The central query of this study is focused around questions about increasing the numbers of girls and women in science. Surveys and focused group interviews were conducted with Grade 8 and 11 girls in two rural southern Alberta high schools to obtain an understanding of the impact they feel role models have on them with respect to an interest in science and the pursuit of a science career. While boys were also surveyed for comparison purposes, the focus of the study was girls‘ perceptions. Seemingly girls are just as interested in science topics as boys until they get to high school. While boys appear to continue to study science with interest, what prevents many girls from continuing to study topics they previously enjoyed? In elementary school many teachers are female but in high school a majority of science teachers are male. Does the gender of the teacher affect girls‘ interest in science? Extending this thought beyond the classroom: does the lack of positive visible female role models in science discourage girls‘ interest in science and science careers? The answers to these questions are complex. / xiv, 247 leaves ; 29 cm

Abstract not available. / Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2012.

Violence in schools is an everyday occurrence and, for the most part, it tends to be regarded as a male issue. There is little indication in media or research reports that female learners perpetrate violence in schools. Research suggests that school violence is caused by male teachers or learners, takes place amongst males and tends to be of a physical or sexual nature. There is, however, a less prominent body of international work, which has begun to explore female aggression and violence at schools. Thus far, there has been little comparable research in South Africa. The thesis is an exploratory study of female violence in schools. The subject is approached by examining the perceptions of male as well as female teachers in primary and secondary schools in Durban. / Thesis (M.Ed.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2004.

This study attempts to broaden the knowledge and understanding of issues of sexual harassment experienced by girls in a high school in Lesotho. It does this by focussing on Form D girls in one high school in Maseru, here referred as Fora High School; and consequently how they cope with it. The study locates itself as concerned with gender justice. It assumes that it constitutes a discursive position that contrasts and opposes dominant patriarchal discourses. It sets out also to establish to what extent sexual harassment occurred and how it was perceived by those that experience it. It is a qualitative study that employs narratives and observation as the research methods. To achieve this, a module that introduced concepts of sexuality and sexual harassment preceded the data collection. Although the study was confined to Form D girls and did not include all the girls in this school, findings reveal that girls in this class experienced and observed sexual harassment in this school and more specifically in the classroom than anywhere else. Teachers were the major perpetrators of sexual harassment. Studying the narratives presented as data, physical harassment was the most frequently reported form of harassment. When such behaviours are reported, teachers ignore it and this suggests that they 'normalise' sexual harassment and thus reinforce dominant patriarchal discourses of hegemonic masculinity. Based on the participants' narratives and also arguing from the discursive position of gender justice, recommendations are suggested for this school and others to introduce sexuality and sex education in an attempt to make schools more equitable places for girls. It proposes that educational policies and curricular development more generally be revisited and to ensure that they are addressing sexuality education and therefore sexual violence particularly. / Thesis (M.Ed.) - University of Natal, Durban, 2002.

In recent years the area of physical fitness has been of special interest. In a number of countries national fitness programmes have been launched to increase the awareness of the importance of physical fitness at all levels. Literature on the testing of physical fitness abounds, particularly in the United States of America. Several books on tests and measurements in physical education are available, and these provide invaluable guidelines to teachers of physical education in the important aspects of evaluating and assessing the physical fitness and progress of pupils. Howeyer, in South Africa, research in this important area is limited, especially in so far as Indian pupils arc concerned. In the present study an attempt is made to establish norms on selected tests of physical fitness for Indian girls. The study is divided into five parts as follows: CHAPTER ONE presents the rationale for the establishment of norms for Indian girls in South Africa. CHAPTER TWO gives a review of the relevant related literature. CHAPTER THREE gives an outline of the method of study. CHAPTER FOUR gives an analysis and presentation of the results. CHAPTER FIVE includes a discussion of the results, a summary and conclusion; and some recommendations for further research. / Thesis (M.Ed.)-University of Durban-Westville, 1975.

The following thesis is an implementation study of an international non-governmental organization working in the field of inclusive education in Battambang, Cambodia. More specifically the study’s intent was to examine the political, economic and socio-cultural challenges experienced by the organization’s volunteers as they worked with local education partners in implementing inclusive education initiatives. Consideration was given to general education with emphasis on the implementation of gender mainstreaming initiatives at the primary level. Data was collected through participant interviews, formal observations, Follow-up questions completed by participants and various documents from the organization. The findings from the study revealed significant inconsistencies between the organization’s policy in gender equality and what was being implemented at the local level. Volunteers received little or no training in gender responsiveness, reported feelings of incapacity to engage in gender issues and failure to identify gender inequality in their development work. The volunteers and their working relationships with local education partners were a major theme in the findings; in particular the political challenges in navigating the agendas of various stakeholders. The organization’s support, information and expectations of volunteers were other issues raised by participants in the study. Among the economic challenges to implementation were working within the confines of international funding, the development of the organization’s budget, limited human resources, economic sustainability of programing and no funding for gender initiatives. Cultural challenges include volunteers’ perceptions of local views on education, the relationship between community and schools, gender equality embedded in the culture, school directors ‘losing face’ and awareness regarding gender issues.

