Perspectives of teachers regarding the use of the reading period and school libraries in selected schools in the Northern Cape

CITATION: Newman, L. & Le Cordeur, M. 2014. Opvoeders se perspektiewe rakende die gebruik van die leesperiode en skoolbiblioteke in geselekteerde skole in die Noord-Kaap. Tydskrif vir Geesteswetenskappe, 54(4):805-819.The original publication is available at http://www.scielo.org.za/scielo.php?script=sci_issuetoc&pid=0041-475120140004&lng=en&nrm=isoAFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Alhoewel lees 'n noodsaaklike vaardigheid is, dui navorsing daarop dat leesprobleme ernstige afmetings aanneem in Suid-Afrika. Om die leesvermoens van leerders te verbeter, het die Noord-Kaapse Onderwysdepartement (NKOD) . verpligte leesperiode ingestel om lees tot sy reg te laat kom. Hierdie artikel beskryf die studie wat ondersoek instel na die gebruik van die leesperiode en die skoolbiblioteek. Daar is van die navorsingshipotese uitgegaan dat opvoeders leerders nie genoeg blootstelling aan lees gee nie en dus nie ’n leeskultuur by leerders kweek nie omdat hulle die leesperiode en die biblioteek as hulpbron ignoreer. Data is versamel by twee geselekteerde hoërskole in die Namakwa-distrik met behulp van vraelyste en fokusgroeponderhoude met die graad 8- en 9-opvoeders. Die studie bevestig die navorsingsvraag dat die leesperiode nie geïmplementeer word nie en dat die skoolbiblioteek as ʼn bron vir die bevordering van die geletterdheidsvlakke van die leerders, onderbenut word.ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Reading is one of the cornerstones of learning. Research shows an escalating concern about the reading ability of South African learners. In an attempt to improve the literacy levels of learners, the Northern Cape Department of Education instructed schools to implement a daily reading period of 30 minutes. Schools are required to indicate the reading period on the timetable and reading must be formally instructed. The purpose of this study was to determine the perspectives of teachers on the use of the reading period and school libraries. It was hypothesised, first, that teachers do not expose learners sufficiently to reading. Secondly, teachers do not create a reading culture or foster a positive attitude towards reading, because they ignore the reading period and do not make use of the library as a resource. A mixed-method approach was followed utilising both quantitative and qualitative research designs to obtain data. The study consisted of a literature review supported by an empirical study. The empirical study was conducted at two high schools in the Namaqua district. The data were collected by means of a questionnaire which was completed by 16 Grade 8 and 9 teachers. Focus group interviews were also conducted with the participating teachers. An analysis of the empirical data showed that, although the reading period is not implemented at either of the two schools, the majority of the teachers are aware of the reading period. However, teachers indicated that they did not receive any guidance or support from the Education Department to assist learners with reading problems. The study showed that many schools do not have a school library and where schools do have a library it seems, from the responses of the teachers, that the library resources are old and insufficient. Hence learners are not exposed to the library to assist them with curriculum assignments. The study confirmed the research hypothesis that the reading period is not being implemented and that the school library is not being used by the teachers to enhance the literacy levels and academic performance of the learners.Publishers' Versio

A survey of child care centers about breastfeeding support in Adelaide, South Australia.

Author's version made available in accordance with Publisher's copyright policy.Background: Australia has high rates of breastfeeding initiation, with a consistent decline over the first year. Furthermore, there is a growing trend of maternal employment and rising numbers of children enrolled in different types of child care services, both of which can have a negative impact on breastfeeding. Objectives: To provide evidence to better inform implementation of breastfeeding-friendly strategies in child care settings, this study examined breastfeeding policy and practice in child care centers in metropolitan Adelaide. Methods: The paper reports on a survey sent to 292 child care centers in metropolitan Adelaide in 2010. The survey collected information on center location and type, number of enrolled children under age 2, and number of breastfed babies. The survey also included questions about breastfeeding facilities and support, breastfeeding policies, staff training, and barriers to and recommendations to enhance breastfeeding support in child care centers. Results: Of the 62 completed returned surveys (21% response rate), 43 centers (69.4%) reported that they currently have children who receive breast milk at the center; however, in most centers, the total number of breastfed children was reported to be between 1 and 4; 76% reported that the center was supportive of exclusive breastfeeding for 6 months; and 80.6% had statements on breastfeeding as part of their food and nutrition policies or guidelines. Furthermore, 64.5% reported there was no formal or informal training for staff on breastfeeding support, but 50% reported that staff members do provide breastfeeding advice to mothers of children in their center. Conclusions: Despite some strategies in place to support breastfeeding, there are no standards on breastfeeding policies, practices, and training in child care settings.Therefore, the extent and scope of such support depend on parental request and the perceptions and attitudes of child care center staff toward breastfeeding

Analysis of breastfeeding policies and practices in childcare centres in Adelaide, South Australia

