Thesis advisor: Maria E. Brisk / This dissertation analyzed how exemplary mainstream teachers of English Language Learners (ELLs) taught these students across contexts--English monolingual immersion and bilingual. The research for this study was grounded directly in the teaching practices of exemplary teachers for English Language Learners (ELLs). Teacher participants undertook inquiry into their own practices to provide the knowledge and information needed to assist other teachers in improving their practices with ELLs. The research in this case drew upon previous research in the area of professional knowledge and expertise. The major goal was to understand from a holistic viewpoint the successful teacher of ELLs--their backgrounds, knowledge and practices, and how these were mediated by teaching contexts--English monolingual immersion and bilingual. Using a constructivist grounded-theory design, four descriptive case studies were the focus of the dissertation. Using interviews, observations, recall sessions, and a focus group, each teacher was studied to determine their backgrounds both personally and professionally, teaching practices, and attitudes towards ELL students, in order to create a theory of what it takes to be an effective teacher of ELL students. The results suggest that certain background experiences can positively impact the teaching of ELL students: learning a second language, being immersed in a culture different from one's own, and an understanding of second language development. The results also indicated common patterns among the teachers' planning and preparation, teaching practices, and attitudes towards their ELL students. Commonalities in teachers' planning and preparation included the use of themes and units, language goals for their ELL students, knowledge of students' backgrounds, and preparation of exemplars and models. Commonalities in classroom practices included repetition of key vocabulary and phrases, prompting and coaching ELL students, thoughtful grouping and pairing, frequent check-ins with ELL students, and, in the bilingual context, use of the students' first language for learning and instruction. Finally, all of the teachers demonstrated common observable attitudes towards their ELL students such as kindness, sensitivity, and encouragement. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2008. / Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education. / Discipline: Curriculum and Instruction.

The aim of this study was to examine the protruding school concept NPF-säkring at the public school Källbrinksskolan in Sweden. Pupils with neuropsychiatric disabilities are particularly at risk to not reach the goals of the education and to have high school absence, which can lead to social exclusion later in life. The school in this study are well-known through Swedish media and claim that they have a solution to the challenges the Swedish school system face today therefore they have formed their concept specifically to the pupils with neuropsychiatric disabilities. The aim of this study was to perform a case-study to examine what the concept implies, it’s main logics and how it affects the institution. Using triangulation while studying various documents connected to the school concept, as well as one observation at the school after school hours, five main logics of the school concept became distinguishable. The analysis were divided into two parts where the first part focus on the main logics of the concept analyzed through Universal design of learning as a theoretical perspective and the second part consists of the theory of the Institutions three pillars to understand the institutional function and its relation to its context of the society. As a conclusion it came apparent that the main logics consists of physical environment, flexible structure, relational approach, encouragement for students' self-determination and overall approach at the school. The institutional function of the concept is distinctly connected to the increased awareness regarding the consequences of neuropsychiatric disabilities throughout society and by developing a new school concept, the institution there-by question the traditional Swedish school-system.

Background: Sweden is the home to many successful startups. The lack of IT-developers causes companies to use offshore outsourcing to realize their ideas. In research, there are studies on what needs to be done to outsource successfully. Researchers and practitioners argue that different perspectives on the impact of success need to be considered. Many studies show that the quality of the partnership relationship between customer and supplier is essential for the success of an outsourcing project. However, there are little studies on how success in outsourcing for a start-up comes about in the pre start-up phase and from which factors this depends. Purpose: This research has the purpose to understand why software startups outsource offshore in the pre-startup phase and how success can be achieved in these outsourcing projects. The partnership relationship has an influence on the success of outsourcing and is influenced by several factors. This research aims to find critical success factors in the pre start-up phase for offshore outsourcing. Method: To find answers to our research questions a multiple case study within 9 Swedish start-ups was conducted. Therefore, we collected all data through semi-structured interviews based on an interview guide. The critical success factors in outsourcing in the pre start-up phase were analyzed using content analysis methods. Conclusion: Our results show that outsourcing was an essential business step for all the examined software start-ups in order to realize their idea. In most cases, tactical reasons like availability of resources and costs savings were why start-ups chose to outsource software development to a provider abroad. The quick confirmation of ideas was another important aspect for some start-ups:  "fail fast and fail cheap". All investigated factors play a role in offshoring success, but communication, which directly influences trust, has the biggest influence on outsourcing success in the pre start-up phase of a firm. All other success factors influence the trust between client and vendor, which has a positive influence on the outsourcing success. It turns out that factors such as performance become more relevant in a more mature phase of the business.

