OpenUCT :: Browsing by Author "Kathard, Harsha"

Browsing by Author "Kathard, Harsha"

Now showing 1 - 20 of 39

Open Access
A case study of emerging practice in speech-language therapy in a community practice context
(2019) Abrahams, Kristen; Kathard, Harsha; Pillay, Mershen; Harty, Michal
Background: The profession of speech-language therapy (SLT) continues to struggle with challenges around equity and service delivery. The dominant medical model, characterised by one-on-one, individualised health care, is struggling to serve the large population in need of services. As such, there is a need to reconceptualise SLT practices toward a social justice focus. The study used clinical education as the entry point of exploration into how emerging professional practices (EPPs) may be developed. Aims/Objectives: The study aimed to describe and analyse a case study of an emerging professional practice in SLT as part of a university-school partnership in a peri-urban settlement in South Africa. The objectives were: 1. To describe and analyse the practice methods of the EPP, 2. To describe and analyse the educational and knowledge bases which support the EPP, and 3. To describe and analyse the underlying epistemology, ontology and methodology underpinnings shaping the EPP. Method: A qualitative case study methodology, guided by critical theory and decoloniality, was used. Final year SLT students were the primary participants for the study. Data were collected in the form of document analyses, participant observations, interviews, photovoice, and experiential drawings from a number of stakeholders (including SLT students, a school principal, a project coordinator, a library assistant and a clinical educator) from January to December 2017. The data were analysed using reflexive interpretation (Alvesson & Sköldberg, 2009) as a guiding frame. Findings: The three-level analysis process was used to generate the thesis offering. The first level of analysis was the construction of the overall case narrative - documenting the practice methods of the EPP through the experiences of the SLT students. The second level of analysis used thematic analysis approach to identify key themes emerging from the case narrative. Four key themes were explored in the form of narratives, collages and paintings. The third level of analysis used decoloniality (i.e. coloniality of power, knowledge and being) and the Relationship of Labouring Affinities (RoLA) as critical lenses to deepen my understanding of the case. Through using both RoLA and decoloniality, dialogue emerged as a critical form of engagement toward developing EPPs. The study specifically puts forward the concept of critical dialoguing as a necessary process for conscientisation and change. Conclusion: The findings of the study illuminated how SLT students navigated through their experiences of disruption of their traditional practice. The findings weave together participant narratives, drawings and collages to engage the reader in the EPP. The findings showed how critical engagement with political, historical, social and linguistic influences underlying their work in communication, facilitated new learning and insight into SLT practice. The thesis offering discusses the role of critical dialoguing in opening up space for critical discussions about the profession. In conclusion, supported disruption provided students with a platform to interrogate current SLT practices, re-examine the viability of practices to serve populations, and reflect on how the SLT profession can adapt and change with the changing needs of the population.
Open Access
A cluster randomised trial of a classroom communication resource program to change peer attitudes towards children who stutter among grade 7 students
(BioMed Central, 2018-11-29) Mallick, Rizwana; Kathard, Harsha; Borhan, A. S M; Pillay, Mershen; Thabane, Lehana
Abstract Background Classroom-based stuttering intervention addressing negative peer attitudes, perceptions, teasing and bullying of children who stutter (CWS) is required as part of holistic stuttering management because of its occurrence in primary school. This study was conducted in 2017, in 10 primary schools in the Western Cape, South Africa within lower (second and third) and higher (fourth and fifth) quintiles. Objectives The primary objective of this study was to determine treatment effect at six months after intervention of grade 7 participants (Classroom Communication Resource [CCR] intervention versus no CCR) using global Stuttering Resource Outcomes Measure (SROM) scores in school clusters. The secondary objective was to determine grade 7 participant treatment effect on the SROM subscales including Positive Social Distance (PSD), Social Pressure (SP) and Verbal Interaction (VI). The subgroup objective was to determine any difference in the primary outcome between schools between and across quintile clusters (lower and higher). Methods Once schools were stratified into lower and higher quintile (which are defined according to geographical location, fee per school and resources) subgroup clusters, schools were assigned randomly to control and intervention groups consisting of grade 7 participants who were typically aged ≥ 11 years. Teachers received 1 h of training before administering the single-dose CCR intervention over a 