Bibliography: leaves 53-57. / The purpose of this dissertation was to document the findings of a study on what the parents of children with epilepsy understood as the cause of their childrens' condition, and how they managed it The study utilised the framework of medical, anthropological and eco - systemic models to gain an understanding of the causes and management of epilepsy. Twelve parents of children with epilepsy in Khayelitsha, a peri-urban township in Cape Town, were interviewed with the use of a semi- structured interview schedule. Interviews were recorded and later transcribed and data was analysed through the constant comparative method. The interview explored the causes of epilepsy and the factors that trigger the onset of seizures of which most respondents had no understanding. It further explored the medical management of epilepsy in regard to kind of treatment received by child, understanding of required dose and when medication bad to be taken.

This is an exploratory study of the teaching strategies of non-native speakers English who teach English as a second language in secondary schools. Classroom observations of three teachers were conducted. It was found that teaching and through English as a second language is not a single decisive factor in teaching and learning effectiveness. Other factors such as cultural norms and the teacher's choice of strategies could impinge on the quality and effectiveness the teaching-learning process

The transformation of the educational system since 1994 has been marked by a multitude of policy documents envisaging change at a number oflevels. This study sets out to explore possible ways in which the arts education policy could be taken up by those who must read and act on them. i.e. educators at sites oflearning. The subject of this study are the policy documents which have been analysed through quantitative analysis and discourse analysis. Quantitative analysis assisted in the initial phase of identifying themes in the policy documents; Parker's discourse analytic framework was used to unpack the themes exposed in greater depth. The results revealed different ways of conceiving arts education, all of which have possibilities and limitations for practice. In addition, the study raised concerns regarding competing discourses across the documents, namely the hegemony of the political discourse over aesthetic considerations for arts education.

A Thesis Submitted to the Faculty of Education in Fulfilment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Education in the Department of Educational Psychology and Special Education at the University of Zululand, 2006. / The present study examines the prevailing and preferred learning practices in students support programmes. The aims of the study were: • To determine the nature of learning practices that prevail at the University of Zululand. • To determine the learning practices that student prefer. • To determine the students' perception of the prevailing and preferred learning practices. • To find out if such factors as gender, age, year level and faculty influence the students' perceptions of the prevailing and preferred learning practices. In accordance with these aims, an extensive study on models of support was undertaken. Using purposive sampling to select research respondents, data was collected. A questionnaire was administered to students at the University of Zululand. Qualitative and quantitative data analysis was used in order to draw conclusion about the prevailing and the preferred state of learning practices at the University of Zululand. Research findings led to the following conclusions: • The nature of support that prevail at the University of Zululand is biased towards assisting students with academic matters. Personal support is provided. • The results also show that students had their preference in terms of an ideal support structure. • The results revealed that prevailing and preferred learning practices were viewed differently. Sixty six percent of students held a positive perception towards preferred learning practice. • The findings revealed that the variable of year had an influence on the student's perception. • The results show that males and females differed in their perception of prevailing and preferred learning practices. Another interesting finding however, was that both prevailing and preferred learning had no influence on perception. The factor of faculty only influenced the perception of preferred learning practices. • Findings emanating from additional information revealed that students preferred that intervention should involve more than enhancing content. In other words students preferred an intervention programme that would embrace all their needs. On the basis of the findings recommendations for handling issues of student support were put forward.

Cette dissertation présente un ensemble d'algorithmes visant à en permettre un usage rapide, robuste et automatique des « Support Vector Machines » (SVM) non supervisés dans un contexte d'analyse de données. Les SVM non supervisés se déclinent sous deux types algorithmes prometteurs, le « Support Vector Clustering » (SVC) et le « Support Vector Domain Description » (SVDD), offrant respectivement une solution à deux problèmes importants en analyse de données, soit la recherche de groupements homogènes (« clustering »), ainsi que la reconnaissance d'éléments atypiques (« novelty/abnomaly detection ») à partir d'un ensemble de données. Cette recherche propose des solutions concrètes à trois limitations fondamentales inhérentes à ces deux algorithmes, notamment I) l'absence d'algorithme d'optimisation efficace permettant d'exécuter la phase d'entrainement des SVDD et SVC sur des ensembles de données volumineux dans un délai acceptable, 2) le manque d'efficacité et de robustesse des algorithmes existants de partitionnement des données pour SVC, ainsi que 3) l'absence de stratégies de sélection automatique des hyperparamètres pour SVDD et SVC contrôlant la complexité et la tolérance au bruit des modèles générés. La résolution individuelle des trois limitations mentionnées précédemment constitue les trois axes principaux de cette thèse doctorale, chacun faisant l'objet d'un article scientifique proposant des stratégies et algorithmes permettant un usage rapide, robuste et exempt de paramètres d'entrée des SVDD et SVC sur des ensembles de données arbitraires.

