In children, life-threatening illnesses (LTIs) present with both physical and psychosocial side effects, which seem to contribute to the perpetuation of hopelessness and fear among the children and their families. Children with LTIs often experience regular and painful treatment routines. A LTI not only impacts on the child but also on the family. LTIs put families in a critical and vulnerable situation, evoking emotions such as shock, disbelief and fear. Hope and coping strategies appear to be crucial for both children and their families when facing the effects of a LTI on a child. While medical intervention strategies are used to alleviate physical side effects, psychosocial intervention strategies (as referred to in this research study) that are focused on improving the well-being of the child and family, appear to be limited. Psychosocial interventions are defined as any intervention that emphasizes psychological or social factors, rather than biological factors. Psychosocial intervention strategies, such as „dream-come-true‟ projects, appear to ameliorate distress, offer respite, decrease isolation, empower individuals, increase self-confidence and give the children unique opportunities to connect with their families in a positive, normal way. Such a psychosocial intervention strategy is offered by the Reach For A Dream Foundation (RFAD) in South Africa. The experiences of the recipients of RFAD „dream-come-true‟ projects were the focus of this study. The goal of this research study was to study the „dream-come-true‟ psychosocial experiences of children/adolescents and their families, by means of a narrative enquiry design. This design allowed participants to tell their stories truthfully, giving the researcher the opportunity to immerse herself in the personal experience of each participant. Participants were purposively, and then randomly, selected from an RFAD client list. A total of six children/adolescents, between the ages of 8 and 18 years, were randomly selected from Johannesburg and the surrounding areas. The children/adolescents and both parents were interviewed, except for one father who was not present (17 participants in total). Child/adolescent interviews included the use of fun, tactile emotive cushions to assist the participants to recognize emotions they had felt „pre-dream‟, during the „dream‟, and „postdream‟. Semi-structured, individual in-depth interviews were used to interview parent participants. The parent‟s story was not interrupted, thereby providing the opportunity for a fluid narrative. In addition to interviews, the researcher made field notes of the participant‟s reactions, body language and emotions after each interview. All interviews were recorded and transcribed. Tesch‟s (1990) approach was used to identify, analyse and report patterns within the data. The findings of this study suggest that intervention strategies improve emotional health and overall wellness in participants. „Pre-dream‟ feelings of fear, sadness, loneliness and a lack of normality in everyday life, were prominent themes. Participating parents expressed anger, helplessness and guilt about being unable to help their children. During the „dream-come-true‟ experience, the predominant themes that emerged were excitement, amazement and gratitude. The theme of disbelief in the reality and experience of the „dream‟ was also prominent. „Post-dream‟, the participants reported a more positive, confident and hopeful outlook. This research appeared to yield some important information on the possible benefits of psychosocial intervention strategies, as they seemed helpful in addressing the challenges presented by LTIs in children/adolescents. / MA (Psychology), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2015

Sustainable organisational performance imperatives that generate shareholder value are strategy, execution, culture, structure, talent, innovation, leadership and growth. These superannuated management practices are still valid. Today it is even more vital to contrive and rethink these imperatives to renew business excellence in an undefined market space, the circular economy, and to reverse engineer product offerings. At the root of performance remain team members, team leaders and managers with their neurological representations, states of consciousness, abstract levels of awareness and the higher levels of thought. These thoughts create their reality and the way they create meaning of and contributing to this world. It also provides choice and generates excellence, performance and the success of the organisation. The principal purpose of this research has been to develop an Integrated Meta-model of Team Excellence by aligning the life-cycle of an employee, management-leadership, team culture, diversity and climate in view of the pressures of the business environment in order to execute an excellent performance outcome at the operational level to provide customer service and drive shareholder value. The first objective of the research was to model team excellence to enable performance so that the current performance level in a team can be determined, developmental opportunities can be identified and excellent performance parameters can be deliberated on for emulation, recruitment team fit and placement. Two instruments were applied for profiling. The thinking preferences were profiled with the Inventory of Work and Attitude Motivation Instrument (iWAM®) and the Values System Questionnaire (VSQ®) was used to profile and analyse the complexity of value structures as drivers of organisational performance. Contrastive analyses were conducted for the managers, team leaders and teams with the conclusion that a manager, a team leader and team members can create the fundamental conditions for emotionally and socially intelligent ability and capacity to facilitate performance. The capacity to model thinking preferences of outliers and poor performers and engineer a contextual Model of Excellence for a specific team in a specific environment distinguishes the work of Merlevede in that it has at its core a more accurate approach to identify areas of development, selection, team fit, design of appropriate coaching and mentoring interventions to improve and sustain team performance. / PhD (Business Administration), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2015

