Plants, people, and place: complex, mutualistic, and co-evolving global patterns through time
- Authors: Van Wijk, Yvette Ethné
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: Ethnobotany -- South Africa -- Western Cape , Khoisan (African people) -- Ethnobotany , Human-plant relationships -- South Africa -- Western Cape , Plants -- Classification -- South Africa -- Western Cape , Plant remains (Archaeology) -- South Africa -- Western Cape , Ethnoscience -- South Africa -- Western Cape , Regression analysis
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/76575 , vital:30609
- Description: My thesis studies and analyses the suite of distinctive plant taxa which persist in small patches of vegetation growing in close association with archaeological habitation sites in the southern Cape, South Africa. The unexpected correlation and overlap between botanical taxa collected at 75 site complexes, and ethnobotanical data collected in collaboration with modern Khoi-San communities in the same area, is explored and interrogated. Although sparse, reports of the same suite of taxa recovered from archaeological excavations in the Cape provinces provides depth of time to the study, linking the past to the present. The three-way correlation of a suite of plants closely associated with humans and habitation sites through time, allows for triangulation of the data in order to validate and cross verify the results using more than one frame of reference. Both the plants and the knowledge about their uses have persisted in spite of historical attrition, and alienation of land and language, suffered by the Khoi-San over the past 300 years. Drawing on a large body of primary and secondary data, and using an interdisciplinary, abductive and pragmatic mixed methods approach, a pattern can be traced throughout Africa and globally. Regression analysis strongly indicates that the most ubiquitous taxa were selected for a purpose and are not randomly present in association with humans. Botanical, anthropological, and archaeological studies seldom focus on the inter-connectedness of people and plants at the sites they inhabited. Very little research into modern vegetation in close association with the sites has been undertaken, and vegetation mapping has not captured the occurrence of these site-specific small vegetation patches recorded during my surveys. The topographically, geologically, and vegetatively complex and varied southern Cape, and greater Cape area, is extremely rich in archaeological sites and history. This study suggests that the value of site-specific plant taxa to humans throughout the aeons of pre-agricultural history, persists into the present. Due to tolerance of a broad range of climatic and environmental variables, there is value in the study of these ancient and neglected useful plants in the face of climate change. That this vegetation is so closely associated with archaeological sites of cultural and historic importance confers an urgency to recognising the existence and significance of the distinctive and possibly anthropogenic vegetation surrounding the sites.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2019
- Authors: Van Wijk, Yvette Ethné
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: Ethnobotany -- South Africa -- Western Cape , Khoisan (African people) -- Ethnobotany , Human-plant relationships -- South Africa -- Western Cape , Plants -- Classification -- South Africa -- Western Cape , Plant remains (Archaeology) -- South Africa -- Western Cape , Ethnoscience -- South Africa -- Western Cape , Regression analysis
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/76575 , vital:30609
- Description: My thesis studies and analyses the suite of distinctive plant taxa which persist in small patches of vegetation growing in close association with archaeological habitation sites in the southern Cape, South Africa. The unexpected correlation and overlap between botanical taxa collected at 75 site complexes, and ethnobotanical data collected in collaboration with modern Khoi-San communities in the same area, is explored and interrogated. Although sparse, reports of the same suite of taxa recovered from archaeological excavations in the Cape provinces provides depth of time to the study, linking the past to the present. The three-way correlation of a suite of plants closely associated with humans and habitation sites through time, allows for triangulation of the data in order to validate and cross verify the results using more than one frame of reference. Both the plants and the knowledge about their uses have persisted in spite of historical attrition, and alienation of land and language, suffered by the Khoi-San over the past 300 years. Drawing on a large body of primary and secondary data, and using an interdisciplinary, abductive and pragmatic mixed methods approach, a pattern can be traced throughout Africa and globally. Regression analysis strongly indicates that the most ubiquitous taxa were selected for a purpose and are not randomly present in association with humans. Botanical, anthropological, and archaeological studies seldom focus on the inter-connectedness of people and plants at the sites they inhabited. Very little research into modern vegetation in close association with the sites has been undertaken, and vegetation mapping has not captured the occurrence of these site-specific small vegetation patches recorded during my surveys. The topographically, geologically, and vegetatively complex and varied southern Cape, and greater Cape area, is extremely rich in archaeological sites and history. This study suggests that the value of site-specific plant taxa to humans throughout the aeons of pre-agricultural history, persists into the present. Due to tolerance of a broad range of climatic and environmental variables, there is value in the study of these ancient and neglected useful plants in the face of climate change. That this vegetation is so closely associated with archaeological sites of cultural and historic importance confers an urgency to recognising the existence and significance of the distinctive and possibly anthropogenic vegetation surrounding the sites.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2019
Political education as a determinant of university students’ political participation in the Eastern Cape, South Africa
- Authors: Badaru, Kazeem Ajasa
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: Citizenship -- Study and teaching -- South Africa Democracy and education -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , DPhil
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/15793 , vital:40524
- Description: Globally, there is a downward trend in youths’ political interest and participation in the learning of political education in their school curricula as a measure to combat the apparent dangers posed by the declining young citizens’ participation in the political processes.This study therefore investigated political education as a determinant of university students’ political participation in the Province of the Eastern Cape, South Africa. The study employed a mixed methods design. Using the probability sampling technique, a sample of 375 participants was randomly selected from one university in the Eastern Cape Province while semi-structured interviews were conducted among five (5) purposively selected members of the same university’s Student Representative Council (SRC) executive committee. Simple descriptive statistics such as frequency counts and percentages were used to summarize all categories of variables; while Pearson correlation statistics, Chi-square and Ordinary least square regression were used to examine the relationship between dependent and independent variables at a 95percent confidence interval. Alpha values less than 0.05 were considered to be statistically significant. Thematic content analysis was performed on the qualitative data. The quantitative analysis revealed that students’ level of political awareness was high; 98.1percent of them were aware of their rights to vote and be voted for. Students’ political judgment was positively correlated with participation in campus (r =0.182) and national politics (r = 0.030) respectively. Most of the students agreed to take part in the 2018 SRC (78.8percent) and 2019 national elections (77.9percent) respectively. Political interest was significantly correlated with participation in campus (r = 0.375) and national politics (r =0. 404). The findings from the multivariate analysis showed that political interest (<0.001), parents’ political involvement (<0.001) and year of study (<0.001) were the significant determinants of students’ participation in politics. The qualitative findings also showed that there was a positive relationship between political education and students’ participation in politics. Since political interest and family are element and agent of political education respectively, it is concluded that political education is to a large extent a determinant of university students’ political participation. It is recommended that the universities, the Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET) and other stakeholders should do a thorough review of the university education curricula and programmes to ensure that political education is adequately accommodated and taken care of in a way that would increase students’ interest, awareness and participation in politics. When this is amply done, students’ cognitive skills and capacities would be enhanced to increase their participation in the political processes in South Africa.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2019
- Authors: Badaru, Kazeem Ajasa
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: Citizenship -- Study and teaching -- South Africa Democracy and education -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , DPhil
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/15793 , vital:40524
- Description: Globally, there is a downward trend in youths’ political interest and participation in the learning of political education in their school curricula as a measure to combat the apparent dangers posed by the declining young citizens’ participation in the political processes.This study therefore investigated political education as a determinant of university students’ political participation in the Province of the Eastern Cape, South Africa. The study employed a mixed methods design. Using the probability sampling technique, a sample of 375 participants was randomly selected from one university in the Eastern Cape Province while semi-structured interviews were conducted among five (5) purposively selected members of the same university’s Student Representative Council (SRC) executive committee. Simple descriptive statistics such as frequency counts and percentages were used to summarize all categories of variables; while Pearson correlation statistics, Chi-square and Ordinary least square regression were used to examine the relationship between dependent and independent variables at a 95percent confidence interval. Alpha values less than 0.05 were considered to be statistically significant. Thematic content analysis was performed on the qualitative data. The quantitative analysis revealed that students’ level of political awareness was high; 98.1percent of them were aware of their rights to vote and be voted for. Students’ political judgment was positively correlated with participation in campus (r =0.182) and national politics (r = 0.030) respectively. Most of the students agreed to take part in the 2018 SRC (78.8percent) and 2019 national elections (77.9percent) respectively. Political interest was significantly correlated with participation in campus (r = 0.375) and national politics (r =0. 404). The findings from the multivariate analysis showed that political interest (<0.001), parents’ political involvement (<0.001) and year of study (<0.001) were the significant determinants of students’ participation in politics. The qualitative findings also showed that there was a positive relationship between political education and students’ participation in politics. Since political interest and family are element and agent of political education respectively, it is concluded that political education is to a large extent a determinant of university students’ political participation. It is recommended that the universities, the Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET) and other stakeholders should do a thorough review of the university education curricula and programmes to ensure that political education is adequately accommodated and taken care of in a way that would increase students’ interest, awareness and participation in politics. When this is amply done, students’ cognitive skills and capacities would be enhanced to increase their participation in the political processes in South Africa.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2019
Pragmatics teaching: on the development of learners’ linguistic competence among selected East London District schools
- Authors: Myoli, Ndileka
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: Pragmatics -- Study and teaching Language and languages -- Study and teaching
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/11232 , vital:37607
