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An intervention strategy to enhance technical vocational education and training entrepreneurship education lecturers’ knowledge of content and teaching
Full text linkThe aim of this paper is to design an intervention strategy to enhance Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET) entrepreneurship education (EE) lecturers’ knowledge of content and teaching. The objective of the study involved unpacking the literature regarding Pedagogical Content Knowledge or knowledge of content and teaching (KCT). The study adopted a critical emancipatory research (CER) paradigm, in which the criteria for quality were determined by advancing an agenda for equity, social justice, freedom, peace, and hope. A participatory action research (PAR) approach was chosen as an appropriate methodology because it provides for collaborative research, in which all participants contribute to the design of the framework. Regarding this study, it thus necessitated teamwork involving the teaching of entrepreneurship, which consisted of the lecturers, a parent representative, a head of department, two students, and a local entrepreneur. The data was generated and collected by means of discussions/formal meetings with team members. The data was analysed using van Djik critical discourse analysis (CDA). The findings reveal that Technical Vocational Education and Training college lecturers possessed poor knowledge of content and teaching. Therefore, there is a need for proactive intervention to improve the teaching of entrepreneurship
Television as a source of COVID-19 information: a qualitative inquiry into the experiences of the deaf during the pandemic
Full text linkCoronavirus disease (COVID-19) came as a rude shock to all. Its emergence was sudden and its attendant effects on psychosocial adjustment of all citizens especially among the Deaf were traumatic. Thus, the need to access the required information about the virus became necessary. While information about COVID-19 came from various media sources, television as an audio-visual material remains one of the most reliable sources of COVID-19 to the deaf. However, issues of quality assurance and comprehensibility of televised COVID-19 related information remain a concern among the deaf during the pandemic. Thus, as there is scarcity of research reports on such circumstances among the deaf, this study explores the perceived quality of and comprehensibility of televised sign language interpreted COVID-19 briefing by the Nigerian deaf. The motor theory of sign language perception was used as a theoretical lens in this study. An individualised semi-structured interview was used to gather data that was used to achieve an answer to the research objectives. Thematic content analysis was employed for data analysis. The following themes resulted from the analysis: visibility, incomplete interpretation, Camera handlers’/Television stations’ inadequate knowledge of deafness and deaf communication processes and partial comprehension of interpreted COVID-19 briefings. Camera handlers and technical crew must ensure adequately illuminated interpreters space and a contrasting backdrop of picture-in-picture is ensured. Also, SLIs should endeavour to use a transparent face shield or adopt the 1.5m–2.5m physical distancing rul
Domestic violence and development implications in Budaka district
Full text linkBudaka is one of the 146 districts in Uganda experiencing domestic violence (DV) with 5016 cases, recorded in 2020. This was a significant number with obvious development repercussions despite relevant regulations, prohibiting the vice. The purpose of this study is to determine the nature and causes of domestic violence in Budaka district, development implications, and then suggest a course of action. A mixed-methods approach that included desk review and interviews to obtain quantitative and qualitative data, respectively was used. Domestic violence affects people of all ages, education levels, income levels, social standing, and religions, and manifests itself in form of physical, economic, sexual, political, religious, cultural and psychological. Poverty, culture, ethical and moral failure, biological vulnerability of women, and difficulties in obtaining evidence are the causes of domestic violence with far-reaching economic, political, and social development implications in Budaka district. In conclusion, domestic violence exists in Budaka district as a social construct with enormous developmental ramifications. The study recommends deconstruction through adopting Uganda's National Gender Policy of 2007, gender mainstreaming in the district, enacting by-laws, gender monitoring and evaluation, and strengthening Mifuni NGO in the fight against domestic violenc
Performance of exploratory structural equation model (ESEM) in detecting differential item functioning
Full text linkThe validity of a standardised test is questioned if an irrelevant construct is accounted for the performance of examinees, which is wrongly modeled as the ability in the construct (test items). A test must ensure precision in the examinee's ability irrespective of their sub-population in any demographic variables. This paper explored the potentials of gender and school location as major covariates on the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) mathematics items among examinees (N=2,866) using Exploratory Structural Equation Modeling (ESEM). The results remarked that the test is multidimensional (six-factors) with compliance fix indices of (χ2 (940)=4882.024, p < 0.05, CFI=0.962, TLI=0.930, RMSEA=0.038, SRMR=0.030, 90 % CI=0.037-0.039, Akaike information criterion (AIC)=147290.577, Bayesian information criterion (BIC)=149585.436 and Sample-size adjusted BIC=148362.154) respectively. Also, there were 10 (20 %) significant DIF items in the WAEC to gender, while 3 (6 %) of the items indicated significant DIF to school location. Observed DIF items acquaint test developers; the existence of DIF may differentially affect the performance of examinees with the same ability level. The implications of the test are severe for the examinees. Hence, accurate and unbiased assessment should be the basic principles for any test item measurement, and test developers need to test the items to be free from biases psychometrically
How Queen Mother Moore constructed black communities and identity
Full text linkThis essay contends that Audley Moore (commonly known as Queen Mother Moore), an understudied civil rights activist, built both ideological and physical spaces of Black empowerment in response to the racism she encountered in the places she visited. After a brief literature review, this essay turns to the author’s research on a 1978 oral history interview with Moore. Using this archive as a foundation, this essay follows Moore to three locations in the U.S.: Louisiana, Harlem, and the Catskills. This article starts with Moore’s home state to elucidate how seeing Marcus Garvey speak in 1919 equipped her with the necessary tools to confront inequality. Next, it examines how Moore constructed a soup kitchen for African American students in Harlem. This haven served as a precursor to her later founding of the Eloise Moore College for African Studies in Catskills: an institution for higher learning, mutual aid, and above all the decolonization of the mind. By placing these case studies into a single narrative for the first time, this essay evinces how Moore developed her plan for autonomous, African spaces within America. Above all, this college marked the culmination of Moore’s goal to bring freedom to Black youth by feeding their bodies and minds. Fueled with a vision for a potential utopia, Moore created literal and metaphorical communities outside American political and social norms