Approximately forty percent of youths’ waking hours are unrestricted and not committed to activities such as eating, sleeping or going to school. Many of this free time is spent without companionship or supervision from adults, which puts them at risk of spending their time out on the streets, where the risk of succumbing to peer pressure and becoming involved in inappropriate or illegal activities is increased. The absence of structured activities, stimulation and support can lead to youth becoming involved in rebellious and unwanted behaviour, partly due to their continuous search for adventure and excitement. Learners with Mentally Mild Learning Disabilities (MMLD) can be seen as youth at risk because of their academic and behavioural problems. Learning disabilities can increase the risk factors for delinquency and substance dependence. Previous research suggests that adventure-based experiential programmes (AEPs), which are highly structured, can thus be a very powerful intervention or prevention medium to empower youth at risk to overcome obstacles through the acquisition and practise of skills. The purpose of the study was firstly to determine what the personal functioning profile of MMLD youth looks like, which was done in order to gain insight into the different aspects of the personal functioning, which were focused on when developing the AEP. The study was secondly done to determine what the role of an AEP is on the personal functioning of learners with MMLD. Books, journals, dissertations, theses and internet sources were used to do a thorough literature review. The literature review was done in order for readers to understand the link between MMLD youth and an AEP. The literature review gave an introduction to the phenomenon of MMLD youth and also explained how an AEP could be beneficial towards them. A qualitative research design was used by the researcher in the form of an instrumental case study. Case studies make it possible for the researcher to use qualitative as well as quantitative constructs for data gathering purposes. Sampling of participants was done in two steps. A school for Learners with Special Education Needs (LSEN) (Die Wilge High School) was sampled through purposeful sampling by means of criterion-based sampling techniques. The second step was to sample fourteen male learners from Die Wilge High School through purposive sampling. The personal functioning was determined by using the Youth at Risk Assessment Scale (YAR3) Questionnaire 3. The researcher made use of semi-structured, one-on-one interviews and field notes in order to gather data. The field notes and transcribed interviews were analysed in order to obtain a clear picture of the content, which was then used to identify the codes. After the data was analysed four main themes, each with its own categories, were identified. The themes related to the personal functioning of the youth and consisted of interpersonal relationships, trust, self-worth and perseverance. The learners had positive feedback regarding their interpersonal relationships, trust, self-worth and perseverance before participation in the AEP. This was attributed to the Strengths-based Approach which the researcher followed in the development of the AEP. Despite this positive feedback, the learners still felt that there was an improvement after the AEP in all of the areas. Most of the learners attributed the improvement to learning more about each other, learning to work together and building friendships among each other. These new found friendships made it easier to trust each other and believe in themselves. The learners also realised that they experienced more positive feelings from persevering than when they quit. The results were used to discuss the objective of the study and to determine if the researcher met the objective. / MA (Recreational Science), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2015

UNESCO has been a forerunner in the field of mainstreaming of gender which is evident in countless conferences and publications, notably in its Checklist for the Integration of Gender Issues in the Evaluation of UNESCO’s Programmes (UNESCO 1999b ). The branch with special responsibility for questions of Adult Literacy has been the UNESCO Institute of Education (UIE). Careful historical-comparative analysis of its publications reveals a varied picture on the question of gender. On the one hand it has published evaluation manuals (Bhola 1990, Easton 1996) in which gender goes virtually unnoticed. And on the other there are collected essays of workshops organised and published by the UIE which present some of the strongest voices on the subject, notably Sara Longwe (1997, 1999a), the exponent of the evaluation tool, Women’s Empowerment Framework. While personnel changes in the UIE in the course of the nineties may be a partial explanation, there are other ambiguities in its policies and practice which are not as easily explained. When the evaluation reports of literacy programmes published as exemplary practice by the UIE are examined they reveal some striking differences. Two evaluations of literacy programmes in Sub-Saharan Africa were analysed, one in Oyo State, Nigeria (Omolewa et al. 1998) and the other being the National Literacy Programme of Namibia (Lind 1996). The methods of analysis were both the UNESCO Checklist and the Women’s Empowerment Framework. They both have received wide acceptance within this particular field. Furthermore, their use provides a means of internal comparison. What the study reveals is a striking discrepancy between such policy and the actual practice of evaluation, and at the same time it becomes clear that the Women’s Empowerment Framework is the more rigorous of the two. Particularly in the analysis of the Oyo programme evaluation it becomes evident that such a gender approach is able to uncover significant failures, particular with regard to its patriarchal notion of “empowerment”. Although it too falls short of the standards, the evaluation of the Namibian programme comes a lot closer to the requirements. An explanation for the discrepancy between the two may be located in the fact that whereas the Oyo evaluation was conducted by a team of local consultants, all of whom were male, the Namibian evaluation was a joint local-international initiative with an equal male-female balance. Further study of UIE’s other published evaluation reports would however be necessary in order to confirm such a conclusion. What the study does succeed in establishing is the way in which the role of UNESCO through the UIE’s has been that of a facilitator. By bringing different emphases into dialogue with one another it has served to open up new directions in the field of gender and literacy programme evaluation. / Public Administration / M.A.

