In-betweenness: a postcolonial exploration of sociocultural intergenerational learning through cattle as a medium of cultural expression in Mpembeni, KwaZulu-Natal
- Authors: Masuku, Lynette Sibongile
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: Postcolonialism , Environmental education -- South Africa , Community education -- South Africa -- KwaZulu Natal , Non-formal education -- South Africa -- KwaZulu Natal , Agricultural education -- South Africa -- KwaZulu Natal , Livestock -- Handling -- South Africa -- KwaZulu Natal , Cattle -- Handling -- South Africa -- KwaZulu Natal , Cattle herding -- South Africa -- KwaZulu Natal , Life skills -- Study and teaching -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/68181 , vital:29213
- Description: This case study was conducted in a small rural community called Mpembeni, in South Africa’s KwaZulu-Natal province. It was motivated by my observation of high levels of competence in ‘cattle knowledge’ amongst children coupled with a simultaneous failure at school. I view schools as integral parts of the community and consider them as being influenced by the community, which they in turn influence. This study set out to understand that which embodied informal learning in home/pasture-based contexts as well as formalised learning processes in schools. I used Sociocultural theory as the most congruent of educational theories to surface and illuminate the intergenerational learning processes that were taking place in the area. This warranted my use of research investigation methods that could, in non-intrusive ways, expose the everyday community practices that related to cattle as a particular medium of cultural expression. Ethnography, sourced from anthropology, aided by ethnomethods, was not only compatible with my study and the way in which I wanted to write out the research report, but also with my educational theory and its counterhegemonic intents. To understand the colonialities that framed the discord that embodied home and school as learning contexts, I used postcolonial theory, not only as a lens but as a counterhegemonic response. This theory also informed my research methodology as well as afforded me the reflexivity tools for an examination of my own intergenerational learning and the relational identities of myself as ‘Other’ in the lives of the research participants. It further facilitated the exploration of the potential for potential hybrid third spaces within the bubbling meeting nodes of the socio-cultural context of school and home/pasture based settings of learning. I observed cattle herding related practices, interviewed children, their parents and/or carers, dipping tank managers, livestock inspectors, community elders and members. I also analysed some of the written and unwritten content that made up the formal and informal based learning processes and reviewed some of the most recent South African Curriculum Statements and related texts on the representations of cattle. I sought views from teachers on their interactions with the people of Mpembeni, whose children they taught. I also explored axes of tension, silences and presences on anything related to cattle in schools. I argue and make a case for the development of thought by African scholars to advance Africa’s education rather than aid mimicry and the importation of theories of little congruence and relevance to the African context and Africa’s future. The study has made some contributions to new knowledge. This is in its exploration of sociocultural intergenerational methods and techniques that are employed for learning in community contexts, highlighting the importance of surfacing and understanding of children’s knowledge and experiences. The study has gone further to deliberate the in-betweenness of school and home learning environments, highlighting and unsilencing silenced, peripherised, new, old, considered irrelevant in the past, context and time congruent and liberatory knowledges. I propose that the knowledges located in these cleavages of difference be utilised to transform and create learning bridges between home and school environments. I propose that those ways of knowing that see others as nothings, be exposed and unlearned. Methods of learning that naturally unfold at home could be replicated at school with a recognition of the intergenerational methods, techniques, practices and the learning values in a critically constructive manner that narrows difference and othering.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2019
- Authors: Masuku, Lynette Sibongile
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: Postcolonialism , Environmental education -- South Africa , Community education -- South Africa -- KwaZulu Natal , Non-formal education -- South Africa -- KwaZulu Natal , Agricultural education -- South Africa -- KwaZulu Natal , Livestock -- Handling -- South Africa -- KwaZulu Natal , Cattle -- Handling -- South Africa -- KwaZulu Natal , Cattle herding -- South Africa -- KwaZulu Natal , Life skills -- Study and teaching -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/68181 , vital:29213
