Magister Artium (Development Studies) - MA(DVS) / This thesis is an exploratory study of how African international students at the University of the Western Cape (UWC) in South Africa experience xenophobic attitudes and behaviours, and how they make sense of it. In post-apartheid South Africa, the xenophobia phenomenon has become an intensely debated issue. While numerous researchers have attempted to investigate the forms of xenophobia and the underlying reasons of aggressive behaviour towards foreign migrants in South Africa, very few studies have been done thus far on xenophobia at South African Higher learning institutions. In this research I am interested in finding out whether international students particularly African international students at UWC, encounter xenophobia on campus and outside the academic environment. An Ethnographic study was conducted on and off the UWC campus, which involved participant observation, in-depth one on one interviews, focus group and diaries which were kept by key informants to record their daily experiences. The research participants were ten UWC African international students, who stay on and off campus, from different levels and field of study. The strategy to analyse the data was framed on basis of inductive approach. Moreover, informal discussions were used as a source of data to this study and I also made use of my own experiences as of one of African international students at UWC. The findings pinpoint that xenophobic experiences of African international students inside and outside the university include exclusion, discrimination, verbal abuse, blames and harassments, as well as stereotypes. The findings also show that xenophobic violence is experienced off campus. Although the violence experience was reported by one student out of the research participants, this issue is still pertinent enough to be considered. The central argument of the thesis is that while no violence against foreign African students has been reported from UWC, this does not mean that there would be no instances of xenophobia there. Instead, this research shows that because at higher learning institutions we find mostly people of the social middle classes, xenophobia is expressed in subtle ways through negative attitudes and behaviours towards foreign students.

Magister Artium - MA / Instructional verbs (such as analyse, summarise, apply, evaluate) have been referred to as performatives and have become the object of initiatives around developing and assessing students' academic literacy competencies. Although there are extensive studies on developing and evaluating performatives such as analyse, apply, create, there is one instructional verb that has not received much attention. It is the verb 'define'. The neglect of 'defining' as a performative in the relevant research on academic literacies may be explained by the low value attributed to this performative in different taxonomies of educational outcomes where it is placed along with verbs such as 'list', 'identify', 'recall' identified as lower-order thinking skills. As a result of the dearth of studies of definition in academic literacy contexts, there are a number of questions that have not been addressed. We do not know the extent to which definitional knowledge may be central to efforts at developing the overall academic literacy of students. We do not know if the language in which students read academic texts (home language or second/third language) affects their ability to differentiate definitions from non-definitions, or to formulate definitions of concepts. This point is especially important as it is all too often assumed that (even without attention to relevant academic literacy development) the use of the home language of students necessarily enhances academic performance. Also, our knowledge is rather limited with respect to how different definitional structures affect the ability of students to recognize definitions in their study materials. It is also not clear how to intervene in order to make it explicit to students what may be expected of them in terms of defining in their academic work. Given the foregoing, this research analyses the notion of ‘definition’ as an integral component of the academic literacy of university students, with the focus being on determining the knowledge around definitions possessed by students in the Linguistics and Xhosa departments of the University of the Western Cape. Specifically, the study assesses the following: the structure of definitions in selected textbooks; students' awareness of the existence of different definitional structures in their textbooks; their ability to identify the concepts being defined in specific passages; their ability to define concepts; their ability to distinguish definitions from non-definitions; and their awareness of how definitions may be introduced. The study also investigates how the language of the textbook (home language versus second/third language of the students) may impact on the performance of students in assessments of definitional knowledge. In terms of theoretical framing, the study is informed by an approach to definitions taken in the field of terminology and by the academic literacy framework which stipulates that students' academic literacy practices are inextricably shaped by different factors such as basic skills possessed by them, institutional ideologies, contexts and issues of power. The research uses a mixed-method paradigm. A total of 100 definitions excerpted from English and isiXhosa textbooks were analysed qualitatively to describe the structure of definitions (in the textbooks), using as parameters the following: definiendum (item to be defined), definiens (meaning) and definitor (link between definiendum and definiens). Quantitative data on students' knowledge of different aspects of the notion 'definition' were collected by means of questionnaires completed by 50 students from each of the Linguistics and Xhosa departments of the University of the Western Cape. While the former have English as their major language of academic literacy, the latter have isiXhosa. Chi-square tests were administered to examine whether or not there was a significant relationship between the language of the questionnaire and students' performance. Overall, the research findings suggest that definition writing is not an autonomous phenomenon; rather, it is socioculturally (e.g. language, discipline) shaped. In this respect, the way definitions are structured in English (in a linguistics textbook) is in many respects different from the way they are constructed in isiXhosa (in books on cultural studies). With regard to students' performance on a range of definition tasks in the questionnaires administered, the findings reveal that the major language of academic literacy (also home language in the case of Xhosa students) may have a positive impact on how students perform tasks requiring them to, for instance, identify definienda (concepts being defined) and definientia (meanings), and/or to spot a definition within a passage. Unlike with these datasets, other findings show that the main language of academic literacy is not a significant explanation of students' underperformance in tasks requiring them to identify a definition that is wrongly introduced and also to produce definitions of their own. The findings underscore the need for explicit teaching as recommended by the academic literacies model. A pedagogical guide outlining how a course on definition could be structured is proposed.

