The focus of this dissertation is to explore contextually relevant ideas through conversation around behaviour problems, specifically bullying, experienced in primary schools situated in the township of Mamelodi. The study explores the relationship around bullying between the members of the school staff involved with the children, the children identified as manifesting bullying behaviour, their families and any relevant community system or individuals as identified by the research participants themselves through conversation. It focuses on providing a description of experiences around bullying behaviour facing the participants by exploring their own perspectives and meanings around their situation and any possible solutions that they may offer. The focus is of an exploratory and descriptive nature to provide a basis for an intervention that is contextually relevant to this community by acknowledging these locally constructed discourses. An ecological approach within a postmodern social constructionist theoretical backdrop is chosen for this study. It is an approach that emphasises the importance of context and the social constructionist influence emphasises the importance of language. Three primary schools in the Mamelodi Township were approached to participate. One ecological case study from one of the three schools is used in the analysis to explore the aims of this research. Data was gathered through semi-structured open-ended interviews. Discourse analysis is used to construct the various discourses emerging from the conversations resulting from the interviews. Through the discourse analysis the various meanings, experience or understanding around bullying are constructed. The interaction of these various discourses and influence that they have on each other are also considered. The possible influence of background discourses of the wider community and society are included. These discourses are presented not as truths but as a plausible a construction of an ecology of bullying grounded in background and events. Using theses discourses some of the possible implications for a contextually and locally relevant intervention programme and further ideas for research are suggested. As the study focuses on contextual relevance, arguments around indigenous psychology, cross cultural research and the role of interpreters are also considered. / Dissertation (MA)--University of Pretoria, 2008. / Psychology / unrestricted

The purpose of this study is to develop a Learner Thermal Comfort Protocol (LTCP) for the assessment of thermal comfort in naturally ventilated public school classrooms occupied by primary learners aged between 7 and 14 years and to establish whether there is a relationship between the thermal comfort standards (ASHRAE 55-2004 and ISO 7730-2005) and the learners’ perception thereof. The study tests the LTCP on two primary school case studies in Mamelodi Township, City of Tshwane (CoT), South Africa, by following the adaptive or field study method to collect quantitative data from the classroom and the learners. The classrooms’ actual temperature is measured and recorded by HOBO pendant data loggers while the learners’ thermal comfort perception is surveyed using questionnaires. The actual classroom indoor temperatures are compared to the ASHRAE 55 and ISO 7730 standard temperature range recommendations of ±22°C to ±27°C, based on the heat balance model, and ±20°C to ±27°C temperature range based on the context related adaptive model. To establish whether there is a relationship between standards and learners’ perception, the learners’ perception results are compared to the predicted percentage that occupants would find acceptable. This predicted percentage is based on the heat balance model (i.e. 80%) and adaptive model (i.e. 80% - 90%). The results indicate that the indoor temperature range did not meet the recommended temperature range of either of the thermal comfort models. However, the thermal perception scale shows that the indoor temperatures were accepted by most of the learners. A relationship between the learners’ perception, the thermal comfort standards’ recommended temperature range and predicted percentage of acceptance was established. However, a wider temperature range is suggested for the thermal comfort assessment of classrooms located in the South African climate. This study will contribute to the body of knowledge on thermal comfort in schools and provide the Department of Basic Education (DBE) with an assessment tool for the evaluation of school classroom indoor environments. / Dissertation (MArch(Prof)--University of Pretoria, 2015. / Architecture / Unrestricted

Masters in Public Administration - MPA / The study assesses the application of policies on the right of refugees and asylum seekers with regard to the education of their children, and the many challenges impeding this right. Fundamental changes in the legal framework protecting the right to education of the children of refugees and asylum seekers have been in place since 1994, when South Africa became a democratic state. The principles of international treaties recognising the rights of children were incorporated into the Constitution of South Africa of 1996, demonstrating South Africa’s commitment to the protection of children’s rights. However, studies have suggested that, refugees’ and asylum seekers’ children have been discriminated against in terms of access to education, despite the legislative framework which provides for equal and inclusive education in South Africa. Access to education for migrant children in South Africa is invariably met with challenges which constitute a violation of the Constitution and international law. This study assessed policies and practices affecting refugees’ and asylum seekers’ children to access primary schools in a democratic South Africa. The researcher argues that access to education for refugees and asylum seeker’s children must be guided by the social justice principle of “every child deserves an education”, regardless of the legality of their parents in South Africa. Failure to afford them the opportunity to study is a violation of the Constitution and international law. The study used semi-structured interviews based on a questionnaire. Participants included parents who were refugees or asylum seekers, schools’ principals, and officials from Scalabrini Centre and the Western Cape Education Department (WCED). The data collected from respondents was presented, discussed and analyzed through a thematic analysis approach. From data collected, it was possible to identify the barriers preventing refugees’ and asylum seeker’s children from accessing education. Some of the barriers were generated from gaps in migration policy, ineffective policy implementation, poor documentation and various institutional challenges. Based on the study findings, it is recommended that South African lawmakers formulate policies that speak to the needs of the refugee child and amend the current migration policy to make it more reasonable and accommodative with regard to meeting the needs of migrants’ children in general, and refugee’ and asylum seekers’ children in particular. This would enable South Africa to uphold the constitutional values and its international obligations in relation to the promotion and protection of the right to education for all children.

