Using Research to Influence Policy and Practice: The Case of the Pathways-to-Resilience Study (South Africa)

2017 ◽  
pp. 373-387 ◽  
Author(s):  
Linda C. Theron
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Policy And Practice

Children and Participation in South Africa: An Overview

2008 ◽  
Vol 16 (3) ◽  
pp. 327-342 ◽  
Author(s):  
Susan Moses
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Current Policy ◽  
Policy And Practice ◽  
Participatory Processes ◽  
Children’S Participation ◽  
Children's Participation

AbstractThis paper examines the current policy and practice around children's participation in South Africa. By situating the analysis from the perspective of the socio-economic and normative context within South Africa the paper critiques current typologies of children's participation for focusing too narrowly on processes internal to participatory processes. The paper argues that theorisations of children's participation need to take account of the range of activities which are labelled as children's participation and interrogate issues around who gets to participate and why, what the purposes of the participation are and under what conditions it is possible. This requires examining participatory processes and the children involved in them in relation to adult actors within and beyond the process as well as in relation to broader socio-political and economic environments.

scholarly journals Support to address barriers to learning for learners who are deaf

2018 ◽  
Vol 7 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Mapepa ◽  
Meahabo D. Magano
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Support Services ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Research Policy ◽  
Universal Design For Learning ◽  
Qualitative Content Analysis ◽  
Barriers To Learning ◽  
Policy And Practice ◽  
Special Schools ◽  
Design For Learning

Background: There is great importance in support services for successfully addressing the barriers to learning optimally or learners who are deaf. The study, though conducted in South Africa, has national and international appeal.Objectives: The aim of the study was to identify educator reflections on support services needed for them to address barriers to learning of learners who are deaf.Method: The study used a qualitative design for collecting data in natural settings. A sample size of 11 educators of learners who are deaf was purposively selected from two provinces of South Africa. The study used an open ended individual interview questionnaire.Results: Data was analysed using qualitative content analysis considering the context of the schools in which the study was carried out. Results showed that there was: limited curriculum support in special schools; lack of support and inadequate teaching and learning materials; overcrowding in one school and; limited support of multidisciplinary professionals in most schools.Conclusion: The study provided a framework for support services important for research, policy and practice. Of significance was the relevance of the Universal Design for Learning (UDL) theoretical framework in implementing support services programmes in schools.

scholarly journals Problems and Prospects in Early Childhood Education Provisioning in Turkey and South Africa

2015 ◽  
Vol 52 (4) ◽  
pp. 444-457
Author(s):  
Corinne Meier ◽  
Eleanor Lemmer ◽  
Demet Gören Niron
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Early Childhood ◽  
Early Childhood Development ◽  
Systems Approach ◽  
Analytical Framework ◽  
The United States ◽  
Childhood Development ◽  
Policy And Practice ◽  
The Us ◽  
Made In

The benefits of early childhood development (ECD) programmes are strongly supported by evidence of reduced school dropout and repetition rates. However, the literature on ECD is primarily grounded in research based in the United States (US); in the light of this gap in the literature, this paper provides a comparative overview of ECD policy and practice from outside of the US, namely in South Africa and Turkey. As a theoretical framework the paper has followed the World Bank’s Systems Approach for Better Education Results (SABER)-ECD Analytical Framework. Findings indicate that both countries have established an enabling policy environment for ECD but implementation and the setting of and compliance to standards for quality is still emerging, in spite of massive strides made in this field during the past fifteen years.

scholarly journals Student Pathways in South Africa

2018 ◽  
pp. 24-26
Author(s):  
Rebecca Schendel
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
South Africa ◽  
Academic Research ◽  
Institutional Policy ◽  
Policy And Practice ◽  
Student Protests ◽  
Relative Lack ◽  
The World ◽  
A Priority

The recent student protests in South Africa highlight a disconnect between academic research on higher education and institutional policy and practice. One reason for this impasse may be the “siloing” of research focused on different “moments” along a student’s pathway through higher education; another is the relative lack of research focused on less-resourced institutions. Addressing these challenges is a priority, not only in South Africa but also around the world.

scholarly journals Colour-blind educational leadership policy: A critical race theory analysis of school principalship standards in South Africa

