PhD (African Studies) / Department of African Studies / Literature and media reports constantly show increased incidences of ill-discipline and
lawlessness amongst the youth. These misdemeanours adversely affect communities
and the behaviour of the youth as active, responsible and proactive members of the
society and community members. Unfortunately, there are insufficient conversations
about morality across social strata. The elders often seem disenfranchised by the
popularity of the rights-based approach and modernity. In addition, communities are not
proactive in coming up with initiatives that encourage on-going nyambedzano between
the elders and the youth on issues around morals and discipline. Nyambedzano is a
Venda concept that does not seem to have the exact English translation, so in this study
I will use the concepts communication, conversation and dialogue interchangeably.
Furthermore, there is a continuous blame game in the community about who should lead
effective conversations that should buttress the development of responsible youth
citizens.
The purpose of this study was to explore the relevance of nyambedzano between the
youth and elders about African morality among the youth. The study also aimed to
investigate factors that were hindering nyambedzano to take place. I conducted
qualitative appreciative focus group discussions with the elders and youth (who were in
and out of school) that were purposively selected. Data was analysed thematically in
relation to the stages of an Appreciative Inquiry approach. Findings revealed that
nyambedzano between the elders and the youth about youth morality is relevant;
however, its application is complicated by several factors which include the changing
family structure, the changing parenting age, media and technology influences, a rightsbased
approach to child rearing, and the denigration of cultural values at home, school
and in the community. These findings were synthesised to develop a facilitative
nyambedzano programme. Contrary to Vhavenda cultural practices, nyambedzano would
have to be a two-way communication process between the elders and the youth. It would
take place at different contexts, the home being the starting point. There would have to
be some compromise between the rights- based contemporary approaches and traditional cultural ways of dealing with morality.
This study makes methodological, empirical and theoretical contributions. An Appreciative Inquiry approach was applied to the Vhavenda ethnic group to explore the possibility of Nyambedzano between the youth and elders. The empirical contribution is that this study is the first to address nyambedzano as a process for promoting morality among the youth, within the context of the Tshivenda culture. The theoretical contribution of this study lies in the development of the facilitative nyambedzano programme that describes how nyambedzano between the elders and the youth should take place, taking into consideration the cultural values of the Vhavenda people. The recommendations are based on the creation of supportive parents, families, teachers, schools, churches, community members and policy makers. / NRF
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:univen/oai:univendspace.univen.ac.za:11602/1418 |
| Date | 20 September 2019 |
| Creators | Ramusetheli, Mavhungu Diana |
| Contributors | Netshandama, V. O., Matshidze, P. E. |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
| Format | 1 online resource (x, 189 leaves) |
| Rights | University of Venda |
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