No description available.

No description available.

This research focuses on the role of the school principal as instructional leader in primary schools in Thoyandou area, Limpopo Province. It was motivated by a marked decline in the fulfilment of the instructional leadership role of principals in certain schools in the Limpopo Province. A literature study was undertaken to determine the role of a instructional leader, approaches to this role as well as the relationship between the principal's instructional leadership role and staff development and staff appraisal respectively. A qualitative inquiry was conducted using a focus group and personal interviews with a small sample of participants selected by judgement sampling. The findings suggest that understanding of the instructional leadership is fragmented; principals often fail to develop staff adequately; and the Department of Education's new approach to staff and development appraisals is not adequately implemented in schools. Finally guidelines are provided to assist principals in fulfilling their role as effective instructional leaders. / Educational Studies / M.Ed. (Education Management)

The importance of supervision and the influence of this relationship on the process of supervision, is often underrated. In order for this process to be implementede success-fully knowledge of the different functions including the administrative- educational- and supportive functions is of the utmost importance. It is also becoming increasingly impor-tant that note should be taken of the impact that cultural differences has on supervisor-relationships, the supervisional process and the effectivity of rendering of service as so-cial service organisations increasingly consists of diverse staff members rendering service to a diverse clientelle. This descriptive study has as goal to describe the impact of cultural differences on the practice focussing on the function of supervision and the establishment of diverse organisations and problems arising in this connection. Carefull attention will be paid as to how respondents experience cultural differences in the working environment, their problems and their opinions of how to solve these problems effectively. Conclusions and recomendations were made, which focussed on problems arising as result of cultural differences. The compilation of tentative guidelines which could be usefull in establishing supervision services with greater cultural sensitivity were given. / Social Work / M.Diac (Maatskaplike Werk-Rigting)

Women’s procreative capacities and the appreciation of birth experiences have always been recognised in civil society and the early days of psychology. Given that our culture is one that emphasises a woman’s capacity to bear children as one of the greatest social achievements, the social responsibility to procreate and ensure collective survival becomes a potent mandate, especially so for Black African women. To fulfil this social responsibility, traditional African culture dictates a very specific process of pregnancy which involves a series of watershed moments, each of which requires that social support, of whatever form, should be available. This study explored the role that social support from significant others and health professionals play in mediating psychological issues during pregnancy, childbirth and postnatally among Black African women in Madadeni Township in KwaZulu-Natal. The study was rooted in the interpretive, qualitative paradigm and a phenomenological research design was used. Purposive sampling was used to select participants who were aged from 18 to 25 years with a baby older than two weeks but less than six months. Semi structured interviews were conducted in the mother tongue of the participants until the point of saturation where no new information arose from the six participants interviewed. Thematic content analysis was used to extract recurrent themes across participants. The results indicate that social support, especially from parents and partners, plays a defining role in helping women to cope with the stress experienced during pregnancy, childbirth and postnatally. / Psychology / M.A. (Psychology: Research Consultation)

No description available.

Women’s procreative capacities and the appreciation of birth experiences have always been recognised in civil society and the early days of psychology. Given that our culture is one that emphasises a woman’s capacity to bear children as one of the greatest social achievements, the social responsibility to procreate and ensure collective survival becomes a potent mandate, especially so for Black African women. To fulfil this social responsibility, traditional African culture dictates a very specific process of pregnancy which involves a series of watershed moments, each of which requires that social support, of whatever form, should be available. This study explored the role that social support from significant others and health professionals play in mediating psychological issues during pregnancy, childbirth and postnatally among Black African women in Madadeni Township in KwaZulu-Natal. The study was rooted in the interpretive, qualitative paradigm and a phenomenological research design was used. Purposive sampling was used to select participants who were aged from 18 to 25 years with a baby older than two weeks but less than six months. Semi structured interviews were conducted in the mother tongue of the participants until the point of saturation where no new information arose from the six participants interviewed. Thematic content analysis was used to extract recurrent themes across participants. The results indicate that social support, especially from parents and partners, plays a defining role in helping women to cope with the stress experienced during pregnancy, childbirth and postnatally. / Psychology / M. A. (Psychology: Research Consultation)

No description available.

