The Gender Equity Task Team’s (1997) report, Gender Equity in Education, recommends that further research be done to identify the practices perpetuating inequitable gender relations in classrooms and to provide guidelines for teachers and learners to understand the meaning of the gender issues presented in the curriculum (South Africa, 1997:14&16). This research study echoes some of the desires of The Gender Equity Task Team through an exploration that engages with the extent to which gender equity is enacted in Human Rights Education curricula. In particular, the aims of this research study were to; • contest and deconstruct the notion ‘gender equity’ from scholarly perspectives as well as from explicit curriculum, female teachers’ and schoolgirls’ narratives, so as to create an awareness of gender equity in society and curriculum; and • engage with Human Rights Education pedagogical approaches so as to consider the promotion of gender equity through Human Rights Education curricula. The aims of the study were explored through a theoretical framework that engaged with Human Rights Education -, curriculum -, feminist - and gender studies theories. The methodological framework was that of qualitative narrative inquiry. A purposeful sample consisting of South African national curriculum policy documents as well as secondary school female teachers and Grade 9 schoolgirls in semi-rural and inner-city environments was selected. Document research, semi-structured one-on-one interviews and narrative-photovoice were the data collection methods, and critical discourse analysis the analytical framework. These theoretical and methodological stances were purposefully selected juxtaposed to the interests of the international SANPAD (South Africa Netherlands Research Programme on Alternatives in Development) project in which this research study resides, entitled: ‘Human Rights Education in diversity: Empowering girls in rural and metropolitan school environments’ (Roux, 2009). The findings and interpretations derived from the empirical data reveal that the formal Human Rights Education curriculum portrays gender and gender equity nuances as health, social and wellbeing dilemmas that have detrimental and destructive consequences on individuals and on society as a whole. The female teachers and schoolgirls experience gender equity primarily in terms of sameness and ‘being equal’. The elusive, complex nature of gender equity was not prevalent. However, the lived experiences of some female teachers and schoolgirls demonstrated the situatedness of their gender identity through the hidden curriculum and reinforced the notion of gender equity as a social construct. The findings of this research study have refined my understanding of the nuances of gender and gender equity, creating in me a deeper awareness of these concepts. This awareness permeates my vision of the curriculum in particular and the education system and society in general, and makes me want to strive toward fostering transformative curriculum spaces. Another contribution of this research study emerged from the desire to elicit schoolgirls’ narratives with the aid of photographs. By disrupting the boundaries between narrative and photovoice as data collection methods, narrative-photovoice was coined as a methodological contribution to this research study. The value of narrative-photovoice for and within gender studies research is also revealed. The third contribution of this research study emerged in response to the need to enrich the concept of gender equity within Human Rights Education. In effect, critical human rights literacy (HRLit) was conceptualized as a developing normative theory to deconstruct the discursive spaces emerging in Human Rights Education and to critically engage with their meanings. / Thesis (PhD (Curriculum Development Innovation and Evaluation))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2013.

