This thesis explores the effects of art-making in group art therapy sessions for people affected by Parkinson's Disease. It examines their experience of self through active engagement with art materials. It also draws on the experience of family caregivers and of professionals providing other therapeutic support for these patients. The research methodology is based on feminist, post-structuralist epistemological thought, situating the research as a political, reality-altering endeavour shaped by, and interpreted through, the researcher's particular ideological lens. The thesis emphasises the importance of developing a critical overview of the research context and considering how dominant discourses have shaped both the individual patient's experience of Parkinson's and the service approach to ways of improving their quality of life. A medical model is viewed as determining a narrow understanding and experience of the condition. Broadening the focus of the work to attend to how Parkinson's is culturally and socially embedded provides new understandings of its effects on patients and their wider needs. The research design has a strong participatory component drawing on the support of a consultancy group of six people affected by Parkinson's and three family caregivers, all seen as experts through their personal experience of the condition. The researcher defines her position as researcher-near using her background as artist, art therapist and her experience of working with people affected by Parkinson's at the research site. The research design is inspired by group art therapy practice, and takes research as praxis for theory building. Social science qualitative interviewing was used with four focus groups, and in ten semi-structured individual interviews which involved participant selected examples of their group therapy artwork. Nine audio-recordings of group art therapy sessions were collected. The researcher used art-making throughout the research process to create visual researcher diaries, and 'response' art as a way of exploring the material gathered for analysis. Besides providing an opportunity to consider the role of visual expression to complement verbal, this English language thesis uses data collected in Spanish and Catalan. Translation across languages (spoken, written and visual) and cultures became a method through which to consider interpretation, explore nuances and question assumptions. The dilemmas faced in translation enhanced researcher reflexivity and facilitated exploration of the space between art and language. This thesis offers an understanding of the potential contribution of group art therapy within six themes: 'Self-construction and discovery'; 'Material action'; 'Aesthetic group movement'; 'New perspectives'; 'Artwork as legacy'; and 'Physical transformation of issues'. These themes support the view that group art therapy acted as a catalyst for well-being and better functioning for participants, and that it can be modelled as a continuous process of embodied enquiry for those affected by Parkinson's. The triangular therapeutic relationship is explored and the terms 'creator' - 'artwork' - 'audience' are proposed to recognise the flexibility in the art-maker's position between creator and audience of their artwork. That artwork is conceptualised as an active meaning generator in the group art therapeutic encounter and the artistic intersubjective matrix is explored in relation to therapeutic factors specific to group art therapy. Implications for working with other related chronic, life changing conditions are elaborated.

This study explores potential therapeutic needs of people who have recently incurred a Spinal Cord Injury (SCI) and consequently live with an acquired disability. There are currently more people living with SCI than ever, yet there is still apparently little awareness or understanding of the complexity of the many potential psychological challenges caused by the injury. Despite disability being an inevitable part of existence, it is not consistently theoretically conceptualized other than to involve issues of power and vulnerability, and therapeutic literature relating to physical disability is scant. An inductive approach to the study was taken in order to focus on personal experiences of SCI, and more than one epistemological framework is mobilized in order to more comprehensively understand issues relating to disability and SCI. Using the (apparently conflicting) works of Foucault and Merleau-Ponty to inform a discourse analysis, both the cultural and historical social constructions, and the phenomenologically embodied aspects of disability are balanced to create a more holistic understanding of the experiences of acquired disability as a result of SCI. Seven participants were recruited for the study from an NHS specialist Spinal Injury Unit. Semi-structured interviews were conducted twice - once whilst participants were in-patients of the Unit, and once soon after they had been discharged. The main body of analysis is divided into three thematic sections: the Ecological - focusing on the roles of power relationships, institutions and culture through language and behavior, The Phenomenological - identifying the body as the primary site of 'knowing-in-the-world' and the implications to the sense of self of altered bodily experiences as a result of a new physicality, and The Existential - exploring how SCI can force a reconsideration of the possible significance or purpose(meaning) to be found in living. Trauma is acknowledged but not addressed as a primary focus, while the temporal element to the experience of SCI is identified. Focusing on the recently injured person's perspective at two significant points post-injury, this study aims to challenge the static concept of disability, and reconceptualise it as something experienced as fluid and context-dependent. The importance and affect of reflexivity in the study is also explored, as well as issues/implications of researcher positioning. The inter-relatedness of identified dominant themes is discussed in an attempt to illustrate the complex fluid interactions between SCI/acquired disability and individual life contexts. Identified themes are developed using critical disability theory, feminist literature, disability studies and Buddhist thought in order to advance understanding and conceptualisation of disability and the psychological experience of SCI. Education and reflexive awareness particularly regarding the machinations of widespread and embedded power relations relating to disability, as well as their consequences, are indicated as ethically necessary requirements (as an issue of social justice) for counselling psychologists to be able to practice appropriately, Ultimately, it is hoped that by investigating accounts of what affected individuals feel the dominant psychological challenges and difficulties are within their first year of injury, it may be possible for therapeutic services to become more effectively tailored to their specific needs.

