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Orientador: Raquel Lazzari Leite Barbosa / Banca: Cecília Hanna Mate / Banca: Alice Áurea Penteado Martha / Banca: Dagoberto Buin Arena / Banca: Juvenal Zanchetta Júnior / Resumo: Este trabalho de pesquisa tem como objetivo compreender as diferentes formas de apropriação dos escritos, dos alunos da 4a. série, do curso de Licenciatura em Letras, da Universidade Estadual do Oeste do Paraná (UNIOESTE), campus de Foz do Iguaçu, com o foco sobre práticas de leitura, na perspectiva da história cultural. Interessa compreender os diferentes modos de apropriação e representação da leitura de alunos-leitores formandos do curso de Licenciatura em Letras, por meio do exame de suas práticas de leitura. A expressão práticas de leitura designa uma referência à leitura como um ato cultural. Portanto, opera-se teoricamente com contribuições de autores que trabalham com práticas de leitura e práticas de leitura escolar. A abordagem metodológica inclui pesquisa bibliográfica, questionário e entrevista apoiada na história oral.Tais práticas são examinadas a partir da reflexão sobre as narrativas colhidas e as observações realizadas na universidade e nos estágios de docência. / Abstract: This study aims to comprehend the different forms of appropriation of the writings, by the fourth-grade students of Curso de Licenciatura em Letras, da Universidade Estadual do Oeste do Paraná ( UNIOESTE), campus of Foz do Iguaçu, focusing on the reading practice in the cultural history perspective. It is important to understand the different ways of appropriation and reading representation by the students-readers, undergraduates of Licenciatura em Letras with Teaching Certification, through the analisys of their reading practices. The expression reading practice denotes a reference to reading as a cultural act. In order to accomplish that, the work is done theoretically with contributions of those authors who work with reading practices and school reading practices. The methodological approach includes bibliographical research, questionnaire and interview based on oral history. Such practices are analysed from the reflection on the narratives collected as well as the observations made in the university and during the teaching training programs. / Doutor

Open Educational Resources (OER) provide openly licensed alternatives to commercial instructional materials. Proponents of K-12 OER suggest that their benefits include cost savings, increased access, improved quality, and increased teacher professionalism or empowerment. While the small body of K-12 OER research is growing, perceived benefits of K-12 OER usage have not yet been proven. The purpose of this qualitative study is to understand whether certain potential benefits were being realized by a group of secondary teachers using open science textbooks. In surveys and interviews, teachers were asked to describe their classroom practice before and after adopting an open textbook, including practices relating to openness. Teachers were also asked to rate the quality of open textbooks they were using in contrast to textbooks used previously. Most participants reported changes to practice, and the most commonly cited changes could be attributed to a combination of openness and online format. For example, participants described linking textbook content to other online resources. In comparisons of current to previous practice, however, teachers did not report increases in the open practices of collaboration, revising, or adapting.

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In a Southern state at a rural high school, leadership staff implemented phonics-based strategies with 9th grade English teachers to improve students' Lexile reading scores. The absence of formative data related to program implementation left stakeholders without a clear understanding of the influence of the phonics-based strategies. The purpose of this qualitative exploratory case study was to obtain formative information from teachers to discern the perceived influence of the phonics-based strategies on reading. Dual coding theory was used to examine teachers' perceptions of the influence of phonics-based strategies on students' motivation, fluency, and self-efficacy. Data were collected using interviews with 9 purposefully selected English teachers who taught Grade 9 students and had at least 1 year of experience using the phonics-based strategies. Data were coded in NVivo and analyzed using thematic analysis. Results indicated that phonics-based strategies were perceived to benefit students' extrinsic motivation and fluency; conversely, teachers perceived the strategies had a limited effect on students' intrinsic motivation and self-efficacy. Implementation of recommendations presented in a white paper based on these findings could result in positive social change by strengthening students' reading and promoting their academic success.

Thesis (M.Phil.) --University of Limpopo, 2012 / An exploratory study was conducted on the ethnomedical aspects of rural communities in the Limpopo Province with emphasis on the use of cultural practices, values and belief systems to meet primary health care needs. The study explored the use of indigenous medical knowledge for remedial, preventive and protective health care. Qualitative and quantitative data were collected through interviews and questionnaire administration with 240 research respondents purposely selected from four communities of the Northern Sotho in the Limpopo Province. The research findings show that the Northern Sotho culture is composed of a wealth of indigenous knowledge, practices, values and belief systems that were developed by the people themselves with the objective of maintaining good health. The study respondents have extensive experience and knowledge about the elements responsible for much of the diseases that afflict them. For this reason, they have developed cultural belief systems and values that lessen the risks for contracting disease. Susceptibility to disease is lessened by knowledge about cosmological factors, disease etiologies, heeding of cultural taboos, moral behaviour, hygiene, healthy diet, drinking of clean water and proper sanitation and waste removal. Immunization against disease is accomplished through administration of indigenous plant medicines dispensed by traditional health practitioners. Instances of self-medication were encountered in 18% of the respondents. The respondents apply simple home remedies for prevention and remedial purposes. Treatment is meant for simple ailments such as flu, cough, diarrhea, snakebites, fever, measles and mumps. The medicines administered for self-medication are prepared in the household by the patient, his/her parent or a family member. Traditional health practitioners are consulted for preventive, protective and remedial care by 52% of the respondents and their families. Traditional health practitioners provide holistic remedial care through administration of medicines prepared from the indigenous plant materials such as bulbs, roots, leaves and bark of trees. The indigenous health care mechanisms of the Northern Sotho address basic elements of primary health care such as fostering self-care and self-reliance, community participation and the use of traditional medical practices for the maintenance of good health. It is recommended that the indigenous knowledge of preventive, protective and remedial care should be incorporated into Primary Health Care Programs to promote the WHO principle that communities should plan and implement their own health care services. Scientific validation of the health benefits derived from the consumption or utilization of medicinal plants should be encouraged.

