In the past, non formal education in South Africa was committed to supporting the Mass Democratic Movement (MDM) in opposition to apartheid. Such non-formal political education was concerned with education for democracy, that is, preparing people for democracy. Post 1994, adult education policy has focused on vocational training, which has shifted the focus away from education for social purpose. My concern was that democracy is a process and a system that constantly needs to be nurtured. This requires citizens that know their constitutional rights and responsibilities, and how to put them into action. In view of this, I decided to enquire what kind of education exists that aims to build civil society by promoting social justice and social reconstruction in the new democracy. My research critically investigated and analysed the political education programmes in three organisations in Cape Town, Western Cape: an NGO, a trade union congress and a social movement registered as an NGO. They focused on supporting the efforts of people who are unemployed (Alternative Information and Development Centre), shop stewards (Congress of South African Trade Unions) and HIV positive people (Treatment Action Campaign). These programmes aimed to develop an „active. and „critical thinking. new layer of „leadership.. This thesis explores how participants in three organisations understand their roles and identities as participants, activists and as citizens; the spaces and dynamics through which they engage and participate to express their interests, the learning that happens in these spaces through education and collective action, and the participants. relationship to issues of democracy, participation, rights and accountability. This qualitative study employed a case study methodology. It used observation, document review and semi-structured interviews to gather data. The study used concepts drawn from citizenship education and popular education to analyse data. The education offered by these three organisations was popular education in theory, but not always popular education in practice. The participants started: acquiring knowledge and skills for campaigning: learning about the constitution; seeing that the personal is political; becoming more active; showing signs of critical thinking; evidencing active emancipation; and evidencing signs of critical emancipation. Due to a compromised facilitation process, my recommendations are that the facilitators start: putting process in focus; avoiding banking education; making follow-ups of report backs a priority; putting a sexist free education environment in focus; eradicating intimidating facilitator behaviour; and developing practical material. My study has shown that critical citizenship education, which raises participants. awareness about injustice and oppression, can help them voice their most immediate felt needs through solidarity and action. / Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2010.

This dissertation is a critical ethnography conducted in the Amazon jungle city of Iquitos, Peru--a city where sex work and sex tourism are becoming increasingly prevalent, and where AIDS cases in women are on the rise. In recent years, HIV positive and sex worker women activists in Iquitos have made significant strides to respond to the AIDS crisis through social movement organizing and educational outreach. This dissertation exposes the nuanced gender relations perspectives of HIV positive and sex worker women activists and underscores the importance of including these subjugated knowledges in solution-oriented discourses in HIV/AIDS education. I deployed a combination of gender relations and postcolonial feminist theories to pursue two lines of inquiry. First, I investigated HIV positive women and sex worker women activists' own understandings of gender relations and gender-related risk factors for HIV. Second, I explored the varied educational spaces that activist women produced to disseminate this knowledge to other affected populations and the wider public. Results show that women activists' collective organizing around their stigmatized identities positioned them to critically comment about how gender influences HIV risk for both women and men and also enabled them to encourage their stakeholders to re-think and re-learn gender in ways that would reduce their risk to HIV. As the title of this dissertation reads, women activists asserted that they are "part of the solution" to combat HIV/AIDS in Peru. My dissertation shows that "activist knowledge" is critical to re-conceptualize the ways that local expressions of masculinities, femininities and gender relations are taken up in HIV/AIDS education initiatives.

