Research on the mathematical behavior of children over the past forty decades has considerably renewed and augmented the body of evaluative tests of the results of learning (Lester, 2007). Research however, has provided very little knowledge about the means of improving students’ performance on these tests. Nevertheless teachers, students, and others are being pressured to improve students’ performance, but in order to concentrate on basic skills, the learning itself is made more difficult and slower. The combination of requirements has led to a variety of uncontrolled phenomena such as meta-didactical slippage (Brousseau, 2008). The purpose of this study was to: (a) understand the nature of meta-didactical slippage that occurred in a ninth grade predominantly African American mathematics classroom; and (b) describe how these meta-didactical slippages affect students conceptual understanding on a unit of study of ninth grade mathematics. The study was a descriptive, qualitative, case study that employed ethnographic techniques of data collection and analysis. The theory of didactical situations in mathematics (Brousseau, 1997) served as the theoretical lens that grounded the interpretation of the data, because it enabled the researcher to isolate moments of instruction, action, formulation, validation, and institutionalization in the mathematics teaching and learning process. The study was conducted over a period of 15 weeks in one, ninth grade class of 23 predominantly African American students at a high school in a southeastern state. Data was crystalized using multiple data collection techniques: (a) collection of document artifacts, which included student work samples and teacher lesson plans; (b) interviews conducted with the teacher; (c) researcher introspection; and (d) direct observation. Data was analyzed using ethnographic and discourse analysis techniques, including domain analysis, coding, situated meaning, and the big “D” discourse tool. The study found four themes, which illustrated the nature meta-didactical slippages: (a) over-teaching, (b) situational bypass, (c) language and symbolic representation, and (d) the design of didactical situations.

abstract: This research is particularly concerned with organizations’ advocacy of value-based change aimed at improving consumers’ well-being. This work contributes to the Transformative Services Research area and presents a conceptualization of the value-laden service organization (VLSO), which I define as organizations that advocate for specific value-based behaviors from consumers both within and beyond the particular service setting. In a VLSO, consumers are expected to act in accordance with the values of the organization. If the consumer’s pre-existing value system is not aligned with the values of the service organization, the consumer may experience a sense of psychological disequilibrium, which can lead to unintended decrease in well-being. This research explores how value conflicts are managed by both the organization and by the consumers. This work emerges out of an interpretive study of a Catholic-based homeless shelter for pregnant women. From it, I identify the practices of consumers and the service organization and explored their interactions. This has resulted in a theoretical conceptualization of a Rescue Institution, which combines aspects of both a Total Institution and a Reinventive Institution in a unique way. Further, I conceptualize a cycle of agency and authenticity that maps the dynamics of the consumer in a VLSO as they negotiate the structure/agency duality. In gathering data, I used an interpretive approach over the course of three years’ of direct involvement with a service organization, St. Mary’s House. My methods included participant observation, collection of artifacts, and one-on-one in-depth interviews. I interviewed a total of 30 participants, whose transcribed interviews resulted in over 1500 pages of text. Analysis of themes and concepts occurred as a result of repeated examinations of both existing theory and data. My findings reveal key organizational and consumer practices that negotiate the tension between structure and agency. Organizational practices include rules and social norms, as well as two forms of hierarchy. Consumer practices, often in response to organizational practices, include a cycle of agency and authenticity and participation in a shadow structure. These practices collectively influence consumer’s interpretive drift, which is their adoption of the organization’s values that creates internalized change. I conclude with implications for theory and service organization management. First, value priorities mean that tradeoffs must be made, which can cause unexpected and painful conflict. The experience of change, from both the consumer and service provider perspective, can be very messy. This process includes a dynamic and individual negotiation of authenticity and agency, which will be of interest in future studies. The service providers must be open to this process, carefully navigating their responses to the consumer’s dynamic authenticity, agency and values. Service providers should expect and acknowledge the conflict in consumers’ experience in order to foster their long-term perspective and perseverance. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Business Administration 2015

