Name: The level of physical fitness and the detection of the motor skills level of primary school age children. Objectives: To find out the current level of physical fitness and basic motor skills of primary school age children. Methods: The main method of the research was an observation. The study included 54 children (8.9 ± 0.6 years old, 31 girls and 23 boys). For the evaluation of physical fitness, we used the Unifittest (6-60) and for the evaluation of motor skills was used the MABC-2 motor test. The Student's test and the Cohen's d effect size coefficient, were used for the evaluation of group differences. Results: In the MABC-2 motor skills test, 22 % of children achieved the result in a zone above the 84th percentile, 20 % of children were between 51-84th percentile, 50 % of children were in the range between 17-50th percentile, 4 % of children were between 6-15th percentile and another 4 % of children were in the range of <5 percentile. The results of the Unifittest test battery (6-60) showed us that 41 % of children were average, 20 % of children were below average, significantly below were 17 % of children, above average were 15 % of children and 7 % of children were well above average. Girls achieved significantly higher overall MABC-2 performance compared to boys (11.5 ± 2.7 vs 10.0 ±...

Magister Public Health - MPH / A cross- sectional descriptive study using a self-administered close-ended questionnaire was conducted with pupils in standards four to seven (aged 10 - 17 years) in ten government primary schools in Meru District. The sample of 400 school pupils was obtained by a simple random sampling technique. Data analysis was done using Statistical Package for Social Sciences SPSS (version 15) computer software and the results were presented in frequencies using simple percentages, tables and graphs. The Chi-square test was used to assess the significance where a p-value of <0.05 was considered statistically significant. In conclusion, Primary school pupils in Meru district engage in several risky sexual behaviors including substance use, sexual coercion, early sexual debut and engaging in various sexual practices. This calls for a more comprehensive approach in the fight against HIV among primary school children in Tanzania, which could include life skill training at an early age, behaviour change communication interventions, advocacy activities to influence policy formulation, condom promotion and incorporating key stakeholders in the rollout of school based HIV programmes such as parents, community leaders and faith-based organizations leaders. / South Africa

Magister Artium - MA / There is a high rate of parental referrals by teachers to doctors for children who display symptoms of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). The symptoms are inattentiveness, impulse control, concentration problems and learning disabilities. Studies suggest that often a learning disability is mistaken for ADHD. ADHD is usually diagnosed from the age of seven, when children start their schooling. In some cases it is identified much earlier in the form of over-activity in children during the pre-school years. Teachers are responsible for creating an environment that is conducive to academic, social and emotional success for children with ADHD. Research suggests that mainstream primary school teachers may lack knowledge regarding ADHD and evidenced-based classroom interventions. This study therefore intended to determine primary school teachers’ knowledge of the symptoms and management of children diagnosed with ADHD in their classrooms. A quantitative approach with a cross-sectional research design was used to conduct the study. A selfadministered questionnaire, the Knowledge of Attention-Deficit Disorder Scale (KADDS), which measures the misperceptions and understanding of the disorder, was used to collect data from a sample of 200 teachers at 28 public schools in Kimberley. The data was analyzed by making use of frequencies and mean scores. The data obtained was useful in describing the knowledge base of teachers and in identifying the strategies that teachers mostly agreed to in managing children who have been diagnosed with ADHD in the classroom. The data was analysed by means of the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS). The results show that the majority of teachers are knowledgeable about the symptoms and diagnosis of ADHD but less so about the general associated features and treatment. Although the majority of teachers received training on ADHD, their knowledge about evidenced-based classroom interventions for ADHD can be improved.

