This investigation was inspired by Carkhuff's postulated that the principles which underlie effective counseling are equally pertinent to everyday human relationships – such as one may observe in the family. Carkhuff has not articulated this postulate in any detail and the present investigation both develops the notion of family problem solving strategies and tests it out in a practical situation. The development of this notion of family problem solving strategies begins with an integration of Carkhuff's model of the counseling process with similar models put forward by other authors. This is followed by a detailed analysis of family problem solving strategies as reported in the literature, and collation of data from both sources into a so-called Family Transaction Model (FTM). This Model consists of a series of distinctive though related parameters of family problem solving which include inner feelings, listening, self-expression, conflict management, the determination and execution of action plans, and the roles adopted by family members. Each parameter is defined in terms of specific behaviours or skills, postulated as necessary for effective problem solving. This FTM is then subjected to empirical validation in a comprehensive field study using 75 members of 18 complete nuclear families. A factor analysis of data derived from videotaped family discussions shows up two distinctive factors, "supportive involvement" and "distracting involvement"; these cover the parameters postulated above albeit in modified format. The main measurement variables involved have satisfactory inter-examiner and test-retest reliability. The FTM plus ancillary measures is shown to be highly effective in discriminating between parents and children; the former virtually embody the characteristics of supportive involvement while the latter show its obverse or distracting involvement. The Model also differentiates between male and female parents and, to a lesser extent, between male and female children. But it does not differentiate between family groups defined as troubled or untroubled on the basis of their referral to some helping agency or their mutual ratings of problem solving effectiveness. The format used for this assessment phase of the investigation also demonstrates the viability of using questionnaire ratings to ascertain family problem solving strategies, the value of family group discussion of real issues as a means to gather diagnostic data, and the inhibiting effects of videotape recording on the interview behaviour of participants. Finally the FTM is used as basis for a short-term treatment programme of 4 further sessions, such as might be undertaken by community resource personnel who have limited time and skill. This programme proves ineffective in changing observed interview behaviour, though participants report beneficial changes in attitude, mutual understanding and family relationships outside the interview situation. The results further suggest that the FTM is a viable basis for a treatment programme but that it is too comprehensive for success to be achieved in so few sessions, that therapists require extensive prior experience and training, that family members need to be flexibly involved in treatment, and that the entire programme needs to be carefully planned with a high degree of structure in the initial stages. The results of the present study as a whole provide a basis for further investigation including the validation of the FTM with a wide range of family groups, the development of more comprehensive rating scales, modifications in the assessment interview’s format, the development of a more effective treatment programme, and the development of an appropriate training programme for community resource personnel.

The aim of this one year descriptive longitudinal study was to investigate the efficient strategies some competent novice readers used while learning to read in an existing reading programme for which text reading was the main instructional task. The prior teaching of sounds or of words in isolation or in lists was not emphasized in this programme. The authors of the texts tried to use the language of New Zealand Children. These texts provide the support for the Auckland child who comes to the new task of reading with a set of responses learnt from his past experience with oral language. Other important questions of the study related to whether children in such a programme could read not only unseen classroom texts, but also texts from a programme with a decoding emphasis. Fifty-two competent readers were chosen by a stratified random sampling method from 242 six-year-old children attending 20 randomly selected schools in Auckland. Strategy usage in oral reading was related to 3 factors: learning opportunities over time, (at 6:0, 6:6 and 7:0); reader proficiency, (Average, High Average, Good and Excellent); and text difficulty, (Easy, Moderately Difficult, Difficult and Phonically Regular). The children’s performances on oral reading and an oral sentence repetition test at 6:0 and 7:0 were compared. The data comprising errors and self corrections were analyzed at three linguistic levels (graphemic/phonemic, syntactic and semantic), to infer strategies. The Friedman two-way analysis of variance test for related samples was used for most comparisons. Th level of significance was set at p<0.05. The findings suggest that the Auckland child used the facilitating effects of meaning and structure in both reading and sentence repetition tasks. The control which children gained from 6:0 to 7:0 over texts with the decoding emphasis was achieved by attention to both graphemic cues and cues from structure and meaning. The competent novice reader also showed flexibility in selecting different strategies to deal with easy, familiar texts and difficult or novel texts. Such strategies are a necessary part of a model of mature reading which dies not see reading as exclusively the use of anticipatory mechanisms nor solely the use of sequential letter-by-letter processing. The competent novice reader was apparently learning to use either, or combinations, of these processes. The results of the study highlight the complex nature of learning to read and suggest that while some teaching programmes that emphasize a particular learning strategy may be successful, they may not take full advantage of other equally valid strategies which children can develop. / Whole document restricted, but available by request, use the feedback form to request access.