The Gender Equity Task Team’s (1997) report, Gender Equity in Education, recommends that further research be done to identify the practices perpetuating inequitable gender relations in classrooms and to provide guidelines for teachers and learners to understand the meaning of the gender issues presented in the curriculum (South Africa, 1997:14&16). This research study echoes some of the desires of The Gender Equity Task Team through an exploration that engages with the extent to which gender equity is enacted in Human Rights Education curricula. In particular, the aims of this research study were to; • contest and deconstruct the notion ‘gender equity’ from scholarly perspectives as well as from explicit curriculum, female teachers’ and schoolgirls’ narratives, so as to create an awareness of gender equity in society and curriculum; and • engage with Human Rights Education pedagogical approaches so as to consider the promotion of gender equity through Human Rights Education curricula. The aims of the study were explored through a theoretical framework that engaged with Human Rights Education -, curriculum -, feminist - and gender studies theories. The methodological framework was that of qualitative narrative inquiry. A purposeful sample consisting of South African national curriculum policy documents as well as secondary school female teachers and Grade 9 schoolgirls in semi-rural and inner-city environments was selected. Document research, semi-structured one-on-one interviews and narrative-photovoice were the data collection methods, and critical discourse analysis the analytical framework. These theoretical and methodological stances were purposefully selected juxtaposed to the interests of the international SANPAD (South Africa Netherlands Research Programme on Alternatives in Development) project in which this research study resides, entitled: ‘Human Rights Education in diversity: Empowering girls in rural and metropolitan school environments’ (Roux, 2009). The findings and interpretations derived from the empirical data reveal that the formal Human Rights Education curriculum portrays gender and gender equity nuances as health, social and wellbeing dilemmas that have detrimental and destructive consequences on individuals and on society as a whole. The female teachers and schoolgirls experience gender equity primarily in terms of sameness and ‘being equal’. The elusive, complex nature of gender equity was not prevalent. However, the lived experiences of some female teachers and schoolgirls demonstrated the situatedness of their gender identity through the hidden curriculum and reinforced the notion of gender equity as a social construct. The findings of this research study have refined my understanding of the nuances of gender and gender equity, creating in me a deeper awareness of these concepts. This awareness permeates my vision of the curriculum in particular and the education system and society in general, and makes me want to strive toward fostering transformative curriculum spaces. Another contribution of this research study emerged from the desire to elicit schoolgirls’ narratives with the aid of photographs. By disrupting the boundaries between narrative and photovoice as data collection methods, narrative-photovoice was coined as a methodological contribution to this research study. The value of narrative-photovoice for and within gender studies research is also revealed. The third contribution of this research study emerged in response to the need to enrich the concept of gender equity within Human Rights Education. In effect, critical human rights literacy (HRLit) was conceptualized as a developing normative theory to deconstruct the discursive spaces emerging in Human Rights Education and to critically engage with their meanings. / Thesis (PhD (Curriculum Development Innovation and Evaluation))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2013.

Human rights education is a much-investigated area of research; however, what teachers understand about human rights and the Life Skills explicit, enacted and supplementary curriculum seems to be vague. The vagueness related to the understanding of human rights emanated from multiple understandings of human rights that could be adhered to. Meta-theoretical underpinnings for the understanding of human rights have been discussed in the human rights body of scholarship. These meta-theoretical underpinnings of human rights were philosophically clustered to develop an analytical construct to guide this inquiry. This inquiry was focused on a contribution regarding teachers’ understanding of human rights education to augment the infusion of a human rights culture in diverse educational contexts. This inquiry was done, firstly, to explore the [in]consistencies between the meta-theoretical underpinnings of human rights and how they were reflected in the explicit, enacted and supplementary curriculum. Secondly, it was to explore how these influenced the way in which human rights were enacted in the curriculum. These consistencies and inconsistencies were deemed to be important because they affect the way human rights are understood and dealt with in the classroom directly. The aims of the research were to determine the meta-theoretical underpinnings of human rights in the intermediate phase Life Skills explicit, enacted and supplementary curriculum; the language(s) that emerged regarding the meta-theoretical underpinnings of human rights in the Life Skills enacted curriculum; and how the enacted and supplementary curriculum of human rights were influenced by teachers’ understandings of the meta-theoretical underpinnings. A qualitative study situated in an interpretivist paradigm was undertaken, using a shadowing methodology. Participants were purposefully selected. Data were generated by means of a document analysis as data generation