<p>Until 1976, women in Alabama could choose to make use of a midwife when they gave birth. In that year, the Alabama state legislature outlawed the practice. This dissertation explores the consequences of that decision as well as the efforts of contemporary non-nurse midwives, also known as Certified Professional Midwives (CPM’s), to re-establish the practice as an option available to birthing women in the state.</p><p> In order to address the consequences of outlawing non-nurse midwives in the state of Alabama a mixed methodology approach is applied. Two years of ethnographic data collection approached with a feminist and cultural anthropology lens, reveal that the lack of medical infrastructure within the state of Alabama prohibits the ability for CPM’s to practice safely. This is owed to historically grounded stigma in racism and classism. As a result, the current CPM community within the state of Alabama, along with their clientele, is predominantly white. This is reflected in the case studies within the dissertation as all the families and care providers, regardless of clinical expertise, are all white. An examination of cesarean rates via quantitative analysis supports the historical and ethnographic findings. Cesarean rates are highest within counties that have a low median household income, and a population that is predominately African American.</p><p> The dissertation features five case studies of women who gave birth attended by a CPM. By relating the experiences of the birthing mothers, a CPM, and certified medical professionals, the dissertation offers evidence of the kind of supplemental medical care and knowledge that can be offered by practitioners of midwifery. At the same time, while contemporary midwives such as the one featured here offer important medical service to their clients, they are not equipped to or knowledgeable about political work necessary to push for the re-legalization of midwifery. This dissertation thus sheds light on the challenges facing midwives who would prefer to work openly and legally in the state.</p><p> Ultimately what is revealed is the value of supplementary healthcare networks within the state. While care and birth services provided by CPM’s is not readily accessible to all, those giving birth in Alabama can find support within the current system through supplementary healthcare networks. These networks include doulas, lactation support groups, babywearing groups, etc. It is a piecemeal system to be sure, but it is a piecemeal system that is working diligently to unlearn biases, and support women and birthing families. However, it is important to understand that the supplemental networks cannot fully address the larger structural crisis that is a lack of infrastructure within the state’s medical system. Ideally, a system that utilizes Obstetricians, Nurse Midwives, and Non-nurse Midwives, all with mutual respect for their own expertise, would exist to provide quality care to women throughout the state.</p>

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This ethnographic study explores how various stakeholders perceive and experience the corporate social responsibility (CSR) environment in China, highlighting both its benefits and challenges. Since 2019, China has increasingly engaged in environmental and social initiatives, including the "2030 Peak Carbon Emissions" and "2060 Carbon Neutrality" plans, and has prioritized triple distribution as a national strategic framework for achieving shared prosperity goals. Many companies have responded actively to national policies by integrating CSR themes into their management systems and business strategies. However, there has been limited investigation into how the concept, guidelines, and measures of CSR are perceived and experienced by specific stakeholder groups in practical settings. Documenting the experiences of certain stakeholders in the early stages of rapid CSR development is crucial for informing government and organizational CSR initiatives, assessing policy plans, and providing valuable insights for future policy-making. This study employs an anthropological approach rarely used in CSR research. From 2021 to 2022, individual data was collected through participatory observation of CSR consulting firms and in-depth interviews with stakeholders in Shanghai. Starting from individual cases, the paper explores the complexity of individual thoughts and behaviors in CSR activities. A thinking map based on common characteristics was constructed based on the language used by respondents to describe how their world operates. The results indicate differences in CSR awareness among respondents, with state-owned enterprises seen as the main bearers of CSR. Government policies and mainstream trends significantly influence CSR practices, emphasizing the importance of government quality in establishing a trustworthy and capable social environment. The role of civil society in CSR needs to be further strengt hened, as the lack of conditions for organizational and individual participation in public policy -making undermines the significance of CSR in providing moral leadership. Some respondents express skepticism about the authenticity of CSR, primarily due to a lack of internal employee care culture, which is a key persuasive factor in stimulating employee interest in CSR.

