Investigating the use of models to develop Grade 8 learners’ conceptual understanding of and procedural fluency with fractions
- Authors: Albin, Simon
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: Fractions -- Study and teaching (Secondary) -- Namibia , Mathematics -- Study and teaching (Secondary) -- Namibia , Information visualization , Visual learning -- Case studies
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/36288 , vital:24537
- Description: Both my teaching experience and literature of this research study strongly suggested that fractions are difficult to teach and learn across the globe generally, and Namibia in particular. One of the identified contributing factors was teaching fractions by focusing on procedures and not the conceptual understanding. Therefore, this research project developed and implemented an intervention in order to experiment and suggest an alternative teaching approach of fractions using models. The purpose of this research was to: “Investigate the use of models to develop Grade 8 learners’ conceptual understanding of and procedural fluency with fractions”. This investigation had three areas of focus. Firstly, the study investigated the nature of learners’ conceptual understanding of and procedural fluency with fractions before the teaching intervention, by means of administering a pre-test and pre-interview and analysing learners’ responses. Secondly, the study investigated the changes in learners’ conceptual understanding of and procedural fluency with fractions after the teaching intervention, by means of administering a post-test, post-interviews and recall interviews, and analysing learners’ responses. Thirdly, this study investigated the possible influence of the teaching intervention on the changes in learners’ conceptual understanding of and procedural fluency with fractions by analysing the lesson videos and learners’ worksheets, and describe their critical interaction. This study was conducted at a multicultural urban secondary school located in the Oshikoto Region, Namibia. The sample consisted of 12 Grade 8 mathematics learners whose age ranged from 13-16 years old. A purposive sampling method was employed to select both the research site and participants. This research is framed as a case study, and is grounded within the interpretive paradigm and qualitative research. This research revealed that these learners displayed conceptual and procedural difficulties in their engagement with fraction models and fraction symbols, before the teaching intervention. Conceptually, the study found that these learners read fractions using inappropriate names; and learners did not identify the whole unit in the models and therefore identified fractions represented by the fraction models using different forms of inappropriate fraction symbols. Procedurally, the study found that these learners compared and ordered fractions inappropriately using the sizes of the numerators and denominators separately; and learners used the lowest common denominator method inappropriately for adding fractions with different denominators. The research also suggested conceptual and procedural changes in learners’ conceptual understanding of and procedural fluency with fractions and that the intervention seemed to help learners to engage better with fraction models and fraction symbols. Conceptually, the findings suggested that the intervention using area models and number lines, seemed to help these learners to read fractions using appropriate names; to identify the whole unit in the fraction models and to develop a sense of the size of fractions in relation to one whole unit. Procedurally, the learners compared and ordered fractions appropriately using either equal fraction bars, equal number lines, benchmarking or rules for comparing and ordering fractions with the same numerator or denominator; and learners used equal fraction bars to visually represent the lowest common denominator method and to recognise that only equally sized units can be counted together. This research identified four factors as possible influences of the teaching intervention. These factors are namely: identifying both fraction symbols and appropriate fraction names to see fractions as relational numbers; prompting to partition whole units of the fraction models and graphically illustrating fraction symbols to identify the whole unit in the fraction models and to develop a sense of the size of fractions in relation to one whole unit; graphically illustrating fraction symbols using the models to use equal fraction bars and number lines, benchmarking and rules for comparing; and graphically illustrating fraction denominations using equal fraction bars to recognise that only equally sized units can be counted together. This research strongly suggests that the effective use of models has the potential to develop learners’ conceptual understanding of and procedural fluency with fractions in a number of ways.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2017
- Authors: Albin, Simon
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: Fractions -- Study and teaching (Secondary) -- Namibia , Mathematics -- Study and teaching (Secondary) -- Namibia , Information visualization , Visual learning -- Case studies
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/36288 , vital:24537
- Description: Both my teaching experience and literature of this research study strongly suggested that fractions are difficult to teach and learn across the globe generally, and Namibia in particular. One of the identified contributing factors was teaching fractions by focusing on procedures and not the conceptual understanding. Therefore, this research project developed and implemented an intervention in order to experiment and suggest an alternative teaching approach of fractions using models. The purpose of this research was to: “Investigate the use of models to develop Grade 8 learners’ conceptual understanding of and procedural fluency with fractions”. This investigation had three areas of focus. Firstly, the study investigated the nature of learners’ conceptual understanding of and procedural fluency with fractions before the teaching intervention, by means of administering a pre-test and pre-interview and analysing learners’ responses. Secondly, the study investigated the changes in learners’ conceptual understanding of and procedural fluency with fractions after the teaching intervention, by means of administering a post-test, post-interviews and recall interviews, and analysing learners’ responses. Thirdly, this study investigated the possible influence of the teaching intervention on the changes in learners’ conceptual understanding of and procedural fluency with fractions by analysing the lesson videos and learners’ worksheets, and describe their critical interaction. This study was conducted at a multicultural urban secondary school located in the Oshikoto Region, Namibia. The sample consisted of 12 Grade 8 mathematics learners whose age ranged from 13-16 years old. A purposive sampling method was employed to select both the research site and participants. This research is framed as a case study, and is grounded within the interpretive paradigm and qualitative research. This research revealed that these learners displayed conceptual and procedural difficulties in their engagement with fraction models and fraction symbols, before the teaching intervention. Conceptually, the study found that these learners read fractions using inappropriate names; and learners did not identify the whole unit in the models and therefore identified fractions represented by the fraction models using different forms of inappropriate fraction symbols. Procedurally, the study found that these learners compared and ordered fractions inappropriately using the sizes of the numerators and denominators separately; and learners used the lowest common denominator method inappropriately for adding fractions with different denominators. The research also suggested conceptual and procedural changes in learners’ conceptual understanding of and procedural fluency with fractions and that the intervention seemed to help learners to engage better with fraction models and fraction symbols. Conceptually, the findings suggested that the intervention using area models and number lines, seemed to help these learners to read fractions using appropriate names; to identify the whole unit in the fraction models and to develop a sense of the size of fractions in relation to one whole unit. Procedurally, the learners compared and ordered fractions appropriately using either equal fraction bars, equal number lines, benchmarking or rules for comparing and ordering fractions with the same numerator or denominator; and learners used equal fraction bars to visually represent the lowest common denominator method and to recognise that only equally sized units can be counted together. This research identified four factors as possible influences of the teaching intervention. These factors are namely: identifying both fraction symbols and appropriate fraction names to see fractions as relational numbers; prompting to partition whole units of the fraction models and graphically illustrating fraction symbols to identify the whole unit in the fraction models and to develop a sense of the size of fractions in relation to one whole unit; graphically illustrating fraction symbols using the models to use equal fraction bars and number lines, benchmarking and rules for comparing; and graphically illustrating fraction denominations using equal fraction bars to recognise that only equally sized units can be counted together. This research strongly suggests that the effective use of models has the potential to develop learners’ conceptual understanding of and procedural fluency with fractions in a number of ways.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2017
Investigation of the potency of topical corticosteroids using the vasoconstrictor assay
- Authors: Zvidzayi, Kudzayi Michael
- Date: 2017
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/65279 , vital:28717
- Description: Expected release date-May 2019
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2017
- Authors: Zvidzayi, Kudzayi Michael
- Date: 2017
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/65279 , vital:28717
- Description: Expected release date-May 2019
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2017
Ionospheric disturbances during magnetic storms at SANAE
- Authors: Hiyadutuje, Alicreance
- Date: 2017
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/54956 , vital:26639
- Description: The coronal mass ejections (CMEs) and solar flares associated with extreme solar activity may strike the Earth's magnetosphere and give rise to geomagnetic storms. During geomagnetic storms, the polar plasma dynamics may influence the middle and low-latitude ionosphere via travelling ionospheric disturbances (TIDs). These are wave-like electron density disturbances caused by atmospheric gravity waves propagating in the ionosphere. TIDs focus and defocus SuperDARN signals producing a characteristic pattern of ground backscattered power (Samson et al., 1989). Geomagnetic storms may cause a decrease of total electron content (TEC), i.e. a negative storm effect, or/and an increase of TEC, i.e. a positive storm effect. The aim of this project was to investigate the ionospheric response to strong storms (Dst < -100 nT) between 2011 and 2015, using TEC and scintillation measurements derived from GPS receivers as well as SuperDARN power, Doppler velocity and convection maps. In this study the ionosphere's response to geomagnetic storms is determined by the magnitude and time of occurrence of the geomagnetic storm. The ionospheric TEC results of this study show that most of the storm effects observed were a combination of both negative and positive per storm per station (77.8%), and only 8.9% and 13.3% of effects on TEC were negative and positive respectively. The highest number of storm effects occurred in autumn (36.4%), while 31.6%, 28.4% and 3.6% occurred in winter, spring and summer respectively. During the storms studied, 71.4% had phase scintillation in the range of 0.7 - 1 radians, and only 14.3% of the storms had amplitude scintillations near 0.4. The storms studied at SANAE station generated TIDs with periods of less than an hour and amplitudes in the range 0.2 - 5 TECU. These TIDs were found to originate from the high-velocity plasma flows, some of which are visible in SuperDARN convection maps. Early studies concluded that likely sources of these disturbances correspond to ionospheric current surges (Bristow et al., 1994) in the dayside auroral zone (Huang et al., 1998).
