Olaniyi Bojuwoye

Home‐school partnership – a study of opinions of selected parents and teachers in Kwazulu Natal Province, South Africa

Education is the business of both the schools and the homes. A school’s success is more assured with joint efforts of teachers, pupils, parents and the local communities. However, translating home–school partnership into positive impact is dependent on how partnership is conceived since it is this that determines the approaches to and the forms or practices characteristic of the partnership. Thus, to understand how homes and schools interact together to positively influence school, or the educational process, the conceptualisation of home–school partnership, including in terms of attitudes to it, the benefits expected to be derived from it and its characteristic practices, need to be examined. The purpose of this study was to investigate the nature of home–school partnership, or how homes and schools in Kwazulu Natal province of South Africa interact together to influence learning and development of children. Two hundred and thirteen participants (127 parents and 86 teachers) who volunteered to participate in the study were requested to indicate practices of home–school partnership they were aware of existing between homes and schools in their communities. The study also sought participants’ opinions regarding their attitudes to, the benefits of and what they consider as barriers to home–school partnership. A structured questionnaire was employed to gather relevant information. The results revealed that participants were unaware of many partnership practices presented to them on the questionnaire although they expressed favourable attitudes to partnership and agreed to suggestions regarding benefits of partnership presented to them on the questionnaire. A major implication of the results is the need for teacher education programmes to feature training of teachers in strategies for encouraging parental involvement in children’s education through the design, initiation, and implementation of effective programmes that foster home–school partnership.

Cultural Embeddedness of Health, Illness and Healing: Prospects for Integrating Indigenous and Western Healing Practices

Culture influences conceptualizations about illness, health and healthcare. In this article we argue that Western-oriented health care models have limited success when applied to health conditions of people of non-Western cultures and contend that culture is an important factor in health, illness and healing. We present two cultural modes of illness and healing to illustrate that many health conditions are meaningful and can be effectively managed with consideration of the cultural contexts of the communities concerned. We illustrate, by case examples, how these cultural conceptualisations influence the treatment of illness in three different cultural settings. In addition, we identify some of the key challenges to integrating traditional healing into counselling and psychotherapy. Integration of different cultural healthcare models is a best practice in comprehensive context sensitive delivery of healthcare.

Challenges and opportunities to integrating traditional healing into counselling and psychotherapy

This paper discusses limitations of Western psychological practice and the calls for integrating traditional healing practices into counselling and psychotherapy. It also explores challenges to and opportunities in integrated psychological practice systems which revolve around issues related to different paradigmatic perspectives about health and ill-health, practice issues and negative characterization of traditional healing and traditional healers, research into traditional healing and uses of herbal medicines. The paper concludes with discussions on educational and training opportunities, for traditional healers, counsellors and psychotherapists, for addressing challenges to integration and ensuring effective services delivery.

Personal, Familial and Environmental Perspectives in Children's Reactions to Parental Divorce in South Africa

Abstract The aim of the study was to describe, in personal, familial and environmental terms, children’s reactions to parental divorce. The study employed a qualitative approach, the purpose being to gather data relevant to meanings, perspectives and understanding of participants regarding their parents’ divorce. Ten pupils (5 girls and 5 boys, mean age = 14.2 years) from a senior primary school in a suburb of Durban, South Africa, participated in the study. Results revealed varying patterns of emotional and behavioural reactions to parental divorce. Age at time of divorce, current age, gender and family dynamics were found to be relevant to participants’ reactions to their parents’ divorce. Differential perceptions of divorce by children contributed to their different reactions.

Learners' experiences of learning support in selected Western Cape schools

The study explored Western Cape primary and secondary school learners’ experiences regarding the provision and utilization of support services for improving learning. A qualitative interpretive approach was adopted and data gathered through focus group interviews involving 90 learners. Results revealed that learners received and utilized various forms of learning support from their schools, teachers, and peers. The learning support assisted in meeting learners’ academic, social and emotional needs by addressing barriers to learning, creating conducive learning environments, enhancing learners’ self-esteem and improving learners’ academic performance.

Integrating Ancestral Consciousness into Conventional Counselling

This article discusses concepts from traditional beliefs in ancestral spirits as therapeutic behavior change agents. Specifically, it examines ancestral consciousness in relation to attachment theory and its application in conventional counselling. A case illustration is discussed to show the potential incremental value of addressing ancestral consciousness in counselling people of African ancestry.

Group Polarization Effects on Decisions by Selected Kenyan Secondary School Disciplinary Panels

This study investigated social group phenomenon of group polarization effects on disciplinary hearing decisions in selected Kenyan secondary school. The participants were 78 school personnel (females = 42 % and males 58%) from ten secondary schools with both unisex (n = 39) and co-educational schools (n = 39). Both quantitative and qualitative data were collected and analyzed. The results suggested group polarization effects in disciplinary hearing decisions, in that there were shifts from pre to post-disciplinary hearing decisions. Persuasive arguments and social comparisons significantly influenced group polarization decisions.

Patterns of Gender Socialization of Adolescent Boys in Single-mother Households: Perspectives from a Community in Cape Town, South Africa

Abstract This article analyzes the gender socialization patterns and masculine constructions of a group of adolescent boys living in single-mother households. Data collection methods such as observation and interviews were employed together with interpretive techniques to explain how the participants constructed their realities based on their experiences. The results revealed that gender socialization of adolescent boys took place when their single mothers—pressured by dramatic physical changes in their adolescent sons—concluded that the boys were already men, and admonished them to act as expected of men. Gender socialization also took place when mothers observed in the behavior of their adolescent boys traits regarded as typically male, which they (mothers) did not like; and also when the mothers, in response to harsh socioeconomic and other adverse conditions, directed their sons’ attention to the failure of their absent fathers to perform traditionally defined masculine roles in the families. The attitudes of the participants to male gender were revealed in their notion of fathers as providers and figures of authority, and in their involvement in gang-related activities and other risky behaviors associated with masculinity.

Social comparison influences on disciplinary panels: a brief qualitative study in Kenyan secondary schools

This study investigated the influences of social comparisons on group polarization in decision making among members of selected Kenyan secondary school disciplinary panels. Ten participants from 10 selected secondary school disciplinary panels were involved. Semi-structured interviews were used to collect qualitative data on the experiences of the participants regarding the influences of social comparisons on their decision-making behaviours during participation in their schools’ disciplinary hearing meetings. The results revealed that in the dynamic interactions among disciplinary panel members during disciplinary hearing meetings, the panel members engaged in social comparisons among themselves, leading to their shifts in decision-making behaviours in favour of consensus in group decisions or group polarization in decision making.

Child Abuse: The Experiences of Children of Divorced Parents

The study investigated childrens experiences of the divorce of their parents. The study specifically sought childrens opinions as to their experiences of, and family circumstances associated with, the divorce of their parents. Data collection was by in-depth one-on-one individual interviews. Participants comprised ten children (5 girls and 5 boys) whose parents were divorced. A phenomenological approach was adopted for the study in order to arrive at a general description of the experiences of divorce from the perspectives of the children as well as to ascertain how divorce violated childrens rights leading to abuses. The results revealed that divorce of parents made children to feel sad, angry, confused, humiliated and to suffer violation of their rights to nurturance (family care and protection), education and self-determination (freedom of self-expression and access to information). The loss of these rights led to their abuses including physical (violence, malnutrition, maltreatment and human degradation), emotional (anxiety, shame, humiliation, neglect and abandonment) and others.