Indigenous knowledges: a genealogy of representations and applications in developing contexts of environmental education and development in southern Africa
- Authors: Shava, Soul
- Date: 2009
- Subjects: Foucault, Michel, 1926-1984 Education -- Africa, Southern Environmental education -- Africa, Southern Indigenous peoples -- Africa, Southern Ethnoscience -- Africa, Southern Knowledge, Theory of Genealogy (Philosophy) Medicinal plants -- Africa, Southern
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: vital:1885 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1005920
- Description: This study was developed around concerns about how indigenous knowledges have been represented and applied in environment and development education. The first phase of the study is a genealogical analysis after Michel Foucault. This probes representations and applications of plant-based indigenous knowledge in selected anthropological, botanical and environmental education texts in southern Africa. The emerging insights were deepened using a Social (Critical) Realism vantage point after Margaret Archer to shed light on agential issues in environmental education and development contexts. Here her morphogenetic/morphostatic analysis of social transformation or reproduction is used to trace changes in indigenous knowledge representations and applications over time (from the pre-colonial into the post-colonial era). The second phase uses the same perspectives and tools to extend the analysis of power/knowledge relationships into the interface of indigenous communities and modern institutions in two case study settings in the Eastern Cape of South Africa. This study reveals colonially-derived hegemonic processes of modern/Western scientific institutional representations/interpretations of the knowledges of indigenous communities. It also tracks a continuing trajectory of their dominating and prescriptive mediating control over local knowledges from the pre-colonial context through into the post-colonial period in southern Africa. The analysis reveals how this hegemony is sustained through the deployment of institutional strategies of representation that transform local knowledges into the disciplinary knowledge discourses of modern scientific institutions. These representational strategies therefore generate/reproduce and validate disciplinary discourses about the other, constructing disciplinary 'regimes of truth'. In this way modern institutions appropriate and displace indigenous/local knowledges, silence the voices of local communities and regulate individual and community agency within a continuing subjugation of indigenous knowledges. This study reveals how working within modern institutions and disciplinary knowledges in participative education and development interactions can serve to implicate indigenous researchers in these institutional hegemonic processes. The study also notes evidence of a continued resistance to hegemonic Western knowledge discourses as indigenous communities have sustained many knowledge practices alongside Western knowledge discourses. There is also evidence of a recent emergence of counter-hegemonic indigenous knowledge discourses in environmental education and development practices in southern Africa. It is noted that these have been contingent upon the changing political terrain in southern Africa as this has opened the way for alternative discourses to the dominant conventional Western knowledges in formal education and development contexts. The counterhegemonic discourses invert power/knowledge relations, decentre hegemonic discourses and reposition indigenous knowledges in formal education and development contexts. This study suggests the need to foreground indigenous knowledges as a process of knowledge decolonisation that gives contextual and epistemic relevance to environmental education and development processes. This calls for a need for new strategies to transform existing institutions by creating enabling spaces for the representational inclusion of indigenous knowledges in formal/conventional knowledge discourses and their application in social contexts. This opens up possibilities for plural knowledge representations and for their integrative and reciprocal co-engagement in situated contexts of environmental education and development in southern Africa.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2009
- Authors: Shava, Soul
- Date: 2009
- Subjects: Foucault, Michel, 1926-1984 Education -- Africa, Southern Environmental education -- Africa, Southern Indigenous peoples -- Africa, Southern Ethnoscience -- Africa, Southern Knowledge, Theory of Genealogy (Philosophy) Medicinal plants -- Africa, Southern
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: vital:1885 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1005920
- Description: This study was developed around concerns about how indigenous knowledges have been represented and applied in environment and development education. The first phase of the study is a genealogical analysis after Michel Foucault. This probes representations and applications of plant-based indigenous knowledge in selected anthropological, botanical and environmental education texts in southern Africa. The emerging insights were deepened using a Social (Critical) Realism vantage point after Margaret Archer to shed light on agential issues in environmental education and development contexts. Here her morphogenetic/morphostatic analysis of social transformation or reproduction is used to trace changes in indigenous knowledge representations and applications over time (from the pre-colonial into the post-colonial era). The second phase uses the same perspectives and tools to extend the analysis of power/knowledge relationships into the interface of indigenous communities and modern institutions in two case study settings in the Eastern Cape of South Africa. This study reveals colonially-derived hegemonic processes of modern/Western scientific institutional representations/interpretations of the knowledges of indigenous communities. It also tracks a continuing trajectory of their dominating and prescriptive mediating control over local knowledges from the pre-colonial context through into the post-colonial period in southern Africa. The analysis reveals how this hegemony is sustained through the deployment of institutional strategies of representation that transform local knowledges into the disciplinary knowledge discourses of modern scientific institutions. These representational strategies therefore generate/reproduce and validate disciplinary discourses about the other, constructing disciplinary 'regimes of truth'. In this way modern institutions appropriate and displace indigenous/local knowledges, silence the voices of local communities and regulate individual and community agency within a continuing subjugation of indigenous knowledges. This study reveals how working within modern institutions and disciplinary knowledges in participative education and development interactions can serve to implicate indigenous researchers in these institutional hegemonic processes. The study also notes evidence of a continued resistance to hegemonic Western knowledge discourses as indigenous communities have sustained many knowledge practices alongside Western knowledge discourses. There is also evidence of a recent emergence of counter-hegemonic indigenous knowledge discourses in environmental education and development practices in southern Africa. It is noted that these have been contingent upon the changing political terrain in southern Africa as this has opened the way for alternative discourses to the dominant conventional Western knowledges in formal education and development contexts. The counterhegemonic discourses invert power/knowledge relations, decentre hegemonic discourses and reposition indigenous knowledges in formal education and development contexts. This study suggests the need to foreground indigenous knowledges as a process of knowledge decolonisation that gives contextual and epistemic relevance to environmental education and development processes. This calls for a need for new strategies to transform existing institutions by creating enabling spaces for the representational inclusion of indigenous knowledges in formal/conventional knowledge discourses and their application in social contexts. This opens up possibilities for plural knowledge representations and for their integrative and reciprocal co-engagement in situated contexts of environmental education and development in southern Africa.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2009
Insect pests of cultivated and wild olives, and some of their natural enemies, in the Eastern Cape, South Africa
- Authors: Mkize, Nolwazi
- Date: 2009
- Subjects: Pests -- Control -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape Olive -- Diseases and pests -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape Agriculture -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape Fruit-flies -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape Tephritidae Flea beetles Lace bugs
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: vital:5717 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1005403
- Description: This thesis has two focuses. The first problem facing the olive industry in the Eastern Cape is the growers’ perceptions of both what the industry will provide them and what a pest management program might entail. The second focus is the biology of olive pests in the Eastern Cape in terms of understanding their populations and their natural enemies on private farms, with future hopes of understanding how Integrated Pest Management strategies can be developed for this crop. Eastern Cape private farmers, small-scale farmers and workers from agricultural training institutions were interviewed regarding the history and cultivation of the local olive crop. Only one commercially viable olive grove was identified; other groves were small, experimental pilot ventures. The introduction of olives to small-scale farmers and agricultural training schools was generally a top-down initiative that led to a lack of sense of ownership and the trees being neglected. Other problems included poor human capital; poor financial capital; lack of adequate support; lack of knowledge transfer and stability; lack of communication and evaluation procedures of the project; miscommunication; and finally, olive pests. Apart from hesitancy to plant at a commercial scale, the main problem facing private farmers (Varnam Farm, Hewlands Farm and Springvale Farm) was pests. Therefore an investigation of pests from private farms was conducted ranging from collection of cultivated and wild olive fruit and flea beetle larvae for parasitism, trapping systems both for fruit flies and olive flea beetle adults. A survey of olive fruits yielded larval fruit flies of the families Tephritidae (Bactrocera oleae (Rossi), B. biguttula (Bezzi) and Ceratitis capitata (Wiedemann)) and Drosophilidae (Drosophila melanogaster (Meigen)) from wild olives (O. europaea cuspidata (Wall. ex G. Don) Cif.) but none from cultivated olives (O. e. europaea L.). Braconid wasps (Opiinae and Braconinae) were reared only from fruits containing B. oleae and B. biguttula. This suggests that B. oleae is not of economic significance in the Eastern Cape, perhaps because it is controlled to a significant level by natural enemies, but B. biguttula may be a potential economic pest. A survey of adult fruit flies using ChamP traps baited with ammonium bicarbonate and spiroketal capsules and Sensus trap baited with methyl eugenol and Questlure confirmed the relative importance of B. biguttula over B. oleae. ChamP traps were over 50 times better than Sensus traps for mass trapping of B. biguttula but both were ineffective for trapping B. oleae and C. capitata. Six indigenous flea beetles of the genus Argopistes Motschulsky (Chrysomelidae: Alticinae) were found, three described by Bryant in 1922 and 1944 and three new species. Their morphology was investigated by scanning electron microscopy and mutivariate morphometric analysis. The leaf-mining larvae are pests of wild and cultivated olives in South Africa and threaten the local olive industry. At Springvale Farm, A. oleae Bryant and A. sexvittatus Bryant preferred the upper parts of trees, near new leaves. Pseudophanomeris inopinatus (Blkb.) (Braconidae) was reared from 23 Argopistes larvae. The beetle larvae might not be controlled to a significant level by natural enemies because the rate of parasitism was low. The olive flea beetles showed no attraction to traps containing various volatile compounds as baits. The lace bug, Plerochila australis Distant (Tingidae), was sometimes a pest. It showed a preference for the underside of leaves on the lower parts of the trees. A moth, Palpita unionalis Hübner (Crambidae), was reared in very low numbers and without parasitoids. A twig-boring beetle larva, chalcidoid parasitoids and seed wasps of the families Eurytomidae, Ormyridae and Eupelmidae were also recorded.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2009