The motivating effects of positive and negative verbal reinforcement and researcher attitude on the performance of preschool children were studied in relation to socioeconomic level. Forty children from the Utah State University Child Development Laboratory and forty from Head Start classrooms in northern Utah served as subjects. Each child performed the simple task of placing pegs in a pegboard during a 60- second time interval; once under conditions of positive verbal reinforcement and positive attitude, and again, under one of four experimental conditions: control; positive reinforcement/positive attitude; negative reinforcement/positive attitude; or negative reinforcement/ negative attitude. The findings seemed to indicate that the effectiveness of verbal reinforcement and researcher attitude on the motivation of preschool children varies with socioeconomic level. The variance tends to be one of greater response to either of the four experimental reinforcement conditions by children from the lower socioeconomic class than by those from the middle class. Differences in the effectiveness of various reinforcement conditions were not significant.

Bakgrund Inom de investmentbanker som idag erbjuder heltäckande tjänster inom värdepappershandel och företagsrelaterade finanstjänster uppstår konflikter som grundar sig på vems intresse som kommer i första hand. I denna process har finansanalytikern en central roll där det finns en risk att hamna i en intressekonflikt med corporate finance avdelningen. Finansanalytikerns oberoende är viktigt då analyserna har påverkan på kursbildningen på värdepappersmarknaden. Syfte Syftet med denna kandidatuppsats är att beskriva hur ett antal svenska investmentbanker arbetar för att främja finansanalytikerns oberoende i sin yrkesroll. För att tydliggöra oberoendet kommer intressekonflikten mellan analysavdelningen och corporate finance avdelningen att beskrivas då problematiken kring finansanalytikerns oberoende här är som tydligast. Metod En kvalitativ ansats har valt för att uppfylla uppsatsens syfte. Tre personliga djupintervjuer genomfördes med investmentbanker och Finansinspektionen. Ytterligare en telefonintervju genomfördes med ett analyshus som marknadsför sig som oberoende. Detta gav sammanlagt tre olika perspektiv på problemet. Slutsats Investmentbankerna främjar finansanalytikerns oberoende genom att skapa förutsättningar för att denne ska kunna ha en hög integritet i sin yrkesroll. Dessa förutsättningar skapas genom att följa lagen och de rekommendationer som Finansinspektionen ger. Tillsammans med interna regler och incitament stärks finansanalytikerns oberoende gentemot corporate finance avdelningen. / Background Within today’s full-service investment banks conflicts of interest related to who’s interest that comes first appears. Within this process the equity researcher has a fundamental profession and is exposed to conflicts of interest mainly towards the corporate finance department. The equity researcher’s independence is of importance since the analyses have impact on the determination of prices on the securities market. Purpose The purpose of this bachelor thesis is to describe how a number of Swedish investment banks operate to promote independence in the equity researcher’s profession. To describe the independence, conflicts of interest between the equity research department and the corporate finance department will be described. This situation chosen because of the problematic situation concerning the equity researcher’s independence that appears. Method A qualitative approach has been chosen to fulfil the purpose of the bachelor thesis. Three personal in-depth interviews have been conducted with investment banks as well as the Swedish Financial Supervisory Authority. One additional telephone interview was conducted with a company promoting itself as an independent equity researcher. This together gave us three different perspectives of the problem. Conclusion The investment banks promote the equity researcher’s independence by creating conditions to maintain a high integrity in their profession. These conditions are created by following the law and the recommendations given by the Swedish Financial Supervisory Authority. Together with internal rules and incentives, the equity researcher’s independence towards corporate finance will strengthen.

