The book of Amos preserves powerful critiques of injustices in ancient Israel, and accordingly it has become famous as a resource for social justice movements across the centuries. The text has also been a testing ground for the history of prophets and prophetic literature. Given these emphases on socio-economic justice and historical dimensions of human culture, there has been a glaring neglect of “nature" themes in Amos and how these references to the non-human, created universe function in shaping the moral character of the readers. Without ecological features, the ethical message is hollow, since the character of humans and even of Yahweh as God are often evaluated and illustrated by realities in the rest of the natural world. Amos reciprocally connects the natural world (cosmos) and the moral world (ethos) together, implying that the condition and conceptions of the cosmos are partly reflective of human character and partly formative for human character in turn. The second aspect deserves attention at last. There is an ethos of the cosmos in Amos. Nature is not neutral. To describe this cosmos and ethos, the study proceeds in two steps for each major section of the translated Hebrew text. First, after establishing a historical setting for the final form of the text, there is a careful analysis of the "creation rhetoric." followed by a second step that doubles back to ask how such nature imagery encourages or discourages moral “character formation” for an audience in Judah. The rhetorical analysis uses insights into genre and speech act theory, while the ethical analysis uses character ethics to discuss practices, dispositions, and desires for visions of good and evil in Amos. In the end, the cosmos in Amos is more than ancient cosmology or dispensable background scenery. Built into the cosmos are dynamics that link justice with matters of life and death, and only through the nature imagery does the audience most vividly gain reverence for each other, their world, and their God. From earthquakes to new growth, creation shapes character. Creation rhetoric and character formation are mutually related and profitably compared for Old Testament ethics. / Thesis / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

[pt] É no contexto da proposta kantiana para a prática da moralidade que a tese está centrada. Dentro desse contexto, o foco principal é o problema da educação, pois a educação para a moralidade tem pressupostos e requer determinadas práticas, que são melhor compreendidas se levamos em conta o âmbito do sistema kantiano. De acordo com Kant, a razão humana cumpre não só uma função teórica, voltada para o conhecimento da natureza, mas também uma função prática, voltada para ideia de liberdade. Isso faz com que a questão da moralidade e da educação tenham seu cerne na ideia de liberdade. Em função dessa ideia, segundo Kant, a razão é capaz de determinar a vontade e o agir do ser humano, possibilitando um agir autônomo. É com vistas à constituição de sujeitos autônomos que a tarefa da educação moral se faz necessária, tarefa que requer um longo caminho de formação do caráter e do aprendizado pela liberdade, aprendizado cujos pressupostos residem nos princípios da razão pura, os únicos que possibilitam a moralidade. / [en] This thesis is centered on Kant s proposal for the practice of morality. In this context, the main focus is the problem of education, since education for morality has principles and requires certain practices that make better sense if we take into consideration the realm of Kant s system. According to Kant, the human reason fulfills not only a theoretical function, aimed at the knowledge of nature, but also a practical function, aimed at the idea of freedom. Therefore, the question of morality and education has its roots in the idea of freedom. Reason is capable of determining the will and the actions of human beings, making an autonomous action possible. Aiming at the constitution of autonomous subjects, the task of moral education is necessary, and it requires a long path of formation of character and learning through freedom. The foundations of this learning reside in the principles of pure reason, the only ones to make morality possible.

