The problem of this study was to determine the effect of academic self-concept, student aspiration, intellectual achievement responsibility, and certain other personal factors on the attendance patterns of selected ninth grade students, and to develop from data on all factors a typical profile of conditions likely to result in high absenteeism and make recommendations for initial steps in remediation. As a result of the statistical analysis and subsequent retention or rejection of the null hypotheses, the significant findings of this study may be summarized as follows. (1) Ninth grade attenders are significantly younger than non-attenders. (2) Attenders had more siblings than non-attenders. (3) Attenders are significantly more involved in school organizations than non-attenders. (4) There is a higher frequency in suspensions among non-attenders. Based on analysis of the findings of this study and within the limitations of the population described in the procedure section, the following conclusions were formulated. (1) Students who have been retained, started school later, or for some reason are older than their classmates, are more likely to attend school irregularly.(2) Educators cannot expect to find the major causes of student absenteeism to be academic self-concept, intellectual achievement responsibility, or student aspiration. (3) Family size may be an important consideration for educators to investigate when working with school non-attenders. (4) School attenders can be expected to be actively involved in the co-curricular elements of the school program. (5) Higher rates of student suspensions are more likely to increase attendance problems rather than reduce them. (6) How students use their time outside the school day is not likely to be the crucial factor in school attendance. (7) While students often complain about schedules, teacher selection, and proximity of friends, it is not likely that changes in these factors would influence student attendance.

There has been a significant increase in immigrant learners in South African schools. This research study captures the experiences of immigrant learners in selected inner city schools of Johannesburg. The May 2008 xenophobic violence prompted the researcher to investigate the extent of xenophobia. A survey of immigrant learners, South African learners and educators was conducted by means of interviews that allowed the research participants to express their feelings and experiences regarding the phenomenon of xenophobia. The result of the study revealed that immigrant learners do experience xenophobia in various forms by South African learners and, in some cases, educators as well. Immigrant learners were predominantly exposed to prejudice and xenophobic comments. They perceived South Africa as positive, giving them hope and opportunities. This research provided a baseline for more extensive research into this phenomenon. / Thesis (M. Ed. (Guidance and Counselling)

African immigrants in contemporary South Africa can be perceived as a problem – the threatening other. Based on a case study of the Johannesburg inner city, this thesis aims to deconstruct this notion. It does so by investigating the nature and types and contribution of African immigrant traders` businesses to the Johannesburg inner city. In deconstructing the perception that African immigrants are the threatening other, and being infinitely aware that perception issues and the experiential realities hospitable to its centred on the human subject, this case study adopted a humanist geographic and critical realist approach by deploying a qualitative in-depth interview technique of both African immigrant and South African traders. This thesis suggests three important outcomes. The first is that: to view all African immigrants as the threatening other is too simplistic an assessment of an otherwise complex and dynamic set of relationships and interrelationships amongst and between African immigrant and South African traders. Second, some African immigrant traders do make a meaningful contribution to the Johannesburg inner city, whereas others do not. Third, the activities of African immigrant traders that may be considered as a threat by a section of the population are treated as a benefit by another. These nuanced insights and findings in this study not only render any analysis that projects all African immigrants negatively as an incomplete appraisal, but also suggest that it can never be correct to view them as such without capturing the dynamics that this work suggests. Such a finding not only challenges distorted and partial reporting by the media and also questions policies, which may be built on the wrong assumption that all African immigrants are a problem, but also extends the study of migration related issues in a South African context. / Geography / D. Litt. et. Phil. (Geography)

Le contexte actuel de la profession enseignante au Québec est caractérisé par l’évolution manifeste qu’a connue l’enseignement depuis les dernières décennies, évolution marquée par une complexification de la tâche, accentuée par divers phénomènes sociaux. En dépit de l’épuisement professionnel et de l’attrition de certains, plusieurs enseignantes et enseignants relèvent le défi de l’enseignement en milieux difficiles et réussissent à se développer professionnellement. Ce phénomène s’apparente au concept de résilience. Parmi les facteurs personnels de protection qui favorisent la résilience, les habiletés et compétences professionnelles ont déjà été mises en évidence chez le personnel scolaire résilient. De son côté, la littérature sur le développement des compétences professionnelles valorise l’importance de la réflexion sur la pratique comme vecteur privilégié