scholarly journals A LEGISLATED SCHOOL LIBRARY POLICY: CAN FUNCTIONAL SCHOOL LIBRARIES BE ENVISIONED WITHOUT ONE?

Mousaion ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 33 (2) ◽  
pp. 36-55 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maredi Samuel Mojapelo
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Public Schools ◽  
South African ◽  
Basic Education ◽  
School Library ◽  
School Libraries ◽  
Information Services ◽  
National Guidelines ◽  
Library Service ◽  
Effective School

Although school libraries are important resource centres that support curriculum delivery and important pedagogical matters, it is disturbing that, in South Africa, only a minority (7.2%) of schools have well-stocked functional school libraries. A legislated school library policy is crucial for a country to roll out effective school library and information services (LIS). This is particularly true in South African schools, which are characterised by enormous disparities in the provision of resources because of the legacy of apartheid. Grounded in the literature review, the fact that the national Department of Basic Education (DBE) does not have a legislated and approved school library policy is a stumbling block to developing and sustaining an active and dynamic school library service for all public schools in South Africa. The purpose of this article is to help relevant stakeholders understand the importance of a legislated school library policy in championing the establishment and development of an active, vibrant and dynamic functional school library service to support the progressive, constructivist and resource based curriculum in the country. The study recommends that the National Guidelines for School Library and Information Services (SA DBE 2012) be amended to a legislated school library policy to resuscitate indeterminate and non-functional libraries in the majority of schools. 

scholarly journals All together now?

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Genevieve Claire Hart ◽  
Mary Nassimbeni
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
School Library ◽  
National Policy ◽  
School Libraries ◽  
Information Services ◽  
Innovative Strategies ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Role Players ◽  
Evidence Gathering ◽  
School Librarianship

The paper explores the meaning of the recently drafted National Policy for Library and Information Services (NPLIS) for school librarianship in South Africa. It argues that, after years of failed advocacy, a convergence of thinking across the LIS ecosystem enabled the policy project and gives new hope for the transformation of the school library sector. The investigations throughout 2017 sought to find out from a wide range of role-players what and whose behaviour they believed should be changed. The paper describes our evidence-gathering across the country and how the data were analysed into broad themes around which the policy was built. The paper pulls out the threads on school LIS policy but also highlights the principles that tie them to the overarching policy. Thus, the insistence on an ecosystems approach calls for innovative strategies to counter long-established silo-thinking.  Key words: LIS policy, South Africa, school libraries  

scholarly journals Rendering a Comprehensive School and Community Library Service to Remote Rural Communities in South Africa by Forging Partnerships

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sophia Le Roux ◽  
Francois Hendrikz
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Rural Communities ◽  
South African ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
School Library ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
Tribal Community ◽  
Library Service ◽  
Mpumalanga Province ◽  
Community Library

Substantial backlogs in public and school library services in South Africa, especially in the previously disadvantaged, remote rural areas, compel library authorities to explore alternative, more cost-effective ways of library service delivery. This paper describes a South African study which investigated the variants of the school-community library model worldwide, with the aim of defining a South African prototype, which would satisfy the needs of a rural, tribal community. The paper also discusses how this prototype is currently being piloted in a rural, tribal area in the Mpumalanga province by forging partnerships with various stakeholders.

scholarly journals SCHOOL LIBRARY DEVELOPMENT VS POLICY PROVISION: DIVERGENCE OR CONVERGENCE?

Mousaion ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 32 (4) ◽  
pp. 1-12
Author(s):  
Samuel Mojapelo ◽  
Luyanda Dube
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Public Schools ◽  
Quantitative Research ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
School Library ◽  
Scale Up ◽  
Legal Framework ◽  
School Libraries ◽  
Limpopo Province ◽  
Library Development