strategy of the National Curriculum Statement Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement document, as well as the accompanying learning study materials, classroom observations through silent shadowing and a semi-structured one-on-one interview with each teacher. Data were analysed by means of discourse analysis. It was empirically found that the supplementary curriculum directly related to the explicit curriculum. The enacted curriculum revealed consistencies and inconsistencies within the explicit curriculum. Regarding teachers’ understanding of the explicit Life Skills curriculum, it was found that the teachers participating in this inquiry experienced limitations and restrictions regarding their own interpretations of the explicitly provided curriculum. Even when the teachers understood human rights slightly differently from the explicit and supplementary curriculum, they still only enacted what was provided in the explicit curriculum. My recommendations highlight the need to inquire about the way(s) in which teachers could be effectively supported by the Life Skills curriculum in terms of human rights enactment. A future essential study should inquire about the responsibility of each teacher with regard to human rights education and the ethical implications and considerations thereof. / MEd (Curriculum Development), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2014

Human rights education is a much-investigated area of research; however, what teachers understand about human rights and the Life Skills explicit, enacted and supplementary curriculum seems to be vague. The vagueness related to the understanding of human rights emanated from multiple understandings of human rights that could be adhered to. Meta-theoretical underpinnings for the understanding of human rights have been discussed in the human rights body of scholarship. These meta-theoretical underpinnings of human rights were philosophically clustered to develop an analytical construct to guide this inquiry. This inquiry was focused on a contribution regarding teachers’ understanding of human rights education to augment the infusion of a human rights culture in diverse educational contexts. This inquiry was done, firstly, to explore the [in]consistencies between the meta-theoretical underpinnings of human rights and how they were reflected in the explicit, enacted and supplementary curriculum. Secondly, it was to explore how these influenced the way in which human rights were enacted in the curriculum. These consistencies and inconsistencies were deemed to be important because they affect the way human rights are understood and dealt with in the classroom directly. The aims of the research were to determine the meta-theoretical underpinnings of human rights in the intermediate phase Life Skills explicit, enacted and supplementary curriculum; the language(s) that emerged regarding the meta-theoretical underpinnings of human rights in the Life Skills enacted curriculum; and how the enacted and supplementary curriculum of human rights were influenced by teachers’ understandings of the meta-theoretical underpinnings. A qualitative study situated in an interpretivist paradigm was undertaken, using a shadowing methodology. Participants were purposefully selected. Data were generated by means of a document analysis as data generation strategy of the National Curriculum Statement Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement document, as well as the accompanying learning study materials, classroom observations through silent shadowing and a semi-structured one-on-one interview with each teacher. Data were analysed by means of discourse analysis. It was empirically found that the supplementary curriculum directly related to the explicit curriculum. The enacted curriculum revealed consistencies and inconsistencies within the explicit curriculum. Regarding teachers’ understanding of the explicit Life Skills curriculum, it was found that the teachers participating in this inquiry experienced limitations and restrictions regarding their own interpretations of the explicitly provided curriculum. Even when the teachers understood human rights slightly differently from the explicit and supplementary curriculum, they still only enacted what was provided in the explicit curriculum. My recommendations highlight the need to inquire about the way(s) in which teachers could be effectively supported by the Life Skills curriculum in terms of human rights enactment. A future essential study should inquire about the responsibility of each teacher with regard to human rights education and the ethical implications and considerations thereof. / MEd (Curriculum Development), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2014

Equality of opportunity and treatment in the workplace forms one of the critical components of an individual's ability to obtain and remain in employment and occupation. In a world where qualifications, experience and individual merit can be easily by-passed owing to diverse workplace discriminations, the ability of employees to enjoy their right to work cannot be fully achieved if the workplace is marred with inequalities. Sexual harassment has been characterised as one of the workplace hazards that impinges on the achievement and enjoyment of the right to equality of opportunity and treatment in the workplace and defeats the right of employees to decent work. Notwithstanding the acknowledgement of its existence and prevalence, sexual harassment is still treated as an unmentionable concept in Botswana in legal and academic circles. The labour legislative framework has been less emphatic when it comes to recognising and setting out the proper sanctions for sexual harassment in the workplace. At present, only public servants are assured of a legal remedy should they experience such harassment. The