M.Tech. / There was request from industry to present a life skills learning programme to supplement artisans' training. With this training, facilitors and trainers needed tools to assess the outcomes of the training. The study aims to develop an alternative assessment method and stimulus instruments in order to assess the learners' attainment of the learning outcomes of a life skills learning programme. The research concludes that life skills are a valuable supplement to artisans' training and will enhance their skills acquisition to improve their employability and adaptability in the working environment.

M.Phil. / This dissertation is a study of the importance of the awareness of a balanced life in accordance with the six life dimensions in order to preventing chronic fatigue. According to Hafen et al., specialists in psycho-physiological medicine estimate that possibly as much as 90 per cent of all the health problems can be traced, at least in part, to the influence of emotions. The fact that chronic fatigue is related to "disease" and is sometimes the forerunner of illnesses in the human body enhances the importance of life-force energy. We know that the cells of our bodies are fed by various nutrients derived from the food we eat as well as oxygen from the air we breathe. But our cells are also fed by a continuous stream of life-force energy. We possess a variety of specialised energy-distributing systems that also support the cells and organs of our bodies. These energy systems are affected by different factors that can enhance or inhibit the flow of life-force energy to the cells and organs of our bodies. Among those critical factors are our emotions, our relationships to others, our ability to give and to receive love, and even our relationship to God. While seemingly nebulous and difficult to define in terms of specific physiological effects, these emotional and spiritual factors are of great importance to the sustenance and support of the tissues and organs of our bodies.

M.A. / South Africa is a country which has undergone many changes since its first democratic elections in 1994. Amongst other societal implications, these changes have catapulted South African businesses and employees into the global economy. Being part of the global economy means that South African employees, like their northern hemisphere counterparts, are struggling to create balance in their lives. The stress resulting from the often opposing demands of work and family has lead to increasing scientific attention being paid to the matter of life balance. The present study has endeavoured to shed some light on this subject. Life balance was defined as the state that people reach when they experience contentment regarding their time involvement, emotional involvement and level of satisfaction achieved from each life role. This conceptualisation encompassed Super’s five adult life roles, namely those of student, worker, citizen, leisurite and home and family person. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between personality traits and life balance amongst employees of the South African corporate sector (N = 175). Each participant completed the Basic Traits Inventory, a life balance questionnaire and a biographical data questionnaire. The general hypotheses stated in the research pertained to the relationship between personality traits and life balance. More specific hypotheses were formulated pertaining to the relationships between individual traits and life balance, as well as the combined and predictive effect of personality traits on life balance. Examination of the individual personality traits in relation to life balance was done through the use of Pearson’s product-moment correlations. The results indicated that Extroversion (r = 0.151; p < 0.05), Conscientiousness (r = 0.303; p < 0.01) and Openness to Experience (r = 0.204; p < 0.01) had statistically significant positive relationships with life balance, while Neuroticism (r = -0.192; p < 0.05) surrendered a statistically significant negative relationship with life balance.

Ecclesiastes has often been seen as a sceptic's view of life and because of its complex nature has not been studied thoroughly nor clearly understood. It is a very interesting book in the Bible because it addresses pertinent issues of life such as pleasure, fame, money, achievement, worship, satisfaction, work, justice, happiness and death. Each of these aspects affects the purpose and fulfilment of life. Solomon, the writer of Ecclesiastes, sought to examine life so that he could determine its real meaning, in order to teach these principles to others and leave a lasting legacy. He was a man who had the time, the money, the wisdom, and the authority to examine life thoroughly and he had the means to pursue his every desire. He came to the conclusion that any pursuit in life, apart from a relationship with God and submitting to His purpose, was transitory and did not bring lasting satisfaction. These discoveries are the focus of Ecclesiastes and they direct one towards the understanding that life only has meaning in a relationship with God and living out His purposes. Solomon uses a unique form of"goad and nail" (Ecc. 12:11) in his writing style to capture the reader's attention and then direct them to a conclusive foundation of truth on which they can base their view of life. I believe it is the "Gospel of the Old Testament" and an authoritative book for evangelising and teaching life skills to Youth today. This thesis is a thorough study of Ecclesiastes, so as to accurately determine the message that Solomon wanted to convey and then apply those truths to Youth today. As a book contained in the Biblical scope of wisdom literature, Ecclesiastes teaches life skills on how to understand, approach and live life meaningfully. This is an important topic for all people and especially for Youth who have their lives ahead of them and are seeking for meaning and purpose, so that they can live fulfilled lives. However, because of the secularisation of our western society and the influence of Postmodernism, Youth are not receiving a true or realistic message on which to base their worldview. Much of what they have gleaned and believe is based on superficial thinking, feeling and presumption. Life's philosophies must be based on a solid foundation of convictions, which are based on absolute truth. This absolute truth is God's truth, as found in the Bible. As God inspired the writing of the book of Ecclesiastes, it becomes one of those bases within the scope of the Scriptures that authoritatively addresses the issues Youth face when developing their life purpose. Before trying to teach Youth the truths of Ecclesiastes one must first gain their acceptance because they have been influenced to reject absolutes. Thus it is necessary to cause them to re-evaluate their philosophies of life before teaching them biblical truth. Positive Deconstruction is the proposed method of approach and re-evaluation. The proposed method of teaching Youth the truths laid out in Ecclesiastes is through interactive discussion. This is a form of discussion that involves them and causes them to think independently. This method can be used by parents with their teens at home, teachers with their learners at school and also Youth leaders at church. Research also includes personal interviews with young people to determine their life goals and purpose. / Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2016. / Practical Theology / PhD / Unrestricted

