4. Electronic Theses and Dissertations (ETDs) - Faculties submissions
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Item Towards improving rural learners’ mathematics achievement: The roles of social relationships and identities(University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2024) Adeniji, Kehinde Adedayo; Essien, AnthonyThis study initially starts as a research journey towards improving rural learners’ mathematics achievement by interrogating the roles which teacher-learner social relationships and learners’ mathematical identities could play. To make the journey productive, the study was framed with critical realist philosophy and social realist perspective because of their greater concerns for reality in general and social reality in particular, respectively. However, both realist assumptions were found not robust enough to fully explain the key findings that emerged from the evidential data gathered. The curiosity to fill this gap led to another research journey that re-examined the two realist positions. The new research journey eventually brought in new philosophical and sociological viewpoints maintained and by extension methodological approach employed in the study. That eventually led to the dominance of the second research focus and the suspension of three of four objectives of the initial research focus. Employing mixed research designs (i.e., correlational and case study design) and mixed methods (i.e., questionnaires and interviews) inspired by the viewpoints and approach respectively, I was able to select four Nigerian rural schools and 237 learners for quantitative study, of which five of the learners participated in the qualitative study. All the data collected from the learners through the questionnaires and interviews were analyzed quantitatively and qualitatively respectively. The results/findings show that generally there is a strong relationships between teacher-learner social relationships and learners’ mathematical identities for learners in rural schools in Nigeria. It also show that the nature of relationships can be validly considered as direct, indirect and neither direct nor indirect to provide deeper insights. At a much deeper level, it practically generated and explained why the relationships and the learners acted the way they did regarding mathematics. These findings were used to justify the new philosophical, theoretical and methodological views maintained in the study. The fundamental view, being philosophical, maintains that reality is a whole which is analytical separable to entities that are necessarily dependable on one another. This novel and debatable position deviates from existing Bhaskar’s CR philosophy and expected to shape any future study that has greater concerns for social reality such as mathematics learning.Item Responding to trauma: in what ways can an embodied expressive narrative approach, strengthen the agency of women who have experienced abuse?(University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2024) Menell, Katherine; Draper-Clarke, LucyWoman abuse is both a human rights issue and serious public health concern, that has not received the aKenPon and acPon proporPonate to its prevalence, globally or locally. It has far-reaching effects, that include the impact of trauma on women’s physical and mental health. A need has been idenPfied for intervenPons that centre women’s voices and mulPplicity of experience, while supporPng their resourcefulness and resistance. This research aimed to develop of a community-based intervenPon that could support the agency of women who have experienced abuse. It proposed that a narraPvely informed, movement-centred expressive arts approach, was well posiPoned to address the effects of trauma and develop resources to build resilience and hope. A parPcipatory arts-based research approach was adopted with two groups of parPcipants, in experienPal workshop series, over three months. ParPcipants’ experience of the groups, in the form of creaPve wriPng, drawing and reflecPon, was analysed using themaPc analysis, as a means to evaluate the impact of the groups. ParPcipants consistently reported feeling relaxed and energised by posiPve and novel experiences. Movements, feelings, imagery and narraPves emerged that supported parPcipants’ preferred idenPPes, as expressed by their behaviour outside of the groups and arPculated hopes for the future. While this demonstrated the potenPal of this approach to support agency, a number of areas emerged in need of further development. These included expanding pracPces for eliciPng relevant themes and ‘thickening alternate narraPves’ and building relaPonal safety with a focus on the role of the witness and co-regulaPon.Item We want a living wage”: the impact of the national minimum wage on struggles of domestic workers in South Africa(University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2024) Cabe, Musawenkosi; Castel-Branco, RuthIn 2018, the South African government introduced the National Minimum Wage (NMW) Act as a structured policy intervention to address the high levels of working poverty and income inequality. Economic models projected that a NMW set at R3 500 a month would raise the incomes of almost half of South Africa’s workforce (Finn, 2015; Isaacs, 2016). However, a study commissioned by the National Minimum Wage Commission post-implementation, observed only a moderate increase in wages and a limited effect on the wage distribution. The “muted” impact of the NMW was attributed primarily to high levels of non-compliance, a lack of knowledge by employers and weak enforcement. Drawing on semi-structured interviews with domestic workers, employers and domestic workers organisations in Gauteng Province, this research report explores: How familiar are workers and employers with the NMW? How does the intimate nature of domestic work influence the possibilities of its enforcement? How have domestic workers leveraged the NMW, individually and collectively, to secure better working conditions? How can the South African case inform global campaigns to improve the conditions of work among domestic workers? The findings suggest that although the uptake was gradual because of the initial phase-in period, the NMW had a positive impact on the wages of domestic workers who participated in the research. There is a general awareness from employers and domestic workers of the NMW and, with the exception of one respondent, all domestic workers earned at least the NMW. However, domestic workers also noted that the NMW was too low and that given the high cost of living, they were not able to meet their basic needs. Therefore, domestic workers cultivate affective relationships with employers to secure benefits beyond the wage. However, affect is a double-edged sword which can be used by employers to extract additional work from domestic workers. Despite its limitations, the NMW has served as an anchor of recruitment and mobilisation for domestic workers unions and organisations, with some positive results as we saw with One-Wage-Campaign. However, as the South African case shows, the NMW alone cannot address the problem of poverty and inequality. The introduction of a NMW must be complemented by other social policy measures such as a Universal Basic Income Guarantee (UBIG), free public services, subsidised transport, and housing.