A framework to support inexperienced postgraduate research supervisors
- Authors: Mapasa, Tobeka Eugié
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: Graduate students -- Supervision of Universities and colleges -- Graduate work -- Supervision , Supervision Research -- Study and teaching -- Supervision
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , DEd
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/18529 , vital:28657
- Description: It has been taken for granted that being able to lecture presupposes being able to supervise research students, and completing a Master’s or doctoral degree successfully meant that an academic could assume the research supervisor role. However, findings on research into graduate students’ experiences of the research process indicate that in most cases, postgraduate students are dissatisfied with the guidance they receive from their supervisors. In an effort to contribute to finding ways and to continuing the debate on the improvement of postgraduate research supervision, in this study, I aimed to develop a framework that could be used to support postgraduate research supervisors within faculties. To achieve this aim, I conducted a literature review in order to understand what it means to supervise at postgraduate level effectively and also to identify existing support programmes for postgraduate research supervisors. I adopted a phenomenological research design within an interpretive tradition. The technique used to select the sample was purposeful criterion. The sample size was determined by means of data saturation. It consisted of four faculty postgraduate studies committee chairpersons, seven inexperienced and four experienced postgraduate research supervisors. Meetings and semi-structured interviews were employed to generate data. The findings revealed that attempts by faculties to support postgraduate research supervisors have not been systematically documented as they were done, to a large extent, informally. The size of the faculty, lack of resources, heavy workload and timing emerged as factors that impacted positively and/or negatively on the provision of support to postgraduate research supervisors within faculties. Thematic analysis of the semi-structured interviews revealed that both the experienced and the inexperienced postgraduate research supervisors view good postgraduate research supervision as a relationship of human beings involving critical engagement between the postgraduate students and their supervisors. A need to mentor postgraduate research students was also highlighted. The findings also indicated that the participants viewed good postgraduate research supervision as a developmental process of co-learning and mutual growth culminating from joint effort by both the student and the research supervisor. Striking the balance between backing off and taking over was highlighted as important linked to the roles of the student and that of the supervisor in the research supervision process. The inexperienced and the experienced supervisors had mixed feelings about the usefulness of the existing support initiatives by faculties that they have been exposed to, citing the duration, the level at which some of them were pitched and the presentation styles of the facilitators as cause for concern. The support needs that were common to both the inexperienced and the experienced supervisors were designated mentors, manageable workload and time. The inexperienced postgraduate supervisors expressed the need for focussed support, briefing sessions, online resources for easy access, good timing, and an extended co-supervision period. The experienced supervisors expressed the need for support that will be at their level, group supervision, time and/or money to buy the time and better prepared postgraduate students. This study contributed the proposed framework informed by the integration of the insights from the literature on postgraduate research supervision, professional development and the findings from this study. The principles of the Transformative Learning Theory are appropriate to guide the implementation of the proposed framework in future applications.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2017
- Authors: Mapasa, Tobeka Eugié
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: Graduate students -- Supervision of Universities and colleges -- Graduate work -- Supervision , Supervision Research -- Study and teaching -- Supervision
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , DEd
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/18529 , vital:28657
- Description: It has been taken for granted that being able to lecture presupposes being able to supervise research students, and completing a Master’s or doctoral degree successfully meant that an academic could assume the research supervisor role. However, findings on research into graduate students’ experiences of the research process indicate that in most cases, postgraduate students are dissatisfied with the guidance they receive from their supervisors. In an effort to contribute to finding ways and to continuing the debate on the improvement of postgraduate research supervision, in this study, I aimed to develop a framework that could be used to support postgraduate research supervisors within faculties. To achieve this aim, I conducted a literature review in order to understand what it means to supervise at postgraduate level effectively and also to identify existing support programmes for postgraduate research supervisors. I adopted a phenomenological research design within an interpretive tradition. The technique used to select the sample was purposeful criterion. The sample size was determined by means of data saturation. It consisted of four faculty postgraduate studies committee chairpersons, seven inexperienced and four experienced postgraduate research supervisors. Meetings and semi-structured interviews were employed to generate data. The findings revealed that attempts by faculties to support postgraduate research supervisors have not been systematically documented as they were done, to a large extent, informally. The size of the faculty, lack of resources, heavy workload and