Author version made available in accordance with publisher policy.Breastfeeding policies and practices were analysed in childcare settings in the metropolitan area of Adelaide, South Australia. Childcare centres were purposively selected based on their geographical location, type and socioeconomic score of the area. Qualitative inquiry approach was employed by undertaking interviews with childcare centres’ director or baby house coordinator to explore their perception towards breastfeeding practice and support within their centre. Breastfeeding related policy documents, where available, were also collected during the interviews to triangulate data. A total of 15 face-to-face interviews were conducted. Six childcare centres had a written policy specifically on breastfeeding support, although the technical issues of handling breastmilk were included in most centres’ food and nutrition guidelines. Most participants believed that decision to breastfeed is the personal choice of parents, and hence saw the childcare centre’s role as supporting parental choice whether it is breastfeeding or not. The provision of physical space to breastfeed and facilities to store the expressed breast milk were the most common practices in support of parents who had chosen to continue breastfeeding. Participants perceived mothers’ work-related issues such as distance from the centre, time, and unsupportive workplace the most important barriers that led to early introduction of bottle feeding or breastfeeding cessation. Most childcare centres support breastfeeding in a more passive than active way. Breastfeeding promotion needs to be an integral part of childcare centres training, policy and practice if an increased rate of breastfeeding is to be achieved particularly amongst working mothers.This work was made possible by a grant from the Faculty of Health Science, Flinders University

Occupational segregation, gender essentialism and male primacy as major barriers to equity in HIV/AIDS caregiving: Findings from Lesotho

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Gender segregation of occupations, which typically assigns caring/nurturing jobs to women and technical/managerial jobs to men, has been recognized as a major source of inequality worldwide with implications for the development of robust health workforces. In sub-Saharan Africa, gender inequalities are particularly acute in HIV/AIDS caregiving (90% of which is provided in the home), where women and girls make up the informal (and mostly unpaid) workforce. Men's and boy's entry into HIV/AIDS caregiving in greater numbers would both increase the equity and sustainability of national and community-level HIV/AIDS caregiving and mitigate health workforce shortages, but notions of gender essentialism and male primacy make this far from inevitable.</p> <p>In 2008 the Capacity Project partnered with the Lesotho Ministry of Health and Social Welfare in a study of the gender dynamics of HIV/AIDS caregiving in three districts of Lesotho to account for men's absence in HIV/AIDS caregiving and investigate ways in which they might be recruited into the community and home-based care (CHBC) workforce.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>The study used qualitative methods, including 25 key informant interviews with village chiefs, nurse clinicians, and hospital administrators and 31 focus group discussions with community health workers, community members, ex-miners, and HIV-positive men and women.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Study participants uniformly perceived a need to increase the number of CHBC providers to deal with the heavy workload from increasing numbers of patients and insufficient new entries. HIV/AIDS caregiving is a gender-segregated job, at the core of which lie stereotypes and beliefs about the appropriate work of men and women. This results in an inequitable, unsustainable burden on women and girls. Strategies are analyzed for their potential effectiveness in increasing equity in caregiving.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>HIV/AIDS and human resources stakeholders must address occupational segregation and the underlying gender essentialism and male primacy if there is to be more equitable sharing of the HIV/AIDS caregiving burden and any long-term solution to health worker shortages. Policymakers, activists and programmers must redress the persistent disadvantages faced by the mostly female caregiving workforce and the gendered economic, psychological, and social impacts entailed in HIV/AIDS caregiving. Research on gender desegregation of HIV/AIDS caregiving is needed.</p

Occupational segregation, gender essentialism and male primacy as major barriers to equity in HIV/AIDS caregiving: Findings from Lesotho

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Gender segregation of occupations, which typically assigns caring/nurturing jobs to women and technical/managerial jobs to men, has been recognized as a major source of inequality worldwide with implications for the development of robust health workforces. In sub-Saharan Africa, gender inequalities are particularly acute in HIV/AIDS caregiving (90% of which is provided in the home), where women and girls make up the informal (and mostly unpaid) workforce. Men's and boy's entry into HIV/AIDS caregiving in greater numbers would both increase the equity and sustainability of national and community-level HIV/AIDS caregiving and mitigate health workforce shortages, but notions of gender essentialism and male primacy make this far from inevitable.</p> <p>In 2008 the Capacity Project partnered with the Lesotho Ministry of Health and Social Welfare in a study of the gender dynamics of HIV/AIDS caregiving in three districts of Lesotho to account for men's absence in HIV/AIDS caregiving and investigate ways in which they might be recruited into the community and home-based care (CHBC) workforce.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>The study used qualitative methods, including 25 key informant interviews with village chiefs, nurse clinicians, and hospital administrators and 31 focus group discussions with community health workers, community members, ex-miners, and HIV-positive men and women.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Study participants uniformly perceived a need to increase the number of CHBC providers to deal with the heavy workload from increasing numbers of patients and insufficient new entries. HIV/AIDS caregiving is a gender-segregated job, at the core of which lie stereotypes and beliefs about the appropriate work of men and women. This results in an inequitable, unsustainable burden on women and girls. Strategies are analyzed for their potential effectiveness in increasing equity in caregiving.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>HIV/AIDS and human resources stakeholders must address occupational segregation and the underlying gender essentialism and male primacy if there is to be more equitable sharing of the HIV/AIDS caregiving burden and any long-term solution to health worker shortages. Policymakers, activists and programmers must redress the persistent disadvantages faced by the mostly female caregiving workforce and the gendered economic, psychological, and social impacts entailed in HIV/AIDS caregiving. Research on gender desegregation of HIV/AIDS caregiving is needed.</p

