Although much research has been conducted on Heads of Department (HODs) and their roles in the foundation phase, there has not been a strong focus on how these HODs manage their multiple roles. A qualitative case study was employed whereby data was collected from four primary schools in Tshwane North and Tshwane West District in the Gauteng province. Five purposively sampled HODs participated in this study. Data was collected through semi-structured interviews. The study determined the HODs’ understanding of their multiple roles in the foundation phase. It further explored the management strategies these HODs employ to manage their multiple roles, the prospects and challenges they encountered as well as the support they received were also explored. The study discovered that a “collaborative effort”, where educators, the school principal, volunteers and lead teachers, as well as the officials from the department of education, play a huge role in making the multiple roles of the HODs doable. Secondly, in handling these multiple roles, HODs in this study had to engage in “needs analysis” every year in preparation for the following year. It also transpired that “effective communication” amongst role players (i.e. HODs, departmental officials, school principals, educators and support staff) through meetings where the roles had to be shared in order not to duplicate and /or to avoid disruption, became an important tool in performing their multiple roles. Finally, “commitment and dedication” demonstrated by HODs in this study are principles that help them to succeed in performing their multiple roles. I, therefore, recommend that assistant educators be deployed in the foundation phase classes and the workload of HODs in the foundation phase be reduced through the allocation of administrative duties to the assistant educators. / Dissertation (MEd)--University of Pretoria, 2019. / Education Management and Policy Studies / MEd / Unrestricted

South-Africa’s government has adopted several global, national, and regional developmental agendas to combat systemic inequalities in the country. The developmental agendas should consider the role of children’s agency in reducing poverty and environmental risks. South Africa ratified the United Nations Convention on the Rights of a Child (UNCRC) and the African Charter on the Rights and the Welfare of the Child (ARCWC) and is therefore bound through international treaties to protect and promote children’s rights (Hall, Richter, Mokomane & Lake, 2018:48). The goal of the study was to explore and describe how children’s agency is recognised and respected in programmes/interventions aimed at reducing poverty and environmental risk in the case study of Lerato House, Tshwane Leadership Foundation. The researcher used a qualitative research approach, and the type of research was applied. The research design was a case study, and a purposive sampling method was used to sample five child participants and five key informants from Lerato House. Data was collected through one-on-one semi-structured interviews. The findings show that children’s agency is recognised and respected in the planning and implementation phases of the programme, while there is a lack of children’s participation in the conceptualisation phase and little participation in the monitoring and evaluation phase. The study concludes that children’s agency was more likely to be recognised and respected when staff have been trained to work with children and when children were allowed to provide their input into programmes. The study recommends that children’s agency be recognised and developed by preparing and allowing them to participate in all the phases of programmes at Lerato House aimed at reducing poverty and environmental risks. / Mini Dissertation (MSW (Social Development and Policy))--University of Pretoria, 2020. / Social Work and Criminology / MSW (Social Dev and Policy) / Unrestricted

Idea of this diploma thesis is comparison of different diameters of piles which are used for bridge foundation. Diameters of piles are 1200 and 1500 mm in this case. Diploma thesis is about technical implementation, financial comparison. In outset you can read about possibilities of bridge foundation on water surface. In the end of this thesis there is described technological process of foundation for bridge across the dam Hričov.

In the light of the declining moral standards in South African society, there is a need for children to be supported and developed on their journey towards responsible adulthood. The school is regarded as one of the most relevant stakeholders in the teaching of values for the moral development of the younger generation in particular and broader society in general. I observed how teachers impart values to leaners through the subject Life Skills that also includes the moral aspect. This study employed a qualitative research method using a case study of four schools and twelve teachers. The four schools were purposefully selected to obtain a deeper understanding of the participants' experiences from different perspectives. The selected schools are from different socio-economic backgrounds. Two schools were selected from rural areas. However, the areas differed in the sense that one was in a traditional village under the authority of a tribal chief while other was on trust land bought by the residents. One school was selected from an informal settlement and one from a semi-urban area. Semi-structured interviews and classroom observations were conducted to gather data. Teachers were interviewed after school and field notes were taken to record data collected from the participants in order to examine how teachers understood and implemented teaching values education in the foundation phase. These values include, amongst others, social justice and equity whereby freedom of choice and access to education are highlighted. The study found that the professional training of life skills teachers and multiculturalism during life skills lessons, i.e. the cultural differences between the teachers and learners as members of a community, need to be addressed. The study also recommends that a relationship of trust between parents and schools should be established to help enable teachers to address the issue of moral regeneration in our society. Classroom observation was conducted during the collection of data. School policy documents were analysed and teachers were interviewed to get a deeper understanding of how they understood values and how they contributed to the development of young citizens. From the observations and interviews, it could be deduced that teachers have different understandings of values education. It was also found that teachers find it difficult to contextualise and reconcile cultural values with the values that they are supposed to teach at school. The recommendations based on the findings of my study include the professional training of Life Skills teachers and the promotion of multiculturalism during Life Skills lessons where the cultural differences between learners and teachers are addressed. The study also recommends that the relationship of trust between teachers, parents and the larger society should be entrenched in order to assist teachers to instil values in young learners. / Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2016. / Early Childhood Education / PhD / Unrestricted