2020 ◽  
pp. 174114322097367
Author(s):  
Pontso Moorosi
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Educational Leadership ◽  
Critical Race Theory ◽  
South African ◽  
Race And Ethnicity ◽  
Critical Race ◽  
Race Theory ◽  
Policy And Practice ◽  
Leadership Policy ◽  
School Principalship

In the light of recent media reports of racism in South African schools, this paper examines the role of school principalship standards in addressing race in South African educational leadership. The paper draws on tenets of critical race theory to examine how issues of race are addressed in the Policy for School Principalship Standard in South Africa and the implications thereof for leadership preparation and leadership practice. The methodology involves the employment of content analysis underpinned by key tenets of critical race theory that challenge notions of colour-blindness, meritocracy and neutrality. The analysis reveals that there is no explicit mention or treatment of race and ethnicity as social constructs in the principalship standards. It also reveals that diversity and culture are used more, suggesting the emphasis on difference rather than inequality. The paper argues that, although driven by principles of social justice, the Policy for School Principalship Standard is colour-blind. Through this omission, the policy denies the existence of racism and fails to recognise the power and influence of school leaders (and principals, in particular) in shaping the race dynamic in schools. The paper ends with implications for the improvement of leadership policy and practice.

scholarly journals Research into health, population and social transitions in rural South Africa: Data and methods of the Agincourt Health and Demographic Surveillance System1

2007 ◽  
Vol 35 (69_suppl) ◽  
pp. 8-20 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kathleen Kahn ◽  
Stephen M. Tollman ◽  
Mark A. Collinson ◽  
Samuel J. Clark ◽  
Rhian Twine ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Population Change ◽  
Communicable Disease ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
Policy And Practice ◽  
Social Transitions ◽  
Research Areas ◽  
Research Questions ◽  
Basic Characteristics ◽  
The Impact

Rationale for study: Vital registration is generally lacking in infrastructurally weak areas where health and development problems are most pressing. Health and demographic surveillance is a response to the lack of a valid information base that can provide high-quality longitudinal data on population dynamics, health, and social change to inform policy and practice. Design and measurement procedures: Continuous demographic monitoring of an entire geographically defined population involves a multi-round, prospective community study, with annual recording of all vital events (births, deaths, migrations). Status observations and special modules add value to particular research areas. A verbal autopsy is conducted on every death to determine its probable cause. A geographic surveillance system supports spatial analyses, and strengthens field management. Population and sample size considerations: Health and demographic surveillance covers the Agincourt sub-district population, sited in rural north-eastern South Africa, of some 70,000 people (nearly a third are Mozambican immigrants) in 21 villages and 11,700 households. Data enumerated are consistent or more detailed when compared with national sources; strategies to improve incomplete data, such as counts of perinatal deaths, have been introduced with positive effect. Basic characteristics: A major health and demographic transition was documented over a 12-year period with marked changes in population structure, escalating mortality, declining fertility, and high levels of temporary migration increasing particularly amongst women. A dual burden of infectious and non-communicable disease exists against a background of dramatically progressing HIV/AIDS. Potential and research questions: Health and demographic surveillance sites — fundamental to the INDEPTH Network — generate research questions and hypotheses from empirical data, highlight health, social and population priorities, provide cost-effective support for diverse study designs, and track population change and the impact of interventions over time.

scholarly journals Book Review: Michele Schweisfurth, 2013. Learner-Centered Education in International Perspective: Whose pedagogy for whose development? Routledge Taylor & Francis Group, London and New York.

2016 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 1-4
Author(s):  
Dai Fengju ◽  
Lin Xiao
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
New York ◽  
Developing Countries ◽  
International Perspective ◽  
Policy And Practice ◽  
Systemic Theory ◽  
Learner Centered ◽  
Local Contexts

This book introduces the definition and provenance of LCE and analyses its application and implementation in global, national and local contexts with Bronfenbrenner’s eco-systemic theory and three narratives: cognition, emancipation and preparation with developing countries: Russia, Gambia, China and South Africa as its research cases. It finds out that inconsistency exists between policy and practice in process of implementation. Then, it comes to ten lessons concluded from the research and resolutions for the problems which exist in those research countries.

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