Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Hawaii at Manoa, 2005. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 325-356).

This research focuses on Special Needs Education (SNE) in Kenyan Public Primary Schools: Exploring Government Policy and Teachers’ understandings. At a time when Kenya is introducing reforms with a view to addressing broad national objectives and providing universal primary education (UPE) after the massive enrolment increases arising from the free primary education declaration (FPE), it was important to establish teachers’ understandings on SEN. The study was undertaken in 27 primary schools in urban, municipal and rural parts of Kenya. A phenomenological qualitative approach was mainly used and data were collected from teachers through a survey comprising: (i) 159 self-administered questionnaires ii) Nine in-depth interviews. From the results of a pilot study, necessary adaptations were made for the main study. The data provided insights to teachers’ teaching strategies, impacts of mainstreaming, factors that prevent the participation of children said to have SEN, challenges in meeting the diverse needs in the classroom and the support they may require in providing more engaging and effective learning instructions. The findings show that many teachers lack a repertoire of learning and teaching strategies appropriate for addressing barriers to learning and providing individualized approaches in the classrooms. Some teachers were positive about teaching children said to have SEN but lacked the infrastructure of support and guidance, were confused by different terminologies and found the concept of SEN not to be enabling. What teachers are calling for is more training to help them develop strategies which are responsive to the identified learning difficulties. Through Documentary Analysis of the Kenya National Special Needs Education (SNE) Policy Framework, Ministry of Education (MoE, 2009), it was identified that the policy is difficult and ambiguous for teachers to implement. The policy fails to include salient definitions to facilitate a common way of addressing children said to have SEN which results in them being labelled. The recommendations of the research indicate that children’s unique needs be made transparent and addressed using effective individualized education plans to influence and maintain high expectations, positive and enriched ways of teaching in order to improve the children’s learning opportunities as well as other extracurricular activities. The national policy should be revised to include feasible targets in order to facilitate on-going evaluation and embed definitions of key words which are pivotal to planning, assessment, identification, provision and placement of children said to have SEN. Suggestions for further research have also been included.

The Constitution of India provides the basis of labour jurisprudence in the country. It promises right to work, right to livelihood, right against forced labour, right against child labour, equal treatment of all workers, equal pay for equal work, appropriate conditions at work, and the overall social, economic and political justice to the people. These constitutional promises find specific expression in the numerous labour-related statutes enacted in furtherance of workers’ welfare. However, the constitutional promises remain unrealized for the approximately 92% of informal workers who are largely excluded from the purview of the labour laws and accordingly, lead marginalized and precarious lives devoid of dignity. Against this backdrop, I analyze whether a capabilities-inspired approach to labour law can address the concerns of informal workers in India and promote their dignified life. After reviewing the literature around informal economic activities, I argue that it is important to adopt a worker-centered approach that focuses on informal employment. Informal employment is varied and because of this the problems and concerns associated with the different categories of informal workers differ. For this reason, I focus on one specific category of informal activity – waste-picking – in one city – Kolkata – in order to ascertain whether a human development approach to labour law is capable of addressing the specific concerns of these waste-pickers. Drawing on the work of labour law scholars who develop the capability approach formulated by Amartya Sen, I consider whether it is suitable as a basis for labour law designed for informal workers in general and waste-pickers in particular. Using a case study of the informal activity of waste picking in Kolkata, I identify the specific capability deprivations suffered by waste-pickers and argue that the capabilities approach can supplement the International Labour Organization’s social dialogue pillar of its Decent Work Agenda to address the work-related concerns of waste-pickers. Based on the International Labour Organization’s social dialogue strategy, I envisage a mechanism through which waste-pickers along with other stakeholders could be integrated in a democratic dialogue process leading to the formulation of a capability-promoting labour law. / Graduate / 0510 / 0398 / 0629 / supriyonujs@gmail.com

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Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 1976. / Typescript. Vita. eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references.