- Authors: Mkize, Nolwazi
- Date: 2009
- Subjects: Pests -- Control -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape Olive -- Diseases and pests -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape Agriculture -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape Fruit-flies -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape Tephritidae Flea beetles Lace bugs
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: vital:5717 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1005403
- Description: This thesis has two focuses. The first problem facing the olive industry in the Eastern Cape is the growers’ perceptions of both what the industry will provide them and what a pest management program might entail. The second focus is the biology of olive pests in the Eastern Cape in terms of understanding their populations and their natural enemies on private farms, with future hopes of understanding how Integrated Pest Management strategies can be developed for this crop. Eastern Cape private farmers, small-scale farmers and workers from agricultural training institutions were interviewed regarding the history and cultivation of the local olive crop. Only one commercially viable olive grove was identified; other groves were small, experimental pilot ventures. The introduction of olives to small-scale farmers and agricultural training schools was generally a top-down initiative that led to a lack of sense of ownership and the trees being neglected. Other problems included poor human capital; poor financial capital; lack of adequate support; lack of knowledge transfer and stability; lack of communication and evaluation procedures of the project; miscommunication; and finally, olive pests. Apart from hesitancy to plant at a commercial scale, the main problem facing private farmers (Varnam Farm, Hewlands Farm and Springvale Farm) was pests. Therefore an investigation of pests from private farms was conducted ranging from collection of cultivated and wild olive fruit and flea beetle larvae for parasitism, trapping systems both for fruit flies and olive flea beetle adults. A survey of olive fruits yielded larval fruit flies of the families Tephritidae (Bactrocera oleae (Rossi), B. biguttula (Bezzi) and Ceratitis capitata (Wiedemann)) and Drosophilidae (Drosophila melanogaster (Meigen)) from wild olives (O. europaea cuspidata (Wall. ex G. Don) Cif.) but none from cultivated olives (O. e. europaea L.). Braconid wasps (Opiinae and Braconinae) were reared only from fruits containing B. oleae and B. biguttula. This suggests that B. oleae is not of economic significance in the Eastern Cape, perhaps because it is controlled to a significant level by natural enemies, but B. biguttula may be a potential economic pest. A survey of adult fruit flies using ChamP traps baited with ammonium bicarbonate and spiroketal capsules and Sensus trap baited with methyl eugenol and Questlure confirmed the relative importance of B. biguttula over B. oleae. ChamP traps were over 50 times better than Sensus traps for mass trapping of B. biguttula but both were ineffective for trapping B. oleae and C. capitata. Six indigenous flea beetles of the genus Argopistes Motschulsky (Chrysomelidae: Alticinae) were found, three described by Bryant in 1922 and 1944 and three new species. Their morphology was investigated by scanning electron microscopy and mutivariate morphometric analysis. The leaf-mining larvae are pests of wild and cultivated olives in South Africa and threaten the local olive industry. At Springvale Farm, A. oleae Bryant and A. sexvittatus Bryant preferred the upper parts of trees, near new leaves. Pseudophanomeris inopinatus (Blkb.) (Braconidae) was reared from 23 Argopistes larvae. The beetle larvae might not be controlled to a significant level by natural enemies because the rate of parasitism was low. The olive flea beetles showed no attraction to traps containing various volatile compounds as baits. The lace bug, Plerochila australis Distant (Tingidae), was sometimes a pest. It showed a preference for the underside of leaves on the lower parts of the trees. A moth, Palpita unionalis Hübner (Crambidae), was reared in very low numbers and without parasitoids. A twig-boring beetle larva, chalcidoid parasitoids and seed wasps of the families Eurytomidae, Ormyridae and Eupelmidae were also recorded.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2009
Integrating environmental flow requirements into a stakeholder driven catchment management process
- Rowntree, Kate M, Birkholz, Sharon A, Burt, Jane C, Fox, Helen E
- Authors: Rowntree, Kate M , Birkholz, Sharon A , Burt, Jane C , Fox, Helen E
- Date: 2009
- Language: English
- Type: Conference paper
- Identifier: vital:6670 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1006804
- Description: South Africa's National Water Act (NWA no 36 of 1998) recognizes the need for environmental protection through the ecological Reserve, defined in the Act as the quantity and quality of water required to protect aquatic ecosystems in order to secure ecologically sustainable development through the constrained use of the relevant water resource. Further more the NWA stipulates that the allocation of licenses to new water users, or the granting of increased water use to established water users, can only take place once the the Reserve for the river has been determined and approved by the Minister. This means that water users' needs (beyond those required for basic human needs) take second place behind the environment. Whether or not the inclusion of the ecological Reserve in South Africa's water legislation leads to sustainable use of South Africa's water resources depends on its successful implementation. This in turn depends on the will of both the Department of Water Affairs and Forestry (DWAF), the implementing agent, and the end water users who need to be convinced of the priority given to environmental needs. In this paper we look at the process of implementing the ecological Reserve in the Kat Valley in the Eastern Cape of South Africa as part of a stakeholder driven process of developing a water allocation plan for the catchment that prioritized participation by water users. The extent to which DWAF and the water users expedited or thwarted the process is examined in the light of national and international calls for local-level participation in water resource management processes.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2009
- Authors: Rowntree, Kate M , Birkholz, Sharon A , Burt, Jane C , Fox, Helen E
- Date: 2009
- Language: English
- Type: Conference paper
- Identifier: vital:6670 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1006804
- Description: South Africa's National Water Act (NWA no 36 of 1998) recognizes the need for environmental protection through the ecological Reserve, defined in the Act as the quantity and quality of water required to protect aquatic ecosystems in order to secure ecologically sustainable development through the constrained use of the relevant water resource. Further more the NWA stipulates that the allocation of licenses to new water users, or the granting of increased water use to established water users, can only take place once the the Reserve for the river has been determined and approved by the Minister. This means that water users' needs (beyond those required for basic human needs) take second place behind the environment. Whether or not the inclusion of the ecological Reserve in South Africa's water legislation leads to sustainable use of South Africa's water resources depends on its successful implementation. This in turn depends on the will of both the Department of Water Affairs and Forestry (DWAF), the implementing agent, and the end water users who need to be convinced of the priority given to environmental needs. In this paper we look at the process of implementing the ecological Reserve in the Kat Valley in the Eastern Cape of South Africa as part of a stakeholder driven process of developing a water allocation plan for the catchment that prioritized participation by water users. The extent to which DWAF and the water users expedited or thwarted the process is examined in the light of national and international calls for local-level participation in water resource management processes.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2009
Integration between the South African and international bond markets : implications for portfolio diversification
- Authors: Rabana, Phomolo
- Date: 2009
- Subjects: Bond market , Bond market -- South Africa , Principal components analysis , International finance , Foreign exchange rates -- South Africa , Investments -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MCom
- Identifier: vital:947 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002681 , Bond market , Bond market -- South Africa , Principal components analysis , International finance , Foreign exchange rates -- South Africa , Investments -- South Africa
- Description: International bond market linkages are examined using monthly bond yield data and total return indices on government bonds with ten years to maturity. The bond yield data covers a nineteen-year period from January 1990 to July 2008, while the bond total return index data covers a nine-year period from August 2000 to July 2008. The international bond markets included in the study are Australia, Canada, Germany, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The examination of international bond market linkages across these markets has important implications for the formulation of effective portfolio diversification strategies. The empirical analysis is carried out in three phases: the preliminary analysis, the principal component analysis (PCA), and the cointegration analysis. For each analysis and for each set of data the full sample period is first analysed and subsequently a five-year rolling window approach is implemented. Accordingly, this makes it possible to capture the time-varying nature of international bond market linkages. The preliminary analysis examines the bond market trends over the sample period, provides descriptive statistics, and reports the correlation coefficients between the selected bond markets. The PCA investigates the interrelationships among the bond markets according to their common sources of movement and identifies which markets tend to move together. The cointegration analysis is carried out using the Johansen cointegration procedure and investigates whether there is long-run comovement between South Africa and the selected bond markets. Where cointegration is found, Vector Error-Correction Models (VECMs) are estimated in order to examine the long-run equilibrium relationships in addition to their short-run adjustments over time. The empirical analysis results were robust, and overall integration between SA and the selected major bond markets remained weak and sporadic. In addition, the results showed that even after accounting for exchange rate differentials, international bond market diversification remained beneficial for a South African investor; and since international bond market linkages remained weak with no observable trend, international bond market diversification will remain beneficial for some time to come for a South African investor.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2009
- Authors: Rabana, Phomolo
- Date: 2009
- Subjects: Bond market , Bond market -- South Africa , Principal components analysis , International finance , Foreign exchange rates -- South Africa , Investments -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MCom
- Identifier: vital:947 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002681 , Bond market , Bond market -- South Africa , Principal components analysis , International finance , Foreign exchange rates -- South Africa , Investments -- South Africa
