Research Articles (Educational Psychology)

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Learning about sustainability in a global context of digital transformation in teacher education : exemplary vignettes of experience in webinars
(University of Ljubljana, 2025-03) Dittrich, Ann-Kathrin; Mathabathe, Kgadi Clarrie; Eloff, Irma; Agostini, Evi
Webinars are a powerful digital tool for learning about sustainability in a global context. The implementation of different technologies in teacher education, such as webinars, is becoming indispensable due to digital transformation and internationalisation processes. In this context, digital competences are described as key to quality education and a sustainable future. In teacher education, there is little evidence on how digital tools can be used for learning about sustainability. Based on the Teach4Reach project, a two-year international study on the Sustainable Development Goals in teacher education describes learning experiences in webinars by presenting selected vignettes. The question is how digitisation can support learning on sustainability in a global context of quality education. We conclude that webinars are a digital tool that supports knowledge building and collaborative learning in an international context but that their specific properties need to be recognised. The vignettes exemplify various challenges and opportunities presented by webinars, such as the fundamental role of facilitators, ease of access to the online environment, different behaviours of participants and unknowns about the learning outcomes.
Solving climate change requires changing our food systems
(Oxford University Press, 2025-01) Feigin, Svetlana V.; Wiebers, David O.; Blumstein, Daniel T.; Knight, Andrew; Eshel, Gidon; Lueddeke, George; Kopnina, Helen; Feigin, Valery L.; Morand, Serge; Lee, Kelley; Brainin, Michael; Shackelford, Todd K.; Alexander, Shelley M.; Marcum, James; Merskin, Debra; Skerratt, Lee F.; Van Kleef, Gerben A.; Whitfort, Amanda; Freeman, Carrie P.; Winkler, Andrea Sylvia
Humanity is facing an important existential threat—irreversible climate change caused by human activity. Until recently, most of the proposals to address climate change have downplayed or ignored the adverse impact of food systems, especially intensive animal agriculture. This is in spite of the fact that up to a third of global greenhouse gas production to date can be attributed to animal agriculture. Recent developments at COP28 have signaled that the tide is turning, however, and that food systems are becoming part of global discussions on climate change solutions. The pressing nature of irreversible climate change requires rethinking our food systems. To solve the climate change crisis, we propose transitioning to a predominantly plant-based diet, and phasing out intensive animal agriculture as diets shift, without increasing pastoral farming. We suggest that such transformations in global food systems can be accomplished largely through education and large-scale public information campaigns, removal of subsidies, taxation to account for externalized costs of animal agriculture, improved labelling of products, and various investment/divestment drivers. Better metrics and industry benchmarks involving food and agriculture-specific performance indicators that reflect food system sustainability will be important. Increased global awareness of these issues and a change in mindset (which will drive political will) also are needed. Our current trajectory is untenable, and we must begin to turn the ship now towards sustainable food systems and diets.
Applying life-design counseling to young adults experiencing unmastered psychosocial developmental tasks
(Sage, 2025-07) Pollard, Zelda; Maree, J.G. (Kobus)
Unresolved traumatic experiences and unmastered developmental tasks can adversely affect personality, thereby exerting a significant psychological impact on career trajectory and adaptability. This study investigated the influence of life-design counseling on young adults in mastering unresolved psychosocial developmental tasks. A qualitative, mixed-methods case study research design was employed, featuring pre- and post-intervention data collection phases and an adapted life-design counseling intervention. This intervention incorporated the Career Interest Profile Version 7 (CIP) and various life-design strategies. Thematic analysis revealed three core themes: unmastered psychosocial developmental tasks, external influences on the navigation of these tasks, and intrapersonal processes facilitating task mastery. The findings revealed that life-design counselling enhanced the resolution of unmastered psychosocial developmental tasks, self-awareness, self-knowledge, and self-reflection, and promoted a heightened sense of meaning and purpose in participants’ lives. These results offer theoretical insights and practical applications, enhancing the understanding and implementation of psychosocial developmental tasks within life-design counseling frameworks.
Career counselling framework for sustainable career trajectories Anthropocene : intervention with a gifted disadvantaged youth
(Sage, 2025-05) Maree, J.G. (Kobus); kobus.maree@up.ac.za
This article reports on an intervention based on a new approach to career counselling in the Anthropocene era. The research aimed to examine the determinants of the changes that occurred in the research participant rather than just the changes themselves. A gifted 17-year-old male (clarifying his career choice) was conveniently and purposively selected from enrichment workshop attendees. A descriptive and instrumental case study research was used to generate data. The workshop attendees completed the Career Interest Profile and the Maree Career Matrix to facilitate the intervention. Savickas’ guidelines for analysing career construction-related data were used to analyse the data. The intervention enhanced the participant’s psychological self as an autobiographical author especially. After the intervention the participant gave evidence of an enhanced sense of eco-awareness and moral behaviour). Further research is needed to establish the short-term and long-term effect of the kind of intervention in individual and group contexts.
