This study examined the effects of social-ecological intervention on physical activity (PA) knowledge level and behaviors of rural middle school students. A pre-test post-test control group design was constructed. In addition, qualitative data was collected by focus group discussions after the post-test in experimental group. Two schools from similar rural settings were identified as experimental and control schools. In total 62 students from 6, 7, 8 grades of these schools participated in this study. Experimental school PA environment was changed based on the social-ecological model (SEM) with a focus on intrapersonal, interpersonal, community level, organizational factors, and public policies related with PA. Turkish version of health related fitness (HRF) knowledge test, v pedometer, exercise stages of change, PA self-efficacy, social support, and PA enjoyment questionnaires were used to gather information for the dependent variables for the present study. A focus group discussion was implemented in experimental school. Repeated Measures ANOVA was used for the numerical data analysis. Focus group transcriptions were analyzed by content analysis method. According to HRF knowledge and PA analysis, experimental school students significantly improved their HRF knowledge scores, PA levels, social support compared to the control group students (p&lt / 0.05). Focus groups results supported the quantitative findings. In conclusion, this study indicated the value of SEM in improving the health related fitness knowledge, PA level and social support of students in rural context. Improving the rural school context for PA promotion by SEM is strongly recommended.

Student Number : 9407325P - PhD thesis - Faculty of Human and Social Sciences / This thesis focuses on the challenges a particular group of rural primary school teachers experienced as they implemented a national outcomes-based curriculum through the support of an external agent. It uses Fairclough’s (1991) model of critical discourse analysis and his theory of critical language study as a framework to explore the discourses and practices of this group of South African teachers. Methodologically, this thesis is located in the qualitative paradigm, and uses interviews and observations to systematically probe teachers’ understandings of curriculum and change. Three themes are developed in this thesis. First, the theme of teacher collaboration is presented as a new social practice that the teachers creatively took up during a school development project. It shows that while social and institutional process determined the nature of the project as a social practice, at a situational level, the teachers played a much more determinative role as they shaped the project and its practices in several intriguing ways. Second, the curriculum roles that were discursively produced by the teachers as they struggled to transform their practice from isolation to collaboration are revealed. This demonstrates that while many of these roles were common to all schools, the role of the teacher as leader emerged in only two of the schools. And third, through analysing the lessons taught by this group of teachers in their classrooms, the tacit knowledge of pedagogy and content on which their practice was based is made explicit. These themes provide opportunities for certain common sense assumptions about teacher collaboration, leadership, learning and practice to be interrogated in terms of their applicability to the schools in the project. The thesis concludes with a discussion of the possibilities that still exist for teacher educators to enhance understanding of what happens inside traditional rural schools.