With growing attention to sustainable development, the role of sustainable innovations has gained increasing significance. Due to their high innovativeness, research has begun to recognize the importance of small companies that base their entire business rationale on sustainability, as they have a central role in creating solutions to some of the most critical environmental issues of today. The key aim of this paper is therefore to explore the emergence of ecopreneurial startups with sustainable innovations in order to develop a deeper understanding of how they grow and operate. By using a case study approach based on semi-structured interviews and secondary data sources, this study examines four Finnish startup companies. The results suggest that the emergence of the studied startups is highly linked to the ecopreneurs’ ability to identify potential business opportunities and to innovate through exploiting both their own and others’ previous knowledge. In addition, various internal and external aspects such as the work teams’ skills and expertise together with different push and pull factors contribute to the innovation development process around which the emergence of the companies is built. / Till följd av växande uppmärksamhet på hållbar utveckling har rollen av hållbara innovationer blivit allt viktigare. Mindre företag kännetecknas ofta av en hög grad av uppfinningsrikedom, och kan därmed ses som viktiga aktörer i att utveckla hållbara lösningar till några av de största miljöhoten idag. Forskning har följaktligen börjat att rikta fokus på speciellt de små företag som har byggt upp deras hela verksamhetsidé på hållbarhet. Huvudsyftet med denna studie är att undersöka uppkomsten av nystartade ekoprenöriella företag med hållbara innovationer för att få djupare förståelse om hur dessa företag växer och fungerar. Genom att utföra en fallstudie baserad på semistrukturerade intervjuer och sekundära källor granskar denna studie fyra finska nystartade företag. Resultatet visar på att uppkomsten av ekoprenöriella nystartade företag är starkt sammankopplad till ekoprenörens förmåga att identifiera potentiella affärsmöjligheter och innovera genom att utnyttja både sin egen och andras förkunskap. Vidare finns det diverse interna och externa faktorer, såsom teamets förmågor och expertis samt olika push- och pull-faktorer som påverkar innovationsutvecklingsprocessen som lägger grunden till företagens uppkomst.

[pt] Esta dissertação tem por objetivo avaliar a eficácia da gestão do processo de mudança organizacional de uma empresa familiar brasileira da área de saúde que está passando por uma fase de sucessão e busca de maior profissionalização. Para atingir este objetivo foi realizada uma pesquisa de campo e uma análise qualitativa, comparando os dados levantados com os conceitos identificados na literatura. Os dados foram coletados através de entrevistas informais, análise de documentos da empresa e observação participativa, no período de julho de 2005 a janeiro de 2006. O estudo verifica se o processo de mudança organizacional da empresa estudada foi ou não bem sucedido e, também, o avalia à luz do modelo proposto por John P. Kotter para a implementação eficaz de mudanças nas organizações, comparando os oito passos propostos pelo autor com o ocorrido na empresa. A avaliação do processo de mudança levou à constatação de que este não foi bem sucedido. O resultado desta pesquisa sugere aplicabilidade do modelo de Kotter à medida que evidencia que diversos passos apontados pelo autor não foram seguidos e tal fato ocasionou problemas no processo de mudança da organização. / [en] This essay aims to make an assessment regarding the management of the organizational change process and its effectiveness within a Brazilian familiar company. The object of this study is a health company that is going through a succession period and is in search of improving its professional profile. In order to achieve this goal, a field research and a quality analysis were realized, comparing the data obtained and the concepts identified in a selected literature. Data was collected through informal interviews, analysis of the company`s documents and as a participant observer, from July 2005 to January 2006. This study evaluates if the organizational change process has succeeded or not, also considering the model proposed by John P. Kotter for the efficient deployment of changes in organizations, comparing the eight-stage change process proposed by the author to what actually occurred in the company. The analysis of the change process led us to the conclusion that it was unsuccessful. The result of this research suggests that the eight-stage change process is applicable to the situation studied since it makes clear that several stages mentioned by the author were not followed and this fact has caused problems in the organizational change process.

