Research Articles (Educational Psychology)

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Group career development of rural learners through group-based career construction counselling : intervention research
(Education Association of South Africa, 2025-05) Maree, J.G. (Kobus); Mahlalela, Thembelihle Nancy; kobus.maree@up.ac.za
The aim with this research was to explore the influence of group-based career construction counselling on learners' career development in a rural school. Convenience and purposive non-probability sampling were used to select a group of 15 Grade 9 learners aged between 14 and 18 to participate in the study. An interpretive paradigm (drawing from the constructivist worldview) underpinned the study. Data were generated by employing multiple qualitative sources, including pre- and post- intervention semi-structured group interviews, documents in the form of collages and timelines compiled by participants, the researcher's reflective journal and the career interest profile. A non-linear iterative, thematic analysis process was conducted to identify themes that emerged from the datasets. The findings reveal that group-based career construction counselling enhances learners' career development in a rural school by facilitating the addressing of subject choices early in Grade 9 as a key element in children's career development. Moreover, such intervention offers numerous benefits to young learners, including enhanced self- and career awareness. In future research it should be considered assessing the value of career construction counselling in the changing world of work to benefit learners' career development in the 21st century and beyond.
Understanding the association between education and wellbeing: an exploration of the Gallup World Poll
(Springer, 2024-10) Wilson Fadiji, Angelina; Lomas, Tim
Antecedents of wellbeing across different socio-cultural contexts is a question that psychologists and other social scientist continue to grapple with. Although evidence supporting higher educational levels as being beneficial for wellbeing is significant, there are still contradictory findings, necessitating further exploration into this relationship. Moreover, current evidence seems to focus mostly on data derived from Western samples and have adopted limited measures of wellbeing. The present study explores the relationship between schooling and a subset of 31 wellbeing-related categories in the Gallup World Poll conducted over three years (2020–2022), encompassing 386,654 individuals in 142 countries. The findings indicate that overall participants with higher levels of education fare better than those with lower levels of education. However, disaggregation and comparison across key social indicators, specifically, country/region of residence, sex and age showed that there were instances where higher levels of education were less beneficial for wellbeing. While acknowledging the importance of education for wellbeing, our findings suggest the need to consider how unique socio-cultural factors might further complicate the benefits of education. We also suggest that governments might need to consider what policies are necessary to make the benefits of education more apparent and ubiquitous.
Teacher resilience in South Africa : the self-efficacy and teacher efficacy of pre-service teachers preparing to teach in a challenged context
(Edith Cowan University, 2025-03) Jonker, Carine; Graham, Marien Alet; Ebersohn, L. (Liesel)
This publication addresses a gap in high-quality, quantitative studies on teacher resilience within the less-researched context of the Global South. Specifically, it examines the self-efficacy and teacher efficacy of three cohorts of final-year pre-service teachers in South Africa (N = 1,193). This article aimed to contribute evidence on teacher resilience from an under-researched African context and population. Despite contextual challenges, the pre-service teachers indicated high intrapersonal resilience-enabling pathways, with a statistically significant relationship between their self-efficacy and teacher efficacy. The authors propose an evidence-based framework of how high levels of self-efficacy and teacher efficacy may enable prospective teachers to teach despite chronic and cumulative challenges. Few teacher resilience studies exist in the Global South and South Africa, and this study contributes to the body of literature in this field and hopes to promote place-based (e.g., Global South) research through contextual lenses to provide necessary needed evidence for teacher resilience.
