Research has shown that South African mathematics performance is extremely poor compared to other countries that participated in the Trends in Mathematics and Science Study in 2015 and 2016, respectively. Most of the competing countries were developing and were disadvantaged by their socio-economic status compared to the more economically vibrant South Africa. However, South Africa came last in the mathematics and science standardised tests commonly referred to as the Annual National Assessment and National Benchmark Test. The poor performance of the country’s learners in mathematics is exacerbated by the inability of veteran mathematics teachers to adopt technological teaching methods and innovations during teaching and learning. The Mathletics programme is a modern teaching tool that links every aspect of mathematics teaching and learning and gives individual learners the ability to successfully engage in mathematics learning activities. The learner gains mental mathematics skills to solve mathematical problems and is then able to apply the acquired mathematical skills to solve similar mathematical problems in any given situation. This study aimed to investigate and develop the professional status of veteran primary school mathematics teachers through participatory action research to improve their understanding of the application of Mathletics during teaching and learning. The data for my study was collected via audiotape, semi-structured interviews, and participant observations. The participants were veteran mathematics primary school teachers between the ages of 40 and 59 from the Gauteng Department of Education, Tshwane South District Circuit 2. The interviews and observations were conducted at times and venues preferred by the participants at their respective schools. The main research finding of the study shows that the majority of the participating veteran primary school teachers are not fully prepared in terms of skills, resources and methods to effectively respond to the recent technological teaching and learning transformations. As a recommendation, this study needs further research to benefit more schools and more teachers, so that participatory action research (PAR) can be a method for continuing professional development (CPD). / Dissertation (MEd)--University of Pretoria, 2020. / Humanities Education / MEd / Unrestricted

As an education practitioner I had taken cognisance of the existence of a gap in the professional development of academics at the exemplar higher education institution where most lecturers were novices in facilitating and assessing learning. I adopted the Whole Brain® Teaching and Learning Model by Ned Herrmann (1996) to transform our teaching practice. The model calls for innovative methods of facilitating learning. I adopted participatory action research to transform our teaching practice. In a community of practice, 10 novice lecturers between 35 and 50 years of age who had taught in higher education for 10 years and less implemented the Whole Brain® Teaching and Learning Model. The study’s aim was to promote a scholarship of teaching and learning in the higher education setting. I formulated the primary question: How can my fellow-lecturers and I as a collective use the Whole Brain® Thinking Model to transform teaching in higher education in Zimbabwe? A mixed methods approach was used to obtain various thoughts and views about Herrmann (1996) Whole Brain® Model of transforming practice. Diverse learning opportunities which included: different questioning techniques; various learning activities and different media were adopted. The Herrmann Brain Dominance Instrument® (HBDI®) data was used as baseline study to determine our thinking style preferences; while student feedback questionnaire data was used to evaluate the learning opportunities. Interviews, focus group meetings that were video - and audio-recorded were used to solicit qualitative data. Quantitative data was analysed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences version 23 and qualitative data was analysed using deductive thematic analysis. Results from the HBDI® report affirmed the diagnosis of our thinking preferences. The results showed that lecturers inspired students by their enthusiasm for work (73%); lecturers initiated learning by providing opportunities that reflected real - life situations (70%); lecturers promoted cooperative learning (71%). Students also contributed to their learning by developing a greater sense of responsibility (66%). The results of the two examinations were skewed towards the A and B quadrants. The general observation was that Whole Brain® methods of facilitating learning and the skill of setting Whole Brain® examinations were lacking. / Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2019. / Humanities Education / PhD / Unrestricted