timing emerged as factors that impacted positively and/or negatively on the provision of support to postgraduate research supervisors within faculties. Thematic analysis of the semi-structured interviews revealed that both the experienced and the inexperienced postgraduate research supervisors view good postgraduate research supervision as a relationship of human beings involving critical engagement between the postgraduate students and their supervisors. A need to mentor postgraduate research students was also highlighted. The findings also indicated that the participants viewed good postgraduate research supervision as a developmental process of co-learning and mutual growth culminating from joint effort by both the student and the research supervisor. Striking the balance between backing off and taking over was highlighted as important linked to the roles of the student and that of the supervisor in the research supervision process. The inexperienced and the experienced supervisors had mixed feelings about the usefulness of the existing support initiatives by faculties that they have been exposed to, citing the duration, the level at which some of them were pitched and the presentation styles of the facilitators as cause for concern. The support needs that were common to both the inexperienced and the experienced supervisors were designated mentors, manageable workload and time. The inexperienced postgraduate supervisors expressed the need for focussed support, briefing sessions, online resources for easy access, good timing, and an extended co-supervision period. The experienced supervisors expressed the need for support that will be at their level, group supervision, time and/or money to buy the time and better prepared postgraduate students. This study contributed the proposed framework informed by the integration of the insights from the literature on postgraduate research supervision, professional development and the findings from this study. The principles of the Transformative Learning Theory are appropriate to guide the implementation of the proposed framework in future applications.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2017
A participatory action research approach to engaging peer educators in the prevention of teenage pregnancy
- Authors: Hendricks, Farah
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: Peer teaching -- South Africa Teenage pregnancy -- South Africa , Sex instruction for teenagers -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , DEd
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/16011 , vital:28306
- Description: The phenomenon of teenage pregnancy among school-going youth is on the increase in South Africa, despite the existence of a number of intervention programmes. Although both curricular and co-curricular awareness programmes targeting this phenomenon are currently employed within South African schools, these programmes have patently not met with much success, since the problem remains acute. It was the question why these programmes are not succeeding in alleviating the problem that prompted my interest in undertaking this study. Based on literature that suggests that those programmes that are successful in reaching the youth are designed through participatory processes, rather than being designed by outside experts, my thesis proposes that prevention programmes that are designed and implemented by the youth for the youth may be more successful in helping them to make healthy decisions in terms of their sexual behaviour. This study attempted to engage youth in a participatory way in identifying and exploring their perceptions of teenage pregnancy and using the knowledge thus gained to design, implement and evaluate prevention strategies in their school. The study is informed by social learning theory and adopted a participatory action research (PAR) design, which is located in a critical paradigm. I purposefully recruited twenty-four youths (14 females and 10 males) to participate. The primary research question that guided this study was: “How can peer educators be engaged to create prevention strategies to reduce teenage pregnancy and its impacts?” The following sub-questions were identified from the primary research question: What do learners themselves know feel and experience with regard to the causes and effects of teenage pregnancy How might a participatory methodology help learners to create relevant and contextualised strategies for addressing teenage pregnancy? How can such strategies be implemented in a school system? What recommendations could be made for addressing teenage pregnancy in a contextualised way? The research was conducted in two cycles. In Cycle One, data was generated through two focus group discussions, led by a young researcher from the community to encourage openness and honesty. In addition through snowball sampling, six teenage mothers and two teenage fathers agreed to be interviewed individually. The same questions were asked in the two discussions and the individual interviews, namely: “What do you know, feel and think about teenage pregnancy?” In the first cycle, I responded to my first sub-research question. Interviews, drawings and focus group discussions were used to generate data. Three themes emerged from the data to provide insight into how the youth at the school perceived the phenomenon of teenage pregnancy. The findings from this cycle revealed certain tensions between what youth said they needed and what adults, such as teachers and parents, thought they needed to know. The participating teenagers regarded themselves as sexual beings, while the adults in their sphere of influence preached abstinence, moralised or merely cited the facts, without entering into any discussion of how young people could deal with social pressures and better protect themselves against unplanned pregnancy. The participating youth were clearly aware of how to prevent pregnancy, but the social barriers to using condoms or contraceptive pills were a stumbling block. They possessed knowledge of the potential consequences of risky behaviour, but this did not stop them from engaging in such behaviour. In the second cycle of the research, the