Text in Afrikaans / Geloof wat in die kategese as deel van 'n to tale geloofsvormingsproses op die tafel kom, moet holisties-ekosistemies verstaan word met die 'hic et nunc'- relevansie daarvan as 'n kwalifiserende maatstaf. Geloof so gesien, behoort in die kategesemateriaal van die Nederduitse Gereformeerde Kerk na vore te kom. Die grootste deel van die studie is gewy aan die bree teoretisering in holisties-ekosistemiese perspektief. Vanuit 'n wetenskapsteoretiese vertrekpunt is 'n eie prakties-teologiese teorie oor geloof ontwerp wat geloof enersyds sien as die dinamiese interaksie van gawe, inhoud en respons, en andersyds as 'n aantal perspektiewe daarop. Hierdie teorie het as vertrekpunt gedien om sekere van die kontekste waarbinne geloof funksioneer, te beskryf, naamlik die koninkryk van God, die samelewing, die gemeente, die kategese, die adolessent, die jeugsubkultuur en die skool. In hierdie beskrywing is 'n omvattende teorie oor die kategese daargestel wat dit holisties-ekosistemies sien. Deur middel van inhoudsanalise is fasette van die teoriee getoets aan die lesse in die handboeke van die kategete wat met die adolessente in standerd 5 tot 8 werk. Daar is bevind dat die geloofsbeeld wat na vore kom steriel kognitief-vertikaal is. Oor 'n tydperk van meer as twintig jaar is weinig samelewingsrelevante kwessies aangeraak. Die belangwekkende dokumente Ras, Volk en Nasie en Kerk en Samelewing het nie gefunksioneer nie. In terme van die teorie oor geloof fasiliteer die kategesemateriaal nie relevante geloof midde-in die wereld waarin die adolessente moet glo nie. Dit het ook geblyk dat die inhoudsanalise as werkwyse en die meetinstrument wat ontwerp is, bruikbaar was. Die studie formuleer vanuit die teoriee en die empiriese ondersoek 'n aantal perspektiewe van waaruit die kategese en die lesmateriaal daarvan die kritiese hantering van die verhouding kognitief-affektief-konatief en die gerigtheid individueel-vertikaal, horisontaal-ekklesiaal en horisontaal-sosiaal kan hanteer met die oog daarop dat die kerk sigself en die adolessente as deel daarvan, nie in 'n dogmatistiese ghetto in perk nie, maar vorm met die oog op 'n selfstandige en relevante geloofsfunksionering op die geloof stog in die woestyn van die wereld met die oog op die realisering van die Ryk van God. / Faith which is handled in catechesis as part of the total process of the formation of faith should be understood in a holistic-ecosystemic way with its 'hic et nunc' relevance as a qualifying criterion. It should also appear in this form in the material for catechesis in the Nederduitse Gereformeerde Kerk. The greater part of the study focuses on broad theorising from a holistic-ecosystemic perspective. An independent practical-theological theory on faith is developed from a scientific-theoretical basis. This theory sees faith as a dynamic interaction of gift, content and response on the one hand and a number of different perspectives on the other. It serves as the point of departure for describing some of the contexts in which faith functions, namely the kingdom of God, society, the community, catechesis, the adolescent, the youth subculture and the school. In the process a comprehensive theory about catechesis is developed which sees it holistically ecosystemically. Content analysis is used to test aspects of the theories against the lessons in the manuals for catechists working with adolescents in standards 5 to 8. The resultant image of faith is found to be cognitively-vertically sterile. Over a period of more than twenty years few socially relevant issues were touched on. The important documents Ras, Volk en Nasie and Kerk en Samelewing did not function. In terms of the theory of faith this material for catechesis does not facilitate relevant faith in the world in which the adolescent has to have faith. It is also apparent that content analysis as a method and the measuring instrument used were suitable. Using the theories and the empirical investigation the study formulates a number of perspectives from which catechesis and the lesson material can deal with the critical handling of the relationship cognitively-affectively-conatively and the directedness individually-vertically, horizontally-ecclesially and horizontally-socially so that the church does not imprison itself and its adolescent members in a dogmatistic ghetto, but shapes them so that their faith can function independently and relevantly on the way of faith through the desert of the world with a view to realise the kingdom of God. / Philosophy, Practical & Systematic Theology / Th. D. (Praktiese Teologie)

