South Africa is currently experiencing rapid social change with socio-economic deprivation, influencing the future orientation of adolescents. Research indicates that a lack of future expectations affects present behaviour−diminishing the possibility of socialisation and productivity in adulthood. The objective of this study is to assess the future perceptions of indigent adolescents. The Gestalt paradigm provided the framework for defining the study. This empirical study uses a mixed methodology design combining both the quantitative and the qualitative approaches. A crosssectional survey provided the groundwork in terms of ascertaining the degree of awareness in respect of the future orientation of indigent, urban adolescents whilst a qualitative, semi-structured, one-on-one interview provided an in-depth contextualisation of the problem. The empirical study demonstrated that, although socio-economic deprivations and pervasive social issues do influence the future orientation of adolescents in South Africa, these influences have not eradicated the indigent adolescents’ motivational striving toward a positive and productive future. / Social Work / M. Diac. (Play Therapy)

The implementation of inclusive education is a challenge to most educators. The real challenge lies in the management of inclusive education. The researcher, therefore, adopted a qualitative approach to understand the participants ’understanding of inclusive education and to answer the research questions that sought to explore the phenomenon of inclusive education as presented in chapters one and five. Chapters two and three presented the latest developments, policies and practices related to inclusive education, as well as management of inclusive education. A sample of five primary school principals and fifteen educators was chosen. Data was collected through in-depth individual semi-structured interviews and focus group interviews. It emerged from the literature study that inclusive education has become a reality in Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia, South Africa and abroad. Most schools in these countries have been changed into full service schools. For example, in South Africa Tshiluvhi primary School became Tshiluvhi Full Service primary School. This shows that the government of South Africa accepts that learners with disabilities are part of the community and, therefore, have a right to receive equal and quality education.Although inclusive education is a reality in the above-mentioned countries, there are many obstacles that are still to be overcome. For instance, the issue of fiscal constraints, negative attitudes to disability, lack of support services, rigid teaching methods, teacher expertise, teacher training, time management and large class sizes are major impediments to the realisation of effective inclusive education. The same constraints were also raised during the interviews by most of the participants. Most educators and principals complained that management of inclusive education is compromised by lack of resources. Recommendations based on the findings of this study revolve mainly around the introduction of internal workshops, provision of resources and building enough classrooms to reduce the learner-teacher ratio. It was revealed during the interviews that members of the institutional level support teams and the principals of the selected primary schools were aware of their roles in managing inclusive education. For example, they manage finances to ensure the successful implementation of inclusive education and support and monitor teachers in the implementation of inclusive education.The study hopes to contribute to the existing body of knowledge and to be useful to teachers and various stakeholders by enabling them to find more constructive ways of building a successful inclusive education system. / Educational Studies / M. Ed. (Education management)

No description available.

No description available.

This study was designed to provide information on the reading instructional practices of 36 first grade teachers in nine schools that serve predominantly Spanish-speaking and ELL students in a southeastern U.S. school district. The purpose of this investigation was to describe teaching practices employed during English language arts instruction and to examine their use in relation to instructional grouping strategies, teacher language use, and student engagement. Participating classrooms were observed three times throughout the 2006-07 school year. Data were collected via the Timed Observations of Student Engagement/Language (TO/SEL) classroom observation instrument (Foorman & Schatchneider, 2003). Paired sample t-tests, multivariate analyses of variance (MANOVA), and multiple regression analyses were employed to investigate the relationship among the following observed variables: allocation of reading instructional time, grouping strategies, teacher language use and student engagement. Several key findings emerged. Participating teachers spent a greater amount of time on meaning-focused reading instruction (i.e., writing, reading texts, reading comprehension) than on code-focused reading instruction (i.e., word work, spelling, reading fluency, phonemic awareness), both during all four observed grouping strategies and after controlling for individual student seat work. In addition, of five key collapsed instructional variables (word work/spelling, oral language, writing, reading texts, and reading comprehension), teachers spent most time on word work/spelling (19%) and writing (18%). Reading texts and reading comprehension instruction together comprised 26% of total instructional time. Whole class instruction was the grouping strategy of choice among teachers (65% of total observed time); in sharp contrast, teachers spent 11% of observed time engaged in small group instruction, despite research findings supporting the effectiveness of sound grouping instruction. In addition, as little as 1% of teachers' total instructional time was spent in oral language/discussion, and 6% of total instructional time was spent in vocabulary instruction. The results also demonstrated little variation in teacher language use. Thus, evidence of "codeswitching" was not significant. Student engagement was high- 91% of total time students were observed; and was highest during writing and word work/spelling instruction. More longitudinal research is warranted that further explores precisely documented teacher reading instructional practices in relation to student outcomes with culturally and linguistically diverse student populations. Implications for practice include teacher training and professional development on managing small group instruction, and incorporating additional oral language/discussion, vocabulary and meaningful tasks into daily classroom activities.