Most recent research show that the role of the modern controller has changed from thetraditional bean counter towards a business partner role. However, all literature does notagree with this notion, claiming that the controller is still more of a bean counter. Further,what it actually means to be a business partner also differs between researchers. The rolechange has also brought several new challenges for the controller. The purpose of this studyis to examine what it means to be a controller at a consultancy company in the IT industry,and what challenges and opportunities exist for business partnering. This is achieved usingcase study as the research design, including qualitative data from interviews of ten controllersof different seniority. The findings are analyzed through a theoretical framework consistingof role theory combined with previous literature on the topic. The findings of the study showthat the role of the controller at the case company shared more similarities with the traditionaldescription of a bean counter than a business partner. While more elements of businesspartnering started to appear as seniority increases, the controllers still felt like they weredoing too much bean counting activities. However, some opportunities for businesspartnering were still found at the company. The study suggests four major challengescontributing to role issues and hindering the controllers from becoming business partners.The four challenges are related to (1) lack of adaptation to new technology, (2) a centralizedorganizational structure, (3) the interplay between financial and business departments, and (4)accountability issues.

I analyzed the hairy experience of seven women participating or linked to MaYHAIR initiative, through the ex/in-corporation framework (Zeiler, 2013). MaYHAIR is a movement inviting to question the double standards on body hair by challenging people to keep their body hair for the whole month of May. Although previous studies mainly focus on hairlessness and body hair removal, I concentrate in this study case on the - feminine – experience of body hair and the excorporation feeling that realization of the hairless norm may create. I address the acceptance of one’s body hair leading to the acceptance of one’s body; the politization associated with hairiness; the importance of intersectional concern leading to challenging choice rhetoric; as well as the necessity for support and diversity of representations.

The Circular Economy was developed as a response to the prevailing linear model of material use. The goal of the concept is to eliminate waste and mitigate environmental impacts by transforming the economic system into one that pursues a circular flow of materials and resources, in contrast to the current make-use-waste paradigm. While the concept has gained some momentum in the past years, there is still no definition that is agreed upon by scholars and practitioners. While the goal of the Circular Economy is clear, the perspectives on how this can be achieved differ. This study focuses on the Circular Economy at the city level via a case study of Uppsala, Sweden. The aim of this study is to gather the perspectives of actors active in circularity and to determine whether they agree on how the Circular Economy can be achieved. While there are a large number of actors involved in Circular Economy in Uppsala, this study focuses on two actor groups: the municipality and businesses. Semi-structured interviews were conducted and the actors' responses were analysed in regard to the actor's underlying ideology, their role within Circular Economy and their perception on how a transition to a circular system should occur. The study's results reveal that the actors in Uppsala lack an overall consensus on how the Circular Economy should be achieved, even though they tend to agree on some aspects. Furthermore, the interviewed actors do not take into account the systemic perspective of the transition. In response to this finding, the waste hierarchy was updated with the aim to draw attention to this notion. Additionally, it is found that most of the interviewed actors mention co-operation among different organisations as being the key to achieving the Circular Economy, which could help to promote the Circular Economy in the future.

Esta pesquisa teve como objetivo estudar a relação entre mudanças na competência social e no peso em dois adolescentes obesos. Os casos foram atendidos individualmente dentro do modelo de terapia comportamental e os dados obtidos foram descritos em forma de estudo de caso. Os clientes foram avaliados em relação às mudanças ocorridas através de diferentes escalas e inventários e de categorias de comportamento criadas pela pesquisadora para observação e análise do processo terapêutico. Para os dois clientes ocorreram ganhos referentes à competência social. Em relação ao peso, um cliente apresentou uma forte relação inversa com competência social no decorrer do tratamento e perdeu peso. O outro cliente precisou de um tratamento mais longo mas apresentou no final do tratamento (últimas 10 sessões) uma tendência semelhante. Os resultados também indicaram que ambos desenvolveram estratégias de comportamento para lidar com os aspectos aversivos do ambiente relacionados à obesidade, apontando para a necessidade de associar essa modalidade de tratamento que enfoca o desenvolvimento da competência social a outros procedimentos utilizados nos tratamentos de perda de peso. / This research evaluated the relationship between changes in social competence and weight loss in two obese adolescents. Both cases were treated with individual behavioral therapy and the results were presented as a case report. The clients were evaluated by changes obtained on different scales and inventories, as well as by the analysis of behavioral categories created by the therapist. In this analysis, both clients were observed to improve in terms of social competence. One of the clients demonstrated a significant inverse correlation between improvement of social competence and weight loss during treatment (16 sessions) and lost weight. The other client required longer treatment (40 sessions), but also demonstrated at the end of intervention, the same tendency of results. Based on this evaluation, it was postulated that behavioral therapy targeted to issues of social competence should be an integral part of treatment for weight loss, and should be combined with other therapeutic modalities.

