This dissertation examines the general problem of how one comes to know culturally distinct patterns of communication. Building on earlier cultural pragmatic work that is both derivative of, and informed by Dell Hymes' (“Models”) assumptive base in thinking about communication as systematic, social, and culturally distinct, this study examines the Finnish term asia [matter-of-fact] as a cultural term for talk. This study asks: how do participants conceive and identify through the asia term, and enact their world of communication? Through applying the terms for talk framework (Carbaugh, “Fifty”) this study is organized generally to explore reports and enactments of communication practice in some Finnish adult education scenes. This is done through an examination of nonverbal acts, norms, ritual, and a vacillating form. This study proceeds to examine “listenership” in which a set of nonverbal acts such as keeping the face straight, minimal gestures, and maintaining a diverted or shifted gaze are acts deemed proper conduct to the asia [matter-at-hand]. Speech deemed to be of the asia style must be direct, factual, goal-directed, controlled and unemotional, and not be “personal face” but “informational face.” Asia talk as a sequence of acts and its ritualized event structure show infocentrism to be the sacred principle celebrated in asia talk. Central findings of this dissertation point to infocentrism as a Finnish culturally based (a) relational code with a preference for an informational face, (b) idea of clearness where persons are motivated to understand, (c) an aesthetic of simplicity in expression describing the necessary degree of performability in speech. Two models for identifying are found in a vacillating form, one infocentric, and the other personalistic. The principle finding shows how asia, as a Finnish cultural term for talk, constructs a sense of infocentric communication, sociality, and personhood that, in some educational scenes, places informational concerns over, and against, personalistic and expressive concerns. Through a comparative examination of other cultures we see how cultural terms for talk enter as resources for understanding cultural variability in communication conduct. This study further points to how educators and students can be prepared for studies abroad or teaching in multicultural contexts.

The “Computers for KlutzesSM” computer literacy course developed by this author and successfully used for teaching more than 500 older and many impaired adults during the past five years is the basis for this dissertation. Educational literature about how best to teach the returning adult and several prominent theories such as constructivism and Vygotskyism are examined for helpful ideas. Because this literature and these theories were formulated for students much younger than those to be taught during the research newer theories were clearly needed. The literature research revealed that the educational community's returning adult's average age seemed to be in the 30 to 40 year range. People in this age range are well below the chronological age for the subjects of this dissertation. A wealth of research has been performed at the behest of the National Institute on Aging (NIA) on individual traits e.g. dynamic and static memory, motor skills, and type face preference. Only since the early 1990s has in-depth research on our aging population been performed. This research was used as a guide on how best to teach the aging adult. This writer prepared special texts and materials that closely follow the NIA findings, more recent educational papers, and news articles. The results of this research prove the value of applying both the psychological research as performed for NIA and the educational research done by the educational community. Student and instructor evaluations of these special learning materials, special teaching methods, and learning environment reveal the usefulness of this wealth of information. In all cases, the students, when motivated to accept the instructions became capable of working with a computer. Tables of characteristics help one to classify the placement of individuals into one of the three levels of literacy needs.

This dissertation is based on a qualitative case study of four adults who attend a literacy center where they are learning to read and write better. My primary goal was to investigate how newly literate adults use writing to articulate their relationships to dominant ideologies of literacy. I examined the possibility that different kinds of agency might be enacted within and outside of dominant literacy narratives. The study was conducted at the Read/Write/Now Adult Learning Center. Participants represented a range of learners from various experiences who had been in the program for differing lengths of time. Methods of narrative inquiry were used to collect and analyze data, including: observation of classes, interviews with teachers, extensive interviews with case study members, and collection of all writing produced by participants during their time at the center. Participants' remarks and writing demonstrated that they articulate four dominant literacy narratives: functionality, economic gain, an ethic of self-improvement, and citizenship---having a voice in culture. My analysis revealed that people did not express just one narrative; they expressed as many as four narratives simultaneously. Participants' interview transcripts and writing suggested that they already have the critical awareness theorists believe they must be taught. As they increase their literacy, participants articulate four alternative literacy narratives: naming power, particularly in regard to "illiteracy" as a social violence; critiquing material conditions that have forced them into oppressive subject positions; expressing pleasure as exceeding the range of dominant narratives; and enacting critical citizenry by repositioning themselves as resistors. This study suggests that writing can be a more radical act than speech because people can speak back to culture as well as reach out to affect multiple audiences. Through writing, people can be critical and become activists by circulating their texts publicly. They can critique, analyze, and rework situations. I submit that writing fosters a specific form of agency that people create through their interaction with text---textual agency. Writing offers the potential for self-transformation and social-transformation. The writing process enables people in the study to: alter their subject position, affect others, and circulate texts among various audiences.

