Arbetsmiljölagen ger anställda och deras representanter, skyddsombuden, rätt att delta i det systematiska arbetsmiljöarbete som arbetsgivaren har skyldighet att arrangera. Forskning om deltagande har i stor utsträckning varit fokuserad påstrukturella och organisatoriska förutsättningar för anställdas deltagande. Mycket tyder dock på att anställda inte utnyttjar sina starka rättigheter. Avhandlingens analyserar arbetsmiljödeltagandet genom en fallstudie på ett pappersbruk med väl etablerade organisatoriska strukturer för deltagande i syfte att förklara deltagandets grunder bortom de strukturella villkoren. Syfte är att förstå varför anställda inte i avsedd omfattning utnyttjar de möjligheter till arbetsmiljöinflytande som lagstiftning och goda strukturella villkor ger. Avhandlingen visar hur anställda i stor utsträckning handskas med arbetets risker och belastningar genom sin kollektivt utvecklade kompetens, förståelse och ansvar för varandra och i mindre utsträckning genom att interagera med arbetsgivaren genom arbetsmiljödeltagande. Etienne Wengers begrepp ”praktikgemenskaper” används i avhandlingen tillsammans med Paavo Bergmans analys av lagarbete och betydelsen av processpecifik kompetens för att klarlägga de sociala processer för meningsskapande som betingar anställdas deltagande i arbetsmiljöarbetet. Med Lysgaards begrepp ”arbetarkollektivet” visar också avhandlingen på betydelsen av maktrelationerna mellan operatörer och arbetsgivare för möjligheterna att etablera en gemensam kunskapsprocess kring arbetsmiljö genom de former för arbetsmiljödeltagande som var etablerade på pappersbruket. / Swedish law gives employees, and their representatives, rights to participate in the employer’s systematic occupational health and safety management. Research  on worker participation in OHSM has mainly focused on structural conditions for participation such as organisational arrangements, industrial relations, or union support. There are however indications that employees do not use their strong legal rights. The aim of the present thesis is to understand the prerequisites and conditions for worker OHSM participation, seen here as a joint knowledge process for work environment issues. More precisely, the thesis aims to analyse the significance of workers’ local and situated knowledge, the construction of participative practices, and the problems and advantages of representative participation. The thesis also aims to explain the paradox that favourable structural conditions for participation are only partly used by the workers, despite evident risks at work. The empirical basis is a case study at a paper mill. The mill was chosen as its OHSM to a large extent fulfils what research claims are necessary structural conditions for effective participation. To understand the possibilities and problems of such participation, the analysis uses a combination of three theoretical perspectives on work and (situated) knowledge: Etienne Wenger’s (1998) approach to communities of practice; Paavo Bergman’s (1995) analysis of teamwork in the process industry; and Sverre Lysgaard’s (1961) theory of the workers’ collective.

<p>In this research paper, guided by Prof Z Groener, I explore the learning barriers experienced by deaf learners in the structured workplace component of a learnership programme. I focus on the learning barriers of deaf learners at work on an Information Technology learnership where the learning environment shapes and are shaped by deaf learners. Twenty deaf learners have entered during 2005 into an Information Technology: Technical Support NQF4 learnership, funded by the Information Systems (IT), Electronics and Telecommunications Technologies Sector Education Training Authority (ISETT Seta). I have determined how deaf learners are faring with work and learning in a technological environment that has experienced rapid and extensive restructuring during the past ten years. The specific difficulties which they experience during their structured workplace component of the learnerships have also been defined. I argue that when deaf learners form part of a community of practice, consisting of both deaf learners and hearing colleagues and who operate in the same area of knowledge and activity, they fare better than those who did not form part of such a community. I conclude this research paper with a link to the situated learning theory where I explain why the learner&rsquo / s situation contributed to their ability to learn.</p>

What happens when an online community moves to a real space? Take the case of Anonymous. For several years now, this, loosely connected, entirely internet based group has been known for online pranks and griefing, often being labeled by the media as "hackers on steroids" or "the Internet Hate Machine". However, recently a significant portion of the group has taken up the cause of protesting what it sees as criminal injustices of the Church of Scientology. This move into the real world sparked various discussions which are relevant for online communities as a whole. What negotiations, compromises, and changes took place in order to move into the real world space? In what ways has the group succeeded (or failed) in maintaining the momentum needed for long term real-world protest and what can other online communities gain from this history?