This dissertation is a critical ethnography conducted in the Amazon jungle city of Iquitos, Peru--a city where sex work and sex tourism are becoming increasingly prevalent, and where AIDS cases in women are on the rise. In recent years, HIV positive and sex worker women activists in Iquitos have made significant strides to respond to the AIDS crisis through social movement organizing and educational outreach. This dissertation exposes the nuanced gender relations perspectives of HIV positive and sex worker women activists and underscores the importance of including these subjugated knowledges in solution-oriented discourses in HIV/AIDS education. I deployed a combination of gender relations and postcolonial feminist theories to pursue two lines of inquiry. First, I investigated HIV positive women and sex worker women activists' own understandings of gender relations and gender-related risk factors for HIV. Second, I explored the varied educational spaces that activist women produced to disseminate this knowledge to other affected populations and the wider public. Results show that women activists' collective organizing around their stigmatized identities positioned them to critically comment about how gender influences HIV risk for both women and men and also enabled them to encourage their stakeholders to re-think and re-learn gender in ways that would reduce their risk to HIV. As the title of this dissertation reads, women activists asserted that they are "part of the solution" to combat HIV/AIDS in Peru. My dissertation shows that "activist knowledge" is critical to re-conceptualize the ways that local expressions of masculinities, femininities and gender relations are taken up in HIV/AIDS education initiatives.

The total Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of sub-Saharan Africa1in 1987 totalled about $135 billion, roughly the equivalent of Belgium with its population of 10 million (World Bank, 1989). Africa's deepening crisis is characterized by weak agricultural growth, a decline in industrial output, poor export performance, climbing debt, and deteriorating social indicators, institutions, and environment" (World Bank, 1989; 2). The World Bank's report (ibid) concludes that ''post independence development efforts failed because the strategy was misconceived. Governments made a dash for "modernization", copying, but not adapting Western Models". These strategies, although often differing on ideological issues resulted in poorly designed government investments in industrial development; a lack of interest or attention to peasant/'grassroots" agriculture and interference by governments in areas where they lacked the managerial, technical and entrepreneurial skills. When the political dimension of the South African government's repressive policies over the decades are superimposed upon the dismal scenario sketched above by the World Bank report, large scale poverty, instability, exploitation, ethnic strife, corruption and inequality, can be expected to exact a high toll on the people of South Africa. This dissertation examines the parameters within which development interventions should be undertaken, given their poor track record in Africa. It also studies the role of non-formal education (NFE) as a development activity,which impacts upon and interacts with, many other development interventions. The importance of this study can be found in the faet that given the extremely hostile environment for sustainable development in South Africa, strategies need to be evaluated against very stringent and exacting criteria. Para-statal organisations (not to mention government agencies) are inclined to reflect the wishes of their masters, thereby often obfuscating the real issues of development i.e. the elimination of political imbalances. Not only does the dissertation therefore come at an opportune time for the KIT but also for the development of the people of the region, in the sense that given the urgent demands for reparation for the sins of the past, new energies and resources are being focused upon the needs of the disenfranchised. The dissertation departs somewhat from a two-dimensional conceptualisation of development which normally sees it as a continuum between underdevelopment on the one hand and modernity on the other (Coetzee, 1989B)The three-dimensional approach applied in both the theoretical and empirical of the research, and which also touches upon time as a fourth dimension, enables the researcher to analyse the inter-dependencies of the various dimensions, thereby creating a different (if not new) mind-set in the evaluation of the KTT's activities. This should consequently raise new issues for development agencies to consider as development is primarily related to the creation of meaning (Coetzee, 1989B). Interventions designed to develop others can thus only be assessed in terms of the totality of people's needs which must include issues such as respect, esteem, freedom and justice. The findings of the dissertation are characterised by a very strong acceptance by the respondents of KTI's interventions. Despite some strong criticisms relating to the KTI's follow-through after training, it is clear that change was brought about in especially the economic dimension. The findings do, however, also indicate that KIT's approach to its development task does not sufficiently take into account the socio-political needs of the people and that its outcomes were focused primarily on the income generating capacity of the target population. Given the theoretical multi-dimensional basis of the study, it is trusted that consideration can now be given by the planners of the KTT to issues relating to a holistic need to create meaning in all dimensions. The dissertation finds that NFE plays an important role in development it also finds that NFE is neglected in the region when assessed against the extent of poverty and inequality. New priorities need to be set in the compilation of a strategic agenda for the 1990's.The World Bank (1989) indicates that: • more account should be taken of social reforms; • increased funding of human resource development is required; • development strategies should be people-centred; • institutional reforms at every governmental level must be pursued; •The nexus of weak agricultural production, rapid population growth, environmental degradation and urbanisation must be overcome by innovative and thoroughly co-ordinated strategies; and • westernisation should be rejected as being synonymous With development. This dissertation adds to the pool of evidence that unless rapid and massive investments in the human resources of the region are made, the capital injected into infrastructure, industrial development, housing etc. will be suboptimised and not lead to sustainable self-reliance. / Thesis (M.Soc.Sci)-University of Natal, Durban, 1990.

