Learning disabilities are a life-long problem for many individuals. Besides the adjustments all adolescents experience in life, learning disabled adolescents must contend with academic problems at school which have a drastic effect on their selfesteem. This becomes particularly evident when these pupils face the demands of the secondary school syllabus where they have to be able to concentrate, read for information, memorise facts, answer questions and solve problems, and write assignments. By the time learning disabled adolescents reach secondary school they have already experienced so much failure that they become passive towards their studies. Teaching these pupils metacognitive learning strategies covering these skills helps them to become more independent learners. Through executive training procedures they are assisted to become more involved in their studies, the promotion of better self-regulation and self-monitoring is fostered, and as their scores improve, so does their motivation and selfconcept / Educational Studies / M.Ed. (Orthopedagogics)

The aim of this study was to examine the management of parent involvement in historically disadvantaged secondary schools in Tshwane West district, Gauteng. A literature study was undertaken to investigate the existing theories and models of parent involvement as well as their practical application. A literature study was also done to explore the historical development of the management of parent involvement in South Africa. The advantages of and barriers to parent involvement were also investigated through the review of both local and international literature. An interpretive, qualitative approach was adopted and an investigation of the management of parent involvement was conducted in three of the selected historically disadvantaged secondary schools in Tshwane West district, Gauteng. In-depth interviews were conducted with principals and focus-group interviews were held with three teachers as well as three members of the School Governing Bodies of each of the three selected schools. The overall impression was that the extent of parent involvement in the education of their children was very minimal due to the inability of the School Management Teams, especially school principals, to initiate, facilitate and sustain organisational structures and management processes which would ensure the effective involvement of parents in the education of their children. As a result of those findings, it was realised that a need existed to equip members of the management teams, including school principals, with appropriate skills that would assist in the implementation and sustenance of effective parent involvement programmes. / Educational Leadership and Management / M. Ed. (Education Management)

This study examined the effect of parent involvement on the academic achievement of previously disadvantaged learners who was awarded scholarships to attend independent boys‟ schools in Johannesburg. Through a qualitative inquiry using a small sample of parents and teachers (SSP coordinators), the findings added to the existing literature review. There is evidence that parent involvement is essential in high school and that parent involvement at home has an impact on the learners‟ achievement irrespective of the parents‟ socio-economic status and level of education. Furthermore, the results support the assumption that, the sense of not belonging and other barriers that hinder parents from being involved in school activities could be resolved by improving communication and forging a healthy relationship between parents and teachers. This creates a need for a parent involvement programme that will attend to the needs of the parents and teachers. This programme will empower them with skills that will improve their partnership. / Psychology of Education / M. Ed. (Psychology of Education)

Haitian immigrant parents often face challenges to visibly engage in their children's education in the United States due to social, cultural, and economic factors. This study addressed parent involvement (PI) among Haitian immigrant parents of adolescents in a Florida community. The purpose of this exploratory, multiple-case study was to better understand connections between immigrant Haitian parents' beliefs and learning experiences and their experiences supporting their adolescents' learning. Three research questions were developed to explore Haitian adults' lived experiences and perceptions of themselves as keepers of knowledge and as learners, their experiences and perceived roles as parents, and the resources they possessed that could increase PI. The conceptual framework included social constructs of family literacy, new literacy studies, and funds of knowledge. Nine Haitian parents of teenage children and 3 educators and liaisons from the community were selected for interviews. Qualitative data analysis included open coding, theme identification, and triangulation of data from an archival PI survey. Findings indicated that adults' experiences with learning at home and learning at school influenced their perceived parenting roles and self-efficacy at home, the type of PI in which they engaged, and future aspirations for their children. Results were used to develop a white paper aimed at community stakeholders to enhance educators' and social service providers' cultural knowledge of Haitian families and to promote two-way communication. The project may encourage the development of culturally responsive PI strategies and adult learning opportunities benefiting local and trans-national Haitian communities throughout the United States.

The involvement of low-income and minority parents in their children's education is an important issue. When parents are actively involved, children tend to perform well academically. If the Mong children in California are to have a greater chance of academic success, school principals need to collaborate with Mong parents. This study investigated the strategies elementary and middle school principals use to involve Mong parents in the education of their children, obstacles they encounter, and methods they use to evaluate whether their efforts have been effective. This study also examined whether there are any differences between the strategies principals use to involve Mong parents, obstacles they encounter, and methods they employ for evaluation, based on their demographic characteristics. Data were collected through the administration of a survey. Of the 113 surveys mailed to school principals throughout California, 31.9% were completed and returned. Upon receiving the surveys, frequencies, percentages, one-sample proportion tests, and independent-samples t tests were employed to analyze the data. The results demonstrated that there were 28 strategies school principals used to involve Mong parents (e.g., 97% encouraged Mong parents to participate in the parent organization(s) at school), eight obstacles they encountered (e.g., 86% encountered the Mong parents' lack of knowledge about the school system as an obstacle to encourage the involvement of Mong parents), and nine methods they employed to evaluate their efforts (e.g., 86% used informal discussions with teachers as a method for evaluation). In addition, some of the differences between the strategies school principals used, obstacles they encountered, and methods they employed based on their demographic characteristics were identified. It is recommended that other school principals use the strategies and methods found in this study to improve their relationship with Mong parents as educational partners. It is also recommended that school principals employ a variety of methods to evaluate the effectiveness of their efforts. To increase the academic achievement of Mong children, future research is needed.