Music education in Buganda, and indeed Uganda as a whole, must re-define its role and nature by essentially changing its structure and character. Currently it is not adequate and relevant enough to cater for the real needs of the learners. This document entails the research undertaken to evaluate music education in elementary schools in Buganda, its historical developments, current status and a possible way forward. In ascertaining and gathering data for this empirical study, ethnographic as well as phenomenological methods were employed. Evidence was collected through literature search, recent publications, questionnaires, interviews, personal experiences and observations. Music at primary level of education in Uganda is categorised under the syllabus of Performing Arts and Physical Education (PAPE). This has become extremely problematic when classroom teachers and specialist teachers are required to implement the music component of PAPE. With the above in mind, a research question was formulated on the basis that a perceived problem existed in the dispensation and delivery of music education in schools in Buganda. The study evaluates the existing government policies on primary education that include the Education Strategic Investment Plan (ESIP), Universal Primary Education, Uganda Primary School Curriculum (UPSC), Uganda Syllabus of Primary Education (USPE), Education Policy Review Commission (EPRC), Education Statistical Abstract (ESA), and Complimentary Opportunity for Primary Education (COPE). In addition, the study analyses the education structure as well as the PAPE syllabus in relation to learners’ own music outside the prescribed school curriculum, teacher training programs and the available resources. Finally a comparative analysis of music and the arts education of various countries and the African perspectives was carried out. Findings reveal that the mission of the MoES through the ESIP is to support, guide, co-ordinate, regulate and promote quality education and sports for national integration, individual and national development. It further indicates that UPE was adopted to address the principle of equity as regards the education access amongst households, without exacerbating the gap between the rich and the poor. The study acknowledges that even though some educators have high qualifications, generally music is perceived as an area in which teachers have a low level of teaching efficacy as a result of inadequate training, lack of music resources and the irrelevance of the music content. The learners’ response to music as a classroom subject is influenced by their own music outside the school. The results presented in this research offer crucial insights for music education, its future role, nature and character. It is evident that among others, the insufficient funding, limited content knowledge and lack of resources remain key factors that inhibit the development of music education in Buganda. The study culminates into recommendations that offer direction and vision for music education. The recommendations set out in this research should enable the music education discipline to survive and transform itself into an autonomous key player in the education dispensation. / Thesis (DMus)--University of Pretoria, 2008. / Music / unrestricted

This study is centered on childhood music education in Nigeria. Five research questions and five null hypotheses were formulated and tested in the study. A total of 313 subjects were used. The instrument used for data collection was a questionnaire on the childhood music education in Nigeria. Statistically weighted mean was used to answer the research questions and t - test was employed in testing the null hypotheses. At the end of the analysis, the following findings were made: <ul> <li>At least, 13 learning materials including both African and western musical instruments are available for teaching music in Nigerian primary schools. Up to 10 learning strategies were identified by the music teachers and music educators to be among the ones that could be utilized to ensure fruitful and effective acquisition of musical knowledge by the pupils in Nigeria.</li> <li>The perception of music educators and music teachers on the methodology that can best be utilized to ensure fruitful and effective acquisition of musical knowledge by the pupils at primary school level of education in Nigeria do not differ significantly.</li> <li>There is no significant difference between the music teachers and music educators’ perception on the adequacy of delivery of the music staff and learning situations in Nigerian primary schools.</li> </ul> Based on these findings a number of recommendations for improvement of the music education in Nigerian primary schools have been made. In addition to the sample teaching and learning programme, the original contribution of this study is explored in chapter six. This chapter offers lesson plans designed for grade II music teachers in primary schools in Nigeria. This programme was conducted and performed in one of the primary schools in the study area and ended with twelve contacts with pupils. (a digital video disk is attached to the thesis). / Thesis (DMus)--University of Pretoria, 2007. / Music / unrestricted

Listening and reading comprehension form an important part of the educational needs of the child. Learning and development are dynamic processes and educators must take cognisance of the continually changing needs of the environment. The relationship between and development of listening and reading comprehension is complex and interlinked. Theoretical and developmental strategies need to be explored to help us understand assessment and teaching procedures. This study aimed to compare listening and reading comprehension using two assessment tools - the Sentence Verification Technique and the Performance Test: Listening and Reading Comprehension English First Language (HSRC). Three groups, standard 2, 3, and 4 students, were tested on both tests and reading and listening scores were compared in each test. Then the two tests were compared. Some qualitative analyses were carried out. The HSRC test showed listening and reading to be similar in all three groups, while listening was significantly better than reading on the SVT test. These differences may be related to the fact that the subjects were able to reread in the SVT 'reading test. A developmental trend was clear in both tests in that the scores in both reading and listening showed increases with each group. The results between the two tests were similar in the listening mode but showed differences in the reading mode. This implies that they cannot be directly compared but that both still play valuable, but different diagnostic roles. The results led to a discussion of the clinical and future research implications. / Dissertation (MCommunication Pathology)--University of Pretoria, 2012. / Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology / Unrestricted

