Abstract
M.Ed.
South Africa is a society in which education is highly valued as the key to personal success and its total growth (Macdonald, 1995: [online]). It nevertheless finds itself
in a situation where there are many young adults that have not finished their schooling because they have dropped out. There is continued and growing concern with regard to the significant number of young adults who, despite the hapless prospects that await them, choose to leave school before completing grade 12. Highveld Technical College in Gauteng offers these young adults a second chance to complete their school careers.
The study on which this dissertation is based, focuses on the presentation of guidelines for teaching approaches. It aims to enhance the efforts of educators to adequately
prepare young adults, who have left school early, both for jobs in a dramatically changing labour environment and to meet the technological demands pertaining to computer
literacy. This introductory chapter presents the context and rationale of the study. It includes a brief description of the participants as well as the background of the study.
Terminology is defined for a uniform understanding of concepts. The problem statement is formulated and the aim of the study is given. An explanation of the research methodology and a brief overview of the research programme follows this.