In a rapidly globalizing economy, many communities are stranded in unemployment or work without meaning. This thesis asks the question: can local communities create economic development with fulfilling work? The experience of the author in African development projects is used to pose questions about modernist approaches to development. The alternative approaches to work and human development by Fritz Schumacher, Abraham Maslow and Carl Rogers are melded with the political insight of Robert Putnam, to suggest that the answer to the above question can be positive. Their theories are distilled into an approach called Local Enterprise Facilitation, which is based on four principles: 1. Only work with individuals or communities that invite you. 2. Do not motivate individuals to do anything they do not wish to do. 3. Trust that they are naturally drawn towards self-improvement. 4. Have faith in community and the higher social needs that bond it together. The author’s experience of twenty years in applying and developing this approach is traced from its origins in rural Western Australia, through other parts of Australia and New Zealand to its extensive application in North America. The experience has created a methodology for successful Local Enterprise Facilitation based around a community Board that can provide the necessary support for networks for new enterprises. In particular the methodology uses a “Trinity of Management” approach whereby the separate skills of production/enterprise, financial accounting and marketing are facilitated as no individual can do more than one of these skills successfully. The Local Enterprise Facilitation philosophy has many implications and some of these are suggested in terms of planning, education, bureaucracy, and conservation. Whilst an evaluation of the businesses created can only be done in the long term, Local Enterprise Facilitation has opened up some hope for communities seeking to create good work.

The aim of this research was to examine the teacher’s facilitative role to engage students in Values Education (Curriculum Council, 1998) based on a cooperative and collaborative learning pedagogy. The study was conducted in a primary school classroom with thirty-one year 4/5 students aged 9-10 years of age. During the research process the core shared values underpinning the Western Australian Curriculum Framework (Curriculum Council, 1998) provided the foundation to negotiate agreements for behaviour based on The Tribes process (Gibbs, 2001), which included mutual respect, in order to foster a safe, supportive and democratic classroom culture. The Tribes process was used to operationalise the teaching of values, social skills, cooperation and collaboration. Hart’s (1992) collaborative framework informed the organisation of the classroom to create the conditions that supported collaboration amongst peers and the teacher. An action research approach was used to reflect on the classroom context and provide a focus for a range of qualitative research methods. Multiple data sources such as teacher observations, interviews, student and teacher reflection logs and sociograms were used to triangulate findings from parents, students and teachers. A sociocultural perspective (Vygotsky, 1978) provided the conceptual framework for this study as the underlying assumption is that students learn from each other, mediated by the teacher or more capable peers. The focus on the action within the social context during the development of interpersonal relationships is a key feature of peer mediated learning, which complemented the processes chosen by the teacher researcher to elucidate how a safe, supportive and democratic classroom was created. Class meetings, group work and reflective practices were used to scaffold students’ understandings of interpersonal relationships to promote a culture that was consistent with Australia’s democratic traditions. Reflective practices in the classroom provided opportunities for new perspectives to be developed, as new knowledge and experiences were integrated with existing personal practical knowledge. The major findings reflected the foci of student and teacher conversations about students’ interpersonal skills and their ability to get along with each other. In the first phase of the study establishing positive ‘relationships’ based on trust, through teambuilding activities provided the impetus for the next phase of the study about ‘leadership’. This phase continued for most of the study, and provided authentic opportunities for students to develop leadership skills, which permeated the last phase of the study about ‘friendships’. Students established mutually beneficial relationships that broadened their views about discriminatory behaviours, friendship and leadership. The major conclusions drawn from the study is that teachers play a significant role in mediating positive relationships amongst peers. Further, it was evident that the explicit teaching of core shared values (Curriculum Council, 1998) provided the foundations of productive and active citizenship during the process of creating the conditions for a safe, supportive and democratic classroom.

Thesis (PhD(Teaching and Training Studies))--University of Pretoria, 2004. / Includes bibliographical references.

