In South Africa learners do not achieve as well as their international counterparts on tests of literacy, and language proficiency is often blamed for their poor academic performance. In this study, the relationship between English language proficiency, reading ability and the academic performance of Grade 7 students in submersion contexts was investigated using quantitative methods. The participants of the study were Grade 7 students based in a former Model C school in the South African city of Johannesburg. Their English language proficiency and reading ability were measured by means of The Proficiency test English Second Language: Intermediate level and the Neale Analysis of Reading Ability tests respectively. The students’ performance on these tests was correlated with the students’ average summative assessment results using the Pearson-product moment correlation. Results showed that both English language proficiency and reading ability were significantly correlated with academic performance, with language proficiency having the most robust correlation. These findings indicate that teachers should aim at improving language proficiency by using multilingual teaching strategies that support home language as a cognitive tool. / English Studies / M. A. (TESOL)

Practically all pupils leaving the nine-year compulsory school continue their studies at the upper secondary school, which consequently faces the challenge of meeting the whole range of varying needs and conditions of students. Daily school practice is constituted by a number of communicative contexts, formal as well as informal. In these social and linguistic contexts, conversations are held about and with students. The dissertation, which focuses on students in need of support, is expected to contribute to the creation of knowledge about how communication and interaction constitute daily work and how this ultimately may be manifested in exclusion and inclusion processes during the upper secondary school education of the young. The research is directed at the organisation of the work of the upper secondary school as well as at students’ experience of and learning from their participation, communication in various contexts and their own learning. The dissertation has its point of departure in the communicative relational perspective (KoRP), which is founded on socio-cultural theory formation. In addition, concepts from dramaturgy have been used as analytical tools for deepened analysis and interpretation of interaction. The study is ethnographic and longitudinal in its nature. During slightly more than three years of field work, eleven case study students have been followed on their journey through upper secondary school education. The outcome indicates the complexity of the upper secondary school, where communication and actions in a number of communicative contexts not always have the expected effect. To formal contexts that shall have a precautionary and supportive function belong pupil welfare team meetings, transition conferences and class meetings. For the group of case study students, however, these turn out to have limited significance. Among other things, the study uncovers how work organisation, mediational tools and the interaction of participants may become obstacles. Further, waiting for support efforts as well as inadequate collaboration between various communicative contexts have negative consequences for students concerned. For students who prosper in spite of complicated schooling and life situation in general, the experience of participation in a community of friends has a prominent position, but above all participation in one’s own learning process appears to be a decisive factor. This calls for continuous talks and follow-ups, in which teachers and not least class teachers/mentors have a central role. / I stort sett alla elever som lämnar grundskolan fortsätter sina studier i gymnasieskolan, som därmed står inför utmaningen att kunna möta hela variationen av elevers skiftande behov och förutsättningar. Skolans dagliga praktik byggs upp av en mängd kommunikativa kontexter, formella såväl som informella. I dessa sociala och språkliga sammanhang förs samtal om och med elever. Avhandlingsarbetet riktar intresset mot elever som av olika skäl har bedömts vara i behov av stöd och studien förväntas utgöra ett bidrag till kunskapsbildningen om hur kommunikation och samspel konstituerar den dagliga verksamheten samt hur detta i sin förlängning kan ta sig uttryck i exkluderings- och inkluderingsprocesser under ungdomarnas gymnasieutbildning. Forskningsarbetet är inriktat dels mot organiseringen av gymnasieskolans verksamhet och dels mot elevernas upplevelser och erfarande av sin delaktighet, kommunikationen i olika kontexter och det egna lärandet. Avhandlingen tar sin utgångspunkt i det kommunikativa relationsinriktade perspektivet (KoRP), som vilar på en sociokulturell teoribildning. Därtill har begrepp hämtade från dramaturgin använts som analysverktyg, för fördjupad analys och tolkning av samspelet. Studien har en etnografisk och longitudinell karaktär. Under drygt tre års fältarbete har elva fallstudieelever följts på resan genom den gymnasiala utbildningen. Resultatet visar på gymnasieskolans komplexitet, där kommunikation och handlingar inom en rad kommunikativa kontexter inte alltid får förväntad effekt. Till formella sammanhang som ska ha en förebyggande och stödjande funktion hör elevvårdsteamsmöten, överlämnings- och klasskonferenser. För gruppen av fallstudieelever visar sig emellertid dessa ha en begränsad betydelse. Studien blottlägger bland annat hur verksamhetens organisering, medierande verktyg och aktörernas samspel kan bli till hinder. Vidare får väntan på stödinsatser och bristande samverkan mellan olika kommunikativa kontexter negativa konsekvenser för berörda elever. För elever som når framgång trots en komplicerad skolgång och livssituation i övrigt, får upplevelsen av delaktighet i en kompisgemenskap en framskjutande plats, men framförallt framstår delaktigheten i den egna lärandeprocessen som en avgörande faktor. Detta ställer krav på kontinuerliga samtal och uppföljningar där undervisande lärare och inte minst klassföreståndare/mentor intar en central roll. / "Villkor och förutsättningar för delaktighet, kommunikation och lärande i gymnasieskolan" - ett projekt vid Göteborgs Universitet, IPD, Enheten för specialpedagogik

