Educational Psychology & Special Needs Education
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- ItemFactors influencing the responses and perceptions of responses of Indian South African adolescents towards problem situations in the Gauteng school setting(University of Zululand, 2017) Govender, Soma SundramAbstract Violent crime has a destabilising effect on society as it results in the loss of human lives, and it also affects the economy. There is a high level of violence in South Africa to the extent that it is undeniably a hazard to public health. This culture of violence is deeply rooted in South African history as political violence thrived during Apartheid and, when Apartheid ended, interpersonal violence became more prevalent. This new wave of violence is most burdensome to the youth of South Africa as the majority of them live in communities where violence is prevalent. This violence permeates the various environments (e.g. neighbourhood, school and family) the child is exposed to. In South Africa, the youth population falling into the age cohort of 15 to 25 years of age experience the highest rate of violence in the country and the majority in this age cohort are school-going youths. Violence in South African schools has escalated to such an extent that it is widely decried as a severe public health crisis. The purpose of this study was to explore the tendency South African Indian adolescents have to adopt the different types of responses (non-violent, overtly aggressive, relationally aggressive and mediocre) that are commonly used to resolve typical problem situations that adolescents face in the school setting. The research sought to explore the perceptions that these adolescents hold concerning the applicability of these responses. This study aimed to examine how the associating demographic factors (gender, age and residential environment) of the adolescents influence their preference for certain common responses and their perceptions concerning the effectiveness of these responses to resolve typical problem situations. The comparative analysis of the demographic categories did not produce any results of statistical significance, thus indicating that there is no difference in the preferences and perceptions of the demographic categories (males versus females, township (TS) versus suburb (SB) youths, and middle adolescence (MA) versus late adolescence (LA) youths that were compared against each other. However, upon further analysis of these results, a trend towards a higher level of preference for overtly aggressive responses among LA individuals and males, in comparison to MA individuals and females respectively, was identified. A similar trend was identified for the same demographic categories when comparing perceptions regarding the effectiveness of overtly aggressive responses in resolving problem situations. The remainder of the results from the additional analyses are similar to the findings of the initial analyses.
- ItemAnxiety associated with the use of technology among teachers in Lesotho(University of Zululand, 2016) Tlaba, David Tlaba; Sibaya, P.T. and Sibaya, D.C.The purpose of this study is to investigate anxiety associated with the use of technology among teachers in Lesotho. The sample consists of 100 high school teachers from various schools located in the Maseru district. To meet the objectives, a questionnaire was designed, which collected data on teachers’ anxieties towards technology in relation to demographic variables. The findings of the study suggest that the educators do differ in their anxiety levels in relation to technology, and that there is no correlation between age and anxiety. The relationship between the variable of gender and anxiety is revealed. Furthermore, teaching experience is found to have a significant effect on anxiety, while nationality is found to have no effect on anxiety.
- ItemImpact of Obesity on Learner Academic Performance in Rural Secondary Schools in Vhembe District(2022) Thenga Nwakwana EmilyThe emerging scourge of overweight and obesity are attributed to the consumption of high energy-dense foods, poor nutrition, lifestyle transition and little physical activity which cause serious developmental health problems, psychological complications and cognitive dysfunction. These debilitating challenges consequently affect children’s growth and development and result in academic under-achievement. The aim of this study was to assess the impact of obesity on learner academic performance in rural secondary schools in Mvudi circuit of Vhembe district. This study used Convergent Parallel Mixed Method Design in collecting data through questionnaires and in-depth face-to-face interviews and observations. Simple random sampling procedure was used to select 125 school learners and purposive sampling was used to select 5 teachers and 5 learners from the five rural secondary schools in Mvudi circuit of Vhembe district, Limpopo Province, South Africa. The study findings established that obesity has the capability to directly impair the physiological, psycho-social and economic dimensions of learners which exert an impact on academic performance. Overall, variables such as nutrition, gender, physical inactivity, industrialisation, sedentary lifestyle and bullying negatively affect academic performance. Government sectors, teachers, parents and learners should work together in addressing the challenges caused by obesity as it exerts an adverse impact on the academic attainment of learners.