The Skills Development Act (97 of 1988) introduced a new approach to the development of workrelated skills in South Africa. This Act provided the legal underpinnings for learnerships, which include both structured work experience (Le. a practical component) and instructional learning (i.e. a theory learning component). Learnerships are offered in an accredited workplace environment and culminate in a qualification that is registered on the National Qualifications Framework (NQF). Research studies support the view that informal learning accounts for over 75%-90% of the learning that takes place in organizations today. Although the majority of learning that occurs in the workplace is informal, little is, however, known about how such learning is best supported, encouraged and developed in a learnership programme. The impact of informal learning on learnerships must be seen as an essential ingredient for effective workplace skills programmes and the advancement of skills acquisition leading to qualifications and career planning resulting in a highly skilled workforce. This research study was prompted by the perception that the majority of workers in the footwear industry have a low formal educational level and are either non-skilled or semi-skilled, financial sustainability of the footwear industry and global competition. Learnerships are perceived to be a creative vehicle whereby workers are able to acquire basic production and manufacturing skills in the workplace through a Clothing, Textiles, Footwear and Leather (CTFL) learnership programme. This research study explores the factors in an education and training environment that enhance or inhibit informal learning opportunities and how these factors shape or impede informal learning, thus impacting on the performance of learners in a footwear learnership programme. Although no single theoretical framework of informal learning exists, this research study was informed and underpinned by the theoretical models of various experts in the field of informal 7 learning. Using an interpretivist paradigm the researcher opted to study the implementation of learnerships at one accredited training provider in the footwear industry. Data collection instruments provided rich, detailed qualitative data using semi-structured interviews, observations and document analysis within a case study approach. The findings of this study identified a number of overarching factors that enhanced or impeded informal learning in a footwear learnership programme that also impacted on the performance of learners. / Thesis (M.Ed.) - University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2006.

The aim of diploma paper is to analyze how 3rd and 4th grade pupils are involved to participate in extra – curricular activities in Panevėžys. The objectives of the paper are: to analyze how actual these problems are in the scientific literature and in the standards, to gather and to analyze the information about the tendencies of pupils’ participation in non-formal training in Panevėžys. On the ground of the results of investigation to make recommendations to institutions of general education and non-formal training in order to improve their work and cooperation. The results or the investigation showed the main reasons for low level of pupils’ participation in the activities of non-formal training institutions. The main reasons are: the lack of information, poor management, the pupils’ unwillingness, etc. Having estimated the results or the investigation in the diploma work it I’ve recommended to increase the cooperation between formal and non-formal educational institutions. More information should be provided by non-formal training institutions. Comprehensive schools teachers should advise the pupils and their parents what forms of activities to choose. There should be more cooperation between both institutions in sharing their experience and organizing various activities.

In today’s world, concern has been raised about that the existing means of development are unsustainable. As a solution Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) has been engaged around the world as a step to build a more sustainable society. Throughout the United Nations Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (DESD), Japan has promoted ESD through addressing it in the national educational law and plans as well as emphasizing it in course of study. As the DESD reached its end, this study aims to shed light on how ESD, an international framework, is understood and implemented on a micro level. Through a qualitative case study focused on the selected elementary and junior high schools in Kesennuma City, Miyagi, Japan, the findings show that local unique characteristics such as environmental and social factors influence the implementation of ESD. Furthermore, the findings also illustrate that learning of ESD takes place at various locations beyond the classrooms where the participants get involved in the local community that provides various professional knowledge and skills. Through the learning of ESD, which emphasizes experience and interaction with the learning partners, the aim is to foster the students’ abilities to think critically, identify a problem independently and take actions as well as to cooperate with others. At the same time, the study also shows that a holistic understanding of ESD from the teachers’ is needed in order to integrate ESD into the entire education.

