African School Setting Research Articles

The Influence of Parental Role on Adolescent Sexual Behaviour and HIV/AIDS in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.

Background: HIV/AIDS risky behaviour remains a critical health concern for adolescents, specifically at high school level. In South Africa, the rapid increase of risky lifestyles and sexual behaviours among adolescents could be mainly attributed to poor parental skills and broken family structures. Four identified sexual risk behaviours that are of concern in South Africa are age at sexual debut, multiple sexual partners, condom use and transactional sex.Methods: Data was collected using a quantitative cross-sectional survey with samle consist with 450 male and female high school adolescents between 14 to 18 years from 3 different South African school settings. Collected data was analyzed using SPSS descriptive statistics procedure.Result: 79.7% of the respondents had only one parent still alive with 4.9 % of the respondents indicated to have lost both parents. Only 13.5% of the respondents were from a nuclear family. The majority of the respondents were (41.2%) living with grandparents. This high level of family disintegration, parental absence and poor parenting skills in South Africa exposed 73.3% (330) of the respondents to early sexual debut, transactional sex, unprotected sex and having multiple sexual partners. The study proved that there is a statistical association between guardianship and age at sexual debut; guardianship and multiple sexual partners; guardianship and condom use; guardianship and transactional sex.Conclusion : The revealed significant high risk sexual behaviour among adolescents in KwaZulu-Natal should inform Health and educational authorities to utilize these key findings to design more effective local strategies to train and assist parents and caregivers on parenting skills

The Learner Integration Wheel Theory: Addressing Integration Challenges in Tanzanian School Settings

This paper introduces the learner integration wheel (LIW) theory of practice, which was developed in a larger study that explored the understanding and enhancing of learner integration in a selected Ex Model C school in South Africa. The larger study explained the LIW theory of practice as an alternative theory to change the rudimentary practices and programs and peoples’ attitudes in multicultural learning settings towards the issue of learner integration in South African school settings. In this study, the LIW theory of practice is introduced as a novel framework to address learner integration challenges in Tanzanian school settings. The study employed multi-stakeholder meetings and reflective writing activity to generate data. Data generated were thematically analyzed. The perspectives of eight participants (four teachers and four learners) who were purposively selected were explored regarding the challenges and possible solutions on the issue of learner integration in Tanzanian school settings. Findings reveal that learner integration is a crucial component in Tanzanian school settings as it enhances learners’ motivation and personalities and helps them to attain their full potential. In addition, the findings reveal that it is important for schools to work collaboratively with the community for the successful implementation of learner integration in school settings. The study maintains that implementation of learner integration through the fundamental practices and programs of the LIW theory of practice promises to benefit not only the learners but also the teachers and the entire Tanzanian school community.

Gender, Age and Grade Level Differences in Psychological Factors among Immigrant Francophone Adolescent Learners in the South African School Setting

Psychological factors are important for boys or girls, depending on age and grade level. This study examines emotional regulation, aggressiveness, empathy, and sympathy, as psychological factors to peer interaction, manifest in adolescence. Eighty-three participants were conveniently and purposively selected at South African schools (N= 83, 52 girls and 31 boys, aged between 14 and 19 years). A psychological factors scale was purposively employed as a data collection instrument. The chi-square results partially confirmed previous results, namely, aggressiveness and sympathy, by gender and age. However, this did not apply to emotional regulation. This study recommended that the South African education system consider aggressiveness a psychological factor, playing a critical role in violence at schools among young adolescents.

How pain management for children with cerebral palsy in South African schools complies with up-to-date knowledge.

BackgroundPain in children with cerebral palsy (CP) has its sources in musculoskeletal problems that can influence learning in a school setting. Best pain management is essential for these children, but school staff may not keep up to date with the latest developments and interventions. Therefore, staff’s perceptions of beneficial strategies may not comply with contemporary scientific knowledge about effective evidence-based interventions.ObjectivesThis study investigated how pain management intervention for children with CP in South African schools complied with international scientific knowledge about evidence-based interventions. The intention was to provide support for an update of knowledge on both individual level (i.e. professionals) and system level (i.e. decision makers).MethodFive focus groups were conducted with staff members at five schools for children with special educational needs in South Africa. Manifest and latent content analyses of professional statements identified interventions reported as beneficial and related them to higher and lower levels of intervention evidence as reported at the time of data collection.ResultsMost treatment strategies concerned motor functioning that fell within the framework of physiotherapists and occupational therapists. Access to orthopaedic expertise was limited, waiting times were long and medication for spasticity treatment was not offered.ConclusionA discrepancy between published evidence and clinical practice for pain management in children with CP in South African school settings was noted. Suggestions for improved early intervention to identify children’s hips at risk through surveillance programmes; and orthopaedic management are proposed to prevent deformities and unnecessary suffering in South African children with CP.