Achieving equitable opportunities to learn has been recognized as an important issue in multilingual content classrooms. However, partially because mathematics is conceptualized as a language-free subject, there is limited research examining linguistic minority students’ opportunities to learn in mathematics classrooms. The purpose of this research is to identify linguistic minority students’ opportunities to learn in mathematics classrooms in a Canadian multilingual urban elementary school, where English was the main instructional language. Drawing on cultural historical activity theory, this study focuses on two aspects of learning: externalization, which emphasizes learners’ creation of new cultural artifacts and new contexts to apply the given artifacts, and internalization, which emphasizes learners’ acquisition of preexisting cultural artifacts. In this ethnographic study, I examined the activity systems of participatory action research (PAR) with the activity system of regular mathematics lessons. Within these activity systems, I focused on newly-arrived English language learners’ (ELLs) participation. Specifically, I examined the range of opportunities to learn afforded to students in the two activity systems and identified how focal ELLs accessed these opportunities to learn. In the activity system of PAR, which emphasized externalization, students conducted research and presented their conclusions in order to implement changes in their school environment. All students, however, did not participate equally. Specifically, the focal ELLs were not able to access these opportunities to learn as a result of group dynamics, marginalized social identities, and other students’ perceptions of their linguistic ability. In the activity system of regular mathematics lessons, which emphasized internalization, the teacher organized lessons in ways that allowed focal ELLs to receive extra support and resources to reach the curriculum expectations. These mathematics lessons allowed focal ELLs to increase their participation through mathematical reasoning, problem solving, and explanations with a variety of resources including visual representations. A critical examination of the interactions revealed that focal ELLs’ opportunities to learn were expanded or limited depending upon classroom configurations. Furthermore, this research suggests that students’ social identities serve as both a medium and a product of learning. These results have valuable implications for developing inclusive classroom practices and curriculum in multilingual content classrooms.

Achieving equitable opportunities to learn has been recognized as an important issue in multilingual content classrooms. However, partially because mathematics is conceptualized as a language-free subject, there is limited research examining linguistic minority students’ opportunities to learn in mathematics classrooms. The purpose of this research is to identify linguistic minority students’ opportunities to learn in mathematics classrooms in a Canadian multilingual urban elementary school, where English was the main instructional language. Drawing on cultural historical activity theory, this study focuses on two aspects of learning: externalization, which emphasizes learners’ creation of new cultural artifacts and new contexts to apply the given artifacts, and internalization, which emphasizes learners’ acquisition of preexisting cultural artifacts. In this ethnographic study, I examined the activity systems of participatory action research (PAR) with the activity system of regular mathematics lessons. Within these activity systems, I focused on newly-arrived English language learners’ (ELLs) participation. Specifically, I examined the range of opportunities to learn afforded to students in the two activity systems and identified how focal ELLs accessed these opportunities to learn. In the activity system of PAR, which emphasized externalization, students conducted research and presented their conclusions in order to implement changes in their school environment. All students, however, did not participate equally. Specifically, the focal ELLs were not able to access these opportunities to learn as a result of group dynamics, marginalized social identities, and other students’ perceptions of their linguistic ability. In the activity system of regular mathematics lessons, which emphasized internalization, the teacher organized lessons in ways that allowed focal ELLs to receive extra support and resources to reach the curriculum expectations. These mathematics lessons allowed focal ELLs to increase their participation through mathematical reasoning, problem solving, and explanations with a variety of resources including visual representations. A critical examination of the interactions revealed that focal ELLs’ opportunities to learn were expanded or limited depending upon classroom configurations. Furthermore, this research suggests that students’ social identities serve as both a medium and a product of learning. These results have valuable implications for developing inclusive classroom practices and curriculum in multilingual content classrooms.

