Doctor Educationis / Sudan is one of the countries with a large number of people who move around the country for safety and better living conditions due to conflicts and the long-lasting war. These people are referred to as Internally Displaced People (IDPs), and most of them live in rural areas. The war in Sudan has led to socio-economic deterioration and has negatively affected social services such as health and education, particularly in the IDP camps. As a result, children's access to education and the quality of education remains a great concern. Educational challenges include poor infrastructure, lack of facilities and teaching-learning materials, overcrowding, and shortage of trained teachers. Illiteracy rates are higher among women, and drop-out rates are higher among girls. It is believed that traditional socio-cultural practices are barriers to girls' access to education in this country. In light of the above, this study investigates factors that contribute to girls' construction of educational aspirations in the IDP camps of North and South Sudan. The girls' educational aspirations are explored concerning gender empowerment discourses to gain an understanding of how gender empowerment is perceived and implemented by young females as they move between the school and home environments. It analyzes the impact of socio-cultural factors on girls' educational aspirations, perceptions, and self-esteem to understand the significance of education within a gender empowerment framework in the lives of young girls 10 disadvantaged communities of Sudan. Through the lens of the Capabilities Approach and various Feminist views, the study explores how gender discourses in education are understood, and the extent to which they contribute to building girls' opportunities and capacities in the local context. The study provides an analysis of the girls' opinions of themself and the influence of socio-cultural factors on their inspirational plans and expectations.

The concept of parental involvement has been viewed as an ideal style of leadership and management for school development purposes. In South Africa’s case, it is an educational policy which is expected to reign in all school management bodies. Many theorists envisaged parental involvement as enhancing active involvement of parents and it has been advocated by many scholars who believe it is the best leadership style in implementing democratic values to education, particularly South African rural education, which is still in a transitional stage. The primary purpose of this research was to investigate the extent to which parents contribute towards education of their children. This study involved transformative case study as a research design at one rural school in Waterberg district in South Africa. This research employed three data collection techniques, namely semi-structured interviews, focus groups and document analysis. When formal education was introduced in South Africa schools it was regarded as exceptional environment for teachers, school administrators and learners. To a large extent, parents and the communities regarded themselves as something outside of the education system. The main findings of this study revealed that there is a lack of joint understanding and shared vision between educators and parents in the School Governing Body. This problem underpins other more symptomatic problems, such as lack of accountability in the matter of school finances, differences in understanding the roles of School Board members and lack of parents’ motivation from the school management. It highlighted some of the challenges that hinder the effective involvement of parents in rural school governance, such as poor educational background among parents. The study has also revealed challenges and consequences of non-parental involvement in school governance. The conclusion that could be drawn from the study is that in schools where parent-community involvement is highly visible, teacher effectiveness is apparent and this contributed significantly to the improvement of learner performance while in schools where parent-community involvement is non-existent or minimal, the result is the opposite. / Educational Leadership and Management / M. Ed. (Education Management)

This study explored film as a supplementary aid in teaching adults about HIV/AIDS in the Igueben area of Edo State (Nigeria). It drew on the theory and practice of film to enhance the awareness of HIV/AIDS campaign strategies in ways that are not possible with other teaching aids. The findings of the study supported the literature, which indicates that unlike film,reading materials are not accessible to illiterate adults in rural communities. Two hundred (200) participants were used in the first approach (quantitative), while fifteen (15) illiterate adults were purposively selected from the area to participate in the second approach (qualitative). The research was undertaken within an interpretivist framwork in the sense that it was a communal process informed by participating illiterate adults, and was sensitive to the role of context (Alvermann, D.E., & Mallozzi, C.A. 2010). The study confirmed the role of film, particularly Nigerian movies, in promoting information and education on HIV/AIDS. The findings highlighted the need for on-going education about HIV/AIDS and its treatment, especially among the rural illiterate. The study, in summary established that the programmes offered by HIV/AIDS organisers (governmental and nongovernmental) would be more effective if film is included in the campaign against the disease. / Curriculum and Instructional Studies / D. Ed. (Didactics)

The concept of parental involvement has been viewed as an ideal style of leadership and management for school development purposes. In South Africa’s case, it is an educational policy which is expected to reign in all school management bodies. Many theorists envisaged parental involvement as enhancing active involvement of parents and it has been advocated by many scholars who believe it is the best leadership style in implementing democratic values to education, particularly South African rural education, which is still in a transitional stage. The primary purpose of this research was to investigate the extent to which parents contribute towards education of their children. This study involved transformative case study as a research design at one rural school in Waterberg district in South Africa. This research employed three data collection techniques, namely semi-structured interviews, focus groups and document analysis. When formal education was introduced in South Africa schools it was regarded as exceptional environment for teachers, school administrators and learners. To a large extent, parents and the communities regarded themselves as something outside of the education system. The main findings of this study revealed that there is a lack of joint understanding and shared vision between educators and parents in the School Governing Body. This problem underpins other more symptomatic problems, such as lack of accountability in the matter of school finances, differences in understanding the roles of School Board members and lack of parents’ motivation from the school management. It highlighted some of the challenges that hinder the effective involvement of parents in rural school governance, such as poor educational background among parents. The study has also revealed challenges and consequences of non-parental involvement in school governance. The conclusion that could be drawn from the study is that in schools where parent-community involvement is highly visible, teacher effectiveness is apparent and this contributed significantly to the improvement of learner performance while in schools where parent-community involvement is non-existent or minimal, the result is the opposite. / Educational Leadership and Management / M. Ed. (Education Management)

