The present study explores Rhodes students' perceptions and attitudes towards HIV/Aids issues. This study focuses on risk behaviour, stigmatisation, social perceptions and voluntary counselling and HIV testing (VCT). There is a lack of research on student attitudes, knowledge and behaviour at Rhodes University. It was therefore deemed pertinent to research this topic in that context. It was envisaged that the study would provide insights to be used in the formulation of improved strategies for HIV/Aids programs and education, ultimately impacting on the exponential increase of the pandemic in the Southern African region. A sample of six hundred and seventy five Rhodes University undergraduates completed a survey and its findings were interpreted in terms of relevant literature. A mixed methods approach using qualitative and quantitative methods was used. A focus group consisting of seven post-graduate students informed the development of the survey along with relevant literature. Four departments from the faculties of Commerce, Humanities, Science and Law were randomly sampled for the survey phase. Statistica was used to calculate descriptive statistics while the chi-square statistic was applied to examine the relationships between the variables. The findings show that the majority of students have high intention levels in planning to use preventative behaviour. However, in practise, this may not be the case. Many students feel that they belong to high or medium risk groups, as opposed to the low-risk groups. In terms of motivation levels, only sixty three percent of students are highly motivated to protect themselves from HIV/Aids and one third of respondents felt that they could not ask their partner to accompany them for an HIV/Aids test. In addition, students who had received VCT were more likely to be positive about the counselling process.

MEd (Educational Management) / Department of Educational Management / See the attached abstract below

The integration of modern science and indigenous knowledge systems in the science education curriculum for South African schools represents social justice for the majority of South Africans as they determine the knowledge necessary for themselves and for future generations in the new South Africa. An exploratory research reveals tension and a dichotomous relationship between modern science and IKS, caused by false hierarchies that are influenced by factors such as colonialism, capitalism and modernisation to the exclusion of the core values held by indigenous people in their relationship with nature. The thesis demonstrates that the integration requires an epistemology that puts humanity first and a framework that accommodates both ways of knowing. This should allow for the best in the two systems of knowing to serve humanity in a dialogical manner. / Educational Studies / M. Ed. (Philosophy of Education)

PhD (Public Health) / Department of Public Health / Background: South Africa continues to struggle with the high prevalence of Human Immunedeficiency Virus and Acquired Immune deficiency Syndrome. Young people of the university going age are the most affected by this disease. The higher education sector, particularly teachers, are well placed to mitigate this pandemic through teaching and learning. Despite the fact, that a lot has been written on the need to integrate HIV/AIDS content into curricula very few institutions of higher learning are heeding the call mainly due to lack of guidance on how to integrate HIV/AIDS content. Aim:The aim of the study was to develop a framework that facilitate integration of HIV/AIDS content into university curricula. Methods: This cross-sectional study employed quantitative methodology and was conducted in two phases : Data was collected using different methods such as cross sectional surveys, content analysis and systematic reviews. For cross sectional surveys the target population included teachers and students and they were selected using systematic and purposive sampling respectively. The study setting was University of Venda. Data were analysed using SPSS, version 23. Multiple logistic regression and chi-square tests (χ2) were employed to determine the associations. Results: The thesis comprises five interdependent studies. Study one: A systematic review of peer-reviewed journals and grey literature of HIV/AIDS programmes in higher education was conducted. It was found that HIV/AIDS content was integrated mainly into existing , compulsory, undergraduate modules, health sciences disciplines focused on basic facts about HIV/AIDS. The HIV/AIDS content was taught using classroom based teaching strategies. Study two: A quantitative content analysis, to gauge the extent of HIV/AIDS integration into the curricula in various departments at Univen was conducted. The results of this study suggest that HIV/AIDS content was limited as only 68 modules/courses out of 1979 had HIV/AIDS content in different disciplines across all eight schools at the university. Study three: A survey was conducted to assess the knowledge, attitudes and practices of students towards learning about HIV/AIDS content among 340 students . The study found out that majority of the students possessed high knowledge about HIV/AIDS, though they had misconceptions about HIV transmission routes. Further they supported the introduction of formal teaching and learning about HIV/AIDS in their disciplines and very few students were taught about HIV/AIDS in their studies. Study four: A survey was conducted to assess knowledge, attitudes and practices of teachers towards teaching and learning of HIV/AIDS content in the curriculum among 240 teachers . The results showed that the majority of teachers were knowledgeable about HIV/AIDS , had positive attitudes towards the teaching and learning of HIV/AIDS content in the curriculum and very few taught about HIV/AIDS. Study five: Data from the study findings, literature and analysis of the curriculum were integrated within Information ,Motivation and Behaviour Model to develop the proposed framework for integrating HIV/AIDS content. Conclusion: The purpose of the study was to develop a framework that facilitates the integration of HIV/AIDS content into the undergraduate curriculum. The proposed framework in this study may assist HEIs, faculties and teachers to integrate HIV/AIDS content formally into their curriculum and ensure that various academic departments can integrate HIV/AIDS-related issues into the undergraduate curricula. The framework outlines HIV/AIDS competencies for different levels of study in various disciplines and its adoption may assist HEIs in producing graduates who can survive and work in a world ravaged by HIV/AIDS. In order to implement the proposed framework for integration of HIV/AIDS content into undergraduate curricula, recommendations were made. / NRF

Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of PhD (Community Psychology), Faculty of Arts, University of Zululand, 2008. / HIV and AIDS present a catastrophic public health threat that is reaching crisis proportions among adolescents and young adults. There is a need to educate pre adolescent female learners before they reach puberty, as females are especially at risk of contracting HIV because of the interplay of biological, economic and cultural factors. This study explored the nature and extent of the pre-adolescent female learner's knowledge, attitudes and skills regarding HIV and AIDS. An experimental research design, namely, a no-treatment group design with pre test and posttest was applied. An HIV and AIDS prevention intervention programme was designed and implemented. The objectives were to help learners acquire knowledge, attitudes and skills to make informed decisions and practice health promoting behaviours. Life skills, sex and sexuality education and HIV and AIDS as a gendered epidemic were addressed. The science and art of health education was used to frame the intervention and ensured that the learner not only received the correct message but also incorporated it into her repertoire of behaviour. The findings of the study highlighted five critical areas that were vital within an HIV and AIDS education intervention. Firstly, pre adolescent female learners were very interested in sex and sexuality and information on physiological changes during puberty must be disseminated. The issue of morality was attached to sex and sexuality and this reinforced the biopsychosocial and cultural factors that came into play. The importance of peer education was emphasised, as parents were reticent to address these issues. It was found that basic information on all dimensions of HIV and AIDS education was still a powerful tool. It was vital to incorporate more than the ABC messages and look at the social constructs of health promotion and focus on critical thinking and an education for liberation. A manual with a set of guidelines was formulated and presented to educators for use with preadolescent female learners. This would help reduce the casualties of HIV and AIDS, as early intervention would protect a vulnerable group in society.

Thesis (M.Ed.(Curriculum Studies)) -- University of Limpopo, 2022 / The liability for the decline in performance in Grade 12 Accounting learners in Ehlanzeni District has been levelled against lack of resources in schools, teachers’ inability to execute their duties and poorly trained teachers. Arising from this indictment, this study was conducted to investigate the effectiveness of assessment methods used for Grade 12 Accounting learners in Sikhulile and Mgwenya Circuits in Ehlanzeni District of Mpumalanga Province. A qualitative survey case study was used as a research design. Data was collected using one-to-one interviews among five Accounting teachers, five Heads of Department and five Principals. Qualitative data was presented using thematic and narrative analysis. The key findings were: (1) inadequacy of Accounting workshops and non-attendance by teachers, (2) lack of pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) by Accounting teachers, (3) Accounting content gaps among learners and difficulties in the content area such as Balance Sheet and Cash Flow Statement, (4) shortage of Accounting Learning Teaching Support (LTSM), (5) inadequacies in pedagogical technological devices for teaching, learning and assessment in Accounting, (6) poor teaching and assessment methods used in Accounting and (7) inadequate support from the Department of Education. The study recommends increased frequency of workshops and making attendance compulsory, strategies to improve the pedagogical content knowledge of Accounting teachers, providing in-service training in Accounting to EMS teachers, improved supply of educational resources, improving the schools’ digital infrastructure such as internet connectivity and accessibility to digital devices, improving teachers’ pedagogical skills and digital skills and palpable Departmental support to teachers

