This study was born out of the Telephone Peer Support Group Program for Women with Spinal Cord Injury Living in Small Communities and Rural Areas in Ontario, funded by the Ontario Neurotrauma Foundation. It represents the final chapter in the evaluation process of this innovative and participatory program, which produced positive results for a majority of women who took part in it. A phenomenological approach according to Moustakas was used to deepen the understanding and describe the participants’ experience of the program. The seven women who took part in the program contributed their narratives. Emotional support and learning were the main structures of the experience as reported by the women. The program was a space where participants gave and received emotional support through sharing, connecting and exchange. Participants who differed from the majority in the group because of the nature of their injury did not benefit as much from the program. For true peers, the program was a space of “real understanding” and learning in which participants’ perceptions of self were shaped and new identities found, where loneliness was replaced with the feeling of belonging and “not being alone”. It was the space where the bodily aspects of SCI and the socially constructed roles of women were examined, where solutions for health and lifestyle issues were discussed and embraced, and where relationships with others developed into the positive interactions of informed and empowered individuals. The women with SCI attributed changes in their attitudes and behaviours to participation in this program. Reported changes ranged from increased knowledge about a proactive and healthy lifestyle, to completed annual medical check-ups, changed pain treatment, changed dietary and exercise regimes, to the establishment of a web-site with information about a healthy and proactive life for women with SCI. For the majority of participants in this program, it was an enriching and life changing experience which has a huge potential for reaching isolated women with SCI. For service providers, the program was an opportunity to provide services to underserved populations, impacting their quality of life by using cheap and accessible technology. For participatory researchers it was a rewarding experience of seeing immediate benefits reported by satisfied research participants. / Thesis (Master, Rehabilitation Science) -- Queen's University, 2008-07-08 02:45:25.455

PhD, Faculty of Commerce, Law and Management, University of the Witwatersrand, 2006

Textbooks, curriculum packages, standards, professional development and pre-service education, and national advocacy groups all utilize orientation terms to identify the pedagogical approaches, though no model for orientations has currently been validated against the lived experience of teachers. The purpose of the dissertation is to research a practitioner-informed orientation model for social studies, utilizing the lived experiences of teachers including their connections to and with technology. As a preliminary investigation to explore and understand the construct of orientations, the initial set of participants was bound to three secondary social studies teachers from an urban, suburban, and rural district, respectively. Data collection was completed through a series of detailed interviews including three modified narrative identity protocols, one elicited response interview, and one observation interview. Phenomenology formed the epistemological lens and the method that utilized various instruments as a pathway into the teachers’ perceived life worlds. Research was conducted from a transcendental or psychological approach to phenomenology with a grounded theory approach to analyzing the data to generate theoretical themes rooted in the narratives. A detailed description of each case narrative along with the phenomenological essence of each teacher is provided individually before cross case analysis is presented. From this combined case data, a constructed model that captures the narratives, trends, and overlaps was created. Evans’ orientation model was utilized as exemplary of the field for comparison. There existed overlaps present with the utilized model yet current models explored failed to encompass all elements of teacher-held orientations and an emergent model is presented that includes the following orientation constructs: social efficiency, a social sciences core, a transformative role, and personal improvement. The findings also included four themes: the role of storytelling as a central concept in practice, the role of film and television representations of history in sustaining engagement, the value of the classroom environment and students in creating a sense of equity, and a close level of uniformity in orientation reporting out of step with current frameworks. Implications for learning environments, particularly in relation to the utilization of technology, are discussed in addition to necessary future research suggestions.