60–90-min session. The CCR intervention included a social story, role-play and discussion. All participants viewed a video of a CWS and stuttering was defined at baseline. The SROM measured peer attitudes at six months after intervention. Randomisation was stratified by quintile group using a 1:1 allocation ratio. Full blinding was not possible; however, the outcome assessor was partially blinded and the analyst was also blinded. Generalised estimating equations (GEE) was used assuming an exchangeable correlation structure to analyse the data adopting an intention-to-treat principle. Multiple imputation was used to handle missing data. Criterion for statistical significance was set at alpha = 0.05. Results Ten schools were randomly allocated to control (k = 5) and intervention groups (k = 5), with n = 223 participants allocated to intervention and n = 231 to control groups. A total of 454 participants completed the SROMs in control (n = 231) and intervention (n = 223) groups and were analysed at baseline and six months after intervention. There was no statistically significant difference on the global SROM score (mean difference − 0.11; 95% confidence interval [CI] − 1.56–1.34; p = 0.88). There were also no significant differences on SROM subscales: PSD (mean difference 1.04; 95% CI − 1.02–311; p = 0.32), SP (mean difference − 0.45; 95% CI − 1.22–0.26; p = 0.21) and VI (mean difference 0.05; 95% CI − 1.01–1.11; p = 0.93). Additionally, there was no significant subgroup effect on the global SROM score (lower versus higher quintile subgroups) (interaction p value = 0.52). No harms were noted or reported. Conclusion No statistically significant differences were noted. It is possible that the time frame was too short to note changes in peer attitudes and that further study is required to confirm the findings of this study. Trial registration Clinicaltrials.gov, NCT03111524 . Registered on 9 March 2017.
Open Access
A social realist study of the mechanisms that condition lecturers emerging assessment practices
(2022) Pienaar, Lunelle L; Behari-Leak, Kasturi; Kathard, Harsha
Assessment as part of the enacted curriculum is underscored by the professional judgement of the lecturer, who decides on the body of knowledge that should be learned. A vacuum exists in understanding how the practice of assessment is shaped by the lecturer and between the social groups within departments and the academic institution at large, as well as the transformational policies within the higher education space. Assessment is a key driver to advance a socially just medical curriculum, especially in the context of the legacy of colonialism and apartheid in South Africa (SA). Using the existing body of knowledge about assessment from the global North, without re-contextualising it for a South African context, has led to decontextualised practices that treat assessment as a one-size- fits-all phenomenon. In this study, the influences on lecturers' assessment practices within an undergraduate medical programme were explored. Enabled by the critical realist paradigm, this study sought to illuminate the structural and cultural mechanisms that enabled or constrained medical lecturers' assessment practice. Margaret Archer's social realist theory was used to theorise assessment by using analytical dualism and giving powers and properties to structure, culture, and agency independently, as a way to explore and critically analyse the mechanisms that condition lecturers' assessment practice. Using collective case study design, individual interviews were conducted, and the assessment documentation was gathered from six lecturers in the medical programme at one institution. Narratives from two pre-clinical and four clinical lecturers and the assessment documentation were analysed to provide a way to better understand the influences guiding lecturers' assessment practices. More importantly, how lecturers exercise their personal emergent powers and properties to enact assessment was examined. The analysis shows that the interplay of the systemic mechanisms that emerged in the assessment practice of lecturers set up complex choices for the transformation of assessment. In the context of historic transformation imperatives and the student protests, the study's findings show that lecturers exercised their agential powers and properties to elaborate the ideas and theories towards conventional evidence-based assessment practices that were predominantly teacher-led. Lecturers relied on their own experience of assessment, learning about assessment formally in education programmes and informally through colleagues and courses. However, the systemic constraints such as timetabling, limited integration, disciplinary power, insufficient human, and financial resources to innovate and transform assessment, encouraged choices that were ill aligned to inclusive assessment practices. The support of lecturers' assessment endeavours is desperately needed at all levels, national, institutional, departmental and programmatic, to transform assessment practice. The findings highlight the need for re-evaluation of current interventions to elevate the ontological and epistemological issues. The results have implications for the design of staff development activities and the way assessment is designed, created, and administered.