In South Africa learners do not achieve as well as their international counterparts on tests of literacy, and language proficiency is often blamed for their poor academic performance. In this study, the relationship between English language proficiency, reading ability and the academic performance of Grade 7 students in submersion contexts was investigated using quantitative methods. The participants of the study were Grade 7 students based in a former Model C school in the South African city of Johannesburg. Their English language proficiency and reading ability were measured by means of The Proficiency test English Second Language: Intermediate level and the Neale Analysis of Reading Ability tests respectively. The students’ performance on these tests was correlated with the students’ average summative assessment results using the Pearson-product moment correlation. Results showed that both English language proficiency and reading ability were significantly correlated with academic performance, with language proficiency having the most robust correlation. These findings indicate that teachers should aim at improving language proficiency by using multilingual teaching strategies that support home language as a cognitive tool. / English Studies / M.A. (TESOL)

The purpose of this study was to investigate how well adjusted the support is for young people that have been diagnosed with ADHD, while attending the gymnasium. Analysis and result are based on a sociocultural perspective and have their take-off in literaturestudies and qualitative interviews with two students with the diagnosis and one special needs teacher. The interviews were based on themes that had their starting point in school policy documents and related literature. The interviews were semi-structured with the aim of letting the interviewees speak as freely as possible. One of the themes included the individual strategies developed by the interviewees, such as using mobile-apps to help structure and plan for everyday life. Results show that the available support is not well adapted and that how great impact the ADHD-diagnosis has on how well the person do in school is greatly affected by in what social context and what kind of support he or she has outside of school, for example by family. The study shows that there is great need for further research and development within the research area. / Syftet med den här studien var att undersöka hur väl anpassat stödet i gymnasieskolan är för elever med ADHD-diagnos. Analys och resultat är bearbetade utifrån ett sociokulturellt perspektiv och baseras på litteraturstudier och kvalitativa intervjuer med två gymnasieelever med ADHD-diagnos samt en specialpedagog/speciallärare. Intervjuerna berörde teman med utgångspunkt i styrdokumenten samt i relaterad litteratur och var halvstrukturerade, med syftet att låta intervjupersonerna tala så fritt som möjligt. Ett av temana berörde de egna strategier som intervjupersonerna utarbetat, så som att använda appar i mobilen för att skapa struktur och planera vardagen. Resultatet visar att stödet i gymnasieskolan inte är väl anpassat utan att hur väl en person med ADHD-diagnos klarar sig i skolan snarare beror på de omgivande förutsättningarna utanför skolan, exempelvis vilket stöd hen får från sin familj. Studien visar att det finns stor utvecklingspotential inom området och att det behövs ytterligare forskning på hur man kan omforma skolans sociokulturella struktur och se till att anpassningarna blir just anpassningar och inte ytterligare krav.

This research highlights the importance of considering the degree students’ integration into school classes when estimating school effects. Combining and using two different datasets collected before and after education reform in Taiwan, the study compares school effects under two different education systems in order to answer the question about the efficiency of education reform. I estimate multilevel growth models to assess how school environments affect changes in students’ initial and change rate of their academic performance across junior high school years. Besides, two-part random-effects models are also introduced into the analyses to testify how school environment influence adolescent performance in their high school enrollments. My results support and extend Blau’s structural theory, revealed that school contexts and school networks directly and indirectly influences students’ performance in their school classes and in their high school enrollments, suggesting students’ outcome are conditioning by the local structure, the school environments. However, through making more friends inside and outside school classes, students still have their own power to modify the environmental impacts on themselves. With respect to the comparisons of school effects on individuals’ performance under two different education systems in Taiwan, the decreasing peer influences and the decreasing significance of school networks indicate that the school effects gradually decline after the administration of education reform. One should note that simply a little change on education system might alter students, parents, and teachers’ behaviors. The decreasing peer effects and the decreasing school effects on students’ academic performance suggesting that students might change their behaviors on interacting with their friends and change their behaviors at schools in order to jostle higher education after education reform. The increasing cram schooling and the increasing significance of family SES support the inference that students modify their behaviors to come up against the education reform in Taiwan. These findings suggest the need for more panel datasets collected from the newly cohorts after education reform was administrated for a period and the need for more studies of education reform and school effects, to have more understanding about the mechanisms of school efficiency.