Background: Mind-body dualisms create particular difficulties for researching and justifying learning and knowledge within PE practices. These issues are compounded in the UK by prevailing cognitivistic ideas of education, knowledge and learning. Crum (1993) suggests reconceptualising PE as movement culture as a potential solution to the limitations created by dualistic positions within education. How knowledge and learning within movement culture is positioned, however, was left underdeveloped by Crum. The aim of this thesis is to explore an embodied, action position on knowledge and learning, as a potential solution to this issue. Purpose: This thesis is driven by two purposes. The first; to examine and discuss how John Dewey’s theorising of knowledge and learning within experience provides a theoretical position on knowledge and learning within movement culture. The second; to utilise this position to explore how pupils’ and teachers’ actions within primary PE lessons constitute and negotiate the movement cultures within their school. Findings: In adopting a position which dissolves mind-body dualisms, movement culture allows the practical work of PE lessons to be considered as contexts of knowledge production. This opens up our understanding of different ways of knowing in PE through pupils’ epistemological ‘action-in-PE-settings’. Rather than creating another hybrid of educational ideology by objectifying what to ‘do’ or ‘know’, movement culture keeps the ‘who’ of participation in PE practice in view. Such a position is achieved because pupils are seen as ‘coming to know’ through their immediate and continuous experiences of sports and physical activities both in PE and beyond the school gates. By dissolving traditional dualisms within educational ideology, movement culture allows ideologies and assumptions about learning in PE to be decoded and managed. It also provides a framework to explore subject-matter for learning and analyses some of the disconnections which exist within PE practice. Conclusions: Reconceptualising PE as movement culture is not intended to create a logic of practice to which I claim PE should ascribe. In this thesis, movement culture offers a position from which to consider the continuity between PE and pupils’ lives within and outside of the school gates. Such a standpoint can challenge our ideas as to what subject-matter could be within PE and the possibilities of learning outcomes other than those that focus on performance sport or bodily training for fitness. From a research perspective questions arise in relation to understanding very young pupils’ experiences of knowing within PE and how learning and knowledge are embodied across other subject areas. Addressing such questions may help to support new understandings of learning and knowledge within schools that are concurrent with developing new methodologies and research tools. These may in turn support the continuing development of pedagogical practices.

La presente investigación tiene como propósito describir las actitudes hacia la inclusión educativa de personas con discapacidad en los docentes de primaria de colegios privados de Educación Básica Regular (EBR) de Lima Metropolitana. Debido a la escasez de instrumentos creados y adaptados en Lima Metropolitana, se construyó la Escala de Actitudes de los Profesores hacia la Inclusión educativa (EAPI). Como segundo objetivo de investigación, se estimaron las propiedades psicométricas de la escala a partir de su aplicación en una muestra de 280 profesoras de primaria de 17 colegios privados de EBR. Los resultados permitieron interpretar que las profesoras de primaria de colegios privados de EBR de Lima Metropolitana presentan actitudes ambivalentes hacia la inclusión educativa, siendo las profesoras con experiencia previa quienes presentan actitudes más positivas. Por último, se concluyó que las interpretaciones y decisiones que se tomen a partir de las puntuaciones obtenidas de la aplicación de la EAPI presentan evidencias de validez y confiabilidad en profesoras de primaria de colegios privados de EBR de Lima Metropolitana. / The present investigation has as purpose to describe attitudes toward inclusive education for people with disabilities in the primary teachers of private schools from Regular Basic Education (RBE) of Lima Metropolitana. Due to the shortage of instruments created and adapted in Lima Metropolitana, was built the Scale of Attitudes of Teachers toward Inclusive education (SATI). As a second purpose of research, we estimated the psychometric properties of the scale from its application in a sample of 280 primary school teachers of 17 private schools of RBE. The results allowed to interpret that the primary school teachers of private schools of RBE of Lima Metropolitana presented ambivalent attitudes toward inclusive education, being the teachers with prior experience who have a more positive attitude. Finally, it was concluded that the interpretations and decisions to be taken on the basis of the scores obtained from the application of the SATI presented validity and reliability evidence for primary school teachers of private schools of RBE in Lima Metropolitana. / Tesis