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2017
- Authors: Hiyadutuje, Alicreance
- Date: 2017
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/54956 , vital:26639
- Description: The coronal mass ejections (CMEs) and solar flares associated with extreme solar activity may strike the Earth's magnetosphere and give rise to geomagnetic storms. During geomagnetic storms, the polar plasma dynamics may influence the middle and low-latitude ionosphere via travelling ionospheric disturbances (TIDs). These are wave-like electron density disturbances caused by atmospheric gravity waves propagating in the ionosphere. TIDs focus and defocus SuperDARN signals producing a characteristic pattern of ground backscattered power (Samson et al., 1989). Geomagnetic storms may cause a decrease of total electron content (TEC), i.e. a negative storm effect, or/and an increase of TEC, i.e. a positive storm effect. The aim of this project was to investigate the ionospheric response to strong storms (Dst < -100 nT) between 2011 and 2015, using TEC and scintillation measurements derived from GPS receivers as well as SuperDARN power, Doppler velocity and convection maps. In this study the ionosphere's response to geomagnetic storms is determined by the magnitude and time of occurrence of the geomagnetic storm. The ionospheric TEC results of this study show that most of the storm effects observed were a combination of both negative and positive per storm per station (77.8%), and only 8.9% and 13.3% of effects on TEC were negative and positive respectively. The highest number of storm effects occurred in autumn (36.4%), while 31.6%, 28.4% and 3.6% occurred in winter, spring and summer respectively. During the storms studied, 71.4% had phase scintillation in the range of 0.7 - 1 radians, and only 14.3% of the storms had amplitude scintillations near 0.4. The storms studied at SANAE station generated TIDs with periods of less than an hour and amplitudes in the range 0.2 - 5 TECU. These TIDs were found to originate from the high-velocity plasma flows, some of which are visible in SuperDARN convection maps. Early studies concluded that likely sources of these disturbances correspond to ionospheric current surges (Bristow et al., 1994) in the dayside auroral zone (Huang et al., 1998).
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2017
Jah Hills
- Authors: Slasha, Unathi
- Date: 2017
- Language: English , Xhosa
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/7157 , vital:21222
- Description: Jah Hills is alone in Kwaf Indoda bush, waiting for elders to come, burn ibhuma and deliver him home. Two weeks before he departs from his initiation period, he is seduced by igqwirha. When he fails to satisfy her appetite, he gets ‘abducted and turned into isithunzela. One night, he narrowly escapes and finds his way back. But the experience at home is gruesome; they drive him away and want his death. My novel is fast paced, accumulating speed as it proceeds. It is formally experimental, drawing on forms that have gone before and trying to usher in a new manner of writing and looking at the world. It is told through the eyes of isithunzela that Jah Hills has become. It makes use of Nguni folklore, reimagined and subverted so it fits the character’s unearthly vision. Certain characters and moments from Nguni folktales are borrowed and appear throughout the text. Stylistically I draw extensively from the work of Sony Lab’ou Tansi, Taban Lo Liyong, Dambudzo Marechera, D.O. Fagunwa and Amos Tutuola.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2017
- Authors: Slasha, Unathi
- Date: 2017
- Language: English , Xhosa
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/7157 , vital:21222
- Description: Jah Hills is alone in Kwaf Indoda bush, waiting for elders to come, burn ibhuma and deliver him home. Two weeks before he departs from his initiation period, he is seduced by igqwirha. When he fails to satisfy her appetite, he gets ‘abducted and turned into isithunzela. One night, he narrowly escapes and finds his way back. But the experience at home is gruesome; they drive him away and want his death. My novel is fast paced, accumulating speed as it proceeds. It is formally experimental, drawing on forms that have gone before and trying to usher in a new manner of writing and looking at the world. It is told through the eyes of isithunzela that Jah Hills has become. It makes use of Nguni folklore, reimagined and subverted so it fits the character’s unearthly vision. Certain characters and moments from Nguni folktales are borrowed and appear throughout the text. Stylistically I draw extensively from the work of Sony Lab’ou Tansi, Taban Lo Liyong, Dambudzo Marechera, D.O. Fagunwa and Amos Tutuola.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2017
Land reform and rural livelihoods of evicted farm workers: a case study of Radway Green Farm Project
- Authors: Zishiri, Kudzanai
- Date: 2017
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSocSc
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/44377 , vital:25402
- Description: The land issue has remained a contentious one more than two decades into a democratic South Africa. With the dispossession of the indigenous people from their land stretching back as far as 1913, eviction of farm workers and farm dwellers has increased tremendously even in the post-Apartheid era. Thus, the main goal of this study is to analyse the impact of the eviction on the Radway Green farm workers’ community and to examine the factors affecting the generation of livelihood activities in their new settlement. In doing so, I used the Sustainable Rural Livelihoods Approach (SRLA) as my theoretical framework as it conceptually grounds my area of study. It was employed to analyse data gathered from the field through in-depth interviews, focus groups, key informant interviews and descriptive observation of the case study. The centrality of the SRLA concept is on rural development, poverty eradication and the ability or sustainability of the vulnerable and poor to cope with stresses and shocks as they make a living (Scoones, 1998: 5). In that regard, the theoretical framework became an important cornerstone in analysing the impact of eviction of the Radway Green farm workers’ community and examining the factors affecting the generation of livelihoods activities in their new settlement. To analyse the research findings, various themes were utilised Forced Evictions and Resettlement; Eviction or Displacement; The Struggles of Recreating Livelihoods; The Need for Security of Land Tenure and Access to Infrastructure. Under these themes, the study revealed how the eviction was detrimental to the livelihoods of the farm workers and farm dwellers as they lost the land that was a primary source for the construction of their livelihoods. They lost employment, homes, agricultural land for food security and natural resources, social and family structures and most importantly cultural disruption. It is well documented that the rural poor who constitute the farm workers and the farm dwellers are some of the vulnerable people who need constant governmental support through the promulgation of laws that protect them and assist in livelihood construction. Thus, this study also served to examine how the evicted workers and their families have settled into their new homes and how they, in conjunction with the Department of Rural Development and Land Reform and any other government agencies are faring in terms of the establishment of income generating projects for their livelihoods at the new settlement.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2017
Land reform and rural livelihoods of evicted farm workers: a case study of Radway Green Farm Project
- Authors: Zishiri, Kudzanai
- Date: 2017
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSocSc
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/44377 , vital:25402
- Description: The land issue has remained a contentious one more than two decades into a democratic South Africa. With the dispossession of the indigenous people from their land stretching back as far as 1913, eviction of farm workers and farm dwellers has increased tremendously even in the post-Apartheid era. Thus, the main goal of this study is to analyse the impact of the eviction on the Radway Green farm workers’ community and to examine the factors affecting the generation of livelihood activities in their new settlement. In doing so, I used the Sustainable Rural Livelihoods Approach (SRLA) as my theoretical framework as it conceptually grounds my area of study. It was employed to analyse data gathered from the field through in-depth interviews, focus groups, key informant interviews and descriptive observation of the case study. The centrality of the SRLA concept is on rural development, poverty eradication and the ability or sustainability of the vulnerable and poor to cope with stresses and shocks as they make a living (Scoones, 1998: 5). In that regard, the theoretical framework became an important cornerstone in analysing the impact of eviction of the Radway Green farm workers’ community and examining the factors affecting the generation of livelihoods activities in their new settlement. To analyse the research findings, various themes were utilised Forced Evictions and Resettlement; Eviction or Displacement; The Struggles of Recreating Livelihoods; The Need for Security of Land Tenure and Access to Infrastructure. Under these themes, the study revealed how the eviction was detrimental to the livelihoods of the farm workers and farm dwellers as they lost the land that was a primary source for the construction of their livelihoods. They lost employment, homes, agricultural land for food security and natural resources, social and family structures and most importantly cultural disruption. It is well documented that the rural poor who constitute the farm workers and the farm dwellers are some of the vulnerable people who need constant governmental support through the promulgation of laws that protect them and assist in livelihood construction. Thus, this study also served to examine how the evicted workers and their families have settled into their new homes and how they, in conjunction with the Department of Rural Development and Land Reform and any other government agencies are faring in terms of the establishment of income generating projects for their livelihoods at the new settlement.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2017
Land, Church, Forced Removals and Community on Klipfontein Farm in the District of Alexandria, Eastern Cape c. 1872 - 1979
- Authors: Bezuidenhout, GJW
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: Janse van Rensburg family , Klipfontein Farm (Alexandria, South Africa) , Alexandria (South Africa) -- History , Colored people (South Africa) -- History , Colored people (South Africa) -- Religion , Colored people (South Africa) -- Relocation , Black people -- Relocation -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Family farms -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Church history -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Land tenure -- Law and legilstion -- South Africa , Land reform -- Law and legislation -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/161315 , vital:40615
