One aim with the Swedish non-confessional religious education is to increase students’ understanding and respect for different ways of thinking and behaving. One opportunity to reflect upon other people's interpretations of life, are field visits. Many teachers and students want to make field visits but few actually do. This thesis explores educational opportunities and challenges generated by field visits as part of religious education. This is a classroom study in an upper secondary school (the students were 17 years old), during the teaching sequence about Islam where one part was a field visit to a mosque. Data were produced by classroom observations and observations from a mosque visit, students’ journal writing’s before and after the visit and student interviews. The students’ utterances about Islam are analysed using Michael Bachtin’s dialogue theory and Robert Jackson’s interpretive approach. The analysis shows that students apply a speech genre, which in this study is denoted genre of politeness. In some cases the genre of politeness affect the students such that they do not dare to ask all questions, in particular questions about Islam and gender. Another result is that students more widely apply a self-reflexive speech genre during and after the mosque visit as compared to before the visit. By self-reflexive speech is meant that the students mirror what they have met in the mosque with their own interpretations of life. The analysis also shows that the several students express critical opinions about Islam both before and after the mosque visit and the teaching sequence. The study explores educational opportunities and challenges generated by the mosque visit. Some of the themes that are discussed in the thesis are: 1) questions about representations of religion, for instance in what way “lived religion” and religion as a “philosophical ideal” can be combined, 2) the students’ different ways of reflection, 3) how do students relate and rely on the faith representative’s utterances, and 4) how students formulate questions to the faith representative. / Baksidestext Studiebesök är en metod i religionskunskapsundervisningen som förefaller vara uppskattad av både lärare och elever. Trots det visar det sig att det är relativt få lärare som verkligen gör besök, vilket delvis kan bero på en osäkerhet vad som händer ur ett elevperspektiv i mötet med en ny kontext. Den här studien har undersökt religionsdidaktiska utmaningar och möjligheter som aktualiserats genom ett moskébesök. Empirin utgörs av gymnasielevers yttranden om islam i loggar, elevintervjuer, klassrummet och under ett moskébesök. Analysen visar bland annat att elevernas tal under besöket påverkas av en ”artighetsgenre” som både kan underlätta och försvåra för eleverna. Vidare framkommer det att elever i större utsträckning under och efter besöket speglar det de möter i moskén i sina egna livstolkningar. Analysen visar också hur elever uttrycker att deras inställning till islam påverkas på olika sätt av besöket. Några religionsdidaktiska områden som aktualiserats av besöket och diskuteras är frågor om religioners representation, hur trosrepresentanten ska behandlas som källa samt olika sätt att ställa frågor till representanten.

At a nexus between translation studies and didactics, the teaching of sight translation within the parameters of a foreign language course has as its primary aim to improve the communication skills of foreign language learners in general and of French learners at the University of Pretoria in particular. Contrary to the communication process in their first and second languages, students who try to speak a foreign language such as French are unable to express their thoughts freely. To compensate for their insufficient language knowledge and intuition, they tend to rely on their other languages as a reference for all communication. Although this natural reflex is part of the learning process, students' attempts to transfer words, phrases, and rules directly from one language to another can be detrimental to language performance. The problem does not lie in the fact that they translate mentally before speaking, but that they tend to translate literally. This is a highly inefficient communication strategy that results in a non-idiomatic, imperfect reflection of students’ actual knowledge of language. Unlike the above-mentioned mental transcoding and the so-called pedagogical translation generally practiced in the language class, the interpretive translation approach focuses on the reexpression of the meaning of the original text. This professional translation approach should be applied to all translation, including translation in the language class. Although the purpose is not to train professional translators or interpreters, students still need to learn to translate intelligently, whether verbally or mentally, without literally reproducing their reference languages. Since students are even more tempted than professionals to rely on the source language due to their limited language knowledge, they should explicitly learn to look for alternative means of expression available to them instead of transcoding this language. Sight translation is a very economical technique