O presente estudo problematiza a afirmativa recorrente de que sujeitos com autismo possuem prejuízos ou mesmo não possuem linguagem. Com efeito, endosso a Tese de que os sujeitos com autismo podem ser compreendidos, a partir da linguagem, como um fenômeno e, assim, o fenômeno sujeitos com autismo pode mostrar-se como uma construção da espécie humana, com implicações dessa compreensão para a Educação. Baseada na perspectiva fenomenológica de Martin Heidegger, assumo a linguagem como um “caminho que se faz”. Essa expressão tem a ver com a possibilidade de fazer uma experiência com a linguagem e deixar que ela se mostre, não reduzindo ou simplificando tal noção. Metodologicamente, além da forma fenomenológica, trabalho com cinco noções heideggerianas — linguagem como linguagem, compreensão, dasein, disposição e fenômeno — e duas noções foucaultianas — sujeito e investimento político dos corpos. Ambos os autores potencializam a ideia de não naturalização dos padrões, bem como, mostram como nossas subjetividades passaram a ser gerenciadas Para elucidar esse pensamento, analiso os seguintes materiais: setenta e quatro Diários de Campo, que mostram as disposições dos sujeitos com autismo na/como linguagem, contextualizados a partir da Educação e um Conjunto de Movimentos, que envolve a interdiscursividade sobre os sujeitos com autismo nos aspectos biológicos, políticos, sociais, econômicos e ambientais. A partir da análise desses materiais foi possível inferir que há um esmaecimento da linguagem na sociedade ocidental em virtude do poder da comunicação que a racionalidade atual valoriza e também uma tradição de lógicas permanentes da linguagem operando sobre diferentes saberes que constroem, em rede, novas subjetividades. Portanto, o fenômeno sujeitos com autismo emerge devido às intervenções humanas realizadas no planeta. Essas intervenções se deram através da invenção dos saberes e das transformações que estes geraram nos recursos que possibilitam a vida. O avanço do entendimento do fenômeno sujeitos com autismo não depende de nenhuma cura, mas de mostrarmos que tais sujeitos são herdeiros da humanidade. As implicações dessa compreensão para a Educação configuram a responsabilidade de criar oportunidades que não estejam fundamentadas apenas na comparação entre os sujeitos e igualmente de ressignificar os sentidos tradicionalmente instituídos, além de não naturalizar a patologização dos sujeitos com autismo. / The present study problematizes the recurring affirmation that subjects with autism are prejudiced or do not even have language. Indeed, I defend the thesis that subjects with autism can be understood, from language, as a phenomenon, and thus the phenomenon subjects with autism can show up to be a construction of the human species, with implications of this comprehension for the Education. Based on Martin Heidegger's phenomenological perspective, I take language as a "way that one does." This expression has to do with the possibility of having an experience with the language and let it show itself, not reducing or simplifying that notion. Methodologically, in addition to the phenomenological form, I work with five Heideggerian notions - language like language, comprehension, dasein, disposition and phenomenon - and two Foucaultian notions - subject and political investment of bodies. Both authors potentiate the idea of non-naturalization of patterns, as well as show how our subjectivities were managed To elucidate this thought, I analyze the following materials: seventy-four Field Diaries, which show the dispositions of subjects with autism in/as language, contextualized from Education and a Set of Movements, which involves interdiscursivity about subjects with autism in biological, political, social, economic and environmental aspects. From the analysis of these materials, it is possible to infer that there is a fading of language in western society by virtue of the power of communication that the currently rationality values and also a tradition of permanent logics of language operating on different knowledge that constructs, in network, new subjectivities. Therefore, the phenomenon subjects with autism emerges due to human interventions performed on the planet. These interventions came about through the invention of the knowledge and transformations of the resources that make life possible. The advance of the understanding of the phenomenon subjects with autism does not depend on any cure, but of showing that such subjects are heirs of the humanity. The implications of this comprehension configure the responsibility of creating opportunities that are not based only on the comparison between the subjects, as well, as to re-significate the traditionally established senses, besides not naturalizing the pathologization of the subjects with autism.