The increasing demand for educational opportunities by retirement-age adults presents the need for a better understanding of the significance of these programs on the lives of older adults. The literature provides a broad demographic profile of the older learner, but lacks a deeper understanding of the motivations for participating in educational programs and the resulting experiences. The purpose of this study is to determine what is meaningful to older adults about the Learning in Retirement Institute (LRI) experience, a particular model of older adult education. Through the use of in-depth, phenomenological interviewing, four members of Learning in Retirement Institutes share their life experiences and how they came to join the institutes. They reflect about what the LRI experience means to them at this point in their lives. The results concur with prior research in that the four participants fit the demographic profile and exhibit the two primary motivators of desire for intellectual stimulation and social contact. The significance of this study is the identification of additional benefits to participation in a Learning in Retirement Institute that include personal growth, increased self-esteem, opportunity for contribution, and empowerment. This combination of benefits makes the LRI experience unique from other activities in which older people can participate, including other educational programs such as tuition-free college courses and Elderhostel. This study provides a rare opportunity to gain first-hand perceptions of older adults regarding their lives and experiences in an LRI. It also demonstrates that, while not representing every old person, these four older people, through their desire to grow and contribute, defy the stereotype of all old people as in decline, dependent, and unproductive and that participation in Learning in Retirement Institutes plays a role in the successful aging of these four older people.

The purpose of this research was to investigate the education and training of retail managers through management training programs in three apparel retail organizations and to inform educators and retailers about recommended retail management training practices in order to better prepare their students and employees. Methodology was based on qualitative research, using the multiple-case study method, with an open-ended questionnaire type of interview. Interviews of apparel retail managers and trainers gave insights into the objectives of the study. These objectives were to review: (a) the content of education and management training programs used by three apparel retailers, (b) the training methods, (c) the assessment tools, and (d) the evaluation techniques used in those training programs. The findings show that, since the restructuring of the selected companies during 1995 and 1996, overall educational reimbursement had decreased. Training programs used both on-the-job and classroom methods, and were conducted primarily in stores. Managers were responsible for most of the training. Participants of the study perceived the goals of their company's management training to be profit, managerial continuity, employee development, and career or self-improvement related. Assessment tools varied, with observational techniques, examinations, self-evaluations, and reviews reported. Participants commented on the lack of overall program evaluation, training consistency, and communication. Conclusions of the study indicate that apparel retail management training content was limited in technological advances and had little content pertaining to the changing demographics of employees. Methods and assessment tools used in training were conducive to learning. Program goals and objectives were not always clearly defined. Evaluations of the overall effectiveness of a training program were rarely conducted. Recommendations to retailers and educators were to: (a) update programs to meet the technological and human relation needs of a changing retail environment, (b) consider all company employees as potential trainers, (c) utilize different assessment techniques and methods of teaching, (d) standardize and evaluate training programs, (e) improve communication among retail company personnel, and (f) continue to develop curricula that include communication, feedback and assessment techniques, and field practica.

The American educational system has come under fire in the last several years. At the national level, new laws have been enacted which have helped fund innovative educational programs. Consequently, the individual states have responded with sweeping educational reform laws to revamp their educational systems and improve student learning. In 1992–93, in an effort to improve education and the preparation of teachers, Massachusetts opted to review and examine teacher education programs. Upon the review of these programs and the students' scores in standardized tests, Massachusetts created and passed legislation for educational reform. The Massachusetts Education Reform Act of 1993 (MERA) was passed and new standards were developed for the education of students, the preparation of teachers, and the roles played by the schools, the administrators, and all of the other personnel within the public school system. This study addresses the edicts of the Massachusetts Education Reform Act of 1993 that deal with the recertification of teachers and their professional development. For this study, the Delphi method was used to gain a perspective on developing standards to assess quality of professional development programs as they are presently delivered. The results have been subjected to a factor analysis that yielded four factors: Impact of Professional Development Programs in Teaching; Evaluation and Follow-up of Professional Development Programs; Worth/Accountability of Professional Development Programs; and Motivators for Effective Professional Development Programs. These factors should be considered when assessing quality of professional development programs.

Current policy statements concerning adult literacy in Guatemala state that Mayan women need literacy skills in order to better themselves and their families socially and economically and need to possess these tools and skills in order to participate in the emerging civil society. Responding to this rhetoric, and a chance to win funding, organizations that design and develop literacy programming have responded with adult literacy “classes” that focus on a single model of literacy learning for women that tends to be equated to a school model of basic education. Central to this single model for literacy learning, is a single conception of literacy, as a unified, quantifiable easily attainable goal. This reductionist tendency in Guatemala has led to focusing on a single literacy as the solution to the problem of indigenous women's illiteracy. Assumptions about the needs and desires of beneficiaries are made by literacy experts and planners without taking the time to understand the literacy practices that Mayan women and communities are already engaged in. Examining and analyzing the literacy and numeracy practices women are already engaged in is a very different approach to program planning than the hegemonic centralism of the more traditional autonomous model. By using ethnographic methods to conduct literacy research, a potentially empowering model for literacy programming can emerge that is sensitive to local context and needs. The following guidelines resulted from this study: It cannot be assumed (1) that programs designed for literacy acquisition are in the best educational or social interests of the target audience; (2) that “best practices” of teaching and learning developed and advocated by Western educators and planners are the most effective and successful in all contexts. Whole language approaches or learner-generated materials may work in some contexts and not in others and we cannot simply impose “state of the art” approaches in all contexts and expect them to work well. Any sustainable, meaningful literacy intervention in Guatemala would best be conceptualized as a long-term process that helps to establish an intergenerational network of communicative relationships that focus on the social, cultural, economic and linguistic processes of communities.