This research seeks to address the gap in the literature on women, health, and environments by exploring the factors that motivate Jamaican women farmers to practice organic agriculture and how these might relate to their understandings of environment and health. The experiences and decisions of women farmers are also positioned within wider historical contexts of colonialism and agricultural change. Integrating a variety of theoretical frameworks, including public issues anthropology, ethnoecology, rural sociology, and feminist political ecology, my own scholarly analysis is merged with the perspectives of the women farmers interviewed in this qualitative study. This research found that women organic farmers in Jamaica were motivated by various factors related to environment and health and impacted by the island’s legacy of slavery and industrialization. The findings of this thesis can be used to encourage the practice of organic agriculture and to improve human health and environmental wellbeing in Jamaica and beyond. / Richard and Sophia Hungerford Travel Scholarship, Yeandle Family Graduate Scholarship, Richard and Sophia Hungerford Graduate Scholarship, Registrar’s Research Grant for Graduate Students, Registrar’s Research Travel Grant

The diploma thesis "Cross-Curricular topics in the teaching of mathematics at primary schools" describes possible ways of involving personality and social education, education of a democratic citizen, education towards thinking in European and global contexts, multicultural education, environmental education and media education in primary school mathematics. The thesis is divided into a theoretical, practical and an evaluative section. The theoretical part of this thesis analyses domestic and foreign findings on cross-curricular topics, outlines the historical development of the curriculum in relation to this issue and characterizes the educational area of "Mathematics and its application RVP ZV". It further focuses on interconnecting particular cross-curricular subjects with mathematics and examines their integration in current mathematics schoolbooks. The practical part contains proposals of activities (methodical activity sheets) connecting the area of "Mathematics and its application" with cross-curricular topics. It further presents organizational teaching forms and work methods used in activities including their descriptions. The last part evaluates the application of the activities in practice in terms of the development of pre-assigned mathematical skills and knowledge and the involvement of thematic units of cross-curricular topics.