Cette thèse traite de la question des enfants des rues au Mexique, de son histoire, de sa construction en enjeu social et de l’expérience des jeunes aux marges des villes de Mexico et de Tijuana. Symbole de « l'enfance délaissée » dans les pays en voie de développement, cette catégorie sociale a été l'une des « priorités officielles » du premier gouvernement élu démocratiquement à la tête du pays en 2000. La thèse montre comment se configure le monde des enfants des rues en analysant les acteurs de l’intervention sociale auprès des jeunes mais également la façon dont se déploient les existences de ces jeunesses urbaines marginales dans un pays traversé par d’importantes reconfigurations politiques et sociétales. Par une approche sociohistorique de 1880 à nos jours, cette thèse se penche en premier lieu sur l'émergence de cette catégorie dans l’espace public et sa mise en problème qui s'articulent aux transformations sociopolitiques du pays. L’analyse de plusieurs supports iconographiques et documentaires révèle une tension constante entre les figures de la victime et du délinquant qui va de pair avec les angoisses que produit l’important développement urbain du Mexique. L'enquête ethnographique réalisée à Mexico et Tijuana entre 2003 et 2010 montre la pertinence de l'étude à l'échelle de la ville pour comprendre comment s'articulent les politiques, les représentations et les expériences sociales. L'analyse met au jour les spécificités de ces deux villes dans l'appréhension et le traitement du problème, mais également dans les modes d’individuation et les trajectoires biographiques de ces jeunes : si un « effet de frontière » est observé à Tijuana, la dynamique du monde des rues à Mexico se caractérise plutôt par un « effet de capitale ».Finalement, l'analyse par le genre met en évidence les tensions à l'œuvre entre la traduction du langage des droits dans les pratiques quotidiennes des organisations qui travaillent avec cette population et la permanence d'un imaginaire de la famille sexué et hiérarchisé, qui s'articule au récit national. / This thesis deals with the history and construction of the social problem of Mexican street children and with the actual experience of marginalised youth in Mexico City and Tijuana. Symbol of the issue of “abandoned children” in developing countries, this social category has become one of the priorities of the first democratically elected Mexican government in 2000. The thesis examines how the world of “street children” is shaped by analysing the actors of social intervention and the effects of the country’s deep political and societal changes on these marginalised urban youth.Through a socio-historic approach from 1880 to nowadays, this thesis firstly studies the emergence of this category within the public space and its construction as a social problem, embedded in the socio-political transformations of the country. By exploring iconographic and documentary supports, the analysis identifies a constant tension between the figure of ‘victim’ and of ‘delinquent’, a tension which goes hand in hand with the anxiety produced by the tremendous urban development of Mexico.This ethnographic research, carried out in Mexico and Tijuana between 2003 and 2010, demonstrates the relevance of observing at city level in order to understand how the policies, representations and social experiences articulate. The analysis brings to light the specific features of these two cities in their perception and treatment of the problem as well as in the resulting individualisation modes and biographies of these young people. In Tijuana, a “border effect” is observed, whereas the streets dynamics in Mexico City are characterised by a “capital effect”. Finally, the gender analysis demonstrates the tensions between the appropriation of a law terminology in the everyday practices of the organisations working with this population and the traditional image of a sexualised and hierarchic family, embedded in the national narrative.

Denna avhandling fokuserar på det meningsskapande och begripliggörande som fortgår vid tilltagande demenssjukdom, i det sociala samspelet, och de utmaningar för demens-omsorgen som detta innebär. Studien är aktörsorienterad och adresserar frågan om hur personer med åldersrelaterade progressiva demenssjukdomar i den vardagliga kommuni-kationen söker förstå sina situationer, omgivningen och sina liv – alltsammans inom ra-men för det dagliga samspelet på ett demensboende. Av särskilt intresse är hur dessa per-soner hanterar problem som har att göra med att handla tillsammans med andra i en gemensamt delad värld och hitta sin roll i det pågående samspelet, och hur de etablerar och upprätthåller en identitet i detta samspel. Detta trots svåra minnesproblem, desorien-tering i tid och rum, olika sätt att förstå den pågående situationen samt svårigheter att be-rätta om sina liv på ett sätt som både stämmer överens med biografiska data och har en tillfredsställande temporal organisering. Avhandlingen adresserar också frågan om hur omsorgspersonalen kan hantera det komplexa samspelet mellan de boende i den dagliga omsorgen, med avseende på att upprätthålla och respektera dessa personers värdighet. Studien ansluter till en växande tradition av att studera interaktion vid demens som meningsbaserad och situerad i en kontext snarare än enbart som beteende som orsakas av kognitiva svårigheter. Metodologiskt är studien etnografisk och bygger på observationer fördelade över en tidsperiod av sex månader. Materialet, som består av ca 150 h videoma-terial och kompletterande fältanteckningar, möjliggör att samspelet studeras både i detalj och i relation till det större sammanhang som det ingår i. Studien visar på kvarvarande kompetenser och bidrar med ny kunskap om strategier som personerna med demens använder sig av i ett aktivt, kreativt och på många sätt ratio-nellt meningsskapande i det sociala samspelet med andra människor. Detta diskuteras i termer av resurser för demensomsorgen i relation till den stora utmaning som det innebär att lappa ihop och upprätthålla en begriplig och socialt delad värld, samt upprätthålla kon-tinuitet med personernas livshistorier på ett sätt som möjliggör en önskad identitet. / This thesis focuses on the identity work and the meaning- or sense-making that continue in the face of evolving dementia diseases, in social interaction, and the challenges for care this involves. The study adopts an actor-oriented approach and addresses the question of how persons with age-related progressive dementia diseases in everyday communication make sense of their situations, their surroundings, and their lives – all within the context of daily life in residential care. Of particular interest is how these persons handle issues of joint action in a shared world and how they establish and maintain an identity in the inte-raction. This is in spite of severe memory problems, disorientation in time and space, dif-fering understandings of the current situation, and difficulties in telling “accurate” and temporally ordered stories about their lives. The thesis also addresses the question of how caregivers may handle the complex interplay between residents in daily care, in maintain-ing and respecting these persons’ dignity. The study follows a growing tradition of studying interaction in dementia as mean-ing-based and situated in a context rather than merely as behavior caused by cognitive impairment. Methodologically, this is an ethnographic study based on observations made within a period of six months. The data consist of around 150 hours of video recordings and complementary field notes. This extensive material has made it possible to study the social interaction both in detail and situated in a larger context. The findings point to remaining competences and strategies that persons with demen-tia use actively and creatively in the ongoing interaction – and, given the premises, often in a rational way. This is discussed in terms of resources for dementia care, in relation to the great challenge of patching up and putting together a comprehensive socially shared world as well as maintaining continuity with the persons’ previous life histories in a way that preserves a positive self-identity.