- Description: This thesis is a case study of how church, land and dispossession of land has influenced identity formation of a coloured community in the Eastern Province, namely the Klipfontein community. Coloured history in the Eastern Province has largely been neglected. This study attempts to rectify such a lack of in-depth enquiry as it may lead to misinterpretations that may influence contemporary politics and identity formation. Through research based on primary sources, it is evident that the social landscape of Klipfontein Farm and the relationships between that community and surrounding black African and white communities have largely been shaped by the stipulations contained in the joint will of the community’s ancestors: Dirk and Sarah Janse van Rensburg. The land devolved into a trust and has been administered by trustees since the death of the first spouse in 1877. By keeping the land in a trust, it enabled the descendants to continue to live on the farm in perpetuity, without the risk of being forced off the land via financial restraints or racially-based legislation. But the usufructuaries could also never fully utilise Klipfontein as an agricultural concern due to a combination of a lack of equipment and skill, and the provisions of the will. These complications inevitably led to inter-familial disputes and tension. Before 1939 there had already been three court cases dealing with the interpretations of the Will. In that same year the Supreme Court ordered that tracts of the land, including a part of Boesmansriviermond village, be sold in order to pay off arrear rates and taxes. Although the responsibility for these sales lay with the trustees, the community has been suspicious of the usufructuaries ever since. A key element of the Klipfontein identity is their religion. The church legitimises their right to the farm - against those who wish to take that right away. Their claim to occupation is couched in scriptural discourse, viewing Klipfontein as 'their Garden of Eden' that God gave to the stamvader, Dirk Janse van Rensburg. This seemed to have been partially successful for the Klipfontein community in staving off harassment by authorities. It also caused friction between the community and the black African residents. Some usufructuaries and family members felt that such right was exclusively given to the coloured community and so they became increasingly annoyed by the black Africans who settled there. Other usufructuaries did not share this feeling. They allowed evicted black African farm labourers to settle on certain portions of Klipfontein until the late 1970s. The black African population rapidly increased due to misinformation and evictions from neighbouring farms. This only further exacerbated the inter-familial conflict between usufructuaries, flaring tensions between the black Africans and their reluctant hosts as well as animosity from the white community towards Klipfontein. In 1979, after a series of court cases, a decision was made to remove all the African settlers by force and relocate most of them to the ‘homeland’ of Ciskei. The rest, who were of ‘working-age’ were left behind in a ‘temporary emergency camp’ on the outskirts of Kenton-on-Sea. The effects of these removals still impact the relationships between the different racial groups in the area to this day.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2017
- Authors: Bezuidenhout, GJW
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: Janse van Rensburg family , Klipfontein Farm (Alexandria, South Africa) , Alexandria (South Africa) -- History , Colored people (South Africa) -- History , Colored people (South Africa) -- Religion , Colored people (South Africa) -- Relocation , Black people -- Relocation -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Family farms -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Church history -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Land tenure -- Law and legilstion -- South Africa , Land reform -- Law and legislation -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/161315 , vital:40615
- Description: This thesis is a case study of how church, land and dispossession of land has influenced identity formation of a coloured community in the Eastern Province, namely the Klipfontein community. Coloured history in the Eastern Province has largely been neglected. This study attempts to rectify such a lack of in-depth enquiry as it may lead to misinterpretations that may influence contemporary politics and identity formation. Through research based on primary sources, it is evident that the social landscape of Klipfontein Farm and the relationships between that community and surrounding black African and white communities have largely been shaped by the stipulations contained in the joint will of the community’s ancestors: Dirk and Sarah Janse van Rensburg. The land devolved into a trust and has been administered by trustees since the death of the first spouse in 1877. By keeping the land in a trust, it enabled the descendants to continue to live on the farm in perpetuity, without the risk of being forced off the land via financial restraints or racially-based legislation. But the usufructuaries could also never fully utilise Klipfontein as an agricultural concern due to a combination of a lack of equipment and skill, and the provisions of the will. These complications inevitably led to inter-familial disputes and tension. Before 1939 there had already been three court cases dealing with the interpretations of the Will. In that same year the Supreme Court ordered that tracts of the land, including a part of Boesmansriviermond village, be sold in order to pay off arrear rates and taxes. Although the responsibility for these sales lay with the trustees, the community has been suspicious of the usufructuaries ever since. A key element of the Klipfontein identity is their religion. The church legitimises their right to the farm - against those who wish to take that right away. Their claim to occupation is couched in scriptural discourse, viewing Klipfontein as 'their Garden of Eden' that God gave to the stamvader, Dirk Janse van Rensburg. This seemed to have been partially successful for the Klipfontein community in staving off harassment by authorities. It also caused friction between the community and the black African residents. Some usufructuaries and family members felt that such right was exclusively given to the coloured community and so they became increasingly annoyed by the black Africans who settled there. Other usufructuaries did not share this feeling. They allowed evicted black African farm labourers to settle on certain portions of Klipfontein until the late 1970s. The black African population rapidly increased due to misinformation and evictions from neighbouring farms. This only further exacerbated the inter-familial conflict between usufructuaries, flaring tensions between the black Africans and their reluctant hosts as well as animosity from the white community towards Klipfontein. In 1979, after a series of court cases, a decision was made to remove all the African settlers by force and relocate most of them to the ‘homeland’ of Ciskei. The rest, who were of ‘working-age’ were left behind in a ‘temporary emergency camp’ on the outskirts of Kenton-on-Sea. The effects of these removals still impact the relationships between the different racial groups in the area to this day.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2017
Language and access in the public healthcare system in South Africa with a particular focus on primary public health facilities in Grahamstown and Cofimvaba in the Eastern Cape
- Authors: Mhlauli, Nonceba
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: Health literacy -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Patient education -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Communication in medicine -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Health literacy -- Social aspects -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Poor -- Medical care -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/56692 , vital:26817
- Description: The right to language and the right to healthcare services are human rights which are enshrined in the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa. Section 6 (5) of the Constitution and Section 1.3 (b) and (e) of the Eastern Cape Provincial Language Policy provide protection against unfair discrimination on the grounds of language; while sections 30 and 31 (1) of the Constitution refer to people’s rights in terms of cultural, religious and linguistic participation. Section 27 (a) states that ‘everyone has the right to access to healthcare services’. In accordance with the Constitution, in 2011 the National Department of Health passed a Policy on Language Services. This policy aims to facilitate equitable access to government services and information, as well as respect for language rights as spelled out in the Constitution. The Policy on Language Services further aims to promote multilingualism in the National Department of Health and to allow people to access information in a language of their choice, understand important messages and the language necessary for informed and participatory decision making (Department of Health 2011:1). Given the above policy and Constitutional provisions as far as policy commitment is concerned, the crucial issue remains the implementation of such policy to ensure that the right to access to health and language are realised. The study provides an analysis of the Policy on Language Services 2011 as it relates to language rights and the delivery of health services, focusing on the roll out and implementation process and the public awareness of the policy. This study primarily focuses on the role language plays in accessing public healthcare in primary healthcare facilities in the Grahamstown and Cofimvaba. The study looked at communication between patient and healthcare providers and whether healthcare services were provided in the language of the patient or the language the patient knows best. This study further assessed indications of patients’ comprehension of information such as medical instructions on packaged medicine, comprehension of posters, pamphlets and health education sessions in order to fully participate in the process of their health status. The data of this research was collected from healthcare providers and patients in primary healthcare facilities in Grahamstown and Cofimvaba in the Eastern Cape. The research methods used was in-depth interviews, non-participant observations as well as content analysis such as sign/direction posts, medical labels and information boards. These methods were used to determine whether language plays a role in accessing quality healthcare services in these facilities. The research found that the lack of implementation of language and health policy resulted in the perpetuation of language barriers in the healthcare sector. The study therefore argues that adequate healthcare can only be provided if and when healthcare providers and patients are able to communicate with each other in the language they know best or feel most comfortable in. Thus meaning the implementation of the current Constitutional and policy provisions is crucial to language and access to healthcare services.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2017
- Authors: Mhlauli, Nonceba
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: Health literacy -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Patient education -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Communication in medicine -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Health literacy -- Social aspects -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Poor -- Medical care -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/56692 , vital:26817
- Description: The right to language and the right to healthcare services are human rights which are enshrined in the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa. Section 6 (5) of the Constitution and Section 1.3 (b) and (e) of the Eastern Cape Provincial Language Policy provide protection against unfair discrimination on the grounds of language; while sections 30 and 31 (1) of the Constitution refer to people’s rights in terms of cultural, religious and linguistic participation. Section 27 (a) states that ‘everyone has the right to access to healthcare services’. In accordance with the Constitution, in 2011 the National Department of Health passed a Policy on Language Services. This policy aims to facilitate equitable access to government services and information, as well as respect for language rights as spelled out in the Constitution. The Policy on Language Services further aims to promote multilingualism in the National Department of Health and to allow people to access information in a language of their choice, understand important messages and the language necessary for informed and participatory decision making (Department of Health 2011:1). Given the above policy and Constitutional provisions as far as policy commitment is concerned, the crucial issue remains the implementation of such policy to ensure that the right to access to health and language are realised. The study provides an analysis of the Policy on Language Services 2011 as it relates to language rights and the delivery of health services, focusing on the roll out and implementation process and the public awareness of the policy. This study primarily focuses on the role language plays in accessing public healthcare in primary healthcare facilities in the Grahamstown and Cofimvaba. The study looked at communication between patient and healthcare providers and whether healthcare services were provided in the language of the patient or the language the patient knows best. This study further assessed indications of patients’ comprehension of information such as medical instructions on packaged medicine, comprehension of posters, pamphlets and health education sessions in order to fully participate in the process of their health status. The data of this research was collected from healthcare providers and patients in primary healthcare facilities in Grahamstown and Cofimvaba in the Eastern Cape. The research methods used was in-depth interviews, non-participant observations as well as content analysis such as sign/direction posts, medical labels and information boards. These methods were used to determine whether language plays a role in accessing quality healthcare services in these facilities. The research found that the lack of implementation of language and health policy resulted in the perpetuation of language barriers in the healthcare sector. The study therefore argues that adequate healthcare can only be provided if and when healthcare providers and patients are able to communicate with each other in the language they know best or feel most comfortable in. Thus meaning the implementation of the current Constitutional and policy provisions is crucial to language and access to healthcare services.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2017
