Educational Studies / M. Ed. (Guidance & Counselling)

Each new student arriving at the university or college brings an assortment of expectations, different types and levels of academic competency, different levels of psychological well-being, a variety of attitudes, values and divergent life experiences. Each adjusts at his or her own rate and experiences life as a student in unique ways. The focus of this study is on the problems that are encountered by the first year student on arrival at the institution and throughout the course of his or her first year studies. Using both qualitative and quantitative research methods that include work-shopping many issues, a questionnaire and focus group interviews, this triangulation of data-collection techniques has helped to provide a rich and deep exploration of the perceived problem areas. The study examines various factors that are perceived as limiting the potential performance and achievement of the student, specifically academic aspects and those factors and circumstances that affect psychological well-being. The psycho-educational issues found to be perceived as problematic by both students and staff members are a lack of preparation and insufficient academic competencies that are necessary for successful tertiary education. Of critical concern with the resultant necessity of immediate intervention, are the lack of accountability and a fear of failure with concomitant anxiety. Issues other than psycho-educational problem areas are highlighted such as economic and social variables. Although not part of the study, issues such as lack of finance and the impact of HIV/AIDS cannot be ignored as they may have a possible detrimental effect on first year student achievement. As academic competency development and psychological well-being are but two areas of concern within the gestalt of student development, the study is conducted from a theoretical stance that embraces holistic student development. It is in this light of developing the student as a totality that an intervention programme is suggested, affording the new student many opportunities to develop all facets of his being. / Faculty of Education / D. Ed.

Summaries in English and Afrikaans / Text in English / Children with learning disabilities often exhibit emotional problems. Conversely, children experiencing emotional upsets cannot achieve scholastically. The exact nature of the relationship is difficult to elucidate. Most aid programmes deal with one aspect of the problem, placing little or no emphasis on the child in totality. This study focuses on the learning disabled child as a whole from a relation theory perspective. The aim is to ascertain how the child's difficulties affect his relation structures. Once the interaction between the relation structures had been established a programme was devised to assist the child emotionally and scholastically. Play therapy has proved one of the most successful methods of child psychotherapy. This study attempts to incorporate the essential elements of play therapy into a remedial programme. It was found that the children benefitted from both components of the programme and that it had a positive influence on their relation structures / Kinders met leerprobleme toon dikwels ook emosionele probleme. Omgekeerd kan kinders met emosionele versteurings dikwels nie skolasties presteer nie. Die presiese aard van hierdie verwantskap is nie duidelik nie. Die meerderheid hulpprogramme fokus op enkele aspekte van die probleem, ,met min of geen klem op die kind·in-totaliteit nie. Hierdie studie is daarop gerig om die leergestremde kind vanuit die relasieteorie waar te neem en van hulp te wees. Die doel is om te bepaal hoe die kind se probleme sy relasies be"invloed. Nadat die interaksie vasgestel is, is 'n hulpprogram ontwerp om emosionele sowel as skolastiese hulp te verleen. Spelterapie. blyk een van die mees geslaagde metodes in kinderpsigoterapie te wees. Die studie poog om die essensiele elemente van spelterapie by 'n remedierende hulpprogram in te sluit. Daar is bevind dat die proefpersone by hierdie program gebaat het en dat hulle relasies positief be"invloed is. / Psychology of Education / M. Ed. (with specialisation in Guidance and Counselling)