This research innovation reports on the application of Herrmann’s Whole Brain® theory in facilitating and assessing learning in Mathematics in the senior phase, Grades 7 - 9. It is a two-part interrelated initiative that seeks both to augment current Mathematics-specific educational theories to improve practice, as well as to reflect on ways that these theories impact on the teaching practice. The literature review synthesises existing educational theories in terms of Herrmann’s Whole Brain® model into a new proposed comprehensive Mathematics-specific Whole Brain® model. This synthesis of existing “good practices” in Mathematics education in terms of Herrmann’s Whole Brain® model, supports the need for a Whole Brain® approach to teaching Mathematics. Furthermore, it hopes to be a user-friendly model with which teachers can plan and facilitate learning and assessment opportunities in Mathematics. Data was collected on the thinking preferences of each Mathematics teacher participant, as well learners’ perception of their teachers’ thinking preferences. Both qualitative and quantitative data was used to report on the findings. Individual and collective reflective practices, situated in the framework of professional development and action research, were used to analyse and report on the findings. The reflective practice resulting from the initiative is in itself an outcome of the research, since “those teachers who are students of their own effects are the teachers who are the most influential in raising students’ achievement” (Hattie & Yates, 2014, p. 24). The degree to which the reflective process impacted on each participant’s practice appears to be dependent on each teacher’s level of professional development. Teacher participants engaging in post-graduate studies showed the ability to complement their “existing competencies with needed situational competencies” (Herrmann, 1996, p. 39), meaning that these teachers were not limited by their thinking preferences, but were able to employ lesser preferred preferences when needed. Each teacher participant’s unique set of thinking preferences was obtained using the Hermann Brain Dominance Instrument (HBDI®). When each of these unique profiles were combined, they produced a compound Whole Brain® profile. This supported Herrmann’s (1990, p. 10) notion that every sizeable group would consist of a “composite whole brain”, but also showed that there is no specific set of thinking preferences unique to a Mathematics teacher. The learner questionnaires also indicated a reasonably balanced Whole Brain® profile amongst learners, supporting the need for a Whole Brain® approach to facilitating learning and assessing in Mathematics. The reflective cyclic process of theory informing practice and practice in turn informing theory is at the core of this research innovation. This cyclic process has become my living theory from which I hope to inspire others to engage in similar initiatives. / Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2019. / Humanities Education / PhD / Unrestricted

No description available.

During Work Integrated Learning, pre-service mentoring helps to prepare final-year education students for the workplace. For the purpose of this study, seven pre-service teachers and their mentor teachers formed scholarly communities of practice. Selfregulated professionalism was initiated by implementing the principles of self-regulated learning using a constructivist Whole Brain® Thinking mix as epistemological grounding. Participatory action research was enriched and a Whole Brain® Participatory Action Research Design was used to contribute to the scholarship of mentoring in the education context and the new meaning-making of our current understanding of what action research entails. A baseline study was conducted ten months prior to the commencement of the Whole Brain® Participatory Action Research study. The responses from the Senior and FET Phase pre-service teachers and their mentor teachers in the two online surveys provided an information base for the participatory action research process. The rationale for using Whole Brain® Participatory Action Research was that no scholars have examined a collaborative perspective on pre-teachers, mentor teachers and a university faculty. This particular research design has never before been used in the context of pre-service teacher education. The Herrmann Brain Dominance Instrument® was initially completed by the participants and myself as the principal researcher to inform reflective practice and to create awareness of our thinking preferences. Action research was conducted by the pre-service teachers in their classroom practice and executed by the mentor teachers in their mentorship practice. I employed action research during the scholarly communities of practice sessions with the participants. Peer mentoring, Whole Brain® Mentoring and blended mentoring were innovatively introduced in the mentor teachers’ and my own mentoring practice as an essential part of the self and the we becoming agent(s) of transformation. The development of a Comprehensive Whole Brain® Mentoring Model for the education context is shared as an outcome of this study. / Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2020. / Humanities Education / PhD / Unrestricted

