Homeschooling families in the state of Texas face challenges when developing their children's learning curriculum as they attempt to address state mandates with only limited guidelines for developing effective curricula and evaluation strategies to measure student learning. The resulting problem is that homeschooling parents are left to develop their curricula with little guidance. The absence of such guidance may create undue pressure for both the homeschooling parent and their child, while simultaneously creating the possibility of limiting student achievement. The purpose of the project study was to explore the challenges parents face in developing their homeschool curriculum in the state of Texas. Using the theoretical framework provided by Bronfenbrenner's process-person-context-time model, 10 homeschooling parents from 10 different families shared their experiences to address the guiding research question, which explored motivational factors in the design of homeschool curricula, including the use and sharing of resources. Through the use of a qualitative case study that employed semistructured interviews and field notes as sources of data, 5 themes emerged following a narrative analysis process to code the data: (a) time with family, (b) safe learning environment, (c) practical and meaningful lessons, (d) socialization, and (e) biblical training. The findings were developed into a white paper to provide parents with strategies to embed these 5 themes into a useful, quality homeschool curriculum. This project study has implications for positive social change by providing homeschooling parents in the state of Texas with curriculum design guidance from fellow homeschooling parents that can provide a basis for developing quality curricula that reflects common core values within their community.

This is a qualitative study designed to investigate how professional support group leaders talk about their role as supervisor of support groups for children and adolescents with problematic home situations. We also examine how these supervisors talk about the method they use and how they talk about the individual child. We have chosen critical discourse analysis to help us explore if there are different ways to talk about these territories. Our questions are: How does the support group leader talk about his role? How does the support group leader talk about the method? How does the support group leader talk about the individual child? The theories we have chosen to use in the analysis of our material is Aaron Antonovsky's Sense of Coherence and social constructivism. We have, as mentioned, chosen to do a qualitative study using semi-structured interviews conducted with seven active support group leaders at three different support group organizations. We transcribed the interviews and coded them separately and then went through the coded material together. The analytical method we have chosen is discourse analysis focusing on Norman Fairclough´s critical discourse analysis. Along with Fairclough´s three-dimensional model, we analyzed the interviews at the following levels: text practice, discursive practice and social practice. Based on our purpose and our questions we managed to distinguish six different discourses, within each territory we found two discourses that stood in contrast to each other. In the territory "How the support group leader talks about his own role," we found the knowledge discourse and the playful discourse. In the territory "How the support group leader talks about the method" we were able to discern a discourse view of the method as complete and a view of the method as adaptable. In the territory "How the support group leader talks about the individual child" we found the discourse about the perception of the child as a subject and the perception of the child as an object. These discourses were put together to constitute two discourse chains which showed two different orientations of the support group leader. We then analyzed these discourse chains our theories and questioned them based on how the two different types of leader’s we located could affect the method’s design and the children participating in support groups. The study concludes with a part in which we compare our results with earlier research within this field followed by suggestions for further research.

The aim of this study has been to investigate children and adolescent development in ”The turning point” children´s and adolescent program in Kristianstad. We also wanted to find out the support group leaders experiences concerning the children´s and the adolescents development in programs and how they apprehended their role as a support group leader. Our intension was also to study how the adolescent and the children considered their own development in the program. To carry through this study, we used two types of qualitative methods i.e. qualitative interviews with the support group leaders who used the ”Turning point”  method in their work with the children’s and adolescents groups. We also used qualitative content analysis on the children’s and the adolescents written answers in their evaluation forms. The support group leaders and the adolescents described a positive development through the programs. Both parts states that this development has been noticed by an increased openness about the abuse in the family. Other results was that the children and the adolescent answered that they had realized that they were not alone in their situation, had been helped by the programs, felt happier and had come to realize that they had an identity of their own.

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This study addresses the importance of studies of human psychoneuroimmunology in understanding the role of psychological factors in cancer. Research trends in psychosocial aspects of cancer are reviewed, exploring the role of distress and the support group as an intervention which potentially reduces distress through enhancing interpersonal relationships, emotional adjustment and communication with health professionals, in these ways helping the patient to cope with the symptoms of treatment. In South Africa, most hospitals which treat cancer patients medically do not simultaneously have support groups for the newly diagnosed patient to join in order to discuss immediate fears and acquire more knowledge about their particular disease. Following an experimental cancer support group involving patients who had recently undergone a bone marrow transplant (some considerable time after their first cancer diagnosis) in Cape Town's Groote Schuur Hospital, the researcher, as one of the participants in the fortnightly meetings convened to dicuss psychosocial issues related to each patient's experience of the cancer and transplant process, transferred the themes, concepts and questions that arose in that scenario, to a cancer clinic in Pretoria where recently diagnosed patients were asked to volunteer to participate in such a group. It was felt that these patients would derive some benefit early in their treatment programme. Psychosocial concerns are left to the individual patient to seek therapy should it be required. Presently, it is reported in the body of knowledge about cancer, that interventions aimed at alleviating the psychosocial distress of cancer patients highlight hypnosis, guided imagery and relaxation therapy. It is contended that a more appropriate intervention for the majority of people with cancer in South Africa would entail a fellow-patient support group meeting on a regular basis. / Psychology / (M.A. (Psychology)

