Postgraduate supervision in South Africa currently takes place in the context of university transformation, increasing numbers of disadvantaged students and appeals for improved completion rates. Thus there is concern for quality. Among others, quality is determined by the extent to which students' expectations are met. Data about students' perceptions of supervision provides important information about their expectations and if these are satisfied. Survey research was employed to determine distance education students' perceptions of their postgraduate supervision in the Faculty of Education, University of South Africa. Students had to rate the supervision they were given regarding the stated outcomes of these degrees. Their judgments of individual styles of supervision were also determined. Finally, students had to describe the most rewarding or frustrating aspects of their studies and what they would recommend regarding postgraduate supervision. The article concludes with suggestions to enhance the quality of supervision. These include the training of supervisors. BACKGROUND

After determining the perceptions of postgraduate students at a distance education institution of the guidance they had experienced, a research project was launched to determine lecturers' views on supervision at the same institution. Data collection methods included focus groups, individual interviews and document analysis. Findings indicated that supervisors experienced some aspects of postgraduate supervision as extremely satisfying. However, numerous problems were raised, for example establishing acceptable ground rules, planning the research project, poor language proficiency and design of empirical investigations. In addition, administrative problems were encountered including admission requirements of students, allocation of students to appropriate supervisors and problems relating to the examination process. From the findings, the need for training of students and supervisors; discussion around issues in the supervisory process and written policies and guidelines on postgraduate supervision emerged. BACKGROUND

South African higher institutions of learning are engaged in rapid transformation processes. Some of the consequences are that an increasing proportion of the postgraduate student body is from previously disadvantaged backgrounds and that the body of academic staff has also been transformed. In general, students have limited experience of independent research work as well as using library and other research facilities. However, quality research needs to be maintained. It is of great importance that academics should have the knowledge and skills to supervise research. However, preliminary research indicates that very little is done to equip academic staff in the skills of supervising research.A literature study is done to determine the nature of postgraduate supervision as well as the role of the supervisor and the student. From this investigation an interview schedule, consisting of open-ended questions, was composed to use in focus group interviews with academics from various local and international universities.The interviews revealed that seasoned supervisors experience the guidance of postgraduate students as quite satisfactory although a number of pitfalls were raised by supervisors with less experience in the field. None of the interviewees indicated that they have been formally trained to act as a supervisor. It was also indicated that students need much support and training in scientific formulation and writing. It seems that a definite need exists for newer academic staff to be schooled in research supervision.Keywords: dissertation; postgraduate; report writing; research; research supervision; thesis BACKGROUNDThe task of a university rests on three pillars, namely research, tuition, and community service. The relative importance of each of the three is influenced by the subsidy formula being used by the government from time to time as well as various other factors. Ngcongo (2001:53) maintains that "... supervision and promotion of Masters', Doctoral or PhD students is an important activity through which University staff perform their teaching and research roles". The purpose of this paper is to focus on one aspect of the three pillars, namely research, and more specifically, the supervision of research.For the sake of clarity and understanding of the terms used, the following meanings are imbedded in these terms. Postgraduate refers to higher degrees, namely on Masters and Doctoral level. On Doctoral level, the terms thesis and promoter are used, and similarly the terms dissertation and supervisor are used on Masters level. The generic term research supervision (or supervision for short) will be used to include all interventions and interactions from the staff member (academic or supervisor) in the research process to guide the researcher (postgraduate student, also referred to as candidate).Since the underlying principles are the same for the various research studies, very little differentiation will be made in the discussion between Doctoral and Masters research, as well as between a thesis (dissert...

MANY CHILDREN IN DEVELOPING countries are exposed to multiple risks for poor development due to poverty and associated poor health and nutrition. These factors, as well as insufficient knowledge of the prerequisites for emergent literacy and school readiness on the side of parents and practitioners, may contribute to the weak reading achievement of learners. The question underlying this research was formulated as follows: Will the phonological awareness of preschool children improve after the application of an intervention program to empower practitioners to support the preschoolers? A program, 'Growing to Read', was developed and conducted in a number of workshops. The aim of this article is to reflect on the results of the application of the program. Findings indicate an improvement in the language and phonological awareness skills of the children who participated in the program when compared to children who did not follow the program.

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