- Description: South Africa was listed amongst the countries with a percentage of students with achievement too low for estimation by “Progress International Results in Reading” in 2011. Meanwhile, there was also an indication that, high school learners in the Eastern Cape Province are highly challenged, as far as their ability to produce speech, as well as the ability to interpret meaning beyond what is literally suggested. Since such difficulties usually pose problems of content understanding, concerned researchers in the field of language took it upon themselves to investigate the underlying cause of the problem, in order to prevent more problems of pragmatics incompetence, such as, problems with social interaction that could retard one’s ability to function independently as an adult. While many studies have been conducted in the area of Pragmatics language competence, this study found it necessary to contribute around this debate. Since the study was two-fold, isiXhosa Home language learners of Grades 10 to 12 were investigated with an objective to determine the extent of pragmatic incompetence and the Teachers were investigated to determine the effectiveness of their teaching of pragmatics language. A number of 108 high school isiXhosa learners, of ages of between 16 and 18 years, from East London Directorate, 36 per Grade, from the three selected schools high schools, were sampled, 36 consisting of 18 males and 18 females per grade from each selected high school. 9 isiXhosa Home Language teachers of between the ages of 45 to 54 years were sampled from the selected schools. This study used an assessment test for the learners and the questionnaire for the teachers, as a means of data collection techniques. The study applied a high consideration of validity as well as of ethical matters in order to ensure the reliability of results. The study found that, isiXhosa Home language learners’ levels of pragmatic competence are high and with the appropriate use of good methods of pragmatics language teaching, learners’ pragmatics competence can develop.This study will be able to encourage syllabus designers to collaborate with subject teachers, beginning right at the inception of the syllabus planning. IsiXhosa language teachers can develop teaching material appropriate for their primary goal, which is the development of pragmatic competence. Further research is recommended to investigate more around this area of study to a point where isiXhosa Home language can be counted amongst the great and valued languages of South Africa.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2019
- Authors: Myoli, Ndileka
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: Pragmatics -- Study and teaching Language and languages -- Study and teaching
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/11232 , vital:37607
- Description: South Africa was listed amongst the countries with a percentage of students with achievement too low for estimation by “Progress International Results in Reading” in 2011. Meanwhile, there was also an indication that, high school learners in the Eastern Cape Province are highly challenged, as far as their ability to produce speech, as well as the ability to interpret meaning beyond what is literally suggested. Since such difficulties usually pose problems of content understanding, concerned researchers in the field of language took it upon themselves to investigate the underlying cause of the problem, in order to prevent more problems of pragmatics incompetence, such as, problems with social interaction that could retard one’s ability to function independently as an adult. While many studies have been conducted in the area of Pragmatics language competence, this study found it necessary to contribute around this debate. Since the study was two-fold, isiXhosa Home language learners of Grades 10 to 12 were investigated with an objective to determine the extent of pragmatic incompetence and the Teachers were investigated to determine the effectiveness of their teaching of pragmatics language. A number of 108 high school isiXhosa learners, of ages of between 16 and 18 years, from East London Directorate, 36 per Grade, from the three selected schools high schools, were sampled, 36 consisting of 18 males and 18 females per grade from each selected high school. 9 isiXhosa Home Language teachers of between the ages of 45 to 54 years were sampled from the selected schools. This study used an assessment test for the learners and the questionnaire for the teachers, as a means of data collection techniques. The study applied a high consideration of validity as well as of ethical matters in order to ensure the reliability of results. The study found that, isiXhosa Home language learners’ levels of pragmatic competence are high and with the appropriate use of good methods of pragmatics language teaching, learners’ pragmatics competence can develop.This study will be able to encourage syllabus designers to collaborate with subject teachers, beginning right at the inception of the syllabus planning. IsiXhosa language teachers can develop teaching material appropriate for their primary goal, which is the development of pragmatic competence. Further research is recommended to investigate more around this area of study to a point where isiXhosa Home language can be counted amongst the great and valued languages of South Africa.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2019
Pre-natal maternal stress and its potential correlation to attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD): An exploration into the potential correlation between the prevalence of chronic stress among a sample of Eastern Cape (South African) women during pregnancy and the diagnosis of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) in their children by the time they are of school-going age
- Authors: Mukheibir, Adrienne Jayne
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder , Learning, Psychology of Adaptability (Psychology) Developmental psychology
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , DEd
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/42353 , vital:36648
- Description: This study is an exploration into the potential correlation between the prevalence of chronic stress during pregnancy among a sample of Eastern Cape (South African) mothers and a diagnosis of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) in their school-going children. The theoretical framework on which this study is based is Barker’s Developmental Origins of Health and Disease (DOHaD) model. This model proposes that in utero development is influenced by the intrauterine milieu provided by the mother, where even a slight deviation to this environment during critical periods of development can lead to alterations in structure, physiology and metabolism in the child via fetal programming, which, depending on the cause, timing, duration and intensity of the stress, can cause pervasive, long-lasting consequences to disease and health later in life. This particular study examines existing literature regarding the phenomenon of how prenatal maternal stress (PNMS), as the adverse in utero influence, exerts a long-lasting negative effect on fetal development in the form of ADHD in childhood, and compares these findings to the circumstances surrounding a sample of 60 mothers whose school-going children have been diagnosed with ADHD. A mixed methods approach was used in this study, incorporating firstly a quantitative strand of Eastern Cape mothers where the prevalence and range of chronic stress during gestation was explored. From this sample, a qualitative sample was selected to provide more in-depth information regarding their stressful pregnancies. The flipside of the DOHaD model is that because of fetal developmental plasticity, positive in utero influences can undo the harmful effects caused by over-exposure to stress hormones, thereby enhancing fetal development. Unfortunately, this study highlighted how few mothers were aware of the positive influence a relaxation intervention programme could have on reducing stress which could alter the trajectory of their child’s development. The significant role that a genetic predisposition towards ADHD plays is not being debated. However, this study has provided much needed insight about PNMS as a negative influence on gestational development that could lead to the onset of, or exacerbation of ADHD traits.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2019
- Authors: Mukheibir, Adrienne Jayne
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder , Learning, Psychology of Adaptability (Psychology) Developmental psychology
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , DEd
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/42353 , vital:36648
- Description: This study is an exploration into the potential correlation between the prevalence of chronic stress during pregnancy among a sample of Eastern Cape (South African) mothers and a diagnosis of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) in their school-going children. The theoretical framework on which this study is based is Barker’s Developmental Origins of Health and Disease (DOHaD) model. This model proposes that in utero development is influenced by the intrauterine milieu provided by the mother, where even a slight deviation to this environment during critical periods of development can lead to alterations in structure, physiology and metabolism in the child via fetal programming, which, depending on the cause, timing, duration and intensity of the stress, can cause pervasive, long-lasting consequences to disease and health later in life. This particular study examines existing literature regarding the phenomenon of how prenatal maternal stress (PNMS), as the adverse in utero influence, exerts a long-lasting negative effect on fetal development in the form of ADHD in childhood, and compares these findings to the circumstances surrounding a sample of 60 mothers whose school-going children have been diagnosed with ADHD. A mixed methods approach was used in this study, incorporating firstly a quantitative strand of Eastern Cape mothers where the prevalence and range of chronic stress during gestation was explored. From this sample, a qualitative sample was selected to provide more in-depth information regarding their stressful pregnancies. The flipside of the DOHaD model is that because of fetal developmental plasticity, positive in utero influences can undo the harmful effects caused by over-exposure to stress hormones, thereby enhancing fetal development. Unfortunately, this study highlighted how few mothers were aware of the positive influence a relaxation intervention programme could have on reducing stress which could alter the trajectory of their child’s development. The significant role that a genetic predisposition towards ADHD plays is not being debated. However, this study has provided much needed insight about PNMS as a negative influence on gestational development that could lead to the onset of, or exacerbation of ADHD traits.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2019
Pre-service education students’ application of visualisation strategies to solve mathematical word-problems
- Authors: Shaw, Peter
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: Word problems (Mathematics)
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , DPhil
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/16604 , vital:40735
- Description: This classroom-based action research dissertation examined visualisation strategies used by pre-service Intermediate Phase PGCE education students to solve mathematical word-problems. The setting was an Eastern Cape university. Previous literature indicated a positive correlation between the use of visual scaffolds and success in solving word problems. However, a gap was found insofar as little research had been published on the application of visualisation to word-problems by student teachers in South Africa. This thesis advances our understanding of the role visualisation may play in assisting student teachers to solve word-problems. The theoretic framework was informed by Bruner’s theory of learning. The research was grounded in the hermeneutic tradition. An interpretivist research paradigm was expedited by using an inductive, naturalistic perspective and relativist ontology. Thirty-eight student-teachers participated in the study. Parallel and convergent qualitative and quantitative data gathering instruments were used, thereby facilitating triangulation and examination for microgenesis. It was found that vestiges of past teaching practices initially limited the participants’ knowledge to a deeply-flawed, banking model of routines and an instrumental perception of mathematics. Disruptive calls for social justice impeded progress. Albeit visualisation strategies liberated understanding, many foundational concepts and skills had to be reconstructed. The confluence of time and rehearsal culminated in some measure of expertise. Sustained effort enabled new knowledge to be compressed and consigned to long-term memory. Salient visual representations assisted participants to conceptualise relational mathematical meta-concepts and reduced the cognitive demands imposed by word-problems but that achievement was a hard-won prize.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2019
- Authors: Shaw, Peter
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: Word problems (Mathematics)
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , DPhil
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/16604 , vital:40735
- Description: This classroom-based action research dissertation examined visualisation strategies used by pre-service Intermediate Phase PGCE education students to solve mathematical word-problems. The setting was an Eastern Cape university. Previous literature indicated a positive correlation between the use of visual scaffolds and success in solving word problems. However, a gap was found insofar as little research had been published on the application of visualisation to word-problems by student teachers in South Africa. This thesis advances our understanding of the role visualisation may play in assisting student teachers to solve word-problems. The theoretic framework was informed by Bruner’s theory of learning. The research was grounded in the hermeneutic tradition. An interpretivist research paradigm was expedited by using an inductive, naturalistic perspective and relativist ontology. Thirty-eight student-teachers participated in the study. Parallel and convergent qualitative and quantitative data gathering instruments were used, thereby facilitating triangulation and examination for microgenesis. It was found that vestiges of past teaching practices initially limited the participants’ knowledge to a deeply-flawed, banking model of routines and an instrumental perception of mathematics. Disruptive calls for social justice impeded progress. Albeit visualisation strategies liberated understanding, many foundational concepts and skills had to be reconstructed. The confluence of time and rehearsal culminated in some measure of expertise. Sustained effort enabled new knowledge to be compressed and consigned to long-term memory. Salient visual representations assisted participants to conceptualise relational mathematical meta-concepts and reduced the cognitive demands imposed by word-problems but that achievement was a hard-won prize.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2019