acase@tulane.edu / 1 / Kristin Scott

This project investigates the experiences of a small group of social service practitioners as they consider the question of what it means to be Pakeha in Aotearoa New Zealand in 2004. Specifically this study considers the contribution of Māori cultural knowledges to Pakeha identity. It also explores whether therapeutic practices that participants have available, are relevant to their current claims of Pakeha identity. This study highlights the complexity of experience and multiple stories that inform constructions of identity. In approaching the topic I was aware that many important stories of people's lived experience are not often told. People are often silenced due to the difficulty of 'telling'. In this exploration, space was created for the telling of stories, which are often not easily told: stories of struggle and pain; stories of compassionate witnessing; stories of rule-breaking; stories of stepping into territory beyond binaries and stories of richness and delight. Knowledges have been produced that indicate the need for carefully crafted space for often very difficult identity conversations to occur and for voices to be heard. Further, the study has produced knowledges for scaffolding for respectful and honouring conversations . The stories of this project indicate that the conversations required, have their foundation through engagement with the value of fairness. Findings also indicate that forums, where mutual contribution to identity for both Māori and Pakeha can be acknowledged, are a critical to establishing ongoing honourable relationships between Pakeha and Māori New Zealanders. Throughout this project participants acknowledge and honour the rich contribution of Māori knowledges and language to their Pakeha identity.

This theoretical thesis investigates the effects of communicative constraints within a second language (L2) classroom with the purpose of developing ways of exploiting and modifying these constraints to improve L2 learning. This investigation incorporates the identification of hierarchical structures, teaching and learning practices which constrain L2 learning within the classroom. The hierarchical structures of institutional power relations and the authority of the teacher guide set goals and assessment. However, L2 learners may have different expectations to those of their teachers. Therefore, in the presentation of an understanding of classroom genre, this thesis analyses the inherent logic or common fallacies of thinking and practice within L2 classrooms and further, the individual experience which each L2 learner brings to the classroom situation. This thesis examines classroom constraints which prevent L2 learners from developing an appropriate range of experiences to enable them to participate in authentic social interaction. Cultural, linguistic and educational disciplinary views are engaged in the description of these substantive problems. L2 learners invariably experience difficulties in communication when they interact socially within their L2 culture, outside the classroom. Learners often lack the experience to express self-purpose within cultural genres because previous classroom learning may have been based upon situation-specific and context-determined patterns of communication and practice. Such patterns and practices are an inherent part of the classroom because the classroom is a specific genre itself and consequently classroom talk is very different from talk in other places. This thesis develops alternative hypotheses which incorporate critical findings pertaining to L2 classroom practices. Further, a project for realistic solutions to L2 learning is offered. These solutions have been developed from the recognition that learning a L2 in a classroom-based situation is a process which lacks the diversity of everyday societal life.

The purpose of this ethnonursing study was to discover, understand, describe, and explicate the emic expressions, meanings, beliefs, practices, and experiences of postpartum Mexican American women living in a Passaic, New Jersey, community and to gain an understanding of any phenomena in the postpartum period. Leininger's culture care diversity and universality theory was utilized as the undergirding framework for this study. Eight key and 15 general informants participated in this study. The ethnodemographic interview guide, a qualitative enabler, was used to assist with the collection and analysis of data. NVivo 8.0, a qualitative software program, was used to assist with data management and organization. The data were analyzed and interpreted into categories, patterns, and themes that were confirmed through multiple interviews. Through face-to-face interviews and field notes, the researcher discovered, understood, described, explicated, and analyzed the cultural expressions, meanings, beliefs, practices, and experiences of Mexican American women during the postpartum period. The findings from this study focus first on nursing knowledge development, pointing the direction for future research to determine effective nursing care actions. Early interventions assist in providing culturally congruent care to postpartum Mexican American women. Implications for nursing research, theory, education, and practice are offered. / School of Nursing / Nursing / PhD / Dissertation