An investigation into pupils' knowledge of and attitudes towards AIDS : a survey of four private schools
- Authors: Robinson, Margaret
- Date: 1991
- Subjects: AIDS (Disease) -- Study and teaching -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: vital:1348 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1001414
- Description: Because of the extent and immediacy of the problem of AIDS in the RSA and because this disease, which is mainly transmitted by voluntary human behaviour, has no cure, the need for educational programmes to curtail the spread of AIDS is seen as of prime importance in the RSA. At present there is little published research about the levels of knowledge of AIDS attained by pupils in junior and senior schools, nor of the attitudes they have towards the disease. It was felt that without this information, it would be difficult to develop appropriate AIDS education programmes. In this research, questionnaires were administered to investigate the knowledge of and attitudes towards the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome - (AIDS) - of the standards 5, 7 and 9 pupils at four private schools. These three age groups were chosen in order to look at the possible effects of the maturation process on these pupils' perceptions of AIDS. A questionnaire was also completed by selected school personnel to provide background information on any existing AIDS education in the schools. A pilot study was carried out with a small group of pupils in order to establish the areas of concern being expressed by senior school pupils. The results of the survey have shown that while there is a gradation in the knowledge levels of the pupils in standards 5, 7 and 9, there is a need for more intensive teaching of AlDS at or before the transition from junior to senior school. That the pupils perceive a need for school-based education, particularly in order to acquire knowledge of prevention strategies, was evident. The attitudes of the majority of the pupils towards AIDS sufferers were found to be tolerant or circumspect, although there was evidence of intolerance from some quarters. The fears of the pupils were found to stem largely from the unique characteristics of the disease and a lack of knowledge of how to protect themselves against it. In developing guidelines for a programme of AIDS education for the South African schools, the programmes and interventions currently operative in the USA, Great Britain, Europe and two African countries were considered. This research has raised a number of questions, the answers to which will he important in the development of future programmes of AIDS education
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1991
- Authors: Robinson, Margaret
- Date: 1991
- Subjects: AIDS (Disease) -- Study and teaching -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: vital:1348 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1001414
- Description: Because of the extent and immediacy of the problem of AIDS in the RSA and because this disease, which is mainly transmitted by voluntary human behaviour, has no cure, the need for educational programmes to curtail the spread of AIDS is seen as of prime importance in the RSA. At present there is little published research about the levels of knowledge of AIDS attained by pupils in junior and senior schools, nor of the attitudes they have towards the disease. It was felt that without this information, it would be difficult to develop appropriate AIDS education programmes. In this research, questionnaires were administered to investigate the knowledge of and attitudes towards the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome - (AIDS) - of the standards 5, 7 and 9 pupils at four private schools. These three age groups were chosen in order to look at the possible effects of the maturation process on these pupils' perceptions of AIDS. A questionnaire was also completed by selected school personnel to provide background information on any existing AIDS education in the schools. A pilot study was carried out with a small group of pupils in order to establish the areas of concern being expressed by senior school pupils. The results of the survey have shown that while there is a gradation in the knowledge levels of the pupils in standards 5, 7 and 9, there is a need for more intensive teaching of AlDS at or before the transition from junior to senior school. That the pupils perceive a need for school-based education, particularly in order to acquire knowledge of prevention strategies, was evident. The attitudes of the majority of the pupils towards AIDS sufferers were found to be tolerant or circumspect, although there was evidence of intolerance from some quarters. The fears of the pupils were found to stem largely from the unique characteristics of the disease and a lack of knowledge of how to protect themselves against it. In developing guidelines for a programme of AIDS education for the South African schools, the programmes and interventions currently operative in the USA, Great Britain, Europe and two African countries were considered. This research has raised a number of questions, the answers to which will he important in the development of future programmes of AIDS education
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1991
An investigation into the relationship between kinesthetic sensitivity and balancing ability in pre-school children
- Authors: Burger, Laetitia Mary
- Date: 1991
- Subjects: Motor ability in children Perception in children Preschool children
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: vital:1615 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003497
- Description: The purpose of this study was to explore the possibility of a linear relationship between kinesthetic sensitivity and balancing ability in pre-school children. Furthermore, the effects of age on kinesthetic sensitivity and balancing ability were investigated. Finally, the role of gender in kinesthetic sensitivity and balancing ability was examined. Fifty-one subjects, between the ages of three and six years, executed five trials on each of two kinesthetic sensitivity tests (an arm abduction test and a hip abduction test); two tests for static balance (on a balance board and on a balance stick) and two tests for dynamic balance (a beam walk test and a stepping stones test). Although the correlations between kinesthetic sensitivity and balancing ability were generally positive, they were very slight. These low correlations are probably an indication that different abilities are required for carrying out the different tasks. Generally, both balancing ability and kinesthetic sensitivity appeared to improve with age. From analysis of individual test results it was obvious that abilities varied from individual to individual (Appendix G). This could have been the result of developmental, motivational or experiential differences. Although the girls generally performed slightly better on most tests than the boys the correlations between test scores for boys were slightly higher than those for girls. At-test indicated that there were no significant differences between the mean scores of the boys and the girls on the balancing or the kinesthetic sensitivity tasks.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1991
- Authors: Burger, Laetitia Mary
- Date: 1991
- Subjects: Motor ability in children Perception in children Preschool children
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: vital:1615 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003497
- Description: The purpose of this study was to explore the possibility of a linear relationship between kinesthetic sensitivity and balancing ability in pre-school children. Furthermore, the effects of age on kinesthetic sensitivity and balancing ability were investigated. Finally, the role of gender in kinesthetic sensitivity and balancing ability was examined. Fifty-one subjects, between the ages of three and six years, executed five trials on each of two kinesthetic sensitivity tests (an arm abduction test and a hip abduction test); two tests for static balance (on a balance board and on a balance stick) and two tests for dynamic balance (a beam walk test and a stepping stones test). Although the correlations between kinesthetic sensitivity and balancing ability were generally positive, they were very slight. These low correlations are probably an indication that different abilities are required for carrying out the different tasks. Generally, both balancing ability and kinesthetic sensitivity appeared to improve with age. From analysis of individual test results it was obvious that abilities varied from individual to individual (Appendix G). This could have been the result of developmental, motivational or experiential differences. Although the girls generally performed slightly better on most tests than the boys the correlations between test scores for boys were slightly higher than those for girls. At-test indicated that there were no significant differences between the mean scores of the boys and the girls on the balancing or the kinesthetic sensitivity tasks.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1991
An investigation of the evolution and current status of the core theoretical disciplines in the training of primary school teachers at selected English-medium training institutions in South Africa
- Authors: Robertson, Sally-Ann, 1952-
- Date: 1991
- Subjects: Elementary school teachers -- Training of -- South Africa , Teachers -- Training of -- South Africa , Education -- Philosophy
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: vital:2008 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1015891
- Description: This investigation examines developments which have taken place in the theoretical component of pre-service courses for primary teachers. Revised conceptions of the purpose and scope of primary education, and the attendant demand for better qualified primary teachers to implement such education, resulted in a considerable increase in the theoretical component of primary teacher preparation courses . Better theoretical understanding of the educative task was perceived to be essential to the production of more effective primary teachers. The emergence of various schemes for the preparation of South African primary teachers is outlined. The Cape Province provides the major exemplar. The nature of educational theory, and its precise contribution to enhanced teaching ability has been a subject of fierce debate within educational circles. An analysis of theory, in general, and as it applies in the educational context, is undertaken. The evolution of the core theoretical disciplines of education - history, philosophy, psychology and sociology of education - is traced. The current status of these disciplines at selected South African institutions undertaking primary teacher preparation is then investigated, and the views of lecturing staff at these institutions on the optimal approach to the teaching of educational theory are presented. The disciplines still play an important role in the South African Bachelor of Primary Education degree courses surveyed. In British teacher preparation courses, however, disenchantment with the disciplines' format has given rise to demands for new approaches to the teaching of educational theory. Some of these alternative approaches are evaluated. An overall assessment is made of the contribution that can be expected from educational theory in pre-service courses for primary teachers, and some recommendations are made for the management of the theoretical component of pre-service courses for South African primary teachers.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1991
- Authors: Robertson, Sally-Ann, 1952-
- Date: 1991
- Subjects: Elementary school teachers -- Training of -- South Africa , Teachers -- Training of -- South Africa , Education -- Philosophy
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: vital:2008 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1015891