to teach this approach in language classes, as students learn to translate in their own words, using all their communication skills. Students learn how best to convey the meaning of the source text with the limited vocabulary and grammar skills at their disposal. When speaking, they also focus on the meaning of their utterances and use compensatory strategies when faced with a language problem, instead of copying from their reference languages or avoiding the problem altogether by switching to another language. In the space of little more than a year, the majority of the forty-four students who participated in the empirical research learned to communicate in a natural and authentic manner without undue interference from their other languages (mainly English). Those who have mastered the approach increasingly use efficient strategies to overcome language shortcomings, thus abandoning formal transfer to the benefit of their oral expression. In addition, a small number of talented students were identified to engage in further specialised translation and interpretation training. In conclusion, sight translation teaching in the classroom proved to be a highly beneficial method to improve translation and communication skills among French foreign language learners in the multicultural environment of the University of Pretoria. / Thesis (DLitt(French))--University of Pretoria, 2008. / Modern European Languages / DLitt / unrestricted

Abstract   This study aims to investigate students' perspectives on three teaching methods within the subject of religious education at upper secondary school: factual teaching, discussions, and meetings with religious representatives. Employing a deductive approach and utilizing Robert Jackson's interpretive approach as the primary theoretical framework, the study explores students' own experiences with these methods. The theory of safe space is employed to further analyse students' perceptions of discussions and their application in secondary education. Research questions delve into how Jackson's interpretive approach can shed light on students' interpretations and how the concepts of Safe and Brave Space can elucidate students' views on discussions as a teaching method. Data are gathered through focus group interviews and analysed using thematic analysis according to Bryman. The results suggest that students' statements align with Jackson's interpretive approach, and that a blend of factual teaching, discussions, and meetings with religious representatives fosters diversity while avoiding the homogenization of religions. Moreover, the results indicate that students yearn for open discussions on contemporary issues, provided they occur in a secure environment to prevent conflicts. The didactic relevance of this study extends to all religious educators, offering insights into student perspectives regarding current teaching methods. Keywords: Religious education, The interpretive approach, Safe space, classroom discussions, teaching strategies

<p>There have been calls both from the government and private sector for Higher Education institutions to introduce programmes that produce employable graduates whilst at the same time contributing to the growing economy of the country by addressing the skills shortage. Transformation and intervention committees have since been introduced to follow the extent to which the challenges are being addressed (DOE, 1996 / 1997 / Luescher and Symes, 2003 / Forbes, 2007). Amongst the list of issues that needed urgent address were the skills shortage and underperformance of students particularly university entering students (Daniels, 2007 / De Klerk, 2006 / Cooper, 2001). Research particularly in the South African context, has revealed that contributing to the underperformance of university entering students and shortage of skills are: the legacy of apartheid (forcing certain racial groups to focus on selected areas such as teaching and nursing), the schooling system (resulting in university entering students to struggle), the home language and academic language. Barrell (1998), places stress on language as a contributing factor towards the performance of students. Although not much research has been done on skills shortage, most of the areas with skills shortage require Mathematics, either on a minimum or comprehensive scale. Students who have a strong Mathematics background have proved to perform better compared to students who have a limited or no Mathematics background at all in Grade 12 (Hahn, 1988 / Conners, McCown &amp / Roskos-Ewoldsen, 1998 / Nolan, 2002).The department of Statistics offers an Introductory Statistics (IS) course at first year level. Resources available to enhance student learning include: a problem-solving component with web-based tutorials and students attending lectures three hours per week. The course material and all the necessary information regarding the course including teach yourself problems, useful web-sites and links students can make use of, are all stored under the Knowledge- Environment for Web-based learning (KEWL). Despite all the available information, the students were not performing well and they were not interested in the course. The department regards statistical numeracy as a life skill. The desire of the department is to break down the fear of Statistics and to bring about a perspective change in students&rsquo / mindsets. The study was part of a contribution to ensuring that the department has the best first year students in Statistics in the Western Cape achieving a success rate comparable to the national norm.</p>