A riparian ecosystem is the area between the aquatic and terrestrial setting of a stream, and serves as a corridor and habitat for birds. Several riparian ecosystems are located in urban environments, and three main riparian corridors are located in Potchefstroom. They are the Mooi River, Wasgoed Spruit, and Spitskop Spruit, which encompass a wide range of different vegetation types and anthropogenic factors. Therefore, different habitat types for birds occur along the riparian corridors of Potchefstroom. Factors such as food and water availability, nesting sites, competition, predation, learning, presence of other species, and those species that are able to adapt to environmental changes influence the avian diversity and communities along riparian corridors. The hypothesis is that bird variables along the riparian corridors in Potchefstroom are affected by vegetation, anthropogenic, and seasonal influences. To investigate these affects, two secondary objectives were formulated. The first was to characterise riparian avian habitats (CAHs) according to vegetation and anthropogenic factors, and the second was to identify temporal and spatial changes in avian variables. The three streams were divided into 79 consecutive transects, each 300 m long. The study area consisted of: 17 transects along Spitskop Spruit, 12 along Wasgoed Spruit and 50 along the Mooi River. Bird observations were conducted monthly from June 2006 to June 2007. Birds that were observed with a perpendicular distance ≤ 30 meters towards the streams were included in the results. The bird species that were observed were also classified into different nesting and feeding guilds. Environmental data recorded included: vegetation structure (estimated cover percentages and height classes of trees, shrubs, grasses, herbs, sedges, and reeds), anthropogenic structures (estimated cover percentages of roads, footpaths, bridges, electrical pylons, houses, and drainage pipes), and the presence of informal settlers along each transect (the mean number of people and the space they occupy). Vegetation was monitored in summer– (February 2007 until April 2007) and winter months (June 2007 until August 2007). The anthropogenic structures and the presence of informal settlers (anthropogenic factors) were monitored simultaneously with the bird counts. Transect-time profiles were drawn for the four parameters, which differed on spatial and time scales. Multivariate analyses included non-metric multidimensional scaling (NMS), cluster analysis, and indicator species analysis. Cluster analyses and NMS bi-plots were used to define characterised avian habitats (CAHs). Two types of CAHs were characterised: Summer CAHs (summer vegetation and anthropogenic factors) and Anthropogenically CAHs (Anthropogenic factors alone). Bird species were then ordinated with the summer and anthropogenically CAHs on NMS successional vector graphs. The successional vectors illustrate the avian community trajectories of the different CAHs. Indicator species analyses were performed to describe associations between the bird species and the summer and anthropogenically CAHs. The summer and anthropogenic CAHs that were characterised had different avian community trajectories and different species were associated with these CAHs. Different levels in avian diversity appeared among these CAHs, and convergence and divergence in communities appeared among these CAHs. Birds also selected their habitats according to feeding and nesting behaviours. Consequently, it can be deduced that environmental factors such as vegetation structures and anthropogenic factors, as well as seasonality, had an effect on the distribution of birds along the riparian corridors of Potchefstroom. / Thesis (Master of Environmental Sciences)--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2013