- Description: This investigation examines developments which have taken place in the theoretical component of pre-service courses for primary teachers. Revised conceptions of the purpose and scope of primary education, and the attendant demand for better qualified primary teachers to implement such education, resulted in a considerable increase in the theoretical component of primary teacher preparation courses . Better theoretical understanding of the educative task was perceived to be essential to the production of more effective primary teachers. The emergence of various schemes for the preparation of South African primary teachers is outlined. The Cape Province provides the major exemplar. The nature of educational theory, and its precise contribution to enhanced teaching ability has been a subject of fierce debate within educational circles. An analysis of theory, in general, and as it applies in the educational context, is undertaken. The evolution of the core theoretical disciplines of education - history, philosophy, psychology and sociology of education - is traced. The current status of these disciplines at selected South African institutions undertaking primary teacher preparation is then investigated, and the views of lecturing staff at these institutions on the optimal approach to the teaching of educational theory are presented. The disciplines still play an important role in the South African Bachelor of Primary Education degree courses surveyed. In British teacher preparation courses, however, disenchantment with the disciplines' format has given rise to demands for new approaches to the teaching of educational theory. Some of these alternative approaches are evaluated. An overall assessment is made of the contribution that can be expected from educational theory in pre-service courses for primary teachers, and some recommendations are made for the management of the theoretical component of pre-service courses for South African primary teachers.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1991
An investigation of the interrelationship between group commitment, religiosity, marital adjustment and attitude to divorce in the Jewish ethnic group
- Authors: Miller, Bernice
- Date: 1991
- Subjects: Jews -- Psychology , Judaism , Jews -- Attitudes , Ethnicity , Marriage (Jewish law) , Divorce (Jewish law)
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:3019 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002528 , Jews -- Psychology , Judaism , Jews -- Attitudes , Ethnicity , Marriage (Jewish law) , Divorce (Jewish law)
- Description: The purpose of this research was to investigate the interrelationships between marital adjustment, group commitment, religiosity and attitude to divorce in the Jewish group. It amounted to a within group empirical study of the Jewish community of Cape Town. Research, to date, has focused on marital stability where researchers have found that Jews have lower divorce rates than the general population. The present study attempted to assess the psycho-social outcomes of group commitment in the form of marital adjustment, thus bridging the gap between marital quality and marital stability in the Jewish group. On a wider level, the purpose of this research was to assess whether a social structural framework, utilizing the concept of social integration, is a perspective that can be used in explaining variations in marital adjustment. The following were the findings of the research : Religiosity was correlated to group commitment but not to marital adjustment; group commitment was correlated to marital adjustment; a negative attitude to divorce was not correlated to marital adjustment, group commitment or religiosity.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1991
- Authors: Miller, Bernice
- Date: 1991
- Subjects: Jews -- Psychology , Judaism , Jews -- Attitudes , Ethnicity , Marriage (Jewish law) , Divorce (Jewish law)
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:3019 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002528 , Jews -- Psychology , Judaism , Jews -- Attitudes , Ethnicity , Marriage (Jewish law) , Divorce (Jewish law)
- Description: The purpose of this research was to investigate the interrelationships between marital adjustment, group commitment, religiosity and attitude to divorce in the Jewish group. It amounted to a within group empirical study of the Jewish community of Cape Town. Research, to date, has focused on marital stability where researchers have found that Jews have lower divorce rates than the general population. The present study attempted to assess the psycho-social outcomes of group commitment in the form of marital adjustment, thus bridging the gap between marital quality and marital stability in the Jewish group. On a wider level, the purpose of this research was to assess whether a social structural framework, utilizing the concept of social integration, is a perspective that can be used in explaining variations in marital adjustment. The following were the findings of the research : Religiosity was correlated to group commitment but not to marital adjustment; group commitment was correlated to marital adjustment; a negative attitude to divorce was not correlated to marital adjustment, group commitment or religiosity.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1991
An investigation of the romantic ballet in its sociocultural context in Paris and London, 1830 to 1850
- Authors: Osborne, Jane
- Date: 1991
- Subjects: Ballet -- France -- Paris , Ballet -- England -- London , Ballet -- History -- 19th century , Ballet -- Sociological aspects
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2126 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002028
- Description: Historians have made a considerable contribution to the study of the Romantic ballet in terms of chronological development, the Romantic movement in the arts and the contribution of specific dancers and choreographers; very little research has been attempted to date on the interrelationship between the dance form and the wide range of human experience of the period. This holistic approach provides insight into form, content and stagecraft; political, economic and social influences; the prevailing artistic aesthetic and cultural climate; sex, gender and class issues; and the priorities, value system and nuances of the times. Recent work by historians and social scientists (eg Brinson 1981, Adshead 1983, Spencer 1985, Hanna 1988, Garafola 1989) advocates a recognition of the role of social and cultural systems in the evaluation of dance. This approach further ackowledges the equal status of all cultures, and has opened up areas of African performing dance in cultural systems outside the west. My parallel investigation of the gumboot dance in its South African context, which appears in Appendix B, provides an example. The first half of the nineteenth century was characterized by the disruptive beginnings of the emergent industrial world, centred in Paris and London; and the Romantic ballet tradition reached its greatest heights at this time. Chapter one establishes the political, economic, social and artistic environment, and identifies middle class dominance as a key factor. Chapters two and three focus primarily on the three great ballets of the age, La Sylphide, 1832, Giselie, 1841, and Pas de Quatre, 1845, as expressions of the essential duality of the times, and of Romantic synaesthesia in the arts, which enabled them to transcend the pedestrian bourgeois materialism of faciliatators and audience. Chapter four examines the images of the idealized ballerina and the 'Victorian' middle class woman in relation to bourgeois male attitudes to female sexuality, gender and class. The conclusion sums up the themes of duality, middle class influence, and the Romantic aesthetic, and discusses the prevalent notion that this period was identified as a 'golden age' of the Romantic ballet.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1991
- Authors: Osborne, Jane
- Date: 1991
- Subjects: Ballet -- France -- Paris , Ballet -- England -- London , Ballet -- History -- 19th century , Ballet -- Sociological aspects
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2126 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002028
- Description: Historians have made a considerable contribution to the study of the Romantic ballet in terms of chronological development, the Romantic movement in the arts and the contribution of specific dancers and choreographers; very little research has been attempted to date on the interrelationship between the dance form and the wide range of human experience of the period. This holistic approach provides insight into form, content and stagecraft; political, economic and social influences; the prevailing artistic aesthetic and cultural climate; sex, gender and class issues; and the priorities, value system and nuances of the times. Recent work by historians and social scientists (eg Brinson 1981, Adshead 1983, Spencer 1985, Hanna 1988, Garafola 1989) advocates a recognition of the role of social and cultural systems in the evaluation of dance. This approach further ackowledges the equal status of all cultures, and has opened up areas of African performing dance in cultural systems outside the west. My parallel investigation of the gumboot dance in its South African context, which appears in Appendix B, provides an example. The first half of the nineteenth century was characterized by the disruptive beginnings of the emergent industrial world, centred in Paris and London; and the Romantic ballet tradition reached its greatest heights at this time. Chapter one establishes the political, economic, social and artistic environment, and identifies middle class dominance as a key factor. Chapters two and three focus primarily on the three great ballets of the age, La Sylphide, 1832, Giselie, 1841, and Pas de Quatre, 1845, as expressions of the essential duality of the times, and of Romantic synaesthesia in the arts, which enabled them to transcend the pedestrian bourgeois materialism of faciliatators and audience. Chapter four examines the images of the idealized ballerina and the 'Victorian' middle class woman in relation to bourgeois male attitudes to female sexuality, gender and class. The conclusion sums up the themes of duality, middle class influence, and the Romantic aesthetic, and discusses the prevalent notion that this period was identified as a 'golden age' of the Romantic ballet.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1991
An investigation of the significance of learned helplessness on membership participation in co-operative movements
- Authors: Norman, Paul Deon
- Date: 1991
- Subjects: Learned helplessness , Psychology , Black people -- South Africa , Attributional Style Questionnaire , Partician Index , Co-operatives , Helplessness (Psychology) , Black people -- Psychology
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2895 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002059
