Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'High school students Australia Conduct of life'

Currently, garden-based research does not include input from young adults about their experiences and perspectives as individuals in garden-based programs, specifically those that address issues of food and community. To address this void, this qualitative research examines youth perspectives and engagement in garden-based community projects in Olympia, Washington, and Medford, Oregon. The sample of 11 students was chosen from these projects that use food as a means to engage the community and educate underprivileged young adults about local food systems. The main question that the research addresses is: Why, and in what ways, are young adults appropriate agents for community revitalizing garden-based projects? Using open-ended interviews, field notes and observations, the research draws upon theories of food access, community development, social and environmental justice, and nontraditional education. The findings suggest that when young adults are involved in garden-based community projects, they are learning life skills, developing leadership, engaging in models of nontraditional education, and retaining perspectives of grass-roots community development. It is evident from the research and emerging themes that young adults desire to accept responsibility in their community. It is time to harness young people's energy, care, compassion, and dedication so that they can act as ambassadors to dispel the class-based ideologies of the current food systems, empowering underserved communities and celebrating youth's perspectives on food and place.

Rural students are underrepresented in higher education in Australia. At the same time, the workforce is rapidly transforming with the integration of digital processes into everyday work and life. Rural students are less digitally competent than urban students. Queensland, a largely regionalised state, has a high percentage of rural students. Using cultural capital as a framework, this research identifies family, community, school and digital media as influences on rural Queensland students' decisions to pursue higher education and their perceived value of digital media. Family plays the most significant role in the decision making process, while students' community and school also influence decisions and perceptions. Students' value of digital media depended somewhat on their intended career choice. Findings provide valuable new data around student influences towards higher education and digital media and suggest avenues to improve outreach programs targeting students in rural areas.

Relationship with the Divine is the core of Christianity and the professional concern of a number of ministries, including that of religious education. Knowledge about what God means to children and adolescents would be beneficial to teachers. However, research has provided little useful information in this area. Most research conducted so far has been quantitative in nature and does not uncover the lived experience or the participants' personal understandings of this phenomenon. The qualitative research that has been done focuses mainly on the range of concepts of God held by participants. It is concerned with uncovering some of the elements that lead to the formation of these concepts, and not with determining which concepts are meaningful to respondents. This study sought to discover the nature of the meaning of God for a group of senior secondary students at a metropolitan Catholic high school. It focussed on such issues as what God is to these adolescents, what concepts of God are meaningful to them, what mediates God to them, and what influence God has on their lives. The purpose of this study was to provide teachers with useful information that could help to guide them in their educational endeavours. The theoretical paradigm adopted was that of critical liberal feminist theology. The research methodology was that of phenomenography. The methods used for the collection of data were drawing, journalling, and the in-depth interview.

In this thesis, I focus on adolescent teens at Kingswood College High School, where I am currently employed as a student assistant in Grahamstown. I form part of a networked hierarchy at Kingswood College whereby I am expected to perform duties which require me to uphold discipline, forge respect and act as a mentor to students. Within this complex role I am mindful of the power dynamics within the school and my focus is on how the students at Kingswood College in some instances challenge them. Regulations in regard to uniforms and in regard to the arrangement of each learner’s belongings insist on the sublimation/sacrificing of an individual identity in favour of an institutional one. Thus tiny departures from those norms, slight transgressions, might be understood as small rebellions which the boarder stages against disciplinary structures and the conformity demanded of him or her. I am particularly interested in these transgressions. In this thesis I attempt to unravel the complexities associated with such idiosyncrasies and how they play out amongst adolescent teens.

This study focuses on the students who participate in acts of racism. The study examines the degree to which students who commit acts of racism and engage in cultural clashes are outsiders or nonparticipants in their schools as well as in their communities.