Pyramidal deliberative democracy
- Authors: Danielsen, James
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: Democracy , Information technology -- Political aspects , Internet in public administration , Political participation -- Computer network resources , World politics
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/74502 , vital:30309
- Description: This dissertation has two main objectives. First, to outline an ICT-facilitated model of democracy called ‘pyramidal democracy’ that reconciles deliberative democracy with mass engagement. Second, to suggest how this model of democracy might engender the democratisation of the global economy and thus the provision of a basic level of economic security for all global citizens. At the core of the model is the pyramidal deliberative network, a means of organising citizens into small online deliberative groups and linking these groups together by means of an iterative process of delegate-selection and group-formation. The pyramidal network enables citizens to aggregate their preferences in a deliberative manner, and then project social power by authorizing the delegates at the top-tier of the pyramidal network to communicate their social demands to elected officials or to other points of authority. The envisioned outcome is the democratisation of the public sphere by means of the proliferation of deliberative networks in the government, market, and civil society spheres. Transnational pyramidal networks may make it feasible to instantiate a new citizen-based schema of global governance and, thereby, facilitate the reform of the United Nations and enable a transition towards global peace, sustainability, and distributive justice. Distributive justice might be achieved by means of implementing the six components of a democratised economy: participatory budgeting, fee-and-dividend taxes, a basic income, monetary reform, workplace democracy, and the sharing economy. Taken together, these components might enable the universal provision of a social minimum – a universal basic income sufficient for basic security and real freedom. Taken to its logical conclusion, a democratised economy may also enable a transition towards a post-scarcity economic order characterised by a maximal stock of humanmade and natural capital that would not exceed the sustainable carrying capacity of the earth.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2019
- Authors: Danielsen, James
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: Democracy , Information technology -- Political aspects , Internet in public administration , Political participation -- Computer network resources , World politics
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/74502 , vital:30309
- Description: This dissertation has two main objectives. First, to outline an ICT-facilitated model of democracy called ‘pyramidal democracy’ that reconciles deliberative democracy with mass engagement. Second, to suggest how this model of democracy might engender the democratisation of the global economy and thus the provision of a basic level of economic security for all global citizens. At the core of the model is the pyramidal deliberative network, a means of organising citizens into small online deliberative groups and linking these groups together by means of an iterative process of delegate-selection and group-formation. The pyramidal network enables citizens to aggregate their preferences in a deliberative manner, and then project social power by authorizing the delegates at the top-tier of the pyramidal network to communicate their social demands to elected officials or to other points of authority. The envisioned outcome is the democratisation of the public sphere by means of the proliferation of deliberative networks in the government, market, and civil society spheres. Transnational pyramidal networks may make it feasible to instantiate a new citizen-based schema of global governance and, thereby, facilitate the reform of the United Nations and enable a transition towards global peace, sustainability, and distributive justice. Distributive justice might be achieved by means of implementing the six components of a democratised economy: participatory budgeting, fee-and-dividend taxes, a basic income, monetary reform, workplace democracy, and the sharing economy. Taken together, these components might enable the universal provision of a social minimum – a universal basic income sufficient for basic security and real freedom. Taken to its logical conclusion, a democratised economy may also enable a transition towards a post-scarcity economic order characterised by a maximal stock of humanmade and natural capital that would not exceed the sustainable carrying capacity of the earth.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2019
Quality of work life and job embeddedness as predictors of turnover intentions among academic staff at selected Universities in the Eastern cape province of South Africa
- Authors: Tendai , Tichangwa
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: Employee retention Organizational behavior Work -- Psychological aspects
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , D.Com (Industrial Psychology)
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/19153 , vital:39873
- Description: Rapid higher education change in South Africa has adversely affected academics job experiences, resulting in high academic staff turnover. Despite the extant literature on the impact of higher education change, few studies have assessed how higher education change has influenced academics‟ quality of work life (QWL), job embeddedness (JE) and intention to quit (ITQ). This study investigated academic staff QWL and JE as predictors of their ITQ. A sample of 250 teaching staff (n = 250) was selected from two universities in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa using quota sampling. Data were gathered using questionnaires and analysed using descriptive (frequency distributions and measures of central tendency and variability) and inferential (Pearson correlation, significance testing and regression analysis) statistical methods. The findings confirmed the hypothesised significant negative relationships of QWL and JE with ITQ. Partial evidence suggested that QWL and JE combined explained significantly more ITQ variance than both variables did separately. JE did not moderate the QWL-ITQ association, but explained substantially greater variance in ITQ than QWL did. The sample registered high QWL and moderate JE and ITQ levels. Acceptable instrument validity and reliability were reported. The findings suggest that intrainstitutional factors somewhat mitigate the adverse effects of higher education change on academics‟ QWL, JE and ITQ and a need to enhance JE aspects, in particular, to reduce academic staff turnover intentions and behaviour. Recommendations are offered for future policy, research and practice.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2019
- Authors: Tendai , Tichangwa
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: Employee retention Organizational behavior Work -- Psychological aspects
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , D.Com (Industrial Psychology)
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/19153 , vital:39873
- Description: Rapid higher education change in South Africa has adversely affected academics job experiences, resulting in high academic staff turnover. Despite the extant literature on the impact of higher education change, few studies have assessed how higher education change has influenced academics‟ quality of work life (QWL), job embeddedness (JE) and intention to quit (ITQ). This study investigated academic staff QWL and JE as predictors of their ITQ. A sample of 250 teaching staff (n = 250) was selected from two universities in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa using quota sampling. Data were gathered using questionnaires and analysed using descriptive (frequency distributions and measures of central tendency and variability) and inferential (Pearson correlation, significance testing and regression analysis) statistical methods. The findings confirmed the hypothesised significant negative relationships of QWL and JE with ITQ. Partial evidence suggested that QWL and JE combined explained significantly more ITQ variance than both variables did separately. JE did not moderate the QWL-ITQ association, but explained substantially greater variance in ITQ than QWL did. The sample registered high QWL and moderate JE and ITQ levels. Acceptable instrument validity and reliability were reported. The findings suggest that intrainstitutional factors somewhat mitigate the adverse effects of higher education change on academics‟ QWL, JE and ITQ and a need to enhance JE aspects, in particular, to reduce academic staff turnover intentions and behaviour. Recommendations are offered for future policy, research and practice.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2019
Reading to learn for secondary schooling: an interventionist action research study within a South African under-privileged setting
- Authors: Mataka, Tawanda Wallace
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: Rose, David, 1955-. Reading to learn , Reading (Secondary) , English language -- Study and teaching (Secondary) -- Foreign speakers -- South Africa , English language -- Study and teaching (Secondary) -- Foreign speakers -- South Africa -- Case studies , Literacy -- South Africa -- Makhanda
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/92191 , vital:30706
- Description: The study examined the contribution that Rose’s (2005) Reading to Learn (RtL) methodology made in development of advanced literacy abilities recommended in the schooling system. RtL was influenced by Bernstein’s theory of pedagogic discourse, Bruner, Vygotsky’s social learning theory and Halliday’s systemic functional linguistics theory. The study used the same cohort of learners during Grades 11 and 12 in a black township secondary school in Grahamstown, Eastern Cape, South Africa. RtL was birthed in Australia with the intention of accelerating literacy development of learners in disadvantaged communities. Based on its success in Australia, I implemented the methodology against a backdrop of continuously declining literacy standards in South African primary and secondary schools. Researchers on literacy acknowledge that socioeconomic and geosocial circumstances cannot be divorced from poor literacy performances in South African schools. Although these two factors play a role in regressing literacy, pedagogical approaches play a role. RtL was employed as an intervention strategy with learners whose literacy abilities were found lacking in comparison to curriculum demands. Despite the focus being on learners whose performance was below expected academic levels, the able learners were motivated to further their advanced abilities. The learners whose performance was previously compromised performed to par with their able counterparts. RtL provided all learners an opportunity to apply, with less difficulty, the language approved by the schooling system. The two research questions sought to illuminate the role RtL played in developing learners’ ability to read, so that they could converse with text and put into writing practice what they had read. In this regard, creative and transactional assignments were written, and performance assessed to evaluate the RtL intervention. Secondly, the research allowed me to get an insight through interviews with learners as to how they were positively or negatively influenced through RtL in learning English as a First Additional Language. The study was a longitudinal action research study which had a life span of 22 months. It was dominantly qualitative with a thin quantitative strand. Data to evaluate effectiveness was generated from learners’ written work and interviews. The learners’ work was analysed using an RtL assessment tool adopted from Rose (2018), for the purposes of uniformity and reliability. Findings from interviews highlighted various views regarding the positive impact of RtL. What emerged from the findings is a reflection of the positive impact RtL had on literacy development. Significantly, learners’ work improved across the board, true to Rose’s assertion that learners exposed to teaching using RtL principles experience accelerated literacy development. Based on these findings, RtL implemented in a township setting in South Africa yields results similar to those in Australia and other countries.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2019
- Authors: Mataka, Tawanda Wallace
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: Rose, David, 1955-. Reading to learn , Reading (Secondary) , English language -- Study and teaching (Secondary) -- Foreign speakers -- South Africa , English language -- Study and teaching (Secondary) -- Foreign speakers -- South Africa -- Case studies , Literacy -- South Africa -- Makhanda
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/92191 , vital:30706
