Mentshlichkeit – Yiddish for the ‘art of being a good hu(man)’ - is offered as an invitation to participate in practices that may have the power to dispel the haunting of a ‘hegemonic masculinity’ (Connell 1995). Inspired by ‘Action Research’, what Reason & Bradbury call inquiry into the ‘quality of our acting’, the author uses futuristic narrative, interwoven with discussion and dialogue, to see if it is possible to reflect and act generatively, as a man who is mindful of feminism’s challenge that ‘the personal is political’ (Reason and Bradbury 2001). Within a post-modern discourse, the author heads towards the irony and discomfort to be found in a text that explores goodness and masculinity in the same breath. But he is not alone, like some hero on a quest – rather he is inspired by the voices of challenge and support he hears in the course of his roles in diverse communities: as a Jew, a facilitator/consultant at Roffey Park Institute and a father. It is my intention to playfully invite you into this story; to see if it moves you, if it usefully meets your own experience and helps you consider your own action, within the paradoxes and dilemmas you face. Too often we can disappear within the words we write. It is my intention to ‘show up’, and as a man to meet the challenge of feminism, to live within this territory and act with some awareness of its contours. The characters in this story are inspired by the people I encounter, who remind me I am not ‘selfmade’, and that we men, in the words of Philip Corrigan, may usefully ‘re-member our bodies’ (Corrigan 1988). Ultimately this is a human-scale story, designed to provoke good conversations. I look forward to hearing what you would like to discuss.

A Farmácia Hospitalar tem por finalidade promover o uso racional do medicamento, pesquisando e gerenciando produtos com qualidade, desenvolvendo profissionais e prestando assistência integrada ao paciente e à equipe da saúde, com responsabilidade socioambiental. Dessa forma, o desenvolvimento de um modelo de construção e aplicação de um conjunto de indicadores de desempenho na Farmácia Hospitalar com foco na comparabilidade é imprescindível para o monitoramento dos resultados e o estabelecimento da melhoria contínua dos serviços prestados aos pacientes e à equipe da saúde, de forma alinhada às diretrizes institucionais. Objetivo: Desenvolver um modelo de construção e aplicação de um conjunto de indicadores de desempenho na Farmácia Hospitalar com foco na comparabilidade. Método: Utilizou-se do método qualitativo Pesquisa-ação, sendo que na fase exploratória se fez o diagnóstico da amostra do estudo; na realização dos seminários se fez a sensibilização dos sujeitos da pesquisa, análise, seleção, construção, aplicação em campo e validação da ficha técnica e especificações para construção, e do conjunto de indicadores de desempenho. Realizou-se 22 seminários presenciais de forma estruturada. A amostra foi intencional de seis hospitais (3 públicos e 3 privados) e os sujeitos da pesquisa os farmacêuticos especialistas tomadores de decisão na Farmácia Hospitalar. A coleta de dados foi realizada no período de setembro de 2006 a abril de 2008, foram aplicados dois questionários e sete formulários (manual ou eletrônico). Os dados coletados foram tratados em forma de quadros, tabelas, figuras, gráficos, cálculos de somatório, porcentagem, freqüência, média aritmética e mediana, como também, compilação por semelhança e agrupamento por categorias-chave, e apresentados de forma consolidada, para obtenção de consenso quando necessário. Resultados: Apresentou-se a caracterização do Hospital e da Farmácia Hospitalar; obteve-se o aprimoramento da ficha técnica e especificações para construção de indicadores; foi selecionado, construído, aplicado em campo e validado um conjunto com 12 indicadores de desempenho passíveis de comparação. Verificouse o grau de dificuldade e vantagens obtidas da aplicação de indicadores. Apresentou-se a estrutura para o desenvolvimento do modelo de construção e aplicação de um conjunto de indicadores de desempenho na Farmácia Hospitalar com foco na comparabilidade. Conclusão: Os resultados obtidos na pesquisa evidenciam a hipótese formulada de que, o desenvolvimento de um modelo de construção e aplicação de um conjunto de indicadores de desempenho sistematizado e passível de comparação, é factível na Farmácia Hospitalar, assim como, busca contribuir com a disseminação da cultura de utilização de indicadores de desempenho, possibilitando a Farmácia Hospitalar se comparar com referenciais internos e externos, promovendo as melhores práticas embasadas em evidências objetivas / The Hospital Pharmacy has as objective to promote the rational drug use, by researching and managing products with quality, creating professionals and providing integrated assistance to the patient and the health team, with socialenvironmental responsibility. For this, the development of a construction model and application of a set of performance indicators in the Hospital Pharmacy with focus on the comparability is absolutely necessary for monitoring results and setting up the continuous improvement of the services provided to patients and to the health team, aligned with the institutional guidelines. Objective: To develop a construction model and application of a set of performance indicators in the Hospital Pharmacy with focus on the comparability. Method: The action-research qualitative method was used and in the exploratory stage was made the diagnosis of the study sample; the awareness of the research people arose from the seminars, the analysis, selection, construction, field application and validation of the data sheet and specifications for construction, and of the set of performance indicators as well. Twenty-two seminars in situ took place in a structured way. The sample was intentional and designed by six hospitals (three public and three private hospitals) and the people of the research were the decision-makers specialist pharmacists in the Hospital Pharmacy. The collection of data was carried out from September, 2006, to April, 2008; two questionnaires and seven forms were applied (manually or electronically). The collected data were arranged in the form of pictures, tables, figures, graphs, total sum calculations, percentage, frequency, arithmetic and medium average, as well as, compilation by similarity and grouping by key-categories, and presented in a consolidated way for consensus building if necessary. Results: The improvement of the data sheet and specifications for construction of indicators was achieved; a set with twelve performance indicators subject to comparison was selected, constructed, applied in field and validated. It was verified the degree of difficulty and advantages obtained in the application of the indicators. The structure for the development of the construction model and the application of a set of performance indicators in the Hospital Pharmacy with focus on the comparability was presented. Conclusion: The results achieved in the research show clearly the formulated hypothesis, which the development of a construction model and the application of a systemized set of performance indicators and subject to comparison, is tangible in the Hospital Pharmacy, as well as, seeks to cooperate with the dissemination of the culture of the performance indicators use, enabling the Hospital Pharmacy to be compared with internal and external references, by fomenting the best practices based on objective evidences

