Working towards inclusive education in South African classrooms

The predominant objective of any education systemis one of providing quality education for all learners in order to enable them to realise their full potential, thereby enabling them to contribute to and participate in society. During the last two decades international policy development has turned the focus on providing quality education for all learners within the mainstreamof education, thereby removing the stigma and stereotyping of learners with barriers to learning. South Africa has also accepted educational approaches that facilitate movement towards more inclusive forms of education. Intensive attempts are made to identify the barriers to learning and development and to provide all children and young people with equal access to quality education. The most important problem that has to be overcome in this process, is the training and empowerment of teachers to identify and effectively support learners who experience barriers to learning. This article gives an overview of the problems facing the educational front in South Africa in this regard and discusses three instruments that have been developed during the last eighteen months to empower teachers to meet the needs of all learners in their classrooms. (South African Journal of Education: 2001 21(4): 344-348

Implementation of life orientation programmes in the new curriculum in South African schools: Perceptions of principals and life orientation teachers

The curriculum of the Life Orientation (LO ) learning area forms an excellent basis for equipping learners to respond positively to social demands, assume responsibilities, and optimize their life chances. I report on a qualitative study that focused on the extent to which schools and LO teachers succeeded in achieving the outcomes of the programmes. Teachers' views regarding their training and skills in this area were investigated and factors that determined successful implementation were probed. Data were gathered through semi-structured questionnaires and interviews with principals and LO teachers from 12 secondary schools in four provinces in South Africa. Principals identified the problems they experienced in establishing the necessary climate and structures for the implementation of Life Orientation in their schools and teachers described the barriers they had struggled to overcome. The findings emphasised key challenges in achieving successful implementation of the LO programmes in schools. South African Journal of Education Vol. 27 (1) 2007: pp. 155-17

Disclosure of Positive and Negative Experiences as Social Utility

We propose that disclosing one’s positive and negative experiences carries social utility for both senders and recipients. We show that consumers consider this utility when deciding whether to disclose their experiences with others. In three preregistered studies, consumers respond in kind to the disclosures of positive and negative experiences by others

The Socio-Economic Benefit of the Livestock Traceability System on Communal Beef Farmers in Swaziland

In this article, Swaziland is placed in the forefront as a small African country that implemented a livestock traceability system to benefit both communal and commercial farmers. The communal farmers are also able to export beef to European countries, markers that were previously unavailable to them, due to the successful implementation of the Swaziland Livestock Information and Traceability System (SLITS).  Livestock traceability is briefly explained to align it with the importance of safe food production for human consumption and a few aspects are highlighted. The traceability systems is further explained in terms of its benefit to the rural economy, its role in growing the GDP and the realization of its aims as was initially expected by the Swazi Government. The data collection methods used were a document review, a case study and five interviews. It is concluded that livestock traceability systems should be adopted wider by other developing countries as it has a direct effect on the improvement of the socio-economic conditions of the rural poor. Its development and implementation remains very expensive, but Swaziland can be used as an example of a country that is able to reap the rewards from a commodity that is ample in their country, but scarce globally, leading to wider food sustainability

Prof. Dr. PH. Kohnstamm en die personalisme

No abstract available

Occupational exposure to bloodborne viruses amongst medical practitioners in Bloemfontein, South Africa

Background The possibility of occupational exposure to bloodborne viruses such as HIV, hepatitis B virus (HBV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV) is an everyday reality to health care workers. This study reports on doctors' extent and outcome of exposure to bloodborne viruses in Bloemfontein. Methods A descriptive study was done. Doctors (n=441) actively involved in public and/or private medical practice were requested to anonymously complete a questionnaire regarding occupational exposure to bloodborne viruses (HIV, HBV, and HCV). Results A response rate of 51.7% was obtained. More than half (54.2%, 95% CI [ 47.7% ; 60.5% ]) of respondents were exposed to bloodborne viruses; 48.3% occurring with HIV positive patients and 4.3% with known HBV positive patients, and no positive HCV patients. After exposure occurred, 68.9% of patients were tested for HIV, 10.9% for HBV and only 4.2% for HCV infection. The frequency of serological testing for doctors immediately after exposure was 65.3% for HIV, 21.7% for HBV and 8.2% for HCV. No seroconversion to HIV or HCV was reported, while two seroconversions to HBV were reported. Most exposures occurred as a result of needle stick injury (85%) and occurred in the operating theatre during procedures 59.3%. The majority (59.8%) of exposed doctors did not take any prophylactic treatment and those who did, did not always complete the treatment Conclusions The risk of seroconversion to HIV after occupational exposure was as expected, while seroconversion to HBV was less than expected. The lack of adequate follow up serological testing after occupational exposure is alarming. It is the responsibility of the occupationally exposed doctor to adequately comply with prophylactic measures and undergo serological testing to ensure the least possible risk of contracting infection from a bloodborne virus. South African Family Practice Vol. 49 (3) 2007: pp. 1