legal framework does not openly extend protection to employees in the private sector, leaving them uncertain of the proper forums to approach. There is not even the assurance that sexual harassment is prohibited and punishable at law. Since it is rarely discussed in academics and not prohibited outright, it is safe to assume that most incidents of sexual harassment are shrouded in secrecy owing to employees' lack of knowledge of their rights. In contradistinction, South Africa presents a legal framework conscious of the reality of sexual harassment in the workplace. It employs the use of equal opportunity laws to give authority to a Code of Good Practice that outlaws sexual harassment. The South African Courts have also played a pro-active role in ensuring compliance with legislative provisions and developing common law principles on sexual harassment in the workplace. In addition, legislation that outlaws harassment in a general sense has been enacted to add to laws prohibiting sexual harassment. Whereas the mere existence of laws is not an end in itself, it is submitted that sexual harassment laws may serve to deter this conduct, but most significantly, to inform employees that their rights in the workplace are not limited to, amongst others, a guarantee from unfair dismissals and withholding of wages. The argument is that sexual harassment should be seen as a violation of employees' human rights, as opposed to a mere misconduct. With that realisation in mind, the need to progress from sole reliance on Codes of Good Practice to unequivocal and binding laws reflects the concern that the government of the day has for the protection of the human rights of employees and the consonance of national labour laws with the international standard. This contribution presents an examination of the two legal frameworks in so far as sexual harassment in the workplace is concerned. The aim is to determine the shortcomings of Botswana's framework and outline lessons that may be learnt from the South African legal framework. The position of international law is also considered to ensure that the lessons to be learnt from South Africa are in consonance with the international standard. / LLM (Labour Law), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2014

Equality of opportunity and treatment in the workplace forms one of the critical components of an individual's ability to obtain and remain in employment and occupation. In a world where qualifications, experience and individual merit can be easily by-passed owing to diverse workplace discriminations, the ability of employees to enjoy their right to work cannot be fully achieved if the workplace is marred with inequalities. Sexual harassment has been characterised as one of the workplace hazards that impinges on the achievement and enjoyment of the right to equality of opportunity and treatment in the workplace and defeats the right of employees to decent work. Notwithstanding the acknowledgement of its existence and prevalence, sexual harassment is still treated as an unmentionable concept in Botswana in legal and academic circles. The labour legislative framework has been less emphatic when it comes to recognising and setting out the proper sanctions for sexual harassment in the workplace. At present, only public servants are assured of a legal remedy should they experience such harassment. The legal framework does not openly extend protection to employees in the private sector, leaving them uncertain of the proper forums to approach. There is not even the assurance that sexual harassment is prohibited and punishable at law. Since it is rarely discussed in academics and not prohibited outright, it is safe to assume that most incidents of sexual harassment are shrouded in secrecy owing to employees' lack of knowledge of their rights. In contradistinction, South Africa presents a legal framework conscious of the reality of sexual harassment in the workplace. It employs the use of equal opportunity laws to give authority to a Code of Good Practice that outlaws sexual harassment. The South African Courts have also played a pro-active role in ensuring compliance with legislative provisions and developing common law principles on sexual harassment in the workplace. In addition, legislation that outlaws harassment in a general sense has been enacted to add to laws prohibiting sexual harassment. Whereas the mere existence of laws is not an end in itself, it is submitted that sexual harassment laws may serve to deter this conduct, but most significantly, to inform employees that their rights in the workplace are not limited to, amongst others, a guarantee from unfair dismissals and withholding of wages. The argument is that sexual harassment should be seen as a violation of employees' human rights, as opposed to a mere misconduct. With that realisation in mind, the need to progress from sole reliance on Codes of Good Practice to unequivocal and binding laws reflects the concern that the government of the day has for the protection of the human rights of employees and the consonance of national labour laws with the international standard. This contribution presents an examination of the two legal frameworks in so far as sexual harassment in the workplace is concerned. The aim is to determine the shortcomings of Botswana's framework and outline lessons that may be learnt from the South African legal framework. The position of international law is also considered to ensure that the lessons to be learnt from South Africa are in consonance with the international standard. / LLM (Labour Law), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2014

