced by
instruction that challenges learners' skills relating to inquiry
and problem solving. These educators value independence of
learning and problem solving because this approach fosters
more spontaneity and independence and more favourable
attitudes towards learning. Both education approaches aim
at producing thinking, competent future citizens (Burke
1995:58±59; Conradie 1997:8±11; Spady 1993:1±2; Squire
1972:328).
. learners are active, inventing and contributing original ideas;
they interact continually in a purposeful and active way with
subject matter, teachers and peers, and they identify and
solve problems by applying creative and critical thinking.
The principle of activity ensures that learners become active
participants in the learning process and have to take more
responsibility for their own learning (Ruben & Spady
1984:37±44; University of South Africa: 6; Cremin 1961:120±
135).
. learning is child- or learner-centred and the emphasis is not
on what the teacher wants to achieve but rather on what the
learner should be able to know, understand, do and become.
The educator-teacher relinquishes the role of formal and
prescriptive instructor and instead becomes an initiator,
observer and facilitator of pupils' activities. The teachers in
these schools humanise education and foster a positive
attitude towards learning. In the South African context

A survey and appraisal of Outcomes-based Education (OBE) in South Africa 83
teachers have the freedom to develop their own learning
programmes based on guidelines provided by the education
department, instead of just implementing centrally designed
curricula (SA National Department of Education 1998:5, 15;
SA National Department of Education 1997:28±29; Rugg &
Shumaker 1969:57).
. the individual needs and interests of the student are of
central importance. In both the American and South African
approaches learners are recognised as separate, unique
persons with capabilities and a background of their own that
are not necessarily shared with others. Learners are also
assisted to progress at their own pace, and learners are
exposed to real-life experiences with a view to accommodating
their individual needs and interests (Rugg & Shumaker
1996:61; University of South Africa 1997:4). In OBE in
South Africa learning outcomes are also determined by
relevant real-life needs. But whereas individual attention to
each learner was ensured in America's progressive schools
by allowing no more than 20 learners in the classroom, South
African classrooms, especially in rural areas, on average
accommodate in excess of 30 learners. The latest statistics
indicate that in the Eastern Cape the teacher/learner ratio is
1:36 and in Gauteng 29:1 (Beeld, 3 November 2000:6).
. themoveisawayfromadherencetoaprescribedcanonof
learning material as was the case in the so-called traditional
schools in both the USA and South Africa. In American
progressive schools as well as South African schools where
the OBE approach to teaching prevails, school programmes
are organised around large centres of interest rather than
around academic subjects. In American progressive schools
the progressivists advocated the so-called broad-fields
curriculum where courses are organised around study units
as a reaction against the traditional intellectualised forms of
schooling (Noble 1961:482). Similarly, in South African
schools where OBE is practised, rather than focusing mainly
on content, learning programmes consist of courses or units
of learning through which learners can achieve the expected

84
learning outcomes. The object of both these education
approaches is to equip all learners with the knowledge,
competencies and orientations needed to be successful in the
world of work once they have completed their studies (South
Africa 1998:5±7; Spady 1982:126).
. cooperative learning results in more vigorous and lively
responses from learners so that they question, debate and
socialise in a democratic atmosphere and an environment
that reflects community life. Progressive schools and schools
where the principles of OBE are applied are not only learnercentred,
but also strongly community centred because
schools aspire to prepare the youth for future social life. This
ideal is achieved by making the school a cooperative society
on a small scale. The modus operandi of offering learners the
opportunity to be exposed to a harmonious group life ± they
participate effectively with others in a team, group, organisation
or community ± also serves to empower the young
generation with social and emotional skills and internalised
personality traits (King & Evans 1991:74; Spady & Marshall
1991:68; Van der Horst & McDonald 1997:127±137).
. it is realised that innovative, progressive learner- and
community-centred education can only be achieved in a
democratic environment and school structure, and that it
must be supported by a democratic political dispensation. An
important objective of both education approaches is the
creation of a global approach that would link people together
through education in spite of political and racial differences
that separate them. Human liberty and equality are the
principles to be honoured. In this regard the humanitarian
effort of the progressive educators in America was focused
on the promotion of human dignity through the establishment
of equality and fairness in their schools in order to fulfil
the promise of American democracy. In South Africa and in
OBE schools in this country it is accepted that equality can
only be achieved in a democratic society that accommodates
a culture of human rights, multi-lingualism, gender equality
and sensitivity to the values of reconciliation and nation

A survey and appraisal of Outcomes-based Education (OBE) in South Africa 85
building. The present South African government therefore
shows awareness of the importance of effective learning
strategies, responsible citizenship, cultural sensitivity, education
and career opportunities (Samoff, Rensburg, Groener
1994:04; Technical Committee 1997:10±12; Counts 1971:164).
. recognition is given to the essential role of continuing
education or lifelong learning outside the school to eradicate
literacy, prevent human obsolence and preserve and further
the development of democracy in the RSA and the USA. The
ideal is to empower individuals to cope with vastly altered
education needs dictated by a complex society, the knowledge
explosion and ever increasing technological changes
(Cremin 1961:120±135). In South Africa the principle of
redress ensures that the education needs of previously
disadvantaged groups are specifically addressed. In July
1999 the newly appointed Education Minister, Prof Kader
Asmal, outlined the government's blueprint for overhauling
South Africa's dysfunctional educational system to ensure
that learning and teaching prepare our citizens for the 21 st
century. Prof Asmal has intimated that the government will
promote lifelong learning and eradicate illiteracy within five
years (presently in rural South Africa illiteracy runs as high
as 60%) (Pretoria News, 28 July 1999:5,12). Niehaus (2000:21)
also refers to the government's plan issued in February 1998
that the provision of Adult Basic Education and Training
(ABET) be expanded from 37 000 in 1997 to 691 875 by 2001.
. educators are oriented less towards successful performance
in examinations and more towards values and the formation
of a balanced personality. In America the progressivists
followed the practice of allowing learners, their peers and
teachers to assess learners' performance and they pronounced
that school marks and competitive examinations
should be abolished (Tenenbaum 1951:253, 257). According
to South Africa's OBE approach to learning, assessment is on
an ongoing basis and is used to determine the progress of
learners and the attainment of learning outcomes. A variety
of learner activities are assessed by applying different

86
strategies, including project work, presentations, demonstrations,
oral work, group work, interviews, learner journals,
written reports, learner portfolios, and so on
(University of South Africa 1997:19; SA National Department
of Education 1997:19; SA National Department of Education
s.a: 33±44). It also includes self-assessment and peer assessment.
It is clear from the discussion that the education principles and
practices of the OBE approach in South Africa and of Progressive
Education in America are markedly similar regarding the core tenets of
both education approaches to be appraised in the final section of the
article.
4 AN EVALUATION OF THE LIMITATIONS AND/OR
SUCCESSES OF OBE IN SOUTH AFRICA WITH
REFERENCE TO PROGRESSIVE EDUCATION IN
AMERICA
A serious limitation of C2005 was that not much specific content was
prescribed. Instead the strongest focus fell on the learning outcomes to
be achieved. A sound content base is naturally always a prerequisite
for critical thinking and problem-solving which have since the
inception of C2005 been at the heart of OBE teaching and learning. All
the learning outcomes to be attained should focus on core academic
content.
Since the launching of C2005 it was accepted that teachers, learners and
the community would be able to participate in the selection of
appropriate learning content. The reality was ignored that all teachers
do not have the skills, the resources or the time to develop their own
curricula. Curriculum development is a specialised activity and there
is a need to inform teachers about what they should be teaching in each
learning programme in each grade. It is recommended that teachers be
provided with a core curriculum for each grade in each learning
programme. A curriculum with a sound knowledge base will enhance
the learning of content by learners and assessment by teachers will be
made easier.

A survey and appraisal of Outcomes-based Education (OBE) in South Africa 87
The government's decision to remedy the situation by appointing Prof
Linda Chisholm to lead a task team to write a National Curriculum
Statement to be completed by the middle of 2001 must be applauded.
This Statement will include learning outcomes that specify the
sequence of core concepts, content and skills to be taught and learnt in
each learning programme at each grade level. The review committee
chaired by Chisholm has proposed that the said Statement be
developed to replace the specific outcomes, assessment criteria, range
statements, phase organisers and programme organisers (Pretoria
News, 5 June 2000:9).
Another concern about the curriculum is the poor performance of
South African learners in mathematics and science. A recent study
claimed that the current school curriculum failed to encourage literacy
in these subjects. University of the Witwatersrand education researcher
Shireen Motala says when the performance in biology, mathematics
and physical science is compared, maths, at 43% had the lowest pass
rate. The national pass rate for maths was 49,5% in 1996, dropping in
1997 to 46,3%, and to 42,1% in 1998 (Pretoria News, 11 July 2000:6).
A South African study commissioned by the national Department of
Education found that Grade 4 learners in South Africa have among the
worst numeracy skills in Africa when compared to 12 other countries
on the African Continent. More than 10 000 Grade 4 learners
participated in the SA study and scored an average of only 30% for
numeracy ± compared with 51% for Botswana, 49% for Uganda and
36% for Zambia. A large proportion of our Grade 4 learners scored
below 25% for the numeracy task, while only about 2% obtained scores
in the 75±100% range (Sunday Times, 16 July 2000:1).
It is interesting to note that the curriculum followed in the progressive
schools of America (similar to our C2005) showed the same results,
especially as regards instruction and results in mathematics and the
natural sciences. In a report to the American nation and the Secretary
of Education, published in 1983 under the title Anationatrisk:TheA imperative for educational reform, it is claimed that failures to excel in
subjects like mathematics and science could be blamed at least partly

88
on the lack of strong content in progressive schools up to the late 1950s.
The report claims that the nation is raising a new generation of
Americans that is scientifically and technologically illiterate (United
States National Commission on Excellence in Education, 1983:8±10).
The solution to the American scenario, also to be considered in South
Africa, was to include challenging intellectual content in their schools.
The Americans realised that the progressive schools' banning of
textbooks and of learning through reading may have contributed to the
low literacy levels of their pupils. The Report stated that 23 million
American adults are functionally illiterate by the simplest tests of
everyday reading, writing and comprehension (United States National
Commission on Excellence in Education, 1983:8±9). Regarding the
importance of content, the report (United States National Commission
on Excellence in Education, 1983:19, 28) states the following:
Textbooks and other tools of learning and teaching should be upgraded
and updated to assure more rigorous content ... as they did in the post-
Sputnik era.
In the South African context R80 million was budgeted for textbooks
for the period 1997/1998, compared to R895 million in 1995/96. This
severe budget cut may have contributed to the low literacy rate
mentioned in two studies completed this year. These studies, which
examined 12 countries on the Continent, found that at 48,1% Grade 4
learners in South Africa have among the worst literacy skills in Africa
(Beeld, 12 July 2000:8; Sunday Times, 16 July 2000). Prof Kader Asmal,
Minister of Education, offered a glimmer of hope when in July 2000 he
released a statement setting out his vision for education during his
term of office. To ensure the success of active learning through
outcomes-based education the Minister has established as a target
performance indicator that all learners must achieve competence in
reading, writing and numeracy by age 9, or at the end of Grade 3. Prof
Asmal also stated his intention to provide more resources for all the
critical learning materials, and especially textbooks (Education Policy
Unit, October 1999:02). As regards teachers, it is recommended that
they need much greater depth of content knowledge in all the learning

A survey and appraisal of Outcomes-based Education (OBE) in South Africa 89
areas. They also need to be trained to evaluate and select appropriate
learning support materials and to design effective worksheets. The
government's decision to implement a curriculum based on the tenets
of outcomes-based education will therefore only be successful if
teachers are adequately prepared and equipped for this challenge at
both the pre-service and in-service level.
In South Africa there is a lack of responsibility, dedication and
commitment on the part of many teachers and learners (Van der Horst
and McDonald, 1997:5). Absenteeism on the part of both teachers and
learners is also rife in South African schools. To alleviate this problem
it is recommended that a code of conduct ± to be adhered to by both
educators and learners ± be drawn up to ensure that schools function in
an organised manner, and that discipline prevails in our learning
institutions. The new vision should be especially focused on the
importance of community ``ownership'' of schools, and on factors that
contribute to the establishment of a culture of learning and teaching.
It is heartening to note that all schools in South Africa will undergo
rigorous external evaluations from 2001 in a major drive to be
undertaken by the National Department of Education to restore
parents' confidence in the public education system. Two hundred
specially trained officials will visit each of South Africa's estimated 28
000 schools, but will prioritise poorly performing institutions. Schools
will be awarded report cards based on their performance. These
government officials will evaluate the public schools according to a
checklist that lists questions under the following topics:
. The basic functionality of the school
. Leadership, management and communication
. The quality of teaching and teacher development
. Curriculum provision and resources such as textbooks
. Learners' achievements
. Safety and discipline
. Governance and relationships
. Infrastructure
(Sunday Times, 1 October 2000:04).

90
The author is in agreement with Van der Horst and McDonald
(1997:18) that there is a general concern about standards. The concern
revolves around the matter that schools using an OBE approach to
learning will need to lower their standards to accommodate the slower
learners since not all learners have the same potential to learn to the
same high standards. The reverse agreement to this is that OBE will
hold back the gifted, and slower learners will retard class progress.
Based on the principles of freedom, tolerance, caring and democratic
participation, as was the case in the era of the progressivists in
America, there is general agreement that OBE in South Africa is strong
on the important issue of human rights. The reason for this is that OBE
is aimed at establishing in learners the skills, values, attitudes and
knowledge that will help them to become adults who can participate
freely and widely in the culturally diverse and rapidly changing
society they live in (Ggobe 1997:319). It is also realised, however, that
the legacy of so many years of apartheid in South Africa makes these
aims more difficult to achieve than it may seem because educators are
grappling with multicultural, multiracial, multi-ethnic and multi-faith
classrooms. But there may be a solution at hand. In partnership with
the Electoral Institute of South Africa, Kagiso Television and the
Human Rights Commission, the magazine The Teacher is launching a
project called ``Celebrating Diversity''. With this project schools will
receive teaching materials through The Teacher that will empower
teachers to tackle issues of diversity in the classroom in a constructive
way. Several training workshops will also be held for teachers
throughout the duration of the 18-month project. Furthermore the
National Centre for Human Rights Education and Training (Nachret)
aims to respond to the demand for human-rights education by
producing both materials and training programmes. Tolerance of
racial, religious, cultural and gender differences are issues that need to
be addressed in regard to teaching and schools. Accordingly, teachers
are targeted as an important group for training by Nachret in humanrights
education (The Teacher/ Mail & Guardian, 30 August 2000:1±3).
Kok (2000:2) adds to this that changes in values should take place to
resolve the issue of human rights. He rightly suggests that Africa

A survey and appraisal of Outcomes-based Education (OBE) in South Africa 91
should take its destiny in its own hands and stop blaming the past and
external powers for its position. Individuality and personal responsibility
should have precedence over collectivity. South Africa should
realise that its own visions and expectations for the future will
determineitsdestinyandposition±andnotitsexcessiveconcernwith
the past.
5 FINAL COMMENTS
It is recommended that government and education strategists should
focus on the following significant matters concerning C2005.
It should be realised that a strong content base is fundamental for
critical thinking and problem-solving, both of which are at the heart of
OBE. Government and education strategists should also note that
curriculum development is a specialised activity which requires
teachers to be fully informed concerning the content they should be
teaching in every learning programme in each grade.
The poor performance of South African learners in mathematics and
science needs to be addressed urgently. It is important to note that the
curriculum which was followed in the progressive schools of America
(similar to our C2005) showed the same results, especially as regards
instruction and results pertaining to mathematics and the natural
sciences. The solution to the American scenario, also to be considered
in South Africa, was to include challenging intellectual content in these
schools. As regards teachers, it is recommended that their dire need of
greater depth of knowledge, not only in mathematics and science but in
all learning areas be met. OBE will only be successful if teachers are
adequately prepared and equipped for the challenges outlined above at
both pre-service and in-service level.
Finally it is recommended that a strict code of conduct to be adhered to
by both teachers and learners be established to ensure that discipline
and commitment are restored in our learning institutions.

92
BIBLIOGRAPHY
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and other qualifications. London:FalmerPress.
Beeld, 12 July 2000.
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Conradie, D 1997. Outcomes based education OBE: What is it? EE Bulletin, April:8±11.
Constas, M A 1997. Apartheid and the socio-political context of education in South Africa: A
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SA National Department of Education. Draft policy on an assessment and examinations
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94
A Historical-educational
perspective of
urbanisation and its
contribution to the street
child phenomenon in
South Africa 1
Dr Cheryl le Roux
Department of Secondary
School Teacher Education
Unisa
The street child phenomenon as a social-educational problem is experienced both
locally and internationally. Presently in South Africa, there are an estimated 12 000 street
or vagrant children who are predominantly black and male. The question that arises is
why is this the case? What is the etiology of the problem and why is it predominantly
limited to one specific population group and gender? Furthermore, one cannot but
wonder what the educational implications for these under-age children are.
The origin of this predicament is possibly to be found in the history of urbanisation in this
country. Urbanisation as a boon to some, has been the downfall of others and the
intention of this article is to provide a South African perspective on the course and impact
of urbanisation on children and their education: the focus however, on the plight of the
street child. The effect of the legislation which has guided and controlled urbanisation
and has resulted in generations of street children among the black population group is
ÐÐÐÐÐÐÐÐÐÐÐÐÐÐÐÐÐÐÐÐÐÐÐÐÐÐÐÐ
1 Financial assistance of International Science Liaison is acknowledged.

A Historical-educational perspective of urbanisation 95
briefly reviewed. In addition, the HIV/AIDS pandemic which is currently devastating the
country, is contributing towards the escalation of the number of street children as these
children, orphaned and destitute, turn to the streets for their livelihood ± which most
frequently includes prostitution which exposes them to the risk of HIV infection. The
article goes on to investigate the educational situation of these children who are the
product of urbanisation, to highlight the dilemmas faced on a daily basis and to sketch
the educational and career prospects which they have.
The research in preparation for this article relies not only on a review of literature on the
issue, but also draws on the results of interviews conducted with street children to
determine their opinions on those matters which are of concern to their welfare. From an
analysis of the interviews it is possible to sketch profiles of street children's
backgrounds, lifestyles, experiences, and also their future prospects. One could ask
whether to these children, cities as products of urbanisation, are a light and beacon or
merely a lure promising survival?
1 INTRODUCTION
Despite the publication during the 20th century of a variety of
protocols, charters and international conventions that recognise and
aim to protect the rights and welfare of children, the street child
phenomenon as a social-educational problem remains a global
dilemma. Even in South Africa which could be said to be a country
traditionally renowned for robust family ties and parental warmth
especially among the predominant black cultural groups, there are an
estimated 12 000 street or vagrant children. Most of these children are
black and male.
Worldwide, the two primary causes to which the street child
phenomenon tends to be attributed, are poverty and dysfunctional
family contexts. In South Africa however, it appears that the problem
has been and continues to be exacerbated by two additional causal
factors: the one factor has historical roots, namely a distinctive
urbanisation process unique to South Africa, and the other is a
contemporary crisis, namely the HIV/AIDS pandemic. Furthermore, it
could be hypothesized that the spread of HIV/AIDS is also linked to
the urbanisation process.

