abstract: With global environmental systems under increasing Anthropogenic influence, conservationists and environmental managers are under immense pressure to protect and recover the world’s imperiled species and ecosystems. This effort is often motivated by a sense of moral responsibility, either to nature itself, or to the end of promoting human wellbeing over the long run. In other words, it is the purview of environmental ethics, a branch of applied philosophy that emerged in the 1970s and that for decades has been devoted to understanding and defending an attitude of respect for nature, usually for its own sake. Yet from the very start, environmental ethics has promoted itself as contributing to the resolution of real-world management and policy problems. By most accounts, however, the field has historically failed to deliver on this original promise, and environmental ethicists continue to miss opportunities to make intellectual inroads with key environmental decisionmakers. Inspired by classical and contemporary American philosophers such as Charles Sanders Peirce, William James, John Dewey, and Richard Rorty, I defend in this dissertation the virtues of a more explicitly pragmatic approach to environmental ethics. Specifically, I argue that environmental pragmatism is not only commensurate with pro-environmental attitudes but that it is more likely to lead to viable and sustainable outcomes, particularly in the context of eco-social resilience-building activities (e.g., local experimentation, adaptation, cooperation). In doing so, I call for a recasting of environmental ethics, a project that entails: 1) a conceptual reorientation involving the application of pragmatism applied to environmental problems; 2) a methodological approach linking a pragmatist environmentalism to the tradition and process of adaptive co-management; and 3) an empirical study of stakeholder values and perspectives in conservation collaboratives in Arizona. I conclude that a more pragmatic environmental ethics has the potential to bring a powerful set of ethical and methodological tools to bear in real-world management contexts and, where appropriate, can ground and justify coordinated conservation efforts. Finally, this research responds to critics who suggest that, because it strays too far from the ideological purity of traditional environmental ethics, the pragmatic decision-making process will, in the long run, weaken rather than bolster our commitment to conservation and environmental protection. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Biology 2019

Face aux nombreuses difficultés environnementales et sociales auxquelles l'agriculture doit faire face, des pratiques basées sur la gestion de processus écologiques ont été proposées comme des solutions possibles. Or de telles pratiques, dites agroécologiques, ne peuvent résulter d'une simple application de recettes techniques, et doivent être développées en lien étroit avec les caractéristiques écologiques et autres du système géré par chaque agriculteur. En conséquence, il est nécessaire d'envisager une évolution du système de production et de diffusion de savoirs, avec en particulier une place importante à donner aux agriculteurs eux-mêmes dans le développement de leurs propres pratiques. L'objectif de cette thèse est donc de mieux comprendre comment les agriculteurs apprennent à développer des pratiques agroécologiques, afin de contribuer à l'accompagnement d'autres agriculteurs dans leur propre transition vers ce type de pratiques. Nous nous concentrons sur l'agriculture de conservation, qui se fonde sur trois grands principes : la réduction du travail du sol, la diversification des cultures et la couverture permanente du sol. A l'aide d'éléments théoriques issus de la philosophie pragmatiste, nous analysons qualitativement des entretiens réalisés chez des agriculteurs expérimentés en agriculture de conservation dans plusieurs régions de France. Cela nous amène dans un premier temps à proposer un cadre pour décrire les processus d'apprentissage et les jugements pragmatiques qui se développent au cours de ceux-ci. Nous précisons ensuite les évolutions possibles des jugements pragmatiques, et les particularités des processus d'apprentissage qui permettent ces différentes évolutions. Enfin, nous nous intéressons à la diversité entre agriculteurs dans les façons d'apprendre, notamment en mettant en regard les différentes trajectoires de changements vers l'agriculture de conservation. Nos résultats nous amènent à proposer des pistes pour l'accompagnement de l'apprentissage des agriculteurs : nous suggérons entre autres qu'il est important de valoriser la diversité des façons d'apprendre, mais sans chercher à la réduire à des styles d'apprentissage fixes, et nous proposons une application possible de la théorie de la communication engageante pour participer à l'accompagnement vers des pratiques d'agriculture de conservation. Enfin, nos résultats nous amènent à réfléchir à l'agroécologie non pas seulement comme un objectif du développement agricole, mais aussi comme un moyen de développement pour les individus. / Agriculture is facing multiple environmental and social challenges; in order to address them, practices based on the management of ecological processes have been pointed out as possible solutions. Such practices, known as agroecological, cannot be the result of a simple application of technical recipes: they must be developed locally, in close interaction with the ecological characteristics of the system managed by each farmer. Consequently, it is necessary to consider the evolution of the knowledge production and diffusion system, with the farmers as developers of their own practices having an especially important role. Therefore, the goal of this work is to better understand how farmers learn to develop agroecological practices in order to contribute to the support of other farmers in their own transition towards similar practices. We focus on conservation agriculture, which is based on three main principles: reduction of soil disturbance, crop diversification, and permanent soil cover. With the help of theoretical elements grounded in pragmatist philosophy, we qualitatively analyze interviews conducted with farmers experienced in conservation agriculture in different regions of France. This leads us to the proposal of a framework to describe the learning processes and the pragmatic judgements that develop along these processes. We then specify the possible developments of pragmatic judgements, and the specificities of the learning processes that allow such changes. Finally, we focus on individual characteristics of the learning processes, studying them partly through contrasting farmers' trajectories of changes toward conservation agriculture practices. Our results enable us to make different suggestions for the support of farmers' learning: we argue that it is important to take into account the diversity of learning processes without reducing it into a typology of learning styles, and we discuss a possible application of the binding communication theory to facilitate the transition toward conservation agriculture practices. Ultimately, our results suggest that we should think about agroecology not only as a goal for agricultural development, but also as a means for the development of individuals.

