published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Education

published_or_final_version / abstract / toc / Education / Master / Master of Education

published_or_final_version / abstract / toc / Education / Master / Master of Education

The care of planet Earth is the responsibility of all that inhabit it. Our environment sustains us, and choices we make can compromise the Earth's capacity to sustain life.This project explores how landscape architecture can be a tool that can aid in the process of sustaining certain systems of the Earth, while providing form and function for humans at the same time. Coupled with environmental education programming, the site design becomes the framework in which the programming is based.To sustain life, the Earth must give of its resources. It is well understood that the resources on the planet are limited. Altering systems of life support on the planet must embrace a holistic view in that all systems must be maintained, yet at the same time allow us to derive our means from them.Environmental education is a magical arena that allows for nurturing of human developmental needs by providing outlets for their social, emotional, physical, and cognitive growth. At the same time environmental education provides answers to questions that children and adults have about the environment. Landscape Design in the arena of environmental education can provide a direct link to issues of sustaining life support systems and how people learn about maintaining those systems wisely. / Department of Landscape Architecture

Thesis (PhD (Education))-University of Pretoria, 2008. / Includes bibliographical references.

This research project examines a case of environmental training for workers in the Expanded Public Works Programme, a poverty relief programme operating in South Africa (EPWP). It is constituted as an interpretive case study, and explores what workers learn and how they learn in an environmental skills programme. The study also examines the context of learning. In accordance with education and training policy, what learners are meant to learn is articulated in unit standards registered on the South African Qualifications Authority website. The unit standards are used to design curricula and learning programmes which are registered as environmental skills programmes by Sector Education and Training Authorities (SETAs). For the conservation sector the SETA is the Tourism and Hospitality Education and Training Authority (THETA). To develop an understanding of what learners learn, I considered the content, concepts, skills, values and attitudes contained in the unit standards, and then considered the actual learning taking place during the training programme focusing on three unit standards. Data was generated from semi-structured interviews with facilitators, focus group interviews with learners, observations of teaching and learning interventions and document analysis of EPWP, training and skills development policy documents, registered unit standards for the skills programme, and learning support materials produced by the provider implementing the training. The study notes that there is learning taking place within the training implemented through environmental skills programmes. The training is influenced by a number of diverse contextual factors namely policy factors, historical contextual factors, the economic context and diverse literacy levels. Learning interactions involve a variety of social interactions, activities and practices between learners and learners, and learners and facilitators. The main finding of the study is that the training programme’s major emphasis is on concepts and content, and social and learning skills, and values and attitudes. The prominence of social skills masks a neglect of practical workplace related skills which make up a strong focus of the unit standards. This, the study shows, is related to a lack of engagement with workplace learning, which in turn is linked to a disjuncture between policy and practice, where workers working in the EPWP programme are meant to benefit from training, but in this case it was found that community members, who were not working in the programme were being offered training. It was therefore not possible for them to develop the applied workplace skills, which were also meant to facilitate increased employability, as this is one of the key objectives of the EPWP programme. Based on the insights raised by the research findings the study made recommendations that the programme consider the following to recover the situation: to develop strategies that allow for longer term training frameworks so that learners can be trained on full qualifications so that they may qualify and benefit more substantively from the training in terms of employability skills. Facilitators in the programme need to be trained so that they can develop materials that address practical skills, values, attitudes, critical reflections and actions. Monitoring of training needs to be given preference both at materials development level and implementation level.

‘What is required is the ‘politics of the rhizome’ in which everyone, every community, every nation and every major region comes to terms with the uniqueness of their situation and acts accordingly – and realises that it is only by vast numbers of people, of groups and organizations acting in accordance with possibilities of their situations, that the environmental crisis will be solved.’ (Gare, 1995:161). The study investigates the implementation of Local Agenda 21’s education, awareness and training component by the Gaborone City Council Environmental Health Department (GCCEHD) to address environmental challenges facing the city of Gaborone, the capital city of Botswana. The research was conducted as a qualitative case study that made use of semi-structured interviews, focus group interviews and document analysis as instruments of data generation. Samples of respondents were selected from the Gaborone City Council (GCCEHD) employees in management positions, workers, and elected political councillors. The study is contextualised through establishing environmental issues in the Gaborone City Council, identifying strategies to address environmental issues and the review of the Waste Management Plan 2003-2009, which the department uses as a guiding document for waste management. The study establishes that the council employees are mostly concerned with issues of waste management and need commitment from all Local Government sectors of the work force. The study established the importance of education, awareness and training as a response to environmental issues facing Gaborone. The study also establishes the need for social education in terms of public education, awareness and training needed for the public to adequately respond to environmental challenges in their context. Models and relevant policy and guiding documents such as the Vision for Greater Gaborone, DPSEEA Model and Botswana Environmental Planning Principles were identified and recommended for the department to consider. The awareness and training activities should be developed and involve the community in environmental management. This should enable the council to create opportunities for income generation, at the same time changing community negative attitudes towards the environment and improving service delivery by the department.