AN ABSTRACT OF THE THESIS OF LEWIS KENNEDY REED, for the Master of Science degree in PLANT BIOLOGY presented on October 30, 2009, at Southern Illinois University Carbondale TITLE: COMPETATIVE EVQUIVALENCY OF CULTIVAR AND NON-CULTIVAR DOMINANT GRASSES IN AN EXPERIMENTAL RETORATION MAJOR PROFESSORS: Dr. Sara G. Baer and Dr. David J. Gibson Multiple population sources of species for use in prairie restoration exist, including cultivars and non-cultivars of dominant native grasses. However, little is known about the competitive equivalency of different population sources of dominant C4 grasses and whether intraspecific variation in their competitive effect on the community scales to affect ecosystem assembly. In 2006, an experimental restoration was established in a former agricultural field using cultivars and non-cultivars of the dominant grasses (Andropogon gerardii, Sorghastrum nutans, and Schizachyrium scoparium) and two different species pools of non-dominant species containing equal richness and distribution of species among functional groups. I evaluated inter - and intra-specific variation in the competitive equivalency of A. gerardii, S. nutans, and S. scoparium in terms of community response to their individual and complete (all three species) removal. Removals were maintained for two growing seasons, though little maintenance was needed after the initial treatment. The competitive effect of each grass species and population source was determined by calculating a response ratio for percent cover and above ground primary productivity between removal and control plots for each dominant grass individually, forbs, non-dominant grasses, and legumes which were each analyzed using a mixed model procedure for a split-split-plot randomized block design. Effects of removals on overall community composition were assessed using non-metric multi-dimensional scaling (NMDS) and analysis of similarity (ANOSIM). In addition I monitored changes in photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) at the soil surface and inorganic soil nitrogen. Based on the 2008 data (after two years of maintaining removals), several important differences were detected between the focal species and in some cases the two sources of the same species in terms of their effects on neighbors, inorganic soil nitrogen, and PAR. Many of these differences depended on which species pool the comparison took place in. A 3-way interaction was detected between species pool, source, and removal treatment in the volunteer forb group (F3, 60 =3.28, p = 0.0268). Volunteer forbs showed a positive response to removal of cultivars of the dominant grass functional group in one species pool but not the other. A three-way interaction was detected between species pool, source, and removal treatment in terms of Bray-Curtis similarity (F3, 60 = 2.91, p = 0.0417). Within one of the species pools, similarity values of communities were higher between removals and controls in cultivar plots than in non-cultivar plots where A. gerardii was removed. While NMDS ordination showed separation of some plots by dominant grass source, within group variation was higher than among group variation and ANOSIM deemed this separation insignificant. Planted forb ANPP exhibited a significantly negative response to removal of S. nutans that was not observed in the other removal treatments (F3,41.1 = 3.09, p = 0.038) suggesting facilitation by the dominant grass on planted forbs. The aboveground net primary productivity (ANPP) of the subordinate community (i.e. all species except the dominant grasses) exhibited a 3-way interaction among species pool, dominant grass source, and species removed (F3,61 = 2.76, p=0.0499). This interaction resulted from a stronger negative response of subordinate community ANPP to cultivars of the dominant grass functional group removal than non-cultivars of this group that only occurred in one of the species pools. There was a significant main effect of species removed on %PAR at ground level (F3, 60 = 4.84, p = 0.0044). All removal treatments allowed higher penetration of PAR to ground level, with S. nutans and all dominant grass removal having the strongest effect. Inorganic N availability was lower in response to removal of A. gerardii cultivars compared to the removal of non-cultivars of this species in one species pool but not the other. Removal of cultivar S. scoparium lead to a positive response in total inorganic nitrogen while removal of non-cultivars of this species lead to a negative response in total inorganic nitrogen in this same species pool (F3, 51 = 3.61, p = 0.018). Results demonstrate that inter- and intra-specific variation among these dominant species affect some aspects of community structure and ecosystem properties, but these effects are not consistent among dominant species and among subordinate species pools. These complex interactions may have important implications for restoration and land management.