Darbe analizuojamas paauglių socialinių poreikių įgyvendinimas neformaliame muzikiniame ugdyme. Baigiamojo darbo tikslas – atskleisti paauglių socialinių poreikių įgyvendinimą neformaliame muzikiniame ugdyme. Tikslui pasiekti iškelti uždaviniai: išanalizuoti paauglystės amžiaus tarpsnio ypatumus; pateikti neformaliojo ugdymo apibrėžtį; išryškinti neformaliojo ugdymo specifiką paauglių socialinių poreikių kontekste; ištirti paauglių socialinių poreikių įgyvendinimo sąlygas neformaliame muzikiniame ugdyme. Tyrimo objektas – paauglių socialinių poreikių įgyvendinimas neformaliame muzikiniame ugdyme. Tyrimas atliktas Raseinių rajono kultūros centruose, naudojant anketinės apklausos metodą. Išanalizavus mokslinę literatūrą, švietimo dokumentus ir atlikto tyrimo rezultatus gautos tokios išvados: paauglystė – tai tarpsnis, kuris itin reikšmingas kiekvienai augančiai, bręstančiai asmenybei. Vaikas, tampa suaugusiu žmogumi, fiziškai stipriu, subręsta psichologiškai, formuojasi jo charakteris, socialiniai ryšiai, išryškėja asmenybės polinkiai ir interesai, keičiasi įprastiniai žmogaus vaidmenys, visuomenės lūkesčiai, atsiranda naujų galimybių išreikšti save poreikis. Šio virsmo metu labai svarbu paaugliui padėti sėkmingai visą tai išgyventi. Jaunimo neformalus ugdymas yra kryptinga veikla, kuria plėtojamos jauno žmogaus asmeninės, socialinės ir edukacinės kompetencijos, siekiama ugdyti sąmoningą asmenybę, sugebančią atsakingai ir kūrybingai spręsti savo problemas ir aktyviai dalyvauti... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / Paper analyses the implementation of the adolescent social needs in the non-formal musical education. The aim of research - to reveal the implementation of the juvenile social needs in the non-formal musical education. Objectives to achieve the aim: to analyze the pecularities of the stages of adolescence; to present the definition of non-formal education; to highlight the specificity of non-formal education in the context of adolescent social needs; to analyze the conditions of implementation of adolescent social needs in non-formal musical education. The object of reasearch – the implementation of juvenile social needs in the non-formal musical education. The research was conducted in the Culture Houses of Raseiniai area using the questionnaire method. Analysis of the scientific literature, educational documents and the results of conducted research, has recieved such conclusions: adolescence – it is a phase which is particularly meaningful for every growing, maturing personality. The child becomes an adult man, physically strong, mentally mature, form his character, social relations, reveal the personality turns and interests, change the conventional man roles, society‘s expectations, comes the need of new opportunities to express themselves. During this transformation is very important to help teenagers succesfully survive it. Non-formal education is purposeful work which developing young man personal, social and educational competencies, trying to raise conscious... [to full text]

Despite non-formal education being introduced into the international discourse on education policy in 1972, there has since been relatively little research devoted to exploring this concept and, in particular, to the experiences of educators who lead non-formal educational processes. This thesis documents a phenomenological inquiry into the educational beliefs held by leaders working in non-formal educational settings within Canada. The purpose of this inquiry was to determine the existence of a shared set of educational beliefs among leaders in non-formal educational settings. The research included an emergent qualitative inquiry design that drew on hermeneutic and phenomenological philosophies as well as critical theory. Research methods involved narrative inquiry, auto-ethnography, and photo-elicitation. Data elicited by this investigation revealed that participants subscribe to a shared set of educational beliefs, the essence of which involves the interaction and interchange between elements of praxis, service, and concern for the develop of whole beings.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Toronto, 2004. / Adviser: Joseph Farrell. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 393-420).