- ItemThe influence of biographical characteristics on emotional concerns of new first-year students at the University of Zululand(2023) Masondo, Hlengiwe QinisekileFor students, transitioning from high school to university is a challenging period which in most cases brings about emotional concerns and mental health challenges. Such students not only have to grapple with stress related to academic load, but also have to take on more adult-like responsibilities without having yet mastered the skills and cognitive maturity of adulthood. This study investigates whether there is any influence of biographical factors on the emotional concerns of New First Year Students at University of Zululand It focuses on age, gender and sex as the biographical factors. A quantitative method was used and data was collected from 82 participants. Pearson’s product moment correlation was used to measure the relationship between demographic traits of New First Year Students and the emotional concerns while an independent student’s T test was performed to test for differences between sexes. This research identified areas of concern regarding their emotional challenges which align with previous studies discussed in the review of similar studies at other universities. Areas of emotional concern, according to the current study were identified as belonging emotions, positive affectivity, negative affectivity and pathological emotions. From the correlation analysis, the study revealed that age of the New First Year Students (NFYS) was not related to the three emotional constructs of negative affectivity, pathological and belonging. Nonetheless, there was statistically significant but very weak negative correlation between age and positive affectivity. The conclusion reached was that positive affectivity decreased with increase in the age of the NFYS even though it has a weak relationship. The 18-19 years old NFYS had higher ratings for positive affectivity emotions while the older than 19 years has lower positive affectivity emotions. The study also confirmed the nonexistence of any relationship between social economic status, and the emotional concerns of NFYS. An independent student ‘s t test analysis also confirmed there was no significant statistical difference in the emotional concerns between male and female NFYS. Finally, the results indicated that strong, positive and significant correlation existed between different emotional constructs. Pathological emotions were positively and strongly correlated with negative affectivity. Pathological emotions were also positively correlated with positive affectivity. Lastly, belonging emotions were positively, though weakly correlated with positive affectivity.
- ItemExploring parental influence on the academic performance of learners in the intermediate phase in Zululand district(2023) Mdlovu, Nomthandazo PatienceParental care plays a key role in every sphere of the child’s life, and more so when the child becomes a learner. However, it is not obvious that parents view their support to their children throughout their academic life to be of critical importance as they may assume that it is the school’s responsibility, especially educators. The challenge of lack of parental support is common throughout South Africa especially in the rural areas where literacy levels are relatively lower than in urban settings. Zululand district has for many years experienced poor learner performance, which could be attributed to the lack of parental involvement in learners’ academic affairs. The purpose of the current study was to explore the influence of parental involvement in the academic performance of learners, with specific reference to those in the intermediate phase in Zululand district. The study adopted a mixed method approach using a survey and in-depth interviews. An interview guide and a questionnaire were used to gather data from two samples of four (n=4) participants and 250 respondents for the qualitative and quantitative componets, respectively. The study findings revealed that despite educators providing homework to learners, parental availability to support the learner to do their homework was very minimal. The study also revealed that despite parental support by providing study rules and study rooms as well as providing some form of control on times to watch television, parents denied the responsibility for the poor performance of their children yet they did not even visit their children’s schools to understand what prevails there. It was also interesting to note that literacy on the part of parents helped to enhance the parents’ desire to support their children towards improving their academic performance. Drawing from these findings, the researcher recommended the need for regular school meetings, preferably two parents’ meetings per term to promote parent –school involvement and collaboration. The researcher also recommended the provision of evening classes for parents to improve their literacy levels so that they can support their children when they do school work. Despite revealing such findings and making critical recommendations, this study’s findings cannot be generalised to all communities, hence the need to conduct a similar study in some other rural districts such as uMkhanyakude district and King Cetshwayo within the KwaZulu-Natal province to obtain a balanced view of parental involvement in children’s school work. The recommendation may help to mitigate the problem of declining pass rates in schools across the province and the nation at large.