An early childhood development programme in a rural settlement community
- Authors: Van der Vyver, Sonja
- Date: 2013-05-06
- Subjects: Early childhood education , Rural education , Preschool education , Head start programs , Child development
- Type: Thesis
- Identifier: uj:7518 , http://hdl.handle.net/10210/8375
- Description: M.Ed. (Adult Education) , To address the need for early childhood education in a small rural settlement in Gauteng, South Africa, a crèche was established by external development agents with corporate donor funding. Three untrained mothers from the community volunteered as lay practitioners at the crèche. An organic process of training of these teachers and of developing a curriculum ensued. From the challenges presented by and the tensions arising from this initial process the following research questions emerged: What is the process of developing an (organic) ECD curriculum with practitioner training in a rural community? and; What are the emerging tensions in such a process and how are they managed in Participatory Action Research (PAR) mode? A review of literature included aspects of early childhood education in South Africa and elsewhere and explored issues of community development, ECD and teacher development as well. Several examples of early childhood curriculum approaches from abroad and from Africa were compared and investigated for their possible relevance to the context of rural South Africa. The study was designed as a case and, because the situation at the site involved several stakeholders such as parents, development practitioners and the community committee, involved in a rural community development project, it predisposed the investigation to PAR as research design. Participation and collaboration between the researcher and all stakeholders through recurring cycles of planning, action and reflection distinguish the process of data collection of this inquiry. The perceptions and voices of the members of the community and the teachers form an integral part of this process. In-depth interviews with teachers, parents and the community leader; participant observation by the co-researcher, and documents and artefact collection were used as data collecting strategies. An inductive process of content analysis was employed during which the different data sets were first coded separately where after provisional categories were induced from the codes. The categories for the different data sets were then integrated and refined to themes. From these themes a pattern was identified from which the main findings of the inquiry were drawn. During the actual data collection process the researcher collaborated with a co-researcher who was also the teacher trainer. This collaboration served to address possible obstacles such as a language barrier and the challenges presented by the researcher‟s position as development practitioner. The participatory nature of this inquiry is further reiterated by the data sources that were selected. These include perceptions of different role players in the intervention, such as the teachers, parents, teacher-trainer, the development practitioners and community leader were elicited by means of some existing and some purposefully designed data sources. Because it was one of the main units of analysis for this study, the experiences of the teachers were explored in-depth over time and by means of data from several different data sources. Data from different sources were also integrated and the articulation of these different sources contributed to the validity of the study.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Van der Vyver, Sonja
- Date: 2013-05-06
- Subjects: Early childhood education , Rural education , Preschool education , Head start programs , Child development
- Type: Thesis
- Identifier: uj:7518 , http://hdl.handle.net/10210/8375
- Description: M.Ed. (Adult Education) , To address the need for early childhood education in a small rural settlement in Gauteng, South Africa, a crèche was established by external development agents with corporate donor funding. Three untrained mothers from the community volunteered as lay practitioners at the crèche. An organic process of training of these teachers and of developing a curriculum ensued. From the challenges presented by and the tensions arising from this initial process the following research questions emerged: What is the process of developing an (organic) ECD curriculum with practitioner training in a rural community? and; What are the emerging tensions in such a process and how are they managed in Participatory Action Research (PAR) mode? A review of literature included aspects of early childhood education in South Africa and elsewhere and explored issues of community development, ECD and teacher development as well. Several examples of early childhood curriculum approaches from abroad and from Africa were compared and investigated for their possible relevance to the context of rural South Africa. The study was designed as a case and, because the situation at the site involved several stakeholders such as parents, development practitioners and the community committee, involved in a rural community development project, it predisposed the investigation to PAR as research design. Participation and collaboration between the researcher and all stakeholders through recurring cycles of planning, action and reflection distinguish the process of data collection of this inquiry. The perceptions and voices of the members of the community and the teachers form an integral part of this process. In-depth interviews with teachers, parents and the community leader; participant observation by the co-researcher, and documents and artefact collection were used as data collecting strategies. An inductive process of content analysis was employed during which the different data sets were first coded separately where after provisional categories were induced from the codes. The categories for the different data sets were then integrated and refined to themes. From these themes a pattern was identified from which the main findings of the inquiry were drawn. During the actual data collection process the researcher collaborated with a co-researcher who was also the teacher trainer. This collaboration served to address possible obstacles such as a language barrier and the challenges presented by the researcher‟s position as development practitioner. The participatory nature of this inquiry is further reiterated by the data sources that were selected. These include perceptions of different role players in the intervention, such as the teachers, parents, teacher-trainer, the development practitioners and community leader were elicited by means of some existing and some purposefully designed data sources. Because it was one of the main units of analysis for this study, the experiences of the teachers were explored in-depth over time and by means of data from several different data sources. Data from different sources were also integrated and the articulation of these different sources contributed to the validity of the study.
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The role of early childhood development centres in promoting socio-economic development in rural communities
- Authors: Mtshali, Adolphas K.
