Southern African Olympian perspectives of the coach-athlete relationship.

Debate has continued throughout the last decade over the existence and possible causes of differences between males' and females' mathematical skills. Several observations recur as the focus of this controversy. First, adolescent boys have been found to score higher than girls on standardized mathematics achievement tests.' Second, males are more likely than females to engage in a variety of optional activities related to mathematics, from technical hobbies to careers in which math skills play an important role.2 Third, adolescent males typically perform better than their female

Using longitudinal data from the Fragile Families and Child Well-Being Study (N = 507), we considered the role of parents’ earlier (child age 5) relationship quality, co-parenting quality, and father involvement in children’s later (age 9) internalizing and externalizing behaviors, with a specific focus on mediational links. We also explored the possibility of different patterns of associations based on child gender. A demographically diverse sample of women who were in stable relationships (married or cohabiting) with the focal child’s biological father completed questionnaires assessing the primary study variables at child ages 5 and 9 years. Correlational analyses supported many of the hypothesized links between relationship quality, co-parenting quality, father involvement, and children’s behaviors problems, although more so for boys. Regression analyses further illuminated the associations among the study variables. Importantly, co-parenting quality served as a mediator in the link between relationship quality and boys’ age 9 internalizing and externalizing behaviors. This study identified different patterns for boys and girls, with relationship quality, co-parenting quality, and father involvement being important for boys but only co-parenting quality being important for girls. Further, findings suggest that for boys, the quality of the mother’s romantic relationship has a bearing on the quality of her co-parenting with the father, which in turn impacts the son’s behavioral adjustment. Future studies are needed to understand the nature of the longitudinal associations among the study variables more fully.

The proposed reforms to financial regulation in South Africa, as embodied in the Financial Sector Regulation Bill, (second draft, 10 December, 2014) (‘FSR Bill’), represent the most important reforms to South Africa’s financial regulatory architecture since the 1987 de Kock Commission. The degree to which these reforms succeed will determine the extent to which South Africa can maintain financial stability, and manage the effects of a future financial crisis. The de Kock Commission’s findings led to the creation of the Financial Rand, and a dual exchange rate system for South Africa (Pieter Cornelis Smit, ‘Economics: A Southern African Perspective’, (1996), p 421). The current proposed reforms introduce two regulators for the Republic’s financial sector – a so-called ‘Twin Peaks’ regulatory model: a Prudential Authority, which ‘will supervise the safety and soundness of banks, insurance companies and other financial institutions’, and a Financial Sector Conduct Authority, which ‘will supervise how financial services firms conduct their business and treat customers.’

The proposed reforms to financial regulation in South Africa, as embodied in the Financial Sector Regulation Bill, (second draft, 10 December, 2014) (‘FSR Bill’), represent the most important reforms to South Africa’s financial regulatory architecture since the 1987 de Kock Commission. The degree to which these reforms succeed will determine the extent to which South Africa can maintain financial stability, and manage the effects of a future financial crisis. The de Kock Commission’s findings led to the creation of the Financial Rand, and a dual exchange rate system for South Africa (Pieter Cornelis Smit, ‘Economics: A Southern African Perspective’, (1996), p 421). The current proposed reforms introduce two regulators for the Republic’s financial sector – a so-called ‘Twin Peaks’ regulatory model: a Prudential Authority, which ‘will supervise the safety and soundness of banks, insurance companies and other financial institutions’, and a Financial Sector Conduct Authority, which ‘will supervise how financial services firms conduct their business and treat customers.’

Select your parents with care! – The role of parents in the recruitment and development of athletes.

Objectives: To assess parental influence on smoking behaviour by high school students in an Asian culture and to compare the relative importance of parental and peer influence. Methods: A 5%...