de ce processus. Dans cette perspective, la question de recherche posée est à savoir si des relations peuvent être établies entre la résilience et la réflexion sur la pratique en enseignement. Ainsi, suivant la conceptualisation de G.E. Richardson (2002), nous avons tenté d’explorer les relations entre la résilience et la réflexion du personnel enseignant, telle que conceptualisée par Korthagen (1985, 2004), à l’aide de stratégies mixtes de collecte et d’analyse des données. Nous avons d’abord opérationnalisé les deux concepts par des indices provenant de plusieurs instruments: questionnaire sur la qualité de vie au travail, journal d’autoévaluation du stress, entretien semi-dirigé. Vingt-et-une enseignantes et deux enseignants de sept écoles primaires parmi les plus défavorisées de Montréal ont participé à l’étude. Près de 7000 unités de sens ont été codées dans les entretiens. Des analyses quantitatives et qualitatives ont permis de décrire l’adversité (stress) vécue par les participants, leur qualité de vie au travail et leurs compétences professionnelles (adaptation positive), de même que leurs facteurs de risque et de protection, individuels et environnementaux. Cette démarche a permis de dégager quatre profils généraux de résilience parmi les 23 participants: très résilient (2), résilient (9), peu résilient (8) et non résilient (2). Parallèlement, le processus et les contenus de la réflexion des participants ont été analysés à partir des modèles théoriques choisis. On remarque que la plupart des participants se centrent davantage sur la description des situations problématiques, plutôt que sur la recherche de solutions, et sur les contenus environnementaux, plutôt que personnels. L’analyse verticale de quatre cas représentatifs des profils de résilience a permis des comparaisons approfondies au plan de la réflexion. Ce sont les enseignantes situées aux extrêmes du continuum de résilience (la plus résiliente et la moins résiliente de l’échantillon) qui ont montré les distinctions les plus nettes. Notamment, il semblerait qu’une faible résilience soit liée à une centration accrue sur les problèmes plutôt que sur les solutions, ainsi que sur les contenus réflexifs environnementaux plutôt que personnels, et inversement. Enfin, malgré certaines limites méthodologiques et conceptuelles, cette étude révèle l’existence de liens empiriques entre la réflexion et la résilience d’enseignantes et d’enseignants œuvrant en milieux défavorisés. Elle ouvre également la voie à des pistes pour développer la résilience du personnel scolaire et propose des idées de recherches prospectives. / The actual teaching context in Québec is undoubtedly influenced by changes of the profession throughout the last decades. These changes are marked by the growing complexity of the task and the challenging working conditions, especially in poor inner-city schools. While some teachers suffer from burnout or literally quit the profession, others take it as a challenge and find ways to improve themselves professionally; this could be termed resilience. Some studies point out that the professional competences and abilities are an important personal protective factor enhancing teacher resilience. Besides, the professional development literature stresses that teacher reflection is fairly significant in this process. In that perspective, we can wonder if some links could be emphasized between teacher resilience and reflection. Thus, according to G.E. Richardson’s (2002) conceptualization, we explored the relationship between teacher resilience and reflection on practice, as conceptualized by Korthagen (1985, 2004). To do so, we used a mixed method approach. Before data collection and analysis, we first had to operationalize these two concepts, by means of indicators form different instruments: a quality of work life questionnaire, a daily stress diary, a semi-structured interview. 23 teachers across seven Montréal underprivileged elementary schools participated to the whole study. Nearby 7000 segments were coded in the interviews. The quantitative and qualitative analysis of the data enabled us to describe the adversity (stress) faced by the participants, their quality of work life and their professional competences (positive adaptation), and their personal and environmental risk and protective factors. This procedure made it possible to identify four resilience profiles among the 23 teachers: 1) very resilient (2 teachers), 2) resilient (9 teachers), 3) less resilient (8 teachers), and 4) non resilient (2 teachers). Each teacher was then characterized according to his reflection, using the selected theoretical models. Most of the teachers seemed more concerned describing the problems than searching for solutions to solve them, and mostly centered on the environmental contents of reflection, instead the personal ones. Afterwards, the vertical analysis of four representative cases was compared to highlight the differences between the teachers, according to their reflection. These distinctions were stronger and clearer for the two teachers situated at the extremes of the resilience continuum (the most resilient and the less resilient teachers of the sample). Particularly, a low resilience seemed to be related to an increased emphasis on the problems instead of the solutions, and on the environmental instead of the personal reflective contents, and inversely. At last, despite some empirical and methodological limits, this research reveals the evidence of empirical relationships between resilience and reflection of elementary teachers working in poor inner-city schools. The study also highlights some avenues for professional development and teacher resilience, and suggests ideas for future research.