The invisibility of anxiety in young, traumatised South African children
(Sage, 2025-06) Du Plessis, Ingrid; Eloff, Irma
The high prevalence of anxiety in young traumatised children has been well established in literature. However, the body of literature that explores how anxiety manifests in classroom settings in the South African context is still growing. The ways in which it presents at the personal level for individual children, in particular, need to be examined in greater depth. The current study posed the question, ‘How does anxiety manifest in young, traumatised South African children in classroom settings?’ The researchers adopted an interpretive phenomenological approach and used a combination of intervention and vignette research. Data were collected from individualised, intuitive, and integrative psychotherapeutic processes. Primary participants (n = 5) ranged in ages from 8 to 14 years, while secondary participants included parents and teachers. An analysis of parental and teacher interviews as well as vignettes for each participant revealed high levels of anxiety invisibility in classroom settings for all the study participants. This finding was triangulated from the teacher interviews, parental interviews, therapeutic engagement, and vignettes. The study identified the need for capacity development in teachers in terms of mental health and wellbeing, and recommended that additional support mechanisms be provided for young, traumatised children suffering from anxiety.
Baseline insights into the food practices and needs of a South African resource-constrained community
(Academy of Science of South Africa, 2025-08) Ferreira, Ronel; Botha, Karien; ronel.ferreira@up.ac.za
We report here on one phase of a broader research project that focused on the development, implementation and effect of a school-based health promotion intervention. We explored food-related practices and needs in a resource-constrained community, with the aim of developing and implementing a school-based health promotion intervention. The focus was on community practices regarding food choice, production, preparation and consumption. We followed an interpretivist qualitative approach and implemented a multiple case study design. We generated data with 45 primary school teachers (Grades 4–6) and 23 parents, sampled via criterion and snowball sampling techniques. In this article, we specifically report on the first phase of the broad research project, referring to the current food-related practices and associated needs of the participating community. We aim to contribute to the current understanding of food practices in resource-constrained contexts in South Africa, as a platform against which health promotion interventions can be designed and implemented. We argue for the importance of understanding the underlying reasons for food-related habits, when wanting to address unhealthy food and nutrition-related practices. This argument confirms the importance of tailor-made interventions that can be utilised to promote healthy eating habits in specific communities, against the background and importance of broader systems and holistic transformation that can support food security on a wider level. SIGNIFICANCE : Our findings highlight the specific food-related practices and needs of a resource-constrained community in South Africa. These findings can serve as baseline information to inform the development of health promotion interventions that can potentially contribute to sustainable food systems in South Africa. By grounding interventions in the expressed needs of communities, initiatives can be better tailored to local realities and more likely to support positive change. Moreover, if targeted at a specific community, interventions can encourage healthier dietary habits at ground level, thereby contributing to the broader efforts of supporting food and nutrition security goals in South Africa.
A qualitative study on the feasibility of a yoga-based PPI for promoting well-being at a South African HEI
(AOSIS, 2025-05) Meiring, Leana; Van Eeden, René; Fadiji, Angelina Wilson
ORIENTATION : An increase in workplace stressors in higher education institutions (HEIs) negatively impacts employees’ mental health and well-being. Workplace wellness promotion programmes that emphasise employee flourishing provide an optimal long-term strategy to improve mental health. RESEARCH PURPOSE : The aim of the study was to explore and describe the value and feasibility of a 36-week yoga-based workplace positive psychology intervention targeted at holistic wellness promotion. MOTIVATION FOR THE STUDY : A proactive approach to employee well-being was proposed to counter the stigma commonly associated with reactive wellness programmes, especially initiatives targeted at mental health. RESEARCH APPROACH/DESIGN AND METHOD : The research was conducted at a South African HEI using a qualitative descriptive research design. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 10 participants after concluding the intervention. MAIN FINDINGS : The programme was perceived as a timely initiative suitable to nurture participants’ wellness needs. The different programme components bolstered a range of physical, emotional, psychological and social well-being dimensions. The design and structure of the intervention furthermore encouraged and supported processes of transformation and participants’ reflections informed recommendations for the future implementation of the programme. PRACTICAL/MANAGERIAL IMPLICATIONS : The findings provide support for this yoga-based positive psychology intervention as a viable approach for holistic workplace wellness promotion. A strategy is provided for implementing a programme that targets different dimensions of well-being implying relevance to the work context and employees’ personal lives. Long-term feasibility depends on employee interest and commitment, institutional needs and strong organisational support. CONTRIBUTION/VALUE-ADD : The findings show that yoga as a workplace intervention provides a holistic and proactive wellness promotion programme that could counter the stigma often linked to reactive mental-health initiatives.