Purpose: The current paper attempts to contribute to the vigorous debate about policies and regulations that would shield financial markets’ participants from future events of the financial turmoil. In doing so, the paper aims to broaden the picture of the financial crisis contagion and set it against the background of contemporary European markets. The main purpose of this paper is to present novel aspects of the financial crisis contagion, hence clarifying the contagion theory that still remains confusing and ambiguous for both the academics and financial market practitioners. This, however, requires a detailed overview of international financial linkages between markets, with particular attention paid to spot vulnerabilities in regulatory frameworks that allowed for the financial crisis contagion to spread. Henceforth, the current research paper attempts to address issues associated with the overconfidence of policy makers and financial supervisory authorities which believed that the financial crises affecting advanced markets would not be transferred to the emerging ones.This research paper is designed to deal with the notion of the international financial crisis contagion that still remains the least understood phenomenon confusing practitioners associated with financial markets worldwide. As spotted by Rigobon (2002), a lack of comprehensive knowledge of the ways financial crises spread throughout stock markets caused substantial investment losses. These losses were manly incurred by investors diversifying their portfolios with suboptimal choices. Therefore, a study that would shed light on the contagion processes across contemporary financial markets would be of great benefit to global investors. To this point, the current research paper focuses on the financial crisis contagion by adopting stock market practitioners’ perspectives. Moreover, the paper attempts to report findings that could contain useful advice for emerging markets’ authorities by suggesting an implementation of policies, stock market regulations, stimulus packages and fiscal plans that consider and manage the cross-market transfers of investment risks. This, however, does not suggest that markets lack regulations; rather this paper argues that the current policies are not effective in dealing with nascent problems concerning global capital flows. Addressing, these emergent problems require a more insightful analysis that would prevent from the occurrence of overregulation – e.g. taxation of capital flows as suggested decades ago by Tobin (1972), recently discussed within the structures of European Union. In addition, this paper acknowledges that the choice for macro-prudential supervisory systems should account for country-specific factors when dealing with the financial crisis contagion.Finally, the current paper aims to address the question whether financial crises can be predicted, especially in terms of their contagion across markets – this would provide implications of interest to international investors willing to diversify their portfolios with assets traded on European markets. This question remains open in academic circles and among practitioners associated with financial markets worldwide. To this point, the current research paper attempts to broaden the context of the financial crisis contagion to encompass the European markets that constitute international investment hubs attracting large numbers of practitioners. Especially important remains the focus on Central European emerging stock markets, as these investment hubs remain relatively under-researched.Design: The current paper builds on a simulation model for the financial crisis contagion that is rooted in the qualitative query and backed by semi-structured interviews with financial markets’ participants who possess extensive knowledge about the functioning of European markets and their interconnectedness. The methodology is rooted in the modified model of the Kaplan-Meier Survival Plots.With this in mind, the current paper adopts an international investor’s perspective on implications that stem from the linkages between European financial markets, flawed regulations and the absence of cross-border monitoring of the financial crisis contagion. By shifting its focus on Europe, this paper attempts to illustrate cross-market linkages between diverse groups of advanced and emerging markets. Such diversified research background enables the simulation model included to capture how propagation factors/links were being modified at different stages of the current financial contagion. Thus this paper strives to enrich the reviewed existing academic literature with novel and pioneering findings suggesting that the contagion factors/links are not constant over the period of transmission of the financial turmoil across European markets.Originality and Value: The current paper addresses the issues of the financial crisis contagion that belong to the group of the most commonly referenced yet least understood notions in finance. Furthermore, the paper focuses on addressing the recently exposed fragility of financial markets’ surveillance and regulations. In doing so, the paper employs a pioneering approach to a simulation of the financial crisis contagion by embarking on a qualitative query rather than empirical data. Henceforth, the limitations of the empirical simulations – experienced in the past studies devoted to investigation of the financial crisis contagion – were ameliorated and the findings presented in the paper became of practical use for the markets’ practitioners and policymakers.

Disability is associated with negativity, discrimination, shame, and stigma in townships, which impacts how parents interpret it when their child has a disability. Parents who have recently learned of their children’s intellectual disability often experience psychological and emotional trauma due to uncertainty and lack of knowledge and understanding of intellectual disabilities, including a lack of formalized and policy-supported transition programs in South Africa. Guided by Barbara Mowder’s Parent Development Theory, this study aimed to explore parents’ understanding of their role in transitioning learners with intellectual disabilities from mainstream to special schools. Using a qualitative case study, semi-structured interviews were conducted with eight purposively sampled participants from one chosen mainstream primary school in Soweto, Gauteng Province, South Africa. The results of the current study confirmed that the meanings participants attribute to their parent role characteristics during the transitioning of their children with intellectual disabilities are influenced by the connection between the Parent Development Theory’s parent role perceptions and the participants’ individual factors, including their educational background levels, which made a major contribution to how these parents perceived their parental role and their understanding of intellectual disabilities. The results highlight that owing to parents’ educational levels and cultural aspects, identifying learners with intellectual disabilities can be particularly challenging, with overwhelming, mixed emotions. The provision of psychosocial services in mainstream schools, as well as teacher training in skills to address the overwhelming parental support needs, will benefit parents and their intellectually disabled children by facilitating therapy and counseling during the transition process to overcome psychological challenges.

