Thesis (DPhil (Social Work))--University of Stellenbosch, 2006. / The study aimed to explore and describe the experiences, perceptions and needs of unmarried adolescent fathers and to assess the attitudes and attentiveness of selected social workers and organisations that provide services to adolescent parents. In view of the position in which teenage fathers find themselves and with regard to stereotyping and the disregard for their role as fathers, no concerted attempt is made by organisations to provide services to them. They are marginalized and despite changes in legislation and a Bill of Human Rights their needs are not attended to. A mixed research methodology was employed in conducting this exploratorydescriptive study. The study was advertised in the waiting rooms of relevant organisations, in consultation with pregnancy help centres, social work agencies and youth services. Those who responded were interviewed according to inclusion criteria for the study and those who did not qualify were referred to appropriate services. Confidentiality was assured and consent to participate in the study was discussed. A non-random sample of 32 participants was identified, ranging from 13 to 19 years were located of who 15 agreed to participate. Further attrition resulted in the sample being reduced to 12. Interview schedules were used to facilitate the discussion and to ensure that all participants were asked the same questions. The second part of the study explored the attitude and attentiveness of services to adolescent parents. All organisations providing such services were invited and seven eventually agreed to participate. Of these, four indicated that they were participating in their personal capacity. Interviews were guided by an interview schedule which aimed to explored attitude, attentiveness and capacity to provide services to unmarried teenage fathers. The findings of the study revealed that teenage fathers want to be involved with their children, but social stereotyping, unrealistic expectations of partners and family, and social discrimination militate against them. However, the support of family and the natal partner and her family, are factors that determine continued involvement. Services were perceived and experienced as negative and dismissive of their role as fathers.

This study has focused on pregnancy and parenting of 10 African young women between the ages of 16 and 19, from one of Inanda schools. Drawing from ethnography, the study explores these young women's choices of boyfriends, the circumstances that led to their pregnancy, the socio-cultural influence during pregnancy and at childbirth, kind of support they receive at home, school and boyfriends and experiences of pregnancy and motherhood. An examination of how they balance their varied roles as mothers and learners as well as the effects of pregnancy and parenting to their schooling. Although the South African Schools Act (Department of Education 1996) regulates the support of pregnant teenagers and teenage mothers in schools, the data reveal that pregnant teenagers and teenage mothers still experience challenges in schools. These challenges range from being stigmatised, discriminated and humiliated by teachers and peers, lack of support from teachers, decline in academic performance as well as the inability to participate in school's extra-mural activities. However the study reveals that there is some degree of institutional support which accounted for the teenage mothers' overall performance and achievement; there are some teachers and learners who provide some kind of support to the pregnant teenagers and teenage mothers. The thesis further argues that motherhood is very demanding, challenging and very disruptive of the young mothers' schoolwork; but the young mothers indicate self-determination and resilience to find ways of successfully juggling motherhood and schooling. On the other hand, the young fathers understand their social role as that of being a provider for the child and the care giving is only for womenfolk. Some of the young men acknowledged the importance of the young mothers' completing their schooling and realized that they needed support other than financial provision. The young men, however, do not provide the childcare themselves; they shift the caring responsibility to their own mothers. The focus on the pregnant and teenage mothers draws attention to possible ways of providing more support in order they fare better in their education for better chances of employment and gender equity. / Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Edgewood, 2012.

The issue of teenage motherhood has been a concern, globally, continentally and locally. The quantitative study assessed whether the pregnant teenagers were ready for motherhood. This report analysed the current positions of women whose first child was to be born when they were teenagers in the rural Eastern Cape setting. The structured questionnaires were given to 106 pregnant teenagers who visited the War Memorial clinic for pregnancy check-up and convenient sampling was used to select these respondents. The items of the questionnaire were divided into the following sub-topics: prenatal and postnatal challenges and roles and responsibilities of motherhood. The study found that most of the pregnant teenagers were aware of the prenatal and postnatal challenges but they were not ready to perform the roles and responsibilities associated with motherhood. The analysis of data was divided in terms of descriptive and inferential statistics. The binary regression model was used to assess the factors affecting the pregnant teenagers’ readiness for motherhood. The finding of this study indicated that most (about 79 percent) of the pregnant teenagers were not aware of the roles and responsibilities of motherhood In addition to being not ready to face the psycho-social challenges of motherhood. Hence they indicated low level of readiness to motherhood. The psycho-social theory of Erikson posited that children who had strong and intact psycho-social relationships with the caregivers might have a high possibility of acquiring their identity during adolescent stage and this will help them to interact both effectively and efficiently with their peers and the society at large. While those do had negative psycho-social development have a high chance of facing identity crisis/confusion. As a result, they might lead them to being victims of psycho-social interaction such as early pregnancy.