Um dos maiores desafios da educação, em especial da Matemática, é fazer com que o aluno, ao produzir conhecimentos, o faça de forma significativa. É nesse sentido que, esta dissertação busca mostrar, através de uma pesquisa-ação, como atividades investigativas abrem caminhos para a busca de conhecimentos de forma crítica e reflexiva, além de possibilitar o desenvolvimento pessoal e ser capaz de integrar conteúdos das disciplinas com o cotidiano do educando. A aplicação desta metodologia para alunos do sétimo ano de uma escola pública mostrou que a parceria entre professor e alunos edifica e fortalece esta construção dos saberes e que a existência de um contrato didático negociado foi fundamental nesse processo / One of the biggest challenges in education, especially in mathematics, is to provide students the production of significant knowledge. In that sense, this paper seeks to show, with a qualitative action-research, how investigative activities open paths to the search for knowledge in a critical and reflective way, to enable personal development, and integrate content from disciplines with the students everyday experiences. The application of this methodology to seventh grade students in a public school showed that the partnership between teacher and pupils builds and strengthens this construction of knowledge, and that the existence of a negotiated didactic contract was essential to this process

O ensino de geografia permite desenvolver habilidades para analisar a realidade espacial a partir do estudo das dinâmicas e contradições que contém na sua constante relação com a sociedade, permitindo assim, uma compreensão crítica do mundo. A riqueza que envolve esta disciplina diminui no cotidiano das escolas, na qual predomina uma visão estática do espaço geográfico e das práticas pedagógicas sustentadas no tradicionalismo. Nessa perspectiva surge a necessidade de refletir sobre uma proposta didática que baseada na educação crítica convide os docentes a desenvolver novas estratégias de ensino que lhes permitam trabalhar visando à construção de aprendizagens significativas. Considerando esse objetivo e as contribuições da metodologia conhecida como Pesquisa-Ação, se convida um grupo de professores da região da Araucanía do Chile a ser parte de um processo reflexivo que tem a intenção de enriquecer as práticas docentes através da construção de sequências didáticas para serem aplicadas na escola. O trabalho de campo se realizou em oficinas que permitiram desenvolver um processo de reflexão em torno da própria prática educativa dos docentes, onde foi possível levantar algumas considerações sobre as percepções que eles tenham em função do ensino de geografia e da educação em geral. Essas considerações permitiram organizar o trabalho com os elementos que eram necessários incluir e melhorar visando o desenvolvimento de planejamentos de aula com base na teoria crítica. No final, os professores elaboraram sequências didáticas que aplicaram em sala de aula e que evidenciaram as possibilidades que tem de realizar uma prática educativa que se afasta o enfoque tradicional de ensino. Os resultados obtidos desse processo permitiram estabelecer considerações relevantes para o trabalho com professores no âmbito da formação continuada e dos alcances para incorporar práticas pedagógicas sustentadas na teoria crítica. / Geographical education allows to develop skills for analyze the spatial reality through the study of the dynamics and contradictions that it contains in its constant relationship with human groups, thus enabling a critical understanding of the world. However, the wealth that involves this subject is blurred in everyday action schools, in where dominate a static view of geographical space and the teaching practices grounded in traditionalism. From this perspective, it arises the need to reflect on a didactic proposal that, based to critical education, it invite teachers to develop new teaching strategies that enable them to work towards the construction of meaningful learning. Considering this objective and contributions of the Action Research methodology, were invited a group of teachers from the Araucanía Region of Chile to be part of a reflective process in order to enrich their teaching through the construction of didactic sequences for apply in school. The fieldwork was conducted through workshops that allowed develop a process of reflection over own educational practice of teachers, in where was possible to raise some considerations over perceptions that the teachers about teaching of geography and education in general. These considerations made possible to organize a work about the elements that were necessary to include and improve in classroom to develop plans based on critical theory. Finally, teachers designed the didactic sequences for applied in class, and realized the possibilities they had for carrying out an educational practice to displace the traditional approach to teaching. The analysis obtained in this process allowed obtaining relevant considerations for the work with teachers in the field of continuous training, and important scopes to incorporate teaching practices grounded in critical theory.