The purpose of this study is to investigate how the researcher experiences its role in real life in relation to the field of education and adult learning. The context of the study is the academic department of education and adult learning in Swedish institutions. This is a qualitative study, inspired by Grounded Theory. Data consist of interviews, texts from policy documents and reports. Both the aspects gender and context have been taken into consideration. The main category, status and career, is discussed in relation to concepts like quantity, competition, strategy, power, policy, independence and the surrounding world. Status depends on quantity and also other arenas outside the academia. Competition is crucial. Status and power are tied together. They are connected to relational structures and strategies. The socialization process is part of the context. Independence is related to funding of projects and the quality of evaluation research. Relevant context outside the academia is referred to as practitioners. Gender is relevant in all aspects mentioned above. Unequal distribution of power is one example. / Syftet med uppsatsen har varit att synliggöra forskarens upplevelse av sin roll och sin verklighet i relation till fältet vuxnas lärande. Vi har genomfört semistrukturerade intervjuer, läst ett stort antal policydokument och rapporter inom området vuxnas lärande. Ur det insamlade materialet, har koder och minnesanteckningar genererats som senare sorterats med grundad teori som stöd. Aspekterna kön och kontext beaktas. För vår egen förståelse summerar vi våra reflektioner i anslutning till data. Begrepp som kvantitet - konkurrens- strategi- makt och policy framkom ur databearbetningen och bildade vad vi benämner kärnkategori. Vår data behandlar forskarnas syn på begreppen. Här finns reflektioner kring konkurrens mellan discipliner/fält avseende till exempel finansiering. Det råder delade meningar om huruvida forskarna styr utvecklingen inom vuxnas lärande eller om det är politiska tankar som är upphovet. Kommunikativa strategier ur ett könsperspektiv beskrivs på två sätt. Våra intervjupersoner har direkt eller indirekt markerat sin position i förhållande till fält. Makt finns med som teoretiskt begrepp. Här betonas dess relationella karaktär. Forskarrollen inom detta fält är komplex.

The aim of the study was to investigate to what extent integrating systematic reflection into the academic English courses at the tertiary level fosters learning. To this end, the teacher-researcher designed an action research study and carried it out with seventy-one students in the three sections of ENG 101 she taught at the Middle East Technical University. In the course of the action research, the teacher-researcher developed an interactive reflection model in which the teacher and students engage in a collaborative process of reflection to improve their performance. For each writing and speaking task in the syllabus, a related reflective task was developed, and the reflective writing assessment rubric was created. Students wrote reflective paragraphs through which they explored their strengths and weaknesses in their performance. Moreover, the teacher-researcher and students engaged in reflective dialogue. In their reflections, students were expected to develop an action plan for further improvement. The teacher-researcher kept a reflective journal in which she reflected on the research and her teaching skills. At the end of the semester, the students evaluated the effectiveness of the reflective activities. The data collection tools were student questionnaire, student work, transcripts of the reflective dialogues, students&rsquo / evaluation of reflective activities and teacher&rsquo / s reflective journal. The quantitative and qualitative analysis of the data revealed that the integration of reflection in the course increased students&rsquo / awareness of their strengths and weaknesses in relation to the tasks they performed, improved their self-assessment skills and increased their self-confidence. Reflecting with students and on students&rsquo / reflections became a journey of discovery for the teacher-researcher. She developed an action plan and put it into implementation.

<p>The purpose of this study is to investigate how the researcher experiences its role in real life in relation to the field of education and adult learning. The context of the study is the academic department of education and adult learning in Swedish institutions. This is a qualitative study, inspired by Grounded Theory. Data consist of interviews, texts from policy documents and reports. Both the aspects gender and context have been taken into consideration. The main category, status and career, is discussed in relation to concepts like quantity, competition, strategy, power, policy, independence and the surrounding world.</p><p>Status depends on quantity and also other arenas outside the academia. Competition is crucial. Status and power are tied together. They are connected to relational structures and strategies. The socialization process is part of the context. Independence is related to funding of projects and the quality of evaluation research. Relevant context outside the academia is referred to as practitioners. Gender is relevant in all aspects mentioned above. Unequal distribution of power is one example.</p> / <p>Syftet med uppsatsen har varit att synliggöra forskarens upplevelse av sin roll och sin verklighet i relation till fältet vuxnas lärande. Vi har genomfört semistrukturerade intervjuer, läst ett stort antal policydokument och rapporter inom området vuxnas lärande. Ur det insamlade materialet, har koder och minnesanteckningar genererats som senare sorterats med grundad teori som stöd. Aspekterna kön och kontext beaktas. För vår egen förståelse summerar vi våra reflektioner i anslutning till data. Begrepp som kvantitet - konkurrens- strategi- makt och policy framkom ur databearbetningen och bildade vad vi benämner kärnkategori. Vår data behandlar forskarnas syn på begreppen. Här finns reflektioner kring konkurrens mellan discipliner/fält avseende till exempel finansiering. Det råder delade meningar om huruvida forskarna styr utvecklingen inom vuxnas lärande eller om det är politiska tankar som är upphovet. Kommunikativa strategier ur ett könsperspektiv beskrivs på två sätt. Våra intervjupersoner har direkt eller indirekt markerat sin position i förhållande till fält. Makt finns med som teoretiskt begrepp. Här betonas dess relationella karaktär. Forskarrollen inom detta fält är komplex.</p>

