Redefining home-school-community partnerships in South Africa in the context of the HIV/AIDS pandemic

Estimates suggest that approximately 12% of South Africans are HIV positive. As a result of the rapid increase of infections in the mid-1990s and th e con comitant increase in HIV/AIDS-related deaths, it is estimated that 13% of children have lost on e o r both parents due to AIDS . In this study data were obtained by open-ended written accounts by teachers and in-depth interviews with teache rs and school principals in a small sample of selected sch ools in KwaZulu-Natal. Findings indicated that in severely affected communities, teachers were often compelled to assume roles traditionally filled by parents. AIDS awareness programmes formed part of the sch ools’ cu rriculum . However, m any schools did not consider inv olv ing grandparents, othe r care-giv ers and community mem bers in the physical, emotional and cognitive support needed by learners because teachers lacked training and schools lacked a policy of parent and community involvemen t in education of learners

Feminist spiritualities, gender equality and sustainable development: The possibilities of a countermovement

Feminist historiography indicates that spirituality has historically been one of the instruments whereby women could “speak”. This “voice” implied recognition and authority, to a certain degree, in a patriarchal-oriented reality. In this regard, feminist spirituality became a vehicle for women to authorise their own religious and spiritual contributions and insights. Feminist spirituality became a countermovement – countering perceptions and ingrained convictions that a woman could not be a mediator between God and humanity. Feminist spirituality contributed to the creation of spaces for women to study and participate in the creation of religious-spiritual texts. Women’s contexts are diverse and intersectional, and so is feminist spirituality, to the extent that it is more appropriate to speak of feminist spiritualities in the plural. This article explores the possibilities of feminist spirituality as countermovement that contributes to the realisation of gender equality, in the way that gender equality finds expression in the Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations. It is situatedwithin a growing field of work that explores how faith communities’ religion and spirituality contribute to their being agents of sustainable development, and within the contextual urgency of the sustainable development agenda

Home-school communication in South African primary schools

Home-school communication is one of the most traditional and vital forms of parent involvement but it is often poorly implemented. According to Epstein's model of parent involvement, home-school communication should be two-way communication and reflect a co-equal partnership between families and schools. In this article we examine school practices of home-school communication in South African primary schools using quantitative data derived from a survey of primary schools and qualitative data derived from interviews held with a small sample of primary school principals who also participated in the survey. The aims in this research endeavour were twofold: to explore the nature, frequency and effectiveness of home-school communication practices, and to make recommendations how home-school communication can be improved to facilitate better home-school partnerships. South African Journal of Education Vol.24(3) 2004: 183-18

ADAPT: Approach to Develop context-Aware solutions for Personalised asthma managemenT

People with asthma have heterogeneous triggers and symptoms, which they need to be aware of in order to implement the strategies to manage their condition. Context-aware reasoning has the potential to provide the personalisation that is required to address the heterogeneity of asthma by helping people to define the information that is relevant considering the characteristics of their condition and delivering services based on this information. This research work proposes the Approach to Develop context-Aware solutions for Personalised asthma managemenT (ADAPT), whose aim is to facilitate the creation of solutions allowing the required customisation to address the heterogeneity of asthma. ADAPT is the result of the constant interaction with people affected by asthma throughout the research project, which was possible to achieve thanks to the collaboration formed with the Centre for Applied Research of Asthma UK. ADAPT context dimensions facilitate the development of preventive and reactive features that can be configured depending on the characteristics of the person with asthma. The approach also provides support to people not knowing their triggers through case-based reasoning and includes virtual assistant as a complementing technology supporting asthma management. ADAPT is validated by people with asthma, carers and experts in respiratory conditions, who evaluated a mobile application that was built based on the approach

A Human-in-The-Loop context-aware system allowing the application of case-based reasoning for asthma management

Determining the asthma health status of a person is a relevant task in the application of context-awareness and case-based reasoning for asthma management. As there are no devices that can track the asthma health status of a person constantly, it is necessary to use a Human-in-The-Loop (HiTL) approach for creating a solution able to associate their health status with context-related data. This research work proposes a system that implements the Asthma Control Questionnaire (ACQ) for determining the asthma health status of a person. The system links this health status to context-related data the person is exposed and creates the cases to be used by the CBR component of the system. The system is then evaluated by users from a usability perspective through the Health IT Usability Evaluation Model (Health-ITUEM)

Learning at home: an ethnographic study of a South African home school

Home schooling may be defined as an alternative to on-site institutionalised schooling. Most education systems accommodate home schooling but such arrangements are regulated in various ways. This article reports on an investigation into home schooling in South Africa as an consequential part of the education system of the country. A literature review of the context, nature, scope and current issues of the home schooling movement, in other countries as well as in South Africa, is presented as background to the empirical investigation. The latter comprised an ethnographic study of a single home-schooling family chosen by judgement sampling. Data were collected during a six-month period of fieldwork employing participant observation and semi-structured interviews. The findings showed that although home schooling is an effective model of education and is rewarding for many families, it requires extensive commitment, dedication, preparation, emotional involvement and stamina. South African Journal of Education Vol.24(1) 2004: 18-2

The role of information flow and technology in supply chain collaboration – a case study of Logwin logistics

Abstract: Owing to the challenges of today’s hyper-competitive business environment firms are increasingly realising that greater focus should be placed on collaboration across the supply chain, especially with respect to costs, information and technology. The positivism research philosophy was used in case approach to determine the role of information flow and technology in supply chain collaboration of a logistics services provider. The unit of analysis of the study was LOGWIN Logistics. The results reveal that that LOGWIN is dependent on technology to boost supply chain collaboration. In addition, the benefits derived from technology and information flow included increased end customer satisfaction, shorter lead times, improved information from between LOGWIN, its suppliers and its customers, as well as internal information flow. The findings suggest that technology and information flow does have a positive effect on supply chain collaboration. Management should invest in implementing technology and training of employees to enhance information flow and to boost supply chain collaboration