96
It is the purpose of this article to outline the legislation that guided and
controlled early urbanisation in South Africa and to examine how the
lure of the city has adversely impacted on certain children and has
contributed to the street child dilemma. Adjacently, the social
intervention programmes and educational prospects for these children
for whom urbanisation has contributed to their undoing, are succinctly
reviewed.
2 AN OVERVIEW OF THE URBANISATION PROCESS
IN SOUTH AFRICA
Urbanisation is by no means unique to South Africa. What is unique,
however, are the principles underlying the urbanisation process and
the way in which these principles controlled the movement of black
people. The migrant labour system, influx control and the Group Areas
Act profiled the urbanisation process and it is nowadays conceded that
this politically inspired legislation exacerbated poverty and unemployment
among large sectors of the black population. It is further
argued that this legal framework and its consequences have contributed
directly to the proliferation of street children in the country
(Donald & Swart-Kruger 1994:111). If an understanding of the
urbanisation process is to be gained, it is necessary to view the concept
within its historical legal framework.
2.1 The migrant labour system
Over the years, migrant labour has played a significant role in meeting
the labour needs in inter alia agriculture and the mining industry in
South Africa. During the mid-1800s, Western Cape farmers solved the
perennial problem of labour shortage ± which in previous centuries
had been alleviated through the importation of slaves ± by recruiting
temporary workers. Agents were tasked to secure labourers ± most of
whom worked on a contract basis ± to work in the vineyards and
wheatfields. Upon completion of their contract, labourers returned to
their homes and families. In Natal a similar situation in relation to the
sugar cane plantations existed and for years the major source of labour
was indentured help from India. However, these migrant labourers
were allowed to bring their families with them for the duration of the

A Historical-educational perspective of urbanisation 97
contract. Although they were allowed to return to India once their
contracts had expired, many choose to settle in the country. Another
example of the migrant labour system during the early years is that of
the teams of migrant sheep shearers who moved through the farms of
the Eastern Cape during the early spring months. It is believed that as
sheep farming expanded to the Orange Free State, these teams of
shearers who offered their skill and labour for a price, followed
(Wilson 1972:1±2).
Within the mining context, the discovery of diamonds in 1866 in
Hopetown and in 1874 in Kimberley, provided work for over 10 000
black migrant diggers who offered their service to the industry. Soon
after the opening of the diamond fields, control of the diggings became
centralised as employers evolved a system of closed compounds to
prevent illicit diamond buying. This meant that workers were
effectively sealed off from all contact with the outside world during
their period of service. In effect, a unique migrant labour pattern was
being established whereby men continued to live in the rural areas, but
left their families for several months at a time whilst they went to earn
money on the mines. It is significant to note that at the time, criticism
was levelled at the closed compound system on the grounds that the
family life of the 'natives' ± however different from that of the
`civilised' white man ± ought to be treated with consideration and
respect. It was argued that it would be unfortunate to break up a tribal
organisation and the free movement of blacks in search of work and to
create a large mass of men without local or family ties (South African
Native Races Committee 1901:220). Notwithstanding this criticism, the
migrant labour system survived and prevailed as a precedent to be
introduced on the goldfields a decade later.
When gold was discovered on the Witwatersrand in 1886 and sparked
the economic boom that was to change the face of the country, the
migrant labour system to work the goldfields was the obvious choice.
Thirteen years after the discovery of gold, the mines employed some
100 000 blacks recruited by the Chamber of Mines through their Native
Recruiting Corporation from all over sub-Saharan Africa. This same
organisation organised migrant labour for the coal mines of the

98
Transvaal. Other sectors of the economy also patterned their employment
practices on the gold mines' example and the Johannesburg
Municipality, for example, took over one of the old mine compounds in
1931 and used it to house some 1 800 electricity department workers.
Similarly, some private firms also built their own compounds to house
their migrant workers (Wilson 1972:5).
Despite the efforts to regulate migrant labour and to provide for the
basic accommodation of migrant labourers, the 1920s and 1930s are
characterised by the development of black slums in the western (eg
Vrededorp), central (eg Doornfontein) and eastern (eg Jeppe) suburbs
of Johannesburg due to the inability of the local municipality to
provide sufficient housing for black migrant labourers. Many of these
people had brought their entire families with them and the whole
family, children included, were subjected to these abject conditions. It
was under these circumstances that the first generation of street
children, as products of urbanisation, made their appearance. Boys
from the various slum areas formed themselves into gangs of laaities ±
thosewiseinthewaysofthecity±andjealouslyprotectedtheir`beats'.
In Sophiatown, these laaities monopolised the caddying jobs at a golf
course in Auckland Park and together with gangs from Vrededorp
controlled the begging and pickpocketing activities at the market
(Koch in Swart 1990:49).
It could be conjectured that the reality of the development of these
slums, instigated the drive to pass legislation that would further
control the process of black urbanisation.
2.2 Legislation leading up to and controlling black
urbanisation and influx control
Three years after the establishment of the Union of South Africa in
1910, the Land Act of 1913 that restricted black access to land in the
rural areas was passed. Large numbers of blacks were removed from
`black spots' in white rural areas and resettled in rural, high density
villages which had little economic vitality of their own. With no land to
farm and no alternative economic opportunities, the breadwinners had
little choice but to seek work in the urban areas. Black migrant

A Historical-educational perspective of urbanisation 99
labourers were obliged to relocate to these centres without their
families due to the restrictions placed on access to the towns by the
Black Urban Areas Act passed in 1923. This Act similarly enforced the
principle of racial segregation in the urban areas and prevented blacks
from obtaining land in urban areas on a freehold title basis. It further
determined the conditions of entry and residence rights in urban areas
and in effect, permanently institutionalised the migrant labour system
(Nattrass 1983:13±14).
Amendments in 1937 to the Black Urban Areas Act gave municipalities
the power to deal with the redundancy problem and the system of
control was further rationalised in 1945 when the Native (Urban Areas)
Consolidation Act was passed. In conjunction with the 1942 Bantu Laws
Amendment Act, thisAct defined the system of labour control and laid
the foundations for what became known as influx control. Blacks were
prevented from remaining in a prescribed area ± all urban areas ± for
more than seventy-two hours unless they had an exemption. Exemptions
were granted to people born in the area; those who had worked
for one employer continuously for ten years or who had resided
lawfully in an area for fifteen years; the wife or child of such a person;
or a person given permission to remain by an officer managing a labour
bureau. Migrants fell into the last category. The system was
administered by means of Pass Laws that demanded that blacks carry
with them at all times passes defining their status and confirming
permission to be in a particular area. It needs to be noted that those
who had this required permission while they sought employment,
were prohibited from bringing their families with them (Whiteside
1988:9).
Influx control was designed specifically to regulate the process of black
urbanisation i.e. the movement of rural and homeland black persons
together with their families into the towns and cities. The justification
for this regulatory system was the claim that if the urbanisation
process were left unchecked, urban dwellers and new black urban
entrants would suffer lower levels of welfare ± unemployment, lack of
facilities, lower wages due to an oversupply et cetera. Moreover, the
strategy was designed to justify resettlement of black communities in

100
homeland towns thereby redirecting black urbanisation into the
independent homeland areas ± giving effect to the geo-political
ideology underpinning separate development (the apartheid ideology)
(Bekker & Humphries 1985:67; Leistner 1968:5).
In 1986, recognising that black urbanisation was inevitable, the
Abolition of Influx Control Act was passed that repealed all past laws
relating to influx control.
It was not only legislation regulating the process of black urbanisation,
but also legislation that regulated the settlement of blacks who
urbanised, that determined the urbanisation plan.
2.3 The Group Areas Act
Further legislation entrenching racial segregation and placing confines
on the ability to acquire immovable property and to occupy land in
areas other than that specifically designated for the different racial
groups, was the Group Areas Act of 1950. Separate residential and
business areas for distinct racial groups ± whites, natives and coloureds
± were mandated through this legislation. This legal enforcement
of racial segregation made South Africa anomalous in international
terms.
The Act implied a particular urban planning framework since
consolidated areas for the different racial groups were, wherever
possible, to be separated by strong natural (eg rivers, valleys) or manmade
(eg railways, highways) barriers. Movement to and from the
work zone was not to cross the residential area of another group. This
model was not consistent with the actual patterns of settlement that
existed in cities at the time of the passage of the Act and consequently
significant numbers of black people had to be moved. The relocation of
blacks occurred in all the major cities, but in Johannesburg, this
displacement resulted in an appearance, again, of significant numbers
of street children because children were unwilling to leave their
neighbourhoods and friends (Swart 1990:49-50; The Urban Foundation
1991:3±4).

A Historical-educational perspective of urbanisation 101
It was only in 1994 with the drafting of the Constitution of South Africa
and the inclusion of a Bill of Rights that all forms of racial
discrimination were prohibited and that settlement was prescribed by
economics and not politics.
3 A CURSORY COMMENTARY ON THE
URBANISATION PROCESS
Recognising that currently of the approximately 44.3 million strong
population, 45% finds itself in urban areas, it goes without saying that
urbanisation became a reality for a significant proportion of South
African citizens. However, in terms of blacks ± since this article focuses
on blacks due to the fact that the overwhelming majority of street
children are black ± was the impetus for migration to the cities a
response to the lure of a better future or was it the search for survival?
3.1 Urbanisation: response to the lure of a better
future or in search of a livelihood?
Generally, urbanisation occurs because people believe that the city can
provide opportunities which simply do not exist in rural areas: a
variety of employment opportunities; competitive salaries; prospects
of a higher standard of living; entertainment and recreation opportunities
and the opportunity to reach higher levels of independence and
self-actualisation. There are also the prospects of better schooling and
further education opportunities for one's children. Certainly the
obvious gains cannot be logically contested, but where they the main
force driving black urbanisation?
Whiteside (1988:3) indicates that the perception that blacks were keen
to seek employment on the mines and the cities needs to be challenged.
It is argued that western values and incentives of acquiring material
wealth and economic opportunity were foreign to most blacks at that
time. A reexamination of the period evidences that pressure was put on
blacks to sell their labour. Simplistically stated, blacks were forced to
earn hard currency. Taxes were introduced by the various authorities
in terms of the Native Taxation and Development Act of 1925: a hut tax on
each hut owned, a poll tax on each male older than 18 years ± and all

102
these taxes had to be paid in cash. In addition, deprived of their land ±
and the capacity to be self-sustaining ± through the re-settlement
drives, blacks had little alternative but to seek employment on the
mines or elsewhere: not for the luxuries that money in their pockets
would bring them, but for their and their families' basic survival.
3.2 The reality and outcome of the urbanisation
process for many black South African families
The migrant labour system obliged men to be separated from wives
and children for the duration of their contracts and consequently, the
traditional authority system within the family ± and also the
community ± was undermined and disrupted. Women who traditionally
lacked authority were left to single-handedly carry the family
responsibilities. Instability within the family and extended family ± the
latter being an essential component of the family in black culture ±
ensued. Family ties weakened due to the forced separation and, bereft
of rural community norms, many of the men adopted urban values and
a general disintegration of traditional value systems ensued. Some of
these migrant labourers entered into second marriages with urban
women and started a second family which too, had to be supported.
When such a man returned home, it was most often not viable for him
to take along his second wife and their children. The result was that a
fatherless and poverty-stricken family was left behind in the city
(Richter 1988:13).
It becomes evident that the migrant labour system not only disrupted
the constitution of the family unit in the rural area from whence the
labourer came, but also led to a disintegration of the congruity of his
secondary family in the urban area where he was temporarily located.
Apart from the economic depravation that ensued in both situations, it
can also be concluded that it was furthermore difficult to establish a
stable moral and emotional framework imperative for congenial family
functioning and the creation of an environment supporting authentic
childrearing in either of the families.

A Historical-educational perspective of urbanisation 103
The detrimental influence of urbanisation as applied in the South
African situation in relation to blacks and their social life is significant.
In summary, some of the consequences are listed below.
. Traditional social support systems were broken down as a
result of resettlement and migrant labour regulations.
. Family life was seriously disrupted since wives and children
were disallowed by law to follow their husbands or fathers to
the cities and contact between families was consequently
restricted to a limited number of weeks a year.
. Family ties were weakened because of the absence of the
household head.
. Authority structures within the family were undermined.
. Children lacked a father-figure and male role model.
. Migrants spent more on themselves than what was sent back
to their dependents and in many cases where the man entered
into a second (urban) marriage, the limited income had to be
shared between the two families.
. Migrants' interests became urban-oriented to the detriment
of the rural family system. This change in focus included an
unveiled challenging of traditional value systems.
. Economic insecurity resulted from the fear that mine/
industrial contracts would not be renewed.
. Physical insecurity ± in the case of `illegals' ± resulted from
living in fear of pass-law raids and of eviction in terms of the
Illegal Squatting Amendment Act (Dewar, Todes & Watson
1982:39±40).
Urbanisation had a price. The prevalence of large, needy and fatherless
black families ± both urban or rural ± can be attributed to the South
African urbanisation process. This fact also offers an explanation for
the fact that most street children are black. The observation is
supported by the hypothesis that the higher the number of children a
single woman must support, the greater the possibility of the children
ending up on the street (Independent Commission on International
Humanitarian Issues 1986:50). It will be recalled that street children

104
tend to be products of poverty and disrupted parent-child relationships
± these conditions as they have arisen in the South African
situation have a clear link with an uniquely South African urbanisation
process.
3.3 The struggle for black empowerment: an urban
issue?
An issue which was, in many respects, the outflow of urbanisation was
the struggle for black liberation from white dominance. This struggle
was given impetus by the regulations and legislation outlined above.
Duringthelate1970swhenthestrugglereacheditspeak,black
townships and informal settlements were characterised by violence as
people who mobilised to challenge existing separatist legislation were
kept in check by the authorities. A unique community culture came
into being as a generation of youth who lacked discipline (due to the
absence of parents who, either both worked or were non-existent), had
no respect for their elders (since they perceived them to lack the
courage to stand up for their rights and to challenge an oppressive
system) and who had little regard for authority (since this was viewed
as being illegitimate) took control of the townships. A review of the
living conditions of many of these children reveals that these children
lacked a congruous family structure and lived in poverty. Due to the
ensuring violence, life in these townships was hazardous and many
fled and sought safer abodes. It is found that many of these township
children turned to the streets as an alternative ± and safer ± home.
3.4 The impact and implications of the HIV/AIDS
pandemic: an urban concern?
Apart from the consequences of the urbanisation process as outlined
above and the struggle for black liberation which have given rise to the
current generation of street children, the HIV/AIDS pandemic which is
currently devastating the country, is also contributing towards the
escalation of the number of street children.
SeveralreasonsarecitedforthespreadofHIV/AIDSwhichis
currently viewed rather as a social than a health issue: overcrowding as

A Historical-educational perspective of urbanisation 105
experienced in squatter settlements which have mushroomed as people
flock to the cities in search of employment; poverty; lack of education,
and the inferior status of women all seem to play a part in the rapid
spread of HIV/AIDS. It is estimated that by 2015 ± the year in which
HIV/AIDS is expected to reach its peak ± between 9±12% of the
population will be AIDS orphans. In real terms, this interprets to
between 3.6 and 4.8 million children under the age of 15 years who will
be without a parent or guardian. UNICEF estimates that there are
currently approximately 700 000 AIDS orphans in South Africa. The
country simply does not have the infrastructure to care for these
children ± either through institutionalisation or through foster care
programmes ± and it is projected that as children become orphaned
and destitute through HIV/AIDS, many will turn to the streets for their
livelihood. One of the sources of sure income for street children is
prostitution which, under prevailing circumstances exposes them to
the risk of HIV infection and consequently contributes to the further
spread of the disease (Van Greunen 2001:40±41).
A review of the factors which have contributed and which continue to
contribute to the escalation of the number of children on the streets of
South African cities have been outlined and it now becomes necessary
to provide a sketch of who these South African street children indeed
are.
4 A PROFILE OF STREET CHILDREN IN SOUTH
AFRICA
South African street children are known by various names which
describe their circumstances and characteristics. In Cape Town, they
are known as strollers ± a term that describes their loitering and
ambling along the streets, their `free spiritedness' and being an
authority unto themselves. In Johannesburg and elsewhere they are
called twilight children ± children of and active in the dark; malunde ±
those that sleep on the streets; and malalapayipi ± those who sleep in the
stormwater pipes. Inherent to these terms, is a portrayal of who and
what street children are ± they are children for whom the street offers

106
the opportunity to undertake to manage their own lives and to meet
their own needs; they are children who lack parental or responsible
adult care, the provision of basic needs and guidance and who are
consequently vulnerable to exploitation ± including sexual abuse.
The majority of street children are black, although Cape Town has a
significant number of coloured street children. As has been argued, the
circumstances that have arisen due to the process of urbanisation as it
occurred in South Africa, have resulted in black children being more
vulnerable to poverty and poor parent-child relationships than other
population groups. Children as young as 7 years of age are to be found
on the streets. However, the majority of children seem to start life on
the streets from about the age of 10. Furthermore, the street child
phenomenon in South Africa appears to be confined to boys with very
few vagrant girls visible on the streets. Unfortunately, this fact
represents the shadowy side of the street child culture. It seems that
most of the girls who turn to the streets for their livelihood turn to
prostitution and illicit drug dealing as a means of income. They are
managed by pimps who effectively ensnare them very soon after their
arrival in the city. These children live in hotel rooms and in brothels
from whence they apply their trade (Du Plessis 1999).
4.1 A classification and etiology of street children
and the link between the urbanisation process in
South Africa and the street child phenomenon
In the practical research undertaken to investigate the current profile
of the street child in South Africa, students enrolled for a History of
Education module in the Honours Bachelor of Education, Faculty of
Education, UNISA between 1998±2000, conducted structured interviews
with street children in various provinces in South Africa as part
of an assignment on the street child phenomenon. The focus of the
interview was to establish what the circumstances were that had led to
the child taking to the streets, how life on the streets was experienced,
whether the child still had ties with family members, and how the child
viewed his or her educational and career prospects. The interview was
transcribed and submitted for review.

A Historical-educational perspective of urbanisation 107
An analysis of the results of the interviews revealed that, in the South
African situation, street children can be grouped either as children who
have ties with their families and return home at regular intervals or as
children to whom the street is their only home since they have no
families to return to ± or have consciously chosen not to return to their
families and have broken all ties with the family. In the case of the
former group, the streets provide additional income which is used to
support themselves or the family back home. However, to the latter
group, the street is their only known home: they have no other home
and no family ties. They have either by necessity or voluntarily decided
to permanently leave their families and a group of children in similar
circumstances forms a substitute family. These findings support
conclusions drawn from other researchers' studies. Previous research
gave rise to a classification of these children as children on the street
(i.e. those who can and do return home) and children of the street
(those who have no families to return to and for whom the street is
their home) (Le Roux 1992:92±93).
The reasons that the children who were interviewed gave for taking to
the streets can be grouped as follows:
. poverty and the inability of parents to provide in the basic
needs for food, clothing, shelter and education
. family dysfunction which generally manifests in some form
of pedagogic or physical abuse/neglect
. being orphaned and having no extended family to take care
of them (as in the case of HIV/AIDS orphans)
. rebellion against authority and an attempt to live a life of
freedom devoid of rules and acquiescence to authority (Le
Roux 2001)
From the reasons cited above, an alternative categorisation of street
children appears. One could distinguish between runaways and
castaways: runaways being described as children who voluntarily leave
home without parental/substitute parent permission and castaways
who leave home because their parents or caregivers have either
abandoned them or subjected them to intolerable levels of abuse and

108
neglect (Le Roux 2001). It is argued that it is possible to trace most of
these identified causes for children taking to the streets to inter alia the
process and consequences of urbanisation as it took place in this
country. The consequences include
. the disruption of the traditionally stable family and community
structures brought about by the migrant labour
system, urban `influx control' and the shortage of housing for
blacks in urban areas designated for their abode
. the disruption of traditional family ties and consequently
respect for elders which is fundamental to black culture
. the impoverishment of rural black families reliant on the
income generated by a household head who invariably took a
second wife and started a second family in the city and
. a generation of black youth who grew up in an atmosphere of
violence during the years of the struggle against apartheid
Although street children appear to be self-sufficient, one should not
overlook the fact that they are indeed children. This fact challenges one
to acknowledge that as children, they are entitled to education. What
expectations ± if any ± do street children hold of education?
4.2 The educational prospects of street children
Since children's attitudes towards learning are influenced by the
attitudes of significant others in their immediate environments, it
stands to reason that the home environment would be a determining
factor in forming perceptions about learning (Scott 1994:24). In the
street child's situation, the lack of a nurturing parent-child relationship
confounds successful educative intervention activities. Material,
affective and normative support ± essential for pedagogic development
± is absent and it can thus be contested that street children's motivation
to learn will thus be significantly different from that of children cared
for in 'normal' households. In the case of street children the `parentchild'
emotional void is filled by peers on the street who themselves
lack motivation, educational expectations and direction in life. These
`role models' manifest negative attitudes towards knowledge acquisition,
citizen duties, training and work and these contrary attitudes

A Historical-educational perspective of urbanisation 109
become entrenched. Furthermore, life on the streets is characterised by
insecurity, violence and abuse ± invariably at the hands of the very
adults to whom they should look up. Success ± in street child terms ±
implies basic survival skills, not academic prowess (Le Roux 2001).
Still, school learning is not aimed only at providing learners with skills
to equip them to support themselves in some form of enterprise, but
also to develop the social skills necessary to function effectively within
society. The street child finds himself in a situation where opportunity
for becoming acceptably socialised is minimal. The socialisation
process to which he is exposed is anti-societal and does nothing to
improve his situation. In essence, societal factors and features typical
of life on the street, impede the socialisation process of the street child,
prohibit the transmitting of values and true societal norms and also
inhibit the formation of a positive learning culture (Scott 1994:27).
To summarise, the milieu of and conditions under which the street
child is expected to realise his educational opportunities could be
described as follows:
. street children live in a negative and disorderly environment
. adults with whom the street child comes into contact are
more often abusive and abrupt than caring and consequently,
adults tend to be distrusted
. street children prefer to control and manage their own lives
and futures and feel no moral obligation to conform to the
cultural and social values and norms of society
. street children lack acceptable role models and a supportive
milieu
. street children have a poor attention span ± a condition
aggravated by substance abuse
. due to inadequate nutrition, their physical ± and mental ±
development is retarded
. they are academically handicapped due to their disrupted
schooling careers

110
. street children focus on the here and now and have little
motivation to learn skills that will help them to realize their
long-term academic potential.
. should these children indeed have the opportunity to attend
school, the fact that they are street children is to their
disadvantage since their peers and teachers tend to discriminate
against them. This discrimination is based on their
appearance, poverty, life-style and inability to cope in the
learning environment (Le Roux 2001; Scott 1994:27)
Street children's `educational' goals are directed at acquiring the skills
that enable them to survive and gain the respect and recognition of the
peer group. Needs satisfaction for street children differs from that of
children growing up in 'normal' households. Their achievements,
competence and recognition are not measured in academic terms, but
in survival and life skills. What they are motivated to know, understand
and master bear no relationship to book learning, but to life
experience. Consequently, the value they attach to school learning and
their expectancy of successfully mastering academic endeavours, are
low (Scott 1994:28). Educational programmes aimed at meeting the
needs of street children should thus seek to turn each of the above
challenges into opportunities.
4.3 Social intervention options
Many organisations and NGO's have done much to alleviate the plight
of street children. They have set up institutions to meet these children's
immediate need for shelter and food and many have provided
alternative educational opportunities. However, despite the commendable
work done by these organisations, there are those who
believe that institutions are not the answer. It is argued that children
can never identify themselves with an institution; staff members
cannot replace a parent, and consequently, the relationship between
the child and the staff is untrue and foreign to normal life. Children are
possessive and exclusive in their love and need to be loved in an
exclusive way ± something which is not possible in an institution.
Alternatively, some organisations and groups are committed to

A Historical-educational perspective of urbanisation 111
facilitating the re-integration of these children into their families and
communities. In cases where re-integration is not possible, children's
homes, but preferably foster homes, are considered as options.
However, re-integration into a dysfunctional family is not the ideal
and it would be irresponsible to suggest that these children should be
returned to their family environments unless the family is rehabilitated
and the environment transformed to ensure that it constitutes a
pedagogically appropriate and accountable setting (Van Niekerk
1990:98).
With the increasing number of AIDS orphans on the streets, the ideal of
re-integration with the family or community is often impossible to
achieve since whole families are being wiped out by the pandemic. It is
also difficult to find foster care for children who are victims of the
AIDS crisis due to the social stigma attached to these children ±
regardless of whether they are themselves HIV positive or not.
5 THE WAY FORWARD
Finding a way to address the street child phenomenon is indeed an
awkward dilemma. For many, the street is home and although life is
harsh, it is no worse than that from which they have come. One could
consequently ask whether these children should be taught competencies
and skills that will enable them to fend more adequately for
themselves on the street, or should they be encouraged to reclaim their
childhood?
In South Africa today, as in the past, the notion that a child's place in
society is in his or her family home, is still strong ± a point attested to
by the fact that in 1983 [when] the South African Children's Act was
renamed the Child Care Act. This was done to reflect the general
principle that the family is the typical social and biological structure
within which the child must grow and develop (Robinson 1993:175).
Some argue that this idea of the `otherness' of children and childhood
is typically western and that it carries with it not only an assumption
about the relative competence of children, but also an assumption
about their inferior status (Butler & Williamson 1994:3). In black
culture, it could be argued, a contrasting view exists. Children tend to

112
be treated as active and resilient contributors to their families and their
society. It is not uncommon to find that children are expected to
undertake basic subsistence work and to take on parental responsibilities
of younger siblings (Swart-Kruger 1996:233±234). Thus, in this
context, making a living on the streets or contributing to the family
incomethroughworkingthestreets,couldbeviewedasalegitimate
assignment.
However, most people when confronted with the street child situation,
view the dilemma with concern and feel obliged to do something about
the predicament within which these children find themselves. Some
say that the street children phenomenon serves as a barometer of the
caring, concern and social consciousness towards the most vulnerable
of our society. In the short term, the most that can be done is to help
those street children who want to be helped and attempt to minimise
the dangers to those who do not want to be helped. The long term
solution is far more complicated and has very little to do with the
children themselves. The society from which they come needs to be
restructured:theiniquitiesofthepasthavetoberedressed(Houghton
1996:79), violence has to be restrained; strong family values need to be
rebuilt; unemployment has to be dealt with; AIDS has to be arrested.
These are longterm challenges.
Possibly Ubuntu ± a term which at the political `turn' in South Africa
was unfortunately exploited as the panacea of all social ills and which
consequently, it can be argued, lacks credibility due to the perpetuation
of many of the unfortunate situations that it was supposed to
ameliorate ± does indeed remain the cornerstone for the betterment of
the plight of these children. Perhaps one should augment the Ubuntu
concept by including the Christian concept of compassion, agape,
Christian charity or the Humanist synonyms of altruism, humanitarianism
or philanthropism. Surely, in one of these expressions each
human individual will feel the compulsion to reach out ± either directly
or indirectly ± to these children who need care and understanding.