Co-teaching as an inclusive educational model is a new approach in Greece which aims to support the inclusion of children with special educational needs (SEN) in mainstream schools. This research aimed to investigate and evaluate co-teaching practices as well as teachers’ and students’ with SEN perceptions with regard to co-teaching. This research adopted a mixed methodology in two independent phases in order to address the needs of the study. Namely, 140 teachers were surveyed and multiple case studies of five different secondary co-taught classrooms were incorporated. This study showed that the way co-teaching is implemented in Greek secondary schools is closer to the model of “one teach-one assist”. Specifically, co-teachers saw the general teacher as responsible for all children, while the special teacher as responsible for an individual child with SEN included in a mainstream classroom. Thus, limited special teacher role expansion to all children was observed. The study showed that the general teachers were more negative about the sharing of various classroom responsibilities compared to the special teachers. Moreover, the approach of children’s withdrawal out of class was implemented to a significant extent. According to the research findings it was largely the special teachers who preferred this integrated approach and not the general teachers. Also, limited differentiation and grouping methods were used by co-teachers. In addition, this study indicated that co-teaching pairs did not collaborate with each other in an extensive way and did not commonly plan lessons together. Thus, teacher participants were quite sceptical in relation to the potential personal benefits of co-teaching to themselves. This study showed teacher training in co-teaching, teachers’ sensitivity and positive attitudes towards children with SEN, collaboration between co-teachers and mutual planning time, clear and official allocation of co-teaching roles and special teachers employment at the beginning of the academic year were all regarded as factors which would facilitate the successful implementation of co-teaching. Interestingly, the present study revealed that from the perspectives of both teachers and children with SEN the model of “one teach-one assist” seemed to have positive academic outcomes to children with SEN. However, the model of “one teach-one assist” seemed to have not only positive but also negative social and personal outcomes for children with SEN. From the perspective of some teachers and children with SEN respondents it seems that the model of “one teach-one assist” limited the social interactions of some children with SEN and interrelationships with the remaining children, which was due to sitting next to them during the lesson time and escorting them during the break time. Moreover, children with SEN did not see that co-teaching resulted in their social skills development. As a result some children with SEN expressed their unwillingness to be supported by a special teacher during the following academic year. Among the various disadvantages of co-teaching that children with SEN mentioned was the confusion that they usually felt when both teachers were speaking simultaneously. Lastly, children with SEN who experienced the out of class support expressed their preference for being supported out of the mainstream classroom. This was because they saw that the out of class support benefited them academically.

En este ensayo clasificatorio presentamos cinco tipos básicos de multidimensionalidad en la literatura reciente sobre desarrollo y pobreza. El primer tipo básico es intra- económico pues incluye dos o más variables económicas. El segundo añade indicadores no económicos al ingreso. Podemos distinguir dos variantes en ese caso. Una de ellas es la que introduce la multidimensionalidad en el campo de los factores de la pobreza, usualmente de ingreso. Algunos de esos factores son definidos como (capital),. Otra es la que incorpora elementos no económicos en la definición de pobreza. El tercer tipo de multidimensionalidad elimina el ingreso y las variables económicas de la definición de pobreza, lo que coloca a la dimensión económica meramente como un factor. Es el caso del planteamiento de Sen que define el problema como uno de libertad, en última instancia. Dentro de ese enfoque nos interesa destacar una de las maneras menos comprendidas de hacerlo cual es la que sirve para construir el Índice de Desarrollo Humano en los Informes sobre Desarrollo Humano del PNUD. La cuarta manera de establecer la multidimensionalidad de la pobreza es la que introduce la clasificación “económica”, “política”, “social” “cultural” u otras, y que se deriva de la modalidad de separación de esferas de la vida propia del mundo liberal. La última que exponemos es la que se apoya directamente en las ideas de lo valioso en la vida y su relación con el desarrollo que tienen diversas corrientes filosóficas.

