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Item Open Access Postgraduate supervision: students’ and supervisors’ perceptions(University of the Free State, 2003) Lessing, Ansie; Schulze, SaloméEnglish: The aim of this research was to compare the views of postgraduate students and supervisors on the supervisory process in the Faculty of Education at the University of South Africa. The research was conducted in two phases. In the first phase, survey research was employed by means of a questionnaire in order to determine the perceptions of students on diverse aspects of postgraduate research. During the second phase, supervisors’ perceptions of postgraduate supervision were ascertained by means of a qualitative inquiry using focus groups. The findings included a number of aspects which participants had found rewarding. Unmet needs of students related to the planning of the research, research methodology, contact with supervisors, feedback, response time and examination feedback. Supervisors desired the recruitment of higher potential students who would deliver better work.Item Open Access ‘Die wêreld se toomlose onderstebokeer-passie’ — die boerehuis, arbeid en etniese mobilisasie in Bywoners (1919) van Jochem van Bruggen(University of the Free State, 2003) Koch, JarzyEnglish: As brief as a novella, and published years before D F Malherbe’s Die meulenaar (1926) and C M van den Heever’s Op die plaas (1927) — generally cited as the first Afrikaans pastoral novels — Bywoners (1919) by Jochem van Bruggen nevertheless shares many of the characteristics of the pastoral novel. This article focuses on Van Bruggen’s portrayal of the milieu: the representation of the farmhouses of the time and the spatial situation of houses and other farm buildings. It demonstrates that both this portrayal and its socio-critical implications are firmly anchored in the narrative. The depiction of labour and ethnic mobilisation is also examined in this regard. In conclusion, it is argued that Van Bruggen’s socio-critical and hence didactic objective in writing Bywoners was to effect a change in the mentality of the impoverished Afrikaners of his day.Item Open Access Reason and madness: reading Walter Benjamin and Anselm Kiefer through Albrecht Dürer’s Melencolia I(University of the Free State, 2003) Schoeman, GerhardEnglish: In this study I propose to appropriate Albrecht Dürer’s well-known engraving from 1514, Melencolia I, as an allegorical image through which to read both Walter Benjamin’s theory of allegory and Anselm Kiefer’s allegorical paintings. On the one hand, my aim will be to demonstrate the reciprocity which allegory proposes between the visual and the verbal: in allegory, words are often transposed into purely visual phenomena, while visual images are offered as script to be deciphered. On the other hand, I shall enact a reading of allegory as a figure for, or strategy akin to, the self-reflexive, interdiscursive practice which Mieke Bal calls “preposterous history”. In paying special attention to the bidirectionality of melancholia and allegory I shall also relate reading to the complexity of recollection or sublime ethico-theological anamnesis.Item Open Access The Copernican turn of biology in the early twentieth century(University of the Free State, 2003) Strauss, DanieEnglish: The emergence of the term Umwelt within twentieth-century biological thought is reminiscent of the turn towards the “subject” in early modern philosophy. The term Umwelt originally had a spatial connotation, which explains why analysis reveals an interdisciplinary terminological connectedness transcending the confines of any specific scientific discipline. This interdisciplinary consideration opens the way for systematic perspectives developed against the relevant historical background, in particular the Umweltlehre of Jakob von Uexküll, who explicitly introduced the notion of a “subject” into biological research. His contribution is assessed in terms of multivocal spatial terms such as (bio-)milieu and (bio)-sphere and the subject-object relations found in nature (within the plant and animal realms). This highlights the inherent limitations of the Umwelt concept, also explaining why in its purely biological sense it cannot be applied to the domain of human experience.Item Open Access Justifying course and task design in language teaching(University of the Free State, 2003) Weideman, AlbertEnglish: We often neglect to justify course and task design in language teaching in terms of current insight. This article articulates a number of general considerations that influence course design in communicative language teaching, as well as one specific condition: that the task or course must make language learning possible in the classroom. It concludes with a consideration of three essential criteria: that the task or course design embody a broad (communicative) perspective on language, that it provide learners with opportunities for focusing on the learning process itself, and that it use learners’ personal experience as a starting point for tasks.Item Open Access Effective mediation in a rural community(University of the Free State, 2003) Smit, ElizabethEnglish: Although mediation is gaining considerable popularity on the African continent, very little research has been conducted into its nature and effectiveness. Even the most basic questions about mediation in rural communities remain largely unanswered. It has not been clearly determined: (a) what types of conflict can be mediated, (b) what responses occur in interpersonal conflict, (c) what solutions may be derived from mediation, and (d) whether there are differences in male-male, female-female, and male-female conflict. This study investigates these issues.Item Open Access Managing the disclosure of school learners’ HIV status(University of the Free State, 2003) Maile, SimeonEnglsih: This paper deals with school governing bodies’ (SGBs) understanding and implementation of legislation and policy on HIV/AIDS. It is based on research conducted in Mpumalanga by means of an authentic but hypothetically constructed case study relating to critical aspects of HIV/AIDS in the school context. School governing bodies were asked to respond to the case in terms of the action they would take if such a case occurred in their schools. Using focus group interviews with selected members of the SGBs, this research clarifies the level of understanding of HIV/AIDS legislation and policy in South African schools, and the practices likely to result from such understandings. The findings reveal the distance between policy and practice, and the need for vigilance with respect to the legal challenges which schools may face if they act without adequate knowledge and information on the pandemic.Item Open Access Educators’ motivation: differences related to gender, age and experience(University of the Free State, 2003) Schulze, Salomé; Steyn, TrudieEnglish: This article explores factors influencing the motivation of educators in terms of gender, age and years of experience. A questionnaire was adapted from Wright’s 51 incentives that motivate educators and administered by students enrolled for a Master’s degree programme in Human Resource Management to 10 randomly selected colleagues. Analysis of the 1 181 questionnaires revealed the following findings. Primarily, male and female educators are motivated by the same factors. However, educators of diverse age groups and years of experience differ in terms of what they experience as motivational. Younger educators need to have their confidence boosted, while older and more experienced educators are motivated by positive relations with peers, recognition, power and authority, professional growth and an explicit role definition.Item Open Access Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and intrinsic motivation(University of the Free State, 2003) Olivier, Tilla; Steenkamp, DottieEnglish: Researchers struggle to conceptualise Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder (ADHD), because the prevailing construct is constantly challenged by new research findings. However, the current focus of research has turned to the processes underlying the problem, such as motivational factors. The purpose of this paper is therefore to investigate whether there is a significant difference between children with ADHD and children without ADHD in terms of the components of their intrinsic motivation. A sound theoretical basis for the research was established and an empirical investigation was undertaken. Conclusions are discussed and strategies are recommended to address the motivational problems of children with ADHD.