The Ministry of Education (SICTE, 2002) states that the widespread introduction of computers in schools should support Curriculum 2005 and that computer technology is part and parcel of making schools the center of community life. The vision is to establish Smart Schools: schools that are reinvented in terms of teaching-learning practices to prepare learners for the information era (SICTE, 2002). Kafai (1996:71) has found that conventional school assignments rarely give learners the opportunity to spend a great deal of time on complex projects. As a result, many learners have little experience in design: planning, problem solving, researching, dealing with time constraints, modifying expectations and synthesizing everything in a project. Research by Carver, Lehrer, Connell and Erickson (1992); Lehrer, (1993); Lehrer, Erickson and Connell (1994); Kafai (1996); Liu and Hsiao (2002) and Liu (2002) indicates that the design of hypermedia artefacts can assist in providing experience in design. To date, no equivalent research has been conducted in South Africa to ascertain the perceptions of learners regarding the creation of a hypermedia artefact over an extended period of time and whether some of the critical outcomes specified in Curriculum 2005 can be addressed in such a learning-by-design hypermedia project. This study shows that design skills and aspects related to the critical outcomes of Curriculum 2005 can be achieved. Furthermore, it indicates that this kind of project encourages interest, motivation and collaboration. In addition, it suggests that learners experience the role of the teacher as different and prefer such a learning environment. In spite of the positive results, some aspects that need attention for future implementation are suggested.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-12-06T17:07:12Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertacao Mauren.pdf: 486407 bytes, checksum: a0dc4b4f40e5ca58fd0066570eab416f (MD5) Previous issue date: 2006-12-07 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / This descriptive study aims to outline the chief features to set up programs which involve physical activity for the members of the Elderly Gatherin Groups in São José premises, settled in the public policies to promote local welfare. On the whole, one hundred and sixteen elderly were involved, nineteen Elderly Gathering Groups Coordinators, two Administrative Leaders of the local Elderly Support Office as well as an Elderly State Counselor. The collected data has arisen from previous stored collection (MAZO, 2005), interviews, and documental analysis covering the town Elderly Support Office. After the data analysis it was observed that most of the individuals are physically active females and happy towards their own health conditions, although presenting some illness indication. Further on, their current health situation is worse compared to their conditions five years ago making it more difficult on the physical practice exposure of 75% of the less active elderly. The town Elderly Support Network is settled in the Municipal Social Support Boarder, which within the Elderly Department runs the Elderly Assistance Center, framed to develop a wide range of activities for the old aged. Concerning the Physical Activity Programs offered for the elderly the following figures were observed: only 22,4% of the old aged are familiar with the Physical Activity Programs, while 76,7% of the old aged and 84% of the coordinators have not heard about it. Also, 81,9% do not take part of any Physical Activity Program and only 7,8% are Elderly Assistance Center participants. Surprisingly, 79% of the coordinators mentioned that the Physical Activity Programs do not fulfill the elderly needs. On the other hand, the Physical Activity Programs staff argues that accomplishment benefits only the individuals who attend the program regularly. According to the administrative leaders and 47% of the coordinators, affordable and political issues unable the broadening of the Physical Activity Programs. In order to improve Physical Activity Programs support, 37,9% of the old aged and 74% of the coordinators suggest Physical Education teachers hiring. Additionally, 16,4% of the elderly and 21% of the coordinators indicate that Physical Activity Programs should be offered in different areas of the city, besides Elderly Assistance Center. It is also suggested that new Gathering Groups should be established. According to the Elderly State Council, there are two possible ways to set up the Physical Activity Programs: through financial support provided by non-government organizations or through the City Hall sponsorship. Considering all the data mentioned above, it is indicated that some actions should be taken in order to improve and widen the Physical Activity Programs covering, like a better distribution of them, Physical Education teachers employment, conscious awareness of active aging, followed by the benefits of regular exercises practice, partnership with public and private institutions, adoption of the rules settled by Elderly Assistance Center as long as wider spreading of the local elderly support to the community in general. / O objetivo deste estudo foi descrever os aspectos que estão relacionados às diretrizes necessárias para a formulação de programas e ações de atividade física para idosos participantes dos Grupos de Convivência do município de São José - SC, que embasem as políticas públicas de promoção de saúde municipal. Este estudo foi do tipo descritivo. Os sujeitos do estudo foram 116 idosos e 19 coordenadores participantes de grupos de convivência, dois dirigentes administrativos da rede de atendimento ao idoso do município de São José e um representante do Conselho Estadual do Idoso CEI de Santa Catarina. Os instrumentos de coleta de dados foram: os resultados do banco de dados de pesquisa (MAZO, 2005); entrevistas com os sujeitos do estudo; e análise dos documentos sobre a rede de atendimento ao idoso do município. Os dados foram analisados por meio da estatística descritiva e da análise de conteúdo. Verificou-se que a maioria dos idosos é do sexo feminino, é ativa fisicamente, apresenta doenças, está satisfeita com sua saúde, o estado de saúde atual está pior quando comparada há cinco anos atrás e dificulta a prática de atividade física para 75% dos idosos pouco ativos. A Rede de atendimento aos idosos do município de São José está centrada na Secretaria Municipal da Ação Social, que por intermédio do Departamento da Terceira Idade, administra o Centro de Atenção à Terceira Idade - CATI. Neste Centro são realizadas diversas atividades para os idosos. Em relação aos programas de atividade física (PAF) oferecidos aos idosos do município, verificou-se que 76,7% dos idosos e 84% dos coordenadores não conhecem os PAF e apenas 22,4% dos idosos conhecem. Dos idosos, 81,9% não participa de nenhum PAF e somente 7,8% deles participam dos programas no CATI. Sobre os PAFs atenderem as necessidades dos idosos, 79% dos coordenadores dizem que não atendem. Para os dirigentes administrativos os PAF atendem as necessidades daqueles idosos que freqüentam os PAF do CATI regularmente. Os dirigentes e 47% dos coordenadores acreditam que existam dificuldades financeiras e políticas que prejudicam a expansão dos PAFs. Para melhorar o atendimento aos idosos com relação aos PAFs, 37,9% dos idosos e 74% dos coordenadores sugerem que sejam disponibilizados professores de Educação Física e 16,4% dos idosos e 21% dos coordenadores que sejam implantados PAFs em outros locais além do CATI. Os dirigentes acreditam que deva ser incentivada a criação de novos grupos de convivência. Para o CEI existem duas formas para realização dos PAFs, mediante convênio com organizações não-governamentais ou a ascensão do programa como ação própria da Prefeitura Municipal. Para tanto, sugere-se para melhorar e ampliar os PAF do município, as seguintes diretrizes: descentralização dos PAF; contratação de profissionais de Educação Física; conscientização sobre um envelhecimento ativo e benefícios da prática regular de atividade física; estabelecimento de parcerias com instituições públicas e privadas, a implementação das premissas previstas pelo CATI e maior divulgação do atendimento prestado ao público idoso do município para a comunidade em geral.