participants used the findings of the first cycle to develop prevention messages and strategies to convey these messages to their peers. They used participatory visual methods to accomplish this. The findings from this cycle revealed that a peer education approach helped participants to increase maturity in sexual decision-making, had a positive effect on the learning and acquisition of new skills, and improved critical thinking relating to sexuality. The study also had a positive impact on other learners’ knowledge and the attitudes displayed by both learners and teachers, and also led to improvements in school policies related to sexuality education. It is contended that the study contributed important theoretical and methodological insights. Knowledge generated from the study could make a contribution to the field of sexuality education and how it should be approached in schools, particularly in communities facing social and economic adversity. The methodological contribution of this study provided guidelines and theory on how participatory action research and participatory methods can be implemented in schools to enable youth to influence change in their schools, not only regarding teenage pregnancy, but also other social issues.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2017
- Authors: Hendricks, Farah
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: Peer teaching -- South Africa Teenage pregnancy -- South Africa , Sex instruction for teenagers -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , DEd
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/16011 , vital:28306
- Description: The phenomenon of teenage pregnancy among school-going youth is on the increase in South Africa, despite the existence of a number of intervention programmes. Although both curricular and co-curricular awareness programmes targeting this phenomenon are currently employed within South African schools, these programmes have patently not met with much success, since the problem remains acute. It was the question why these programmes are not succeeding in alleviating the problem that prompted my interest in undertaking this study. Based on literature that suggests that those programmes that are successful in reaching the youth are designed through participatory processes, rather than being designed by outside experts, my thesis proposes that prevention programmes that are designed and implemented by the youth for the youth may be more successful in helping them to make healthy decisions in terms of their sexual behaviour. This study attempted to engage youth in a participatory way in identifying and exploring their perceptions of teenage pregnancy and using the knowledge thus gained to design, implement and evaluate prevention strategies in their school. The study is informed by social learning theory and adopted a participatory action research (PAR) design, which is located in a critical paradigm. I purposefully recruited twenty-four youths (14 females and 10 males) to participate. The primary research question that guided this study was: “How can peer educators be engaged to create prevention strategies to reduce teenage pregnancy and its impacts?” The following sub-questions were identified from the primary research question: What do learners themselves know feel and experience with regard to the causes and effects of teenage pregnancy How might a participatory methodology help learners to create relevant and contextualised strategies for addressing teenage pregnancy? How can such strategies be implemented in a school system? What recommendations could be made for addressing teenage pregnancy in a contextualised way? The research was conducted in two cycles. In Cycle One, data was generated through two focus group discussions, led by a young researcher from the community to encourage openness and honesty. In addition through snowball sampling, six teenage mothers and two teenage fathers agreed to be interviewed individually. The same questions were asked in the two discussions and the individual interviews, namely: “What do you know, feel and think about teenage pregnancy?” In the first cycle, I responded to my first sub-research question. Interviews, drawings and focus group discussions were used to generate data. Three themes emerged from the data to provide insight into how the youth at the school perceived the phenomenon of teenage pregnancy. The findings from this cycle revealed certain tensions between what youth said they needed and what adults, such as teachers and parents, thought they needed to know. The participating teenagers regarded themselves as sexual beings, while the adults in their sphere of influence preached abstinence, moralised or merely cited the facts, without entering into any discussion of how young people could deal with social pressures and better protect themselves against unplanned pregnancy. The participating youth were clearly aware of how to prevent pregnancy, but the social barriers to using condoms or contraceptive pills were a stumbling block. They possessed knowledge of the potential consequences of risky behaviour, but this did not stop them from engaging in such behaviour. In the second cycle of the research, the participants used the findings of the first cycle to develop prevention messages and strategies to convey these messages to their peers. They used participatory visual methods to accomplish this. The findings from this cycle revealed that a peer education approach helped participants to increase maturity in sexual decision-making, had a positive effect on the learning and acquisition of new skills, and improved critical thinking relating to sexuality. The study also had a positive impact on other learners’ knowledge and the attitudes displayed by both learners and teachers, and also led to improvements in school policies related to sexuality education. It is contended that the study contributed important theoretical and methodological insights. Knowledge generated from the study could make a contribution to the field of sexuality education and how it should be approached in schools, particularly in communities facing social and economic adversity. The methodological contribution of this study provided guidelines and theory on how participatory action research and participatory methods can be implemented in schools to enable youth to influence change in their schools, not only regarding teenage pregnancy, but also other social issues.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2017