Conselho Nacional do Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq) / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) / A sociedade atual se mantém e se organiza em formato de rede, interconectando pessoas e organizações ao redor do mundo. Nestas novas formas de organização social, as empresas passaram a manter relações de cooperação em rede para otimizar a utilização de seu potencial e compartilhar riscos, recursos físicos e financeiros e, mais recentemente, compartilhar recursos de informação e de conhecimento. Um dos públicos com os quais as empresas passaram a realizar este tipo de atividade é composto pelas universidades, tradicionais polos do Conhecimento, e pelos grupos de pesquisa e seus respectivos pesquisadores. Neste contexto, surgiram as redes de conhecimento, vistas como conjuntos de atores heterogêneos que se unem para criar e compartilhar conhecimentos sobre temas e áreas variadas, que podem ser encontradas nos mais diversos setores da sociedade e também nas relações entre universidades e empresas. A partir destas delimitações, este estudo tem o objetivo de analisar o surgimento de Redes de Conhecimento no cenário brasileiro atual de relações de interação universidade-empresa sob a ótica de grupos de pesquisa selecionados no Diretório Geral dos Grupos de Pesquisa no Brasil - DGP, com vistas a proposição de uma estrutura referencial de ações para fomentar o surgimento dessas redes. A pesquisa pode ser caracterizada como de natureza aplicada e de abordagem fundamentalmente qualitativa. Quanto aos objetivos-macro, esta é uma pesquisa exploratória e descritiva, utilizando-se de métodos qualitativos e quantitativos para a coleta e para a análise dos dados, que foi baseada na metodologia de análise de conteúdo e utiliza-se também de estatística descritiva e inferencial. Os resultados do estudo indicam que as relações de cooperação entre universidades e empresas ocorrem no cenário nacional, embora em pequena proporção. Por outro lado, a questão das Redes de Conhecimento formadas nas relações universidadeempresa ainda é incipiente, de forma que foram encontrados, após pesquisa bibliométrica, poucos trabalhos científicos abordando a temática. Ainda, como características principais do processo, verificou-se que as interações partem, em geral, das universidades ou dos grupos de pesquisa, que desenvolvem projetos voltados para pesquisas aplicadas com as empresas com as quais cooperam. Verificou-se ainda um caráter bastante pessoal nessas relações, embora os participantes da pesquisa tenham apontado que a institucionalização destas redes legitimaria suas ações frente à sociedade. De outra parte, considerando os dados analisados, percebe-se que a formação e a manutenção de redes de conhecimento nas relações entre universidades e empresas têm o potencial de contribuir para o desenvolvimento pessoal dos indivíduos envolvidos no processo de cooperação, para o aprimoramento administrativo e organizacional das instituições participantes da rede e desenvolvimento econômico e social das regiões onde as redes se inserem. / The present society is maintained and organized in a network format, interconnecting people and organizations around the world. In these new forms of social organization, companies began to maintain cooperative relationships in order to optimize the use of their potential and to share risks, physical and financial resources, and, more recently, to share information and knowledge resources. One of the publics which the companies started to carry out this type of activity is composed by the universities, traditional knowledge centers, and by the research groups and their respective researchers. In this context, knowledge networks has emerged, seen as groups of heterogeneous actors that unite themselves to create and share knowledge about themes and distinct areas, that can be found in the most diverse sectors of society and also in the relations between universities and industries. Based on these delimitations, this study aims to analyze the emergence of Knowledge Networks in the current Brazilian scenario of university-industry interaction relations from the perspective of research groups selected in the General Directory of Research Groups in Brazil, in order to proposing a referential structure of actions to promote the emergence of these networks. This research can be characterized as an applied nature and a fundamentally qualitative approach. Regarding the macro-objectives, this is an exploratory and descriptive research, using qualitative and quantitative methods for data collection and analysis, which is based on the methodology of content analysis and also uses descriptive and inferential statistics. The results of the study indicate that cooperative relations between universities and companies occur on the national scene, however in to a small percentage. On the other hand, the Knowledge Networks formed in the university-business relationship is still incipient, so that few scientific studies were found addressing this subject. Also, as main characteristics of the process, it was verified that the interactions begin usually from universities or research groups, which develop projects focused on applied research with the companies with which they cooperate. There was also a very personal character in these relations, although the participants of the research pointed out that the institutionalization of these networks would legitimize their actions against society. On the other hand, considering the analyzed data, it is perceived that the formation and maintenance of knowledge networks in the relations between universities and companies have the potential to contribute to the personal development of the individuals involved in the cooperation process, for the administrative and organization of the participating institutions of the network and economic and social development of the regions where the networks are inserted.