Thesis (DEd (Education))--Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2017. / This study investigates the impact of a Gross Motor Development (GMD) programme on the lives of learners in marginalized multi-grade environments in rural areas of the Western Cape. Numerous studies globally suggest that gross motor development programmes bring stability, positive motivational changes and structure in learners’ lives constrained by challenging socio-economic environments (Portela, 2007, & Lopes et al., 2013). A transformative research paradigm was employed in order to address the research questions posed by this study. A purposive sampling technique was used to collect data from three schools, one in each of three Western Cape rural educational districts that border the Cape Metro; West Coast/Hopefield, Cape Winelands/Wellington and Overberg/Grabouw. In all three schools the Centre for Multi-grade Education had an academic research/training and support partnership. Within a trans-current mixed method design, qualitative data are used to substantiate and augment phenomena exposed by the quantitative data. The data in the qualitative phase of this study are collected using observations, reflective journals and journal notes. The research investigated the influence of an 18-month gross motor development programme on learners’ lives in three multi-grade schools in the Western Cape of South Africa. A sample of 50 (N=30 males and N=20 females), grade 4-6 multi-grade learners participated in the study. The gross motor skills were assessed using Project 4 – IMAD+ Test Battery, previously developed by the Cape Peninsula University of Technology, Centre for Multi-grade Education. The test battery consisted of a series of physical exercises designed to assess gross motor proficiency. The scholastic achievement of learners was understood from the Annual National Assessment scores (ANA) of 2013.The data revealed that a total gross motor ability percentage score change occurred in the sample 50 (N=30 males and N=20 females) from 32.12 % to 56.82 %, indicating a significant overall gross motor improvement of 24.7 % in an 18 month period. Improved self-esteem, positive attitudinal and motivational changes and increases in class attendance occurred among the learners. This improvement aligns itself with research that indicates that the development and improvement of motor skills through physical activity are related to positive development of self-esteem among learners (Corbin, 2002:128-145). This study contributes to the growing body of knowledge on education at rural, marginalized schools, and suggests that providing learners with the opportunity to participate in a structured programme is likely to improve motivation which will contribute toward positive scholastic achievement. It is recommended that policymakers should encourage and implement structured gross motor skills development programmes at school. Further research on the influence of GMD provincially and nationally should be encouraged.