- Description: The study examined the contribution that Rose’s (2005) Reading to Learn (RtL) methodology made in development of advanced literacy abilities recommended in the schooling system. RtL was influenced by Bernstein’s theory of pedagogic discourse, Bruner, Vygotsky’s social learning theory and Halliday’s systemic functional linguistics theory. The study used the same cohort of learners during Grades 11 and 12 in a black township secondary school in Grahamstown, Eastern Cape, South Africa. RtL was birthed in Australia with the intention of accelerating literacy development of learners in disadvantaged communities. Based on its success in Australia, I implemented the methodology against a backdrop of continuously declining literacy standards in South African primary and secondary schools. Researchers on literacy acknowledge that socioeconomic and geosocial circumstances cannot be divorced from poor literacy performances in South African schools. Although these two factors play a role in regressing literacy, pedagogical approaches play a role. RtL was employed as an intervention strategy with learners whose literacy abilities were found lacking in comparison to curriculum demands. Despite the focus being on learners whose performance was below expected academic levels, the able learners were motivated to further their advanced abilities. The learners whose performance was previously compromised performed to par with their able counterparts. RtL provided all learners an opportunity to apply, with less difficulty, the language approved by the schooling system. The two research questions sought to illuminate the role RtL played in developing learners’ ability to read, so that they could converse with text and put into writing practice what they had read. In this regard, creative and transactional assignments were written, and performance assessed to evaluate the RtL intervention. Secondly, the research allowed me to get an insight through interviews with learners as to how they were positively or negatively influenced through RtL in learning English as a First Additional Language. The study was a longitudinal action research study which had a life span of 22 months. It was dominantly qualitative with a thin quantitative strand. Data to evaluate effectiveness was generated from learners’ written work and interviews. The learners’ work was analysed using an RtL assessment tool adopted from Rose (2018), for the purposes of uniformity and reliability. Findings from interviews highlighted various views regarding the positive impact of RtL. What emerged from the findings is a reflection of the positive impact RtL had on literacy development. Significantly, learners’ work improved across the board, true to Rose’s assertion that learners exposed to teaching using RtL principles experience accelerated literacy development. Based on these findings, RtL implemented in a township setting in South Africa yields results similar to those in Australia and other countries.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2019
Reflection and representation: modes of communicating Zimbabwean historical narratives through popular music
- Authors: Gwindingwe, Gift
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: Communication Interpersonal communication
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/15804 , vital:40528
- Description: Music, before and after independence in the former colonies, has been playing a central role of articulating national concerns. It became an alternative medium through which historical narratives were channeled out to the public. While many scholars have acknowledged the critical role of music’s attempt to whip the autocratic governments into line, and the attempts by the governments across the world to thwart the critical/activism role of music, little emphasis was put on the mechanism of circumventing censorship, the linguistic competence (or lack of it) of music in conscientising the public on national issues. This thesis aims to harness this seemingly entertainment tool (music) into serious academic discourse by looking at the way power relations and ideological contestations are symbolically reflected, represented and communicated in popular culture, in particular the Zimbabwean Sungura and Chimurenga music. It makes a critical analysis of the diction of music as it attempts (or fails to) reflect and represent the Zimbabwean historical narratives from the early 1990s to 2008. The study tries to (semiologically) fracture the musical lexicon and the ideological stance on which it is based to show the extent to which music communicates by way of reflecting and representing the Zimbabwean historical narratives. The thesis looks at how popular music has ‘become the most prominent signifier’ and at ‘the shifting meanings and the significance of … music’ (Nooshin 2005:231) in Zimbabwe. It utilises a qualitative research approach specifically an interpretive prism. Key research methods for the study include in-depth semi-structured interviews which were conducted with purposively selected informants such as university academics and two of the selected musicians. The selected academics were purposively sampled basing on the researcher’s knowledge of their inclination towards Cultural Studies, particularly popular culture. The study has managed to bring clarity to the research questions in a big way considering the application of the various theories that framed the thesis discussion. Research findings indicate that interpretive semiotics aids to unpack the philosophy of meaning making through song. Music as a medium has the reflective effect of a mirror and a photographic effect of a camera to enunciate the ideological innuendo in the leader-led dichotomy. The study shows that protest popular music rejects knowledge that affirms the status quo; it is counter hegemonic and seeks to regenerate selfhoods and self-liberation amongst the subaltern class.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2019
- Authors: Gwindingwe, Gift
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: Communication Interpersonal communication
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/15804 , vital:40528
- Description: Music, before and after independence in the former colonies, has been playing a central role of articulating national concerns. It became an alternative medium through which historical narratives were channeled out to the public. While many scholars have acknowledged the critical role of music’s attempt to whip the autocratic governments into line, and the attempts by the governments across the world to thwart the critical/activism role of music, little emphasis was put on the mechanism of circumventing censorship, the linguistic competence (or lack of it) of music in conscientising the public on national issues. This thesis aims to harness this seemingly entertainment tool (music) into serious academic discourse by looking at the way power relations and ideological contestations are symbolically reflected, represented and communicated in popular culture, in particular the Zimbabwean Sungura and Chimurenga music. It makes a critical analysis of the diction of music as it attempts (or fails to) reflect and represent the Zimbabwean historical narratives from the early 1990s to 2008. The study tries to (semiologically) fracture the musical lexicon and the ideological stance on which it is based to show the extent to which music communicates by way of reflecting and representing the Zimbabwean historical narratives. The thesis looks at how popular music has ‘become the most prominent signifier’ and at ‘the shifting meanings and the significance of … music’ (Nooshin 2005:231) in Zimbabwe. It utilises a qualitative research approach specifically an interpretive prism. Key research methods for the study include in-depth semi-structured interviews which were conducted with purposively selected informants such as university academics and two of the selected musicians. The selected academics were purposively sampled basing on the researcher’s knowledge of their inclination towards Cultural Studies, particularly popular culture. The study has managed to bring clarity to the research questions in a big way considering the application of the various theories that framed the thesis discussion. Research findings indicate that interpretive semiotics aids to unpack the philosophy of meaning making through song. Music as a medium has the reflective effect of a mirror and a photographic effect of a camera to enunciate the ideological innuendo in the leader-led dichotomy. The study shows that protest popular music rejects knowledge that affirms the status quo; it is counter hegemonic and seeks to regenerate selfhoods and self-liberation amongst the subaltern class.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2019
Regional thickening as game-changing: examining transnational activities of gender and women-focused civil society actors for region-building in Southern Africa
- Authors: Nedziwe, Cecilia Lwiindi
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: International relations , Southern Africa Development Community , Regionalism -- Africa, Southern , Africa, Southern -- Foreign relations -- 1994- , Women in development -- Africa, Southern , Women -- Social conditions -- Africa, Southern , Women -- Political activity -- Africa, Southern , Women in public life -- Africa, Southern , Civil society -- Africa, Southern
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/95420 , vital:31154
- Description: This thesis argues that norms, in general, have proliferated in a neo-liberalising context since the 1990s, in particular norms on gender, and how they have changed to indicate new agency and influence, amounts to game change. Despite growing transnational activities, regionalisation and the increasing interface between state and non-state regionalism in a transnational context since the advent of liberalisation and democratisation, analyses in regional International Relations (IR) studies, so far, largely maintain linear logic. The increasing non-state processes, and their connection to state processes in norm creation, norm adaptation, norm diffusion and implementation around broad questions of security including in the area of gender, amount to regional thickening. Regional thickening revealed in terms of increasing regionalisation, regionalism, and region-ness whose effect is game-changing challenges mainstream linear approaches in regional IR studies. Game-changing here, refers to, processes promoting the development of norms mentioned above in the interest of contributing to improved security across a region. This study is focused on Southern Africa, defined here, as the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region. This study’s analytical approach is informed by alternatives to mainstream approaches, emphasising processes, rather than linearity inherent in regional IR studies. By privileging the actual game-changing processes, interactions, and agency around the norm development cycle, this study examines how regional thickening in a transnational context promotes game-changing activities, promoting the development of the norm cycle, seeking to have improved security. A mixed method approach involving gathering of information from multiple primary and secondary sources are used. The study found transnational activities and regionalisation of gender and women-focused civil society actors, game-changing. These civil society actors organised in two ways. First, by way of advocacy and in seeking representation within intergovernmental policymaking structures at a regional level. Second, by way of organising around transnational communities in a transnational context in the interest of addressing gendered insecurities at localised levels. Regional thickening as game-changing here pointed to a growing recognition and participation of civil society actors in intergovernmental policymaking spaces as having created a groundswell for game change at localised levels. This led to policy development, adaptation, diffusion, and implementation by both state and non-state actors contributing to norm changes, improved social policies, and to greater security. The actual changes emerging from these actors’ activities on the ground are in terms of unlearning patriarchal behaviours, opening up development for women, and increasing their living standards, education, health, and their freedom. In assessing the transnational environment on gendered insecurity in Southern Africa, this thesis developed an innovative framework of regional thickening as game-changing. This framework plots how game-changing developed, evolved, and its importance in addressing gendered insecurity. The thesis has proposed that game-changing transnational activities and regionalisation that change, and diffuse norms to break learnt behaviour, have helped disrupt rigid institutionalisation, and are aiding to bring non-linear discourses to the fore.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2019
- Authors: Nedziwe, Cecilia Lwiindi
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: International relations , Southern Africa Development Community , Regionalism -- Africa, Southern , Africa, Southern -- Foreign relations -- 1994- , Women in development -- Africa, Southern , Women -- Social conditions -- Africa, Southern , Women -- Political activity -- Africa, Southern , Women in public life -- Africa, Southern , Civil society -- Africa, Southern
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/95420 , vital:31154
- Description: This thesis argues that norms, in general, have proliferated in a neo-liberalising context since the 1990s, in particular norms on gender, and how they have changed to indicate new agency and influence, amounts to game change. Despite growing transnational activities, regionalisation and the increasing interface between state and non-state regionalism in a transnational context since the advent of liberalisation and democratisation, analyses in regional International Relations (IR) studies, so far, largely maintain linear logic. The increasing non-state processes, and their connection to state processes in norm creation, norm adaptation, norm diffusion and implementation around broad questions of security including in the area of gender, amount to regional thickening. Regional thickening revealed in terms of increasing regionalisation, regionalism, and region-ness whose effect is game-changing challenges mainstream linear approaches in regional IR studies. Game-changing here, refers to, processes promoting the development of norms mentioned above in the interest of contributing to improved security across a region. This study is focused on Southern Africa, defined here, as the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region. This study’s analytical approach is informed by alternatives to mainstream approaches, emphasising processes, rather than linearity inherent in regional IR studies. By privileging the actual game-changing processes, interactions, and agency around the norm development cycle, this study examines how regional thickening in a transnational context promotes game-changing activities, promoting the development of the norm cycle, seeking to have improved security. A mixed method approach involving gathering of information from multiple primary and secondary sources are used. The study found transnational activities and regionalisation of gender and women-focused civil society actors, game-changing. These civil society actors organised in two ways. First, by way of advocacy and in seeking representation within intergovernmental policymaking structures at a regional level. Second, by way of organising around transnational communities in a transnational context in the interest of addressing gendered insecurities at localised levels. Regional thickening as game-changing here pointed to a growing recognition and participation of civil society actors in intergovernmental policymaking spaces as having created a groundswell for game change at localised levels. This led to policy development, adaptation, diffusion, and implementation by both state and non-state actors contributing to norm changes, improved social policies, and to greater security. The actual changes emerging from these actors’ activities on the ground are in terms of unlearning patriarchal behaviours, opening up development for women, and increasing their living standards, education, health, and their freedom. In assessing the transnational environment on gendered insecurity in Southern Africa, this thesis developed an innovative framework of regional thickening as game-changing. This framework plots how game-changing developed, evolved, and its importance in addressing gendered insecurity. The thesis has proposed that game-changing transnational activities and regionalisation that change, and diffuse norms to break learnt behaviour, have helped disrupt rigid institutionalisation, and are aiding to bring non-linear discourses to the fore.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2019