<p>There have been calls both from the government and private sector for Higher Education institutions to introduce programmes that produce employable graduates whilst at the same time contributing to the growing economy of the country by addressing the skills shortage. Transformation and intervention committees have since been introduced to follow the extent to which the challenges are being addressed (DOE, 1996 / 1997 / Luescher and Symes, 2003 / Forbes, 2007). Amongst the list of issues that needed urgent address were the skills shortage and underperformance of students particularly university entering students (Daniels, 2007 / De Klerk, 2006 / Cooper, 2001). Research particularly in the South African context, has revealed that contributing to the underperformance of university entering students and shortage of skills are: the legacy of apartheid (forcing certain racial groups to focus on selected areas such as teaching and nursing), the schooling system (resulting in university entering students to struggle), the home language and academic language. Barrell (1998), places stress on language as a contributing factor towards the performance of students. Although not much research has been done on skills shortage, most of the areas with skills shortage require Mathematics, either on a minimum or comprehensive scale. Students who have a strong Mathematics background have proved to perform better compared to students who have a limited or no Mathematics background at all in Grade 12 (Hahn, 1988 / Conners, McCown &amp / Roskos-Ewoldsen, 1998 / Nolan, 2002).The department of Statistics offers an Introductory Statistics (IS) course at first year level. Resources available to enhance student learning include: a problem-solving component with web-based tutorials and students attending lectures three hours per week. The course material and all the necessary information regarding the course including teach yourself problems, useful web-sites and links students can make use of, are all stored under the Knowledge- Environment for Web-based learning (KEWL). Despite all the available information, the students were not performing well and they were not interested in the course. The department regards statistical numeracy as a life skill. The desire of the department is to break down the fear of Statistics and to bring about a perspective change in students&rsquo / mindsets. The study was part of a contribution to ensuring that the department has the best first year students in Statistics in the Western Cape achieving a success rate comparable to the national norm.</p>

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Si la gestion de la crise de Berlin 1948-1949 est d’emblée une affaire anglo-américaine pouvant déboucher sur un affrontement avec les Soviétiques, l’observateur est très rapidement confronté à une littérature qui traite du sujet massivement du point de vue états-unien. Le point de départ de ce travail consiste à dissocier le front anglo-américain contre l’URSS en explorant la voix du Royaume-Uni dans la résolution de la crise de Berlin alors qu’un gouvernement travailliste, ayant obtenu pour la première fois une majorité confortable aux élections en juillet 1945, est au pouvoir. Pour ce faire, nous interrogeons ce cas d’étude selon deux axes. Le premier concerne la signification particulière des micro-débats dans les instances gouvernementales en charge de la gestion de la crise berlinoise. Ce cadre spécifique ne peut éluder un deuxième niveau d’analyse qui relève du contexte général dans lequel le processus décisionnel s’opère, renvoyant à la politique étrangère des années Attlee et à la politique d’occupation du Royaume-Uni en Allemagne après 1945. La thèse défendue est que l’étude micro-historique de la gestion britannique de la crise berlinoise prend tout son sens si celle-ci est appréhendée dans sa dimension duale, c’est-à-dire spécifique et globale. En effet, le problème berlinois est géré par une multitude d’instances gouvernementales, situées à Londres ou dans la zone d’occupation allemande, avec des acteurs qui ne sont pas tous au Parti travailliste. Dès lors, comment peut-on caractériser leur style décisionnel à l’aune des débats qui sont considérés comme des micro-récits d’un événement de la guerre froide naissante ? En outre, cette analyse micro-historique témoigne d’une politique britannique élaborée vis-à-vis de l’Allemagne depuis la Deuxième Guerre mondiale avec la participation active de certaines figures travaillistes issues d’un parti qui a longuement œuvré pour des relations harmonieuses dans les affaires internationales. Dans ce cas, comment peut-on distinguer la perception britannique du problème allemand à partir de 1940 ? Ces deux niveaux de contextualisation globale permettent ainsi de comprendre les catégories notionnelles autour desquelles s’organisent