The purpose of the study is to explore children’s experiences of yoga and its influence on their well-being and everyday lives. The study uses qualitative methods and thematic analysis is chosen as it provides flexibility to combine theoretical assumptions with qualitative data. Analysis is based on two focus group interviews that ask about children’s views of yoga, experience of doing yoga, feelings about yoga, any differences with other physical activities, and their experience before and after yoga. The children involved in the study appeared to experience yoga in different ways, but the majority of them agreed that yoga is a positive influence on their lives. The results of this study propose that according to children’s perspectives the practice of yoga supports physical fitness and is a calm, peaceful and relaxing activity and supports the children’s understanding of their capacity and competence and helped them to reduce unstable or negative emotions. Overall, children’s perspective of yoga shows the meaning of their view and experience both in the studio and in everyday life that will give some insights to yoga teachers and studio owners; and yoga practice might contribute to social support for children both physically and mentally.

The aim of this study is to explore how children experience their social community in the preschool and see how norms and views in the preschool environment could be related to a structural perspective on bullying. I have interviewed six children, five or six years old, about norms, relationships, inclusion, exclusion, friendship and violations in the preschool. There have been a total of six interviews with two to three children in each interview. During the first two interviews I read two children’s books and the discussed them with the children. The third interview included questions about relationships and violations based on the books and the children’s earlier answers. I have analyzed the interviews to see how the children’s answers correspond to research about norms, relationships, inclusion, exclusion, friendship and violations in the preschool and bullying from a structural perspective. The research states that gender and age are the two main reasons for exclusion in the preschool, and that age can be a social resource which can be used to exercise power over younger children. The results show that the children answers correspond quite well with what the research tells us. They emphasize on the importance of being nice, and they react strongly towards violence and psychological violations. They show awareness of gender norms and equality, but this is not always the case when it comes to age differences. My conclusion from this study is that there is a gap between what the research states about age in the preschool and how age and age norms are actually being addressed in the preschool, on an organizational, group and individual level. The children’s views on age norms in the preschool could be a sign that violations between children of different age groups could be accepted within preschools, which could in turn be a starting point for bullying.

Doctor Legum - LLD / The issue of child motherhood remains a key challenge, especially in developing countries such as Zimbabwe. Despite bearing the worst of its effects, Zimbabwe looks largely to have fallen short of answers to solve this problem. The focus has been on legal solutions to prevent and ban child marriages, which leaves the plight of child mothers and/or motherhood often forgotten. Interestingly, the 2016 landmark case of Mudzuru and another v Minister of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs which declared child marriages illegal serves as an eye opener to the challenges of how to legally protect child mothers in Zimbabwe. Though dealing with child marriages, the importance of the case is the fact that child marriages are the major contributor of adolescent motherhood in that married girls become predominantly child-bearers. According to provincial statistics in Zimbabwe, Manicaland and Mashonaland Central provinces have the highest number of child mothers averaging 27 and 30 per cent, respectively. The Zimbabwe Demographic and Health Survey reported that nine out of 10 teens aged 15 to 19 are sexually active, and two out three first have had sex before the age of 15. Therefore, girls are at risk of becoming child mothers, without necessarily being married. Consequently, the need to protect girls from early motherhood, and give effect to the rights of girls who are already child mothers becomes a pressing issue. Zimbabwe has made several international commitments to the realisation of children’s rights. It is a signatory to the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child, which contain provisions that protect girls against child motherhood and the rights of child mothers. In 2013, Zimbabwe adopted a new Constitution. It espouses a regime of justiciable children’s rights. It has also promulgated subsidiary laws that are also relevant to children’s rights. Therefore, the main purpose of this study is to critically analyse legal and policy measures towards the protection of girls against child motherhood and the rights of child mothers in Zimbabwe.