Made available in DSpace on 2016-06-02T20:30:49Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 2969.pdf: 1760258 bytes, checksum: df7162f01bd13f6099ff31a6651415ec (MD5) Previous issue date: 2010-02-26 / Financiadora de Estudos e Projetos / The ageing of the Brazilian population comes accompanied by a growing number of cases of dementia, especially cases involving Alzheimer&#8223;s disease, as the incidence of neurodegenerative diseases is directly related to age. Given that the majority of the Brazilian elderly are community-dwelling, but that there are few services for elderly people with dementia or for their caregivers, these families must discover, with or without adequate information, how to care for this person. This study focuses on the development and evaluation of an in-home intervention program, which aimed to improve the caregivers&#8223; capacity to act as therapeutic agents, increasing their abilities to maintain their own wellbeing and to promote the cognitive wellbeing of their relative with dementia, emphasizing the preparation of the caregivers to conduct cognitively stimulating activities. Five pairs of older people with dementia and their caregivers participated in this quasi-experimental study. To evaluate the impacts of the intervention program on the caregivers, data were collected before the beginning and after the conclusion of the program, using the following instruments: Zarit s Caregiver Burden Inventory, the Social Skills Inventory (Brazilian version), a qualitative evaluation of selected social skills, Lipp s Adult Stress Symptoms Inventory, knowledge acquisition tests (to evaluate the retention of new concepts at the end of each module), and a complementary questionnaire (to identify behaviors presented by the elderly relative that the caregiver considered to be problematic, how they managed these behaviors, and what they did to keep their relative active). Although cognitive stimulation can retard the progress of dementia, it cannot stop the advance of these diseases. A decrease in the elderly people&#8223;s abilities during the intervention period would have a negative impact on indicators of the caregivers&#8223; wellbeing, interfering with the evaluation of the program. As such, the elderly people were also evaluated using the Mini Mental State Exam (MMSE) and the Pfeffer Examination for Functional Activities (PEFA). Results concerning the impacts of the intervention program for the caregivers indicated statistically significant differences for: (a) a reduction in stress levels, t(4) = 4.47, p = 0,011, (b) an improvement in the caregivers&#8223; average scores on the knowledge acquisition tests, t(4) = 23.91, p < 0,001, (c) a trend indicating improvement in the Social Skills Inventory scores (Brazilian version), t(4) = 2,36, p = 0,77, and (d) according to the results gained via the complementary questionnaire, a 57% improvement in the use of strategies to manage the elderly relative&#8223;s problematic behaviors, as well as a 100% improvement in the caregivers&#8223; abilities to conduct cognitively stimulating activities with their elderly relative. However, the caregivers no longer engaged in these activities at the time of the follow-up evaluations. As such, the intervention program helped the caregivers acquire new knowledge as well as to improve their abilities to conduct cognitively stimulating activities and to manage stressful situations involving their elderly relative. However, we still need to identify supports that could help sustain the caregivers&#8223; use of cognitively stimulating activities with their elderly relative, following the conclusion of an intervention program like the one described in this study. / O envelhecimento da população brasileira vem acompanhado do aparecimento de um número crescente de casos de demência, principalmente envolvendo a doença de Alzheimer, uma vez que a incidência de doenças neurodegenerativas está diretamente correlacionada com a idade. Considerando que a maioria dos idosos brasileiros reside na comunidade, mas que há poucos serviços que auxiliam o idoso com demência e seu cuidador, a família tem que descobrir, com ou sem informações adequadas, como cuidar deste idoso. O foco deste estudo foi desenvolver e avaliar um programa de intervenção domiciliar, visando melhorar a capacidade do cuidador familiar para ser um agente terapêutico, aumentando suas habilidades para manter seu próprio bem-estar e de promover o bem-estar cognitivo do seu parente com demência, com ênfase no preparo do cuidador para realizar atividades de estimulação cognitiva. Participaram deste estudo quase-experimental cinco pares de cuidadores e seus parentes idosos com demência. Antes e ao final do programa de intervenção, usou-se os seguintes instrumentos para avaliar os impactos da intervenção sobre as cuidadoras: Inventário de Sobrecarga do Cuidador, Inventário de Habilidades Sociais, uma avaliação qualitativa de algumas habilidades sociais selecionadas, Inventário de Sintomas de Stress para Adultos de Lipp, testes de aprendizagem (para avaliar a aquisição de conceitos novos ao final de cada módulo de treinamento) e um questionário complementar (para identificar comportamentos dos idosos considerados como problemáticos pelas cuidadoras, como elas os manejavam, e o que estas faziam para manter os idosos ativos). Embora a estimulação cognitiva deva retardar o progresso da demência, ela não impede seu avanço. Uma piora nas habilidades dos idosos durante o período da intervenção afetaria negativamente os indicadores de bem-estar das cuidadoras, interferindo na avaliação do programa. Assim, para acompanhar eventuais alterações no desempenho cognitivo e a funcionalidade dos idosos, foram aplicados o Mini-Exame do Estado Mental (MEEM), e a Escala de Pfeffer. Os resultados envolvendo os impactos do programa de intervenção para as cuidadoras indicam diferenças estatisticamente significativas para: (a) uma redução nos níveis de estresse, t(4) = 4,47, com p = 0,011, (b) uma melhora no desempenho médio das cuidadoras nos testes de aprendizagem, t(4) = 23,91, com p < 0,001, (c) uma tendência de melhora nos escores obtidos no IHS-Del-Prette, t(4) = 2,36, com p = 0,77, e (d) com base nos resultados do questionário complementar, pode-se observar que a intervenção apresentou uma eficácia de 57% em melhorar as estratégias sendo usadas pelas cuidadoras para lidar com os comportamentos difíceis dos idosos, e de 100% em relação ao objetivo de tornar as cuidadoras capazes de fazer atividades de estimulação cognitiva com os idosos. As cuidadoras não mantiveram estas atividades no período do follow-up. Desta forma, a intervenção contribuiu para que as cuidadoras adquirissem novos conhecimentos e melhorassem suas habilidades para realizar atividades de estimulação cognitiva e para enfrentar e gerenciar situações estressantes envolvendo seus parentes idosos. No entanto, ainda é preciso identificar apoios que possam contribuir para a manutenção das atividades de estimulação cognitiva por parte de cuidadores familiares de idosos com demência, após a conclusão de intervenções como a descrita neste estudo.

