Department of Human Ecology

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Browsing by Subject "Adolescence"

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    Adolescent female learners experience and knowledge of human rights at a secondary school in a Sub – district of Cape Town, South Africa
    (2010) Swartz, Deirdre; Daniels, P.
    Human Rights have been the focus of much debate in recent years. It is read about in biblical contexts and extensively written about and researched globally,nationally and locally. South Africa is especially recognised as a country trying to adhere to human rights recommendations since after experiencing years of “apartheid” and human rights violations. South Africa is proud to introduce a sixteen-year democracy and a constitution respected by the global society.As South Africa embarks on a period of transformation, women who were historically marginalised are encouraged through education to demand their right to know that their human rights be recognised. The adolescent female in her educational environment is socialized to recognise her basic human rights and, through education,she is able to embrace them and demand that they be upheld.The adolescent female learner within the South African context is the focus of this study as we explore her knowledge and experiences’ of human rights at school. The study also attempts to explore the schools role in providing adequate facilitation for the adolescent female learner to gain sufficient knowledge about her basic human rights.Both quantitative and qualitative research methodology were used in this study. A sample of 12 adolescent female learners was purposively selected. The study was conducted at a Secondary School in the Central Sub-district of Cape Town in the Western Cape. The questionnaire was standardized by testing the questions on learners and the Life Orientation educator of another school. A thematic analysis was used to analyse the audio taped data from the interviews.The key findings were that the adolescent female perceives human rights as being equal and being human amongst other humans but that their human rights are violated at school. It was also found that knowledge about human rights changed the attitudes and behaviour of the adolescent female learners in creating higher self confidence, the ability to stand up for themselves, have a positive self image and an understanding and appreciation for other cultures.The recommendations from this study includes: that the adolescent female learners need to internalize their basic human rights and then demand that these rights be upheld. The integration of human rights concepts within other learning areas or subjects in the school curriculum were additional recommendations.
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    Experiences of parenting learners with regards to learner pregnancy policy
    (University of the Western Cape, 2010) Matshotyana, Zanele; Daniels, Priscilla; Dept. of Human Ecology; Faculty of Community and Health Sciences
    A qualitative research design in the form of a case study was employed. A quantitative method was also utilized in the form of a short questionnaire for demographic purposes in order to provide a general description of the sample. A purposive sample of 10 parenting learners, and two teachers was selected. The study was conducted in a Senior Secondary School that is located in Khayelitsha, a historically disadvantaged community in the Western Cape. Semi structured interviews of approximately ninety minutes each were conducted and audio taped. A thematic analysis was used to analyse the audio taped data from the transcribed interviews. The key findings from this research illustrate that there is a misunderstanding and miscommunication between teachers and learners about learner pregnancy. Pregnant learners hide pregnancy from the teachers to avoid comments and from being expelled from the school and consequently do not get any support from the school. On the other hand, the findings indicate that if the teachers were aware of their pregnancy and trained to deal with learner pregnancy, these learners would be supported by the school. Some of the recommendations were to develop the capacity of the teachers so that the school is able to provide an adolescent-professional-friendly service. A safe non-judgmental environment is required so that the learner is able to disclose her pregnancy status as early as possible to ensure that they receive the necessary support.