Kim, Ji Hye.
Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2011.
Includes bibliographical references (leaves 68-74).
ABSTRACT --- p.i
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS --- p.ii
TABLE OF CONTENTS --- p.iii
LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES --- p.v
Chapter CHAPTER ONE --- INTRODUCTION --- p.1
Chapter 1.1 --- BACKGROUND OF STUDY --- p.1
Chapter 1.2 --- LAYOUT OF THESIS --- p.4
Chapter CHAPTER TWO --- LITERATURE REVIEW --- p.5
Chapter 2.1 --- DEFINITION OF SCHOOL LIFE SATISFACTION --- p.5
Chapter 2.2 --- STUDENTS' SOCIAL RELATIONS AND SCHOOL LIFE SATISFACTION --- p.8
Chapter 2.3 --- SOCIAL RELATIONS AND KOREAN CONTEXTS --- p.19
Chapter 2.4 --- FOCUS OF THESIS --- p.20
Chapter CHAPTER THREE --- THE EMERGENCE OF THE HIERARCHICAL SCHOOL SYSTEM IN SOUTH KOREA --- p.21
Chapter 3.1 --- EDUCATIONAL EXPANSION DURING THE COUNTRY'S ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT --- p.21
Chapter 3.2 --- THE EMERGENCE OF ELITE HIGH SCHOOLS AND THEIR REPID DEVELOPMENT --- p.22
Chapter 3.3 --- VOCATIONAL HIGH SCHOOLS EDGED OF THE HIERARCHY OF HIGH SCHOOL SYSTEM --- p.25
Chapter CHAPTER FOUR --- METHODOLOGY AND RESULTS --- p.30
Chapter 4.1 --- HYPOTHESES --- p.30
Chapter 4.2 --- DATA AND SAMPLES --- p.30
Chapter 4.3 --- VARIABLES --- p.31
Chapter 4.4 --- METHOD AND ANALYTICAL STRATEGIES --- p.33
Chapter 4.5 --- RESULTS AND FINDINGS --- p.38
Chapter CHAPTER FIVE --- FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION --- p.51
Chapter 5.1 --- MAJOR FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION --- p.51
Chapter 5.2 --- ADDITIONAL FINDINGS --- p.56
Chapter 5.3 --- THE SOCIOLOGICAL IMPLICATION --- p.58
Chapter 5.4 --- LIMITATIONS AND SUGGESTIONS FOR FUTURE RESEARCH --- p.59
Chapter 5.5 --- CONCLUSION --- p.60
APPENDIX A --- p.62
APPENDIX B --- p.65
REFERENCES --- p.68

Poor urban learners' long walks to school and the influence on their school activities. My study is about poor urban learners who walk long distances to school. I explore how their school trip affects their participation in school activities - co-curricular and extra curricula activities, and their understandings about the educational implications. The purpose of this study is two-fold: to understand poor urban learners' school trips through their own voices; and to reflect on the school management implications of the findings. In a case study of one school located in the Cato Manor redevelopment area of Durban, I explore Grade 10 learners' accounts of their walks to and from school and how this affects their early morning and afternoon school activities and what they understand might be the reasons and consequences in their futures. My findings are that poor urban learners encounter security risks daily on their way to school and they use various strategies to navigate those risks; learners experience unsympathetic and negative responses from some staff relating to their long walks to reach school; and the learners say that school regimes rather than the long distances they walk are jeopardising their educational aspirations. At the outset my theoretical perspective was that the school trip is an obtacle to poor urban learners' education capabilities. However my conclusion is that some school regimes are unresponsive to poor urban learners' needs and may obstruct the educational opportunities for learners to better their futures more than does their walking long distances to school.
Thesis (M.Ed.) - University of KwaZulu-Natal, Edgewood, 2012.

