MSc (Med), Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand / Death and dying have preoccupied humanity since civilization began. While euthanasia is a multidimensional and multicultural ethical issue, the tendency has been for all countries to adopt Western definitions, terms and conditions which now include many legal prescriptions. My research report involves its practice by the Ntomba tribe in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. In this practice, the hereditary Chief, upon installation, agrees to the belief that not only natural death takes chief’s individual life but his bwanga (energy, vital force) from which the whole community’s well-being including animal, vegetal and non-vegetal holds. Given importance of community over individual, he accepts to be euthanatized by his batwa (pygmies) when his energy has waned. I describe this as “autonomy” even if this may be considered “murder” by those who do not understand the cultural context. I will argue that in fact, it represents a different perspective and reflect on the possible commonalities concerning euthanasia in Ntomba traditional thought and Western philosophy.

This thesis is an interpretive case study, drawing upon feminist and Aboriginal perspectives, about working in an educational environment described as a border world comprised of overlapping cultures. It is a chronological account of the delivery of a university programme in a First Nations community. The study seeks to explore the reasons why Aboriginal women enter and successfully complete post-secondary study, and whether their roles in traditional Aboriginal culture facilitate this process. This first portion of the study involved semi-structured interviews with three female Aboriginal educators, focusing on the traditional roles of women within Cree culture, and the relationship of these traditional roles to their roles in contemporary Cree society. The second portion of the study involves a series of group and personal interviews with female Aboriginal learners involved in a community-based programme in a Northern Cree community. The interviews, which encompassed a three-year period, sought to provide a chronological account of the learners' experiences in the programme. In addition, interviews were conducted with faculty members teaching within the programme. The interviews provided the data for an operation model entitled Community-Controlled Education that suggests criteria for the delivery of an inclusive learning experience for Aboriginal learners.

No description available.

This study utilises a phenomenographic approach to investigate teacher conceptions of student engagement in learning. The research question asks: “What are the qualitatively different conceptions of student engagement in learning held by secondary English teachers in Central Queensland?” The research aims to contribute to knowledge about student engagement by investigating the teacher perspectives generally ignored in the research literature. This thesis begins with a review of academic research, scholarship, and government documents where multiple and conflicting understandings of engagement are identified. Phenomenography has been chosen as the empirical research approach because it is designed to map variation in understandings. Standard phenomenographic analysis is used in conjunction with two frameworks congruent with phenomenography. The first framework is based on understandings of intentionality and the second on understandings of awareness. Together these frameworks allow for in-depth analysis of conceptions by identifying the parts and contexts of conceptions and differentiating between the participant’s understanding and his or her conception of how this understanding is facilitated. The empirical component of the research involves semi-structured interviews with 20 Central Queensland secondary English teachers about their classroom experiences with student engagement. These data are transcribed and analysed as per phenomenographic protocol. This study identifies six conceptions within the what aspect, teacher conceptions of student engagement. These correspond with three conceptions comprising the how aspect, teacher conceptions of how to facilitate student engagement. The findings of the empirical research and scholarly review of literature build conceptual knowledge about student engagement. This research indicates that educational stakeholders do not hold similar understandings of student engagement. If the concept of student engagement is to become educationally fruitful, the term must be more explicitly defined in educational research and government policy documents to promote shared understandings among stakeholder groups.

In an effort to atone for almost two centuries of mishandling, and faced with ballooning urban Aboriginal populations, many of Canada’s governments and educational institutions have adopted policies to encourage the integration of Aboriginal perspectives in schools. Realizing that their efforts can only be given life by teachers, this study explores the perceptions of eight teachers integrating Aboriginal perspectives into their Grade 10 ELA classes in the Buffalo Stone School Division (pseudonym used). Interviews conducted with the teachers explored how personal, contextual and institutional realities have shaped the perceptions that the teachers bring to their practice.

In an effort to atone for almost two centuries of mishandling, and faced with ballooning urban Aboriginal populations, many of Canada’s governments and educational institutions have adopted policies to encourage the integration of Aboriginal perspectives in schools. Realizing that their efforts can only be given life by teachers, this study explores the perceptions of eight teachers integrating Aboriginal perspectives into their Grade 10 ELA classes in the Buffalo Stone School Division (pseudonym used). Interviews conducted with the teachers explored how personal, contextual and institutional realities have shaped the perceptions that the teachers bring to their practice.

Bibliography: leaves 108-116. / Part I of this study introduces the problem and the feminist methodologies to be employed in the thesis. The argument is that biblical scholarship and interpretation was based on Western patriarchal androcentric and sexist approach which considered maleness as normative human behaviour. The feminist approach to the parabolic interpretation is introduced as a contrast to the normative male dominated Western scholarship. Feminist theology demonstrates convincingly that the androcentric and misogynist bias of patriarchal tradition is serious. Then again, American, European African women theologians realize the need has arisen to establish alternative norms and sources of tradition to challenge these biases, and women seek a reconstruction or re-envisioning of the theological themes that will free males from these biases. While sharing these concerns I want to discuss these issues from the point of view of the Circle of Concerned African Women Theologians whose founding person is Mercy Oduyoye. These women feel oppressed by their African culture, religion and White domination. The African context will be represented by the Lesotho situation whose areas of similarity in oral mentality, culture and mode of life between the Basotho people and the ancient Jewish culture are close. Part II presents a historical interpretation of the three selected parabolic paradigms. These are: The parables of The Good Samaritan (Luke 10: 25-37), The Lost Coin (Luke 15: 8-10) and The Unjust Judge (Luke 18: 1-8) . This presentation is exposed by a selection of three scholars who typify the approach and views of their generation in the interpretation of each respective parable. Part III focuses on critical analyses of the three parables. The structural, exegetical, hermeneutical and African feminist's analysis will be the burden of this section. The conclusion will be the culmination of the present study.

No

This thesis explores the cultural beliefs and illness management practices of thirty diabetic patients who receive care at a Centro de Salud in Mazatlán, Sinaloa, Mexico. This is done through an International Studies and Medical Anthropology lens – one that is interdisciplinary and bridges theory and practice. Analysis of thirty semi-structured interviews with diabetic patients and semi-structured interviews with five staff members, conducted over ten weeks, contributes to our understanding of the tensions that arise between recommended illness management practices and the actual practices of patients. Explanatory Models of patients reveal beliefs that are rooted in biomedical and traditional Mexican cultural beliefs, while staffs perspectives are primarily rooted in biomedical beliefs. Recommendations are made for staff providing primary care, including the acknowledgement and incorporation of patients’ perspectives into care plans. Recommendations are also made for system level improvements to be implemented by the Mexican federal government.

Ontario’s Chronic Disease and Prevention Framework (CDPM) is a framework aimed at improving health outcomes and reducing costs. Currently, there is a paucity of data examining diabetes management (DM) in peritoneal dialysis (PD) programs. This study, carried out in 2010-11, describes dietitians’ perspectives regarding DM in PD programs in Ontario. Purposeful sampling of dietitians employed in PD programs (n=18) resulted in a response rate of 86.6%. A web-based survey collected data on demographic characteristics of PD clients, program models, and program-specific data regarding facilitators and barriers to provision of dialysis-specific diabetes education. Statistical analysis was completed and responses to open-ended questions examined using thematic open-coding. Findings suggest three major themes: “walking the CDPM talk”, dietitians as “unrecognized CDPM champions” and “the missing pieces to the CDPM puzzle”. Results suggest that while many dietitians have embraced CDPM, their capacity to fully integrate it into their practices is limited by organizational- and system-level barriers. / UOIT