A retrospective analysis: ICT for improved municipal service delivery amidst COVID 19: ICT and Municipal Service Delivery
No full textSouth African municipal service delivery has been an area of highly debated concern, with many citizens lacking access to basic service delivery, such as water and electricity. Fast forward to the Covid-19 Pandemic, bombarding itself into every state, home and workplace and concerns over municipal service delivery has amplified. Much like Covid-19, the fourth industrial revolution too erupted into every facet of public and private life but more optimistically, so as it promises to fast track economic development, ease mundane daily tasks and improve services and systems. This article explores municipal service delivery in South Africa and its intersection with emerging technologies, further providing prospects for future application. The article relies on a qualitative approach, reviewing primary and secondary literature, such as statistics, reports and journal articles to explore how advanced and emerging technologies have been applied at a local level to improve municipal service delivery, further attempting to understand future prospects. From the findings of the study, it is evident, that protest action against municipal service delivery has escalated in the last few years, signifying possible worsening service delivery and little adaptation of new methods and technologies. However, there have been some attempts to improve service delivery, utilising emerging technologies, but much more can be done as illustrated in other states, at a local and national leve
The challenges in employing digital marketing as a tool for improving sales at selected retail stores in the transkei region
Full text linkDuring the last decade, the internet has introduced the information age and electronic commerce (e-Commerce) to millions of individuals worldwide, even those living in rural places, thus providing companies with an alternative platform for customer contact than brick-and-mortar stores. Therefore, businesses must alter their conventional marketing techniques and develop new approaches to engage consumers on the platforms where they want to connect and make purchases. This study assessed the perceived challenges in using Digital Marketing to boost sales at retail stores in the Transkei region. A qualitative and exploratory research design was used to collect data from store managers through face-to-face interviews. A non-probability sampling technique, known as purposive sampling, was employed to identify 14 store managers based on their knowledge of the subject matter. The findings of this study show that several factors, such as government legislation [the Protection of Personal Information (POPI) Act of 2016], which states that customers cannot be contacted without their express consent; customers' perceptions; poor connectivity in rural areas; costs and angry customer responses are some of the retailers'challenges in employing Digital Marketing. This research could assist the management of retail stores to comprehend the company's challenges and facilitate the implementation of Digital Marketing initiatives to improve service quality, especially during this period of the Covid-19 pandemic. This study has contributed to the Digital Marketing literature in developing countries and laid the groundwork for future research
Positioning ubuntu as a strategy to transform classism in university classrooms
Full text linkSocial parity, in the form of classism creates an environment where students from less privileged backgrounds feel subjugated and disadvantaged by social intimidation. In order to eliminate classism in university classrooms, the study proposes the potential of Ubuntu as a transformative strategy to promote a university system that is free of intimidation and discriminatory social classes that aid social inequalities. Hence, the study answers the following questions: What are the assumptions of Ubuntu? And how can the assumptions be used to unpack classism within university classrooms? The transformative paradigm was used to lens the study because it resonates with researchers' intention to create and suggest plausible ways of building a just and equitable university community. The analysis of Ubuntu as a transformative strategy was presented using thematic analysis to conceptualise and interpret Ubuntu and its underlying assumptions towards transforming classism. The study concludes that mirroring oneself in others, communality and togetherness, humanity and unity, and egalitarian practices is a dimension of a classless university classroom toward an equitable society. Therefore, university classrooms should be tailored toward love, communality and togetherness, humanity and unity of purpose, and egalitarian practice
The lived experiences of elderly women accused of witchcraft in a rural community in South Africa
Full text linkThis study examines the experiences, fear of being killed, and reactions towards accusations of elderly women, accused of witchcraft. The respondents were elderly women with an average age of 65 years who had retired in rural South Africa. They responded to semi-structured interview questions, aimed at documenting the accusations and insults, hurled at them daily by members of community. Thematic analysis indicated the community’s hostile reaction towards the women. The following themes and corresponding sub-themes were established: demographics, cultural factors, with sub-themes of old age and circumstances, surrounding death; and socio-economic factors, with sub-themes of poverty, unemployment, and jealousy. Based on their personal experiences, the community did not have concrete evidence of their accusations, which stemmed from external factors, over which they had no control. These findings were explained as being the authorities not protecting victims against all accusations. These accusations of witchcraft happened despite the protection of the constitution, the bill of rights and relevant legislation. In conclusion the law enforcement agencies must enforce the law to protect the elderly women in the communities
The influence of the motivation theory on women startup enterprises in Kigali
Full text linkAchievement motivation refers to the attainment of business goals. An entrepreneur can receive a reward from the achievement motivation in terms of intrinsic or extrinsic rewards. However, due to cultural norms, stereotyping, and patriarchy, Rwandan women face difficulties when starting a business. Some women broke the glass ceiling and launched their businesses amidst many challenges.
A quantitative method guided this study. The survey collected 409 questionnaires from purposively selected women-owned SMEs in Kigali.
The findings indicate the challenges they faced, such as HIV/AIDS, a lack of entrepreneurship skills, and market opportunities. Despite the challenges they faced, their businesses performed well, which supported the theory of ‘achieve motivation’. This resulted in rewards, such as respect among family members, the community, and an improvement in their lifestyle, which is critical in Kigali.
This study provides novelty in discovering women’s SME achievements in Kigali based on motivation theories.
The findings of this study provide a directive to policymakers to improve women-owned businesses under patriarchal environments in Kigali