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This thesis investigates the ways in which concepts of binary opposition are elaborated in some of the key contemporary theories on difference and identity. This project contributes to the emerging scholarship on the notion of emancipation and empowerment in educational theory. It explores discourses of difference and identity that are engaged with constructions and re-construction of the notions of Self and Other. This thesis develops a systematic analysis of texts with arguments on political performance of representation and agency. The thesis begins with an examination of Hegel's thesis on the relationship between the lord and the bondsman which is implemented in the political discourses of John Rex and Paulo Freire. It continues to examine political theses with emphasis on the relationship between the mind and the body; examinations include theses offered by Robert Miles and Frantz Fanon. This thesis also explores the methodological value of concepts of binary opposition; it explores Claude Lévi-Strauss' theory on cultural differences and examines Iris M. Young and Chantal Mouffe's discourses on the 'politics of difference'. This thesis further explores Jacques Derrida's notions of deconstruction and différence together with analyses and critiques of Homi Bhabha's and Gayatri Spivak's reconstruction of concepts of binary oppositions. This thesis calls for a consideration of Derrida's thoughts on the political as an approach to the understanding difference and identity. I propose a double reading of the texts examined in this thesis: on the one hand, they are genealogical analyses to understand and criticise the ways in which knowledge on (racial and cultural) difference and identity have been constructed. On the other hand, they are given affirmations of political significance with their performative effectiveness that language allows them to achieve.

An examination was made of the effectiveness of cooperative learning as a strategy for enhancing the social acceptance of preschool children with disabilities who had been included in a mainstream educational setting. Preschool groups accommodating children with special needs were randomly assigned to one of three experimental conditions - cooperative play and social skills training, social skills training on1y, or control (no intervention). Children in the cooperative play programme received significantly higher levels of social acceptance than did those in the social-skills or regular preschool programmes. Moreover, the cooperative play group showed significantly more positive and more frequent social interactions with nondisabled peers than did the children in the other groups. It was also found that following the intervention the children in both the cooperative and social-skills treatment groups were rated significantly higher than were those in the control group on social skills and social play posttest measures. The results thus indicate that the use of structured cooperative play yielded an incremental effect over social-skills training in furthering the social integration of preschool children with disabilities in mainstream settings. The finding that increased social acceptance occurs in situations where social-skills training is undertaken within a framework of structured cooperative play was discussed terms of its implications for the social inclusion of young children with disabilities in integrated educational settings. It was noted that if participation in mainstream preschool settings is to be of real value for young children with disabilities, programmes designed to maximize social acceptance, such as structured cooperative play and social-skills training, need to be utilized to facilitate social interaction. Indeed, in the absence of strategies to enhance social integration, the placement of young children with disabilities in mainstream educational settings may well place such children at risk with respect to their social development.

This thesis investigates the ways in which concepts of binary opposition are elaborated in some of the key contemporary theories on difference and identity. This project contributes to the emerging scholarship on the notion of emancipation and empowerment in educational theory. It explores discourses of difference and identity that are engaged with constructions and re-construction of the notions of Self and Other. This thesis develops a systematic analysis of texts with arguments on political performance of representation and agency. The thesis begins with an examination of Hegel's thesis on the relationship between the lord and the bondsman which is implemented in the political discourses of John Rex and Paulo Freire. It continues to examine political theses with emphasis on the relationship between the mind and the body; examinations include theses offered by Robert Miles and Frantz Fanon. This thesis also explores the methodological value of concepts of binary opposition; it explores Claude Lévi-Strauss' theory on cultural differences and examines Iris M. Young and Chantal Mouffe's discourses on the 'politics of difference'. This thesis further explores Jacques Derrida's notions of deconstruction and différence together with analyses and critiques of Homi Bhabha's and Gayatri Spivak's reconstruction of concepts of binary oppositions. This thesis calls for a consideration of Derrida's thoughts on the political as an approach to the understanding difference and identity. I propose a double reading of the texts examined in this thesis: on the one hand, they are genealogical analyses to understand and criticise the ways in which knowledge on (racial and cultural) difference and identity have been constructed. On the other hand, they are given affirmations of political significance with their performative effectiveness that language allows them to achieve.

An examination was made of the effectiveness of cooperative learning as a strategy for enhancing the social acceptance of preschool children with disabilities who had been included in a mainstream educational setting. Preschool groups accommodating children with special needs were randomly assigned to one of three experimental conditions - cooperative play and social skills training, social skills training on1y, or control (no intervention). Children in the cooperative play programme received significantly higher levels of social acceptance than did those in the social-skills or regular preschool programmes. Moreover, the cooperative play group showed significantly more positive and more frequent social interactions with nondisabled peers than did the children in the other groups. It was also found that following the intervention the children in both the cooperative and social-skills treatment groups were rated significantly higher than were those in the control group on social skills and social play posttest measures. The results thus indicate that the use of structured cooperative play yielded an incremental effect over social-skills training in furthering the social integration of preschool children with disabilities in mainstream settings. The finding that increased social acceptance occurs in situations where social-skills training is undertaken within a framework of structured cooperative play was discussed terms of its implications for the social inclusion of young children with disabilities in integrated educational settings. It was noted that if participation in mainstream preschool settings is to be of real value for young children with disabilities, programmes designed to maximize social acceptance, such as structured cooperative play and social-skills training, need to be utilized to facilitate social interaction. Indeed, in the absence of strategies to enhance social integration, the placement of young children with disabilities in mainstream educational settings may well place such children at risk with respect to their social development.