Language and literacy development for a Grade 10 English first additional language classroom: a reading to learn case study
- Authors: Mataka, Tawanda Wallace
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: English language -- Study and teching (Secondary) -- South Africa Reading -- Study and teching (Secondary) -- South Africa Literacy -- Study and teching (Secondary) -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/249 , vital:19941
- Description: The problem of poor reading skills is a serious one in South Africa, with negative implications for learners’ educational achievement. The failure of learners to read at age- and grade-appropriate levels presents a major challenge to the teaching of reading in South African schools. It is against this background that this study aimed at ascertaining the positive impact of the Reading to Learn methodology in improving the literacy levels of learners in a Grade 10 English First Additional Language classroom in a township school. Reading ability levels were established via a passage extracted from a Grade Platinum English First Additional Learner’s book. Pronunciation and word recognition formed the basis of the reading assessment. Reading translates into writing, so the learners were also assessed in comprehension and creative writing. The results indicated that the learners’ reading abilities were weak, the methodology used to teach reading led to research findings that caused the study to yield findings that suggest that RtL may be the solution to reading problems in the classroom. In addition the study revealed that the ability to read corresponds with cognitive development. The study therefore calls for the adoption of RtL to assist in alleviating reading problems in the classroom.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2017
- Authors: Mataka, Tawanda Wallace
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: English language -- Study and teching (Secondary) -- South Africa Reading -- Study and teching (Secondary) -- South Africa Literacy -- Study and teching (Secondary) -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/249 , vital:19941
- Description: The problem of poor reading skills is a serious one in South Africa, with negative implications for learners’ educational achievement. The failure of learners to read at age- and grade-appropriate levels presents a major challenge to the teaching of reading in South African schools. It is against this background that this study aimed at ascertaining the positive impact of the Reading to Learn methodology in improving the literacy levels of learners in a Grade 10 English First Additional Language classroom in a township school. Reading ability levels were established via a passage extracted from a Grade Platinum English First Additional Learner’s book. Pronunciation and word recognition formed the basis of the reading assessment. Reading translates into writing, so the learners were also assessed in comprehension and creative writing. The results indicated that the learners’ reading abilities were weak, the methodology used to teach reading led to research findings that caused the study to yield findings that suggest that RtL may be the solution to reading problems in the classroom. In addition the study revealed that the ability to read corresponds with cognitive development. The study therefore calls for the adoption of RtL to assist in alleviating reading problems in the classroom.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2017
Leadership development in a Representative Council of Learners (RCL) in a secondary school in the Eastern Cape
- Authors: Strydom, Monica Petro
- Date: 2017
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/43054 , vital:25261
- Description: The purpose of this study was to answer two main research questions: How is leadership promoted on a Representative Council of Learners (RCL) and What leadership roles do learners on the council play in schools? Recent research suggests that although the democratisation of school governance has given all stakeholders a voice in how schools are being governed, it seems that learner voice is still largely silenced. Literature on this issue paints an uninspiring picture of learner under-involvement and marginalisation. In seeking underlying causes for this, this study is informed by notions of leadership for social justice. The study investigated the RCL at a public, fee-paying school in the Makana district of the Eastern Cape. By observing the daily functioning of the council, engaging with the learner leaders as well as teachers, parents and other role players, I developed a better understanding of the challenges the RCL faced as well as factors which promoted their role as learner leaders. This aided in answering the first key research question of how the RCL promotes leadership development. To answer the second key question, I needed to consider the perceptions of stakeholders concerned and how they saw the operation of the RCL. This study is situated in the interpretive research tradition and uses critical realism as its under-labourer. To support this study and to answer some of the aims of this research, Leontiev’s second generation Cultural Historical Activity Theory was used. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews, questionnaires an observation and document analysis. Data analysis took the form of identifying themes which emerged from the data. These formed the basis of my discussion and I was thus able to address the main research questions. Data revealed that learner leaders in schools are mainly managers and not really leaders; that learners are still very much marginalised as leaders and that they subsequently do not have a lot of say when it comes to how their schools are governed. It further emerged that despite formal legislation and guidelines which are in place to allow for the democratic rights of learners’ opinions to be heard in schools, historical and cultural forces account for parents and other role players’reluctance to allow learners to have too much of a say. I trust that the findings from this research will strengthen learner leadership structures in schools and perhaps provide guidelines on how learner leadership could be developed and managed.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2017
- Authors: Strydom, Monica Petro
- Date: 2017
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/43054 , vital:25261
- Description: The purpose of this study was to answer two main research questions: How is leadership promoted on a Representative Council of Learners (RCL) and What leadership roles do learners on the council play in schools? Recent research suggests that although the democratisation of school governance has given all stakeholders a voice in how schools are being governed, it seems that learner voice is still largely silenced. Literature on this issue paints an uninspiring picture of learner under-involvement and marginalisation. In seeking underlying causes for this, this study is informed by notions of leadership for social justice. The study investigated the RCL at a public, fee-paying school in the Makana district of the Eastern Cape. By observing the daily functioning of the council, engaging with the learner leaders as well as teachers, parents and other role players, I developed a better understanding of the challenges the RCL faced as well as factors which promoted their role as learner leaders. This aided in answering the first key research question of how the RCL promotes leadership development. To answer the second key question, I needed to consider the perceptions of stakeholders concerned and how they saw the operation of the RCL. This study is situated in the interpretive research tradition and uses critical realism as its under-labourer. To support this study and to answer some of the aims of this research, Leontiev’s second generation Cultural Historical Activity Theory was used. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews, questionnaires an observation and document analysis. Data analysis took the form of identifying themes which emerged from the data. These formed the basis of my discussion and I was thus able to address the main research questions. Data revealed that learner leaders in schools are mainly managers and not really leaders; that learners are still very much marginalised as leaders and that they subsequently do not have a lot of say when it comes to how their schools are governed. It further emerged that despite formal legislation and guidelines which are in place to allow for the democratic rights of learners’ opinions to be heard in schools, historical and cultural forces account for parents and other role players’reluctance to allow learners to have too much of a say. I trust that the findings from this research will strengthen learner leadership structures in schools and perhaps provide guidelines on how learner leadership could be developed and managed.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2017
Linking livelihood and ecosystem change in two dryland sites in Southern Africa over a period of 30 years
- Authors: Masunungure, Current
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: Marwendo Village (Zimbabwe) -- Social conditions , Tshivhulani Village (South Africa) -- Social conditions , Marwendo Village (Zimbabwe) -- Environmental conditions , Tshivhulani Village (South Africa) -- Environmental conditions , Climatic changes -- South Africa -- Tshivhulani Village , Climatic changes -- Zimbabwe -- Marwendo Village
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/4819 , vital:20732
- Description: The ongoing and rapid change (from global to local level) in climate, populations, governments, cultures, environment, land use and economies are critical issues, especially for poor rural communities found in the dryland parts of southern Africa. The manifestations of change can combine to increase rural livelihood vulnerability, through the erosion of assets and insecurity, but can at the same time create new opportunities. Studies that consider the complex nature of change across scales and how it affects changes in livelihoods, ecosystems and responses at local level, are increasingly needed. This study, carried out in two purposefully selected study sites in the communal drylands of south-eastern Zimbabwe (Marwendo village) and Limpopo province in South Africa (Tshivhulani village), examined the complex nature of change across scales by assessing the way in which change at the global scale results in localised trends, shocks and stressors, and its impacts on livelihoods and ecosystems and responses over the past 30 years. The study applies social-ecological system thinking in understanding human-environment change. Particular emphasis was put on the role of social protection and natural resources in responding to change, shocks and stressors. The study employed a mixed method approach to gather data which included a household survey, life history interviews, transect walks, focus group discussions as well as secondary sources of information. The results of the study illustrate that shocks and stressors are common in both villages and are likely to increase in severity and frequency with ongoing and rapid human-environmental change, especially climate change. The local responses to change, shocks and stressors are primarily reactive and mainly intensify exploitation of existing natural resources and social protection as safety-nets. In Marwendo village, the villagers relied more on the use and sale of natural resource products readily available to them, whereas in Tshivhulani village they mainly tend to rely on social grants. Thus, in the future, households’ vulnerability might increase, and may be worse in Marwendo village, since important components of current livelihoods remain natural resource-based and climate sensitive. In Tshivhulani village, livelihoods characterised by high dependence on social grants can have severe consequences for households as children get older or elderly members die and grants cease to be available. Social grants therefore only really offer a temporary relief. This coupled with environmentally destructive practices such as brick-moulding in Marwendo village and uncontrolled settlements in Tshivhulani village may reinforce the negative impacts of change and thus undermine sustainable adaptation. The study concludes that multiple lenses for understanding the links between livelihood and ecosystem vulnerability in the context of the ongoing and rapid change are essential, and these provide insights into how different policy options for livelihood improvement and social protection might be appropriate for reducing household and ecosystem vulnerabilities in the future.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2017
