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We ran three MANOVAs in a sample of 422 young adults to examine differences in eating, shape, and weight concerns (i.e., ESW concerns) between gender diverse individuals, ciswomen, and cismen. Additionally, we examined the effects of self-esteem and sense of belonging on ESW concerns. We also tested for interaction (moderation) effects between gender and self-esteem and gender and sense of belonging. Findings indicated that gender diverse individuals experience ESW concerns at a significantly higher rate than cisgender men. There were no differences, however, in ESW concerns between gender diverse people and ciswomen. Self-esteem and sense of belonging significantly predicted ESW concerns, but no interaction effects were observed. Limitations of the current study include using one large gender diverse group rather than exploring each individual gender identity as well as limited recruitment. Future studies should recruit more participants across the gender spectrum in order to better understand the unique exp

This study focuses on identifying quality Hispanic children's literature suitable for use in kindergarten through second grade from 2000 to 2024. It aims to explore key characteristics that define high-quality literature in this genre, considering cultural relevance, educational value, linguistic accuracy, and representation of diverse Hispanic experiences. By reviewing books published during this period, the research evaluates how these works support language development, multicultural understanding, and early literacy skills among young readers. The study also highlights the importance of selecting books that reflect authentic Hispanic voices and experiences, promoting inclusivity and diversity in early childhood education.

Children with disabilities are three to four times more likely to be abused than their non-disabled peers due to the impact of challenges related to behavior, cognition, language, social skills, and communication skills. In September of 2018, the Council for Exceptional Children (CEC) specifically noted the need to establish maltreatment prevention and response curricula and promote research and advocacy surrounding maltreatment of children with disabilities. One common curriculum recommended is Kidpower®. While Kidpower® shows promise in increasing people safety skills and offers some basic accommodations for use with disabled populations, a complete accommodation plan for deaf or hard of hearing students has not been developed. The purpose of this study was to explore how Kidpower® curriculum could be accommodated to meet the unique needs of deaf and hard of hearing students from the perspective of the deaf education community, including deaf adults, deaf education teachers, deaf education teacher preparation faculty, and parents with deaf or hard of hearing children. A combination of focus groups and interviews were utilized to review lessons and homework from the Kidpower® curriculum. Participants gave feedback on obstacles and ideas for accommodations and modifications that would mediate the challenges. Data were inductively coded and analyzed for themes. Findings indicated the deaf education community believes the curriculum needs media components, language modifications and teaching strategies, enhanced visual information, and representation of people and situations related to the lives of deaf and hard of hearing children to be an effective curriculum for this population.

In school sport the professionalisation of sport has reached the domain of school sport as a grassroots incubator for sporting talent and for providing positive experiences that might lead to lifelong engagement in physical activity. This has inevitably led to the development of specialised human resources required to manage school sport. In the South African context, despite the existence of a variety of sport management programmes, there is a need for continuously updated and adapted programmes to address the needs and demands of the market and workplace. To cope with the increased complexities surrounding school sport and the management thereof, a distinct body of knowledge and skills needs to be developed (Quatman & Chelladurai, 2008a:651) for the management of school sport. Concern over the lack of common knowledge, as well as a pertinent sport management programme for educator training to prepare educators for the diverse contemporary requirements and needs regarding the management of school sport, has resulted in current and prospective educators not necessarily meeting the needs or expectations of the industry in a diversity of South African schools to manage school sport. As a result there appears to be a gap between current sport management programmes‟ outcomes at Higher Education Institutions (HEIs)1 in South Africa and the expected competencies of school sport managers. A need thus exists to have a sport management programme in place for educator training in accordance with the diverse needs of South African schools. Based on the preceding, the problem of identifying the needs and competencies of school sport managers required for the sport management training of educators according to the diverse context of South African schools is seen as the central point in this study. In coherence with the problem statement and the stated research questions, the purpose of this research was to determine the needs and competencies of school sport managers in order to develop a sport management programme for educator training according to the diverse needs of schools in South Africa. In order to achieve this, based on the problem statement, it was necessary to: * Determine the context of school sport within the education system; * Describe and delineate the current role of the school sport manager within the education system; * To analyse international and national sport management training programmes as part of educator training; * Determine the needs and competencies required by educators to manage school sport effectively according to the diverse needs of South African schools; and * Develop a sport management training programme for school sport managers according to the diverse needs of South African schools. To be able to develop a sport management programme for educator training, it was necessary to develop a related instrument that was content and context specific. Contextual, descriptive and explorative qualitative research was undertaken by means of a semi-structured interview. After the sport management competencies and needs were identified, a questionnaire (quantitative research), based on the qualitative research and the literature study in Chapters Two, Three and Four was compiled as part of the mixed-methods research design. To make a sound judgement of content and context specific sport management programmes for educator training, an occupation analysis of the identified school sport management competencies and a needs analysis of specific needs required to manage school sport was undertaken by means of a structured questionnaire. Once the competencies and needs required to manage school sport were defined, programme development principles were applied to develop a sport management programme for educator training in accordance with the diverse needs of South African schools. Conclusions drawn from the above-mentioned research include that the school sport management environment is exceptionally varied, politicised and complex. Another conclusion was that competencies required by the school sport manager can be divided into core, functional and specialist competencies, indicating a range of competencies necessary to equip and enable the school sport manager to manage school sport successfully. This phenomenon cannot merely be ignored by HEIs2 when a content and context-specific market and needs-driven sport management programme for educator training in a diversity of South African schools is developed. It is therefore recommended that a school sport management programme be tailored to the content and context-specific needs of society and school sport managers. In the light of the preceding and a continuously changing education landscape in South Africa, it is necessary that the developed sport management programme and related guidelines for a sport management programme for initial educator training in accordance with the diverse needs of South African schools should continuously be supplemented and adapted in a dynamic school sport environment. / PhD (Movement Education), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2014