本研究旨在瞭解天下雜誌教育基金會推動[希望閱讀計劃]的成效，發現偏鄉閱讀教育的現況與需求，同時規劃出[希望閱讀計劃]未來行動方案。天下雜誌教育基金會自2004年開始啟動[希望閱讀計劃]，在200所偏遠小學推動閱讀。本研究分析比較過去六年，基金會針對聯盟小學進行的五次問卷調查，一次與校長及老師[世界咖啡館]的深度會談，並將會談中得到的結論，再透過問卷，建立200所聯盟小學共識，據以定出希望閱讀計劃之未來行動方案。 研究結果顯示，[希望閱讀計劃]已對200所偏遠學校產生相當重大的影響。學校對於基金會的期待，也從資源提供者，轉變為政策推動者。未來在偏鄉推動閱讀，首先應建立學校行政領導團隊和老師對推動閱讀的共識，提升老師的自信心與企圖心，並且敦促政府要有長遠的閱讀教育規劃，才有可能建構真正有系統的閱讀教育。 [希望閱讀計劃]未來行動方案，不僅只是送書到偏鄉學校，亦企圖提供一個完整的偏鄉學校推動閱讀的支援系統。此支援系統涵蓋從閱讀教育資源、人力資源進入教學現場，閱讀推手教育訓練並展現閱讀成果，到推動閱讀在地深耕。因為家庭失能與經濟弱勢，是偏鄉學校家庭教育最大的痛，政府政策和外界資源，尤應正視並繼續給予支援，激勵社區參與學校教育工作。 偏鄉教育，除了民間團體投入外，更重要的是政府相關單位，提出長遠的教育規劃，從政策面推動，才能真正幫助偏遠地區的老師孩子，有機會飛出低谷，海闊天空的飛翔。 / This study aims to understand the effectiveness of the [Hope Reading Program,] a charitable effort promoted by the Common Wealth Magazine Education Foundation. It aims to find the current situation and needs of literacy programs in remote cities and towns, and to outline a future action plan for the [Hope Reading Program]. The Common Wealth Magazine Education Foundation started the [Hope Reading Program] in 2004, and promoted reading in 200 remote primary schools. This study includes (1) the analysis and comparison of the past six years’ surveys; (2) results from five different surveys of primary schools allied with the Common Wealth Magazine Education Foundation, and (3) the result of the [World Café] event in which we invited principals and teachers to share their experience with us in detail, after which we established the primary consensus of the alliance of 200 primary schools through the use of questionnaires, in order to come up with the future action plan of the [Hope Reading Program]. The result shows that the [Hope Reading Program] has made a significant impact on the 200 rural primary schools. What’s more, the schools’ expectations of the Common Wealth Magazine Education Foundation were changed from resource provider to policy executor. In the future, we should first establish the consensus on literary programs with the rural primary schools’ executive leadership teams and teachers, enhance the teachers’ confidence and ambition, and urge the government to have long-term plans for literacy programs, so that it would be possible to approach reading education in a systematic fashion. The future action plan of the [Hope Reading Program] is to not only send books to rural primary schools, but also to provide a complete support system that promotes reading. This support system should include educational resources, human resources, the training and sharing of best practices for promoters, and the formation of the local reading culture. Due to dysfunctional households and economic disadvantages, the lack of home education is a major source of complications for rural schools. Policymakers and external providers should take this into consideration when giving support and encouraging community involvement in school-based educational efforts. Education in rural schools relies not only on the efforts of civic groups, but more importantly, on the government’s long-term education plans, which will provide the boost necessary to help the children and teachers in rural areas to find good opportunities and fly high to a brighter future.

Although there has been increasing research on HIV/AIDS and children, albeit mostly outside the school environment, most research in the area tends to view 'children as objects' (Christensen and James, 1999) in the research process whereby the change in the child is what is being observed. This view lessens the role of the child and as such means that the results are inadequate - mostly the researcher's perspective is represented. In Zimbabwe, with an estimated 1.1 million AIDS orphans and 115,000 children under 14 living with HIV/AIDS, not much empirical research has been conducted in school settings where they spend most of their time; the complexities of infected and affected students' experiences within the school-home-community spheres are mostly inferred due to lack of empirical research. Using Bronfenbrenner's Ecological System's Theory and the Capability Approach to adopt a holistic psychosocio-cultural lens, the research aims to understand the experiences of infected and affected students from their perspectives within their school, home and community environments. Added to observations, in-depth interviews based on data collected using photography, drawings, timelines, sociograms and student diaries were conducted with 65 boys and 27 girls aged 10 -13 years from a rural primary school during the months of August to December 2011. In-depth interviews were also conducted with 161 parents and caregivers. Also interviewed were 13 stakeholders comprising of a Senior Research Officer within the Ministry of Education, District Education Officer, 5 Teachers and their Principal, a District Councilor, the Chief, a village head, a local Baptist Minister and a research staff person from, FACT, a local NGO that works with AIDS orphans. Among children, findings point to dilapidating issues of stigma, abandonment, unaddressed emotional and physical needs; children relied on each other's advice more than that of teachers and caregivers. Among the adult community, the education authorities and community leaders who are custodians of their education, ignorance about infected and affected children is astounding. An ageing population of caregivers is barely able to deal with the complexities of infected children. Religion has a powerful negative influence on addressing HIV/AIDS issues. Teachers, citing taboo issues about sex and the fact that HIV/AIDS is not an exam at the school, refused to broach the subject. Education Officials at the time clearly pointed out that there has been no research nor any plans yet to address this population and their needs. Further research will need to be conducted for educational planning that will be most effective in implementing meaningful changes for this group and other rural primary school children.