There is a need to understand the transition of students from primary to secondary schooling outside the confines of practitioners' and academics' viewpoints. This thesis explores that transition from the perspectives of the students themselves. It argues that they experience the transition into secondary schooling as challenging. This issue is significant because transition into high school coincides with adolescent developmental changes - social, physical, emotional, cognitive and psychological - as well as the move from the relative stability of one teacher a year to different teachers for each subject, and the shift in status from being the most senior to the most junior students in their school. These students also face challenges such as friendship and identity issues as well as problems locating places in the new environment, for example, subject classrooms, play areas, teachers' rooms. This study's theoretical framework is constructed from a phenomenological psychological stance. A phenomenological methodology guides this study, allowing students' experiences to speak for themselves. Other methodologies were not appropriate as the researcher wanted to hear the students' voices while they were experiencing transition. Few studies in the past have attempted to study transition into high school as it is lived and experienced by students themselves. This empirical study addresses that gap in the literature. Its findings could provide the necessary information needed to further assist educationalists in developing appropriate programs and activities to support this group. Sixteen adolescents participated in the study. Of two common methods of collecting data in phenomenological studies - interviews and journal writing - journal writing was chosen. This data collection technique enabled the researcher to learn about transition from students' perspectives. The data were collected in the first ten weeks of high school from Year 7 students (first year of high school in New South Wales). Drawing on the work of Giorgi (1985a, 1985b), who translated aspects of phenomenological philosophy into a concrete method of research (Ehrich, 1997), a phenomenological psychological approach was used to analyse the data in a step-by-step process. There were four steps to the analysis of the data. The first step involved reading through the entire description of the participants' experience to get a sense of the meaning of the experience as a whole. In the second step, the description was read to identify meaning units, i.e. words/phrases that clearly express meanings of the experience of transition. In the third step, the analysis involved transformation of the meaning units from participants' concrete descriptions into more general categories. The fourth step involved two aspects: a situated structural description of the experience was written, and finally the researcher produced a general structural description that represented the whole experience of the phenomenon. Because of the small sample selected, the study does not claim generalisability across other populations of adolescents. However, what the study does is to highlight seven essential themes of transition. First peers can play a significant role in enabling a smooth transition to high school. Second, schools support transition through a number of programs and activities to help students adapt to the new environment. Third, students need to learn new procedures, location of rooms and other new routines in this environment. Fourth, learning occurs through the academic, practical and extracurricular activities and some learning is more challenging than other types of learning. Fifth, high school transition is enhanced when students are confident and feel a sense of achievement and success in their new environment. Sixth, homework and assignments are a part of the high school curriculum. Finally, teachers' attitudes/abilities can affect student integration into high school and make learning fun or boring.

O presente estudo problematiza a afirmativa recorrente de que sujeitos com autismo possuem prejuízos ou mesmo não possuem linguagem. Com efeito, endosso a Tese de que os sujeitos com autismo podem ser compreendidos, a partir da linguagem, como um fenômeno e, assim, o fenômeno sujeitos com autismo pode mostrar-se como uma construção da espécie humana, com implicações dessa compreensão para a Educação. Baseada na perspectiva fenomenológica de Martin Heidegger, assumo a linguagem como um “caminho que se faz”. Essa expressão tem a ver com a possibilidade de fazer uma experiência com a linguagem e deixar que ela se mostre, não reduzindo ou simplificando tal noção. Metodologicamente, além da forma fenomenológica, trabalho com cinco noções heideggerianas — linguagem como linguagem, compreensão, dasein, disposição e fenômeno — e duas noções foucaultianas — sujeito e investimento político dos corpos. Ambos os autores potencializam a ideia de não naturalização dos padrões, bem como, mostram como nossas subjetividades passaram a ser gerenciadas Para elucidar esse pensamento, analiso os seguintes materiais: setenta e quatro Diários de Campo, que mostram as disposições dos sujeitos com autismo na/como linguagem, contextualizados a partir da Educação e um Conjunto de Movimentos, que envolve a interdiscursividade sobre os sujeitos com autismo nos aspectos biológicos, políticos, sociais, econômicos e ambientais. A partir da análise desses materiais foi possível inferir que há um esmaecimento da linguagem na sociedade ocidental em virtude do poder da comunicação que a racionalidade atual valoriza e também uma tradição de lógicas permanentes da linguagem operando sobre diferentes saberes que constroem, em rede, novas subjetividades. Portanto, o fenômeno sujeitos com autismo emerge devido às intervenções humanas realizadas no planeta. Essas intervenções se deram através da invenção dos saberes e das transformações que estes geraram nos recursos que possibilitam a vida. O avanço do entendimento do fenômeno sujeitos com autismo não depende de nenhuma cura, mas de mostrarmos que tais sujeitos são herdeiros da humanidade. As implicações dessa compreensão para a Educação configuram a responsabilidade de criar oportunidades que não estejam fundamentadas apenas na comparação entre os sujeitos e igualmente de ressignificar os sentidos tradicionalmente instituídos, além de não naturalizar a patologização dos sujeitos com autismo. / The present study problematizes the recurring affirmation that subjects with autism are prejudiced or do not even have language. Indeed, I defend the thesis that subjects with autism can be understood, from language, as a phenomenon, and thus the phenomenon subjects with autism can show up to be a construction of the human species, with implications of this comprehension for the Education. Based on Martin Heidegger's phenomenological perspective, I take language as a "way that one does." This expression has to do with the possibility of having an experience with the language and let it show itself, not reducing or simplifying that notion. Methodologically, in addition to the phenomenological form, I work with five Heideggerian notions - language like language, comprehension, dasein, disposition and phenomenon - and two Foucaultian notions - subject and political investment of bodies. Both authors potentiate the idea of non-naturalization of patterns, as well as show how our subjectivities were managed To elucidate this thought, I analyze the following materials: seventy-four Field Diaries, which show the dispositions of subjects with autism in/as language, contextualized from Education and a Set of Movements, which involves interdiscursivity about subjects with autism in biological, political, social, economic and environmental aspects. From the analysis of these materials, it is possible to infer that there is a fading of language in western society by virtue of the power of communication that the currently rationality values and also a tradition of permanent logics of language operating on different knowledge that constructs, in network, new subjectivities. Therefore, the phenomenon subjects with autism emerges due to human interventions performed on the planet. These interventions came about through the invention of the knowledge and transformations of the resources that make life possible. The advance of the understanding of the phenomenon subjects with autism does not depend on any cure, but of showing that such subjects are heirs of the humanity. The implications of this comprehension configure the responsibility of creating opportunities that are not based only on the comparison between the subjects, as well, as to re-significate the traditionally established senses, besides not naturalizing the pathologization of the subjects with autism.