This research investigates the complex nature of caring in relation to women in ministry, in particular when women's roles as carers are subsumed into a patriarchal agenda in the church, with negative effects for women. The thesis explores this as an ethical problem that confronts women, but also those who are training women for the ministry. It proposes that feminist pedagogy provides important insights, tools and analyses which, when incorporated into women's formation, can help to counter these negative tendencies and the way women have internalised them. The findings of the research suggest that a critical ethic of care, which incorporates biblical principles of compassion and justice, is central to the liberating praxis of women in ministry. This has two important consequences: Firstly, it has implications for the women and how they assert themselves as moral agents of critical caring in their ministry. It suggests that in addition to the traditional caring work that women do, women also care when they seek justice by challenging the status quo understandings and practices of caring. In addition, women care when they look after themselves: when they seek healing, when they scrutinise their roles and responsibilities, and in some cases, make decisions not to care. Secondly, a critical ethic of care has implications for theological education at the epistemological, the pedagogical and the practical levels. The findings from the empirical research, based on two case studies of a Women's Studies course, have helped to identify the kinds of changes that are necessary. These include revisioning the theological content that is taught, as well as the teaching methodologies. Changes to the institutional culture and the relationships within it are necessary so that the institutions become more welcoming and hospitable to women. This thesis suggests that educators have an ethical responsibility to prepare women with the necessary knowledge and skills for the difficult, and often uncaring, terrain of their local churches. It concludes by challenging women to take responsibility for inserting themselves into local communities of practice, as a vehicle for their ongoing formation and support once they leave the theological institution. / Systematic Theology & Theological Ethics / DTH (THEOLOGICAL ETHICS)

In this critical evaluation of the National Policy on Religion and Education (Republic of South Africa 2003) , I will invite a multiplicity of voices and opinions from various disciplines and discourses - a Bakhtinian carnival of heteroglossic play . As opposed to the official feast, one might say that carnival celebrated temporary liberation from the prevailing truth and from the established order; it marked the suspension of all hierarchal rank, privileges, norms, and prohibitions. Carnival was the true feast of time, the feast of becoming, change, renewal. It was hostile to all that was immortalised and completed (Bakhtin 1984:10). In this time of postmodern carnival, official 'Truth' is constantly questioned and treated with suspicion and replaced by new and unofficial truths (Scott 1986; Hiebert 2003). God (if not religion) has been proclaimed dead and yet at the same time seems to be more alive than ever. This is a time when 'all the conventional norms and protocols are suspended, as the common life is invaded by a great wave of riotous antinomianism which makes everywhere for bizarre mésalliances' (Scott 1986:6). And the presiding spirit of blasphemy finds its quintessential expression in the ritual of the mock crowning and subsequent decrowning of the carnival king - who is the very antithesis of a real king, since he is in fact often a slave or a jester. In short, everything is topsy-turvy, and the disarray thus engenders an uproarious kind of laughter (Scott 1986:6). In his presidential address to the American Academy of Religion in 1986 titled 'The house of intellect in an age of carnival: some hermeneutical reflections', Scott (1986:7) explores the impact of the "multiplicity and fragmentation and diversity" facing 'the house of intellect', and identifies the challenge of not resorting to the safety of 'any sort of reductionism, [but] how to understand and interpret the multitudinous messages and voices that press in upon us, each clamouring for attention and for pride of place'. After acknowledging the polyphony surrounding Religionswissenschaft on the one hand and on the other hand rejecting any hermeneutical attempts at a 'totalistic' synthesis, Scott proposes moving among the different 'modalities' of interanimation between [the various] modes of discourse' (Ricoeur quoted by Scott 1986:11). Scott (1986:15) closes his address by appealing for continued conversations and dialogue among discourses and 'scatterings' of truth (1986:15) as a hermeneutical method that would take the plurality and heteroglossia of this time in history seriously. This thesis is an attempt - a personal but also a scholarly and academically responsible attempt - to plot many of the voices and contexts that would help to evaluate the specific understanding of the role of the study of religion in the broader contexts of citizenship in a postmodern age where nationalities, nation states and allegiances are constantly in flux and complex. This thesis is also submitted as proof of the validity of my own voice as one of many voices in and surrounding the house of intellect in an age of carnival. / Religious Studies and Arabic) / D. Litt. et Phil. (Religious Studies and Arabic)