A policy and legal framework for school libraries is a guiding framework for the provision, development and management of school libraries. Similarly, it is a lever that standardises school library development, management and practice. Although the existence of a policy does not guarantee the development of efficient and functional school libraries, its inherent value cannot be overemphasised. It is widely documented that in South Africa, only 7.2 per cent of public schools have functional school libraries, which are crucial to enrich the quality of teaching and learning and support learners and teachers. The aim of this study was, firstly, to analyse the legal and policy provision for school libraries in South Africa; and secondly, to examine the state of school libraries in Limpopo province, South Africa. The study further sought to establish whether there is divergence or convergence between policy provision and the status of school libraries in Limpopo. The study adopted a quantitative research paradigm and triangulated utilising questionnaires and document analysis as instruments to collect data. The study established that there is a regime of policies related to school libraries, most of which are still in draft form. Furthermore, the study confirmed that provision of policy does not necessarily translate into an efficient school library system. The distinct divergence means that there is no correlation between policy provision and practice. The study recommends that the existing school library policies should be streamlined, adopted and implemented to scale up the development of efficient and functional school libraries in Limpopo.

From the classroom to the courtroom: litigating education rights in South Africa

2018 ◽  
pp. 143-168
Author(s):  
Jason Brickhill ◽  
Yana van Leeve
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Public Schools ◽  
South African ◽  
Basic Education ◽  
Constitutional Court ◽  
Equal Education ◽  
The Right ◽  
Second Category ◽  
School Governing Bodies ◽  
Specific Education

This chapter focuses on two streams of education litigation concerning public schools in South Africa: first, cases concerning contestation over the power to formulate policy for schools in the education system established in the new democratic era; and, second, cases seeking to compel the state to provide specific education inputs. In respect of the power to determine key school policies, the South African Constitutional Court has sought to strike a balance between recognising the democratic and community-level legitimacy of school governing bodies, on one hand, and the need to empower government to act in the interests of all students and to promote equal education, on the other. In the second category of cases, the courts incrementally developed the content of the right to a basic education in section 29(1)(a).

scholarly journals Are Alternative Information Services Compensating for Dysfunctional School Libraries in South Africa? The Case of Limpopo Province

Libri ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 66 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Samuel Maredi Mojapelo
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
School Libraries ◽  
Resource Provisioning ◽  
Information Services ◽  
Limpopo Province ◽  
Research Project ◽  
State Schools

AbstractOwing to uneven resource-provisioning during the apartheid era, dysfunctional library facilities are a major concern in the majority of South African schools. Since only 7 % of state schools have functional school libraries, teaching and learning are negatively affected. The article is limited to just one part of a research project which investigated the

Educational Resources to Under-Resourced Schools in the Limpopo Province: Proposed Library Model

Mousaion ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 36 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Samuel Maredi Mojapelo
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Rural Communities ◽  
South African ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Basic Education ◽  
School Library ◽  
Limpopo Province ◽  
Library Services ◽  
Daunting Challenge

Universally, the significance of adequately resourced and well-staffed libraries to improve teaching and learning accomplishments in under-resourced schools cannot be overemphasised. In South Africa, resource provision is still a daunting challenge adversely affecting the quality of the results of learners. It is a distressing fact that, even in the post-apartheid South Africa, only a few (7%) schools have well-stocked and functioning libraries. One of the outcomes of this largely quantitative study was to propose a library model that the author hopes can be implemented to offer effective library and information services for schools - particularly in disadvantaged rural communities. Given the way in which the majority of South African schools are distributed in disadvantaged rural communities, the study recommends a cluster school library model that involves a number of schools in a particular circuit office being serviced by one well-equipped stand-alone library (cluster library) under the education library services of the provincial Department of Basic Education.

scholarly journals Factors of Effective School Libraries: A Survey of Perspectives of Teachers, Teacher-Librarians, and Principals

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-16
Author(s):  
Marlene Asselin
Keyword(s):  
Public Schools ◽  
School Library ◽  
School Libraries ◽  
Shared Vision ◽  
Background Information ◽  
Urban District ◽  
Effective School ◽  
Information Center ◽  
Library Program ◽  
Teacher Librarians