- Description: International bond market linkages are examined using monthly bond yield data and total return indices on government bonds with ten years to maturity. The bond yield data covers a nineteen-year period from January 1990 to July 2008, while the bond total return index data covers a nine-year period from August 2000 to July 2008. The international bond markets included in the study are Australia, Canada, Germany, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The examination of international bond market linkages across these markets has important implications for the formulation of effective portfolio diversification strategies. The empirical analysis is carried out in three phases: the preliminary analysis, the principal component analysis (PCA), and the cointegration analysis. For each analysis and for each set of data the full sample period is first analysed and subsequently a five-year rolling window approach is implemented. Accordingly, this makes it possible to capture the time-varying nature of international bond market linkages. The preliminary analysis examines the bond market trends over the sample period, provides descriptive statistics, and reports the correlation coefficients between the selected bond markets. The PCA investigates the interrelationships among the bond markets according to their common sources of movement and identifies which markets tend to move together. The cointegration analysis is carried out using the Johansen cointegration procedure and investigates whether there is long-run comovement between South Africa and the selected bond markets. Where cointegration is found, Vector Error-Correction Models (VECMs) are estimated in order to examine the long-run equilibrium relationships in addition to their short-run adjustments over time. The empirical analysis results were robust, and overall integration between SA and the selected major bond markets remained weak and sporadic. In addition, the results showed that even after accounting for exchange rate differentials, international bond market diversification remained beneficial for a South African investor; and since international bond market linkages remained weak with no observable trend, international bond market diversification will remain beneficial for some time to come for a South African investor.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2009
Integration of the South African equity market into the world major stock markets: implication for portfolio diversification
- Chinzara, Zivanemoyo, Aziakpono, Meshach J
- Authors: Chinzara, Zivanemoyo , Aziakpono, Meshach J
- Date: 2009
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/469889 , vital:77305 , https://hdl.handle.net/10520/EJC33719
- Description: The paper investigates whether there are any benefits from international equity diversification for South African long term investors using daily stock market indices for seven world stock markets for the period 1995-2008. Firstly, pairwise portfolios are tested for long-run comovement using the bivariate cointegration approach. Wider portfolios are then tested for long-run comovement using the multivariate cointegration based on the Johansen and Juselius (1992) approach. While no bivariate cointegration exists between the South Africa and each of the selected world major equity markets for the entire 1995-2008, cointegration exist with US if a dummy is included. Multivariate cointegration analysis suggests that long-run comovement exists for some of the wider portfolios with most of long-run coefficients being negative. Overall, our findings show that integration of SA to the major world markets is weak suggesting that international portfolio diversification is potentially worthwhile for South African investors.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2009
- Authors: Chinzara, Zivanemoyo , Aziakpono, Meshach J
- Date: 2009
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/469889 , vital:77305 , https://hdl.handle.net/10520/EJC33719
- Description: The paper investigates whether there are any benefits from international equity diversification for South African long term investors using daily stock market indices for seven world stock markets for the period 1995-2008. Firstly, pairwise portfolios are tested for long-run comovement using the bivariate cointegration approach. Wider portfolios are then tested for long-run comovement using the multivariate cointegration based on the Johansen and Juselius (1992) approach. While no bivariate cointegration exists between the South Africa and each of the selected world major equity markets for the entire 1995-2008, cointegration exist with US if a dummy is included. Multivariate cointegration analysis suggests that long-run comovement exists for some of the wider portfolios with most of long-run coefficients being negative. Overall, our findings show that integration of SA to the major world markets is weak suggesting that international portfolio diversification is potentially worthwhile for South African investors.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2009
Intellectual challenge is as necessary as breathing: an interview with Laurence Wright
- Authors: Wright, Laurence , Pearce, B
- Date: 2009
- Language: English
- Type: text , Article
- Identifier: vital:7059 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1007422
- Description: Professor Laurence Wright is Director of the Institute for the Study of English in Africa at Rhodes University. In 2009, he will have completed 25 years of research, teaching and scholarship at Rhodes University and this interview marks the occasion. A Rhodes Scholar and a Commonwealth Scholar, he studied at the universities of Rhodes, Warwick and Oxford. He is also Honorary Life President of the Shakespeare Society of Southern Africa. He has published widely in literary studies and is the Managing Editor of two academic journals as well as of the poetry magazine New Coin. He currently serves on the Council of the English Academy and is a co-opted member of the English National Language Body. He has taken a broad interest in the role of English in this country, ranging from language policy and teacher education matters, to archival research and the role of the humanities in public life. I thought that it would be worthwhile to interview him as his knowledge of literature is substantial, while his incisive and engaging thoughts on a range of topics are worth hearing. The interview was conducted intermittently by email between July and October, 2008.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2009
- Authors: Wright, Laurence , Pearce, B
- Date: 2009
- Language: English
- Type: text , Article
- Identifier: vital:7059 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1007422
- Description: Professor Laurence Wright is Director of the Institute for the Study of English in Africa at Rhodes University. In 2009, he will have completed 25 years of research, teaching and scholarship at Rhodes University and this interview marks the occasion. A Rhodes Scholar and a Commonwealth Scholar, he studied at the universities of Rhodes, Warwick and Oxford. He is also Honorary Life President of the Shakespeare Society of Southern Africa. He has published widely in literary studies and is the Managing Editor of two academic journals as well as of the poetry magazine New Coin. He currently serves on the Council of the English Academy and is a co-opted member of the English National Language Body. He has taken a broad interest in the role of English in this country, ranging from language policy and teacher education matters, to archival research and the role of the humanities in public life. I thought that it would be worthwhile to interview him as his knowledge of literature is substantial, while his incisive and engaging thoughts on a range of topics are worth hearing. The interview was conducted intermittently by email between July and October, 2008.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2009
Interaction of water-soluble CdTe quantum dots with octacarboxy metallophthalocyanines
- Idowu, Mopelola, Nyokong, Tebello
- Authors: Idowu, Mopelola , Nyokong, Tebello
- Date: 2009
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/264197 , vital:53708 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jlumin.2008.11.005"
- Description: Water-soluble CdTe quantum dots capped with L-cysteine (QD-CYS) were found to improve the photophysical and photochemical properties of octacarboxy metallophthalocyanine (MOCPc, M=Zn(II), Al(III)(OH), Ge(IV)(OH)2 and Si(IV)(OH)2) complexes. Increased diffusional interactions between the molecules and the ground-state molecular oxygen were established resulting from the increase in the triplet-state quantum yield and lifetimes of the MOCPcs in the presence of QD-CYS. Energy transfer occurred from QD-CYS to the MOCPcs upon excitation of QD-CYS. It was found that an efficient energy transfer process, which is not directly related to the amount of spectral overlap between the donor (QD-CYS) and the acceptor (MOCPc) can occur. Singlet oxygen via fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) mechanism was produced in the QD-MPc mixture.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2009
- Authors: Idowu, Mopelola , Nyokong, Tebello
- Date: 2009
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/264197 , vital:53708 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jlumin.2008.11.005"
- Description: Water-soluble CdTe quantum dots capped with L-cysteine (QD-CYS) were found to improve the photophysical and photochemical properties of octacarboxy metallophthalocyanine (MOCPc, M=Zn(II), Al(III)(OH), Ge(IV)(OH)2 and Si(IV)(OH)2) complexes. Increased diffusional interactions between the molecules and the ground-state molecular oxygen were established resulting from the increase in the triplet-state quantum yield and lifetimes of the MOCPcs in the presence of QD-CYS. Energy transfer occurred from QD-CYS to the MOCPcs upon excitation of QD-CYS. It was found that an efficient energy transfer process, which is not directly related to the amount of spectral overlap between the donor (QD-CYS) and the acceptor (MOCPc) can occur. Singlet oxygen via fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) mechanism was produced in the QD-MPc mixture.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2009
Intercultural communication in three Eastern Cape HIV/AIDS clinics
- Authors: Mandla, Veliswa Maureen
- Date: 2009
- Subjects: Intercultural communication -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape HIV-positive persons -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape HIV-positive persons -- Medical care -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape AIDS (Disease) -- Patients -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape Xhosa language -- Study and teaching -- English speakers Physician and patient -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape Communication in medicine -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:3585 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002160
- Description: There are many inequities that exist in health-care that stem from culture related communication misunderstandings. In most cases where doctors and patients from different cultural and linguistic background interact, doctors use medical language which is different from everyday language used by patients. Patients enter this communication context with anxiety because they depend on the physicians to give them accurate information concerning their health, but they do not always understand all the terms used by physicians to inform them about their conditions. In some cases interpreters are used but their expertise is often inadequate and the interpreting of the patient’s statements to the health staff is also prone to distortion by interpreter / doctor because of the lack of proper understanding of the messages / languages. This may result in a deterioration of the patient’s health condition and unavoidable complications.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2009
- Authors: Mandla, Veliswa Maureen
- Date: 2009
- Subjects: Intercultural communication -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape HIV-positive persons -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape HIV-positive persons -- Medical care -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape AIDS (Disease) -- Patients -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape Xhosa language -- Study and teaching -- English speakers Physician and patient -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape Communication in medicine -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:3585 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002160
- Description: There are many inequities that exist in health-care that stem from culture related communication misunderstandings. In most cases where doctors and patients from different cultural and linguistic background interact, doctors use medical language which is different from everyday language used by patients. Patients enter this communication context with anxiety because they depend on the physicians to give them accurate information concerning their health, but they do not always understand all the terms used by physicians to inform them about their conditions. In some cases interpreters are used but their expertise is often inadequate and the interpreting of the patient’s statements to the health staff is also prone to distortion by interpreter / doctor because of the lack of proper understanding of the messages / languages. This may result in a deterioration of the patient’s health condition and unavoidable complications.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2009
Interdependence and business cycle transmission between South Africa and the USA, UK, Japan and Germany
- Authors: Mugova, Terrence Tafadzwa
