A dissertation submitted to the Faculty of Arts, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, for the Degree of master of Arts in Clinical psychology. / The aim of the research is to find out whether white male South Africans who Leave high school before completion of their studies differ significantly in the personality domains of neuroticism; extraversion, openness, agreeableness and conscientiousness, from their counterparts who complete their high school studies. [Abbreviated Abstract. Open document to view full version] / AC2017

This study examined the role that attributional style played in the academic achievement and school performance of a sample of 150 black primary school learners in grades 5 and 6 in an inner city school in the Johannesburg area. The Children’s Attributional Style Questionnaire (CASQ, 1984) was administered to determine the attributional styles. The questionnaire was comprised of 10 subscales and from this an overall level of optimism or pessimism was obtained. The academic achievement of the learners was measured by obtaining the end of year academic results of 1997 and 1998 from the mark schedules of each teacher. The results did not reveal significant correlations between attributional styles and academic achievement. This was contradictory to the existing literature. It appears that, in this disadvantaged group in South Africa, it is not attributional style that impacts upon academic achievement and school performance. However it appears that learned helplessness in terms of Seligman and Maier’s (1967) original formulation, rather than attributional style as in the reformulated theory of Abramson, Seligman & Teasdale (1978) may impact upon academic achievement in this community.

Children of today inhabit a multi-dimensional world, and in order to communicate effectively in it, they need the ability to utilise four forms of communication namely, oracy, literacy, numeracy and graphicacy. Communicating in graphic form requires an ability to both encode and decode spatial information using symbols, which requires the utilisation and application of spatial perceptual skills and concepts. The acquisition of graphic skills has been influenced by traditional developmental perspectives; increasingly the assumptions underpinning these have been challenged by more recent international research findings. The draft Curriculum Framework for General and Further Education and Training (1996: 18) identifies graphic literacy as one of the critical outcomes of the new South African curriculum. For graphic literacy to be an achievable outcome of the new curriculum, we need to investigate the skills and concepts underpinning this form of communication. The goal of this research is to investigate graphicacy as a form of communication in South African primary schools. However, given the scope of a research project of this nature, it was decided that rather than dealing with graphicacy per se, pictures as the most frequent and concrete type of graphic communication encountered by young learners would be focused on. In seeking to investigate pictures, the first stage of the study is concerned with diagnosing and illuminating children's graphic skill development through identifying: what skills they use; how they use and apply these when communicating through and interpreting symbols; and the difficulties they experience when, firstly, encoding spatial information through a series of practical and drawing tasks; and secondly, when reading and interpreting pictures. The second stage of the study investigates the extent to which children's early childhood experiences may or may not have impeded or enhanced the acquisition of skills necessary for understanding and communicating about space. The research findings, evaluated according to existing and emerging theoretical perspectives on graphicacy, will help to illuminate the current situation regarding the graphic literacy of South African primary school children. The study may contribute to wider international debates about graphicacy as a form of communication and the development of graphic literacy, from a South African perspective.

From Introduction: As headmaster of a technical high school it is my responsibility to admit standard six pupils to this school. Often the refrain from parents is heard: "My son is weak in mathematics but good with his hands." These parents desperately seek a secondary education for their non-academic children. To what extent has the vicious circle of low achievement - negative attitude - lower achievement - despair already been established in these pupils as far as mathematics is concerned? How does this low self-concept in mathematics ability serve as a factor in deciding upon which career to follow, which type of high school to attend? Parents and the public at large seem to be ill-informed about the subjects offered at technical high schools. The mathematical character of these schools is especially undervalued. People often seem to think that the mathematics at a technical high school is easier than at other high schools. Furthermore, people do not realize that mathematics forms the cornerstone of any technical field of study. Failure in mathematics will inevitably lead to low marks or failure in technical subjects. It seems that many pupils who have already developed a defeatist attitude towards mathematics, seek entry into this type of high school. If so, then why? This study aims to elucidate the mathematical cognitive demands made by mathematically related subjects in a technical high school. At the same time possible relationships will be investigated between choice of type of high school (technical vs non-technical) and : i) attitudes to mathematics; ii) achievement in mathematics; iii) general academic achievement; iv) attitude to school. Pupils at standard five level have already established their attitudes towards subjects. For this study standard five boys from East London English and Afrikaans-speaking primary schools were involved. The reason why girls were not considered was to eliminate the variables of sex-related behaviours. Also, girls do not report in any large numbers for technical education as yet. The results of this study should be of use to those advising standard five pupils on their choice of type of high school. If satisfactory relationships are found between affective-cognitive variables and choice of high school, future researchers may use this towards the construction of a required profile for prospective pupils of technical high schools. There are of course, many other factors in the issue. Variables like social status, parents' own experiences, vested interests of academic high schools and many more are not considered in this study. It is conceded that any in-depth study into attitudes towards mathematics or into choice of type of high school is a many-faceted problem, the scope of which lies beyond this thesis. Suffice to admit that attitudes are complex dispositions resulting from the interactions between a number of affective, cognitive and psychomotor variables.