This qualitative research study explores the promotion and practice of discipline in the Foundation Phase to create a culturally responsive learning environment. For this study, Grade 3 Foundation Phase teachers were identified as the participants and formed part of each case study. The researcher constructed understanding through using an interpretivist approach and was further guided by a conceptual framework. The literature on discipline in the Foundation Phase classroom informed me about the practices and strategies used to discipline learners. The literature highlighted the use of assertive discipline and positive discipline practices in Foundation Phase classrooms. The data collection methods and data collection instruments were tested using a pilot study before the research commenced, to ensure that these worked efficiently. This helped form the foundation on which my research was based. Grade 3 teachers who participated in the study helped answer the primary and secondary research questions. The constructivist theory was used to analyse and understand the findings. The data collection instruments include observations, semi-structured interview questions, field notes and photographs. These instruments were used to collect data from every research participant. This data was then coded and transcribed to formulate an in-depth understanding of the teacher's perspective on discipline. The teachers who participated in the study helped me understand and determine what the effective discipline practices in Foundation Phase classrooms, were to enable teachers to create a culturally responsive learning environment. The research participants also explained and discussed their definition of discipline in a Foundation Phase classroom. From the study it is evident that the teacher's definition of discipline is based largely on their own moral value systems, together with positive discipline strategies. The teachers also explained the diversities they were faced with, within a Foundation Phase classroom. Teachers in the study did not identify cultural differences as a factor, but focused more on parental involvement. Lastly, the research participants highlighted the factors that challenged teachers when applying discipline in a diverse Foundation Phase classroom. These factors were summarised and divided into external and internal factors which impact on a teacher's classroom. / Dissertation (MEd)--University of Pretoria, 2016. / Early Childhood Education / MEd / Unrestricted

The Foundation Phase in education is the most important learning years for the learners, since what happens during these years determines later academic success. The focus of this study is to obtain Grade 1 teachers' perspectives on the need for teaching assistants in the classroom. In South Africa, teaching assistants are normally reserved for preschools, institutes for learners with special needs, schools that practice inclusive education and some private schools. It is therefore needed to gain information from Grade 1 teachers on how they perceive and experience the presence or absence of a teaching assistant, and what effect it has on teaching and learning in their classrooms. It is also necessary to hear the statements of teaching assistants on how they experience this role in Grade 1 classrooms. Early Childhood Education (which includes the Foundation Phase) forms the basis of all other education; however, the South African education system is faced with numerous challenges which in various ways impede the teaching and learning of young children. These barriers include overcrowded classrooms, learner diversity and indiscipline which call for additional support in the classroom. By using a qualitative approach, this study attempts to collect and analyse the data obtained from teachers and teaching assistants, and interpret this information to gain insight into and explore various perspectives on the need for teaching assistants in a Grade 1 classroom. By making use of semi-structured interviews, data were collected from three groups of participants: teachers with teaching assistants, teachers without teaching assistants, and teaching assistants. These participants were selected from public, private and rural schools in order to allow for a broad spectrum of inputs. Findings indicate that all participants regard the presence of teaching assistants as non-negotiable in the Grade 1 classroom, as it allows the teacher to focus on teaching, whereas the administrative tasks may be channelled to the assistant. / Dissertation (MEd)--University of Pretoria, 2017. / Early Childhood Education / MEd / Unrestricted