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 2001. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 89-98).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2007. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (DPhil (Social Work))--University of Pretoria, 2005. / Social Work / unrestricted

Sport is deemed by many researchers and practitioners as a favourable context to foster positive youth development (PYD), including the acquisition of life skills (Petitpas et al., 2005). However, researchers have cautioned for vigilance before assuming with assurance that sport leads to positive developmental outcomes (Coakley, 2011). Consequently, it is important to understand how sport leaders can facilitate the development and transfer of life skills. In the context of high school sport in Canada, teacher-coaches are considered essential adults in the delivery of school sport programs. Using Pierce et al.’s (2017) life skills transfer model, the present thesis explored the contextual and psychological factors influencing the development and transfer of life skills. An intervention was designed, using action research principles, with two high school teacher-coaches. Data were collected via teacher-coach pre- and post-intervention interviews, as well as student-athlete post-intervention interviews (i.e., five student-athletes per teacher-coach). Further, data were gathered through observation, and audio recording of each life skill implementation, as well as a researcher reflective journal. The results indicated that teacher-coaches played an important role in influencing contextual and psychological factors, in both the learning and the transfer context, which shaped student-athletes’ life skills development and transfer. The study has practical implications for coach education programs, suggesting the benefits of on the ground support to provide coaches and teacher-coaches with the necessary tools to promote PYD.

The growing interest in positive factors that promote thriving and flourishing in psychology research and education in recent years has prompted an increased focus on the importance of non-intellectual or transferrable skills, in particular character strengths, social, and interpersonal abilities. A recent UK government white paper was published citing the importance of character in education; however, the extant research literature is largely drawn from American and Australian populations, with the majority of studies being cross sectional. Researchers and educators should be cautious of causal interpretations and generalisation of these findings to other populations. Research from the UK, with its differing culture and education system, is limited, and there is a clear need for longitudinal, UK research to clarify both the nature of these causal relationships, and whether USA findings can be generalised to the UK. Such research is particularly important in order to accurately inform and evaluate any potential applications of strengths based approaches in education. The current thesis reports findings from a short term, longitudinal study of the influence of self-perceived strengths on teacher assessments and exam results in a cohort of UK adolescents from 3rd to 4th year across two schools in Aberdeen. Pupils completed self-report measures of strengths (Strengths Assessment Inventory – Youth; SAI-Y), coping (WOC-R), Optimism (LOT-R), and Trait Affect (PANAS) at three time points: baseline (time 1), 8 months later (time 2), and a further 5 months later (time 3). Teacher assessments of pupil progress by subject for each participant were obtained following time 2 data collection and participant exam results after time 3. Chapter 1 (study 1a) reports the psychometric validation of a relatively new strengths measure for children and young people (SAI-Y) in a UK adolescent population, based on time 1 data. Findings show the psychometric properties and factorial structure of the SAI-Y compare well with previous validation studies, indicating this measure is a valid tool for describing character strengths in UK as well as US adolescents. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were used to derive an empirical factor structure for the SAI-Y. The psychometric data and analyses suggest that the factorial structure of the SAI-Y is different in the study population, but that the new 12 factor structure is valid for this sample. In addition, relative to the other measures used in this study, the SAI-Y captures a range of differing constructs relative to the WOC-R, PANAS and LOT-R, so that the SAI-Y is a useful, psychometrically valid tool for measuring a wider range of non-intellectual abilities in future strengths based research. Chapter 2 (study 1b) reports findings on the predictive relationship between pupils self-reported strengths at time 1, and teacher assessments of pupil progress at time 2, as investigated using exploratory and stepwise regression analyses. Findings showed that Pupils who score highly on Functional Behaviour (SAI-Y) tend to be assessed as excelling or performing in line with expectations by teachers 8 months later. In particular, pupils who self-report higher levels of Functional Behaviour are more likely to be assessed as excelling than performing as expected, in that functional behaviour was more strongly predictive of Green (excelling) than of Amber (performing as expected) assessments. Chapter 3 (study 1c) reports the results of exploratory and stepwise regression analyses to determine the predictive relationships between pupil self-reported strengths and exam results. Findings indicate that Functional Behaviour is consistently predictive of 13 successful academic achievement, particularly for higher levels of attainment (e.g. cumulative Total Score, A and B awards at N5, and proportion of exams passed at N5 level). Chapter 4 (study 1d) addresses the predictive relationships between teacher assessments of pupil progress and exam results, based on data from time 1 and 3. Analyses of Pupil Progress assessments for pupils participating at Time 1 and 3, using both exploratory and stepwise regression, showed a consistent, predictive relationship between Green (exceeding expectations) assessments and higher levels of exam success (N5 total score, percentage of passes at N5, and number of A, B, and C grades at N5). Analyses indicate Amber pupil progress to be a consistent predictor of almost all levels of exam success. Chapter 5 (study 1e) Investigates the Influence of time on predictors of outcomes (Teacher Assessments and Exams), as well as the relative influence of Strengths and Teacher Assessments on Exam Outcomes. Longitudinal regression analyses to assesses the influence of time in the predictive relationships found between Strengths and positive outcomes (Teacher Assessments and Exams), as well as the relative predictive influence of Strengths and Teacher Assessments on Exam outcomes, were conducted based on data from Time 1 and Time 3. Findings are interpreted and discussed in the context of strengths based educating, successful learning, and positive youth development; recommendations for future research directions are considered.

Thesis (M.S.M.)--Regis University, Denver, Colo., 2006. / Title from PDF title page (viewed on Feb. 20, 2007). Includes bibliographical references.