- Description: In this study the psychological phenomenon of learned helplessness is investigated to determine its significance as a characteristic of members of progressive co-operatives within the South African context. Most of the members of these co-operatives are black South Africans. It is argued that because of the country's racial policy, many of the members have become accustomed to a passive response to events in their lives and this gives rise to their failure to utilise the freedom and opportunities of the co-operative structure. The researcher hypothesises that this passive response could be explained in terms of a high level of learned helplessness among co-operative members. Two hypotheses are investigated in this study: Hypothesis 1: Passive co-operative members will have higher levels of learned helplessness than active members. Hypothesis 2:The level of learned helplessness decreases as the length of co-operative members involvement increases. Data collection for this study was carried out by combining a personal interview and a standardised questionnaire (the Attributional Style Questionnaire). To distinguish between the passive and active members, a Participation Index was constructed. The ASQ was translated into Xhosa, adapted for the sample and two translators were employed to conduct the interviews in Xhosa. The sample consisted of 50 black South Africans, many with limited education and was drawn from six co-operatives in the Eastern Cape. No significant differences were found between the active and passive groups in terms of their levels of learned helplessness. Furthermore, the length of involvement in the co-operative had no effect on the level of learned helplessness. No support was found therefore for Hypothesis l and 2. A significant difference, however, was found between active and passive members and the number of months of involvement. This suggests that the length of involvement has an effect on how active members will be in the co-operative. The results of this study indicate that generally the sample does not suffer from learned helplessness. It is argued that Hypothesis 2 is not supported due to confounding variables. The study raises many doubts as to the reliability of the ASQ and the Participation Index used in the study.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1991
- Authors: Norman, Paul Deon
- Date: 1991
- Subjects: Learned helplessness , Psychology , Black people -- South Africa , Attributional Style Questionnaire , Partician Index , Co-operatives , Helplessness (Psychology) , Black people -- Psychology
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2895 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002059
- Description: In this study the psychological phenomenon of learned helplessness is investigated to determine its significance as a characteristic of members of progressive co-operatives within the South African context. Most of the members of these co-operatives are black South Africans. It is argued that because of the country's racial policy, many of the members have become accustomed to a passive response to events in their lives and this gives rise to their failure to utilise the freedom and opportunities of the co-operative structure. The researcher hypothesises that this passive response could be explained in terms of a high level of learned helplessness among co-operative members. Two hypotheses are investigated in this study: Hypothesis 1: Passive co-operative members will have higher levels of learned helplessness than active members. Hypothesis 2:The level of learned helplessness decreases as the length of co-operative members involvement increases. Data collection for this study was carried out by combining a personal interview and a standardised questionnaire (the Attributional Style Questionnaire). To distinguish between the passive and active members, a Participation Index was constructed. The ASQ was translated into Xhosa, adapted for the sample and two translators were employed to conduct the interviews in Xhosa. The sample consisted of 50 black South Africans, many with limited education and was drawn from six co-operatives in the Eastern Cape. No significant differences were found between the active and passive groups in terms of their levels of learned helplessness. Furthermore, the length of involvement in the co-operative had no effect on the level of learned helplessness. No support was found therefore for Hypothesis l and 2. A significant difference, however, was found between active and passive members and the number of months of involvement. This suggests that the length of involvement has an effect on how active members will be in the co-operative. The results of this study indicate that generally the sample does not suffer from learned helplessness. It is argued that Hypothesis 2 is not supported due to confounding variables. The study raises many doubts as to the reliability of the ASQ and the Participation Index used in the study.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1991
Art and authority : aspects of Russian art since 1917
- Authors: Thompson, Rowan Douglas
- Date: 1991
- Subjects: Authority in art Art, Russian Art, Russian -- 20th century
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MFA
- Identifier: vital:2450 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1007298
- Description: From Introduction: The Artist was denied any role in Plato's Republic because of his ability to impair reason by imitating reality through his works. Aristotle, however, welcomed the artist because of his ability to express ideas about society through artistic form. Ernst Fischer agrees with the latter view, "Art enables man to comprehend reality, and not only helps him to bear it but increases his determination to make it more human and more worthy of mankind. Art is itself a social reality, society needs the artist ... and it has a right to demand of him that he should be conscious of his social function" (Fischer: 1963:46). Fischer adds to Aristotle's view by stating that society has a right to demand a social function from the artist. This issue has been the subject of controversial debate throughout the history of art. In a society based on class, the classes try to recruit art to serve their particular purposes. Art is seen by some as a powerful weapon - a means by which people can be swayed towards certain ideals. At the time of the Counter Reformation Italian artists were given strict instructions by the Jesuits on how to persuade and educate the people with their paintings. Napoleon urged his men of letters, painters and architects to refer to the classical ideals of ancient Greece and Rome to shape the emergent French Republic. The French philosopher, Dennis Diderot, stressed the futility of art unless it expressed great prinCiples or lessons for the spectator. Ideals of justice, courage and patriotism were embodied in the Neo-Classical movement. The didactic paintings of Jacques Louis David portray the above ideals. History records several attempts by those in power to coerce artists into conforming to their idea of society, indicating that authoritative manipulation of the arts is not purely a twentieth century phenomenon. This thesis intends to examine aspects of Russian art since 1917. Because Soviet art was dominated by policies which enabled authorities to determine its content, its history raises ideological issues which are relevant to the study of art. The theories of Suprematism, Constructivism and Socialist Realism will be discussed and conclusions will be drawn as to whether these theories succeeded as art movements which were ostensibly designed for the improvement of mankind. Present attitudes toward the visual arts in Russia will also be examined. However, in order to examine the above it is necessary to place the development of art into historical perspective.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1991
- Authors: Thompson, Rowan Douglas
- Date: 1991
- Subjects: Authority in art Art, Russian Art, Russian -- 20th century
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MFA
- Identifier: vital:2450 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1007298
- Description: From Introduction: The Artist was denied any role in Plato's Republic because of his ability to impair reason by imitating reality through his works. Aristotle, however, welcomed the artist because of his ability to express ideas about society through artistic form. Ernst Fischer agrees with the latter view, "Art enables man to comprehend reality, and not only helps him to bear it but increases his determination to make it more human and more worthy of mankind. Art is itself a social reality, society needs the artist ... and it has a right to demand of him that he should be conscious of his social function" (Fischer: 1963:46). Fischer adds to Aristotle's view by stating that society has a right to demand a social function from the artist. This issue has been the subject of controversial debate throughout the history of art. In a society based on class, the classes try to recruit art to serve their particular purposes. Art is seen by some as a powerful weapon - a means by which people can be swayed towards certain ideals. At the time of the Counter Reformation Italian artists were given strict instructions by the Jesuits on how to persuade and educate the people with their paintings. Napoleon urged his men of letters, painters and architects to refer to the classical ideals of ancient Greece and Rome to shape the emergent French Republic. The French philosopher, Dennis Diderot, stressed the futility of art unless it expressed great prinCiples or lessons for the spectator. Ideals of justice, courage and patriotism were embodied in the Neo-Classical movement. The didactic paintings of Jacques Louis David portray the above ideals. History records several attempts by those in power to coerce artists into conforming to their idea of society, indicating that authoritative manipulation of the arts is not purely a twentieth century phenomenon. This thesis intends to examine aspects of Russian art since 1917. Because Soviet art was dominated by policies which enabled authorities to determine its content, its history raises ideological issues which are relevant to the study of art. The theories of Suprematism, Constructivism and Socialist Realism will be discussed and conclusions will be drawn as to whether these theories succeeded as art movements which were ostensibly designed for the improvement of mankind. Present attitudes toward the visual arts in Russia will also be examined. However, in order to examine the above it is necessary to place the development of art into historical perspective.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1991
Bantu education: the black teacher's lived experience of conflict
- Ramabulana, Ronald Thifulufhelwi
- Authors: Ramabulana, Ronald Thifulufhelwi
- Date: 1991
- Subjects: Conflict (Psychology) , Teachers, Black -- Psychology Case studies , Teachers, Black -- South Africa , Education -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:3039 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002548 , Conflict (Psychology) , Teachers, Black -- Psychology Case studies , Teachers, Black -- South Africa , Education -- South Africa
- Description: This work is a descriptive phenomenological study of the experience of conflict that is lived by black teachers in the Bantu Education context. Subjects are teachers from the East Rand and Eastern Cape who have high school teaching experience that ranges from 1 to 15 years. The conflict researched was defined as those situations in which the teacher faced demands or expectations from different interest groups which were incompatible or negated each other. The Subjects of this research were six teachers who were interviewed for case material. The phenomenological case study design was used. Data collection consisted of in-depth interviews while analysis followed the phenomenological method developed at Duquesne University. This was an exploratory study which identified two major forms of conflict. The first exists between the teacher's expectation of teaching and the education authorities' expectation of how and what the teacher should teach in lessons. The second form of conflict identified is that in which the teacher's allegiance to one social group or ideology is violated by the teacher's participation in a system of education that negates his/her view about the South African sociopolitical situation. In the latter case the teacher is forced to comply with commitments or demands placed on him/her which negate each other. Van den Berg's theory of plural existence was used to inform data analysis and so was the theory of cognitive change and inconsistency.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1991
- Authors: Ramabulana, Ronald Thifulufhelwi
- Date: 1991