- Description: This case study was conducted in a small rural community called Mpembeni, in South Africa’s KwaZulu-Natal province. It was motivated by my observation of high levels of competence in ‘cattle knowledge’ amongst children coupled with a simultaneous failure at school. I view schools as integral parts of the community and consider them as being influenced by the community, which they in turn influence. This study set out to understand that which embodied informal learning in home/pasture-based contexts as well as formalised learning processes in schools. I used Sociocultural theory as the most congruent of educational theories to surface and illuminate the intergenerational learning processes that were taking place in the area. This warranted my use of research investigation methods that could, in non-intrusive ways, expose the everyday community practices that related to cattle as a particular medium of cultural expression. Ethnography, sourced from anthropology, aided by ethnomethods, was not only compatible with my study and the way in which I wanted to write out the research report, but also with my educational theory and its counterhegemonic intents. To understand the colonialities that framed the discord that embodied home and school as learning contexts, I used postcolonial theory, not only as a lens but as a counterhegemonic response. This theory also informed my research methodology as well as afforded me the reflexivity tools for an examination of my own intergenerational learning and the relational identities of myself as ‘Other’ in the lives of the research participants. It further facilitated the exploration of the potential for potential hybrid third spaces within the bubbling meeting nodes of the socio-cultural context of school and home/pasture based settings of learning. I observed cattle herding related practices, interviewed children, their parents and/or carers, dipping tank managers, livestock inspectors, community elders and members. I also analysed some of the written and unwritten content that made up the formal and informal based learning processes and reviewed some of the most recent South African Curriculum Statements and related texts on the representations of cattle. I sought views from teachers on their interactions with the people of Mpembeni, whose children they taught. I also explored axes of tension, silences and presences on anything related to cattle in schools. I argue and make a case for the development of thought by African scholars to advance Africa’s education rather than aid mimicry and the importation of theories of little congruence and relevance to the African context and Africa’s future. The study has made some contributions to new knowledge. This is in its exploration of sociocultural intergenerational methods and techniques that are employed for learning in community contexts, highlighting the importance of surfacing and understanding of children’s knowledge and experiences. The study has gone further to deliberate the in-betweenness of school and home learning environments, highlighting and unsilencing silenced, peripherised, new, old, considered irrelevant in the past, context and time congruent and liberatory knowledges. I propose that the knowledges located in these cleavages of difference be utilised to transform and create learning bridges between home and school environments. I propose that those ways of knowing that see others as nothings, be exposed and unlearned. Methods of learning that naturally unfold at home could be replicated at school with a recognition of the intergenerational methods, techniques, practices and the learning values in a critically constructive manner that narrows difference and othering.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2019
The effect of a HIV/AIDS life skills programme on the knowledge, attitudes and perceptions of grade nine learners
- Authors: Alma, Erica
- Date: 2008
- Subjects: Life skills -- Study and teaching -- South Africa , AIDS (Disease) -- Study and teaching -- South Africa , HIV infections -- Study and teaching -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:9916 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/739 , Life skills -- Study and teaching -- South Africa , AIDS (Disease) -- Study and teaching -- South Africa , HIV infections -- Study and teaching -- South Africa
- Description: The first cases of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) were reported in 1981 and in 1983 the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) was identified. Today, over 40 million individuals globally are living with HIV/AIDS. As there is currently no cure for the disease, it is projected to reach pandemic proportions in the 21st century. In South Africa at the end of 2006, over 5.3 million individuals were living with HIV/AIDS, with affluent and educated South Africans showing the highest HIVprevalence growth rate. The HIV prevalence amongst 15 to 24 year old South Africans is 10.4 percent. It has become vital that youth receive education about HIV/AIDS as early as possible, to ensure that they do not contract the virus. Psycho-education seeks to teach psychological knowledge and skills to individuals. This is also known as life skills teaching. The National Departments of Health and Education have developed a life skills programme for schools. This programme aims to, amongst others; educate young people about HIV/AIDS. The effectiveness of this programme will be assessed in two schools in the Port Elizabeth area. In this exploratory descriptive, triangulation research study, a quasiexperimental, one group pre- and post-test design was used to assess the effectiveness of the life skills programme amongst 211 Grade nine middle to upper socio-economic group learners. Four focus groups were conducted after the programme to explore the learners attitudes and perceptions of HIV/AIDS and their experiences of the programme. Teschs model of content analysis and Gubas model of trustworthiness were used to analyse the data obtained from the focus groups.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2008
- Authors: Alma, Erica
- Date: 2008
- Subjects: Life skills -- Study and teaching -- South Africa , AIDS (Disease) -- Study and teaching -- South Africa , HIV infections -- Study and teaching -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:9916 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/739 , Life skills -- Study and teaching -- South Africa , AIDS (Disease) -- Study and teaching -- South Africa , HIV infections -- Study and teaching -- South Africa
