Water is life, and without it nothing can survive. All plants and animals need water to survive, whether it is fresh or salty. Climate change and pollution contribute greatly to the decline of freshwater supply and quality (National Geographic, 2015). According to the United Nations, 10% of the global population does not have access to clean water (UN Water, 2016) while World Health Organisation (WHO, 2009) stated that 3,4 million people die annually from water related diseases. The tourism industry across the world requires water for basic human consumption, irrigation of gardens and golf courses, preparation of food and drinks, making snow for winter sports and general water activities such as swimming or motorised water sports (Gössling et al., 2012). Many tourism lodges in the wildlife lodge industry in South Africa, Namibia and Botswana are in remote areas where little or no infrastructure exist. These lodges are dependent on natural water sources such as rivers, dams and boreholes to supply their water demand. The main objectives of the study were to determine water quality and quantity management in lodges from South Africa, Namibia and Botswana. The objectives were divided into sub-categories such as frequency and comprehensiveness of water quality analysis, the current quality of water at each lodge, water consumption per capita, establish benchmarks for the lodges and investigated other management components such as stakeholder involvement, financial implications and the monitoring of water management systems Across all three countries, 29% of the lodges have tested the water quality of their source, 61% tested water quality on their taps and 19% tested water quality of their wastewater discharge. From the 61% that did water quality tests on their tap, only 11% tested more than 37% of the required parameters as stated in the countries relevant standards and guidelines. The results indicated that the average water consumption across all three countries were 2073 l/g/n or 503 l/b/n when staff is included. Strong correlations were established between water consumption, the guest to staff ratio and rate in US $ when all three countries were considered. The water quality results indicated that several lodges had issues with Iron, Sulphate and Chloride levels. The author concluded that the current water management systems can be improved to ensure that water quality is managed more sustainably in the wildlife industry. The biggest concern relates to wastewater discharge, where very few water quality analysis are done. This has the potential to cause pollution and degrade ecosystems. It was recommended that more frequent and more comprehensive water quality analysis must be carried out on wastewater discharge as well as tap water to ensure water is safe for consumption. Lodge managers can appoint designated personnel to ensure that water meter readings are taken monthly and that they are probably recorded. The use of modern equipment such as pulse meters will prevent meters from seizing. Smart meters can be used to upload data to a cloud where WIFI is available. / Department of Environmental Sciences / M. Sc. (Environmental Management)

This study looks at the various actions by the principal of a farm school in running an academically successful school. The study exposes the difficulties faced by farm schools and looks at how the principal confronts these difficulties and turn some of these into success stories. In trying to understand the role of the principal this study uses school effectiveness literature as a source and reference in an attempt to understand the actions adopted by the principal to make this farm school successful. The study uses the interpretive orientation as the methodology for investigating the principal’s role. This is in line with my attempt at explaining the perceptions, views and experiences of the people who are working closely with the principal. I have done this by employing semi-structured interviews and participant observation. The information gathered from the respondents helped in the development of the role of the principal which in this case, is the expressed views of the respondents. The investigation is conducted as a case study and the handling of the information provided by the respondents is in line with case study methods. The study has revealed that actions of the leader have an influence on the organizational success. The way in which the leader of Rocklands farm School conducts herself and the vision she shares with the people within the organization go a long way towards the improvement of organizational structures and their functioning. In this case the principal has been noted as particularly transformational, charismatic, instructional and transactional in her approaches to school administration and that her dedication to the cause of learners from disadvantaged background is reflected in her sacrificial actions. The study has also found that the principal is considered to be fairly autocratic in her leadership, which is a departure from current leadership thinking. The study has also shown that socio-economic disadvantages do not necessarily inhibit the school from performing beyond expectation. With good guidance from the leader and trust among staff members the farm school has been able to overcome some socio-economic pressures to emerge successful in the academic field. The fact that the principal of this school is a woman has not changed the overall findings that leadership qualities for successful schooling are universal and do not necessarily depend on the gender of the leader. This study suggests that leaders have a potential to turn poor situations in schools around and that leaders should as a matter of course ensure that they understand the organizational dynamics within their schools. They should be in the forefront as agents of change being mindful that those within the school understand and share the vision the leader has. The study also suggests that the human element in the educational processes in schools is of critical importance than the conditions in which schools find themselves.

