Arising out of a need, expressed by Clinical Psychologists in the Grahamstown region, for the fair assessment of secondary School African pupils, norms for the Raven's Standard Progressive Matrices (SPM) were established. Two methods of presentation were used, the first using the original instructions of John Raven translated into the students' first language of Xhosa, hence-forth referred to as the Alternate sample. The second method of presenting the instructions was adapted, to include the use of visual aids and active participation in the instruction phase of the test, hence-forth referred to as the Normative sample. In addition to the establishment of norms, the two methods of test presentation were investigated to see if the method of presentation had an effect on the results of the Raven's SPM. The population was drawn from the three African Secondary Schools in the Grahamstown municipality. The total population consisted of 3 232 students. Classes were randomly sampled across the three schools, with the average age of the Normative sample being 19.3 years. The sample consisted of 812 pupils, 711 in the Normative sample and 101 in the Alternate Sample. The following results and conclusions arose from the study: 1) Norms generated were considerably lower than previously established norms in similar studies. 2) t-Test results indicated that the method of test presentation on the Raven's SPM is important when assessing students that may be regarded as 'disadvantaged'. 3) Respondents scored significantly higher when the method of presenting the instructions ensured a greater understanding of the task demanded of the respondents. 4) The analyses of covariance indicate that male subjects score significantly higher than female subjects, and that there is a significant difference between the ages and educational standard, on the scores of the Raven's SPM. 5) The differences found contradict previous findings using the test, and question the cultural fairness of the test.

This study focuses on the identification of traditional and modern sociocultural factors revealed by traditionallyorientated (rural) and modern (urban) Vhavenda people that define the Vhavenda cultural context, and establishes how the Vhavenda view giftedness from their own sociocultural perspective. The literature study reveals that Vhavenda school children are disadvantaged with regard to socioeconomic level, education and geographic isolation. Definitions of intelligence were reviewed as well as those of giftedness that consider sociocultural perspectives. An idiographic, qualitative study was conducted with informants from rural and urban areas. Results show that the sociocultural context of both traditional and modern Vhavenda is characterised by modern rather than traditional sociocultural factors which influence the development, nurturance and manifestation of giftedness in Vhavenda children. Vhavenda learners (13-15 years old) revealed some frequently observed characteristics of giftedness. Consequently, some identification measures of disadvantaged gifted children hold promise for the identification of gifted Vhavenda learners. / Psychology of Education / M. Ed. (Psychology of Education)

This study focuses on the identification of traditional and modern sociocultural factors revealed by traditionallyorientated (rural) and modern (urban) Vhavenda people that define the Vhavenda cultural context, and establishes how the Vhavenda view giftedness from their own sociocultural perspective. The literature study reveals that Vhavenda school children are disadvantaged with regard to socioeconomic level, education and geographic isolation. Definitions of intelligence were reviewed as well as those of giftedness that consider sociocultural perspectives. An idiographic, qualitative study was conducted with informants from rural and urban areas. Results show that the sociocultural context of both traditional and modern Vhavenda is characterised by modern rather than traditional sociocultural factors which influence the development, nurturance and manifestation of giftedness in Vhavenda children. Vhavenda learners (13-15 years old) revealed some frequently observed characteristics of giftedness. Consequently, some identification measures of disadvantaged gifted children hold promise for the identification of gifted Vhavenda learners. / Psychology of Education / M. Ed. (Psychology of Education)

Bibliography / Thesis (M.A.) -- Stellenbosch University, 1988.