- Date: 2009
- Subjects: International economic relations -- Developing countries , Business cycles -- Developing countries , Economic development -- Developing countries , Industrial policy -- Developing countries , International finance
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MCom
- Identifier: vital:946 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002680 , International economic relations -- Developing countries , Business cycles -- Developing countries , Economic development -- Developing countries , Industrial policy -- Developing countries , International finance
- Description: The process of globalisation has had a large impact on the world economy over the past three decades. Economic globalisation has manifested itself in the increasing integration of goods and services through international trade and the integration of financial markets. As a consequence the existence of co-movements in economic variables of different countries has become more evident. The extent to which globalisation causes a country’s economy to move together with the rest of the world concerns policy-makers. When such co-movement is significant, the influence of policy-makers on their respective domestic economies is significantly reduced. South Africa re-entered the international economy in the early 1990s when the forces of globalisation, especially for developing countries, seemed to gain momentum. Empirical research such as Kabundi and Loots (2005) found strong evidence of international co-movement between the world business cycle and the South African business cycle, particularly following South Africa’s integration into the global economy. This study examines the relationship and interdependence between South Africa and four of its major developed trading partners. More particularly, the study examines the question of whether business cycles are transmitted from Germany, Japan, US and UK to South Africa, and/or from South Africa to Germany, Japan, the US and UK. The study employs structural vector autoregressive (SVARs) models to analyse monthly data from 1980:01–2008:04 on industrial production, producer prices, short-term interest rates and real effective exchange rates. The results show that South Africa benefits from economic growth in both the UK and US. They also indicate significant price transmission from Germany and Japan to South Africa, with transmission in the opposite direction being statistically insignificant. The impulse response graphs show that a positive one standard deviation shock to both German and Japanese producer prices has a negative impact on South African output (industrial production) growth. Furthermore, South African monetary policy is relatively unresponsive to international monetary policy stances. The findings of this study indicate that South African policymakers need to take into consideration economic performance of the country’s major trading partners, with particular emphasis on the UK and US economies.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2009
- Authors: Mugova, Terrence Tafadzwa
- Date: 2009
- Subjects: International economic relations -- Developing countries , Business cycles -- Developing countries , Economic development -- Developing countries , Industrial policy -- Developing countries , International finance
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MCom
- Identifier: vital:946 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002680 , International economic relations -- Developing countries , Business cycles -- Developing countries , Economic development -- Developing countries , Industrial policy -- Developing countries , International finance
- Description: The process of globalisation has had a large impact on the world economy over the past three decades. Economic globalisation has manifested itself in the increasing integration of goods and services through international trade and the integration of financial markets. As a consequence the existence of co-movements in economic variables of different countries has become more evident. The extent to which globalisation causes a country’s economy to move together with the rest of the world concerns policy-makers. When such co-movement is significant, the influence of policy-makers on their respective domestic economies is significantly reduced. South Africa re-entered the international economy in the early 1990s when the forces of globalisation, especially for developing countries, seemed to gain momentum. Empirical research such as Kabundi and Loots (2005) found strong evidence of international co-movement between the world business cycle and the South African business cycle, particularly following South Africa’s integration into the global economy. This study examines the relationship and interdependence between South Africa and four of its major developed trading partners. More particularly, the study examines the question of whether business cycles are transmitted from Germany, Japan, US and UK to South Africa, and/or from South Africa to Germany, Japan, the US and UK. The study employs structural vector autoregressive (SVARs) models to analyse monthly data from 1980:01–2008:04 on industrial production, producer prices, short-term interest rates and real effective exchange rates. The results show that South Africa benefits from economic growth in both the UK and US. They also indicate significant price transmission from Germany and Japan to South Africa, with transmission in the opposite direction being statistically insignificant. The impulse response graphs show that a positive one standard deviation shock to both German and Japanese producer prices has a negative impact on South African output (industrial production) growth. Furthermore, South African monetary policy is relatively unresponsive to international monetary policy stances. The findings of this study indicate that South African policymakers need to take into consideration economic performance of the country’s major trading partners, with particular emphasis on the UK and US economies.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2009
Intergovermental policy integration and poverty eradication in a developmental state: the case of the PGDP and Amathole IDP in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa
- Hofisi, Costa https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2571-6991
- Authors: Hofisi, Costa https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2571-6991
- Date: 2009
- Subjects: Poverty -- Government policy -- South Africa , Public administration -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Doctoral theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/25744 , vital:64475
- Description: The post-apartheid South African government inherited an economy characterised by a dichotomy between well developed and affluent whites and the underdeveloped and impoverished African blacks. This dichotomy was manifest in sharp divisions with regard to access to decent housing, health, education and transport just to mention a few, thus reflecting poverty, as a widespread phenomenon. Since 1994, the South African government has made major efforts aimed at addressing poverty, however, that poverty persists, despite the efforts, cannot be contested. One of the major challenges has been the disjuncture between policies at various spheres of government. This study examines the articulation between two spheres of government focusing on the Provincial Growth and Development Programme of the Eastern Cape and the integrated development plan of Amathole District Municipality. Currently not much research has been carried out in this area. This study illuminates various analytical and practical issues and hopefully provides a useful basis for improvement in the government’s declared commitment to poverty eradication. Triangulating qualitative and quantitative research methodologies, the study aimed to investigate the integration of the Provincial Growth and Development Program and the Integrated Development Plan and the contribution of these policy instruments towards poverty eradication in the Eastern Cape. A further aim was to analyse community participation in and knowledge of the PGDP and Amathole IDP and how they have been effective. This was an empirically grounded study, based on the use of a combination of data collection methods, analysis of primary and secondary sources of data including government documents, administering in-depth interviews to a range of informants within government, the community and a questionnaire survey of a sample drawn from members of the community in the Amatole District Municipality and, finally the use of Amatole district as a case study which was the major unit of analysis. The findings from the study revealed that there is a plethora of challenges confronting policy integration, often resulting in institutional paralysis and inertia. Such challenges vary from lack of capacity in local government, lack of political will, policy shifts, a plethora of legislation, competing if not conflicting priorities, nonattendance of Intergovernmental forums, lack of cooperation by sector departments, contradictions between legislation, policy inconsistencies, conceptual imprecision and conceptual blurring. Moreover, the neo-liberal ideology informing development planning not only in the province, but in South Africa as a whole as propagated by western main stream economists leaves benefits indeed merely ‘trickling down’ to the poor and not ‘pouring’, such that the transition in South Africa has been reduced to an ‘elite transition’. The research results confirm, as observed elsewhere, that experiences of several developing countries over the past decades do not appear to support the trickle down hypothesis. On the other hand, community participation is also stifled by lack of participatory spaces, poor participatory methodologies and structures which make participation difficult while the poor remain trapped in the vicious cycle of poverty. Real participation goes beyond ‘passive development objects’ and ‘recipients of development’ to ensuring that people are empowered to become ‘masters of their own development’ within the context of a participatory democratic developmental state. There is need for not only a thorough examination of the political use of the ‘local’, the ‘poor’ but even the very conceptualisation of participation and its methodologies for effective community participation to be realised. , Thesis (PhD) -- Faculty of Management and Commerce, 2009
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2009
- Authors: Hofisi, Costa https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2571-6991
- Date: 2009
- Subjects: Poverty -- Government policy -- South Africa , Public administration -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Doctoral theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/25744 , vital:64475
- Description: The post-apartheid South African government inherited an economy characterised by a dichotomy between well developed and affluent whites and the underdeveloped and impoverished African blacks. This dichotomy was manifest in sharp divisions with regard to access to decent housing, health, education and transport just to mention a few, thus reflecting poverty, as a widespread phenomenon. Since 1994, the South African government has made major efforts aimed at addressing poverty, however, that poverty persists, despite the efforts, cannot be contested. One of the major challenges has been the disjuncture between policies at various spheres of government. This study examines the articulation between two spheres of government focusing on the Provincial Growth and Development Programme of the Eastern Cape and the integrated development plan of Amathole District Municipality. Currently not much research has been carried out in this area. This study illuminates various analytical and practical issues and hopefully provides a useful basis for improvement in the government’s declared commitment to poverty eradication. Triangulating qualitative and quantitative research methodologies, the study aimed to investigate the integration of the Provincial Growth and Development Program and the Integrated Development Plan and the contribution of these policy instruments towards poverty eradication in the Eastern Cape. A further aim was to analyse community participation in and knowledge of the PGDP and Amathole IDP and how they have been effective. This was an empirically grounded study, based on the use of a combination of data collection methods, analysis of primary and secondary sources of data including government documents, administering in-depth interviews to a range of informants within government, the community and a questionnaire survey of a sample drawn from members of the community in the Amatole District Municipality and, finally the use of Amatole district as a case study which was the major unit of analysis. The findings from the study revealed that there is a plethora of challenges confronting policy integration, often resulting in institutional paralysis and inertia. Such challenges vary from lack of capacity in local government, lack of political will, policy shifts, a plethora of legislation, competing if not conflicting priorities, nonattendance of Intergovernmental forums, lack of cooperation by sector departments, contradictions between legislation, policy inconsistencies, conceptual imprecision and conceptual blurring. Moreover, the neo-liberal ideology informing development planning not only in the province, but in South Africa as a whole as propagated by western main stream economists leaves benefits indeed merely ‘trickling down’ to the poor and not ‘pouring’, such that the transition in South Africa has been reduced to an ‘elite transition’. The research results confirm, as observed elsewhere, that experiences of several developing countries over the past decades do not appear to support the trickle down hypothesis. On the other hand, community participation is also stifled by lack of participatory spaces, poor participatory methodologies and structures which make participation difficult while the poor remain trapped in the vicious cycle of poverty. Real participation goes beyond ‘passive development objects’ and ‘recipients of development’ to ensuring that people are empowered to become ‘masters of their own development’ within the context of a participatory democratic developmental state. There is need for not only a thorough examination of the political use of the ‘local’, the ‘poor’ but even the very conceptualisation of participation and its methodologies for effective community participation to be realised. , Thesis (PhD) -- Faculty of Management and Commerce, 2009
