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

M.Phil. (Sport Management) / This study is strengthened by several studies that have indicated that the dualist nature of student-athletes is problematic, as well as the management thereof. The study aimed to identify the sociological implications of the main aspects affecting the optimal sporting career development in athletics (throwers) at University of Johannesburg Sport, and offers recommendations for managing student-athletes. The methods utilized for this study included: i) self-designed questionnaires which incorporated information such as biographical data, performance level, satisfaction levels of support services and, ii) a qualitative case-study on the University of Johannesburg athletics club, where interviews were held with representatives selected as part of a purposive sample. Data was collected over a period of one year, with 15 current athletes, 5 retired athletes, and service providers within the University of Johannesburg. The research design allowed for input, throughput and output analyses. To determine the rationale of the input and throughput phases, qualitative and quantitative data were integrated for the identification of trends and major themes. Twelve of the 20 student-athletes participated internationally during their tertiary student-athlete years, whereas 14 out of the 20 student-athletes participated at regional level during their in primary school years, demonstrating a relatively lengthy and intense socialisation process. The qualitative research revealed that the main social agents during the primary and secondary school years are the parents, teacher-coach and peers, where the attention swifts to professional agents (including the coach) and fellow athletes during the tertiary phase. There is an increasing need for scientific and academic support at tertiary level with major issues around time, career and life style management. During the (often) final socialisation or specialization phase, most student-athletes face multiple career challenges without receiving adequate guidance or scientific support towards desocialisation.

M.A. / With recent socio-political changes in South Africa, it was considered important to review the career expectations of black South African youth, given the reported poor state of career guidance within certain schools. The literature review revealed that South African youth, particularly those from an Afrocentric culture, also tend to be unrealistic in their perceptions of job availability once they left school, with low self and occupational knowledge. Compromise was included as an important factor when considering the perception of job accessibility and the possibility of having to adjust aspirations to meet the realities of the world of work. The aim of this study, therefore, was to assess the occupational choices made by the grade 10 and 12 pupils at RAUCALL high school. The study attempted to determine the degree of congruence of the pupils' occupational choices in comparison to their occupational expectations and how this congruence correlates with academic performance. The results of the correlational analysis indicated that there was no statistically significant relationship between congruence and academic performance. From the findings of this research it was possible to conclude that students with low vocational identity may not experience any more academic difficulty than do students with high vocational identity. An additional finding was that John Holland's concept of congruence, Il` • his theory as a whole, needs to be validated to incorporate the South African context with its various cultures and language groups. The knowledge of self for black South African adolescents must be placed within the framework of a black identity if vocational guidance programmes are to be seen as meaningful and relevant.

M.Ed. (Educational Psychology) / A youth's career choice is without doubt one of the most important decisions of his life because according to expectations, he will spend almost half of his life exercising his chosen vocation. In order to make a decision concerning a vocation. a youth requires knowledge. knowledge of his specific interests. aptitudes. personality and intelligence. A youth should discover his own identity - he should find out who he is and in what he believes. This self-knowledge is a prerequisite for career choice. Inadequate self-knowledge may lead to an erroneous career choice and that in turn may lead to work dissatisfaction and a negative attitude towards labour. In the process of career guidance, use is principally made of psychometric testing in order to help the youth gain self knowledge. The importance of psychometric testing cannot be underestimated and it is generally accepted that career guidance cannot take place without it. No research appears to have been done which determines the youth's self-knowledge without the use of tests. It is thus necessary to determine what the youth's intuitive perception of his self-knowledge is. and then to compare this to the test results. In chapter two the process of career guidance. as well as the importance of decision making. and the role the parents and school play in the youth's career choice, is explored. Chapter three explores the concept of self-knowledge and four facets of self-knowledge are discussed: interests. aptitudes. personality and intelligence. In chapter four the research design is discussed. Standard ten pupils' self-knowledge is obtained without the use of psychometric tests. and these findings are compared with the test results. The parents' opinions are also taken into account by comparing their estimation of their child's self-knowledge with the child's own estimation.