Philosophiae Doctor - PhD / Background Overweight/obesity is a risk factor for non-communicable diseases such as cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, and some cancers. Obesity in childhood is known to predict later obesity in adolescence and adulthood. Understanding the factors associated with overweight/obesity among children may present an opportunity for timely and appropriate interventions in the African setting. Aims 1. To describe the prevalence of overweight and obesity and associated factors among school children aged 8 - 11 years in primary schools in Adentan Municipality, Ghana. 2. To review the available literature on childhood obesity in the African context to provide evidence to support the design and improvement of appropriate school-based interventions for the prevention and control of overweight/obesity among African learners. Methodology This was a cross-sectional study design which was conducted in two phases. In Phase I, the available literature on the prevalence of overweight and obesity among learners, school-based interventions to promote healthy nutrition and physical activity (PA), and weight status, and key policy interventions at the national levels to provide supportive environments in the African context was reviewed and synthesised. In Phase II, interviews were conducted to collect individual and family data from 543 learners in 14 schools to assess family socio-demographics characteristics, dietary, PA, and sedentary behaviours, and sleep duration. Body weight, height, and waist circumference were measured. Data on perceived school neighbourhood/ community, school food, and PA environments were collected from school heads/administrators. A sub-sample of 183 children participated in the assessment of body fat using the deuterium dilution method. Multivariable and logistic regressions, multilevel logistic regressions, and multilevel linear regression models were used to examine the associations among child, family, and school level explanatory variables, and overweight/obesity, abdominal obesity and body mass index (BMI). Results The reviews revealed the following: (i) The pooled overweight and obesity estimates across Africa were: (10.5% 95% CI: 7.1-14.3) and 6.1% (3.4-9.7) by World Health Organization; 9.5% (6.5-13.0) and 4.0% (2.5-5.9) by International Obesity Task Force; and 11.5% (9.6-13.4) and 6.9% (5.0-9.0) by Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, respectively and differed for overweight (p=0.0027) and obesity (p<0.0001) by the criteria. The estimates were mostly higher in urban, and private schools, but generally similar by gender, major geographic regions, publication year, and sample size; (ii) Although inconsistent, school-based interventions broadly improved weight status and some energy-balance related health behaviours of African learners; (iii) On applying the Analysis Grid for Environments Linked to Obesity (ANGELO) framework, key interventions on unhealthy diets and physical inactivity targeted the school, family and community settings, and macro environments, and broadly aligned with global recommendations. In the school-based study, 16.4% of Ghanaian learners were overweight (9.2%) or obese (7.2%), with the prevalence being significantly higher in children from middle- to high socio-economic status (SES) households, and private schools. In multivariable regression models, attending private school (AOR = 2.44, 1.39–4.29) and excessive television viewing (AOR = 1.72, 1.05–2.82) significantly increased the likelihood of overweight/obesity, whereas adequate sleep (AOR = 0.53, 0.31–0.88), and active transport to and from school (AOR = 0.51, 0.31 – 0.82) decreased the odds. Using deuterium-derived percent body fat as criterion method, the published BMI criteria was found to be highly specific but with moderate sensitivity for diagnosing obesity among Ghanaian children. Moreover, the BMI-for-age z-scores that optimise sensitivity, specificity, and predictive values for obesity were lower than the published cut-off points. Multilevel logistic and linear regression analyses revealed that the school contextual level contributed 30.0%, 20.6% and 19.7% of the total variance observed in overweight (including obesity), abdominal obesity, and BMI respectively. Availability of school cafeteria (β = 1.83, p = 0.017) and shops (β = 2.34, p = 0.001), healthy foods (β = 0.77, p = 0.046), less healthy foods (β = 0.38, p = 0.048), child age (β = 0.40, p = 0.008), school-level SES (β = 1.02, p < 0.0001), private school attendance (β = -1.80, p = 0.006), and after-school recreational facilities (β = 0.89, p < 0.0001) were all associated with BMI. In the mutually adjusted models for all significant predictors, school-level SES, healthy foods, after-school recreational facilities, and PA facility index remained significant predictors of overweight and or abdominal obesity. Conclusions The prevalence of overweight/obesity is significantly higher in urban children attending private or high SES schools, regardless of criteria used to define obesity. A number of individual, family, and school-level factors significantly predicted weight status of school children in Ghana. Given that many African governments have initiated policy interventions aiming to provide supportive environments for healthy choices, it is recommended that resources are made readily available for the implementation of these interventions across the home, school and community.