The National Curriculum Statement (2002), in line with the South African Constitution (1996), views human rights, inclusivity and social justice as priorities in all learning areas of the curriculum. However, a document such as the Manifesto on Values, Education and Democracy (2001) illustrates the complexities of addressing this in practice. One of the reasons is that there are misconceptions about how the concept of 'human rights' should be interpreted in the educational realm. This study sets out to explore how primary school learners understand human rights teaching-and-learning (from a moral and value stance) and what factors influence this. The intention is to rethink and redefine human rights teaching-and-learning from a learner's perspective as well as to investigate the notion that regards human rights as 'misunderstood'. This research offers a new perspective on human rights in that it focuses on primary school learners. Therefore this study will provide another lens through which to consider human rights teaching-and-learning in classroom practice. A literature study and empirical research have been undertaken to investigate how learners understand human rights teaching-and-learning. The literature study explores ontological, epistemological and methodological perspectives of human rights teaching-and-learning. Qualitative observation, written narratives and focus-group interviews formed the bases of this empirical research. Ongoing triangulation is used to ensure that the research findings are valid and trustworthy. It seems that primary school learners do have an understanding of human rights teaching-and-learning, which is characterized by an emphasis on legal rights and the contextualisation of human rights within South African, value and educational contexts. Educational and societal factors are two of the factors that influence this understanding. It is clear that learners' understanding of human rights teaching-and-learning is not one-dimensional. However, there are certain ontological ambiguities in the views that learners hold of the significance of human rights teaching-and-learning -both within and beyond the curriculum. An indication of this is that learners' responses reveal that they are often uncertain about why they have to learn about human rights and the contexts and/or learning areas (other than Life Orientation) in which human rights teaching-and-learning should take place. Recommendations highlight the need to gain a better understanding of classroom practices so that teaching-and-learning can infuse a culture of human rights; to acknowledge that human rights teaching-and-learning should be more flexible; to use an implicit way of generating an understanding of human rights; to make human rights teaching and learning in classroom practice more authentic; and to consider 'a human rights beyond the curriculum approach'. This study also identifies areas in which further research should be done. / Thesis (M.Ed.)--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2010.

The National Curriculum Statement (2002), in line with the South African Constitution (1996), views human rights, inclusivity and social justice as priorities in all learning areas of the curriculum. However, a document such as the Manifesto on Values, Education and Democracy (2001) illustrates the complexities of addressing this in practice. One of the reasons is that there are misconceptions about how the concept of 'human rights' should be interpreted in the educational realm. This study sets out to explore how primary school learners understand human rights teaching-and-learning (from a moral and value stance) and what factors influence this. The intention is to rethink and redefine human rights teaching-and-learning from a learner's perspective as well as to investigate the notion that regards human rights as 'misunderstood'. This research offers a new perspective on human rights in that it focuses on primary school learners. Therefore this study will provide another lens through which to consider human rights teaching-and-learning in classroom practice. A literature study and empirical research have been undertaken to investigate how learners understand human rights teaching-and-learning. The literature study explores ontological, epistemological and methodological perspectives of human rights teaching-and-learning. Qualitative observation, written narratives and focus-group interviews formed the bases of this empirical research. Ongoing triangulation is used to ensure that the research findings are valid and trustworthy. It seems that primary school learners do have an understanding of human rights teaching-and-learning, which is characterized by an emphasis on legal rights and the contextualisation of human rights within South African, value and educational contexts. Educational and societal factors are two of the factors that influence this understanding. It is clear that learners' understanding of human rights teaching-and-learning is not one-dimensional. However, there are certain ontological ambiguities in the views that learners hold of the significance of human rights teaching-and-learning -both within and beyond the curriculum. An indication of this is that learners' responses reveal that they are often uncertain about why they have to learn about human rights and the contexts and/or learning areas (other than Life Orientation) in which human rights teaching-and-learning should take place. Recommendations highlight the need to gain a better understanding of classroom practices so that teaching-and-learning can infuse a culture of human rights; to acknowledge that human rights teaching-and-learning should be more flexible; to use an implicit way of generating an understanding of human rights; to make human rights teaching and learning in classroom practice more authentic; and to consider 'a human rights beyond the curriculum approach'. This study also identifies areas in which further research should be done. / Thesis (M.Ed.)--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2010.

