In Suid-Afrika word niemoedertaalonderrig op hoerskoolvlak bemoeilik deur leerders se beperkte va... more In Suid-Afrika word niemoedertaalonderrig op hoerskoolvlak bemoeilik deur leerders se beperkte vaardigheid in Engels as kognitiewe akademiese taal. Taalonderwysers aan hoerskole beskik nie oor die kundigheid om leerders by te staan wat nie op laerskoolvlak voldoende kerngeletterdheidsvaardighede in Engels verwerf het nie, omdat hulle opgelei is om Engels as skoolvak te onderrig eerder as om Engels as onderrigtaal te gebruik. Hierdie verkennende studie se aanvanklike doel was om hoerskoolonderwysers met die probleem by te staan. Die versoek van ses taalonderwysers in 'n plattelandse hoerskool om hulle te help om leerders meer effektief te ondersteun het tot hierdie kwalitatiewe gevallestudie aanleiding gegee. Ons het 'n geletterdheidsintervensie gegrond op die teoriee van sosiale leer en sosiale ontwikkeling en gebaseer op fonetiese beginsels ontwikkel en geimplementeer. Die vloeibaarheid van ons deelnemende aksienavorsingsontwerp binne 'n konstruktivistiese paradigma het ruimte vir uitbreiding gedurende die intervensie gebied. Die groep het deur deelnemergeleide sneeubalseleksie uitgebrei met vyf onderwysers van twee naburige laerskole. Deur die uitgebreide fokus kon ons die aandag vestig op 'n moontlike dieperliggende wortel van die probleem, naamlik dat laerskoolonderwysers eweneens nie toereikend opgelei word vir die uitdagings van niemoedertaal-geletterdheidsonderrig in 'n landelike gebied nie. Tematiese analise voor en na die intervensie van data wat deur fokusgroepe, observasie en deelnemende observasie bekom is, het getoon dat beide hoer- en laerskoolonderwysers hul niemoedertaal-onderrigpraktyke suksesvol kon aanpas, met goeie gevolge vir leerlingdeelname en verbeterde prestasie. Daar bestaan 'n wederkerige interaksie tussen onderwysers se sienings van hulle eie effektiwiteit, motivering en trots enersyds en leerders se entoesiasme en sukses andersyds. Outcomes of an English literacy intervention on non-mother tongue teaching practices of teachers in rural schools In South Africa teachers' and learners' mother tongues are often different from the language of learning and teaching, which is mostly English. Non-mother tongue teaching and learning in high schools are impeded by learners' limited proficiency in English as a cognitive academic language. In addition, secondary school English language teachers lack competency to support learners who have failed to acquire core literacy skills in English during their primary school years, because they have been trained to teach English as a school subject rather than to use English as language of teaching and learning. A request to assist six English language teachers regarding this problem in a rural high school initiated this qualitative case study. Data were obtained by way of focus groups, observation and participant observation and were recorded in field notes and photographs. Pre-intervention thematic analysis of the problem of teachers' experiences and emotional state regarding their language of teaching practices revealed themes of 1) inadequate training; 2) scarce resources; 3) learners' passivity and 4) extremely limited core literacy skills. These limitations were reflected in 1) teachers' feelings of incompetency; 2) powerlessness; 3) confusion and 4) despair regarding learners' inability to read English. We designed and implemented a literacy intervention framed by theories of social learning and social development and based on phonetic principles. In designing the literacy intervention, we took teachers' and learners' previous knowledge of phonics as the baseline of their zone of proximal development. Vygotsky's emancipatory concepts of a more knowledgeable other, as well as teaching by way of instruction and modelling conceptualised as scaffolding, were guiding principles. In addition, we incorporated Bandura's ideas about the value of motivation and self-efficacy expectations into our facilitation of the programme.The fluidity of our participatory action research design, framed by a constructivist paradigm, allowed our sample to snowball by way of participant-driven selection and thus to include five additional teachers from two neighbouring primary schools. Our expanded focus revealed a deeper root of the problem we were attempting to address, namely that the primary school teachers were not adequately trained for the challenges of non-mother tongue literacy education in a rural area either. Post-intervention thematic analysis of the data revealed that both secondary and primary school teachers were able to successfully adjust their non-mother tongue teaching practices, with positive outcomes in terms of learners' participation and achievement. Teachers' new experiences were manifested in 1) their utilisation of new techniques; 2) new resources, 3) learners' more confident participation and 4) academic improvement. Learners' changed interaction with teachers in turn seemed to have a positive effect on teachers' attitudes towards them.…