Malaria is a major health dilemma with over 90% deaths occurring in Africa, south of the Sahara (WHO, 2003). Malaria has become endemic in South Africa, especially in the northeastern areas of three provinces, namely KwazuluNatal (KZN), Limpopo and Mpumalanga. The vulnerability of the infection is high during the summer rainy season between the months of September and May (Morris et al., 2013). ). An important case for consideration is the impact of malaria on the health of learners within these endemic areas. The study explored the possibility of promoting awareness of malaria education through the Life Skills curriculum in the Foundation Phase. The study applied Social Cognitive Theory (SCT) (Bandura, 1977) and the theory of Situated Cognition (Brown, Collins & Duguid, 1989) in an attempt to explain the link between curriculum and malaria health education. The study uses two qualitative customs of inquiry, namely narrative inquiry and case study approaches. The research sites were two primary schools in the Hamakuya area of the Vhembe district that were purposefully selected. The participants were 21 learners in the Foundation Phase from the abovementioned two schools, ten parents and seven Foundation Phase teachers. Data were collected by means of semistructured interviews and documents analysis. The data were analysed through thematic analysis (Braun & Clarke, 2006). The study results revealed that teachers did not demonstrate holistic knowledge to embrace the entirety of the content they need to teach the children in the Foundation Phase about malaria. The study highlights that malaria incorporation into the Life Skills curriculum in the Foundation Phase may become may successfully bridge the malaria knowledge gap. The need for a health curriculum that integrates curriculum elements (such as planning, enacting and assessing learning outcomes) was revealed. This is necessary to entrench Foundation Phase learners with desired learning outcomes. / Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2017. / Early Childhood Education / PhD / Unrestricted

Asset Liability Management is a current topic where accountability of asset management is of high importance. This is a result of continuously increasing investments in the stock market globally. The globalisation exposes a big part of the different markets to the same types of risk. This makes it harder to secure capital and assets through diversified investments. Further it has led to a more complex and resource demanding investment basis. The uncertainty of the future brings the focus of fund management to optimising and minimising risks, rather than trying to predict individual movements of specific assets on the market. The goal of this project has been to find, test and evaluate different investment- and portfolio selection strategies with trajectories of some chosen assets, simulated from a Economic Scenario Generator (ESG). This ESG has gratefully been provided by Willis Towers Watson, which in their daily work deal with these areas. Further the trajectories has acted as possible outcomes of asset returns. Employed portfolios intended to replicate pension foundations in placement guidelines and characteristics, with different strategies has then followed the development of the assets and has been matched against the pension liabilities of an average sized Swedish pension foundation. The outcomes of the portfolios has thereafter been assessed and compared with each other. The target has been to localise an optimal risk level in respect to the portfolios' performance and to achieve as high pension funding ratio as possible. The strategies tested have been varied. Variants such as Buy-and-Hold is an example of a simpler investment strategy. There the assets within the portfolio has initially been allocated according to given weights, then the portfolio has ran static with the initial shares over the tested period of 10 years. Other more complex, aggressive and risk taking strategies have also been tested. Here, re-allocating every year is common and the weights within the portfolios depends on the properties of the different assets and the strategy employed. The key performance indicator of the tested portfolios has been the funding ratio of pension payments. The best portfolio in this regard was the one that employed Sharpe allocation for all assets. It had a funding ratio of 91.22%. The worst portfolio due to this measurement was the buy-and-hold strategy with equal weights of the assets. It only covered 79.48% of the pension payments. Important to mention is that the initial funding ratio of all tested portfolios was set to 80%. This means that the portfolio value in time step zero was set to 80% of the value of the pension liabilities. WTW does not blindly confirm the results and this thesis should not be seen as an investment advise. The results are based on data obtained from a specific ESG and does not necessarily look the same using other scenarios or different market data. / Asset Liability Management fortsätter att vara ett aktuellt ämne och en ansvarstagande kapitalförvaltning är av hög vikt. Detta är ett resultat av kontinuerligt ökande investeringar på aktiemarknader världen över. I tillägg gör globaliseringen att de flesta människor är exponerade mot samma typ av risker vilket kan göra det svårare att säkra kapital genom diversifierade investeringar. Detta har gett upphov till alltmer komplicerade och resurskrävande investeringsunderlag. Osäkerheten framtiden för med sig gör att fokusområdet inom kapitalförvaltning framför allt handlar om att optimera och minimera risker, snarare än att försöka förutspå enstaka rörelser på aktiemarknaden. Detta projekt har gått ut på att testa och utvärdera diverse investerings- och portföljsvalsstrategier med simulerade reella tidsserier för olika tillgångar. Dessa tidsserier är simulerade ur en Ekonomisk Scenariogenerator (ESG) som tacksamt mottagits av Willis Towers Watson, som i sitt dagliga arbete sysslar med frågor rörande dessa ämnen. Vidare har tidsserierna agerat som tänkbara utfall för hur tillgångars priser kan röra sig. Antagna portföljer med olika strategier har sedan fått följa prisutvecklingen i de olika scenariona och matchas mot skuld och kassaflöden tillhörande en medelstor svensk pensionsstiftelse. Utfallen har därefter utvärderats och jämförts med varandra. Målsättningen har varit att lokalisera en optimal risknivå sett till portföljernas prestation och framför allt eftersträva en så hög pensionstäckningsgrad som möjligt. Investeringsstrategierna som har testats har varit varierande. Varianter som buy-and-hold-strategin är ett exempel på en enklare strategi. Där har tillgångarna i portföljen initialt allokerats enligt given viktning, sedan har portföljen fortlöpit statiskt med de initiala andelarna för livslängden av portföljens testperiod, vilket är 10 år. Andra mer komplexa, offensiva och risktagande strategier har också testats där innehaven i portföljen ombalanserats en gång per år. Allokeringarna inom portföljen beror av vilka egenskaper tillgångarna besitter och den använda strategin. Det tyngsta nyckeltalet kopplat till portföljernas prestation har varit täckningsgraden av pensionskostnader. Bästa portföljen i detta avseende var den som använde sig av Sharpe-allokering för alla tillgångar, den hade en täckningsgrad av 91.22%. Sämst resultat av alla testade strategier hade buy-and-hold portföljen med lika viktning av tillgångarna. Den täckte endast 79.48% av pensionsutbetalningarna. Vad som är viktigt att nämna är att fonderingsgraden för alla testade portföljer sattes till 80%. Detta betyder att portföljvärdet i tidsteg noll är 80% av pensionsskuldernas värde. WTW bekräftar inte blint resultaten och denna avhandling bör inte ses som ett investeringsråd. Resultaten är baserade på data erhållen från en specifik ESG och ser inte nödvändigtvis densamma ut baserat på andra scenarion eller annan marknadsdata.