Use of policy, education, and enforcement to reduce binge drinking among university students: The NU Directions project

This paper describes a program, conducted over a 5-year period, that effectively reduced heavy drinking and alcohol-related harms among university students. The program was organized around strategies to change the environment in which binge drinking occurred and involved input and cooperation from officials and students of the university, representatives from the city and the neighborhood near the university, law enforcement, as well as public health and medical officials. In 1997, 62.5% of the university’s approximately 16,000 undergraduate student population reported binge drinking. This rate had dropped to 47% in 2003. Similar reductions were found in both self-reported primary and secondary harms related to alcohol consumption

Global landscape of phenazine biosynthesis and biodegradation reveals species-specific colonization patterns in agricultural soils and crop microbiomes

Phenazines are natural bacterial antibiotics that can protect crops from disease. However, for most crops it is unknown which producers and specific phenazines are ecologically relevant, and whether phenazine biodegradation can counter their effects. To better understand their ecology, we developed and environmentally-validated a quantitative metagenomic approach to mine for phenazine biosynthesis and biodegradation genes, applying it to >800 soil and plant-associated shotgun-metagenomes. We discover novel producer-crop associations and demonstrate that phenazine biosynthesis is prevalent across habitats and preferentially enriched in rhizospheres, whereas biodegrading bacteria are rare. We validate an association between maize and Dyella japonica, a putative producer abundant in crop microbiomes. D. japonica upregulates phenazine biosynthesis during phosphate limitation and robustly colonizes maize seedling roots. This work provides a global picture of phenazines in natural environments and highlights plant-microbe associations of agricultural potential. Our metagenomic approach may be extended to other metabolites and functional traits in diverse ecosystems

A Comparative Analysis of Retail Store Image: Wal-Mart and Dillards

The research in this manuscript reports on analyses of retail image which compares the images of two well- known U.S. retailers. The scale used is the research is one that has been specifically designed to evaluate consumers\u27 perceptions of retailers. The results indicate that differential scale items are required to meaningfully assess different varieties of retail establishments. Specifically, the findings indicate that consumers assess retailers in a manner which seems consistent for retail store type. The study offers conclusions and insights based upon the differential items used to assess discount retailers and traditional department stores

Deposition of C3b and iC3b onto particulate activators of the human complement system. Quantitation with monoclonal antibodies to human C3

Monoclonal antibodies were used to determine the number and molecular form of C3 bound to particulate activators of the complement (C) system by human serum. Sheep erythrocytes (E) coated with IgM (EIgM) and IgG (EIgG) were used to study activation of the classical pathway (CP). Yeast (Y), rabbit erythrocytes (ER), and five species of bacteria (Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus pneumoniae type 3, Streptococcus pyogenes, and Hemophilus influenzae type b) were used to study activation of the alternative pathway (AP). The deposition of C3b onto EIgM and EIgG incubated in C7-deficient human serum was dependent on the serum concentration. At all serum concentrations tested, there was complete conversion of C3b to iC3b. Kinetic analysis of C3b deposition and conversion to iC3b indicated that these events occurred almost simultaneously; the reaction was completed by 15 min. The deposition of C3 onto the AP activators ER and Y was also dependent on serum concentration, and ER, but not Y, required the presence of Mg- EGTA and thus the activation of only the AP. C3b deposition and conversion to iC3b on Y was complete in 15 min, with 82% of bound C3 converted to iC3b. For ER, maximum C3 deposition required 30 min in both the presence and absence of Mg-EGTA. However, after 1 h of incubation, 74% of bound C2 was iC3b in the absence of Mg-EGTA, compared with only 52% in the presence of Mg-EGTA. Thus, even on AP activators, a large portion of C3b may be converted to iC3b, and this conversion is probably controlled by elements on the particle's surface. Studies with the five species of bacteria yielded similar results. Approximately 3-5 X 10(4) molecules of C3 were bound per microorganism, with opsonization being completed in 30 min. Remarkably, only 16-28% of bound C3 was in the form of iC3b, even after 2 h of incubation. The presence or absence of Mg-EGTA, or the addition of purified CR1 to the reaction mixture, did not significantly effect the ratio of C3b to iC3b. Finally, SDS-PAGE and autoradiography of particle- bound 125I-C3 fragments confirmed that there was no conversion of iC3b to C3d,g or C3d. The data obtained about the opsonization of bacteria suggest that the predominant form of C3 that is encountered by inflammatory phagocytes may be C3b

Global Perspectives on Labour Education into the New Millennium

No abstract available