New perspectives for life-design interventions in the anthropocene context
(Sage, 2025-04) Cohen-Scali, Valerie; Drabik-Podgorna, Violetta; Podgorny, Marek; Duarte, Maria Eduarda; Guichard, Jean; Aisenson, Gabriela; Di Fabio, Annamaria; Maree, J.G. (Kobus); Masdonati, Jonas; Nota, Laura; Pouyaud, Jacques; Ribeiro, Marcelo Alfonso; Antonio, Donna San
Since 2013, the UNESCO Chair of Lifelong Guidance and Counseling, together with its UNITWIN Network created in 2017, have been driving research, training, and interventions from a Life Design perspective to help people to navigate this uncertain world. This article is a UNESCO Chair position paper which aims to propose a new vision for career counseling in the current context of the Anthropo-Capitalocene. This vision is based on forms of active life, a concept developed in the career guidance literature by Eduard Spranger. This paper identifies new counseling interventions involving a range of activities that make every individual's daily life a certain form of life. The discussion considers avenues for helping individuals to engage in sustainable forms of active life. The conclusion discusses the need to break away from siloed approaches to career counseling and to develop a conception of the individual in connection with the Earth system.
Flocking to transform lives in inequality : including evidence-based indigenous knowledge in inclusive education agendas
(Associacao Brasileira de Pesquisadores em Educacao Especial, 2024) Ebersohn, L. (Liesel); liesel.ebersohn@up.ac.za
ENGLISH : This article uses the case of Afrocentric knowledge on resilience to argue for the presence of indigenous knowledge into inclusive education agendas to enable transformation in highly unequal spaces. The premise is that local, indigenous knowledge serves as evidence of effective and efficient buffering against inequality that gives insight into low-threshold options for transformation. When people are disproportionally structurally at risk they have limited access to resources and their potential to thrive is limited - as is the case in emerging economy contexts. Ironically, although the need for transformation is highest in extremely unequal contexts, knowledge from the Global South and emerging economies remain underrepresented in global discourses on development. Rather, development agendas and mechanisms (including for inclusive education) are grounded in Eurocentric and Global North notions of change, inclusion, wellbeing, resource distribution, and service delivery. Indigenous knowledge provides evidence of how, intergenerationally, people push towards available resources as a way to draw on limited resources and promote inclusive, positive development for many. The article uses the evidence from an Afrocentric indigenous psychology theory, Relationship Resourced Resilience, to posit the use of indigenous knowledge in inclusive education to enable transformation in response to hardship that promotes inclusive, collective wellbeing.
Desafios Globais e locais Da eDucacao especial na perspectiva Da eDucacao inclusiva : potencialiDaDe De uma cartoGrafia em construcao
(Associacao Brasileira de Pesquisadores em Educacao Especial, 2024) Pletsch, Marcia Denise; Mendes, Geovana Mendonça Lunardi; Ebersohn, L. (Liesel); liesel.ebersohn@up.ac.za
PORTUGUESE : Apresentamos, aqui, uma discussão a partir dos textos que compõem o Dossiê intitulado: Desafios globais e locais da educação especial na perspectiva da educação inclusiva: potencialidade de uma cartografia em construção. O objetivo é construir uma cartografia internacional e nacional de como, na área da Educação Especial, a Educação Inclusiva tem sido recontextualizada nas políticas e nas práticas de diferentes estados brasileiros e diferentes países. Conseguimos unir, nesse material, uma entrevista internacional, cinco artigos internacionais e quatro textos nacionais, tecendo um panorama de arranjos locais muito distintos e que nos brindam com miríades complexas sobre a inclusão educacional. Do ponto de vista temático, o Dossiê discute temas emergentes, centrando-se em políticas e práticas de Educação Inclusiva no campo da Educação Especial, a saber: formação de professores, escolarização de pessoas com deficiências e políticas de Educação Inclusiva na Educação Especial contemporânea.
