Globally, the appraisal of educators remains a contested issue as the process, which aims to provide support and development to educators, is generally considered a punitive measure for educators. Within the South African context, the Integrated Quality Management System is used to evaluate educators. Drawing on Fraser's theories of social…

This article examines the power dynamics underpinning performance management at a selected South African university. It specifically employs Michel Foucault's (1977) ideas on Governmentality to interpret the envisioning of performance management in this context at the level of Policy. The study employed a qualitative research methodology to…

Findings from a recent study highlight beginner teacher's perceptions about the nature of support they had received to enhance their competencies (Esau, 2017). Against this backdrop, with this article we aim at problematising support for beginner teachers in relation to the National Policy Framework for Teacher Education and Development in South…

While many universities have taken steps to recognise teaching in academic promotions, debate continues on the teaching criteria to be used and their evaluation. This article analyses the 10 criteria that inform the evaluation of teaching and eventual promotion decisions at a South African university: rationale for teaching, teaching methods,…

The study described in this article was prompted by the poor performance of students in an "at risk subject" in a science faculty at a university in South Africa. Teacher performance could contribute to poor performance among students, therefore the performance of one of the science teachers whose students were performing poorly was…

Teaching is increasingly being considered for inclusion in academic promotions in a number of universities. This raises questions about how teaching is appraised in relation to research; and which teaching criteria contribute to promotions outcomes. This article investigates these questions from a gender perspective by statistically analysing the…

While assessment is regarded as integral to enhancing the quality of teaching and learning, it is also a practice fraught with moral and ethical issues. An analysis is made of current assessment practices of teachers in South Africa which seem to straddle the domains of accountability and professional codes of conduct. In the process the position…

The need for quality teaching is reflected in the poor performance of students in international tests. Teachers' practices and contextual factors could contribute to substandard quality of teaching in South Africa. Several studies indicate that successful learning is largely dependent on the teachers' practices in class. The focus of the present…

This article presents the author's reflection on his experiences of teacher evaluation implemented in South Africa and his interest in researching this contentious topic in South Australia. He is of the opinion that his research will serve as a source of knowledge generation to teachers with respect to: a) "greater personal, professional and…

While it is argued in the paper that the New Public Management theory and practice has been applied much more in education than in any other area in the public sector, literature on education leadership and management still reveals a startling degree of confusion among education authorities, managers and leaders over what strategies to apply in…

This study focuses on aspects of the Changing Academic Profession survey of 2007-08 that describe the place of faculty in their institutions. The authors examine the following aspects of institutional life: (1) the faculty role in institutional governance; (2) who evaluates their teaching and research; (3) the locus of their loyalties as between…

Evaluation of staff has always been a contentious issue in education and even more in South Africa where education and specifically schools were politicised during the years of struggle for a truly democratic dispensation. During this period teachers refused to participate in any form of evaluation or inspection as it was referred to then.…

The purpose of this paper is to engage with the complexities of describing teachers' professional knowledge and eventually also their learning through written tests. The bigger research aim is to describe what knowledge foundation phase teachers acquired during their two years of study towards the Advanced Certificate of Teaching (ACT). We…

Education systems all over the world, like all other organisations, have certain organisational goals that they set and wish to achieve. It is argued that for increased pupil performance, in the case of education systems, teachers must work harder and smarter. A performance system is regarded as part of the process to achieve this organisational…

Apartheid was a system of government in South Africa, abolished in 1994, which systematically separated groups on the basis of race classification. The Apartheid system of racial segregation was made law in South Africa in 1948, when the country was officially divided into four racial groups, White, Black, Indian and Coloureds (or people of mixed…