- Subjects: Conflict (Psychology) , Teachers, Black -- Psychology Case studies , Teachers, Black -- South Africa , Education -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:3039 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002548 , Conflict (Psychology) , Teachers, Black -- Psychology Case studies , Teachers, Black -- South Africa , Education -- South Africa
- Description: This work is a descriptive phenomenological study of the experience of conflict that is lived by black teachers in the Bantu Education context. Subjects are teachers from the East Rand and Eastern Cape who have high school teaching experience that ranges from 1 to 15 years. The conflict researched was defined as those situations in which the teacher faced demands or expectations from different interest groups which were incompatible or negated each other. The Subjects of this research were six teachers who were interviewed for case material. The phenomenological case study design was used. Data collection consisted of in-depth interviews while analysis followed the phenomenological method developed at Duquesne University. This was an exploratory study which identified two major forms of conflict. The first exists between the teacher's expectation of teaching and the education authorities' expectation of how and what the teacher should teach in lessons. The second form of conflict identified is that in which the teacher's allegiance to one social group or ideology is violated by the teacher's participation in a system of education that negates his/her view about the South African sociopolitical situation. In the latter case the teacher is forced to comply with commitments or demands placed on him/her which negate each other. Van den Berg's theory of plural existence was used to inform data analysis and so was the theory of cognitive change and inconsistency.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1991
Baptism in the scheme of salvation as understood by St. Luke with special reference to Acts 2:37-3:21
- Authors: Goodyer, Edward Arthur
- Date: 1991
- Subjects: Bible -- Commentaries , Baptism , Baptism -- Biblical teaching , Church history -- Primitive and early church, ca. 30-600
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MTh
- Identifier: vital:1310 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1018219
- Description: The aim of this thesis is to investigate what can be discovered from Luke-Acts about early Christian baptism, recognising that the environment in which Luke's tradition developed was both Jewish and Gentile. The thesis begins with a brief survey of the Jewish practice of ritual washings. The ideas and practices which encouraged the formal rite of John the Baptist and the early church are identified and evaluated. The second chapter focuses attention on Acts 2:37-3:21. Baptism is defined in this passage (Ac. 2:38) in the context of the proclamation by Peter (Ac. 2:14-36) and the life of the community, which includes koinonia (Ac. 2:42-47), the performance of a miracle (Ac. 3:1-1 0), and a further proclamation (Ac. 3:12-26). Using the methods of redaktiongeschichte and narratological analyses, the literary unity of Luke-Acts will be shown in the light of the elements of baptism. In the third chapter the different accounts of baptism recorded in Luke-Acts will be analysed and compared in order to determine how the church tradition which Luke represents understood baptism, and what was the significance of the rite and the practice of baptism in the early church. Finally, in order to emphasise the importance in the Greek world of the ideas and example of the moral philosophers, the meaning of terms related to baptism, such as akouo, metanoeo and pisteuo, is examined in the light of both Jewish and Greek concepts. The community life of the baptised expressed also practices and ideas which appear to owe more to the Greek world than the Jewish. These concepts include parrhesia, koinonia, and the way in which Christianity is described by its members and outsiders- Christianoi, hairesis, hodos. Finally the setting of the Christian meetings in the Gentile context is discussed. The conclusion indicated by the evidence is that Christianity was organised in a form which was scarcely distinguishable from a school under a kathegetes. Baptism initiated the believer into a relationship with a teacher. It was the nature of the teacher as well as the content of the teaching which gave to Christianity its uniqueness.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1991
- Authors: Goodyer, Edward Arthur
- Date: 1991
- Subjects: Bible -- Commentaries , Baptism , Baptism -- Biblical teaching , Church history -- Primitive and early church, ca. 30-600
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MTh
- Identifier: vital:1310 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1018219
- Description: The aim of this thesis is to investigate what can be discovered from Luke-Acts about early Christian baptism, recognising that the environment in which Luke's tradition developed was both Jewish and Gentile. The thesis begins with a brief survey of the Jewish practice of ritual washings. The ideas and practices which encouraged the formal rite of John the Baptist and the early church are identified and evaluated. The second chapter focuses attention on Acts 2:37-3:21. Baptism is defined in this passage (Ac. 2:38) in the context of the proclamation by Peter (Ac. 2:14-36) and the life of the community, which includes koinonia (Ac. 2:42-47), the performance of a miracle (Ac. 3:1-1 0), and a further proclamation (Ac. 3:12-26). Using the methods of redaktiongeschichte and narratological analyses, the literary unity of Luke-Acts will be shown in the light of the elements of baptism. In the third chapter the different accounts of baptism recorded in Luke-Acts will be analysed and compared in order to determine how the church tradition which Luke represents understood baptism, and what was the significance of the rite and the practice of baptism in the early church. Finally, in order to emphasise the importance in the Greek world of the ideas and example of the moral philosophers, the meaning of terms related to baptism, such as akouo, metanoeo and pisteuo, is examined in the light of both Jewish and Greek concepts. The community life of the baptised expressed also practices and ideas which appear to owe more to the Greek world than the Jewish. These concepts include parrhesia, koinonia, and the way in which Christianity is described by its members and outsiders- Christianoi, hairesis, hodos. Finally the setting of the Christian meetings in the Gentile context is discussed. The conclusion indicated by the evidence is that Christianity was organised in a form which was scarcely distinguishable from a school under a kathegetes. Baptism initiated the believer into a relationship with a teacher. It was the nature of the teacher as well as the content of the teaching which gave to Christianity its uniqueness.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1991
Bioenergetics of Simuliidae (Diptera) larvae in the Buffalo River (Eastern Cape Province)
- Authors: Scott, Penelope Jane
- Date: 1991
- Subjects: Simuliidae -- South Africa Diptera - -South Africa Bioenergetics , Simuliidae -- South Africa , Diptera -- South Africa , Bioenergetics
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: vital:5591 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002041
- Description: Ingestion, assimilation and egestion rates of different sized filter-feeding blackfly larvae Simulium medusaeforme/hargreavesi (Diptera: Simuliidae) were determined. The effects of food type, food concentration and larval size on ingestion rates were tested. These bioenergetic parameters were used to obtain an indication of the importance of blackfly larvae in processing of particulate organic matter in the Buffalo River. Mean ingestion rates for S. medusaeforme/hargreavesi larvae feeding in the field ranged from 900 - 1600 μg/mg/h compared with those for larvae feeding in the laboratory on the same food type (260 - 680 μg/mg/h) and on algae, Chlorella sp. (590 - 1110 μg/mg/h) and Selenastrum sp. (340 - 1140 μg/mg/h). Ingestion rates obtained in this study were much higher than those reported by previous workers. These high ingestion rates are thought to be related to the low organic fraction of the suspended solids in transport in the Buffalo River. Larger larvae were found to ingest between three and six times as much food as smaller larvae. Ingestion rates were affected by the presence of nematodes and by imminent pupation. Assimilation rates on algae ranged from 2.3 - 49.0 μg/mg/h and were comparable with results of previous workers. The low assimilation efficiencies obtained for larvae feeding on algae (0.4 - 15.1 %) are due to the high ingestion rates. From a survey of the Buffalo River larvae were found to ingest between 0.00011 - 0.15 % of the suspended solids per metre of stream bed, about 1 - 7 times more than what has been reported by other workers. In the upper reaches of the Buffalo River larvae were potentially able to ingest all the suspended solids in the size class 0 - 250μ.m within a distance of 3.2km. Blackfly larvae play an important qualitative role in the functioning of a river system as they remove seston from transport and facilitate the action of gut microflora. Blackfly larvae in association with micro-organisms and other invertebrates are responsible for the majority of the retention and mineralisation of organic matter in the river
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1991
- Authors: Scott, Penelope Jane
- Date: 1991
- Subjects: Simuliidae -- South Africa Diptera - -South Africa Bioenergetics , Simuliidae -- South Africa , Diptera -- South Africa , Bioenergetics
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: vital:5591 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002041
- Description: Ingestion, assimilation and egestion rates of different sized filter-feeding blackfly larvae Simulium medusaeforme/hargreavesi (Diptera: Simuliidae) were determined. The effects of food type, food concentration and larval size on ingestion rates were tested. These bioenergetic parameters were used to obtain an indication of the importance of blackfly larvae in processing of particulate organic matter in the Buffalo River. Mean ingestion rates for S. medusaeforme/hargreavesi larvae feeding in the field ranged from 900 - 1600 μg/mg/h compared with those for larvae feeding in the laboratory on the same food type (260 - 680 μg/mg/h) and on algae, Chlorella sp. (590 - 1110 μg/mg/h) and Selenastrum sp. (340 - 1140 μg/mg/h). Ingestion rates obtained in this study were much higher than those reported by previous workers. These high ingestion rates are thought to be related to the low organic fraction of the suspended solids in transport in the Buffalo River. Larger larvae were found to ingest between three and six times as much food as smaller larvae. Ingestion rates were affected by the presence of nematodes and by imminent pupation. Assimilation rates on algae ranged from 2.3 - 49.0 μg/mg/h and were comparable with results of previous workers. The low assimilation efficiencies obtained for larvae feeding on algae (0.4 - 15.1 %) are due to the high ingestion rates. From a survey of the Buffalo River larvae were found to ingest between 0.00011 - 0.15 % of the suspended solids per metre of stream bed, about 1 - 7 times more than what has been reported by other workers. In the upper reaches of the Buffalo River larvae were potentially able to ingest all the suspended solids in the size class 0 - 250μ.m within a distance of 3.2km. Blackfly larvae play an important qualitative role in the functioning of a river system as they remove seston from transport and facilitate the action of gut microflora. Blackfly larvae in association with micro-organisms and other invertebrates are responsible for the majority of the retention and mineralisation of organic matter in the river
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1991
