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Communities in WIReDSpace

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Now showing 1 - 5 of 19

Recent Submissions

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    Using Participatory Action Research to Explore How Teachers Can Implement Drama Therapy Techniques to Aid in Nervous System Regulation in the Senior-Phase Classroom in South Africa
    (University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2025-03) Wentzel, Leané; Hill, Monique
    This study investigated the use of Drama Therapy techniques within Ritual, Embodiment, and Dramatic Projection by teachers in the senior-phase classroom. The aim was to use the techniques to facilitate nervous system regulation in the learners in these classrooms. The participants were three senior-phase teachers teaching various subjects in a private school in Johannesburg. The research was conducted through Participatory Action Research workshops, where data was collected in the form of videos and participant journals. Techniques like breathwork, grounding, and embodied explorations had the most success in regulation, while others were implemented in the classroom to create a safe space (ritual and projection). This study was limited to one school and can not be generalised to all South African schools.
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    Factors Influencing Career Choice: A Comparison between Undergraduates from Rural and Private Secondary Schools
    (University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2024) Vunandlala, Malibongwe Cyprian; Mlilo, Sifiso
    This research study focused on the factors that influenced the career decision-making process of university undergraduate students whilst they were operating at the secondary school level. This qualitative study compared the factors that influenced the career choices of undergraduates from rural secondary schools to undergraduates from private secondary schools. The aim of this research was to generate a clearer and more in-depth narrative, whilst enhancing the understanding of the similarities and differences in these factors, when comparing rural and private secondary schools. Career choice is a very important life decision in one’s long-term future and overall sense of fulfilment (Rousseau & Venter, 2009). For this reason, and given the rapidly changing landscape of the world of work, it is essential that an understanding of the factors that influence these career choice decisions continue to be developed. This study employed an exploratory, qualitative, cross-sectional research design. The sampling method that was used for data collection was non-probability in nature, whereby the purposive sampling technique was employed. A sample of six students from each of the two groups of students (rural and private) was collected (total sample size = 12). A Semi structured interview guide based on the Systems Theory Framework was developed and utilised by the researcher. In depth interviews were audio-recorded and transcribed and analysed using thematic analysis proposed by Braun and Clarke (2006). This research found that the career choice of secondary school students is influenced by a wide range of factors, highlighting key differences and commonalities between rural and private secondary school students. The findings revealed that students from rural schools often face significant socioeconomic challenges, including financial constraints, limited access to career counselling, and a lack of exposure to diverse career opportunities. Conversely, undergraduates from private schools tended to have greater access to resources such as career guidance programs, mentorship opportunities, and role models, which broadened their career aspirations and enabled them to explore a wider range of professions. Furthermore, this research paper also emphasised the significance of taking a proactive approach in seeking additional career information, reinforcing that students are not merely passive subjects of their circumstances.
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    Black Celebrity Auto/Biography and the Mapping of Possibilities
    (University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2025-02) Mapine, Sandisiwe; Musila, Grace A.
    We are currently in the midst of a memoir boom characterised by an increase in the production and promotion of memoirs by public figures. For example, in 2023, Britney Spears’ memoir, The Woman in Me sold 1,1 million copies in the first week of its release. A few months before that, Spare, a memoir by Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, set a Guinness World Record for the fastest-selling non-fiction book (1.43 million copies on the first day). The proliferation of memoirs and/or autobiography has led to renewed interest in its study. Much of the theoretical work around life writing has predominantly taken place in the global north and my study seeks to make a contribution from an African context. Since 2000, an increasing number of black South African celebrities have released their autobiographies. My study is a critical narrative and discourse analysis of black celebrity life writing in post-apartheid South Africa, and it examines sixteen autobiographies produced by black celebrities in the first quarter of the twenty-first century (2000 – 2024). The study also explores issues of authorship and authority which arise during the process of collaborative writing. The findings reveal that local celebrity autobiographies offer possibilities for identity formation, self-reflection, public commentary and resource accumulation. They reveal that the contents of the texts are influenced by and reveal the circumstances, politics and intention of the subject. Amongst the subgenres identified in the focal texts are the conversion narrative, autobiographical manifesto, the legacy memoir, the trauma narrative and autopathography. The study demonstrates the development and democratisation of life writing in South Africa illustrating the agency, politics and location of black subjects. It reveals the opportunities auto/biography presents for reputation management, the augmentation of celebrity capital, shaping public discourse and the accommodation of multiple voices. With regards to collaborative writing, the study reveals that oftentimes, especially where there is an unequal power dynamic, the position of the subject in relation to the author/s has a discernible influence on the voices and perspectives which come through in the narrative.
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    The Mediating Role of Psychological Capital in the Relationship Between Organisational Resources and Flourishing
    (University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2025-01) Van Rheede, Jordan-Lee; Rogers, Shawn
    This study looks into the relationship between organisational resources, Psychological Capital (PsyCap), and flourishing within the Job Demands-Resource (JD-R) framework, focusing on how PsyCap acts as a mediator between resources and flourishing to influence well-being and achievement. Data was collected from 120 employees-including interns, graduates, and full-time staff from an FMCG company in Johannesburg, South Africa. The survey included a composite demographic questionnaire combining validating scales, the PsyCap Questionnaire (Luthans et al., 2007), the JD-R Scale, and the Flourishing Scale. Mediation analysis revealed that PsyCap partially mediated the relationship between organisational resources and flourishing, with optimism emerging as the only significant mediator, suggesting that mindset-based strengths play more of an influential role in enhancing well-being than the other PsyCap facets such as hope, resilience or self-efficacy. On the other hand, job demands had no discernible impact as a moderator or control and had a weak relationship with flourishing. The moderated parallel mediation model of PsyCap facets accounted for over half of the variance in Flourishing (R² = 52.1%, F(7, 115) = 14.28, p < .001), with a significant indirect effect of optimism (B = .028, 95% CI [.008, .050])*. By pinpointing optimism as the primary psychological mechanism via which organisational resources foster and promote flourishing, these findings contribute to the body of the literature. Practically speaking, this places emphasis on how crucial it is to cultivate mindset-based characteristics, especially optimism, in workplace interventions meant to improve employee engagement, well-being, and long-term performance. These insights deepen our understanding of how organisational and psychological factors interact to influence employee flourishing.
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    An Online Screening tool for Anxiety in the South African Population: A Systematic Review
    (University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2025-03) van Boom, Storm; Hassem, Tasneem
    There has been an increase in Common Mental Disorders (CMDs), such as anxiety, over the past few years, especially following the outbreak of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. This increase in CMDs has further implications regarding the shortage of mental health professionals and resources, as well as limited access to existing resources in Low-and Middle-Income Countries (LMICs). However, access to the internet has also increased in recent years, suggesting the availability of a platform to address mental health issues online, which is in alignment with the move to digitalizing health in South Africa. Therefore, this study aimed to identify what online screening tools for anxiety were available and appropriate for use in the South African general population through a systematic review. Twenty-two screening tools were identified, with the GAD-7 being the most commonly used tool amongst the included studies. The GAD-7 displayed appropriate psychometric properties when administered online, as well as when adapted, suggesting its applicability for use in the South African general population.