M.Ed. (Mathematics Education) / This research aimed to explore errors associated with the concept of fractions displayed by Grade 5 learners. This aim specifically relates to the addition and subtraction of common fractions. In order to realize the purpose of the study, the following objective was set: To identify errors that learners display when adding and subtracting common fractions. The causes which led to the errors were also established. Possible ways which can alleviate learners' misconceptions and errors associated with them were also discussed. The study was conducted at Dyondzo (Fictitious name) Primary School, Vhembe District in Limpopo Province. The constructivist theory of learning was used to help understand how learners construct their meanings of newly acquired knowledge. It was a qualitative study where most of the data and findings were presented with think descriptions using descriptive analysis techniques. A group of forty nine learners was selected purposively within two classes of Grade 5 to write the class work, home work and test on addition and subtraction of fractions. Learners were interviewed and so were two teachers. The five teachers also completed a questionnaire of five questions to supplement the interviews. The study found that learners made a number of errors in the addition and subtraction of fractions, including conceptual errors, carelessness errors, procedural errors and application errors. This finding supports findings that primary school children experience difficulties when learning the concept of fractions.

M.Ed. (Educational Psychology) / The main purpose of this study is to determine whether pupil quality influences educational standards. The development and growth of pupils are the result of hereditary and environmental factors. Environmental factors inter alia include the school's and teacher's involvement with pupils. The role that the school plays in the life of the pupil, is very important for his development. The school is the pupil's living place in which he becomes involved with his peer group. The pupil has to learn to socialise and to respect authority. Knowledge becomes unlocked through the pupil as well as for him. The school is the preparatory phase for his adult life. The qualities that the pupil obtains during his school years, largely determine the career that he will follow, his social status, his economic welfare and his self-concept. The empirical component of the investigation was based on the implementation of a questionnaire. Concerning validity and reliability, a principal component analysis (P.C.A.) was followed by a principal factor analysis (P.F.A.) in the first order analysis. This was followed by a second order P.C.A. and P.F.A. The variables resulting from this factor analysis procedure were then subjected to an item analysis. The identified variables, i.e, sex differences, educational qualifications, occupation, primary and secondary schools, school models, permanent place of residence, religion, marital status, children and income, were used to investigate the importance of pupil qualities and educational standards. The most important findings are: The majority of respondents regards pupil quality as a very important determinant which can influence educational standards. Great emphasis should be placed on reading in primary schools. Pupils with specific reading problems should receive continuing formal reading tuition in the secondary schools. Rationalisation within the teaching profession should not have an effect on support classes and remedial education. As far as achievement oriented education is concerned, care should be taken to ensure that pupils with problems and needs receive the necessary attention. The primary aim should be child centred education.

This study focuses on the process of custody decision-making in a South African divorce context with the aim of critically examining the operation of the principle of the best interests of the child. A narrative approach is incorporated into Parker and Fairclough's discourse analytic approaches in the context of an instrumental case study. More specifically, the focus falls on moving beyond the understandings of custody embodied within the current psychological literature in order to examine the relationship between theory and practice and to view custody as a dynamic process at both a textual and analytical level. Concepts of dialoguing, context, audience and intertextuality together with a storied approach are central. Further, an attempt is made to provide a disruptive reading of the case through the use of notions of power, ideology and institutional practices embedded within the case and its broader contexts. The analysis demonstrates the need for decision-making to be viewed as a broader process situated across multiple professional, institutional and socio-political texts and contexts. Further, it is argued that in order for the process to uphold the principle of the child's best interests, specialised training must be supplemented with changes at the level of policy, aimed at moving toward a more inclusive, process-oriented approach to custody decision-making.

The development of private divorce mediation appears to offer a friendly and informal alternative to the "hostile" adversarial divorce. A close analysis of its claims, however, shows them to be largely unproven. Urgent attention should therefore be given to the philosophical base of the movement. There is also a need for empirical research and for standardised training. Further unanswered questions relate to the part to be played by different professions, and to professional ethics. It is submitted that the appointment of Family Advocates is a step in the right direction but that the establishment of a full Family Court will best protect children's interests.

Issues concerning children may be the most intense and emotive areas of divorce and can lead to spectacular legal battles. Social work practice revealed that it is often the father who leaves the court, stripped of his fatherhood by a court order that only grants him limited access to his own children. Some divorced fathers disengage from their children's lives but there is documented evidence of South African fathers who desire continuity in their relationships with their children after divorce. An interest in these fathers prompted this study. Fathers who challenged maternal custody were selected since it was assumed that their lived experiences would include non-custodial as well as custodial fatherhood. The study was approached from a constructivist position and was further informed by a family systems theory. South African and international literature was perused followed by an exploratory study on the relatively uncharted terrain of paternal custody. A qualitative method was used and one unstructured interview with a schedule was conducted with each of the five respondents who were selected according to non-probability purposive sampling methods. Interviews were recorded and transcribed verbatim. Data was analysed cross-sectionally around certain themes and categories that were extracted from the data. The most significant findings of the study which appear to resemble some earlier national and international findings, are summarised as follows: Some fathers appear to have sound motives for pursuing custody of their children. These fathers, if afforded the opportunity, find fulfilment in parenting their children whom they perceive to be happy and prosperous in their care. There are fathers in whom divorce causes clear and profound signs of distress which appear to be related to the loss of the pre-divorce father I child relationship. The feeling of powerlessness to effect the well-being of their children as they see it was emphasised. Recommendations generated from these findings relate to the elimination of gender bias from custody decisions, including fathers in therapeutic interventions with divorced families and the provision of family courts and mediation services as suggested in the White Paper for Social Welfare. Recommendations for future research are also presented.