A Historical-educational perspective of urbanisation 113
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Bekker, S & Humphries, R. 1985. From control to confusion. Pietermaritzburg: Shuter &
Schooter.
Butler, I & Williamson, H. 1994. Children speak: children, trauma and social work. London:
Longman.
Dewar, D, Todes, A & Watson, V. 1982. Theories of urbanisation and national settlement
strategy in South Africa. Cape Town: University of Cape Town.
Donald, D & Swart-Kruger, J. 1994. Children of the South African streets, in A. Dawes &
D. Donald (eds.) Childhood and adversity: psychological perspectives from South African
research. Cape Town: David Philip: 111.
Du Plessis, J. 1999. A brief discussion of CCSE with particular reference to the
Johannesburg scenario. http://www.acapa.org.za/A/brief1.htm accessed on 18±
01±1999.
Houghton, S. 1996. Feral children, in African panorama 41(2): 73±79.
Leistner, G M E. 1968. Influx control: economic and social aspects of physical control over
rural-urban population movements in South Africa and elsewhere. Pretoria: Africa
Institute of South Africa.
Le Roux, C S. 2001. Observations of and personal interviews with street children
throughout South Africa conducted by B Ed Honours students registered between
1998±2000.
Le Roux, J. 1992. Street children as manifestation of an anti-child culture in South Africa
in Pedagogiek Joernaal 13(2): 87±98.
Nattrass, J. 1983. The dynamics of urbanisation in South Africa. Durban: University of Natal.
Richter, L M. 1988. Street children: the nature and scope of the problem in South Africa.
Pretoria: Institute for Behavioural Sciences, University of South Africa.
Robinson, J A. 1993. Children, in WA Joubert (ed) The law of South Africa. Durban:
Butterworths.
Scott, M. 1994. The motivation to learn with special reference to squattter and street
children, in Paidonomia 18(2): 24±33.
South African Native Races Committee. 1901. The natives of South Africa. London:
McGraw.
Swart, J. 1990. Malunde: the street children of Hillbrow. Johannesburg: Witwatersrand
University Press.
Swart-Kruger, J. 1996. An imperfect fit ± street children and state intervention: the South
African Case, in Africa Insight 26(3): 231±236.
The Urban Foundation. 1991. Policies for a new urban future: urban debate 2010±6. Tackling
Group Areas. Braamfontein: The Urban Foundation.

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Van Greunen, A. 2001. Wie gaan na die kinders kyk? in De Kat April 2001: 39±41.
Van Niekerk, P A. 1990. An educational perspective on street children in, Journal of
Pedagogics 11(2): 90±103.
Whiteside, A. 1988. Labour migration in Southern Africa. Braamfontein: The South African
Institute of International Affairs.
Wilson, F. 1972. Migrant labour. Johannesburg: SACC.

Preparing South African educators for school-family-community partnerships 115
Preparing South African
educators for Schoolfamily-community
partnerships
Dr Noleen van Wyk
Department of Educational
Studies
Unisa
There is compelling evidence that school-family-community partnerships benefit
learners, parents and schools. However, little is done to prepare educators to work with
families and members of the community. In view of this, research was undertaken to
determine educators' understanding and practices of family-community partnerships in
South Africa. The findings indicate that educators are poorly equipped to deal with this
important aspect of their work. The Harvard Graduate School of Education (USA) has
developed a framework for educator preparation in family involvement which highlights
content areas and promising training methods. This framework could be used to inform
pre-service and in-service training of educators in South Africa. However, it is necessary
to adapt the framework according to the approach to family-community partnership
followed by the particular institution. In this regard a functionalist, parent empowerment,
cultural competence and social capital approach are briefly discussed.
1 INTRODUCTION
Widespread support for family involvement in education is due in part
to compelling evidence that family involvement has a positive effect on
learners' academic achievement. The highly acclaimed book, Anew

116
generation of evidence: the family is critical to student achievement, opens
by stating, ``The evidence is now beyond dispute. When schools work
with families to support learning, children tend to succeed not just in
school, but throughout life'' (Henderson & Bela 1994:1). In other major
studies, the link between parent involvement and learner achievement
has also been established (Dauber & Epstein 1993:53; Chavkin 1993:2;
Bastiani 1988:38). Other benefits to learners include: decreased
truancy; improved attitudes of learners to their studies; improved
behaviour and a decrease in the drop-out rate (Hamby 1992; Epstein
1990; Swap 1993). Many studies stress that these benefits occur
irrespective of the socio-economic class to which the family belongs
(Haberman 1992:33).
The literature also emphasises the positive effects on parents of
improved family-school relations, such as increased confidence of the
parents (Bastiani & Wolfendale 1996:74); better understanding of what
is happening in school (Swap 1993:10) and a feeling of empowerment,
especially evident in disadvantaged communities (Allen & Martin
1992:49). Swap (1993:10) adds that educators also benefit when familyschool
relationships improve because they experience ...'' support and
appreciation from parents and a rekindling of their own enthusiasm for
problem solving''.
In view of the above, most policy makers and educators endorse the
need for school-family-community partnerships to improve education.
In spite of this little is being done to prepare educators to work with
parents or members of the community in South African schools. The
purpose of this research article is, therefore, to report on research
findings on South African educators' perceptions and practices of
family-school-community partnerships and propose a framework for
educator preparation which highlights content areas and promising
training methods.

Preparing South African educators for school-family-community partnerships 117
2 THE SOUTH AFRICAN CONTEXT
Relations between the family and schools in South Africa have been
fundamentally affected over the last few years by numerous changes in
legislation and government initiatives. These changes have created a
new legal environment for school-family-community partnerships.
In the first place, the changing realities of South African society have
been taken into account by the South African Schools Act (Republic of
South Africa (RSA) 1996:4), which allows considerable latitude in the
definition of `parent'. Thus this term now also includes any person who
is the learner's guardian, or who is legally entitled to custody of the
learner, or who has undertaken to fulfil the obligations of a parent or
guardian towards the learner's education. This broader definition
encourages schools to acknowledge a variety of family types and
household structures and thus, to develop a versatile range of practices
of family-school linkages.
The South African Schools Act (RSA 1996:14) also acknowledges the
rights of parents to be involved in school governance. Governing
bodies are a significant feature of democracy in society and represent a
major move towards empowering parents in schools (Alexander,
Bastiani & Beresford 1995:88). The functions of school governing
bodies (SGBs) in South Africa include developing the mission
statement of the school, adopting a code of conduct for learners,
determining the language and admission policies of the school (within
certain limits set by the South African Schools Act) and making
recommendations on the appointment of teaching and administrative
staff. Allocated functions of governing bodies include maintaining and
improving school property, determining curriculum and subject
choice, and purchasing textbooks. The Act was amended in 2000 (RSA
2000a) to ensure that the racial composition of the school population is
better represented on school governing bodies. This includes co-opting
members to the SGB who represent the racial and linguistic composition
of the learners and giving these members full voting powers (RSA
2000a).
In July 1999 the Minister of Education announced a national

118
mobilisation plan for education and training in South Africa under the
slogan ``Tirisano'', that is, working together (Department of Education
(DE) 1999:6). Priority three of the nine-point programme set out by the
Minister is titled: Schools must become centres of community life. Under
this heading various aspects are discussed, including the role to school
governing bodies. The Minister acknowledges that this is a new
concept for most communities in this country, thus warning that we
must, ...'' put great effort into ensuring that governing bodies,
especially in poor communities, are given the support they need to
become strong and viable'' (DE 1999:9). However, the Minister also
includes the community in the government's plans for the future of
education in the country.
There is a role in community schools for religious bodies, businesses,
cultural groups, sports clubs and civic associations, both to serve their
own requirements and to contribute to the school's learning programme
both in and out of school hours.
In another move, the Department of Education has published the
Norms and Standards for Educators, in which seven roles for educators
have been set out (RSA 2000b:12±25). The role entitled: Community,
citizenship and pastoral role, includes the following: ``... the educator
will develop supportive relations with parents and other key persons
and organisations based on a critical understanding of community and
environmental issues'' (RSA 2000:14).
This brief exposition of recent changes in South African education
indicates that the government is committed to improving schoolfamily-community
partnerships and wants educators to be fully
equipped to deal with this aspect of their work. This should include the
development of suitable pre-service and in-service training programmes.
With this in mind research was undertaken to determine
how educators understand partnerships with families and the community
and whether prior teacher education has equipped them to deal
with this aspect of their work.

Preparing South African educators for school-family-community partnerships 119
3 RESEARCH DESIGN
The primary aim of the research was to understand and describe
educators' perceptions and practices of family-school-community
partnerships. The research was designed to be exploratory and
descriptiveandthusnoattemptsweremadetoestablishcauseand
effect relationships under experimental conditions. The research was
conducted over a period of four years and included primary and
secondary school educators in independent and public schools.
3.1 Data collection strategies
In 1996 and again in 1999 focus group interviews with educators were
conducted in a number of township schools in Gauteng and the Free
State provinces. During these periods a total of 25 educators was
included in five focus group interviews. This methodology was
considered appropriate as it provides educators the opportunity to
define their own problems, reducing the risk of the researcher
``exporting ready-made solutions to other people's problems'' (quoted
in Lemmer 1992:294). Interviews were audio taped and later transcribed.
Moreover, two questionnaires for educators were used to obtain
further information on school-family-community partnerships in
individual schools. The first survey, answered by 50 educators, was
distributed in selected Pretoria schools during April-May 1997; the
second, answered by 152 educators, was distributed in independent
schools in Johannesburg during March 2000. In general both questionnaires
ask for professional judgements about family and community
involvement, the practices educators are currently using, and the
partnership programmes educators would like to see developed or
improved in their schools and classrooms. Both questionnaires
included a number of open-ended questions.
3.2 Data analysis
Analysis of data obtained from the focus group interviews and
responses to open-ended questions in the questionnaires was done

120
through content analysis, which entailed identifying, coding, and
categorising the primary patterns in the data (Miles & Huberman 1994;
Strauss & Corbin 1990). Initially the participants' responses were read
and reread in order to gain familiarity with them. At this stage the aim
was to use the data `to think with' (Newport 1994:229). In this way
categories and sub-categories started to emerge. Literature, observation,
and experience assisted the researcher in identifying the final
categories.
The ``raw data'' of the questionnaires was coded and percentages listed
in each response category for each item. The basic descriptive statistics
produced ``profiles'' of teachers' practices and perspectives of schoolfamily-community
partnerships in their respective schools.
4 FINDINGS OF RESEARCH
The most important findings concerning educators' understanding and
practices of partnerships with families and the communities in South
Africa include the following.
4.1 Educators have a limited understanding of what
constitutes school-family-community
partnerships.
Forty seven percent of educators answering the questionnaires felt that
there was a common understanding of what was intended by schools
regarding partnership initiatives. In addition, educators interviewed
stated that their schools did not have a written policy on school-familycommunity
partnerships. Likewise, most schools had never discussed
family and community involvement as a way of improving schooling.
Generally the educators mentioned using the more conventional ways
of involving families such as open-house days, fundraising activities,
volunteer programmes, parent-teacher conferences, et cetera. Many
parents, especially single and dual income parents, are not able to
participate in such activities, yet they want to help their children
succeed in school. However, it does not seem as if educators make

Preparing South African educators for school-family-community partnerships 121
specific arrangements for such parents to become involved in their
children's education. As Chrispeels (1991:371) notes: ``Most efforts
have been directed at `fixing' parents rather than at altering school
structures and practices.''
The absence of a school policy on partnerships with families and the
community, and a lack of understanding of ways in which families may
be involved is unfortunate as research shows that school programmes
and educator practices are the strongest and most consistent predictors
of partnerships between the school and the family (Dauber & Epstein
1993:61; Wanat 1994:644).
4.2 Educators are not convinced that family-school
partnerships are important for learner success.
In spite of overwhelming evidence to the contrary, many educators do
not believe that parent involvement is important for learner success. In
the investigation carried out in 1997 only a third of the educators felt
that parent involvement would have a positive effect on learner
achievement. This means, among others, that teachers do not readily
discuss learners' progress with their parents. In secondary schools only
42% of teachers did so, adding, however, that they only contact parents
of weaker students, or in cases where there are ``serious concerns''. A
way of convincing educators of the importance of family and
community partnerships is to teach them the benefits of such
partnerships.
4.3 Educators do not involve families in home-work
activities.
Good homework habits of learners and the support of parents in these
activities prove beneficial to learners. However, involving parents in
homework activities does not seem common practice, particularly in
secondary schools. 74% of primary school educators stated that they
had a policy of involving parents in learning activities at home, in
contrast with 24% of educators in secondary schools. One educator

122
defended the view of secondary school educators: ``In high school
homework is for students to do on their own.'' This view is, however,
incorrect as a positive homework policy which involves parents is in
fact aimed at preventing parents doing homework for the learner.
In low socioeconomic school communities, educators argue that
parents are uncooperative when it comes to homework activities. As
one explained: ``The literate parents are the ones that look at a book,
but the illiterate ones don't care.'' An educator at the same school
elaborates:
When I give them homework, I usually tell them where parents should
sign, but you know not all the parents sign. You find that the child would
come and say, `Oh my mother was busy and my father was not at home.'
However, when questioned, all participants admitted that they had
never taught parents how to play a positive role regarding their
children's school work. They also admitted to not knowing how to do
so. This is consistent with the findings of Epstein and Dauber
(1991:290) that most parents need help on how to become involved in
their children's education at each grade level.
4.4 Educators do not actively support parents in their
role as educators.
Besides supporting homework activities, families and communities
should provide the rich ``social capital'' learners need to succeed in
life. This, according to Coleman (1987:37), means providing the
`'norms, the social networks, and the relationships between adults and
children that are of value for the child's growing up''. A number of
primary school educators indicated that they encouraged parents to
read to their children or to join a library. In contrast, only 32% of
secondary school educators said that they endorse learning at home,
stating that this should mainly involve supporting the work learners
do at school. An educator explained: ``... we try to insist on parents
being parents and teachers handling the problems''. Another added:
``The question seems silly to me. In what respect are the parents
qualified ± meaningfully ± to be educators?''

Preparing South African educators for school-family-community partnerships 123
Most educators seem to agree that parents should teach children
``values, attitudes and behaviour'' at home. Educators working in
deprived communities state that this is often difficult to achieve. As
one explained:
They are all sleeping in one room with their children. It is difficult for
them to be like parents to their children. Whatever they talk, they say this
in front of the children. Whatever they do, they do this in front of the
children.
The family is a major socialising agent in society assisting individuals
as they move from childhood to adolescence and eventually adulthood.
No one can adequately take over this role. Moreover, parents benefit by
being alerted to different and more effective ways of creating or
developing learning opportunities and stimulating experiences for
their children by parenting programmes (Wolfendale 1992:9). However,
if educators have not been adequately trained they are unlikely to
be able to fulfil this task.
4.5 Educators seem unwilling to include parents in
classroom activities.
Although educators include parent volunteers in fundraising activities,
or to accompany learners on trips away from the school, most seem
unwilling to use volunteers to support learning in the classroom. Only
27% respondents to the questionnaires had ever invited parents into
their classrooms. However, even when invited, parents were not asked
to play an active role. An educator explained: ``When they (parents) are
invitedtoaclassitisonlyasaudience,nevertoparticipateortohelp.''
In the light of the high learner : educator ratio in most South African
schools, this attitude seems counter productive. Moreover, in multicultural
and multilingual classes, the use of parents volunteers which
reflect the ethnic and language diversity of the class has been found to
benefit all concerned (Swap 1992:62).

124
4.6 Educators seem satisfied with a one-way flow of
communication.
Most participants in this research indicated that they communicate
with parents by means of written communication, school meetings,
parent conferences and by messages passed on through learners.
However, limited opportunities seem to exist for parents to communicate
with the school on their own initiative. Although educators
maintain that parents are free to contact the school if they have a
problem, they do not seem willing to meet parents at a time which is
convenient for both parents and educators. Most argue that parents
should not be given educators' home telephone numbers.
A number of educators admitted that parents are mostly contacted
about negative issues, which does not promote a good relationship
between the school and the home. Another educator felt that schools
often view parents as ``difficult'' and that this negatively affects on
their interpersonal relationships and communication. This teacher
continues: ``If teachers could look beyond this label, the communication
would benefit.''
More than half the respondents to the questionnaires indicated that
they needed training in conducting parent-educator conferences.
4.7 Educators often believe that the parents' role in
decision making should be limited.
Ingeneral,educatorsfeelthatparents'roleindecisionmakingshould
be limited to voting for, or serving on, the school governing body. In
spite of this 38% of educators admitted that parents were not being
consulted about decisions which directly affect them. In addition,
educators also remarked that ``only a handful'' of the members of the
school governing structures were willing to get involved in the
concerns of the parents and that little is done to address these concerns.
On the other hand, many educators feel that recent legislation has
given the school governing body too much decision making power and

Preparing South African educators for school-family-community partnerships 125
that educators as ``enlightened professional people who know about
children'' should not be placed in a position where they can be
outvoted by parents. Another educator added that it was inconceivable
that ``illiterates'' should be telling educators what to do.
4.8 Educators have limited knowledge and
experience of involving the community.
At times some schools included in this research invite members of the
community to address either learners or parents. For example, traffic
inspectors to speak on road safety; nurses on health issues and police
on crime and crime prevention. Likewise, various agencies inform
parents and learners on AIDS, drugs and other related issues. Often the
people invited to speak are also parents at the school. Some school
premises are also used by outside agencies for Adult Basic Education and
Training courses, or for other extra-mural activities such as sewing
classes, computer courses and English lessons.
Schools should also, however, realise that community must be defined
to include all groups affected by the quality of education, not just
people living near the school (Epstein 1995:702). Greater awareness of
community resources which could be used by the parents and children
should also receive attention and this information passed on to those
needing help. The problem is serious for all educators, particularly
those who teach in economically disadvantaged communities. Little, if
any, attention has been paid to the need to prepare educators to work
with the community or to link community resources to the goals of
learners, families and schools.
4.9 Educators tend to blame parents for the lack of
effective school-family-community partnerships.
Most educators list a number of barriers to effective partnerships
relating to the role of parents. These include:
Limited time: This is true where both parents work, but particularly so
in the case of single working mothers. As one educator said, ``They are
not involved because of lack of time and a feeling that they have

126
enough on their hands anyway.'' In township schools an additional
problem is the fact that parents only get back from work very late and
all meetings have to be scheduled during weekends. This is difficult as
one educator pointed out, ``On weekends, parents have also got
weddings, funerals, all these things.''
Problematic life situations: Many families living in South Africa are
experiencing stress which affects the way they relate to their children
and the school. As one educator put it: ``Many parents are in extremely
traumatic life situations and are struggling to survive.'' This often
leads to parents avoiding the school for ``fear of being forced into
positions of authority and responsibility''. In the townships schools the
situation is worse as many parents are unemployed and are grappling
with urgent problems of survival, leaving little time or energy for
school involvement.
Uncooperative parents: The general apathy of parents to the school was
mentioned by many educators. One stated that on the whole parents
just ``dump children at school'' and then expect the ``job to be done''.
Educators in township schools agree, adding ``Parents don't care. They
feel that everything at school is the teacher's responsibility.'' Another
educator gave a similar explanation: ``Parents don't want to contribute
or get involved. They just put their children in school and forget about
their needs. It is like the school is babysitting for them.''
Parents' lack of education: In South Africa it is estimated that 37% of the
population is unable to read or write (Shindler & Bot 1999:1). This,
according to educators, seriously affects their involvement in school
activities. One explained:
Now the problem of the teacher, we are trying to call parents sometimes,
but it seems most of our parents think they are not educated ± they thus
run away from teachers, and that brings a problem.
Another educator is willing to accept part of the blame: ``Maybe
parents think when they come to me, I am going to ignore them,
because they are not educated or on my level. The blame is maybe with

Preparing South African educators for school-family-community partnerships 127
the teacher.''Although the above barriers as mentioned by educators
are valid, parents should certainly be helped so that they can meet the
challenge of providing the support their children need to succeed in
life (Carrasquillo & London 1993:109). In this they need guidance from
educators or similarly trained people. In reality, most educators
interviewed felt that many parents were hard to reach and attributed
this to the parents themselves or to their communities and cultures.
4.10 Educators are not trained to initiate or improve
school-family-community partnerships.
Many respondents to the questionnaires mentioned that they had not
been adequately equipped to involve families and the community in
their schools. As one educator explained:
We are only taught how to manage a class, controlling the books. The part
of where the parent comes in, is not there ... So the parents are not part of
the package of management. I think we basically need workshops.
Likewise, an educator in an independent school admitted that staff are
often intimidated by parents and needed assistance in dealing with
them. Another educator stated that the lack of willingness of educators
to involve parents is that they had never been taught the benefits of
parent involvement. It also seems as if not all educators are aware of
the different aspects of parent involvement as illustrated by this
comment: ``I don't understand what you mean by parent involvement.
In what spheres would they be involved?''
A survey of educators in the state of Maryland in the United States of
America revealed that few educators attributed their practices of
parent involvement to knowledge gained in their formal training
(Epstein, Sanders & Clark 1999:1). Moreover, it was reported that
although students in undergraduate training programmes had positive
attitudes about all types of involvement, most felt minimally prepared
to conduct partnerships with families and the community (Epstein et al
1999:2). Judging by the responses of educators in this research which
was conducted over a period of four years, educators in this country
are, likewise, in need of training.