Framed in theories of pragmatism, self-efficacy, and ecology, this design-based research study attempted to make explicit connections between theory and field-based research. The pedagogical goal of this study was to expose in-service teachers to a scaffolded model of professional development for writing (IMSCI) that could be implemented in their own teaching. This model of professional development also served to place research participants in a professional learning community. Teachers worked in focus groups made of another teacher in their own discipline, and a collective focus group, and worked through the steps of the scaffolded model in consideration of their own writing instruction in an effort to increase their self-efficacy, while also experiencing a participatory approach to instruction that in turn improved their ability to enact this instruction in their own classrooms. The data, which included focus group interviews, blog posts by the teachers, and member checking, were analyzed using constant comparative methods. The analyses indicated that the majority of these content teachers had not experienced effective writing instruction models as students and did not learn how to teach writing in their preservice teaching programs. Additionally, their professional learning experiences as inservice teachers had not given them the tools they needed to overcome ecological factors that stopped them from teaching writing. Teachers' responses about their experience with the IMSCI model indicate that it has the potential to help teachers understand what effective writing instruction looks like, how to implement it in their own classrooms, and to increase their perceived self-efficacy as teachers of writing.

Urban areas will play a decisive role in the sustainability of future societies. As such, there is a need to understand the processes through which cities can become more sustainable. Based on a qualitative case study of a community food waste initiative in Gothenburg, Sweden, this thesis explores the phenomenon of urban sustainability transitions in relation to learning. The thesis attempts to explain how learning at the level of socio-technical niches could be instrumental to broader systemic changes at the regime level. The theoretical framework for the thesis draws on the transactional perspective on learning developed from pragmatist educational philosophy, as well as practice theoretical approaches to studying sustainability transitions which have emerged in recent years. The empirical results gathered from the case are analysed using dramaturgical analysis and practical epistemology analysis. Based on these analyses, the thesis argues that the role and significance of learning in urban sustainability transitions can be understood in terms of educative practices, a concept which is elaborated in the discussion chapter. Thus, it is argued that learning through educative practices can contribute to urban sustainability transitions by challenging prevailing institutional norms and structures, and by establishing pathways through which unsustainable elements within the socio-technical regime can be reconfigured. / Wicked Problems and Urban Sustainability Transition

One of the least explored areas of C.S. Peirce's wide range of work is his contributions to psychology and the philosophy of mind. This dissertation examines the corpus of this work, especially as it relates to the subjects of mind, habit, instinct, sentiment, emotion, perception, consciousness, cognition, and community. The argument is that Peirce's contributions to these areas of investigation were both highly original and heavily influenced by the main intellectual currents of his time. An effort has been made to present Peirce's philosophy without apology, within the conceptual framework and idiom of its time, and without appeal to a comprehensive view that Peirce never articulated. Nevertheless, as several noted interpreters have argued, much of this work can be viewed through the lens of Peirce's innovative theory of signs and the notion of the semiotic triad as its central unifying feature, despite the fact that the general theory was itself under continuous refinement and remained incomplete at the time of his death. Another hermeneutical device employed is William James' better known and more accessible work which, when juxtaposed with Peirce's ideas, serves to bring them into sharper relief. While general and historical in the presentation of material, this study seeks, at the same time, to engage the criticism of contemporary Peirce scholars in an attempt to account for several of the conundrums inherent in Peirce's work. Among the problems with implications for his philosophy of mind and theory of inquiry are the limitations of his theory of continuity, his negative view of the self, his somewhat ambiguous position on the relation of psychology to logic, and the metaethical puzzle arising from application of his theory of probable inference to truly fateful decisions. These problems provide an interesting perspective and lend balance to the truly insightful contributions Peirce made to the discovery of the mind.