Muitos estudos vêm comprovando a importância das interações positivas sobre a distribuição e diversidade das espécies em comunidades de plantas. Interações positivas e negativas ocorrem simultaneamente e o efeito líquido de uma espécie sobre a outra é o produto dessas interações combinadas. O principal objetivo do presente trabalho foi avaliar se leguminosas fixadoras de nitrogênio facilitam outras espécies arbóreas em um ambiente com baixa disponibilidade desse recurso. Para isso, estudamos o efeito da presença de leguminosas sobre a densidade de espécies e indivíduos pertencentes a dois estratos (DAP > 1 cm e 1 ; DAP ; 10 cm) em seu entorno, bem como os padrões de associação espacial entre as leguminosas e outras espécies arbóreas na área de estudo, utilizando uma abordagem com modelos nulos. Os resultados obtidos foram dependentes da espécie de leguminosa considerada. No capítulo 1, a leguminosa Balizia pedicellaris (DC.) Barneby & J.W.Grimes apresentou maior densidade de espécies em seu entorno, em ambos os estratos, embora não tenha ocorrido efeito sobre a densidade de indivíduos. A espécie Ormosia arborea Harms não apresentou efeito sobre a densidade de espécies nem de indivíduos em seu entorno. A espécie Andira anthelmia (Vell.) J. F. Macbr. apresentou um efeito negativo sobre a densidade de espécies e indivíduos do estrato superior (1 &#8804 DAP ≥ 10 cm), contrariando a nossa hipótese de trabalho. No capítulo 2, os padrões de associação espacial também foram distintos entre as espécies de leguminosas, com diferenças na identidade das espécies associadas, bem como no tipo de associação (positiva ou negativa). Os resultados indicam que, apesar de pertencerem ao mesmo grupo funcional, as leguminosas influenciam diferentemente as espécies em seu entorno, dependendo de suas características morfológicas e fisiológicas, como a capacidade de fixar nitrogênio em determinado sistema ou até mesmo de produzir compostos alelopáticos. / Many studies have been proving the importance of positive interactions to the distribution and diversity of species in plant communities. Positive and negative interactions occur simultaneously and the net effect of a species on another is the product of these combined interactions. The objetive of the present study was to evaluate if nitrogen fixing legumes facilitate other tree species in a nitrogen poor environment. We studied the effect of the presence of legumes on the density of species and individuals belonging to two different layers (DBH > 1 cm and 1≤ DBH ≥ 10 cm) around them and also patterns of spatial association between the legumes and other tree species, using a null models approach. The results obtained were dependent on the legume species considered. In chapter 1, the legume Balizia pedicellaris (DC.) Barneby & J.W.Grimes presented higher species density around it, for both layers, although there was no effect on the density of individuals. The species Ormosia arborea Harms did not present effect on the density of species and individuals around it. For the first layer Andira anthelmia (Vell.) J. F. Macbr. did not show effect on the densities, but this species presented a negative effect on the density of species and individuals of the upper layer (1 ≤ DBH ≥ 10 cm), in opposition to our hypothesis. In chapter 2, the spatial association patterns were also distinct between the legume species that showed different species identity associated and different kinds of association (positive or negative). The results indicate that, in spite of belonging to the same functional group, the legumes influence the species around them differently, depending on their morphological and physiological characteristics, as the ability to fix nitrogen in some systems or even the ability to produce alellopathic compounds.

