Thesis (Ed.M.)--Boston University

The relationship between the representative and the reapportioned district is the central feature of the present study as it attempts to assess selected facets of the 13th Congressional District in transition.

With a dearth of research involving district office relationships, this analysis seeks to explore both what district office relationships look like and why they develop. Data from personal interviews with district office personnel in Illinois suggest three categories that describe these office interactions: closely connected, remotely connected, and organically connected. The findings from this project lay the foundation for understanding the importance of district office relationships as they pertain to representative democracy in the United States.

Literacy is a key outcome of education. Although literacy is a basic human right, and, can lay the foundation for further education and training, there is still a high number of illiterate people in South Africa. Black rural women form the majority of non-literates in the country and this has a negative impact on the development of the country. This means that rural women are still marginalized and stay in conditions of squalor because they are unemployed, poor and lack skills required by the labour market. This study focuses on the importance and benefits of literacy programmes to the empowerment of black rural women. It was conducted in two rural areas of Mopani District Municipality, in Greater Giyani. Rural women who have been socially excluded and benefited less from the growing economy need to be empowered through literacy programmes to stand up and fight poverty, ill health and other social ills they face. The qualitative method was employed where participants were involved in focus group and one on one interviews so as to evaluate the effectiveness of the literacy programmes. The results of the study indicate that literacy programmes did empower women to a certain extent because they have gained functional skills and they involve themselves in community development programmes. However, the engagement of all stakeholders in the provision of quality literacy programmes can emancipate rural women so that they may take their rightful places in society. / Educational Studies / (M. Ed. (Secialisation in Adult Education))

Doctor Educationis / This study examined the three education poverty alleviation policies in relation to learners’ capabilities and was grounded in the Capability Approach as a conceptual framework pioneered by the economist and philosopher, Amartya Sen. The study posits the view that the policies investigated and evaluated are essential in terms of contributing to the well-being of learners, particularly those living in poverty, as well as offering opportunities for every child, irrespective of social and/or economic background. The theoretical framework which conceptualise the dimensions of poverty, re-imagines the South African case. A local investigation was undertaken to understand the poverty dynamics in the Quintile 1 schools in the Frances Baard District of the Northern Cape Province. The empirical research was done using a mixed methodology within the pragmatic paradigm. The investigations were based on and informed by the policies and the components of the Capability Approach. An investigation into the extent and processes of the implementation of these policies, and their impact on poverty alleviation in the schools, was considered necessary in order to provide information on the successes and limitations encountered in the implementation processes. A framework is proposed including capabilities for the effective implementation of the educational poverty alleviation policies namely autonomy, knowledge and accountability.

M.A. / This dissertation is about how poor households struggled to keep children in the school system during a protracted political and socio-economic crisis in post-2000 Zimbabwe. The setting of the research is Nyamande village in Murewa District, Zimbabwe. Fieldwork was conducted between May 2010 and July 2010, at a time that many believe to be past the peak of Zimbabwe’s crisis in 2008. In-depth interviews and observations were used to collect qualitative data from families and households in Nyamande village. My findings revealed that even when such households did not get surplus produce, they still sold what they had in order to obtain income to fund their children’s schooling. Households supplemented their farm produce with off-farm activities such as casual labour on plots, informal trading and sale of assets. Child labour was also employed as a means of supplementing family income in order to meet schooling requirements through activities such as casual labour on farms and roadside selling of produce. The introduction of the multi-currency system or dollarisation (as it was commonly known) in April 2009 improved the conditions in Zimbabwe to some extent; however complexities experienced in Nyamande village included access to the US dollar and Rand currencies. These challenges led to the re-emergence of the barter or exchange system during and after dollarisation as most households adopted this as a strategy to provide for their children’s schooling. Although households displayed various forms of resilience in their efforts to keep children in school, interventions regarding the viability and sustainability of some of these strategies should be considered. Various stakeholders including government, private sector and non-government organisations need to play an active role in uplifting rural communities in promoting children’s schooling.

Magister Artium - MA / This mini-thesis seeks to interrogate the interplay between memory and documentation in the process of exhibition-making by a looking at the preparation for and mounting of the exhibition, Museum. This will be achieved by looking at the institutional methodologies employed by the Museum in dealing with ex-residents of District Six, their memories and artefacts in the heritage practice of a Museum as a forum. This practice was put into effect as the District Six Museum engaged ex-residents of other locations of removal.

Magister Artium - MA / Ukwangali district is located in the western part of the Kavango region approximately 70 kilometers west of the regional town Rundu. This thesis explores and documents the local political dimensions which prevailed in the uKwangali district of Namibia between 1966-1989. The study seeks to find out why the uKwangali district became a war zone outside of the main theatre of war in nearby Ovamboland, and how its residents became part of the Namibian armed liberation struggle.