abstract: This research is a reversal of the traditional concept of the student-teaching research experiment. Instead of studying the clear and stated goal of an apprenticeship, that of a pupil learning from the tutelage of a master, the focus here is on what a mentor-teacher learns from a student-teacher. During the act of teaching a novice, what can a mentor-teacher learn about her own practice, while demonstrating it to a pre-service teacher? Using the conceptual framework of the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards' Architecture of Accomplished Teaching, and using it within a framework centered around cognitive coaching and reciprocal mentoring, this action research study implemented an intervention that called for series of five cognitive coaching cycles between a mentor- and student-teacher designed to foster dialogue and reflection between them. The ultimate aim of this case study was to help determine what a mentor-teacher learned about her own practice as a result of mentoring a student-teacher. Qualitative data were collected over sixteen weeks in a charter high school. Five findings were identified created after the data were analyzed using a grounded theory approach, and four conclusions were drawn about the intervention's role in the mentor-teacher's reciprocal learning. / Dissertation/Thesis / Ed.D. Educational Leadership and Policy Studies 2011

abstract: Policymakers at the national level have recently initiated K-12 education reforms focused on teacher quality and teacher evaluation. Far-reaching legislation was subsequently enacted in the state of Arizona requiring schools to adopt standards-based teacher evaluation systems and link them to student outcomes. The end product is to result in annual summative measures of teacher effectiveness. Because of this, Arizona school administrators have become concerned about rapidly becoming experts in high-stakes teacher evaluation. Principals rarely have time to come together to talk about teacher evaluation, and consider the reliability of their evaluations and how to use teacher evaluation to help teachers improve their practice. This action research study focused on a group of nine administrators in a small urban district grappling with a more complex and high-stakes teacher evaluation system. An existing community of practice was engaged to help administrators become more effective, fair, and consistent evaluators. Activities were designed to engage the group in dynamic, contextualized learning. Participants interacted in small groups to interpret the meaning of newly adopted evaluation instruments and professional teaching standards, share practical knowledge, and compare teacher evaluation experiences in classrooms. Data were gathered with mixed methods. Prior to, and immediately after engaging in this 20-week innovation, principals and district administrators were given two surveys and interviewed about teacher evaluation. Additionally, a detailed record of this project was kept in the form of meeting records and a research journal. Quantitative and qualitative data were triangulated to validate findings. Results identified concerns and understandings of administrators as they attempted to come to a shared consensus regarding teacher evaluation, increase inter-rater reliability, and use teacher evaluation to improve professional practice. As a result of working and learning together administrators lowered their concerns about inter-rater reliability. Other concerns, however, remained and grew. Administrators found the process of gaining a common understanding of teacher evaluation to be complex and far more time-consuming than anticipated. Intense concerns about alignment of the evaluation system with other reforms led these administrators to consider modifications in their evaluation system. Implications from this study can be used to help other administrators grappling with common concerns. / Dissertation/Thesis / Ed.D. Educational Leadership and Policy Studies 2012

abstract: Due to federal mandates, Title I schools now are being asked to implement parent involvement programs that meaningfully involve parents in the schools to increase academic gains. This action research study was based on three different concepts from the literature: a) critical pedagogy theory from Paulo Freire, b) parent involvement from diverse scholars including Epstein, Olivos, Mapp, Henderson, and Gonzalez-DeHass, and c) Wenger's communities of practice approach. The study was designed to determine whether a community of practice approach could provide the necessary conditions to meaningfully involve Latino Spanish-speaking parents in school. This innovation took place for 14-weeks, during which the community of practice approach was developed and utilized during meetings. Data were collected during each community of practice meeting at two schools. The data sources were surveys, audio video transcriptions of the meetings, journal, field notes, leadership meetings, and analytic memos. To add reliability and validity, mixed methods were applied to triangulate the data sources. Results indicated that through a community of practice approach Latino Spanish-speaking parents could become meaningfully involved in their children's schools. Parent participants reported that the community of practice allowed them to dialogue, contribute, learn, reflect, and become self-aware of their role in the schools. Data also showed that parent participants applied the community of practice approach to contribute to the solution of problems at their school. After participating in the study, parent participants realized their potential to impact in their children's school. Additionally, they started purposefully becoming more interested in participating and planning activities with the parent liaison. Based on the results, further cycles of action research are suggested. / Dissertation/Thesis / Ed.D. Educational Administration and Supervision 2012