In school sport the professionalisation of sport has reached the domain of school sport as a grassroots incubator for sporting talent and for providing positive experiences that might lead to lifelong engagement in physical activity. This has inevitably led to the development of specialised human resources required to manage school sport. In the South African context, despite the existence of a variety of sport management programmes, there is a need for continuously updated and adapted programmes to address the needs and demands of the market and workplace. To cope with the increased complexities surrounding school sport and the management thereof, a distinct body of knowledge and skills needs to be developed (Quatman & Chelladurai, 2008a:651) for the management of school sport. Concern over the lack of common knowledge, as well as a pertinent sport management programme for educator training to prepare educators for the diverse contemporary requirements and needs regarding the management of school sport, has resulted in current and prospective educators not necessarily meeting the needs or expectations of the industry in a diversity of South African schools to manage school sport. As a result there appears to be a gap between current sport management programmes‟ outcomes at Higher Education Institutions (HEIs)1 in South Africa and the expected competencies of school sport managers. A need thus exists to have a sport management programme in place for educator training in accordance with the diverse needs of South African schools. Based on the preceding, the problem of identifying the needs and competencies of school sport managers required for the sport management training of educators according to the diverse context of South African schools is seen as the central point in this study. In coherence with the problem statement and the stated research questions, the purpose of this research was to determine the needs and competencies of school sport managers in order to develop a sport management programme for educator training according to the diverse needs of schools in South Africa. In order to achieve this, based on the problem statement, it was necessary to: * Determine the context of school sport within the education system; * Describe and delineate the current role of the school sport manager within the education system; * To analyse international and national sport management training programmes as part of educator training; * Determine the needs and competencies required by educators to manage school sport effectively according to the diverse needs of South African schools; and * Develop a sport management training programme for school sport managers according to the diverse needs of South African schools. To be able to develop a sport management programme for educator training, it was necessary to develop a related instrument that was content and context specific. Contextual, descriptive and explorative qualitative research was undertaken by means of a semi-structured interview. After the sport management competencies and needs were identified, a questionnaire (quantitative research), based on the qualitative research and the literature study in Chapters Two, Three and Four was compiled as part of the mixed-methods research design. To make a sound judgement of content and context specific sport management programmes for educator training, an occupation analysis of the identified school sport management competencies and a needs analysis of specific needs required to manage school sport was undertaken by means of a structured questionnaire. Once the competencies and needs required to manage school sport were defined, programme development principles were applied to develop a sport management programme for educator training in accordance with the diverse needs of South African schools. Conclusions drawn from the above-mentioned research include that the school sport management environment is exceptionally varied, politicised and complex. Another conclusion was that competencies required by the school sport manager can be divided into core, functional and specialist competencies, indicating a range of competencies necessary to equip and enable the school sport manager to manage school sport successfully. This phenomenon cannot merely be ignored by HEIs2 when a content and context-specific market and needs-driven sport management programme for educator training in a diversity of South African schools is developed. It is therefore recommended that a school sport management programme be tailored to the content and context-specific needs of society and school sport managers. In the light of the preceding and a continuously changing education landscape in South Africa, it is necessary that the developed sport management programme and related guidelines for a sport management programme for initial educator training in accordance with the diverse needs of South African schools should continuously be supplemented and adapted in a dynamic school sport environment. / PhD (Movement Education), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2014

