The aims will be double-pronged for we are dealing with divergent and yet complementary issues of history and how they inform the present situation and circumstances. The area of focus is Sada (Eastern Cape), and yet the study was informed by experiences outside the region. This study, an exploration of the complex sociological problems and health phenomenon in particular, at Sada, with its national relevance is multi-layered in its aims.

This thesis explores "inculturation as it has and has not taken place in the Moravian Church in general and specifically at Langa where the writer has been a probation minister from 1998- 1999 and an ordained minister from 1999 onwards. It explores the amelioration of the present undesirable situation. It is recognised that life is not static but dynamic, that worldviews change, and human identity is reconstructed. So, moves are indicated that will assist to transform the attitudes of the faithful. We need to aim for an atmosphere of discussion and shared decision making that is for active participation in leadership and genuine collegiality in a Church which no longer insists on its own monochrome culture but exists as a multicultural family of sisters and brothers in communion. This study seeks to examine the socio-literary function of the theme of this thesis Africanisation within the Langa Moravian Congregation: Liturgy in a New Key and will adopt a socio-linguistic perspective. The use of this approach emanates from the fact that this study is concerned about the language and anti-language as practised in the Church and society. Social scientific methods are a departure from the positivist empiricism of the historical critical method With the imposition of one religion over another and the unfounded assumption that one is universal, single, normative and a criterion according to which the world religions ought to be judged, the missionaries committed a social sin against the whole world; that human beings, in general and Africans in particular were judged as either cultured or uncultured, civilised or uncivilised, human or savages, through the Christian religion; that all other religions ought to be judged as either being true, false, authentic and /or revealed through Christianity. The term 'imposition' refers to a method or process by which doctrines, religious customs, morals and ways of praying and acting are brought from the outside, from a foreign or alien culture and tradition and imposed or forced upon the new cultures. It shows no appreciation, no respect or regard for the values, customs and religious traditions of the group that is the object of mission. The first missionaries who came to South Africa infiltrated all sectors of the social infrastructure and became saviour gods in their own right, while at the same time they did everything within their power to displace African culture and Westemise the Africans. We are made to live in a network of interdependence with one another, with God and with the rest of God's creation. As we say in Xhosa Umntu ngumntu ngabantu- a person is a person through other persons. A solitary human being is a contradiction in terms. A totally self-sufficient human being is ultimately subhuman. This is also true of the different nations: that one people has particular gifts, a distinct world view, a cultural ethos, which is not necessarily better or superior to those of other people. So we find that Africans have a strong sense of community, of belonging, whereas Occidentals have in contrast a strong sense of the individual person. These attributes, in isolation and pushed to extremes have weaknesses Within the wider perspective of sociolinguistics, the model that used here is that of Language and Anti-language. An antilanguage is a language that is generated by an anti-society, that is, a social collectively which is embedded in another society but feels threatened or alienated by the dominant conventional norms of the wider society and therefore sees itself as a conscious alternative to it. The language generated by such a social collectively serves to express its alternative view of social reality and becomes a mode of resistance to the prevailing social order. I hope this study will re-emphasise my conviction that the Church remains the terrain as well as the weapon of struggle for the liberation of the poor, marginalised, oppressed and exploited.

A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Education in fulfilment of the requirements for the Doctoral Degree in the Department of Curriculum and Instructional Studies at the University of Zululand, South Africa, 2013. / This study sets out to investigate the teaching of social sciences learning area in the context of curriculum change in the Senior Phase of the GET band. The main purpose of this study is to investigate educators’ experience and competence in the teaching of social sciences. The study targeted Senior Phase educators in the GET band because they had significant experience in teaching the new broad-field curriculum. This study is located within the interpretative paradigm using the methodology of critical analysis. It uses the mixed-mode approach, combining both qualitative and quantitative methods. Sampling of the participants was random owing to the poor accessibility of some schools in the circuit. The first research instrument was administered to Senior Phase educators to solicit their experiences of teaching learning areas since the implementation of NCS introduced the interdisciplinary approach to teaching and learning in schools. The second research instrument was the interview, followed by observation, to collect information on educators’ perception on a broad-field curriculum which advocates an integrated approach to the teaching of history and geography in schools. The third instrument was an in-depth interview which was used together with focus groups to solicit information about educators’ disciplinary and pedagogical knowledge, both of which are necessary for teaching history and geography as one discipline. The results showed that social science educators are still facing challenges with regard to the integrated teaching of history and geography. The results of the study have revealed that social science teachers in the Senior Phase are still teaching history and geography as distinct fields of knowledge. The critical analysis of findings has indicated that teachers’ ability to understand the broad-field nature of social science is still weak and its implementation is in conflict with the policy guidelines of integration.

No description available.