This research project explores the role of the school governing body in the formulation and implementation of a code of conduct for learners. The study was conducted in Durban, in KwaZulu-Natal, where two schools were purposefully selected as research sites. Democratic school governance is still new in South Africa, therefore confusion and misinterpretation are bound to manifest. This study therefore aims to examine whether school governing bodies participate in the formulation and implementation of the code of conduct for learners, as well as how and why they participate. This qualitative study, which is located within an interpretive paradigm, is underpinned by democratic theories. International and national scholarly literature was interrogated to glean further insight into the research topic. Ethical issues were observed prior to data generation. To ensure the trustworthiness of the findings, data were obtained using semi-structured interviews, observation and document review. The data collected during interviews were transcribed, evaluated and analysed in accordance with the phenomenological stages of an analytical framework, as set out in Marshall and Rossman’s (1999) six stages. The findings emanating from this study indicate that while members of school governing bodies do participate in the formulation and implementation of a code of conduct for learners, their participation is limited. Learner and parent stakeholders were found not to exercise the participative roles afforded to them under the South African Schools Act (1996).A variety of factors were found to infringe on the democratic participation of these stakeholders, including a lack of training for members to be able to perform their duties, a neglect of the code of conduct, unequal power relations, and limited time to attend meetings. The researcher’s findings, and the conclusions drawn in this study, have informed specific recommendations aimed at translating the status quo of our schools and ensuring a good understanding of democratic school governance, so that members of school governing bodies can be transformed from mere passive participants to active participants who contribute meaningfully towards the smooth running of their school.
Educational Leadership and Management
M. Ed. (Education Leadership and Management)

This study investigated the challenges experienced by school governing bodies in the implementation of the code of conduct for learners. A case study was conducted in two secondary schools from the Mafukuzela-Gandhi circuit in the Pinetown Region of KwaZulu-Natal. The aims of this study was to find out how SGBs implement the code of conduct for learners at their schools; what challenges SGBs experienced in the implementation of the code of conduct for learners and why SGBs are regarded as the most important structure to implement the code of conduct for learners. This qualitative study was set in the interpretivist paradigm. The research tools compromises of semi-structured interviews, documents analysis and observations. The two theories which underpin this study are democratic school governance theory and discipline theory. A review of international and local literature around issues of discipline revealed that some of the challenges of learner discipline encountered by South African Schools were being experienced world-wide. The findings of this research were a revelation to me. I had the privilege of experiencing first-hand what secondary schools educators, managers and parents encountered and dealt with on a daily basis. It is evident that learner misdemeanor is on the increase; educator’s teaching time is being consumed in dealing with disciplinary issues; educators are becoming frustrated and demoralised; the tribunal hearing are not regarded as an effective structure by learners; parental involvement is lacking and parents seem to have abdicated the responsibility of their children’s behaviour and education to the school and SGB parents play a limited role in the activities of the school due to their incapacity and lack of empowerment. Some of the recommendations based on the findings are that schools must involve all stakeholders in the formulation of the policy. The contents and procedures outlined in the policy must be communicated to all stakeholders and there must be consistency in its application. SGBs must formulate innovative strategies to engage parents to actively participate in the activities of the school. The Department of Education must fulfill its obligation to capacitate parent and other stakeholders on the SGB. An empowered SGB will make a greater contribution to the governance of schools.
Thesis (M.Ed.) - University of KwaZulu-Natal, Edgewood, 2012.

The specific aim of this research study was to identify, explore, describe and interpret the factors related to school refusal of black adolescents. An overview of literature was used to arrive at a broader appreciation of issues pertaining to school refusal phenomenon and also to black adolescents. Ten subjects participated in this study. Data were gathered qualitatively using ethnographic interviews. The following factors were found to be contributory to the problem of school refusal: School refusers who stay with grandparents instead of staying with biological parents; fear of something specific at school; lack of insight into the refusal problem; lover plays a role in refusal behaviour; protective parents; poor social relationships; fathers that play a marginal role in the family; parents' worldview; emotional problems and weak or no attempts to stop behaviour. The emphasis was on the understanding of the refusal phenomenon rather than on cause and effect.
Educational Studies
M. Ed. (with specialisation in Guidance and Counselling)