Open Access
A study of the collaborative process of volunteers in a literacy intervention programme in support of vulnerable children in South Africa
(2019) Zoetmulder, Amy; Kathard, Harsha; Pillay, Mershen
The development of early literacy skills is critical for all children in South Africa. Children receive language and literacy development support in the home, school, and community environments. Vulnerable children, such as orphans, may receive this support from volunteers in their home environments. Additional language development support systems in the form of programmes run by volunteers are important. This study describes and analyses the process of collaboration between six volunteers who are involved in languageliteracy programmes by examining how volunteers negotiate collaboration in promoting literacy development. This qualitative research study used a participatory action cycle design to investigate collaboration. A range of research methods such as focus groups, interviews, reflections and observations were used. Findings from this study provided insight into the identity of volunteers. They were people who had strong values in respect of literacy, a positive experience of volunteering, a sense of civic responsibility and an empathetic personality. The collaborative process was established through the presence of a strong common cause, vulnerability and trust among volunteers, a structured and well-led action cycle process, the development of self-reflection, and a passion to be change agents. Volunteers were able to problem solve and act to make changes to the intervention programme which included actions at a programme and volunteer level. The speechlanguage therapist (SLT’s) role was critical in a literacy-related intervention as a support for volunteers. The expertise of SLTs, namely knowledge in language and literacy development, was valued in streamlining the process of taking appropriate actions to enrich the literacy programme.
Open Access
A biographical inquiry into the occupational participation of men who drop out of school
(2011) Peters, Liesl; Galvaan, Roshan; Kathard, Harsha
This qualitative interpretive biographical inquiry describes the nature of the occupational participation of men in Lavender Hill who drop out of school. School dropout was constructed as an occupational transition for the purposes of this study and the occupational participation of men who drop out of school was considered in relation to this. Study participants were selected using purposive, maximum variation sampling. Achieving a sense of fidelity in the research process was critically considered, because of its complexities in relation to the use of biography. Ethical principles were rigorously applied...
Open Access
Career construction and support of D/deaf high school learners in the Eastern Cape Province
(2021) Stemela, Unati; Kathard, Harsha; Sefotho, Maximus
D/deaf people typically are not employed, or work in menial jobs, although they have been through high1 school in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa. The researcher has not observed them in professional careers. However, there is no empirical evidence why the D/deaf are excluded from the formal labour market after schooling. Understanding the underlying factors influencing such observations was important. The problem manifested in unemployment in the formal labour sector, but the researcher wanted to understand the root cause of this problem in depth. The aim of the study is to explore and critically analyse the D/deaf high school learners' construction of their careers and the supports available to them in constructing and realising their career aspirations. The international literature reviewed identifies knowledge gaps concerning career construction and supportive imperatives of D/deaf high school learners. The theory of career construction by Savickas (2005) frames this study and has been used throughout to guide and inform the study. This is a descriptive qualitative case study of career construction and support (Creswell, 2013). It was conducted in two of the five schools for the Deaf in two districts of the Eastern Cape. The learners came from rural, semi-rural and semi-urban homes. The schools (rural and semirural) were purposefully selected to participate in the study. The study population includes four participant groups; the deaf learners in high school (grade 10 -12), their parents, the teachers involved in the career guidance of the learners and members of the Department of Basic Education who were responsible for career guidance in deaf high schools. The data was collected using multiple methods: focus group discussions, individual interviews and document reviews. The findings indicate that careers are constructed under adverse conditions. These lead to learners' perceptions of limited support. The challenges with learning the school curriculum was a barrier to acquiring basic skills required for their careers. The challenges include an inability to use of South African Sign Language, a critical barrier affecting communication across participants (learners, teachers, Department of Education officials and parents). This impacted on teaching, learning, support, guidance and general communication. The contextual challenges and limited support structures negatively influence the way D/deaf high school learners in the Eastern Cape Province construct their future careers, their parents, the education system and the role played by organisations of Deaf people. The study shows that careers are constructed in a context of both positive and negative influences. The combination of both the negative influences and limited supports impacts more heavily on career construction than do the positive influences. D/deaf people in the Eastern Cape have limited opportunities to obtain employment in professional occupations because of the way the education system and society prepares them for such careers. The issues of colonialism and the previous apartheid regime still influence both the education system and the South African society.