Residents’ perspectives on township tourism in Mondesa, Swakopmund, Namibia
- Auala, Lovisa Sisco Ndapanda
- Authors: Auala, Lovisa Sisco Ndapanda
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: Tourism — Namibia
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/42448 , vital:36661
- Description: Township tourism is regarded as one of the fastest growing tourist activities in Namibia (Buning, Legant, Schauwinhold, Steinbrink & Subenguth, 2016:14). This research study presents an exploratory inquiry that seeks an in-depth understanding of residents’perspectives on township tourism in Mondesa, Swakopmund, Namibia.In order to conceptualise the extent to which the residents’needs are being met through the benefits derived from township tourism. The residents’ perspectives on township tourism in Mondesa areexplored with respect to the benefits and costs derived from township tourism, participation in township tourism, and interaction with tourist during a township tour and consultation on township tourismwhich forms part of the research questions ofthe study. By applying the Social Exchange Theory (SET) in this study, the relationships between the variables that influence the residents perceived benefit and costs of township tourism in Mondesa are explored further in depth in combination with Pretty’s Typology of participation and Scheyne’s typology of community empowerment in tourism (Ap, 1992: 668; Mason, 2003:119; Sharpley and Telfer, 2002:152;Cooper, Fletcher, Gilbert & Wanhill, 1993:91).These variables are namely; social, economic, psychological, environmental, cultural, Manipulative, passive, educational and political factors. They form part of the conceptual framework of the study.This study followed a qualitative research approachandmultiple data sources were collected including semi-structured interviews with residents from Mondesa:these included residents involved in township tourism and those not involved in township tourism. To triangulate the data collection, semi-structured interviews were conducted with representatives from tourism industry and government bodies related to townshiptourism. Data analysis was done through the facilitation of Atlas tiaqualitative data analysis software and deductive codes were established from the literature(variables from the conceptual framework)and themes were developed from the research questions.The findings indicate that residents who are not involved in township tourism arenot influenced by the benefit and cost equation of the social exchange theory (Andriotis, 2005:69). Therefore residents not involved in township tourism are positive about tourism irrespective of whether they benefit directly from financial gain through tourism. The findingsfurtheremphasis oncommunity benefitsfrom township tourism being as important, than individual benefits. This study also provides knowledge that meaningful interaction between tourist and residents has the ability to reduce the apartheid paradigm of racial division and discrimination, which was the basis of the formation of townships.Residents’ misconception about white people are changed due to their personal interaction and cultural exchange with white tourist during a township tour. Anothersignificant findings to emerge from this study is the ability for township tourism to transform the lives of residents living in townships through the intrinsic benefits derived from township tourism. Township tourism has the ability to contribute to positive human exchange through interaction between residents and tourists. By sharing a positive cultural exchange, strong relationships are built between the tourists and residents, which may provide long term sustainability of township tourism. The positive personal transformational effect on residents through interaction with tourists is contributing to residents’ socio-economic well-being. Therefore township tourism has the ability to quantitatively and qualitatively address the alleviationof poverty in townshipsand fostering understanding and mutual respect among peoples of the world.The studyconcluded with a framework of guidelines toaid key stakeholders in the development and planning of township tourism and encourages the practice of sustainable tourism in townships.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2019
- Authors: Auala, Lovisa Sisco Ndapanda
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: Tourism — Namibia
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/42448 , vital:36661
- Description: Township tourism is regarded as one of the fastest growing tourist activities in Namibia (Buning, Legant, Schauwinhold, Steinbrink & Subenguth, 2016:14). This research study presents an exploratory inquiry that seeks an in-depth understanding of residents’perspectives on township tourism in Mondesa, Swakopmund, Namibia.In order to conceptualise the extent to which the residents’needs are being met through the benefits derived from township tourism. The residents’ perspectives on township tourism in Mondesa areexplored with respect to the benefits and costs derived from township tourism, participation in township tourism, and interaction with tourist during a township tour and consultation on township tourismwhich forms part of the research questions ofthe study. By applying the Social Exchange Theory (SET) in this study, the relationships between the variables that influence the residents perceived benefit and costs of township tourism in Mondesa are explored further in depth in combination with Pretty’s Typology of participation and Scheyne’s typology of community empowerment in tourism (Ap, 1992: 668; Mason, 2003:119; Sharpley and Telfer, 2002:152;Cooper, Fletcher, Gilbert & Wanhill, 1993:91).These variables are namely; social, economic, psychological, environmental, cultural, Manipulative, passive, educational and political factors. They form part of the conceptual framework of the study.This study followed a qualitative research approachandmultiple data sources were collected including semi-structured interviews with residents from Mondesa:these included residents involved in township tourism and those not involved in township tourism. To triangulate the data collection, semi-structured interviews were conducted with representatives from tourism industry and government bodies related to townshiptourism. Data analysis was done through the facilitation of Atlas tiaqualitative data analysis software and deductive codes were established from the literature(variables from the conceptual framework)and themes were developed from the research questions.The findings indicate that residents who are not involved in township tourism arenot influenced by the benefit and cost equation of the social exchange theory (Andriotis, 2005:69). Therefore residents not involved in township tourism are positive about tourism irrespective of whether they benefit directly from financial gain through tourism. The findingsfurtheremphasis oncommunity benefitsfrom township tourism being as important, than individual benefits. This study also provides knowledge that meaningful interaction between tourist and residents has the ability to reduce the apartheid paradigm of racial division and discrimination, which was the basis of the formation of townships.Residents’ misconception about white people are changed due to their personal interaction and cultural exchange with white tourist during a township tour. Anothersignificant findings to emerge from this study is the ability for township tourism to transform the lives of residents living in townships through the intrinsic benefits derived from township tourism. Township tourism has the ability to contribute to positive human exchange through interaction between residents and tourists. By sharing a positive cultural exchange, strong relationships are built between the tourists and residents, which may provide long term sustainability of township tourism. The positive personal transformational effect on residents through interaction with tourists is contributing to residents’ socio-economic well-being. Therefore township tourism has the ability to quantitatively and qualitatively address the alleviationof poverty in townshipsand fostering understanding and mutual respect among peoples of the world.The studyconcluded with a framework of guidelines toaid key stakeholders in the development and planning of township tourism and encourages the practice of sustainable tourism in townships.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2019
Responding to iconic images of risk through reflexive and narrative enquiry represented in a stratified text for environmental education readers
- Authors: Murphy, Mary
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: Sustainability -- Study and teaching , Environmental education -- Philosophy , Environmental degradation -- Study and teaching , Environmental degradation -- Philosophy , Reflection (Philosophy) , Archer, Margaret S (Margaret Scotford). Structure, agency, and the internal conversation
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/96768 , vital:31318
- Description: This thesis presents a stratified textual strategy to represent meaning developed through reflexive and narrative enquiry of environmental risk. Meaning that emerged in responses to iconic images of risk. Umberto Eco cautioned that iconic images over time become conventional taking over from that which they represent. Representations of risk become embedded through cultural coding. Semiotic theory provided access to the contextual and cultural content of environmental education as experienced during professional work as a radio presenter of “Environmental Matters”, as an environmental educator and activist. Methodological rigour was applied through the application of Margaret Archer's theory of the internal conversation and use of an online content management system. Both the reflexive tool of the internal conversation and the textual mechanism of the blog encouraged commitment to Paul Hart's criteria of trustworthiness and authenticity in the process of building the semiotic structure of the PhD. The Internal Conversation was used as a mediating tool in the PhD process and is presented in practice. Rethinking environmental risk from other species' perspectives through imagined experience was achieved through narrative enquiry. A noted anthropocentric limitation of the inability to interview animals for their experience of human-imposed risk was mitigated through representing the imagined, possible perspectives through story, which invites the reader to join the meaning-making process and open up discussions for and about environmental issues and action. This noted anthropocentrism was evident in debates among the characters about violence and non-violence as a conditioned theme and topic discussed in previous academic research about terrorism in divided societies. The story illustrates how the main character, a penguin called Polo, navigates through emerging meaning within a structure that confronts him with choices that end with a decision to become an agent for change. This story is a narrative example of the morphogenetic process. The multi-textual strategy presents possible methods for the exploration of risk (Vol. 1), reflexivity (Vol. 2) and representation (Vol. 3) for the application and contribution in/to environmental education.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2019
- Authors: Murphy, Mary
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: Sustainability -- Study and teaching , Environmental education -- Philosophy , Environmental degradation -- Study and teaching , Environmental degradation -- Philosophy , Reflection (Philosophy) , Archer, Margaret S (Margaret Scotford). Structure, agency, and the internal conversation
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/96768 , vital:31318