Magister Philosophiae - MPhil / There are relatively few women in senior leadership or management positions in South African industry. The oil industry is no exception to this and could in fact be considered to exemplify the ways in which women are marginalised. This small-scale qualitative project aims to explore challenges and experiences women face when entering senior management positions in the Petroleum Industry in Cape Town. The main objective of the study is to explore how gender (and other relevant subject positions) impacts on women's career development and opportunities. I used a qualitative feminist methodological framework and conducted a total of 12 semi-structured interviews with women employed in upper management positions in the 8 oil companies in the greater Western Cape area including the South African Petroleum Industry Association and Department of Energy (SAPIA). A thematic data analysis was then utilised to interpret the data. My findings show that many women perceive the route to success as difficult yet possible suggesting that the popular ''glass ceiling'' conceptual scheme should be replaced by the ''labyrinth of leadership'' model discussed in Early and Carli 2007 with relation to the oil industry. Further findings suggest that although the oil industry provides unique challenges to women as a gendered organization, it also incorporates various progressive initiatives for their advancement.

No description available.

Philosophiae Doctor - PhD / This thesis discusses the impact of modern Rational Islam on the Muslim community of the Western Cape between 1950 and 1996. It is particularly concerned with the role of Shaykh Shakier Gamieldien in establishing and propagating this discourse in the region through the use of education as his means of propagation. The study defines modern Rational Islam as a discourse that emerged as a response to the incursion of modern Western culture into traditional Muslim regions during the 19th Century. The study further reflects on the local conditions in the Western Cape and assesses the progress that modern Rational Islam had made under Gamieldien’s guidance in the period immediately after the Second World War. It investigates the negative impact that the forced removals of the community of District 6 from their urban homes in Cape Town had on Rational Islam who had lived in this area. It explores the emergence of alternative interpretive and discursive tendencies in the Townships and the apathy of the rationalists during this period. Two issues come under critical scrutiny in the thesis in order to provide clarity on the changing strategy used by Rational Islam during period of forced removals. First, the creation of new structures that could be employed for purposes of Islamic education within the rational discourse. The second was its attempt to reach a wider audience because of the destruction of its primary base in District 6. In assessing the impact of Rational Islam on the community of the Western Cape consideration is given to the changing contexts that existed between 1950 and 1996. The thesis examines the effect of the disintegration of the Muslim community and then the emergence of other discursive tendencies in the townships on Rational Islam. It also considers the indirect influence that Gamieldien’s discourse had on the other Islamic discursive tendencies in its assessment of Rational Islam’s impact. The study is based on qualitative research methods, mostly oral interviews with groups of students who studied and worked with Gamieldien as well as with individual informants such as family members, friends and his leading students. This thesis investigates the emergence and impact of Rational Islam in the Western Cape and the contribution made by Shaykh Shakier Gamieldien in its establishment in this region. It further investigates the role of education as used by Gamieldien as a means of propagating modern Rational Islam as an accepted local Islamic discourse.

Magister Commercii (Information Management) - MCom(IM) / Long waiting times before receiving a health service, give rise to long queues and congested health facilities, both of which are unnecessary and avoidable. Since patients in part judge the quality of the service by the length of time they spent waiting for it, it is imperative to measure waiting times, and determine and mitigate the immediate and underlying causes of lengthy waits. The facility under investigation was known to have excessively long waiting times. Since the immediate causes of long waiting times were known, it was thus required to research and understand the underlying causes of long waiting times and consequently whether there were any barriers to implementing recommendations to reduce waiting times at this primary health care facility. Aim: The aim of the study was to determine the underlying causes of long waiting times and the barriers to implementing recommendations to reduce waiting times. Methods: A quantitative cross-sectional analytical study with a small qualitative component was undertaken. The qualitative study took a workshop format by piggy-backing onto feedback sessions held to present the results of the previously conducted waiting time survey to staff. Staff commentary at the workshops on possible underlying causes and barriers to recommendations to reduce them, were then used to develop a questionnaire for the quantitative portion of the study. The population and sample for the qualitative part of the study were all staff working at the facility who attended the feedback sessions. The cross-sectional descriptive quantitative study intended to uncover what underlying causes affected long waiting times, what recommendations could be explored to mitigate long waiting times and improve the patient experience, and if there were any barriers to these recommendations. The quantitative study population and sample were all staff who worked at the facility for more than six months and all patients who had utilised the services at the facility for three or more times. Data was collected using structured questionnaires, which were different for staff and patients. A detailed descriptive analysis was conducted. Results: The study found a number of potential underlying causes for each immediate cause of long waiting times at the facility. For early morning batching the underlying causes found were: 45% of patients were given early appointments which caused clients to arrive early; 100% of patients with appointments after 10H00 arrived before 10H00; and 43% of the patients stated that they arrived early because they feared being turned away.