Thesis (MEd (Education))--Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2019 / The quality of education in South Africa has drawn critical attention as children continue to perform poorly as they progress through school. Reflective practice is promoted and implemented internationally as a method to improve quality teaching and learning. Nationally a growing interest in the implementation of reflective practice is reflected in the Department of Basic Education’s suggestion that teachers make use of reflective practice to inform their classroom planning. The objective of this study was to investigate the knowledge and understanding Grade R teachers have of reflective practice. As Grade R is the first year and the foundation of a child’s school career, it was of interest to explore whether teachers reflect on their practice. This study was located in an interpretivist paradigm using a case study design. Two Grade R teachers were interviewed using semi-structured interviews. Their annual, termly and weekly planning was analysed alongside the transcripts of the interviews, using thematic analysis to identify common themes of reflective practice in Grade R. Five themes emerged from the analysis, which enabled the exploration of the benefits and challenges of using reflective practice in Grade R. These five themes allowed for the development of the idea of using reflective practice as a means for improving teaching and learning in Grade R. The teachers interviewed value the idea of reflective practice as a way to meet the needs of the children. They describe it as an innate aspect of their teaching. However, they have a tacit understanding and knowledge of reflective practice and it was not evident in the documents they use to inform their teaching. For reflective practice to be encouraged teachers need support from within their schools and from the Department of Basic Education.

(in English): This thesis occupies itself with the establishment and development of english versions of the Wikisource and Wikibooks projects, with extension to the czech- language version. It processes the information about the new text making procedure and project text modifications. It deals with content organisation and projects extent. The text pays attention only to the tools provided by the projects, because the provided services are results of processed tools actions. The final part is focused on existing ways of using and possible suggestions of using the projects as information sources.