SERVANT LEADERSHIP THROUGH SUPPORT: A CASE OF CENTRAL KENYA CONFERENCE SECONDARY SCHOOLS

Servant leadership is an important modern leadership style which is known for enhancing the ethical precedence in contemporary organizations. The objective of the study was to determine administrators’ awareness and practice of Servant Leadership style through support in Central Kenya Conference SDA secondary schools. The research used descriptive-comparative research design. The target population was 280 respondents. Respondents were purposively sampled. Data was collected using structured questionnaires administered to 82 teachers and six principals.   Descriptive statistics and inferential statistics were used to analyze data. The study revealed that 83.3% Principals tend to agree that they practiced servant leadership; 83.3% of administrators were male, 66.7% had bachelor’s degrees, 59.8% were middle aged and 66.7% of teachers had 5-10 working experience. There was no significant difference on teachers’ evaluation on principals’ practice of servant leadership in CKC SDA secondary schools through service, support and empowerment across categories of Gender, Age and Teaching Experience. The findings of this study therefore implied that although principals are aware of the concept, servant leadership style was not adequately practiced in CKC SDA secondary schools, hence there need to be measures in place so that servant leadership will be practiced as expected of SDA educational leaders

Young single motherhood : contested notions of motherhood and sexuality in policy discourses/program interventions

mothers; youth; sexuality; nongovernmental organizations; development programmes; discourse analysis;

Effect of active learning teaching methodology on learner participation

The participation of learners in class activities is considered as a prerequisite for better academic achievement (Murray, 1997). This study investigated class participation of learners taught by teachers that had highly adopted active learning teaching methodology (high uptake) compared to those (teachers) that had not i.e. the effect of active learning teaching methodology on learner participation. A purposive sampling technique was used to select 42 teachers to participate in the study (21 of these, after earlier routine class observation had been categorized by school inspectors as high uptake teachers in active learning while the other 21 were low uptake). The study confirmed that on a continuum between expository and heuristic instruction approaches, teachers that had highly embraced active learning methodology adopted instruction methodologies that leaned towards the latter compared to teachers that had not fully embraced it (54.5% against 25%). The study rated pupil participation in classes taught by high uptake teachers at 90.1% while their counterparts were rated at 75%.  Pupils taught by high uptake teachers were better in recalling lesson content than those taught by low uptake teachers. Furthermore, pupils taught by high uptake teachers had superior pass-rates compared to those taught by low uptake teachers. Overall, 82.7% of pupils taught by high uptake teachers compared with 68.8% had positive attitudes about the subject, lesson, class environment and the teacher. Key words: Active learning, high/low uptake, learner participatio

Cross-national learning assessments: relationship to educational policy curriculum and capacity development in Kenya, Tanzania and South Africa

A Research Dissertation Submitted for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy The Department of Psychology School of Human and Community Development Faculty of Humanities University of the Witwatersrand May, 2017Utilizing the theories of change and social development, this study analyzes the extent to which participation in cross-national learning assessments has influenced educational policy and curriculum reforms in three African countries: Kenya, Tanzania and South Africa. The study also interrogates structural reforms and exchange of technical capacities and evaluates the culture of learning assessment in these countries. To collect data, the researcher conducted semi-structured interviews with key informants drawn from the Ministries of Basic Education, national examinations councils, civil society organizations and curriculum development institutions in the three countries. In total, 17 key informant interviews were conducted (five in Kenya and six a piece in Tanzania and South Africa). The interviews were complemented by summative content review of policy/strategic papers. This study shows that overall, at least 18 policy/official strategic documents were formulated in these three countries (seven in Kenya and six in Tanzania and five South Africa) as a consequence of participating in the cross-national learning assessments. Five curriculum reforms attributable to the participation in the cross-national learning assessments are also recorded. However, the findings of the current study suggest that these curriculum reviews have not critically considered learning outcomes and are limited in relation to content, design, delivery mechanisms and assessment of literacy and numeracy programmes. As far as teacher capacity is concerned, the study has established that teachers in these countries lack skills in measurement mainly due to the limited training or lack of coverage on psychometrics in the teacher training curricula. Capacity to implement own national learning assessments is varied across the three countries. South Africa and to some extent Kenya have demonstrated improved capacities to implement independent large-scale learning assessments. Much progress has however been made by South Africa in resourcing and implementing independent large-scale learning assessments, an indication of commitment to sustain the culture of monitoring of learning outcomes. There is also much variation in policy and programme formulation and resource investment in literacy programmes across the three countries; at least three programmes/initiatives in South Africa and one each in Kenya and Tanzania have been launched to respond to learning challenges especially in lower grades, with at least $USD 645.2 million invested between 2010-2015. However, the programmes in Kenya and Tanzania are technically and financially donor driven. In terms of structures, South Africa and Kenya have put in place official structures that could support the sustainability of the system of monitoring learning outcomes. For sustainability, a recommendation is made that learning assessments be decentralized and collaboratively managed with stakeholders at the provincial and county/local council levels. The study concludes by discussing the social development implications of these findings.MT 201

Mathematical modeling of the pessimum action of chlorides on the Extent of delayed ettringite formation. Part 1: formulation