There has been a significant increase in immigrant learners in South African schools. This research study captures the experiences of immigrant learners in selected inner city schools of Johannesburg. The May 2008 xenophobic violence prompted the researcher to investigate the extent of xenophobia. A survey of immigrant learners, South African learners and educators was conducted by means of interviews that allowed the research participants to express their feelings and experiences regarding the phenomenon of xenophobia. The result of the study revealed that immigrant learners do experience xenophobia in various forms by South African learners and, in some cases, educators as well. Immigrant learners were predominantly exposed to prejudice and xenophobic comments. They perceived South Africa as positive, giving them hope and opportunities. This research provided a baseline for more extensive research into this phenomenon. / Thesis (M. Ed. (Guidance and Counselling)

Under de senaste åren har det i media spekulerats om en eventuell bubbla på den globala bostadsmarknaden. Den internationella finanskrisen blev slutet på en stadig bostadsprisutveckling i många länder. Under 2010 låg bostadspriserna på högre nivåer än innan finanskrisen och det har spekulerats att priserna kan komma att falla i betydande mängd. Frisell och Yazdi har kommit fram till att prisutvecklingen på den svenska bostadsmarknaden i stor utsträckning kan förklaras av två verkliga faktorer, högre disponibla inkomster och strukturellt lägre reala bolåneräntor.Vi har i denna uppsats studerat olika aktörers syn på prisutvecklingen av bostadsrättsmarknaden i Göteborgs innerstad i april/maj 2011, utifrån olika övergripande ekonomiska aspekter. Marknaden undersöks ur tre olika perspektiv, långivare, låntagare och en mäklare. Fokus har legat på bankernas kreditbedömningsprocess och potentiella köpares resonemang och förväntningar om framtiden. Syftet med uppsatsen är att ge läsaren en överblick och en djupare förståelse för det aktuella läget på bostadsrättsmarknaden i Göteborgs innerstad utifrån de olika perspektiven. Vi har främst antagit en kvalitativ metodansats då den största delen av empirin utgår från kvalitativa intervjuer med handläggare från SEB, Nordea, Swedbank och Handelsbanken samt en mäklare från mäklarföretaget Bjurfors. Dock har vi även antagit en kvantitativ ansats då intervjuerna med potentiella köpare gjordes i enkätform.De främsta slutsatserna vi har dragit av vår undersökning är att vid kreditbedömning så utgår bankerna från liknande grunder där fokus ligger på kundens återbetalningsförmåga. Ingen av de undersökta respondenterna verkar tro på ett större prisfall på bostadsrättsmarknaden i Göteborgs innerstad inom den närmaste framtiden. Det rådde lite delade meningar om övervärdering men överlag anser bankrespondenterna samt mäklaren att försäljningspriset speglar ett marknadspris på en fungerande marknad. Däremot ansåg många av de potentiella köparna att bostadsrätterna i Göteborgs innerstad var övervärderade och många trodde även att priserna skulle fortsätta öka. Sammanfattningsvis verkar det inte vara någon risk för en skadlig bostadsbubbla på marknaden i dagsläget, så länge sysselsättningen är bra, kundernas återbetalningsförmåga god och det är ett ”normalt” ränteläge. / Program: Civilekonomprogrammet

African immigrants in contemporary South Africa can be perceived as a problem – the threatening other. Based on a case study of the Johannesburg inner city, this thesis aims to deconstruct this notion. It does so by investigating the nature and types and contribution of African immigrant traders` businesses to the Johannesburg inner city. In deconstructing the perception that African immigrants are the threatening other, and being infinitely aware that perception issues and the experiential realities hospitable to its centred on the human subject, this case study adopted a humanist geographic and critical realist approach by deploying a qualitative in-depth interview technique of both African immigrant and South African traders. This thesis suggests three important outcomes. The first is that: to view all African immigrants as the threatening other is too simplistic an assessment of an otherwise complex and dynamic set of relationships and interrelationships amongst and between African immigrant and South