- Description: The first cases of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) were reported in 1981 and in 1983 the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) was identified. Today, over 40 million individuals globally are living with HIV/AIDS. As there is currently no cure for the disease, it is projected to reach pandemic proportions in the 21st century. In South Africa at the end of 2006, over 5.3 million individuals were living with HIV/AIDS, with affluent and educated South Africans showing the highest HIVprevalence growth rate. The HIV prevalence amongst 15 to 24 year old South Africans is 10.4 percent. It has become vital that youth receive education about HIV/AIDS as early as possible, to ensure that they do not contract the virus. Psycho-education seeks to teach psychological knowledge and skills to individuals. This is also known as life skills teaching. The National Departments of Health and Education have developed a life skills programme for schools. This programme aims to, amongst others; educate young people about HIV/AIDS. The effectiveness of this programme will be assessed in two schools in the Port Elizabeth area. In this exploratory descriptive, triangulation research study, a quasiexperimental, one group pre- and post-test design was used to assess the effectiveness of the life skills programme amongst 211 Grade nine middle to upper socio-economic group learners. Four focus groups were conducted after the programme to explore the learners attitudes and perceptions of HIV/AIDS and their experiences of the programme. Teschs model of content analysis and Gubas model of trustworthiness were used to analyse the data obtained from the focus groups.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2008
Eating disorders, body image and weight control life orientation teachers' knowledge, attitudes and behaviours
- Authors: Hardie, Alison
- Date: 2006
- Subjects: Eating disorders in adolescence -- South Africa , Life skills -- Study and teaching -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:9844 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/394 , Eating disorders in adolescence -- South Africa , Life skills -- Study and teaching -- South Africa
- Description: The apparent increase in the incidence of both anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa worldwide has resulted in a surge of interest in effective treatment, prevention programmes and health promotion. Health promotion and the primary prevention of eating and body image problems among young people, and in particular adolescents, is emerging as one of the most desirable achievements in contemporary health and nutrition education. Eating disorders usually have their origin during the teenage years, and as such, high schools provide useful sites for the implementation of prevention programmes. Educators can play an important role in the prevention of eating disorders and act as socialization agents who either reinforce or buffer the dominant societal discourses that shape young women’s views of themselves. There are calls, however, for caution in the design and implementation of school-based eating disorder curricula as school educators may inadvertently do more harm than good. It has also been suggested that female educators, as other women, are likely to possess a degree of normative discontent with their body shape and size, and that this dissatisfaction and negative beliefs about food may be unknowingly transferred to the learners within their care. The current study used an exploratory, descriptive research design to investigate the knowledge, attitudes and behaviours related to eating disorders, body image and weight control of a group of Life Orientation educators. A biographical questionnaire, a questionnaire designed for the purposes of the current research and two standardised paper-and-pencil questionnaires, namely the Body Shape Questionnaire (BSQ) and the Eating Attitudes Test (EAT), were administered to 50 female Life Orientation educators in the Nelson Mandela Metropole. A non-probability purposive sampling technique was used in the selection of participants and descriptive statistics were used to explore and describe the data. The results of the current research study indicated a lack of knowledge in those Life Orientation educators assessed regarding eating disorders and healthy diet. The results also indicated inaccurate knowledge amongst those educators assessed regarding effective and safe teaching practices of eating disorder pathology. The results of the two standardised questionnaires reflected an internalisation of the dominant societal ideals regarding weight and body shape, with 18% of the sample xi demonstrating attitudes and behaviours that could be indicative of eating disorder pathology of either clinical or subclinical proportions. Suggestions were made regarding future research and the need for further training of Life Orientation educators. Finally, the limitations as well as the value of the research were outlined.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2006
- Authors: Hardie, Alison
- Date: 2006
- Subjects: Eating disorders in adolescence -- South Africa , Life skills -- Study and teaching -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:9844 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/394 , Eating disorders in adolescence -- South Africa , Life skills -- Study and teaching -- South Africa