Magister Public Health - MPH / Immunisation is considered to be amongst the most successful and cost-effective disease prevention interventions available. The Expanded Programme on Immunisation (EPI) in Namibia was established in 1990 to ensure that the immunisation of children takes place within the prescribed age frame. However, continued measles outbreaks, particularly in the Kavango region, are evidence of poor EPI progress, with vaccination coverage being below80% per district. The reasons for the low uptake of measles immunisation in the Nyangana district in the Kavango region are not clearly understood. The aim of this study was, therefore, to investigate the perception of mothers/caregivers of factors that impact on the uptake of measles immunisation in the Nyangana Health District, with a view to improving measles immunisation coverage. Methodology: A qualitative exploratory study design was used to collect data from the study participants. In-depth interviews were conducted with 10 mothers of children under 5 years of age, for both children who received, and those who did not receive measles vaccination. Data was audio-taped and transcribed verbatim. The recorded interviews were translated from the Gciriku language to English. Data was analysed through the use of the Thematic Content Analysis approach. The transcribed interviews and narratives from the research assistant’s notes were organised into codes, sub-themes and main themes. In the final phase, themes were integrated and interpreted, by identifying facilitating factors for those who took their children for immunisation, and barriers for those who did not take theirs. The researcher facilitated assistance to children who did not receive their measles dose, to receive it. Ethical requirements were adhered to throughout the research study process. Results: The study showed that mothers had both positive and negative perceptions about immunisation. The findings revealed that information, and past experience of measles ,irrespective of the level of education, support from a spouse or family members, availabilityof services and convenience of time schedules, increased the uptake of immunisation on thepart of mothers/caregivers. However, it also emerged that supply-side factors, such as lack of information sharing between health care providers and mothers, hindered effective communication. Additionally, inconvenient time schedules and time constraints, staffshortages, health care providers’ attitudes, inaccurate data being kept of children immunisedat other health facilities, inadequate outreach services and perceived lack of supervision in the health facilties all contributed to the low uptake of immunisation. Demand-side factors that affected the uptake of immunisation included: socio-economic constraints that led to an inability to pay transport costs to access immunisation services; lack of support from a spouse; other family members and other support structures in the community also impacted on immunisation uptake, despite the reported awareness and willingness to use immunisation services. Conclusions and recommendations: The study concludes that the relationship between health care providers and mothers/caregivers, and support from other social structures, should be good, in order to motivate mothers to use immunisation services. The study recommends that the following aspects be addressed, as they have the potential to improve the low uptake of measles immunisation: patient/provider relationship, information sharing, and supervision in the health facility, access to services, availability of outreach services, improved data tracking and active involvement of all stakeholders. Laziness was overwhelmingly offered as an explanation for missing measles immunisation, although there are suggestions that there might be underlying causes for what is perceived as laziness, which require further exploration, especially in terms of socio-cultural barriers to immunisation. It is recommended that an in-depth look at the perceptions of health care providers and key informants should be conducted to search for further understanding of contributing factors.

Magister Scientiae (Physiotherapy) - MSc(Physio) / The education system in South Africa has been on a path of change since 1994, in an effort to correct the injustices and inequalities of our apartheid past. In 2001 Education White Paper Six and the inclusive education policy was introduced. This policy is based on creating an environment where special needs education is seen as a non-racial and integrated part of the education system and envisages the role of special schools changing in order to facilitate this process. Special schools will continue to provide services to the severely disabled and high needs learner. However staff at special schools will be encouraged to make their expertise and resources available to the ordinary schools in the community. This study is focused on the role of the physiotherapist in special schools. The introduction of the new policy required physiotherapists to serve the needs of learners at special schools as well as provide indirect support to ordinary schools in the community. However physiotherapists have not been trained to provide indirect support and feel that they have not had adequate assistance to improve their skills and knowledge in this area. This study therefore looked at how the knowledge, skills and attitudes of physiotherapists can be enhanced and developed in order to meet the need of successfully implementing inclusive education. The aim of the study was to design, implement and evaluate an intervention aimed at improving the knowledge, skills and attitudes of physiotherapists in providing indirect support in the education system. In order to do so, it was necessary to meet the following objectives. Firstly to determine how physiotherapists perceive indirect support and their role in the district based support team; and secondly to determine the barriers experienced by physiotherapists in providing indirect support as well as their needs to provide appropriate support within the inclusive education framework. A qualitative study was conducted using the action research method. This study involved five special schools in the Western Cape and a total of nine participating physiotherapists. Focus group discussions were used to collect data. The first focus group discussion involved participants identifying their perceptions of indirect support, their role in the district based support team, barriers to indirect support and their needs in order to provide appropriate support in the inclusive education framework. The data collected were analyzed using content analysis. The findings revealed that many of the physiotherapists are experiencing difficulties in making the shift from direct to indirect support, due to not having been provided with the necessary support, resources and training to facilitate the transition to inclusive education practices. A second round of focus group discussions were held for the physiotherapists to prioritise a need that the intervention would be based on. Thereafter a training workshop was held, based on the prioritised need, to improve the provision of indirect support by physiotherapists. This research has shown that physiotherapists have begun to engage with the change process by questioning the implications of the inclusive education policy and looking at how their role in special schools needs to change. The physiotherapists require assistance in the facilitation of a transition from providing mainly direct support in special schools, to also providing indirect support in an inclusive education setting. They require the assistance of the school management and the Department of Education to provide the necessary support, resources and training to facilitate the transition to inclusive education practices.