This aim of this study was to highlight the major learning perspectives discernible from five adult African immigrants’ experience of learning Swedish as a second language. The focus was on the analysis of the challenges that these immigrants encountered in the learning process and the factors that supported their learning. This study revealed two dominant perspectives in adult African immigrants’ experience of learning Swedish as a second language. These perspectives which hinge on social participation and individual responsibility complement each other and are geared toward the same goals: the acquisition of the Swedish language and integration into the Swedish society.

Abstract This research was to explore 1) the thought and the methods of Sinyi Realty¡¦s Corporate Social Responsibility 2) the intent and core concept in designing Sinyi Realty¡¦s Corporate Social Responsibility and 3) the everlasting strategy of promoting Sinyi Realty¡¦s Corporate Social Responsibility. Hopefully, this research can be a reference for enterprise and business managers to increase corporate social impact. Through seven profound interviews with seven real estate high-ranking executives, relevant quotations and logical inference there from, and my personal experiences and observations in the real estate field, I discovered that Sinyi Real Estate, from the beginning, did not really put particular emphasis on the domain of Corporate Social Responsibility. Instead, what Sinyi Real Estate did was just simply to solve or reduce social problems and insist on the principle of ¡§trust first, then profit¡¨, which virtually put the Corporate Social Responsibility into practice and it became one of the most respected model enterprises. Like all other enterprises, Sinyi Real Estate has had and will have its own difficulties and challenges to deal with in the past, in the present, and in the future (in the past, not being recognized by the mainstream; in the present, personal ideas can not match the goal of the corporation; and in the future, the concept is hard to be passed on) and needs to overcome all the difficulties and challenges one after another in order for Sinyi Real Estate to create new breakthroughs and grow stronger. The research discovered that Corporate Social Responsibility has a positive relationship to corporate everlasting development. Sinyi Real Estate can continuously work to reach the goal of ¡§make Sinyi Real Estate everlasting¡¨ and become the most valued enterprise in society by 1) inheriting and passing on Sinyi Realty¡¦s Corporate Social Responsibility 2) expanding service territory and market 3) enhancing the width and depth of sales 4) strengthening the influence of the Trade Association 5) constantly increasing the responsibility of relevant parties and 6) promoting the concept of green energy environmental impact. Key Words:Sinyi Realty, Corporate Social Responsibility, Business Ethics, Corporate Citizenship, Corporate Governance, Corporate Commitment, Social Participation, Envioronmental Protection, Social Enterprise.

This study aims to find out the patterns of economic, social and political participation of the youth in urban South-eastern Anatolia Region of Turkey. Analyses of the data reveal that youth in the South Eastern Anatolia Region does not and cannot participate in various dimensions of the society. Youth in South-eastern Anatolia cannot participate into the labour market. There are too limited job opportunities in the region. On the other hand, working young people are prone to low quality working conditions. Young people also cannot participate into the social life in the public sphere. Social and economic pressures and lack of opportunities are limiting young people in a social life mainly in the private sphere within a closed community. Finally, youth in South-eastern Anatolia Region are keeping themselves away from political mechanisms. Political structure is not attracting young people because of the negative experiences that the people participated in politics having for years. One of the most important findings of the study is that different dimensions of participation namely participation in the labour market, participation in social life and political participation are dependent on each other. Another result is that both the level and experiences of youth participation are highly determined by the social characteristics such as gender, family background, education level and age.

Recent trends in social networking site (SNS) use amongst teachers have led to some alarming circumstances. Practicing and pre-service teachers have been fired or otherwise punished (e.g. suspension, licensure revocation, etc.) for a variety of offenses related to their SNS use, ranging from sinister to morally ambiguous offenses, and have been encouraged or required by school administrators, professors, and others in positions of power to use SNS in particular ways. Past research on the topic of SNS in education and SNS professionalism has focused on issues of implementation (e.g. how to use SNS to support learning) or utility (e.g. how to use SNS to successfully achieve career goals). Missing from this discussion, however, is an understanding of how teachers (and those preparing to become teachers) naturally come to participate in SNS, why they participate in the ways that they do, and how this use is related to their identity. This study seeks to fill a gap in the literature by understanding pre-service teachers’ uses of SNS in terms of previous experiences, cultural expectations, social benefits, connections to identity construction and maintenance, and how these uses and beliefs regarding SNS begin to change in response to professionalization processes. Grounded theory is employed to generate an explanatory construct, which I refer to as the Acceptable Identity Fragment (AIF). The AIF is then used to understand and illustrate issues surrounding SNS use in education. Major findings suggest that 1) pre-service teachers’ identities in SNS represent a fragment of their authentic identities, 2) pre-service teachers use various SNS differently in conjunction with each SNS’s embedded values and assumptions about identity, 3) SNS use raises various problematic issues surrounding identity and how pre-service teachers are perceived and judged as individuals (e.g. digital persistence, lateral surveillance, etc.), and 4) professionalization processes alter and restrict pre-service teachers’ ability and comfort to express themselves in SNS. These findings lead to discussion, implications, and recommendations on a variety of topics including the following: institutional uses of SNS in education, relationships between fragmented and authentic identities, SNS literacy development, and cultural issues of SNS use. / text

