M.Ed. / Please refer to full text to view abstract

Edmund Gettier' s article Is justified true belief knowledge? raised substantial interest in the concept of epistemic justification, especially in Anglo-American epistemology. Discussions of the concept of epistemic justification form a large and varied field of study, covering a large number of related aspects. Not all these aspects are dealt with in this study. The distinction between 'structural' and 'perspectival' aspects is introduced as a theoretical tool to limit the scope of the study to covering only 'perspectival' aspects. These refer to aspects related to the perspective from which justification is carried out, i.e. whether it be from a first-person or from a third-person perspective. The first chapter gives a brief characterisation of the nature of epistemic justification, describing how it is related to the aim of maximising truth and minimising falsity. The concept of epistemic justification also has a normative character, defining justification in terms of blameworthiness. In the second chapter a concept of justification defined in terms of blameworthiness is discussed. A conception of justification construed along normative lines is properly termed 'deontological'. Criticism against such a conception centres around the problem of the voluntariness of belief. Two varieties of control over belief-formation, direct and indirect control, are discussed. A deontological conception of justification makes it possible for someone to be justified in holding a belief, even though the belief is false. For this reason some epistemologists reject justification defined in deontological terms. The discussion of the deontological conception of justification brings the main problem of first-person justification to the fore, i.e. how to determine, from such a perspective, whether one's belief-formation will lead to truth. Chapter 3 discusses the merit and problems of first-person justification in general. The matter of intersubjective principles as a means to achieve objective truth from a subjective perspective is investigated. The existence and nature of such principles are much-contested matters. Many epistemologists deny that such principles exist innately. However, without intersubjective, truthconducive rules that someone can appeal to, the possibility exists that someone's beliefs may constitute mere belief, in whatever way they are supported by the person's other beliefs. This compels some to reject subjective justification as a valid conception of epistemic justification. In chapter 4 'internalism', the most recent term for subjective justification, is discussed in comparison with internalism's main contemporary rival, 'externalism'. The different levels of internalism that result from different requirements set for someone's awareness of his justifiers are also discussed, as well as the relationship between internalism and deontology, and between internalism and truth. Chapter 5 deals with the main criticism that externalists level against internalism, i.e. that it creates an infinite justificational regress. Analysis of the structure of the internalist regress shows that a vicious regress is not involved. It is concluded that the notion of justificational perspective has to be incorporated into a theory of epistemic justification in order for such a theory to be able to deal with first-person epistemic situations. This also provides a strategy for accommodating immediate justifiers in an 'internalist' conception of justification without creating an infinite justificational regress. Furthermore it lays foundations for an internalismjexternalism integration theory. AFRIKAANS : Edmund Gettier se artikel getiteld Is justified true belief knowledge?, epistemiese het ongekende regverdiging belangstelling in veroorsaak, veral die in kwessie van die Engels- Amerikaanse kennisleer. Die bespreking van die begrip 'epistemiese regverdiging' vorm 'n bre~ studieveld wat 'n groat verskeidenheid verwante aspekte insluit. Al hierdie aspekte kon onmoontlik bespreek word in dié studie, daarom is 'n onderskeid getref tussen 'strukturele' aspekte en 'perspektiwiese' aspekte. Die omvang van die studie is daarvolgens beperk tot die bespreking van aspekte wat verband hou met die gesigspunt waaruit regverdiging plaasvind, dit wil se, hetsy dit uit 'n eerstepersoonsgesigspunt of uit 'n derdepersoonsgesigspunt plaasvind. In die eerste hoofstuk word 'n kort oorsig gegee van die aard van epistemiese regverdiging. Epistemiese regverdiging het die verkryging van waarheid en die vermyding van vals oortuigings as doelwit. Epistemiese regverdiging is ook normatief van aard, en dit maak 'n definisie daarvan in terme van blaam en aanspreeklikheid moontlik. In die tweede hoofstuk word só 'n definisie, wat bekend staan as 'n deontologiese opvatting van epistemiese regverdiging, bespreek. Die hoofbeswaar teen so 'n opvatting raak die vraagstuk of dit moontlik is om na willekeur beheer uit te oefen oor die verwerwing van oortuigings. Twee soorte beheer, direkte beheer en indirekte beheer, word bespreek. 'n Deontologiese opvatting van epistemiese regverdiging maak dit A moontlik vir iemand om geregverdig te wees om 'n oortuiging te he, selfs al is die oortuiging vals. Party epistemoloë verwerp die deontologiese opvatting vir hierdie rede. Die bespreking van die deontologiese opvatting bring die hoofprobleem van eerstepersoonsregverdiging na vore. Dit is hoe om uit 'n eerstepersoonsgesigspunt vas te stel of die manier waarvolgens 'n mens se oortuigings gevorm word, na waarheid sal lei. Hoofstuk 3 bespreek die probleme omtrent, en die meriete van, eerstepersoonsregverdiging in die algemeen. Die kwessie van intersubjektiewe beginsels, wat na veronderstelling 1 n persoon wat uit 'n subjektiewe gesigspunt te werk gaan, sal lei na waarheid, word ondersoek. Dat sulke beginsels bestaan en wat hulle aard mag wees, is sake wat baie bespreking uitlok. Baie epistemoloë ontken dat sulke aangebore beginsels bestaan. Sonder intersubjektiewe beginsels wat ook na waarheid lei, bestaan die moontlikheid egter dat iemand se oortuigings niks meer mag wees nie as blote oortuigings, ongeag hoe hulle ook al onderling saamhang. Op grond hiervan verwerp sommige epistemoloë die moontlike definisie van epistemiese regverdiging in terme van blaam en aanspreeklikheid. In hoofstuk 4 word 'internalismé , wat die jongste benaming vir subjektiewe regverdiging is, bespreek in vergelyking met 'eksternal1sme', wat internal1sme se kontemporêre teëvoeter is. Die verskillende vlakke van internalisme word bespreek. Hierdie vlakke ontstaan as gevolg van verskillende vereistes waaraan 'n persoon se bewustheid van die gronde van sy oortuigings gemeet word. Internalisme word ook bespreek in verwantskap met die deontologiese opvatting en in verwantskap met waarheid. In hoofstuk 5 kom eksternaliste se hoofbeswaar teen internalisme onder bespreking. Dit behels die bewering dat internalisme 'n oneindige regressie tot gevolg het. 'n Ontleding van die internalistiese regressie laat egter blyk dat die beswaar op 'n foutiewe veronderstelling rus. Die gevolgtrekking word gemaak dat dit noodsaaklik is om die kwessie van die gesigspunt waaruit regverdiging plaasvind in te sluit in 'n teorie van epistemiese regverdiging. Dit is noodsaaklik ten einde vir so 'n teorie om by vermoë te wees om ook eerstepersoons epistemiese situasies aan te spreek. Sodoende word 'n strategie daargestel waarvolgens direkte gronde van regverdiging in 'n internalistiese opvatting van epistemiese regverdiging ingesluit kan word, sonder om 'n oneindige regressie te veroorsaak. So 'n werkwyse lê ook grondslae vir die ontwikkeling van 'n teorie waarin internalisme en eksternalisme verenig kan word. Copyright / Dissertation (MA)--University of Pretoria, 2012. / Philosophy / unrestricted

