This article explains the naive theory of biology that the pre-school child uses to explain the cause of death. The empirical investigation showed that the young participants do use a naive theory of biology to explain function and do make reference to 'vitalistic causality' in explaining organ function. Furthermore, most of these participants gave an external explanation for the cause of death (e.g. gunshots, poison, sticks), but those participants who gave an internal (biological) explanation for the cause of death were well-informed about the biological teleology of body organs. These findings concluded that education, socioeconomic factors and culture influenced the acquisition of a naive theory of biology. Regarding the view of educators, all emphasised the need for guidance in how to explain the concept of death to young children. The research approach was conducted from a qualitative paradigm and was based on the strategy of phenomenology and grounded theory approach. The researcher chose two cultural settings (urban and suburban milieu) and used eight pre-school children and four educators as her participants.
Unacceptable behaviour by learners in South African schools is a major concern for all stakeholders in the teaching profession. This explains the increased interest in the role and responsibility of teachers in managing problem behaviour and the effect of this behaviour on educators’ quality of life in the workplace. This research posed the following questions: Does inappropriate student behaviour affect teachers’ working life, and if so, to what extent? Is the prevalence of undisciplined behaviour higher amongst boys and in multicultural schools? What is the influence of learners’ disruptive behaviour on teachers? How do teachers experience support from role-players? A questionnaire was used to obtain information for answering these questions. Although the findings of this research indicated that not all teachers experience excessive emotional reactions that may contribute to stress, it appeared that undisciplined behaviour was the source of irritation, made demands on teachers’ temper and caused aggression. The majority of teachers reported that they enjoyed sufficient support from the school’s governing body, but they were not satisfied with the support from parents and the department of education. In spite of the high percentage of teachers who indicated that undisciplined behaviour impacted on their job satisfaction, the majority do not consider leaving the teaching profession
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