Factors in the school context that enhance resilience in high school learners from socio-economically challenged backgrounds
- Authors: Mzini, Yondela
- Date: 2020
- Subjects: Education, Secondary
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSW
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/46428 , vital:39586
- Description: School is a rich source of information about the world, history, nature and its phenomena. Learning is an important part in young people lives and it begins at school. A young person can learn various subjects and facts in schools that would be life-long remembered. Schools can thus be regarded as an important instrument contributing to the positive development of young people.These young people are born into families and in addition to the school the family is regarded as the basic source of strength, nurturance and support for its individual members as well as ensuring stability and generational continuity. Families also play a key role in the development of young people. However, many families struggle with socio-economic issues like poverty, substance abuse and conflict amongst parents and caregivers. The focus of this study is on factors within the school environment that enhance the resilience of high school learnerswhere their experiences of the family’s less than ideal socio-economic situation and challenges create barriers to learning. Literature shows that the school is a place where learners spend the largest portion of their time per day. When learners leave homeforschool, they become the responsibility of the teacher. Teachers in high schools are thus challenged to facilitatereal support to vast number of learners who facedifficult issues in their personal lives. The researcher was interested to know what these young people regard as the factors in school that enhance their resilience despite difficult family circumstances. This study employed a qualitative research approach, embedded in an explorative anddescriptive research design.The sample of the study was drawn from young people who have successfully completed high school. A non-probability, volunteer sampling technique wasemployed to recruit ten young people. They were interviewed using semi-structured interviews. The research ethics such as voluntary participation, informed consent, confidentiality and principle of no harm to participants were adhered to. To ensure the trustworthiness of the data, the researcher observed aspects of credibility, transferability, dependability and conformability. The findings of the study couldcontribute to local knowledge and an increased understanding of aspects of the school that supportresilience-building for young people from challenging circumstances. Young people interviewed in the study came from backgrounds where they experienced various socio-economic challenges, they were able to reflect on strengths in their family systems, personal strengths and how it influences their choices. They also spoke about the positive role the school played in building their resilience and made valuable contributions about how the school can be responsive to students with varying strength-sets.
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- Date Issued: 2020
A framework to enhance the appreciation and motivation of employees in an automotive factory
- Authors: Parsons, Paul Benjamin
- Date: 2018
- Subjects: Employee motivation , Work ethic Incentive awards Employees|xRating of Motor vehicle industry -- Psychological aspects
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MBA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/23059 , vital:30402
- Description: Manufacturing in South Africa is constantly under pressure to produce more for less, and the automotive industry is no exception. Well known initiatives like “just-in-time” (JIT) manufacturing; “flexible manufacturing systems” (FMS); and “lean manufacturing”, are some of the strategies that manufacturing adopted to increase productivity. Due to the comparative extremely high capital investments that need to be spent before a single unit is built, manufacturing can only be competitive by exploring economics of scale; in doing this, manufacturers recoup capital outflow and start showing profit. Should this require that an employee be treated in the same way: used as an input into the production process? Human capital theory has been around for many decades, proclaiming that employees are more than just labourers. Gone are the days when work was an exchange between labour and money. Both parties demand more from each other. Employers want more commitment, efficiency and flexibility; employees, on the other hand, want more autonomy, purpose and appreciation. Employees are a company‟s biggest assets if treated and motivated correctly. Employee motivation is not a new concept – theorists and likeminded people have tried to dissect and understand the topic over millennia. It seems, however, that whenever a theory is formulated people‟s perception changes (almost like trying to hit a moving target). Some theorists claim that a totally new rule set is required to motivate employees in the information age. The bottom line seems to be that in order for companies to gain advantage from human capital, the area-specific motivational environment needs to be understood. Only when this is accomplished, can policies and incentives be aligned, resulting in a more committed, efficient and flexible employee. It is therefore imperative for an employer to understand both what motivates his or her employees, and what these employees recognise as appreciation.
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- Date Issued: 2018
A teacher collective as a professional development approach to promote foundation phase mathematics teaching
- Authors: Hlam, Thandiwe Lillian
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: Mathematics -- Study and teaching (Elementary) -- South Africa Teachers -- Development -- South Africa , Teachers -- Education (Primary) -- South Africa Early childhood education -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/15071 , vital:28119
- Description: This qualitative study is a response to a request for help from a group of Grade 3 (year 3) teachers who were disheartened with the poor performance of their learners in Mathematics. In an attempt to address their challenge, they resolved to form a Teacher Collective (TC) amongst themselves. Their main objective was to support each other in their development of Mathematical Knowledge for Teaching (MKT). The participants, being frustrated by what they perceived as an inefficient and unhelpful cluster approach to professional development used by the Department of Basic Education initiated their own teacher collective strategy. I was approached by this TC to assist them in developing a strategy to make this TC suit the needs of the participants. A Lesson Study (LS) approach was used as an alternative Teacher Professional Development strategy within the TC. In studies conducted by Ono and Ferreira (2010) and Jita and Mokhele (2014), a LS approach is regarded as an essential tool desirable for enhancement of teacher collaboration and participant’s MKT. However, both studies reported on challenges related to contextual issues. Those contextual issues revealed themselves as similar to the challenges that threatened to weaken the collaborative structure initiated by the participants in this current study. To overcome these challenges, participants felt a need for some sort of adaptation for a LS approach to work in their context. In the application of the revised adapted version of a LS approach, participants experienced a Teacher Collective (TC) in action using real and useful experiences (Ono & Ferreira, 2010). The aim of this study was to examine the effects of a Teacher Collective for improving participating teachers’ pedagogical and disciplinary content knowledge in Foundation Phase (FP) Mathematics. As this study targeted a small group of teachers, it adopted a case-study methodology. The participants were five Grade 3 teachers purposefully self-selected from two Port Elizabeth township schools. Semi-structured interviews were used to determine participating teachers’ perceptions of a Teacher Collective as a Teacher Professional Development strategy necessary to promote Mathematical Knowledge for Teaching. Descriptive methodologies which concern inter alia practices that prevail, relationships that exists, point of views that were held, processes that are going on and effects that are felt by participants were used (Creswell, 2013). The following major findings emerged from the data analysis: For the TC to be a successful alternative TPD, it requires that: (1) Teachers must regard themselves as being responsible for the own professional growth and own the TPD programme. (2) Participants of the TC must adopt flexible strategies to allow for active participation of the participants in building meaning for themselves. (4) A TPD strategy should be sensitive to contextual issues and be addressed accordingly. (5) A TPD programme should seek to improve classroom instruction but this must be based on the needs of the participants. It is primarily the following structural features that affected teacher learning within the TC: (a) the form of the activity (joint lesson planning, observed lesson presentation, post lesson feedback, etc.), (b) collective participation of teachers within and across the schools and (c) the duration of the activity. In this study the LS approach worked well as it sought to address the needs of the participants.