les micro-récits de la gestion britannique de la crise de Berlin. Le cadre analytique de ce travail qui utilise l’approche interprétative de Mark Bevir donne également à voir des caractéristiques d’une conception et d’une pratique de la politique étrangère par le Parti travailliste qui héberge plusieurs courants en son sein. / The Berlin crisis 1948-1949 has received some attention in scholary literature on the origins of the Cold War. But the British part has been poorly served compared to the American. This thesis examines the British decision-making process during the Berlin crisis considering that the Labour Party formed its majority government for the first time in July 1945. It offers a detailed examination of the Berlin crisis tackled as a specific case study through which it becomes possible to analyse the debates in a variety of governmental structures dealing with an issue which also pertained to the general context of the Attlee years’ foreign policy as well as to the British occupation policy in Germany after 1945. This thesis argues that the Berlin crisis can be properly understood if it is contextualised in its twofold dimension i.e. at specific and global levels. Firstly, the British decision-making process involved a variety of actors in London or in the occupied zone of Germany who were not all from the Labour Party. Thus, how can the decision-making process be characterised by studying the multi-faceted debates during this prominent 11-month event of the early Cold War? Secondly, the Berlin case also refers to the British policy towards Germany outlined during the Second World War with key Labour politicians’ active contribution. Considering that the Labour Party had long advocated harmonious international relations, what has the British perception of the German problem since 1940 highlighted? The dual contextualisation of the Berlin crisis within Labour foreign policy, on the one hand, and within the framework of British occupation policy in Germany, on the other hand, offers a better understanding of the story-telling of its decision-making process. Besides, using Mark Bevir’s interpretive method, this thesis helps evaluate British role during the Berlin crisis as well as the Labour Party’s approach to foreign policy in the early Cold War.

Philosophiae Doctor - PhD / There have been calls both from the government and private sector for Higher Education institutions to introduce programmes that produce employable graduates whilst at the same time contributing to the growing economy of the country by addressing the skills shortage. Transformation and intervention committees have since been introduced to follow the extent to which the challenges are being addressed (DOE, 1996; 1997; Luescher and Symes, 2003; Forbes, 2007). Amongst the list of issues that needed urgent address were the skills shortage and underperformance of students particularly university entering students (Daniels, 2007; De Klerk, 2006; Cooper, 2001). Research particularly in the South African context, has revealed that contributing to the underperformance of university entering students and shortage of skills are: the legacy of apartheid (forcing certain racial groups to focus on selected areas such as teaching and nursing), the schooling system (resulting in university entering students to struggle), the home language and academic language. Barrell (1998), places stress on language as a contributing factor towards the performance of students. Although not much research has been done on skills shortage, most of the areas with skills shortage require Mathematics, either on a minimum or comprehensive scale. Students who have a strong Mathematics background have proved to perform better compared to students who have a limited or no Mathematics background at all in Grade 12 (Hahn, 1988; Conners, McCown & Roskos-Ewoldsen, 1998; Nolan, 2002).The department of Statistics offers an Introductory Statistics (IS) course at first year level. Resources available to enhance student learning include: a problem-solving component with web-based tutorials and students attending lectures three hours per week. The course material and all the necessary information regarding the course including teach yourself problems, useful web-sites and links students can make use of, are all stored under the Knowledge- Environment for Web-based learning (KEWL). Despite all the available information, the students were not performing well and they were not interested in the course. The department regards statistical numeracy as a life skill. The desire of the department is to break down the fear of Statistics and to bring about a perspective change in students' mindsets. The study was part of a contribution to ensuring that the department has the best first year students in Statistics in the Western Cape achieving a success rate comparable to the national norm. / South Africa