128
5 PREPARING EDUCATORS FOR SCHOOL-FAMILY-
COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIPS
Schools cannot work successfully in isolation from learners' families
and communities. This requires higher education institutions involved
in pre-service training of educators and institutions and agencies
involved in their in-service training to reexamine the skills, knowledge
and attitudes that educators will need to work effectively in the schools
of the future. Shartrand, Weiss, Kreider and Lopez (1997:21) of the
Harvard School of Education developed a framework of content areas
for educator preparation. This framework illustrates the range of
training for family involvement and focusses on the attitudes, skills and
knowledge that educators need to work effectively with families and the
community. As such it differs from other typologies of family
involvement, which consists of actual types of involvement activities
carried out in schools. By providing a range of types of training, the
framework overcomes the fragmentation in the way in which educators
generally learn about family involvement. The framework for educator
training includes the following areas of content which, it is argued, all
educators need to master in order to work effectively with families and
the community.
5.1 General family involvement
Family involvement efforts are most successful when educators and
schools assume that all parents want what is best for their children and
can make important contributions to their children's education. Thus,
educators need to understand the benefits and barriers to family
involvement. Educator preparation will, therefore, include knowledge
of, skills in, and positive attitudes towards involving parents
(Shartrand et al 1997:23).
5.2 General family knowledge
In this regard, Shartrand et al (1997:26) suggest improving the
educator's (or student educator's) knowledge of different families'
cultural beliefs, child rearing practices, family structures and living
environments. In a country which was, until recently, racially divided,
this is important. An objective of this `learning area' is to promote an

Preparing South African educators for school-family-community partnerships 129
awareness and understanding of different backgrounds and lifestyles
of families. This preparation can provide knowledge and understanding
and offer educators a learning experience that can bridge the
world of home and school.
5.3 Home-school communication
The objective of this area of training is to provide various techniques
and strategies to improve two-way communication between home and
school (and/or parent and teacher). This is necessary as effective
communication between the home and the school can strengthen
family involvement in a child's education. Through open and honest
communication, parents and educators begin to understand one
another's ideas about learning, discipline, and other topics. Such
communication helps parents and educators to work together to
improve an individual child's performance and to contribute to school
wide policies which benefit all students in the school. Educator
preparation can equip educators with the skills to improve two-way
communication between home and school, especially when difficult
and sensitive issues have to be discussed (Shartrand et al 1997:30).
5.4 Family involvement in learning activities
Educator preparation can equip educators with the skills to develop
two-way learning between the home and school. Educators can
promote family involvement in children's learning and development
by acting as facilitators rather than experts. They can recommend
activities that help parents promote their children's learning, including
reading to their children, creating a physical setting conducive to
study, and showing an interest in their children's schoolwork. Equally
important, educators can learn from parents ± about child rearing
practices and family skills and resources ± and tailor suggestions for
involvement activities to meet the individual circumstances of each
family (Shartrand et al 1997:33).
5.5 Families supporting schools
Here the student-educator gains knowledge on ways to involve parents

130
in helping the school, both within and outside the classroom. This is
important, for when families and the community as a whole support
schools, schools gain a vast network of resources. Preparing educators
to involve families in their children's schooling can help teachers
understand families, communicate with them, negotiate distances, and
build a consensus. This training enables educators to participate in
forums for parents, educators and other citizens to establish collective
support for learning and student achievement. Educators also develop
the skills to involve parents and other family and community members
as resources for the school (Shartrand et al 1997:37).
5.6 Schools supporting families
Schools support families by providing opportunities to strengthen
parenting skills, enhance parent networks, and minimise the stresses of
parenting. Increasingly, educators deal with learners and families
challenged by poverty. Such stressful circumstances can inhibit
effective parenting practices, and as a result, have negative effects on
children's development and school achievement. Although educators
should not be held responsible for meeting the needs of such families
directly, they can learn to understand the connections between
poverty, family functioning, and child rearing. They can also learn to
support families through parent education programmes, parent centres
and referrals to other community or social services. In short, educators
can be trained to work in ``full-service schools'' that provide families
additional support services such as health and mental care, adult
education and social services (Shartrand et al 1997:40).
5.7 Families as change agents
Schools and educators can promote informed decision making among
families by treating them with care and respect, and by offering them
opportunities for critical reflection and participation. The range of
decision making is broad and includes such diverse activities as
promoting an individual child's learning, improving school facilities
and programmes and implementing school reform. Educators can be
prepared to support and involve parents and families in various types
of decision making. Such preparation should focus on helping

Preparing South African educators for school-family-community partnerships 131
educators develop and understand the principles of an empowerment
approach. It should also involve their acquiring skills in managing
group dynamics, problem solving, and conflict resolution (Shartrand et
al 1997:43).
In conclusion: The above framework provides the content studenteducators
need to master in order to work effectively with families and
communities. Should someone have acquired the knowledge, skills and
attitudes set out in the seven areas identified above, the problems
described by the South African educators participating in the research
could be addressed. In other words, educators trained in the seven
areas would understand the benefits of and barriers to family and
community involvement, sympathise and communicate effectively
with all types of families, involve families in a variety of school-based
activities, teach families to support learning at home, and support and
involve families in decision making, advocacy and school policy
development.
6 APPROACHES TO SCHOOL-HOME-COMMUNITY
PARTNERSHIPS
The framework as set out by Shartrand et al (1997) does not advocate a
specific approach to school-family-community partnerships. The
framework recognises that there are a number of approaches to family
involvement and acknowledges that the seven areas of content will be
presented in a different manner, depending on the approach of the
institution to family and community partnerships in education.
Shartrand et al (1997:20) list four approaches:
6.1 A functional approach
This approach emphasises the different roles and responsibilities of
educators and parents in promoting learner achievement. An example
of a functional approach is that of Epstein (1996). Epstein (1996:214)
developed a theoretical perspective called overlapping spheres of
influence. This is based on a social organisational perspective that
posits that the most effective families and schools have overlapping
shared goals and missions concerning children and conduct some work

132
collaboratively. In other words, the model assumes that there are
mutual interests and influences of families and schools that can be
more or less successfully promoted by the policies and programmes of
the organisation and the actions of the individuals in the organisation.
The Epstein model illustrates that anytime, in any school, and in any
family, parent involvement is a variable that can be increased or
decreased by the practices of educators, parents and learners.
Initially a framework of five major types of involvement that fall
within the areas of overlap in the spheres of influence was identified
(Davis 1991:377). These include: Basic obligations of families, communication
between school and home and home and school, volunteers,
learning activities at home, and decision making. A sixth type of
partnership was added later: collaborating with the community
(Epstein 1995:704).
6.2 A parent empowerment approach
This approach emphasises the strengths of disenfranchised families.
One example of such an approach is the work of Cochran and Dean
(1991). The empowerment approach is based on the belief that schools
are key institutions in local communities and thus are in a special
position to enhance or retard the empowerment process. Initially the
programme targeted families with children in the age-group 3±6 years.
By means of home visits, schools encourage mothers in particular to
believe in and care for themselves. The second step is encouraging
mothers to become involved in social action in the community by
joining other parents in neighbourhood support clusters, aimed at
getting to know each other, share impressions of family life in the
community and later to progress to neighbourhood improvement. The
thirdstepisbecomingactiveintheschoolstheirchildrenare
attending. Thus the programme includes several different aspects of
empowerment, beginning with an individual's view of herself and
progressing through relations with nearby others to interactions with
more distant organizations and institutions (Cochran & Dean
1991:262). The empowerment approach is built on the assumption that
all families have strengths and the most useful knowledge about
rearing children can be found in the community itself ± in the older

Preparing South African educators for school-family-community partnerships 133
generations, in social networks, and in ethnic and cultural traditions.
Educators who are to be trained in the empowerment approach must be
taught how to empathise with parents and recognise their strengths,
make the most of parent-teacher conferences, and find creative ways to
involve parents in school activities (Cochran & Dean 1991:264).
6.3 A cultural competence approach
This approach is based on the belief that the school is an inclusive,
respectful setting where diversity is welcomed. This approach is
described in the work of Moll, Amanti, Neff and Gonzalez (1992) and is
based on a research model that shows how classroom practice can be
developed, transformed and enriched by drawing on existing ``funds of
knowledge'' in minority learners' households. The term ``funds of
knowledge'' is used to refer to those historically accumulated and
culturally developed bodies of knowledge and skills essential for
household or individual functioning and well-being (Moll et al
1992:133). The community component of the approach involves
teachers entering households for the purpose of discerning the
household's socio political and economic context, and social and
labour histories. The result is that teachers are more likely to view the
households as repositories of funds of knowledge capable of providing
opportunities for learning rather than seeing the homes of minority
children as a hindrance to academic progress. Consequently, teachers
view learners coming from these households with more respect and
understanding, and are better able to tie the academic content to the
formerly hidden talents and abilities they have discovered in these
learners. Parent volunteers are also used to enrich the lessons planned
as a result of these home visits.
6.4 A social capital approach
This approach is built on the concept of community support for
education. An example of this approach is the work of Coleman.
Coleman (1987) proposed that the home and school provide different
inputs for the socialisation process of children. One category of inputs,
namely, opportunity, demands and reward comes from schools. The

134
second category of inputs comes from the child's closer, more intimate
and more persistent environment. These inputs can be loosely
described as attitudes, effort and conception of self, which are instilled
mainly by the social environment of the household. Education
outcomes result from the reciprocal interaction between the qualities
the child brings from the home and the qualities of the school.
Coleman (1987:37) argues that families provide the social capital needed
by schools to optimise learners' outcomes. However, the social capital of
the home is declining as reflected by the absence of parents in the home
and a decrease of exchange between parents and children about
academic, social, economic and personal matters. The social capital that
exists in the community should, therefore, also be used to support
learners and schools.
It is also suggested that parents' uncertainty, anxiety and fear increase
as the child progresses in school, since they feel unable to respond to
their child's linguistic and social capital needs (Clark 1988:95). This
anxiety is more profound among parents in the low socioeconomic
strata. To help parents, schools need to include ways for teachers to
share information that empowers parents to function as effective
mentors in the family.
Should an institution wish to teach a specific approach or programme
of school-family-community partnerships to its students (or to
educators receiving in-service training), the attitudes, knowledge and
skills as identified by Shartrand et al (1997) will need to be adapted to
the specific programme or approach. Two approaches will be used to
illustrate this (set out in Table 1).

Preparing South African educators for school-family-community partnerships 135
TABLE 1
Attitudes, knowledge and skills for educator training programmes
(Adapted from Shartrand et al 1997:21±45)
Framework
for training
General
family in-
volvement
General
family
knowledge
Home-
school
communi-
cation
A functional approach (ie
the Epstein approach)
Knowledge of the goals,
benefits and barriers to
school-home-community
partnerships.
Skills in involving parents
of all backgrounds.
Knowledge of different
cultural beliefs, lifestyles,
child rearing practices,
family structures and
living environments.
Attitude of respect for
different backgrounds
and lifestyles is included.
Skills in effective interpersonal
communication.
Skills in using active listening
and effective
communication to understand
families and to
build trust and cooperation.
A social capital approach
(ie the Coleman
approach)
Knowledge of the idea of
social capital and parental
investment in their
children's learning.
Knowledge that schools
and homes have different
valuesandthatsuchdifferences
influence partnerships
between the
home and schools.
Skills in communicating
expectations and values
in order to build a sense
of trust among members
of the community.

136
Framework
for training
Family in-
volvement
in learning
activities
Families
supporting
schools
Schools
supporting
families
Families as
change
agents
A functional approach (ie
the Epstein approach)
Skills in involving parents
in their children's
learning outside schools.
Skills in sharing teaching
skills with parents
Skills in involving
parents in the school and
classroom.
Knowledge of how
schools can support
families' social and
educational needs.
Skills in referral
procedures.
Skills in supporting and
involving parents as
decision makers.
Skills in sharing leadership
with and transferring
it to parents
A social capital approach
(ie the Coleman
approach)
Skills in motivating
family involvement in
home learning activities.
Skills in home-visits.
Skills in fostering community
participation in
education activities.
Skills in fostering parent
investment in their children
in school, through
volunteering, attendance
at school events and
fundraising.
Skills in utilising
resources for other
community groups.
Skills in identifying the
expectations and goals of
families.
Knowledge of how school
social events can create
social capital.
Attitudes that shared
decision making is an
essential ingredient to
establish and maintain a
common set of core
values.

Preparing South African educators for school-family-community partnerships 137
If educators are to link learning in the classroom and in the home, how
are they being prepared to accomplish this task? What knowledge and
skills do they need? How should these be taught and learned?
Although the above does not provide all the answers, having a
framework of content areas, which can be adapted to a specific
approach is a good starting point for anyone developing pre-service
and in-service programmes in South Africa.
7 CONCLUSION
Theresultsoftheinterviewsandthequestionnairesincludedinthe
empirical investigation indicate that educators have a limited understanding
of school-family-community partnerships, of the benefits of
such partnerships, and of strategies which may be used to involve
families and the community in the school. Educators also tend to blame
families, particularly those in poor socioeconomic environments, for
any lack of involvement. This is to be expected as educators in South
Africa get little help in developing their skills and knowledge of
collaborating with families and the community. Likewise, few receive
training in this field during their pre-service training. This lack of
initial training is not compensated for by in-service training, except in
the rare school districts. Thus, most educators must rely on their
accumulated experiences in dealing with families. Hamby (1992:61)
points out that this lack of training by educators is serious as parents
are unlikely to become involved without intervention from the school.
By taking cognisance of the areas of content set out in the above
framework, and adapting it to the particular approach to schoolfamily-community
partnership advocated by the institution, effective
programmes for educators can be developed to address this need.
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140
Recognition of prior
learning Ð a few words
of caution
M M Nieman
Department of Educational
Studies
Unisa
Recognition of prior learning (RPL) enables individuals to receive formal recognition for
skills and knowledge they already possess. The rationale for the recognition of prior
learning is based on the premise that learning experientially may be as valuable as
learning through theory. Implementing a prior learning assessment programme has many
advantages, however, it is a complex process that does not come without its share of
impediments. When an institution of higher learning intends to implement RPL, then there
are a number of factors that should be considered to obviate any impediment to
successful implementation. In this article these factors are discussed.
1 INTRODUCTION
The recognition and accreditation of prior learning (RPL) has been
introduced successfully since the seventies in the United States; since
the eighties in the United Kingdom and Canada and currently it is
being implemented in Australia, New Zealand and several other
countries. However, it is only recently, with the establishment of the
South African Qualifications Authority (SAQA) and the National
Qualifications Framework (NQF) that this practice has been addressed,
formally, in South African educational documentation. On account of
these initiatives and changes in the area of education and training (eg

Recognition of prior learning ± a few words of caution 141
outcomes-based education), there will have to be accreditation of
learners' achievements in all areas and at all levels (irrespective of the
routetheyfollowedinordertoreachtherequiredoutcomes),the
institution where the outcomes were reached, as well as the pace at
which this was accomplished. Focus thus needs to be shifted to the
learner and the learning that took place, the way in which learning
took place, how long this took, and where it happened.
Whereas the debate about recognition and accreditation of prior
learning has abated in many countries, in South Africa it is still the
topic of much discussion. The benefit that may be gained by
institutions of higher education in South Africa, from what has taken
place in other countries, is that there is no need to reinvent the wheel.
Local institutions may build on other countries' findings, and in this
way pitfalls and misconceptions may be averted. This article is
informed directly by these findings, since the main objective is to point
out some of the misconceptions and problems that one should guard
against in order not to jeopardise the successful implementation of
RPL. Furthermore, this article aims to highlight certain aspects that
should be kept in mind when RPL is implemented. One of the most
important requirements for successful implementation of RPL is the
actual informing of all stakeholders. In this way a further objective is
reached with this article, as information about RPL is disseminated to a
potential group of RPL candidates, (ie the current readers of this
article).
2 WHAT DOES RECOGNITION AND ACCREDITATION
OF PRIOR LEARNING COMPRISE?
Recognition and accreditation of prior learning are generic terms that
are used for the process in which persons of all ages and backgrounds
are offered the opportunity to receive formal recognition (usually
academic credits) for the competency and knowledge they have
already obtained. Steenholdt (1998:1) clarifies this process by stating
simply: ``RPL involves matching what an individual already knows
and can do (their competencies) with learning outcomes of modules in
an accredited course.'' From an analysis of a number of website pages
(Stannard 1999; University of Ballarat TAFE Division1999; Steenholdt

142
1998; Universities and Colleges Admissions Service for the UK 1999)
and from other sources (Harris & Saddington 1995:7; Sansregret
1985:17; New Zealand Qualifications Authority 1993:7), it appears that
the knowledge and competencies could have resulted from:
. Teaching Ð That is any certified learning that took place by
studying a course at a recognised educational institution, or
work performed at a non-governmental organisation (NGO),
as well as any other course that has been done overseas, this
all makes up this category of teaching.
. Job experience Ð This includes paid work, for instance work
in an office as well as unpaid work in an office or, for
example, helping in a family business.
. Life experience Ð This includes all recreation activities,
hobbies, uncertified learning by study for self-enrichment;
free-will work in the community or in welfare organisations,
the running of a household, the taking care of others,
etcetera.
The last two categories are often grouped with ``Prior Experiential
Learning'' (cf Section 4 below, for the necessity of this distinction).
Accreditation of prior learning may be in the nature of admission to a
study programme, or it may be study for an advanced standing within
a study programme, or merely to obtain the recognition of credits for
the achievement of a qualification. This amounts to the idea that a
candidate's knowledge and competencies which had been obtained
elsewhere and that are relevant for a particular course, may accrue for
exemption from certain components for a course since these are
equivalent to certain credits. The credits that are awarded in this way
are of equal value to credits that the learners obtain by following a
more traditional route, for instance by means of either contact or
distance teaching (Universities and Colleges Admissions Service for
the UK 1999:3).
3 BENEFITS OF ASSESSMENT AND ACCREDITATION
OF PRIOR LEARNING
The acknowledgement and accreditation of prior learning are espe-

Recognition of prior learning ± a few words of caution 143
cially of importance to adult learners who want to make a re-entry into
education, or who want to shorten the period of time for their
curriculum (Universities and Colleges Admissions Service for the UK
1999:5, 6). Adults are usually averse to the duplicating of learning.
Therefore they are often unwilling to register and pay for a course in
which they will hear things they already know. To be forced to repeat
the same learning activities is the main stumbling block in the way of
lifelong learning and it is in any case expensive for the individual, for
the business sector and for broader society. An important benefit of
RPL in South Africa is that it can redress the unjustices of the past,
since it is one of the most effective ways to provide opportunities of
access to individuals who did not have the opportunity to enter higher
education previously. These individuals who have been estranged
from traditional learning systems, either on account of time, finances,
phase of life, distance or other factors, were just not able to obtain
access to higher education. They now set their hope on the accreditation
of their experience. This, in turn, can lead to the provision of
additional opportunities of access to job opportunities.
The acknowledgement of learning and the process of reflection that is
necessary to compile an RPL application often leads to heightened selfconfidence.
The recognition of learning by experience Ð often against
all expectations Ð influences the learners' motivation in a positive
way. Students obtain confidence in their capabilities as learners and
they develop a greater understanding of the value of lifelong learning.
Moreover, the preparation of an application for RPL facilitates the
development of independent self-study skills. Reflection on learning
by experience heightens the relationship between theory and practice,
and this leads to the heightened concept of reciprocal flow between
academic learning and practice (Universities and Colleges Admissions
Service for the UK 1999:8; Toop & Burleigh 1993:14±16).
Thus, RPL has the potential to broaden the potential for access, to
ensure a supple curriculum and to inculcate a positive value for
learning outside the sphere of academic learning. It may be seen as a
means whereby learners can integrate and appreciate theory and
practice, and whereby reflective practice can be enhanced. By