This study assessed factors of effective school library programs in one school system. All teacher-librarians and principals and a sample of teachers in all public schools in an urban district were surveyed about a) background information of the teacher-librarians and school; b) library collection; c) library program; and d) issues facing the school library. Results of descriptive and correlational analyses indicate recent district-based initiatives to strengthen school libraries appear positive. Recommendations include increased leadership activities by teacher-librarians, advocacy targeted at principal education about school libraries, augmenting the number of teachers participating in substantive partnerships with teacher-librarians are recommended, and working toward a shared vision of the school library as the information center of the school.

scholarly journals Uma proposta de design na leitura: reflexões sobre sujeitos, objetos-livro e políticas públicas para a formação do leitor | A proposal of design in reading: reflections on subject, book as object and public policies for the formation of the reader

2016 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 277-290
Author(s):  
Maíra Gonçalves Lacerda ◽  
Jackeline Lima Farbiarz
Keyword(s):  
Basic Education ◽  
Public Policies ◽  
School Libraries ◽  
National Program ◽  
National Guidelines ◽  
Interdisciplinary Field ◽  
Young Students

A partir da apresentação do conceito de Design na Leitura e da reflexão a respeito dos lugares ocupados pelo Design nos livros de literatura voltados para crianças e jovens chancelados pelas políticas públicas, o  presente artigo procura avaliar as relações existentes entre sujeitos leitores, objetos-livro e políticas públicas para a formação do leitor.  A exposição do processo metodológico desenvolvido para análise gráfica de livros selecionados pelo Programa Nacional Biblioteca da Escola (PNBE), para os jovens estudantes dos anos finais do Ensino Fundamental, e apresentação dos dados encontrados resultaram na elaboração de propostas que visam contribuir para a consolidação do Design como campo interdisciplinar junto às diretrizes nacionais de fomento à leitura.This paper evaluates the relationships among readers, books and public policies forreaders’ education based on the presentation of the concept of Design in Reading andthe reflection on the role of Design in literature books targeted at children and youngpeople that are recognized by public policies. The methodology involved the graphicanalysis of books that were selected by the National Program of School Libraries(Programa Nacional Biblioteca da Escola - PNBE) for young students at the last yearsof Basic Education. This analysis resulted in proposals that aim at contributing to theconsolidation of Design as an interdisciplinary field in national guidelines for readingpromotion.

The educational research landscape on GIS integration and challenges – globally and in South Africa

2020 ◽  
Vol 5 ◽  
pp. 19-41
Author(s):  
Elfrieda Fleischmann ◽  
◽  
Christo van der Westhuizen ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
Mixed Method ◽  
Basic Education ◽  
Education Institution ◽  
Mixed Method Study ◽  
Global Trend ◽  
Gis Integration ◽  
Depth Interviews

As Geographic Information Systems (GIS) have only been included in the curriculum in the last decade, many educators globally struggle to integrate GIS practice into their teaching strategies. Following the global trend, South African educators might feel ill equipped as they did not receive formal GIS training in a higher education institution. This paper highlights key global and South African challenges regarding GIS integration. To compare the challenges that South Africa faces with those experienced elsewhere, this mixed method study gleaned data from student educators (n=78) who completed a questionnaire regarding their GIS FET Phase education, followed by in-depth interviews with FET Phase educators (n=10) and two provincial heads of Geography for the Department of Basic Education (DBE). Results from this study indicate a clear global and national pattern of barrier categories.

Redressing past cultural biases and imbalances in South Africa: a contribution by the Library of the South African National Gallery

1998 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
pp. 4-7
Author(s):  
Josephine Andersen
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
Adult Literacy ◽  
Basic Education ◽  
National Gallery ◽  
The South ◽  
Traditional Role ◽  
Arts And Culture ◽  
Government Initiative ◽  
And Training

Legislation in South Africa now provides for the inclusion of arts and culture and adult literacy in the education system and art libraries can help promote this Government initiative by distributing their resources widely. The Library of the South African National Gallery is playing an unusual and non-traditional role in helping redress past inequities. It uses visual art, with its concern with expression and communication, to encourage adult learning and stimulate articulacy by encouraging learners to ‘read’ texts from the mass media and visual artworks in order to develop skills in all kinds of literacy. SANG’s project shows how language and artworks can be linked together productively, contributing to the basic education and training of adults.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document