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2009
Intergroup conflict in soccer stadiums
- Authors: Mazibuko, Vela Onke
- Date: 2009
- Subjects: Collective behavior , Soccer fans , Soccer hooliganism , Police -- Violence against , Football stadiums , Group identity
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , M Soc Sc (C Psy)
- Identifier: vital:11858 , http://hdl.handle.net/10353/234 , Collective behavior , Soccer fans , Soccer hooliganism , Police -- Violence against , Football stadiums , Group identity
- Description: The aim of the present research is to investigate three factors, namely perceptions of fairness in intergroup situations, ingroup identification and spatial dimensions that are assumed to contribute to why individuals participate in violence against the police in soccer stadiums. In Study 1 perceptions of fairness, identification and spatial perspective were manipulated and the results indicated a significant interaction effect between identification and spatial perspective. This interaction effect had a significant influence on negative behavioural tendencies towards police. In Study 2, identification and spatial perspective were manipulated and once again the interaction effect between identification and spatial perspective was found. A main effect of identification was found in that participants who identified lower with fans showed significantly more positive attitudes towards police. The results of the two studies highlight the importance of looking beyond the inherent nature of the crowd itself when analysing situations of police/fan conflict, and also the need to further investigate the spatial dimension and how it influences social judgment and decision making.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2009
- Authors: Mazibuko, Vela Onke
- Date: 2009
- Subjects: Collective behavior , Soccer fans , Soccer hooliganism , Police -- Violence against , Football stadiums , Group identity
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , M Soc Sc (C Psy)
- Identifier: vital:11858 , http://hdl.handle.net/10353/234 , Collective behavior , Soccer fans , Soccer hooliganism , Police -- Violence against , Football stadiums , Group identity
- Description: The aim of the present research is to investigate three factors, namely perceptions of fairness in intergroup situations, ingroup identification and spatial dimensions that are assumed to contribute to why individuals participate in violence against the police in soccer stadiums. In Study 1 perceptions of fairness, identification and spatial perspective were manipulated and the results indicated a significant interaction effect between identification and spatial perspective. This interaction effect had a significant influence on negative behavioural tendencies towards police. In Study 2, identification and spatial perspective were manipulated and once again the interaction effect between identification and spatial perspective was found. A main effect of identification was found in that participants who identified lower with fans showed significantly more positive attitudes towards police. The results of the two studies highlight the importance of looking beyond the inherent nature of the crowd itself when analysing situations of police/fan conflict, and also the need to further investigate the spatial dimension and how it influences social judgment and decision making.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2009
Internationalizing Media Studies, Daya Kishan Thussu (Ed.): book review
- Authors: Banda, Fackson
- Date: 2009
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/454572 , vital:75356 , https://hdl.handle.net/10520/EJC139904
- Description: Debates about the structures and processes of globalisation - along with those of localisation - have important implications for the discipline (or is it still a field?) of media studies. The first implication, framed as a counter-hegemonic resistance to what some might consider to be the totalising tradition of Western media studies scholarship, is that we can no longer continue to look only to Western centres of academe for intellectual edification. The need for a critical deconstruction of Euro-American intellectual centrism, and the need for recognising and thus reconstructing a truly transcultural onto-epistemological agenda for media studies, has become more urgent than ever before.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2009
- Authors: Banda, Fackson
- Date: 2009
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/454572 , vital:75356 , https://hdl.handle.net/10520/EJC139904
- Description: Debates about the structures and processes of globalisation - along with those of localisation - have important implications for the discipline (or is it still a field?) of media studies. The first implication, framed as a counter-hegemonic resistance to what some might consider to be the totalising tradition of Western media studies scholarship, is that we can no longer continue to look only to Western centres of academe for intellectual edification. The need for a critical deconstruction of Euro-American intellectual centrism, and the need for recognising and thus reconstructing a truly transcultural onto-epistemological agenda for media studies, has become more urgent than ever before.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2009
Interpretation of regional geochemical data as an aid to exploration target generation in the North West Province South Africa
- Authors: Mapukule, Livhuwani Ernest
- Date: 2009
- Subjects: Ore deposits -- South Africa , Prospecting -- South Africa , Mines and mineral resources -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc (Geology)
- Identifier: vital:11519 , http://hdl.handle.net/10353/268 , Ore deposits -- South Africa , Prospecting -- South Africa , Mines and mineral resources -- South Africa
- Description: This study involves the application, interpretation and utilization of regional geochemical data for target generation in the North West Province, South Africa. A regional soil geochemical survey programme has been carried out by the Council of Geoscience South Africa since 1973. A number of 1:250 000 sheet areas have been completed, but there are no interpretative maps which could aid in mineral exploration and other purposes. In order to utilize the valuable and expensive data, the project was motivated through data acquisition and interpretation to generate exploration targets. The study area is confined to Mafikeng, Vryburg, Kuruman and Christiana in the Northwest Province, where potential exploration and mining opportunities exist in areas of great geological interest. These include geological events such as the Bushveld Complex, the Kalahari manganese field and the Kraaipan greenstone belts. The aim of this project was to utilize geochemical data together with geophysical and geological information to verify and identification of possible obscured ore bodies or zones of mineralization, and to generate targets. Another objective was the author to be trained in the techniques of geochemical data processing, interpretation and integration of techniques such as geophysics, in the understanding of the geology and economic geology of the areas. Approximately 5 kg of surface soil was collected per 1 km2 by CGS from foot traversing. Pellets of the samples were prepared and analyzed for TiO2, MnO and Fe2O3, Sc, V, Cr, Ni, Co, Cu, Zn, As, Y, Ba, Nb, Rb, Th, W, Zr, Pb, Sr and U using the simultaneous wavelengthdispersive X-ray fluorescence spectrometer technique at the Council for Geoscience, South Africa. For each element the mean +2 standard deviations were used as a threshold value to separate the negative from the positive anomalies. The integration of geological, geophysical and geochemical information was used to analyze and understand the areas of interest. A number of computer programmes were extensively used for data processing, manipulation, and presentation. These include Golden Software Surfer 8®, Arc-View 3.2a®, TNT-Mips®, JMP 8 ®, and Microsoft Excel®. Through geochemical data processing and interpretation, together with the low resolution aeromagnetic data, gravity data and geological data, seven (7) exploration target areas have been generated: These have been numbered A to G. It is concluded that there is good potential for Cr, PGMs, vanadium, nickel, iron, copper, manganese, uranium and niobium in the targets generated. The results provide some indication and guide for exploration in the target areas. In Target A, Cu, Cr, Fe, Ni and V anomalies from the lower chromitite zone of far western zone of the Bushveld Complex, which has be overlain buy the thick surface sand of the Gordonia Formation. Target B occurs over the diabase, norite, andesitic lava and andalusite muscovite hornfels of the Magaliesberg Formation. This target has the potential for Cu, Fe and Ni mineralization. The felsic rocks of the Kanye Formation and the Gaborone Granite in target C have shown some positive anomalies of niobium, uranium, yttrium and rubidium which give the area potential for Nb, REE and U exploration. Target D is located on the Allanridge Formation, and has significant potential for Ni-Cu mineralization, and is associated with the komatiitic lava at the base of the Allanridge Formation in the Christiana Area. The light green tholeiitic, calc-alkali basalt and andesitic rocks of the Rietgat Formation are characterized by a north-south trending yttrium anomaly with supporting Ba and Y anomalies (Target E). This makes the area a potential target for rare earth elements. Calcrete on the west of the Kuruman has a low b potential target for vanadium. It is believed that the area might be potential for potassium-uranium vanadate minerals, carnotite which is mostly found in calcrete deposits. This study has proved to be a useful and approach in utilizing the valuable geochemical data for exploration and future mining, generated by Council for Geoscience Science. It is recommended that further detailed soil, rock and geochemical surveys and ultimately diamond drilling be carried out in the exploration target areas generated by this study.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2009
- Authors: Mapukule, Livhuwani Ernest
- Date: 2009
- Subjects: Ore deposits -- South Africa , Prospecting -- South Africa , Mines and mineral resources -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc (Geology)
- Identifier: vital:11519 , http://hdl.handle.net/10353/268 , Ore deposits -- South Africa , Prospecting -- South Africa , Mines and mineral resources -- South Africa