Open Access
Caregivers' experiences with the diagnosis of hearing loss
(2015) Hagedorn, Elfriede; Kathard, Harsha; Taljaard, Dunay
Knowledge of the impact of a diagnosis of hearing loss in children on their caregivers and the nature of their relationships with professionals during this process is inadequate in South Africa. The purpose of this study was to understand the experiences and perceptions of caregivers of diagnosis of hearing loss in their children. A qualitative, retrospective, narrative inquiry research design was used. Participants who were purposefully selected included one couple and 12 caregivers in the Tshwane Metropolitan area. They were interviewed using an in-depth interview method. The narrative data was subjected to in-depth thematic analysis. Three themes emerged from the data: 1) The catastrophic emotional impact of diagnosis, 2) The good and the bad of professional interaction, 3) Imbalanced relationships, strained resources and resulting identity threats. The discussion focused on the deeply emotional nature of the participants' experiences and the changes that ensued during and following the diagnosis of hearing loss in their relationship with their child and the wider community and how this impacted on their sense of identity. The study concluded that diagnosis has extensive, pervasive and disruptive effects on caregivers and that the professional plays an important role in shaping that experience. It thus makes recommendations for a humanistic, family-centred, paediatric audiology practice.
Open Access
A case study of professional role transition for occupational therapists in specialised education in post-apartheid South Africa : a critical narrative perspective
(2016) Sonday, Amshuda; Ramugondo, Elelwani; Kathard, Harsha
Background: This study is a critical description and explanation of the situated nature of the professional role transition process experienced by occupational therapists working in specialised education in post-apartheid South Africa. The study posed the research question: How do occupational therapists experience the process of professional role transition within specialised education in the Western Cape? The study was framed conceptually within critical social theory and occupational science. Aim: The study aimed to describe and analyse a single instrumental case of professional role transition experienced by five occupational therapists currently working at special school resource centres in two education districts in the Western Cape, South Africa Objectives: The objectives of the study were to: Describe and explain the process of professional role transition as experienced by occupational therapists along a trajectory from 1994 to 2013; Provide insights into the occupational therapists' perceptions, thoughts, feelings and attitudes on their professional role transition experience; Determine whether there are any role changes present and the possible impact this might have on the role and scope and development of occupational therapy practice within specialised education; and Outline the influences the socio political context has on the role of occupational therapists working in special school resource centres in the Western Cape.
Open Access
Classroom intervention to change peers' attitudes towards children who stutter: a pilot study six months post-intervention
(2015) Badroodien, Rizwana; Kathard, Harsha
The Classroom Communication Resource (CCR) intervention was developed to improve peer attitudes towards children who stutter (CWS). This pilot study will inform the feasibility of a Randomised Control Trial (RCT) through the following aims: 1. To analyse selected procedural aspects including recruitment, participation and re tention rates and questionnaire-questionnaire completion trends. 2. To observe treatment and cluster effect of the CCR intervention at one and six months post-intervention. An experimental, quantitative cluster randomised trial design was used. Pre-intervention - post-intervention data was collected from control and intervention groups. The sample comprised 273 mixed-gender Grade 7 participants in the Western Cape (WC) Metro urban area in classrooms across quintiles. Data was collected and analysed at pre-intervention, one and six months post-intervention. The Stuttering Resource Outcomes Measure (SROM) was used to measure attitude changes. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to describe the procedural aspects and treatment effect. A positive school-recruitment rate (90, 91%) was observed while the participation (59.6%) and retention rates (44.8%) decrease d over time. Participants were excluded due to poorly completed questionnaires, consent, assent, absenteeism and administrative errors. Questionnaire completion trends at six months post-intervention showed that errors were noted on all items. These procedural challenges could be reduced in future studies through rigorous planning. The positive treatment effect was minimal at one month post-intervention, while more evident in magnitude and direction of change in attitude scores on the SROM at six months post-intervention. A constant group effect was noted at pre-intervention, one and six months post-intervention. This study therefore concluded that a future RCT is feasible with several recommendations.