African traders. Second, some African immigrant traders do make a meaningful contribution to the Johannesburg inner city, whereas others do not. Third, the activities of African immigrant traders that may be considered as a threat by a section of the population are treated as a benefit by another. These nuanced insights and findings in this study not only render any analysis that projects all African immigrants negatively as an incomplete appraisal, but also suggest that it can never be correct to view them as such without capturing the dynamics that this work suggests. Such a finding not only challenges distorted and partial reporting by the media and also questions policies, which may be built on the wrong assumption that all African immigrants are a problem, but also extends the study of migration related issues in a South African context. / Geography / D. Litt. et. Phil. (Geography)

Syfte: Dagens urbanisering ger behov av förtätning av stadskärnor vilket kan leda till borttagande av parkering, grönområden och solljus. Att bygga och bo i innerstäder är dyrt på grund av höga markpriser, komplicerade projekt och en hög efterfrågan på bostäder. Bostäder idag utformas utefter regelverken SIS och BBR vilket i innerstäder kan få komplikationer. Målet med arbetet är därför att ifrågasätta vissa regler kring tillgänglighet, rumshöjd och ljusförhållanden i syfte att förenkla förtätning och skapa ett nytt förslag av en planerad infill-fastighet där en varierad lägenhetsstruktur uppnåtts tillsammans med en potentiell ekonomisk vinst.   Metod: Arbetets undersökningsmetoder är kvalitativa och består av litteraturundersökningar, dokumentanalyser och intervjuer. Dessa utfördes för att analysera dagens förtätning och resultera i en skissning där byggregler avskaffats för att förenkla viss förtätning.   Resultat: Arbetets skissning visar att en mångfaldig lägenhetsstruktur är uppnåbar via avskaffande av vissa BBR-krav som skapat olika lägenhetstyper, intressanta volymer, tvåvåningslägenheter och yteffektiva planlösningar. Avskaffandet av regler för att förenkla förtätning påverkar inblandade på ett eller annat sätt.   Konsekvenser: Att avskaffa byggkrav i förtätningssammanhang kan ta bort kvalitéer som dagsljus och tillgänglighet i bostäder. Kortsiktiga lösningar på parkeringsbristen finns men förtätning med levande bottenvåningar utförs för att lösa parkeringsbristen långsiktigt genom att skapa tillgångar geografiskt nära människor som minskar behovet av bil. Att avskaffa regler kan leda till enklare projektering och bidra med viss ekonomisk fördel, men dyr nybyggnation tillsammans med hög efterfrågan på centrala bostäder kan försvåra för låga budgetar och prissänkning av bostäder.   Begränsningar: Det generella resultatet av arbetet gällande regelavskaffande fungerar i förtätningssammanhang i andra täta städer men då undersökningen är baserade på Jönköpings innerstad och erfarenheter och åsikter kopplade dit kan generella giltigheten ifrågasättas. Skissningen är baserad på egna åsikter och endast lämplig i detta sammanhang.   Nyckelord: Förtätning, infill, flerbostadshus, urbanisering, byggregler, standard, tillgänglighet, rumshöjd, ljusförhållanden, stadskärna, innerstad. / Purpose: Today's urbanization requires densification of cities, which can lead to removal of parking lots, green areas and sunlight. To build and live in inner cities is expensive because of high land prices, complicated projects and a high demand for housing. Homes today are designed according to the regulations SIS and BBR, which in the inner cities leads to complications, especially regarding accessibility qualities and light conditions. The aim of this work is therefore to abolish certain rules regarding accessibility, room height and lighting conditions in order to simplify densification and create a new proposal of a planned infill property where a varied apartment structure has been achieved together with a potential financial gain.   Method: The research methods of this work are qualitative and consist of literature studies, document analyzes and interviews. These were performed to analyze today's densification and result in a sketch where building rules were abolished to simplify some densification.   