Magister Educationis - MEd / This study highlighted the educators understanding of their role, the priorities that they deemed important and the practices they employed to promote in their learners the values and virtues fit for citizens of a democratic society. / South Africa

Yadav & Khanna (2015) argue that quality of work life (QWL) defines the life at work and the life at home with family members. The work of research-fieldworkers is an exceptional work in that it requires them to frequent households and commercial businesses, unlike other occupations where the work is conducted at the workplace of the employer. The private households by their very nature, and the locations where these households are based present risky conditions to the research-fieldworkers. In order for remedial measures to be suggested that can be implemented to improve the QWL of the research-fieldworkers of the agency, the perceptions of the QWL need to be investigated. Research objectives: To address the research problem, research objectives and questions were established. The main objective of the study is to investigate the perceptions of the QWL of the research-fieldworkers of the research agency in the Western Cape with the goal of improving employee performance through the cost effective interventions that will be implemented. Research questions: Three research questions were established and these were; What is the QWL among the research-fieldworkers in the Western Cape? Do some groups, distinguished by gender, age, work experience, working hours and location experience significantly different levels of QWL? Which measures can be recommended for maximizing QWL among the research-fieldworkers in the Western Cape Province? Research design: The nature of this research is descriptive in nature. The study used a self-administered questionnaire to collect work-related quality of life information from research-fieldworkers. Major findings: The results above show that research-fieldworkers perceptions of the QWL were more affected by the location, working hours and age sub-groups. Gender, family responsibility and marital status did not have much impact on the perceptions of research-fieldworkers on the QWL. Differences were observed with regards to control at work, stress at work, home-work interface against sub-groups. Lastly, the fieldworkers’ perceptions about the working conditions were negative for all the sub-groups. For example, the results show that there are poor working conditions for research-fieldworkers of the agency. This was evident irrespective of gender, age, family responsibility, hours of work and location.

South Africa is characterised by inequitable growth and development, a high level of poverty, increasing demands and limited resources and the challenge of integration. The need for improved standards of living and access to better infrastructure which are seen as crucial issues in addressing poverty have necessitated the introduction of programmes that aim to alleviate poverty. The South African democratic government has, since 1994, implemented various programmes in an attempt to improve the quality of lives of its citizens through policy interventions. The Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP) is one of the many programmes offered by the National Government to provide poverty and income relief through temporary work for the unemployed to carry out socially useful activities. The study is descriptive in nature. The researcher seeks to gain insight into the effectiveness of the EPWP as poverty alleviation strategy in the Oudtshoorn Municipal area. The researcher needs to understand the impact it has made on the beneficiaries focussing on Bongolethu and Bridgton as critically distressed settlements. The researcher used, inter alia, policy documents, circular letters, accredited journal articles, newspaper reports, minutes of the Oudtshoorn Municipal Council meetings as sources of data collection. The findings reveal that there are short term poverty alleviation initiatives in Oudtshoorn. The study also revealed that the problem of poverty is still a challenge in the Oudtshoorn Municipal Area and a review of the current policies is necessary.

M.A. / The modern day approach towards community development is to facilitate a community-driven and self-sustaining development process. Development is a process by which the members of a society increase their personal and institutional capacities, mobilise and manage resources, produce sustainable and justly distribute improvements in their quality of life consistent with their aspirations. The reasons why farm workers in commercial agricultural communities are becoming involved in their own development; what motivates them; and the capacities they need to remain involved; are some of the areas that this study addresses. This study focuses on the labour-extensive and labour-intensive farming communities in the Boland/Swartland regions of the Western Cape Province. A purposeful non-probability sample was taken from five labourextensive and five labour-intensive commercial farming communities within a fifty kilometre radius of Wellington. Focus groups as method were used to interview the specifically selected respondents. Qualitative data was collected according to a participatory research method and a visualization technique was utilized to record the data. Some of the important results of this study indicate that the commercial farmer has to take an interest as an important resource and partner in the development of the farm worker's communties. The farmworker's communities are seeking support from the new democratic structures, the Transitional Rural Councils, to assist them with their development efforts. The process of developing ownership and taking responsability for one's own development, needs to be strengthened by including the farmworkers in the decision-taking process on farms regarding community development through structures like farm-forums or farm-committees.

