M.Ed. (Educational Psychology) / Please refer to full text to view abstract

<p>The aim of this paper was to identify the sources of stress for teachers involved with inclusive education as well as whether there is a statistically significant difference in stress experienced by teachers based on their biographical details. In this research the focus was on intellectual disability.</p>

<p>The aim of this paper was to identify the sources of stress for teachers involved with inclusive education as well as whether there is a statistically significant difference in stress experienced by teachers based on their biographical details. In this research the focus was on intellectual disability.</p>

M.Ed. (Psycho-educational programme development) / The wide spread concern, pertaining the alarming rate of adolescents leaving school before completing Grade12 is a South African problem. The experiences of those adolescents vary greatly. In line with the South Afncan School Act (84 of 1996) education is accessible and compulsory for all. Unfortunately that provision is targeted only for grade 1to grade 9, of which grade 9 is considered an exit point for General Education and Training. There is no clear cut intervention strategy in place in the educational system toassist adolescents leaving school before completing Grade 12 in order to cope with their situation It is for this reason that the researcher took the initiative of exploring the adolescents' experiences of leaving school before completing Grade 12. The researcher realises that adolescents form alarge percentage of our country's population. Therefore they should be retained inschools in order to be capacitated, so that they can develop and sustain economic structures of a country that has a future that depends on the expertise of the youth. Retaining adolescents in schools is a necessity. As a result, in this research, an attempt is made to alert the educational stakeholders to assist the adolescents who have left school before completing Grade 12 to cope with their situation. This research study is aimed at describing the adolescents' experiences of leaving school before completing grade twelve, to provide guidelines and to make recommendations for other educational stakeholders on how these adolescents can be assisted. The setting of the study is in the informal settlement of Ekurhuleni metropolis. Thestudy is conducted through the combination of individual interviews and participant observation. The research method that was followed was qualitative, explorative, descriptive, and contextual in order to investigate what the adolescents' experiences are. Sampling was done purposively because the respondents had to be adolescents who have left the secondary school before completing grade twelve. A pilot interview study was done. Thereafter phenomenological interviews were conducted with twenty of these adolescents. During the interviews, ethical measures were adhered to and steps to ensure trustworthiness were also followed. The data was analysed as per Tesch's method of data analysis. The services of an independent coder were also employed. The results were based on the phenomenological in-depth interviews on adolescents' own experiences of leaving secondary school before completing Grade 12. The recommendations from this study were made with specific reference to the education department. educators, parents and non-governmental organisations Guidelines were described according to themes and categories of experiences. objectives and strategies.

A report on a research study presented to The Department of Social Work School of Human and Community Development Faculty of Humanities University of the Witwatersrand In partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree Master of Arts in Occupational Social Work March, 2016 / Due to the lack of direct access to Human Resource (HR) offices, most public schools are usually neglected with regards to issues of health and occupational services. Teachers are faced with occupational challenges, such as stress, physical and mental health issues, increased work load, long working hours, unrealistic deadlines, inadequate remuneration, HIV/AIDS, poor personal financial management and relationship problems. Therefore, this requires teachers to have access to professional occupational services which aim to support and enhance their wellbeing when required. The research study explored on occupational services rendered at rural public high schools for teachers in Limpopo. The qualitative research approach and a case study research design were utilised. A type of non-probability sampling, purposive sampling also known as a judgemental sampling was used to select the research participants. The sample consisted of 19 teachers from two public high schools, who participated in three focus groups. With the various findings from the study and identifying challenges in the various schools, it is evident that the Department of Education, Limpopo needs to prioritise the provision of occupational health services to teachers in the rural areas. Such services are anticipated to enhance the wellbeing of teachers, which is further hoped, that learners will benefit from quality education as provided by teachers, impacting positively on the year end outcomes. / MT2017

Thesis (MEdPsych (Educational Psychology))--Stellenbosch University, 2008. / During the previous political dispensation, the educators in the Western Cape were captured in a process of ideological influencing. This crisis became evident in the 1976 and 1985 uproars. Although the educators attempted to act in the best interest of the learners, they were in many cases blamed by the ruling government as being liberalists. The subsequent experience of fear and anxiety endangered the emotional well-being of many educators. The election of the first democratic government in 1994 held promises of a better work environment for educators. Far-reaching transformations in education policies and the implementation of new curricula presented educators with new challenges. Disciplinary problems, multicultural classrooms, teaching in a language other than the home language, and the inclusive handling of various external as well as internal barriers to learning, became stressors that educators in the Western Cape were subjected to. The aim of this study was to investigate the influence of stressors on the emotional wellbeing of educators in high schools in the Western Cape. I aimed to determine how educators in high schools perceived their own emotional well-being. Furthermore, I explored possible reasons for this and how their emotional well-being had influenced other dimensions of their wellness. I finally focused on educators’ recommendations to improve their emotional well-being. A qualitative research design, which was guided by an interpretive paradigm, was employed. During data analysis I operated in a critical paradigm. The data was collected by means of a literature review, interviews, reflective diaries, observations, documentation and artefacts. The research findings indicated that educators generally are experiencing low levels of emotional well-being. In extreme cases it is associated with emotional illnesses such as depression and burnout. It seems as if the low levels of emotional well-being experienced by educators have a negative influence on their social and physical wellbeing. Possible reasons that can explain the low levels indicate the impact of various role players, namely the type of school, an additional work load, the head master, the school management team, colleagues, learners, parents, the Western Cape Education Department, and educators’ families and friends. In spite of the experienced low levels educators were still at times committed to their occupation. Recommendations on improving emotional well-being were associated with factors in the workplace itself.