Hazing is a universal practice. The process is multi-dimensional and includes both positive and negative aspects. Hazing broadly refers to the negative aspects of what newcomers experience as they integrate into a group. This study focuses on hazing during orientation programmes for Grade 8 boys in monastic secondary schools in South Africa. The problem was investigated by a literature study and a survey using a self-designed questionnaire. It was completed by a non-probability sample of 296 Grade 12 boys from three selected schools in Gauteng Province. Data measured the biographical attributes of respondents and determined their opinions of activities engaged in during the orientation programmes. Findings indicated that respondents were positive about the orientation programme which acts as an introduction into secondary school and is a means whereby traditions are transmitted. Respondents were very opposed to any injurious activity. The objectives of orientation programmes are well-grounded but when they deteriorate into hazing, they are very negatively perceived.
Educational Studies
M. Ed. (Comparative Education)

The aim of this study was to investigate the causes of learner dropout in secondary schools around Johannesburg South, Gauteng Province. Twenty-seven participants from three secondary schools in Orange Farm area were purposively sampled for the study. A qualitative design was used. In-depth interviews were conducted to collect data to allow the researcher a platform to ask open-response questions and to explore the participants’ perspectives about the causes of learner dropout. The data was analysed thematically by carefully identifying and describing significant themes that emerged from educators, learners, parents, SGB chairpersons and principal’s responses to interview questions. The study revealed that teenage pregnancy, lack of parental involvement, substance abuse and peer pressure, among others, were the causes of learner dropout. The study recommends that schools put more efforts on abstinence programs, sex education and the use of contraceptives such as condoms, pills and injectables; training of educators on the management of drugs and pregnancy, and resuscitation of extra-mural activities. Recommendations for further research were made.
Inclusive Education
M. Ed. (Inclusive Education)

Quantitative, descriptive research, using self-completion questionnaires, was conducted to determine the level of HIV/AIDS knowledge of the learners in Sefhare. The sample, comprising 92 learners, was selected from forms 1-3. Of the learners, 53.4% knew what HIV/AIDS stand for, but only 13.6% said AIDS is caused by HIV and only 4.5% said AIDS is an incurable disease. The ABC of protecting oneself against HIV (abstain from sex, be faithful to one sex partner, use condoms) was mentioned by merely 57.6% of the learners. The learners’ lack of knowledge should be addressed by school HIV/AIDS programmes offered at schools in Botswana. As 81.5% of the learners were willing to be tested for HIV, this service should be made available with simultaneous confidential personal HIV/AIDS education, irrespective of the HIV test results. Teachers’ and parents’ HIV/AIDS knowledge should also be updated regularly.
Health Studies
M.A. (Public Health)

The aim of this study was to identify types of behaviour manifested by learners during mathematics instruction, and the impact that this behaviour might have on the mathematics performance of learners. The study was conducted in Far East cluster of Johannesburg East District, in the province of Gauteng, South Africa. At the time of the study the Far East cluster of Johannesburg East District consisted of a population of seven public high schools, of which two schools were randomly sampled to participate in the study. Participants consisted of (n=10) Grade 10 mathematics learners, 2 mathematics teachers and 2 heads of mathematics departments (HODs). Data from learners were collected using a set of their assessment scores accumulated over a period of six months, that is, from January 2014 to June 2014 (Section 1.3.3). Also, semi-structured interviews were carried out with learners to determine types of classroom behaviour they perceived to influence their mathematical performance. The aim of documenting learners‟ assessment scores (document analysis) was to determine their average performance in Grade 10 mathematics over a stipulated period. Teachers and HODs completed questionnaires to identify types of classroom behaviour that learners manifested during mathematics instruction. The study followed a qualitative approach with phenomenology research design (Section 3.2). The study identified several types of classroom behaviour that characterized mathematics instruction in both schools, such as making noise and not doing classwork and homework activities. In addition, the study established that forms of behavioural patterns that are manifested by learners during a mathematics instruction influenced their performance in the subject. Huitt‟s (1997) model was used to conceptualize and interpret the results.
Mathematics Education
M. Ed. (Mathematics Education)