This thesis uses the cohort of 2005 school-leavers in the National Pupil Database to present an economic analysis of the effects of secondary school admissions in England on pupil sorting and achievement. The first part of the thesis exploits the availability of pupil postcodes to examine the impact of current school admissions arrangements on residential and school stratification. It produces data from a thought experiment whereby pupils currently in schools are reallocated to a new school based strictly on proximity to school. Through this simulation the role of the housing market in producing socially stratified schooling can be identified. A survey of school admissions policies is used to show that religious (and to a lesser extent Foundation) schools have intakes that are signifcantly more advantaged than their local neighbourhood, and that they achieve these intakes through the use of explicit potentially selective admissions criteria. The second part of the thesis adds to evidence on whether policies intended to increase parental choice raise pupil achievement via competition between schools. Quantitative evidence on school competition in England is evaluated alongside the existing international literature. A regression discontinuity design is employed to examine the legacy effects of the Grant-Maintained schools policy on area-wide educational outcomes at age 16. Pupil fixed-effects test score growth models and historical instrumental variables are used to identify the causal impact of religious schools on their neighbouring schools. This econometric analysis fails to lend support to claims that encouraging schools to compete for pupils is a route to improving standards. The thesis concludes that the current English secondary school arrangements have resulted in a system that is stratified and inequitable, without measurable efficiency gains induced by competition between schools for pupils.

No description available.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Boston University / PLEASE NOTE: Boston University Libraries did not receive an Authorization To Manage form for this thesis or dissertation. It is therefore not openly accessible, though it may be available by request. If you are the author or principal advisor of this work and would like to request open access for it, please contact us at open-help@bu.edu. Thank you. / Seeking to contribute clarity in understanding the essential characteristics of social science, the thesis this essay defends is that the legitimacy of "social science" as a distinct patterned activity oriented to attaining objective knowledge of humanity depends upon the recognition of its characteristic set of phenomena and that this set is comprised of meaningful behavior; this set was isolated by Max Weber in his major theoretical work and is the central subject matter of his empirical studies. Weber's approach and view is compared with that of the contemporary Chicago historian William H. Sewell, Jr.; specifically, examination of Sewell's view on the nature of the "social" leverages the importance of Weber's concept of "action" underlying "social action" and draws attention to the elemental importance of "action" for social science. Chapter 1 discusses science seen as a "social institution." In this context, the goal or end of "social science" is examined, and a discussion of Geertz' concept "cultural system" is introduced so as to offer clarity concerning the value of the concept of "social institution." Delineating the "social" for "social science" is argued to be essential for the testing of social scientific theories grounded in empirical phenomena. Chapter 2 engages Sewell's approach to the question of the "social" with a view toward the status of his response as an ontological claim and examines his definition of "semiotic practices." A theoretical discussion of the concepts of "action" and "social action" rooted in Weber's Economy and Society provides the framework for Chapter 3, and a discussion of the importance of explanation and understanding in Weber's view is developed. The central argument here is that the concept of "action" is elemental to Weber's approach. Chapter 4 looks forward and discusses the convergence of thought between Sewell and Max Weber and argues that the merits of this view are suggestive for contemporary scholarship. / 2031-01-02

No description available.

Educational attainment has been a central debate in the field of educational research for a long time. Moreover, regarding inequality in educational attainment, social research has been dominated by questioning the association between educational attainment and gender, ethnic and social class inequalities. When considering social class inequality, one universal conclusion can be drawn: the higher family social status, the better academic attainment. This is also true in Taiwan, as is the case elsewhere. However, I want to ask: does social status influence other educational outcomes in addition to academic attainment, and if so, how? With respect to this question, I argue that beside educational attainment, students’ school experiences can be considered as an important educational outcome; furthermore, it may be influenced by social status and gender. The aim of this research is to investigate the experiences of year 8 students in Taiwan: what are their perceptions of school experiences?, and more specifically, what extent family social status and gender are associated with different students’ perception of parents’ educative capital and their own educational habitus, which in turn influences pupils’ school experience. Indeed, this study intends to expand the relationship between social status/gender and education; moreover, to examine a dynamic structure between family social status/gender influence and personal perception. After the process of data analysis, many meaningful findings are examined. Family socioeconomic status did not make direct impact on students’ relationship with peers and teachers; and parents’ educative capital did not affect educational attainment directly either. In addition, surprisingly, gender difference made no difference on all measured aspects. By holding such information, it will be possible examine the phenomenon of youth development and secondary education in Taiwan.

The high prevalence rates of child overweight and obesity within the UK is a serious problem, and one that has received a lot of attention from policy makers, researchers and the media. There is some evidence for socioeconomic inequalities in child overweight and obesity, with children in less advantaged socioeconomic groups at an increased risk of being overweight or obese. The nature of these inequalities is not well understood. Within this thesis I consider different aspects of socioeconomic status and their relationship with child overweight and obesity. There are three distinct strands of the investigation. Firstly, I consider whether socioeconomic inequalities in child overweight and obesity have changed over time. This is followed by two separate analyses of the relationship between obesity and overweight with parental income and education. I find evidence that socioeconomic inequalities in child overweight and obesity have widened over time, but only because of the relatively low increases in child overweight and obesity amongst children from the most advantaged families. I investigate whether there is an association between income and child overweight, and find that other parental characteristics, namely parental education, can explain correlations between familial income and child overweight and obesity. I find that father’s education has a stronger association with child overweight and obesity than does mother’s education, and that this is not solely because father’s education is a better predictor of the family’s financial and economic resources.