O presente estudo teve como objetivo investigar as contribuições de uma intervenção psico-educativa para as estratégias de enfrentamento e a qualidade de vida de gestantes portadoras de HIV/Aids. Participaram 20 gestantes, entre 20 e 40 anos (M=29,9; DP=5,7), com 24 semanas ou mais de gestação e que engravidaram sabendo-se portadoras de HIV/Aids. Utilizou-se um delineamento quase experimental, com pré e pós-teste, e as contribuições da intervenção foram avaliadas por uma escala de estratégias de enfrentamento, outra sobre qualidade de vida, além de uma entrevista de avaliação da intervenção. A intervenção consistiu em cinco encontros individuais de aconselhamento, envolvendo diversos temas sobre gestação, parto, puerpério, desenvolvimento inicial do bebê, apoio social e o tratamento para HIV/Aids da gestante e do bebê. Quanto às estratégias de enfrentamento, os resultados corroboraram a hipótese inicial, ao revelar aumento significativo nos fatores Foco no Problema e Busca de Apoio Social e diminuição no fator Foco na Emoção. Análise de covariância revelou uma interação entre o tempo de diagnóstico e as diferenças entre as médias do fator Foco no Problema e uma interação entre a escolaridade e o Foco na Emoção, indicando que, quanto maior o tempo de diagnóstico e menor a escolaridade, maior foi o efeito da intervenção. Quanto à qualidade de vida, os resultados apoiaram parcialmente a hipótese inicial, ao revelarem um aumento significativo nos domínios Psicológico, Ambiente e Qualidade de Vida Geral, porém não houve o aumento esperado no domínio Relações Sociais. Análise de covariância revelou uma interação entre tempo de diagnóstico e o efeito da intervenção para o Domínio Ambiente indicando que quanto menor o tempo de diagnóstico maior foi o efeito da intervenção. Análise de conteúdo qualitativa das respostas à entrevista de avaliação da intervenção, com estrutura de categorias definida a partir das escalas utilizadas, também endossaram a importância da intervenção para as estratégias de enfrentamento e a qualidade de vida das gestantes. Juntos, os resultados indicam que, de modo geral, a intervenção apresentou contribuições importantes para as gestantes, embora o tempo de diagnóstico e uma maior ênfase em aspectos de relações sociais e apoio social devam ser considerados em futuras intervenções. / The aim of the study was to investigate the contributions of a psycho-educational intervention to coping strategies and quality of life among pregnant women living with HIV/Aids. Twenty pregnant women, aged between 20 and 40 years (M=29,9; SD=5,7), participated in the study. They were at least with 24 weeks of pregnancy, and got pregnant after knowing about their own seropositivity. We conducted a quasi-experimental study, with pre and post-test, investigating the contributions of the intervention through a coping strategies scale, a quality of life scale, and an interview on intervention evaluation. The intervention was composed by five counseling sessions on pregnancy, delivery, post-partum situations, early development of the baby, social support and treatment of pregnant women and babies. Considering coping strategies, findings confirmed the initial hypothesis, showing significant increasing in scores of Focus on Problem and Search for Social Support, and decreasing of Focus on Emotion. Covariance analysis showed interaction between time since diagnostics and the differences between means of Focus on Problem, and between school level and Focus on Emotion, indicating that the higher was time since diagnosis among pregnant women, and the lower was the school level, the better was the effect of intervention. Considering the quality of life, findings partially confirmed the initial hypothesis, showing significant increasing in scores of the domains: Psychological, Environmental, and General Quality of Life, without showing the expected increasing on Social Relations Domain. Covariance analysis showed interaction between time since diagnostics and the effect for Environmental Domain, indicating that the lower was time since diagnosis, the better was the effect of the intervention. Qualitative Contend Analysis of the answers to the interview evaluation used a structure of categories based on the scales, and also highlighted the importance of the intervention to coping strategies and to quality of life for pregnant women. Together, these findings show that the intervention represented an important contribution to pregnant women, although time since diagnosis, social relations and social support should be considered in future investigations.