L'exclusion sociale est considérée comme l'une des situations les plus douloureuses pour les êtres humains. Les travaux dans ce domaine montrent que même de brefs épisodes d’ostracisme (paradigme du Cyberball) ont des effets importants aux niveaux neurophysiologique, émotionnel et comportemental, l’impact de cet ostracisme au niveau cognitif néanmoins n'a pas reçu beaucoup d'attention. Des résultats récents mettent en évidence une influence négative de l'ostracisme sur les marqueurs électrophysiologiques du contrôle cognitif, il n'y a cependant à ce jour aucune preuve directe d’une réduction de contrôle cognitif sous l’effet d’une exclusion sociale. Dans nos travaux nous avons étudié l'impact de l'ostracisme (Cyberball) sur le contrôle cognitif avec la tâche standard de Simon couplée à des analyses distributionnelles des temps de réaction auprès de populations caractérisées ou non par des expériences chroniques d’ostracisme (i.e., des étudiants ordinaires dans l’Étude 1, des personnes illettrées dans l'Étude 2 et des chômeurs de longue durée dans l'Étude 3). Dans les trois études, de brefs épisodes d'exclusion sociale suffisent à dégrader le niveau de satisfaction exprimé par les participants à l’égard des besoins fondamentaux (appartenance sociale, existence significative, estime de soi, contrôle des événements). Ces effets, cependant, s’avèrent réduits dans les populations chroniquement frappées d'ostracisme, suggérant leur moindre sensibilité à l'exclusion sociale en jeu dans le Cyberball. Plus important encore, cet ostracisme provoque chez les participants non stigmatisés une diminution du contrôle cognitif (Étude 1), mise en évidence dans nos travaux par un effet Simon stable (plutôt que réduit) sur les temps de réaction les plus longs pourtant les plus sensibles à l’expression d’un processus d'inhibition. Cependant, nos résultats ne montrent aucune différence de sensibilité entre les participants chroniquement ostracisés et leurs groupes contrôle (les Études 2 et 3), suggérant une certaine faiblesse du paradigme Cyberball auprès des personnes en situation d'exclusion sociale dans leur vie quotidienne. Nos résultats remettent donc en question la prédominance de ce paradigme pour la compréhension des effets cognitifs de l’exclusion sociale, au moins chez les individus caractérisés par un ostracisme chronique. / Impact on cognitive control, emotions and fundamental needsRésumé : Social exclusion is considered as one of the most painful situations for human beings. Past research showed that even brief episodes of ostracism (the Cyberball paradigm) have strong effects at the neurophysiological, emotional, and behavioral levels, its impact at the cognitive level however did not receive much attention. Recent findings revealed a negative influence of ostracism on electrophysiological markers of cognitive control, yet there is no direct evidence that being socially excluded reduces cognitive control. Here, we investigated the impact of ostracism (using the Cyberball) on cognitive control using a standard Simon task and distributional reaction time analyses with non-chronically-ostracized and chronically-ostracized populations (regular students in Study 1, illiterate people in Study 2, and long-term unemployed people in Study 3). In the three studies, brief episodes of social exclusion had negative effects on participants’ self-reports of fundamental needs' satisfaction (belonging, meaningful existence, self-esteem, and control). These effects, however, were substantially reduced in chronically-ostracized populations, suggesting that ostracism based on the Cyberball is a bit less meaningful for those populations. More importantly, this ostracism caused a transitory reduction in cognitive control in the non-chronically-ostracized participants (Study 1), as indicated by a stable (rather than decreased) Simon effect on longer reaction times where inhibition yet is more likely. However, we found no evidence of a differential sensitivity between the chronically-ostracized participants and their control groups (Study 2 and Study 3), suggesting that the Cyberball paradigm is not powerful enough with people experiencing social exclusion in their ordinary life. Our findings therefore call into question the predominance of the Cyberball paradigm for our understanding of the cognitive effects of ostracism, at least in chronically ostracized-individuals.

