Browsing by Author "Collett, Karen Suzette"

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    Decentering and recentering the writing centre using online feedback: Towards a collaborative model of integrating academic literacies development
    (Stellenbosch University, 2019) Collett, Karen Suzette; Dison, Arona
    Since its inception in 1994, the University of the Western Cape’s Writing Centre has been on the margins, viewed as an add-on to central learning and teaching activities at the university (Archer and Richards 2011, Clarence 2011). In this article, we use the constructs of place, space, and power to explore the decentering of feedback on students’ writing from the face-to-face, physical location of the Centre to the formative assessment space in a module. We reflect on the Centre’s engagement with a formative online feedback intervention conducted by a lecturer within a Bachelor of Education Honours course. Writing centre tutors participated in providing formative feedback on nested, scaffolded tasks leading to a long essay, using the feedback function of the Turnitin platform. The space of engagement with students moved from the faceto-face, physical writing centre location to the online space. We found that the development of the academic writing and feedback literacies of writing tutors, students, and the lecturer were developed through sustained and responsive online and face-to-face communities of praxis. In this process, there was a partial decentering and recentering of the role of the Centre, enabled by technology and the integration of the development of academic literacies within the course curriculum.
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    Promoting Educational Change: Reflections on a Namibian Non-Governmental Educational Organisation 1989 - 1992
    (University of the Western Cape, 1999) Collett, Karen Suzette; Lazarus, Sandy
    In this dissertation I set out to reflect on and examine a case study of a Namibian nongovernmental educational organisation (NGEO),the Primary Teachers Project (PTP),from 1989to 1992 focusing on issuesof educational change and the role of NGEO'sin this process. My aim is to highlight some of the factors which helped and hindered the Primary Teachers Project playing a role in educational change. The study focuses on the following four aspects: The Primary Teachers Project'sin-service education and training (INSET)model. The relationship between the Namibian Ministry of Education and the PTP. Funding relationships and their influence on the project's development. Internal dynamics within the Primary Teachers Project The dissertation begins by locating the Primary Teachers Project within the broader geographical, political and educational context of Namibia. The PTP's development between 1989 and 1992is then described. The four focus areas above are highlighted within the case study. Topical reflections on each of these areas are integrated with relevant national and international literature on INSET, educational change and the role of NGEO's. Central learnings with regard to the PTP and its role in educational change in Namibia are raised. Some of the key factors which worked for and against this NGEO's influence on educational change are highlighted. Finally, I make a number of general recommendations with regard to the role of NGEO's in the Southern African context. This study raises key factors relating to the influence of NGEO's on educational change. These are: NGEO's need to develop their understanding of the complexity of educational change processes, in order to inform INSET strategies. School-focused INSET models need to strengthen strategies for follow-up support to assist teachers to implement new ideas and practices. A combination of curriculum-based INSET and organisation development support needs to be provided at the school level to assist educational change. Organisation development processes within NGEO's can strengthen their internal capacity and critically inform their INSET strategies. NGEO's need to research and reflect on their practice and disseminate their findings, in order to improve their own practice and influence educational change at other levels of the educational system, Collaboration between different INSET providers builds the capacity for sustainability of educational change processes at school level and supports NGEO's in disseminating their knowledge and expertise throughout the formal educational system. An enabling INSET policy framework is required at national and local level to support INSET work in schools and assist the work of NGEO's and donors.
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    Teacher perceptions of the role of a primary school principal in supporting their well-being: Learning from a South African public school in challenging conditions
    (2013) Collett, Karen Suzette; Vergnani, Tania
    This study is an investigation into teacher perceptions of the role of a primary school principal in supporting their well-being: learning from a South African public school in challenging conditions. As a grounded theory study using a classical grounded theory approach it proposes a substantiated theory based on the synthesis of findings from a single case study of a school. This grounded theory proposes that teacher well-being is a dynamic, fluctuating and holistic state of LOVING, BEING, HAVING and MEANING1 in a teacher’s personal and professional life, as a result of being part of a school community and broader system, and the SUPPORT2 it provides to enhance the physical, social and cultural environment and working conditions of teachers. In order of significance of responses, teacher well-being is related to: Caring and Supportive Relationships (LOVING) A State of Being (BEING) Environmental and Working Conditions (HAVING) Meaning (MEANING) LOVING and BEING influence the ability of teachers to access a level of HAVING and MEANING. Key factors supporting and constraining the well-being of teachers in a school in challenging conditions are personal, professional, organisational and systemic. Teachers identify organisational and systemic factors as having a greater negative influence on their well-being than personal and inter-personal factors. In this working class school greater job demands and limited job resources negatively influence teacher well-being. The key role of the principal (as defined by the teachers and reported in this study) in supporting the well-being of teachers requires a focus on personal, professional, organisational and systemic strategies to enhance support. These include a wide range of skills, attributes and abilities which include a democratic and contingent leadership style; a respectful, trustworthy and courageous personal 1 As defined in chapter five. 2 As defined and reported on in chapter seven. University of the Western Cape Karen Collett Page iv character; the ability to provide teachers with both personal and professional support; a focus on curricular leadership and strategies that enable teachers to address a range of barriers to learning; building a caring and supportive collegial culture; promoting professional learning communities; paying attention to the functioning of school level structures; addressing discipline and safety; drawing in additional funding and support at a school community and systems level; and having the moral courage and leadership to address issues at both a personal and systemic level. Leadership to support teacher well-being requires a focus by the principal and school management team on both structural and cultural dimensions of support at the school level and in addition requires the school leadership to address structural inequalities at the systemic level. It is hoped that the findings of this study will make an important contribution to understanding the role of leadership in supporting the well-being of teachers. They illuminate the challenges teachers in primary schools in challenging conditions face and provide suggestions to enable enhanced systems of teacher support at a school and systems level. These findings identify a number of personal and systems level indicators of well-being that can be used to evaluate and monitor school level teacher well-being and the bio-psycho-social elements of school health promotion. They provide a conceptual model of school well-being from the perspective of teachers. The study concludes with a number of recommendations to strengthen policy, practice, training and further research.