Thermal simulation of magnetization reversals for size-distributed assemblies of core-shell exchange biased nanoparticles

A temperature dependent coherent magnetization reversal model is proposed for size-distributed assemblies of ferromagnetic nanoparticles and ferromagnetic-antiferromagnetic core-shell nanoparticles. The nanoparticles are assumed to be of uniaxial anisotropy and all aligned along their easy axis. The thermal dependence is included by considering thermal fluctuations, implemented via the N\'eel-Arrhenius theory. Thermal and angular dependence of magnetization reversal loops, coercive field and exchange-bias field are obtained, showing that F-AF size-distributed exchange-coupled nanoparticles exhibit temperature-dependent asymmetric magnetization reversal. Also, non-monotonic evolutions of He and Hc with T are demonstrated. The angular dependence of Hc with T exhibits a complex behavior, with the presence of an apex, whose position and amplitude are strongly T dependent. The angular dependence of He with T exhibits complex behaviors, which depends on the AF anisotropy and exchange coupling. The resulting angular behavior demonstrates the key role of the size distribution and temperature in the magnetic response of nanoparticles.Comment: Revised arguments in Introduction and last sectio

Prevalence of musculoskeletal injuries among adolescent squash players in the Western Cape

Objective. To determine the prevalence of musculoskeletal injuries among adolescent squash players in the Western Cape. Design. A retrospective descriptive survey was conducted during the first week of May 2006. Three schools were randomly selected from a list of the top 10 schools in the Western Cape high school squash league of 2005, with 106 squash players aged 13 - 18 years participating in the study. Setting. Injury data were collected for 106 players at three schools randomly selected from a list of the top 10 schools in the Western Cape high school squash league of 2005. Interventions. An adapted structured self-administered questionnaire based on a previously validated musculoskeletal injury questionnaire was used to collect the data. Main outcome measures. The main variables investigated were prevalence, mechanism and injury site of musculoskeletal squash injuries. Results. Twenty-nine per cent of the players (N = 31) reported that they had sustained a squash injury in the 4 weeks prior to data collection. A total of 48 injuries were reported by the injured players. The most common injuries included those of the thigh (19%), shoulder (13%) and lower back (13%). Forty-two per cent of players reported no specific mechanism of injury, but experienced pain not associated with a traumatic injury only while playing squash. Conclusion. A relatively high prevalence of squash injuries was found. This preliminary study serves as a baseline for future research. Areas for further investigation were identified and this could lead to the implementation of preventive programmes and education to prevent injuries among adolescent squash players. South African Journal of Sports Medicine Vol. 19 (1) 2007: pp. 3-

Conceptualisation of a criminological theoretical framework to elucidate female youth sex offending

In this article, the significance of the role of theory to the research process as a prime objective of the social sciences is focused upon. Theories offer insight and strategies for the helping professions and help researchers to gain insight into and explain empirical observations, such as why people commit crimes or some commit more crime than others. It is common cause for the helping professions to integrate interdisciplinary knowledge to provide meaning and understanding to empirical data. In the current study the ecological systems theory is used as a platform to induce a criminologically relevant theoretical framework to explain female youth sex offending. Ecological systems theory is advocated as a result of the fact that the environmental circumstances in which the young female sex offender finds herself are dynamic and necessitate continuous adaptation to an ever-changing environment, which is best explained within the context of an ecological approach. The research was conducted at the “Teddy Bear Clinic” in the Parktown North and Soweto Offices in Gauteng, South Africa. The research participants were diverted to the Support Programme for Abuse Reactive Children offered by the Teddy Bear Clinic where purposive sampling was used to select a convenience sample of eight young female sexual offenders between the ages of 12 and 18 years. Semi-structured interviews, guided by an interview schedule, were conducted to collect data. The collated data was evaluated in terms of the ecological systems theory and supportive propositions, to conceive a theoretical framework that aims to explain female youth sex offending. The purpose of this framework is to guide future research, and inform interventions and policy development.http://www.sapsac.co.za/carsa.htmlam2019Social Work and Criminolog

Integrable Spin Chains with U(1)^3 symmetry and generalized Lunin-Maldacena backgrounds

We consider the most general three-state spin chain with U(1)^3 symmetry and nearest neighbour interaction. Our model contains as a special case the spin chain describing the holomorphic three scalar sector of the three parameter complex deformation of N=4 SYM, dual to type IIB string theory in the generalized Lunin-Maldacena backgrounds discovered by Frolov. We formulate the coordinate space Bethe ansatz, calculate the S-matrix and determine for which choices of parameters the S-matrix fulfills the Yang-Baxter equations. For these choices of parameters we furthermore write down the R-matrix. We find in total four classes of integrable models. In particular, each already known model of the above type is nothing but one in a family of such models.Comment: 16 pages, 3 figures, references correcte