This study involved an issues-based approach to curriculum contextualisation in the context of the Eco-Schools programme in Kenya. It adopted a two-phase design using interpretivist and socially critical research orientations. In this study, research is represented as a process which is socially constructed within a particular theoretical, contextual, social and historical context by unfolding the thesis to illuminate how the phases are closely woven into each other. The first phase used the survey method for a contextual review of existing approaches and views relating to environmental education in the formal education sector. The survey aimed to develop a deeper understanding of environmental education as currently practiced in Kenya and to unravel the complexities surrounding it. It involved about two hundred and six primary school teachers and a critical review of a set of resource materials used in Kenyan Primary Schools. It revealed that some aspects of environmental education practice and the prevailing technocratic view of curriculum in Kenyan primary schools potentially limit possibilities for issues-based approaches to curriculum contextualisation. The action research process in four case study schools in Nyanza province of Kenya represent an attempt to address issues in context through socially critical environmental education. Participant observations, workshops and document analysis revealed that, contextualised conceptions of the terms ‘environment’ and ‘environmental education’ that resulted from a process of deliberation of meaning by teachers in relation to their contexts and practices served to set perspective for the action research process. Further, the planning phase which involved environmental auditing to identify issues of concern, prioritization of actions, issues to address, and action planning to guide implementation was critical in setting the agenda of the action research process in each of the case study schools. Integration and infusion of local issues of concern into curriculum planning further enriched processes of curriculum contextualisation, making them relevant to local contexts by addressing real issues through appropriate pedagogical approaches in auditing, investigation and research, communicating and interpreting results, reflecting on investigations and taking action. The action research process further enhanced cooperation and partnership between the case study schools and surrounding communities with mutual benefits. The research report demonstrates that despite the limitations posed by the technocratic orientation of the Kenyan curriculum, it is possible to address real environmental issues, risks and associated sustainable development challenges in context through issues-based approaches to curriculum contextualisation in the context of the Eco-Schools programme.

This case study focuses on the use of environmental audits for learning, by teachers participating in the Schools and Sustainability professional development course in Durban, South Africa. It reviews ways in which audits were choreographed and used for lessons within school contexts. It explores ways in which audits shaped meaning-making interactions and environmental learning processes. This is an interpretive case study, characterized by a moderate realist perspective. Data were generated through interviews with teachers, field observations, photographs, document analysis, and group interviews with learners. Data were analyzed using the general comparative method. The research takes place in the context of educational transformation in South Africa. Some of the challenges accompanying the shift to Outcomes Based Education seem to be associated with naïve interpretations of constructivism and a view of reality as socially constructed and relative. This seems to have influenced ways in which audits are being undertaken in school contexts. This study argues that a realist orientation to auditing may be a more useful process for engaging with the world and enhancing the way learners perceive and respond to environmental risk. Ideas about reality-congruence and the interacting processes of involvement and detachment are of central importance in understanding processes of knowledge construction and meaning making in this study. The study draws on the work of Elias (1987) and Latour (1999) to shed light on the significance of auditing processes in which a close engagement with reality, coupled with a measure of detachment, can lead to the construction of a more reality-congruent account and a more realistic assessment of the environmental issue in focus. Key findings of the study suggest that the effectiveness of environmental auditing as a pedagogical process was influenced by the teachers’ intentions, knowledge and skills, choreography of the audit, nature of the teaching and learning interactions, and ways in which teachers and learners engaged with the findings. The study recommends that auditing activities should be carefully structured and mediated by teachers to be meaningful and to enable learners to identify environmental issues, gather data, engage in critical reflection and deliberate appropriate responses for social and environmental transformation.