O presente estudo problematiza a afirmativa recorrente de que sujeitos com autismo possuem prejuízos ou mesmo não possuem linguagem. Com efeito, endosso a Tese de que os sujeitos com autismo podem ser compreendidos, a partir da linguagem, como um fenômeno e, assim, o fenômeno sujeitos com autismo pode mostrar-se como uma construção da espécie humana, com implicações dessa compreensão para a Educação. Baseada na perspectiva fenomenológica de Martin Heidegger, assumo a linguagem como um “caminho que se faz”. Essa expressão tem a ver com a possibilidade de fazer uma experiência com a linguagem e deixar que ela se mostre, não reduzindo ou simplificando tal noção. Metodologicamente, além da forma fenomenológica, trabalho com cinco noções heideggerianas — linguagem como linguagem, compreensão, dasein, disposição e fenômeno — e duas noções foucaultianas — sujeito e investimento político dos corpos. Ambos os autores potencializam a ideia de não naturalização dos padrões, bem como, mostram como nossas subjetividades passaram a ser gerenciadas Para elucidar esse pensamento, analiso os seguintes materiais: setenta e quatro Diários de Campo, que mostram as disposições dos sujeitos com autismo na/como linguagem, contextualizados a partir da Educação e um Conjunto de Movimentos, que envolve a interdiscursividade sobre os sujeitos com autismo nos aspectos biológicos, políticos, sociais, econômicos e ambientais. A partir da análise desses materiais foi possível inferir que há um esmaecimento da linguagem na sociedade ocidental em virtude do poder da comunicação que a racionalidade atual valoriza e também uma tradição de lógicas permanentes da linguagem operando sobre diferentes saberes que constroem, em rede, novas subjetividades. Portanto, o fenômeno sujeitos com autismo emerge devido às intervenções humanas realizadas no planeta. Essas intervenções se deram através da invenção dos saberes e das transformações que estes geraram nos recursos que possibilitam a vida. O avanço do entendimento do fenômeno sujeitos com autismo não depende de nenhuma cura, mas de mostrarmos que tais sujeitos são herdeiros da humanidade. As implicações dessa compreensão para a Educação configuram a responsabilidade de criar oportunidades que não estejam fundamentadas apenas na comparação entre os sujeitos e igualmente de ressignificar os sentidos tradicionalmente instituídos, além de não naturalizar a patologização dos sujeitos com autismo. / The present study problematizes the recurring affirmation that subjects with autism are prejudiced or do not even have language. Indeed, I defend the thesis that subjects with autism can be understood, from language, as a phenomenon, and thus the phenomenon subjects with autism can show up to be a construction of the human species, with implications of this comprehension for the Education. Based on Martin Heidegger's phenomenological perspective, I take language as a "way that one does." This expression has to do with the possibility of having an experience with the language and let it show itself, not reducing or simplifying that notion. Methodologically, in addition to the phenomenological form, I work with five Heideggerian notions - language like language, comprehension, dasein, disposition and phenomenon - and two Foucaultian notions - subject and political investment of bodies. Both authors potentiate the idea of non-naturalization of patterns, as well as show how our subjectivities were managed To elucidate this thought, I analyze the following materials: seventy-four Field Diaries, which show the dispositions of subjects with autism in/as language, contextualized from Education and a Set of Movements, which involves interdiscursivity about subjects with autism in biological, political, social, economic and environmental aspects. From the analysis of these materials, it is possible to infer that there is a fading of language in western society by virtue of the power of communication that the currently rationality values and also a tradition of permanent logics of language operating on different knowledge that constructs, in network, new subjectivities. Therefore, the phenomenon subjects with autism emerges due to human interventions performed on the planet. These interventions came about through the invention of the knowledge and transformations of the resources that make life possible. The advance of the understanding of the phenomenon subjects with autism does not depend on any cure, but of showing that such subjects are heirs of the humanity. The implications of this comprehension configure the responsibility of creating opportunities that are not based only on the comparison between the subjects, as well, as to re-significate the traditionally established senses, besides not naturalizing the pathologization of the subjects with autism.