'Becoming manly' : white South African defence force veterans negotiating masculinity
(Routledge, 2024) Janak, Raksha; Bhana, Deevia; Marculitis, James; Buccus, Imraan
This study examines how white South African men reflect on their experiences of being and becoming army veterans, while negotiating masculinity. In the context of ‘high apartheid’, Afrikaner domination of the socio-political landscape, ethnic and racialised inequalities, the veterans negotiated being white English-speaking men through reflecting on, critiquing and disassociating from military masculinity. An English South African masculinity was upheld by distancing from Afrikaner domination and values, violence and compulsory heterosexuality. These findings suggest that while a military masculinity offered men a powerful template to assert their authority as white men, such power was nuanced by English South Africans’ relative political impotence, the domination of Afrikaans as a language and illustrates the heterogeneity in the experience of white veteran masculinity under apartheid. At the same time, however, white English veterans were complicit in and benefitted from whiteness and the power accrued in the country by virtue of race, class and history of British colonialism. We argue that the experience of being and becoming conscripts and the reflection on military masculinity directs attention to the ways in which broader social and political contexts have effects for the shaping of masculinity reflecting hierarchies of power and fluidity.
Innovative and integrative career construction counseling for enhancing the existential experience of gifted and talented learners
(Sage, 2024-09)
Once gifted and talented learners have gained a distinct sense of their life’s direction, comprehend how they can derive personal meaning. Hope, and fulfilment within the professional work sphere, understand how they can contribute socially through their work, and gauge the extent to which their potential workplace nurtures experiential and existential fulfilment, their work-life adjustment improves. Gifted education is at a pivotal juncture, where the focus must shift from merely identifying and nurturing innate talents to understanding and fostering the application of these talents in meaningful ways. The essence of this shift is captured across a series of insightful studies and analyses, each offering a unique perspective on how career choices and guidance can profoundly impact the lives of gifted individuals.
In search of career-life meaning : enhancing the existential experience of a gifted learner
(Sage, 2024-09) Maree, J.G. (Kobus); kobus.maree@up.ac.za
This article reports on how intervention research based on integrative career counselling enhanced the existential experience of a gifted learner. The participant of this study was a purposively selected gifted 17-year-old girl learner in search of a career that would help her experience meaning, purpose, and hope in and through her career-life. An explanatory (QUALITATIVE-quantitative) research design was used together with qualitative career construction counselling-based methods. A new standardised test was used to generate quantitative data. Savickas’ guidelines for analysing career construction-elicited data were implemented to identify themes and subthemes in the outcomes. The intervention helped the participant decide on a career through which she could experience meaning, purpose, and hope in her career-life. Longitudinal research is needed to determine the medium- and long-term influence of the type of intervention discussed here with gifted learners in individual as well as group contexts across the diversity spectrum.
Stress and anxiety during the Covid-19 pandemic : experiences of special needs and learning support educators
(Noyam Journals, 2024-11-28) Mthembu, Mpho Princess; Finestone, Michelle; mpho.mthembu@up.ac.za
The purpose of this study was to investigate the factors that contributed to stress and anxiety in special needs and learning support educators during the COVID-19 pandemic. The study used qualitative methodology, incorporating semi-structured interviews, a qualitative questionnaire, and a focus group discussion for data collection. Ten special education and learning support teachers from special schools, and full-service schools in the Gauteng province, in South Africa were sampled for the study. Using interpretive phenomenology to analyse the data gathered for this study, it was discovered that special needs and learning support educators experienced stress and anxiety during the Covid-19 pandemic because of (a) an increase in workload; (b) adapting traditional face-to-face methods of teaching to online education; (c) teacher and parent collaboration, and (d) implementing COVID-19 regulations in a special needs classroom. The study proposes several recommendations, including the enhancement of teacher preparation for online pedagogical methods, the provision of psychological support services, the improvement of parental communication channels, and the promotion of curricular flexibility. Emphasis is placed on appropriate resource allocation, professional development workshops, and the implementation of online counseling services to identify challenges. This study contributes to the body of knowledge regarding the coping mechanisms employed by SETs and LSEs during crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic. Furthermore, it underscores the need for comprehensive support systems and adequate resource provision to enable educators to effectively perform their roles under adverse circumstances.
