abstract: ABSTRACT This dissertation examines the role of tribal sovereignty and self-determination in research for Diné participants and elders from 1956-1986. The qualitative historical research study explored the following questions: How has past research been conducted on the Navajo Nation? What is the role of sovereignty and self-determination in research and research methodology for Diné peoples? And, how might Diné philosophy inform a research methodology that aligns with cultural protocols and practices? Six elders who participated in research from 1956-1986 participated in in-depth interviews about their experiences. Using Sa’ąh Naaghái Bik’eh Hozhǫ̨̨́ǫ́n and related Diné philosophy models, findings of this study inform an Indigenous elder knowledge protection model (i.e. Nihookáá’ Diné Nidoolkah Bindii’ą’) to support existing Diné tribal IRB protocols and policies and provides additional insight for tribal cultural protection organizations. Lastly, the researcher presents a Diné intersectional methodology for future research. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Social Justice and Human Rights 2020

PhD (African Studies) / Department of African Studies / Inwi nwana, ni tou vha khundavhalai! (you child, you defeated your guide!). When a child behaved disrespectful to society, and is ill mannered, in Tshivenda, he/she would be referred to as Khundavhalai. Khundavhalai is made out of two Tshivenda words (Khunda + Vhalai which could be equalled to defeating + guides), meaning the one who defeated those who should guide him/her. The system and process of guiding could be equaled to u laya. Nwana is a child. The purpose of this study was to reflect on the Afro-centric practices of u laya nwana- guiding a child with particular reference to the Vhavenḓa culture. The decision to conduct this study was influenced by concerning incidences of behavior that could be associated with khundavhalai. The question was how did vhalai convey ndayo (The content and processes of u laya)? Bearing in mind a lack of documentation on these practices, I envisaged that the reflections would provide insights about how Vhavenda people guided children, with the hope that what was good could be blended with contemporary practices. The study employed a qualitative reflective paradigm. In-depth interviews were conducted with six elderly people who were key informants, to establish how u laya ṅwana was practised in the olden days. Olden days referred to a period before the 1980s. Key informants were asked to reflect on the processes and content of u laya ṅwana, and to identify positive practices that could be applied in the revival process of u laya vhana. Findings showed that u laya nwana was done throughout a child’s development, using different forms, such as songs, folklore, games, proverbs within a family context and communally through initiation schools(ngoma). There was a strong collaborative system between the families, traditional leadership, and key community figures who had the trust of the families and the royal household to run initiation schools. Participants were concerned that these practices have since vanished. A few that still exist are not without challenges. I got an opportunity to visit and observe at least two of those schools. The programme to revive ndayo was suggested, which encourages adaptive processes and collaborative effort between traditional initiation schools, families, communities, schools, churches, and relevant government departments. / NRF

Magister Educationis - MEd / This study investigated the use of folktales in enhancing literacy development among Grade 3 isiXhosa-speaking learners in one Western Cape primary school. It was inspired by my quest to explain the low literacy performance levels of Foundation Phase learners, especially those taught through the medium of African languages. Although learners are taught in their mother-tongue in this phase, the reported national literacy results do not reflect this educational advantage. Education reports continually indicate low literacy levels in the Annual National Assessments (ANAs). Underdeveloped literacy skills are likely to have a negative impact on the child’s academic progress throughout and beyond the schooling years. This study focused on the use of folktales in fostering imaginative and critical thinking as folktales present language in its natural state. They are regarded as the best tool for whole language and literacy development. Folktales are central to the indigenous knowledge system (IKS) which is an educational and cultural tool that exposes children to oral literacy, even before they acquire literacy My enquiry is premised on the idea that technology should not replace the indigenous knowledge that may be acquired through folktales. Instead, deeper sustainable research into the role of folktales in children’s acquisition of indigenous knowledge is of paramount importance for generating creative and analytical responses and for understanding the role of folktales in young children’s education. For these reasons this study applied qualitative research methodology to investigate how teachers make use of folktales to enhance Grade 3 learners’ literacy skills in isiXhosa. It drew on Sociocultural Theory to explore their pedagogical strategies in this endeavour.The findings show that folktales are oral epistemic tools which may be utilised to foster a learnercentred approach that promotes learners’ ability to grasp ideas. The study concludes that folktales are instruments of pedagogical, social and cultural knowledge which may be used across the curriculum.

The purpose of this voyage is to explore the phenomenon of resilience with a South African child survivor of abuse. This research may be used to foreground elements in narrative conversations that can be employed to enhance resilience in other child survivors of abuse. The collaborator was identified using a constructivist approach of selection, incorporating the Indigenous Knowledge of the staff involved in the care of abuse survivors in a place of safety. The selection work session led to the generation of an operationalisation of the concept resilience, as well as an observation schedule for resilience specific to this environment. A 16-year-old female collaborator was identified as resilient for the purpose of this research. A number of in-depth interviews with the collaborator were conducted whilst the collaborator was in the place of safety, as well as after her move to a children’s home. Narratives about the collaborator’s life were generated and computer aided qualitative data analysis was undertaken. This facilitated the generation of networks of codes which allow for the representation of the particular resilience processes present in the collaborator. In this study the ability to adapt and utilise new environments is identified as a major factor in the collaborator’s resilience. / Dissertation (MEd(Psychology))--University of Pretoria, 2005. / Educational Psychology / unrestricted