Research reveals that the level as well as the quality of education plays a role in the determination of an individual's intellectual capacity. Substantial differences in quality of education for black and white individuals were experienced in South Africa due to Apartheid. Compared to the traditionally white Private and Model C schools, Township/ DET schools had limited resources, as well as a separate syllabus and examination system, a situation that has not improved substantially since democratisation in 1994. Research on black South African adults with the WAIS-III has confirmed significant influences on IQ in association with exposure to either such advantaged (Private/Model C) schooling, or disadvantaged (Township/DET) schooling. However to date there has been no published research on the use of the Wechsler intelligence tests on a black South African child population similarly stratified for quality of education. Therefore, for the purposes of this study, the latest Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC-IV) was administered to a sample of 36 Grade 7 learners between the ages of 12-13 (mean 13.01 years), stratified for quality of education to form three comparative groups. Data analyses revealed significant differences on the WISC-IV Factor Indices and Full Scale IQ with the English speaking Private/Model C school group performing the best, followed by the Xhosa speaking Private/ Model C school group, and the Xhosa speaking Township/ DET school group performing the worst. This continuum of lowering is understood to occur abreast of a continuum of decreased exposure to relatively advantaged education. These normative indications are considered to have vital implications for the use of the WISC-IV in the South African cross-cultural situation where vastly differential educational opportunities continue to exist.

The education of intellectually disabled (ID) people is constructed within mass education systems as a problem requiring specialised intervention, separation from “normal” school contexts and the application of professional expertise. A social model of disability resists these practices from a human rights perspective and underpins an inclusive education approach. In this study, a post-structuralist disability studies theoretical framework, drawing particularly on the work of Foucault, was used to examine discourses that construct the intellectually disabled person as a subject of education. The study was conducted in Buffalo City, South Africa at a time when an inclusive education policy is being implemented in the country. The research questions were: What discourses are deployed in the representation and educational practices of those identified as ID? What are the effects of these discourses in constructing the ID subject and associated educational practice? The study utilises Q-methodology, a factor analytic method that yields whole patterns of responses for analysis. A process of sorting selected statements along the dimension of agree to disagree was completed by three groups of participants, namely adults with ID, parents of people with ID and professionals working with ID. Discourses of representation and of educational practice were identified through statistical and interpretive analysis, following the discourse analysis school of Q-methodology. The findings of this study reveal the operation of power in a medico-psychological gaze that makes ID visible and supervises disability expertise within education. Representations of ID suffused with religious notions support the exercise of pastoral power by disability experts. Human rights discourses in education can marginalise ID people if applied uncritically. Fixed notions of impairment constrain an intellectually disabled subject who is vulnerable and incompetent. This study argues instead for a theory of (poss)ability, underpinned by an understanding of the situational and shared nature of competence and a fluid conception of impairment. Human rights should be supplemented by an ethics of care and belonging in the community (ubuntu). A research agenda supporting this effort would examine the ways in which ID people work on themselves as subjects (subjectivisation) and explore the potential for resistance in this process.

his study builds on South African cross-cultural research which demonstrated the importance of careful stratification of multicultural/multilingual normative samples for quality of education in respect of English and African language (predominantly Xhosa) speaking adults and children tested with the WAIS-III and WISC-IV, respectively. The aim of the present study was to produce an expanded set of preliminary comparative norms on the WISC-IV for white and coloured Afrikaans, white English and black Xhosa speaking Grade 7 children, aged 12 to 13 years, stratified for advantaged versus disadvantaged education. The results of this study replicate the findings of the prior South African cross-cultural studies in respect of quality of education, as groups with advantaged private/former Model C schooling outperformed those with disadvantaged former DET or HOR township schooling. Furthermore, a downward continuum of WISC-IV IQ test performance emerged as follows: 1) white English advantaged (high average), 2) white Afrikaans advantaged and black Xhosa advantaged (average), 3) coloured Afrikaans advantaged (below average), 4) black Xhosa disadvantaged (borderline), and 5) coloured Afrikaans disadvantaged (extremely low). The present study has demonstrated that while language and ethnic variables reveal subtle effects on IQ test performance, quality of education has the most significant effect – impacting significantly on verbal performance with this effect replicated in respect of the FSIQ. Therefore caution should be exercised in interpreting test results of individuals from different language/ethnic groups, and in particular those with disadvantaged schooling, as preliminary data suggest that these individuals achieve scores which are 20 – 35 points lower than the UK standardisation.