- Description: This thesis presents a stratified textual strategy to represent meaning developed through reflexive and narrative enquiry of environmental risk. Meaning that emerged in responses to iconic images of risk. Umberto Eco cautioned that iconic images over time become conventional taking over from that which they represent. Representations of risk become embedded through cultural coding. Semiotic theory provided access to the contextual and cultural content of environmental education as experienced during professional work as a radio presenter of “Environmental Matters”, as an environmental educator and activist. Methodological rigour was applied through the application of Margaret Archer's theory of the internal conversation and use of an online content management system. Both the reflexive tool of the internal conversation and the textual mechanism of the blog encouraged commitment to Paul Hart's criteria of trustworthiness and authenticity in the process of building the semiotic structure of the PhD. The Internal Conversation was used as a mediating tool in the PhD process and is presented in practice. Rethinking environmental risk from other species' perspectives through imagined experience was achieved through narrative enquiry. A noted anthropocentric limitation of the inability to interview animals for their experience of human-imposed risk was mitigated through representing the imagined, possible perspectives through story, which invites the reader to join the meaning-making process and open up discussions for and about environmental issues and action. This noted anthropocentrism was evident in debates among the characters about violence and non-violence as a conditioned theme and topic discussed in previous academic research about terrorism in divided societies. The story illustrates how the main character, a penguin called Polo, navigates through emerging meaning within a structure that confronts him with choices that end with a decision to become an agent for change. This story is a narrative example of the morphogenetic process. The multi-textual strategy presents possible methods for the exploration of risk (Vol. 1), reflexivity (Vol. 2) and representation (Vol. 3) for the application and contribution in/to environmental education.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2019
Rural food security in Mutare District, Zimbabwe, 1947-2010
- Authors: Kusena, Bernard
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: Mutare (Zimbabwe) -- History , Zimbabwe -- History , Food security -- Zimbabwe , Poverty -- Zimbabwe , Rural pooer -- Zimbabwe , Crop losses -- Zimbabwe , Food relief -- Zimbabwe
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/92865 , vital:30757
- Description: By taking Mutare District as its lens to explore the dynamics of rural food security in Zimbabwe, this thesis assesses the role of the state in tackling hunger among its rural populations. It examines the impact of colonial and post-colonial food policy on efforts to combat food insecurity. The thesis explores the uneasy options pursued by rural communities in response to droughts and other threats of hunger. It identifies and ranks crop failure as the chief culprit to the district’s efforts towards food security. The thesis illustrates the contestations between the state and its rural people over which sustainable approaches to adopt in order to end hunger and how such debates continually shaped policy. It grapples with questions about the various understandings of food security advanced by scholars within the rural African context. It demonstrates, for instance, that the post-colonial state inherited an erstwhile crop production structure which shunned food crops in favour of cash crops. There was obvious bias against local preferences for a robust, home-grown food regime which did not put rural livelihoods at risk of starvation. The thesis also argues that food can be used as an instrument of war as evidenced during the liberation struggle when the vast majority of people residing in rural areas, particularly women and children, were pushed to the edges of survival. In addition, the thesis demonstrates that the infamous Marange diamonds turned out to be a curse rather than a blessing due to the state’s lack of transparency in the beneficiation chain. It concludes by a detailed examination of the political economy of food aid, demonstrating why donors have not succeeded for long to combat hunger in the district. In light of this background, the thesis provides a more nuanced analysis of the whole question of rural food security using archival material, newspapers, government and civil society reports, interviews and field observation. The thesis benefits from the use of a multi-pronged theoretical framework to capture the disparate themes that form the bedrock of this study.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2019
- Authors: Kusena, Bernard
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: Mutare (Zimbabwe) -- History , Zimbabwe -- History , Food security -- Zimbabwe , Poverty -- Zimbabwe , Rural pooer -- Zimbabwe , Crop losses -- Zimbabwe , Food relief -- Zimbabwe
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/92865 , vital:30757
- Description: By taking Mutare District as its lens to explore the dynamics of rural food security in Zimbabwe, this thesis assesses the role of the state in tackling hunger among its rural populations. It examines the impact of colonial and post-colonial food policy on efforts to combat food insecurity. The thesis explores the uneasy options pursued by rural communities in response to droughts and other threats of hunger. It identifies and ranks crop failure as the chief culprit to the district’s efforts towards food security. The thesis illustrates the contestations between the state and its rural people over which sustainable approaches to adopt in order to end hunger and how such debates continually shaped policy. It grapples with questions about the various understandings of food security advanced by scholars within the rural African context. It demonstrates, for instance, that the post-colonial state inherited an erstwhile crop production structure which shunned food crops in favour of cash crops. There was obvious bias against local preferences for a robust, home-grown food regime which did not put rural livelihoods at risk of starvation. The thesis also argues that food can be used as an instrument of war as evidenced during the liberation struggle when the vast majority of people residing in rural areas, particularly women and children, were pushed to the edges of survival. In addition, the thesis demonstrates that the infamous Marange diamonds turned out to be a curse rather than a blessing due to the state’s lack of transparency in the beneficiation chain. It concludes by a detailed examination of the political economy of food aid, demonstrating why donors have not succeeded for long to combat hunger in the district. In light of this background, the thesis provides a more nuanced analysis of the whole question of rural food security using archival material, newspapers, government and civil society reports, interviews and field observation. The thesis benefits from the use of a multi-pronged theoretical framework to capture the disparate themes that form the bedrock of this study.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2019
Selected stakeholders’ views on the use of tablet computers in learning and teaching – a South African case study at a university
- Fernandez, Simon Christopher
- Authors: Fernandez, Simon Christopher
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: Computer-assisted instruction Tablet computers Educational technology
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , DPhil
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/15903 , vital:40553
- Description: The popularity of mobile technologies has greatly influenced the people of all ages, especially adolescents. Tablet computers as part of mobile technologies, were launched in colleges and universities in many countries to supplement and complement learning and teaching. However, research reports based on the effectiveness of the use of tablet computers in higher education institutions in South Africa’s Eastern Cape Province are scarce. In order to address the deficiency, this study examined the views of stakeholders such as students, lecturers and managers on the use of tablet computers for learning and teaching in one of the Eastern Cape universities. The research adopted the Post-Positivist paradigm and mixed method approach. The theoretical frameworks were Constructivism and Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge. The sample consisted of (a) 155 students from a population of 254 extended-stream National Diploma students in Information and Communication Technology and National Diploma Electrical Engineering cohorts; (b) 14 lecturers from a relevant population of 25; and, (c) 16 managers from a population of 20. Three separate questionnaires as well as interview protocols for each of the stakeholder cohorts provided the core data. All members in the sample were surveyed. The researcher opted to be an outsider and received assistance from a few qualified trained academics to administer the questionnaire to students in different cohorts in order to minimise data bias. Only 18 students, five lecturers and nine managers were interviewed. Quantitative data were captured manually into Statistical Package for Social Sciences (version 24) and they were analysed using descriptive and inferential analysis: Analysis of Variance and Independent Samples t-test. Qualitative data were transcribed and analysed using thematic analysis to generate major themes and sub themes for the sub-research questions. Main strengths of using tablets from the findings of the study were (a) tablets motivated students in learning and lecturers in teaching (b) students understood the different styles of learning (c) enhanced students’ engagement and collaboration in learning. Main weakness of using tablets were students’ use of tablets for personal work and social networking during class hours was causing distractions to lecturers and other students. Generally, the evidence shows that strengths were greater than the weaknesses. It should also be noted that all stakeholders were positive and not statistically significantly different from each other in their views towards the use of tablets for learning and teaching in university classroom. However, students had views different from lecturers on the advantages and disadvantages of using tablets. The variance could be due to new students or new lecturers’ ignorance in the effective use of tablets and this might change as their familiarity in the use of the device improves. The research report makes a few recommendations which include training to all students and lecturers on the effective use of tablet computers for learning and teaching and installation of relevant applications before the commencement of each academic year. Moreover, the Information and communication technology technical staff must prevent students from visiting unwanted and restricted sites by keeping a network based tracker and blocker software application.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2019
- Authors: Fernandez, Simon Christopher
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: Computer-assisted instruction Tablet computers Educational technology
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , DPhil
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/15903 , vital:40553
- Description: The popularity of mobile technologies has greatly influenced the people of all ages, especially adolescents. Tablet computers as part of mobile technologies, were launched in colleges and universities in many countries to supplement and complement learning and teaching. However, research reports based on the effectiveness of the use of tablet computers in higher education institutions in South Africa’s Eastern Cape Province are scarce. In order to address the deficiency, this study examined the views of stakeholders such as students, lecturers and managers on the use of tablet computers for learning and teaching in one of the Eastern Cape universities. The research adopted the Post-Positivist paradigm and mixed method approach. The theoretical frameworks were Constructivism and Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge. The sample consisted of (a) 155 students from a population of 254 extended-stream National Diploma students in Information and Communication Technology and National Diploma Electrical Engineering cohorts; (b) 14 lecturers from a relevant population of 25; and, (c) 16 managers from a population of 20. Three separate questionnaires as well as interview protocols for each of the stakeholder cohorts provided the core data. All members in the sample were surveyed. The researcher opted to be an outsider and received assistance from a few qualified trained academics to administer the questionnaire to students in different cohorts in order to minimise data bias. Only 18 students, five lecturers and nine managers were interviewed. Quantitative data were captured manually into Statistical Package for Social Sciences (version 24) and they were analysed using descriptive and inferential analysis: Analysis of Variance and Independent Samples t-test. Qualitative data were transcribed and analysed using thematic analysis to generate major themes and sub themes for the sub-research questions. Main strengths of using tablets from the findings of the study were (a) tablets motivated students in learning and lecturers in teaching (b) students understood the different styles of learning (c) enhanced students’ engagement and collaboration in learning. Main weakness of using tablets were students’ use of tablets for personal work and social networking during class hours was causing distractions to lecturers and other students. Generally, the evidence shows that strengths were greater than the weaknesses. It should also be noted that all stakeholders were positive and not statistically significantly different from each other in their views towards the use of tablets for learning and teaching in university classroom. However, students had views different from lecturers on the advantages and disadvantages of using tablets. The variance could be due to new students or new lecturers’ ignorance in the effective use of tablets and this might change as their familiarity in the use of the device improves. The research report makes a few recommendations which include training to all students and lecturers on the effective use of tablet computers for learning and teaching and installation of relevant applications before the commencement of each academic year. Moreover, the Information and communication technology technical staff must prevent students from visiting unwanted and restricted sites by keeping a network based tracker and blocker software application.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2019
Shifting contexts, shifting identities: a realist exploration of transnational mobility, change and identity construction in South African Higher Education expatriates in Abu Dhabi, UAE.