Many organizations have been attempting to build a conceptual framework for managing technology, with varying degrees of success. Most begin by consulting leading technology authorities, borrowing elements of their thinking, and adapting these elements to their organizational and personal situations. This dissertation extends this process by using the formal research methodology of multiple perspectives (technical, organizational, personal, and cross-cuing) to build a case-based model of the technology integration process. The research and the model construction benefits from a solid foundation established through a review of technology management and knowledge systems literature. The significant aspects of the research are tied to its objectives which can be divided into academic and industrial classifications: Academic Objectives: 1. Use multiple perspectives in real-time (for input to decisions as events unfold) 2. Focus on a multiple perspectives view of technology integration into an organization Industrial Objectives: 1. Improve project effectiveness by increasing understanding of the technology integration process 2. Establish a model for the integration of a new technology into an organization The development of the case-based model was the primary objective, with the other objectives providing the methodology and subject-matter content to support model development. These four objectives are of interest to three parties: scholars who are interested in the theoretical and methodological aspects of technology integration and inquiring systems, technology developers in general who can benefit from improved means to integrate technology and analyze success/failure, and technology developers in information systems organizations who can obtain specific insight as well as utilize the general industrial results. From the multiple perspectives investigation, thirteen conclusions were reached about the process of integrating knowledge systems into an information systems organization. These conclusions are specific to the case study, but may have general applicability. The multiple perspectives methodology is then presented as the foundation for a technology integration model, on which the technology usage phases of awareness, motivation, and functioning capability can be completed. The model is described and then illustrated with two knowledge systems development project cases. With regards to the research objectives, it is concluded that: 1. The use of multiple perspectives in real-time are difficult and requires practice 2. Because technology integration is dependent upon technical, organization, and personal factors, the use of multiple perspectives are appropriate and useful. Eight of 13 conclusions were dependent upon the cross-cuing process 3. Multiple perspective analysis improved the understanding of the technology integration process. This understanding was sometimes helpful and sometimes harmful to the effectiveness of the integration process 4. The proposed technology integration model, using the awareness, motivation, and functioning capability phases, was developed and exercised. This model proved useful in limited application Finally, a method for organizing and navigating the perspectives, cross-cuing, and conclusions is presented and used.

The dissertation component of this Master’s degree explores the animist ethic in Zakes Mda’s The Heart of Redness; more specifically it will examine how an animist cosmology underlies many of the ethical values in the text in particular those that guide an alternative to the globalising forces of capitalism through a co-operative, eco-friendly solution. By paying attention to the features in the text that could be called animist, in other words the interaction with non-human persons including plants, animals, geological features and ancestral spirits, this dissertation argues that these features are central to the transformation of the protagonist. Camagu’s journey involves a search for belonging that leads him into a network of relationships in Qolorha-By-Sea, which he can only navigate once he enters into his role as a mediator and becomes an exponent of certain ancestral beliefs. I shall argue that this role necessitates an openness and an acceptance of the ambiguity and uncertainty of certain human and non-human relationships. This ambiguity necessarily produces an attitude of openness and awareness in the novel’s central characters that informs the novel’s ecological ethic and expands our notions of inequality to include the more-than-human. Primarily, this dissertation argues that Mda imagines a way of bringing a cultural, animist, world view into the present as a conception of inequality that extends beyond the human. In accompaniment to this dissertation is my own Speculative Fiction novel, Why The River Runs, which is also concerned with what accepting an animist worldview means for my protagonists. The novel explores the mental health struggles of the main protagonist and relates them to the alienating and harmful experience of living under capitalism while also following the second protagonist’s journey through an ancestral calling to become a traditional healer, and follows both protagonists as they navigate a post-apocalyptic scenario. My novel shares several features with Mda’s including ecological issues such as connection with the land and relationships with non-human subjects. Just as Mda does, my novel weaves together this ecological ethic with traditional belief systems and discrepant attitudes towards them. Through the protagonists’ journeys they learn the importance of engaging meaningfully with others as a way of emerging from crippling isolation and inwardness while recognising identity as a process with no certain resolution. / Dissertation (MA (Creative Writing))--University of Pretoria, 2021. / Unit for Creative Writing / MA (Creative Writing) / Unrestricted