This study explores relationship quality among Greek couples, examining the roles of gender, age, and cultural influences. A total of 202 participants (84 men, 116 women; M age = 29.81, SD = 10.49) in diverse relationship statuses, primarily long-term romantic relationships (M duration = 7.92 years), completed questionnaires assessing relationship dimensions and quality. The study utilized a translated version of standardized relationship quality scales, and data were collected through an online survey administered via snowball sampling. The questionnaire assessed four key dimensions of relationship quality: Intimacy, Agreement, Independence, and Sexuality. While the study employed a cross-sectional design, a potential limitation is the sampling method, which may affect the generalizability of the results. The translated scales demonstrated good reliability (alphas = 0.69–0.95). Principal components analysis identified four key dimensions of relationship quality: Intimacy, Agreement, Independence, and Sexuality, explaining 44.8% of the variance. The findings highlight the significant role of relationship quality in determining relationship satisfaction, with implications for relationship counseling and interventions aimed at improving relationship dynamics, particularly in Greek cultural contexts. Mediation analyses revealed that relationship quality partially mediates the effect of intimacy on satisfaction, fully mediates the effect of agreement, but does not mediate the effects of sexuality or independence. This study contributes to the existing literature by offering new insights into relationship quality within the context of Greek couples, an underexplored area in relationship research. These findings highlight the complex factors shaping relationship satisfaction and emphasize the cultural context’s role in assessing relationship quality. Compared to previous research, this study offers insights into how relationship dynamics function within the Greek cultural setting, contributing to broader discussions on relationship quality in Mediterranean and collectivist cultures.

One of the factors that influence children's development is the parents' socioeconomic status. Some students are revealed to have mathematics learning outcomes that have not yet reached the Minimum Mastery Criteria (Kriteria Ketuntasan Minimal or KKM). It might occur due to the economic conditions of parents. Therefore, the researchers desired to determine the effect of parents' socioeconomic status on the learning outcomes of students in the fifth-grade of the Madrasah Ibtidaiyah (Islamic Elementary School or MI) Islamiyah Karangpakel. The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of parents' socioeconomic status on student mathematics learning outcomes at Islamiyah Karangpakel. Questionnaires and documentation were used as data collection techniques. The study was conducted by quantitative methods with the type of expost de facto. The study population consisted of students in the fifth grade of MI Islamiyah Karangpakel, with a total of 20 students. The data analysis technique used Simple Linear Regression and was assisted by SPSS 16.0. Based on the calculation of the significance level of 5%, it indicates that the influence of parents' socioeconomic status on student mathematics learning outcomes was in precentage 41,4%, or has sufficient influence while other variables or factors influence the rest. Thus, it can be concluded that the influence of parents' social economic status influences students’ mathematics learning outcomes.

Background: The rapid development of science has had a major impact on various aspects of life, one of which is the world of education. As prospective educators, we must become good and professional educators in this developing world of education. Therefore, in educating children, the role of parenting is very much needed to help grow the initial character in children. Character education in children is very important to be given as early as possible and the right education can build good character. Instilling character in children must be accustomed from an early age, so that after the child moves into adolescence and adulthood, the child is accustomed to having a good character condition. Facts that occur in the field when researchers make observations, especially at PT Yongjin Javasuka Garment, there are still many inappropriate parenting patterns such as parents who ignore the importance of interacting between parents and their children. Especially parents who prefer to pursue a career and entrust their child care to their family and others. The role of career parenting is certainly very influential on the formation of children's character from an early age. The impact of this problem is that children become less attentive because of busy working parents, children feel free to play anywhere due to lack of supervision from parents, and lack of supervision when children study or do school assignments.
 Purpose: The goal to be achieved in conducting this research is to determine the effect of the role of parenting career parents on the formation of character in children.
 Design and methods: This study uses a quantitative approach with causality correlation method.
 Results: The results of hypothesis testing indicate that there is a significant influence of career parenting on character formation in elementary school-aged children and the level of relationship strength of career parenting on character formation in elementary school-aged children has a moderate level of relationship. The influence of career parenting on character formation in elementary school-aged children has an effect of 27.6% while the remaining 72.4% is influenced by other factors not examined by researchers.