Exploring perspectives of South African fathers of a child with Down syndrome
- Authors: Webber, Heidi
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: Parents of children with disabilities -- Attitudes , Parenting -- Psychological aspects Down syndrome -- Care Mental retardation
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , DEd
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/13535 , vital:27220
- Description: A mere glance at a family photograph of the Victorian era leaves little doubt of the position of the figure exuding impervious, authoritarian detachment. Austere, rigid and solemn, it is not hard to guess who cast the shadow over the picture. Arrestingly imposing in his role as backbone of the family, this is the nineteenth century legacy image of the father. However, the last century has seen fatherhood redefine itself and the more liberal, lenient and openly loving figure replaced the strict patriarchal model. In contemporary times, fathers are regularly seen comfortably behind a stroller, outdoors with children on their shoulders, at home tousling with their children, and considerably more involved in school and social events. Unashamedly, fathers have moved toward both acknowledging and displaying a softer paternal image. By definition fatherhood is a decidedly individual concept and a unique experience, involving much more than being the male parent in a family, the family protector, or the provider of paycheques. Although the past decade has seen a surge of research and interest in fatherhood with an increased recognition that the involvement of fathers contribute to the well-being, cognitive growth and social competence of their children, there remains a deficit in research on the experiences, perceptions and involvement of fathers of children diagnosed with Down syndrome. And whilst most of this knowledge base is extrapolated from studies about the mother’s experience, true understanding requires that fathers are studied directly. Mothers and fathers respond differently to the pressure associated with raising a child with Down syndrome and literature supports the common view that men are less likely and easy to engage in therapy than women, are less likely to attend therapy, or seek help for physical or psychological problems. For fathers of any differently abled child, the distance between the idealized fathering experience and the actual one may be enormous. Based upon the patriarchy model of the family, in many conventional homes, the wife and mother is like a thermometer, sensing and reflecting the home’s temperature, whilst the father and husband is like the home’s thermostat, which determines and regulates the temperature. The equilibrium of the father plays an important role in his ‘thermostat settings’ to set the right temperature in the marriage and his family. Having a differently abled child is almost never expected and often necessitates a change in plans as the family members adjust their views of their own future, their future with their child, as well as how they will henceforth operate as a family.Some fathers may experience uncertainty about their parenting role of a child diagnosed with Down syndrome, often resulting in peculiar behaviours of the father. This may include engrossing themselves into their work, hobbies, sport, and so forth, almost abdicating their duty as father; believing that the mother knows best (sometimes using their own lack of knowledge as a cop-out); or, they simply withdraw because the mother takes such complete control of every aspect of the child that the father feels inadequate, superfluous, and peripheral as parent. Each parent grieves the ‘loss’ of the child they expected in their own individual way. However, such a highly emotive situation may be compounded by the following aspects: the undeniable pressure of caring for the differently abled child; the additional financial burden; a waning social life; and, the incapacity to cope emotionally whilst invariably displaying the contrary purely to create the illusion that they are indeed coping. Fathers need to develop strategies and skills to cope with the very real and practical needs of parenting their child with Down syndrome, to furthermore minimize relationship conflict and misunderstanding, and to support their child’s optimal development. How these specific issues are embraced and managed may dramatically influence the peace and harmony of family life as well as the marital relationship. This study explores the perspectives of fathers of a child with Down syndrome to ultimately support this unique journey as they navigate their way through “Down”town Holland, as illustrated in the analogy to follow.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2017
- Authors: Webber, Heidi
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: Parents of children with disabilities -- Attitudes , Parenting -- Psychological aspects Down syndrome -- Care Mental retardation
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , DEd
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/13535 , vital:27220