Feminism is often blamed for having made the 'wrong decisions' on issues such as work and care. This thesis argues that such judgements are based on a misperception of how social movements exercise collective agency. While feminist historiography and social movement studies offer some insights, neither directly address the question of to what extent the directions taken by social movements can be shaped by high level strategic decision-making. In answering this question, the research was informed by philosophical pragmatism and by feminist theories of responsibility and reason. The prevailing 'movement CEO' image of decision-making was rejected in favour of an approach directed to interpreting the past actions of the women’s movement without neglecting its decentralised and collective nature. ¶ I began by investigating the degree of strategy in Australian women’s movement activism on work and care issues in two periods: the interwar years (1919–1938) and in the 1970s and 1980s. These periods were chosen because they are often taken to illustrate failures in feminist decision-making. The second-wave movement is said to have failed women by over-emphasising access to paid work at the expense of women’s caring roles while the feminists of the early twentieth century are said to have locked women into mothering roles by relying on maternalist arguments. The historical research drew on primary sources including the records created by organisations and individuals involved in the movement, together with oral history interviews. The historical studies found little evidence of capacity for, or orientation towards, high level strategic decision-making in terms of the political and discursive risks identified in later criticisms of feminism. The studies supplement existing historical accounts by illuminating the nature of organisational processes within the movement and the reasoning used by participants. ¶ I then developed a positive alternative to existing rational actor models of decision making, which avoids the assumption that movements as such engage in strategic decision-making but still allows for the possibility of purposive collective action. This 'organisation-direction' model proposes that collective intentions may be formed in the more densely-organised nodes of a movement field and may pull the movement in certain directions without imposing high-level strategic decisions. Non instrumental elements such as emotion and movement knowledge are irreducible parts of reasoned action, which only sometimes involves assessing risks and opportunities. Movement goals and means are generated in the course of practical engagement rather than through a linear process of decision-making. The thesis contributes to the social movement literature that emphasises the constitutive role of non-instrumental elements of action by showing how these are linked to goal-oriented organisation. The thesis responds to the growing emphasis on strategic choices in social movements by exploring the nature and limits of strategy instead of assuming its usefulness as an interpretive device.

<p>Enhetschefens arbete balanserar mellan önskemål och krav från personal, brukare, anhöriga, tjänstemän och politiker. Informella ledare kan då vara ett hot eller en möjlighet.Uppsatsens syfte är att bidra med förståelse för hur enhetschefer inom äldreomsorgen resonerar kring informella ledare. Det handlar om de möjligheter och svårigheter samt de strategier cheferna resonerar om och använder i sitt arbete.Den teoretiska referensramen utgörs av symbolisk interaktionism och verksamhetsnära- och situationsanpassat ledarskap. Utifrån en kvalitativ ansats har halvstrukturerade intervjuer genomförts med sex enhetschefer i två kommuner i Östergötland.Resultatet visar att cheferna resonerar kring både möjligheter och svårigheter avseende informella ledare i verksamheten. Möjligheterna kan bestå av att informella ledare ofta är insatta och engagerade i verksamheten. Cheferna använder också informella ledare för att övertyga övriga i personalgruppen om sin linje vid neddragningar eller förändringsarbete. Möjligheterna kan vändas till svårigheter då de informella ledarna genom sitt engagemang på ett negativt sätt drar med sig övriga i personalgruppen. De kan också medverka till skapandet av en negativ kultur där personalen inte vågar uttrycka sig fritt. Sammantaget handlar chefernas strategier om tydlighet, kommunikation, delaktighet och utbildning.</p>