Thesis (MPH.) --University of Limpopo, 2018 / Background: When pregnant women deliver fresh stillbirths, their expectations and happiness are heartlessly substituted by mourning for their loss. The consequences are psychosocial and physiological. Mothers begin to search for answers while feeling guilt and shame; some accept blame for their babies‟ death. Their experiences are determined by the care they received from healthcare workers during delivery and grieving period. They complain that doctors and nurses care about the fact that the baby has been delivered and do not care about the emotional trauma that the mother is experiencing. Objectives: To identify, explore and describe experiences of women who delivered fresh stillbirths at a public hospital. Methods: A qualitative and descriptive phenomenological study was conducted using an in-depth phenomenological interview technique to collect data. Due to data saturation, nine purposively selected mothers participated. Interviews were conducted in the local language, and field notes were also collected. Interview recordings were transcribed and translated and analysed using open coding thematic analysis. Results: Some women experienced feelings of guilt, sadness, hurt, sense of failure, shock and self-blame. Some needed counselling whereas others were doing fine without it. Some experienced lack of sympathy from healthcare workers. Conclusions: Giving birth to a stillborn baby is a painful experience for women and their families. Healthcare workers should care for such mothers after delivery. Keywords: Stillbirth; postnatal care, phenomenological study design, field notes / AMREF

Although considerable concern exists regarding immigrant businesses, few studies address immigrant small business owners' strategies for success and sustainability. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to explore the strategies that immigrant small business owners in metro Atlanta, Georgia can use to sustain their business beyond 5 years. Cultural theory formed the conceptual framework for this study. A purposeful sample of 20 immigrant small business owners in metro Atlanta provided the data garnered from semistructured interviews for this research study. Using open coding, and modified van Kaam analysis of the interview data, 5 themes emerged for immigrant small businesses that were successful and survived beyond 5 years: strong work ethic and family dynamics, flexibility and independence, limited societal barriers, business experience, persistence and great customer service. Two themes emerged among immigrant small business owners whose businesses failed, which were, inadequate financial posture, and poor business and managerial knowledge. The findings of this study may contribute to social change as the strategies presented could guide new immigrants in establishing successful and sustainable immigrant small businesses. Results from this study could help educate small business owners about some of the causes of business failures.

Science communication, as a multidisciplinary field, serves to transfer scientific information to individuals to promote interest and awareness in science. This process resembles science education. Rooted in science education and science communication studies, this study examines the 4th and 5th grade students` usage of prominent science information sources (SIS), the features of these sources, and their effective and ineffective uses and processes in communicating science to students. Guided by situated learning and uses and gratifications (U&amp / G) theories, this study is a phenomenological qualitative inquiry. Data were gathered through approximately 64 hours of classroom observations / focus group and individual interviews from four elementary schools (two public, two private schools) in Ankara, T&uuml / rkiye. Focus group interviews were conducted with 47 students, and individual interviews were carried out with 17 teachers and 10 parents. The data were analyzed manually and MAXQDA software respectively. The results revealed that students used various SIS in school-based and beyond contexts to satisfy their cognitive, affective, personal, and social integrative needs. They used SIS for (a) science courses, (b) homework/project assignments, (c) exam/test preparations, and (d) individual science related research. Moreover, the results indicated that comprehensible, enjoyable, entertaining, interesting, credible, brief, updated, and visual aspects of content and content presentation of SIS were among the key drivers affecting students` use of SIS. The results revealed that accessibility of SIS was an important variable in students` use of these sources. Results further shed light on the connection between science education and science communication in terms of promoting science learning.