The appreciation by leadership of the culture of an organisation plays an important role in the success of that organisation. Leadership and organisation culture are an inextricable part of the life of an organisation. The shared assumptions and beliefs of the individual within an organisation shape its culture. My study investigates the aspects of school culture and, further, looks at its link to the success of an organisation, and at the leadership style that influences such an organisation. My research, conducted in the interpretive paradigm, is a case study which was carried out at a public secondary school in the capital city of Windhoek, in Namibia. Since the school was built during South African rule, it was intended mainly for white children. Since independence, it has undergone transformation and is currently integrated, accommodating learners from different cultural backgrounds. It is a successful school, with a good reputation for its discipline and academic excellence. I chose this school deliberately, for those reasons. My findings are that there are aspects of culture which maintain its creation and perpetuate the existence of a particular culture at the school. This school’s culture is embedded within the Christian faith, and there are deliberate rituals and ceremonies put in place to enhance the creation and maintenance of the values that inform its culture, and the school leadership, management, teachers and student council members have a central role in this regard. My study shows that the creation, understanding and appreciation of beliefs and values of the individual within the organisation enable the consequent creation of the shared vision and values that ultimately lead to the foundation and maintenance of a strong culture.

A review of the academic literature related to “strategic leadership” reveals that the performance of an organization will indeed be influenced by the application of this phenomenon. This thesis confines its research to a case study on Ellerine Holdings Limited, a multi-billion rand enterprise that trades in the competitive Southern African furniture retail industry. Following the 2007 acquisition of Ellerine Holdings Limited (EHL) by African Bank Investments Limited (ABIL), a new Chief Executive Officer (CEO) was appointed to develop and to lead the strategic changes that were envisioned for EHL. The research examines how the performance of EHL has been influenced since the appointment of Toni Fourie as the new CEO in February 2008. Boasting a reputation borne from his previous successes in organizational transformation, Fourie was ABIL’s first-choice leader for this challenge. Fourie displays qualities, attributes, behaviours and traits that are characterized by the phenomenon of “strategic leadership”. He has been the focus of media attention for the aggressive strategic changes that he has introduced within the organization. A quantitative analysis of EHL’s financial performance (between 2007 and 2009) indicated that there was a constant decline in the organization’s PBT (Profit Before Taxation) during the period observed. However, the research determined that turbulent conditions in the macro-economic environment (such as the global economic recession in 2008 and 2009) complemented by mitigating micro-economic factors, would have adversely skewed the conclusions in this document if the research was limited to quantitative analysis alone. Hence, the researcher explored a qualitative research framework by collecting and assimilating data from available documentation, and from formal interviews that were conducted with research participants representing the organization’s new leadership. These participants included the new CEO, Fourie, and the new Director of Strategy, Dr. Louis Carstens. Information was also obtained from informal discussions that were conducted with other senior executives, and with an ex general manager of one of EHL’s business units, who was based in the Eastern Cape region at the time. An examination of all of this data concluded that although Ellerine Holdings Limited was not achieving all of its financialperformance objectives, there was general consensus that the CEO’s strategic choices would yield the desired financial results from the mediumterm (namely, year-03 of his tenure) onwards. The CEO’s optimism and conviction that his strategic interventions will address long-term financial sustainability is shared by both EHL’s internal and external stakeholders. It emerged that EHL’s stakeholders were satisfied with the accelerated progress reflected in the organization’s non-financial performance indices. These indicators included the sowing of a new organizational culture; improved cost-base efficiencies; labour productivity; customer satisfaction; employee empowerment; innovation and creative thinking; collaborative and participative engagement; structural rationalization, and the introduction of new processes and procedures. The research from the EHL case study concluded that the phenomenon of strategic leadership can have a positive influence on various qualitative indicators within an organization. The research also determined that despite unforeseen conditions in both the macro and micro economic environments, an effective strategic leadership will remain committed to its vision, and resilient to its critics and competitors. This research further concludes that successful organizational transformation (within a macro enterprise) is ostensibly dependent on the interventions of a strategic leader who displays a specialist set of skills and behaviours. These strategic leaders have the ability to successfully shift the cognitive paradigms of their employees, thereby creating an enabling environment for the implementation of their strategic choices.