This study tested the utility of three different models of personality, namely the social and personality model, the pathological personality traits model, and the psychological dysregulation model, in predicting overt aggression, relational aggression, and delinquency in a sample of detained boys (ages 12 to 18; M age = 15.31; SD = 1.16). Results indicated that the three personality approaches demonstrated different unique associations with aggression and delinquency. The psychological dysregulation approach, composed of behavioral dysregulation, emotional dysregulation, and cognitive dysregulation, emerged as the overall best predictor of overt aggression, relational aggression, and delinquency. After controlling for the Big Five personality traits, psychological dysregulation accounted for significant variance in overt aggression and delinquency, but not relational aggression. After controlling for callous-unemotional traits and narcissistic traits, psychological dysregulation also accounted for significant variance in overt aggression, relational aggression, and delinquency. Psychological dysregulation did not account for significant variance in aggression or delinquency after controlling for borderline traits. The pathological personality traits approach, comprised of callous-unemotional traits, narcissistic traits, and borderline traits performed second best. In particular, within this approach borderline traits accounted for the most unique variance, followed by narcissistic traits, then callous-unemotional traits. Borderline traits accounted for significant variance in overt aggression, relational aggression, and delinquency when controlling for the Big Five traits, but not after controlling for psychological dysregulation. Narcissistic traits only accounted for significant variance in overt aggression and relational aggression after controlling for the Big Five personality traits, but not after controlling for psychological dysregulation. CU traits only accounted for significant variance in overt aggression after controlling for the Big Five personality traits, but not after controlling for psychological dysregulation. The social and personality model, represented by the Big Five personality traits accounted for the least amount of variance in the prediction of aggression and delinquency, on its own, and when pitted against the other two personality approaches. The exception was that the Big Five personality traits accounted for significant variance in relational aggression beyond narcissistic traits, as well as psychological dysregulation. These findings have implications for assessment and intervention with aggressive and antisocial youth.