Text in English / The Student Self-Empowerment and Enrichment Programme (SSEEP), formed a resourceful context for this study, which was action-oriented and experience-based. The aim of the SSEEP was to disseminate knowledge, and to create a domain for dialogue that facilitated connection with others and created spaces for the telling and sharing of stories. The philosophy which informed this study was that individuals interpret their experiences and make sense thereof through narratives or stories, which are socially constructed through language. Qualitative research methods were used to interpret the data. Facilitators' and students' experiences in the SSEEP were recorded in field notes, and photographs and 'memory boxes', which were analysed using a hermeneutic method. Personal interviews with four students were analysed using narrative analysis. The purpose of this study was to identify the processes, themes and meanings that contribute to the enhancement of students' personal resources. Facilitators and/ or students co-constructed alternative stories to ones that thwarted their growth, or subjugated them, which led to the creation of new realities that individuals could 'perform', and to recreating themselves in new ways. They could not but be changed by the encounter, and moved from the anonymity of silence to the healing of affirmation through narrative. The promotion of healing, the provision of support or education, and improvement of self-understanding and personal efficacy, were goals that seemed to have been attained. It was also hoped that personal growth would bring life-enhancing contributions to other contexts as well, such as the students' personal, family and community contexts. The guidelines proposed in this study could be of value to those who wish to become involved at grassroots level in designing and implementing their own programmes in the tertiary-education context. They are particularly relevant within present day South Africa taking the diversity of the population into account. / Psychology / D. Litt. et Phil. (Psychology)

nÃo hà / Esta dissertaÃÃo trata da localizaÃÃo de placas de licenciamento brasileiras de veÃculos particulares. Imagens de carros em movimento, advindas de diversos sistemas analÃgicos de fiscalizaÃÃo de trÃnsito, foram usadas para testar os algoritmos. Estas imagens foram digitalizadas por um scanner e convertidas para o formato JPG ou JPEG (Joint Photographic Experts Group). O sistema proposto à classificado como sistema de reconhecimento de placa de licenciamento veicular (SRPLV), cujo propÃsito à a fiscalizaÃÃo de trÃnsito. O sistema à capaz de identificar a placa de veÃculos que avanÃaram sinais vermelhos ou excederam o limite de velocidade. VÃrios algoritmos, que constituem o sistema, foram analisados e comparados com o desempenho de algoritmos similares presentes na literatura. As principais contribuiÃÃes deste trabalho sÃo: o algoritmo de localizaÃÃo da placa, baseado em uma rede neural; a utilizaÃÃo do algoritmo Min/Max no pÃs-processamento das imagens binÃrias, e o uso do mÃtodo das linhas e colunas na etapa de separaÃÃo dos caracteres. Para avaliar o desempenho do sistema, testes foram realizados usando os dois mÃtodos propostos para a localizaÃÃo, baseados na correlaÃÃo mÃxima e em uma rede neural sem realimentaÃÃo. ConcluÃmos que o Ãltimo apresentou resultados superiores ao primeiro, de acordo com os resultados obtidos para o conjunto de imagens utilizadas. / This dissertation deals with the localization of Brazilian license plates of private vehicles, and recognition of their characters. Images of moving cars, acquired by diverse analog systems of traffic law enforcement were used to test the algorithms. These images were digitalized by a scanner and finally formatted as JPG or JPEG (Joint Photographic Experts Group). The proposed system is classified as a vehicle license plate recognition system(VLPRS), whose purpose is the traffic law enforcement. The system is able to identify license plate numbers of drivers who jump red lights and exceed the speed limit. Several algorithms which constitute the overall system were evaluated and compared with the performance of similar ones from the literature. The main contributions of this work are: the localization plate algorithm, based on a neural network; the use of the Min/Max algorithm to post processing binary images, and the use of the method of rows and columns in the characters isolation step. To assess the system performance some tests were provided using the two proposed methods for plate localization which are based on the maximum correlation and a feedforward neural network. We concluded that the latter performed better than the former according to the simulation results obtained for the set of images used.

This project explores the agricultural heritage and current social landscape of the Stinking Creek community of Knox County, Kentucky, and the legacy of the local nonprofit organization the Lend-A-Hand Center. Through participatory research, this project presents a reflexive account of the Lend-A-Hand Center Grow Appalachia Gardening Program examining the diverse economy of the Stinking Creek watershed and possibilities for new economic imaginings and post-coal futures for central Appalachia. This dissertation includes an oral history project, a theoretical examination, and an ethnographic reflection, bridging several literatures in the fields of agricultural history, Appalachian Studies, Participatory Action Research, research within the diverse economy framework, and feminist political ecology. For three years I coordinated the Grow Appalachia program through the Lend-A-Hand Center, developing agricultural initiatives in Knox County, working to re-localize food systems through home gardens, community gardens, and the establishment of the Knox County Farmers’ Market, and gathering stories through oral histories on the Creek. Problematizing the 1967 book Stinking Creek, by John Fetterman, this account of the community seeks to call attention to the importance of critical analyses of representations of people, processes, and places. In the face of pressing social issues in central Appalachia and renewed interest in the discourses of development, local food, and post-coal transition, this work seeks to intervene in region-wide discussions and suggest avenues for change and possibility. The Lend-A-Hand Center Grow Appalachia Gardening Program illustrates the potentials for community-based agriculture projects in the region to promote a variety of economic processes, foster and preserve agricultural traditions, and impact the conversation about outlooks for the region. This research provides policy and programmatic suggestions regarding the importance of relocalization of food systems and different (re)presentations of community narratives as part of a multifaceted agenda toward a just, sustainable future for eastern Kentucky and the region.