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- Date Issued: 2017
Governing information security within the context of "bring your own device" in small, medium and micro enterprises
- Authors: Fani, Noluvuyo
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: Data protection , Computer security -- Management , Computer networks -- Security measures
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MTech
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/7626 , vital:22114
- Description: Throughout history, information has been core to the communication, processing and storage of most tasks in the organisation, in this case in Small-Medium and Micro Enterprises (SMMEs). The implementation of these tasks relies on Information and Communication Technology (ICT). ICT is constantly evolving, and with each developed ICT, it becomes important that organisations adapt to the changing environment. Organisations need to adapt to the changing environment by incorporating innovative ICT that allows employees to perform their tasks with ease anywhere and anytime, whilst reducing the costs affiliated with the ICT. In this modern, performing tasks with ease anywhere and anytime requires that the employee is mobile whilst using the ICT. As a result, a relatively new phenomenon called “Bring Your Own Device” (BYOD) is currently infiltrating most organisations, where personally-owned mobile devices are used to access organisational information that will be used to conduct the various tasks of the organisation. The use of BYOD in organisations breeds the previously mentioned benefits such as performing organisational tasks anywhere and anytime. However, with the benefits highlighted for BYOD, organisations should be aware that there are risks to the implementation of BYOD. Therefore, the implementation of BYOD deems that organisations should implement BYOD with proper management thereof.
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- Date Issued: 2017
Managing diversity: a case study of the Nelson Mandela Municipality
- Authors: Maart, Brigitte
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: Diversity in the workplace -- South Africa -- Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality , Personnel management -- South Africa -- Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality , Multiculturalism -- South Africa -- Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MPA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/3335 , vital:20424
- Description: South African public organisations are faced with many unique challenges in striving to manage an increasingly diverse workforce. This study aimed to investigate the managing of diversity at the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality. To achieve this aim, the views of the Total Quality Management approach were examined in order to create an effective and efficient diversity environment within the municipality. In order to understand what effective diversity management means in South African public organisations, a qualitative approach to the research was utilised through document analysis and interviews. Purposive sampling was used to identify participants. Interviews were conducted until a point of data saturation was reached. Data was analysed using the systematic coding tool of the ATLAS.ti software programme. The research reveals that many shortcomings exist concerning diversity management in the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality. Therefore, a need exists for proper management of diversity that would support tolerance and respect for diversity.
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- Date Issued: 2014
Entrepreneurship education at a FET college
- Authors: Cook, Vania Saretta
- Date: 2011
- Subjects: Entrepreneurship -- Study and teaching , Business education
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MBA
- Identifier: vital:8637 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/d1008071 , Entrepreneurship -- Study and teaching , Business education
- Description: The previous economic structure in South Africa was well served by the FET College institutions in that they provided a resource pool for large companies and organisations. This however, developed a student mindset of becoming an employee instead of the employer of an organisation. With an economy in transition, privately owned companies or organisations now account for an increasing proportion of economic development. Hence, FET Colleges need to redefine their role in the economy and society, specifically in the type of entrepreneurship courses they offer. This study examines the provision of entrepreneurship education at a FET College in the Eastern Cape with special reference to the levels of provision, support mechanisms, course objectives, contents, teaching and assessment methods to ascertain whether they are appropriately developed to prepare students for entrepreneurship as a career option. This study followed a qualitative research paradigm, implementing a case study approach during the research. In order to analyse the above, the New Venture Creation and Entrepreneurship and Business Management students were selected for this study. Data were collected by handing out questionnaires to a sample of 200 students to assess entrepreneurship courses and pedagogies. The results of this study, indicate that entrepreneurship education at a specific FET College is not enabling the students with sufficient knowledge and skills to start their own business. The results indicate a low level of entrepreneurship education and a weak standing of entrepreneurship courses, which tend to only be part of the Finance course offered within the Business Studies Department at a FET College. Contributing factors to this low level of entrepreneurship education have been identified by lack of support mechanisms by management, the theoretical orientation of entrepreneurship curriculum, teaching methods and assessment of tasks. Based on these findings, it is strongly suggested that this FET College should: (1) develop specialised entrepreneurship programmes for all students; (2) receive special funding for entrepreneurship education; (3) integrate experiential learning in the curriculum; and (4) give special consideration to training entrepreneurship educators.
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- Date Issued: 2011