- Authors: Reid, Gillian Janet
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: College teacher mobility , College teacher mobility -- Abū Ẓaby (United Arab Emirates) , College teachers, Foreign -- Abū Ẓaby (United Arab Emirates) , College teachers -- Psychology , Expatriation -- Psychological aspects
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/92898 , vital:30760
- Description: Positioned in relation to the globalization of higher education, this realist study is approached from an interest in identity and focuses on nine South African academics professional contexts in South Africa and Abu Dhabi, UAE. As the context of identity formation and emergence is always local, the intention of this research was never to generalize. Rather, in using Bhaskar’s critical realism as its underpinning philosophy, and Archer’s social realism, theories on self, personal and the development and attainment of social identity - her concept of analytical dualism and her morphogenetic framework, this qualitative case study was designed to explore how global and national powers and mechanism effected change in this sub-group of academic’s respective higher education sectors and institutions in post- 1994 South Africa and in Abu Dhabi between 2008 and 2016. The study suggests that participants perceived their academic roles and role-incumbent professional identities to have been negatively impacted by the changes that were implemented in the South African higher education sector as a result the countries reintroduction to the global stage. Their response to become transnational educators in Abu Dhabi’s presented them with conditions that allied their professional experiences of the transformation of South African’s higher education sector. This led to a continued sense of loss of academic agency and powerlessness. This effecting the emergence, through the personal power of reflectivity, combined with discourse and affinity powers and mechanisms, in a social identity that supplanted their academic identities.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2019
- Authors: Reid, Gillian Janet
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: College teacher mobility , College teacher mobility -- Abū Ẓaby (United Arab Emirates) , College teachers, Foreign -- Abū Ẓaby (United Arab Emirates) , College teachers -- Psychology , Expatriation -- Psychological aspects
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/92898 , vital:30760
- Description: Positioned in relation to the globalization of higher education, this realist study is approached from an interest in identity and focuses on nine South African academics professional contexts in South Africa and Abu Dhabi, UAE. As the context of identity formation and emergence is always local, the intention of this research was never to generalize. Rather, in using Bhaskar’s critical realism as its underpinning philosophy, and Archer’s social realism, theories on self, personal and the development and attainment of social identity - her concept of analytical dualism and her morphogenetic framework, this qualitative case study was designed to explore how global and national powers and mechanism effected change in this sub-group of academic’s respective higher education sectors and institutions in post- 1994 South Africa and in Abu Dhabi between 2008 and 2016. The study suggests that participants perceived their academic roles and role-incumbent professional identities to have been negatively impacted by the changes that were implemented in the South African higher education sector as a result the countries reintroduction to the global stage. Their response to become transnational educators in Abu Dhabi’s presented them with conditions that allied their professional experiences of the transformation of South African’s higher education sector. This led to a continued sense of loss of academic agency and powerlessness. This effecting the emergence, through the personal power of reflectivity, combined with discourse and affinity powers and mechanisms, in a social identity that supplanted their academic identities.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2019
Social entrepreneurship and poverty reduction in South Africa, the case Eastern Cape Province
- Fiseha, Gebregziabher Gebreyseus
- Authors: Fiseha, Gebregziabher Gebreyseus
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: Poverty Alleviation
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD(Dev)
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/18919 , vital:42998
- Description: Globally, poverty is a major social problem. Billions of people in developing countries, particularly sub-Saharan African countries including South Africa, continue to live in extreme poverty without access to basic needs (food, shelter, clean water and sanitation, health and education).The Eastern Cape Province has the highest number of the poor people in South Africa. The government strategies and policies to address the magnitude of poverty seem unlikely to lift the majority from poverty. Recently, however, social entrepreneurship has been recognized as the most important instrument in addressing the challenges of development (poverty, unemployment and inequality). Hence, this study was conducted to examine the role of social entrepreneurship in poverty reduction in Eastern Cape Province. A mixed research method was employed to achieve this objective. The population of the study targeted social entrepreneurs and their beneficiaries in Eastern Cape Province. The data were collected using semi-structured questionnaire from 265 social entrepreneurs and 120 social entrepreneurship beneficiaries. The participants were selected through purposive sampling technique since the population of social entrepreneurs and social entrepreneurship beneficiaries in the Eastern Cape Province is not well determined. The descriptive statistics and inferential statistics were used to analyze the data. The findings revealed that social entrepreneurship plays a crucial role in poverty reduction in Eastern Cape Province through creating employment opportunities, skill development, availability of goods and services such as financial loans. Therefore, the support for entrepreneurship culture is important for social entrepreneurship growth in order to enhance its contribution to poverty reduction. The study recommends that the government of South Africa and other vi relevant stakeholders should create conducive environment for social entrepreneurs to flourish and grow in the country to reduce poverty significantly. The growth of social entrepreneurship can lead to substantial benefits for the marginalized and vulnerable segments of the society
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2019
- Authors: Fiseha, Gebregziabher Gebreyseus
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: Poverty Alleviation
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD(Dev)
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/18919 , vital:42998
- Description: Globally, poverty is a major social problem. Billions of people in developing countries, particularly sub-Saharan African countries including South Africa, continue to live in extreme poverty without access to basic needs (food, shelter, clean water and sanitation, health and education).The Eastern Cape Province has the highest number of the poor people in South Africa. The government strategies and policies to address the magnitude of poverty seem unlikely to lift the majority from poverty. Recently, however, social entrepreneurship has been recognized as the most important instrument in addressing the challenges of development (poverty, unemployment and inequality). Hence, this study was conducted to examine the role of social entrepreneurship in poverty reduction in Eastern Cape Province. A mixed research method was employed to achieve this objective. The population of the study targeted social entrepreneurs and their beneficiaries in Eastern Cape Province. The data were collected using semi-structured questionnaire from 265 social entrepreneurs and 120 social entrepreneurship beneficiaries. The participants were selected through purposive sampling technique since the population of social entrepreneurs and social entrepreneurship beneficiaries in the Eastern Cape Province is not well determined. The descriptive statistics and inferential statistics were used to analyze the data. The findings revealed that social entrepreneurship plays a crucial role in poverty reduction in Eastern Cape Province through creating employment opportunities, skill development, availability of goods and services such as financial loans. Therefore, the support for entrepreneurship culture is important for social entrepreneurship growth in order to enhance its contribution to poverty reduction. The study recommends that the government of South Africa and other vi relevant stakeholders should create conducive environment for social entrepreneurs to flourish and grow in the country to reduce poverty significantly. The growth of social entrepreneurship can lead to substantial benefits for the marginalized and vulnerable segments of the society
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2019
Social Media as Human Rights Watchdog: A critical Analysis of Facebook and WhatsApp use by Citizens and Civil Society Groups in the Run-up to the 2018 Elections in Zimbabwe
- Authors: Mututwa, Wishes.T
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: Social media Online social networks
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/15837 , vital:40531
- Description: This study analysed the use of social media platforms, WhatsApp and Facebook in monitoring human rights ahead of Zimbabwe’s 2018 Harmonised elections. Zimbabwe has witnessed gross human rights violations since the attainment of independence in 1980 but most of these violations have been misrepresented, partially captured or ignored particularly by the partisan state media. While issues of human rights have been researched on, there has been a gap in research on the role of social media in safeguarding human rights in Zimbabwe, particularly during election times. There has also been a gap in research about the influences of social media, not just to inspire revolutions but to strengthen democratic practices in Zimbabwe through vibrant discussions of human rights issues on social media platforms. This study was informed by Habermas Theory of public sphere and Social network theory in order to analyse texts shared and discussed on WhatsApp and Facebook about human rights committed ahead of 2018 Harmonised elections. The aim was to establish use of social media as watchdog of human rights. A qualitative content analysis was applied to study texts shared on WhatsApp and Facebook about human rights violations across the country. Three WhatsApp groups and seven Facebook pages were selected for the study from which posts and responses from participants were extracted for analysis. The findings of the study revealed that social media can effectively strengthen democratic practices by exposing government’s unconstitutional practices. Further, social media can be useful in offering ordinary citizens a platform for engagement with civic society as they discuss issues that affect them. The findings of the study also hold the state accountable for the majority of human rights abuses committed throughout the election campaign period. The study then recommended that the government of Zimbabwe should go back to constitutionalism and abide by international human rights treaties to which they are signatory. Further, the study recommended that Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission and other independent commissions be empowered so that human rights are fully enjoyed in Zimbabwe, not just during election campaign periods but all the time
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2019
- Authors: Mututwa, Wishes.T
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: Social media Online social networks
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/15837 , vital:40531
- Description: This study analysed the use of social media platforms, WhatsApp and Facebook in monitoring human rights ahead of Zimbabwe’s 2018 Harmonised elections. Zimbabwe has witnessed gross human rights violations since the attainment of independence in 1980 but most of these violations have been misrepresented, partially captured or ignored particularly by the partisan state media. While issues of human rights have been researched on, there has been a gap in research on the role of social media in safeguarding human rights in Zimbabwe, particularly during election times. There has also been a gap in research about the influences of social media, not just to inspire revolutions but to strengthen democratic practices in Zimbabwe through vibrant discussions of human rights issues on social media platforms. This study was informed by Habermas Theory of public sphere and Social network theory in order to analyse texts shared and discussed on WhatsApp and Facebook about human rights committed ahead of 2018 Harmonised elections. The aim was to establish use of social media as watchdog of human rights. A qualitative content analysis was applied to study texts shared on WhatsApp and Facebook about human rights violations across the country. Three WhatsApp groups and seven Facebook pages were selected for the study from which posts and responses from participants were extracted for analysis. The findings of the study revealed that social media can effectively strengthen democratic practices by exposing government’s unconstitutional practices. Further, social media can be useful in offering ordinary citizens a platform for engagement with civic society as they discuss issues that affect them. The findings of the study also hold the state accountable for the majority of human rights abuses committed throughout the election campaign period. The study then recommended that the government of Zimbabwe should go back to constitutionalism and abide by international human rights treaties to which they are signatory. Further, the study recommended that Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission and other independent commissions be empowered so that human rights are fully enjoyed in Zimbabwe, not just during election campaign periods but all the time
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2019
Social protection as a mechanism for promoting the right to education for vulnerable children in Mwenezi District, Zimbabwe
- Authors: Shumba, Sibangani
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: Social security Right to education
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD (Education)
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/16676 , vital:40742