DEd (Sociology of Education) / Department of Curriculum Studies / The purpose of this study was to explore the educational participation and achievement of teen mothers in South Africa with specific reference to the Vhembe District of the Limpopo Province. This study also aimed to find out the prevalence of teenage pregnancy, attendance at school, and academic perfomance by teen mothers in the Vhembe District schools. The study sought to establish whether teenage motherhood has an effect on academic performance as perceived by educators. Sixty teenage mothers, eighteen teachers and six principals were purposively sampled for the study. Data was collected using in-depth interviews and focus group interviews to give the researcher a platform to ask open-response questions and to explore the educators’ perspective about academic performance, attendance at school and the educational achievements of teenage mothers. The data was analysed thematically. This was done by carefully identifying and expanding significant themes that emerged from the informants’ perceptions about the academic performance, attendance, and educational achievement of teenage mothers. The study revealed that the prevalence of teenage pregnancy and teen motherhood have a negative effect on school attendance and the academic perfomanceof the teenagers compared to their peers who are not pregnant.The study recommends that sex education should be taken seriously in secondary schools; educators should be trained and given skills to deal with both pregnant learners and teen mothers. Government should introduce a new method of disbursing the child support grant. There should be a provision of moblie clinics in schools so that both pregnant learners and teen mothers can be supported and not humiliated or stigmatized by peers and educators. / Department of Curriculum Studies and Education Management

MA (Psychology) / Department of Psychology / See the attached abstract below

MA (Psychology) / Department of Psychology / In South Africa, today, teenage pregnancy is on the increase, resulting in social and public health problems. The Department of Health (2002) indicates that, nationally 16.4% of the teenagers become pregnant every month. The Department also states that 26.4% of Grade 8 learners, 13.4% Grade 9 learners, 12.6% Grade 12 and 13.3% Grade 11 learners, fall pregnant every month. Many of these teenage mothers are confronted with various health problem, for example, HIV/AIDS, psychological (for example, high stress) and social problems (for example, lack of parenting skills, neglect, poverty, and low educational attainment). These problems have far-reaching consequences on the mothers. For example, many teenage mothers drop-out of school, attempt to commit suicide, as well as take part in prostitution and robbery. Many are unemployed and this puts the welfare of their children at risk. This research study was qualitative in nature. The exploratory phenomenological design was used in this study to explore the experiences or challenges of teenage mothers on social support as pregnancy interferes with all aspects of their lives. For example, it jeopardises teenage mothers’ relationships with their parents who are the main source of support for the young mothers. If this relationship is broken, it reduces the chances of the young mother’s success. These factors contribute to an inadequate parent-child interaction and diminish the infant’s development. Support during pregnancy and after birth is vital for a teenage mother. If her future and mental health are to be bright, then she needs to have strong social support. Non- probability sampling methods were used, namely purposive and snowball sampling. Pre-testing was done with four teenage mothers who had the same background as those in the main study. Data were collected from six teenage mothers through semistructured face to face interviews which required teenage mothers to answer a set of predetermined questions. The question asked allowed probing and clarification of answers. A tape recorder was used and the language used was Tshivenda. All ethical issues were adhered to throughout the study. Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) was used to analyse the collected data. The findings from the interviews were integrated to avoid repetition. From the analysed v data, the following themes emerged: Challenges experienced by teenage mothers; Support system for teenage mothers; and Coping strategies for teenage mothers. Analysis of data revealed that lack of social support for teenage mothers was a major problem and this was collaborated by literature. These findings revealed that teenage mothers experience many challenges compared to the support they get from significant others. In this study, the researcher found that doing field work with teenage mothers with low educational backgrounds is very challenging because they do not understand what research is all about. The researcher realised that there is more that South African needs to do to encourage people to support teenage mothers. Whilst the work done at Tshikuwi is appreciated, the researcher feels it is too little too late considering the number of teenage mothers who continue to lack support. The researcher recommends that teenage mothers who experience challenges should take the initiatives to start projects that will boost their confidence. Teachers who teach life science orientations should, in the meantime, focus on teaching learners about the consequences of not having support either from family or partners and communities.