Ongoing public concern has been expressed concerning the improvement of academic performance of learners in selected Bushbuckridge rural schools, South Africa. Statistics gathered since 2008 demonstrate that the overall performance of secondary schools in the Grade 12 examinations in this region has been consistently poor. This study focused on the stakeholder perceptions of effect of indiscipline on academic performance of learners in selected Bushbuckridge rural schools. Lack of learner discipline in this region prompted this investigation. The general aim of the study was to understand manifestations of indiscipline in relation to learner performance in selected Bushbuckridge rural schools. The study used qualitative research methods and the sample comprised four secondary schools selected by purposive sampling. Individual structured interviews and focus group interviews were used to gather data. In each school, one school management team (SMT) and three educators participated in individual interviews, while four learners participated in focus group interviews. The findings indicated that schools which yielded poor academic performance were faced with learners’ disciplinary problems, which manifested in poor class attendance, late coming, persistent class disruptions, learners’ retaliation when disciplined by educators, alcohol and drug abuse, mocking and ignoring educators and plagiarism. Educators in school C and D lacked a disciplinary mechanism to enforce discipline in their classes since corporal punishment was abolished, hence the poor academic performance of learners. The implementation of the Integrated Quality Management Systems (IQMS), a departmental strategy aimed at developing educators in order to equip them with all the necessary skills to ensure the success of their schools which is measured against the academic achievement of the learners, had predominantly failed in schools to reach its goal. Educators mainly relied on parental support to deal with serious learner offences but this strategy was largely inadequate. The conceptual framework, ‘putting a plan into practice’, was used to explain the importance of learner discipline for the betterment of academic performance by expounding the five pillars that can be used to attain quality schools. These pillars, if put into practice, create an organizational climate which provides both educators and learners with an opportunity to function as partners in defining and creating success in schools.
Educational Studies
D. Ed.