This study explored film as a supplementary aid in teaching adults about HIV/AIDS in the Igueben area of Edo State (Nigeria). It drew on the theory and practice of film to enhance the awareness of HIV/AIDS campaign strategies in ways that are not possible with other teaching aids. The findings of the study supported the literature, which indicates that unlike film,reading materials are not accessible to illiterate adults in rural communities. Two hundred (200) participants were used in the first approach (quantitative), while fifteen (15) illiterate adults were purposively selected from the area to participate in the second approach (qualitative). The research was undertaken within an interpretivist framwork in the sense that it was a communal process informed by participating illiterate adults, and was sensitive to the role of context (Alvermann, D.E., & Mallozzi, C.A. 2010). The study confirmed the role of film, particularly Nigerian movies, in promoting information and education on HIV/AIDS. The findings highlighted the need for on-going education about HIV/AIDS and its treatment, especially among the rural illiterate. The study, in summary established that the programmes offered by HIV/AIDS organisers (governmental and nongovernmental) would be more effective if film is included in the campaign against the disease. / Curriculum and Instructional Studies / D. Ed. (Didactics)

MAIA, Maurício Holanda. Aprendendo a marchar: os desafios da gestão municipal do ensino fundamental e da superação do analfabetismo escolar. 2006. 187f. Tese (Doutorado em Educação) – Universidade Federal do Ceará, Faculdade de Educação, Programa de Pós-Graduação em Educação Brasileira, Fortaleza-CE, 2006. / Submitted by Raul Oliveira (raulcmo@hotmail.com) on 2012-08-07T14:39:13Z No. of bitstreams: 1 2006_TESE_MHMAIA.pdf: 955230 bytes, checksum: dc1b7e9c77fd2d6cda7a963a55c13bfc (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Maria Josineide Góis(josineide@ufc.br) on 2012-08-14T13:26:56Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 2006_TESE_MHMAIA.pdf: 955230 bytes, checksum: dc1b7e9c77fd2d6cda7a963a55c13bfc (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2012-08-14T13:26:56Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 2006_TESE_MHMAIA.pdf: 955230 bytes, checksum: dc1b7e9c77fd2d6cda7a963a55c13bfc (MD5) Previous issue date: 2006 / The present study reports an undertaking by the Municipal Administration of Education in the city of Sobral, State of Ceará, from 2001 to 2004, where, within a context of intense municipalization of elementary school teaching in Brazil and deterioration of the learning results of 4th graders, this municipality has successfully implemented a policy of literacy at the right age, which defines as its major goal having a 100 percent of the students from Sobral able to read and write by the age of seven. This study has been organized in three basic aspects. The first aspect deals with the statistics and analysis of relevant elements of the municipalization process of education, which took place in the country from 1995 on. The implementation of the educational policy adopted at the municipal level in Sobral is reported in the second aspect of this study, focusing the period ranging from 2001 to 2004, with particular emphasis on the external evaluations of reading and writing. The third and last aspect is one of reflection and synthesis, when the economical, political, social, and educational history of Brazil is taken into account, in order to understand the past and get a glimpse of the future. Last but not least, a question is proposed: which past and present factors allow us to understand how a society can grow without schools or schooling for all its members, as was the case in Brazil from the 30’s to the 80’s? Or to have schools and schooling in which there was no mastering of reading, the basic condition for wider and diverse learning, as happened in this country in the 90’s and the first half of this decade? We believe that the report of this experiment and its analysis can become an effective tool to strengthen the municipal administration of public education with the aim of overcoming the serious problems it still faces, among which, and with absolute priority, school illiteracy. / O trabalho relata a experiência da gestão municipal da Educação em Sobral, no período de 2001 a 2004, quando, num contexto de intensa municipalização do ensino fundamental e de deterioração dos resultados de aprendizagem dos alunos da 4ª série, esse Município implementou, com sucesso, uma política de alfabetização na idade certa, definindo como meta prioritária a alfabetização de 100% dos alunos até os sete anos de idade. O trabalho está organizado em três eixos. No primeiro, de contextualização, são abordados, pela análise documental e estatística, os elementos relevantes à acelerada municipalização da Educação, ocorrida no país a partir de 1995. No segundo eixo, é apresentada a experiência da gestão da Educação desenvolvida no Município de Sobral–Ceará, com foco no quadriênio 2001-2004. Após breve relato das ações e resultados do período anterior, descrevem-se com detalhes as medidas da gestão e os resultados educacionais e pedagógicos do período de 2001 a 2004, com ênfase para as avaliações externas de leitura e escrita. O terceiro eixo é de reflexão e síntese. Neste, incursiona-se pela história econômica, política, social e educacional brasileira, considerando o passado e buscando vislumbres de futuro; que fatores passados e presentes permitem entender como uma sociedade pode ter crescimento sem escolas e escolarização para todos, como foi o caso do Brasil entre os anos 30 e 80, ou, ainda, ter escolas e escolarização, sem que nestas haja aprendizagem da leitura e da escrita, condição básica para aprendizagens mais amplas e diversas, como foi o caso do país nos anos 90 e nesta primeira metade desta nova década? Entende-se que o relato e a reflexão em torno desta experiência podem constituir efetiva contribuição ao fortalecimento, nos municípios brasileiros, da gestão da educação pública, com vistas à superação dos graves problemas com que esta ainda se defronta. Entre estes, e com absoluta prioridade, o do analfabetismo escolar.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the challenges in teaching IsiXhosa home language in rural secondary schools. Learners from Grades 8 to 12 perform poorly in IsiXhosa grammar, essay writing, literature and oral work. The researcher sampled 40 learners from each of two senior secondary schools, eight parents and eight IsiXhosa subject specialists (two district based and six school based) to take part in the research. Data for this study were collected during cluster moderations in one of the secondary schools by using document analysis, interviews and questionnaires. Qualitative and quantitative methods were used by the researcher to analyse IsiXhosa results from Grade 8 to Grade 12. Analysis of documents such as mark schedules and marks for formal and informal tasks gave evidence that learners perform poorly in grammar, literature, oral work and essay writing. Scarcity or non-availability of distinctions (levels 6 and 7) in Grade 12 final exams as well as in Grades 8 to 11 proves that the language demands special attention for its teaching and learning in the secondary classroom situation; the conclusions were therefore drawn and recommendations made. / Curriculum and Instructional Studies / D. Ed. (Curriculum Design and Development)