The aim of this thesis is to examine the portrayal of the South Pacific missionary in children's literature published between 1800 and 1935. It examines how hagiographic literature was used to suggest to young readers that the missionary was both an emissary of Western civilisation and the incarnation of Gospel values. It seeks to document the nexus between contemporary anthropologica1 thought, colonialism and religious beliefs which underpinned the views and values presented to the child reader.The thesis examines the years 1800 to 1935 as this period was characterised by intense public interest in the exploration of the region and gave rise to the greatest volume of publications for children featuring the South Pacific missionary. The thesis analyses biographies published for children of the more famous missionaries, including John Williams, James Chalmers, John Paton and Coleridge Patteson. Attention is also given to the missionary in fictional literature and adventure stories, in particular the popular writings of R. M. Ballantyne (most notably The Coral Island). Comparisons arc made with the depiction of the missionary in children's literature using other locations, specifically Africa and China. The thesis also examines how women were portrayed, the connections between trade and missionary activity and the cultural bias evident in the portrayal of indigenous people and their societies. The thesis concludes that the portrayal of the South Pacific missionary between 1800 - 1935 was designed to enhance the status of the missionary by depicting them as being superior to secular heroes such as Captain Cook. By drawing on the imagery of the medieval knight and through the trope of 'Muscular Christianity' the missionary was depicted as having the courage of the explorer, the wisdom of a leader, the nature of a gentleman and the faith of a martyr. The indigenous people were infantilized and the trope of cannibalism was utilised to dehumanise them. Western style housing, clothing, literacy, work ethics and technology were advocated as indicators of the superiority of Europeans, while their adoption by indigenous converts separated them from the 'heathen' of their race. This 'superiority' of Western culture was attributed to the influence of Christianity and the Bible in particular, The missionary was shown as not only redeeming the indigenous people from sin through the revelation of the Gospel, but also as being their friend and protector who gave them the benefits of European living. In particular the 'medicine man' or spiritual leader of the indigenous reIigion was demonised and his influence and position assumed by the missionary who often formed a political alliance with the social leader, or Chief. The presence of the missionary was often further legitimised through the enthusiastic testimony of converts and indigenous teachers' pleading for more missionaries to come to the region. Other Europeans, such as traders and beachcombers, were denigrated as exploiting the islanders and their actions were often condemned as being worse than the 'savages. ' The publications sourced and studied were all Protestant in origin, suggesting a lack of children's Catholic material on missionary endeavour in the region. Similar to the traders, the Catholics were also denounced as interfering with and complicating the task of conversion and redemption. The role of the European female as wife of the missionary was minimised and they were usually relegated to the minor role of passive assistant to the ever-adventurous male. The publications were a vehicle for inculcating the religious and social beliefs of a triumphant Western society and for encouraging children to support the missions. either through their own vocation or through the giving and collecting of money. While they ostensibly promoted Christianity and the activities of Missionary Societies by paying homage to the faith and valour of the missionary, undoubtedly they also justified to the young reader the European cultural dominance and colonialism of the era.

This thesis takes the position that once schools and school systems adopt reform programs,the values and meanings inherent in those programs create and perpetuate powerful forms of discourse that characterize the projects themselves, evoke loyalty and commitment and may ultimately serve to stifle other voices. The thesis examines several primary schools involved with the Children’s Literacy Success Strategy (CLaSS) in the Victorian Catholic Education system. It is an analysis of the dominant discourse created and perpetuated by the CLaSS documentation, education officers, principals, and classroom teachers. The study characterizes the nature of that discourse and explores its effects on the work of teachers, principals, and on school improvement. The analysis proposed in no way disparages CLaSS itself, nor does it seek to judge its objectives, or offer a critique of the specific methods used to improve literacy. Rather, it advocates that genuine school improvement requires one to step outside the circle of discourse engendered by reform programs such as CLaSS which promote a ‘single minded’ discourse about themselves and that which the school is attempting. When programs such as CLaSS are introduced into schools as part of a sector wide reform agenda they are expected to provide proof of improved results in order to justify the financial investment associated with the initiative. The values and beliefs of the reform initiative are expected to be accepted by school systems usually without question (Apple, 2000). The effects of such unquestioned acceptance of particular values are examined in the current study. As schools are expected to accept programs like CLaSS in their entirety, it is not possible within the rhetoric of CLaSS to select what elements of the program to adopt. This appears to lead to the creation and perpetuation of an ‘officially’ sanctioned way of thinking about school reform and teaching. Proponents of reform programs may argue that such sanctions are a necessary feature of whole school reform programs and provide a focus for energy and activism, for winning people’s support, and for conveying to parents and the wider school community a sense of purposeful action and rational planning. However, these dominant discourses seem to obscure other perspectives, disallowing critique and preventing reflective discourse and analysis. Indeed, this study holds that genuine school reform requires schools to break out of the imprisonment of dominant discourses and remain open to critical reflection

<p>The aim of this study was to find out if there are any differences in the use of metaphors and similes in children’s literature translated from Swedish into English. With two books selected by the same Swedish author, three groups of metaphors were studied -- structural, orientational and ontological metaphors -- as well as two groups of similes -- same image and similar image similes. The result showed that the Swedish versions of the two books contained more metaphors than the English versions, whereas the similes occurred to the same extent in both languages. </p>

The aim of this study was to find out if there are any differences in the use of metaphors and similes in children’s literature translated from Swedish into English. With two books selected by the same Swedish author, three groups of metaphors were studied -- structural, orientational and ontological metaphors -- as well as two groups of similes -- same image and similar image similes. The result showed that the Swedish versions of the two books contained more metaphors than the English versions, whereas the similes occurred to the same extent in both languages.