published_or_final_version / Social Work / Master / Master of Social Sciences

Intensyviai plėtojantis socialinio darbo specialybei, sparčiai kintančioje Lietuvos visuomenėje, neįgaliųjų socialinis dalyvavimas tampa vienu įdomesniu socialinio darbo tyrinėjimo klausimu, nes paliečia kertinius šios profesinės veiklos principus. Darbe yra aptariama konkreti socialinė problema, būtent potencialiai socialiai atskirtų sutrikusio intelekto asmenų socialinis dalyvavimas. Darbo tikslas – atskleisti sutrikusio intelekto asmenų socialinio dalyvavimo raišką ir plėtotės galimybes. / Under conditions of intensive development of the social work speciality and in the rapidly changing Lithuanian society, social involvement of the disabled is becoming an interesting problem of research into social work since it refers to the key principles of this activity. The thesis analyses a specific social problem: social involvement of potentially socially excluded mentally disabled people. The aim of the study is to reveal the forms and development possibilities for social involvement of mentally retarded people.

This thesis examines the role of computer competence in elders’ well-being as they experience a reduced ability to communicate in very old age. My research question was “How do elders over 80 interact with computers? Employing narrative inquiry, I sought stories from 10 elders living in Victoria, B.C. Narrative style open-ended interviews were conducted one on one. Challenging stereotypes, these participants were computer literate people who happen to be very old. Depending on their relationships, learning from their children was a valuable resource. I found no evidence that they required any special senior friendly websites. These elders learned to use what interested them on the computer—no more. The computer is an extension of their ability to communicate their social messages as they age. The denouement of my narrative research is that computers give voice to elders; nevertheless, decision makers need to respect elders’ right to refuse computer uses.

In a small town in a Canadian prairie province where spots, particularly football and basketball, are the chief activities, many young men in school define their self-worth based on their thletic ability. To determine the impact that sports had on the young men in this particular town, 20 boys between the ages of 15 and 19 were selected for interviews. Due to the importance placed upon sports in the school and the small size of the school, all 20 of the boys had some association with football and basketball. They either played on one of the sports teams but spent much of the time sitting on the bench, or they desired to play but failed to qualify for team play. Only one of the boys had never tried to play on one of the teams. The boys were interviewed about how they fit into the circle of sports and how their participation or non-participation has influenced them. It was determined that sports did influence their self-esteem. Many of the boys, both those who were part of the team and those who had been cut from the team, felt left out and began to dought their abilities and their worth. The study confirms much of the current literature. Recommendations include making coaches and administration aware that boys were being negatively influenced by a successful sports program, as well as calling for further research to determine the extent and depth of the negative influence of sports on boys who are not the stars of the team. / viii, 83 leaves ; 28 cm.

German-speaking Mennonite people from Mexico are moving into Southern Alberta. They are mainly employed as farm labourers. Their low level of income makes it difficult to provide for the needs of their large families. Many also encounter difficulties because of their lack of English and literacy, unfamiliarity with Canadian ways and laws, and a lack of understanding and trust in the helping agencies and school system. By using the Participatory Action Research approach and te principles of Community Development, representatives of community health services were able to enter into a unique partnership with the Mennonite people to work toward meeting their identified needs. A family-centred approach was used, with special attention being given to cultural and religious traditions and values. Programs that were developed addressed the needs of the Mennonite people including English as a Second Language, literacy, nutrition, health, safety, dental, socialization, education, and German literacy for the children. A key finding of the research study was that a participatory action research approach did allow the Mennonite people in this study to find more effective ways of making the transition from life in Mexico to life in southern Alberta. Participants did take steps towards their goal of a better quality of life. As well, agency people found new ways of working with the Mennonite people and with each other. Finally, this study shows that as Mennonite people adapt to life in Canada changes do occur in their ways of interacting with each other and with the broader community. / vii, 167 leaves : ill. ; 28 cm.

Syfte: Studiens syfte är att undersöka vilken betydelse sociala aktiviteter har för äldre människor. Metod: En litteraturstudie av elva kvalitativa vetenskapliga artiklar. Studierna artiklarna bygger på har ett urval av socialt aktiva äldre deltagare med fokus på sociala aktiviteter ur ett deltagarperspektiv. I dataanalysen användes kvalitativ innehållsanalys med induktiv ansats. Resultat: Analysen resulterade i följande kategorier: Sociala relationer, vidgade vyer, meningsfullhet, tillhörighet, delaktighet, sociala rutiner, livsberikande, tillföra något till andra, personlig utveckling och välbefinnande. Slutsats: Sociala aktiviteter var betydelsefulla för deltagarna i studierna som utgör underlag för den här studien. De bidrog till sociala relationer och välbefinnande.