- Description: This study involves the application, interpretation and utilization of regional geochemical data for target generation in the North West Province, South Africa. A regional soil geochemical survey programme has been carried out by the Council of Geoscience South Africa since 1973. A number of 1:250 000 sheet areas have been completed, but there are no interpretative maps which could aid in mineral exploration and other purposes. In order to utilize the valuable and expensive data, the project was motivated through data acquisition and interpretation to generate exploration targets. The study area is confined to Mafikeng, Vryburg, Kuruman and Christiana in the Northwest Province, where potential exploration and mining opportunities exist in areas of great geological interest. These include geological events such as the Bushveld Complex, the Kalahari manganese field and the Kraaipan greenstone belts. The aim of this project was to utilize geochemical data together with geophysical and geological information to verify and identification of possible obscured ore bodies or zones of mineralization, and to generate targets. Another objective was the author to be trained in the techniques of geochemical data processing, interpretation and integration of techniques such as geophysics, in the understanding of the geology and economic geology of the areas. Approximately 5 kg of surface soil was collected per 1 km2 by CGS from foot traversing. Pellets of the samples were prepared and analyzed for TiO2, MnO and Fe2O3, Sc, V, Cr, Ni, Co, Cu, Zn, As, Y, Ba, Nb, Rb, Th, W, Zr, Pb, Sr and U using the simultaneous wavelengthdispersive X-ray fluorescence spectrometer technique at the Council for Geoscience, South Africa. For each element the mean +2 standard deviations were used as a threshold value to separate the negative from the positive anomalies. The integration of geological, geophysical and geochemical information was used to analyze and understand the areas of interest. A number of computer programmes were extensively used for data processing, manipulation, and presentation. These include Golden Software Surfer 8®, Arc-View 3.2a®, TNT-Mips®, JMP 8 ®, and Microsoft Excel®. Through geochemical data processing and interpretation, together with the low resolution aeromagnetic data, gravity data and geological data, seven (7) exploration target areas have been generated: These have been numbered A to G. It is concluded that there is good potential for Cr, PGMs, vanadium, nickel, iron, copper, manganese, uranium and niobium in the targets generated. The results provide some indication and guide for exploration in the target areas. In Target A, Cu, Cr, Fe, Ni and V anomalies from the lower chromitite zone of far western zone of the Bushveld Complex, which has be overlain buy the thick surface sand of the Gordonia Formation. Target B occurs over the diabase, norite, andesitic lava and andalusite muscovite hornfels of the Magaliesberg Formation. This target has the potential for Cu, Fe and Ni mineralization. The felsic rocks of the Kanye Formation and the Gaborone Granite in target C have shown some positive anomalies of niobium, uranium, yttrium and rubidium which give the area potential for Nb, REE and U exploration. Target D is located on the Allanridge Formation, and has significant potential for Ni-Cu mineralization, and is associated with the komatiitic lava at the base of the Allanridge Formation in the Christiana Area. The light green tholeiitic, calc-alkali basalt and andesitic rocks of the Rietgat Formation are characterized by a north-south trending yttrium anomaly with supporting Ba and Y anomalies (Target E). This makes the area a potential target for rare earth elements. Calcrete on the west of the Kuruman has a low b potential target for vanadium. It is believed that the area might be potential for potassium-uranium vanadate minerals, carnotite which is mostly found in calcrete deposits. This study has proved to be a useful and approach in utilizing the valuable geochemical data for exploration and future mining, generated by Council for Geoscience Science. It is recommended that further detailed soil, rock and geochemical surveys and ultimately diamond drilling be carried out in the exploration target areas generated by this study.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2009
Interrogating gender constructions in the Daily Sun: an analysis of the coverage of the 'Charter for a Man' campaign against gender violence between November and December 2007
- Authors: Dewa, Nonhlanhla
- Date: 2009
- Subjects: Foucault, Michel, 1926-1984 -- Criticism and interpretation Daily Sun Women -- Violence against Mass media and women Abused women Tabloid newspapers Discourse analysis
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:3426 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002879
- Description: The study seeks to interrogate the gender constructions in the Daily Sun’s “Charter for a Man” campaign which ran from 7 November to 7 December 2007. It coincided with the 16 Days of Activism against gender violence and was designed to lobby support for this campaign and discourage men from physically abusing women. The “Charter for a Man” listed nine principles that signatories were to abide by. It included a section to be signed by men to be submitted to and collected by the Daily Sun. The campaign was constructed as an intervention into the issue of gender violence. Consequently, the 30 news stories, four editorial pieces and 11 letters to the editor that were published during the campaign period make up the textual data analysed in the study. The news stories consisted of testimonies from abused women and some women abusers. In addition, celebrity signatories were selected to endorse the campaign and encourage other men to follow suit. In the editorials, the campaign was consistently flagged as a nation building initiative which all men were supposed to support. The letters to the editor consisted of readers who either supported or rejected the campaign. The study takes place against the context of a patriarchal society characterised by high levels of violence. Given this scenario, the study is informed by a concern with gender justice and therefore considers whether such a campaign, ostensibly aimed at eradicating gender violence, has the potential of being transformative of gender inequalities. The study set out to establish the kinds of masculinities and femininities that were variously constituted in the campaign as well as the gender discourses that were privileged. It is informed by the theories of feminist poststructuralism and Foucault’s conceptualisation of discourse. As the campaign is the initiative of a tabloid newspaper, it is also considered within the framework of newspaper campaigns and arguments about tabloids and the public sphere. As text based research, the study employs critical discourse analysis as a qualitative procedure of textual analysis. It makes use of an eclectic approach to textual analysis that draws on linguistics, narrative and argumentation. The texts are analysed according to the categories of news texts contained which includes the Charter itself, signatory articles, testimonies, vox pops and letters to the editor. The overarching theme of nationhood projected in the editorials and other categories is also discussed as part of the analysis. The study concludes that the Daily Sun campaign might be a seemingly progressive action at first glance. However, it does not challenge the existing gender order but rather maintains and sustains patriarchal attitudes through the repeated representation of women as weak and in need of patronage and men as their protectors and providers. In some instances, women are constructed primarily as sexual beings as their physical attributes are emphasised, while men are constructed as working class citizens and rational beings. The study therefore proposes that the Daily Sun fails as an alternative public sphere that might make visible the concerns of women as a marginalised group in society. The campaign, it is argued, is self-serving in its promotion of the Daily Sun’s image as the “People’s Paper” rather than serious concerns about gender violence.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2009
- Authors: Dewa, Nonhlanhla
- Date: 2009
- Subjects: Foucault, Michel, 1926-1984 -- Criticism and interpretation Daily Sun Women -- Violence against Mass media and women Abused women Tabloid newspapers Discourse analysis
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:3426 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002879
- Description: The study seeks to interrogate the gender constructions in the Daily Sun’s “Charter for a Man” campaign which ran from 7 November to 7 December 2007. It coincided with the 16 Days of Activism against gender violence and was designed to lobby support for this campaign and discourage men from physically abusing women. The “Charter for a Man” listed nine principles that signatories were to abide by. It included a section to be signed by men to be submitted to and collected by the Daily Sun. The campaign was constructed as an intervention into the issue of gender violence. Consequently, the 30 news stories, four editorial pieces and 11 letters to the editor that were published during the campaign period make up the textual data analysed in the study. The news stories consisted of testimonies from abused women and some women abusers. In addition, celebrity signatories were selected to endorse the campaign and encourage other men to follow suit. In the editorials, the campaign was consistently flagged as a nation building initiative which all men were supposed to support. The letters to the editor consisted of readers who either supported or rejected the campaign. The study takes place against the context of a patriarchal society characterised by high levels of violence. Given this scenario, the study is informed by a concern with gender justice and therefore considers whether such a campaign, ostensibly aimed at eradicating gender violence, has the potential of being transformative of gender inequalities. The study set out to establish the kinds of masculinities and femininities that were variously constituted in the campaign as well as the gender discourses that were privileged. It is informed by the theories of feminist poststructuralism and Foucault’s conceptualisation of discourse. As the campaign is the initiative of a tabloid newspaper, it is also considered within the framework of newspaper campaigns and arguments about tabloids and the public sphere. As text based research, the study employs critical discourse analysis as a qualitative procedure of textual analysis. It makes use of an eclectic approach to textual analysis that draws on linguistics, narrative and argumentation. The texts are analysed according to the categories of news texts contained which includes the Charter itself, signatory articles, testimonies, vox pops and letters to the editor. The overarching theme of nationhood projected in the editorials and other categories is also discussed as part of the analysis. The study concludes that the Daily Sun campaign might be a seemingly progressive action at first glance. However, it does not challenge the existing gender order but rather maintains and sustains patriarchal attitudes through the repeated representation of women as weak and in need of patronage and men as their protectors and providers. In some instances, women are constructed primarily as sexual beings as their physical attributes are emphasised, while men are constructed as working class citizens and rational beings. The study therefore proposes that the Daily Sun fails as an alternative public sphere that might make visible the concerns of women as a marginalised group in society. The campaign, it is argued, is self-serving in its promotion of the Daily Sun’s image as the “People’s Paper” rather than serious concerns about gender violence.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2009
Intra- and interspecific brood recognition in pure and mixed-species honeybee colonies, Apis cerana and A. mellifera
- Tan, K, Yang, M-X, Radloff, Sarah E, Yu, Y, Pirk, Christian W W, Hepburn, H Randall
- Authors: Tan, K , Yang, M-X , Radloff, Sarah E , Yu, Y , Pirk, Christian W W , Hepburn, H Randall
- Date: 2009
- Subjects: Apis mellifera Apis cerana
- Language: English
- Type: text , Article
- Identifier: vital:6837 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1010962 , http://dx.doi.org/10.1051/apido/2009003
- Description: We studied the effects of mixed honeybee colonies of Apis mellifera and Apis cerana on the intraspecific and interspecific recognition of female brood stages in the honeybees A. cerana and A. mellifera by transferring brood combs between queenright colonies. In the intraspecific tests, significantly more larvae were removed in A. cerana than in A. mellifera, whilst significantly fewer eggs and pupae were removed in A. cerana than in A. mellifera. In the interspecific tests, A. cerana colonies removed significantly more larvae and pupae of A. mellifera than the same brood stages of A. cerana were removed by A. mellifera. We show there are highly significant differences in both intraspecific and interspecific brood recognition between A. cerana and A. mellifera and that brood recognition operates with decreasing intensity with increasing developmental age within species. This suggests that worker policing in egg removal is a first line of defense against heterospecific social parasites.