At the center of all coach education initiatives and programming is the coach. Although the study of traditional coach education programs has yielded rather discouraging findings, coach education can be significant in its contribution to coach development when coaches are addressed as learners and their unique learning needs and orientations are recognized and prioritized. Indeed, the conversation has shifted to the application of learner-centered (LC) approaches. The purpose of this doctoral dissertation was twofold: to explore the contribution of using the LC theory, including a well-established learner-centered teaching (LCT) framework, to support coach education; and to examine the LC initiatives of a coach education program. An immersion in the LC literature was followed by the collection of multiple sources of data: program documents (n = 5), coach survey data, in-depth participant interviews (coach development administrators, n = 14; learning facilitators, n = 6; coaches, n = 10), and audio-visual material. Program documents (449 pages) were analyzed using a summative content analysis (Hsieh & Shannon, 2005) based on Blumberg’s (2009) LCT framework, and the interview transcripts (521 single-spaced pages) were analyzed using thematic analysis (Braun, Clarke, & Weate, 2016). The findings are presented in three articles and an additional findings section. The first article presents a theoretical overview of the LC literature linked to current perspectives and issues in coach education, including validated framework for facilitating LC change and assessment. The second article looks at the evolution and current LC status of Canada’s golf coach education program, a distinguished program within the Canadian sport system. The third article, using composite vignettes, presents the coaches’ and learning facilitators’ perception of their experiences participating in the LC designed program. In the additional findings, the CDAs’ biographies and perceptions of their experiences participating and contributing to the design of the program are presented along with the challenges they faced. The main points from the findings in this dissertation are as follows: (a) given the strong conceptual links and evidence-based foundation, LCT offers a coherent and sensible framework to guide the study and design of coach education; (b) there were lessons to be learned when looking at the history and evolution of the coach education program; (c) the creation and implementation of LC program benefitted from leaders who understood and subscribed to a constructivist view of learning; (d) the LCT approaches were dependent on the role and effectiveness of the learning facilitators; (e) coaches’ and facilitators’ perceptions of LCT approaches and engagement in the program varied according to their cognitive structures, specifically their learning orientation; and (f) more broadly, the program’s impact and effectiveness was influenced by the dynamic and complex interplay between the program design, delivery, and coach engagement. The findings contribute to the emerging body of literature on the use of constructivist learning principles to support coach education; they provide scholars and practitioners with a robust framework to guide the study, design, delivery, and assessment of LC coach education; and they share the exemplary efforts, experiences, and challenges of a sport federation who successfully adopted a high degree of LCT within its coach education program. Finally, based on the findings and the coach education and LC literatures, a fourth article is presented in the discussion that offers a collection of practical recommendations for CDAs to support LC coach education.

No abstract available. / Dissertation (LLM)--University of Pretoria, 2010. / Centre for Human Rights / unrestricted

<div> <p><a>Biotic interactions play key roles in determining invasive species’ establishment success in receiving ecosystems (Tilman 2004). The invasional meltdown hypothesis suggests that initial invaders can facilitate subsequent invasions through direct (e.g., commensalism, mutualism) and indirect (e.g., changes in habitat and energy flow) pathways (Simberloff & Holle 1999; Simberloff 2006). Such positive interactions among invaders can alter community-level processes, but little research on this has been done in aquatic-terrestrial landscapes. My dissertation explores the links between reciprocal facilitation of invasive species and ecosystem change in a desert river system in the southwest USA. </a></p> <p> Like most rivers in the southwestern United States, the San Juan River has been altered by hydrologic regulation and biological invasions that affect ecosystem function and act synergistically to induce substantial ecosystem change. Invasion of channel catfish (<i>Ictalurus punctatus</i>) has drastically altered the fish assemblage of the San Juan River, yet the impacts of riparian invasion by a fruit-bearing tree, Russian olive (<i>Elaeaganus agustifolia</i>) have largely been ignored. Channel catfish have been observed consuming Russian olive fruits, but the level of facilitation between species and corresponding impact on the ecosystem is unclear. </p> <p>Channel catfish may benefit directly from Russian olive invasion by feeding on fallen fruits and/or indirectly from habitat alteration and invertebrate prey production from Russian olive detritus. Additionally, channel catfish may facilitate germination, growth, and seed dispersal of Russian olive. Mutualism between these invaders could increase the fitness of each species, thereby facilitating invasion success. Plant-animal mutualism is the most common form of facilitation among invaders, but no studies, to our knowledge, have evaluated facilitation between invasive riparian plants and aquatic invaders and their combined impact on ecosystem function. My goal preparing this dissertation is to determine whether mutual facilitation between riparian and aquatic invasive species influences ecosystem change through biotic interactions. </p> <p>To test for mutual facilitation, I first determined the contribution of Russian olive fruits to channel catfish growth by evaluating seasonal diet composition across four sites and six time periods. I then used replicated growth experiments to determine assimilation rates of Russian olive fruits consumed by channel catfish. Using bioenergetics models, I then determined how Russian olive subsidies in San Juan River contribute to channel catfish biomass. To determine whether channel catfish benefit Russian olive reproduction, I compared germination rates of seeds consumed by channel catfish to seeds consumed by terrestrial mammals and control seeds that had not been eaten. </p> <p>Russian olive fruits were the most important diet item for channel catfish during the fall and spring, comprising up to 57 and 70% of stomach contents by mass, respectively, and were consumed throughout the year. Feeding trials revealed that Russian olive fruits contributed little to growth or lipid deposition, but they did provide metabolic energy allowing channel catfish fed exclusively Russian olive fruits to maintain weight. In addition, Russian olive trees received a reproductive benefit through increased germination success of seeds consumed by channel catfish over those transported by water. Using bioenergetic models, I showed that Russian olive fruits subsidized 46% of San Juan River channel catfish biomass, indicating that the subsidy from Russian olive fruits had a population-level impact. This dissertation thus establishes mutual facilitation by non-native species across ecosystem boundaries, a phenomenon that few studies heretofore have demonstrated in the ecology or invasion biology literature.</p> </div> <br>