Hazing is an ancient, universal practice. In past and modern societies, the need to join a group is an aspect of our humanity. The process of joining a group frequently includes the need to be hazed in order to legitimate full membership. This study uses the theoretical frameworks of Michel Foucault, Pierre Bourdieu’s perspectives of social order, Henri Tajfel and John Turner’s theory of social identity, and Albert Bandura’s theory of moral disengagement to look at individuals joining groups. In particular, the study has sought to ascertain why those who haze are motivated to act. A grounded theory has been developed through interviewing young adults, who while in positions of leadership as Grade 12 learners in Gauteng schools, planned hazing activities. The grounded theory shows that hazing while enacted by an individual is not solely driven by that person, but rather hazing is a means of cultural reproduction. The mechanism through which hazing occurs focuses on achieving a sense of belonging, conforming to a given culture and consenting to hazing. The hazer is motivated to pass on aspects of the school’s culture, namely school traditions, hierarchical structures, means and standards of discipline, and showing appropriate respect to others. The hazer believes that this can be achieved as those being hazed will comply if they can avoid being humiliated. The developed theory is grounded and was verified through interviewing stakeholders in the school community who had extensive knowledge of the school culture and of Grade 12 learners.
Ukufikisa kungumkhuba wasemandulo, owenziwa emhlabeni wonke. Emiphakathini yasendulo neyenamuhla, isidingo sokuhlanganyela neqembu elithile yinto eyingxenye yobuntu bethu. Inqubo yokuhlanganyela neqembu elithile kuvame ukufaka kukona isidingo sokufikiswa ukuze umuntu abe yilungu ngokuphelele. Lolu cwaningo lusebenzisa izinhlaka zemiqondo yezinzululwazi ezingoMichel Foucault noPeter Bourdieu wokuhleleka kwezenhlalakahle, umbono kaHenri Tajfel noJohn Turner wokuzibandakanya kwabantu kwezenhlalo kanye nombono ka-Albert Bandura wokuziphatha ngendlela engahambisani nemigomo yokulunga ukuze kubukwe abantu abajoyina amaqembu. Ngokusempeleni, ucwaningo lufuna ukubheka ukuthi labo abafikisayo bakhuthazwa yini. Umqondo wenzululwazi wakhiwa ngokuba kubuzwe intsha esencane imibuzo, intsha eyayihlela izinhlelo zokufikisa eyayisezikhundleni zokuhola abafundi ngenkathi yenza iBanga 12 ezikoleni zaseGauteng. Umbono wenzululwazi ozinzile uveza ukuthi ukufikiswa, yize kwenziwa umuntu oyedwa kusuke kungaholwa yilowo muntu kuphela, kodwa ukufikiswa kuyindlela yokukhiqiza kabusha ngokwesiko. Indlela okwenziwa ngayo lokhu kufikisa igxile ekufezeni umuzwa wokuba yingxenye yabathize, ukuguqukela osikweni nasekuvumeleni ukufikiswa. Lowo okunguye ofikisayo usuke efuna ukudlulisela phambili izingxenye zamasiko esikole, njengemikhuba, ukwakheka ngokushiyana kwamazinga, izindlela nemigomo yokuziphatha kahle, kanye nokubonisa inhlonipho kwabanye. Lowo okunguye ofikisayo ukholelwa ekutheni lokhu kungafezwa njengoba labo abafikiswayo bezokwenza lokho okuthiwa abakwenze inqobo nje uma bezogwema ukuhlukunyezwa. Umqondo wenzululwazi osunguliwe uzinzile futhi waqinisekiswa ngokufaka ababambiqhaza imibuzo emiphakathini yezikole eyayinolwazi olunzulu maqondana nesiko lesikole kanye nabafundi beBanga 12.
Thupiso ke mokgwa wa kgale, wa lefase ka bophara. Ditshabeng tsa kgale le tsa mehleng ye, tlhoko ya go tsenela sehlopha ke karolo ya botho bja rena. Tshepetso ya go tsenela sehlopha gantsi e akaretsa tlhoko ya thupiso go kgonthisisa boleloko bjo bo feletsego. Nyakisiso ye e somisa mahlamo a teori a Foucault, dipono tsa Pierre Bourdieu tsa thulaganyo ya setshaba, teori ya Henri Tajfel le John Turner ya boitshupo bja setshaba, le teori ya Albert Bandura ya tlogelo ya melawana ya boitshwaro go lekola batho ba ba tsenelago dihlopha. Ka kakaretso, nyakisiso ye e lekile go kgonthisisa gore gobaneng bao ba rupiswago ba hlohleletswa go tsea magato. Teori ya kgoboketso le tshekatsheko e tsweleditswe ka go botsisa baswa dipotsiso bao, ge ba sa le maemong a boetapele bjalo ka barutwana ba Mphato wa 12 dikolong tsa Gauteng, ba rulagantsego ditiro tsa go sira. Teori ya kgoboketso le tshekatsheko e laetsa gore thupiso bjale ka ge e diragatswa ke motho ga e susumetswe ke motho yoo a le nosi, eupsa thupiso ke mokgwa wa pusoloso ya setso. Mokgwa wo thupiso e diregago ka wona o tsepeletse go fihlelela boikwelo bja go amogelega, go latela setso se se filwego le go dumelelana le thupiso. Morupisi o hlohleletswa go fetisetsa dikarolo tsa setso tsa sekolo, e lego ditso tsa sekolo, dibopego tsa haerakhi, mekgwa le maemo a tayo, le go laetsa tlhompho ya maleba go ba bangwe. Morupisi o dumela gore se se ka fihlelelwa bjalo ka ge bao ba rupiswago ba obamela ge ba ka thibela go goboswa. Teori ye e hlabolotswego e kgobokeditswe le go sekasekwa gomme e ile ya tiiswa ka go ka botsisa bakgathatema dipotsiso sekolong sa setshaba bao ba nago le tsebo ye e tseneletsego ya setso sa sekolo le ya barutwana ba Mphato wa 12.
Educational Studies
D. Ed. (Comparative Education)