This thesis studies the Weberian notion of rationality in the context of speedrunning and the speedrunning community. By contrasting the instrumental rationality of the speedrunning practice with the value-oriented rationality of the community, it crystallizes the difference between "performing the metrics" as an extension of community values and as a function of externally imposed constraints. The former is an expression of autonomy, while the latter an expression of heteronomy. This difference, it is argued, is found in many different areas of society, sometimes in the guise of "audit culture", at other times as an unintended side-effect of established forms of practice. In either case, a return to communal values (e.g. the sociological imagination) is seen as an antidote to becoming an extension of someone else’s metrics; autonomy is not a function of performing to external specifications, but of being able to rationally choose which measurements to use and which to leave aside. Speedrunners, in their endeavor to go fast, express such autonomy, albeit implicitly. By analyzing YouTube videos wherein runners explain their tactics and methods, this thesis endeavors to make this aspect of autonomy ever so slightly more explicit.

abstract: A core reform area of President Obama’s Race to the Top (RTT) framework, the Statewide Longitudinal Data Systems (SLDS) program, offered funding to states for the development of their own data systems. As a result, Arizona received funding to build a longitudinal student data system. However the targeted audience—teachers—needed training to move from a state of ‘data rich but information poor’ to one of developing actionable knowledge. In this mixed methods action research study, six teachers from three schools participated in job-embedded data-informed decision making (DIDM) and root cause analysis (RCA) professional development to improve their abilities to employ DIDM and RCA strategies to determine root causes for student achievement gaps. This study was based on the theories of situated learning, specifically the concept of communities of practice (CoP), change theory, and the Concerns-Based Adoption Model (CBAM). Because teachers comprise most of the workforce in a district, it is important to encourage them to shift from working in isolation to effectively implement and sustain changes in practice. To address this concern, an online wiki provided an avenue for participants to interact, reflect, and share experiences across schools as they engaged in the application of new learning. The results from this ten-week study indicated an increase in participant readiness levels to: (a) use and manage data sources, (b) apply strategies, and (c) collaborate with others to solve problems of practice. Results also showed that participants engaged in collaborative conversation using the online wiki when they wanted to share concerns or gain further information to make decisions. The online collaboration results indicated higher levels of online discussion occurred when participants were attempting to solve a problem of practice during the learning process. Overall, participants (a) used collaborative strategies to seek, create, and/or utilize multiple sources of data, not just student learning data, (b) worked through implementation challenges when making changes in practice, and (c) sought further types of data collection to inform their decisions about root causes. Implications from this study warrant further investigation into the use of an online CoP as an avenue for increasing teacher collaboration across schools. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Leadership and Innovation 2016