144
identifying learning by means of experience and then in turn applying
this learning in changing practice reflection on learning is encouraged.
However, RPL is not only beneficial for the individual: it also contains
benefits for higher education institutions, businesses, society and the
State. According to a number of researchers (Toop & Burleigh 1993:14±
16; Sansregret 1985; Universities and Colleges Admissions Service for
the UK 1999:8; Steenholdt 1998:2, and Unisa 2000:2), it is beneficial to
employers and managers of RPL candidates, since RPL leads to a
higher level of interest in all aspects of practice and motivation of
employees when previously acquired skills are graded. RPL can lead to
an acceleration in the obtaining of a qualification, and this in turn,
means that employees need to spend less time away from work while
trying to obtain an additional qualification. In this way, RPL is a
mechanism to overcome the shortage of trained human resources and a
way of improving multi-skilling. RPL is cost-effective, since it
eliminates unnecessary ``lockstep'' re-training and duplication. Moreover,
the process of reflection on practice often leads to new ideas and
developments in the work place and the ties between industry
(practice) and education (theory) are strengthened. RPL can also
identify unused or underutilised skills in the workforce.
A number of sources point out that higher education personnel can
benefit in their support of learners who submit RPL applications (see
Toop & Burleigh1993:14±16; Sansregret 1985; Universities and Colleges
Admissions Service for the UK 1999:9; Steenholdt 1998:4 and Unisa
2000:2). These benefits include:
. The learning outcomes approach encourages curriculum
development, in the sense that a student's RPL application
may suggest ideas for new modules and the updating and
development of existing modules, or new techniques for
assessment.
. The importance of issues in the work or recreation environment
is stressed, and faculties could utilise learners' existing
knowledge in their programmes.
. The process encourages study to be relevant to professional
and personal development, and this ensures a stronger link

Recognition of prior learning ± a few words of caution 145
between classroom learning and real world experiences. The
mechanisms for assessment of prior learning often demand
that faculties should reflect on the changing of their
established assumptions about teaching and learning. This
reflection often encourages changing of course content and
assessment, in order to produce learning outcomes that are
more meaningful.
. RPL applications are often based on recent experiences, and
therefore represent up-to-date and dynamic interaction with
the world of work, and yield material for discussion and
research.
. Learning and teaching partnerships with employers are
encouraged, in that the learning outcomes that are connected
with the current work practice can be negotiated. Sansregret
(1985:24) views this as ``dialogue between the academic and
business worlds''.
. Students are inclined to study at institutions where their
prior learning is recognised, rather than to study at institutions
where this is not the case. They often return to the same
institution where this recognition took place, to upgrade
knowledge still further.
. Recognition of prior learning not only frees students from
having to unnecessarily study required modules or courses,
but since the demand for higher education is universally at a
premium,RPLalsoallowsinstitutionstooffermoretraining
opportunities to other students, who do have to study
required modules or courses. Thus those to whom prior
learning recognition had been granted, do not take up space
unnecessarily at training institutions.
4 THE DISTINCTION BETWEEN CERTIFIED
LEARNING AND LEARNING BY EXPERIENCE
One factor concerning recognition and accreditation that could
possibly cause confusion, is the series of acronyms which has been
amassed, and the fact that various countries and institutions use
various acronyms for the same concepts. So for instance the term
``prior learning assessment'' (PLA) is used in the USA and Canada,

146
whilethisconceptisknowninAustralia,NewZealandasthe
``recognition of prior learning'' (RPL). In the UK the ``accreditation of
prior learning'' (APL) is used as an umbrella term, which both includes
former certified learning as well as learning by experience (Universities
and Colleges Admissions Service for the UK 1999:6). Thus in the
accreditation of prior learning, two categories are used, namely:
. APCL Ð The accreditation of prior certified learning; that is
learning for which a certificate, a diploma or a degree has
been awarded by other educational institutions or by other
teaching or training providers.
. APEL Ð The accreditation of prior learning by experience.
This refers to the uncertified learning that has been obtained
by means of experience. Sometimes there is reference to
APEL as RPEL (``recognition of prior experiential learning'').
The distinction between these two types of recognition and accreditation
of prior learning is made by Nyatanga, Forman and Fox (1998:7).
They explain that the accreditation of prior learning was initially
associated with certified prior learning:
APL, therefore, relates to such prior learning as may be gained
through organised courses, modules, workshops, seminars and
similar activities. Thus, in the broad sense, APL covers two aspects
of prior learning, namely (a) prior learning intentionally organised
for which certification marks successful completion, and (b)
organised prior learning such as seminars where certification is not
necessarily issued.
APEL, however, is associated with former incidental learning: ``APEL
therefore relates to such prior learning as may be gained through
leisure pursuits, family experiences, and unstructured work experience.''
Since such learning is seldom awarded with a certificate,
reference is made to ``uncertified prior learning'' (Nyatanga et al
1998:7).
Although both forms of prior learning focus on learning as experience,

Recognition of prior learning ± a few words of caution 147
and on the outcome process, rather than on the experience itself, the
distinction between the two concepts is important, since the way in
which the candidates gather and present proof of their competencies
will differ considerably. APCL candidates will be enabled to submit
relevant certificates as well as syllabi or cardinal points of modules, in
order to support their applications. The candidate can also submit a
concise portfolio which only contains the main points of that which has
been learned. The main points will then be used as a basis for further
elaboration during the assessment interview, or to write a summary in
which it is explained how the learning actually took place, and how
this concurs with the actual outcomes. This type of recognition is not
usually problematic and institutions of higher learning are usually in
possession of clear guidelines in this connection. In contrast to this
APEL is often problematic. It usually depends on various methods of
assessment, such as the presentation of complete portfolios which
should concur with the envisaged learning outcomes and a given
programme or a module (Nyatanga et al 1998:8); a written or oral test;
examples of completed work; an interview; an enactment; a demonstration,
etcetera. Since learning needs to be accredited, and not
experience as such, it is often very difficult to prove whether learning
actually took place, and whether the actual outcomes were achieved.
5 THE RPL PROCESS
Although every institution has its own policy and procedures that need
to be followed when a candidate applies for RPL, it appears from the
various sources (Nyatanga et al 1998:7, 8; Fawcett 1998; Steenholdt
1998:2±4; New Zealand Qualifications Authority 1993:4,13), that the
process that is followed, comprises seven main steps:
. Data gathering: The applicant obtains the necessary information
about RPL and the outcomes that are to be associated. It
is essential that during this phase the candidate receives the
necessary support and guidance.
. Application: The applicant compares his/her own competencies
with the learning outcomes that are expected, and then
completes the institution's prescribed RPL application form.
. Gathering and the presentation of proof: The candidate gathers

148
together proof of his/her knowledge and competencies in
order to support his/her application. The kinds of proof
often used are examples of completed work, certificates of
completed courses, portfolios and demonstrations. The
candidate should ensure in this instance that the competencies
and knowledge are current; only current competence is
relevant and valid.
. Assessment: The proof is assessed, and if necessary, the
candidate may be asked for an interview. The assessors make
recommendations for recognition of credits, or they recommend
refusal. The institute or the professional body verifies
the recommendations.
. Post-assessment support: The candidate receives feedback
regarding his/her application. If necessary, a learning or
development plan is recommended.
. Recording: Reports are compiled by an assessor, and the
results are recorded and made available to the applicant, in
writing.
. Appeal: If the candidate is of the opinion that the decision
taken is disputable, then he/she may appeal for reconsideration.
6 CONSIDERATIONS IN THE IMPLEMENTATION OF
RPL
The recognition of prior learning is a complex matter, which does not
come without its share of impediments. When an institution of higher
learning intends to implement RPL, there are a number of factors to
which consideration has to be given, to obviate any impediment to
successful implementation. These factors will now be discussed.
6.1 General misconceptions and malpractices to be
avoided
There are a number of misconceptions and malpractices concerning
RPL that can jeopardise the entire process. Quality assurance is
partcularly important to maintain sound RPL practice, as well as good
administrative standards. Points to guard against include:

Recognition of prior learning ± a few words of caution 149
. The awarding of credits on the bases of ``time served'' or experience
One of the misconceptions regarding RPL is, that experience can be
accredited. Experience merely implies that a task has been completed;
in no way does it imply that learning had actually taken place. Thus it
is important that credits are awarded for learning that can be
demonstrated, and not for the experience itself or for the duration of
experience (Universities and Colleges Admissions Service for the UK
1999:3; Fawcett 1998:1; Evans 1983:9). Sansregret (1991:3) makes this
clear: ``This is because the number of years of experience especially
today, does not necessarily mean competence, since people must learn
constantly to adjust. A routine job could prove to be the opposite.'' She
explains further that
[t]o merely record that an individual worked as a purchasing agent
or as a small business owner for three years documents only the
time. The intention of prior learning assessment is to take the
process a step further and to explore what the person learned from
the experience about purchasing, business ownership or management.
What skills and knowledge were acquired? Are the competencies
equivalent to competencies achieved in courses offered at
colleges and universities?
. Basing assessment fees on the number of credits awarded
RPL is a service to students, and the purpose is to maximise potential
for an individual. It also acknowledges the right to equal admission
opportunities. For this reason it is important that the fees levied should
correlate to the service provided, and not the number of credits that are
awarded. The fees that are levied should be standardised and should
be known before the time, so that students can decide whether they can
afford such an assessment. Nyatanga et al (1998:39) warn that if fees
are levied according to credits awarded, it can give rise to the
following problems: ``In being charged fees per credit, students are
unlikely to know the cost until their portfolio has actually been
submitted and assessed. The dilemma this creates is that ability to pay
and indeed withholding information on credits after a lot of effort has
gone into producing a portfolio.''

150
. Making no distinction between the roles of the RPL advisor and that of the
assessor
Personnel who help students to prepare their proof, should not play a
direct role in the final academic assessment of the evidence. This
distinction is of cardinal importance to ensure objectivity (Evans
1988:7; Nyatanga et al 1998:39). Evans (1988:7) explains that ``[t]he
simple point here is to avoid confusion between advocate and judge.''
. Promises of RPL service without regard for resources, personnel development
and expertise in the area
It is often accepted that one only needs sound judgement to implement
RPL, and that coordinated service and quality assurance mechanisms
are not really necessary. No RPL programme can be implemented
successfully if all the personnel that should be involved have not been
trained very well (Nyatanga et al 1998:39). Evans (1988:23) stresses that
``[c]learly it is irresponsible to launch any APEL scheme without being
assured that the academic colleagues who will be asked to assess the
prior learning are fully briefed on the nature of the undertaking and
support in it.'' The crucial necessity of continuous training and
development of personnel regarding RPL policy, principles and
procedures is also accentuated by the New Zealand Qualifications
Authority (1993:14): ``Positive and appropriate strategies to respond to
all types of inquiries are needed. Sensitivity to diverse cultures and
abilities, gender and age of the candidates is essential. There must be
sufficient numbers available to communicate in languages preferred by
the candidates.''
. No strategy in place to monitor inconsistencies and RPL malpractices, and
offering only uncoordinated and invalid services
When an institution is committed to RPL, then the RPL service should
comply with the same standards and quality requirements as all their
other services. There should be mechanisms in place to disclose
malpractice (Nyatanga et al 1998:38).

Recognition of prior learning ± a few words of caution 151
. Neglect to disclose rules, regulations and criteria for RPL assessment
beforehand
The requirements that need to be complied with, and the type of proof
that needs to be submitted, need to be spelled out very clearly,
beforehand. For example, if a portfolio needs to be submitted, then
students should receive very clear criteria for the composition of this
submission. Transparency regarding all aspects is important, at all
times.
. Neglect of feedback to applicants
Feedback to students regarding the outcome of their assessment is an
important aspect of RPL service. Students should know why they were
successful or unsuccessful, and it should be possible to appeal. For this
process too there should be clear guidelines (Nyatanga et al 1998:40).
6.2 The risk factor involved in RPL
Changing circumstances and revolutionary approaches, such as RPL,
demand that institutions should thoroughly scrutinise and reconsider
existing assessment and evaluative methods. Conventional assessment
and evaluation, at best, reflect a number of serious shortcomings and
are far from perfect. This is also the case with prior learning. Windham
(1981:2) makes a valid point when he voices his concern about the
``ability of any examination or other evaluative instruments to
substitute for the learning experiences of the classroom''. According to
Toop and Burleigh (1993:17), there is often the perception that RPL
involves a ``second class'' or inferior assessment. However, they
ascribe this to the fact that ``the critic has set up in his/her mind an
idealised assessment situation which is rarely met in reality.''
During conventional assessment, the full spectrum of knowledge and
competencies that are covered in a course, are seldom tested fully; only
a sample is tested during a limited number of assessment sessions, for
instance in one or two assignments, in a multiple choice test on theory,
or in a practical test. Such previous experiences of assessment often
cause RPL candidates to underestimate their own competencies, with
the result that they apply for less recognition than they would have

152
been awarded. This can partially be ascribed to the fear of failure and
the conviction that they are inadequate in a critical facet of the work.
There is an additional factor: Many students are convinced that if they
receive exemption, then they will not be able to cope with more
important aspects when they are in a formal test situation (Toop &
Burleigh 1993:18). The criteria of objectivity, validity and reliability
should thus be in place at all times during assessment of prior learning.
Over and above the fact that the criteria of objectivity, validity and
reliability might be lacking during assessment of prior learning, there
is also another risk factor linked to RPL. In Figure 1, which has been
adapted from Toop & Burleigh (1993:18), this risk factor is indicated.
When a student requires recognition for an entire module, or when he/
she applies to be declared competent in the performance of high risk or
complex competence, then there is a high risk involved. If full
recognition is obtained in such a case, then there is no further training
or assessment involved, and then there is no safety net in place to
compensate for a lack of knowledge, or for wrong assessment. A lower
levelofriskisinvolvedwhenonlypartialrecognitionisrequiredfora
single study unit, module or even units of competencies, since this will
result in further training and assessment, during which it can be
assured that a candidate reaches the outcomes of a qualification. Since
there is a risk involved, there need to be a few safety nets in place.
These safety nets are in the form of the capacity that the assessors have
to
. specify further training and/or experience that the candidate
has to obtain.
. reserve the right to reassess the candidate at a later stage
regarding further training or experience, as has been
stipulated.
. to withdraw the provisional recognition.
The risk factor implies that an increasing measure of meticulousness needs
to be applied, as the level of risk increases. This can take place in two ways,
namely the required amount and quality of evidence that should be
presented, and the involvement of more than one assessor, to assess the

Recognition of prior learning ± a few words of caution 153
evidence, and to take the final decision (Toop & Burleigh 1993:18). A high
risk application can for instance include a variety of evidence such as:
observation in the work place; a challenge test; a trade test; confirmation of
competence by a supervisor or an employer; assignments; a portfolio of
completed work (for example of real objects) and further oral interviews.
The implementation of a panel of judges to assess the evidence, brings
more expertise and more viewpoints into play in the assessment situation,
and could lead to a more balanced decision.
The risk factor also entails that it should be taken into consideration
that some competencies or modules are more important, or more
critical than others. ``The person may only be applying for recognition
of 10 per cent of the course, but it may be the most critical 10 per cent of
the whole course and deserving of rigorous assessment'' (Toop &
Burleigh 1993:19). In a low risk situation where fewer crucial modules
are involved, the assessment outcome can, however, be taken by an
expert and the evidence provided need not be so comprehensive.
6.3 Personnel involvement in the implementation of
RPL
According to Evans (1988:23), workloads and attitudes are the most
important factors that need to be considered regarding personnel
involved in RPL. She warns regarding workload that ``[w]ork with
APEL can lead some students into enormous amounts of work as they
delve into their experiences. They get fascinated by it. This can result in
some wanting to make disproportionate demands on tutors' time.''
This problem can be solved to some extent, when clear objectives are
set for the required evidence, and for transparent assessment. The
latter implies that students should understand why and according to
which criteria they are going to be assessed, and how the marks are to
be interpreted. If they are unsuccessful, then reasons should be
provided (Wood 1990:39).
Evans (1988:23) as well as Cohen and Whitaker (1994:52) point out that
personal and academic inclinations can influence the assessment
process. According to Cohen and Whitaker (1994:52), there are
institutions that regard RPL as an external activity, or regard it to be

154
k
SKILLS/COMPETENCY DEVELOPMENT
INCREASING EXTENT OF RECOGNITION SOUGHT
FIGURE 1
Risk management of recognition of prior learning
FULL COMPETENCE Ð FULL RECOGNITION
. High risk/limited ``safety-net''
. Skills to be assessed are very complex and
possibly multi-disciplinary
. Full interview panel
. Self-assessment is an essential part of the
student's learning approach
. Moderate risk/further opportunity
for assessment
. Skills to be assessed are confined to a
limited field eg finance or engineering
. Self-assessment is still part of the
learning acquisition process
. Low risk/considerable future
assessment opportunity
. Skills to be assessed are confined
to a single domain eg
organic chemistry
. Single interviewer
k
MORE EVIDENCE OF COMPETENCE REQUIRED
MORE RIGOUROUS ASSESSMENT REQUIRED AND
MORE ASSESSORS INVOLVED
LIMITED SKILLS Ð NO RECOGNITION
(Adapted from: Toop & Burleigh 1993:18.)

Recognition of prior learning ± a few words of caution 155
similar to traditional admission procedures. Some academics are of the
opinion that RPL lowers academic standards and it is a soft option;
while others just cannot accept that there can be authentic learning
outside the lecture hall, without the aid of a lecturer.
Academyics who fear that RPL could lead to a lowering of academic
standards are especially concerned about the assessment of outcomes,
when the learning process, and other academic thought processes such
as reasoning, debating and logic, cannot be assessed. In their summary
of papers read at the 1994 International Experiential Learning
Conference, Cohen and Whitaker (1994:51) quote from Hindmarsh's
paper:
Perhaps the most common concern raised by university staff new to
RPL is the fear that RPL, especially if for credit, would decrease the
quality and the nature of learning as valued by `the liberal
university'. For example, in our study at Victoria University of
Wellington some staff, including those in more vocationally
oriented programs feared that RPL could require professional
competence to be defined so that it served narrow, technicist
vocational interests and thus de-emphasized capacities to develop
critical analyses of social and economic injustices and the holistic
nature of learning Ð as valued by the university.
This fear is linked to an assumption that RPL is inevitably rooted in
a technicist, industry-led and conservative ideology of education
with an emphasis on minimal standards and finite course outcomes
which are only valid if capable of reduction into `objective'
measurable and observable behaviours. Such an education model is
in direct opposition to features valued by western liberal and/or
humanist views of the purpose of education Ð excellence, integrative
and holistic learning, the extension of human potential to
realms still unknown and the importance of learning processes as
much as learning outcomes. Debate, analysis and critical thinking
are highly valued in such universities, which it is contended can not
be reduced and packaged in small, finite unit outcomes.

156
6.4 The necessity of quality control
In order to obviate a lowering of standards, thorough quality assurance
is a very important prerequisite for successful RPL implementation.
Students, employers and taxpayers expect that institutions of higher
learning will maintain high standards, and that quality graduands will
be produced for society. Thus these stakeholders become more and
more critical of graduates who are not able to perform the tasks
required or expected of them. Most students also prefer that the
qualification that they obtain from a university or an institution of
higher learning attracts the necessary respect from their employers
(Sansregret 1985:40). Thus there remains a need for quality, quality
assurance and quality control. According to Coetzee (2000:1) quality
can be regarded as the ``degree of excellence'', while assurance should
be understood as the ``formal guarantee or positive declaration''.
According to her, quality assurance, therefore, means ``a formal
guarantee of a degree of excellence''.
Quality assurance is absolutely essential for the success of any RPL
programme. Quality may be seen as the degree of confidence that
students or others of a particular institution have in those who are
involved in the RPL procedures. According to Nyatanga et al (1998:30)
quality assurance regarding RPL includes total quality management
(TQM) as well as continuous quality improvement (CQI). These
concepts may be described as ``doing the right thing the first time, on
time and to strive always for improvement and customer satisfaction.''
Doing things correctly within RPL terms means that there will be an
infrastructure and processes in place for the maintenance and for the
continual improvement of RPL practice. Nyatanga et al (1998:30)
observe in this connection that RPL can only complement the quality
and the commensurate student experiences if it is based on a clear
policy, sound commitment and critical judgement by the users.
Sansregret (1985:40) quotes Sachs (1980), who warns institutions
against the temptation to give away credits, he furthermore ``deplores
`the lack of standards' with the easy assurance that comes from

Recognition of prior learning ± a few words of caution 157
superficial knowledge''. In an attempt to draw students, institutions
can also easily recognise learning where that registration is not entirely
justified. According to Sachs there are four key areas that can assure
quality control:
. that the learning be at college level;
. that it falls within the kind of creditable work congruent with
the mission and goals of the collegiate institution;
. that the awards result from technically sound assessment,
heeding concerns of both validity and reliability, and
. that institutional integrity be maintained in the advertising
of the learning and crediting options, in the reporting and
labelling of the assessment findings and in the fiscal
procedures developed to support the assessment service.
It is very important to keep in mind when prior learning is assessed
that, firstly, the learning that has taken place should be measurable.
Assessors should focus on knowledge and competencies that can be
demonstrated, since there is no other way in which the value of
experience can be measured. Secondly, it is important that the learning
should contain both a theoretical as well as a practical component.
Many adults are adept when it comes to the application of knowledge,
but often they do not have the theoretical substructure. Thirdly, the
learning that took place should be at a higher education level. A person
may only receive credit for that which can be compared to what is
taught at institutions of higher education. The learning should,
fourthly, be applicable outside of the specific context in which it was
learned, in order to serve as foundation for further learning. The
learnershouldthusbeabletoapplyhis/herknowledgeand
competencies in more than one situation. Lastly, the learning should be
of a recent nature. A person cannot expect to receive academic credits
for knowledge and experience that had been obtained long ago and has
probably already become obsolete, or is no longer current (Sansregret
1985:41). There need to be mechanisms in place that prevent a person
from being accredited more than once for the same prior learning.