<p>The aim of this dissertation is to study learning through deliberative dialogue, the social climate of the classroom, and certain aspects of student participation in civic education in upper secondary schools, as well as aspects of deliberative didactics. It takes its theoretical point of departure in John Dewey’s texts on democracy and education. An additional perspective on the social and moral aspects of democratic life is provided by Axel Honneth’s studies on disrespect and a morality of recognition. An empirical study is presented in which students and teachers were interviewed in focus groups about their opinions and experiences, on the basis of the aim of the dissertation and the research questions addressed.</p><p>The analysis reveals a potential to learn civics thorough dialogue and discussion. A dialogue with deliberative qualities is characterized as one with a clearly defined purpose and relevant knowledge content. In the course of such a dialogue, the participants apply and develop certain abilities, some of which are identified in the study. Regarding the social climate in the classroom, especially during learning through dialogue and discussion, several difficulties and problematic situations were mentioned in the focus group interviews. These were problems related to “disturbing silence” and “troubling speech”. Honneth’s theory of moral recognition is in such situations seen as a basis for teachers’ professional reflections and for deliberative dialogues involving teacher and students. Concerning student participation and the civic education classroom as a form of democratic community and a public sphere, both students and teachers interviewed spoke of a balancing act between many different interests, some of which are discussed with a focus on the formation of interests. Other aspects studied are how a sense of community can be created and how the private and individualistic meet the public and common in civic education. It is concluded that the civic education classroom, considered as a public sphere, can be an arena for deliberation and thus develop a sense of community and a deliberative competence for use in a wider citizenship perspective.</p><p>In the final chapter it is concluded that deliberative didactics can be seen as a didactic dimension of reflexive cooperation. It is characterized as a reflexive approach whereby the teacher invites the students to deliberate on issues of subject content, ways of working, the social climate of the classroom, and different aspects of participation and common interests. It is also argued that the practical cooperation – the actions and their consequences – following from intersubjective speech are as important as the dialogue itself.</p><p>Keywords: citizenship education, deliberative communication, classroom climate, morality of recognition, reflexive cooperation, student participation, deliberative didactics, Dewey, pragmatism, focus groups.</p>

<p>The overall aim of this thesis is to contribute to the debate about Education for Sustainable Development (ESD), and provide a practical tool for teachers with which they can relate to ethical and moral learning in the ESD context. This aim is based on the ambition to develop an approach that takes its starting point from our practical experience of ethics and morals, inspired by the later works of Ludwig Wittgenstein and the transactional perspective developed by John Dewey. This implies that ethics and morals are regarded as a human tendency that is observable in action. The central method used to clarify ethical and moral meaning-making is, by the use of examples, to remind of common experiences of how this meaning-making appears in everyday situations. These clarifications are made in order to dissolve (rather than solve) philosophical problems, as well as to create new knowledge. The approach has been applied to four different studies. The first study focuses on the differences between three selective traditions in environmental education: <i>fact-based, normative and pluralistic,</i> with regard to the relationship between facts and values. It is argued that a pluralistic approach can be seen as way of relating facts and values in practice, and consequently that the democratic process neither precedes nor succeeds education but is an integral part of it, and that students therefore are constituted as citizens participating in the progress of sustainable development. The purpose of the second study is to suggest an approach that allows <i>in situ</i> analysis of how individuals’ prior experiences are included in the processes of moral meaning-making. A concrete example shows how individuals can transform the moral discourse in different situations. In the third study, it is suggested that the ethical tendency can be recognised as a communication in which certain values and actions are treated as if they were universally good and right. Three different kinds of situations in which this communication appears are highlighted: <i>personal moral reactions, norms for correct behaviour and ethical reflections.</i>The diverse conditions for learning in these situations are discussed, and specific notice is taken of the risk of indoctrination in ESD. The fourth study addresses the question of how to understand and deal with criticism in a pluralistic educational approach. Through reminders of how criticism appears in everyday practice, it is argued that criticism does not necessarily have to be understood theoretically. Criticism can also be seen as the diverse ways in which human beings morally react, encounter different norms and ethically reflect.</p>

<p>Under verksamhetsförlagda utbildningar har det framkommit att tematiskt arbete inte är ett entydigt begrepp. Lärare ute på fältet har haft delade meningar om arbetssättets innehåll och genomförande. Tematiskt arbete har dessutom ofta blivit bortprioriterat till förmån för den traditionella undervisningen. Syftet med undersökningen är att ur ett lärarperspektiv synliggöra hur verksamma lärare arbetar med tematiskt arbete. Undersökningens forskningsfrågor är vilken syn på lärande har de lärare som arbetar tematiskt, hur arbetar lärarna tematiskt och på vilket sätt gynnar tematiskt arbete elevers utveckling och lärande? För att besvara forskningsfrågorna användes en kvalitativ metod där fyra intervjuer genomfördes med lärare som arbetar tematiskt i årskurs F-3. Resultatet visar att de intervjuade lärarna är positiva till tematiskt arbete och menar att det skapar en helhet för eleverna. I arbetet anser lärarna att man integrerar alla ämnena i det arbete som utförs. Dock visas det tydligt att lärarna har svårt för att helt gå ifrån de traditionella ämnena för att uppfylla kunskapsmålen som finns. Det viktiga med tematiska arbetet är att man utgår ifrån elevernas intresse och att det är deras lärande som skall komma i första hand.</p>