- Authors: Masunungure, Current
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: Marwendo Village (Zimbabwe) -- Social conditions , Tshivhulani Village (South Africa) -- Social conditions , Marwendo Village (Zimbabwe) -- Environmental conditions , Tshivhulani Village (South Africa) -- Environmental conditions , Climatic changes -- South Africa -- Tshivhulani Village , Climatic changes -- Zimbabwe -- Marwendo Village
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/4819 , vital:20732
- Description: The ongoing and rapid change (from global to local level) in climate, populations, governments, cultures, environment, land use and economies are critical issues, especially for poor rural communities found in the dryland parts of southern Africa. The manifestations of change can combine to increase rural livelihood vulnerability, through the erosion of assets and insecurity, but can at the same time create new opportunities. Studies that consider the complex nature of change across scales and how it affects changes in livelihoods, ecosystems and responses at local level, are increasingly needed. This study, carried out in two purposefully selected study sites in the communal drylands of south-eastern Zimbabwe (Marwendo village) and Limpopo province in South Africa (Tshivhulani village), examined the complex nature of change across scales by assessing the way in which change at the global scale results in localised trends, shocks and stressors, and its impacts on livelihoods and ecosystems and responses over the past 30 years. The study applies social-ecological system thinking in understanding human-environment change. Particular emphasis was put on the role of social protection and natural resources in responding to change, shocks and stressors. The study employed a mixed method approach to gather data which included a household survey, life history interviews, transect walks, focus group discussions as well as secondary sources of information. The results of the study illustrate that shocks and stressors are common in both villages and are likely to increase in severity and frequency with ongoing and rapid human-environmental change, especially climate change. The local responses to change, shocks and stressors are primarily reactive and mainly intensify exploitation of existing natural resources and social protection as safety-nets. In Marwendo village, the villagers relied more on the use and sale of natural resource products readily available to them, whereas in Tshivhulani village they mainly tend to rely on social grants. Thus, in the future, households’ vulnerability might increase, and may be worse in Marwendo village, since important components of current livelihoods remain natural resource-based and climate sensitive. In Tshivhulani village, livelihoods characterised by high dependence on social grants can have severe consequences for households as children get older or elderly members die and grants cease to be available. Social grants therefore only really offer a temporary relief. This coupled with environmentally destructive practices such as brick-moulding in Marwendo village and uncontrolled settlements in Tshivhulani village may reinforce the negative impacts of change and thus undermine sustainable adaptation. The study concludes that multiple lenses for understanding the links between livelihood and ecosystem vulnerability in the context of the ongoing and rapid change are essential, and these provide insights into how different policy options for livelihood improvement and social protection might be appropriate for reducing household and ecosystem vulnerabilities in the future.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2017
Lived experience of positional suffering for room attendants at Rhodes University: insights for the transformation agenda
- Authors: Toli, Vuyolwethu
- Date: 2017
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSocSc
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/7890 , vital:21320
- Description: Taking insights from the domestic work literature both locally and internationally, this study explores the lived experiences of room attendants who work as cleaners in the students’ residences at Rhodes University. The study focuses on the housekeeping division of Rhodes University. Data was generated from in-depth individual interviews and focus groups with 26 women and 3 men participants (aged between 28 and 60) who work as room attendants, and who were recruited from the residences across the university. The phenomenological approach allowed the participants to articulate in-depth, their experiences of working as room attendants in intimate spaces. This study used a triangulated conceptual framework, which amalgamated the concepts of pain, social space and intersectionality, and exploitation under the umbrella concept of positional suffering. Within a higher education transformation agenda which has marginalised the experiences of unskilled workers at the university, the study seeks to bring insights to the understanding of transformation at Rhodes University through the experiences of the being-in-the-world of room attendants.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2017
- Authors: Toli, Vuyolwethu
- Date: 2017
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSocSc
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/7890 , vital:21320
- Description: Taking insights from the domestic work literature both locally and internationally, this study explores the lived experiences of room attendants who work as cleaners in the students’ residences at Rhodes University. The study focuses on the housekeeping division of Rhodes University. Data was generated from in-depth individual interviews and focus groups with 26 women and 3 men participants (aged between 28 and 60) who work as room attendants, and who were recruited from the residences across the university. The phenomenological approach allowed the participants to articulate in-depth, their experiences of working as room attendants in intimate spaces. This study used a triangulated conceptual framework, which amalgamated the concepts of pain, social space and intersectionality, and exploitation under the umbrella concept of positional suffering. Within a higher education transformation agenda which has marginalised the experiences of unskilled workers at the university, the study seeks to bring insights to the understanding of transformation at Rhodes University through the experiences of the being-in-the-world of room attendants.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2017
Lizalise Idinga Lakho [Honour Thy Promise]: The Methodist Church Women’s Manyano, the Bifurcated Public Sphere, Divine Strength, Ubufazi and Motherhood in Post-Apartheid South Africa
- Authors: Ngcobozi, Lihle
- Date: 2017
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/17717 , vital:22271
- Description: This study examines the socio-political role of the Christian church based women’s Manyano organisations in post-apartheid South Africa. Specifically, the study examines the ways in which the women’s Manyano organisations offer black women a site for the performance of citizenship. The study is based on life history interviews conducted with seventeen members of the Methodist Church Women’s Manyano of the Lamontville Circuit in Kwa-Zulu Natal. The study shows that dominant literature on Manyano women is primarily located in the historiography of the formation of Manyano groups within the historical development of the black church from the moment of missionary contact in South Africa. This literature shows that the missionaries used the coming together of black women in the church to promote ideas of devout domesticity that are based on Anglophone Victorian womanhood. This literature also shows that the structural constraints of colonisation and apartheid transformed the black church into a counterpublic space which focused largely on the liberation of the black majority from political, economic, and social exclusion from the colonial and apartheid public sphere. These constraints also transformed the role of women’s Manyano organisations to become an important space from which black women came to resist and defeat apartheid. This study shows that this historical framing of women’s Manyano groups has shaped their role in post-apartheid South Africa. Located in the African feminist theory, the study argues that Manyano women’s publicness is not limited to gendered expressions of the public and private sphere. Instead, Manyano women demonstrate that their publicness in post-apartheid South Africa ought to be understood through a combination of the varied identities that they straddle, such as those of a politically and culturally defined womanhood and communally based motherhood, which express their understanding and performance of citizenship. The thesis, therefore, argues that the contemporary role and functioning of Manyanos is located within both the hegemonic public sphere that is granted by the civil liberties of the new South Africa, and the historical black bifurcated counterpublic -which combined offer black women the ability to devise strategies to confront present-day socioeconomic challenges such as structural poverty that shapes the lives of the majority of black women in post-apartheid South Africa. The study contributes, therefore, to the reconstruction of the concept of the public sphere through the use of Manyano women’s dynamic position in post-apartheid South Africa. It shows that the dualist nature of Manyano women’s position and identity allows for a multifaceted approach in the understanding of citizenship for Manyano women today. Furthermore, and importantly, the study shows that the complex roles that Manyano women navigate within the different spheres complicate the interpretations of womanhood and motherhood as understood in dominant (white western) feminist theory in ways that often lead to the delegitimisation and erasure of Manyano women’s contributions to ideas about post-apartheid feminisms.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2017
- Authors: Ngcobozi, Lihle
- Date: 2017
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/17717 , vital:22271
- Description: This study examines the socio-political role of the Christian church based women’s Manyano organisations in post-apartheid South Africa. Specifically, the study examines the ways in which the women’s Manyano organisations offer black women a site for the performance of citizenship. The study is based on life history interviews conducted with seventeen members of the Methodist Church Women’s Manyano of the Lamontville Circuit in Kwa-Zulu Natal. The study shows that dominant literature on Manyano women is primarily located in the historiography of the formation of Manyano groups within the historical development of the black church from the moment of missionary contact in South Africa. This literature shows that the missionaries used the coming together of black women in the church to promote ideas of devout domesticity that are based on Anglophone Victorian womanhood. This literature also shows that the structural constraints of colonisation and apartheid transformed the black church into a counterpublic space which focused largely on the liberation of the black majority from political, economic, and social exclusion from the colonial and apartheid public sphere. These constraints also transformed the role of women’s Manyano organisations to become an important space from which black women came to resist and defeat apartheid. This study shows that this historical framing of women’s Manyano groups has shaped their role in post-apartheid South Africa. Located in the African feminist theory, the study argues that Manyano women’s publicness is not limited to gendered expressions of the public and private sphere. Instead, Manyano women demonstrate that their publicness in post-apartheid South Africa ought to be understood through a combination of the varied identities that they straddle, such as those of a politically and culturally defined womanhood and communally based motherhood, which express their understanding and performance of citizenship. The thesis, therefore, argues that the contemporary role and functioning of Manyanos is located within both the hegemonic public sphere that is granted by the civil liberties of the new South Africa, and the historical black bifurcated counterpublic -which combined offer black women the ability to devise strategies to confront present-day socioeconomic challenges such as structural poverty that shapes the lives of the majority of black women in post-apartheid South Africa. The study contributes, therefore, to the reconstruction of the concept of the public sphere through the use of Manyano women’s dynamic position in post-apartheid South Africa. It shows that the dualist nature of Manyano women’s position and identity allows for a multifaceted approach in the understanding of citizenship for Manyano women today. Furthermore, and importantly, the study shows that the complex roles that Manyano women navigate within the different spheres complicate the interpretations of womanhood and motherhood as understood in dominant (white western) feminist theory in ways that often lead to the delegitimisation and erasure of Manyano women’s contributions to ideas about post-apartheid feminisms.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2017
