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Master of Public Health - MPH / Obesity is one of the critical problems that threatens not only health, but the economy at a global level. Among the factors associated with obesity is less than optimum level of nutrition literacy. Nutrition literacy is more than just the food knowledge, it is a combination of other essential factors that help individuals to maintain healthy a body size. These factors include the selection and consumption of nutritious food; acquiring knowledge and skills in the areas of meal planning and preparation; as well as using and knowing how to read food labels correctly.

Recent studies have indicated that only 6% of South African citizens can maintain their standard of living during retirement. This is of great concern to both the government and individuals. In an attempt to counter this dilemma, the government has implemented several new tax exemptions and deductions to encourage taxpayers to increase their retirement savings. However, uncertainty exists regarding the effectiveness of these exemptions and deductions. For individuals to benefit from same, they will need to be informed on and understand the principles on which they are based. Above all, South African citizens need to grasp the importance of ensuring their financial security during retirement, which will hopefully create a culture of saving for that purpose. South Africans therefore need to increase their level of financial and tax literacy, either by informing themselves in that regard, or by consulting with professionals. This study was conducted from a South African perspective and focused on the probability of financial and tax literacy increasing financial independence during retirement. The data presented in this study was collected by means of two questionnaires, which were emailed to a selection of participants. The purpose of this study was first to determine the financial and tax literacy of South Africans with regard to retirement planning and second, to determine whether financial and tax literacy could increase financial independence during retirement. This study is an empirical study since primary data was collected specifically for this research project. Based on the data obtained by means of the questionnaires, it was concluded that the financial and tax literacy of the majority of South Africans is not sufficient to intentionally benefit from tax-beneficial retirement funds and investments. It was further concluded that although the majority of South Africans are not sufficiently financially literate to be able to optimise their retirement savings, they are willing to improve their level of financial and tax literacy and increase their savings towards retirement once they have been informed and have gained some understanding in this regard. Therefore, financial and tax literacy can potentially increase financial independence during retirement. / Mini Dissertation (MCom)--University of Pretoria, 2017. / Taxation / MCom / Unrestricted

Syftet med studien var att undersöka hur förskollärare beskriver hur de arbetar med högläsning för att främja barns litteracitetsutveckling. Vi valde att undersöka detta, eftersom vi efter våra verksamhetsförlagda utbildningsperioder, hade delade tankar om hur förskollärare arbetar med högläsning i förskolan. Därför valde vi att undersöka detta för att skapa oss en förståelse för hur det ser ut i verksamheten, det vill säga hur förskollärare beskriver sitt arbetssätt med högläsning, och inte bara hur vi ser det som utomstående. De teoretiska utgångspunkterna vi använder oss av i studien är litteracitetsperspektivet, begreppet framväxande litteracitet och begreppet multimodalitet. Studien bygger på en kvalitativ forskningsmetod med semistrukturerade intervjuer där fyra förskollärare intervjuades. Intervjuerna genomfördes digitalt via en digital app som heter Zoom och vi använde oss av 10 intervjufrågor. Resultatet i studien visar utifrån förskollärarnas beskrivningar att de arbetar med en regelbunden högläsning. Förskollärarna beskriver att de använder sig av olika strategier för att strukturera upp en högläsningsstund som skapar förutsättningar för barnens litteracitetsutveckling. De olika strategier som förskollärarna beskriver att de använde sig av var att dela in barngrupperna i mindre grupper. Resultatet visar utifrån förskollärarnas beskrivningar att deras arbete med högläsning stärker barnens språk. Förskollärarna beskriver att deras arbete med högläsning kan stärka barnens ordförråd, läsförståelse och förståelse för nya ord och begrepp. Vidare visar studiens resultat utifrån förskollärarnas beskrivningar att de hela tiden använder sig av en multimodal kommunikation när de läser för barnen, men att barnen också använder sig av en multimodal kommunikation tillbaka.Nyckelord: Emergent literacy, förskollärare, högläsning, literacy, multimodalitet