- Full Text: false
- Date Issued: 2009
- Authors: Tan, K , Yang, M-X , Radloff, Sarah E , Yu, Y , Pirk, Christian W W , Hepburn, H Randall
- Date: 2009
- Subjects: Apis mellifera Apis cerana
- Language: English
- Type: text , Article
- Identifier: vital:6837 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1010962 , http://dx.doi.org/10.1051/apido/2009003
- Description: We studied the effects of mixed honeybee colonies of Apis mellifera and Apis cerana on the intraspecific and interspecific recognition of female brood stages in the honeybees A. cerana and A. mellifera by transferring brood combs between queenright colonies. In the intraspecific tests, significantly more larvae were removed in A. cerana than in A. mellifera, whilst significantly fewer eggs and pupae were removed in A. cerana than in A. mellifera. In the interspecific tests, A. cerana colonies removed significantly more larvae and pupae of A. mellifera than the same brood stages of A. cerana were removed by A. mellifera. We show there are highly significant differences in both intraspecific and interspecific brood recognition between A. cerana and A. mellifera and that brood recognition operates with decreasing intensity with increasing developmental age within species. This suggests that worker policing in egg removal is a first line of defense against heterospecific social parasites.
- Full Text: false
- Date Issued: 2009
Investigating customer service excellence at Lakeside Spar
- Authors: Meyer, Warren Carlo
- Date: 2009
- Subjects: Consumer satisfaction , Customer services , Customer relations management
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MBA
- Identifier: vital:8700 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/1016 , Consumer satisfaction , Customer services , Customer relations management
- Description: Service delivery is critical to the customer’s perception of value and is core to the success of an organisation. Excellent customer service incorporates the critical aspects of: expedient service delivery; open and honest communication; individual, personalised service; engendering customer loyalty; problem-solving; under-promising and over-delivering; meeting and exceeding expectations; efficient use of infrastructure, systems and procedures to facilitate efficient operations and, in particular, effective use of knowledge management with a focus on customer lifecycle care (Kingstone, 2004, 2005; Zarbock, 2006). Best-practice organisations now use Customer Relationship Management (CRM) programmes that are customer-centric based in order to ensure excellent customer service delivery. Recently, organisations such as Tesco and Nordstrom have adopted customer-centric CRM successfully, providing concrete proof that this CRM model is sustainable and that it produces the highly lucrative win-win benefits which organisations seek (Beasty, 2005; Hallberg, 2001:19; Gratehouse, 2002; Rowe, 2002). 5 Glossary • Continuous improvement: an approach to improving performance which assumes more and smaller incremental improvement steps (Pycraft, Singh, Phihlela, Slack, Chambers, Harland, Harrison, & Johnston, 2002); • Connectivity: the ability to communicate with another system or piece of hardware or software, or with an internet site (Encarta World English Dictionary); • Customer-centric: the use of every touch-point to stimulate interest, close business, satisfy a need or demonstrate commitment to the customer relationship (Gianforte, 2005); • Customer expectations: the customer's perception of the quality of service (LeBoeuf, 1991) and value (Thompson, 2004); • Customer Experience Management: managing customer interactions to build brand equity and long-term profitability (Thompson, 2006a); • Customer lifecycle care: to ensure that every touch-point fulfils its value-potential, regardless of whether the interaction happens in marketing, sales or customer service (Gianforte, 2005); • Customer loyalty: customer’s attitudes and behaviour relating to their perception of value at every touch-point where they feel welcome, important and valued (Thompson, 2004); • Customer Relationship.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2009
- Authors: Meyer, Warren Carlo
- Date: 2009
- Subjects: Consumer satisfaction , Customer services , Customer relations management
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MBA
- Identifier: vital:8700 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/1016 , Consumer satisfaction , Customer services , Customer relations management
- Description: Service delivery is critical to the customer’s perception of value and is core to the success of an organisation. Excellent customer service incorporates the critical aspects of: expedient service delivery; open and honest communication; individual, personalised service; engendering customer loyalty; problem-solving; under-promising and over-delivering; meeting and exceeding expectations; efficient use of infrastructure, systems and procedures to facilitate efficient operations and, in particular, effective use of knowledge management with a focus on customer lifecycle care (Kingstone, 2004, 2005; Zarbock, 2006). Best-practice organisations now use Customer Relationship Management (CRM) programmes that are customer-centric based in order to ensure excellent customer service delivery. Recently, organisations such as Tesco and Nordstrom have adopted customer-centric CRM successfully, providing concrete proof that this CRM model is sustainable and that it produces the highly lucrative win-win benefits which organisations seek (Beasty, 2005; Hallberg, 2001:19; Gratehouse, 2002; Rowe, 2002). 5 Glossary • Continuous improvement: an approach to improving performance which assumes more and smaller incremental improvement steps (Pycraft, Singh, Phihlela, Slack, Chambers, Harland, Harrison, & Johnston, 2002); • Connectivity: the ability to communicate with another system or piece of hardware or software, or with an internet site (Encarta World English Dictionary); • Customer-centric: the use of every touch-point to stimulate interest, close business, satisfy a need or demonstrate commitment to the customer relationship (Gianforte, 2005); • Customer expectations: the customer's perception of the quality of service (LeBoeuf, 1991) and value (Thompson, 2004); • Customer Experience Management: managing customer interactions to build brand equity and long-term profitability (Thompson, 2006a); • Customer lifecycle care: to ensure that every touch-point fulfils its value-potential, regardless of whether the interaction happens in marketing, sales or customer service (Gianforte, 2005); • Customer loyalty: customer’s attitudes and behaviour relating to their perception of value at every touch-point where they feel welcome, important and valued (Thompson, 2004); • Customer Relationship.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2009
Investigating how the attributes of live theatre productions influence consumption choices using conjoint analysis : the example of the National Arts Festival, South Africa
- Willis, K G, Snowball, Jeanette D
- Authors: Willis, K G , Snowball, Jeanette D
- Date: 2009
- Language: English
- Type: Article
- Identifier: vital:6075 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003825 , http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10824-009-9097-z
- Description: While there is a fair amount of work on determinants of demand for the live performing arts, results have often been contradictory with little explanatory power. This may be because of the difficulty in describing the attributes of a performance, particularly in terms of its quality, and the heterogeneity of consumer preferences. This article uses conjoint analysis, also called choice experiments, to investigate the impact of the attributes of live theatre performances on demand, using data collected from 483 randomly chosen attenders at live theatre performances at the 2008 South African National Arts Festival. Attributes include the type of cast (professional, semi-professional or amateur), reputation of the producer/director, the context or setting, production type and ticket price of the show. Results largely support the a priori expectations based on the results of other demand studies. For example, it is found that the age of consumers affects the type of show chosen, that utility and willingness to pay increase for shows with professional and semi-professional casts and that 93% of the potential audience prefer shows with a South African context. It is concluded that the method could prove useful to both event organisers and policy makers, especially where the goal is to broaden access to the arts.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2009
- Authors: Willis, K G , Snowball, Jeanette D
- Date: 2009
- Language: English
- Type: Article
- Identifier: vital:6075 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003825 , http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10824-009-9097-z
- Description: While there is a fair amount of work on determinants of demand for the live performing arts, results have often been contradictory with little explanatory power. This may be because of the difficulty in describing the attributes of a performance, particularly in terms of its quality, and the heterogeneity of consumer preferences. This article uses conjoint analysis, also called choice experiments, to investigate the impact of the attributes of live theatre performances on demand, using data collected from 483 randomly chosen attenders at live theatre performances at the 2008 South African National Arts Festival. Attributes include the type of cast (professional, semi-professional or amateur), reputation of the producer/director, the context or setting, production type and ticket price of the show. Results largely support the a priori expectations based on the results of other demand studies. For example, it is found that the age of consumers affects the type of show chosen, that utility and willingness to pay increase for shows with professional and semi-professional casts and that 93% of the potential audience prefer shows with a South African context. It is concluded that the method could prove useful to both event organisers and policy makers, especially where the goal is to broaden access to the arts.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2009
Investigating perceptions of students' language needs at a Rwandan institution of higher learning
- Authors: Magambo, Joseph
- Date: 2009
- Subjects: Kigali Institute of Science, Technology and Management English language -- Study and teaching (Higher) -- Rwanda English language -- Study and teaching (Higher) -- Rwanda -- Foreign speakers Universities and colleges -- Rwanda
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: vital:1915 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1007268
- Description: The site of this research is the Kigali Institute of Science and Technology (KIST). The research was undertaken to investigate first year students' perceived English language needs in order to study successfully at KIST. The research was intended to pave the way for differentiated English language syllabuses for students of varying English proficiency. It sought to answer the following questions: (1) what are students' perceived language needs in order to study through the medium of English at KIST? (2) To what extent does the current English language programme address these perceived needs? And (3) what are the differences in students' perceived language needs at different levels of proficiency? The research was carried out in an interpretive paradigm using both qualitative and quantitative methods. It took the form of a case study utilising questionnaires to collect data. Questionnaires were administered to students, mainstream subject lecturers and English lecturers. The student sample consisted of 212 students chosen from the four previously identified levels of proficiency (beginner, elementary, intermediate and advanced). The lecturer samples consisted of seven subject lecturers and eleven lecturers in English. The research tools used to collect data were administered questionnaires and document analysis. The chi-square statistical test was used to analyse quantitative data especially in establishing differences that appeared between dissimilar proficiency levels. Findings have shown that, although English is no longer a credit-bearing course, students are still interested in learning it. Students expressed a high positive perception for learning language structures, listening and speaking, and a need for reading and writing. However, although it was possible to establish stakeholders' (students, subject lecturers and lecturers in English) perceptions of students' needs, it was not easy to establish what students' real needs and difficulties in English are. Attempts to get valid answers to my questions were not conclusive. Although this research has implications for the future of English language teaching/learning at KIST there is a need for further investigation of students' needs. An important starting point would be to begin a debate at KIST about the whole issue of students' needs. Such research would exploit research tools/methods not used in this research (e.g focus group interviews and observations).