- Description: A mere glance at a family photograph of the Victorian era leaves little doubt of the position of the figure exuding impervious, authoritarian detachment. Austere, rigid and solemn, it is not hard to guess who cast the shadow over the picture. Arrestingly imposing in his role as backbone of the family, this is the nineteenth century legacy image of the father. However, the last century has seen fatherhood redefine itself and the more liberal, lenient and openly loving figure replaced the strict patriarchal model. In contemporary times, fathers are regularly seen comfortably behind a stroller, outdoors with children on their shoulders, at home tousling with their children, and considerably more involved in school and social events. Unashamedly, fathers have moved toward both acknowledging and displaying a softer paternal image. By definition fatherhood is a decidedly individual concept and a unique experience, involving much more than being the male parent in a family, the family protector, or the provider of paycheques. Although the past decade has seen a surge of research and interest in fatherhood with an increased recognition that the involvement of fathers contribute to the well-being, cognitive growth and social competence of their children, there remains a deficit in research on the experiences, perceptions and involvement of fathers of children diagnosed with Down syndrome. And whilst most of this knowledge base is extrapolated from studies about the mother’s experience, true understanding requires that fathers are studied directly. Mothers and fathers respond differently to the pressure associated with raising a child with Down syndrome and literature supports the common view that men are less likely and easy to engage in therapy than women, are less likely to attend therapy, or seek help for physical or psychological problems. For fathers of any differently abled child, the distance between the idealized fathering experience and the actual one may be enormous. Based upon the patriarchy model of the family, in many conventional homes, the wife and mother is like a thermometer, sensing and reflecting the home’s temperature, whilst the father and husband is like the home’s thermostat, which determines and regulates the temperature. The equilibrium of the father plays an important role in his ‘thermostat settings’ to set the right temperature in the marriage and his family. Having a differently abled child is almost never expected and often necessitates a change in plans as the family members adjust their views of their own future, their future with their child, as well as how they will henceforth operate as a family.Some fathers may experience uncertainty about their parenting role of a child diagnosed with Down syndrome, often resulting in peculiar behaviours of the father. This may include engrossing themselves into their work, hobbies, sport, and so forth, almost abdicating their duty as father; believing that the mother knows best (sometimes using their own lack of knowledge as a cop-out); or, they simply withdraw because the mother takes such complete control of every aspect of the child that the father feels inadequate, superfluous, and peripheral as parent. Each parent grieves the ‘loss’ of the child they expected in their own individual way. However, such a highly emotive situation may be compounded by the following aspects: the undeniable pressure of caring for the differently abled child; the additional financial burden; a waning social life; and, the incapacity to cope emotionally whilst invariably displaying the contrary purely to create the illusion that they are indeed coping. Fathers need to develop strategies and skills to cope with the very real and practical needs of parenting their child with Down syndrome, to furthermore minimize relationship conflict and misunderstanding, and to support their child’s optimal development. How these specific issues are embraced and managed may dramatically influence the peace and harmony of family life as well as the marital relationship. This study explores the perspectives of fathers of a child with Down syndrome to ultimately support this unique journey as they navigate their way through “Down”town Holland, as illustrated in the analogy to follow.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2017
Facilitating alumni support for a low-resourced high school using a participatory action research approach
- Authors: Rensburg, Cheryl Dawn
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: Action research in education , Active learning
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , DEd
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/14167 , vital:27438
- Description: South African public schools in disadvantaged areas are experiencing serious levels of under resourcing which negatively impact the educational experiences of learners. Attempts to lessen such negative impact include involving alumni who know the school‟s context, history and ethos. Unfortunately, the concept of alumni support in terms of mentoring and motivating learners is not the norm in many under resourced schools. This research focuses on fostering partnerships with alumni using participatory action research (PAR), because it is holistic, relationally driven and inclusive. Embedded in complexity theory that views the school community as a nonlinear system of different interacting parts functioning to improve the school context, the research follows actionreflection cycles of a group of ten past pupils and five educators from various backgrounds, levels of education and expertise collaborating with and mobilizing other alumni. Data were generated using drawings, photo voice and interviews. Thematic data analysis was used to build patterns and form categories. The following themes emerged namely, the importance of establishing a collective vision for sustained alumni engagement for alumni‟s personal and professional aspirations to serve the vision of the school, the importance of creating an alumni culture that reinforces the concept of „paying it forward‟. Lastly, establishing a sustainable alumni association through sustained actions and interactions and by creating an organisation of excellence The newly developed alumni structure as a „resource fountain‟ generating and cascading energy around the school emerged as an anchor for sustainability. The cascaded energy evolved into a structured „Alumni Week‟ providing ongoing motivation for current learners to sustain alumni engagement.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2017
- Authors: Rensburg, Cheryl Dawn
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: Action research in education , Active learning
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , DEd
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/14167 , vital:27438