Research studies and the review of academic literature has found that strategic leadership had a direct impact on organisational climate, and that climate in turn accounted for nearly one third of the financial results of organisations (Goleman, 2000). The conclusion from research conducted across 13 industries established that over a 20 year period, leadership accounted for more variations in performance than any other variable (Northouse, 2006). This thesis confines its research to a case study on Famous Brands. Famous Brands is currently one of Africa’s leading Quick Service Restaurant and Casual Dining franchisors and is also represented in the United Kingdom. The Group also has a manufacturing arm and supplies its franchisees, the retail trade and the broader hospitality industry with a wide range of meat, sauce, bakery, ice cream, fruit juice and mineral water products. At the time when the company’s name changed from Steers Holdings to Famous Brand in 2004, Kevin Hedderwick was appointed as Chief Operating Officer. The research examines how Kevin Hedderwick has exercised strategic leadership and thereby influenced Famous Brands’ performance. Hedderwick displays qualities, attributes and behaviours that are characterized by the phenomenon of “strategic leadership”. A quantitative analysis of Famous Brands financial performance (between 2005 and 2009) was undertaken. Further qualitative descriptions were used to further give meaning to the financial results. The success experienced by Famous Brands since Hedderwick’s appointment, seem to suggest that strategic choices and initiatives have been met with great success. The research is presented in the form of a case study that can be developed into a teaching case to be used in the classroom to illustrate the exercise of strategic leadership. The researcher explored a qualitative research framework by collecting and assimilating data from available documentation, and from a formal interview that was conducted with Mr Hedderwick. Information was also obtained from interviews that were conducted with other senior executives and influential personnel. This research concludes that the success of organisations is dependent on the interventions of a strategic leader who displays a specialist set of skills and behaviours. These strategic leaders have the ability to successfully influence their employees, thereby creating an enabling environment for the implementation of their strategic choices.

Expanding interests may be a behavioral cusp, resulting in widespread changes across skills, and therefore is particularly relevant in intervention programs for children with autism. Little research has addressed directly increasing the diversity of activities and interests for this population. This study describes a program developed to increase activities and interests in a girl dually-diagnosed with pervasive developmental disorder (PDD-NOS) and Downs syndrome (DS). A multiple-baseline design across stimuli was employed to evaluate the program. The results show that the program increased number of total and different toy interactions. No effects were observed for overall duration of toy interactions. Results are discussed in relation to play skill instruction and preference assessment literature, the cusp, and autism intervention programs.

The research project evolved from my concerns and those of parents and teachers about students’ inability to regulate their smartphone use in schools. A preliminary review of literature revealed growing concerns worldwide about adolescent smartphone dependence which was affecting students’ academic and social development, amongst many others. It also revealed the area of adolescents’ smartphone dependence to be scantly researched especially in developing countries. Hence, this study. The purpose of the study was to explore levels of smartphone dependence in adolescents at a private school in Myanmar. The study was set in a social constructivist framework and the methodology was qualitative in nature, incorporating a literature review. Participants were purposively selected. Data was collected through semi-structured interviews, observations, focus group discussions and questionnaires. The study found that the level of smartphone use at the school was a cause of concern for the stakeholders; adolescents at the target school could be considered dependent on their smartphones. Recommendations to reduce the adolescents’ total screen time were made. Further studies into the management of children’s smartphone use were recommended. / Educational Foundations / M. Ed. (Comparative Education)

The aim of the study was to identify the factors that have an influence on the completion rates of undergraduate students in the fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). Using Tinto's retention rate theory as the theoretical foundation, data were collected from freshman who were enrolled in the years 2005 to 2008. Results showed gender and first-generation status were significant predictors of STEM completion and time taken to complete the degree. Institutional bias played a role in race/ethnicity not being a factor affecting completion rates, as this study was conducted at a Predominantly White Institution. SAT scores and first and second-year college GPA showed to have the most prominent influence on both STEM completion rate and time taken to complete the degree. Females with higher first-year college GPA and higher high school rank finished faster. Similar results were found with first-generation students as well. Students belonging to ethnic minority groups with higher SAT scores and college GPA had greater success in STEM fields as well. The study results can be used to increase completion rates of underrepresented students in the STEM fields, given what we know about the interactions between underrepresented student groups and the most important predictors.