This chapter situates a the relationship-resourced resilience theory, a Southern African indigeno... more This chapter situates a the relationship-resourced resilience theory, a Southern African indigenous psychology of interdependent resilience, within existing resilience knowledge. I revist all propositions by substantiating that, given the wide range of pathways to resilience known to be used during hardship, social support is a preferred pathway to resilience among interdependent, Afrocentric participants in Southern Africa. I align the theory with resilience thinking that embraces resilience as transactional ecological process and positions culture centrally in adaptive processes. I revisit Ubuntu as relevant Afrocentric world view that favours interdependence as form of kinship. I position the theory in existing knowledge on social resilience, collective resilience, relational resilience, socio-emotional competence and positive social functioning. I propose that relationship-resourced resilience supplements mainstream resilience thinking and offers an empirical perspective on how people with an interdependent world view choose to adapt to adversity that is ongoing and multifarious.
The estimated numbers regarding the prevalence of HIV/AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa raises concern. ... more The estimated numbers regarding the prevalence of HIV/AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa raises concern. The implications of these statistics for children in sub-Saharan Africa raise even more concerns. The official estimated HIV/AIDS related deaths in South Africa up to 2015 are 7,3 million. Due to transmission from mothers to children, children in the age group birth to five years, is one of the age groups with the highest mortality rate. The other group is from 16 to 40 years. It is estimated that there will be one million orphans in South Africa in three years' time and in 2010 there may be two million.
Over a 3-year period, we asked indigenous VhaVhenda and AmaSwati (n = 135, male = 57, female = 78... more Over a 3-year period, we asked indigenous VhaVhenda and AmaSwati (n = 135, male = 57, female = 78, elders = 53, young people = 82) in two purposively selected, severely challenged remote sites in South Africa to tell us: ‘If you go to bed tonight, how do you know this was a good day?’ Employing Participatory Reflection and Action, we used an indigenous-appropriate prompt to elicit emic perspectives in home-languages during participatory diagramming. We used thematic analysis for in-case and cross-case analysis of back-translated, verbatim transcriptions of audio-recorded PRA-answers, as well as observation data generated by multiple researchers (visual data, field notes, researcher journals). Several themes of indigenous pathways to resilience with positive wellbeing outcomes became evident – one of which we discuss in this chapter. Similar to findings in other studies from non-western perspectives, participating indigenous South Africans leverage social connectedness in relationships where there is reciprocity and where their valuing of socio-cultural identity exist in social engagement. In times of hardship they leverage social connectedness to flock together for social support in order to resile. Regardless of worldview or harshness of challenges, social connectedness appears to make people happy. Our findings suggest that social connectedness enable eudaimonic wellbeing which reflects positive social functioning and positive psychological functioning.
In this chapter I explain the evidence base for a Southern African indigenous psychology theory o... more In this chapter I explain the evidence base for a Southern African indigenous psychology theory of resilience. In this way I expand on propositions related to culture and context in the relationship-resourced resilience theory. I describe how we built the indigenous psychology theory grounded in data derived from three case studies with people from indigenous groups in Southern Africa that generated empirical evidence. Each study investigated aspects of psychological resilience from the perspective of indigenous people in settings that are challenged due to inequality. Data used for theory-building was generated with Southern African males and females, elders and young people, people from rural, peri-urban and urban settings whose home languages indicated a non-Western heritage. In this way I foreground the diversity of participating ethnic Southern African groups for whom flocking is a pathway to resilience. I explain how participatory reflection and action activities served as sources of textual data (translated, verbatim transcriptions of audio-recorded data), as well as observation data of the context (visual data and researcher journals). I elucidate the trustworthiness strategies used in each of the three case studies to enhance the credibility, dependability, confirmability, transferability, authenticity and relevance of the findings.