Cette thèse porte sur la mise en place d’un ERP (Enterprise Resource planning) dans un groupe de petites filiales à travers une recherche action canonique multi-cycles menée par le chercheur, directeur de projet ERP durant deux ans. Les filiales sont confrontées à de multiples défis : déployer un ERP standard tout en préservant leur flexibilité, concilier les contraintes groupe et contraintes locales, faire avec les moyens du bord vu les ressources limitées. Ce contexte constitue une opportunité pour approfondir la théorie du bricolage, peu mobilisée dans la littérature ERP. Les résultats montrent des processus de bricolage collectif multi-niveaux : intra-filiales, inter-filiales et groupe. Ces processus de bricolage permettent une amélioration continue de l’ERP et son appropriation, et conduisent au final à la conception et l’usage de solutions difficiles à imiter, ce qui génère un avantage compétitif. Ces processus de bricolage collectif supposent des conditions initiales propices, et une évolution d’une symbolique contraignante (ERP standard, best practices) vers une symbolique habilitante. Chemin faisant, le bricolage contribue à développer le réservoir et les capacités créatives, ce qui décuple en retour le potentiel du bricolage, favorisant simultanément les innovations technologiques et managériales. / This PhD thesis focuses on the implementation of an ERP in a group of small subsidiaries through a multi-cycle canonical action research conducted by the researcher, ERP project manager for two years. Subsidiaries face multiple challenges : deploying a standard ERP while preserving their flexibility, reconciling the group constraints and local constraints, making do with means at hand given the limited resources. This context is an opportunity to deepen the theory of bricolage, little mobilized in the ERP literature. The results show multilevel collective bricolage processes: intra-affiliates, inter-affiliates and group. These bricolage processes allow continuous improvement of the ERP and its appropriation, and ultimately lead to the design and use of solutions that are difficult to imitate, which generates a competitive advantage. These collective bricolage processes assume favorable initial conditions and an evolution from a constraining symbolic (standard ERP, best practices) to an enabling symbolic. Along the way, bricolage contributes to developing thecreative reservoir and capacities, which in turn increases the potential of bricolage, while simultaneously promoting technological and managerial innovations.

This thesis critically analyses, reconstructs and deconstructs the Living Educational Theory (LET) approach. It examines, challenges and modifies it, dialectically transforms it and offers a more suitable alternative to it. Whilst LET has not been well received in academia for two decades, this thesis is being written at a point in time when LET has greater recognition and influence. The thesis is composed of three parts. The first part examines and reconstructs the LET approach as a theoretical possibility and a practical methodological and heuristic approach. It introduces the LET approach and its key features, components, intentions and practices. It examines and interrelates the writings of the developers of that approach and its history and development. It also relates that approach to educational, action, reflective practice, practitioner and ontological research and the work and educational development of this author. The second part criticises, deconstructs and transforms the LET approach and proposes an alternative heuristic tool, solution and approach. It criticises the claim of living educational theorists that LET is an improved approach to the theorisation of a human existence and the educational, ontological, professional and epistemological development of practitioners. As well as criticising the new directions which the LET approach has recently taken, it introduces an alternative educational action research heuristic tool and approach that is based on self-dialectical reflective enquiry. The proposed alternative is based on creative and auto-phenomenological writing, self-dialectical and cathartic logging, public blogging and enquiring-within-writing logging into the question: how do I lead a more meaningful existence in the world for myself? It seeks to transform the LET approach into a deeper ontological, auto-phenomenological, and self-therapeutic auto-analysis, self-reevaluation and auto-empowerment. The third part concludes the thesis and reflects on my learning from my engagement with the LET approach and my hopes and intentions for the future.