Caregiver beliefs about childhood development and schooling outcomes : a qualitative study in Mahikeng, South Africa
(Wiley, 2025-03) Palmer, Tom; Jaoude, Gerard Abou; Granados, Rolando Leiva; Batura, Neha; Booysen, Frederik; Ebersohn, L. (Liesel); Gram, Lu; Prost, Audrey; Salustri, Francesco; Skordis, Jolene
Although the role of the home in supporting early childhood development, early learning and school outcomes is well established, the perspectives of caregivers on child development and schooling outcomes are comparatively underexplored. This qualitative study was conducted with caregivers of children aged 6–10 years in Mahikeng, South Africa and aimed to explore their beliefs related to the interconnected developmental continuum of ECD, school readiness and educational outcomes. A total of 18 caregivers participated in focus group discussions, including 2 males and 16 females. Qualitative data were analysed using reflexive thematic analysis. We developed four themes: being present; guiding children through school; influencing language and cognitive development and raising the next generation. Caregivers expressed beliefs that they played an important role in early language and cognitive development and in socioemotional development for older children. However, their behaviour was not necessarily motivated explicitly by child outcomes. Additionally, caregivers described many contextual factors, such as high levels of unemployment and crime, that may constrain the ability of households to support child development. Design of effective caregiving interventions must be informed by contextual understanding and help to overcome these barriers.
Health promotion intervention in at-risk South African primary schools
(Sage, 2025-02) Mahomed, Ruzaika Shaik; Etokabeka, Elsa
BACKGROUND : Interventions to promote health have been implemented in some urban settings. However, school-based health promotion interventions in at-risk urban schools have not been thoroughly investigated. OBJECTIVE : This article investigates teachers’ perceptions regarding health promotion interventions with the main goal of establishing social change in at-risk school communities. DESIGN : The study used phenomenology as a theoretical lens supported by the use of a qualitative research approach. As a theoretical framework, the researchers utilised Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory. SETTING : The investigation used a descriptive case study design to select 17 teachers from 2 at-risk urban primary schools in Pretoria. METHODS : Visual data including participatory reflection action posters and photographs, and field notes were part of the data collection techniques. FINDINGS : Teachers’ responses informed how school-based health promotion interventions can be developed in the foundation phase of education. Themes relevant to this included recognition of the importance of education in bringing about social change; involving the whole community in developing health promotion projects; working closely with parents; promoting physical activity; and advocating for nutritional literacy. Goals can best be achieved through a focus on nutritional needs, physical health and social needs of at-risk communities. CONCLUSION : Findings from this study can be used to inform at-risk communities about food consumption, optimum physical activities and positive socio-emotional actions. Beyond this, young professionals entering the field of education should be encouraged to develop awareness of how school-based health promotion programmes can benefit the health and well-being of children.
The interconnectedness between the wellbeing of undergraduate students of religion studies and the curriculum
(University of KwaZulu-Natal, School of Religion, Philosophy and Classics, 2023-03) De Jager, Sarina; Eloff, Irma F.; sarina.dejager@up.ac.za
This study investigated the factors that support the wellbeing of undergraduate students in religion studies and religion at a large public university in South Africa. An ethnomethodological, interpretive research design was adopted to explore the intricacies between students’ wellbeing and the environment within which they pursue their academic aspirations in religion studies. Data were collected through face-to-face interviews ( n= 20) and two focus group discussions ( n= 8 ) . The interviews were audio- recorded, transcribed, and verified independently. The data were then analysed by means of interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) . IPA provides an avenue for detailed examinations of personal lived experiences. Two unique themes emerged from the analysis, namely, that the wellbeing of the religion studies students in the study was supported by i) the pre-existing theoretical content of their theological studies, and ii) the quality of the academic relationship with their lecturers. This reconnaissance of the terrain of the lived experiences and wellbeing of religion studies students indicated the distinct nature of the constellations of wellbeing for students of religion studies, the entrenched symbiosis between curricula, the paradigms underpinning the curricula, and the role of lecturers in student wellbeing.
