This study explores the willingness of Indian parents to allow their daughters to pursue tertiary education and careers. This study firstly focused on how women who pursued tertiary education and careers were perceived by family and the Indian community when parents were growing up. Secondly, the study underscored the willingness of parents these days to allow their daughters to pursue tertiary education and careers. A qualitative research approach, using in-depth, semi-structured life-story interviews was used in the study to gain a deeper understanding of the factors that resulted in the development of certain perceptions towards women who pursued tertiary education and careers in the parents’ youth. Content analysis was used to analyse the data. A pilot study using purposive and snowball sampling was conducted using seven (7) sets of Muslim and Hindu parents. Thereafter, further questions were generated for the main study, where thirteen (13) sets of both Muslim and Hindu parents were interviewed. The results of the study indicate that the attitude towards women pursuing tertiary education and careers has evolved over time. Parents are these days more willing to allow their daughters to pursue tertiary education and careers. In the past women had not been encouraged to study and work. However, this perception has changed today. There is a great demand for Indian women in the workplace and many Indian women are enrolling every year at different universities to pursue tertiary education. The South African laws support women empowerment and education and, as a whole, many contributions in the country are made by women. / Dissertation (MCom)--University of Pretoria, 2011. / Human Resource Management / unrestricted

Parents&#146; views of and participation in the special education process are important in light of parents&#146; expanded membership in all decision making groups, specifically those that make eligibility and placement decisions guaranteed by The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act Amendments of 1997 (IDEA &#146;97). The purpose of this study was to understand how parents view the special education process and their participation from their child&#146;s referral to eligibility determination. Furthermore, this study sought to determine how parents&#146; understanding and participation in the special education process could be enhanced.</P> Nine parents&#146; journeys through the special education referral and evaluation process were chronicled through pre-and post-eligibility parent interviews and observations of eligibility meetings. This data was contexualized through educator post-eligibility interviews to determine representativeness of parents&#146; participation and meeting characteristics. Individual and cross case analyses were used to analyze data. Findings indicate that little has changed in the past 25 years in the day-to-day implementation of the special education evaluation process. That is, parents know little of the process and participate minimally. Furthermore, parents express feelings about their child and the process that indicate that they care deeply and feel a vested interest in outcomes. However, parents express a need for greater understanding and participation in the process. A model for the effective implementation of the special education process is offered. / Ph. D.

The aim for this essay is to examine the knowledge among parents to students, from grade 9 of upper level lower secondary school, about what is assessed in the school subject physical education. This is done by distributing a postal questionnaire to 89 parents. 42 of them chose to take part in the survey and the results show that parents are having different opinions about assessment and what the base is for assessment in the school subject physical education. When looking at the result of the study from a gender perspective it shows that the women rate their knowledge about the base for assessment higher than the men. The parents were also asked to rank what they think is the most essential part when it comes to assessment. The result shows that both women and men think it is the active participation of the pupil during lessons. When the parents rank which element of the school subject physical education is most and least important, when it comes to assessment, the result shows that dance is seen as one of the less important elements. The results of the study can overall be seen as quite fragmented. One explanation concerning the fragmented results could be the question about what knowledge really is in the school subject physical education.

There is a concern that children are deprived of opportunities for responding to challenges and exploring risky situations in outdoor play. Children are not afforded the chance to be challenged by risky, yet safe situations. Exposing children to risky activities is valuable but one should be conscious about children’s safety and therefore find the balance between hazardous situations and healthy risky experiences (Eager & Little, 2011:s.p.). Discouraging risky play has detrimental effects on children’s development which may hinder their functioning in school and later in life. Risky play opportunities are therefore essential to develop children’s confidence, self-esteem, autonomy and independence, as well as their problem solving and risk management skills. Therefore, parents and teachers in this study must empower children to engage in risky play. For caregivers to create opportunities to develop such skills at early learning centres, they must know and be conscious of the advantages of risky play for children’s development. Positive attitudes towards the implementation of risky outdoor play and adequate support are required from parents. Hence, the purpose of this study was to gain knowledge of parents and teachers’ experiences and views about risky outdoor play; what prevents or supports teachers and parents from permitting risky outdoor play; and how the outdoor learning environment provides opportunities for risky play. This study was underpinned by Barbara Rogoff’s sociocultural theory, which lays emphasis on how children cultivate knowledge by interacting with the social environment (Rogoff, 2008). The primary research question that guided this study is: How do parents and teachers experience and view risky outdoor play in early learning centres? This study employed a qualitative approach and is positioned within the interpretivist paradigm. A multiple case study design was utilised and aligned with the researcher’s goal of exploring and describing the views of parents and teachers on risky outdoor play. The study consisted of eight preschool teachers and seven parents from three different early learning centres, who shared their experiences and views of risky play. Data were generated from teachers by means of semi-structured group interviews, observations of teachers and children during outdoor play and document analysis entailing teachers’ daily planning of outdoor activities. Online semi-structured individual interview schedules were utilised to generate data from parents. The findings of the study show that both parents and teachers perceive risky play as imperative for children’s development. Furthermore, the constraints affecting children’s opportunities to participate in risky activities and the concerns thereof were outlined. Finally, the study identifies challenges that parents and teachers experience when implementing risky play, although both parents and teachers support and permit risky outdoor play at the early learning centres, as well as in the home environment. / Dissertation (MEd)--University of Pretoria, 2021. / Early Childhood Education / MEd / Unrestricted