Magister Educationis - MEd

Thesis (M. Dev.) -- University of Limpopo, 2016 / This study aims to give insights into the nature and extent of professional teacher development by the department of education through class visits, and subsequently its impact on professional teacher development in the white hazy circuit in Mpumalanga province. This study further examines measures and recommendations to be put in place which can help to improve the programme (class visits), also the effectiveness of this programme in professional teacher development. The study further highlights key issues regarding class visits with regard to professional teacher development. The study further highlights strategies that can be put in place to enhancing class visits as a programme for professional teacher development. The study further highlights key recommendations to be put in place to enhance class visits as professional teacher development programme. KEY WORDS Professional Teacher Development; Development Appraisal System; Integrated Quality Management Systems; development support group; Continuing Professional Teacher Development.

The aim of this study was to evaluate a 24-week support group intervention programme which was designed to enhance adaptive behaviour of latent-phase children affected by maternal HIV/Aids. The meta-theoretical paradigms underlying the study were pragmatism and realism. The study was embedded in a concurrent nested (QUALquan) mixed-method design. The quantitative approach in the main study followed a quasi-experimental research design whereas the qualitative approach in this study, contributing to the largest part of the analysis in the study, followed a nested multiple case study design. The theory-driven outcome programme evaluation model applied in this study was the integrative process/outcome evaluation approach. The participants (n=139) were purposefully selected from among previously identified HIV-positive women (n=220) with children between the ages of 6 and 10 years at clinics in the Tshwane region, South Africa. Data were collected over a period of five years in multiple waves of intervention implementation. Prolonged, in-depth engagement by the researcher with participants was prioritized. The data collection strategies comprised of mother-and-child psychological questionnaires, group process notes, careworker focus groups, quality assurance questionnaires and field notes. The data were quantitatively analysed by means of a paired-sample t-test for within-group comparisons and descriptive statistics were furthermore applied. The qualitative text and narration obtained through the interviews, documents and focus groups were coded and analysed for themes. The themes of the emergent concepts were re-coded to establish improved defined categories. The different data sampling strategies assisted the researcher in triangulating the data for increased evaluation reliability. The PhD-study was conducted within a broader longitudinal study on resilience in South African mothers and children affected by HIV/Aids – the Promoting Resilience in Young Children Study. The findings of the Child Support Group Evaluation Study (e.g. PhD) showed that the content, methods and processes employed in the group-based sessions were effective and culturally sensitive. The intervention sessions enhanced the children’s coping skills, internalised and externalised behaviour and daily living, communication and socialisation skills. The group provided a buffer for the children and supported them in coping with their mothers’ illness. The children displayed normative values through their religious coping styles, their quest for and display of respect and their unambiguous assertion of right and wrong. A specific finding of this study was that the children created a sphere or space in which to order their thoughts, behaviours and emotions within the intervention. This provided them with parameters in their adverse circumstances to display adaptive behaviour or resilience which they could use to function adequately. The study suggests that the use of support groups should be incorporated into intervention programmes dealing with latent-phase children affected by HIV/Aids. / Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2013. / gm2014 / Educational Psychology / unrestricted

This doctoral dissertation's topic is mourning in people with intellectual disabilities who have lost a loved one. The research focuses mainly on the loss of parents, but also includes the loss of other people, such as grandparents. By loss we mean death, but the results of the work can also be used for losses of a different nature. The aim of this work is to understand grief in people with intellectual disabilities and to suggest appropriate ways to support their grieving process, with emphasis on grief support groups. As part of the research, we set up and implemented 2 support groups for grieving people with intellectual disabilities, each lasting at least 2 months and meeting once a week. At the very beginning of our research, we carried out one support group of the same length as a pilot study. The pilot study was first evaluated and the proposal of the support group according to the original foreign script was modified to better meet the needs of Czech citizens with intellectual disabilities. After the pilot study, we enriched the research with a questionnaire test of our own design, capturing a possible change in process of mourning in people involved in our support groups. We presented the questionnaire test to the participants before the start of the support groups and immediately after...

The diploma thesis deals with families who face sudden separation of a loved one due to imprisonment. From previous experience the work differs in focusing primarily focused on the family, not prisoners. Theoretical part is devoted to conceptual and legislative definition, the negative effects of imprisonment and the specific needs of the prisoners families as an object of help. Thesis marginally touches on recidivism in the chapter about the family as an entity assist in the reintegration of prisoners and also highlights the potential risks that may family for imprisoned in the process mean. It results from foreign experience, which is traditionally ahead. The empirical part of the qualitative research carried out within of self-help groups of prisoners families provides insight into the specific experiences of families. Its purpose is both to draw attention to this marginalized social group and its needs, as well as outline effective assistance, which would deal with this life situation the best. POTOCKÁ, Veronika. Prisoner's family as an object of social work. Prague, 2014. 121 pages. The diploma thesis. Charles University in Prague, Department of social work. Supervisor: Andrea Matoušková