Introdução - A partir da década de 1940, diversos programas de distribuição de leite foram implementados no Brasil, aliando combate à fome e à desnutrição com expansão do mercado consumidor. Na cidade de São Paulo foi implementado, em 1995, o Programa Leve Leite (PLL), com o objetivo de reduzir a desnutrição infantil e a evasão escolar mediante entrega de leite em pó a estudantes da rede pública de ensino. Em 2017, suas regras foram modificadas para priorizar crianças de primeira infância e em situação de vulnerabilidade, o que gerou debates entre diferentes setores com relação à diminuição da quantidade de beneficiários, destinação de recursos orçamentários, efetividade do programa, prejuízos sociais e ausência de participação da sociedade civil. Objetivo - Analisar se o Programa Leve Leite, do município de São Paulo, é uma política pública promotora do Direito Humano à Alimentação Adequada (DHAA) e da Segurança Alimentar e Nutricional (SAN) a partir do delineamento de seu desenho jurídico-institucional, fases, contextos e interesses. Métodos - Pesquisa qualitativa, de caráter descritivo, por meio de coleta de referências documentais e bibliográficas. O corpus reuniu 17 documentos normativos regulamentadores do PLL e documentos complementares, como discursos de prefeitos e vereadores, campanhas eleitorais, projetos de lei, notícias veiculadas pela imprensa, manifestações de famílias das crianças beneficiárias, representantes de organizações da sociedade civil, do poder público e de empresas, publicados entre os anos de 1995 e 2019. Resultados - A utilização dos modelos \'quadro de referência jurídico-institucional das políticas públicas\', \'ciclo das políticas públicas\', \'abordagem do ciclo de políticas\' e \'modelo de distopia das políticas públicas\' aplicado à alimentação e nutrição permitiu delimitar três períodos do Programa Leve Leite - \'PLL inicial\' (1995), \'PLL inicial-modificado\' (1995-2016) e \'PLL atual\' (2017-), cujas características foram descritas a partir de suas fases, modificações dos contextos em que elas se desenvolveram e interesses políticos, públicos e privados incidentes. Considerações Finais - Da forma como foi construído, o PLL não pode ser considerado uma política pública promotora do DHAA e da SAN. Apesar de buscar melhorar os índices da desnutrição infantil ou as condições de vulnerabilidade socioeconômica de crianças de primeira infância ou com deficiência, o PLL, ao longo de 24 anos, não se adaptou à institucionalização, no Brasil, de políticas que respeitam, protegem, garantem e promovem a alimentação adequada e saudável. Seu desenho jurídico-institucional o conforma como programa assistencialista e compensatório, sem previsão de intersetorialidade e de participação da sociedade civil, e permite a incidência de atividades políticas corporativas do setor produtivo leiteiro, como estratégias de marketing, lobby e ações jurídicas, e potenciais conflitos entre interesses políticos, privados e públicos. A ausência de estudos de avaliação sobre os resultados do Programa Leve Leite, em mais de duas décadas, permitiu que ele tenha permanecido vigente sujeito à vontade política e eleitoral dos prefeitos municipais. A visão processual, panorâmica e interdisciplinar apresentada pode contribuir para a construção de políticas públicas alinhadas com os princípios de DHAA e SAN, com participação social e sem conflito de interesses públicos e privados. / Introduction - From the 1940s, several milk supplement public programs were implemented in Brazil, combining hunger and malnutrition with expansion of the consumer market. In the city of São Paulo, the Programa Leve Leite (PLL) was implemented in 1995, with the objective of reducing child malnutrition and school dropout by providing milk powder to public school students. In 2017, its rules were changed to prioritize vulnerable and young children, which led to discussions among different sectors regarding the reduction in the number of beneficiaries, allocation of budget resources, program effectiveness, social losses and lack of participation. of civil society. Objective - To analyze whether Programa Leve Leite, in the city of São Paulo, is a public policy that promotes the Human Right to Adequate Food and Food and Nutrition Security from the outline of its legal-institutional design, phases, contexts and interests. Methods - Qualitative and descriptive research through the collection of documentary and bibliographic references. The corpus assembled 17 regulatory documents of PLL and supplementary documents, such as political speeches by mayors and city legislators, election campaigns, bills, news, speeches by families of beneficiary children, representatives of civil society organizations, government and companies, published between 1995 and 2019. Results - The use of models of policy analysis \'legal-institutional of public policy framework\', \'policy cycle\', \'policy cycle approach\' and \'policy dystopia\' applied to food and nutrition allowed the delimitation of three periods of the Programa Leve Leite - \'Initial PLL\' (1995), \'Initial-modified PLL\' (1995-2016) and \'Current PLL\' (2017-), whose characteristics were described from their phases, modifications of the contexts in which they have been developed and the incidence of political, public and private interests. Final Considerations - As it was built, Programa Leve Leite cannot be considered a public policy that promotes Human Right to Adequate Food and Food and Nutrition Security. Despite seeking to improve the rates of child malnutrition or the socioeconomic vulnerability of young children or children with disabilities, the public program, over 24 years, has not been adapted to the institutionalization in Brazil of policies that respect, protect, guarantee and promote healthy and adequate eating habits. Its legal-institutional design conforms it as a charitable and compensatory program, without foreseeing intersectoral and civil society participation, and allows the incidence of corporate political activities of the dairy sector, such as marketing strategies, lobbying and legal actions, and potential conflicts between political, private and public interests. The absence of evaluation studies on the results of the Programa Leve Leite in more than two decades has allowed it to remain in force subject to the political and electoral will of the municipal mayors. The procedural, panoramic and interdisciplinary view presented can contribute to the construction of public policies aligned with the principles of Human Right to Adequate Food and Food and Nutrition Security, with social participation and without conflict of public and private interests.