The main aim of this dissertation was to examine the status of Physical Education for senior primary girls in KwaZulu-Natal. Two sets of questionnaires were used to acquire information from Physical Education teachers and management staff involved in supervision of Physical Education at primary schools. The data obtained were then analysed. • To determine the degree of constructive guidance given in the teaching of senior primary Physical Education by school management • To determine whether physical educators are suitably qualified • To determine whether Physical Education forms part of the core curriculum at school • To make a historical comparative study of the development of Physical Education in primary schools and in KwaZulu-Natal in particular • To determine whether schools have the necessary resources needed in order to teach Physical Education • To make recommendations for the improvement of teaching Physical Education in the senior primary phase in the primary schools of KwaZulu-Natal The main findings of this study were as follows: • Presently there are only 28% of Physical Education specialists teaching Physical Education • The majority (60%) of the educators teaching Physical Education to senior primary learners is males • That about 36% of the educators do not actually teach Physical Education during the Physical Education lesson • An overwhelming majority (100%) of Physical Education educators indicated that they were not supervised in the last 36 months. Some go far back as seven to ten years • A little more than half (58%) of the schools had specialists in school- but they were classroom-based educators. Several recommendations are made out of these findings ranging from making Physical Education part of the core curriculum, ensuring Physical Education is taught by a specialist educator, providing facilities and equipment, supervising of Physical Education and the role of the Physical Education subject advisors. It is expected that such recommendations, if implemented, would contribute towards the elimination of problems that face Physical Education specialists and in improving the status quo of 'Physical Education. / Dissertation (MEd)--University of Pretoria, 2006. / Humanities Education / MEd / Unrestricted

Increasingly, developmental psychology has emphasized that childhood career development should be viewed as holistic and comprise all aspects of a child’s maturation. This would include an emphasis on the career development of children which is considered vital to the complete education of the child (Brown, 2002). Career development refers to the process of developing beliefs, values, skills, aptitudes, interests, personality characteristics and knowledge of work (Zunker, 2006). Research has indicated that early societal factors and personal preferences associated with gender influence the child’s later occupational aspirations (Stockard & McGee, 1990). There are many ways in which individuals learn about gender roles and acquire “gender-appropriate” behaviour during childhood, some of which manifest in the occupational aspirations of children. As children grow up they learn, through reinforcement and modeling, that society has different expectations and standards for the behaviour of males and females. While family and friends are often the most important agents of socialization in young children, television and other popular media have also played a vital role in gender stereotyping, resulting in children forming perceptions regarding which occupations “belong” to which gender (Taylor, Peplau, & Sears, 2006). The present research aims to explore, describe and compare the occupational aspirations and the occupational gender stereotyping of male and female South African and Australian senior primary school learners. The research approach for the study was descriptive and exploratory in nature and was conducted within a quantitative framework. A survey-type questionnaire, the Career Awareness Survey xiii (McMahon & Watson, 2001), was used as the data collection measure as part of a larger international study. The sample comprised of 511 South African and 372 Australian participants from Grades 6 and 7. Responses to the occupational aspirations questions were coded according to Holland’s (1985) interest typology and status level coding for occupations. For descriptive purposes, frequency counts were computed for the coded typology, status level and occupational gender stereotyping data. The z-test and chi-square test for independence were computed in order to test whether gender groups differed in terms of their occupational aspirations and occupational stereotyping. The chi-square test was also used to compare the occupational aspirations and gender stereotyping of South African and Australian senior primary school learners. The results of the present research indicate that male and female South African and Australian female children tend to aspire towards more Investigative and Social type occupations in the high status level category. The Australian male children, however, tend to aspire towards more Social and Realistic type occupations in the high status level category. Across nation and gender, the majority of the children believed that both males and females could perform certain occupations, with senior primary school children tending to limit the range of occupations which they believe to be predominantly suited to either male or female. Cross-national comparative results yielded interesting findings with few significant differences emerging on occupational aspiration typology, status level and the occupational gender stereotyping of occupations. The results of the present research emphasise the need for further cross-national comparative studies on the occupational aspirations and occupational gender stereotyping of senior primary school children.