Bibliography: pages 204-228. / Historically Muslim women have been marginalised in the examination of Islamic texts and Muslim society. This has resulted in the non-recognition and silencing of women's perspectives as well as the concealment of some of the traumatic realities experienced by groups of Muslim women. Exacerbated by pervading social and religious notions of "private" families, the incidence of wife battery within Muslim societies have been largely hidden violence against wives is seen as the manifestation of a sexist and patriarchal ideology. This study examines the manner in which Islamic gender discourses inform and impact upon the phenomenon of violence against women. The related tensions between patriarchal and egalitarian Islamic perspectives are explored. This study involves a two-fold feminist analysis of gender ideology in religious texts and contemporary Muslim society. At the level of textual studies, I applied a feminist hermeneutic to medieval and contemporary Qur'anic exegetical literature. The examination of medieval period focused on the exegesis of Abu Jafar Muhumammad b. Jarir al-Tabari (839-922), Abu al-Qasim Mahmud b. Umar Zamakshari (1075-1144), Fakhr al-Din al-Razi (1149- 1210). The study of contemporary exegetical literature concentrated on the approaches and exegeses of Fazlur Rahman and Amina Wadud-Muhsin. Hermeneutical debates on violence against wives were focused on the interpretations of the Qur'anic notion of female nushuz (Q.4:34). In examining contemporary Muslim society, I employed feminist qualitative research methodology. I interviewed a number of women from a South African Muslim community in the Western Cape. Here, the sample consisted of eight women with whom open-ended in-depth interviews were conducted. The interviews were transcribed and thematically analysed. I found that interweaving levels of religious symbols and discourses shaped normative understandings of gender relations. This in turn had implications for both structural and practical discourses of violence against women in Muslim societies. Islamic gender ideology spanned the continuum from patriarchal to feminist approaches. Misogynist religious understandings reinforced the husband's right to control and coerce his wife, even if this implied the use of force. On the other hand, egalitarian Islamic perspectives prioritised the Qur'anic ethics of equality and social justice and rejected the violation of women. I argue that Islam provides numerous resources for the pro-active empowerment of women and the promotion of the full humanity of women.

Includes bibliography. / The thesis is an exploratory and primarily empirical study with the objective to construct a detailed chronology of the events of the 1985 school crisis particularly in African schools in the Western Cape and to reflect on the relationship between the school crisis and the organic crisis in South Africa and the Western Cape in particular. The data for the thesis were derived from primary and secondary documentary sources and in-depth interview material. A total of 51 interviewees were selected principally on the basis of the specific role they played particularly within the Department of Education and Training institutions as well as in community, political, workers', parents', teachers' and student organisations during the 1985 school crisis in the Western cape. Interviews were open-ended with a semi-structured interview schedule which consisted of topical headings. The thesis's theoretical framework was informed by Gramsci's Marxism am the key concepts employed in the analysis included Gramsci's notions of hegemony and organic crisis as well as Freire's concept of conscientisation. Utilising Gramsci's Marxism, the historical transformations in economic, political and ideological spheres which affected the development of student struggles and the crisis in the Department of Education and Training schools in 1985 were examined. Chapter 1 deals with .the 'Total strategy' as a form of state "formative action" to overcome the general crisis. It also documents in chronological order the main events of the school boycotts and both political and economic struggles on a national level from 1953 to 1984 and early 1985 in order to provide a sound background for the 1985 school crisis in the Western Cape. Chapter 2 which is offered as an empirical contribution to sociology of education covers a series of complex events and processes which constituted the core of the 1985 school crisis in the Western Cape in a chronological order. In the conclusion, Gramsci's concepts of 'hegemony' and 'organic crisis' supplemented by Freire's notion of conscientisation were directly utilised to analyse the slogan 'People's education for people's power'. One crucial observation explicit in the thesis am expressed through verbatim interview extracts was that the school crisis could only be resolved when the apartheid capitalist system in its entirety has been abolished.