South African journal of higher education, Jan 8, 2016
More often than not, higher education curricula expound Western-oriented epistemologies of psycho... more More often than not, higher education curricula expound Western-oriented epistemologies of psychology. Trained psychologists may thus not be appropriately equipped to provide career counselling that is suitable to a resource-scarce environment, nor enriched with a heritage of knowledge related to customary career resilience practices. Rather than enabling clients, one could argue that existing career counselling training, and subsequent practice, may in fact hinder clients’ ability to adapt and flourish in their (career-)lives. The thesis of this article is that an indigenous knowledge production imperative affords a way in which embedded values, practices, patterns and concepts synonymous with career resilience in South Africa can be documented systematically. Indigenous knowledge production urges researchers to appreciate what lies at the heart of everyday occurrences (such as career decision making), and be familiar with what is embedded in long-standing habits, rituals and patterns (related to, for example, career choice). In this regard I discuss both indigenisation and establishing an indigenous psychology as research schemas to develop ecologically-just curricula for higher education training. I explain the epistemological premises of indigenous knowledge production and present research strategies framed within indigenous knowledge production
Flocking Together: An Indigenous Psychology Theory of Resilience in Southern Africa, 2019
This chapter frames my account of an indigenous psychology of resilience. I introduce proposition... more This chapter frames my account of an indigenous psychology of resilience. I introduce propositions of the relationship-resourced resilience theory regarding flocking as pathway to resilience. I attend specifically to propositions related to structural and cultural constraints and enablers with regards to resilience. I substantiate the proposition that flocking is a consequence of structural constraints. I introduce the proposition that flocking leverages indigenous knowledge to bolster resilience, specifically relational dimensions of an interdependent culture. I introduce a discussion regarding beliefs and practices of an interdependent indigenous culture that have bearing on a resilience-enabling pathway given inequality. I explain indigenous psychology theory building as crafting a partial story. I introduce the way we built the relationship-resourced resilience theory intentionally as an indigenous theory to add this often silent knowledge base to discourses on psychology and re...
In Suid-Afrika word niemoedertaalonderrig op hoerskoolvlak bemoeilik deur leerders se beperkte va... more In Suid-Afrika word niemoedertaalonderrig op hoerskoolvlak bemoeilik deur leerders se beperkte vaardigheid in Engels as kognitiewe akademiese taal. Taalonderwysers aan hoerskole beskik nie oor die kundigheid om leerders by te staan wat nie op laerskoolvlak voldoende kerngeletterdheidsvaardighede in Engels verwerf het nie, omdat hulle opgelei is om Engels as skoolvak te onderrig eerder as om Engels as onderrigtaal te gebruik. Hierdie verkennende studie se aanvanklike doel was om hoerskoolonderwysers met die probleem by te staan. Die versoek van ses taalonderwysers in 'n plattelandse hoerskool om hulle te help om leerders meer effektief te ondersteun het tot hierdie kwalitatiewe gevallestudie aanleiding gegee. Ons het 'n geletterdheidsintervensie gegrond op die teoriee van sosiale leer en sosiale ontwikkeling en gebaseer op fonetiese beginsels ontwikkel en geimplementeer. Die vloeibaarheid van ons deelnemende aksienavorsingsontwerp binne 'n konstruktivistiese paradigma het ruimte vir uitbreiding gedurende die intervensie gebied. Die groep het deur deelnemergeleide sneeubalseleksie uitgebrei met vyf onderwysers van twee naburige laerskole. Deur die uitgebreide fokus kon ons die aandag vestig op 'n moontlike dieperliggende wortel van die probleem, naamlik dat laerskoolonderwysers eweneens nie toereikend opgelei word vir die uitdagings van niemoedertaal-geletterdheidsonderrig in 'n landelike gebied nie. Tematiese analise voor en na die intervensie van data wat deur fokusgroepe, observasie en deelnemende observasie bekom is, het getoon dat beide hoer- en laerskoolonderwysers hul niemoedertaal-onderrigpraktyke suksesvol kon aanpas, met goeie gevolge vir leerlingdeelname en verbeterde prestasie. Daar bestaan 'n wederkerige interaksie tussen onderwysers se sienings van hulle eie effektiwiteit, motivering en trots enersyds en leerders se entoesiasme en sukses andersyds. Outcomes of an English literacy intervention on non-mother tongue teaching practices of teachers in rural schools In South Africa teachers' and learners' mother tongues are