Over the years, a net increase in enrolment rates in primary schools has been observed worldwide. Nevertheless, in West Africa, girls still lag behind in terms of basic education. Although many other African societies face educational challenges in terms of realising girls’ right to education, educational challenges are far greater for women and girls in West Africa. This region is considered to have the highest illiteracy level in the world, and the level of illiteracy is even higher for females. As a result, a gap persists between the number of boys and girls in primary schools. The reasons why this gap persist is because cultural limitations and poverty still undermine the realisation of girls’ right to basic education in this part of the world. Girls’ right to primary education is undermined through patriarchy; negative cultural perceptions associated with girls’ education, child labour or child marriages, to mention but a few. Not only are educational disparities visible in terms of gender, but educational disparities are also visible between urban and rural areas. By taking into account such differences, and in order to best achieve universal basic education in West Africa, the use of multiple strategies is advised. It requires primarily the enforcement of legal measures in order to improve girls’ enrolment and retention rates. Simultaneously, it requires economic solutions which can help the poor to send girls to school, with in addition strategies which focus on the role that institutions can play; whether these institutions are governments, traditional or religious institutions. Evidently, with these strategies, the role played by other actors such as citizens and non-governmental organisations, in ensuring girls’ right to basic education cannot be underestimated. / Dissertation (MPhil)--University of Pretoria, 2012. / gm2014 / Centre for Human Rights / unrestricted

This diploma thesis focuses on inclusive education at alternative elementary schools such as Montessori and Waldorf. Alternative education is experiencing great boom and the number of schools and pupils educated in non-traditional ways has risen. In 2016 has been also newly institutionalized policy about inclusive education that has the aim to include children with special educational needs into standard educational process. Aim of this thesis is to find out whether Montessori and Waldorf are more suitable for these children. This thesis also identifies relationships between alternative elementary schools and the public sector, or more precisely how are these relationships perceived by education policy makers. Lastly, this paper describes and explains relationships between parties playing important part in inclusive education and elementary schools. Methodology used in this thesis is qualitative research and research design is represented by single-case study. Used data are collected from three half- structured interviews with elementary school principals. Secondary data were obtained through various documents, cases and reports. analyzed using technique called thematic coding. Alternative (and above all Montessori) schools showed as very suitable for children with special educational needs. But...

Sweden is known as immigration country for a few decades already, but the number of immigrants has rapidly grown during the last years making Sweden one of the European countries with the greatest share of immigrants on total population. In opposite, Czechia is far behind traditional immigrant countries with its number of newcomers, but after joining the European Union, the country has transformed from emigrant to transit and later even to immigrant state with the greatest number of newcomers among Central European states. With immigration, the issue of new minorities and their relation with the majority of society have appeared. The policy of education plays a crucial role in this issue because it has the potential to form society and affect all generations including immigrants. The aim of the thesis is to analyse possibilities of education if immigrants with the emphasis on integration in the education system and compare both countries thorough legislation, observation and interviews with representants of primary schools. The hypothesis that the Swedish approach to immigrant education is more developed than the Czech one was approved by greater possibilities of Swedish newcomers, especially in the education of mother tongue, obligation of Swedish language courses, and flexibility in integration...

The diploma thesis is focused on career counseling, specifically on the methods that are most used in practice in counseling with primary school pupils. The thesis in the theoretical part defines key terms and concepts approaching career counseling in the context of Czech education. It deals with the target groups of career counseling with an emphasis on primary school pupils and the specifics of their difficulties in career choice. The following chapter deals with the basic theories that have fundamentally influenced the development of career counseling and are of considerable importance even today, focused on personality, career development and theories focused on social influences and their impact on career direction. The next sections are devoted to diagnostic tools used in the field of career decision-making, methods of career counseling and introduction to the system of career counseling in the Czech Republic. The aim of the empirical part is to map and describe the procedure for the implementation of career counseling and to specify the most used methods of career counseling in primary schools in Prague.

Mini Dissertation (MA)--University of Pretoria, 2013. / gm2015 / Afrikaans / MA / Unrestricted

In this thesis I have made a qualitative study among educators. The purpose of this essay was to investigate the variation in educators' perceptions of the concept of gender, as well as how they describe how their perceptions can, or does, affect the educators in their work. The focus has been on pedagogues in primary schools and associated leisure centers. The empirical material was collected through a web survey that was sent out to five different elementary schools in Orebro through the respective school management. The theoretical section formed a basis for the coding. Thematic analysis was used to analyze collected data. The analysis method enabled a comparison of differences and similarities in the educators' descriptions. The analysis showed that the educators did not share a unified view of what gender is. In the empirical material, three different perceptions of the concept of gender could be thematized. Gender was interpreted as a consequence of biological sex, as an expression to show society's ideas about gender and as a way for the environment to interpret an individual's gender affiliation. Based on their perceptions of gender, some of the educators emphasized that they adapted their pedagogy to the gender differences they perceived to exist, while others emphasized that they tried to counter gender norms and gendered ideas by adapting their language and inviting students to discuss gender aspects. When the educators were asked about the continuing education regarding gender in the workplace, the results showed that this was experienced in very varied ways. Many educators emphasized that gender issues were not something that was emphasized during education days, but that the focus often ended up being equal treatment of the school's students. Others pointed out that gender issues are raised in several contexts. In conclusion, the results revealed different levels of awareness and commitment among educators in relation to gender, highlighting the existing challenges and opportunities for promoting gender equality in educational settings.