This study analyzed representations of Nature of Science (NOS) and Indigenous Knowledge Systems (IKS) in three South Africa Grade 9 Natural Science textbooks. The textbooks were purposefully selected from a possibility of ten textbooks available on the public market and used in science classrooms in the Gauteng Province of South Africa. The aim of the analysis was to determine the extent to which both NOS and IKS were represented and to ascertain whether the representations were: naïve or informed; and implicit or explicit. The content analysis of the textbooks was based on adaptations of analytical frameworks developed by Akerson, Abd-El-Khalick and Lederman (2000) for NOS and Ninnes (2000) for IKS, respectively. For NOS the analysis focused on seven tenets, which are; science is empirical, the difference between observation and inference, functions and relations between theories and laws, the role of creativity and imagination in science, the tentativeness of scientific knowledge, the social and cultural embeddedness of the scientific process, and subjectivity of science. The analysis for IKS representations focused on four pillars of IKS which are; indigenous legends and myths, indigenous technology, indigenous knowledge of the natural world, and indigenous social life. It was found that, for the NOS, in all the three textbooks, only the empirical nature of science and observation and inference are represented to a considerable extent and mainly in a naïve and implicit manner. The other investigated tenets are either minimally represented or not represented at all. Representations of IKS in the three textbooks were also found to be very minimal and mainly naïve and implicit. It is concluded the selected science textbooks do not respond well to the NCS mandate of integrating NOS and IKS into mainstream science education. Recommendations for improving integration of NOS and IKS into the school science curriculum are suggested for textbooks authors, curriculum developers and science educators. Key words nature of science, indigenous knowledge systems, textbooks, natural science, naive, informed, implicit, explicit, positivism, constructivism

A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Science, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Johannesburg, 2014. / Prior to democracy in South Africa, education was used as a means to achieve segregation, privileging a minority of the population in both economic and worldview domination. With the attainment of democracy in 1994, educational reform was aimed at getting rid of both apartheid content and method. The aims and principles of the new curricula (the Revised National Curriculum Statement Grades R-9, the National Curriculum Statement Grades 10-12, and later on, the Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statements) were aligned to those of the national constitution, which include the establishment of human rights, inclusivity, environmental and social justice, and valuing of Indigenous knowledge systems. In the science subjects, teaching and learning are expected to acknowledge the existence of different knowledge systems. In the absence of clear guidelines as to which Indigenous knowledge to include and how, the recognition of IKS in science classroom has largely been left to the teachers’ discretion. The purpose of this interpretive research study, carried out in collaboration with a rural community in KwaZulu-Natal Province, was three-fold. The first was to identify the Indigenous knowledge held by the community and the worldview underpinning that knowledge. The second was to find out what knowledge could be integrated with classroom science, and explore ways in which such integration could be done, considering students’ and community worldviews. The third was for the research to contribute to transformation in Indigenous knowledge research by following methods that recognised Indigenous knowledges, practices and languages as valuable. The findings from this study underscore the importance of extending the thinking about IKSscience integration beyond aspects that suit science content, to considering methods of teaching and learning science, as well as considering relevance to community needs.

International Development and its aims are often contested in post-colonial discourses and by postcolonial thinkers. The fundamental concepts of development, as we see in the sector of aid and international development, steer the values, execution and evaluation of development projects across the globe, as well as national development policy. While international development theory has gone through several frameworks, the concepts that underpin ideas of development have remained the same. Economic growth and political liberalism dominate development priorities, from national to grassroots efforts, while shifts in development theory like the capability approach or well-being index are treated as an appendage, or secondary to the overall goals of economic growth.While development practice continues to focus on economic growth and battles with how to marry this with eradicating environmental and human suffering, art and culture provide a paradigm shift that gives us access to ways of being, relating and knowing that step outside of the extractive dimension. This research investigates how artists in the city of Baguio, Philippines have contributed to the development of the area, and what main concepts of progress they have promoted. Through these insights a new approach to culture and development is aimed to be conceived.

PhD (African Studies) / Centre for African Studies / This interdisciplinary study examined witchcraft beliefs and criminal responsibility in South Africa and Zimbabwe. The unshakeable deep rooted and profound cultural beliefs of African people do not find expression in written law and therefore introduce a mismatch between law as the people live it and law as contained in the statute books. The aim of this interpretive doctrinal (legal) and qualitative research study was two-fold. Firstly, it sought to evaluate and assess the influence of African value systems particularly ethical ideas on the development of criminal responsibility. Secondly, it undertook a comparative examination of the criminal responsibility of actors who commit crimes while labouring under belief in witchcraft. The research, therefore, undertook a comparative examination of the criminal responsibility of actors who commit crimes while labouring under the overpowering fear of belief in witchcraft. In that regard, the study was premised on and informed through theories of criminal punishment, a Human Rights Based Approach, psycho-analytic theory and socio-cultural theory. The primary motivation for the study was the need to address the mismatch of laws and African value systems and to add knowledge to the scholarly legal writing on beliefs in witchcraft. Explorative qualitative research methods of collecting data (case studies, semi-structured interviews and focus groups discussions) and the doctrinal methods of data collection (case law observation, newspaper reports and witchcraft legislations) were employed as the research methodologies for the purposes of this study. For social empirical findings to be useful in integrating with the legal issues, the study adopted an Indigenous Knowledge Systems (IKS) perspective. Although customary practices play a very important role in the lives of the African people, some of the rules can no longer withstand constitutional scrutiny. The research findings confirmed the mismatch that exists between the African value systems and the law. The study unveiled that the African value systems of the two countries have been affected by modernity. Also, the two countries have similar laws governing the aspect of belief in witchcraft that are weak and archaic thus introducing a lacuna in the