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Parents play an integral role in the support of early learning. This study focuses on parent support of learning in an international reception class in Copenhagen, Denmark. This study includes a literature review of parent support of early learning and school facilitation of parent involvement in early learning. A qualitative investigation of parental support of early learning, within the context of global mobility and multi-culturalism, was undertaken in Rygaards School, in particular in its Reception Class. It was established that very little support exists on a global, social and local level, for the globally mobile families whose children attend this particular international school. Furthermore, the school itself does not fully meet the needs of its globally mobile families. Based on the findings of this study, recommendations for introducing comprehensive parent involvement were proposed, amongst others the introduction of an Induction Programme for newcomers to Rygaards, strategies for compensating for the absence of a middle management amongst its teaching staff and the extension of parent participation in curriculum provision. / Educational Studies / M.Ed.

In Botswana secondary schools, a positive climate is more of an ideal than a reality. It is the task of stakeholders particularly the headteacher's to create and sustain a conducive learning environment to improve pupils' academic and behaviour standards. To a large extent, the headteacher, as an individual occupying the highest official position in the school, determines how the school is run. His/her expectations, values, beliefs, relationships with teachers and the examples he/she sets for the whole school shape the climate in the school. The headteacher can promote or inhibit a positive climate through his/her leadership behaviour pattern. Thus, the headteacher's leadership style is significant in creating and sustaining a positive school climate. This study has been undertaken to examine the connectedness between headteacher leadership style and school climate. This research focuses on the improvement of climate in Botswana secondary schools through the headteacher's appropriate use of leadership styles in different situations with a view to answer the following questions: What different leadership styles are employed by school headteachers? What are the different types of climates in schools? Are the leadership styles of school headteachers responsible for the climate that exists in their schools? What are the implications of the headteachers' leadership styles for school climate? How can school climate be improved? What roles can the headteachers, teachers and other stakeholders play to improve school climate? The research report comprises six chapters: Chapter one contains the background information of the research, statement of the research problem, aim and objectives of the research, demarcation of the study, definition of concepts, research methods and the research structure. Chapter two presents a review of literature on leadership styles, factors affecting it and discussion of models from different perspectives form part of this chapter. However, the emphasis is on Hersey and Blanchard's situational model which proposes the appropriate use of leadership styles to suit situations. Chapter three covers a review of relevant literature on school climate and factors affecting it. Chapter four presents detailed report on the empirical study. Questionnaires each of which contains items on leadership styles and school climate were responded to by secondary school teachers and interviews were conducted with headteachers. Chapter five contains data analysis and interpretation. Various leadership styles used by headteachers and the corresponding climates were identified. The findings indicated that the type of climate that exists in schools is related to the headteachers leadership style. It emerged that organisational climates vary in schools and that the participating leadership style promotes an open organisational climate. Implications for school performance and for the nation's vision (Vision 2016) was given. Chapter six presents findings from the literature study as well as the empirical study, conclusions based on the findings and recommendations for improvement for practice and further research. / Educational Studies / DED (EDUC MANAGEMENT)

There is compelling evidence that parental involvement positively influences children’s academic achievement. Its benefits occur across all socio-economic classes. In spite of its significance, parental involvement has received scant attention in Zimbabwe. This qualitative study sought to establish how parents in a materially poor rural district of Zimbabwe were involved in their children’s education. Barriers to their involvement were investigated with the view to overcoming or mitigating them for the benefit of the affected primary school pupils. The attribution theory was used not only to substantially explain the status of parental involvement in Zaka District, but also to generate strategies to promote parents’ participation in their children’s school education. Observation, semi-structured interviews (for school heads), focus group interviews (for parents) and the open-ended questionnaire (for teachers) were used in this qualitative study covering ten primary schools. Respondents were selected through the use of chain reference sampling and sampling by case. A total of one hundred and forty (140) participants were selected. It emerged from the research that parents, teachers and school heads/principals had very limited understanding of parental involvement. They generally thought that it was confined to activities done at school such as payment of school fees and levies, providing labour for the construction or renovation of school buildings and providing teaching/learning resources. Most teachers, school heads/principals and parents believed that parents were too poor and too lowly educated to meaningfully be involved in their children’s education. However, there were a few parents who believed that their socio-economic status did not prevent them from participating in their children’s education. They actually indicated useful ways in which they could be involved. The research also revealed that parents, school teachers and school heads/principals made wrong attributions about themselves and each other in connection with limited parental involvement in their schools. Both school staff and parents, after identifying barriers to involvement, were willing to learn about how they could overcome or mitigate the barriers. They believed that the challenges they were facing regarding parental involvement were capable of resolution. / Teacher Education / D. Ed. (Education Management)

Whoonga is a relatively new addition into the drug market. The need for this study was prompted by the devastating effects this new arrival has had in the lives of young people addicted to it. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of whoonga on the learning of affected youth in Kwa-Dabeka Township. This study adopted a qualitative method and employed a phenomenological approach to explore the experiences of participants with regard to whoonga use and their learning. Data was collected through purposive sampling. Interviews were conducted, using semi-structured and unstructured questions with the help of an interview guide. Observations were also conducted to collect more data. This was done in the classroom during teaching and learning, as well as outside the classroom during recess. The study employed a social learning theoretical framework on the experiences of participants with regard to the use of whoonga. Four participants from one high school in Kwa-Dabeka Township were involved in the study. Themes that emerged from the study were that all the participants were totally ignorant of what they were getting themselves into before they started using whoonga. Peer pressure, coupled with curiosity made their decision to use whoonga easy. Challenges that participants face now on daily basis are far beyond their young age. The findings have indicated that learning is a situation of near impossibility for the participants. The findings have also depicted a picture of young people who are trapped in a vicious cycle of one of life‟s harshest living conditions in terms of their encounters with parents, school and the communities they come from. Despite their hopes for a brighter future one day, participants see no end in sight for their suffering at the hands of this unforgiving, destructive drug at this point in time. / Educational Studies / M. Ed. (Socio-Education)