158
In order to ensure sound practice and quality in RPL, it is necessary
that institutions see to it that the following are in place (Nyatanga et al
1998:32):
. a clear policy on RPL, and admission to it;
. regulations and guidelines to train both personnel and
potential applicants;
. specific offices or persons that are responsible for the making
operational RPL and quality control;
. specific roles that the institution and the personnel need to
fulfil regarding RPL issues, which may emerge on a day-today
basis;
. how an institution and its programmes will be seen by those
outside, such as relevant professional bodies, and
. how an institution will obtain the opinions and experiences
of students and others involved in the RPL process, and how
to assimilate these.
An important quality assurance mechanism is the continuous evaluation
and revision of RPL procedures. The New Zealand Qualification
Authority (1993:19) mentions that ``[t]hose who have been piloting RPL
practices in New Zealand affirm that RPL systems evolve and are in
constant need of modification. RPL systems that have been in place in
overseas for 20 years continue to be revised''.
6.5 Costs involved in RPL
The financial implications of RPL should never be left out of the
equation. It is logical that RPL could influence registration numbers of
students, and this implies a potential gain or loss for institutions. RPL
could imply the possibility of subsidisation of students by the state.
On the one hand, it may be argued that RPL programmes provide an
opportunity for students who would otherwise not have registered for
a qualification. Most RPL programmes are also aimed to draw nontraditional
students: adults, wives and working individuals who
cannot afford the time and the cost of the usual registration for courses.
Thus, this can lead to a rise in student numbers. Wagner (1981:2),

Recognition of prior learning ± a few words of caution 159
however, investigated the situation at various institutions, and points
out that this assumption cannot be accepted merely as a datum, since
``[t]aken together, these findings provide little evidence to indicate an
increase in enrollments, particularly from groups not traditionally
served by higher education, as a result of RPL programs''. Nyatanga et
al (1998:43), on the other hand, do not agree, and aver that RPL has the
potential to generate income, since it can raise the numbers of parttime
students in particular.
On the other hand it may be reasoned that RPL creates the possibility
that students may complete a qualification in a shorter time, and that
this could influence the registration numbers for courses, since it
precludes students who would have had to follow the usual route of
preliminary courses on account of RPL. Cohen and Whitaker (1994:51),
however, observe in a conclusion in papers that were read at the 1994
International Experiential Learning Conference, that very few of the
speakers complained about the financial implications, and only one
person referred to the ``loss of business'' on account of RPL. According
to them, RPL supports growth in academic courses rather than
impeding it.
However, it cannot be denied that RPL programmes involve direct
costs for institutions of higher learning where RPL is implemented.
Development of tests and validation, portfolio assessment, the
conducting of interviews, often on a one-to-one basis, etcetera, can be
very costly. Even when standardised tests are used, the costs involved
in the marking, frequent standardising and evaluation studies, test
administration, keeping of records and the personnel that are involved,
can accrue to a considerable amount (Wagner 1981:7, Windham
1981:11). According to Toop and Burleigh (1993:22), there are also the
initial costs that are involved. This includes the time that is spent on
the development of an RPL policy for a particular institution,
determining the assessment criteria and the development of assessment
methods and instruments such as for instance the use of
checklists for self-assessment, or for the use by assessors, key questions
for interviews, practical or challenge tests, computer-based tests,
etcetera. This also includes the costs involved in the time that is spent

160
in the development of advertising materials (brochures, pamphlets,
posters, etc.) And the process materials (application forms, pro forms
for the recording of assessment outcomes) and the keeping of records
(eg data bases, portfolios, passports of competencies, etc). A great
expense associated with RPL is the cost involved in the training of
personnel for the assessment process.
Apart from initial costs, there are also certain maintenance costs that
can amount to considerable sums. The time that is spent in the
management of the system, and in the marketing and the advertising,
the handling of general inquiries and the dissemination of documentation,
the time that is spent in the deliberation (``counselling'') with
applicants, before and after assessment, the actual assessment and the
making available of suitable space for offices and other assessment
activities, especially if the assessment does not take place at the
candidate's place of work, the upgrading of RPL advisors, are all
aspects that contribute to the maintenance costs.
Although students need to pay for the opportunity to be considered for
RPL, it is uncertain whether the real costs of RPL assessment could be
reimbursed from the students' payment of fees, later on. In Section 6.1,
it was pointed out that the assessment fees cannot be based on the
number of credits that will be awarded. The reimbursement of costs
from the student gives rise to another problem. Applying for RPL can
be very intensive and demands so much time, inputs and monies from
students that it may appear cheaper instead, to register for the course
for which they are trying to obtain exemption. This is why Cohen and
Whitaker (1994:53) remark that ``[t]he challenge is to develop
procedures which are rigorous without being unduly onerous or
intrusive and economical for all concerned.''
7 CONCLUSION
The acknowledgement and accreditation of prior learning have become
a reality in South Africa, and for this reason both academics as well as

Recognition of prior learning ± a few words of caution 161
learners should be prepared for its implementation. Misconceptions
and malpractices need to be pointed out early, so that the process will
not be impeded, or retarded, or implemented in such a way that the
standards are lowered.
It seems clear that recognition of prior learning requires a change of
attitude for academics. It needs to be realised that institutions of higher
learning do not hold a monopoly over learning, and that they are not
the only providers of teaching. Businesses, individuals, voluntary
organisations, churches and other institutions have also ventured into
the teaching arena, and learning that has taken place there is as valid as
that which has been initiated by academic institutions. Moreover,
adults acquire valuable knowledge and competencies, through their
experiences (outside the academic milieu), which equates academic
learning. Sansregret (1987:4) points out that there are two possible
styles of learning: theoretical and practical experience. Some persons
learn better after they have experienced something first, they then
apply what they have learned by experience, and after the learning task
has been completed, they understand the general concepts and
principles better. Others first learn the general principles and concepts,
and then apply these to a specific situation. The latter is the traditional
way of learning, and unfortunately some academics accept this as the
only valid way of learning. In order to bring the credibility of RPL
home to academics, and to convince the ``unbelievers'' of the merits of
RPL, one should begin, well in time, to inform personnel, and obviate
misconceptions about the practice of RPL.
Thorough training of personnel involved with RPL is a prerequisite for
its implementation. It is important to distinguish between those who
have to help the candidate with his/her application and those who are
going to assess that application. Provision should also be made for
moderators and external examiners who are to verify the assessment. It
is absolutely essential that the assessors and the moderators should be
subject specialists. However, it is not only personnel that need to be
trained ± the students will also need to be trained in order to prepare
their RPL applications.

162
Since there are risks involved in the implementation of RPL, there
should be built-in safety precautions, and it should be ensured that the
assessing that takes place, complies with the requirements of
objectivity, validity and reliability. Teaching institutions should
formulate their policy regarding RPL in such a fashion, that the
assessor will be empowered to grant provisional recognition, to
propose further training and to reserve the right to reassess the
candidate later on regarding the proposed training. The more, the more
difficult and more important and the higher the risk the courses or
modules pose, for which the candidates have applied to obtain
recognition, the more comprehensive the safety nets should be. These
`'nets'' could for instance consist of a larger panel of assessors, or there
could be more stringent implementation of various kinds of assessments.
In order to ensure that standards are not compromised on account of
recognition of prior learning, it is essential that there should be
rigorous quality control during the entire process. To ensure quality,
certain academic and administrative standards need to be set. Among
others this includes transparency, clear policy, supportive infrastructure,
adequate and consistent training of personnel and accountable
assessing practices. The RPL procedures need to be revised
continually.
It will benefit institutions to consider very thoroughly the financial
implications connected with RPL, before the process is implemented.
Factors such as the cost involved in the training of personnel, the initial
cost, maintenance cost and administrative cost (eg keeping of records)
of RPL, need to be considered, against the potential increase in student
numbers. Other factors to be considered are the costs that students
incur by submitting an RPL application. It could for instance be
expensive and time consuming to prepare a complete portfolio. The
cost involved should therefore be communicated clearly to students.
8 CONCLUDING REMARKS
RPL offers individuals, academic institutions, and the professional

Recognition of prior learning ± a few words of caution 163
world, the opportunity to adapt to changing circumstances in work
and life. However, how to implement RPL accountably, without risk,
quickly, economically and with the necessary quality control remains
the key question to be answered by each respective discipline.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Coetzee, M 2000. Quality assurance. Paper read at the Workshop for the Advanced
Programme for Trainers. July. Pretoria: Unisa.
Cohen, R & Whitaker, U 1994. Assessing learning from experience. Perspectives on
Experiential learning. The 1994 International Experiential Learning Conference.
9±12 November 1997. Washington, DC.
Evans, N 1983. Curriculum opportunity. A map of experiential learning in entry requirements
to higher and further education in award bearing courses. A project report. London:
Further Education Unit.
Evans, N 1988. The assessment of prior experiential learning. Report of a CNAA
Development Fund Project conducted at the Learning form Experience Trust. London:
Council for National Academic Awards.
Fawcett, B 1998. AOQ (SA) Recognition of prior learning (RPL) policy. http://
www.aoq.asn.au/rpl.html. (Accessed on 1999/09/20).
Harris,J&Saddington,T1995. The recognition of prior learning (RPL): International models
of assessment and their impact on the South African education and training practice.
Cape Town: University of Cape Town.
Nayatanga, L, Forman, D & Fox, J 1998. Good practice in the accreditation of prior learning.
London: Cassell.
New Zealand Qualifications Authority. 1993. The recognition of prior learning. Quality
assurance in education and training. Wellington: New Zealand Qualifications
Authority.
Sansregret, M 1985. Recognition of prior learning. Administrator's guide. Quebec: Quebec
Department of Education.
Sansregret, M 1987. A rationale for assessing adults' prior learning. Information analysis.
Sansregret, M 1991. Recognition of practical knowledge through a prior learning
assessment program. Paper delivered at the 40th Annual Adult Education
Conference, 14±20 October 1991. Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
Stannard, L 1999. Recognition of prior learning. http://www.swtafe.vic.edu.au.info.rpl.htm.
(Accessed on 1999/09/20).
Steenholdt, P 1998. Recognition of prior learning (RPL). http://www.dvet.tas.gov.au/train/
trai7255.htm. (Accessed on 1999/09/20).

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Toop, L & Burleigh, J 1993. Arrangements for the recognition of prior learning in Australia.
Canberra: Australian Department of Employment, Education and Training.
Universities and Colleges Admissions Service for the UK. 1999. Accreditation of prior
learning. http://search1.ucas.co.uk/higher/candq/apl/right.html. (Accessed on 1999/
09/20).
University of Ballarat TAFE Division. 1999. Recognition of prior learning.
http://swww.ballarat.edu.au/olp/olprpl.htm. (Accessed on 1999/09/20).
University of South Africa. 2000. Draft policy on assessment and accreditation of experiential
learning. Pretoria: Unisa.
Wagner, A P 1981. A research agenda for `RPL' programs. Paper delivered at the 5th
International Conference on Higher Education at the University of Lancaster. 1±4
September.
Windham, D M 1981. The economics of recognizing prior learning. Paper delivered at the
5th International Conference on Higher Education at the University of Lancaster.
1±4 September.
Wood, R 1990. Assessing occupational competence: key operational precepts gained from
work on the ground. Competence and Assessment Compendium no 1:37±38.

Die bepaling van 'n realistiese prestasievlak 165
Die bepaling van
'n realistiese
prestasievlak
GBester
Departement Opvoedkundestudies
Unisa
The aim of the investigation was to determine which variables can be used to account for
the largest proportion of the variance in achievement and which instruments can be used
to measure these variables. A sample of 124 grade 11-learners (61 boys and 63 girls)
was used in the investigation. General Intelligence, Aptitude, Self-concept, Motivation,
Interest (brain-preference) and Study-orientation were used as prediction variables.
Achievement was used as the criterion variable. In total 64% of the variance in
achievement could be accounted for by the prediction variables of which General
Intelligence, Study-orientation and Gender accounted for 50%. A further 10% was
accounted for by Brain-preference(A), Calculations and Short-term Memory. The
remaining variables accounted for an additional 4% of the variance in achievement.
Finally, the educational value of realistic achievement levels was discussed.
Die doel van die ondersoek was om te bepaal watter veranderlikes gebruik kan word om
die grootste proporsie van die variansie in prestasie te verklaar en watter instrumente kan
gebruik word om die veranderlikes te meet. 'n Steekproef van 124 graad 11-leerders (61
seuns en 63 dogters) is in die ondersoek gebruik. As voorspellingsveranderlikes is
Intelligensie, Aanleg, Selfkonsep, Motivering, Belangstelling (breinvoorkeur) en StudieorieÈntasie
gebruik. Die kriteriumveranderlike was prestasie. In totaal kon 64% van die
variansie in gemiddelde prestasie deur die voorspellingsveranderlikes verklaar word,
waarvan Algemene Intelligensie, StudieorieÈntasie en geslag 50% verklaar het. 'n Verdere

166
10% is verklaar deur Breinvoorkeur (A), Berekeninge en Korttermyngeheue. Die
oorblywende veranderlikes het 'n addisionele 4% van die variansie in prestasie verklaar.
Die opvoedkundige waarde van realistiese prestasievlakke word ten slotte bespreek.
1 INLEIDING
Die werklikheid moet nie van 'n kind weerhou word nie. Die kind moet
eerder met die werklikheid gekonfronteer word en uitgenooi word om
op 'n eerlike wyse daaroor te besin, sodat hy/sy tot 'n beter begrip kan
kom van wie en wat hy/sy is (Corey 1996:43). Die  opdrag le à op die pad
van die opvoeder aangesien dit die opvoeder is wat die kind van sy/
haar moontlikhede en beperkinge bewus moet maak sonder om die
kind af te kraak of wonderlike beloftes van onmoontlikhede aan hom/
haar voor te hou.
Akademiese prestasie is een terrein waar leerders, ouers en ook
onderwysers dikwels onrealistiese afleidings stel en maak. In die
meeste gevalle is dit omdat daar nie voldoende inligting oor die leerder
beskikbaar is nie. In gevalle waar 'n intelligensietelling byvoorbeeld
nie beskikbaar is nie, word verwagte prestasie rofweg geskat in stede
daarvan dat dit wetenskaplik bereken word. As 'n intelligensietelling
wel beskikbaar is, let baie onderwysers slegs op die telling as 'n
aanduiding van potensiaal sonder om affektiewe veranderlikes soos
selfbeeld en motivering in berekening te bring, faktore wat beslis ook
met prestasie verband hou. Dit is veral gedurende die hoe È rskooljare
dat laasgenoemde faktore 'n toenemend groter rol met betrekking tot
prestasie begin speel. Baie hoe È rskoolleerders raak met verloop van tyd
agter ten opsigte van hulle skoolwerk omdat hulle daardeur oorweldig
word. Dit gee aanleiding tot 'n lae selfbeeld en gebrekkige motivering,
aangesien die leerders van mening is dat hulle nooit die mas sal opkom
nie. Dit het tot gevolg dat hulle nie genoegsaam studeer nie en wanneer
hulle dan swak presteer, versterk dit hulle eie selfvernietigende
profesie (Ames 1992:261±271). Een geslaagde manier om uit hierdie
sirkel weg te breek is om realistiese prestasievlakke vir die leerder daar

Die bepaling van 'n realistiese prestasievlak 167
te stel wat hy/sy in alle waarskynlikheid sal bereik. Dit is om hierdie
rede vreemd dat dit nie 'n algemene praktyk by skole is om realistiese
prestasievlakke vir leerders in die vernaamste skoolvakke te bepaal
nie.
In 'n voorondersoek het die skrywer twaalf hoe È rskole in die Pretoriaomgewing
gekontak en nie een van hierdie skole bepaal realistiese
prestasievlakke op 'n wetenskaplike wyse nie. 'n Rowwe skatting word
in die meeste gevalle van oor- en onderprestasie gemaak. So 'n praktyk
is ongewens en onnodig aangesien rekenaarprogramme dit moontlik
maak om vir elke leerder in verskillende vakgebiede 'n redelik
akkurate en realistiese prestasiepunt te bereken.
In verskeie ondersoeke is daar reeds pogings aangewend om die
verband tussen verskillende faktore en akademiese prestasie te bepaal.
Hierdie ondersoeke lei egter nie tot praktykveranderinge nie omdat die
mees geskikte faktore nie in aanmerking geneem word nie. Sommige
ondersoeke betrek slegs een veranderlike of 'n klein aantal veranderlikes
wat voorspelling bemoeilik omdat die interaksie tussen verskeie
veranderlikes geõ È gnoreer word. Byvoorbeeld, in Brodnick en Ree
(1995:583±594) se ondersoek is slegs intelligensie en sosio-ekonomiese
status met prestasie in verband gebring. Intelligensie het 45% van die
variansie in prestasie verklaar maar sosio-ekonomiese status kon geen
verdere bydrae lewer nie. Belangrike affektiewe veranderlikes soos
selfkonsep en motivering wat wel tot die variansie sou kon bydra, was
egter nie in die ondersoek betrek nie. Die skrywers self het dit as 'n
leemte uitgewys. In ander ondersoeke soos die  van Monteith (1987)
word verskeie veranderlikes wel gebruik, maar nie die gewenste
veranderlikes nie. Gevolglik is die variansie in prestasie wat deur die
veranderlikes verklaar word, nie voldoende nie. In Monteith (1987:45)
se ondersoek byvoorbeeld, kon slegs 36% van die variansie in
wiskundeprestasie by seuns en 32% by dogters verklaar word. Aanleg
is nie as 'n veranderlike ingesluit nie terwyl veranderlikes soos
oplettendheid, mobiliteit, identiteitsekerheid en leesspoed, wat wel
ingesluit was, min tot die verklaring van die variansie in wiskundeprestasie
bygedra het.

168
Twee probleme kom na vore wanneer 'n poging aangewend word om
realistiese prestasievlakke te bepaal, naamlik die keuse van veranderlikes
en die keuse van instrumente om hierdie veranderlikes te meet.
Indien 'n groot getal veranderlikes betrek word wat die toepassing van
verskeie meetinstrumente impliseer, word dit 'n moeilik uitvoerbare
opdrag wat nie byval by voorligters en vakonderwysers sal vind nie.
Die minimum veranderlikes en meetinstrumente moet geselekteer
word waarmee die maksimum variansie in prestasie verklaar kan
word. Verder sou dit raadsaam wees om sover moontlik van meetinstrumente
gebruik te maak wat vir die onderwyser bekend is, soos
die JAT (Junior Aanlegtoets), SAT (Senior Aanlegtoets) of die OSGH
(Opname Studiegewoontes en -houdings). Nie alleen is die toetse
gestandaardiseer nie, maar dit is ook toetse wat vir ander doeleindes
(soos beroepskeuse) gebruik word wat die eenmalige afneem daarvan
'n ekonomiese en bruikbare oefening maak.
In die lig van die voorafgaande kan die probleem van die ondersoek
formeelasvolggestelword:Watter veranderlikes kan gebruik word om die
grootste proporsie van die variansie in prestasie te verklaar en watter
instrumente kan gebruik word om die veranderlikes te meet?
'n Bruikbare model om die leerhandeling te struktureer en veranderlikes
wat leer beõ È nvloed te identifiseer, is die  van Bloom (1976:11).
Bloom onderskei drie hoofveranderlikes wat met akademiese prestasie
verband hou, naamlik:
. Kognitiewe intreeveranderlikes: Dit is veranderlikes soos
intelligensie, aanleg en denke waarmee die leerder tot die
leertaak toetree.
. Affektiewe intreeveranderlikes: Dit is veranderlikes soos
belangstelling, motivering en selfkonsep waarmee die leerder
tot die leertaak toetree.
. Kwaliteit van onderrig: Dit sluit aspekte in soos goeie
verduideliking, deelname aan die leergebeure, toepassing
van leerinhoude en gereelde evaluering.