The question of context in architecture theory has become more complex and controversial as globalization, urbanisation and resource scarcity have added yet more layers to the debate (O’Donnell 2016:380). As these aspects increasingly enter every facet of our lives, its effect on architecture has resulted in a development approach that is exploitative of people, nature and culture (Fioramonti 2017:3). This study argues that working with scarcity in a productive manner could lead to an alternative approach for development. A critical look at the continuum of architectural discourse and its engagement with issues of context will place the debate in a broad historical context which ranges from theories posed by Vitruvius to current theories on the vernacular, to establish the role of the architect as an enabler of social space. An in-depth context analysis of the spatial logics found in Mamelodi East (City of Tshwane, South Africa) will consider the spatial relationship and rules of engagement that allow certain patterns of living and public exchange to emerge. This paper argues that there are key lessons to be learnt from this logic because of the way in which people are resolving daily problems under the construction of scarcity. Till (2014:9) argues that scarcity will become an inevitable feature of modern life. However, these limits will not lead to the end of design or an emasculated version of it, but will rather open up new fields in which the designer may operate. The strength thus lies in defining a response to a vernacular through its understanding of scarcity and the rules of engagement in which new roles and opportunities through architecture can emerge. / Konteks in argitektuurteorie word meer kompleks en kontroversieel soos globalisering, verstedeliking en hulpbronskaarste meer lae by die debat voeg (O’Donnell 2016: 380). Namate hierdie aspekte elke faset van ons lewe betree, lei dit tot ‘n ontwikkelingsbenadering wat die uitbuiting van mense, natuur en kultuur tot gevolg het (Fioramonti 2017: 3). Hierdie studie is van mening dat die produktiewe omgang met skaarste, ‘n alternatiewe benadering tot ontwikkeling kan wees. ‘n Kritiese ontleding van argitektoniese diskoers en die dissipline se betrokkenheid by kontekstuele kwessies plaas die debat in ‘n breë historiese konteks - van Vitrivius tot die hedendaagse teorieë - om sodoende die rol van die argitek as ‘n fasiliteerder van sosiale ruimte te identifiseer. ‘n In-diepte konteksanalise van die ruimtelike logika van Mamelodi- Oos (Tshwane, Suid-Afrika), sal die verhouding en onderliggende reëls vir sosiale en ruimtelike interaksie ontleed. Dit is hierdie verhouding wat sekere lewenstylpatrone en sosiale interaksie moontlik maak. Hierdie studie beweer dat daar belangrike lesse uit hierdie logika geleer kan word, omdat mense, temidde van die skaarste aan hulpbronne, hulle daaglikse probleme oplos. Till (2014:9) beweer dat skaarsheid ‘n onvermydelike aspek van die moderne lewe sal word. Hierdie beperkinge sal nie noodwendig tot die einde van ontwerp of ‘n magtelose weergawe daarvan lei nie, maar sal eerder nuwe uitdagings vir die ontwerper bied. Die waarde lê daarin om deur ‘n studie van die volkstaalargitektuur wat op die skaarsheid van hulpbronne en die reëls vir sosiale interaksie gebasseer is, nuwe rolle en geleenthede vir formele argitektuur te skep. / Mini Dissertation MArch(Prof)--University of Pretoria, 2018. / Architecture / MArch(Prof) / Unrestricted

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