I stadens förändringsprocess, ständigt präglad av nya ideal, ska många intressen förenas och beaktas vid utformningen av skolgårdar. Med utgångspunkt i naturens betydelse för barns hälsa och utveckling undersöker denna studie två skolgårdar i Malmö utifrån tre perspektiv: skolgårdarnas utformning, högstadieelevers användning av och preferenser på skolgården samt planerarens prioriteringar och tillvägagångssätt vid utformningen av skolgårdsmiljöer. Syftet är, genom förståelse för hur dessa tre perspektiv kan förenas, öka kunskapen kring hur skolgårdarna kan planeras mer socialt och ekologiskt hållbart i den föränderliga staden. Detta undersöks med en mixad metod genom platsobservationer, enkätundersökningar och intervjuer. Empirin påvisar en relativt passiv inställning till skolgården bland eleverna, oberoende av skolgårdens storlek och mängd grönska samt att de överlag prioriterar social interaktion och mobilanvändande på rasterna. Tolkningen av det empiriska materialet utifrån teorin tyder på att det är grönskans kvalitet som påverkar elevernas intresse för att ta del av miljön. Genom intervjuerna framkom det att utformningen av ett grönt ramverk som erbjuder olika rumsligheter kan bidra till en mer jämlik, inkluderande och hållbar skolgårdsmiljö. Den ideala skolgårdsmiljön, som kan anses vara en där naturen företräds, speglar dock inte nödvändigtvis elevernas uppfattning av den ideala skolgården. Elevernas preferenser kan däremot få ta plats inom det hållbara ramverket, genom aktiv gestaltning. / Within the city's transformative process, constantly tinged by new ideals, different interests must be united and considered in the planning and design of school grounds. Based on the importance of nature for children's health and development, this study examines two school grounds in Malmö from three perspectives: the school grounds design and shape, the use and preferences of the students on the school grounds, and the planner´s priorities and proceedings in planning school ground environments. The purpose is, through an understanding of how these three perspectives can unite, to increase knowledge on how school grounds can be planned more socially and ecologically sustainable in the transformative city. This is investigated with a mixed method through site observations, surveys and interviews. The empirical evidence shows a relatively passive relation to the school ground among the students, regardless of the school grounds size and amount of greenery, and generally they prioritize social interaction and mobile phone use during breaks. The interpretation of the empirical material, based on the theory, indicates that it is the quality of the greenery that affects the student’s interest in using the environment. Through the interviews, it emerged that the design of a green framework that offers different spatialities can contribute to a more equal, inclusive and sustainable school ground. The ideal environment of the school ground, which can be considered one that is characterized by natural environments, does not necessarily reflect the student's ideal of it. The students' preferences can however be accommodated within the sustainable framework through continuous design.

This research presents a qualitative inquiry of the perceptions of the adult education teachers about their working conditions in the Adult Basic Education and Training programme. A qualitative investigation method was conducted, and a semi-structured interview was employed to collect data. The data from open-ended questions was analysed using a thematic approach. Findings suggest that the condition of services for adult education teachers was not acceptable and the levels of job satisfaction among teachers in adult education was low. Some recommendations that arise from the study are that the dilapidated buildings belonging to adult education be revamped and teaching and learning resources be provided. It is also recommended that the employment conditions of adult education teachers be in line with those of mainstream education teachers. / Adult Basic Education (ABET) / M. Ed. (Adult Education)