This qualitative study explored how people in rural Nepal understand and make meaning of development, Bikas, at the local level. In Nepal, the terms "development," Bikas, and "modernization," Adhunikaran, are often used interchangeably. At the community level, the experience of change is how most people describe their perception of development. Open ended in-depth interviews and participant observations were the primary methods used. The research questions engaged the participants in reflecting about past and present experiences with development in their community, especially in how they have observed their quality of life change. Additionally, the members of the Mothers Group, Ama Toli, were also interviewed. The members were interviewed for two reasons, (1) to better understand the role of women and their experiences with development and (2) to develop a case study to understand how community based organizations can be agents of change. The findings showed that local people have recognized that development does not necessarily mean good changes for everyone. The rich narratives provided a glimpse into how different generations and gender experience development. These findings have major implications for sustainable development in rural communities. How individuals or groups of individual experience development will have an impact on how they participate, support or resist future initiatives. Additionally, what each group believes the gains and losses to be is important for those working as change agents. The study raises to the surface the experiences and views of those whose views and opinions are generally not included even though they are the supposed recipients of development. The development discourse focuses on the critical need for sustainability. This study affirms that for development to be sustainable all members of the community must have a voice and role in determining the community's course of change/development.

In this dissertation, I explore a different concept in program evaluation. There is little literature on using evaluation research as a tool for social justice. The Oppression Evaluation Approach I am introducing is about an alternative method in conducting program evaluation under dominant political conditions, simply dealing with the ethical question: whose side are the evaluators on? The study is based on the experiences of environmental activists in Sudan who have worked under oppressive environments for decades, and how this reflected on the microenvironment of projects run by authoritative managements. The purpose of this study was: (1) To critically review the concept of educational evaluation, with a focus on areas that are not usually tackled, e.g., evaluation abuse. I introduce a number of illegitimate purposes for doing program evaluations in addition to the ones cited in the U.S.A evaluation literature. I also highlight major contemporary models and approaches, which have emerged during the past three decades. (2) To introduce a new approach or model, tentatively called Oppression Evaluation, to develop its theoretical framework based on my experience with evaluation projects in the Third World. I accomplished this and introduced the distinct characteristics of this approach (pre-starting conditions, evaluators' role, covert agenda, power relationships, type of data, risk factors, etc.). This was a major achievement of this research. (3) To explore similarities and differences of this approach in two environmental social justice projects in Sudan and Massachusetts, using a comparative case study design. The key findings were similar methods used in both cases, even with different political environments, due to the shared environmental vision by the two organizations. The adopted methodology in this research was qualitative, focusing on detailed descriptions of the two case studies. I relied on my role in the Sudanese case on reviewing its literature and documents, and introducing a distinguished data gathering technique that is used among left movement in Sudan, and called “Zameel Network.” In the second case, I gathered data via email, media documentation, in-depth interviews, direct and participant-observation, and photography.

This study describes and analyses a collaborative research process used to initiate inquiry and change in a health system in a First Nation, Aboriginal community in Canada. As background, the author reviews issues in transferring government health programs to local control, describes traditional and government health systems in the Split Lake Cree First Nation community and grounds the rationale for the research approach in the traditions of action research and participatory research. The case presentation covers the first year and a half of participatory education and collaborative research activities. Initially it deals with the formation and development of a community research group, with the author serving as co-operating external researcher and training resource. This represents the first instance in Canada of an Aboriginal group doing its own study in preparation for taking over and transforming its health system rather than employing an external consultant to do the study. Specific activities include the preparation of a proposal for funding a study to help with the transfer and the initial design and field work on a study of traditional health practices and resources in the community. The account is based on audio recordings and transcriptions of fourteen meetings, each two to three days in length. In the meetings, the efforts, constraints, interactions, training and skill development of the research group as well as its analysis of systems and reflections on its own process are documented. The author intersperses his own observations in italics. In conclusion, the author reflects on issues arising out of this innovative experiment and on insights it offers for specific problems in collaborative research. Finally, there are recommendations for the use of such an approach as a means for community empowerment and control over change in local health systems.