Submitted by Maria Passos (mariasigmar@gmail.com) on 2018-01-05T13:20:52Z No. of bitstreams: 1 MariaSigmarCoutinhoPassos-tese.doc.pdf: 5328639 bytes, checksum: d761747eef4ef60b87a9ee9497f1e228 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Maria Auxiliadora da Silva Lopes (silopes@ufba.br) on 2018-01-08T13:35:22Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 MariaSigmarCoutinhoPassos-tese.doc.pdf: 5328639 bytes, checksum: d761747eef4ef60b87a9ee9497f1e228 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2018-01-08T13:35:22Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 MariaSigmarCoutinhoPassos-tese.doc.pdf: 5328639 bytes, checksum: d761747eef4ef60b87a9ee9497f1e228 (MD5) / Esta tese apresenta os resultados da pesquisa que teve como objeto as políticas públicas de formação de professores em Educação e Tecnologias da Informação e Comunicação (TIC), especificamente as ações do programa federal ProInfo Integrado no Estado da Bahia. Seu objetivo geral foi compreender os processos de recontextualização na implementação das políticas de TIC e Educação a partir das ações de formação continuada de professores e sua contextualização nos espaços de formação de professores nos Núcleos de Tecnologia Municipal (NTM). O referencial teórico-metodológico da pesquisa foi a Abordagem do Ciclo das Políticas, proposto por Stephen Ball, para compreender os diferentes contextos de concretização da política em análise. Para tal, utilizou diversas fontes como decretos, leis, portarias, documentos de organismos internacionais, módulos impressos e digitais, planejamentos pedagógicos, além da observação direta dos processos de formação e entrevistas com os sujeitos da prática. A pesquisa em campo foi desenvolvida nos NTM das cidades de Salvador, Ilhéus, Itabuna e Juazeiro. O estudo levou ao entendimento das ações de formação do ProInfo Integrado enquanto importante espaço de recontextualização dessa política, sendo que a concretização pelos sujeitos da prática nos NTM revela tensionamentos, contradições e processos de recriação que se relacionam com as demandas locais e com o próprio entendimento dos sujeitos sobre a política pública e sobre o contexto em que atuam. Concluiu que os processos de recontextualização do Proinfo Integrado, nos contextos pesquisados, apresentam sentidos pedagógicos, organizacionais-infraestrturais e interpretativos que recriam a política em análise no contexto da prática. / ABSTRACT This thesis presents the results of the research that had the object of the public policies of teacher training in Education and Information and Communication Technologies (ICT), specifically the actions of the federal program ProInfo Integrated in the State of Bahia. Its general objective was to understand the processes of recontextualization in the implementation of ICT policies and Education from the actions of continuing education teachers training and its contextualization in the spaces of teacher training in the Municipal Technology Centers (MTC). The theoretical-methodological reference of the research was the Policy Cycle Approach, proposed by Stephen Ball, to understand the different contexts of concretization of the politics under analysis. For such, it used various sources such as decrees, laws, ordinances, documents of international organizations, printed and digital modules, pedagogical plans, beyond the direct observation of the training processes and interviews with the subjects of the practice. Field research was developed in MTC from the cities of Salvador, Ilhéus, Itabuna and Juazeiro. The study led to the understanding of the training actions of ProInfo Integrado as an important space for the recontextualization of this policy, and the concretization by the subjects of the MTC practice reveals tensionings, contradictions and recreation processes that are related to the local demands and to the own understanding of the subjects on the public policy and on the context in which they act.Concludes that the processes of recontextualization of the Integrated Proinfo in the contexts researched present pedagogical, infrastructural and interpretative senses that recreate the politics under analysis in the context of the practice.

This thesis is entitled “Fostering collective teacher efficacy through values-based leadership in Ethiopian institutions of higher education”, which is delimited to the private universities. The main question was “What constitutes/determines the institutionalisation of values-based leadership (VBL) to foster collective teacher efficacy (CTE) in the context of Ethiopian private universities (EPrUs)?” The sub-questions were: 1) what does the current state of CTE and its perceived outcomes look like in EPrUs? 2) What sets of behaviours are desired to institutionalise VBL so as to foster CTE in EPrUs? 3) What are the institutional contexts required to institutionalise VBL so as to foster CTE in EPrUs? In addressing these issues, academic leaders, students and teachers from EPrUs participated in the study. As methods of data gathering both the survey method and interviews were used. Results revealed that CTE is not high enough in EPrUs and hence it needs to be fostered so as to bring the desired change in students’ learning. To foster this, institutionalisation of VBL is required that involves two inter-related aspects. The first one is about institutionalising desired values (behaviours), which are linked to the academic leaders’ yearning for positive sets of values and the teachers’ moral contract to their professional values. To this effect, the positive sets of values that academic leaders should yearn for and the sets of values that teachers should espouse as their professional values are explored. The commonalities between these values are also described and how these would be institutionalised is suggested. The values include integrity and trustworthiness, humility/selflessness, compassion and sense of gratitude, accountability and self-discipline, sense of collaboration and teamwork, and envisioning in leadership as the driving force. The second aspect is about institutionalising the contexts conducive to foster CTE and VBL support behaviours. The need to institutionalise those behaviours and contexts arise out of the perceived leadership gap (between what the teachers believe are the leadership priorities of the leaders and the behaviours they actually see in the leaders). This gap has been linked to CTE, and hence a model has been developed that would foster this efficacy. / Educational Leadership and Management / D. Ed. (Educational Management)

