Mathematics achievement has received much attention in recent years and results have been presented after examining results from different counties. This contribution deals with the implementation of new Mathematic promotion requirements in Namibia. The research was conducted in Shambyu circuit, Kavango region, within a selected combined public school situated fifteen kilometres from Rundu in the North-Eastern part of Kavango. Teachers and learners in Namibia have not performed well in the Southern and Eastern Africa Consortium for Monitoring Educational Quality (SACMEQ) projects, especially in Mathematics. The implementation of new promotion requirements was inevitable for improving achievement levels. The main aim of this study is to document the attitudes of teachers and learners towards the introduction of the new 2010 Mathematics promotion requirements. The complexity and the nature of attitudes are illustrated and some of the characteristics related to teaching and learning of Mathematics in the academic reform are presented. The researcher developed a conceptual framework to compare and contrast the theoretical positions on the topic. Attitude is defined from diverse perspectives, and relationships of attitudes pertaining to achievement to perform in Mathematics are argued. A qualitative case study was the preferred method of choice. The participants were sampled according to a non-probability purposive sampling strategy. Five teachers, six grade 7 and six grade 9 learners participated in the study. The participants were interviewed to gain insight into how they formulated their attitudes towards the implementation of the academic reform. Focus group interviews were captured though audio recordings. Patterns, themes and categories emerged from the data analysis, suggesting that teachers and learners demonstrate positive and negative attitudes which affect their stance towards the new promotion requirements. Research findings were compared with the relevant literature to identify strengths and weaknesses as extracted from the attitudes of the participating teachers and learners which confirm that attitudes of teachers and learners interrelate and affect teaching and learning of Mathematics. Strengths and weaknesses extracted from the attitudes of the teachers relate to teaching strategies, pedagogical content knowledge and practical application of the subject. A weakness of the policy change is that the Ministry of Education does not sustain involvement. Teachers need support through workshops to increase their pedagogical content knowledge and gain more information about the implementation of the new policy. Furthermore teachers expect educational support from the Ministry of Education through the provision of textbooks and teaching aids. Collaboration between teachers is crucial, as is the significance thereof for developing pedagogical content knowledge for the implementation of the new Mathematical policy. Strengths and weaknesses extracted from attitudes as viewed by learners in grade 9 are more related to their opinions about the teachers, their motivation and academic achievements. Learners’ natural Mathematics skills should be developed to instill feelings of accomplishment. Grade 9 learners experience fear and insecurity in Mathematics because learners experience teachers as too strict, owing to the absence of pedagogical content knowledge. The grade 9 learners distinguish the importance of ICT use in Mathematics as part of a process to prepare them towards greater goals and practical application as a strength. Both advantages and disadvantages of beliefs regarding Mathematics amongst the teachers and the learners guide grade 7 learner towards achievement. Further expectations drive the grade 7 learners towards achievement in order to increase career opportunities and level of schooling. In conclusion the in-depth qualitative exploration is summarized in order to investigate the phenomenon of attitudes towards Mathematics and academic reform. / Thesis (MEd (Mathematics Education))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2013.

Sexual abuse of children and adolescents has reached pandemic proportions in Namibia. It is widely recognised that this traumagenic experience could have a profound and long-lasting effect on survivors. Nevertheless, few survivors in Namibia access therapy; often because of non-disclosure or non-reporting, being socioeconomically disadvantaged and the overburdened public sector therapists. This study set out to explore how adolescent survivors use the Nine Figure Picture Story (9FPS) embedded within the context of Gestalt Healing tasks. A variety of play therapy experiments was used to raise the clients’ awareness and to evoke their therapy stories (as these relate to Gestalt therapy) and their trauma stories (by means of the 9FPS). The researcher-therapist hoped that the study would enhance the understanding of the meaning-making of sexually abused adolescent clients, and in doing so, contribute to therapeutic practice in Namibia and elsewhere. Research which aims to uncover personal meaning-making and hear the voice of the participants already suggests that the qualitative paradigm would be apposite. An exploratory case study was conducted in Namibia between August 2010 and November 2010. Two adolescent survivors of sexual abuse who met the eligibility criteria were drawn from the population by means of nonprobability sampling. The sample was heterogeneous: one participant was a survivor of chronic intrafamilial rape; the other of a single incident, extrafamilial child sexual abuse (CSA). The data corpus included six and ten recorded therapeutic sessions with the two clients respectively; transcribed intake and termination semi-structured interviews with the parents; the researcher’s process and observation notes; and the clients’ objets d'art and Therapy diaries. To capture the tapestry of CSA accurately and holistically, the stories of the two participants were first analysed individually and thereafter synthesised into a theoretical comparative analysis. Trustworthiness was enhanced by means of investigator, theory, data and methodological triangulation. A number of safety, beneficence and non-maleficence measures contributed to the ethicality of this sensitive research. The research uncovered that, despite their differences, the two participants presented with posttraumatic signs and patterns often reported in the literature. Most insightful was how the survivors disavowed the CSA to become “not me” (Joyce & Sills, 2006: 92). As it relates to neurobiological hypotheses, it was revealed that the tactile and visuospatial Gestalt play therapy, specifically the 9FPS, seemed to access and address the fragmented, non-sequenced and non-verbal trauma memory. It was found that the 9FPSs gave the unfinished business from the past a miniaturised dimension in the present and that the “differentiated unity” (Reynolds, 2005: 162) enhanced its assimilation into the self. / Thesis (M.A. (Psychology))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2012