Social connectedness as a pathway to teacher resilience in challenged contexts
(Elsevier, 2025) Versfeld, Jessica; Ebersohn, L. (Liesel); Ferreira, Ronel; Graham, Marien Alet; Jessica.versfeld@up.ac.za
This study explores the role of social connectedness in fostering teacher resilience in resource-constrained educational settings in the Global South, with a specific focus on South Africa. Using the Relationship-Resourced Resilience (RRR) framework, the research investigates how the Isithebe Social Connectedness intervention supports teachers in adapting and thriving despite systemic disparities. A mixed-methods approach was employed, combining quantitative assessments using the ENTRÉE Teacher Resilience Questionnaire with qualitative insights from Participatory Reflection and Action (PRA) sessions. The findings indicate that while teachers demonstrated high resilience prior to the intervention, their resilience was significantly strengthened through structured social support. Notably, post-intervention data revealed increased emotional well-being, stronger professional identity, and enhanced peer collaboration. These improvements translated into higher teacher motivation, better classroom management, and a sustained commitment to quality education. By highlighting the power of collective resilience in overcoming adversity, this study provides evidence for the role of social connectedness interventions in sustaining teacher effectiveness and well-being in challenged contexts. HIGHLIGHTS • Study explored a social connectedness intervention in six peri-urban South African schools. • Teachers showed improved motivation, emotional regulation, and professional efficacy. • Intervention fostered trust, collaboration, and context-specific professional support. • Low-cost, Ubuntu-inspired model helped sustain teacher well-being in under-resourced settings.
Longitudinal career construction counselling for a black female student experiencing career indecision
(Stellenbosch University, 2025-04) Maree, J.G. (Kobus)
This article reports on the longitudinal effect of career construction counselling on a black female student experiencing career indecision. Purposive sampling was used to select an adolescent experiencing career indecision. An integrative, QUALITATIVE-quantitative methodology was employed as the research lens, and a longitudinal, seven-year, explanatory, single-participant study design was adopted. The Career Construction Interview (CCI), the Career Interest Profile (CIP), and the Maree Career Matrix (MCM) were used to elicit the participant’s many micro-life stories and key life themes and to co-construct her future career-life story narrative. Adapted thematic data analysis incorporating the analytic style proposed by Savickas was carried out to analyse the data reflexively. In the short term, the participant's psychological self as a social actor was enhanced by confirming her career choice, and her psychological self as a motivated agent was promoted by bolstering her goal-setting capacity and sense of self. Longitudinally, her self- and career identity was clarified and her sense of hope rekindled (the self as an autobiographical author was strengthened). Future research should examine the short- and longer-term effects of the approach described here in diverse career counselling contexts. More information is needed on when drawing on the CCI as a standalone assessment intervention may suffice.
Education and forms of participation in the BRICS context : some elements for an approach to the theme
(Núcleo de Políticas, Gestão e Financiamento da Educação da Universidade Federal do Paraná, 2024-12-23) Gouveia, Andrea Barbosa; Mendes, Geovana Mendonca Lunardi; Ebersohn, L. (Liesel); Dos S. Ferraz, Marcos Alexandre; Kosaretsky, Sergey; liesel.ebersohn@up.ac.za
ABSTRACT : The article presents the special issue of the Journal of Educational Policy on education and participation in the BRICS context. In opposition to the global agenda based on the hegemonic interests of the North, it asks about an articulation between countries of the Global South that could allow for other international dialogues in the education context. The dossier was called for in 2023. Therefore, the focus was strongly on the group of countries in the initial formation of the group. In this context, this presentation focuses on perspectives from Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa based on the following axes: 1) education as a public policy, in the context of the BRICS debate; 2) the educational approaches and dialogues needed to innovate the international cooperation agenda; and 3) Presentation of the 9 articles in the special issue, highlighting how the researchers approached the challenges of participation, from original perspectives, in each of their contexts considering the following emphases: innovative experiences and their impact on local contexts; different modes of social participation; the BRICs from the perspective of the Global South; and Higher education and the challenges for the BRICs.
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.

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