[pt] Esta tese investiga a ação do designer que atua em contextos sociais de conflito e marginalizados para promover e potenciar processos locais de Inovação Social através de experiências participativas e da estratégia de Design. Por isto, em primeiro lugar, foi desenvolvida uma revisão teórica com relação ao âmbito da contribuição social do Design, às abordagens e práticas mais conhecidas e ao contexto selecionado. Este momento foi preparatório para a fase subsequente de pesquisa que consistiu na implementação de um projeto de Design participativo em uma favela carioca em colaboração com uma ONG local. Ao longo da pesquisa de campo foram coletados dados usando como estratégia a observação participante. Em seguida, os dados foram analisados, sendo identificadas duas macro categorias de investigação, que são fundamentais para o tipo de ação de Design considerada. Trata-se do tempo e dos parceiros de projetos e interesses locais. Ambas foram depois verificadas, compreendidas e detalhadas através de entrevistas com designers e de uma nova fase de revisão teórica. Tudo isso permitiu chegar aos resultados de pesquisa: foram levantadas duas questões que podem influenciar o processo de Design, obstaculizá-lo ou até impedi-lo. Em primeiro lugar, o tempo apresentou-se com um elemento determinante no desenvolvimento de um projeto, capaz de favorecê-lo ou obstaculizá-lo. De fato, podem ocorrer divergências temporais entre o designer e o processo de Design, o contexto e os parceiros de projeto. Em segundo lugar surgiu a influência das forças contextuais exercidas pelos atores locais - e baseadas em interesses e agendas internas - sobre as ações do designer e a sua relação com a estrutura da rede de projeto. Os resultados de pesquisa sugerem que: (1) os fatores contextuais podem influenciar o processo de Design no desenvolvimento de projetos participativos que visam promover processos locais de Inovação Social; (2) a ação do designer em experiências participativas que visam a Inovação Social pode se beneficiar de abordagens que consideram os fatores contextuais; (3) as metodologias e ferramentas desenvolvidas até então para a atuação do designer no âmbito social não são suficientes para a ação. Por fim, a partir disso, a tese promove uma reflexão sobre a proposta de um Design social eficaz e a atual formação em Design neste âmbito. / [en] The thesis investigates the designer s action in conflict and marginalized social contexts aimed at promoting and enhancing local Social Innovation processes through participatory experiences and the Design strategy. Firstly, a theoretical review of the social contribution of Design, of the best-known approaches and practices, and of the selected context was developed. This moment had been preparatory for a subsequent phase of applied research that occurred with the implementation of a participatory Design project inside a Rio de Janeiro slum in collaboration with a local NGO. During field research data were collected through participatory observation. Their later analysis led to identify two key research macro-categories - time, and Design partners and local interests – that were verified and better understood through some interviews with designers and a new phase of theoretical review. All this led to research results: two main issues that may influence, impede or hinder the development of this kind of project were identified. Firstly, time appeared as a fundamental element in project development, able to promote or prevent it. In fact, temporal divergences between the designer and the Design process, between the context and the Design partners may occur. Secondly, the influence of the forces exerted by local actors - and based on interests and inner agendas - on the designer s actions emerged as well as its relation to the project network structure. Research results indicate that: (1) contextual factors may influence the Design process in participatory projects aiming at promoting local Social Innovation processes; (2) the designer s action in participatory experiences may benefit of approaches that consider contextual factors; (3) the methodologies and tools that have been developed to support designer s work in the social field are not enough for action. Finally, this thesis promotes a reflection about the widespread idea of an efficient Social Design practice and about Design education in this area.

Suicide touches the lives of millions of people each year in this country alone, yet conversations about suicide loss and survival after a loss remain taboo and often do not happen. The story I performed for this performance autoethnographic study centers on my life as a survivor of suicide. It provides a starting point for dialog regarding trauma, grief, and suicide loss. The narrative was constructed directly following the sudden death of my father, which had a direct effect on my ability to produce artistic work. The development, staging and performance of the story were altered to account for the situational depression I experienced during my creative process. I received feedback from the audience on what aspects of my telling were well developed, and what needed further development. I was able to experience the importance of balance in an autoethnographers personal life when writing about trauma and experiencing it directly.

Abstract Childhood development has always been a major topic when studying psychology and biology. This makes sense because the brain develops from the time a child is conceived to the time that child has reached around the age of twenty-seven. Doctors, psychologists, and sociologists look at numerous things when studying childhood development. However, how common is it for researchers to study how the fine and performing arts affect childhood development? Sociologists tend to be extremely open and mindful of all aspects of things such as culture, sexuality, religion, and even age. By taking a sociological standpoint when studying the arts and studying childhood development, society is able to make connections between the two that leads to better understanding of a child's development socially, mentally, and academically.

Across the United States, an overwhelming majority of the population claim that religion and spirituality beliefs shape their worldview and assist in coping with life stressors. Yet, the literature has shown that mental health practitioners reported discomfort integrating religion and spiritually in clinical practice. The purpose of this study was to explore whether license-holding mental health professionals in Southern California develop reluctance toward addressing religion/spirituality with their clients. Through snowball sampling, 52 clinicians composed of social workers, counselors, marriage and family therapists, nurses, psychologists, and psychiatrists were recruited across Southern California (N =52). The participants were measured descriptively based on (a) confidence in their ability to integrate client beliefs into treatment and (b) their comfort discussing topics related to RS with their clients. Results revealed an overall level of reluctance ranging from 15 percent (for comfortability) to 25 percent (for ability) among the study participants. Licensed clinical social workers reported slightly lower reluctance level than other licensed professionals. Implications of the findings were discussed.