Lurking or listening? an ethnographic study of online and offline student political participation through the #MustFall protests at Rhodes University
- Authors: Govender, Carissa Jade
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: #Feesmustfall , #Rhodesmustfall , Social media -- Political aspects -- South Africa , Social movements -- South Africa , Political participation -- South Africa , Online social networks -- Political aspects -- South Africa , Student movements -- South Africa , Rhodes University -- Students
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/35123 , vital:24330
- Description: The way media is created and consumed plays an important role in political participation as it provides information, guides thinking and allows citizens to make informed political choices. It can also interrogate the status quo and challenge existing systems or power relations. This thesis discusses the use of social media by Rhodes University students in the context of the 2015 #RhodesMustFall and #FeesMustFall protests in South Africa. This thesis interrogates the concept of slacktivism, a term used to describe online or digital activism which is considered to be less active and not as effective as physical activism. Furthermore, the thesis acknowledges that even when digital political participation is recognised, the emphasis and value is placed on those who speak and create content. The thesis examines the notion of participation and what counts as active citizenship. In particular, the majority of social media users who merely lurk and never contribute to content creation or online discussions are further investigated. The qualitative methodological approach used for this thesis involved three parts which looked at student activity on Facebook, student engagement offline, and how students made sense of their online and offline involvement. Firstly, a cyberethnographic investigation was done in order to understand the cyber world in which students are present. Thereafter, a participant observation was carried out to immerse myself in the offline spaces that students engaged in politically, to get a better sense of how their online presence influenced or supplemented their offline activity. Finally, individual interviews were carried out with lurkers to determine why they did not participate in traditional ways, both online and offline. The findings suggest that lurkers are in fact doing more than just being passively present. The high levels of attention paid to content posted by others on social media, as well as the way that the content influences their offline lives suggest that the choice to lurk is far more active than assumed. Students are consciously deciding to lurk for a multitude of reasons, one of which is for the opportunity to learn. Social media is a fast developing; increasingly used form of communication and how political communication across social media platforms is framed affects what we consider to be active engagement. By using theories of listening and emotion talk, the thesis provides new ways of understanding lurking by Rhodes University students on social media, which in turn can lead to better listening, better understanding and greater political participation.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2017
- Authors: Govender, Carissa Jade
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: #Feesmustfall , #Rhodesmustfall , Social media -- Political aspects -- South Africa , Social movements -- South Africa , Political participation -- South Africa , Online social networks -- Political aspects -- South Africa , Student movements -- South Africa , Rhodes University -- Students
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/35123 , vital:24330
- Description: The way media is created and consumed plays an important role in political participation as it provides information, guides thinking and allows citizens to make informed political choices. It can also interrogate the status quo and challenge existing systems or power relations. This thesis discusses the use of social media by Rhodes University students in the context of the 2015 #RhodesMustFall and #FeesMustFall protests in South Africa. This thesis interrogates the concept of slacktivism, a term used to describe online or digital activism which is considered to be less active and not as effective as physical activism. Furthermore, the thesis acknowledges that even when digital political participation is recognised, the emphasis and value is placed on those who speak and create content. The thesis examines the notion of participation and what counts as active citizenship. In particular, the majority of social media users who merely lurk and never contribute to content creation or online discussions are further investigated. The qualitative methodological approach used for this thesis involved three parts which looked at student activity on Facebook, student engagement offline, and how students made sense of their online and offline involvement. Firstly, a cyberethnographic investigation was done in order to understand the cyber world in which students are present. Thereafter, a participant observation was carried out to immerse myself in the offline spaces that students engaged in politically, to get a better sense of how their online presence influenced or supplemented their offline activity. Finally, individual interviews were carried out with lurkers to determine why they did not participate in traditional ways, both online and offline. The findings suggest that lurkers are in fact doing more than just being passively present. The high levels of attention paid to content posted by others on social media, as well as the way that the content influences their offline lives suggest that the choice to lurk is far more active than assumed. Students are consciously deciding to lurk for a multitude of reasons, one of which is for the opportunity to learn. Social media is a fast developing; increasingly used form of communication and how political communication across social media platforms is framed affects what we consider to be active engagement. By using theories of listening and emotion talk, the thesis provides new ways of understanding lurking by Rhodes University students on social media, which in turn can lead to better listening, better understanding and greater political participation.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2017
Maimed bodies in George R.R. Martin’s A song of ice and fire
- Authors: Goodenough, Amy Caroline
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: Martin, George R. R. -- Song of ice and fire , Violence in literature , Fantasy fiction -- History and criticism
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/7301 , vital:21240
- Description: George R.R. Martin’s fantasy series, A Song of Ice and Fire, has joined franchises like Harry Potter and The Lord of the Rings at the forefront of popular culture. Unlike other popular fantasy franchises, however, Song is notably ‘gritty’ - inspired as much by the realism of historical fiction as it is by its fantastical predecessors. The novels focus on a massive struggle for power, and that struggle is a famously bloody one: the violence of the novel’s medieval-inspired world and of medieval warfare, is placed front and center. This thesis argues that Song portrays this excessive violence with a view to more than mere sensation. The body is central to Martin’s text, and since power is the object of Martin’s characters, he depicts the way in which power interacts with the body with sophistication. The use of capital and corporal punishment is foregrounded frequently in the text, and presented as central to the process of ruling, but horrifying in its potential for injustice. For all that these acts of maiming - public execution, public torture - may be presented as ceremonies of justice, Martin makes it evident that they are in fact rituals of power. The spectacular display of maimed bodies occurs frequently - so frequently that it is clearly ordinary to Martin’s characters - and nearly always with a view to creating a perception of power. Heads are spiked on castle walls, gibbets hung in town squares, and slaves crucified on road-signs, and these all speak not of the criminality of the victims, but of the power of those doing the punishing. While such displays may be successful, they usually signal weakness to the reader: Martin writes numerous characters whose acts of violence come as misplaced reactions to their own vulnerability. This dynamic comes to the fore most powerfully in the absurd performances of violence by Theon Greyjoy, and, later, in his torture by Ramsay Bolton.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2017
- Authors: Goodenough, Amy Caroline
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: Martin, George R. R. -- Song of ice and fire , Violence in literature , Fantasy fiction -- History and criticism
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/7301 , vital:21240
- Description: George R.R. Martin’s fantasy series, A Song of Ice and Fire, has joined franchises like Harry Potter and The Lord of the Rings at the forefront of popular culture. Unlike other popular fantasy franchises, however, Song is notably ‘gritty’ - inspired as much by the realism of historical fiction as it is by its fantastical predecessors. The novels focus on a massive struggle for power, and that struggle is a famously bloody one: the violence of the novel’s medieval-inspired world and of medieval warfare, is placed front and center. This thesis argues that Song portrays this excessive violence with a view to more than mere sensation. The body is central to Martin’s text, and since power is the object of Martin’s characters, he depicts the way in which power interacts with the body with sophistication. The use of capital and corporal punishment is foregrounded frequently in the text, and presented as central to the process of ruling, but horrifying in its potential for injustice. For all that these acts of maiming - public execution, public torture - may be presented as ceremonies of justice, Martin makes it evident that they are in fact rituals of power. The spectacular display of maimed bodies occurs frequently - so frequently that it is clearly ordinary to Martin’s characters - and nearly always with a view to creating a perception of power. Heads are spiked on castle walls, gibbets hung in town squares, and slaves crucified on road-signs, and these all speak not of the criminality of the victims, but of the power of those doing the punishing. While such displays may be successful, they usually signal weakness to the reader: Martin writes numerous characters whose acts of violence come as misplaced reactions to their own vulnerability. This dynamic comes to the fore most powerfully in the absurd performances of violence by Theon Greyjoy, and, later, in his torture by Ramsay Bolton.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2017
Malawi’s foreign policy decision-making: the 2012 Malawi-Tanzania boundary dispute
- Kaunda, Mapopa Charles Martin Sazamleke
- Authors: Kaunda, Mapopa Charles Martin Sazamleke
- Date: 2017
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/59225 , vital:27484
- Description: Expected release date-April 2019
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2017
- Authors: Kaunda, Mapopa Charles Martin Sazamleke
- Date: 2017
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/59225 , vital:27484
- Description: Expected release date-April 2019
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2017
Malawi’s trilemma: monetary policy independence, exchange rate stability and financial integration
- Authors: Kamamkhudza, Charity