Open Access
Clinical educators’ experiences of facilitating learning when speaking a different language from both the student and client
(BioMed Central, 2017-11-02) Keeton, Nicola; Kathard, Harsha; Singh, Shajila
Background: Worldwide there is an increasing responsibility for clinical educators to help students from different language backgrounds to develop the necessary skills to provide health care services to a linguistically diverse client base. This study describes the experiences of clinical educators who facilitate learning in contexts where they are not familiar with the language spoken between students and their clients. A part of the qualitative component of a larger mixed methods study is the focus of this paper. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with eight participants recruited from all audiology university programmes in South Africa. Thematic analysis allowed for an in depth exploration of the research question. Member checking was used to enhance credibility. It is hoped that the findings will inform training programmes and in so doing, optimize the learning of diverse students who may better be able to provide appropriate services to the linguistically diverse population they serve. Results: Participants experienced challenges with fair assessment of students and with ensuring appropriate client care when they were unable to speak the language shared between the client and the student. In the absence of formal guidelines, clinical educators developed unique coping strategies that they used on a case-by-case basis to assess students and ensure adequate client management when they experienced such language barriers while supervising. Coping strategies included engaging other students as interpreters, having students role-play parts of a session in English in advance and requesting real-time translations from the student during the session. They expressed concern about the fairness and efficacy of the coping strategies used. Conclusions: While clinical educators use unique strategies to assess students and to ensure suitable client care, dilemmas remain regarding the fairness of assessment and the ability to ensure the quality of client care.
Open Access
Communication supporting environments of Grade R classrooms in a rural district of the Western Cape
(2016) Parusnath, Prianka; Kathard, Harsha; Harty, Michal; O'Carroll, Shelley
This study aims to describe the communication environment in Grade R classes in a rural district setting in the Western Cape in terms of language-learning environment; language-learning opportunities and language-learning interactions in order to identify areas of strengths and weaknesses. In addition to this, the study aims to explore the relationship between communication environments and school performance in a rural district in the Western Cape as well teacher and classroom variables. In order to do this, an observational tool, the Communication Supporting Classrooms Observational Tool, was used which allowed researchers to document what was happening in the classroom over the prescribed observation period (Dockrell, Bakopoulou, Law, & Spencer, 2010). Before this, the pilot phase of the study allowed researchers to train assistants to use the tool using video recordings as well as to ascertain the tool's applicability to South African classrooms with different languages of learning and teaching. A sample size of 60 classrooms was used in the main phase, consisting of 30 lower performing schools and 30 higher performing schools. The study included all regular learners and regular classroom teachers in the chosen Grade R classrooms in a rural/remote district. Overall, the outcomes of the pilot study were two-fold: (1) The researchers determined that the tool could be used reliably in classrooms where Afrikaans and isiXhosa were the language of instruction due to high inter-rater reliability measured by ICC; and (2) With sufficient training and practical examples, raters can be trained to use the tool effectively. In addition to these outcomes, the results of the pilot study allowed researchers to make useful choices for the main study. The study indicated that the tool was applicable in classrooms where Afrikaans and isiXhosa were the medium of instruction which allowed researchers to include these classrooms in the sample for the main study.
Open Access
Configurations of self-identity formations of adults who stutter
(2010) Kathard, Harsha; Norman, Vivienne; Pillay, Mershen
The aims of this paper are twofold: Firstly, to describe the configuration of self-identity formations evident across and within research stories of adults living with stuttering; and secondly, to discuss the clinical implications of these findings. The study on which this paper is based used life history narratives to describe the types, processes and configurations of self-identity formations of adults who stuttered since childhood. Through open-ended, in-depth interviews 7 participants shared their experiences of living with stuttering. The interviews were analysed at a first level using narrative analysis and at a second level to further describe the types, processes and configurations of self-identity formations evident in the stories. The findings on configurations of self-identity formations were that the two types of self-identity formations Able and DisOther were present in singular and dual configurations. The dual self-identity formations occurred in co-existing, competing and coalescing relationships within particular time periods in their stories. The clinical implications of the findings are discussed.
Open Access
Debate: Why should gender-affirming health care be included in health science curricula?