Magister Educationis - MEd / This research study, which is a case study, investigates strategies employed by educators to enhance the culture of teaching, learning and values in a Grade 12 Geography classroom in a secondary school in the Western Cape. In the contemporary school context educators are experiencing an increasingly challenging time to ensure learner achievement, participation and general interest in their school work. As Geography educator, I often grappled with the issues of low achievement and interest levels among learners. I realised that unless educators • employ effective strategies to develop resilient learners; • change their classroom practice to suit learner needs; • involve learners in decisions regarding their education; and • show a genuine interest in learners the demands and challenges would not be diminished. I conducted a local and global literature review on enhancing a culture of teaching and learning in the Geography classroom as well as a case study carried out by Grade 12 educators and learners at a secondary school in the Western Cape. The research study was an attempt to explore possible solutions to the challenges in the classroom. It focused on an initiative by the Grade 12 educators and learners in pursuit of more creative ways of dealing with Geography content. The research study was qualitative in nature and aimed to investigate strategies educators could employ to enhance a culture of teaching, learning and values in the Geography classroom. The research approach was interpretive and the design was a case study. Interviews, questionnaires and observations were used to collect the required data. The data collected shows that through this project, learners were sensitized on human rights and values issues. They discovered that learning could be an enjoyable experience. The skills, knowledge and values emerging from this project were invaluable, since it changed the way learners viewed the learning experience. The focus was particularly on the Further Education and Training Geography curricular experience. Over the past decade, challenges pertaining to learners’ attitudes to education have intensified. The factors impacting on learner achievement and attitudes are extensive, especially in impoverished and historically deprived communities. In modern society social evils like alcoholism, drug abuse, gangsterism and the associated violence and criminal behaviour are taking their toll. A direct consequence of societal moral decay manifests itself in behavioural problems e.g. aggressive behaviour, vandalism and general ill-discipline. The implementation of the new National Curriculum Statement has also impacted extensively on educators and learners alike. For many educators who were set in conventional methodologies, the process was complicated and difficult to adapt to. The new curriculum poses unique challenges with regard to planning, self discipline and work ethos. It has been associated with a total change in the approach towards teaching and learning. Many educators found it difficult to adapt to the new way of managing the curriculum. Evidence from the data confirmed that educators were willing to employ different strategies to address and improve learner performance. However, the appropriate conditions of teaching and learning are often non-existent. Barriers to teaching and learning need to be addressed efficiently to ensure a supportive and enabling learning environment. The data also showed that educators achieved more through this strategy than initially envisaged. This would pave the way for other initiatives and strategies to ensure improved classroom practice and subsequently enhance the culture of teaching, learning and values.

The aim of this qualitative research study was to explore the influences of pornographic material on the sexual exploitation of children. An interpretive research method, based on phenomenological principles, was followed. A total of 18 semistructured interviews were conducted with sentenced sex offenders who had committed an offence against a child (a person under the age of 18). The research findings, obtained through a process of interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA), highlighted personal and family characteristics that could increase individuals’ susceptibility to the effect of exposure to pornographic material. Moreover, it was found that early, recurrent exposure to pornography results in physical, cognitive and behavioural influences that considerably increase the level of sexual satisfaction and need for instantaneous sexual gratification. This uncontrollable need for sexual gratification often results in destructive behaviour such as addiction to pornographic material, criminal sexual acts involving children and damage to the family system. The effect of sexually explicit material is furthermore intensified by the availability of pornographic material on the Internet, which considerably increases the likelihood of individuals being exposed to a variety of pornographic images, including illegal material such as child pornography. Based on the outcomes of the research study, it can be concluded that pornography does have an effect on human behaviour in relation to the sexual exploitation of children which necessitates the effective regulation of pornographic material, especially on the Internet, and the evaluation of the help profession’s approach to effectively deal with issues stemming from exposure to pornographic material / Psychology / D.Litt. et Phil. (Psychology)