Thesis (M. Ed. (Curriculum Studies)) -- University of Limpopo, 2021 / The blame for the decline in performance of Grade 11 and 12 Economics learners in District has been levelled on poor school resources, poorly trained teachers, and teachers’ ability to execute their duties. Other stakeholders blame teachers for the poor performance of learners. Due to that this study was conducted to explore teachers’ views on causes of poor performance in Economics among Grade 11 and 12 learners in Matlalane Circuit, Limpopo Province. Quantitative surveys and qualitative case study were used as research design. Data was collected using survey questionnaires and interviews. The study distributed 80 questionnaires to Economics teachers across Mogalakwena District and 100% response rate was achieved. The researcher also conducted one-to-one interviews among six Economics teachers and 3 Heads of Department (HoDs). Quantitative data was analysed using mathematical and statistical tools and was presented using tables, graphs, and charts. Qualitative data was presented using thematic and narrative analysis. This study identified seven (7) themes, namely, the (1) poor teaching environment and lack of teaching and learning resources; (2) lack of interest and negative attitudes by Economics learners; (3) poor teaching experience and content gap; (4) teachers perceive Economics as a difficult subject; (5) inadequate support from parents, school leadership and department; (6) poor discipline in schools; and (7) increased teenage pregnancy in schools in mining areas. This study recommends in-serve training of Economics teachers; provision of teaching and learning resources to schools; promotion of parents’ involvement and participation in their children’s learning; provision of support from the Department of Education in addressing school discipline and teenage pregnancy. This study identified the factors that cause poor learners’ performance in Economics. However, other aspects that are critical for changing the course of action, as required by the pragmatic paradigm, were not explored because they were not focus areas for this study. I therefore recommend further studies that on teaching and assessment strategies used by Economics teachers. There is a need for further study on strategies used by the Economics teachers; the level of commitment to their work; amount of written work given to Economics learners and the discipline in schools.

MPM / Oliver Tambo Institute of Governance and Policy Studies

PhD (Sociology) / Department of Sociology / The purpose of this study was to critically determine the impact of communal child-rearing approach on the prevalence of teenage pregnancy in Vhembe District, in order to develop facilitation tools from which the parents can be empowered on the constructive parenting approaches, specifically for a girl-child and teenage girls against the prevalence of teenage pregnancy. This study further empowers the teenage girls in particular growing-up in Vhembe District with the chance of healthy development and future favourable womanhood. A combination of quantitative and qualitative approaches was used to conduct the study, with a quantitative description and exploratory study design. A total of 400 participants, mainly teenage girls, participated in a quantitative approach. Then 16 pregnant teenage girls, 19 teenage mothers, 6 key informants and 23 parents of pregnant teenage girls and mothers participated in a qualitative approach. The participants for the quantitative approach were sampled using the stratified random sampling technique because of the age-specific (13-19 years). Close-ended questionnaires were administered to them. The participants for in-depth interviews were sampled using the purposive and snowball non-random sampling technique. They were high school principals, teachers, and community leaders, pregnant teenage girls and teenage mothers, and their parents. Data collected through close-ended questionnaires were analyzed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) programme. Frequencies tables were created to categorize variables and cross-sectional frequencies tables were further created to show associations between the variables. The data collected through structured interviews, matrices were created using content thematic analysis. The responses were grouped thematically and, with the emergence of subthemes, broad categories were generated to differentiate and explain the thoughts expressed by the participants. The study findings suggest that the prevalence of teenage pregnancy is purely a social behavioral problem develop through critical parenting practices and approaches. The study concluded that the total blame for the prevalence of teenage pregnancy is in the way parents raise the teenage girls, whether influenced by their socio-economic status, cultural values, availability or absence of the other parent, etc. the primary lack of sensitive parenting recognition of the prevalence of teenage pregnancy, critically placed the teenage girls in Vhembe District in the prevalence of teenage pregnancy. / NRF

Teenage parenting is widely constructed in prevailing research and public discourse as a social problem, with poor outcomes for parent and child. Teenage parents are regarded as a drain on state funds, too young to parent well, and at high risk of social exclusion, both educationally and economically. This thesis proposes that teenage motherhood is a turning point in a young woman’s life and identity, which can be an opportunity, rather than a problem, if there is adequate support for the mother and her child. It considers the role of a New Zealand School for Teenage Parents in providing this support. Using qualitative narrative methodology, ten young women, six family members and nine other members of the School community were interviewed about their experiences of its culture and practices. Six of the young women were also interviewed to gather their life stories. Informed by the narrative understanding that we story our identities from the narrative possibilities available to us within the varied discursive contexts of our lives, this thesis draws on these life stories to explore how the young women storied the fashioning of their own identities as young women, as learners and as young parents. It presents their stories of childhood and family life, teenage-hood and schooling, pregnancy and parenthood, their experiences at the School for Teenage Parents, and their lives since leaving the School, in order to consider the role of the School in supporting the positive refashioning of their identities. This thesis draws on social constructionist and narrative theories to interpret the storied contexts of the young women’s lives, and the role these often constraining and difficult contexts played in the fashioning of their multiple identities. Māori culturally responsive pedagogical theories are also drawn on to interpret the culture of the School for Teenage Parents, and its attempts to provide a supportive and affirming family or whānau environment for its students, in order to offer them more positive narrative possibilities of self and identity as young women, as learners and as young parents.