The purpose of this study was to explore and describe the meaning employees attributed to the lived experiences of having been declared in excess in the Gauteng Health Department during restructuring. A qualitative, phenomenological research design was selected as the most appropriate approach in conducting this study. Phenomenology offers both methodological and philosophical perspectives with the aim of developing a greater understanding through description, reflection and awareness of the meaning of having “been declared in excess”. Purposive sampling was implemented. A total of ten (10) female professional nurses participated in the study. Data were collected using one common ontological question that enabled the researcher to gain a greater understanding of what it means to be declared in excess from the participants’ perspective. Data were collected until saturation was reached. Unstructured audio-taped interviews were conducted with study participants. Data were analysed using the method developed by Giorgi (1985). The study highlighted different reactions from different participants despite being exposed to the same experience. / Health Studies / Thesis (D. Litt. et Phil.)

Dans le cadre de cette recherche, nous avons tracé un portrait de la citoyenneté environnementale d'une vingtaine d'élèves du primaire et du secondaire. Nous avons également dégagé l'impact de deux programmes d'ERE (j'Adopte un cours d'eau et Rivière du Nord) sur l'évolution de cette citoyenneté. Nous avons identifié un impact significatif sur deux des cinq composantes de la citoyenneté environnementale. On peut affirmer que les deux programmes étudiés contribuent à amplifier un lien affectif (sensibilité environnementale) qu'entretient l'enfant avec la nature en facilitant l'acquisition de connaissances du milieu naturel qui est, dans notre cas, la rivière. Par contre, nous ne pouvons conclure qu'il y a eu un impact sur le sentiment de pouvoir agir, les habiletés de participation démocratique ou le jugement critique des élèves. Nos constatations ne sont pas généralisables, dans la mesure où notre recherche de type descriptive possède un petit échantillon, mais nous permet tout de même de conclure qu'il y a un intérêt certain à poursuivre les recherches en ce sens.Dans le contexte québécois de la réforme en éducation et de la préoccupation grandissante pour les problèmes environnementaux, il est nécessaire de se pencher sur les effets de tels programmes d'ERE sur les apprentissages des élèves ainsi que l'évolution de leur citoyenneté.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the perceptions of support provided to learners from child headed homes (CHH) by the Institutional Level Support Teams ILST). This was a two-phased study involving a literature study and empirical research. The study employed a qualitative research method to elicit information from participants by means of individual interviews. The literature revealed that learners from CHH are part of our school systems even though the phenomenon of CHH is not increasing. These learners experience many challenges such as role adjustment, stress and grief and school drop outs. Due to lack of various needs it would be difficult for them to reach a level of self-actualisation unless schools provide support. Poverty, HIV/AIDS and the breakdown of appropriate alternative care were revealed as contextual factors leading to CHH. There are also policies and reports guiding the support of learners in schools. There are national programmes that are provided from national level to support needy learners included, namely NSNP, school based crime prevention programmes, the child support grant, the sanitary pads project, exemption from paying school fees and the food garden project. A qualitative method was used and data was collected by means of semi-structured interviews and documents. Five sites were purposefully selected and fifteen ILST members participated. The research sites comprised of five secondary schools. Data were collected from three strata, namely the principal, ILST coordinator and the teacher with the highest number of learners from CHH in his/her class. The study revealed that national programmes were more constant than school-based which were ad-hoc and disjointed. Factors hampering the provision of support included problems with identification of learners from CHH, lack of policies guiding the provision of support to learners from CHH, lack of leadership and the ILST members not being committed enough. Factors enhancing the provision of support included good leadership, availability of programmes at national and the involvement of external stakeholders.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the perceptions of support provided to learners from child headed homes (CHH) by the Institutional Level Support Teams ILST). This was a two-phased study involving a literature study and empirical research. The study employed a qualitative research method to elicit information from participants by means of individual interviews. The literature revealed that learners from CHH are part of our school systems even though the phenomenon of CHH is not increasing. These learners experience many challenges such as role adjustment, stress and grief and school drop outs. Due to lack of various needs it would be difficult for them to reach a level of self-actualisation unless schools provide support. Poverty, HIV/AIDS and the breakdown of appropriate alternative care were revealed as contextual factors leading to CHH. There are also policies and reports guiding the support of learners in schools. There are national programmes that are provided from national level to support needy learners included, namely NSNP, school based crime prevention programmes, the child support grant, the sanitary pads project, exemption from paying school fees and the food garden project. A qualitative method was used and data was collected by means of semi-structured interviews and documents. Five sites were purposefully selected and fifteen ILST members participated. The research sites comprised of five secondary schools. Data were collected from three strata, namely the principal, ILST coordinator and the teacher with the highest number of learners from CHH in his/her class. The study revealed that national programmes were more constant than school-based which were ad-hoc and disjointed. Factors hampering the provision of support included problems with identification of learners from CHH, lack of policies guiding the provision of support to learners from CHH, lack of leadership and the ILST members not being committed enough. Factors enhancing the provision of support included good leadership, availability of programmes at national and the involvement of external stakeholders.