- Date: 2008-10-20T09:12:55Z
- Subjects: Child development , Early childhood education , Preschool education , Day care centers
- Type: Thesis
- Identifier: uj:12770 , http://hdl.handle.net/10210/1265
- Description: M.A. , Die rol van vroeë kinderontwikkeling in die bevordering van sosio-ekonomiese ontwikkeling in landelike gebiede is ‘n navorsingsprojek wat in Nongoma, Noordelike Kwa Zulu-Natal uitgevoer is. Die doel van die projek was om die rol wat deur vroeë kinderontwikkelingsentra (creches) gespeel is in die bevordering van gemeenskapsontwikkeling in landelike gebiede te verken. ‘n Kwalitatiewe ontwerp is gebruik om data van respondente in te win. Die data is ingewin van deelnemers in die vroeë kinderontwikelingsentra deur middel van ‘n onderhoudskedule. Onderhoude is deur middel van oudiobande opgeneem en later op papier getranskribeer. Temas is uit die data wat deur die respondente verskaf is, ontwikkel. Die steekproef is uit dertien crechebestuurders, twaalf vrouens uit armoedige ontwikkelingsverligtingsprojekte, een raadslid en twee lede van gemeenskapsbaseerde organisasies, saamgestel. Die doelwitte van die ondersoek is: • Om die verskeie rolspelers in vroeë kinderontwikkeling te identifiseer • Om die sosio-ekonomiese belangrikheid van vroeë kinderleidingsentra in Nongoma te ondersoek • Om die uitdagings wat die verskaffers van vroeë kinderleidingsdienste in Nongoma konfronteer, te beskryf • Om die verhouding tussen vroeë kinderleidingsdienste en gemeenskapsontwikkeling te ontleed Die ondersoek het rolspelers (staatsdepartemente, burgerlike samelewing en die private sektor) geidentifiseer en het die rol wat deur elke rolspeler uitgevoer is omskryf. Dit het ook gapings in dienslewering geidentifiseer. Dit het die opvoedkundige, gesondheids-, maatskaplike, ekonomiese en sielkundige belangrikheid van creches uitgelig. Dit het die belangrikheid van vroeë kinderontwikkelingsentra in vrouens se maatskaplike ontwikkeling uitgestip. Dit het ook ‘n begrip van “plaaslike ontwikkeling met ‘n kindersorg fokus” ontwikkel. Aanbevelings ten opsigte van wat maatskaplike werkers kan doen om plaaslike ontwikkeling met ‘n kindersorgfokus te bevorder, is gemaak. , Prof. W. A. Mitchell
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- Authors: Mtshali, Adolphas K.
- Date: 2008-10-20T09:12:55Z
- Subjects: Child development , Early childhood education , Preschool education , Day care centers
- Type: Thesis
- Identifier: uj:12770 , http://hdl.handle.net/10210/1265
- Description: M.A. , Die rol van vroeë kinderontwikkeling in die bevordering van sosio-ekonomiese ontwikkeling in landelike gebiede is ‘n navorsingsprojek wat in Nongoma, Noordelike Kwa Zulu-Natal uitgevoer is. Die doel van die projek was om die rol wat deur vroeë kinderontwikkelingsentra (creches) gespeel is in die bevordering van gemeenskapsontwikkeling in landelike gebiede te verken. ‘n Kwalitatiewe ontwerp is gebruik om data van respondente in te win. Die data is ingewin van deelnemers in die vroeë kinderontwikelingsentra deur middel van ‘n onderhoudskedule. Onderhoude is deur middel van oudiobande opgeneem en later op papier getranskribeer. Temas is uit die data wat deur die respondente verskaf is, ontwikkel. Die steekproef is uit dertien crechebestuurders, twaalf vrouens uit armoedige ontwikkelingsverligtingsprojekte, een raadslid en twee lede van gemeenskapsbaseerde organisasies, saamgestel. Die doelwitte van die ondersoek is: • Om die verskeie rolspelers in vroeë kinderontwikkeling te identifiseer • Om die sosio-ekonomiese belangrikheid van vroeë kinderleidingsentra in Nongoma te ondersoek • Om die uitdagings wat die verskaffers van vroeë kinderleidingsdienste in Nongoma konfronteer, te beskryf • Om die verhouding tussen vroeë kinderleidingsdienste en gemeenskapsontwikkeling te ontleed Die ondersoek het rolspelers (staatsdepartemente, burgerlike samelewing en die private sektor) geidentifiseer en het die rol wat deur elke rolspeler uitgevoer is omskryf. Dit het ook gapings in dienslewering geidentifiseer. Dit het die opvoedkundige, gesondheids-, maatskaplike, ekonomiese en sielkundige belangrikheid van creches uitgelig. Dit het die belangrikheid van vroeë kinderontwikkelingsentra in vrouens se maatskaplike ontwikkeling uitgestip. Dit het ook ‘n begrip van “plaaslike ontwikkeling met ‘n kindersorg fokus” ontwikkel. Aanbevelings ten opsigte van wat maatskaplike werkers kan doen om plaaslike ontwikkeling met ‘n kindersorgfokus te bevorder, is gemaak. , Prof. W. A. Mitchell
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