This thesis examines the historical record of the late 19th and early 20th century Canadian law against indigenous ceremonies, such as the potlatch and the sun dance, in order to investigate whether an alternative narrative of this history is possible. The main source of data is the archive of the Department of Indian Affairs, containing all the official correspondence that the department sent and received regarding these ceremonies during the time that the law was in effect. Classifying these practices as religious ceremonies, I will argue, was not an obvious or necessary classification, but a strategic move that was beneficial in the short term, both for First Nations advocates of the ceremonies and for their federal government opponents. This research sheds light on the political relationships between Canada and its First Nations, as well as clarifying the ways in which 'religion' is a strategic, rather than an absolute, category.

“The destiny of a people is intricately bound to the way its children are educated” (RCAP 1996, v. 3: 404). Firm in this belief, the current study undertakes an examination of language and education policy in Canada, seeking to understand how these two factors together impact the formation of identity, not only for individual students in a classroom, but more broadly for the linguistic and cultural communities of which they are a part, as these struggle to establish a place for themselves within the country’s social sphere. Despite the rhetoric of multicultural equality which predominates in Canadian public discourse, the examination of a corpus of historical legislation, carried out within the framework of narrative theory and critical discourse analysis, plainly demonstrates a clear hierarchy of languages and cultures in Canada – established and enforced in law, rooted and reflected in social institutions, reinforced and replicated through formal systems of schooling. As a result, even as speakers of minority languages are taught as students that to achieve success in schooling, they must translate their speech, thinking, and ways of knowing into the language and manners of the majority, so as members of their communities do they learn that, in order to gain a place of full participation in society, they must also translate their ways of acting, of relating to others, and of being in the world. In short, they must translate themselves. Recognizing that students are in this manner transformed in the very movement between classroom and community; and that as these transformed students return to their communities, these are likewise impacted in terms of their sense of belonging in society; we seek to discern what new insights might be gained from the consideration of education in light of a translational paradigm, ultimately identifying three productive methods of entry into such critical reflection: through the variety of significant questions that are raised, through the consideration of specific theoretical concepts reassessed and applied anew, and finally through the reframing and retelling of narratives in translation.