Thesis advisor: M. Brinton Lykes / Every day Muslim women in the United States wake up to a harsh political world that attacks their identities, communities, and freedom. In this context, Muslim women endure immense psychological tolls on their sense of identity, safety, and relationships. For many of them, walking out the door and claiming their Muslim identity is an act of political resistance. Despite the disempowerment they may experience, many engage in social actions to resist these oppressive forces. Yet, Muslim women activists have received strikingly little attention in the psychological literature. To date, no research has explored the psychosocial experiences of Muslim women who engage in activism, nor the meanings they make of these engagements or their trajectories of resistance. Using a participatory research approach informed by art-based inquiry techniques, this inductive qualitative study explored 10 Muslim women activists’ trajectories into and experiences of engaging in social action. A constructivist theoretical model of Muslim women activists' processes of resistance and community liberation was developed through qualitative inductive analyses of in-depth interviews and participants’ illustrations. Eight “clusters” have been configured to map a model that represents both processes and outcomes of how these 10 women engaged, experienced, and made meaning of their activism. They include: (1) living in a post 9/11 sociopolitical context; (2) navigating the Muslim community context; (3) internal experiences of being a Muslim woman; (4) guiding ideals toward activism journey; (5) development of political analyses; (6) resistance actions toward social change; (7) burdens and benefits of engagement in resistance; and (8) supportive forces in the process of resistance.  Although only representative of 10 participants, the model is sufficiently theorized to suggest that life in a multiply traumatizing context shapes Muslim women activists’ experiences, precluding and contributing to their persistence and resistance throughout and during their engagement in social change work. Political analyses and ideals are vital in their descriptions of their trajectories of becoming activists. Benefits and burdens that are inevitable in social change work include both the thrill and fun of engaging in activism as well as the costs to relationships and conflicts inherent in such work. Finally, encouragement by other Muslims and allies is discussed as a valuable source of support to Muslim women activists. Limitations are discussed and implications are proposed to inform possibilities for future healing centered research and action. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2020. / Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education. / Discipline: Counseling, Developmental and Educational Psychology.

No description available.

The overall aim of this Participatory Action Research (PAR; Chevalier & Buckles, 2013; Lewin, 1946) project was to design, implement, and evaluate a specialized sport-focused mental health service delivery model for competitive and high-performance athletes, integrated within a broader Canadian Centre for Mental Health and Sport (CCMHS). A transformative mixed methods research design (Cresswell, 2014) guided by the PAR approach was employed across three phases during which (a) a sport-specific mental health service delivery model for competitive and high-performance athletes was collaboratively designed by stakeholders (Design Phase [Study 1]), (b) the model was pilot-tested within the CCMHS (Implementation Phase [Study 2]), and (c) the model was evaluated to understand whether practitioners and service-users perceived the care delivered / received within the model to be acceptable and appropriate (Evaluation Phase [Study 3]). Design Phase (Study 1). The purpose of study 1 was to (a) perform an environmental scan of the Canadian mental health care and sport contexts, and (b) design a sport-focused mental health service delivery model for competitive and high-performance athletes within a broader CCMHS. To meet these objectives, 20 stakeholders from the sport and mental health sectors explored (a) the availability and effectiveness of mental health care for competitive and high-performance Canadian athletes, and (b) the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats associated with creating a CCMHS, via two iterations of stakeholder-led focus groups (Rio-Roberts, 2011). The resulting data informed a subsequent Group Concept Mapping (GCM; Burke et al., 2005; Kane & Trochim, 2007; Rosas & Kane, 2012) activity undertaken by stakeholders, which produced an actionable framework (i.e., concept map) organized into six clusters that visually represented the elements (e.g., services, personnel, organizational structures) that stakeholders deemed important to include in the sport-focused mental health care model (e.g., bilingual services, a triage system, sport-specialized practitioners). In addition, the results revealed that misconceptions about the competitive and high-performance population’s mental health and experience of mental illness were widespread and required clarification before significant advances could be made. This led the group to develop six principles designed to establish a common language and understanding upon which to build effective models of mental health care, improved programming, and strategic education for Canada’s competitive and high-performance athletes, coaches, and organizations (Article 1). The framework that emerged from the GCM activity served to guide the remainder of the project, and supported actions (e.g., develop eligibility criteria to access services, hire a team of mental health practitioners with sport competencies [i.e., CCMHS Care Team]) to build the CCMHS and test the model during the Implementation Phase (Article 2). Implementation Phase (Study 2). The purpose of study 2 was to pilot test the mental health service delivery model designed during the first phase of the research project. To do so, an