Learners’ perspectives on Life Orientation sexuality education in South Africa

ABSTRACT

This article examines the views of male and female learners regarding how Life Orientation (LO) sexuality education is taught at their schools. Learners in the study were selected from five former ‘Black’ schools in the Eastern and Western Cape Provinces of South Africa. Focus groups were used to identify what learners could recall about their LO sexuality education classes. The strong trend in the data speaks to how LO sexuality education implies a gendered, heteronormative and moralistic approach to youth sexuality which silences and negates same sex relationships and girls’ accounts of sexuality. Although LO sexuality curricula are, as crafted on paper, often sophisticated learning programmes, participants point to a disjuncture between the official LO sexuality education curriculum and how LO sexuality education is taught in the studied schools. The paper concludes with some specific recommendations for teachers to promote a non-judgemental approach to sexuality education that challenges heteronormativity and other gendered injustices as part of the teaching of LO sexuality education.     

International students’ perspectives of a diverse class on multiculturalism

Studying in a foreign country, where one becomes a cultural outsider and where one lacks knowledge of and access to dominant cultural practices, can be a perfect context for challenging students’ values, beliefs, and attitudes, particularly when these experiences are coupled with coursework on diversity. This study explored international students’ perspectives of a diverse class on multiculturalism. Data from 45 students’ reflective journals, course evaluation, and focus group interviews were analysed to identify students’ significant learning experiences. The study provides support for the value of diverse cultural experiences in developing intercultural competence. In addition, the diversity among students contributed to their growing understanding of cultural diversity. The research findings contribute to the development of teacher preparation and enhancement of curricula and practice.     

Parental Involvement in Math Homework: Links to Children’s Performance and Motivation

The present study examined the longitudinal associations between children’s perceptions of parental involvement in math homework (control and support) and their math performance and motivation (task-persistent homework behavior and math self-concept). Children (n = 512) reported their perceptions concerning parental involvement in sixth-grade math homework. In grades 3 and 6, children completed math tests, evaluated own math self-concept, and their mothers (n = 420) evaluated task persistence during homework. The results showed that low self-concept in math predicted increased parental control, which in turn related to low math performance, task persistence, and math self-concept. Second, perceived parental support was related to increased task persistence during homework. Finally, parental control was especially detrimental for boys’ task persistence and math self-concept.     

Task persistence mediates the effect of children’s literacy skills on mothers’ academic help

This longitudinal study aimed at examining the relationship between children's task persistence, mothers' academic help, and the development of children’s literacy skills (reading and spelling) at the beginning of primary school. The participants were 870 children, 682 mothers, and 53 class teachers. Data were collected three times – at the beginning and the end of Grade 1 and at the end of Grade 2. Better literacy skills predicted higher persistence in completing school tasks and, correspondingly, higher persistence was related to better subsequent skills. Also, lower task persistence at the end of Grade 1 corresponded to more frequent academic help from mothers in Grade 2. Moreover, children’s literacy skills predicted mother’s later academic help via task persistence: the lower the children’s literacy skills were, the less task persistence children exhibited, and the more mothers engaged in academic help later on.     

Methods that matter in addressing cultural diversity with teacher candidates

Drawing on a combination of prior experience, theoretical stance, and intuition, along with pedagogical practices identified to be effective in addressing diversity with teacher candidates, a model for teaching multicultural education to teacher candidates was designed. This study examined how particular elements of this model were effective in developing teacher candidate’s cultural competence. The results indicate that teacher candidates gained substantial knowledge about and experiences with issues of diversity by the end of the course. Participants pointed to the multiple methods employed in the class; in particular the interactive strategies, group work, diverse cultural experiences, and opportunities to critically reflect on these experiences as accounting for their gains. Their sense of ownership and understanding has given them the ability to use these strategies in their own future work. Implications for research and teacher education are discussed.     

More than access: MOOCs and changes in Chinese higher education

ABSTRACT

This paper presents an analysis of the conceptualization of massive open online courses (MOOCs) by major influencers in Chinese higher education. Using critical discourse analysis, predominantly from university resources, a map of the discursive construction of MOOCs is presented and interpreted. The centralized orientation of decision making in Chinese higher education is reflected in how MOOCs have been introduced, envisioned, and utilized in China. With the increase of Chinese MOOCs, elite universities are able to capitalize on their comparative advantages, which may be counter to the true intent of MOOCs, which is to raise teaching standards across sectors. This paper serves to illuminate how MOOCs may reinforce the status of elite universities, thereby having the opposite effect to their real intention of democratizing higher education for the masses. The strategy of using MOOCs to improve teaching quality and augment the worldwide reputation of Chinese institutions is central to China’s reinvigorated focus on higher education, which counters the widely held perception, and intention, that MOOCs are vehicles for widening access.     

Telementoring in Community Nursing: A shift from dyadic to communal models of learning and professional development

This article reports on a six-month telementoring initiative in a Canadian community nursing organization. The way in which Internet technologies may support and augment face-to-face mentorship of health care professionals is a relatively unexplored area of research and was the focus of this project. Participants ( N =22) were all employees of Saint Elizabeth Health Care (SEHC), a community nursing agency servicing 150,000 clients in urban and rural Ontario, Canada. Nurse mentees ( n =11) and nurse-mentors ( n =11) engaged in collaborative discourse in webKnowledge Forum, a second-generation computer-supported intentional learning environment (CSILE). Discussions among all participants were directed at collaborative learning and professional development. Results indicate that mentees contributed and read more notes than mentors and were more likely to engage in threaded discourse with peers. Readership patterns were similar for both groups. Fifty-eight per cent of all nurses reported improved asynchronous communication and problem-solving skills as a result of online collaboration. Seventy-five per cent of all respondents reported a positive professional development experience and 50% of all respondents reported improved clinical practice ability as outcomes of the telementorship program. All reported high satisfaction with the technology. It is concluded that this project facilitated a shift from dyadic mentor-mentee (preceptor-intern) training to communal opportunistic learning and professional development.     

Using Plant Clinic Registers to Assess the Quality of Diagnoses and Advice Given to Farmers: A Case Study from Uganda

Abstract

Purpose: This study developed a framework for quality assessment of diagnoses and advice given at plant clinics.

Design/methodology/approach: Clinic registers from five plant clinics in Uganda (2006–2010) were used to develop quality assessment protocols for diagnoses and advice given by plant doctors. Assessment of quality of diagnoses was based on five validation criteria applied on the ten most common crops. Quality of advice was assessed for the four major problems considering efficacy and feasibility.

Findings: The quality of diagnoses varied between crops, from 68% completely validated in maize to 1% in tomato. Complete and partially validated diagnoses were 44% of all queries. The remaining 56% were rejected. Several basic weaknesses were found in data recording and symptom recognition. A greater consistency and precision in naming diseases would increase the number of completely validated diagnoses. The majority of recommendations (82%) were assessed ‘partially effective’. ‘Best practice’ was recommended for 10% and ineffective advice was given in 8% of the cases with considerable variation between diseases.

Practical implications: Plant doctors need more training in symptom recognition, pest management and record keeping as well as better technical backstopping to solve unknown problems. Common standards and procedures for clinic data collection and analysis should be established, and roles and responsibilities clearly defined.

Originality/value: This is the first time plant clinic registers have been used to systematically assess quality of plant clinic services. Apart from being a valuable tool for quality assessment of extension, the plant clinic registers constitute a novel source of regular information about pests, diseases and farmer demand that can help improve decision-making of extension service providers, researchers, plant health authorities as well as information and technology providers.