Previous research has implicated social support in a wide range of contexts, yet despite the extensive quantity of research, we are yet to fully understand the underlying mechanisms. Research into these mechanisms will not only have theoretical implications but also applied implications. This thesis examined the mechanisms underpinning social support in an achievement context. It is presented as series of three interrelated chapters, which comprise the four studies conducted. These are preceded by an introduction, and succeeded by a general discussion. The studies focused upon social support: the first examining the effects of a social support intervention within a performance context, the remaining three studies investigating perceived support and performance-related outcome variables within the coach-athlete relationship. The first study examined social support in a performance context assessing the influences of support upon the stress response. A neurocognitive approach found that when compared to participants in a non-support group, individuals who were given support showed less brain activations in the anterior cingulate cortex, a region associated with the initial stress response. However, results displayed that participants did not perceive support in the same way; not all participants who were given the support manipulation reported being supported. Studies two and three used multivariate generalisability theory to examine the relationship between perceived support and various outcome variables at the perceiver, target and relational levels of analysis. A univariate analysis revealed that the relational component was the most influential followed by the perceiver. Social support was positively associated with self-confidence, self-efficacy and positive emotions at the relational level of analysis. The fourth study used qualitative methods in order to delve further into how athletes judge the supportiveness of their coaches and the antecedents of perceived support. The study found that the relationship between a coach and an athlete was the biggest contributing factor in perceived support judgements. This judgement relied heavily on the previous experiences that the athlete had shared with the coach. Overall, this thesis demonstrates that to understand the mechanisms underlying how social support effects various outcome variables, studies need to be conducted investigating how individuals develop their perceptions of support. This thesis has demonstrated that individuals perceived support in different ways. The final three studies showed that the supportiveness of one coach may be viewed differently by different athletes. Thus, coaches will not be viewed as supportive by every athlete that they work with. Consequently, interventions aimed at increasing levels of perceived support may not be successful unless the coach and athlete are optimally matched to create a highly supportive relationship. Theoretical and applied implications, in addition to future research are discussed throughout this thesis.

<p> </p><p>With this study I wanted to capture the experience of support and increase the knowledge of what it means for women who are living with a husband who suffers from dementia. To do so I conducted four interviews and used an informal questionnaire. The result shows that there are four key words that can symbolize what the women experience as support: communica-tion, freedom, understanding and knowledge. The women’s experience of support range from meaningful and secure to not satisfying and complicated. Living with a husband who suffers from dementia has made their lives very different from before. But even if they sometimes are in a tough situation they want to take care of their husbands. Being able to go away a few hours or half a day once a week, can sometimes be enough and gives the women a sense of satisfaction. On the other hand it is not certain that the support offered is what the women need or that it is satisfactory for the husband. The link between the women’s experience of support and that of their husband is strong. And if the husband is not pleased nor will the wife be.</p>