illustrative case study (Keegan et al., 2017; Stake, 1995, 2005) was carried out to demonstrate how (i.e., intake, referral, and service delivery processes) the CCMHS Care Team provided mental health care to a high-performance athlete, and what outcomes resulted from this process. Data to inform the case study was gathered through a review of the service-user’s clinical documents (e.g., intake summary, session notes), and qualitative interviews (n = 2) with the athlete’s Collaborative Care Team lead and the CCMHS Care Coordinator. Document analysis (Bowen, 2009) was used to organize the details of the case found within clinical documents under the categories of the case study framework (i.e., intake and referral process, service-user description, integrated care plan, and outcomes), while a conventional descriptive content analysis (Hsieh & Shannon, 2005) served to extract salient data from the interviews to further build out the case study. Results revealed that sport significantly influenced the onset and experience of mental illness for the athlete service-user. The lead practitioner’s sport-specific knowledge played a significant role in the diagnosis, treatment and recovery of this athlete given the nature of the athlete’s concerns and high athletic identity. Findings support the notion that specialized mental health care models and teams are necessary to address sport-related factors that can pose unique threats to the diagnosis and treatment of mental illness in athletes (Article 3). Implementation Phase (Study 3). The purpose of study 3 was to evaluate the acceptability and appropriateness of the mental health service delivery model designed during Phase 1 and implemented during Phase 2. Qualitative data from three sources (CCMHS practitioners, CCMHS service-users, and CCMHS stakeholders) were collected and analyzed using a multi-step, multi-method process, including16 one-on-one semi-structured interviews with CCMHS practitioners (n = 10) and service-users (n = 6), and a meeting with CCMHS stakeholders (captured via meeting minutes). In addition, 47 documents (e.g., clinical, procedural) created during the implementation phase of the project by CCMHS team members (i.e., practitioners, stakeholders, members of the board of directors) were used to triangulate the other data (Carter, Bryant-Lukosius, DiCenso, Blythe, and Neville, 2014). The Framework Method (Gale et al., 2013; Ritchie and Spencer, 1994) was used to analyze, synthesize, integrate, and interpret the dataset. The deductive data analysis approach taken was guided by the seven components of acceptability developed by Sekhon and colleagues (2017), and the Canadian Medical Association’s definition of appropriate care. Findings showed that the care provided and received within the CCMHS service delivery model was perceived to be acceptable and appropriate, and each component of the model uniquely contributed to practitioner and service-user experiences. For example, the collaborative interdisciplinary approach contributed to the ethicality of the model, promoted the professional development of team members, and enabled Pan-Canadian service provision. The sport-centered nature of care was perceived to enhance the ethicality of services delivered, effectiveness of care, and affective experience of service-users. Implications for further research and practice were discussed in light of areas of the model that emerged as needing improvement (e.g., prohibitive cost of care, practitioner burden from collaborative processes and procedures). Overall, the findings of the research project demonstrate that collaborative approaches to inquiry and practice can be successfully applied in sport to guide stakeholders in developing and testing novel models to improve the health outcomes of sport participants. The research also shows that an interdisciplinary team of practitioners can successfully deliver sport-focused mental health care that is acceptable and appropriate to service-users. Lastly, the project provides data on the first known empirical project to design, implement and evaluate a specialized mental health service delivery model applied nationwide in person and virtually with competitive and high-performance athletes experiencing mental health challenges and symptoms of mental illness.

Marine debris is an ever growing environmental and human health concern. Beach litter is a major contributor to the issue of marine debris, especially in the Global South where lack of awareness and successful policy are factors in the continuous accumulation of debris on beaches and in coastal communities. Under the community-based, participatory action framework, this study will explore beach users’ and other key stakeholders in the local government and non-governmental organization sectors’ knowledge of waste in their environment and potential solutions to the issue of plastic marine pollution. It will also examine the waste composition on a local beach in São Sebastião, Brazil by collecting, quantifying and characterizing the waste to determine the major polluters. The study will explore ways of improving awareness and environmental education of beach users, as well as investigating ways to reduce littering of waste on beaches. Results from this research will help to provide suggestions for local decision makers to improve policy that addresses marine debris and beach littering. / Graduate / 2022-04-15

The purpose of this study is to explore the beliefs of students, teachers and parents regarding new students’ experiences in a Sheltered Immersion/Newcomers Program in a K-8 school district to provide recommendations and implications for other schools who are or wish to develop similar programs. The participants were given opportunities to reflect and dialogue about their experiences in this type of bilingual program through the implementation of Participatory Action Research (PAR). The research questions inquire about how language learners make sense of their experience of becoming bilingual and the factors that encourage or inhibit their engagement.