O presente estudo teve como objetivo investigar as contribuições de uma intervenção psico-educativa para as estratégias de enfrentamento e a qualidade de vida de gestantes portadoras de HIV/Aids. Participaram 20 gestantes, entre 20 e 40 anos (M=29,9; DP=5,7), com 24 semanas ou mais de gestação e que engravidaram sabendo-se portadoras de HIV/Aids. Utilizou-se um delineamento quase experimental, com pré e pós-teste, e as contribuições da intervenção foram avaliadas por uma escala de estratégias de enfrentamento, outra sobre qualidade de vida, além de uma entrevista de avaliação da intervenção. A intervenção consistiu em cinco encontros individuais de aconselhamento, envolvendo diversos temas sobre gestação, parto, puerpério, desenvolvimento inicial do bebê, apoio social e o tratamento para HIV/Aids da gestante e do bebê. Quanto às estratégias de enfrentamento, os resultados corroboraram a hipótese inicial, ao revelar aumento significativo nos fatores Foco no Problema e Busca de Apoio Social e diminuição no fator Foco na Emoção. Análise de covariância revelou uma interação entre o tempo de diagnóstico e as diferenças entre as médias do fator Foco no Problema e uma interação entre a escolaridade e o Foco na Emoção, indicando que, quanto maior o tempo de diagnóstico e menor a escolaridade, maior foi o efeito da intervenção. Quanto à qualidade de vida, os resultados apoiaram parcialmente a hipótese inicial, ao revelarem um aumento significativo nos domínios Psicológico, Ambiente e Qualidade de Vida Geral, porém não houve o aumento esperado no domínio Relações Sociais. Análise de covariância revelou uma interação entre tempo de diagnóstico e o efeito da intervenção para o Domínio Ambiente indicando que quanto menor o tempo de diagnóstico maior foi o efeito da intervenção. Análise de conteúdo qualitativa das respostas à entrevista de avaliação da intervenção, com estrutura de categorias definida a partir das escalas utilizadas, também endossaram a importância da intervenção para as estratégias de enfrentamento e a qualidade de vida das gestantes. Juntos, os resultados indicam que, de modo geral, a intervenção apresentou contribuições importantes para as gestantes, embora o tempo de diagnóstico e uma maior ênfase em aspectos de relações sociais e apoio social devam ser considerados em futuras intervenções. / The aim of the study was to investigate the contributions of a psycho-educational intervention to coping strategies and quality of life among pregnant women living with HIV/Aids. Twenty pregnant women, aged between 20 and 40 years (M=29,9; SD=5,7), participated in the study. They were at least with 24 weeks of pregnancy, and got pregnant after knowing about their own seropositivity. We conducted a quasi-experimental study, with pre and post-test, investigating the contributions of the intervention through a coping strategies scale, a quality of life scale, and an interview on intervention evaluation. The intervention was composed by five counseling sessions on pregnancy, delivery, post-partum situations, early development of the baby, social support and treatment of pregnant women and babies. Considering coping strategies, findings confirmed the initial hypothesis, showing significant increasing in scores of Focus on Problem and Search for Social Support, and decreasing of Focus on Emotion. Covariance analysis showed interaction between time since diagnostics and the differences between means of Focus on Problem, and between school level and Focus on Emotion, indicating that the higher was time since diagnosis among pregnant women, and the lower was the school level, the better was the effect of intervention. Considering the quality of life, findings partially confirmed the initial hypothesis, showing significant increasing in scores of the domains: Psychological, Environmental, and General Quality of Life, without showing the expected increasing on Social Relations Domain. Covariance analysis showed interaction between time since diagnostics and the effect for Environmental Domain, indicating that the lower was time since diagnosis, the better was the effect of the intervention. Qualitative Contend Analysis of the answers to the interview evaluation used a structure of categories based on the scales, and also highlighted the importance of the intervention to coping strategies and to quality of life for pregnant women. Together, these findings show that the intervention represented an important contribution to pregnant women, although time since diagnosis, social relations and social support should be considered in future investigations.