Learners experiencing barriers to learning often require intervention and support from multiple professionals with different areas of expertise. Collaboration between professionals is important in avoiding fragmented and incoherent service delivery. Transdisciplinary service delivery allows for maximum integration among the various role players. Disciplinary boundaries are transcended through a process of skills transference and sharing of roles and provide child-centred, coordinated and collaborative support. This study investigates professionals in the Western Cape’s perceptions of a transdisciplinary service delivery approach for supporting learners experiencing barriers to learning. A sequential mixed method approach was utilized to gain an in depth understanding of professionals’ perceptions. Data were collected in two phases. During the first phase, a quantitative questionnaire was sent to various professional categories in the Western Cape who are expected to provide services to learners experiencing barriers to learning. The aim of the quantitative study was to provide background information for the second phase in which professionals’ perceptions of a transdisciplinary approach for supporting learners experiencing barriers to learning were obtained through eight focus group discussions. Four focus groups consisted of professionals who had not previously been exposed to a transdisciplinary approach. These professionals attended a two hour informative workshop on a transdisciplinary service delivery approach prior to the focus group. The remaining four focus groups consisted of professionals who had previously been exposed to transdisciplinary service delivery. Data were systematically analysed through a hybrid process of inductive and deductive analysis. Findings indicate that professionals providing services to learners experiencing barriers to learning perceive a transdisciplinary approach as useful and much needed for services provided both in schools and in private practice. Certain aspects of the transdisciplinary approach are perceived as more or less valuable, depending on the context and specific category of learning barrier. Although professionals acknowledge all aspects of the approach as valuable, multiskilling and role release are viewed as most needed. The transference of skills among therapists, teachers, parents and caregivers is perceived to contribute to effective and feasible service delivery. / Psychology of Education / D. Ed. (Psychology of Education)

<p>&nbsp / </p> <p align="left">&nbsp / </p> <p>&nbsp / </p> <p align="left">The researcher has drawn on his personal experiences, both in the church as well as in the business world, as a basis for conducting this study. Situating the study within the field of Practical Theology, <font face="Arial Narrow">Zerfass&rsquo / model is used to address the theoretical, co</font><font face="Arial Narrow">ntextual and practical aspects of the research </font>problem. In determining what each section and each chapter should contain, the following questions <font face="Arial Narrow">are used as a guide: What is it that the reader should know, recognise and acknowledge after reading the particular section or chapter? How does a section or a chapter contribute towards exploring the </font><font face="Arial Narrow">stated hypothesis and how are the research steps outlined in Zerfass&rsquo / model used to guide the </font><font face="Arial Narrow">coherence of the project? The research process was initiated with the placing of the &quot / problem&quot / within the context of the UCCSA. Special attention was given to the definition of certain phrases used in UCCSA. Furthermore, the form of government operating in the church was also considered. A comparison was made with other </font><font face="Arial Narrow">church models. As the researcher&rsquo / s interest is the election process, the weaknesses in the current </font><font face="Arial Narrow">election procedures was discussed. A brief biblical perspective on elections was also stated. The findings of this process was that the UCCSA is 'governed' by its understanding and acceptance of the covenant relationship that exists between God and the people as well as between the members of the church. This relationship, therefore, also informs the election processes in the church.</font></p>

<p>Back pain has been reported to be the most common type of discomfort in all occupational groups. Studies have shown that dentists experience more neck, shoulder and back pain than practitioners in other occupational groups. This has caused an increase of social and economic costs of healthcare and increased frequency of sickness absenteeism in Western countries. About 72% of dentists experience back pain according to studies done in Western countries thus showing a very high prevalence among dentist. This study aimed to investigate the prevalence of back pain among dentistry undergraduate students. As there have been reports of high prevalence of back pain among dentistry students in<br /> Western countries.</p>

The rehabilitation of stroke patients can occur at different settings. These include in-patient settings, such as stroke units or general rehabilitation wards and out-patient settings, such as out-patient departments attached to hospitals, day hospital departments and the patients’ home. In South-Africa, day hospitals have been upgraded and are now referred to as Community Health Centres which provide comprehensive health services to the population. In the Western Cape these centres are faced with the rehabilitation of stroke patients who have been discharged early from hospital during the acute stage or who have never been admitted to hospitals. To date there is a lack of best practice guidelines and formal evaluations in terms of efficacy and effectiveness of rehabilitation at these centres. The aim of the study was therefore to investigate the rehabilitation of stroke patients at Community Health Centres in the Metropole Region of the Western Cape. The structure, process and outcomes (SPO) model was used as a conceptual framework in this study.