In today's school and society homework is a controversial topic. Some teachers have completely abandoned work with homework, while others believe that homework is necessary. What about the reading homework at the primary school, how important is it? The Swedish school needs to work towards improving students’ readability and increase equivalence so that students’ school results are not depended on their soc io-econom ical background. Homework could be a way to improve the readability among students, but there is also a risk that it neg atively affects equality since all students do not have the same access to support at home. The purpose of the study is to describe why teachers choose to give or not to give reading homework, what the pros and cons they see with the homework are and if they find that the reading homework is different from other types of homework. In order to answer the question I studied earlier literature and research on the subject. I also chose to conduct qualitative interviews with six teachers teaching the subject of Swedish at primary school. The result shows that teachers disagreed with the issue of reading homework and its importance for learning. However, all teachers believe that the more students read, the more the students' readability develops. The advantages and disadvantages of reading homework raised in this study include, among other things, equivalence, time and students access to support. The result also shows that teachers find that the homework is different from other types of homework, for example, because reading is the foundation of many subjects. / I dagens skola är läxor ett omdiskuterat ämne. En del lärare har helt övergett arbetet med läxor, medan andra menar att läxor är nödvändiga för elevers kunskapsutveckling. Hur är det med läsläxan på lågstadiet, hur viktig är den? Den svenska skolan behöver arbeta med öka elevernas läsförmåga och stärka likvärdigheten så att elevers studieresultat inte är beroende av deras socioekonomiska bakgrund. Således skulle läsläxan kunna ses som ett sätt att stärka läsförmågan, men samtidigt finns också risken att den påverkar likvärdigheten negativt eftersom alla elever inte har samma tillgång till stöd hemma. Syftet med denna studien är att beskriva varför lärare på lågstadiet väljer att ge respektive inte ge läsläxa, vilka för och nackdelar de ser med läsläxan och om de upplever att läsläxan skiljer sig från andra typer av läxor. För att söka svar på frågan genomfördes kvalitativa intervjuer med sex behöriga lärare som undervisar i ämnet svenska på lågstadiet. Resultatet visar att lärarna är oeniga i frågan om läsläxans betydelse för lärandet. Samtliga lärare menar dock att desto mer eleverna läser desto mer utvecklas elevernas läsförmåga. De för- och nackdelar med läsläxan som lyfts i studien handlar bland annat om likvärdighet, tid och elevers tillgång till stöd. Resultatet visar även att lärarna upplever att läsläxan skiljer sig från andra typer av läxor exempelvis på grund av att läsning är grunden för många ämnen.

The aim of this study is to increase our knowledge of teacher’s work with reading comprehension and reading strategies. In order to get an understanding of how the teachers work with reading comprehension, I have performed qualitative interviews with five practicing primary school teachers. The result shows that all the teachers consider that it is important to work with reading comprehension and reading strategies in primary school. The result also shows that the teachers are using different tools and different teaching methods to support and to facilitate the development of the pupils. / Syftet med den här undersökningen är att undersöka hur olika lärare arbetar med lässtrategier och läsförståelse. Undersökningen har genomförts med hjälp av kvalitativa intervjuer med fem yrkesverksamma lärare med olika arbetslivserfarenhet genom vilka jag försöker få en förståelse för hur de arbetar. Lärarna undervisar i årskurs ett till tre. Resultatet visar att samtliga lärare anser att lässtrategier och läsförståelse ska arbetas med i årskurs ett till tre eftersom det påverkar de andra ämnena som undervisas. Resultatet visar även att lärarna har olika tillvägagångsätt när det kommer till hur de undervisar eleverna för att främja deras läsförståelse och lässtrategier.