Cecil Rhodes, the Glen Grey Act, and the labour question in the politics of the Cape Colony
- Authors: Thompson, Richard James
- Date: 1991
- Subjects: Rhodes, Cecil, 1853-1902 Labor policy -- South Africa -- History Labor supply -- South Africa -- History Black people -- Employment -- South Africa -- History Cape of Good Hope (South Africa) -- History -- 1872-1910 Cape of Good Hope (South Africa) -- Politics and government -- 1872-1910
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2562 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002415
- Description: Chapter One: The provisions of the Glen Grey Act of 1894 are summarised. The memoirs of contemporaries are discussed and the historical literature on the Act from 1913 to the present is surveyed. The likelihood of the land tenure provisions of the Act forcing the people of Glen Grey (or the people of other districts that came under the operation of the Act) to seek employment is noted. It is evident that there is an increasing emphasis in the literature on labour concerns rather than on the disenfranchising effects and local government provisions of the Act. It is often assumed that the labour force generated by the Act was meant for the Transvaal gold mines. Chapter Two: The relevance of the labour needs of the Indwe collieries is investigated. These mines lay adjacent to Glen Grey and might have been expected to draw their labour thence if the Act had been effective. Rhodes, the author of the Act and prime minister of the Cape, had bought shares in the collieries for De Beers shortly before the Act was passed, which made a possible connection more intriguing. No causal link between De Beers' interests and the Act could be demonstrated; nor do the collieries seem to have employed many people from Glen Grey. Chapter Three: Examines the Cape colonists' complaints about shortage of labour from 1807 to the eve of the Glen Grey Act, and investigates various official measures to promote the labour supply. The Glen Grey Act was not the first labour measure passed at the Cape, and it seems likely, therefore, that the labour needs of the Cape, rather than the Transvaal, were uppermost in the minds of those responsible for the Act. Chapter Four examines Rhodes's political position in the 1890s and shows him to be increasingly dependent on the parliamentary support of the Afrikaner Bond to stay in office. Since the Bond was an agricultural interest group it seems likely that labour for Cape farms, rather than Transvaal gold mines, was what the Act was supposed to provide. With that Rhodes could readily agree, since he wanted to promote the agricultural development of the Cape. However, the Bond wanted to be able to buy land in Glen Grey (and other district in which the Act was proclaimed). Rhodes wanted to keep such districts as 'reservoirs of labour' so he could not give the Bond all of what they wanted, i.e. Glen Grey titles to be alienable. His manoeuvring to keep the Bond supporting the Bill while not making the land readily salable is described. (In the end the land was alienable with the consent of the government -- consent that a Rhodes ministry would not give, but that another might.) Rhodes's desire to obtain the administration of Bechuanaland for his Chartered Company, and his need therefore to reassure the Colonial Office and humanitarian opinion that he could be trusted to rule over blacks, are pointed out as other possible motivations for the Act, which Rhodes tried hard to present as an enlightened piece of legislation. The course of the Act through the Cape parliament, and the opposition of Cape liberals to the Act, is described. Chapter Five: The mentalité of the Cape colonists as regards race, liquor, land tenure and other political issues is described. Chapter Six: The reaction to the Act of Cape blacks and sympathetic whites, British humanitarians and the Colonial Office is described. The contemporary concern with reserving land for blacks is noted, as well as concern over the morality of economically coerced labour. This is in contrast to the modern concentration on labour almost to the exclusion of other issues in regard to the Glen Grey Act. The unsuccessful efforts of Cape blacks and British humanitarians to have the imperial government veto the Act are described. Rhodes's influence over the Colonial Office is described.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1991
- Authors: Thompson, Richard James
- Date: 1991
- Subjects: Rhodes, Cecil, 1853-1902 Labor policy -- South Africa -- History Labor supply -- South Africa -- History Black people -- Employment -- South Africa -- History Cape of Good Hope (South Africa) -- History -- 1872-1910 Cape of Good Hope (South Africa) -- Politics and government -- 1872-1910
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2562 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002415
- Description: Chapter One: The provisions of the Glen Grey Act of 1894 are summarised. The memoirs of contemporaries are discussed and the historical literature on the Act from 1913 to the present is surveyed. The likelihood of the land tenure provisions of the Act forcing the people of Glen Grey (or the people of other districts that came under the operation of the Act) to seek employment is noted. It is evident that there is an increasing emphasis in the literature on labour concerns rather than on the disenfranchising effects and local government provisions of the Act. It is often assumed that the labour force generated by the Act was meant for the Transvaal gold mines. Chapter Two: The relevance of the labour needs of the Indwe collieries is investigated. These mines lay adjacent to Glen Grey and might have been expected to draw their labour thence if the Act had been effective. Rhodes, the author of the Act and prime minister of the Cape, had bought shares in the collieries for De Beers shortly before the Act was passed, which made a possible connection more intriguing. No causal link between De Beers' interests and the Act could be demonstrated; nor do the collieries seem to have employed many people from Glen Grey. Chapter Three: Examines the Cape colonists' complaints about shortage of labour from 1807 to the eve of the Glen Grey Act, and investigates various official measures to promote the labour supply. The Glen Grey Act was not the first labour measure passed at the Cape, and it seems likely, therefore, that the labour needs of the Cape, rather than the Transvaal, were uppermost in the minds of those responsible for the Act. Chapter Four examines Rhodes's political position in the 1890s and shows him to be increasingly dependent on the parliamentary support of the Afrikaner Bond to stay in office. Since the Bond was an agricultural interest group it seems likely that labour for Cape farms, rather than Transvaal gold mines, was what the Act was supposed to provide. With that Rhodes could readily agree, since he wanted to promote the agricultural development of the Cape. However, the Bond wanted to be able to buy land in Glen Grey (and other district in which the Act was proclaimed). Rhodes wanted to keep such districts as 'reservoirs of labour' so he could not give the Bond all of what they wanted, i.e. Glen Grey titles to be alienable. His manoeuvring to keep the Bond supporting the Bill while not making the land readily salable is described. (In the end the land was alienable with the consent of the government -- consent that a Rhodes ministry would not give, but that another might.) Rhodes's desire to obtain the administration of Bechuanaland for his Chartered Company, and his need therefore to reassure the Colonial Office and humanitarian opinion that he could be trusted to rule over blacks, are pointed out as other possible motivations for the Act, which Rhodes tried hard to present as an enlightened piece of legislation. The course of the Act through the Cape parliament, and the opposition of Cape liberals to the Act, is described. Chapter Five: The mentalité of the Cape colonists as regards race, liquor, land tenure and other political issues is described. Chapter Six: The reaction to the Act of Cape blacks and sympathetic whites, British humanitarians and the Colonial Office is described. The contemporary concern with reserving land for blacks is noted, as well as concern over the morality of economically coerced labour. This is in contrast to the modern concentration on labour almost to the exclusion of other issues in regard to the Glen Grey Act. The unsuccessful efforts of Cape blacks and British humanitarians to have the imperial government veto the Act are described. Rhodes's influence over the Colonial Office is described.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1991
Chemical studies of 1,5-benzodioxepanones
- Authors: Gelebe, Aifheli Carlson
- Date: 1991
- Subjects: Biochemistry , Pigments (Biology) , Benzopyrans
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: vital:4423 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1006895 , Biochemistry , Pigments (Biology) , Benzopyrans
- Description: Chromone and flavanone derivatives were prepared by condensation of the corresponding 2-hydroxyacetophenones (with diethyl oxalate or the appropriate aromatic aldehyde respectively) and cyclisation of the condensation products. Saeyer-Villiger rearrangement of these flavanones, with MCPBA, resulted in expansion of the C-ring. Spectroscopic techniques have been used to establish the regioselectivity of the rearrangement and hence, the identity of the rearranged products as 1,5-benzodioxepan-4-ones. The 1,5-benzodioxepan-4-ones were subjected to detailed ¹H and ¹³C n.m.r. analysis and a combination of low and high resolution mass spectrometry has been used to study the mass fragmentation pathways of these ring-expanded products.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1991
- Authors: Gelebe, Aifheli Carlson
- Date: 1991
- Subjects: Biochemistry , Pigments (Biology) , Benzopyrans
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: vital:4423 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1006895 , Biochemistry , Pigments (Biology) , Benzopyrans
- Description: Chromone and flavanone derivatives were prepared by condensation of the corresponding 2-hydroxyacetophenones (with diethyl oxalate or the appropriate aromatic aldehyde respectively) and cyclisation of the condensation products. Saeyer-Villiger rearrangement of these flavanones, with MCPBA, resulted in expansion of the C-ring. Spectroscopic techniques have been used to establish the regioselectivity of the rearrangement and hence, the identity of the rearranged products as 1,5-benzodioxepan-4-ones. The 1,5-benzodioxepan-4-ones were subjected to detailed ¹H and ¹³C n.m.r. analysis and a combination of low and high resolution mass spectrometry has been used to study the mass fragmentation pathways of these ring-expanded products.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1991
Cognitive-behavioural treatment of essential hypertension in an urban Xhosa woman: a case study
- Authors: Losinsky, Rory
- Date: 1991
- Subjects: Xhosa (African people) -- Psychology , Women, Xhosa -- Psychology , Hypertension -- Psychosomatic aspects
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: vital:3010 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002519 , Xhosa (African people) -- Psychology , Women, Xhosa -- Psychology , Hypertension -- Psychosomatic aspects