Submitted by Priscilla Araujo (priscilla@ibict.br) on 2016-07-06T19:49:57Z No. of bitstreams: 2 license_rdf: 0 bytes, checksum: d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e (MD5) Dissertação_Solange Mazzaroto(1).pdf: 2282973 bytes, checksum: 6866eaaefe03b8a0fd5fd6ef5d851d59 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-07-06T19:49:57Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 license_rdf: 0 bytes, checksum: d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e (MD5) Dissertação_Solange Mazzaroto(1).pdf: 2282973 bytes, checksum: 6866eaaefe03b8a0fd5fd6ef5d851d59 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2014-04-14 / As inovações tecnológicas contribuíram com a aceleração das mudanças vividas pela sociedade nos últimos anos. Uma delas foi a internet, que teve uma expansão global, e cuja utilização alterou, radicalmente, a rotina e, principalmente, o modo como as pessoas se relacionam. Dentre as formas de comunicação existentes na internet, surgiram as redes sociais, que são ambientes que proporcionam a interação entre pessoas e, consequentemente, o compartilhamento de informações e de conhecimentos. Atualmente, são inúmeros os produtores e consumidores de informações e de conhecimentos, entre eles estão as empresas, que, para executarem suas atividades fins, seja a produção de bens ou de serviços, e atuarem no mercado, globalizado e competitivo, precisam se atualizar constantemente. Uma das formas de atualização ocorre a partir da interação entre os principais atores das empresas (integrantes, fornecedores, clientes e parceiros), que a fazem de várias maneiras, como por exemplo: a partir do contato físico, que acontece durante as reuniões ou mesmo nos encontros informais dentro e fora da empresa; por telefone; por e-mail; e a partir de videoconferências. Enfim, as empresas possuem várias redes informais, desenvolvidas, naturalmente, pela prática de trabalho de seus integrantes, as denominadas de “comunidades de prática”. Algumas empresas, no entanto, perceberam que as redes sociais estão sendo amplamente utilizadas pelas pessoas em geral, como forma de comunicação e interação e, por isso, vários dos seus integrantes já estão familiarizados com este ambiente. Foram, então, criadas as redes de conhecimento empresariais, para fomentarem a interação nos ambientes de trabalho e promoverem o compartilhamento de informação e de conhecimento. Dessa forma, o objetivo desta investigação foi verificar como os participantes de uma rede de conhecimento empresarial utilizam este ambiente no desenvolvimento de suas atividades de trabalho. Utilizando o método exploratório e a técnica de estudo de caso, foi escolhida uma empresa multinacional brasileira, com atuação em 40 países, além do Brasil; reconhecida internacionalmente pelos negócios que desenvolve nos setores: engenharia, construção, investimentos em infraestrutura e energia; e que possui uma rede de conhecimento, criada em 2001, com 15 comunidades ativas, denominadas de “Comunidades de Conhecimento”. A pesquisa de campo foi realizada com os membros dessas comunidades e com os responsáveis pelo funcionamento da rede de conhecimento. Como instrumentos para a coleta de dados foram utilizados: entrevistas, pesquisas bibliográfica e documental, observação simples e questionário. De acordo com as análises dos dados coletados, chegou-se à conclusão que grande parte dos participantes de uma rede de conhecimento ainda atuam como observadores deste ambiente, ou seja, não a utilizam como ferramenta de trabalho no desenvolvimento de suas atividades. De uma forma geral, ficam atentos ao que acontece neste ambiente, mas não participam ativamente dele, já que a partilha de informações envolve algumas questões, como a cultura da empresa, o status pessoal, entre outras. Para que essas redes alcancem resultados, não devem ser impostas pelos gestores, no entanto, é necessário que sejam estruturadas para que as pessoas a enxerguem como uma extensão do ambiente de trabalho e utilizem suas funcionalidades como ferramentas que devem fazer parte da sua rotina. / Technological innovations have contributed to the acceleration of the changes experienced by society in recent years. One was the internet, which had a global expansion, and whose use has changed, radically, the routine and especially how people relate. Among existing forms of communication on the internet, emerged social networks that are environments that provide interaction between people and consequently the sharing of information and knowledge. Currently, there are many producers and consumers of information and knowledge, among them are the companies that, to perform their activities, the production of goods or services and act on the market, globalized and competitive, they need to constantly upgrade. One way to update occurs from the interaction between the main actors of the companies (members, suppliers, customers and partners) that make it in many ways, for example: from the physical contact, which takes place during meetings or even in informal meetings within and outside the company; by phone; by email; and from video conferencing. The companies have several informal networks developed naturally by practical work of its members, the so called “communities of practice”. Some companies, however, realized that social networks are being widely used by people in general, as a means of communication and interaction and so many of its members are already familiar with this environment. Were then corporate knowledge networks created to encourage interaction in the workplace and promote the sharing of information and knowledge. Thus, the objective of this research was to investigate how participants of a corporate knowledge network use this environment to develop their work activities. Using the exploratory method and case study technique, a Brazilian multinational company was chosen, with operations in 40 countries besides Brazil; internationally recognized by business developing in the sectors: engineering, construction, investment in infrastructure and energy; and has a knowledge network, created in 2001, with 15 active communities, called "Knowledge Communities". The field research was conducted with members of these communities and those responsible for operating the knowledge network. The Instruments for data collection used were: bibliographical and documentary research, simple observations, questionnaire and interviews. According to the analyzes of the collected data, we came to the conclusion that most of the participants of a knowledge network also act as observers of this environment, that is, not use it as a tool in the development of its activities. In general, they are aware of what happens in this environment, but not actively participate in it, as information sharing involves some issues, such as company culture, personal status, among others. To achieve results, should not be imposed by managers, however, they must be structured for people to look the virtual environment how an extension of the work environment and for its functions like tools that should be part of your routine.