Acceptance of co-operatve education practice by the Academic Staff at Technikon South Africa

Abstract

<p>Technikons advocate the practice of co-operative education, which is an educational strategy that integrates learning through productive work with the theoretical curriculum. However, only 35% of theTechnikon SA programmes have a compulsory experiential learning component. Grounded theory research was undertaken to determine some of the basic assumptions of Technikon SA’s academic staff in this regard. Rather than starting out with a specific research problem, grounded theory explores an area of interest and allows what is relevant to emerge. Semi-structured interviews with four open-ended questions, were conducted with a stratified-random sample of 25 teaching staff at Technikon SA. It was found that, although there is some willing compliance and belief in co-operative education, it is not indicative of the organisational culture of Technikon SA.<strong> </strong></p><p><strong>Opsomming</strong> <br>Technikons propageer die beoefening van ko˛peratiewe onderwys,’n opvoedkundige strategiewat leer deur produktiewewerkservaring integreermet die teoretiese kurrikulum. ByTechnikon SAegter, het slegs sowat 35% van die formele programme ’n verpligte leerervarings komponent.Teoretiese-begrondings navorsingsmetodologie is gebruik omsekere basiese veronderstellings van akademiese personeel te bepaal. Eerder as om’n spesifieke navorsingsprobleemas vertrekpunt te gebruik, ondersoek teoretiese-begronding’n areavan belang en laat die metodiek die relevante sake toe omte voorskyn te kom. Semi-gestruktureerde onderhoude,met vier ope vrae, is gevoer met ’n gestratifiseerde eweskansige steekproef van 25 akademiese personeellede vanTechnikon SA. Daar is bevind dat alhoewel daar beperkte oortuiging en gewillige uitlewing van kooperatiewe onderwys is, is dit nie beduidend as kenmerkend van die organisasie kultuur vanTechnikon SA nie.</p&gt

Qualitative Research In Management And Organisational Studies With Reference To Recent South African Research

“…Africans have used different methods: general informal methods (Vosloo & Barnard, 2002), grounded theory: Du Toit, 2002Groenewald, Strümpfer & Lessing, 2001;Williams, Crafford & Fourie, 2003; phenomenological analysis (Linde, Rothmann & Sieberhagen, 1999), and analytic induction (Tlou & Schurink, this volume). (vi) There are indications that local scholars are to an increasing extent employing both qualitative and quantitative methods in research in our part of the world.…”

Work status as a predictor of academic performance in the field of distance higher education

“…Co-operative education seems to be a philosophy which entails an educational strategy with the goal of integrating productive work experiences into the theoretical curriculum of an academic study field -a specific combination of work-based learning and academic study (Groenewald, Strümpfer & Lessing, 2001). Although Herman Schneider, a 19th century teacher, may be regarded as the founder of the co-operative system of technological education, the idea of combining work with study was practised by mediaeval guilds with their apprenticeships.…”