- Description: Essential hypertension has a complex and multiple biological, psychological and social aetiology and remains one of the most serious physical disorders affecting the Black population of South Africa today. Pharmacological treatment has been the predominant approach to blood pressure reduction, but considering that the greater part of essential hypertension has its origin in biobehavioural and cognitive functioning a non-pharmacological treatment approach to essential hypertension is receiving extensive interest both in research and therapeutic practice. This study attempted to implement a specific cognitive-behavioural treatment "package' which was tailored to the emergent aetiology in an urban Xhosa woman suffering from Mild hypertension who was on antihypertensive medication and to evaluate the treatment using a single case-study methodology. A combination of relaxation training and cognitive-behavioural modification was provided over a fifteen week period and evaluated both quantitatively and qualitatively. It was found that a combination of over-weight, occupational stress and anger could have contributed and/or caused the patient's hypertension. The results also show a significant reduction in blood pressure during the treatment phase as well as a reduction in weight, experienced anxiety and angry emotion, and by the end of the study the patient's blood pressure had been reduced to normal levels. Finally the feasibility of using such a treatment approach is discussed in relation to the South African context and the case study method is evaluated as a research tool in light of the findings.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1991
- Authors: Losinsky, Rory
- Date: 1991
- Subjects: Xhosa (African people) -- Psychology , Women, Xhosa -- Psychology , Hypertension -- Psychosomatic aspects
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: vital:3010 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002519 , Xhosa (African people) -- Psychology , Women, Xhosa -- Psychology , Hypertension -- Psychosomatic aspects
- Description: Essential hypertension has a complex and multiple biological, psychological and social aetiology and remains one of the most serious physical disorders affecting the Black population of South Africa today. Pharmacological treatment has been the predominant approach to blood pressure reduction, but considering that the greater part of essential hypertension has its origin in biobehavioural and cognitive functioning a non-pharmacological treatment approach to essential hypertension is receiving extensive interest both in research and therapeutic practice. This study attempted to implement a specific cognitive-behavioural treatment "package' which was tailored to the emergent aetiology in an urban Xhosa woman suffering from Mild hypertension who was on antihypertensive medication and to evaluate the treatment using a single case-study methodology. A combination of relaxation training and cognitive-behavioural modification was provided over a fifteen week period and evaluated both quantitatively and qualitatively. It was found that a combination of over-weight, occupational stress and anger could have contributed and/or caused the patient's hypertension. The results also show a significant reduction in blood pressure during the treatment phase as well as a reduction in weight, experienced anxiety and angry emotion, and by the end of the study the patient's blood pressure had been reduced to normal levels. Finally the feasibility of using such a treatment approach is discussed in relation to the South African context and the case study method is evaluated as a research tool in light of the findings.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1991
Computer control of an HF chirp radar
- Authors: Griggs, Desmond Bryan
- Date: 1991
- Subjects: Radar , Radar meteorology , Computerized instruments , Ionosondes
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: vital:5455 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1005240 , Radar , Radar meteorology , Computerized instruments , Ionosondes
- Description: This thesis describes the interfacing of an IBM compatible microcomputer to a BR Communications chirp sounder. The need for this is twofold: Firstly for control of the sounder including automatic scheduling of operations, and secondly for data capture. A signal processing card inside the computer performs a Fast Fourier Transform on the sampled data from two phase matched receivers. The transformed data is then transferred to the host computer for further processing, display and storage on hard disk or magnetic tape, all in real time. Critical timing functions are provided by another card in the microcomputer, the timing controller. Built by the author, the design and operation of this sub-system is discussed in detail. Additional circuitry is required to perform antenna and filter switching, and a possible design thereof is also presented by the author. The completed system, comprising the chirp sounder, the PC environment, and the signal switching circuitry, has a dual purpose. It can operate as either a meteor radar, using a fixed frequency (currently 27,99 MHz), or as an advanced chirp ionosonde allowing frequency sweeps from 1,6 to 30 MHz. In the latter case fixed frequency doppler soundings are also possible. Examples of data recorded in the various modes are given.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1991
- Authors: Griggs, Desmond Bryan
- Date: 1991
- Subjects: Radar , Radar meteorology , Computerized instruments , Ionosondes
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: vital:5455 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1005240 , Radar , Radar meteorology , Computerized instruments , Ionosondes
- Description: This thesis describes the interfacing of an IBM compatible microcomputer to a BR Communications chirp sounder. The need for this is twofold: Firstly for control of the sounder including automatic scheduling of operations, and secondly for data capture. A signal processing card inside the computer performs a Fast Fourier Transform on the sampled data from two phase matched receivers. The transformed data is then transferred to the host computer for further processing, display and storage on hard disk or magnetic tape, all in real time. Critical timing functions are provided by another card in the microcomputer, the timing controller. Built by the author, the design and operation of this sub-system is discussed in detail. Additional circuitry is required to perform antenna and filter switching, and a possible design thereof is also presented by the author. The completed system, comprising the chirp sounder, the PC environment, and the signal switching circuitry, has a dual purpose. It can operate as either a meteor radar, using a fixed frequency (currently 27,99 MHz), or as an advanced chirp ionosonde allowing frequency sweeps from 1,6 to 30 MHz. In the latter case fixed frequency doppler soundings are also possible. Examples of data recorded in the various modes are given.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1991
Computer-based remediation in Cape Senior Certificate standard grade mathematics
- Authors: Elgie, Brian James
- Date: 1991
- Subjects: Mathematics -- Computer-assisted instruction Mathematics -- Study and teaching -- Audio-visual aids Mathematics -- Study and teaching -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: vital:1458 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003339
- Description: This dissertation begins by reviewing the difficulties experienced in teaching mathematics to pupiis, weak in mathematics, in the Senior Secondary phase of Cape Education Department schools. The possible use of computer-aided instruction (CAl) in improving the examination performance of such pupils is considered. A suitable CAl software program, viz. the SERGO system, is identified and its operation is described in detail. The researcher investigates, both from a quantitative and a qualitative aspect, the change in mathematics examination performance of a number of weak in mathematics pupils, as a result of receiving an extended period of extra tuition on the SERGO system. It needs to be noted that these pupils are passing candidates in other subjects, and have above average intelligence. They are not slow learners. The researcher identifies three categories of pupils who are weak in mathematics. Different programmes of remediation are recommended for each category. The possible use of the SERGO system as a stand-alone instrument of remediation , for pupils working in pairs, and the possible use by H.G. pupils in combined H.G./S.G. classes are also investigated.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1991
- Authors: Elgie, Brian James
- Date: 1991
- Subjects: Mathematics -- Computer-assisted instruction Mathematics -- Study and teaching -- Audio-visual aids Mathematics -- Study and teaching -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: vital:1458 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003339
- Description: This dissertation begins by reviewing the difficulties experienced in teaching mathematics to pupiis, weak in mathematics, in the Senior Secondary phase of Cape Education Department schools. The possible use of computer-aided instruction (CAl) in improving the examination performance of such pupils is considered. A suitable CAl software program, viz. the SERGO system, is identified and its operation is described in detail. The researcher investigates, both from a quantitative and a qualitative aspect, the change in mathematics examination performance of a number of weak in mathematics pupils, as a result of receiving an extended period of extra tuition on the SERGO system. It needs to be noted that these pupils are passing candidates in other subjects, and have above average intelligence. They are not slow learners. The researcher identifies three categories of pupils who are weak in mathematics. Different programmes of remediation are recommended for each category. The possible use of the SERGO system as a stand-alone instrument of remediation , for pupils working in pairs, and the possible use by H.G. pupils in combined H.G./S.G. classes are also investigated.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1991
Difficulties in psychotherapy with a residual schizophrenic
- Authors: Schock, Sandra Lynn
- Date: 1991
- Subjects: Schizophrenics , Schizophrenia -- Treatment , Psychotherapy
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:3149 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1007457 , Schizophrenics , Schizophrenia -- Treatment , Psychotherapy
- Description: This work addresses some of the difficulties encountered while working in psychotherapy with a residual schizophrenic. While there is an abundance of literature on psychotherapy for schizophrenia, both supporting and also refuting its merit, what the literature fails to reveal is that there appears to be a class of schizophrenic who, while apsychotic and able to communicate in the everyday sense of the word, is in a psychic space which speaks of a break with the basic relational elements of the human order. The quality of the patient's psychic life is such that almost nothing of what the literature describes as useful and appropriate in working with schizophrenics seems to help in the psychotherapeutic work with this type of patient. This study describes these issues with relevance to a particular residual schizophrenic. The Illustrative-didactic case-study method was used to discuss the four-and- a-half month psychotherapy with this patient. The patient's early developmental history, premorbid personality functioning, family and interpersonal relationships, mental state, diagnosis and a rationale for psychotherapy were presented and considered in detail. The structure of the psychotherapeutic process was reviewed in depth. The hermeneutic guidelines to understanding the case were drawn from Object-Relations Psychoanalytic theory, particularly Balint, Khan, Karon & VandenBos, Bollas, Romanyshyn, Perry, Symington, Fordham and others. Various psychic and personality features, as unveiled through the psychotherapeutic process, were elaborated and the implications of these for the therapeutic endeavour were considered as follows: Firstly, the psychic space of the patient, which precluded mirroring, symbolization find object-relationship - and which made psychotherapy untenable, was discussed. Secondly, therapeutic ambivalence and other counter-transference issues were reviewed. Thirdly, the shadow sides of both therapeutic optimism and of psychotherapeutic change were considered. Fourthly, the issues of therapeutic failure and of other treatment possibilities for a residual schizophrenic patient were examined. It was concluded that there needs to be an important countertransference shift with regard to the psychotherapeutic goals for those patients whose condition may be chronic, and for whom it appears that psychotherapy is not going to be of any therapeutic benefit - find where an 'empathic accompaniment' might be as much as it is possible to hope for or achieve.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1991