This thesis investigates the ways in which concepts of binary opposition are elaborated in some of the key contemporary theories on difference and identity. This project contributes to the emerging scholarship on the notion of emancipation and empowerment in educational theory. It explores discourses of difference and identity that are engaged with constructions and re-construction of the notions of Self and Other. This thesis develops a systematic analysis of texts with arguments on political performance of representation and agency. The thesis begins with an examination of Hegel's thesis on the relationship between the lord and the bondsman which is implemented in the political discourses of John Rex and Paulo Freire. It continues to examine political theses with emphasis on the relationship between the mind and the body; examinations include theses offered by Robert Miles and Frantz Fanon. This thesis also explores the methodological value of concepts of binary opposition; it explores Claude Lévi-Strauss' theory on cultural differences and examines Iris M. Young and Chantal Mouffe's discourses on the 'politics of difference'. This thesis further explores Jacques Derrida's notions of deconstruction and différence together with analyses and critiques of Homi Bhabha's and Gayatri Spivak's reconstruction of concepts of binary oppositions. This thesis calls for a consideration of Derrida's thoughts on the political as an approach to the understanding difference and identity. I propose a double reading of the texts examined in this thesis: on the one hand, they are genealogical analyses to understand and criticise the ways in which knowledge on (racial and cultural) difference and identity have been constructed. On the other hand, they are given affirmations of political significance with their performative effectiveness that language allows them to achieve.

An examination was made of the effectiveness of cooperative learning as a strategy for enhancing the social acceptance of preschool children with disabilities who had been included in a mainstream educational setting. Preschool groups accommodating children with special needs were randomly assigned to one of three experimental conditions - cooperative play and social skills training, social skills training on1y, or control (no intervention). Children in the cooperative play programme received significantly higher levels of social acceptance than did those in the social-skills or regular preschool programmes. Moreover, the cooperative play group showed significantly more positive and more frequent social interactions with nondisabled peers than did the children in the other groups. It was also found that following the intervention the children in both the cooperative and social-skills treatment groups were rated significantly higher than were those in the control group on social skills and social play posttest measures. The results thus indicate that the use of structured cooperative play yielded an incremental effect over social-skills training in furthering the social integration of preschool children with disabilities in mainstream settings. The finding that increased social acceptance occurs in situations where social-skills training is undertaken within a framework of structured cooperative play was discussed terms of its implications for the social inclusion of young children with disabilities in integrated educational settings. It was noted that if participation in mainstream preschool settings is to be of real value for young children with disabilities, programmes designed to maximize social acceptance, such as structured cooperative play and social-skills training, need to be utilized to facilitate social interaction. Indeed, in the absence of strategies to enhance social integration, the placement of young children with disabilities in mainstream educational settings may well place such children at risk with respect to their social development.

This thesis investigates the ways in which concepts of binary opposition are elaborated in some of the key contemporary theories on difference and identity. This project contributes to the emerging scholarship on the notion of emancipation and empowerment in educational theory. It explores discourses of difference and identity that are engaged with constructions and re-construction of the notions of Self and Other. This thesis develops a systematic analysis of texts with arguments on political performance of representation and agency. The thesis begins with an examination of Hegel's thesis on the relationship between the lord and the bondsman which is implemented in the political discourses of John Rex and Paulo Freire. It continues to examine political theses with emphasis on the relationship between the mind and the body; examinations include theses offered by Robert Miles and Frantz Fanon. This thesis also explores the methodological value of concepts of binary opposition; it explores Claude Lévi-Strauss' theory on cultural differences and examines Iris M. Young and Chantal Mouffe's discourses on the 'politics of difference'. This thesis further explores Jacques Derrida's notions of deconstruction and différence together with analyses and critiques of Homi Bhabha's and Gayatri Spivak's reconstruction of concepts of binary oppositions. This thesis calls for a consideration of Derrida's thoughts on the political as an approach to the understanding difference and identity. I propose a double reading of the texts examined in this thesis: on the one hand, they are genealogical analyses to understand and criticise the ways in which knowledge on (racial and cultural) difference and identity have been constructed. On the other hand, they are given affirmations of political significance with their performative effectiveness that language allows them to achieve.