The following thesis is an implementation study of an international non-governmental organization working in the field of inclusive education in Battambang, Cambodia. More specifically the study’s intent was to examine the political, economic and socio-cultural challenges experienced by the organization’s volunteers as they worked with local education partners in implementing inclusive education initiatives. Consideration was given to general education with emphasis on the implementation of gender mainstreaming initiatives at the primary level. Data was collected through participant interviews, formal observations, Follow-up questions completed by participants and various documents from the organization. The findings from the study revealed significant inconsistencies between the organization’s policy in gender equality and what was being implemented at the local level. Volunteers received little or no training in gender responsiveness, reported feelings of incapacity to engage in gender issues and failure to identify gender inequality in their development work. The volunteers and their working relationships with local education partners were a major theme in the findings; in particular the political challenges in navigating the agendas of various stakeholders. The organization’s support, information and expectations of volunteers were other issues raised by participants in the study. Among the economic challenges to implementation were working within the confines of international funding, the development of the organization’s budget, limited human resources, economic sustainability of programing and no funding for gender initiatives. Cultural challenges include volunteers’ perceptions of local views on education, the relationship between community and schools, gender equality embedded in the culture, school directors ‘losing face’ and awareness regarding gender issues.

abstract: Inclusive education has become a global movement through the policies of the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (e.g., Salamanca Statement). These policies led many developing nations to adopt these policies in their national policy agendas. Turkey has developed inclusive education policies that deal with the education of students with disabilities (SwD). However, although SwD are the largest group who are marginalized and excluded from educational opportunities, there are other groups (e.g., cultural-linguistic minorities) who experience educational inequities in access and participation in learning opportunities and deal with enduring marginalization in education. This study examined a) Turkish teachers’ and parents’ conceptualizations of inclusive education for diverse groups of students, namely SwD, Kurdish students (KS), and girls, who experience educational inequities, b) how their construction of students’ identities influenced students' educational experiences in relation to inclusive education, c) how their stories revealed identities, differences and power, and what role privilege played in marginalization, labeling, and exclusion of students within conceptualizations of inclusive education. I used cultural historical activity theory (Engeström, 1999) and figured worlds (Holland et al., 1998) to understand the teachers’ and parents’ interpretations and experiences about inclusive education. This qualitative study was conducted in four different schools in Maki, a small southwestern city in Turkey. A classroom photo, with a vignette written description, and a movie documentary were used as stimuli to generate focus group discussions and individual interviews. I conducted classroom observations to explore the context of schooling and how students were positioned within the classrooms. Classroom artifacts were additionally collected, and the data were analyzed using a constant-comparative method. The study findings demonstrated that students had different equity struggles in access, meaningful participation, and having equal outcomes in their education. The education activity system was not inclusive, but rather was exclusive by serving only certain students. SwD and girls had difficulty accessing education due to cultural-historical practices and institutional culture. On the other hand, Turkish-only language policy and practices created tensions for KS to participate fully in education activity systems. Although stakeholders advocated girls’ education, many of them constructed SwD’s and KS’ identities from deficit perspectives. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Curriculum and Instruction 2016

Girl child education has been a challenge for many African countries due to the patriarchal gender order of communities. This is not different in the Democratic Republic of Congo where son preference is still rife. This study sought to explore how girls in rural Lubaland in DRC experience their schooling in relation to the traditional gendered practices. A qualitative approach to research was employed within an interpretive paradigm. Young school going girls were purposively selected from two rural schools in Malemba and Mwanza. A total of 18 girls became participants to the study. Data were generated through the use of drawings and focus group discussions to explore how the girls saw themselves as girls and students at home, on the way to school and at school. This was done in order to understand how they experience their schooling lives. The findings revealed several gendered challenges that the rural girls experience daily in terms of gaining access to and succeeding in schools. The challenge of son preference and gender role stereotyping created challenges for girls at home, while lack of facilities for girls’ sexual health and long distances to school created challenges for girls on the way to school. At school the girls experienced challenge of being unable to afford school fees and corporal punishment. If these challenges are to be eradicated, there is need for all stakeholders in education, including traditional leaders and communities to deconstruct the gendered dynamics that position women and girls as subordinate and not deserving of an education. This study has implications for educational planning in the Democratic Republic of Congo for girl children to get better access and success in their education. The findings also highlight the need for more concerted efforts to understand the experiences of schooling girls across DRC in order to influence teacher training and educational provisioning that is girl friendly.