(2020-02-14) de Vries, Elma; Kathard, Harsha; Müller, Alex
Background Every person who seeks health care should be affirmed, respected, understood, and not judged. However, trans and gender diverse people have experienced significant marginalization and discrimination in health care settings. Health professionals are generally not adequately prepared by current curricula to provide appropriate healthcare to trans and gender diverse people. This strongly implies that health care students would benefit from curricula which facilitate learning about gender-affirming health care. Main body Trans and gender diverse people have been pathologized by the medical profession, through classifications of mental illness in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) and International Classification of Disease (ICD). Although this is changing in the new ICD-11, tension remains between depathologization discourses and access to gender-affirming health care. Trans and gender diverse people experience significant health disparities and an increased burden of disease, specifically in the areas of mental health, Human Immunodeficiency Virus, violence and victimisation. Many of these health disparities originate from discrimination and systemic biases that decrease access to care, as well as from health professional ignorance. This paper will outline gaps in health science curricula that have been described in different contexts, and specific educational interventions that have attempted to improve awareness, knowledge and skills related to gender-affirming health care. The education of primary care providers is critical, as in much of the world, specialist services for gender-affirming health care are not widely available. The ethics of the gatekeeping model, where service providers decide who can access care, will be discussed and contrasted with the informed-consent model that upholds autonomy by empowering patients to make their own health care decisions. Conclusion There is an ethical imperative for health professionals to reduce health care disparities of trans and gender diverse people and practice within the health care values of social justice and cultural humility. As health science educators, we have an ethical duty to include gender-affirming health in health science curricula in order to prevent harm to the trans and gender diverse patients that our students will provide care for in the future.
Open Access
Disability employment support services: a case study on transition to formal employment for persons with disabilities in South Africa
(2022) Mogensen, Karina Fischer; Kathard, Harsha; Lorenzo, Theresa
General unemployment rates are high in South Africa, but unemployment rates for persons with disabilities in the open labour market are still considerably higher than those of able-bodied persons. Research has identified a number of barriers which hinder the full inclusion of persons with disabilities in the open labour market. These barriers include poor quality education and health care, lack of sufficient accessible infrastructure and information, lack of appropriate knowledge of and access to reasonable accommodation, and attitudinal barriers in society including a narrow belief that equates disability with inability to work. On top of these barriers black persons with disabilities are further marginalised due to the historical intersectional influences of race, poverty and disability in South Africa. With a label of ‘non-productive' and dependent, persons with disabilities struggle to access the open labour market, and sustainable decent formal employment is not a reality for many persons with disabilities. Falling into the category of ‘non-productive' and dependent in a capitalist labour market excludes people not only from getting an income but also from other aspects of well-being such as active participation in one's community, and it denies people the opportunity to realise their basic human rights and human dignity. Disability Employment Support Services (DESS) provide specific supports to facilitate the employment of persons with disabilities but there is little formal knowledge in this area. Through a qualitative case study, I sought to understand why South Africa is still struggling to make real advancements for persons with disabilities in formal employment. The research question was: How are DESS provided by a disability NGO facilitating transition into formal employment for persons with disabilities in South Africa? The study included the main stakeholders as study participants, namely learners with disabilities, the DESS provider, and host employers of the DESS learners. The study site was a disability NGO in the Western Cape Province in South Africa providing DESS.
Open Access
Effectiveness of the classroom communication resource in changing primary school learners' attitudes towards children who stutter after one month: A feasibility study
(2015) Walters, Freda Aletta; Kathard, Harsha; Norman, Vivienne
Children who stutter are bullied and teased by their peers, especially in the primary schooling years. The Classroom Communication resource (CCR) was developed as a teacher-administered classroom-based education programme aiming to improve peers' attitudes towards CWS. The focus of this feasibility study was to determine the initial treatment effect of the CCR to improve peers' attitudes towards CWS and the feasibility for a larger scale cluster randomised trial (CRT) in future. Peer attitudes were determined via a Likert scale questionnaire, the Stuttering Resource Outcomes Measure (SROM), completed by primary school learners. Aim one was to establish if the SROM was a valid and reliable outcomes measure. Aim two utilized a quantitative, CRT design with a control group to describe the direction and magnitude of changes in 196 Grade 7 peers' attitudes towards CWS following the administration of the CCR. It also determined whether the changes were linked to gender or having exposure to a person who stutters. The evidence confirmed that the SROM was a valid and reliable outcomes measure. Attitude changes after the administration of the CCR were analysed through inferential statistics. A significant positive change in SROM scores was found in the experimental group (p=0.005) when compared to the control group (p=0.41). Females had a greater magnitude of change in SROM scores after the administration of the CCR compared to males. Participants with prior exposure to a person who stutters held more positive attitudes towards CWS at pre-test. The magnitude of positive change in SROM was greater in participants who did not have prior exposure to a person who stutters (p=0.007). The study indicated initial positive treatment effect of the CCR and implications for the feasibility of a larger CRT is discussed.