This thesis in Church History presents a biographic study on the life of Ben Marais against the political and ecclesiastic background of South Africa of the 20th century. The significance of Ben Marais’ life is approached through his correspondence with the secretaries of the World Council of Churches during the 1960s and 1970s. The letters, pertaining to the World Council of Churches financial and moral support for the organisations fighting against Apartheid, reflect on Ben Marais’ involvement with the World Council and his particular concerns. Through a study on the life of Ben Marais insight can be gained into the thinking of the leadership of the NG Kerk. The study presents Ben Marais as a prophet who challenged the then popular tendencies in the NG Kerk theology on policy justification and on the relation between religion and nationalism. The central question in this study asks, what led an ordinary man, of humble background, to the insights he reflected, and guided him through times of transparent opposition to maintain his belief in what was right and just? What was the essence of his theology and understanding of the South African problem? To what extent could the church leaders of the present, and the future learn from his example and life, in terms of the tribulations faced, different schools of thought, and sentiments, both nationalistic and spiritual? The study then wishes to test the following hypothesis: Ben Marais can be considered as one of the steadfast and humble prophets of the church in Southern Africa during the 20th century, who serves as an example of Christian Brotherhood, regardless of the perplexities, for present and future generations on relations between the affairs of faith, state and society. The thesis presents a broader introduction on Church Historiography. Ben Marais’ own historiographical reflection is considered. The approaches to history are summarised as background to the periodisation model adopted by the study. The study wishes to work with a thematic model set against a chronological framework. Sensitivity to geographical concerns is also expressed. Afrikaner Nationalism is not seen in isolation, but in relation to African, English and Indian Nationalism. / Thesis (DD)--University of Pretoria, 2005. / Church History and Church Policy / unrestricted

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No. of bitstreams: 1 silva_cr_dr_arafcl.pdf: 3927347 bytes, checksum: adbf85ce39fdaea9d2599cf718f8c49c (MD5) Previous issue date: 2017-09-01 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) / O presente estudo, fundamentado na pedagogia histórico-crítica e na psicologia histórico-cultural, tem como objeto a análise das relações entre a prática de ensino na educação infantil e a dinâmica a partir da qual se dá a gênese do desenvolvimento do caráter da “criança difícil”, tal como proposto por Vigotski (1997). Diante disso, traçamos o objetivo geral de analisar os mecanismos interpessoais e interpsíquicos presentes na dinâmica de formação das características recorrentes na conduta do aluno, apontadas como inadequadas do ponto de vista do professor, e suas relações com a organização do ensino na educação infantil. Nossas hipóteses iniciais previam a expressão da controvérsia filosófica entre essência e existência na forma como a equipe escolar explica a causa do comportamento das crianças, pois algumas das ações do aluno que o professor considera inadequadas são manifestações características do período do desenvolvimento infantil no qual esse aluno se encontra e a organização do ensino pode gerar condutas do professor que contribuem para acirrar aspectos das crises típicas dos períodos de transição, influenciando a dinâmica de constituição do caráter desse aluno. Pautando-nos no método materialista histórico-dialético, adotamos o estudo de caso como procedimento metodológico e obtivemos os dados por meio da participação na rotina da escola em situações pontuais durante cinco meses, aplicação de questionário aos professores para a definição do caso e pela realização de observação direta em sala de aula com registros videográficos durante 10 dias. Para análise, tomando como unidade mínima a intencionalidade dos atos humanos, abordamos a dimensão filosófica do problema investigado relacionando os dados referentes às concepções expressas por professores, gestores e familiares nas situações observadas com os aspectos filosóficos do processo de instituição da intencionalidade que sustenta a relação entre educação escolar e sociedade. Para análise dos registros filmográficos selecionamos situações em que nosso sujeito de pesquisa encontrava-se envolvido em um conflito com qualquer adulto e delimitamo-las como “episódio de interação conflitiva”. Marcamos o início do episódio a partir dos fatos que desencadearam o conflito, identificando quais atos levaram ao seu princípio e quais atos foram manifestos como reação aos primeiros. Identificamos 23 episódios de interação conflitiva, os quais foram analisados por meio da identificação da unidade dialética conteúdo-forma, presentes na intencionalidade dos atos manifestos na situação conflitiva. Os dados mostram indícios da controvérsia filosófica entre essência e existência no discurso dos familiares e equipe escolar, como interiorização da controvérsia na consciência individual. As observações das condições de ensino explicitam que há na rotina da escola alguns fatores intervenientes em relação à ocorrência de interações conflitivas, tais como a necessidade de que as professoras realizem atividades não condizentes com o acompanhamento pedagógico das crianças em momentos destinados para esse fim, escassez de promoção da atividade-guia da faixa etária, entre outras. No que concerne ao aluno, os dados revelam manifestações que podem ser associadas aos sintomas da crise dos três anos, com conteúdo predominantemente negativista. A análise dos episódios de interação conflitiva revela um predomínio de atos destinados a desencadear reações dos adultos, sob a forma de comportamentos inadequados para o contexto por parte do aluno. Quanto aos adultos, notamos a prevalência de atos direcionados a conter verbalmente o aluno, sob forma de expressões imperativas e autoritárias, o que, de acordo com a literatura, não condiz a práticas adequadas de interação com a criança na referida situação social de desenvolvimento. Tais fatos corroboram nossas hipóteses iniciais de que a intervenção dos professores tem sido realizada de um modo que leva