The main aim of this study was to attempt to determine which factors that contribute to resilience are absent in adolescents who are considered to be ”at risk”. The research was undertaken with white adolescent learners between Grades 8 and 12, in a former Model-C secondary school. Several definitions of resilience, a historical view of resilience, the characteristics of a resilient adolescent, several definitions of adolescence, the stages and tasks of adolescence and who the adolescent is in psycho-educational terms, were explored. In this qualitative study, the Vulnerability Questionnaire and the Resilience Questionnaire were given to twelve educators who were requested to select the participants for the study. A qualitative assessment, using the Child and Youth Resilience Measure, was used to determine why certain adolescents are more resilient than others. Each participant also completed a collage which was analysed. / Educational Studies / M.Ed. (Specialisation in Guidance and Counselling)

This thesis investigates the literature on trauma and grief in order to explore the existence of the phenomenon of traumatic grief in children. Appropriate therapies are explored for treating traumatic grief in children. The focus in this research is on non-directive art therapy as the literature has found it to be useful in traumatic circumstances. The therapeutic relationship and the focus on containment are valuable in addressing the primary need of the child in therapy especially when traumatic grief is to be addressed. A qualitative case study approach was chosen. Two case studies were selected to investigate the phenomenon of traumatic grief in children. Purposeful sampling was used to select the cases to observe the phenomenon of traumatic grief. The case studies included pre-therapy and post-therapy assessments, which included cognitive, emotional and behavioural assessments. Art therapy was found to address the problems in the two cases. / Educational Studies / M.Ed.

The purpose of this study was to assess school-based psycho-educational support to parents of children with learning impairments and how the parents' needs differ according to the age of the child, the severity of the learning impairment and the educational status of the parent. The study presents a literature review of the neuro-physiological origin of learning impairments, cognitive development, common problems experienced by children with learning impairments, the effects on the family of having a child with learning impairments and an overview of school support services in South Africa. A survey study was used. Data was collected by means of a questionnaire. The results of the study showed that parents need to be equipped with knowledge and skills irrespective of the age of the child, the severity of the learning impairment, the number of years the child has been in special school and the educational status of the parents. / Educational Studies / M.Ed. (Guidance and Counselling)

This study explored the utilisation of a music anger management technique as an effective therapeutic aid in addressing the problems that children in residential care have in managing and expressing their anger. A literature review was conducted which provided evidence that music can be a helpful tool in teaching children appropriate ways to manage their anger. An empirical study was conducted and five participants were chosen through a sampling process. Background information of the five participants was obtained and data analyses were presented from the data gathered in the pre- and post-assessments processes before and after the implementation of the music anger management technique. The data that gave rise to several empirical findings were then reduced. From the empirical study, it can be concluded that the music anger management technique can be used effectively to improve inappropriate anger management. Getting firsthand experience of the implementation of the music anger management technique led me to derive psycho-educational guidelines, which can assist the educational psychologist in using the music anger management technique in addressing unmanaged anger in children in residential care. / Further Teacher Education / M.Ed. (Guidance and Counseling)