- Authors: Schock, Sandra Lynn
- Date: 1991
- Subjects: Schizophrenics , Schizophrenia -- Treatment , Psychotherapy
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:3149 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1007457 , Schizophrenics , Schizophrenia -- Treatment , Psychotherapy
- Description: This work addresses some of the difficulties encountered while working in psychotherapy with a residual schizophrenic. While there is an abundance of literature on psychotherapy for schizophrenia, both supporting and also refuting its merit, what the literature fails to reveal is that there appears to be a class of schizophrenic who, while apsychotic and able to communicate in the everyday sense of the word, is in a psychic space which speaks of a break with the basic relational elements of the human order. The quality of the patient's psychic life is such that almost nothing of what the literature describes as useful and appropriate in working with schizophrenics seems to help in the psychotherapeutic work with this type of patient. This study describes these issues with relevance to a particular residual schizophrenic. The Illustrative-didactic case-study method was used to discuss the four-and- a-half month psychotherapy with this patient. The patient's early developmental history, premorbid personality functioning, family and interpersonal relationships, mental state, diagnosis and a rationale for psychotherapy were presented and considered in detail. The structure of the psychotherapeutic process was reviewed in depth. The hermeneutic guidelines to understanding the case were drawn from Object-Relations Psychoanalytic theory, particularly Balint, Khan, Karon & VandenBos, Bollas, Romanyshyn, Perry, Symington, Fordham and others. Various psychic and personality features, as unveiled through the psychotherapeutic process, were elaborated and the implications of these for the therapeutic endeavour were considered as follows: Firstly, the psychic space of the patient, which precluded mirroring, symbolization find object-relationship - and which made psychotherapy untenable, was discussed. Secondly, therapeutic ambivalence and other counter-transference issues were reviewed. Thirdly, the shadow sides of both therapeutic optimism and of psychotherapeutic change were considered. Fourthly, the issues of therapeutic failure and of other treatment possibilities for a residual schizophrenic patient were examined. It was concluded that there needs to be an important countertransference shift with regard to the psychotherapeutic goals for those patients whose condition may be chronic, and for whom it appears that psychotherapy is not going to be of any therapeutic benefit - find where an 'empathic accompaniment' might be as much as it is possible to hope for or achieve.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1991
Discovering the meaning of stress: a qualitative approach
- Authors: Crowley, Michelle Laureen
- Date: 1991
- Subjects: Stress (Psychology)
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSocSc
- Identifier: vital:2957 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002466 , Stress (Psychology)
- Description: The aim of the study was to understand the meaning of stress, and towards this end eleven individuals who claimed to have experienced the phenomenon during the six months prior to data collection were asked to describe their experience. These transcribed protocols were explicated in terms of a phenomenological praxis, and the emotional content of descriptions subjected to taxonomic analysis. In addition, a literature review for the purposes of tracing the development of contemporary stress models and related constructs was conducted. The latter critiqued current conceptualisations of stress, and attempted to highlight some important contributions. Explication in terms of phenomenological praxis identified seven central features associated with lived stress, namely, lived stress as : the perception of personal cost; a sense of entrapment; persistent coping efforts; learned helplessness; embodiment; and, poor social relations. In addition, the unfolding nature of the experience suggested stress as a continuous process of adjustment to worldly demands, and furthermore, highliJhted several variations of structure. The latter themes were used to develop a more inclusive model of lived stress as a dynamic and unfolding process. Dialogue with existing literature was able to confirm the self-world split proposed by the transactional approach to stress as legitimate, and furthermore, confirmed the primacy of cognition for the stress phenomenon. In addition, the link between stress and personality factors, psychopathological conditions and related fields of enquiry (such as anxiety and burnout) as well as more positive modes of being (such as creativity) were discussed. Furthermore, lived stress was shown to involve a threat to the individual's continued existence, both with respect to his/her the desired self and its unfolding and his/her physicality, while the presence of mutual hostility between self and world was also noted. The study concludes with reflection concerning the methodologies employed, and suggests that while qualitative and interpretive methods are both cumbersome and time consuming if rigorously applied, they do enrich the understanding of complex experiential phenomena. Finally, several suggestions are made for further research and refinement in the stress field, the most pertinent of which appears to be that of establishing the relationship between lived stress and the development of more debilitating psychopathological conditions.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1991
- Authors: Crowley, Michelle Laureen
- Date: 1991
- Subjects: Stress (Psychology)
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSocSc
- Identifier: vital:2957 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002466 , Stress (Psychology)
- Description: The aim of the study was to understand the meaning of stress, and towards this end eleven individuals who claimed to have experienced the phenomenon during the six months prior to data collection were asked to describe their experience. These transcribed protocols were explicated in terms of a phenomenological praxis, and the emotional content of descriptions subjected to taxonomic analysis. In addition, a literature review for the purposes of tracing the development of contemporary stress models and related constructs was conducted. The latter critiqued current conceptualisations of stress, and attempted to highlight some important contributions. Explication in terms of phenomenological praxis identified seven central features associated with lived stress, namely, lived stress as : the perception of personal cost; a sense of entrapment; persistent coping efforts; learned helplessness; embodiment; and, poor social relations. In addition, the unfolding nature of the experience suggested stress as a continuous process of adjustment to worldly demands, and furthermore, highliJhted several variations of structure. The latter themes were used to develop a more inclusive model of lived stress as a dynamic and unfolding process. Dialogue with existing literature was able to confirm the self-world split proposed by the transactional approach to stress as legitimate, and furthermore, confirmed the primacy of cognition for the stress phenomenon. In addition, the link between stress and personality factors, psychopathological conditions and related fields of enquiry (such as anxiety and burnout) as well as more positive modes of being (such as creativity) were discussed. Furthermore, lived stress was shown to involve a threat to the individual's continued existence, both with respect to his/her the desired self and its unfolding and his/her physicality, while the presence of mutual hostility between self and world was also noted. The study concludes with reflection concerning the methodologies employed, and suggests that while qualitative and interpretive methods are both cumbersome and time consuming if rigorously applied, they do enrich the understanding of complex experiential phenomena. Finally, several suggestions are made for further research and refinement in the stress field, the most pertinent of which appears to be that of establishing the relationship between lived stress and the development of more debilitating psychopathological conditions.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1991
Environmental and socio-economic effects associated with the planting of Atriplex nummularia Lindl. (Oldman saltbush) in the Karoo
- Authors: Hobson, Colin Desmond
- Date: 1991
- Subjects: Botany, Economic Plant introduction -- South Africa -- Karoo Plants, Cultivated
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: vital:4794 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1001894
- Description: This study examines the environmental and socio-economic effects associated with the planting of Atriplex nummularia Lindl. (Oldman saltbush) in the karoo. This is the first study of its kind on oldman saltbush and serves as an important scoping exercise in assessing the impact of saltbush on its surrounds and in identifying additional aspects which require investigation. The environmental parameters investigated include microclimatic effects, soil induced changes, salinity effects on the germination of selected karoo species and compositional changes in the indigenous plant community within a saltbush plantation. When compared to indigenous karoo plant species oldman saltbush is found to ameliorate soil temperatures and increase surface soil salinity (specifically sodium chloride), on an individual plant basis. Salinity is shown to have a differential effect on the germination of selected karoo shrubs. The indigenous plant community within a forty year old saltbush plantation is impoverished with both density of individuals and species richness being markedly reduced. Saltbush is identified as an unsuitable nurse plant for the majority of karoo shrubs. Farm size in relation to both actual and intended area established to saltbush is considered. The area of saltbush already established in the karoo is considered too insignificant to have any wide socio-economic impact. Farmers who intend planting large areas of their farms to saltbush are in the minority. It is those farmers who already have some saltbush planted, who intend planting more. Ecologically based management guidelines are presented, suggesting practices which minimize the detrimental effects of saltbush on soil salinity and the indigenous plant community. These guidelines are practical and in keeping with the overall objectives of optimum resource utilisation and the national grazing strategy for South Africa.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1991
- Authors: Hobson, Colin Desmond
- Date: 1991
- Subjects: Botany, Economic Plant introduction -- South Africa -- Karoo Plants, Cultivated
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: vital:4794 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1001894