- Description: South African public schools in disadvantaged areas are experiencing serious levels of under resourcing which negatively impact the educational experiences of learners. Attempts to lessen such negative impact include involving alumni who know the school‟s context, history and ethos. Unfortunately, the concept of alumni support in terms of mentoring and motivating learners is not the norm in many under resourced schools. This research focuses on fostering partnerships with alumni using participatory action research (PAR), because it is holistic, relationally driven and inclusive. Embedded in complexity theory that views the school community as a nonlinear system of different interacting parts functioning to improve the school context, the research follows actionreflection cycles of a group of ten past pupils and five educators from various backgrounds, levels of education and expertise collaborating with and mobilizing other alumni. Data were generated using drawings, photo voice and interviews. Thematic data analysis was used to build patterns and form categories. The following themes emerged namely, the importance of establishing a collective vision for sustained alumni engagement for alumni‟s personal and professional aspirations to serve the vision of the school, the importance of creating an alumni culture that reinforces the concept of „paying it forward‟. Lastly, establishing a sustainable alumni association through sustained actions and interactions and by creating an organisation of excellence The newly developed alumni structure as a „resource fountain‟ generating and cascading energy around the school emerged as an anchor for sustainability. The cascaded energy evolved into a structured „Alumni Week‟ providing ongoing motivation for current learners to sustain alumni engagement.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2017
Female teachers teaching sexuality education in the HIV and AIDS curriculum in Zimbabwean urban secondary schools
- Authors: Gudyanga, Ephias
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: Sex instruction for youth -- Zimbabwe , Women in education -- Zimbabwe AIDS (Disease) -- Study and teaching (Secondary) -- Zimbabwe Sex instruction for children -- Zimbabwe
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , DEd
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/15104 , vital:28124
- Description: This study is focussed on female teachers teaching sexuality education in the HIV and AIDS curriculum in Zimbabwean urban secondary schools. In spite of the importance of education and HIV and AIDS education in preventing HIV infections, Zimbabwe secondary school Guidance and Counseling teachers are not engaging optimally with the current Guidance and Counseling, HIV and AIDS & Life Skills education curriculum, and hence, they are not serving the needs of the learners in the context of the HIV and AIDS pandemic. This study, therefore, explored the following research question with its set of secondary research questions: How can Guidance and Counseling teachers be enabled to teach sexuality education within the HIV and AIDS education curriculum suitable for the Zimbabwe secondary school context? What are Guidance and Counseling teachers’ understandings and interpretations of the current HIV and AIDS education curriculum in Zimbabwe secondary schools? What are Guidance and Counseling teachers’ values and beliefs that underpin their approach to teaching sexuality education within the HIV and AIDS education curriculum in Zimbabwe secondary schools? What do Guidance and Counseling teachers experience as challenges to teaching the necessary critical content in sexuality education within the HIV and AIDS education curriculum? How can Guidance and Counseling teachers be enabled to overcome the challenges they experience and teach the necessary critical content in sexuality education in the HIV and AIDS education curriculum? Eight female Guidance and Counseling urban secondary school teachers, conveniently and purposively selected from Gweru district in Zimbabwe, comprised the sample of participants. Situated within a qualitative research design, and informed by a critical paradigm, I used participatory visual methodology, with drawing and focus group discussion as methods for data generation. Participatory and thematic analysis was used to analyse the data which was theoretically framed by Cultural Historical Activity Theory, as a lens through which I explained the meaning of my findings. The findings, in four themes, revealed that the Guidance and Counseling teachers have an understanding of the Guidance and Counseling curriculum and made their voices heard on how it was designed but also how it should be designed, with whose input it should be designed and why, and how teachers should be supported in implementing it and ensuring that it is appropriate to the context in which they teach. The Guidance and Counseling teachers reflected on and reconsidered their own values and beliefs in relation to the values underpinning the sexuality education within the HIV and AIDS curriculum in order to fulfil their professional role in the context of the HIV epidemic. Even though the Guidance and Counseling female teachers were enthusiastic to teach sexuality education - in the age of HIV and AIDS - in the particular school and community context, they found themselves in an educational system that did not seem to support their work in an optimal way, and in a community with diverse cultures, cultural practices and beliefs of which some seemed to contradict what was supposed to be taught in the curriculum. The participatory visual methodology, however, enabled a process in which the Guidance and Counseling female teachers could reflect on themselves, the context in which they taught, their sexuality education work and also learn from each other. In this way their agency seemed to have been enabled to address the challenges and consider how they could teach sexuality education in their secondary schools in Zimbabwe. The findings have several implications for policy in terms of the Guidance and Counseling curriculum, resource mobilization, pedagogy, engaging with cultural issues, and supporting vulnerable children; and for practice in terms of teacher professional development, teacher training, and for stakeholder contribution. I therefore argue, drawing on Cultural Historical Activity Theory, that the Guidance and Counseling teachers could be enabled to teach sexuality education if the three Activity Systems, namely the Guidance and Counseling teachers, the school system, and the community, work together as one Activity System, engaging with each other in a generative way focused on the same outcome. The Guidance and Counseling teachers could therefore transform their realities if they are enabled to see how their teaching of sexuality education in school is linked to the context of the school and the culture of the community in which they teach and live, and engage with each other to achieve the same objective, namely teaching sexuality education in secondary schools in Zimbabwe, and in so doing enable the learners to make informed choices in the context of HIV and AIDS.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2017