often different from the language of learning and teaching, which is mostly English. Non-mother tongue teaching and learning in high schools are impeded by learners' limited proficiency in English as a cognitive academic language. In addition, secondary school English language teachers lack competency to support learners who have failed to acquire core literacy skills in English during their primary school years, because they have been trained to teach English as a school subject rather than to use English as language of teaching and learning. A request to assist six English language teachers regarding this problem in a rural high school initiated this qualitative case study. Data were obtained by way of focus groups, observation and participant observation and were recorded in field notes and photographs. Pre-intervention thematic analysis of the problem of teachers' experiences and emotional state regarding their language of teaching practices revealed themes of 1) inadequate training; 2) scarce resources; 3) learners' passivity and 4) extremely limited core literacy skills. These limitations were reflected in 1) teachers' feelings of incompetency; 2) powerlessness; 3) confusion and 4) despair regarding learners' inability to read English. We designed and implemented a literacy intervention framed by theories of social learning and social development and based on phonetic principles. In designing the literacy intervention, we took teachers' and learners' previous knowledge of phonics as the baseline of their zone of proximal development. Vygotsky's emancipatory concepts of a more knowledgeable other, as well as teaching by way of instruction and modelling conceptualised as scaffolding, were guiding principles. In addition, we incorporated Bandura's ideas about the value of motivation and self-efficacy expectations into our facilitation of the programme.The fluidity of our participatory action research design, framed by a constructivist paradigm, allowed our sample to snowball by way of participant-driven selection and thus to include five additional teachers from two neighbouring primary schools. Our expanded focus revealed a deeper root of the problem we were attempting to address, namely that the primary school teachers were not adequately trained for the challenges of non-mother tongue literacy education in a rural area either. Post-intervention thematic analysis of the data revealed that both secondary and primary school teachers were able to successfully adjust their non-mother tongue teaching practices, with positive outcomes in terms of learners' participation and achievement. Teachers' new experiences were manifested in 1) their utilisation of new techniques; 2) new resources, 3) learners' more confident participation and 4) academic improvement. Learners' changed interaction with teachers in turn seemed to have a positive effect on teachers' attitudes towards them.…
This chapter situates a the relationship-resourced resilience theory, a Southern African indigeno... more This chapter situates a the relationship-resourced resilience theory, a Southern African indigenous psychology of interdependent resilience, within existing resilience knowledge. I revist all propositions by substantiating that, given the wide range of pathways to resilience known to be used during hardship, social support is a preferred pathway to resilience among interdependent, Afrocentric participants in Southern Africa. I align the theory with resilience thinking that embraces resilience as transactional ecological process and positions culture centrally in adaptive processes. I revisit Ubuntu as relevant Afrocentric world view that favours interdependence as form of kinship. I position the theory in existing knowledge on social resilience, collective resilience, relational resilience, socio-emotional competence and positive social functioning. I propose that relationship-resourced resilience supplements mainstream resilience thinking and offers an empirical perspective on how people with an interdependent world view choose to adapt to adversity that is ongoing and multifarious.
The estimated numbers regarding the prevalence of HIV/AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa raises concern. ... more The estimated numbers regarding the prevalence of HIV/AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa raises concern. The implications of these statistics for children in sub-Saharan Africa raise even more concerns. The official estimated HIV/AIDS related deaths in South Africa up to 2015 are 7,3 million. Due to transmission from mothers to children, children in the age group birth to five years, is one of the age groups with the highest mortality rate. The other group is from 16 to 40 years. It is estimated that there will be one million orphans in South Africa in three years' time and in 2010 there may be two million.