- Description: Social protection has been introduced against the backdrop of fears that many children were not able to access their right to education. However, there have been raging debates on whether the mechanism really works to effectively support the right to education of these children. It is on the backdrop of such debates that the study was undertaken, to find out if social protection was effectively being implemented to support the right to education for vulnerable children in Mwenezi District of Zimbabwe. Given the nature of variables and research questions, the study was located within the pragmatic paradigm. A mixed-method approach and concurrent triangulation approach to closely examine the issues under study was adopted. A combination of stratified random sampling and purposive sampling approaches were used to identify the subject for the study. Data were then collected from various respondents that were considered knowledgeable about the issues under discussion. These included district level officials from Ministry of Primary Education, Ministry of Labour and Social Services, District Administrator, Chief Executive Officer as well as Civil Society Organisations. Also included as sample of the study were school heads, teachers, children and community groups. Face to face interviews, Focus Group Discussions and a survey teacher questionnaire were used to solicit the data. The study confirmed the multi-dimension nature of vulnerabilities that children in Mwenezi district were facing. Meanwhile, various social protection programmes that were seeking to address the issues of child vulnerabilities were found to be in place. Providers ranged from Government, Civil Society and private players (individuals or companies). Of significance were good practices in some communities even though these communities were not aware that they were making positive contributions to the enhancement of educational opportunities. Though, these programmes were on the ground and functional, it was their management that became the focus of much scrutiny. The programmes and their management were indeed making a contribution to enhance children’s right to education. However, there were areas that required improvement in order to raise their contribution to higher levels. The results further revealed that there was need to embrace a broader spectrum of participants, including communities and children. The institutional arrangements were also noted as requiring ii review to inject urgency and efficiency. Also recommended was the enhancement of awareness, training and networking activities by implementers, while the Government system should not involve more players but improve the systems that place children at the centre. An alternative model for social protection delivery was recommended for consideration
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2019
- Authors: Shumba, Sibangani
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: Social security Right to education
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD (Education)
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/16676 , vital:40742
- Description: Social protection has been introduced against the backdrop of fears that many children were not able to access their right to education. However, there have been raging debates on whether the mechanism really works to effectively support the right to education of these children. It is on the backdrop of such debates that the study was undertaken, to find out if social protection was effectively being implemented to support the right to education for vulnerable children in Mwenezi District of Zimbabwe. Given the nature of variables and research questions, the study was located within the pragmatic paradigm. A mixed-method approach and concurrent triangulation approach to closely examine the issues under study was adopted. A combination of stratified random sampling and purposive sampling approaches were used to identify the subject for the study. Data were then collected from various respondents that were considered knowledgeable about the issues under discussion. These included district level officials from Ministry of Primary Education, Ministry of Labour and Social Services, District Administrator, Chief Executive Officer as well as Civil Society Organisations. Also included as sample of the study were school heads, teachers, children and community groups. Face to face interviews, Focus Group Discussions and a survey teacher questionnaire were used to solicit the data. The study confirmed the multi-dimension nature of vulnerabilities that children in Mwenezi district were facing. Meanwhile, various social protection programmes that were seeking to address the issues of child vulnerabilities were found to be in place. Providers ranged from Government, Civil Society and private players (individuals or companies). Of significance were good practices in some communities even though these communities were not aware that they were making positive contributions to the enhancement of educational opportunities. Though, these programmes were on the ground and functional, it was their management that became the focus of much scrutiny. The programmes and their management were indeed making a contribution to enhance children’s right to education. However, there were areas that required improvement in order to raise their contribution to higher levels. The results further revealed that there was need to embrace a broader spectrum of participants, including communities and children. The institutional arrangements were also noted as requiring ii review to inject urgency and efficiency. Also recommended was the enhancement of awareness, training and networking activities by implementers, while the Government system should not involve more players but improve the systems that place children at the centre. An alternative model for social protection delivery was recommended for consideration
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2019
Socio-ecological, contextual effects in Raven’s Colour Progressive Matrices scores: developing an index for guiding test selection and interpretation
- Authors: August, Justin Oswin
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: Psychological testing
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/50214 , vital:42071
- Description: With the changing landscape in South Africa to full democracy, increased research has been undertaken in the psychometric field on local and national normative studies regarding various assessment measures. Given that the Raven’s Coloured Progressive Matrices (CPM) is purported to be culture-free and not heavily dependent on verbal and language skills; it has been extensively normed throughout the world for various population groups. While norms for normal populations of children have been developed in South Africa, these studies were based on race and gender predominantly and without taking into consideration the effects of socio-ecological factors on test performance. The research study aimed to understand the influence of socio-ecological factors on the expression of cognitive scores amongst a geographically diverse sample of South African learners. Through this study, research on the interplay between context and cognition was to be located within the Ecological Systems model of Bronfenbrenner. A secondary aim of the study was to develop an index that will guide test selection and interpretation of assessment results, taking into account the influence of socio-ecological factors and providing a conceptual framework for future test development. The study employed a quantitative methodology on a South African sample consisting of primary school children aged between the ages of 6 years to 11 years. The sample was drawn from schools in the Port Elizabeth area in South Africa that were classified into low, medium, and high opportunity, based on context. The results indicated that the type of school had a significant impact on test performance, suggesting that contextual factors were influential in this process. The item analysis conducted further indicated that learners from a low opportunity school performed significantly lower than the other two schools in the sample. The index development provides a foundation for further research that would enhance the interpretation of test results. In the South African context, this is considered important, given our political history and our diversity where a “one size fits all” approach is not possible.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2019
- Authors: August, Justin Oswin
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: Psychological testing
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/50214 , vital:42071
- Description: With the changing landscape in South Africa to full democracy, increased research has been undertaken in the psychometric field on local and national normative studies regarding various assessment measures. Given that the Raven’s Coloured Progressive Matrices (CPM) is purported to be culture-free and not heavily dependent on verbal and language skills; it has been extensively normed throughout the world for various population groups. While norms for normal populations of children have been developed in South Africa, these studies were based on race and gender predominantly and without taking into consideration the effects of socio-ecological factors on test performance. The research study aimed to understand the influence of socio-ecological factors on the expression of cognitive scores amongst a geographically diverse sample of South African learners. Through this study, research on the interplay between context and cognition was to be located within the Ecological Systems model of Bronfenbrenner. A secondary aim of the study was to develop an index that will guide test selection and interpretation of assessment results, taking into account the influence of socio-ecological factors and providing a conceptual framework for future test development. The study employed a quantitative methodology on a South African sample consisting of primary school children aged between the ages of 6 years to 11 years. The sample was drawn from schools in the Port Elizabeth area in South Africa that were classified into low, medium, and high opportunity, based on context. The results indicated that the type of school had a significant impact on test performance, suggesting that contextual factors were influential in this process. The item analysis conducted further indicated that learners from a low opportunity school performed significantly lower than the other two schools in the sample. The index development provides a foundation for further research that would enhance the interpretation of test results. In the South African context, this is considered important, given our political history and our diversity where a “one size fits all” approach is not possible.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2019
South Africa-based diaspora movements and the pursuit of democratic consolidation in Zimbabwe
- Authors: Ndlovu, Sitembiso Irene
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: African diaspora
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/15848 , vital:40532
- Description: The study investigates South Africa-based Diaspora movements and their pursuit of democratic consolidation in Zimbabwe. The study is a qualitative one and made use of both primary and secondary sources. Primary sources included in-depth interviews, Facebook and Twitter posts, whilst secondary sources included textbooks and online journals. The study is premised on both the Political Process and Critical Theories. The study acknowledges that CSOs in general are important key players and have been identified as one of the major actors capable of helping in consolidating democracy. Zimbabwean Diaspora movements have been on the rise due to the mass exodus of its citizens to South Africa following economic collapse and civil strife in the country. The study found out that the civil society and political space in Zimbabwe is mired by partisan use of state security forces, repressive legislations, abuse of human rights and politicisation of the judicial system. These notwithstanding, the study reveals ZEF, CiZC and ZRYM have played their part in trying to consolidate democracy in Zimbabwe from their base in South Africa. They have employed various strategies and these include submitting petitions, advocacy and lobbying, partnerships and dialogues and making use of the Social media. Some of the breakthroughs recorded include educating Zimbabweans and disseminating information through social media, raising awareness and contributing to policy formation. The study, however, notes that apart from their achievements, they have also faced challenges like inadequate resources, xenophobia, leadership crises and donor fatigue. Key findings inferred that strategies used did not yield desired outcomes, and challenges faced made consolidating democracy in Zimbabwe a daunting task. The study recommends that partnerships between the Zimbabwean government and Diaspora movements need to be introduced and sustained in a way that catalyses a relationship where discussions can take place for democracy to be consolidated in Zimbabwe without any form of hostility from the government
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2019
- Authors: Ndlovu, Sitembiso Irene
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: African diaspora
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/15848 , vital:40532
- Description: The study investigates South Africa-based Diaspora movements and their pursuit of democratic consolidation in Zimbabwe. The study is a qualitative one and made use of both primary and secondary sources. Primary sources included in-depth interviews, Facebook and Twitter posts, whilst secondary sources included textbooks and online journals. The study is premised on both the Political Process and Critical Theories. The study acknowledges that CSOs in general are important key players and have been identified as one of the major actors capable of helping in consolidating democracy. Zimbabwean Diaspora movements have been on the rise due to the mass exodus of its citizens to South Africa following economic collapse and civil strife in the country. The study found out that the civil society and political space in Zimbabwe is mired by partisan use of state security forces, repressive legislations, abuse of human rights and politicisation of the judicial system. These notwithstanding, the study reveals ZEF, CiZC and ZRYM have played their part in trying to consolidate democracy in Zimbabwe from their base in South Africa. They have employed various strategies and these include submitting petitions, advocacy and lobbying, partnerships and dialogues and making use of the Social media. Some of the breakthroughs recorded include educating Zimbabweans and disseminating information through social media, raising awareness and contributing to policy formation. The study, however, notes that apart from their achievements, they have also faced challenges like inadequate resources, xenophobia, leadership crises and donor fatigue. Key findings inferred that strategies used did not yield desired outcomes, and challenges faced made consolidating democracy in Zimbabwe a daunting task. The study recommends that partnerships between the Zimbabwean government and Diaspora movements need to be introduced and sustained in a way that catalyses a relationship where discussions can take place for democracy to be consolidated in Zimbabwe without any form of hostility from the government
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2019