In hierdie verhandeling reflekteer ek oor my godsdiensdiskoers en die invloed daarvan op my lewe, beide as persoon en as terapeut. My werk vind 'n nis in die wyse waarop dit die 'stil, onsigbare mensa' benader wie se stories gevorm is deur diskoerse van die modemistiese samelewing. In my navorsing kry ek te doen met problema wat in die algemeen met die praktyke van marginalisering geassosieer word. Die narratiewe gesprekvoering met 'medeskrywers' aan my storie en interaksie met hulle verskillende horisonne kristalliseer in 'n bevrydende en veelvlakkige insig. Hierdie kennis stel my in staat om nuwe keuses te maak en 'n alternatiewe storie vir myself te formuleer. Die studie illustreer dus nie net hoe narratiewe terapie die 'stil, onsigbare' produkte van 'n paternalistiese samelewing kan bemagtig nie. Dit wys ook op die waarde van die oopstelling van die terapeut se eie verhaal vir sy/haar vorming as terapeut. / In this dissertation I reflect on my religious discourse, its influence on my life and how it affects me, both as a person and a therapist. It addresses a niche in its approach to the 'silent, invisible people' whose stories are authored by the discourses of a modernistic society. My research stumbles on all kinds of problems that are generally associated with the practices of marginalisation. Acting as both client and therapist, I enter into numerous interactive conversational sessions with 'co-authors' of my story, afJ with different contexts and horizons. This process crystallises in a liberating and multi-faceted truth. The newly gained knowledge enables me to make new choices and formulate tor myself an alternative story. This study illustrates not only how narrative practices may empower the 'silent, invisible' products of a patemalistic society. It also shows how therapists may benefit from the deconstruction of their own story in both a personal and professional way. / Philosophy, Practical and Systematic Theology / M. Th. (Pastoral Theology)

The purpose of this study is to tell the story of how four peer helpers within the Unisa Peer Help Volunteer Programme managed their portfolio development processes to monitor their growth and development which took place as a result of their involvement in peer helper activities. The epistemological framework of this study is interpretive and involved in-depth interviews with four peer helpers who rendered volunteer services at the University of South Africa and have been developing their career portfolios over a period of time. Hermeneutics was the method used to analyse the data. The stories of the four participants were transcribed and retold by the researcher in the form of themes that emerged. This study contained the stories of how the participants initially struggled to understand the concept and purpose of portfolios; how they took charge of the process; and how their attitudes changed from uncertainty and confusion to viewing the process as worthwhile - thus enabling them to commit themselves, to varying degrees, to the development of their individual portfolios. Recurring themes present in all four stories were described in the researcher's story of the participants' stories. The information generated by this study could serve as guidelines for not only peer helpers interested in developing their own portfolios, but also for project leaders involved in the management of peer helper groups and who plan to implement portfolios in their programmes. / Psychology / M.A. (Psychology)