South Africa provides a rich and challenging socio-political context in which to conduct career development research. South African children face a unique range of social, cultural and economic challenges such as poverty and the impact of HIV/AIDS on the family system which influence their career development. Internationally there has been a call for research that explores children’s career development as the majority of extant career research focuses its attention on the career development of adolescents and adults. The focus in South Africa is no different and despite the introduction of career education into the most recent school curriculum (Curriculum 21), there remains a void in South African child career development research. As such children’s career education and guidance has not been guided by local research findings. The findings of the present research will provide important baseline information relating to the career development of rural Xhosa-speaking senior primary school children. With this in mind, the present research aimed to explore and describe the occupational aspirations of male and female rural Xhosa-speaking senior primary school children. The present research also aimed to explore and describe the ways in which children assign gender-based stereotypes to different occupations. In order to provide a rich theoretical foundation for the present research, child developmental theories and developmental theories of career development as well as post-modern constructivist theories of career development have been used. The present research is quantitative in nature and makes use of the Revised Career Awareness Survey, a self-report questionnaire, which was originally designed to explore children’s knowledge and understanding of the world of work and to gain insight into the way in which they form gender-based occupational stereotypes. Three rural schools in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa were selected using a non-probability, purposive sampling method. From these schools, a non probability, convenience sample of 292 grade 6 and 7 learners was asked to complete the measure. The information gathered was then coded into nominal categories and analysed using descriptive statistics. Results from the present research indicate that rural Xhosa-speaking senior primary school children tend to aspire towards more Social and Investigative type occupations in the high status level category. The findings showed that rural Xhosa speaking senior primary school children tend to limit the range of occupations which they believe men and women can do. Here it was found that Social type jobs and household chores were most frequently named as jobs that women can do. The children in the present research listed Realistic type occupations most frequently as jobs that men can do, and least often as being jobs that women can do. It was also established that housework activities and other ‘domestic’ jobs are not seen by the participants as jobs that men can do. The results of the present research should not only inform the field of child career development in South Africa, but can also be meaningfully applied to the development of future career education programs at the primary school level in South Africa.

Background: The World Health Organisation (WHO) initially recommended F100 formula in the treatment of severe malnutrition. F100 is made with full cream milk powder, sugar, oil and water with added minerals and vitamins. Ready to-use therapeutic food (RUTF) is a highly nutrient dense food enriched with minerals and vitamins, with a similar nutrient profile but greater energy and nutrient density than F100. RUTF has shown to be effective in the treatment of severe and moderate wasting and is associated with an increased recovery rate. In South Africa no studies are available on the recovery rate of children with severe acute malnutrition treated with RUTFs. Aim: To compare the recovery of clinically stable severe acute malnourished children, between the age of 12 and 60 months, treated with either F100 or RUTF as nutrition supplement. Methods: A randomised clinically controlled trial was performed. All children referred to Clairwood hospital with severe acute malnutrition (SAM), defined as a weight for height measurement of <70 percent of the median and/or < -3 SD below the mean WHO reference values or the presence of bilateral oedema were included in this study. Children were stratified according to age and gender and subsequently randomly assigned with randomisation tables to either the RUTF or F100 group. A total of 35 children were included in this study and data from 34 were analysed with 17 in each group. Results: Most children included in this study were between 12 and 18 months with boys in the majority. Both groups had a large percentage of HIV-infected children (70 percent in the RUTF group and 76 percent in the F100 group), with Tuberculosis (TB) co-infection in some of the children. One child died due to HIV related complications. The rate of weight gain was 7.77g/kg/day in the RUTF group and 6.11g/kg/day in the F100 group. There was no statistical significant difference established between groups (p = 0.46). The majority of children recovered within 21 days on the RUTF while the majority of children in the F100 group recovered after 6 weeks. There were no changes in height during the rehabilitation of these children. MUAC changes were observed with 92 percent having a mid-upper arm circumference (MUAC) of > 11.5cm after a 6 week intervention with RUTF and F100. Conclusion: RUTF resulted in better rates of recovery and can be used efficiently in rehabilitating children with SAM in a supervised facility setting. These preliminary results also point towards significant potential savings regarding hospitalisation costs since faster recovery has been demonstrated by children in the RUTF group.

Child sexual abuse is a worldwide phenomenon that takes a major toll in squatter camps in South Africa. The conditions under which the squatters live promote and aggravate the abuse. Sadly, the victims hit hardest by the abuse are the children. The negative effects caused by the abuse lead to problems in the educational tasks of these children. This study proposes that teachers can play a significant role in assisting them to overcome their problem. The aim of this study was to: • investigate the perceptions of teachers of the problem of the sexual abuse of children coming from squatter camps; • empower teachers with strategies that will help to alleviate the problem; and • formulate some recommendations on dealing with the situation in the classroom. The literature was reviewed with the aim of substantiating a compact theoretical basis for the study. Various aspects were discussed, such as • the different definitions of child sexual abuse; • short- and long-term effects of the abuse; and • contributory factors of child sexual abuse. This study followed a qualitative design, which is interpretive, naturalistic, descriptive, holistic and exploratory in nature. The participants, chosen purposefully for this study, were ten teachers, teaching children coming from a squatter camp in the Motherwell Township of Nelson Mandela Bay. Themes that emerged from the transcripts of the interviews were: • Sexual abuse has a negative effect on children and causes them to develop problems. • Teachers can play a significant role in assisting learners who are sexually abused. • There are various reasons why sexual abuse is prevalent in squatter camps. The recommendations made are based on the findings of this study and propose to empower teachers so that they will be able to make a difference in the lives of their abused learners.