- Description: The apparent increase in the incidence of both anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa worldwide has resulted in a surge of interest in effective treatment, prevention programmes and health promotion. Health promotion and the primary prevention of eating and body image problems among young people, and in particular adolescents, is emerging as one of the most desirable achievements in contemporary health and nutrition education. Eating disorders usually have their origin during the teenage years, and as such, high schools provide useful sites for the implementation of prevention programmes. Educators can play an important role in the prevention of eating disorders and act as socialization agents who either reinforce or buffer the dominant societal discourses that shape young women’s views of themselves. There are calls, however, for caution in the design and implementation of school-based eating disorder curricula as school educators may inadvertently do more harm than good. It has also been suggested that female educators, as other women, are likely to possess a degree of normative discontent with their body shape and size, and that this dissatisfaction and negative beliefs about food may be unknowingly transferred to the learners within their care. The current study used an exploratory, descriptive research design to investigate the knowledge, attitudes and behaviours related to eating disorders, body image and weight control of a group of Life Orientation educators. A biographical questionnaire, a questionnaire designed for the purposes of the current research and two standardised paper-and-pencil questionnaires, namely the Body Shape Questionnaire (BSQ) and the Eating Attitudes Test (EAT), were administered to 50 female Life Orientation educators in the Nelson Mandela Metropole. A non-probability purposive sampling technique was used in the selection of participants and descriptive statistics were used to explore and describe the data. The results of the current research study indicated a lack of knowledge in those Life Orientation educators assessed regarding eating disorders and healthy diet. The results also indicated inaccurate knowledge amongst those educators assessed regarding effective and safe teaching practices of eating disorder pathology. The results of the two standardised questionnaires reflected an internalisation of the dominant societal ideals regarding weight and body shape, with 18% of the sample xi demonstrating attitudes and behaviours that could be indicative of eating disorder pathology of either clinical or subclinical proportions. Suggestions were made regarding future research and the need for further training of Life Orientation educators. Finally, the limitations as well as the value of the research were outlined.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2006
"Ufunda de ufe" : the story of a village psychologist in a rural, South African school setting
- Authors: Theunissen, Maureen Ezelle
- Date: 2002
- Subjects: Participant observation , Rural children -- Education -- South Africa , Life skills -- Study and teaching -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSocSc
- Identifier: vital:689 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1004538 , Participant observation , Rural children -- Education -- South Africa , Life skills -- Study and teaching -- South Africa
- Description: In 2001, participatory research, incorporating various participatory rural appraisal techniques, was conducted in five, rural, primary schools in the Eastern Cape, South Africa. The participatory research was aimed at identifying and addressing schools' needs in terms of lifeskills education in a changing South Africa and educational environment. This whole process has been written up as a case study and further analysed in an attempt to describe the emerging role of the psychologist, working in participation with educators, in this kind of setting. Going beyond description, the researcher reflects upon the function and nature of the role of the psychologist within the developmental participatory process. In doing so, the article addresses the need for participatory research results to be further analysed in generating theory, particularly within Psychology. The article highlights some of the strengths of qualitative research, and the primacy of the personal in that endeavour.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2002
- Authors: Theunissen, Maureen Ezelle
- Date: 2002
- Subjects: Participant observation , Rural children -- Education -- South Africa , Life skills -- Study and teaching -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSocSc
- Identifier: vital:689 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1004538 , Participant observation , Rural children -- Education -- South Africa , Life skills -- Study and teaching -- South Africa
- Description: In 2001, participatory research, incorporating various participatory rural appraisal techniques, was conducted in five, rural, primary schools in the Eastern Cape, South Africa. The participatory research was aimed at identifying and addressing schools' needs in terms of lifeskills education in a changing South Africa and educational environment. This whole process has been written up as a case study and further analysed in an attempt to describe the emerging role of the psychologist, working in participation with educators, in this kind of setting. Going beyond description, the researcher reflects upon the function and nature of the role of the psychologist within the developmental participatory process. In doing so, the article addresses the need for participatory research results to be further analysed in generating theory, particularly within Psychology. The article highlights some of the strengths of qualitative research, and the primacy of the personal in that endeavour.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2002
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