Submitted by Márcio Maia (marciokjmaia@gmail.com) on 2016-08-15T18:45:32Z No. of bitstreams: 1 arquivototal.pdf: 3500941 bytes, checksum: 9147c179e539c66bda91be54cd5e19b2 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-08-15T18:45:32Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 arquivototal.pdf: 3500941 bytes, checksum: 9147c179e539c66bda91be54cd5e19b2 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2015-08-28 / The main objective of this dissertation is to comprehend the D. Ulrico Orphanage as an educational institution that took responsibility over the education of unprivileged girls in the Parahyba city in the conjecture of speech to civilize, modernize and sanitize the city. The institution now presented will be visualized taking into consideration the society of Paraiba in the early XX century (in the historic period corresponding to the year between 1913 to 1929). For both shared ideals about unprivileged women and education. The Orphanage is understood as a socio-historical production of the Parahyba city in the studied period. For such understanding, a few authors were referenced, such as Dermeval Saviani (2007), Justino Magalhães (2004), Castanho (2007), Farias (1997) and Nascimento (2013). The educational institution executed a double movement in the preparation of the younglings, offering them content and ideologies with the intent of acceptation of the imposed law and discipline. Starting from the option to analyse the profile of the internees it was attempted to unravel the type of education that was defended for unprivileged young women in the early XX century in Parahyba do Norte. The realization of his study utilized the following sources: enrolment files of the internees from the years 1922 to 1929; the Record of the May the 23rd of 1922 General Assembly; Records of the Protector and Permanent Commissions; Statutes of Protector and Permanent Commissions from 1913; and exemplars of the A Imprensa newspaper from 1913 to 1928. The profile of woman advocated by the managers of the D. Ulrico Orphanage indicated that she was to be educated to care for the home, the children and the husband. It showed proximity to the ideals present in the society of that period. Such manner of comprehension about women, especially those of lower classes, became natural and turned into a culture that dictated the ways and manners of the young women who attended the institution conditioned by their social origins. Since very early, the internees were to have an education exclusively related to domestic duties. They did not need to develop habits and mores considered modern once their society roles did not require civilizing skills. What could be found, from the documents analysis, indicates that the internees had an education directed to house duties. Moreover, upon leaving the institution they would go work on the houses of the Orphanage’s benefactor associates only in exchange for shelter and food. Therefor indicating a delineated fatality in the fate of these young unprivileged women. / Esta dissertação tem como objetivo principal compreender o Orphanato D. Ulrico como uma Instituição educativa que se responsabilizou pela educação de meninas pobres na Cidade da Parahyba dentro de uma conjectura do discurso de civilizar, modernizar e higienizar a cidade. A Instituição ora apresentada será visualizada considerando a sociedade paraibana do início do século XX (dentro do período histórico que corresponde anos de 1913 a 1929), pois partilhou das ideias que se tinham das mulheres pobres e da educação. Compreendemos o Orphanato como uma produção sociohistórica da Cidade da Parahyba no período estudado. Para tal entendimento utilizamos de autores como Dermeval Saviani (2007), Justino Magalhães (2004), Castanho (2007), Farias (1997) e Nascimento (2013). A Instituição Educativa fez um duplo movimento no que se refere à preparação das jovens, oferecendo-lhes conteúdos e ideologias com a finalidade da aceitação das leis e da disciplina impostas. A partir da opção pela análise do perfil das internas buscamos desvendar a educação defendida para as jovens pobres do início do século XX na Parahyba do Norte. Para a realização do estudo, utilizamos as seguintes fontes: fichas de matrículas das internas do Orphanato dos anos 1922-1929; Ata da Assembleia Geral de 23 de março de 1922; Atas da Comissão Protetora e Permanente; Estatuto Comissão Protetora e Permanente do Orphanato D. Ulrico de 1913; e o Jornal A Imprensa de 1913 a 1928. O perfil de mulher defendido pelos gestores do Orphanato D. Ulrico indicava que ela deveria ser educada para cuidar do lar, dos filhos e do marido, demostrando uma aproximação com os ideais presentes na sociedade da época. Tal modo de compreensão sobre a mulher, principalmente daquelas das classes mais baixas, passou a ser naturalizado e se formou uma cultura que estipulava a forma de ação das jovens que frequentaram a Instituição condicionada às suas origens sociais. Desde muito cedo as internas tiveram uma aprendizagem exclusivamente relacionada com as atividades domésticas. Não precisavam desenvolver hábitos e costumes considerados modernos já que os espaços da sociedade urbanizada que frequentavam não requeriam habilidades civilizatórias. O que pudemos constatar, a partir da análise dos documentos, indica que as internas tiveram uma educação voltada para as prendas domésticas e que, ao saírem da instituição, iam trabalhar nas casas dos sócios beneméritos do Orphanato apenas em troca de abrigo e comida, indicando assim a fatalidade traçada nos destinos dessas jovens pobres.