The central focus of this study is the role of the church as a faith-based organisation in dealing with unemployment. Following an introductory chapter in which the research methodology and modus operandi are being explained, Chapter 2 is devoted to a discussion, in the light of recent literature, of the concept of unemployment and the effect of unemployment on the individual, the family and society. In Chapter 3 the discussion focuses on the involvement of faith-based organisations in addressing unemployment as part of social development. In Chapter 4 the empirical survey, conducted by means of semi structured interviews with church leaders in the Paarl-Wellington-area, is described. The interpreted results are discussed in Chapter 5 according to main themes, sub themes and categories. A literature control is carried out simultaneously. Based upon the literature study and the findings of the empirical survey, certain conclusions are drawn and recommendations are made in chapter 6. These recommendations are specifically aimed at activating the church in the form of local congregations to get actively involved in dealing with unemployment in their environment and community. / Social Work / D.Diac. (Youth Work)

Asthma is not a disease with a single etiology but a very complex syndrome. Irrespective of a better understanding of the pathophysiology of asthma and its related therapeutic regimens the disease still escalates in prevalence and severity. Characteristic features of chronicity and remission ensures a fertile ground for non-compliance by patients. This quantitative, descriptive study set out to determine the asthma knowledge, asthma control and quality of life of adult asthmatics who attended the respiratory outpatient clinic at Tygerberg Hospital. The purpose was to determine an association between asthma knowledge, asthma control and asthma quality of life. A statistically significant association was found between asthma control and asthma quality of life, not with knowledge of asthma for either of the concepts. Important gaps in knowledge were identified namely an inability to recognise nocturnal coughing as a risk factor. The increased role of nurse practitioners in asthma care is highly recommended. / Health Studies / M.A. (Health Studies)

Farm workers are viewed as a neglected segment in the South African society. This qualitative research study focused on exploring and describing the social needs of farm workers in the Central Koup from the perspectives of samples comprising of farm workers and farm owners and/or managers. The aim was to contribute in finding solutions to address the identified needs through employee assistance programmes (EAPs) as one of the areas that an occupational social worker focuses on. The qualitative data was collected through focus group discussions and semi-structured interviews, and the findings were verified with literature. Tesch’s framework for data analysis (in Creswell, 2003) was employed, and data verification was conducted through Guba’s model (in Krefting, 1991:214-222). The findings indicated that the social needs of farm workers could be addressed through typical EAP-related focus areas such as working- and interpersonal relationships, substance abuse, spiritual well-being, recreation, financial management, conflict management, child care and parenting skills, trauma counselling, and practical assistance regarding transport, housing and accessibility of resources. This research endeavour resulted in recommendations regarding the use of EAPs to address the social needs of farm workers. / M. Soc. Sc.

The promotion of multilingualism is one of the aims of the new language-in-education policy. It is a phenomenon which is reflective of our multilingual society. However, the means by which it is being promoted at school level needs to be investigated in light of the additive bilingualism model that has been stipulated in the language-in education policy. This dissertation focuses on a school in the Western Cape which offers many languages and is trying to meet the needs of its learners. The way in which multilingualism is experienced in the classrooms is observed from the learners, teachers and parents' perspectives in the hope of describing how it takes place in a secondary school setting. The ways in which teachers can promote multilingualism in the classroom are suggested by offering practical multilingual strategies for teaching and learning. The role of INSET in promoting multilingualism is also discussed. / Educational Leadership and Management / M. Ed. (Educational Management)