Die bepaling van 'n realistiese prestasievlak 169
Kognitiewe en affektiewe veranderlikes is intreeveranderlikes wat in
die leerder self gelee È is en die leerhandeling voorafgaan. Kwaliteit van
onderrig word deur die onderwyser bepaal en is daarom buite die
leerder gelee È . Verder wissel dit van onderwyser tot onderwyser.
In 'n hoe È rskoolsituasie waar verskillende vakke deur verskillende
onderwysers onderrig word, is dit moeilik om 'n veranderlike soos
kwaliteit van onderrig na te vors. Dit is om hierdie rede meer gewens
om te fokus op 'n eienskap van die leerder wat by die leerhandeling
betrokke is. In plaas van te let op die onderrig wat die leerder ontvang,
kan daar eerder op die leerder se studiegewoontes en studiehouding
(studieorie È ntasie) gefokus word.
'n Gewysigde model van Bloom sal skematies soos volg daar uitsien:
Intreekenmerke van Leerhandeling Leeruitkomste
die leerder
Kognitief
Affektief
"
"
Leerinhoud
~
"
Prestasie
Studieorie È ntasie
2 KOGNITIEWE INTREEKENMERKE VAN LEERDERS
2.1 Intelligensie
Die vernaamste kognitiewe veranderlike wat prestasie beõ È nvloed is
intelligensie. Algemene intelligensie is een van die vernaamste
voorspellers van akademiese prestasie aangesien dit die faktor is wat
op sigself die grootste proporsie van die variansie in prestasie verklaar.
Horn ea (1993:464±478) het bevind dat algemene intelligensie ongeveer
21% van die variansie in prestasie verklaar, terwyl Brodnick & Ree
(1995:583±594) aangetoon het dat algemene intelligensie tot soveel as
45% van die variansie in prestasie verklaar. Bennet ea (in Gustafsson &
Blake 1993:407±434) het 'n korrelasie van 0,53 tussen algemene

170
intelligensie en akademiese prestasie aangetoon, wat aandui dat
algemene intelligensie ongeveer 28% van die variansie in prestasie
verklaar. In laasgenoemde ondersoek is vakke soos Engels, Wiskunde,
Wetenskap, Sosiale studies en Handelsvakke as kriteriumveranderlikes
gebruik.
Gustafsson en Blake (1993:407±434) het 'n omvattende navorsingsprojek
geloods om die voorspellingswaarde van intelligensie met
betrekking tot skoolprestasie te bepaal. In totaal is 16 aanlegtoetse by
866 graad 6-leerders afgeneem en die aanlegtoetse is in verband
gebring met prestasies in 17 vakgebiede. Soos in die ondersoeke van
Brodnick en Ree asook Horn ea wat hierbo genoem is, is Gustafsson en
Blake se bevinding ook dat algemene intelligensie die belangrikste
voorspeller in die meeste vakgebiede was en ongeveer 30% van die
variansie in prestasie verklaar (die hoogste was 41% in Wiskunde). Ten
spyte van hulle bevindinge argumenteer die navorsers dat spesifieke
aanlegte nie buite rekening gelaat kan word wanneer prestasie
voorspel word nie. Die rede hiervoor is dat algemene intelligensie wel
die beste kognitiewe voorspeller in die meeste vakgebiede is, maar die
relatiewe belangrikheid van algemene intelligensie verskil van vakgebied
tot vakgebied. Waar algemene intelligensie 41% van die
variansie in wiskundeprestasie verklaar het, kon dit in die geval van
geskiedenisprestasie slegs 25% verklaar (alhoewel dit nog steeds die
beste voorspeller was). Die afleiding wat hieruit gemaak kan word, is
dat die gebruik van algemene intelligensie sowel as spesifieke aanlegte
die aangewese manier is om realistiese prestasievlakke te voorspel.
3 AFFEKTIEWE INTREEKENMERKE VAN LEERDERS
Naas kognitiewe intreekenmerke is affektiewe intreekenmerke die
vernaamste groep veranderlikes wat prestasie op skool beõ È nvloed. Die
affektiewe intreekenmerke wat meestal met prestasie op skool in
verband gebring word, is die selfkonsep, motivering en soms ook
belangstelling in die leerinhoud (Van der Lith 1991:74±81).
3.1 Selfkonsep
'n Sterker verband word tussen akademiese selfkonsep en prestasie

Die bepaling van 'n realistiese prestasievlak 171
aangetoon as die  tussen 'n algemene selfkonsep en prestasie. Die
korrelasie tussen algemene selfkonsep en prestasie blyk in die orde van
0,2 te wees terwyl die korrelasie tussen akademiese selfkonsep en
prestasie ongeveer 0,4 is (Byrne 1996:299±302). Ten einde prestasie te
voorspel, sou dit dus wensliker wees om 'n instrument te gebruik wat
die akademiese selfkonsep van die leerder meet.
Sowat 16% van die variansie in prestasie kan deur akademiese
selfkonsep verklaar word, wat dit een van die vernaamste affektiewe
faktore maak om prestasie te voorspel. Bloom (1976:95) het vroee È r
reeds akademiese selfkonsep uitgesonder as die sterkste affektiewe
faktor om prestasie te voorspel. Uit navorsingsresultate wat hy
aanhaal, kan akademiese selfkonsep sowat 25% van die variansie in
prestasie verklaar. Enige model wat poog om prestasie te voorspel
moet akademiese selfkonsep as veranderlike insluit. Om 'n realistiese
prestasie vir 'n leerder te bepaal is dit belangrik om te weet hoe
realisties hy/sy oor homself as leerder dink.
3.2 Motivering
Die wisselende aard van leerders se motivering hou verband met
wisselende prestasievlakke. Oor die algemeen word hoe È motivering
met hoe È prestasie in verband gebring. Wentzel (1991:196) het goeie en
swak presteerders op hoe È rskoolvlak vergelyk en gevind dat 84% van
die goeie presteerders doelstellings nagestreef het soos om take betyds
af te handel en om suksesvol, onafhanklik en verantwoordelik ten
opsigte van hulle studies te wees. Slegs 13% van die swak presteerders
het hierdie doelstellings nagestreef.
Pekrun (1993:166±175) onderskei tussen 'n verwagtingskomponent en
'n inspanningskomponent as deel van motivering. Wanneer 'n persoon
sekere uitkomste verwag, motiveer dit hom tot optrede (inspanning).
In 'n leersituasie toon Pekrun 'n korrelasie van 0,46 aan tussen die
verwagtingskomponent en inspanningskomponent van graad 8-leerders,
asook 'n korrelasie van 0,14 tussen die inspanningskomponent en
akademiese prestasie. 'n Ondersoek wat hierby aansluit, is die  van

172
Salili (1995:106±109) wat die verband tussen prestasiemotief, prestasiestrategie
en akademiese prestasie bepaal het. 'n Korrelasie van 0,47
is aangetoon tussen prestasiemotief en akademiese prestasie terwyl die
korrelasie tussen prestasiestrategie en akademiese prestasie 0,12 was.
Fortier, Vallerand en Guay (1995:257±274) het Deci en Ryan se
selfdetermineringsmodel gebruik om die verband tussen motivering en
prestasie te ondersoek. Prestasie in Geografie, Frans, Wiskunde en
Biologie is as kriteriumveranderlikes gebruik. Die korrelasie was in die
orde van 0,3 wat aandui dat sowat 9% van die variansie in prestasie
deur motivering verklaar kan word. Dit stem ooreen met 'n ondersoek
van Prus en Hatcher (1995:7±26) wat 'n korrelasie van 0,32 tussen
motivering en prestasie aangetoon het.
3.3 Belangstelling
Budhal (1993:94) toon 'n korrelasie van 0,35 (p

Die bepaling van 'n realistiese prestasievlak 173
4 STUDIEORIEÈ NTASIE
Thombs (1995:280±288) het eerstejaarstudente wat toelating gehad het,
vergelyk met die  wat as gevolg van akademiese redes voorwaardelik
toegelaat is. Benewens hoe È rskoolprestasie was studiemetodes die
vernaamstefaktorwatdietweegroepevanmekaaronderskeihet.
Wilhite (1990:696±700) het bevind dat studiemetodes 5% meer van die
variansie in prestasie verklaar wat nie alreeds deur geheue, lokus van
kontrole en selfkonsep verklaar is nie. In 'n soortgelyke ondersoek het
Elliott en Godshall (1990:203±207) bevind dat studiemetodes tussen 9%
en 11% van die variansie in prestasie verklaar wat nie alreeds deur
ander faktore soos geslag, aanleg en probleemoplossing verklaar is nie.
Prus en Hatcher (1995:7±26) het bevind dat studiemetodes op sigself
ongeveer 12% van die variansie in prestasie verklaar. Saam met ander
veranderlikes (onder andere intelligensie) kan dit slegs 5% meer van
die variansie in prestasie verklaar wat nie alreeds verklaar is nie. Uit
die ondersoek van Prus en ook die ander ondersoeke wat hier genoem
is, kan die afleiding gemaak word dat studieorie È ntasie 'n veranderlike
is wat prestasie kan beõ È nvloed alhoewel dit nie een van die vernaamste
veranderlikes blyk te wees nie. Dit kan egter nie geõ È gnoreer word nie
en behoort opgeneem te word as 'n veranderlike in 'n voorspellingsmodel.
Uit die voorafgaande kan afgelei word dat intelligensie, akademiese
selfkonsep, motivering, belangstelling en studieorie È ntasie belangrike
veranderlikes is wat met akademiese prestasie verband hou. Om vas te
stel watter proporsie van die variansie in prestasie deur die veranderlikes
verklaar word en watter instrumente gebruik kan word om
die veranderlikes mee te meet, is die volgende empiriese ondersoek
uitgevoer.

174
5 DIE NAVORSINGSONTWERP VAN DIE EMPIRIESE
ONDERSOEK
5.1 Steekproef
Daar is besluit om van graad 11-leerders gebruik te maak en wel om die
volgende redes:
. Gedurende graad 11 word prestasie vir die leerder toenemend
belangrik omdat hy/sy reeds in graad 11 begin
voorberei vir die matriekeindeksamen. Prestasie in graad 11
is ook belangrik omdat leerders reeds in graad 11 loopbaanbeplanning
begin doen. Punte wat in graad-11 behaal is,
word toenemend meer in aanmerking geneem vir toelating
tot tersie à re inrigtings, aansoeke vir beurse of vakatures.
. Sekere toetse wat vir beroepskeuse in graad 11 afgeneem
word (soos intelligensie- en aanlegtoetse), kan ook vir
prestasievoorspelling gebruik word wat die afneem daarvan
meer ekonomies maak.
. Graad 11 is die middelste van die drie senior sekonde à re
grade en deur graad 11-leerders te betrek kan met groter
sekerheid aanvaar word dat die leerders senior sekonde à re
status bereik het. Verder skep dit die moontlikheid om 'n
voorspellingsmodel vir die senior sekonde à re fase te ontwikkel.
'n Skool wat bereid was om aan die ondersoek deel te neem, is op
ewekansige wyse betrek. Hierdie skool bestaan uit leerders vanuit 'n
lae, 'n gemiddelde en 'n hoe È sosio-ekonomiese status. Die steekproef
het al die graad 11-leerders van die betrokke skool ingesluit. In totaal
was daar 124 leerders, 61 seuns en 63 dogters. Die gemiddelde
ouderdom was 16,9 met 'n standaardafwyking van 0,44.
5.2 Meetinstrumente
Intelligensie en aanleg
Die Senior Aanlegtoets (SAT) is gebruik om intelligensie en aanleg te
meet. Die toets is in 1978 hersien en word meestal gebruik om
intelligensie en aanleg in die senior sekonde à re fase te meet. In die

Die bepaling van 'n realistiese prestasievlak 175
ondersoek is die volgende tien subtoetse van die SAT gebruik (die
betroubaarheid van elk word in hakkies verskaf): Verbale begrip(0,71);
Berekeninge(0,91); Woordbou(0,76); Vergelyking(0,76); Patroonvoltooiing(0,81);
Figuurreekse(0,85); Ruimtelik 2±D(0,92); Ruimtelik 3±
D(0,85); Geheue vir paragrawe(0,76); Geheue vir simbole(0,84). Deur
middel van 'n kombinasie van subtoetse kan 'n Algemene Intelligensietelling
bereken word.
Selfkonsep en motivering
'n Toets wat deur Waetjen ontwikkel is genaamd ``Selfconcept as
learner scale'' is met toestemming van die outeur gebruik om
selfkonsep en motivering te meet. Die toets bestaan uit die volgende
vier afdelings, (vgl. Burns 1979:141): Motivering om te leer, Taakorie
È ntering, Probleemoplossing, Klaslidmaatskap en Selfkonsep in
geheel. Die betroubaarheid van elke afdeling is as volg: Motivering om
te leer(0,61); Taakorie È ntering(0,81); Probleemoplossing(0,73); Klaslidmaatskap(0,75)
en Selfkonsep in geheel(0,90).
Breinvoorkeur
Aangesien belangstelling op persoonlike voorkeur dui (Swanepoel
1986:20; Budhal 1993:11) is besluit om 'n breinvoorkeurtoets as 'n
belangstellingsindeks te gebruik. Hierdie toets is in 'n afsonderlike
ondersoek deur die navorser self ontwikkel. Vier breinkwadrante word
onderskei (Du Plessis 1994:214±228).
Kwadrant A:
Kwadrant B:
Kwadrant C:
Kwadrant D:
'n Persoon wat daaraan voorkeur gee om logies te
redeneer ± om korrekte afleidings uit gegewens te
maak.
'n Persoon wat daaraan voorkeur gee om by die
organisasie van mense of instansies betrokke te wees.
'n Persoon wat verkies om emosioneel by 'n saak
betrokke te raak.
'n Persoon wat graag sy verbeelding gebruik en
fantaseer.

176
Met die afneem van die toets word 'n telling vir elk van die kwadrante
verkry. Die toets is by 537 hoe È rskoolleerders afgeneem ten einde norme
en betroubaarhede te bereken. Die betroubaarheid van elke kwadrant
is as volg: A (0,83); B (0,78); C (0,91); D(0,83)
StudieorieÈntasie
Om 'n aanduiding van leerders se studieorie È ntasie te kry, is 'n
meetinstrument gebruik wat bekend staan as Opname van Studiegewoontes
en Houdings (OSGH). Vier subtoetse word in die toets
onderskei, naamlik:
Vermyding van uitstel:
Werkmetodes:
Onderwysergoedkeuring:
Aanvaarding van onderwys:
Dit dui aan in watter mate die leerder sy
take stiptelik afhandel en nie geneig is
tot onnodige tydverkwisting nie.
Dit gee 'n aanduiding van die leerder se
gebruik van doeltreffende studiemetodes.
Dit gee 'n aanduiding van die leerder se
houding teenoor die onderwyser.
Die subtoets meet 'n leerder se opvoedkundige
ideale en doelstellings
Studieorie È ntasie is die somtotaal van bogenoemde subtoetse.
Die betroubaarheid van elke subtoets is as volg: Vermyding van
uitstel(0,85); Werkmetodes(0,86); Onderwysergoedkeuring(0,87);
Aanvaarding van onderwys(0,86); Studieorie È ntasie(0,91).
Akademiese prestasie
Toetse om die voorspellingsveranderlikes te meet is gedurende Mei
afgeneem. Die gemiddelde prestasie wat in die Junie-eksamen behaal
is, is as kriteriumveranderlike gebruik.
5.3 Navorsingsprosedure
Die leerders het op een bepaalde dag al die toetse afgele à .Die

Die bepaling van 'n realistiese prestasievlak 177
aanlegtoets is vroegoggend afgeneem om moegheid te voorkom. Die
aanlegtoets (SAT) is streng volgens die voorgeskrewe prosedures
afgele à . Na 'n pouse van 20 minute is die Selfkonseptoets en die
Breinvoorkeurtoets afgeneem wat ongeveer 1 uur geduur het. Daarna
is 'n tweede pouse van 20 minute toegelaat. Na die tweede pouse is die
OSGH afgeneem.
Prestasietellings is na die Julie-vakansie (in Augustus) verkry. Al die
inligting van elke leerder is op kodeervelle aangebring waarna die
gegewens deur 'n rekenaar verwerk is.
6 RESULTATE VAN DIE EMPIRIESE ONDERSOEK
As nulhipotese is gestel dat daar geen beduidende korrelasie tussen die
gemete veranderlikes en akademiese prestasie bestaan nie. Ten einde die
gestelde nulhipotese te toets, is korrelasiekoe È ffisie È nte tussen die
voorspellingsveranderlikes en die gemiddelde prestasie van elke
leerder bereken. Hierdie korrelasiekoe È ffisie È nte verskyn in Tabel 1.
Behalwe vir die B- en C-kwadrant, kan die nulhipotese vir al die ander
veranderlikes verwerp word. Die veranderlike wat die sterkste
verbandmetprestasietoonisAlgemeneIntelligensie.Ditstrookmet
bevindinge van Brodnick en Ree (1995:583±594), Horn e.a (1993:464±
478) asook Gustafsson en Blake (1993:407±434). In die ondersoeke is
aangetoon dat Algemene Intelligensie die belangrikste voorspeller in
die meeste vakgebiede is en ongeveer 30% tot 33% van die variansie in
prestasie verklaar. In hierdie ondersoek verklaar Algemene Intelligensie
ongeveer 38% van die variansie in prestasie.
Naas Algemene Intelligensie toon Verbale begrip en Korttermyngeheue
ook 'n beduidende verband met prestasie. Die veranderlikes
verklaar onderskeidelik 31% en 25% van die variansie in prestasie.
Langtermyngeheue verklaar ongeveer 23% van die variansie in
prestasie.
Die affektiewe veranderlike wat die sterkste verband met prestasie
toon, is selfkonsep en dit verklaar ongeveer 20% van die variansie in
prestasie.

178
TABEL 1
Die verband tussen die voorspellingsveranderlikes en gemiddelde prestasie
Voorspellingsveranderlike
Korrelasie met prestasie en
gemiddelde prestasie
Intelligensie r = 0.62*
Verbale begrip r = 0,56*
Berekeninge r = 0,40*
Woordbou r = 0,46*
Vergelyking r = 0,26*
Patroonvoltooiing r = 0,46*
Figuurreekse r = 0,37*
Ruimtelik (2D) r = 0,36*
Ruimtelik (3D) r = 0,37*
Geheue (langtermyn) r = 0,48*
Geheue (korttermyn) r = 0,50*
A Kwadrant r = 0,37*
B Kwadrant r = 0,01
CKwadrant r = 70,11
DKwadrant r = 70,21**
Selfkonsep r = 0,45*
Studieorie È ntasie r = 0,40*
*p 5 0,01 **p 5 0,05
Om te bepaal hoe 'n kombinasie van veranderlikes saamgestel moet
word om die maksimum variansie in prestasie te verklaar, is 'n
regressie-analise uitgevoer. As voorspellingsveranderlikes is intelligensie,
aanleg, selfkonsep (waarby motivering ingesluit is), belangstelling
(breinvoorkeur), studieorie È ntasie en geslag (as biografiese
veranderlike) gebruik. Die kriteriumveranderlike was prestasie. In
totaal kon 64% van die variansie in gemiddelde prestasie verklaar
word waarvan Algemene Intelligensie, studieorie È ntasie en geslag 50%
verklaar het. 'n Verdere 10% is verklaar deur Breinvoorkeur (A),
Berekeninge en Korttermyngeheue. Die oorblywende veranderlikes het
'n addisionele 4% van die variansie in prestasie verklaar. (Sien tabel 2).

Die bepaling van 'n realistiese prestasievlak 179
TABEL 2
Verklaring vir die variansie in gemiddelde prestasie
Veranderlike R 2 F* gv
Algemene Intelligensie (IK) 0,38 68,12 (1,112)
Studieorie È ntasie (SO) 0,46 47,49 (2,111)
Geslag (G) 0,50 36,07 (3,110)
A-Kwadrant (A) 0,55 33,08 (4,109)
Berekeninge (R) 0,58 29,83 (5,108)
Korttermyngeheue (KG) 0,60 26,35 (6,107)
C-Kwadrant (C) 0,61 23,58 (7,106)
Patroonvoltooiing (P) 0,62 21,06 (8,105)
Selfkonsep (SK) 0,62 18,09 (9,104)
Vergelyking (V) 0,63 17,23 (10,103)
B-Kwadrant (B) 0,63 15,86 (11,102)
D-Kwadrant (D) 0,64 14,69 (12,101)
Ruimtelik ± 3D (RDDD) 0,64 13,62 (13,100)
Ruimtelik ± 2D (RDD) 0,64 12,61 (14,99)
* In al die gevalle is p 5 0,01
Die vernaamste twee veranderlikes wat 'n groot proporsie van die
variansie in prestasie verklaar, is Algemene Intelligensie en studieorie
È ntasie. Ander prominente veranderlikes is geslag en Breinvoorkeur-A.
Alhoewel akademiese selfkonsep as enkele faktor sterk met
prestasie verband gehou het, het dit in kombinasie met ander
veranderlikes nie 'n vername bydrae tot die verklaring van die
variansie in prestasie gelewer nie.

180
7 GEVOLGTREKKING EN AANBEVELINGS
Bloom (1976:171) noem dat kognitiewe en affektiewe faktore gesamentlik
ongeveer 64% van die variansie in prestasie kan verklaar. Dit is
inderdaad die persentasie wat in hierdie ondersoek aangetoon is.
Bloom (1976:169,174) beweer verder dat kwaliteit van onderrig (wat
nie in die ondersoek as veranderlike betrek is nie) 'n verdere 15% tot
25% van die variansie in prestasie kan verklaar wat nie alreeds deur
kognitiewe en affektiewe veranderlikes verklaar is nie. As dit in ag
geneem word, kan aanvaar word dat die veranderlikes wat in hierdie
ondersoek betrek is, saam met kwaliteit van onderrig, ten minste 80%
van die variansie in gemiddelde prestasie verklaar, wat dit 'n
aanvaarbare en bruikbare voorspellingsmodel maak.
'n Leerprobleem of enige ander probleem wat manifesteer as swak
prestasie, kan makliker geõ È dentifiseer en hanteer word indien 'n
realistiese, voorspelde punt tot die onderwyser se beskikking is. Indien
'n leerder byvoorbeeld 45% gemiddeld behaal, kan dit as laag (swak)
beskou word, maar indien sy voorspelde punt 50% is, word 'n punt van
45% anders beoordeel. Indien 'n leerder byvoorbeeld 55% gemiddeld
behaal terwyl sy voorspelde punt 72% is, is eersgenoemde punt
bepaald swak en moet daar na redes vir onderprestasie gesoek word.
Vanuit die literatuur en die empiriese gegewens het dit geblyk dat
swak prestasie met 'n swak selfbeeld en gebrekkige motivering
verband hou. Die een gee aanleiding tot die ander, wat 'n vernietigende
kringloop tot gevolg kan he à . 'n Realistiese voorspelde punt kan
die kringloop breek. 'n Leerder kan 'n swak selfbeeld ontwikkel omdat
hy/sy 53% in 'n vak behaal terwyl sy/haar eie verwagting, of die  van
die ouers of onderwysers 70% is. Indien 'n voorspelde punt van
byvoorbeeld 60% bereken word, is die werklike punt nog steeds laer,
maar die ideaal waarna gemik word is nou meer realisties en makliker
bereikbaar. Indien 'n gemiddelde punt van 60% wel bereik word, kan
dit positiewe affektiewe gevolge he à , wat nie daar sou wees indien 'n
onrealistiese punt van byvoorbeeld 70% aanhoudend, sonder welslae
nagestreef is nie.
Wat die voorspelling van punte betref, blyk dit dat Algemene

Die bepaling van 'n realistiese prestasievlak 181
Intelligensie, studieorie È ntasie en Breinvoorkeur-A van die vernaamste
veranderlikes is wat met prestasie verband hou. Die  bevindinge lig 'n
belangrike taak van die onderwyser uit. Daar kan op hoe È rskoolvlak
min gedoen word om 'n leerder se intelligensie en aanleg te verhoog,
maar heelwat kan gedoen word om studieorie È ntasie te verbeter. Die
onderwyser kan prestasie bevorder deur effektiewe studiemetodes aan
leerders oor te dra en studieprogramme vir individuele leerders te
ontwikkel.
Wat breinvoorkeur betref, moet aanvaar word dat nie alle persone
linkerbreingeorie È nteerd is nie, terwyl die meeste vakke op skool
linkerbreinaktiwiteite vereis. Om hierdie rede sal leerders wat
regterbreingeorie È nteerd is, baat vind by denkprogramme wat linkerbreinaktiwiteite
ontwikkel. Die ontwikkeling en aanbieding van sulke
programme word op grond van die resultate van hierdie ondersoek
sterk aanbeveel.
Ten slotte is dit belangrik om daarop te let dat probleme soos stres en
depressie by leerders ontstaan indien hoe È akademiese eise aan hulle
gestel word, hetsy deur hulleself of deur ouers en onderwysers. Sekere
leerders reageer aggressief op sulke eise wanneer hulle nie daaraan kan
voldoen nie. 'n Realistiese prestasievlak kan help om onrealistiese
oortuigings by leerders, ouers en onderwysers bloot te le à . In sekere
gevalle ontstaan gedragsprobleme wanneer leerders daarvan oortuig is
dat hulle no  o  it sukses sal behaal nie. Vir sulke leerders is sukses
dikwels 'n onrealistiese punt (soos 80%) wat hulle weliswaar nie kan
bereik nie en dit versterk hulle oortuiging. 'n Realistiese doelstelling
kan in die opsig help om 'n onrealistiese oortuiging te weerle à . Wanneer
'n realistiese voorspelde punt met 'n leerder bespreek word, is dit
belangrik om die leerder daarop te wys dat die  punt op grond van sy
spesifieke kognitiewe en affektiewe eienskappe bereken is en daarom
binne sy bereik is. Dieselfde boodskap moet ook waar nodig aan
vakonderwysers en ouers oorgedra word sodat hulle realistiese
verwagtings sal koester.
SUMMARY
The aim of education is to lead a person to self-actualisation or stated