Guidance was introduced into Black Schools in 1981. Its aim was to help students so that they could understand themselves and the world they live in. At present it appears that very little Guidance is taking place in the Mdantsane High Schools. This was supported by these research findings. In the research five High Schools were investigated to discover the state of Guidance in these High Schools. The writer made use of an interview schedule which was presented to the principals of the five High Schools. Questionnaires were given to twenty seven Guidance teachers from the same High Schools and to two hundred and fifty student respondents. In each High School fifty student respondents were chosen, that is, ten from each standard. The research findings suggested that Guidance is not receiving its rightful place in these five High Schools since it is not effectively taught. The findings were generalised to other High Schools. Reasons for the ineffective teaching of Guidance were given by both the principal and teacher respondents. Recommendations are made as to how this state of Guidance can be remedied and improved.

The adolescent stage of development entails many overt and covert challenges and influences that have bearing on spheres of later life, including career development. With South African counsellors being largely dependent on Western career theories, the influence of contextual factors such as cultural beliefs and historical background on the career development of South African adolescents has been largely ignored. The recent acknowledgement of the unique and complex interrelationship between individuals and their specific social, environmental and societal context has motivated the development of an overarching theoretical framework of career development, the Systems Theory Framework (STF). The present study has therefore employed the STF and a qualitative career assessment measure, the My System of Career Influences (MSCI), to facilitate in exploring and describing the unique systems of career influence on the career development of a group of South African adolescents. A non-probability, purposive sampling technique was employed to obtain the sample from a co-educational, Xhosa-speaking secondary school situated in a low socioeconomic area. The research approach was exploratory and descriptive in nature, and the MSCI assisted in the collection of qualitative and quantitative data from a sample of 64 Grade 9, 10 and 11 female and male black adolescents from low socioeconomic status environments. The qualitative data was subjected to content analysis to identify themes, while frequency counts/percentages were used for the quantitative data. The results of the study indicate that all influences within the three interrelated career systems have an influence on the career development of black adolescents. Furthermore, the MSCI workbook was shown to assist participants in identifying and evaluating significant systemic influences that have contributed to their career development to date. Participants from both genders and all grade levels were able to successfully complete the MSCI workbook and provide reflective comments on their MSCI personalised diagrams. The applicability of both the STF and the MSCI are acknowledged. Limitations and recommendations for future research based on the present findings are suggested.

Although it is generally acknowledged that critical career-related concepts and attitudes are first formed in childhood, research has focused little attention on this developmental stage. Statements about children‘s career development as an integral dimension of human development date to the early 1950s, yet limited research has investigated this interrelationship. It is imperative to gain a greater understanding of childhood career development in order to better prepare children for their future. The overall purpose of this study is to explore the interrelationship of childhood development and childhood career development. An exploratory-descriptive quantitative research method was used. Thirty participants (all eight year-old girls from a middle class, English speaking background) were selected through non-probability purposive sampling. Data were gathered from the Griffiths Mental Development Scales – Extended Revised (GMDS-ER) and the Childhood Career Development Scale (CCDS) and analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics. The results indicated a correlation, although not statistically significant, between childhood development and childhood career development, thus indicating a weak positive correlation between the two variables. Statistically significant relationships were established between certain subscales of the GMDS-ER and CCDS, namely Language and Exploration, Eye-Hand Co-ordination and Key Figures, and Practical Reasoning and Planning. The results from this study, although not conclusive, are groundbreaking in this neglected area of research as they indicate an interrelationship between childhood development and childhood career development. This research is an initial step in investigating this interrelationship and it is the hope of the researcher that it will stimulate further research in this area.