The changing functions, uses, and value of literacy in the lives of three successive biological generations of Anishinaabe residing in the same community form the basis of this study. Aboriginal people need and value western notions of literacy for participation in mainstream society. They are, at the same time, aware that western literacy has been imposed upon them, damaging their own forms of literacy which are closely rooted in their cultural traditions. The study describes three prevailing ideas about literacy among these seven sets of Anishinaabe families. The cultural traditions rooted in their relationships with land and family represent the understandings of Aboriginal literacy for the first generation of Anishinaabe, the oldest of this study. These Aboriginal women and men have constructed broader meanings for literacy that include print traditions and dominant languages, but also respect Aboriginal ways of knowing and incorporate cultural practices that give meaning to how people live and make sense of their world. A shift in cultural traditions and language is apparent as members of the second generation discuss their understandings of literacy within the contexts of family, school, and society. Formal schooling attempted to supplant Aboriginal literacy with the traditions of print in official languages that characterize western literacy. Western literacy becomes the means by which members of the second generation have re-asserted their rights to self-determination. The third generation, the youngest of this study, experience a greater orientation towards western literacy. The features that distinguish Aboriginal literacy are in decline. At the same time, their hold on western literacy allows them to assert their identities and prepare for a future beyond their community. The thesis is intended to challenge western notions of literacy, which privilege the written word and English/French languages, arguing for a broader conceptions of literacy which include languages, narrative traditions, and rich symbolic and meaning-making systems of Aboriginal culture. / Education, Faculty of / Educational Studies (EDST), Department of / Graduate

Research into efficient thermoelectric materials has gained traction recently be cause of their applications in converting waste heat into electricity. Chalcogenide and transition metals are among emerging classes of materials for potentials thermoelectric applications. In this work, we employ first-principle calculations and the Boltzmann transport equation along with self-consistent phonon theory to evaluate the thermoelectric performance of barium chalocgenide perovskites BaBX3 (B= Zr, Hf and X= S, Se) in the orthorhombic perovskite phase, as well as BaZreS3 in the needle-like phase. Vibrational properties were investigated through the phonon dispersion, mode Gruneisen parameters and lattice thermal conductivity to understand and measure the anharmonicity in the systems. The carrier transport properties including the Seebeck coefficient, electric conductivity and the electron contribution to thermal conductivity were evaluated. We report ultra low lattice thermal conductivity of κl = 1.23W/mK for BaHSe3 at T=300K by including high order phonon scattering events. A maximum power factor of 1.16 mW/mK2 was achieved at high n-doping concentration, resulting in a thermoelectric figure of merit zT = 0.2 for BaHSe3.

<p> Although usually only two kinds of statistics, namely Bose-Einstein and Fermi-Dirac statistics, are considered in Quantum Mechanics and in Quantum Field Theory, other kinds of statistics, called collectively parastatistics, are conceivable. We critically review theoretical studies of parastatistics to date, point out and clarify several confusions.</p> <p> We first study the "proofs" so far proposed for the symmetrization postulate which excludes parastatistics, emphasizing their ad hoc nature. Then, after exploring in detail the structure of the quantum mechanical theory of paraparticles, we clarify some confusions concerning the compatibility of parastatistics with the so-called cluster property, which has been an issue of controversy for several years. We show, following a suggestion of Greenberg, that the quantum mechanical theory of paraparticles can be formulated in terms of density matrix compatibly with the cluster property. We also discuss such topics as selection rules for systems with variable numbers of paraparticles, the connection between statistics and permutation characters, and the classification of paraparticles.</p> <p> For the quantum field theory of paraparticles, we study discrete representations of the para-commutation relations and illustrate in detail Greenberg and Messiah's theorem concerning Green's ansatzes. Also, fundamental topics such as the spin-statistic theorem, the TCP theorem and the observability of parafields are discussed on the basis of Green's ansatzes. Finally, we point out that the so-called particle permutation operators do not always define multi-dimensional representations of the permutation group both in first and second quantization theories. This questions the validity of the correspondence between the two theories which has recently been proposed.</p> / Thesis / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

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This study investigated the implementation and impact of Reading First programs in 8 elementary schools across the state of Mississippi. The study assessed how principals, literacy coaches, and kindergarten through third grade teachers perceived the implementation of the Reading First program at their respective schools. Data from these three groups of research participants were analyzed to determine if there were differences in perceptions regarding program implementation. This study also examined if there was a relationship between participants’ judgment about implementation and second and third grade students reading scores on the Mississippi Curriculum Test (MCT). This study employed descriptive, survey, causal-comparative, and correlational research. Descriptive data were used to describe research participants’ gender, years of professional experience, highest degree held, and type of license held. Survey data were used to determine the perceptions of principals, literacy coaches, and teachers regarding the implementation fidelity of the Reading First program at their respective schools. An analysis of variance was used to determine if there were differences in the perceptions of the groups. Correlational statistics were used to analyze the possible existence of a relationship between principals’, literacy coaches’, and teachers’ perceptions about implementation and second and third grade students’ MCT reading scores. The study found that principals and literacy coaches perceived that the Reading First program was being fully implemented, but teachers believed that the program was being moderately implemented. There were no significant differences between the perceptions of principals, literacy coaches, and teachers. However, the study did reveal that principals, literacy coaches, and teachers had similar ratings regarding the implementation of specific Reading First program components. There was no correlation between perceived implementation fidelity of the Reading First program and students reading test scores on the MCT. Survey results revealed that most schools had fully implemented: (a) the uninterrupted, 90 minute reading block, (b) the 5 core elements of reading, (c) instructional strategies, and (d) support for struggling readers. Additionally, survey results indicated that schools need to strive toward fully implementing: (a) appropriate assessment strategies, (b) professional development activities that focus on reading instructional content and (c) instructional support activities.