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: Malawi -- Economic conditions , Economic policy -- Malawi , Monetary policy -- Malawi , Foreign exchange rates -- Malawi
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MCom
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/41634 , vital:25112
- Description: Malawi has, in the last few decades, undergone several reforms relating to monetary, exchange rate and financial integration policies in a bid to achieve sustainable economic growth. Despite these reforms, however, the country has barely attained desirable macroeconomic performance. This study sets out to establish if the need for these policy reforms is due to the fact that the country is constrained from the simultaneous achievement of optimal levels of monetary policy independence, exchange rate stability and financial integration, as postulated by the ‘trilemma’. The trilemma is evaluated using an approach introduced by Aizenman et al. (2008), in which the Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) method is applied to a model in which a constant is regressed on indices constructed for the policy intermediate goals; the results indicate that the trilemma is a binding constraint in Malawi and that the largest trade-off is between exchange rate stability and financial integration. Given these constraints, the study also considers the combination of the trilemma intermediate policy goals that has been dominant in the country in the last three decades, using predicted values from the model and a graphical analysis to explore this objective. The analysis reveals that Malawi has, on average, prioritised exchange rate stability and monetary policy independence at the expense of financial integration. The study also assesses how the trilemma intermediate policy goals affect macroeconomic performance, specifically regarding output growth rate and inflation. The results reveal that exchange rate stability is associated with faster output growth, financial integration is associated with higher inflation, and that monetary policy independence is not a significant factor. The results emphasise the importance of consistent stability of the exchange rate if Malawi is to achieve faster and sustainable economic growth. Given this, policy makers must be cautious, as the current floating exchange rate regime, combined with financial integration, could lead to slow growth and high inflation.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2017
- Authors: Kamamkhudza, Charity
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: Malawi -- Economic conditions , Economic policy -- Malawi , Monetary policy -- Malawi , Foreign exchange rates -- Malawi
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MCom
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/41634 , vital:25112
- Description: Malawi has, in the last few decades, undergone several reforms relating to monetary, exchange rate and financial integration policies in a bid to achieve sustainable economic growth. Despite these reforms, however, the country has barely attained desirable macroeconomic performance. This study sets out to establish if the need for these policy reforms is due to the fact that the country is constrained from the simultaneous achievement of optimal levels of monetary policy independence, exchange rate stability and financial integration, as postulated by the ‘trilemma’. The trilemma is evaluated using an approach introduced by Aizenman et al. (2008), in which the Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) method is applied to a model in which a constant is regressed on indices constructed for the policy intermediate goals; the results indicate that the trilemma is a binding constraint in Malawi and that the largest trade-off is between exchange rate stability and financial integration. Given these constraints, the study also considers the combination of the trilemma intermediate policy goals that has been dominant in the country in the last three decades, using predicted values from the model and a graphical analysis to explore this objective. The analysis reveals that Malawi has, on average, prioritised exchange rate stability and monetary policy independence at the expense of financial integration. The study also assesses how the trilemma intermediate policy goals affect macroeconomic performance, specifically regarding output growth rate and inflation. The results reveal that exchange rate stability is associated with faster output growth, financial integration is associated with higher inflation, and that monetary policy independence is not a significant factor. The results emphasise the importance of consistent stability of the exchange rate if Malawi is to achieve faster and sustainable economic growth. Given this, policy makers must be cautious, as the current floating exchange rate regime, combined with financial integration, could lead to slow growth and high inflation.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2017
Masculine performance and enactment in the Rhodes University Rowing Club
- Authors: Dlamini, Thobile Lungile
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: Masculinity in sports -- South Africa , College sports -- South Africa , Male college athletes -- Psychology -- South Africa -- Case studies , Masculinity , Sex role , Rhodes University. Rowing Club , Rhodes University -- Students -- Psychology
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSocSc
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/4315 , vital:20647
- Description: Drawing on the interactions between gender and power in the South African context, this study explores how masculinities are produced, reproduced and contested in one particular realm of social life, namely organised university sport. The study focuses on a rowing club at a historically white South African university (RURC). The narratives of ten male participants (aged between 19 and 23) who self-identified as heterosexual and were recruited from RURC, were utilised to make meaning of the process of identity construction of young males who participate in organised sport within the higher education sphere. The ethnographic aspect of the study, which spanned over three months, provided a window into the norms, values and rituals of the club and how these variously reinforce or interrupt the prevailing gender order. Employing Connell’s typology of masculinities as a lens, the study traces the lived construction of masculinity in the individual lives of the members of RURC as one sphere of university life in which masculinities are produced and contested. Within a wider culture that has been characterised as white, heteronormative and patriarchal, the study argues that although masculinities and masculine performances in the RURC are highly contested the practices of the club ultimately perpetuate an exclusionary, orthodox masculinity.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2017
- Authors: Dlamini, Thobile Lungile
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: Masculinity in sports -- South Africa , College sports -- South Africa , Male college athletes -- Psychology -- South Africa -- Case studies , Masculinity , Sex role , Rhodes University. Rowing Club , Rhodes University -- Students -- Psychology
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSocSc
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/4315 , vital:20647
- Description: Drawing on the interactions between gender and power in the South African context, this study explores how masculinities are produced, reproduced and contested in one particular realm of social life, namely organised university sport. The study focuses on a rowing club at a historically white South African university (RURC). The narratives of ten male participants (aged between 19 and 23) who self-identified as heterosexual and were recruited from RURC, were utilised to make meaning of the process of identity construction of young males who participate in organised sport within the higher education sphere. The ethnographic aspect of the study, which spanned over three months, provided a window into the norms, values and rituals of the club and how these variously reinforce or interrupt the prevailing gender order. Employing Connell’s typology of masculinities as a lens, the study traces the lived construction of masculinity in the individual lives of the members of RURC as one sphere of university life in which masculinities are produced and contested. Within a wider culture that has been characterised as white, heteronormative and patriarchal, the study argues that although masculinities and masculine performances in the RURC are highly contested the practices of the club ultimately perpetuate an exclusionary, orthodox masculinity.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2017
MEQSILHOUETTE: a mm-VLBI observation and signal corruption simulator
- Authors: Blecher, Tariq
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: Large astronomical telescopes , Very long baseline interferometry , MEQSILHOUETTE (Software) , Event horizon telescope
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/40713 , vital:25019
- Description: The Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) aims to resolve the innermost emission of nearby supermassive black holes, Sgr A* and M87, on event horizon scales. This emission is predicted to be gravitationally lensed by the black hole which should produce a shadow (or silhouette) feature, a precise measurement of which is a test of gravity in the strong-field regime. This emission is also an ideal probe of the innermost accretion and jet-launch physics, offering the new insights into this data-limited observing regime. The EHT will use the technique of Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI) at (sub)millimetre wavelengths, which has a diffraction limited angular resolution of order ~ 10 µ-arcsec. However, this technique suffers from unique challenges, including scattering and attenuation in the troposphere and interstellar medium; variable source structure; as well as antenna pointing errors comparable to the size of the primary beam. In this thesis, we present the meqsilhouette software package which is focused towards simulating realistic EHT data. It has the capability to simulate a time-variable source, and includes realistic descriptions of the effects of the troposphere, the interstellar medium as well as primary beams and associated antenna pointing errors. We have demonstrated through several examples simulations that these effects can limit the ability to measure the key science parameters. This simulator can be used to research calibration, parameter estimation and imaging strategies, as well as gain insight into possible systematic uncertainties.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2017
- Authors: Blecher, Tariq
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: Large astronomical telescopes , Very long baseline interferometry , MEQSILHOUETTE (Software) , Event horizon telescope
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/40713 , vital:25019
- Description: The Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) aims to resolve the innermost emission of nearby supermassive black holes, Sgr A* and M87, on event horizon scales. This emission is predicted to be gravitationally lensed by the black hole which should produce a shadow (or silhouette) feature, a precise measurement of which is a test of gravity in the strong-field regime. This emission is also an ideal probe of the innermost accretion and jet-launch physics, offering the new insights into this data-limited observing regime. The EHT will use the technique of Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI) at (sub)millimetre wavelengths, which has a diffraction limited angular resolution of order ~ 10 µ-arcsec. However, this technique suffers from unique challenges, including scattering and attenuation in the troposphere and interstellar medium; variable source structure; as well as antenna pointing errors comparable to the size of the primary beam. In this thesis, we present the meqsilhouette software package which is focused towards simulating realistic EHT data. It has the capability to simulate a time-variable source, and includes realistic descriptions of the effects of the troposphere, the interstellar medium as well as primary beams and associated antenna pointing errors. We have demonstrated through several examples simulations that these effects can limit the ability to measure the key science parameters. This simulator can be used to research calibration, parameter estimation and imaging strategies, as well as gain insight into possible systematic uncertainties.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2017
Microbial water quality monitoring of raw and treated water sources in Harare and the effect of gender in disaster management due to water related disasters