Open Access
Everyday enactments of humanity affirmations in post 1994 apartheid South Africa: a phronetic case study of being human as occupation and health
(2018) Kronenberg, Franciscus C W; Kathard, Harsha; Rudman, Debbie Laliberte; Ramugondo, Elelwani L
BACKGROUND: Two challenging concerns prompted this research. The first was post 1994 South African society’s historically entrenched dehumanized/ing condition. And the second was the ill-positionedness and ill-preparedness of occupational science accompanied occupational therapy to do something about it. Appropriate concepts to imagine and generate potentially humanizing and healing responses to violent-divided-wounded human relations were found to be lacking in both professional and public discourses. This study therefore conceived of and applied an original conceptual depiction of being human as ‘enacting humanity affirmations’. Two questions were asked: how are affirmations of our humanity enacted in everyday post 1994 apartheid South Africa? And, how is human occupation and health implicated in enacted humanity affirmations? Consistent with the values and power rationality nature of the first research question, this study was philosophically grounded in critical contemporary interpretations of Aristotle’s intellectual virtue phronesis, and the African relational ethic Ubuntu. METHODOLOGY: Case study was heuristically employed as both a method and the object of study, along with narrative enquiry to generate storied exemplars. Maximum variation sampling aimed for heterogeneity of participants. The stories which made up the instrumental collective case were selected on the criterion of encountering likely resonance within South Africa. Situated within a dehumanized/ing context, incidents-embedded instances of enacted humanity affirmations were handled as bounded systems. Information was gathered through and from multiple methods and sources, including narrative interviews, participants’ reflective journals, multiple documents review, and researcher’s notes. Data analysis proceeded from co-constructions of nine case narratives, an across-case thematic analysis, to thesis building. Together, these informed what this study’s case is about, what it is a case of, and for. Critical reflexivity was exercised by on-going attention to power issues in research interactions, and attempts to enact reciprocal gestures and shared decision-making. FINDINGS/DISCUSSION: This study is a case about everyday enacted humanity affirmations which present as remarkable, disrupting seemingly normalized systemic oppressive power dynamics. Three main themes emerged: 'spectra of relational agency possibilities'; 'embodied-embedded radical sens-abilities'; and, 'never forget how made to feel'. Interpretations and discussion of these findings make this study a case of revealing and disrupting the violent deceptive western(ized) ontological and epistemological premise that being human is a given for all. Redressing historically inflicted harm done to our humanity necessitates that the geo- and body-political epistemic positions, from where to generate applicable understandings of human occupation and health, are delinked from ‘whiteness’. CONCLUSION: This study builds a case for advancing an understanding of being human as occupation and health. Being human was found to be radically relational, and not a given but a political potentiality which manifests on a continuum of enacted harmful negations and salutogenic affirmations of our humanity. Also, cultivation of our being human as shared identity-integrity can advance humanity-health. These insights allow for potentially humanizing and healing societal responses to violent-divided-wounded human relations. This has implications for how occupational therapy and occupational science can position and prepare for being a humanizing and healing resource through research, practice, and education.
Open Access
Fluency assessment in IsiXhosa: a video-based tool to facilitate reflective learning for speech-language therapists
(2013) Kathard, Harsha; Camroodien-Surve, Fatemah; Maphalala, Zinhle
The purpose of this video-based Fluency assessment of an eight year old female conducted in isiXhosa is to provide a reflective learning opportunity for students as well as qualified Speech-language therapists. The video is accompanied by a reflection from the therapist as well as examples of incisive questions to facilitate clinical learning. Given the importance of culturally and linguistically relevant assessment, the video presents an opportunity to deliberate on several issues speech-language therapists must consider when developing practices which embrace diversity. The questions included with this video should be regarded as initial learning triggers and users are advised to add to the bank of questions as a means of extending and sharing this learning opportunity.