Findings: The work outline shows that a multiple apartment structure is achievable via the abolition of certain BBR requirements that have created different types of apartments, interesting volumes, two-storey apartments and surface-efficient floor plans. Abolition of rules to simplify densification affects people in one way or another.   Implications: Abolishing construction requirements in densification contexts can remove qualities such as daylight and accessibility in homes. Short-term solutions to the parking  shortage exist but densification with living ground floors is performed to solve the parking shortage in the long term by creating assets geographically close to people which reduces the need for car. Removing rules can lead to simpler planning and contribute with some economic advantage, but expensive new construction together with a high demand for central housing can make it difficult for low budgets and price reductions in housing.   Limitations: The general result of this work on the elimination of rules works in densification contexts in other dense cities, but since the survey method is based on Jönköping's inner city and experiences and opinions linked to it, the general validity can be questioned. The sketch is based on one's own opinions and only suitable in this context.   Keywords: Densify cities, infill, apartment buildings, urbanization, building rules, standard, accessibility, room height, lighting conditions, city center, inner city.

Le contexte actuel de la profession enseignante au Québec est caractérisé par l’évolution manifeste qu’a connue l’enseignement depuis les dernières décennies, évolution marquée par une complexification de la tâche, accentuée par divers phénomènes sociaux. En dépit de l’épuisement professionnel et de l’attrition de certains, plusieurs enseignantes et enseignants relèvent le défi de l’enseignement en milieux difficiles et réussissent à se développer professionnellement. Ce phénomène s’apparente au concept de résilience. Parmi les facteurs personnels de protection qui favorisent la résilience, les habiletés et compétences professionnelles ont déjà été mises en évidence chez le personnel scolaire résilient. De son côté, la littérature sur le développement des compétences professionnelles valorise l’importance de la réflexion sur la pratique comme vecteur privilégié de ce processus. Dans cette perspective, la question de recherche posée est à savoir si des relations peuvent être établies entre la résilience et la réflexion sur la pratique en enseignement. Ainsi, suivant la conceptualisation de G.E. Richardson (2002), nous avons tenté d’explorer les relations entre la résilience et la réflexion du personnel enseignant, telle que conceptualisée par Korthagen (1985, 2004), à l’aide de stratégies mixtes de collecte et d’analyse des données. Nous avons d’abord opérationnalisé les deux concepts par des indices provenant de plusieurs instruments: questionnaire sur la qualité de vie au travail, journal d’autoévaluation du stress, entretien semi-dirigé. Vingt-et-une enseignantes et deux enseignants de sept écoles primaires parmi les plus défavorisées de Montréal ont participé à l’étude. Près de 7000 unités de sens ont été codées dans les entretiens. Des analyses quantitatives et qualitatives ont permis de décrire l’adversité (stress) vécue par les participants, leur qualité de vie au travail et leurs compétences professionnelles (adaptation positive), de même que leurs facteurs de risque et de protection, individuels et environnementaux. Cette démarche a permis de dégager quatre profils généraux de résilience parmi les 23 participants: très résilient (2), résilient (9), peu résilient (8) et non résilient (2). Parallèlement, le processus et les contenus de la réflexion des participants ont été analysés à partir des modèles théoriques choisis. On remarque que la plupart des participants se centrent davantage sur la description des situations problématiques, plutôt que sur la recherche de solutions, et sur les contenus environnementaux, plutôt que personnels. L’analyse verticale de quatre cas représentatifs des profils de résilience a permis des comparaisons approfondies au plan de la réflexion. Ce sont les enseignantes situées aux extrêmes du continuum de résilience (la plus résiliente et la moins résiliente de l’échantillon) qui ont montré les distinctions les plus nettes. Notamment, il semblerait qu’une faible résilience soit liée à une centration accrue sur les