Vi har valt att göra en studie kring olika förskollärares arbete med barns språkutveckling. Anledningen till att vi valde att göra den här studien är för att vi lagt märke till att förskolorna vi arbetat/praktiserat på har haft varierande arbetssätt kring barns språkutveckling. Fokus ligger framförallt på högläsning. Hur förskollärares uppfattning av högläsning är men studien undersöker även andra språkliga metoder och förskollärares uppfattning om effekter av dessa. Följande frågeställningar tas upp i studien: Vad är förskollärares uppfattningar om högläsning i förskolan? Vilka funktioner anser förskollärarna att högläsningen fyller för barns språkutveckling? Vad innebär en lyckad högläsning, enligt förskollärarna? Vilka metoder använder förskollärare sig av i förskolan för att stimulera barnens språkutveckling? Undersökningarna har genomförts på 6 olika förskolor. Samtliga deltagare i studien är förskollärare som jobbat minst 3 år. De flesta värdesätter läsning och vikten av det betonas även i förskolans läroplan. Vi ville dock ta reda på om förskollärare märkt att det påverkat barns språk på något sätt. Med hjälp av förbestämda frågor intervjuades förskollärare för att få deras perspektiv på saken. Resultatet av studien visar att högläsning är en vanlig metod på förskolorna för att utveckla barns språkutveckling. Högläsning sker både som en spontan och planerad aktivitet i förskoleverksamheten. Oftast kombineras läsning med andra slags språkmetoder för att stärka barns språk. Samtliga förskolor planerar aktiviteter av olika slag som på något sätt enligt förskollärarna ska verka positivt på barns språkutveckling.

The purpose of this study is to study preschool teachers’ perception of children’s literature. The problem I have seen is that the reading of children’s literature is not linked to children’s language development, it is seen more as a pause-activity. I collected the empirical material through structured interviews with 5 different preschool teachers and used the literacy-concept and the sociocultural theory to analyse my findings.The results of this study were that all the involved preschool teachers had a fair understanding of what impact books had on the children’s language development. But a preschool teacher expressed concern about being time-restricted in the preschool, the hours were not enough to make time for reading aloud with the children.

Research indicates curriculum mapping is beneficial for teachers and students. However, it is not effectively implemented because there are barriers in time, support, and knowledge. This research sought to remove those barriers and study the impact on teachers’ practice when they were able to work together to develop a curriculum map. The focus of the teachers’ map was the Kindergarten through third grade English Language Arts curriculum. This work included a series of professional development sessions where teachers worked collaboratively to gain a greater understanding of the curriculum and develop a sequence from kindergarten through third grade. Teachers’ worked collaboratively to gain a deep understanding of what they were supposed to teach and how that would manifest in practice. As teachers constructed their own understanding of the curriculum they made decisions about the expectations for students at each grade level and were able to discuss practices as a group. These discussions led teachers to be more intentional in their planning and instruction. They felt as though they had developed some consistency while still maintaining their freedom to teach within their classroom however they wanted. I observed teachers in their classrooms and then met with them individually to talk about the impact of our work on their practice. Several ideas emerged. First, they saw a need for understanding of the content, and the value of gaining that knowledge as a group. They believed that their teaching would be more intentional as a result of our work and that this intentionality would make them higher quality reading teachers. They believed that increased intentionality, along with consistency from grade to grade and shared expectations had the potential to improve student achievement. Furthermore, teachers gained greater confidence from this work which could also improve their impact as teachers. The community of practice was essential in moving teachers through this work as it provided them a trusting group with mutual goals and a willingness to support and challenge one another.It was essential that teachers first be able to work within a community of practice before they could traverse the journey of developing a curriculum map.

This study was conducted to develop a standardized agricultural literacy assessment using the National Agricultural Literacy Outcomes (NALOs) as benchmarks. The need for such an assessment was born out of previous research, which found that despite numerous programs dedicated to improving agricultural literacy, many students and adults remain at low or very low levels of literacy. Low literacy levels lead to negative associations with the production and processing of food, clothing, and shelter, as well as misinformed public perceptions and policies. Agricultural literacy researchers recognized that the development of a standardized assessment for post-12th grade, or equivalent, could unify both research and program development efforts. The assessment was developed by forming two groups of experts. Teaching experts and agricultural content experts worked together in an iterative process. They crafted 45 questions using research methods and models. The 45 items were placed in an online survey to be tested for validity by a participant group. During the Fall 2018 semester, 515 Utah State University students between the ages of 18-23 years old participated in the online assessment. The participant data assisted in determining which questions were valid and reliable for determining agricultural literacy, as aligned to the NALO standards. Additional demographic information was also collected from participants. The demographic items asked students to self-report their level of exposure to agriculture and their self-perceived level of agricultural literacy. The study concluded that two separate 15-item Judd-Murray Agricultural Literacy Instruments (JMALI) were valid and reliable for determining agricultural proficiency levels based on the NALOs. Participant scores were reported as a single proficiency stage: exposure, factual literacy, or applicable proficiency. The study also determined that students who had a “great deal” or higher level of exposure to agriculture also had a strong, positive correlation with a “good” or higher level of agricultural literacy. Findings show participants who reported a “good” level of agricultural literacy shared a positive correlation with either performing at a factual literacy (middle) or applicable proficiency (highest) level on the assessment. The results suggest JMALI instruments have the potential to assist in improving current agricultural education endeavors by providing a critical tool for determining the agricultural literacy proficiency stages of adult populations.

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