The purpose of this study was to examine preschool teachers’ thoughts on roles within activities in the subject chemistry. The main focus has been their perceptions of their own and the children´s roles when planning and executing activities within the subject chemistry.   The method used to execute the study was semi-structured interviews, and all respondents have been certified preschool teachers. When analyzing the material I have used a constructivist perspective.   The study shows that there were several roles that the preschool teachers strived for. The different roles did not occur exclusively in one person, but seemed to be something the preschool teachers alternated between. The different roles show different levels of control in the activities from the preschool teachers. The majority of the preschool teachers aimed to be a co-researcher who inspires the children, although some control in the activities seemed to be necessary according to a majority of respondents.   Several different factors which had an effect on the conditions for the children’s roles and the preschool teacher´s possibilities to act as a co- researcher emerged in this study. Those were factors like what questions were asked around the activities, the material being used, teaching documentation, child perspective, ICT which was used to explore with the children and whether one would proceed with the children´s interests as a starting point when planning an activity. The age of the children and the children´s personal differences were also pointed out as important factors. / Syftet med min studie har varit att undersöka förskollärares tankar kring rollfördelning vid aktiviteter inom kemi i förskolan. Mitt fokus har varit hur förskollärare ser på barnens samt sin egen roll vid planerande och utförande av aktiviteter inom kemi.   Semistrukturerade intervjuer har använts som datainsamlingsmetod och samtliga respondenter har varit förskollärare. Jag har använt mig av ett konstruktivistiskt perspektiv när jag analyserat mitt material.   I studien framkom att fanns flera roller som de intervjuade förskollärarna strävar efter och att de olika rollerna inte verkade exklusivt hos en person, istället verkar rollerna vara något förskollärarna alternerade emellan. De olika rollerna visar på olika stark styrning i aktiviteterna ifrån förskolläraren men att vara en medforskare som inspirerar barnen var den roll majoriteten förskollärare strävade efter samtidigt som man såg en viss styrning i aktiviteterna som nödvändig.   Flera olika faktorer som påverkade förutsättningarna för barnens roll och förskollärarens möjlighet att verka som en medforskande pedagog framkommer i studien. Faktorer som de frågor som ställdes runt aktiviteten, det material som användes, pedagogisk dokumentation, barnsyn, IKT som användes för att utforska tillsammans med barnen, huruvida man utgick från barnens intresse vid planering vid aktiviteter. Barns ålder och barns olikheter lyftes också fram som betydande faktorer.

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A teacher’s understandings of literacy have an impact on the pedagogical decisions that the teacher makes. Such understandings of literacy may evolve through professional learning, experiences, and reflective practice, but this evolution is seldom documented and therefore not often considered as a systematic means for improving practice. Similarly, educators are rarely able to document the longitudinal literacy life of one learner. This autoethnographic study explores and documents how the researcher’s understandings of literacy have changed over time. The researcher is the primary participant in the study, but her daughter’s literacy learning (from early childhood into adolescence) informs the three eras of the researcher’s teaching life. These three eras are named: teacher, teacher-mother, and teacher-mother-researcher. In each era the researcher interprets her daughter’s literacy learning through the theoretical lens of literacy as social practice. The study draws upon documents, interviews, and artefacts from both the researcher’s life and from her daughter’s literacy life in order to construct stories that express the lived experience of an educator in the act of examining her own literacy theory-practice evolutionary process. Findings from this study can inform educators of the need to challenge their understandings of literacy theories in relation to their past and current literacy practices, enabling them to effectively construct their future practices.