This thesis reports on a study on human rights education and values of the girl–child in the Eastleigh community in Nairobi Kenya. The investigation indicated that her right to education is marginalised and that in the many cases cultural and religious beliefs dominate the need to equal access to education. This research identified perceived factors that may influence the infusion of human rights education and values in the teaching–learning practice of selected secondary schools in the Eastleigh community, and propose possible curriculum guidelines that are feasible to foster the education of the girl–child. The researcher explores the perception of teachers and students in four selected schools (code named A, B, C, D) in the community and analyses the extent of gender–equality in the school curriculum. Using a qualitative research approach that employed the phenomenological method of enquiry, face–to–face interviews were conducted with 20 teachers in four secondary schools, five in each school. Questionnaires were served on 200 girl–students of Grades 11 and 12, fifty per school selected using a purposeful sampling method. The curriculum in selected subjects of the secondary schools was analysed. The analyses of all the research instruments led to the discovery of the factors influencing the infusion of human rights education and values in the teaching–learning of the selected schools. Top on the list of these factors are the problems of teacher–student ignorance of human rights education and values. Other factors are gender–fair deficiency in the school curriculum, school–slum environments and combined religio–cultural dilemmas that place constraints on the educational environment of girl–children in the multicultural community. To foster the education of the girl–child, thirteen curriculum guidelines clustered under three broad groups are proposed. Firstly, under the modified curriculum content, subjects that project human rights education and values need to be made compulsory for all students, though at different class levels. Subjects with low or no gender–fair objectives need to be modified in order that human rights education and values could be taught across the school curriculum. Secondly, there is the need for context–relevant curriculum planning that embraces cultural and religious issues and communicating values in the schooling system. Thirdly, a democratic school atmosphere is the product of curriculum efforts that is geared towards training genderresponsive teachers, ensuring gender equality and promoting extracurricular activities favouring multicultural awareness and respect among students. This research contributes to the development of a curriculum engaged in advancing human rights education and values of the girl–child especially in patriarchal urban settings of East–Africa. It draws attention to the often neglected educational empowerment of the girl–child to foster her role and to provide opportunities in a contemporary global environment. / Thesis (PhD (Teaching and Learning))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2012.

This thesis reports on a study on human rights education and values of the girl–child in the Eastleigh community in Nairobi Kenya. The investigation indicated that her right to education is marginalised and that in the many cases cultural and religious beliefs dominate the need to equal access to education. This research identified perceived factors that may influence the infusion of human rights education and values in the teaching–learning practice of selected secondary schools in the Eastleigh community, and propose possible curriculum guidelines that are feasible to foster the education of the girl–child. The researcher explores the perception of teachers and students in four selected schools (code named A, B, C, D) in the community and analyses the extent of gender–equality in the school curriculum. Using a qualitative research approach that employed the phenomenological method of enquiry, face–to–face interviews were conducted with 20 teachers in four secondary schools, five in each school. Questionnaires were served on 200 girl–students of Grades 11 and 12, fifty per school selected using a purposeful sampling method. The curriculum in selected subjects of the secondary schools was analysed. The analyses of all the research instruments led to the discovery of the factors influencing the infusion of human rights education and values in the teaching–learning of the selected schools. Top on the list of these factors are the problems of teacher–student ignorance of human rights education and values. Other factors are gender–fair deficiency in the school curriculum, school–slum environments and combined religio–cultural dilemmas that place constraints on the educational environment of girl–children in the multicultural community. To foster the education of the girl–child, thirteen curriculum guidelines clustered under three broad groups are proposed. Firstly, under the modified curriculum content, subjects that project human rights education and values need to be made compulsory for all students, though at different class levels. Subjects with low or no gender–fair objectives need to be modified in order that human rights education and values could be taught across the school curriculum. Secondly, there is the need for context–relevant curriculum planning that embraces cultural and religious issues and communicating values in the schooling system. Thirdly, a democratic school atmosphere is the product of curriculum efforts that is geared towards training genderresponsive teachers, ensuring gender equality and promoting extracurricular activities favouring multicultural awareness and respect among students. This research contributes to the development of a curriculum engaged in advancing human rights education and values of the girl–child especially in patriarchal urban settings of East–Africa. It draws attention to the often neglected educational empowerment of the girl–child to foster her role and to provide opportunities in a contemporary global environment. / Thesis (PhD (Teaching and Learning))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2012.