This PhD Thesis has been immersed in investigating the holistic experience of way-finding in buildings by people who have a range of visual ability. Previous research studies, spanning across a broad spectrum of disciplines, have focused on various characteristics of human way-finding (Arthur and Passini, 1992;Lynch, 1960;Downs and Stea, 1973). It is specifically recognised that the built environment is failing people with visual loss (Barker et al., 1995) and the strategic task and skill of way-finding within a building is a particular problem (Arthur and Passini, 1992). Under the social model of disability (Oliver, 1990) this is recognised as a form of architectural disablement (Goldsmith, 1997). There are few evidence-based studies of way-finding in a building. Furthermore, there are no studies of real-life experiences of way-finding undertaken by real-life participants who have a range of visual ability within the context of a real-life building. This leads to a research question: What are the design issues revealed by participants who have a range of visual ability as they way-find in a large public building? This doctoral research, based within the discipline of architecture, focuses on the holistic experiential components of a Journey (Myerson, 2001;Harper and Green, 2000). It coins and defines the term Way-finding Hot-spot as it explores the events [positive and negative] which are experienced and therefore impact on a Way-finding Journey around a building. To fill an important gap in the current knowledge a research enquiry, based on a user-centred design approach, was implemented. Exploratory in nature, the methodology was inductive and it evolved throughout the study. A series of Research Principles, borrowed from the established methodologies of Grounded Theory (Glaser, 1968) and Case Study (Yin, 2003a;Yin, 2003b), guided this study. Ten participants [with varying degrees of visual ability, different ages and other forms of disability] undertook a Way-finding Scenario designed to evaluate both existing memories of way-finding and present way-finding experience. This was composed of a Purposeful Conversation (Burgess, 1982) and a context specific Way-finding Task. The study has produced a large amount of data based on user experience in a real-world way-finding context – this has not been done before. Participant data contributed to a new Theory of Way-finding – The Experiential Charting of a Way-finding Journey – which derived from experiential data, was found to be composed of three elements: Journey Stages, Tasks Components and Communication Requirements. This thesis presents detailed findings which generate dialogue in the design of way-finding systems suitable for a diverse range of way-finders. It provides a research-based foundation to open the problem area and provide an insight into the issues people with different visual abilities encounter as they undertake a Way-finding Journey around a building. It generates a greater understanding of the problems and joys of way-finding in a building which will be of use in professional practice across disciplines of architecture and design as well as in areas of rehabilitation, policy-making and academia. This research is a start, but it is not the end. Future research questions have been revealed and these, combined with further reviews of literature and creative use of method, will further explore the phenomenon of way-finding within the context of buildings.

In this dissertation I investigate photographs not only as images of something, or as objects we can hold, but I also investigate how they are acts grounded in place. That is, I consider the photograph as event. The backbone of my research is a hybrid social science and visual art undertaking in which I produce both academic texts and art installations through visual inquiry into the intensely imagined places that are Canadian national parks. I examine how the myth of wilderness is made concrete in visual images of Waterton Lakes National Park, Alberta. I explore the situatedness of photography through ethnographic and archival research into the conditions that produced over four-hundred photographs of Waterton from the late 19th century to the present. This research advances understanding of how specific historical photographic events shape dominant systems of environmental knowledge in Canada. I explore the intertwined histories of place and representation in Waterton over the past 150 years and how they emerge in the present. To unravel the politics of representation in national parks in Canada I address three key questions: First, how do images that portray and represent wilderness in Canada affect not only our imagination about national parks, but our experiences in, and actions in, national parks? In particular, how are photographs not just representations of national parks but how do we form a relationship to space and place through them? Second, I carry out a visual investigation of Waterton Lakes National Park to study the photograph as event, and ask, how photographs, not just as images and objects, are acts grounded in place? Finally, I ask: What new approaches can be deployed to investigate existing visual collections and to bring them to bear on the history and present of the national park space? I describe how visual methods can generate new ways of thinking about photography and place.