Text in Afrikaans / Geloof wat in die kategese as deel van 'n to tale geloofsvormingsproses op die tafel kom, moet holisties-ekosistemies verstaan word met die 'hic et nunc'- relevansie daarvan as 'n kwalifiserende maatstaf. Geloof so gesien, behoort in die kategesemateriaal van die Nederduitse Gereformeerde Kerk na vore te kom. Die grootste deel van die studie is gewy aan die bree teoretisering in holisties-ekosistemiese perspektief. Vanuit 'n wetenskapsteoretiese vertrekpunt is 'n eie prakties-teologiese teorie oor geloof ontwerp wat geloof enersyds sien as die dinamiese interaksie van gawe, inhoud en respons, en andersyds as 'n aantal perspektiewe daarop. Hierdie teorie het as vertrekpunt gedien om sekere van die kontekste waarbinne geloof funksioneer, te beskryf, naamlik die koninkryk van God, die samelewing, die gemeente, die kategese, die adolessent, die jeugsubkultuur en die skool. In hierdie beskrywing is 'n omvattende teorie oor die kategese daargestel wat dit holisties-ekosistemies sien. Deur middel van inhoudsanalise is fasette van die teoriee getoets aan die lesse in die handboeke van die kategete wat met die adolessente in standerd 5 tot 8 werk. Daar is bevind dat die geloofsbeeld wat na vore kom steriel kognitief-vertikaal is. Oor 'n tydperk van meer as twintig jaar is weinig samelewingsrelevante kwessies aangeraak. Die belangwekkende dokumente Ras, Volk en Nasie en Kerk en Samelewing het nie gefunksioneer nie. In terme van die teorie oor geloof fasiliteer die kategesemateriaal nie relevante geloof midde-in die wereld waarin die adolessente moet glo nie. Dit het ook geblyk dat die inhoudsanalise as werkwyse en die meetinstrument wat ontwerp is, bruikbaar was. Die studie formuleer vanuit die teoriee en die empiriese ondersoek 'n aantal perspektiewe van waaruit die kategese en die lesmateriaal daarvan die kritiese hantering van die verhouding kognitief-affektief-konatief en die gerigtheid individueel-vertikaal, horisontaal-ekklesiaal en horisontaal-sosiaal kan hanteer met die oog daarop dat die kerk sigself en die adolessente as deel daarvan, nie in 'n dogmatistiese ghetto in perk nie, maar vorm met die oog op 'n selfstandige en relevante geloofsfunksionering op die geloof stog in die woestyn van die wereld met die oog op die realisering van die Ryk van God. / Faith which is handled in catechesis as part of the total process of the formation of faith should be understood in a holistic-ecosystemic way with its 'hic et nunc' relevance as a qualifying criterion. It should also appear in this form in the material for catechesis in the Nederduitse Gereformeerde Kerk. The greater part of the study focuses on broad theorising from a holistic-ecosystemic perspective. An independent practical-theological theory on faith is developed from a scientific-theoretical basis. This theory sees faith as a dynamic interaction of gift, content and response on the one hand and a number of different perspectives on the other. It serves as the point of departure for describing some of the contexts in which faith functions, namely the kingdom of God, society, the community, catechesis, the adolescent, the youth subculture and the school. In the process a comprehensive theory about catechesis is developed which sees it holistically ecosystemically. Content analysis is used to test aspects of the theories against the lessons in the manuals for catechists working with adolescents in standards 5 to 8. The resultant image of faith is found to be cognitively-vertically sterile. Over a period of more than twenty years few socially relevant issues were touched on. The important documents Ras, Volk en Nasie and Kerk en Samelewing did not function. In terms of the theory of faith this material for catechesis does not facilitate relevant faith in the world in which the adolescent has to have faith. It is also apparent that content analysis as a method and the measuring instrument used were suitable. Using the theories and the empirical investigation the study formulates a number of perspectives from which catechesis and the lesson material can deal with the critical handling of the relationship cognitively-affectively-conatively and the directedness individually-vertically, horizontally-ecclesially and horizontally-socially so that the church does not imprison itself and its adolescent members in a dogmatistic ghetto, but shapes them so that their faith can function independently and relevantly on the way of faith through the desert of the world with a view to realise the kingdom of God. / Philosophy, Practical and Systematic Theology / Th. D. (Praktiese Teologie)

En matière de politique linguistique et éducative, l’Algérie a été confrontée à des problèmes de choix d’orientation. D’une part, le système éducatif s’est trouvé face à des différents problèmes d’ordre politique et idéologique et d’autre part, les différentes communautés cherchaient à s’affirmer dans une société favorable aux échanges internationaux et hostile à certaines pratiques réductrices menaçant les langues, les cultures tout en induisant de nouveaux comportements sociaux. Pour rendre compte de ses problèmes, deux questions ont été posées : « comment les gouvernements successifs ont-ils géré la diversité des langues dans le système éducatif ? Quelles étaient leurs idéologies »? Pour répondre à ces questions, un état des lieux du paysage linguistique dans et en dehors du système éducatif, notamment sous l’impulsion des travaux du conseil de l’Europe, a été élaboré. Pour cerner l’opinion publique, une étude quantitative réalisée par nos soins met l’accent sur les attitudes et les représentations sociales qu’ont les personnes interrogées en vers le plurilinguisme. Ceci permettra d’entrevoir les perspectives réelles et concrètes pour une éducation plurilingue pluriculturelle dans le futur. / In the subject of politic linguistic and educational, the Algeria was confronted with the problems of orientation choices. With one part, the educational system was found to face different political and ideological problems and with other side, the different communities were searched to assert themselves in a favorable international trade company and hostile to certain practices that reduce threatening to languages, cultures while inducing new social behaviors. To account for its problems, two questions were asked: “How the successive governments have managed the diversity of languages in the educational system? What were their ideologies?” To answer these questions an overview of the linguistic landscape within and outside the educational system, notably under the impetus of the work of the Europe council has been developed. To identify the public opinion, a quantitative study conducted by us focuses on attitudes and the social representations that respondents in multilingualism. This will allow a glimpse of the real and concrete perspective for a multicultural multilingual education in the future.