EDA3058/103

Tutorial letter 103/2/2014

Educational Law and Professional Ethics

EDA3058

Semester 2

Department of Educational Leadership and

Management

This tutorial letter contains important information.

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 CONTENTS

Page No

1 STUDY MATERIAL ...............................................................................................................3

2 EXTENSION FOR SUBMISSION OF ASSIGNMENTS .........................................................4

3 EXAMINATION .....................................................................................................................5

4 A FINAL WORD ....................................................................................................................9

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1 STUDY MATERIAL

Dear Student

If you have not started to work through the study material yet, you must do so now.
However, I hope that you are already making good progress!

1.1 Requests for study material

By now you should have received the following IMPORTANT study material:
Only Study Guide for EDA3058/ETC102V: Education Law and Professional
Ethics
Tutorial Letter EDA3058/101/3/2014 which contains a general introduction
and the assignments
Tutorial Letter EDA3058/102/3/2014 which contains the memo of activities
and self - evaluation questions in the Study Guide

This tutorial letter, Tutorial Letter EDA3058/103/2/2014, contains information about

study material, extension for late submission of assignments, feedback on
discussion classes, as well as information on the requirements for admission.

Please consult the booklet my Studies @ Unisa about

N administrative matters.
B

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 2 EXTENSION FOR SUBMISSION OF ASSIGNMENTS

Each assignment has its own specific purpose and can take on one of a variety of
formats depending on the aim of the particular assignment. We understand the
conditions under which you are studying and that it is often not easy to meet various
deadlines throughout the year, but assignments are essential to help you work
through and master the study material.

Due dates are influenced by lecturers schedules (e.g. when they are away overseas,
presenting discussion classes, doing research or are involved in community projects
or training). You can think that this takes careful planning, especially when there is
more than one lecturer involved and where lecturers are involved in teaching more
than one and/or undergraduate as well as postgraduate modules. Thus, for lecturers
to be able to mark assignments properly they have to plan carefully and work out a
schedule for receiving and marking assignments.

Read through the sections entitled Submission of assignments and Deadlines in the
booklet my Studies @ Unisa.

Multiple-choice question assignments are marked via computer and marking dates
are scheduled beforehand. Two marking dates are usually scheduled, the latest
being no more than three weeks after the due date. If you thus submit your
assignment too late to be marked on the second marking date, it will be returned to
you unmarked and you will forfeit admission to sit for the examination.

Extension for essay assignments is granted only in exceptional circumstances. If a

student experiences a problem, he/she should request extension for submission
before the due date and explain why such extension should be granted. Reasons
for possible extensions include illness (provide a doctor's certificate), a problem with
myUnisa (provide proof of the problem) or late receipt of the study material (provide
a copy of the postmark on the envelope or proof of your correspondence with
Despatch about the problem).

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3 EXAMINATION

3.1 Admission to the examination

The Department of Education requires the university to prove that a student was
active during the period of tuition before the student will be subsidized by the
Department of Education. Senate approved that the submission of a compulsory
assignment will be used to prove activity and also that students will be admitted to
the examination by submitting the assignment. Examination admission is thus
dependent on submission of Assignment 01 irrespective of the mark you obtain
and whether you have passed or failed. However, should you fail this assignment it
will influence your year mark. Admission to the examination is done by the
Examination Section and not your lecturers.

Please study my Studies @ Unisa and contact the Examination Section should you
have a problem with admission to the examination. Applications for rechecking or
remarking should also be submitted to the Examination Section.

3.2 Subminimum requirement

In terms of Unisas Assessment Policy, a subminimum of 40% in the written

component(s) of the examination is required. The final mark of a student is a
combination of the year mark and the examination mark but in the case where a
student does not obtain the required subminimum of 40% in the examination, the
year mark does not count. In such instance the final mark is the mark obtained in the
examination.

For example:
If you have 100% for your year mark but obtain 37% in the examination, your final
mark will be 37%. If you obtain 40% or more in the examination, the year mark will
contribute 20% and the examination mark 80% to your final mark. This means that if
you have a year mark of 18 out of 20 and obtain 50% in the examination, your final
mark will be 18 + 40 = 58% (NOT 68%).