- Authors: Gudyanga, Ephias
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: Sex instruction for youth -- Zimbabwe , Women in education -- Zimbabwe AIDS (Disease) -- Study and teaching (Secondary) -- Zimbabwe Sex instruction for children -- Zimbabwe
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , DEd
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/15104 , vital:28124
- Description: This study is focussed on female teachers teaching sexuality education in the HIV and AIDS curriculum in Zimbabwean urban secondary schools. In spite of the importance of education and HIV and AIDS education in preventing HIV infections, Zimbabwe secondary school Guidance and Counseling teachers are not engaging optimally with the current Guidance and Counseling, HIV and AIDS & Life Skills education curriculum, and hence, they are not serving the needs of the learners in the context of the HIV and AIDS pandemic. This study, therefore, explored the following research question with its set of secondary research questions: How can Guidance and Counseling teachers be enabled to teach sexuality education within the HIV and AIDS education curriculum suitable for the Zimbabwe secondary school context? What are Guidance and Counseling teachers’ understandings and interpretations of the current HIV and AIDS education curriculum in Zimbabwe secondary schools? What are Guidance and Counseling teachers’ values and beliefs that underpin their approach to teaching sexuality education within the HIV and AIDS education curriculum in Zimbabwe secondary schools? What do Guidance and Counseling teachers experience as challenges to teaching the necessary critical content in sexuality education within the HIV and AIDS education curriculum? How can Guidance and Counseling teachers be enabled to overcome the challenges they experience and teach the necessary critical content in sexuality education in the HIV and AIDS education curriculum? Eight female Guidance and Counseling urban secondary school teachers, conveniently and purposively selected from Gweru district in Zimbabwe, comprised the sample of participants. Situated within a qualitative research design, and informed by a critical paradigm, I used participatory visual methodology, with drawing and focus group discussion as methods for data generation. Participatory and thematic analysis was used to analyse the data which was theoretically framed by Cultural Historical Activity Theory, as a lens through which I explained the meaning of my findings. The findings, in four themes, revealed that the Guidance and Counseling teachers have an understanding of the Guidance and Counseling curriculum and made their voices heard on how it was designed but also how it should be designed, with whose input it should be designed and why, and how teachers should be supported in implementing it and ensuring that it is appropriate to the context in which they teach. The Guidance and Counseling teachers reflected on and reconsidered their own values and beliefs in relation to the values underpinning the sexuality education within the HIV and AIDS curriculum in order to fulfil their professional role in the context of the HIV epidemic. Even though the Guidance and Counseling female teachers were enthusiastic to teach sexuality education - in the age of HIV and AIDS - in the particular school and community context, they found themselves in an educational system that did not seem to support their work in an optimal way, and in a community with diverse cultures, cultural practices and beliefs of which some seemed to contradict what was supposed to be taught in the curriculum. The participatory visual methodology, however, enabled a process in which the Guidance and Counseling female teachers could reflect on themselves, the context in which they taught, their sexuality education work and also learn from each other. In this way their agency seemed to have been enabled to address the challenges and consider how they could teach sexuality education in their secondary schools in Zimbabwe. The findings have several implications for policy in terms of the Guidance and Counseling curriculum, resource mobilization, pedagogy, engaging with cultural issues, and supporting vulnerable children; and for practice in terms of teacher professional development, teacher training, and for stakeholder contribution. I therefore argue, drawing on Cultural Historical Activity Theory, that the Guidance and Counseling teachers could be enabled to teach sexuality education if the three Activity Systems, namely the Guidance and Counseling teachers, the school system, and the community, work together as one Activity System, engaging with each other in a generative way focused on the same outcome. The Guidance and Counseling teachers could therefore transform their realities if they are enabled to see how their teaching of sexuality education in school is linked to the context of the school and the culture of the community in which they teach and live, and engage with each other to achieve the same objective, namely teaching sexuality education in secondary schools in Zimbabwe, and in so doing enable the learners to make informed choices in the context of HIV and AIDS.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2017
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