The lived experiences of orphaned learners in South Africa: implications for the provision of quality education

Learners living in impoverished communities and subjected to the kind of disadvantage in operation in their home environment are at risk of receiving education of an inferior quality. The situation is worse for orphans, especially those residing in poor communities in that they bring to school peculiar attributes which poses challenges for the South African government in its endeavour to provide quality education for all. This paper presents constructed narratives of four primary-school learners living in a poor community in South Africa. The narratives are presented from the perspectives of the learners themselves, teachers and caregivers. These narratives reveal that following the death of parents, orphaned learners experience emotional changes, increased responsibilities, safety concerns as well as absence of learning support in the case of sibling-headed households. We argue that the challenges they experience in their home environment impact negatively on learning at school. We, therefore, propose that the extended family and the community serve as resources in providing needed support for promoting positive educational experiences to these learners.     

Results of an assessment to identify potential barriers to sustainable agriculture on American Indian reservations in the Western United States

Purpose: This paper reports the results of survey research conducted with tribal producers between 2011 and 2012 on 19 of the largest American Indian reservations in Idaho, Nevada, North Dakota, Oregon, South Dakota, and Washington. The purpose of the research was to identify potential barriers to sustainable agriculture on reservation lands. This article reports the results of this research in an effort to promote Extension professionals' understanding of these barriers, which may help to improve outreach programs on American Indian reservations. Understanding the obstacles to sustaining agriculture that American Indian tribes face may inform international agricultural outreach efforts to increase food security targeting indigenous and tribal peoples worldwide.

Design/Methodology/Approach: American Indian agricultural producers comprised the study group. Study objectives included: (1) identify agricultural and natural resource issues of greatest concern to a self-selected sample of tribal agricultural producers on reservation lands; (2) evaluate access to Extension and other US Department of Agriculture outreach and assistance programs; and (3) evaluate the quality of these programs in terms of their relativity to tribal needs.

Findings: Study results indicate that tribal agricultural producers surveyed ranked 29 of 39 agricultural and natural resource issues as a concern. Similarly, they rated access to and quality of outreach programs as fair. Further, tribal producers operating on reservation trust land rated issues more severely than did tribal producers operating on fee simple lands.

Practical Implications: Results of this research will help Extension and other outreach professionals to understand the barriers indigenous and tribal peoples face in sustaining agricultural operations, particularly tribal groups living on federally reserved trust lands, such as American Indians. An increased understanding can inform agricultural policy-makers and outreach professionals in improving programs designed to increase agricultural sustainability, improve food security, enhance economic well-being and improve quality of life of indigenous and tribal peoples worldwide.

Originality/Value: This research provides important information to agricultural policy-makers and Extension professionals striving to sustain agricultural productivity and enhance food security with indigenous and tribal peoples.     

The Impact of an Obstacle Course Sport Education Season on Students' Aerobic Fitness Levels

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to determine if factor patterns of selected sports skills were similar for two samples, a skilled sample and one consisting of a wide range of skills. Comparisons were also made with kinesiological evidence regarding the patterning of basic sports skills. Data consisting of performance scores on various sports skills were available for 166 high school girls. Out of this sample, a smaller sample was drawn consisting of 69 girls who were above average in skill. Two factor models, alpha and incomplete image analysis, were used in the analysis of this data. The factor pattern of selected sports skills performed by subjects above average in skill was similar in many respects to that of a sample which included a wide range of skill. The primary difference lay in the clustering of overarm skills which appeared in the above-average factor pattern. The overarm and push patterns of the above-average sample resembled the patterns of skill obtained through kinesiological analysis. The structure of kicking, underarm, and sidearm skills remained obscure, based on the results of factor analytic techniques.     

The Quest for the Holy Grail or Hunting the Snark? Bridging the quality‐resources divide on effectiveness and efficiency

One key driver of change in higher education is the challenge to do more, with less resource – and to do it better. The dilemma, or paradox, perhaps, of achieving efficiency whilst sustaining or enhancing effectiveness is affecting most institutions. Recognition of it is not the problem, but addressing it is. How it may be addressed will vary with the macro and the micro environments which appertain for institutions and with perceptions and interpretations of its nature and meaning. Is the pursuit of solution(s) likely to be successful, though elusive, or is it illusory and so futile? Should the ethical response be to admit bluntly that quality has suffered? In a competitive environment would such an admission by any one institution be just naïve in the extreme? The paper outlines one faculty's approaches to this hazardous and contentious issue and the main organisational, political, logistical and educational considerations and changes. It is a development of an earlier paper (Livingstone, 1996). The legend of the Grail, the drinking vessel used by Jesus at the Last Supper, tells that if the quest is conducted by those who are truly worthy, then the prize is immense; all the world will be healed. On the other hand, Lewis Carroll warns that, even after valiant efforts have located a Snark, the consequences may be dire:

I engage with the Snark – every night after dark –

In a dreamy, delirious fight.

But oh, beamish nephew, beware of the day,

If your Snark be a Boojum! For then

You will softly and suddenly vanish away,

And never be met with again! (The Hunting of the Snark, 1876)

     

Youth exercise intention and past exercise behavior: examining the moderating influences of sex and meeting exercise recommendations

The study purposes were to examine: (a) the determinants of exercise intention and past exercise behavior (PEB) using the theories of reasoned action and planned behavior, and (b) the moderating influences of sex and exercise group (meeting or not meeting exercise guidelines). Participants (n = 676 adolescents) completed self-reported measures of their exercise attitude, subjective norm, perceived behavioral control (PBC), intention, and PEB. We found that attitude, subjective norm, and PBC explained 55% of the variance in intention, and intention and PBC explained 51% of the variance in PEB. While we found sex and exercise group differences across the study measures, we did not find evidence of significant moderation. Thus, the theory constructs predicted intention and PEB similarly across sex and exercise groups.     

传世经典

……当春天从玫瑰红的云彩中露出她的碧眼,当阳光在我的书桌上闪烁时,我渴望的发疯般地闻一闻那百花绽放的大地的芳香,看一看那山坡上落叶松的葱郁,听一听高地上云雀的歌唱。曾几何时,似乎比童年还要遥远的那个时刻,我满腔热情地拿起了笔。如果那时我的手在颤抖,那也只是因为希     

Journalism

George E. Stevens and John B. Webster's Law and the Student Press (Ames: Iowa State University Press, 1973---price not given, paper)

Jerome L. Nelson's Libel. A Basic Program for Beginning Journalists (Ames: Iowa State University Press, 1973---price not given, paper)

Art of the Printed Book: 1455-1955 (New York: Pierpont Morgan Library, 1973---$20.00/11.00)

Bruce Buschel, Albert Robbins, William Vitta, and Rod Nordland's The Watergate File (New York: Quick Fox Inc., 33 West 60th St., 1973---$3.95, paper)