Delivering sexuality education: a review of teaching pedagogies within South African schools

The Life Orientation (LO) learning area provides the primary vehicle for the delivery of sexual and reproductive health (SRH) information in South African schools. The efficacy and uptake of the LO agenda is understood to rest with the individual educator facilitating this learning area, as located within a particular schooling environment and broader socio-cultural systems. This paper examines the perspectives of education staff responsible for LO lesson delivery, their competencies in understanding the varied challenges and contextual realities of this position as well as their abilities to impact learner engagement. Data was collected from secondary school contexts across three different provinces in South Africa, including high performing and low performing districts and across different economic profiles. Thematic content from educator interviews were enriched with classroom observations and structured questions on educator qualifications, training experiences, and personal orientations. The success of LO lessons and self-efficacy of learners are sourced in a combination of certain cognitive, behavioural and environmental factors. Didactic teaching methodologies and prescriptive approaches to potentially sensitive LO content are potential barriers to learner development as self- efficacious beings. Our findings suggest that LO educators would benefit from further professional and personal development to ensure the realisation of the sexuality education objectives

Young adults, the target of below-the-line advertising: medicine and the law

No Abstract. South African Medical Journal Vol. 96(2) 2006: 104-10

Factors influencing enrolment: A case study from Birth to Twenty, the 1990 birth cohort in Soweto-Johannesburg

Longitudinal studies offer significant advantages in rendering data commensurate with the complexity of human development. However, incomplete enrolment and attrition over time can introduce bias. Furthermore, there is a scarcity of evaluative information on cohorts in developing countries. This paper documents various strategies adopted to minimize loss to follow up and describes a retrospective analysis of a small group of families who were missed during initial enrolment and through several subsequent rounds of data collection of the Birth to Twenty (BT20) birth cohort in Soweto-Johannesburg, South Africa that began in 1990. A purposive case study approach was used, and 10 of the 119 families missed at enrolment were interviewed to investigate why these families were not enrolled into the study. The findings demonstrate that high mobility, both within urban areas and between urban and rural areas, are a major challenge for longitudinal studies in densely populated urban areas. In addition, enrolment was also affected by individuals changing their names, largely motivated to facilitate access to employment under Apartheid, as well as varying motivations for participating in research. Longitudinal studies in the developing country context must be mindful of the political, social and economic climate that influences enrolment and ongoing cohort maintenance.Longitudinal research Enrolment Attrition Participant retention Developing country Participant tracking

Factors influencing enrolment: A case study from Birth to Twenty, the 1990 birth cohort in Soweto–Johannesburg

Longitudinal studies offer significant advantages in rendering data commensurate with the complexity of human development. However, incomplete enrolment and attrition over time can introduce bias. Furthermore, there is a scarcity of evaluative information on cohorts in developing countries. This paper documents various strategies adopted to minimize loss to follow up and describes a retrospective analysis of a small group of families who were missed during initial enrolment and through several subsequent rounds of data collection of the Birth to Twenty (BT20) birth cohort in Soweto–Johannesburg, South Africa that began in 1990. A purposive case study approach was used, and 10 of the 119 families missed at enrolment were interviewed to investigate why these families were not enrolled into the study. The findings demonstrate that high mobility, both within urban areas and between urban and rural areas, are a major challenge for longitudinal studies in densely populated urban areas. In addition, enrolment was also affected by individuals changing their names, largely motivated to facilitate access to employment under Apartheid, as well as varying motivations for participating in research. Longitudinal studies in the developing country context must be mindful of the political, social and economic climate that influences enrolment and ongoing cohort maintenance