The main purpose of this study is to find out what kind of help social service in one selected municipality in Sweden can provide for children who have witnessed or been victims of domestic violence. Using focus group interview this study investigate how the social workers meet the needs of these children. The bases for our analysis are the Organization Theory and the Attachment Theory, as well as previous research. Important results are that the social services are dependent on notifications in order to do their work and that the most common interventions are foster care, emergency foster care and/or family therapy. The difficulties that social workers perceive their work are unjustified families and heavy workloads. The results showed the difficulties of helping these children, and indicated that children who have witnessed domestic violence not always receive adequate response.

This study contributes to existing, but limited research on institutional caregiving of vulnerable children. Institutional caregiving is an organized goal directed activity which occurs within a family-like system that aims to protect vulnerable children and optimize their emotional, psychological and physical developmental needs. The purpose of this study was to understand the perceptions that caregivers who work at children’s homes have regarding their roles and responsibilities and thereby obtain an insight into their day to day experiences while executing their responsibilities. The primary research question that guided this study was: “How caregivers at children’s home perceive their roles and responsibilities?” A qualitative research approach was applied and it was guided by the interpretive paradigm to gain subjective and perceived realities that caregivers have regarding their roles and responsibilities. A case study research designed was used and a total of eighteen caregivers were purposefully selected to participate in the study. A focus group interview, a group collage and semi structured individual interviews served as data collection methods for the study. The study used the roles dimension of the McMaster Model of family functioning which is based on the System’s theory as its theoretical framework. Findings of the study were aligned with literature and revealed that the caregivers perceived their fundamental roles and responsibilities as that of providing food, shelter and a protective environment. Their perceived responsibilities also include catering to the children’s emotional and health related requirements. It was interesting to note that in addition to their perceived roles and responsibilities, caregivers viewed their work environment as a child-focused environment and expressed the need to be acknowledged as professionals, be empowered with more caregiving skills, and be paid in accordance with their contribution. The study recommends that the unique needs and pressures of institutional caregivers be adequately studied and addressed in ways that will in turn facilitate quality caregiving. / Dissertation (MEd)--University of Pretoria, 2014. / lk2014 / Educational Psychology / MEd / Unrestricted

Perhaps in no other activity does society express its fundamental values more distinctly than in the socialization of children. While historians of childhood search the past for clues to link the growth of the individual to the movements of society, most overlook children's literature. . Yet children's literature is specifically designed to (or does by indirection) communicate the basic elements of culture to the rising generation. In children's stories we find the artifacts of the process of socializing children in the past. This study examines the stories written for children in late eighteenth century England. At one level these stories reflect the attitudes to children and child-rearing that evolved in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries; at another, they record the response to the social situation of a small group of educated reformers. The authors consciously promote a particular system of values, but not one specifically intended to prepare youth for industrial society. Rather, they present values that serve to protect their ideal of a reformed but traditional social order. The transitional state of eighteenth century society caused many to fear for its stability. Older problems of vice, crime, and poverty became more visible as the society became more urban and industrial. At the same time, a new class, unencumbered by the traditional social responsibilities embodied in landed property, was rising in wealth and power. Reformers sought to preserve the peace and order of society by attempting to improve the manners and morals of the lower orders and by systematically reinforcing the obligations of rich to poor. In the service of these goals, authors of children's stories directed their attention to youth, particularly middle class youth, for it was crucial to gain the allegiance of this group to the values that upheld the social order. In their stories they constructed realistic social situations in which to demonstrate the efficacy of these values and beliefs. They erected a model of harmonious society that accorded with a rational universe wherein diligence, frugality, honesty and benevolence inevitably led to security and happiness. They drew the boundaries within which the fulfilling life may be won, justifying the existing order by providing a reward for every virtuous child. The rock upon which their model of harmonious society rested was the family. Within the stable domestic family resides all virtue and happiness; it is the arena for all aspects of human life; its values maintain the stability of society. The primary function of the story-book family is to transmit these values to the young, to instill in the individual child those qualities that will prepare him for life in a peaceful orderly society. The image of the world and society that emerges from the children's stories of the late eighteenth century is not a direct reflection of actual conditions any more than the heroes and heroines of the stories represent the real behavior and experience of eighteenth century children. Nevertheless, we do see how at least part of society perceived its times, and, more important, the values thought necessary to sustain their way of life. / Arts, Faculty of / History, Department of / Graduate