- Description: This study examines the environmental and socio-economic effects associated with the planting of Atriplex nummularia Lindl. (Oldman saltbush) in the karoo. This is the first study of its kind on oldman saltbush and serves as an important scoping exercise in assessing the impact of saltbush on its surrounds and in identifying additional aspects which require investigation. The environmental parameters investigated include microclimatic effects, soil induced changes, salinity effects on the germination of selected karoo species and compositional changes in the indigenous plant community within a saltbush plantation. When compared to indigenous karoo plant species oldman saltbush is found to ameliorate soil temperatures and increase surface soil salinity (specifically sodium chloride), on an individual plant basis. Salinity is shown to have a differential effect on the germination of selected karoo shrubs. The indigenous plant community within a forty year old saltbush plantation is impoverished with both density of individuals and species richness being markedly reduced. Saltbush is identified as an unsuitable nurse plant for the majority of karoo shrubs. Farm size in relation to both actual and intended area established to saltbush is considered. The area of saltbush already established in the karoo is considered too insignificant to have any wide socio-economic impact. Farmers who intend planting large areas of their farms to saltbush are in the minority. It is those farmers who already have some saltbush planted, who intend planting more. Ecologically based management guidelines are presented, suggesting practices which minimize the detrimental effects of saltbush on soil salinity and the indigenous plant community. These guidelines are practical and in keeping with the overall objectives of optimum resource utilisation and the national grazing strategy for South Africa.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1991
Environmental and socio-economic effects associated with the planting of Atriplex nummularia Lindl. (Oldman saltbush) in the Karoo
- Authors: Hobson, Colin Desmond
- Date: 1991
- Subjects: Botany, Economic Plant introduction -- South Africa -- Karoo Plants, Cultivated
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: vital:4175 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002023
- Description: This study examines the environmental and socio-economic effects associated with the planting of Atriplex nummularia Lindl. (Oldman saltbush) in the karoo. This is the first study of its kind on oldman saltbush and serves as an important scoping exercise in assessing the impact of saltbush on its surrounds and in identifying additional aspects which require investigation. The environmental parameters investigated include microclimatic effects, soil induced changes, salinity effects on the germination of selected karoo species and compositional changes in the indigenous plant community within a saltbush plantation. When compared to indigenous karoo plant species oldman saltbush is found to ameliorate soil temperatures and increase surface soil salinity (specifically sodium chloride), on an individual plant basis. Salinity is shown to have a differential effect on the germination of selected karoo shrubs. The indigenous plant community within a forty year old saltbush plantation is impoverished with both density of individuals and species richness being markedly reduced. Saltbush is identified as an unsuitable nurse plant for the majority of karoo shrubs. Farm size in relation to both actual and intended area established to saltbush is considered. The area of saltbush already established in the karoo is considered too insignificant to have any wide socio-economic impact. Farmers who intend planting large areas of their farms to saltbush are in the minority. It is those farmers who already have some saltbush planted, who intend planting more. Ecologically based management guidelines are presented, suggesting practices which minimize the detrimental effects of saltbush on soil salinity and the indigenous plant community. These guidelines are practical and in keeping with the overall objectives of optimum resource utilisation and the national grazing strategy for South Africa.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1991
- Authors: Hobson, Colin Desmond
- Date: 1991
- Subjects: Botany, Economic Plant introduction -- South Africa -- Karoo Plants, Cultivated
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: vital:4175 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002023
- Description: This study examines the environmental and socio-economic effects associated with the planting of Atriplex nummularia Lindl. (Oldman saltbush) in the karoo. This is the first study of its kind on oldman saltbush and serves as an important scoping exercise in assessing the impact of saltbush on its surrounds and in identifying additional aspects which require investigation. The environmental parameters investigated include microclimatic effects, soil induced changes, salinity effects on the germination of selected karoo species and compositional changes in the indigenous plant community within a saltbush plantation. When compared to indigenous karoo plant species oldman saltbush is found to ameliorate soil temperatures and increase surface soil salinity (specifically sodium chloride), on an individual plant basis. Salinity is shown to have a differential effect on the germination of selected karoo shrubs. The indigenous plant community within a forty year old saltbush plantation is impoverished with both density of individuals and species richness being markedly reduced. Saltbush is identified as an unsuitable nurse plant for the majority of karoo shrubs. Farm size in relation to both actual and intended area established to saltbush is considered. The area of saltbush already established in the karoo is considered too insignificant to have any wide socio-economic impact. Farmers who intend planting large areas of their farms to saltbush are in the minority. It is those farmers who already have some saltbush planted, who intend planting more. Ecologically based management guidelines are presented, suggesting practices which minimize the detrimental effects of saltbush on soil salinity and the indigenous plant community. These guidelines are practical and in keeping with the overall objectives of optimum resource utilisation and the national grazing strategy for South Africa.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1991
Evaluating an English department: the use of illuminative evaluation procedures in descriptive and diagnostic analysis of English teaching programmes in high schools
- Authors: Thorpe, Robert Nicholas
- Date: 1991
- Subjects: English language -- Study and teaching (Secondary) -- South Africa English language -- Study and teaching (Secondary) -- Evaluation
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: vital:1522 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003404
- Description: To evaluate what is actually happening within a High School subject curriculum, the annual parade of marks, percentages and symbol distributions is not by itself adequate, especially in assessing progress towards such English syllabus goals as: That pupils expand their experience of life, gain empathetic understanding of people and develop moral awareness. (3.1. 4 HG) How too, from examination results alone, can a subject head of English assess the success of his objective "to woo his pupils into the reading habit"? (School 1: Goals 1988) Decisions on English department policy and procedures are frequently based on personal hunches and examination results. Few subject departments engage in proper evaluations of their curricula to support decisions made, or to impart meaning upon the countless daily transactions between child and adult, individual and institution in the learning process. This study demonstrates the efficacy of "illuminative evaluation" techniques in opening out an educational innovation (1986 First Language English syllabi of the Cape Education Department) at two High Schools for comment and appraisal. The array of information gathered should be useful in planning and implementing further curricula initiatives. The inherent flexibility of illuminative evaluation procedures and their freedom from large-scale data base requirements needed for 'scientific' models of evaluation are advantageous in investigating the untidy complexities of English teaching. Both 'closed' and 'open' response questionnaires, interviews, and perusal of relevant documents informed the researcher of the views of pupils, parents, English teachers, other subject heads, the two school principals and the education authorities on what waS and ought to be happening in English classes. From the considerable array of information generated, the distress of conscientious English teachers facing unreasonable work-loads emerged clearly. Such teachers are likely to occupy key roles in the non-racial state schools of the future and cannot be regarded as expendable. 'Open schools' present new challenges to existing curricula and the position of English may prove to be critical. Thus it is submitted that English subject heads should be concerned with evaluating their departments so that informed decisions can be taken on future directions. Illuminative evaluation is demonstrably useful in such analyses.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1991
- Authors: Thorpe, Robert Nicholas
- Date: 1991
- Subjects: English language -- Study and teaching (Secondary) -- South Africa English language -- Study and teaching (Secondary) -- Evaluation
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MEd
- Identifier: vital:1522 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003404
- Description: To evaluate what is actually happening within a High School subject curriculum, the annual parade of marks, percentages and symbol distributions is not by itself adequate, especially in assessing progress towards such English syllabus goals as: That pupils expand their experience of life, gain empathetic understanding of people and develop moral awareness. (3.1. 4 HG) How too, from examination results alone, can a subject head of English assess the success of his objective "to woo his pupils into the reading habit"? (School 1: Goals 1988) Decisions on English department policy and procedures are frequently based on personal hunches and examination results. Few subject departments engage in proper evaluations of their curricula to support decisions made, or to impart meaning upon the countless daily transactions between child and adult, individual and institution in the learning process. This study demonstrates the efficacy of "illuminative evaluation" techniques in opening out an educational innovation (1986 First Language English syllabi of the Cape Education Department) at two High Schools for comment and appraisal. The array of information gathered should be useful in planning and implementing further curricula initiatives. The inherent flexibility of illuminative evaluation procedures and their freedom from large-scale data base requirements needed for 'scientific' models of evaluation are advantageous in investigating the untidy complexities of English teaching. Both 'closed' and 'open' response questionnaires, interviews, and perusal of relevant documents informed the researcher of the views of pupils, parents, English teachers, other subject heads, the two school principals and the education authorities on what waS and ought to be happening in English classes. From the considerable array of information generated, the distress of conscientious English teachers facing unreasonable work-loads emerged clearly. Such teachers are likely to occupy key roles in the non-racial state schools of the future and cannot be regarded as expendable. 'Open schools' present new challenges to existing curricula and the position of English may prove to be critical. Thus it is submitted that English subject heads should be concerned with evaluating their departments so that informed decisions can be taken on future directions. Illuminative evaluation is demonstrably useful in such analyses.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1991