Doctor of Philosophy / This thesis looks at social interaction from the point of view of social-institutional process. In doing so, it aims to account for i) how broader institutional processes are instantiated in local interaction, and ii) how western technologisation (in the Foucaultian sense) relates to or is instantiated in local interaction.

Mixed communities have been largely developed by policy makers of western counties such as Australia, the United States and Western Europe. The debates of whether mixed communities could be the solution to the problems of poverty and place are still in examination. As most of the studies are concentrated on western context, this paper attempts to study the outcomes of living in a mixed community in Hong Kong. This study would be focused on assessing the outcomes of low income residents living in a mixed community in Hong Kong for exploring the possibility of urban planning and housing policy through the social mix policy. Though the idea of social mix is not the main concern in Hong Kong’s urban planning, the paper aims to find out whether living in a mixed community constitutes positive outcomes such as improving living environment, exploring social networks, seeking employment opportunities, role modeling and acquiring better livings in the future. A sample estate in Yau Ma Tei of Hong Kong would be chosen for case study to evaluate the outcomes of living in a mixed community. The study might provide hints for policymakers in considering of town planning and housing developments which towards the goal of reducing social problems such as poverty. There has no practical model or framework in development of policies allied with mixed communities. However, social integration and cohesion should be encouraged for promoting balanced neighbourhoods. / published_or_final_version / Housing Management / Master / Master of Housing Management

published_or_final_version / Urban Design / Master / Master of Urban Design

This study is an exploration of power and how it is manifested in curriculum making. More specifically, it examines the responses of actors in the physics curriculum network to a proposal to introduce a Physics, Technology and Society (PTS) version of physics in the secondary schools of Bahrain. The proposal to introduce PTS created a point of entry to explore issues of power in curriculum making and highlight some of the strategies that actors used to maintain or reconstruct power relations. Data collection consisted of three phases during which interviews were conducted with Ministry of Education personnel, university physicists and physics educators, physics teachers, university and secondary students, and industry representatives. Interviews focused on responses to: 1) an example of PTS materials (Phase One); 2) the views of other actors (Phase Two); and 3) the Ministry's decision to proceed with piloting of the PTS materials (Phase Three). From Actor-Network Theory (ANT), the responses of the various actors can be understood in terms of their efforts to maintain or reconstruct the school physics network. Furthermore, the study shows that curriculum making can be seen as a networking process in which the success of the various actors is linked to the size and strength of the networks they are able to mobilize to their position. From this point of view, the Ministry, drawing primarily on local networks, is seen to move cautiously in response to the extensive international network which university physicists maintain and which provides high status pathways for students. Power relations are network effects, and in exploring them one gains a better appreciation of the network that constructed them. Therefore, this study illuminates aspects of the school physics network, revealing its constituent actors, the strength of the links between some of its actors, and the establishment of the curriculum as an obligatory passage point. Conclusions pertaining to the nature of this network and the strategies employed by actors in constructing and maintaining power relations as they engaged in negotiating the physics curriculum are drawn. Finally, these conclusions have implications for policy in curriculum change and, more specifically, for addressing issues of power and problems that emerge when fundamental changes in secondary science are introduced.

Bibliography: leaves [310]-327. / Microfiche. / xii, 327 leaves, bound ill., maps, plans 29 cm

Doctor of Philosophy / This thesis looks at social interaction from the point of view of social-institutional process. In doing so, it aims to account for i) how broader institutional processes are instantiated in local interaction, and ii) how western technologisation (in the Foucaultian sense) relates to or is instantiated in local interaction.

This study is an exploration of power and how it is manifested in curriculum making. More specifically, it examines the responses of actors in the physics curriculum network to a proposal to introduce a Physics, Technology and Society (PTS) version of physics in the secondary schools of Bahrain. The proposal to introduce PTS created a point of entry to explore issues of power in curriculum making and highlight some of the strategies that actors used to maintain or reconstruct power relations. Data collection consisted of three phases during which interviews were conducted with Ministry of Education personnel, university physicists and physics educators, physics teachers, university and secondary students, and industry representatives. Interviews focused on responses to: 1) an example of PTS materials (Phase One); 2) the views of other actors (Phase Two); and 3) the Ministry's decision to proceed with piloting of the PTS materials (Phase Three). From Actor-Network Theory (ANT), the responses of the various actors can be understood in terms of their efforts to maintain or reconstruct the school physics network. Furthermore, the study shows that curriculum making can be seen as a networking process in which the success of the various actors is linked to the size and strength of the networks they are able to mobilize to their position. From this point of view, the Ministry, drawing primarily on local networks, is seen to move cautiously in response to the extensive international network which university physicists maintain and which provides high status pathways for students. Power relations are network effects, and in exploring them one gains a better appreciation of the network that constructed them. Therefore, this study illuminates aspects of the school physics network, revealing its constituent actors, the strength of the links between some of its actors, and the establishment of the curriculum as an obligatory passage point. Conclusions pertaining to the nature of this network and the strategies employed by actors in constructing and maintaining power relations as they engaged in negotiating the physics curriculum are drawn. Finally, these conclusions have implications for policy in curriculum change and, more specifically, for addressing issues of power and problems that emerge when fundamental changes in secondary science are introduced. / Education, Faculty of / Curriculum and Pedagogy (EDCP), Department of / Graduate

This paper originated as a result of one of the stated objectives of the Salem Primary Prevention Project. That project, operating jointly with Marion County Community Mental Health, Salem School District 24J and the City of Salem’s Community Development Department, has had as one of its stated objectives, the development of a mechanism to review the impact of planned change at the local level. For several years both the staff and Advisory Committee for the Primary Prevention Program had wrestled with the complexity of developing such a review or assessment mechanism. Existing literature on social impact assessment appeared to deal primarily with rather large physical impacts upon local areas. Projects such as multiple-use reservoirs and inter-state highways that came under the constructions auspices of the federal government are examples. This, then was the background for beginning the search to develop the social impact assessment tool in January of this year. It shall be the purpose of this paper to construct both a rationale and a method for assessment of planned changes from local units of government upon neighborhoods under their jurisdiction.

published_or_final_version / Urban Design / Master / Master of Urban Design

published_or_final_version / Architecture / Master / Master of Architecture