Teaching has been reported to be one of the most stressful professions in the UK (HSE, 2000). There is vast international literature that has documented for many years the negative implications that stress and burnout can have on educators’ health and well being and the wider systems and individuals’ connected to their work. The research also clearly documents that the development of school support systems can mediate the negative effects of stress for educators (Zellars & Perrewe, 2001). Given that teachers are one of the UK’s largest groups of public sector employees (Bowers, 2001) and that the education system is once more in a period of rapid change, it makes this piece of research timely in the current context of education policy and practice. This study calls for policy makers to recognise that stress in the education system is becoming an increasingly worrying trend and one that with the right kind of support systems in place could be alleviated in the future. Focus of thesis Two papers form this thesis. A flexible design consistent with an interpretive approach and a social constructionist philosophy has been adopted. Epistemology Social Constructionism Theoretical Perspective Interpretivism Paper One Paper Two Methodology Methodology Illuminative enquiry Action Research Methods Methods Semi-structured interviews Focus group Focus group Open questionnaires The purpose of paper one was to generate new understandings and gain insights into participants’ experiences regarding school staff stress, school support systems and the implications of this. The findings from the first paper informed my second paper. In paper two I worked with school staff to develop and evaluate a support-based intervention in order to address the gaps in support that staff identified in the first paper. This thesis was conducted in a large secondary community college, with a specialist subject status. This was located in a unitary authority in the South West of England. All participants that took part in this research were employed as teachers, support staff and/or members of middle or senior management team at the school. Paper one findings The findings in this study showed school systems to be complex environments, affected greatly by a range of internal and external factors. Participants’ experiences indicated that stress and burnout are a function of the quality of work life in the education system for many, with negative implications associated with those closely connected to them and the education system. This paper contributes to the existing body of knowledge in this area by drawing participants from across the school meso system, as opposed from one part of the system, ensuring that all those working at different levels within the school were represented. A key issue uncovered by this study and adding to the existing literature in the field is the hierarchical nature of schooling. This hierarchy served to maintain the causes of stress experienced by my participants. These causes were systemic in nature as the issues raised were common across my participants and originated from the way the school system was organised and operated. The implication of this is that the focus of support needs to be aimed at adapting the school environment to reduce the main areas of stress faced by teachers and support staff and helping teachers to deal more positively with the stress factors within the environments and systems in which they work. The evidence also showed that my participants had a limited knowledge of the wider roles of the EPS and this may be significant area for the local authority in which this research was conducted to focus on in the future. This paper’s contribution is timely given the current context of education policy and practice Paper two findings The focus of this paper was developing and evaluating, in collaboration with participants, a staff support-based intervention. The staff’s support intervention of choice was a series of short training workshops focused on developing a better understanding of stress, promoting EHWB, assertiveness and methods of support. There were four stages to the creation of the intervention: Development of the intervention (through a focus group and the collaboration of school staff); Recruitment of participants (conducted through the senior management team through emails and staff reminders); Implementation of the intervention (five one hour, after-school workshops, using a range of teaching strategies, including practical skills; Outcomes (gained through an open pre and post training questionnaire which considered the practical strategies the participants had adopted from the workshop and applied to their practice). Despite working with staff including teachers, non teachers and senior staff to design the intervention, attendance at the after-school training workshops was poor, with only five members of the school’s support and special needs team attending. There were no teachers or members of the senior management team present. However those staff that did attend the training intervention provided positive feedback and found it useful in their practice. The questionnaires suggested that the training increased staff’s knowledge of how to manage their stress and to promote their well-being. Staff also stated that they were able to apply the practical strategies provided directly to their practice. One of the main purposes of paper two was to begin the process of change in participants’ perceptions and practice. As a direct result of conducting this piece of research the school of focus have set up a staff well-being forum, open to all staff, to meet on a termly basis to discuss matters relating to staff EHWB and support. The school are also considering setting up staff consultation groups for the teaching assistants in the future, in addition to creating a staff well being notice board, a suggestion box, having a staff well being awareness day, creating a staff well being policy and also providing yearly drop in sessions for staff on stress management. The role of the EP EPs are well placed to offer their services to schools in supporting them with examining professional support systems. EPs are experienced researchers and could conduct small pieces of individual school-based research looking at those areas of the workplace where stress is experienced the most and be able to identify gaps in staff support systems. EPs are equipped with the training and experience to provide bespoke packages of support for individual schools that may include staff training aimed at prioritising staff support and EHWB both in policy and practice. It seems then that EPs are well placed to work in collaboration with schools to develop their staff support systems in this area of staff development and school improvement.

With this study I wanted to capture the experience of support and increase the knowledge of what it means for women who are living with a husband who suffers from dementia. To do so I conducted four interviews and used an informal questionnaire. The result shows that there are four key words that can symbolize what the women experience as support: communica-tion, freedom, understanding and knowledge. The women’s experience of support range from meaningful and secure to not satisfying and complicated. Living with a husband who suffers from dementia has made their lives very different from before. But even if they sometimes are in a tough situation they want to take care of their husbands. Being able to go away a few hours or half a day once a week, can sometimes be enough and gives the women a sense of satisfaction. On the other hand it is not certain that the support offered is what the women need or that it is satisfactory for the husband. The link between the women’s experience of support and that of their husband is strong. And if the husband is not pleased nor will the wife be.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2004. / Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 68-73). Also available on the Internet.