The thesis presents and inquires into a first person research story about the development of a ‘Community of Practice’ for asset-based rural development practitioners from across the UK and Republic of Ireland. It includes an account of how geographically remote members of the CoP were supported to come together over eighteen months to co-produce an online handbook called ‘Exploring Community Resilience’ (included as Appendix 1). Findings include: - Social networking and social media technologies can be powerful enablers of third and second person inquiry; - A compass tool (included here) can help hosts and curators make good design and facilitation choices as they host the emergence of complex, large scale social learning architectures (which this thesis calls ‘Digital Forests’); - Action researchers can benefit from developing skills as digital curators, producers of social media, and hosts of transformative learning processes; - Future generations of social media are likely to challenge the assumptions, methods and findings of this thesis. As we navigate our way into this fast changing future, it will be helpful to inquire into their impacts of new generations of digital technologies on our personal and collective psychological, cultural and social wellbeing.

This is a largely qualitative, part quantitative, inquiry into the effectiveness of classroom modelling in helping tertiary students prepare for their AS-level examinations. Classroom modelling, a form of peer modelling developed by the author, draws substantially upon neuro-linguistic programming (NLP), a discipline regarded as controversial in education. Classroom modelling involves students investigating each other's more successful practices and drawing out elements that might be woven into their own practice.

Middle school programs occupy a unique place in choral music education. This study builds upon and makes a unique contribution to the body of literature in choral music education by introducing critical participatory action research into the social ecology (Shotter, 1993) of the middle school choral classroom during the “regular” school day with a non-select choral ensemble. I employed critical participatory action research methodology—a collaborative approach to understanding specific problems in education—because it is a systematic research process conducted for the purpose of generating knowledge that is valid and vital for the well being of learners, communities of learners, and for promoting social change (Carr & Kemmis, 1986; Herr & Anderson, 2005; Kemmis and McTaggart, 1987; Mills, 2010). The purpose of this critical participatory action research study was to create a collaborative model of practice in order to make sixth grade choral music education more relevant and meaningful for learners. In order to accomplish this, I created a constructionist learning environment, applying domains of relevance set forth by Gergen (2001), and examined how this model of practice impacted the pedagogical practices of 19 sixth grade chorus students and their chorus teacher over the period of one semester. All participants collected evidence in the form of video recordings, interviews, journals and portfolios. All evidence was considered in light of the changes that occurred—individually and collectively—in pedagogical and organizational practices and in regard to the original research questions. This report illuminates ways that constructionist principles might be used to create a collaborative model of middle school choral music education and the pedagogical and social practices that emerge when beginning sixth grade students and their chorus teacher share responsibility for teaching and learning.

The Storyline method requires learners to create a fictive world and take on the role of characters in a story which they develop themselves. The story, co-created with the teacher, is based around a topic in the curriculum. In the course of the story, key questions based on curriculum-mandated aims are asked by the teacher in order to engage the learners in tasks during which learning occurs. Although Storyline has been used for many years in the classroom, its applicability to the foreign language classroom has only been researched recently and not extensively. By establishing a simulated ‘real world’ and providing students with ownership of their learning, students can use and improve their language skills, developing intercultural communicative competence in a meaningful context. This action research case study investigated the impact of the Storyline method on the foreign language classroom in the context of teaching military linguist cadets at a Russian university. A fictive base of a United Nations military observation mission, invented by the students themselves, served as a meaningful context for learning. The aim of the study was to improve the effectiveness of teaching in terms of developing language skills and raising student motivation, in the context of teaching English as a foreign language to military linguist cadets. The study found that the student response was positive, with improvements in motivation and satisfaction with the teaching and learning process. Moreover, students also showed improvements in terms of English language skills. It was also discovered that Storyline could benefit from adaption to include form-focused instruction for teaching grammar points. Additionally, explicit explanations of certain Storyline activities, in particular art work, might be beneficial when working with military linguist cadets. Ultimately Storyline was found to be an effective foreign language teaching method for military linguist cadets in Russia and has potential for use in other foreign language teaching for specific purposes contexts owing to its capacity for making language learning more relevant to the real life contexts in which professionals find themselves.