182
differently, to help him to develop his/her full potential. This aim,
which is also applicable to a learning situation, is difficult to attain if a
learner is unaware or unrealistic about his/her potential. Such a
learner will benefit from an educational programme in which realistic
achievement levels are determined. In order to develop such a
programme a teacher should know which variables relate to academic
achievement and with which instruments these variables should be
measured.
From the literature study three possible categories of variables might
relate to academic achievement, namely:
cognitive variables such as intelligence and aptitude;
affective variables such as motivation, academic self-concept and interest
(brain preference) and
study orientation.
To determine which variables account for the largest proportion of the
variance in achievement, an empirical investigation was carried out. A
sample of 124 grade 11-learners (61 boys and 63 girls) was used in the
investigation. General Intelligence, Aptitude, Academic Self-concept,
Motivation, Interest (brain-preference) and Study-orientation were
used as prediction variables. Achievement was used as the criterion
variable. In total 64% of the variance in achievement could be
accounted for by the prediction variables of which General Intelligence,
Study-orientation and Gender accounted for 50%. A further 10%
was accounted for by Brain-preference (A), Calculations and Shortterm
Memory. The remaining variables accounted for an additional 4%
of the variance in achievement.
The most important educational implication of developing a model to
predict achievement lies in the identification of possible learning
problems. Once a realistic mark is available, a teacher is in a better
position to judge current achievement. If a learner obtains a mark of
55% while the predicted mark is 72%, the obtained mark is low and

Die bepaling van 'n realistiese prestasievlak 183
under achievement might be present. However, if a learner obtains a
mark of 45%, it can be considered a low mark, but if the predicted mark
is 50% a mark of 45% seems realistic and is therefore interpreted
differently. This different interpretation places less pressure on the
child to obtain a level of achievement far beyond his/her reach which
will cause less stress and the development of a low self-concept.
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Sportsielkunde as komponent in die opleidingsprogram van vakonderwysers 185
Sportsielkunde as
komponent in die
opleidingsprogram
van vakonderwysers
Prof JG le Roux
Dr GE Pienaar
Departement Opvoedkundestudies
Unisa
In the Republic of South Africa (RSA), most of the subject teachers in our schools are
involved with the coaching of sport, sometimes against their will. The training
programmes of these teachers do not really provide for the inclusion of sport psychology.
In fact, a survey at universities and teachers colleges all over the country revealed that
only two of these institutions offer sport psychology as a subject to their subject
teachers. Enquiries at schools in the RSA indicated that subject teachers, involved as
sport coaches, experience frustrations because of their lack of ability with regard to inter
alia the following:
. motivation of their athletes
. dealing with anxiety, conflicts and crises in sport
. the application of concentration and relaxation techniques.
These frustrations lead to a deterioration in relationships between coaches and athletes
and eventually affect sport achievements negatively. This investigation clearly indicates
that a very low percentage of subject teachers in the RSA know anything about sport
psychology, but the majority involved in the investigation are of the opinion that sport
psychology should be included in the training programme of subject teachers.

186
1 INLEIDING EN PROBLEEMSTELLING
Sportsielkunde het hoofsaaklik ontstaan uit organisasies, skrywes en
instellings wat na die Tweede We à reldoorlog gevestig is, en dit is
verder ontwikkel deur internasionale en nasionale organisasies wat
hulle oorsprong in die sestigerjare gehad het (Cratty 1983:23).
Sportsielkunde het noue bande met ander sub-areas van sport en
bewegingskunde. Dit sluit onder andere die volgende in (Gill 1986:4):
. bewegingsfisiologie ± hou verband met anatomie en fisiologie
. biomeganika ± pas die beginsels en kennis van fisika toe op
die meganika van menslike beweging
. sportsosiologie ± ondersoek die sosiologiese dimensies van
sport
Omdat sportsielkunde deel is van die multi-dissipline à re veld van sport
en oefening, deel dit in die teoriee È , konstrukte en metings van die
ander sportwetenskappe asook van sielkunde in die algemeen.
Nideffer (in Silva en Weinberg 1984:41) onderskei dan ook tussen die
kliniese sportsielkundige, die opvoedkundige sportsielkundige en die
navorsingsportsielkundige. Volgens Williams en Straub (in Williams
1993:9) is sportsielkunde ± as die jongste van die sportwetenskappe ±
gemoeid met die psigologiese faktore wat deelname aan sport en
oefening beõ È nvloed en met die psigologiese effekte wat voortvloei uit
hierdie sportdeelname. Silva en Weinberg (red) (1984:6) sluit mooi
hierby aan deur te beweer dat ``... audience effects, anxiety, motivation,
group dynamics, personality, confidence, and concentration are all psychological
factors affecting the performer, whereas participation in physical
activity can affect the performer in terms of anxiety reduction, personality
development, aggressive behavior, and the enhancement of well-being''. Daar
is dus 'n voortdurende, wederkerige proses tussen die deelnemer en sy
sportaktiwiteite aan die gang.
Volgens Gill (1986:3) is sportsielkunde 'n vertakking van sport ± en
bewegingskunde (exercise science) ``... that seeks to provide answers to
questions about human behavior in sport''. Sy praat ook van ``... the

Sportsielkunde as komponent in die opleidingsprogram van vakonderwysers 187
scientific study of human behavior in sport'' (p 6). Volgens haar sluit die
term sportsielkunde nie alle aspekte van sielkunde in nie (alhoewel die
term dit impliseer) en behoort slegs gekonsentreer te word op
persoonlikheids- en sosiale sielkunde (social psychology) (p 7). Soos
sosiale sielkunde, fokus sportsielkunde op betekenisvolle sosiale
gedrag, eerder as op afdelings van gedrag (portions of behavior). Dus,
die term sportsielkunde ``... should be interpreted as referring to the
influence of personality and social factors on meaningful behavior in a
variety of sport and exercise settings'' (Gill 1986:7). Sportsielkunde is
egter nie onverbiddelik beperk tot persoonlikheids- en sosiale sielkunde
nie, maar spreek ook ander aspekte van die sielkunde aan soos
ontwikkelingsielkunde, kognitiewe sielkunde en fisiologiese sielkunde.
Samevattend kan die terrein van die sportsielkunde soos volg omskryf
word:
. Sportsielkunde as wetenskap is gemoeid met die identifisering
en omskrywing van daardie aspekte wat die sportprestasies
sowel as die gedrag van atlete kan beõ È nvloed. Van
hierdie aspekte is motivering, persoonlikheid, toeskouergedrag,
aktivering (arousal), kompetisie en kompetisie-angs,
aggressie, teruvoering en nog vele meer. Dit sal veral op die
terrein van die navorsingsportsielkundige le à .
. Die invloed van bogenoemde aspekte op die prestasies van
atlete word deur die sportsielkundige ondersoek, sowel as
die invloed van sportdeelname op die gedrag van atlete,
byvoorbeeld angs kan veroorsaak dat die atleet gespanne
raak en swak presteer op sport- sowel as akademiese gebied,
maar sportdeelname of oefening kan weer tot verminderde
angs lei. Dit sal veral die sosiale sportsielkundige wees wat
hierin belangstel.
. Metodes en strategiee È moet gevind word om bogenoemde
aspekte met sukses toe te pas, met ander woorde die afrigter
moet weet, of bewus gemaak word hoe om sy/haar atlete

188
optimaal te motiveer, of hoe om hulle teenoor die intimidering
van opponente en toeskouers voor te berei. Dit sal
veral die toegepaste sportsielkunde se funksie wees om hier 'n
bydrae te lewer.
. Situasies kan ontstaan wat nie deur die afrigter hanteer kan
word nie, byvoorbeeld atlete raak buitengewoon depressief,
of ly aan die uitbrandingsindroom, of raak verslaaf aan
verdowingsmiddels en opkikkers ensovoorts. Dan moet die
atleet na 'n deskundige verwys word en sal dit veral die
opvoedkundige sportsielkundige en die kliniese sportsielkundige
se taak wees om in te gryp.
Sportsielkunde speel 'n al groterwordende rol in die we à reld van sport.
Dit geld veral in lande soos die Verenigde State van Amerika (VSA),
Europa en Australie È (Salmela 1991; Williams 1993; Kremer & Scully
1994). In Suid-Afrika geniet sport hoe È aansien. Vir sy relatief klein
populasie presteer Suid-Afrikaanse atlete we à reldwyd op verskeie
gebiede. Koerante verwys na Suid-Afrikaners as ``sportmal''. Ook in
ons skole word sport baie beklemtoon. Sportuitslae geniet soms meer
aandag as akademiese resultate, veral in sportsoorte soos rugby, netbal
en atletiek. Dis nie meer onbekend nie dat sportsterre deur skole gelok
word met spesiale aanbiedinge. Geld en moeite word nie ontsien om
sport in ons skole te bevorder nie (Le Roux 1999). Sportsielkunde kry
egter nog nie die erkenning in Suid-Afrika wat dit toekom nie. Daar
kleef nog 'n stigma aan die term ``sportsielkundige''. Afrigters en
spelers/atlete re en dat hulle `'normaal'' is en nie die hulp van 'n
sielkundige benodig nie. Gelukkig is die situasie besig om te verander
en hoor en lees 'n mens al meer van Suid-Afrikaanse sportspanne wat
van die bystand en ondersteuning van sportsielkundiges gebruik
maak.
Sportafrigting in Suid-Afrikaanse skole word oorwegend deur vakonderwysers
waargeneem. Enkele van die groter en meer gegoede skole
maak van die dienste van private of professionele afrigters gebruik,
maar dan ook net vir sekere sportsoorte. Die oorgrote meerderheid

Sportsielkunde as komponent in die opleidingsprogram van vakonderwysers 189
skole steun op hulle vakonderwysers om sportafrigting te behartig.
Sportafrigting is daarom gewoonlik een van die aanstellingsvoorwaardes
van vakonderwysers. Baie vakonderwysers raak dus by die
afrigting van sport betrokke, of hulle daarvan hou of nie.
Die opleidingsprogram van vakonderwysers in Suid-Afrika maak baie
min voorsiening vir sportsielkunde. 'n Steekproef by universiteite en
onderwyskolleges regoor die land het getoon dat slegs twee van
hierdie inrigtings wel sportsielkunde aan die vakonderwyser bied.
Meer van hierdie inrigtings bied wel 'n kursus of kursusse in
sportsielkunde vir ingeskrewe menslikebewegingskundestudente aan,
maar nie vir ingeskrewe vakonderwysers nie.
'n Besoek aan die VSA het ook getoon dat onderwysers daar nie
spesifiek opleiding in sportsielkunde ontvang nie. Die neiging is eerder
om kursusse in sportsielkunde by te woon en so hulself te bekwaam.
Navraag by skole in die RSA het getoon dat vakonderwysers soms
heelwat frustrasies as sportafrigters beleef, byvoorbeeld:
. Hulle weet nie altyd hoe om hulle atlete of spanne behoorlik
te motiveer nie. Hiervan getuig sportleerlinge self.
. Hulleweetniealtydhoeomhullesportleerlingeteaktiveer
(``psych up'') vir bepaalde byeenkomste nie. Sportleerlinge
bereik hul psigiese hoogtepunte te vroeg of te laat.
. Vakonderwysers beskik nie altyd oor die nodige kennis om
bepaalde fokus- en ontspanningstegnieke op hulle sportleerlingetoetepasnie.Hulleweetookniehoeomhulle
sportleerlinge voor te berei om die intimiderende gedrag van
toeskouers en opponente te hanteer nie.
. Aspekte soos aggressie in sport, krisis- en konflikhantering
binne sportverband, die uitbrandingsindroom binne sportverband,
angs (``choking'') in sport en vele ander sake wat
verband hou met die sportsielkunde en wat 'n dinamiese rol
speel in die sportdeelname van leerlinge, word deur onderwysers
as afrigters nagelaat, juis omdat hulle nie hierin enige
opleiding ontvang het nie.

190
Die gevolge van 'n sportonderwyser se gebrekkige opleiding in
sportsielkunde hou vele implikasies in:
. Verkeerde motiveringstegnieke versuur die verhouding
tussen afrigter en sportleerling. Leerlinge weier soms om aan
sport deel te neem, juis as gevolg van die kwetsende en
dreigende opmerkings wat deur onderwysers as
motiveringstegnieke ingespan word.
. Gebrekkige kennis in ontspannings- en fokustegnieke beteken
dat sportleerlinge nie optimaal presteer nie. Onvermoe È
deur sportleerlinge om angs (``choking'') en aggressie te
hanteer, het dieselfde gevolge.
. Waar sportleerlinge nie geleer word om die intimiderende
gedrag van toeskouers en opponente te hanteer nie, kan
spelpatrone en algemene deelname aan sport grootliks ontwrig
word.
Samevattend kan gese à word dat, indien die vakonderwyser wat as
sportafrigter optree, nie oor die nodige kennis beskik om bepaalde
aspekte van die sportsielkunde in sy afrigtingstegnieke toe te pas nie,
dit uiteindelik die sportleerling is wat daaronder gaan ly. Inderwaarheid
se à Evans ( in Morris & Summers 1995:520) dat afrigters wat nie in
hul afrigting aan die behoefte van kinders voldoen nie, ``... may well
deter children from further sport participation because of their lack of
knowledge and insensitivity to problems''. Dit noodsaak 'n ondersoek na
die moontlikheid en noodsaaklikheid om sportsielkunde ingesluit te
kry in die akademiese opleidingspakket van die vakonderwyser.
Uit die voorafgaande bespreking blyk dit duidelik dat 'n sportafrigter
nie sy/haar taak na behore kan verrig nie, tensy die persoon in staat is
om bepaalde aspekte van die sportsielkunde binne sy/haar afrigtingsprogram
te kan toepas. Opleiding in sportsielkunde blyk dus van
essensie È le belang te wees vir die persoon wat belangstel of verplig is
om as sportafrigter op te tree. Vakonderwysers wat as sportafrigters
moet of wil optree, ondergaan nie altyd die nodige opleiding in

Sportsielkunde as komponent in die opleidingsprogram van vakonderwysers 191
sportsielkunde nie, en daarom kan die probleem onder bespreking as
volg geformuleer word: Hoe groot is die noodsaaklikheid en wat is die
moontlikheid dat sportsielkunde ingesluit word in die opleidingspro-
gram van vakonderwysers?
2 EMPIRIESE ONDERSOEK
Die volgende stappe is geneem ten einde die empiriese ondersoek
suksesvol uit te voer:
. Die ontwerp en samestelling van 'n vraelys (Afrikaans en
Engels)
. Die seleksie van proefpersone
. Die toepassing van die vraelys op die gekose persone
. Die verwerking en bespreking van die resultate
3 DIE ONTWERP EN SAMESTELLING VAN DIE
VRAELYS
Die doel van die vraelys was:
. Om ondersoek in te stel na die huidige toedrag van sake in
die RSA met betrekking tot die opleiding van vakonderwysers
as sportafrigters, gesien in die lig van die feit dat die
meeste vakonderwysers by sportafrigting in ons skole
betrokke raak. Daar is spesifiek vasgestel hoeveel opleiding
vakonderwysers in sportsielkunde ontvang en op welke
wyse.
. Om vas te stel hoe belangrik vakonderwysers die insluiting
van sportsielkunde in die opleidingsprogram van onderwysers
ag.
. Om vas te stel watter aspekte van sportsielkunde ingesluit
behoort te word in die opleidingsprogram van vakonderwysers.
. Om vas te stel of vakonderwysers van mening is dat, indien
sportsielkunde deel uitmaak van die opleidingsprogram van
vakonderwysers, dit 'n driemaandelikse, halfjaarlikse of 'n
jaarkursus moet wees.

192
4 SELEKSIE VAN DIE PROEFPERSONE
Altesaam 7 hoe È r- en 3 laerskole is op ewekansige wyse uit die Pretoriaomgewing
(insluitende Mamelodi) geselekteer (Mulder 1989:57). Elke
skool is versoek dat alle vakonderwysers wat sport afrig, die vraelys
voltooi.
5 TOEPASSING VAN DIE VRAELYS
Die vraelys is na die geselekteerde skole geneem en met behulp van die
skoolhoofde is geree È l dat dit afgeneem word. Die sportorganiseerders
was gewoonlik uiters behulpsaam. Die vraelys is ingeneem en
gekontroleer vir enige weglatings of onleesbaarheid van die gegewens.
Besonderhede van die proefpersone verskyn in tabelle 1 en 2.
TABEL 1
Verdeling van ondersoekgroep volgens skooltipe en geslag
Skole
Mans
Vroue
Totaal
Hoe È rskool 38 55 93
Laerskool 13 28 41
Totaal 51 83 134
TABEL 2
Verdeling van ondersoekgroep volgens jare diens
Aantal jare diens
Skole
0±5 jr 6±10jr
11±15jr
16±20jr
21±30jr
430jr
Totaal
Hoe È r 16 30 25 15 6 1 933
Laer 3 14 12 3 7 2 41
Totaal 19 44 37 18 13 3 134

Sportsielkunde as komponent in die opleidingsprogram van vakonderwysers 193
6 DIE VERWERKING VAN DATA EN BESPREKING VAN
DIE RESULTATE
Die inligting van die vraelys is hierna statisties verwerk deur gebruik te
maak van die SAS-rekenaarpakket. Die volgende resultate is verkry:
6.1 Item 4 van die vraelys
Die proefpersone moes aandui of hulle opleiding in sportafrigting
ondergaan het of nie. Die resultate verskyn in tabel 3.
TABEL 3
Opleiding in sportafrigting
Geslag
Ja
Nee
Totaal
Mans 45 66 51
Vroue 65 18 83
Totaal 110 24 134
Volgens tabel 3 het 82,09% (110/134) van die vakonderwysers wat
sport afrig, opleiding in die afrigting van sport ontvang, met ander
woordehulleisgeleerhoeomdiespiesvastehouentewerp,of
byvoorbeeld hoe om die diskus te gooi of hoe om die korrekte
hoogspringtegniek toe te pas. Van die mans het 88,24% (45/51) en van
die vroue 78,36% (65/83) opleiding in sportafrigting ontvang.
6.2 Item 5 van die vraelys
Die respondente moes aandui waar hulle sportafrigting ontvang het
byvoorbeeld aan 'n kollege of universiteit of deur middel van kursusse
ensovoorts. Die resultate verskyn in tabel 4.

194
TABEL 4
Lokaliteit van sportafrigting
Instansie
Aantal %
Onderwyskollege 8 7.3%
Technikon 2 1.8%
Universiteit 13 11.8%
Kursusse 40 36.4%
Kombinasie van bogenoemde 42 38.2%
Ander 5 4.5%
Totaal 110 100.0%
Volgens tabel 4 is dit duidelik dat die meeste onderwysers hul
opleiding in sportafrigting deur middel van kursusse ontvang het, wat
'n verdere aanduiding is tot watter mate sportafrigting vir onderwysers
aan ons tersie à re inrigtings afgeskeep word.
6.3 Item 6 van die vraelys
Die proefpersone moes aandui of hulle opleiding in sportsielkunde
ontvang het. Die resultate verskyn in tabel 5.
TABEL 5
Opleiding in sportsielkunde
Geslag
Ja
Nee
Totaal
Mans 7 44 51
Vroue 15 68 83
Totaal 22 112 134
Volgens tabel 5 het 83,58% (112/134) van die vakonderwysers wat
sport afrig, geen opleiding in sportsielkunde ontvang nie. Van die
mans het 86,27% (44/51) en van die vroue het 81,93% (68/83) geen
opleiding in sportsielkunde ontvang nie.

Sportsielkunde as komponent in die opleidingsprogram van vakonderwysers 195
'n Verdere statistiese ontleding is gedoen om vas te stel hoeveel van die
proefpersone opleiding in sowel sportafrigting as sportsielkunde
ontvang het. Die resultate verskyn in tabel 6.
TABEL 6
Opleiding in sowel sportsielkunde as sportafrigting
Opleiding in sportsielkunde
Opleiding in sportafrigting
Ja
Nee
Totaal
Ja 20 90 110
Nee 2 22 24
Totaal 22 112 134
Volgens tabel 6 het slegs 14,93% (20/134) van die vakonderwysers
opleiding in sowel sportafrigting as sportsielkunde ontvang en 16,42%
(22/134) het nie opleiding in o  fsportafrigtingo  f sportsielkunde
ontvang nie. Slegs 2 persone (1,49%) het nie opleiding in sportafrigting
ontvang nie maar wel in sportsielkunde. Die meeste vakonderwysers
naamlik 67,16% (90/134) het opleiding in sportafrigting ontvang, maar
nie in sportsielkunde nie.
6.4 Item 7 van die vraelys
Die respondente moes aandui waar hulle opleiding in sportsielkunde
ontvang het. Die resultate verskyn in tabel 7.
TABEL 7
Lokaliteit van opleiding in sportsielkunde
Instituut
Aantal %
Universiteit 13 59.1%
Kursusse 4 18.2%
Kombinasie van bogenoemde 5 22.7%