Over a 3-year period, we asked indigenous VhaVhenda and AmaSwati (n = 135, male = 57, female = 78... more Over a 3-year period, we asked indigenous VhaVhenda and AmaSwati (n = 135, male = 57, female = 78, elders = 53, young people = 82) in two purposively selected, severely challenged remote sites in South Africa to tell us: ‘If you go to bed tonight, how do you know this was a good day?’ Employing Participatory Reflection and Action, we used an indigenous-appropriate prompt to elicit emic perspectives in home-languages during participatory diagramming. We used thematic analysis for in-case and cross-case analysis of back-translated, verbatim transcriptions of audio-recorded PRA-answers, as well as observation data generated by multiple researchers (visual data, field notes, researcher journals). Several themes of indigenous pathways to resilience with positive wellbeing outcomes became evident – one of which we discuss in this chapter. Similar to findings in other studies from non-western perspectives, participating indigenous South Africans leverage social connectedness in relationships where there is reciprocity and where their valuing of socio-cultural identity exist in social engagement. In times of hardship they leverage social connectedness to flock together for social support in order to resile. Regardless of worldview or harshness of challenges, social connectedness appears to make people happy. Our findings suggest that social connectedness enable eudaimonic wellbeing which reflects positive social functioning and positive psychological functioning.
In this chapter I explain the evidence base for a Southern African indigenous psychology theory o... more In this chapter I explain the evidence base for a Southern African indigenous psychology theory of resilience. In this way I expand on propositions related to culture and context in the relationship-resourced resilience theory. I describe how we built the indigenous psychology theory grounded in data derived from three case studies with people from indigenous groups in Southern Africa that generated empirical evidence. Each study investigated aspects of psychological resilience from the perspective of indigenous people in settings that are challenged due to inequality. Data used for theory-building was generated with Southern African males and females, elders and young people, people from rural, peri-urban and urban settings whose home languages indicated a non-Western heritage. In this way I foreground the diversity of participating ethnic Southern African groups for whom flocking is a pathway to resilience. I explain how participatory reflection and action activities served as sources of textual data (translated, verbatim transcriptions of audio-recorded data), as well as observation data of the context (visual data and researcher journals). I elucidate the trustworthiness strategies used in each of the three case studies to enhance the credibility, dependability, confirmability, transferability, authenticity and relevance of the findings.
South African journal of higher education, Jan 8, 2016
More often than not, higher education curricula expound Western-oriented epistemologies of psycho... more More often than not, higher education curricula expound Western-oriented epistemologies of psychology. Trained psychologists may thus not be appropriately equipped to provide career counselling that is suitable to a resource-scarce environment, nor enriched with a heritage of knowledge related to customary career resilience practices. Rather than enabling clients, one could argue that existing career counselling training, and subsequent practice, may in fact hinder clients’ ability to adapt and flourish in their (career-)lives. The thesis of this article is that an indigenous knowledge production imperative affords a way in which embedded values, practices, patterns and concepts synonymous with career resilience in South Africa can be documented systematically. Indigenous knowledge production urges researchers to appreciate what lies at the heart of everyday occurrences (such as career decision making), and be familiar with what is embedded in long-standing habits, rituals and patterns (related to, for example, career choice). In this regard I discuss both indigenisation and establishing an indigenous psychology as research schemas to develop ecologically-just curricula for higher education training. I explain the epistemological premises of indigenous knowledge production and present research strategies framed within indigenous knowledge production
Flocking Together: An Indigenous Psychology Theory of Resilience in Southern Africa, 2019
This chapter frames my account of an indigenous psychology of resilience. I introduce proposition... more This chapter frames my account of an indigenous psychology of resilience. I introduce propositions of the relationship-resourced resilience theory regarding flocking as pathway to resilience. I attend specifically to propositions related to structural and cultural constraints and enablers with regards to resilience. I substantiate the proposition that flocking is a consequence of structural constraints. I introduce the proposition that flocking leverages indigenous knowledge to bolster resilience, specifically relational dimensions of an interdependent culture. I introduce a discussion regarding beliefs and practices of an interdependent indigenous culture that have bearing on a resilience-enabling pathway given inequality. I explain indigenous psychology theory building as crafting a partial story. I introduce the way we built the relationship-resourced resilience theory intentionally as an indigenous theory to add this often silent knowledge base to discourses on psychology and re...
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