The aims of this research are to find out how the role of parents, teachers’ commitment, and community involvement have a partially and simultaneouslyinfluence on the character building during early childhood of AdventistKindergarten in DKI Jakarta Conference. This descriptive correlational studyutilized questionnaires to 210 samples. The results of the study are the following:1) the role of the parents was not significantly related to the character developmentof kindergarten, 2) teacher commitment was significantly related to the characterbuilding of kindergarten, and 3) community involvement is significantly related tothe character building during early childhood of the kindergartens. Based on theresult, the community involvement has more impact in the development ofcharacter among Adventist kindergarten in DKI Jakarta conference.

This study aims to determine the effect of the role of parents on student achievement in the subject of Buddhist Education, to determine the effect of learning motivation on student achievement, to determine the effect of the role of parents and motivation on student achievement at SDS Bodhisattva in Buddhist Education Subjects. The results of the study 1) the results of the significance of 0.038 > 0.05 and t count 1.815 > t table 2.03011 so that Ho2 is accepted and Ha2 is rejected, that is, there is an influence of 41.8% on the role of parents on learning achievement. 2) of 0.033 > 0.05 and t count 1.978 > t table 2.03011 so that Ho2 is accepted and Ha2 is rejected, that is, there is an influence of 41.8% motivation on student achievement. 3) the significance value is 0.616 < 0.05 and learning achievement is 0.616 < 0.05 and the calculated F value is 3.078 < F table 2.465809. It can be concluded that Ha3 is accepted as having an effect so that 19.9% the role of parents and motivation on student achievement. Based on the results of the study, it can be concluded that there is a significant influence between the role of parents, motivation and learning achievement in grades IV, V and VI in Buddhist education subjects at SDS Bodhisattva Bandar Lampung

Internationalization has become a strategic policy priority for many Chinese higher education in the process of becoming world-class universities. However, there is little research focusing on students’ experiences of internationalization at home. This research investigates how Chinese undergraduates interpreted and experienced internationalization at a prestigious university in China. Data for the study were collected through policy document analysis, semi-structured interviews with students, and site visits. The results of the study reveal that students perceive internationalization as Westernization, question the prominence of English in the university’s internationalization in both formal and informal curricula, and raise concerns about unequal access to internationalization. The study interrogates the unidirectional orientation of internationalization between China and the developed Western world. It calls for an approach to the de-Westernization of internationalization, reclaiming indigenous Chinese epistemology, language, and culture. The findings have important implications for an alternative social imaginary of internationalization for researchers and policymakers.

ABSTRACTAlthough not monuments in the traditional sense, modernist Afrikaans Protestant churches erected during the 20th century are reminders of the wealth of the Afrikaner people, the stringent union of Church and State, and the Afrikaner nation's ambition to align themselves with the developed Western world during apartheid. The number of churches built in multiple South African cities and towns attests to the Afrikaners’ need to establish a modern and future-oriented visual identity. The rationale behind adopting modernism for these churches is complex and multi-layered. It allowed Afrikaner architects, such as A. P. S. Conradie, to experiment with church design and mould structures according to their personal preferences. Conradie's designs encompassed Frank Lloyd Wright's notion of “organic architecture”, whilst blending vernacular architecture and his personal religious beliefs to create, arguably, some of the finest examples of modernist church architecture in South Africa. Due to the socio- political climate at the time of construction, these churches are associated with the period of Afrikaner nationalism. Yet, measured against their contribution to the development of local architecture, they constitute important remnants of modernism in the built environment. This article briefly investigates this phenomenon in reference to Conradie's church for the Op-die- Berg Dutch Reformed congregation.