Philosophy of Education

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Browsing Philosophy of Education by Subject "Authority"

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    An analysis of the educator's authority in Black Secondary Schools
    (1990) Mlondo, Nomusa Mavis; Luthuli, P.C.
    The aim of this study was to investigate how educators exercise their authority over Black Secondary school pupils. A teacher is an authority by virtue of his being a source of knowledge and his expertise in communicating this knowledge to the pupils. It is on the basis of this knowledgeability that he takes charge of the experiences of the pupil. He becomes morally obligated to control pupils' expenditure of energy. The depth of the teachers knowledgeability of the learning content was tested by variables like academic qualifications, supplementary reading, frequency and encouragement of pupil questions, and extent of use of short answer items. All these variables yielded negative responses. The epistemic stand of most teachers' authority appeared not to be firmly grounded. Successful dissemination of knowledge was tested by, among other variables, quality of feedback, rate of pupil absenteeism and testing techniques. Responses showed a lack of follow-up to measure the grasp of the learning content. Execution of moral authority was measured by inter alia, probing the application and enforcement of school rules, forms of punishment, attitude towards establishing a rationale for values behind rules and punishment. Findings showed a trend of authoritarianism.
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    The influence of indigenous African education in attitudes towards authority - with special reference to the Zulus
    (1989) Sibisi, Israel Sydney Zwelinjani; Luthuli, P.C.
    The area of concern in this study is the impact of indigenous African education in attitudes towards authority. Questions this study seeks to answer are: 1. Why was there respect for authority in African society before the influence of other cultures? 2. Why did attitudes towards authority change in African society after the influence of Western culture? 3. What can be done to improve the situation? Society is in a dilemma. The study tries to investigate the degree of deterioration of order and discipline in African society as a result of negative attitudes towards authority. The youth have gained the upper hand with the old (adults) and parents relegated to the background as they are accused of accepting the status quo. Political organisations have found a fertile milieu in the school arena and pupils are extremely politicised as never before. The school situation in some areas is chaotic with unrest being the order of the day. This situation is aggravated by the apartheid system of South Africa where the Africans are the disadvantaged group politically, educationally and economically. A literature review and interviews will be of great assistance in the investigation. This study falls within the scope of philosophy of education since it aims at revealing underlying causes of changes in attitudes towards authority as a result of indigenous as well as Western education.
University of Zululand