The overall aim of the study was to study the relevance of educational provision in KwaZulu-Natal. There have been no vocationally orientated alternatives available in the schools of this province. The poor performance of our matriculants results in wide-spread media coverage. A further consideration in the formulation of the aims of this study was the decline in the socio-economic development of this province. It was postulated that the problems of high youth unemployment were related to the perceived irrelevance of educational provision. A basic needs approach for human development was adopted as the theoretical foundation for the study. The aims included a comparative examination of a selection of international systems of education from high and low-income economies of the world. Primary analysis was vis-a-vis a historical, legal, socio-economic, and structure of education analytical framework .. The secondary analysis was visa- vis a framework that included trends, critical issues and anticipated future developments or reforms in education. The analytical framework was applied stringently through-out the study. Consequently the data reduction process was cyclical and on-going. Data gathering process was done by means of a process of document collection supplemented by interviews with stakeholders and educators. Two questionnaires were designed for implementation at a critical stage of the study .. These two surveys focused on critical areas of relevant education in the region. Data reduction took place systematically the context of Chapters 3, 4 and 5. The emerging themes were concluded in a final summarising chapter. The findings indicated that the problems of relevance in KwaZulu-Natal were linked to a fragmented historical past. The perpetuation of irrelevance in education was however, associated with neo-ideological considerations. The study suggested that the provincial education department did not have the capacity to provide relevant education. A decline has taken place in the standards of education in the public school sector. The strength of the private sector of this province was concluded to be a factor of relevance. Further research in human resources development was critical for the future development of the province. / Educational Studies / D. Ed. (Comparative Education)

Submitted in fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Technology: Education, Durban University of Technology, 2013. / This study investigated the management of inclusive education in the four selected junior primary schools in the Empangeni District, KwaZulu-Natal. Despite the fact that the White Paper 6 on Special Needs Education and Training: Building Inclusive Education and Training System was released in 2001, aiming at providing quality education for all learners, the implementation and management of inclusive education in schools still remain a challenge. This research, therefore, investigated possible challenges and suggested solutions that could be used for the effective implementation and management of inclusive education in schools. This study was conducted to answer the following questions: i. What are the challenges at school level that delay the implementation of inclusive education? ii. What skills do teachers and principals have or acquired in order to identify and support learners who experience barriers to learning and development? iii. What are the teachers’ perceptions regarding the inclusion of learners who experience barriers to learning and development? iv. Does our education system provide teachers with relevant training to meet the challenges that come with inclusive education? An ethnographic research was conducted in four junior primary schools at the Empangeni District, KwaZulu- Natal to find out what happens in their school setting. Fifteen foundation phase teachers from four junior primary schools, four principals and six final year university student teachers participated in the study. The findings of data collected from teachers, principals and student teachers regarding their views on inclusion of learners who experience barriers to learning were used to make recommendations. The findings from the study revealed the need for schools to effectively implement the White Paper 6 on Special Needs Education and Training: Building Inclusive Education and Training System (2001). Inclusion of learners who experience barriers to learning and development is an international initiative, which aims to provide quality education for all learners. The success of inclusion is based on the adoption and implementation of the international, national and provincial inclusive education policies, declarations and guidelines. In this study, it became evident that there is a shortage of teachers who have specialization in Special Education: Barriers to Learning. In- service teacher training and special education element should be included in all courses of initial teacher training. Ongoing professional development of teachers on inclusive education issues is also crucial. Teachers need to be provided with necessary skills to identify developmental delays and barriers to learning early. This study highlighted the importance of the establishment of the functional support structures, Institutional Level Support Team and District Based Support Team so that inclusive education is effectively managed in the education system. Provision of skills that will assist teachers to provide relevant support to learners who experience barriers to learning, lies on the existence of the support structures. The findings also revealed that schools or any other stakeholder cannot address barriers to learning in isolation. Linkages with Tertiary Institutions, Department of Health, Department of Social Development, Non-Governmental Organizations, parents/ caregivers and teacher unions need to be prioritized, in order to ensure that diverse needs of learners are met and barriers to learning and development are addressed. The positive response from the National Department of Education to the international initiatives for promoting single inclusive education system that is responsive to the diverse needs of all learners, resulted to the release of the White Paper 6 on Special Needs Education and Training: Building Inclusive Education and Training System in 2001. The need to close the gap between theory outlined in all the policies and guidelines that promote inclusive education and practice becomes evident in this study. The management of inclusive education in schools, therefore requires the School Management Team to facilitate, amongst other things, human resource development and establishment of the Institutional Level Support Team.