- Authors: Chirenda, Tatenda Grace
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: Drinking water Microbiology Zimbabwe Harare , Heterotrophic bacteria Zimbabwe Harare , Emergency management Zimbabwe Harare , Disasters Social aspects Zimbabwe Harare , Water quality management Zimbabwe Harare , Public health Zimbabwe Harare , Sex role Zimbabwe Harare
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MPharm
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/59156 , vital:27444
- Description: Background - Microbial water quality monitoring is essential to the provision of potable water for domestic use. Unsafe water sources increase the risk of waterborne diseases. There is a need to raise awareness of legislature that supports management of water related disasters. Gender, education, health, and economic vulnerability contribute to the success of disaster management. Aim - This study aimed to investigate the microbial water quality of treated water in the Harare area. The study also researched the microbial water quality monitoring practices in Zimbabwe and how these contribute to the management of water borne diseases. The impact of gender, marriage, education, and disease in disaster management practices in Zimbabwe and South Africa was analysed. Method - Literature review was conducted on microbial water quality monitoring practices in Zimbabwe and legislature that supports disaster management. Practices of disaster management in Zimbabwe, and South Africa were investigated and compared. The perspective of the Harare community on the quality of their potable water was investigated through the use of a questionnaire and water quality testing was conducted using hydrogen sulphide test and R2A based heterotrophic plate count. Raw water supplying Manyame River and tap water in Harare households were assessed for microbial quality. Results and Discussion - Raw water sources were found to be contaminated by faecal matter. Household water sources had no faecal contamination, but tested positive for heterotrophic bacteria. The CFU/ml quantities obtained ranged from 1- 452 CFU/ml for all samples. The WHO guidelines for domestic water sources recommend that domestic water should have no coliforms/100 ml sample. Disaster management protocols were available in disaster prone areas such as the Matabeleland South Province. No guidelines were in place for monitoring microbial water quality as a disaster prevention method. Conclusion - The current state of treated water supplied by the Morton Jaffray Treatment Plant was found to be suitable for domestic use, but not sufficient to meet the Harare population’s needs. The need to push for legislature supporting microbial water quality monitoring was recognised. Initiating public / private partnerships in water distribution and water quality monitoring in Zimbabwe was encouraged.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2017
- Authors: Chirenda, Tatenda Grace
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: Drinking water Microbiology Zimbabwe Harare , Heterotrophic bacteria Zimbabwe Harare , Emergency management Zimbabwe Harare , Disasters Social aspects Zimbabwe Harare , Water quality management Zimbabwe Harare , Public health Zimbabwe Harare , Sex role Zimbabwe Harare
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MPharm
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/59156 , vital:27444
- Description: Background - Microbial water quality monitoring is essential to the provision of potable water for domestic use. Unsafe water sources increase the risk of waterborne diseases. There is a need to raise awareness of legislature that supports management of water related disasters. Gender, education, health, and economic vulnerability contribute to the success of disaster management. Aim - This study aimed to investigate the microbial water quality of treated water in the Harare area. The study also researched the microbial water quality monitoring practices in Zimbabwe and how these contribute to the management of water borne diseases. The impact of gender, marriage, education, and disease in disaster management practices in Zimbabwe and South Africa was analysed. Method - Literature review was conducted on microbial water quality monitoring practices in Zimbabwe and legislature that supports disaster management. Practices of disaster management in Zimbabwe, and South Africa were investigated and compared. The perspective of the Harare community on the quality of their potable water was investigated through the use of a questionnaire and water quality testing was conducted using hydrogen sulphide test and R2A based heterotrophic plate count. Raw water supplying Manyame River and tap water in Harare households were assessed for microbial quality. Results and Discussion - Raw water sources were found to be contaminated by faecal matter. Household water sources had no faecal contamination, but tested positive for heterotrophic bacteria. The CFU/ml quantities obtained ranged from 1- 452 CFU/ml for all samples. The WHO guidelines for domestic water sources recommend that domestic water should have no coliforms/100 ml sample. Disaster management protocols were available in disaster prone areas such as the Matabeleland South Province. No guidelines were in place for monitoring microbial water quality as a disaster prevention method. Conclusion - The current state of treated water supplied by the Morton Jaffray Treatment Plant was found to be suitable for domestic use, but not sufficient to meet the Harare population’s needs. The need to push for legislature supporting microbial water quality monitoring was recognised. Initiating public / private partnerships in water distribution and water quality monitoring in Zimbabwe was encouraged.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2017
Middle management communication in the midst of a crisis
- Authors: Mbolekwano, Veliswa A
- Date: 2017
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MBA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/52477 , vital:26194
- Description: Crisis communication by organisational top leadership to external stakeholders has been explored in literature, while internal crisis communication dynamics by middle managers with their employees within the organisation has been under studied. This paper pursues an understanding of crisis communication dynamics between middle management and their subordinates by investigating how the Middle Managers/Team Leaders of Makana Brick Manufacturing Firm (MBMF) communicated with their employees in the midst of the Eskom load shedding crisis in 2014. The investigation is not limited only to how they handled or made sense of the crisis, but also examines the effect and efficiency of their daily communication on both employees (subordinates) and operations in pursuing this end. As a foundation and background, the study broadly explores the literature on Crisis Leadership, Crisis and Crisis Communication, which are critical topics to understanding the communication role of the middle managers who were the primary subject of this research. The research was conducted through semi-structured, face-to-face interviews. Nine Team Leaders were interviewed. The data collected was transcribed verbatim and analysed through open coding. In the literature of crisis management, the concept of crisis communication has been extensively examined as a function of crisis management, primarily with regards to the crisis communication strategy, encompassing the actual verbal and nonverbal responses an organisation uses to address a crisis. The findings are generally congruent with the crisis communication literature, and reinforce the importance of efficient internal communication in building a culture of transparency between management and employees, as espoused in the literature reviewed, which in addition presents an invaluable opportunity for employees across all levels to engage in and be informed of the organisation’s priorities and therefore has the potential to dictate the success or failure of any major change or crisis situation. As such, it can be argued that there is a need for the same analytical rigour that is given to external crisis communication to be given to financial or operational measures (Barrett, 2002). For both external and internal stakeholders, human compassion, concern and empathy; faith in legitimate and appropriate actions taken by the chosen organisation spokesperson; and honesty, candidness and openness in communication (Seeger 2006, p. 242) are universal. The quality and the quantity of communication, essentially, affect the level of trust and involvement of employees (Thomas, Zolin & Hartman, 2009), which is particularly relevant in times of crisis (Mazzei & Ravazzani, 2015 p. 322). Trust must be developed with staff through clear, honest communication and transparent actions. These encompass being fair, open in communication and intentions, showing consistency, fulfilling promises and being honest about what middle managers can and cannot communicate to their employees (Farrel & Schlesinger, 2013, p. 125). In this study, face to face communication proved to be the most preferred communication channel because of its rewarding advantages such as direct feedback, two-way communication, relationship building and project collaboration.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2017
- Authors: Mbolekwano, Veliswa A
- Date: 2017
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MBA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/52477 , vital:26194
- Description: Crisis communication by organisational top leadership to external stakeholders has been explored in literature, while internal crisis communication dynamics by middle managers with their employees within the organisation has been under studied. This paper pursues an understanding of crisis communication dynamics between middle management and their subordinates by investigating how the Middle Managers/Team Leaders of Makana Brick Manufacturing Firm (MBMF) communicated with their employees in the midst of the Eskom load shedding crisis in 2014. The investigation is not limited only to how they handled or made sense of the crisis, but also examines the effect and efficiency of their daily communication on both employees (subordinates) and operations in pursuing this end. As a foundation and background, the study broadly explores the literature on Crisis Leadership, Crisis and Crisis Communication, which are critical topics to understanding the communication role of the middle managers who were the primary subject of this research. The research was conducted through semi-structured, face-to-face interviews. Nine Team Leaders were interviewed. The data collected was transcribed verbatim and analysed through open coding. In the literature of crisis management, the concept of crisis communication has been extensively examined as a function of crisis management, primarily with regards to the crisis communication strategy, encompassing the actual verbal and nonverbal responses an organisation uses to address a crisis. The findings are generally congruent with the crisis communication literature, and reinforce the importance of efficient internal communication in building a culture of transparency between management and employees, as espoused in the literature reviewed, which in addition presents an invaluable opportunity for employees across all levels to engage in and be informed of the organisation’s priorities and therefore has the potential to dictate the success or failure of any major change or crisis situation. As such, it can be argued that there is a need for the same analytical rigour that is given to external crisis communication to be given to financial or operational measures (Barrett, 2002). For both external and internal stakeholders, human compassion, concern and empathy; faith in legitimate and appropriate actions taken by the chosen organisation spokesperson; and honesty, candidness and openness in communication (Seeger 2006, p. 242) are universal. The quality and the quantity of communication, essentially, affect the level of trust and involvement of employees (Thomas, Zolin & Hartman, 2009), which is particularly relevant in times of crisis (Mazzei & Ravazzani, 2015 p. 322). Trust must be developed with staff through clear, honest communication and transparent actions. These encompass being fair, open in communication and intentions, showing consistency, fulfilling promises and being honest about what middle managers can and cannot communicate to their employees (Farrel & Schlesinger, 2013, p. 125). In this study, face to face communication proved to be the most preferred communication channel because of its rewarding advantages such as direct feedback, two-way communication, relationship building and project collaboration.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2017