D.Ed. / Guidance is essential in a child's development because most traits of human life, with the exclusion of genetic characteristics, are learned (City Press, 1998:7). The learning process raises the question of where and from whom these characteristics are acquired. This, according to Ferron (1990:45), implies that maximum performance of man is a result of good and sound guidance. This may be an oversimplification, but even if it is only partly true, guidance cannot be neglected without detrimental effects for the children involved. Furthermore, the question of school guidance becomes increasingly important as shifts in family structures and values - such as are common today - affect the quality of interaction between parents and children. According to Godbold (1994:6) an increasing number of children face deteriorating family bonds, lack of shelter, out-ofwedlock births, abortion, and drug and alcohol related crimes. Ferron (1991:72) adds bullying, truancy, delinquency, lack of motivation, peer pressure and parental relationship problems to this list. Many children experience grave educational neglect - virtually none of their needs are cared for. There even are rural children who are left alone by parents who have gone to the cities to work, and who have no one to take care of them. They often have no one to turn to for sustenance and advice. As a result guidance teachers must be more than ever involved in helping children with various personal problems (Moraba, 1996:3), which were traditionally handled by parents. When schools fail to address the immediate family and social needs of learners, learning becomes difficult and relatively unimportant (Godbold, 1994:7). According to Chuenyane (1990:10), through the school guidance activities, learners should be assisted to know who they are, to accept themselves, to master selfimprovement and self-direction, and to develop good life skills. With regard to socialisation, they should learn to relate to others by interacting with them and becoming sensitive to their feelings and being appreciative of their views and beliefs. Our youth is seen as our most precious resource and the future leaders; therefore, they must be mature and increase their peaceful co-existence (Chuenyane, 1990:10). Guidance in the secondary school is chiefly concerned with meeting the physical, social, emotional and educational needs of learners (Rooth, 1995:54). Vocational guidance is included in the needs list and is an important facet. The purpose of school guidance is to help each child make a satisfactory adjustment to life, both in school and out. Although Kallaway (1988:1) does not focus explicitly on school guidance, his remark that " ... the crucial relation between schooling and society is often and systematically denied" is of extreme importance. As this subject is ideally suited to emphasise this relation, it is a service that should be provided to all learners, and not only those who have behaviour problems, learning difficulties and emotional disturbances. Normal, well-adjusted learners also need to be guided in their thinking, their attitudes and their personality development. They must be prepared for all challenges in the future job market and life in general. The gifted, talented ones are often also in need of special help in gaining social approval and in finding suitable outlets for their interests (Sowetan, 1996:12). If the school is seen as an agent for change, it must implement career counselling (vocational guidance) to help the child in self-understanding, self-acceptance, interests, aspirations, experiences, as well as in physical, intellectual, psychological and spiritual development (Chuenyane, 1990:46). These are considered important because it helps learners to appreciate and utilize their aptitudes, interests and values (Sedibe, 1991:4). This will help them to gain insight into their limitations with regard to their coping strategies, which concern problems they are confronted with on a daily basis. Furthermore it must be kept in mind that certain elements in the school situation that influence learners can be identified; these include the impact teachers' and peer groups' behaviour has on children. One aspect that comes to mind, for example, is that of substance abuse, especially alcohol. Chuenyane (1991:46) reports that almost 70% - 80% of all learners in his research were drinking and abusing drugs. As drugs and alcohol have a negative effect on the education and health of the learner, and it is indicated by Raikane (1996:28) that drugs and alcohol have a strong relationship to crime, frustration and aggression, such learners need proper guidance and counselling. Adolescents, especially, need guidance and counselling as they are in a difficult developmental phase, and often have negative attitudes towards school (Wiseman, 1991:71).

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

Submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts (Counselling Psychology) at the University of Zululand, 2006. / The problem of career development in disadvantaged communities in South Africa is a product of historical discriminatory practices that have resulted in large numbers of young people not having access to appropriate career guidance services. As a solution to mass career guidance needs, a non-profit, self-help career guidance program serves as a supplement to curriculum based school programs and provides people with the opportunity to access career guidance services in an empowering environment. This case study qualitatively describes the development and evaluation of a career guidance centre as a resource for large numbers of learners, educators and unemployed youth. Specifically, the role that the hands-on permanent career exhibition plays in a self-help career choice model is discussed, together with the subjective experience of the centre by a number of people who used the services provided by the Zululand Career Centre in Richards Bay, South Africa. A logic model provides a view of the resources, influencing factors, implementation activities and outputs that make up the development of the centre. The design of the career centre embodies several relevant psychological theories and is essentially a self-help exhibition-led process. Its development provided an opportunity for the innovative application of existing trait and type, life-span, constructivist, social learning, decision-making and socio-economic approaches within the South African context. The life-span and decision-making approaches provided the theoretical background for the problem-solving exploration processes used in the centre, while the trait and factor theories provided techniques for self-knowledge acquisition and career information classification. Social learning theory provided insight into the pivotal role the staff members of the centre would have to play in the learning processes, while the constructivist theories led to an understanding that users of the centre would be able to construct their knowledge of careers from their experiences with the centre displays and their own lived experiences. The importance of up-to-date, contextually relevant information was highlighted by the socio-economic approaches. The centre provided insights into how exhibition-led learning is able to assist a large number of people to access career and labour market information and actively participate in the career decision-making process. / National Research Foundation