Abstract: Internal sulfate ions are the main cause of delayed ettringite formation, which leads to expansive damage of cement concretes. On the other hand, the exposure of cementitious systems to chloride ions causes corrosion of reinforcement bars that finally seriously shortens the service life of reinforced concrete structures. It has been found that, when concomitantly present in cementitious systems, chlorides interact with sulfate ions. Particularly, for a given concentration of sulfate ions present, low to moderate concentrations of chloride ions bring about serious deterioration of concretes due to high amount of ettringite formed, while higher contents of chlorides tend to reduce and even completely eliminate ettringite formation. The objective of the present project is to mathematically formulate the interaction between chloride and sulfate ions in cementitious materials. Such knowledge is useful for accurate consideration of the action of chlorides on concretes used in sea environments, thus predicting more precisely their service life (this being a far important step in design). Kinetic analysis with pure reactants involved in individual steps implicated in the whole mechanism that pertain to the formation of, or destruction of ettringite in saline solution can be made. Monitoring each of these chemical reactions may help in establishing reaction rate equations, from which rate constants may be obtained. In the whole mechanism, it then possible to express reaction rates of individual compounds involved, chlorides ions and ettringite included. This finally gives a system of partial differential equations of compound concentrations as a function of time, one solution of which can be put in a form of an equation of concentration of ettringite formed as a function of concentration of chlorides. This article is the first part of a three-part study: In this part is formulated the approach (from reaction kinetics theory) followed for establishment of the mathematical equation; in the second part will be presented and discussed lab kinetics results and their use down to the mathematical model; the third and last part deals with applicability and limitations of the developed model, assessed in terms of expansion observed on steam-cured mortars made with cements used in the South African building industry

A kinetic model for prediction of cement susceptibility to delayed ettringite formation in concrete, Part 1: Theoretical model concept

Abstract: A model is proposed for predicting the intrinsic potential of Portland cements to exhibit delayed ettringite formation, when used in cementitious systems. The model has been developed on the basis of kinetic reaction theory and consists of a set of two equations which define the primary conditional requirements on cement chemistry. The important conditions, sufficient alumina content exceeding a certain unknown threshold and SO3/Al2O3 ratio high enough to promulgate ettringite infilling pressures over and above counter microstructural factors, are mathematically expressed. Both conditions have been reported in the literature by various authors basing on experimental observations. The proposed model can be a useful screening tool for rapid evaluation of cements against their proneness to delayed ettringite formation (DEF) and may be applied in cement manufacture, import depots, ready-mix plants, and many others or for selection of cements for specific applications. Due to the intrinsic nature of the model, it has the potential to reveal the underlying expansive behaviour that may be suppressed or not easily observed from experimental tests alone. Validation of the model against experimental data from literature has been undertaken i

An economic competitiveness analysis of power generation plants

Abstract: Due to the fast growth of renewable energy resources, the analysis and comparison of costs associated with different forms of electricity generating sources are crucial for decision policy makers and investors. To this end, the Levelized Cost of Electricity (LCOE) is a widely tool employed to assess the economic viability of a power plant, however the issue with this tool is that it does not considers all the complexities involved. Thus, the Levelized Avoided Cost of Electricity (LACE) has been introduced to cover the elements ignored by LCOE, which are becoming critical to business decision. Despite the development of LACE, various studies continue using LCOE to evaluate the economic competitiveness of various power plants, especially in South Africa. To this end, this paper used both LCOE and LACE tools assess and compare the economic viability of 10 technologies which are: coal, gas, nuclear, biomass, geothermal, hydroelectric, wind offshore, wind onshore, solar photovoltaic, concentrated solar power. The results indicate that of all technologies, geothermal ranks at the first place as the most economic competitive alternative, followed by coal technology. Furthermore, the results illustrate that the worse technologies in terms of economic viability are solar photovoltaic, concentrated solar power, and wind. As far as the authors are aware this study is the first example in the context of the South African energy sector

A kinetic model for prediction of cement susceptibility to delayed ettringite formation in concrete, Part 2: model validation

Abstract: This work is a continuation of the process of developing a model for predicting the potential of Portland cements to exhibit expansion due to delayed ettringite formation, as presented in part 1 [1]. The model was derived basing on the kinetics theory applied to cement chemistry and evaluates two primary conditions of, the presence of sufficient active alumina in cement and the requirements for sulphate to alumina ratio applied against the countering microstructural effects, to determine the underlying kinetic characteristics for DEF in the system. The primary purpose of the model is determination of the intrinsic presence of the potential for DEF in cements. In the second part of this work herein presented, the model is validated and tested for robustness by its application to a wide range of existing experimental data for DEF studies, taken from various global sources available in the literature. Over 164 data sets taken from various independent works, were used in the validation. It was found that the model was in strong agreement with experiment data for both expansive and non-expansive cements. However, some few outputs showed disagreements between model predictions and experimental observations. Most of the important disparities appear to occur with cements of high Fe2O3/Al2O3 ratios and may be related to inadequacy of the Bogue formula used in the model. These revealed aspects where future refinement of the model will be required. The model at this stage is applicable to plain Portland cements with a future possibility of improvements to examine more complex systems containing pozzolanic materials

A sustainability assessment of electricity supply systems

Abstract: One of the major concern striking the 21st century is the development of Sustainable Development (SD) whilst rising mankind welfare. Contemporary technology generally has controverting impacts over the concept of SD, as portrayed through the present power supply system. Low-priced, easily- available electrical energy is very important to various contemporary society ‘s most significant technologies and SD advances. Meanwhile, the immense mainstream of the global’ s electrical energy is produced by means of fossil fuels, which caused stern ecological burdens. Thus, any shift towards a sustainable, thriving future will necessitate resources of electrical energy, which can offer the benefits of current ‘s power production system whilst diminishing its harmful impacts. To achieve growing power supplies with negligible ecological effect, shift to the present electricity production practices are needed to take in augmented power efficiency as of fossil fuel burning technologies by introducing renewable energy sources into the market..