ao acirramento tanto das características associadas à crise dos 3 anos quanto das formas de conduta que definem a “criança difícil”. Concluímos que a conduta do professor é um fator interveniente na dinâmica de formação das regularidades do comportamento infantil e afirmamos que os pressupostos da psicologia histórico-cultural e da pedagogia histórico-crítica fornecem subsídios para uma reorganização da prática pedagógica que conduza à superação de manifestações de condutas regulares de professores e de alunos que se caracterizam como empecilhos ao pleno desenvolvimento. / The present study, based on historical-critical pedagogy and historical-cultural psychology, has as its object the analysis of the relationship between the practice of teaching in early childhood education and the dynamics that provoke the genesis of the development of the character of the "difficult child", as proposed by Vigotski (1997). In view of this, we have outlined the general objective of analyzing the interpersonal and interpsychic mechanisms present in the development dynamics of the recurrent characteristics in the student 's conduct, pointed out as inadequate by the perspective of the teacher, and their relations with the organization of teaching in early childhood education. Our initial hypotheses predicted the expression of the philosophical controversy between essence and existence in the way the school staff explains the cause of the children's behavior, since some of the student's actions that the teacher considers inappropriate are characteristic manifestations of the child's developmental period and the organization of the teaching can generate conducts in the teacher that contribute to intensify aspects of the typical crises of the transition periods, influencing the dynamics of constitution of the character of this student. Based on the historical-dialectical materialist method, we adopted the case study as a methodological procedure and obtained the data through the participation in the routine of the school in specific situations during five months, applying a questionnaire to the teachers for the definition of the case and observing directly the classroom, with video recordings for 10 days. For analysis, taking as a minimal unit the intentionality of human acts, we approach the philosophical dimension of the investigated problem, relating the data referring to the conceptions expressed by teachers, managers and relatives in the situations observed with the philosophical aspects of the process of institutionalization of the intentionality that sustains the relation between school education and society. For analysis of the film recordings we select situations in which our subject of research was involved in a conflict with any adult and delimited such situations as "episode of conflictual interaction". We mark the beginning of the episode from the facts that triggered the conflict, identifying which acts led to its beginning and which acts were manifested as a reaction to the former. We identified 23 episodes of conflictual interaction, which were analyzed through of the identification of the content-form dialectical unit, present in the manifest acts in the conflict situation. The data show evidence of the philosophical controversy between essence and existence in the discourse of family and school team, as interiorization of the controversy in the individual consciousness. The observations of the teaching conditions show that there are in the routine of the school some intervening factors in relation to the occurrence of conflicting interactions, such as the need for the teachers to carry out activities that are not appropriate to the pedagogical accompaniment of the children in moments destined for this purpose, lack of promotion of guide-activity of the age group, among others. With regard to the student, the data reveal manifestations that can be associated with the symptoms of the crisis of the three years, with predominantly negativist content. The analysis of the conflicting interaction episodes reveals a predominance of acts destined to trigger reactions in the adults, in the form of decontextualized behaviors on the part of the student. As for adults, we noticed the prevalence of acts verbally directed to student control, in the form of imperative and authoritarian expressions, which, according to the literature, does not conform to adequate practices of interaction with the child in said social development situation. Such facts corroborate our initial hypotheses that the intervention of teachers has caused the intensification of the characteristics associated with the crisis of the three years and of the forms of conduct that define the "difficult child". We conclude that the conduct of the teacher is an intervening factor in the dynamics of the formation of regularities of child behavior and we affirm that the assumptions of historical-cultural psychology and historical-critical pedagogy provide subsidies for a reorganization of pedagogical practice that leads to the overcoming of regular conducts of teachers and students that are characterized as obstacles to full development. / CAPES: 1585859

TEACHING CHARACTER FORMATION RATIONALES WITH A COMPUTER-ASSISTED COURSEWARE FEBRURARY 2010 BO FENG, B.A., GUANGZHOU INSTITUTE OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES M.A., EASTERN ILLILOIS UNIVERSITY M.F.A, UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS AMHERST M.A., UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS AMHERST Directed by: Professor Zhongwei Shen This research conducts a literature survey in the areas of Chinese character error analysis; SLA theories in interlanguage and transfer; systemic characteristics of the Chinese writing system; as well as psycholinguist researches in Chinese character acquisition. CFL learners face critical issues in character acquisition, such as confusions caused by the lack of phonetic awareness, semantic awareness, and contextual interferences. In order to assist CFL learners cope with these issues effectively, it is necessary to develop a computer-assisted courseware utilizing multimedia and web technologies to turn character formation rationales into advance organizers which can be used by CFL learners to restructure newly acquired knowledge and skills. The courseware emphasizes enhancing phonetic awareness, while giving sufficient coverage for semantic awareness and preliminary concepts of spatial configuration of character components.