South African emerging adults’ capacity for resilience in the face of COVID-19 stressors
(Sage, 2024-05) Cockcroft, Kate; Greyling, Mike; Fouche, Ansie; Ungar, Michael; Theron, Linda C.; linda.theron@up.ac.za
Little is known about resilience responses to COVID-19 stressors from emerging adults in minority world contexts. In this cross-sectional study, we explored the association between self-reported COVID-19 stressors and capacity for resilience in 351 emerging adults (Meanage = 24.45, SD = 2.57; 68% female) who self-identified as Black African. We were interested in whether age, gender and neighbourhood quality influenced this association. The main findings were that higher pandemic stress was associated with a greater capacity for resilience. Older participants showed higher levels of resilience, while there was no gender difference in this regard. Those who perceived their neighbourhoods as being of a good quality also showed greater capacity for resilience, despite all participants residing in disadvantaged communities. The theoretical and practical implications of these results are considered.
Exploring landscape architecture education : scoping review of innovations, challenges, and future directions
(Wichmann Verlag, 2024) Bartelse, Gabrielle; Du Preez, Hannelie; Steyn, Raita
This review examines the transformative potential of integrating digital technologies in land-scape architecture education. Acknowledging the increasing importance of innovative technology in design practice, the review aims to synthesize existing literature, identify gaps in knowledge, and pro-pose recommendations for future research and educational practices. The scope includes exploring trends, challenges, and opportunities in digital integration, emphasizing the role of digital design stu-dios, Research Through Design, and transdisciplinary thinking. Methodologically, an approach is em-ployed to comprehensively survey relevant literature. The review is structured to discuss prominent trends, discrepancies, and gaps in landscape architecture education, followed by implications for theory, practice, and future research. This review serves as the initial step in a broader aimed at transforming landscape architecture education by integrating digital design studios and innovative pedagogical ap-proaches, laying the groundwork for further empirical investigation and practical interventions. While the review provides valuable insights, limitations such as potential biases in literature selection are acknowledged. Overall, this review contributes to advancing knowledge in landscape architecture ed-ucation and informs efforts to adapt pedagogical practices to meet evolving demands.
Awareness as cornerstone to inclusive support for learners with colour vision deficiency
(African Educational Research and Development Foundation (AERDF), 2024-12) Ferreira, Ronel; Gevers, Heloïse; ronel.ferreira@up.ac.za
There is a scarcity of research in South Africa on how to support learners with colour vision deficiency (CVD). Inspired by inclusive approaches to education, the purpose of our research was to explore and describe teachers’ understanding and awareness of CVD and their experiences in teaching such learners, with the aim of enhancing effective support provision to learners with CVD. We implemented an explanatory sequential mixed methods design and collected/generated data in two phases. During the quantitative phase, we relied on a combination of convenient and purposive sampling to select 92 public school teachers in South Africa to complete a structured questionnaire. During the qualitative phase, data were generated through seven semi-structured interviews involving nine conveniently selected participants. Quantitative data were analysed by means of descriptive and inferential statistics, while we relied on inductive thematic analysis to analyse the qualitative data. The findings of our research indicate that the teacher-participants who had taught learners with CVD implemented supportive changes in their classroom teaching to accommodate these learners. We therefore concluded that teacher awareness of CVD may contribute to positive changes in support of learners with CVD. We therefore recommend that teachers should be made aware of the condition, for example through pre-service and in-service training initiatives, as this may guide them to offer inclusive support to learners with CVD.