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2009
- Authors: Magambo, Joseph
- Date: 2009
- Subjects: Kigali Institute of Science, Technology and Management English language -- Study and teaching (Higher) -- Rwanda English language -- Study and teaching (Higher) -- Rwanda -- Foreign speakers Universities and colleges -- Rwanda
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: vital:1915 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1007268
- Description: The site of this research is the Kigali Institute of Science and Technology (KIST). The research was undertaken to investigate first year students' perceived English language needs in order to study successfully at KIST. The research was intended to pave the way for differentiated English language syllabuses for students of varying English proficiency. It sought to answer the following questions: (1) what are students' perceived language needs in order to study through the medium of English at KIST? (2) To what extent does the current English language programme address these perceived needs? And (3) what are the differences in students' perceived language needs at different levels of proficiency? The research was carried out in an interpretive paradigm using both qualitative and quantitative methods. It took the form of a case study utilising questionnaires to collect data. Questionnaires were administered to students, mainstream subject lecturers and English lecturers. The student sample consisted of 212 students chosen from the four previously identified levels of proficiency (beginner, elementary, intermediate and advanced). The lecturer samples consisted of seven subject lecturers and eleven lecturers in English. The research tools used to collect data were administered questionnaires and document analysis. The chi-square statistical test was used to analyse quantitative data especially in establishing differences that appeared between dissimilar proficiency levels. Findings have shown that, although English is no longer a credit-bearing course, students are still interested in learning it. Students expressed a high positive perception for learning language structures, listening and speaking, and a need for reading and writing. However, although it was possible to establish stakeholders' (students, subject lecturers and lecturers in English) perceptions of students' needs, it was not easy to establish what students' real needs and difficulties in English are. Attempts to get valid answers to my questions were not conclusive. Although this research has implications for the future of English language teaching/learning at KIST there is a need for further investigation of students' needs. An important starting point would be to begin a debate at KIST about the whole issue of students' needs. Such research would exploit research tools/methods not used in this research (e.g focus group interviews and observations).
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2009
Investigating relationships between mathematics teachers' content knowledge, their pedagogical knowledge and their learnes' achievement in terms of functions and graphs
- Authors: Stewart, Joyce
- Date: 2009
- Subjects: Mathematics -- Study and teaching -- South Africa , Mathematics teachers -- Training of -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: vital:9515 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/1100 , Mathematics -- Study and teaching -- South Africa , Mathematics teachers -- Training of -- South Africa
- Description: This study used diagnostic tests, questionnaires and interviews to investigate explore teachers’ subject content knowledge (SCK) and pedagogical subject knowledge (PCK). It also explored teachers’ and learners’ misconceptions within the topic of graphicacy and how teachers’ SCK and PCK possibly affect learner achievement. A small sample of teachers were drawn from the Keiskammahoek region; a deep rural area of the Eastern Cape. These teachers were part of the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University (NMMU) Amathole Cluster Schools Project who were registered for a three-year BEd (FET) in-service programme in mathematics education. As part of the programme they studied mathematics 1 and 2 at university level and received quarterly non-formal workshops on teaching mathematics at FET level. The findings of this study suggest that teachers with insufficient SCK will probably have limited PCK, although the two are not entirely dependent on each other. In cases where teachers’ displayed low levels of SCK and PCK, their learners were more likely to perform poorly and their results often indicated similar misconceptions as displayed by their teachers. This implies that we have to look at what teachers know and what they need to know in terms of SCK and PCK if we are to plan effectively for effective teacher development aimed at improving learner performance.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2009
- Authors: Stewart, Joyce
- Date: 2009
- Subjects: Mathematics -- Study and teaching -- South Africa , Mathematics teachers -- Training of -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: vital:9515 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/1100 , Mathematics -- Study and teaching -- South Africa , Mathematics teachers -- Training of -- South Africa
- Description: This study used diagnostic tests, questionnaires and interviews to investigate explore teachers’ subject content knowledge (SCK) and pedagogical subject knowledge (PCK). It also explored teachers’ and learners’ misconceptions within the topic of graphicacy and how teachers’ SCK and PCK possibly affect learner achievement. A small sample of teachers were drawn from the Keiskammahoek region; a deep rural area of the Eastern Cape. These teachers were part of the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University (NMMU) Amathole Cluster Schools Project who were registered for a three-year BEd (FET) in-service programme in mathematics education. As part of the programme they studied mathematics 1 and 2 at university level and received quarterly non-formal workshops on teaching mathematics at FET level. The findings of this study suggest that teachers with insufficient SCK will probably have limited PCK, although the two are not entirely dependent on each other. In cases where teachers’ displayed low levels of SCK and PCK, their learners were more likely to perform poorly and their results often indicated similar misconceptions as displayed by their teachers. This implies that we have to look at what teachers know and what they need to know in terms of SCK and PCK if we are to plan effectively for effective teacher development aimed at improving learner performance.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2009
Investigating teacher's perceptions about the value and implementation of Arts at the lower primary phase: a case study in selected schools in Namibia
- Authors: Chombo, Stanley Chombo
- Date: 2009
- Subjects: Education -- Namibia Teachers -- Attitudes -- Namibia Arts -- Study and teaching (Elementary) -- Namibia -- Case studies
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: vital:1952 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1008207
- Description: This study was conducted in order to investigate teachers' perceptions about the value and implementation of Arts in the Lower Primary Phase. The study adopted a qualitative approach and seeks to investigate (a) teachers' perceptions of the role and value of Arts at the Lower Primary Phase (b) the issues and problems teachers have in teaching Arts as a separate subject at the Lower Primary Phase (c) the opportunities for incorporating Arts with other subjects and with the cross-curricular issues. The data was gathered by using interviews, class observations and document analysis. The study focused on six teachers in two Schools in the Caprivi education region of the Republic of Namibia. The findings of the study revealed that Arts stimulates the learner's imagination and creativity. The teachers felt that by encouraging learners to explore their creativity through Arts we maintain the practice of the Arts through drawing, carving, modelling and music.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2009
- Authors: Chombo, Stanley Chombo
- Date: 2009
- Subjects: Education -- Namibia Teachers -- Attitudes -- Namibia Arts -- Study and teaching (Elementary) -- Namibia -- Case studies
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: vital:1952 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1008207
- Description: This study was conducted in order to investigate teachers' perceptions about the value and implementation of Arts in the Lower Primary Phase. The study adopted a qualitative approach and seeks to investigate (a) teachers' perceptions of the role and value of Arts at the Lower Primary Phase (b) the issues and problems teachers have in teaching Arts as a separate subject at the Lower Primary Phase (c) the opportunities for incorporating Arts with other subjects and with the cross-curricular issues. The data was gathered by using interviews, class observations and document analysis. The study focused on six teachers in two Schools in the Caprivi education region of the Republic of Namibia. The findings of the study revealed that Arts stimulates the learner's imagination and creativity. The teachers felt that by encouraging learners to explore their creativity through Arts we maintain the practice of the Arts through drawing, carving, modelling and music.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2009