problèmes plutôt que sur les solutions, ainsi que sur les contenus réflexifs environnementaux plutôt que personnels, et inversement. Enfin, malgré certaines limites méthodologiques et conceptuelles, cette étude révèle l’existence de liens empiriques entre la réflexion et la résilience d’enseignantes et d’enseignants œuvrant en milieux défavorisés. Elle ouvre également la voie à des pistes pour développer la résilience du personnel scolaire et propose des idées de recherches prospectives. / The actual teaching context in Québec is undoubtedly influenced by changes of the profession throughout the last decades. These changes are marked by the growing complexity of the task and the challenging working conditions, especially in poor inner-city schools. While some teachers suffer from burnout or literally quit the profession, others take it as a challenge and find ways to improve themselves professionally; this could be termed resilience. Some studies point out that the professional competences and abilities are an important personal protective factor enhancing teacher resilience. Besides, the professional development literature stresses that teacher reflection is fairly significant in this process. In that perspective, we can wonder if some links could be emphasized between teacher resilience and reflection. Thus, according to G.E. Richardson’s (2002) conceptualization, we explored the relationship between teacher resilience and reflection on practice, as conceptualized by Korthagen (1985, 2004). To do so, we used a mixed method approach. Before data collection and analysis, we first had to operationalize these two concepts, by means of indicators form different instruments: a quality of work life questionnaire, a daily stress diary, a semi-structured interview. 23 teachers across seven Montréal underprivileged elementary schools participated to the whole study. Nearby 7000 segments were coded in the interviews. The quantitative and qualitative analysis of the data enabled us to describe the adversity (stress) faced by the participants, their quality of work life and their professional competences (positive adaptation), and their personal and environmental risk and protective factors. This procedure made it possible to identify four resilience profiles among the 23 teachers: 1) very resilient (2 teachers), 2) resilient (9 teachers), 3) less resilient (8 teachers), and 4) non resilient (2 teachers). Each teacher was then characterized according to his reflection, using the selected theoretical models. Most of the teachers seemed more concerned describing the problems than searching for solutions to solve them, and mostly centered on the environmental contents of reflection, instead the personal ones. Afterwards, the vertical analysis of four representative cases was compared to highlight the differences between the teachers, according to their reflection. These distinctions were stronger and clearer for the two teachers situated at the extremes of the resilience continuum (the most resilient and the less resilient teachers of the sample). Particularly, a low resilience seemed to be related to an increased emphasis on the problems instead of the solutions, and on the environmental instead of the personal reflective contents, and inversely. At last, despite some empirical and methodological limits, this research reveals the evidence of empirical relationships between resilience and reflection of elementary teachers working in poor inner-city schools. The study also highlights some avenues for professional development and teacher resilience, and suggests ideas for future research.

" Dwelling at the Margins" is an exegesis of the short film Boundaries. Boundaries is a journey into the world of marginalised young people in inner urban Brisbane seen through the eyes of a the female main character with an eye for gentle beauty. The film forms the first part of the research and in the exegesis the ideas unfold that were behind the making of the film and that emerged further through its production and audience reception. The exegesis discussion centres on the major aspects of the film which are visual representations, female narratives and the themes of home and dwelling. Boundaries is a political film that looks from the edges of society. The exegesis seeks to explain the ideas behind this intention.