Framework for a holistic intervention in support of children with colour vision deficiency
(African Educational Research and Development Foundation, 2024-12) Ferreira, Ronel; Van der Westhuizen, Tegan; ronel.ferreira@up.ac.za
In this article, we propose a framework for a holistic intervention in support of children with CVD, consisting of a resilience-enabling intervention for children and a parent guidance intervention for their parents. As background to the intervention we developed, we obtained baseline data on the experiences of children with CVD, specifically in terms of the challenges they face on a daily basis. We followed a mixed methods approach and implemented a collective case study design, being guided by Participatory Reflection and Action (PRA) principles. Qualitative data were generated both pre- and post-intervention through PRA-guided sessions and projective assessment measures with child-participants, semi-structured interviews with their parents, field notes and reflective journals. Quantitative data were collected both pre- and post-intervention using the Beck Youth Inventories 2nd Edition with the child-participants. Data were analysed through reflexive thematic analysis and descriptive statistics. Following the implementation of the intervention, the pre- and post-intervention datasets were compared. Our findings reveal that children with CVD face various challenges that adversely affect them on various levels of functioning yet that the holistic intervention we implemented empowered them to address some of these challenges and voice their needs to others, thereby accessing the support they are entitled to. The framework for a holistic intervention that we propose in this article offers both theoretical and practical implications for improving support initiatives with children with CVD. It can furthermore serve as a model for addressing similar needs of children who experience other special needs.
NEET and resilient : the lived experiences of a sample of South African emerging adults
(Wiley, 2024-12) Theron, Linda C.; Levine, Diane; Haffejee, Sadiyya; linda.theron@up.ac.za
There is scant understanding of what supports African emerging adults who are not in employment, education or training (i.e., NEET) to show resilience to NEET-related challenges. This article narrows that gap by reporting an iterative phenomenological study with nine African emerging adults (mean age: 23.44; 66% female) who were NEET for the 18-month duration of the study and living in a resource-constrained community in South Africa. We interviewed each young person three times (June 2021; December 2021; June 2022). A reflexive thematic analysis of these interview transcripts showed that being NEET is a multifaceted challenge. Supported by a mix of personal, relational and environmental resources, young people managed this challenge by resisting or recuperating from destructive coping mechanisms and believing in a successful future self. These findings point to the importance of young people and their social ecologies (families, peers, service providers and policymakers) recognising and enacting their co-responsibility for resilience to the compound challenges of being NEET.
Exploring innovative career counselling strategies for universal relevance and sustainability in the Anthropocene era
(Sage, 2024-04) Maree, J.G. (Kobus); kobus.maree@up.ac.za
This article reflects on several factors that influence the art and science of career counselling in different contexts. An adapted systematic literature review was implemented to examine developments in the career counselling field and to explore innovative career counselling strategies that have universal relevance and sustainability in the Anthropocene era. The continued relevance and functionality of career counselling in South Africa (as an example of a Global South, developing country reflective of the situation globally) is examined. I reflect on a possible theoretical and conceptual framework for career counselling in the ‘career Counsellocene’ era and I argue for an approach that contextualises career counselling in different contexts in the future workplace and meets the career-counselling needs of people in the Anthropocene era. A career-counselling approach is needed that emphasises the importance of eco-awareness in reversing the impact of human abuse on the environment.
Support strategies life orientation teachers use to enhance high school to tertiary education transition
(Unisa Press, 2024-07) Modiba, Matabe Rosa; Eloff, Irma F.; Mathabathe, Kgadi; kgadi.mathabathe@up.ac.za
The transition from high school to tertiary education is reported to be a challenging journey for learners. In the South African context, teachers who are appointed to teach Life Orientation (LO) as a fundamental and compulsory subject are closest to the task of supporting learners in the move towards accessing tertiary education. Therefore, this study aimed to examine the support strategies LO teachers use to enhance high school to tertiary education transition. A qualitative phenomenological research methodology was used. The study was conducted in four high schools around the Ngaka-Modiri Molema district in the North West province of South Africa. Four LO teachers were purposively selected to generate data through semi-structured interviews. Data were analysed using thematic data analysis. The findings indicate that support strategies utilised by LO teachers are predominantly informational, and include assisting prospective students with online applications, providing information about career options, funding and pass requirements, providing guidance and motivation, and coordinating career guidance and career information-sharing activities. This study recommends that LO teachers engage in refresher training and proactive engagements with tertiary institutions aimed at supporting prospective learners with up-to-date information to enhance their transition from high school to tertiary institutions, as well as assist LO teachers with information and knowledge to provide holistic support to learners.

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