Open Access
Health sciences undergraduate education at University of Cape Town: a story of transformation
(Health & Medical Publishing Group, 2012) Hartman, Nadia; Kathard, Harsha; Perez, Gonda; Reid, Steve; Irlam, James; Gunston, Geney D; Janse van Rensburg, Vicki; Burch, Vanessa; Duncan, Madeleine; Hellenberg, Derek; Van Rooyen, Ian; Smouse, Mantoa; Sikakane, Cynthia N; Badenhorst, Elmi; Ige, B
Undergraduate education and training in the Faculty of Health Sciences at the University of Cape Town has become socially responsive. A story of transformation that is consonant with wider societal developments since the 1994 democratic elections, outlining the changes in undergraduate curricula across the faculty, is presented.
Open Access
How can Speech Language Therapists and Audiologists enhance language and literacy outcomes in South Africa? (And why we urgently need to)
(AOSIS, 2011) Kathard, Harsha; Ramma, Lebogang; Pascoe, Michelle; Jordaan, Heila; Moonsamy, Sharon; Wium, Anna-Marie; Du Plessis, Sandra; Pottas, Lidia; Khan, Nasim Banu
Basic education in South Africa faces a crisis as learners fail to achieve the necessary outcomes in the related areas of language and literacy. The aims of this paper are twofold. Firstly, we aim to describe and discuss the education crisis by outlining the educational landscape, relevant policy imperatives and implementation challenges in post-apartheid education. The systemic factors contributing to the literacy crisis are emphasised. Secondly, we argue that speech language therapists and audiologists (SLTAs) have a role to play in supporting basic education in South Africa through developing language and literacy. It is suggested that the professions of speech-language pathology and audiology must be socially responsive and population-focused in order to make meaningful contributions to development in South Africa. The potential roles of SLTAs are discussed with suggestions for further actions required by the professions to enable a contextually relevant practice in a resource-constrained environment.
Open Access
How can we include disability issues in undergraduate curricula at the University of Cape Town?
(2016) Nwanze, Ikechukwu; Kathard, Harsha; Ohajunwa, Chioma
This study examined how disability issues can be included into the undergraduate curriculum at the University of Cape Town (UCT). It was based on Ohajunwa's (2012) study which looked at whether disability is included at all in UCT curricula. She found that disability issues were included but with minimal support and was done through individual effort and not a university collective effort. She also found that lecturers did not have support structures on how to even begin to think of including disability issues. This study therefore asked how disability issues can actually be included in the undergraduate curriculum at UCT. A literature search found that institutions in South Africa have not started looking at the inclusion of disability issues in the curriculum in universities but rather have been focusing on the inclusion of students with disabilities. Inclusion of disability issues in university curricula has been happening on a small scale internationally with institutions citing a lack of support on how this can be embedded into all curricula rather than as an add-on. The aims and objectives of this study, therefore, were to identify what content area should be the focus for the inclusion of disability issues, what teaching and assessment methods should be used, and what support structures are likely to be needed. The methodology used was a case study design and the case of disability inclusion in the University of Cape Town undergraduate curriculum. Focus group discussions, in-depth interviews, document analysis, and a reflective journal were means of data collection. Data were analysed using a thematic analysis method with an inductive approach. The findings are reported in relation to a curriculum process framework which emphasises the links between why disability issues should be included, how, when and by what means. The findings are presented in four themes: 1. Achieving transformation through curriculum change; 2. Build and design the curriculum for diversity; 3. Creating a community of practice; and 4. Translating talk into action. Trustworthiness and rigor were observed through member checking for credibility, reflexivity and peer-review for confirmability, and an audit trail for dependability. The study concluded with a recommendation that with the use of the curriculum process framework that emerged from the study, disciplines may have a way to include disability issues in undergraduate curricula in order to transform these curricula. However, this should be done in an integrated way through considering various parts of the curriculum process framework.