This study examines the relationship which scholars have with newspapers against the background of a Newspapers in Education (NIE) programme in two black South African primary schools. Considering the presence of newspapers in the class as a medium of instruction, a number of factors are found to influence the -relationship which scholars have with newspapers. These factors are: scholars' access to newspapers; the nature of lessons using the newspaper; the character of the newspaper used in NIE and the context of education at the particular schools, including the attitudes and organisational abilities of both teachers and the principal. A description and analysis of this relationship is conducted in terms of the knowledge, attitudes and behaviour which scholars had -in te1ation to newspapers. This research is qualitative, undertaken from a constructivist-interpretative approach, and is set within international and South African contexts. The findings are relevant to understanding NIE programmes' interface with scholars' educational performance and with newspaper marketing objectives, as well as to the theorisation of NIE practices.

Thesis (MTech (Education))--Cape Peninsula University of Technology, Cape Town, 2006 / Teachers often complain of a lack of discipline in the school environment. In addition, these breakdowns in discipline become, on occasion, media headlines when violence, bullying, vandalism and intimidation flare up into major incidents. This, coupled with the desire of the national Department of Education (DOE) to encourage teachers to use more co-operative disciplinary methods, has led to this investigation. This dissertation explores the perceptions of senior secondary pupils around school discipline, with a particular focus on collaborative rule-making. Pupil perceptions were ascertained through a structured interview process. A framework of understanding was established by examining the pupils' interpretation of the meaning of discipline; the state of discipline in their school and recommendations to address problem areas; authority; corporal punishment; power and prefectship; power and non-prefect matrics; prefect versus nonprefect views on discipline; the prefect system; the fairness of school rules; and pupil input into school rules. The understanding gleaned from the pupils' perceptions of these notions established a solid base from which an investigation into collaborative rule-making was launched. Thereafter, the notion of collaborative rule-making, the viability of collaborative rule-making, the advantages and disadvantages of collaborative rule-making and the implementation of collaborative rule-making were examined. The pupils came out strongly in support of collaborative rule-making and were keen to have an input into the school's disciplinary structures. The potential advantages far outweighed any possible disadvantages. These findings support both Bernstein's (1996) principle of pupil participation and the premise of pupil input into Codes of Conduct as detailed by the South African Schools Act (No. 84 of 1996).

International research highlights conflicting results regarding factors that could play a role in the development of occupational aspirations and occupational gender stereotyping of primary school children. Some of the variables that have been identified are age, gender, ethnicity, socioeconomic status and societal influences. There has been some research emphasis on the career development of South Africans. However, studies that have been conducted have focused mainly on adolescents and adults. Furthermore, the majority of this research has focused on programme intervention and not on acquiring baseline information. There has been no research to date on the career development of South African Xhosa-speaking senior primary school children. The lack of career research on South African Xhosa-speaking children indicates the need for the present research. This study aims to describe and compare the occupational aspirations and occupational gender stereotyping (in terms of Holland’s occupational and status level typology) of male and female Xhosa-speaking senior primary school learners. The study also describes the possible gender stereotypical perceptions preadolescent children hold regarding certain occupations. A non-probability sample of 274 Xhosa-speaking children between the ages of 10 and 14 years was drawn from two primary schools in townships in the Nelson Mandela Metropole. An exploratory and descriptive research framework was utilised, with descriptive statistical procedures employed to summarise and report the data in a meaningful manner. The major findings of the present study indicate that Xhosa-speaking senior primary school children’s favourite occupational aspirations fit into Holland’s Investigative typology and high status level. Some gender differences were evident, with slightly more boys aspiring to Investigative occupations than girls. Both boys and girls demonstrated gender stereotypical perceptions regarding xiii which occupations were suitable for both genders, with boys more willing to accept girls into traditional male occupations than girls willing to accept boys into traditional female occupations. The results of the present study emphasise the need for further exploration of the occupational aspirations and occupational ge nder stereotyping of Xhosa-speaking senior primary school children. Future research needs to include other cultural and age groups in order to explore how personal and situational variables may differentially influence children’s occupational aspirations and occupational gender stereotyping.