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 3.3 Format of the examination

The October/November 2014 examination papers consist of THREE QUESTIONS.

Question 1 contains questions on Education Law and Professional Ethics. Question
2 contains questions on Education Law and Question 3 questions on Professional
Ethics. You should start preparing for the examination in good time. Draw up a
revision schedule which gives you sufficient time to revise all your work.

3.3.1 Education Law

Dealing with legal sources

Because education law obviously deals with the law that regulates education, you
should formulate answers in legal terms and substantiate each answer with
references to applicable legal sources. In this case your personal view of the matter
is irrelevant.

It is not enough to state: Education legislation states ..., All laws provide for ...,
According to education law ... or Common law principles guarantee .... Instead you
should be specific in your reference to a legal source. For example: The South
African Schools Act 84 of 1996 provides for ..., or The reasonable person test for
negligence becomes clear when looking at the Kruger v Coetzee case ....

You should be able to give the correct title of an Act. In the examination we do not
expect you to be able to identify a specific article and nor do we expect you to quote
verbatim from an Act. You can use the short title of an Act and need not give the full
title (e.g. with the Act number and year of publication). However, it is very important
that you interpret a provision of an Act correctly. For example, it is incorrect to state:
The South African Schools Act 84 of 1996 states clearly that the governing body
does not have the right to expel a learner. The South African Schools Act 84 of
1996 does not state this at all. This Act vests the Head of Department with the legal
authority to expel a learner, and it thus means that the governing body does not
have the authority to expel a learner. An expulsion by the governing body will thus be
ultra vires.

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Formulating answers
o Do not give irrelevant information in your answers.
o Many students find it very difficult to formulate their answers. I realise that for
many of you, English is not a first, or even a second language, and you do
have my sympathy in this regard. Unfortunately, accurate written expression is
an essential requirement for any legal subject. Read through your work
critically before submitting it.

Contending with scenarios

Scenarios are used to bring theory closer to practice. They give you an opportunity
to discuss, evaluate and reflect on typical situations which might occur, or have
occurred, in practice and to apply the legal principles which you have learned to a
set of facts. You do not have to try to prove guilt or innocence. Many students fall
into this trap and then became emotionally involved, and start telling us how they
think an educator, principal or learner should have acted. Your answer should merely
indicate which legal provisions (in legislation and other legal sources) are relevant to
a situation. You should also demonstrate that you can competently apply these legal
principles and provisions to the scenario.

3.3.2 Professional ethics

Study the following remarks with regard to the selected themes:

The seven (7) roles of the educator

learning mediator
interpreter and designer of learning programmes and materials
leader, administrator and manager
scholar, researcher and lifelong learner
community, citizenship and pastoral role
assessor
learning area/subject/discipline/phase specialist

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 The educator as an ethical leader
Read the Code of Conduct in the study guide.

Criteria for a profession and its application to the teaching profession

Make sure that you can apply these criteria to the teaching profession. Give
practical examples. Use facts from the Code of Conduct.

Teaching councils: The South African Council for Educators (SACE)

When SACE was first established, its primary function was to register
educators. In the second half of 1997 its responsibilities were extended to
include the professional development of educators and especially the ethical
dimensions of professionalism (South African Council for Educators. 2002.
Handbook for the Code of Professional Ethics. Unilever Ethics Centre,
University of Natal).

Teachers associations: the National Professional Teachers Organisation of South

Africa (NAPTOSA)

Please note that these issues do NOT demarcate the learning content
for the examination. The examination covers all the study material
and you still have to prepare well if you want to pass the examination.

The format of the October/November 2014 examination papers:

QUESTION 1: Education Law and Professional Ethics

o Mark reading sheet: true or false questions (40 marks)

QUESTION 2: Education Law

o Scenario question (30 marks)

QUESTION 3: Professional Ethics

o Paragraph-type questions (30 marks)

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Scope of work
Study the following for the examination:

o all the assignments

o all the study units in the study guide
o all the tutorial letters.

4 A FINAL WORD

If you want to tackle the examination paper with confidence, make sure you are
thoroughly prepared. Study according to a study programme. Start preparing for the
examination now. Do not wait until the last moment.

I wish you all the best in the examination. Please do not hesitate to contact me if
you require any help with your studies.

Dr CF Steinmann