No Brasil verifica-se um movimento de escolas que estão sendo chamadas alternativas. Essa pesquisa teve como objetivo descrever e caracterizar uma escola cadastrada no Mapeamento Coletivo de Educação Alternativa, plataforma virtual, na qual são encontradas tais instituições. Para tanto utilizou-se a abordagem qualitativa da etnografia em educação, com os instrumentos da observação participante, entrevista e análise documental. Na escola, os alunos são reconhecidos como educandos e os professores e funcionários como educadores. Foram realizadas 53 visitas, 15 entrevistas (duas gestoras, sete educadores, três educandos, dois funcionários e uma mãe) e análise documental do Regimento Escolar, Projeto Pedagógico e Carta de Princípios. Com fundamentação teórica em Gilles Deleuze, Félix Guattari e Michel Foucault, observa-se que na escola pesquisada há diferenças no plano molar, comparadas às escolas tradicionais: denominação dos educadores e educandos, divisão dos educandos por núcleos de aprendizagem (iniciação, consolidação, desenvolvimento), ensino por projetos, pesquisas, roteiros e oficinas, dispositivos de assembleias, grupos de responsabilidade e grupos de discussão, pautados em valores (autonomia, responsabilidade, afetividade, solidariedade e respeito), etc. No plano molecular, a disciplina e a vigilância permanecem. Poucos foram os momentos observados em que a aprendizagem inventiva aparece. Os membros da escola não a consideram alternativa, mas compreendem a educação de maneira coletiva, através das relações com a Comunidade de Aprendizagem. As práticas pedagógicas da escola, segundo as gestoras, precisam ser sempre discutidas com as instâncias formais de educação, pois há resoluções que impedem o pedagógico de acontecer, mas a escola segue seu Projeto Pedagógico, documento autorizado, que valida a concepção e prática escolar. Propõe-se pensar esse Movimento da Educação Alternativa como o momento em que teorias pedagógicas voltadas para a Nova Educação ou com princípios diferentes ao da pedagogia tradicional começam a ser aderidas por mais escolas e, assim, colocadas em prática. Por fim, convida-se a pensar em transformações educacionais não mais em termos pedagógicos, mas em termos relacionais que afirmem a diferença. / In Brazil, it\'s possible to see a movement of schools that are being called alternative. This research had an objective of describing and characterizing one school registered at the Alternative Education Collective Mapping, an online platform, where such institutions are found. For this, a qualitative approach of ethnography in education was used, with the tools of participative observation, interview and documentary analysis. In the school, the students are recognized as learners and the teachers and staff as educators. A total of 53 visits and 15 interviews (two school managers, seven educators, three learners, two staff members and one parent) were made, as well as a documentary analysis of the School Statute, Pedagogical Project and Principles Statement. With a theoretical foundation based on Gilles Deleuze, Félix Guattari and Michel Foucault, its observed that in the institution that was researched, there are differences in the molar level, when compared to the traditional schools: in the denomination of educators and learners, in the division of the learners by learning core (initiation, consolidation, development), in the use of projects, research, scripts and workshops for teaching, in the devices of assemblies, responsibility groups and discussion groups, based on values (autonomy, responsibility, affectivity, solidarity and respect), etc. In the molecular level, discipline and vigilance remain. There were few moments where inventive learning appeared. The school members don\'t consider it alternative, but understand education in a collective manner, through the relationships with the Learning Community. The pedagogical practices of the school, according to the school managers, need to be discussed always with the formal instances of education, since there are resolutions that prevent the pedagogical from happening, but the school follows its Pedagogical Project, an authorized document, that validates the school conception and practice. It is proposed to think this Alternative Education Movement as the moment in which pedagogical theories focused on the New Education, or with principles that differ from the traditional education principles, start to be embraced by more schools, and therefore put into practice. Finally, an invitation is proposed to think about educational transformations no longer in pedagogical terms, but in relational terms that affirm the difference.