This study evaluates the school feeding programme at Magog Primary School. It sets out as its objective to find out how the programme operates and its potential impact on school children, including challenges, if any, and recommends solutions to mitigate the challenges. It was motivated by the need to provide information which could be used as a basis to ensure that the nutritional and educational objectives of the National School Nutritional Programme are achieved. A review of literature demonstrated that, within the developmental framework, the point of view of civil society, government and the academia on the school feeding programmes are a valuable strategy to intervene in the nutritional and cognitive development of learners. It also made it evident that there are diverse views as to whether the School Feeding Programme is achieving its intended objectives. The findings of this study suggest that, although the programme has the potential to improve nutrition and health, enrolment, attendance and cognitive development, there are still some challenges and areas that need to be addressed and improved. These challenges arise as a result of lack of effective monitoring and evaluation, geographical location of the schools and other implementation flaws. The consequences are that the objectives of the National School Nutritional Programme are placed at risk. / Development Studies / M.A. (Development Studies)

This study evaluates the school feeding programme at Magog Primary School. It sets out as its objective to find out how the programme operates and its potential impact on school children, including challenges, if any, and recommends solutions to mitigate the challenges. It was motivated by the need to provide information which could be used as a basis to ensure that the nutritional and educational objectives of the National School Nutritional Programme are achieved. A review of literature demonstrated that, within the developmental framework, the point of view of civil society, government and the academia on the school feeding programmes are a valuable strategy to intervene in the nutritional and cognitive development of learners. It also made it evident that there are diverse views as to whether the School Feeding Programme is achieving its intended objectives. The findings of this study suggest that, although the programme has the potential to improve nutrition and health, enrolment, attendance and cognitive development, there are still some challenges and areas that need to be addressed and improved. These challenges arise as a result of lack of effective monitoring and evaluation, geographical location of the schools and other implementation flaws. The consequences are that the objectives of the National School Nutritional Programme are placed at risk. / Development Studies / M. A. (Development Studies)

The aim of this study was to investigate the responsiveness of rural primary schools in Zimbabwe to the needs of in-school OVC. The study adopted a qualitative approach in which the phenomenological and case study designs were employed to study in-school OVC in their natural setting. The target population for the study comprises OVCs, principals and school counsellors. From this population, a sample of 24 participants was purposively drawn. Data was collected from the participants in the three sampled rural primary schools in Masvingo district through in-depth interviews, focus group discussions, document analysis and observation. Tesch’s model was applied to analyse data qualitatively. The study revealed that rural primary schools’ capacity to address the needs of in-school OVC was deemed ineffective by all the participants due to a myriad of factors which include inter-alia: lack of specialist school-counsellors; lack of funds to initiate school-based projects aimed to assist OVC; lack of a comprehensive school-feeding scheme; and a dearth of workshops to equip principals and teachers with knowledge to handle and deal with OVC. To improve the responsiveness of schools to the needs of OVC the study recommends that the Ministry of Higher and Tertiary Education should train specialist counsellors in teachers’ colleges. The study also recommends that the government should increase funds allocated for the Basic Education Assisted Module scheme to cater for more OVC. In addition, the study recommends that the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education should conduct workshops in schools on how to deal with challenges confronting OVC. Lastly a model to improve rural primary schools’ capacity to address the needs of OVC was suggested, which proposes partnerships among stakeholders in projects aimed at supporting in-school OVC. / Educational Studies / D. Ed. (Socio-Education)