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are the engine of economic growth and job creation. Governments have devoted considerable resources to increase their competitiveness in the market. Several design support programmes (DSPs) have emerged from this investment to promote design as a strategic resource for innovation and business growth. Although existing research indicates that an effective use of design can enhance the business performance, a lack of interest amongst SMEs to work with designers is cited in several studies. Despite the great amount of money, energy and time that has been spent on design support for SMEs, there is still a lack of knowledge about effective delivery and evaluation. This thesis focuses on the problem of finding better ways to assist SMEs with design for economic growth by evaluating the effectiveness of design support for SMEs. This research, therefore, has examined the activities of UK-based DSPs, investigated the expertise of design consultancies and inquired about the self-image of designers in order to expand the knowledge of design support for SMEs. The research applied an interpretive paradigm, where multiple realities are recognised as socially constructed. Data was gathered through interviews with individuals representing DSPs, SMEs, design consultancies and government support agencies assisting SMEs. Observation of business support events and publicly available documents were used as additional sources. A thematic analysis and a systematic metaphor analysis were employed to examine the resulting data. The research has highlighted a number of key issues that are pivotal to the success of design support for SMEs. This PhD research also proposes two explanatory frameworks to contribute to design theory and practice: a seven-step evaluation framework for planning and evaluating the outcomes of DSPs and a re-framing of the generalist-specialist dilemma that can inform the activities of design consultancies and DSPs and can guide designers to improve their expertise.

Thesis (MPhil)--Stellenbosch University, 2011. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Background: Academic support programmes have an important part to play in addressing the needs of students experiencing difficulties. A quality assurance exercise by the national accreditation body highlighted the fact that academic staff involved in non-academic counselling had no prior training. Aim: The aim of this study was to evaluate the academic advisor programme in a Malaysian medical school from the academic advisors’ perspective in order to determine their understanding of their role, their experiences and needs. Method: Focus group discussions (FGDs) involving 10 academic advisors were conducted using a semi-structured interview schedule. Results: Study participants demonstrated some instinctive understanding of their role (especially as role models in their professional development) although they did not have clear guidelines. They strongly expressed a need for training in counselling skills and better administrative support. There was some reluctance to undertake the task of academic advising as there were no perceived rewards or incentives. Conclusions: The training of academic advisors needs to be addressed in faculty development programmes. Strong institutional administrative support is important with efficient channels of communication to academic advisors on student performance and other relevant information. Teaching activities need due institutional recognition and reward. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Geen opsomming