Teacher self-efficacy beliefs (TSE) are an important attribute of effective teachers. Teacher efficacy refers to a teacher‘s belief in his or her abilities to bring about valued outcomes of engagement and learning among learners, including difficult or unmotivated learners. English Second Language (ESL) reading seems to be a substantial problem in Namibia. This research aimed to explore rural Namibian grade 4-6 teachers‘ self-efficacy beliefs regarding the teaching of ESL reading. The research was based on Bandura (1997)‘s well-known four sources of self-efficacy, and the Linnenbrink and Pintrich (2003) engagements to focus on aspects which influence teachers‘ TSE with regard to teaching reading. The researcher formed assumptions from the epistemological premises and followed an interpretive approach. A non-probability sampling method was used to select the eight teachers within the four schools of the nearby circuit. The data were collected qualitatively by means of in-depth interviews in order to gather data from teachers‘ individual experiences about intermediate learners‘ low reading skills and teaching reading. Data were analysed and interpreted using Atlas.ti ™. The purpose of this research was to identify issues regarding rural Namibian teachers‘ self-efficacy beliefs that relate to teaching English Second Language (ESL) reading. The rationale for this study was to identify gaps related to teachers‘ SEBs and to make suggestions to improve teachers SEB‘s. The researcher identified a fifth source, the school environment, as another source that influences teachers‘ SEBs regarding teaching reading. Since the school environment is an additional source of self-efficacy the researcher recommend further research that can establish evidence on how school environment influences SEBs with regard to reading achievements. / MEd (Curriculum Development), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2014

Teacher self-efficacy beliefs (TSE) are an important attribute of effective teachers. Teacher efficacy refers to a teacher‘s belief in his or her abilities to bring about valued outcomes of engagement and learning among learners, including difficult or unmotivated learners. English Second Language (ESL) reading seems to be a substantial problem in Namibia. This research aimed to explore rural Namibian grade 4-6 teachers‘ self-efficacy beliefs regarding the teaching of ESL reading. The research was based on Bandura (1997)‘s well-known four sources of self-efficacy, and the Linnenbrink and Pintrich (2003) engagements to focus on aspects which influence teachers‘ TSE with regard to teaching reading. The researcher formed assumptions from the epistemological premises and followed an interpretive approach. A non-probability sampling method was used to select the eight teachers within the four schools of the nearby circuit. The data were collected qualitatively by means of in-depth interviews in order to gather data from teachers‘ individual experiences about intermediate learners‘ low reading skills and teaching reading. Data were analysed and interpreted using Atlas.ti ™. The purpose of this research was to identify issues regarding rural Namibian teachers‘ self-efficacy beliefs that relate to teaching English Second Language (ESL) reading. The rationale for this study was to identify gaps related to teachers‘ SEBs and to make suggestions to improve teachers SEB‘s. The researcher identified a fifth source, the school environment, as another source that influences teachers‘ SEBs regarding teaching reading. Since the school environment is an additional source of self-efficacy the researcher recommend further research that can establish evidence on how school environment influences SEBs with regard to reading achievements. / MEd (Curriculum Development), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2014