The modern hospice movement emerged in the 1960s as a grassroots social movement that attempted to restore an holistic and contextualised approach to the care of people at the end of life. This approach embraced the lived experience of the dying person at the centre of care across physical, emotional, social and spiritual domains of life. To achieve this, the care of dying people was largely removed from mainstream health care systems to promote more holistic and socially contextualised dying. In recent decades, the evolution of palliative care demonstrates the gradual return of palliative care services to the mainstream. It has been asserted that, in this process, palliative care services have progressively abandoned the social context of dying people, increasing instead an emphasis on "physical care [while] simultaneously de-emphasizing psychological, social and spiritual care" (Kellehear, 1999a, p.76). Kellehear and others have proposed that the repositioning of palliative care within mainstream health care systems has increased a focus upon illness and disease at the expense of health and wellbeing. Subsequently, conventional palliative care services have been criticised for not adequately locating end of life care within the social contexts in which death and dying take place. In an attempt to address this problem, Australian sociologist Allan Kellehear proposed an approach to end of life care that brought together the core concerns of palliative care with the principles and practices of health promotion (Kellehear, 1999b). Whilst their congruence is not immediately apparent, these two fields have been increasingly examined for their potential benefits in the provision of end of life care. In the current policy climate in Australia, there is an imperative to consider how end of life support services might be improved through adopting a health promoting palliative care approach. The aim of this study has been to investigate the integration of health promotion principles and practice by a selected palliative care service by examining the qualitative impact of this change on the organisation. Specifically, it endeavoured to identify the factors that advanced or impeded this integration by examining how the structures and processes of, and outcomes for, the organisation reflected a health promoting approach. To meet these aims, this study undertook an in-depth examination of the implementation of a health promoting palliative care model by a community based palliative care organisation. Based in a constructionist-interpretivist paradigm, a mixed-method (QUAL+quant), instrumental case study research design was utilised to capture multiple perspectives of the implementation process. Data collection comprised examination of 127 organisational documents, 32 in-depth interviews with staff, volunteers and consumers, 5 focus groups with staff and volunteers, and 25 carer questionnaires. Qualitative data were subject to thematic analysis, with supplementary quantitative data analysed to generate descriptive statistics. The findings demonstrated a large number of complex and interrelated enabling and impeding factors to the implementation in the case study site. These factors have been grouped into four key themes which have been examined in light of the aims of this study and the issues identified in a comprehensive review of the literature. This study found that: ◦ Conceptual congruence between health promotion and palliative care was a fundamental starting point in the implementation of a health promoting palliative care model. ◦ Where conceptual congruence was clear, activities associated with the model that were regarded as beyond conventional approaches to palliative care core business were viewed favourably by stakeholders and were less likely to encounter resistance within the organisation. ◦ When systematic approaches to organisational change, such as quality improvement systems, were rigorously applied, the impact of the transition upon stakeholders was qualitatively less. ◦ Where this transition had been effectively made, consumers, staff, volunteers and members of the wider community were seen to benefit. This study adds to the current discourse regarding the intersection between end of life support and health promotion, and provides insight into how palliative care organisations might undertake the transition from conventional models to a health promoting palliative care approach.

This research focuses on the role of the school principal as instructional leader in primary schools in Thoyandou area, Limpopo Province. It was motivated by a marked decline in the fulfilment of the instructional leadership role of principals in certain schools in the Limpopo Province. A literature study was undertaken to determine the role of a instructional leader, approaches to this role as well as the relationship between the principal's instructional leadership role and staff development and staff appraisal respectively. A qualitative inquiry was conducted using a focus group and personal interviews with a small sample of participants selected by judgement sampling. The findings suggest that understanding of the instructional leadership is fragmented; principals often fail to develop staff adequately; and the Department of Education's new approach to staff and development appraisals is not adequately implemented in schools. Finally guidelines are provided to assist principals in fulfilling their role as effective instructional leaders. / Educational Studies / M.Ed. (Education Management)