Increasingly, developmental psychology has emphasized that childhood career development should be viewed as holistic and comprise all aspects of a child’s maturation. This would include an emphasis on the career development of children which is considered vital to the complete education of the child (Brown, 2002). Career development refers to the process of developing beliefs, values, skills, aptitudes, interests, personality characteristics and knowledge of work (Zunker, 2006). Research has indicated that early societal factors and personal preferences associated with gender influence the child’s later occupational aspirations (Stockard & McGee, 1990). There are many ways in which individuals learn about gender roles and acquire “gender-appropriate” behaviour during childhood, some of which manifest in the occupational aspirations of children. As children grow up they learn, through reinforcement and modeling, that society has different expectations and standards for the behaviour of males and females. While family and friends are often the most important agents of socialization in young children, television and other popular media have also played a vital role in gender stereotyping, resulting in children forming perceptions regarding which occupations “belong” to which gender (Taylor, Peplau, & Sears, 2006). The present research aims to explore, describe and compare the occupational aspirations and the occupational gender stereotyping of male and female South African and Australian senior primary school learners. The research approach for the study was descriptive and exploratory in nature and was conducted within a quantitative framework. A survey-type questionnaire, the Career Awareness Survey xiii (McMahon & Watson, 2001), was used as the data collection measure as part of a larger international study. The sample comprised of 511 South African and 372 Australian participants from Grades 6 and 7. Responses to the occupational aspirations questions were coded according to Holland’s (1985) interest typology and status level coding for occupations. For descriptive purposes, frequency counts were computed for the coded typology, status level and occupational gender stereotyping data. The z-test and chi-square test for independence were computed in order to test whether gender groups differed in terms of their occupational aspirations and occupational stereotyping. The chi-square test was also used to compare the occupational aspirations and gender stereotyping of South African and Australian senior primary school learners. The results of the present research indicate that male and female South African and Australian female children tend to aspire towards more Investigative and Social type occupations in the high status level category. The Australian male children, however, tend to aspire towards more Social and Realistic type occupations in the high status level category. Across nation and gender, the majority of the children believed that both males and females could perform certain occupations, with senior primary school children tending to limit the range of occupations which they believe to be predominantly suited to either male or female. Cross-national comparative results yielded interesting findings with few significant differences emerging on occupational aspiration typology, status level and the occupational gender stereotyping of occupations. The results of the present research emphasise the need for further cross-national comparative studies on the occupational aspirations and occupational gender stereotyping of senior primary school children.

South Africa provides a rich and challenging socio-political context in which to conduct career development research. South African children face a unique range of social, cultural and economic challenges such as poverty and the impact of HIV/AIDS on the family system which influence their career development. Internationally there has been a call for research that explores children’s career development as the majority of extant career research focuses its attention on the career development of adolescents and adults. The focus in South Africa is no different and despite the introduction of career education into the most recent school curriculum (Curriculum 21), there remains a void in South African child career development research. As such children’s career education and guidance has not been guided by local research findings. The findings of the present research will provide important baseline information relating to the career development of rural Xhosa-speaking senior primary school children. With this in mind, the present research aimed to explore and describe the occupational aspirations of male and female rural Xhosa-speaking senior primary school children. The present research also aimed to explore and describe the ways in which children assign gender-based stereotypes to different occupations. In order to provide a rich theoretical foundation for the present research, child developmental theories and developmental theories of career development as well as post-modern constructivist theories of career development have been used. The present research is quantitative in nature and makes use of the Revised Career Awareness Survey, a self-report questionnaire, which was originally designed to explore children’s knowledge and understanding of the world of work and to gain insight into the way in which they form gender-based occupational stereotypes. Three rural schools in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa were selected using a non-probability, purposive sampling method. From these schools, a non probability, convenience sample of 292 grade 6 and 7 learners was asked to complete the measure. The information gathered was then coded into nominal categories and analysed using descriptive statistics. Results from the present research indicate that rural Xhosa-speaking senior primary school children tend to aspire towards more Social and Investigative type occupations in the high status level category. The findings showed that rural Xhosa speaking senior primary school children tend to limit the range of occupations which they believe men and women can do. Here it was found that Social type jobs and household chores were most frequently named as jobs that women can do. The children in the present research listed Realistic type occupations most frequently as jobs that men can do, and least often as being jobs that women can do. It was also established that housework activities and other ‘domestic’ jobs are not seen by the participants as jobs that men can do. The results of the present research should not only inform the field of child career development in South Africa, but can also be meaningfully applied to the development of future career education programs at the primary school level in South Africa.

The learning styles of 30 urban and 30 rural black children were rated by their teachers, using the Learning Style Identification Inventory. The results obtained frtiin the teachers of the rural sample were found to be inaccurate. It was therefore not possible to make comparisons with previous findings. The results of the urban sample suggest that, on the Abstract-Concrete dimension their learning styles tended towards the Concrete end of the dimension, and on the Verbal-imaginal dimension, their ratings tended towards the Imaginal end of the dimension. An analysis of variance and Bonferroni / test indicated that these children were rated significantly more Imaginal than Verbal and significantly more Concrete than Abstract These findings are in contrast with previous research in other countries and tentatively suggest that urban children in South Africa are functioning in a manner more consistent with findings regarding learning styles of rural children in other countries. This has implications for teachers and the teaching styles of teachers in urban schools.