Professionals’ perceptions of pain management of children with cerebral palsy in South African school settings

Professionals’ perceptions of pain management of children with cerebral palsy in South African school settings

Professionals’ perceptions of pain communication of children with cerebral palsy in South African school settings

Professionals’ perceptions of pain communication of children with cerebral palsy in South African school settings

Professionals’ Perceptions about the Need for Pain Management Interventions for Children with Cerebral Palsy in South African School Settings

Pain is common in children with cerebral palsy (CP) and may have negative consequences for children's success in their studies. Research has shown that pain in childhood negatively influences individuals' participation and quality of life in later years. This study investigated how professionals in South African school settings respond to children's need for pain management in an attempt to enable the children to be active participants in school activities, despite their pain. The study was descriptive and followed a qualitative design (i.e., focus group interviews with semistructured questions and a conventional content analysis). Five government schools for children with special education needs in South Africa's Gauteng province participated. Participants/Subjects: Thirty-eight professionals who represented eight professions. Professional statements on the topic were collected from five focus group sessions conducted during one week. Qualitative content analysis of the data was performed. Similar statements were combined, coded, and sorted into main categories and subcategories. The analysis identified three main categories for pain management: environmental, treatment, and support strategies. In addition, four groups of statements emerged on how contextual factors might affect pain in children with CP and their participation in school settings. It is important to train professionals in pain management and to implement structured models for pain prevention and management to ensure that best practices are adhered to for children with CP who suffer from acute or chronic pain.

Eina! Ouch! Eish! Professionals’ Perceptions of How Children with Cerebral Palsy Communicate About Pain in South African School Settings: Implications for the use of AAC

Most children with severe cerebral palsy experience daily pain that affects their school performance. School professionals need to assess pain in these children, who may also have communication difficulties, in order to pay attention to the pain and support the children’s continued participation in school. In this study, South African school professionals’ perceptions of how they observed pain in children with cerebral palsy, how they questioned them about it and how the children communicated their pain back to them were investigated. Thirty-eight school professionals participated in five focus groups. Their statements were categorized using qualitative content analysis. From the results it became clear that professionals observed children’s pain communication through their bodily expressions, behavioral changes, and verbal and non-verbal messages. Augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) methods were rarely used. The necessity of considering pain-related vocabulary in a multilingual South African context, and of advocating for the use of AAC strategies to enable children with cerebral palsy to communicate their pain was highlighted in this study.

“A boy cannot marry another boy”: adolescent boys' talk about ‘gay’ boys at school

This study explored how black South African adolescent boys talk about ‘gay’1 in schools. Thirty two boys (age ranged from 13–18 years old) attending two high schools in a historically black South African township took part. Data on their understanding of being gay were gathered using individual interviews and focus group discussions. The data were analysed using Edley and Wetherell's (2001) discursive interpretive framework. Findings suggest negative bias in the boys' attitudes towards ‘gay’ boys. The boys considered being ‘gay’ as ‘deviant’, ‘abnormal’, ‘un-Christian’ and ‘un-African’. Furthermore, ‘straight’2 boys reported isolating themselves from ‘gay’ boys and avoiding practices stereotypically associated with being ‘gay’, such as wearing colorful pink clothes. Social constructions of hegemonic masculinity and homophobia appear present within an ordinary South African school setting.

School learner behavioural management: context and practices in a South African school setting

This study explored context and qualities of learner behavioural management with high school students in a historically disadvantaged South African urban school setting. Participants were a convenience sample of seven teachers (females = 3, and males = 4) mean teaching experience = 14 years; SD = 9.0738 years). They responded to an open-ended interview on influences on learner behavioural management and preferred management styles. The data was thematically analysed. Findings reported poor implementation of school code of conduct and lack of parental involvement to lower the learner management. Teachers reported the use of an autocratic management style which could potentially undermine long-term learner development and growth.

An Integrative Perspective on Students’ Proportional Reasoning in High School Physics in a West African Context

This study examines students’ use of proportional reasoning in high school physics problem‐solving in a West African school setting. An in‐depth, constructivist, and interpretive case study was carried out with six physics students from a co‐educational senior secondary school in Nigeria over a period of five months. The study aimed to elicit students’ meanings, claims, concerns, constructions, and interpretations of their difficulty with proportional reasoning as they worked on a series of 18 high school physics tasks. Multiple qualitative research techniques were employed to generate, analyse, and interpret data. Results indicated that several socio‐cultural, psychosocial, cognitive, and mathematical issues were associated with students’ use of proportional reasoning in physics. Students’ capacity to reason proportionally was not only linked to their difficulty with the concept, structure, and strategies of proportional reasoning as a learning and problem‐solving skill, but was also embedded in the social, cultural, cognitive, and contextual elements involved in the learning of physics. The study concludes with a discussion of the implications for teaching high school physics.

EDUCATION OUTCOMES AND HOUSEHOLD ILLNESS AND DEATH IN THE SOUTH AFRICAN SCHOOL SETTING

AbstractIt is widely recognized that the HIV/AIDS epidemic may significantly disadvantage children's education in severely affected countries, but empirical quantitative data demonstrating effects and children at risk are scant. The main objective of this study was to investigate associations between chronic illness and death in the household and select educational outcomes in a school setting. This study provides information on the extent of household illness and death in schools in two provinces in South Africa and explores the relationship between these events and select educational measures. Based on the study findings, we present some of the challenges facing the education sector with regards to managing and monitoring the impacts of illness and death, including HIV and AIDS on education at school level.

Vocal Teachers, Silent Pupils? Life in Botswana Classrooms

Considerable evidence is now available on the human and material inputs that more likely boost pupil achievement in the Third World. Not surprisingly, those factors central to the instructional process-textbooks, exercise books, and teacher literacy levels-are consistently related to children's achievement. Peripheral symbols of quality, including variation in teacher salaries and the character of school facilities, are related less to achievement.'