A riparian ecosystem is the area between the aquatic and terrestrial setting of a stream, and serves as a corridor and habitat for birds. Several riparian ecosystems are located in urban environments, and three main riparian corridors are located in Potchefstroom. They are the Mooi River, Wasgoed Spruit, and Spitskop Spruit, which encompass a wide range of different vegetation types and anthropogenic factors. Therefore, different habitat types for birds occur along the riparian corridors of Potchefstroom. Factors such as food and water availability, nesting sites, competition, predation, learning, presence of other species, and those species that are able to adapt to environmental changes influence the avian diversity and communities along riparian corridors. The hypothesis is that bird variables along the riparian corridors in Potchefstroom are affected by vegetation, anthropogenic, and seasonal influences. To investigate these affects, two secondary objectives were formulated. The first was to characterise riparian avian habitats (CAHs) according to vegetation and anthropogenic factors, and the second was to identify temporal and spatial changes in avian variables. The three streams were divided into 79 consecutive transects, each 300 m long. The study area consisted of: 17 transects along Spitskop Spruit, 12 along Wasgoed Spruit and 50 along the Mooi River. Bird observations were conducted monthly from June 2006 to June 2007. Birds that were observed with a perpendicular distance ≤ 30 meters towards the streams were included in the results. The bird species that were observed were also classified into different nesting and feeding guilds. Environmental data recorded included: vegetation structure (estimated cover percentages and height classes of trees, shrubs, grasses, herbs, sedges, and reeds), anthropogenic structures (estimated cover percentages of roads, footpaths, bridges, electrical pylons, houses, and drainage pipes), and the presence of informal settlers along each transect (the mean number of people and the space they occupy). Vegetation was monitored in summer– (February 2007 until April 2007) and winter months (June 2007 until August 2007). The anthropogenic structures and the presence of informal settlers (anthropogenic factors) were monitored simultaneously with the bird counts. Transect-time profiles were drawn for the four parameters, which differed on spatial and time scales. Multivariate analyses included non-metric multidimensional scaling (NMS), cluster analysis, and indicator species analysis. Cluster analyses and NMS bi-plots were used to define characterised avian habitats (CAHs). Two types of CAHs were characterised: Summer CAHs (summer vegetation and anthropogenic factors) and Anthropogenically CAHs (Anthropogenic factors alone). Bird species were then ordinated with the summer and anthropogenically CAHs on NMS successional vector graphs. The successional vectors illustrate the avian community trajectories of the different CAHs. Indicator species analyses were performed to describe associations between the bird species and the summer and anthropogenically CAHs. The summer and anthropogenic CAHs that were characterised had different avian community trajectories and different species were associated with these CAHs. Different levels in avian diversity appeared among these CAHs, and convergence and divergence in communities appeared among these CAHs. Birds also selected their habitats according to feeding and nesting behaviours. Consequently, it can be deduced that environmental factors such as vegetation structures and anthropogenic factors, as well as seasonality, had an effect on the distribution of birds along the riparian corridors of Potchefstroom. / Thesis (Master of Environmental Sciences)--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2013

The purpose of this study was to investigate the role of academic libraries in providing services to culturally diverse student populations. In this study the information needs and information-seeking behaviour of the culturally diverse students of the Technikon Witwatersrand were analysed. The study also tried to establish whether there are differences in information needs and information-seeking behaviour of various cultural groups. The empirical investigation was conducted by means of focus group interviews and a questionnaire survey on a sample of undergraduate students of the Technikon Witwatersrand. There were assumptions that African students have limited experience in using the academic library, have no computer and information handling skills and might have language difficulties. Therefore, the expectation was that African students might have problems in the use of the academic library. However, the results of the empirical study show that English and Afrikaans speaking students are experiencing more problems than African students. / Information Science / M.Inf.