Health and religion : a study of health-seeking behaviour in Kayamandi, Western Cape in the context of "medical pluralism"

This small-scale study explores the concept of medical pluralism by looking at the health-seeking strategies of a selected group of residents in Stellenbosch's Kayamandi township. The study addresses the following three primary research questions: What are the health-seeking strategies of the target group? What factors significantly influence their health-seeking behaviour; and why are the respondents using more than one health-seeking strategy? We have used theoretical formulations derived from literature together with data we collected by questionnaires and interviews to respond to these questions. Our target group consisted of a mix of isiXhosa-speaking Christians, which fall into one of the following three groupings: Ecumenical, African Independent Zionists, and African Independent Non-Zionists. We applied a variety of methods to collect our data namely: survey questionnaire, in depth interviews and a focus group interview. Basic statistical and qualitative analysis techniques were used to analyze the data. We tested various potential variables before we concluded that Christian affiliation and gender are two major variables in this study that seem to influence our respondents' choices of strategy. The resulting data indicated that almost all of our respondents are mixing health seeking strategies. They are mixing in two ways: either in a complex way (multiple health seeking strategies for a single ailment), or a simple way (different strategies for different ailments). Even though Western Medicine is a dominant and the only legalized health-seeking strategy in South Africa this research suggests that there is a growing use of other health-seeking strategies, either alternatively or complementarily to Western Medicine. Reasons for this are discussed in this research report, and include firstly, conviction of experience and knowledge of health and illness among others. Secondly, we have established that these determinants transcend accessibility and availability of, particularly, Western medicine facilities. Respondents utilize three different health-seeking strategies selectively through 'border crossing' with minimal conflict

Conceptualising quality early childhood education:Learning from young children in Brazil and South Africa through creative and play-based methods

Early childhood has increasingly been acknowledged as a vital time for all children. Inclusive and quality education is part of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, with the further specification that all children have access to quality pre-primary education. As early childhood education (ECE) has expanded worldwide, so have concerns about the quality of ECE provision, including whether its pedagogy is culturally meaningful and contextually appropriate. While these issues are much debated in themselves, often missing is a key stakeholder group for such discussions: young children. Young children have critical insights and perspectives of key importance for ensuring quality ECE. This article addresses how quality ECE can be conceptualised, through reflections on creative and play-based methods with young children, used in a cross-national project titled Safe Inclusive Participative Pedagogy. The article draws on community case studies undertake by two of the country teams in Brazil and South Africa. In contexts where children's participation is not necessarily familiar in ECE settings nor understood by key stakeholders, the fieldwork shows that children can express their views and experiences through using creative and play-based methods. We argue that these methods can become part of a critical pedagogy through ECE settings, where ECE practitioners, children and other key stakeholders engage in ongoing, challenging and transformative dialogue. In turn, critical pedagogy has the potential to strengthen local practices, challenge top-down approach, and foster quality safe, inclusive, participative early years education.</p

Early childhood education in differing contexts:The impact of the COVID-19 global health pandemic within four countries

The recent Covid‐19 global health pandemic has negatively affected the political and economic development of communities around the world. This article shares the lessons from our multi‐country project Safe, Inclusive Participative Pedagogy: Improving Early Childhood Education in Fragile Contexts (UKRI GCRF) on how children in communities in Brazil, Eswatini, South Africa, and Scotland have experienced the effects of the pandemic. This article benefits from having co‐authors from various countries, bringing their own located knowledge to considerations of children’s rights and early childhood education in the wake of the pandemic. The authors discuss different perspectives on children’s human rights within historical, social, and cultural contexts and, by doing so, will discuss how the global pandemic has placed a spotlight on the previous inequalities within early years education and how the disparity of those with capital (economic and social) have led to an even greater disproportion of children needing health and educational support