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Submitted by Maykon Nascimento (maykon.albani@hotmail.com) on 2015-09-09T19:45:30Z No. of bitstreams: 2 license_rdf: 23148 bytes, checksum: 9da0b6dfac957114c6a7714714b86306 (MD5) A informalidade do mercado de trabalho um desafio institucional permanente para a economia brasileira.pdf: 958249 bytes, checksum: a59e1905497487e5bfe562cee5be8327 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Elizabete Silva (elizabete.silva@ufes.br) on 2015-09-11T19:10:38Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 2 license_rdf: 23148 bytes, checksum: 9da0b6dfac957114c6a7714714b86306 (MD5) A informalidade do mercado de trabalho um desafio institucional permanente para a economia brasileira.pdf: 958249 bytes, checksum: a59e1905497487e5bfe562cee5be8327 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2015-09-11T19:10:38Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 license_rdf: 23148 bytes, checksum: 9da0b6dfac957114c6a7714714b86306 (MD5) A informalidade do mercado de trabalho um desafio institucional permanente para a economia brasileira.pdf: 958249 bytes, checksum: a59e1905497487e5bfe562cee5be8327 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2015 / A economia informal compõe o mundo do trabalho de todas as sociedades capitalistas, em menor ou em maior grau. No Brasil, historicamente observa-se que esse fenômeno tem sido sempre muito abrangente, sobretudo motivado pelo e resultante do contexto socioeconômico, jurídico e político. Devido às idiossincrasias nacionais, desde o surgimento do mercado de trabalho no país, esta situação persiste em diversos panoramas e com vários matizes, obstaculizando uma melhor performance global da economia brasileira e negando oportunidades de desenvolvimento individual e social ao longo do tempo. Sendo assim, e através do prisma da Economia Social e do Trabalho, o objetivo desta dissertação é analisar os principais fatores conjunturais e estruturais da informalidade observada no mercado nacional de trabalho no interregno 1980-2012, apresentando a dimensão desse problema e expondo suas raízes econômicas e institucionais, a fim de contribuir com novos elementos para o debate da informalidade em nível nacional. A hipótese central dessa pesquisa é de que o elevado GI no Brasil persiste essencialmente – mesmo que com diferentes especificidades históricas – ao nível das mentalidades dos diversos agentes, isto é, antes de ter-se um mercado nacional de trabalho com um alto GI, tem-se uma sociedade brasileira altamente informal. A instituição “trabalho informal” persiste como um hábito incrustado mesmo diante de mudanças de ordem socioeconômica, o que impede que grande parcela da população brasileira tenha acesso ao trabalho formalizado e decente (a là OIT). É mister que haja maior efetividade das leis e aprimoramentos institucionais acompanhados de coordenação e “vontade política”, alicerçados pela tomada de consciência crescente da sociedade civil no que se refere à importância da formalização e aos males da informalidade tanto para seus cidadãos quanto para a nação. Sugere-se como uma possível alternativa para diminuir o GI de forma mais consistente a consideração, para além dos aspectos econômicos e jurídicos, do arcabouço cultural, histórico, comportamental e dos hábitos sociais incrustados que os condicionam e os orientam. Isto porque são estes os eixos que norteiam o processo de desenvolvimento individual e social. Nesse sentido, o estudo (de caráter descritivo e analítico) é fundamentado pelas teorias sistêmicas e multidisciplinares desenvolvidas por Karl Paul Polanyi e Amartya Kumar Sen, interpretadas como artífices de uma vida digna, além de apregoarem o “reincrustamento” da economia na sociedade e, por analogia, o “desincrustamento” da informalidade institucionalmente enraizada na sociedade brasileira. Isso se dará à medida que forem expandidas as liberdades instrumentais e substantivas, em uma espécie de “causação circular cumulativa” aplicada à questão da informalidade, tendo como “efeito colateral altamente desejável” o desenvolvimento socioeconômico. As principais contribuições deste estudo emergiram justamente das concepções teóricas dos dois autores, combinadas aos nexos de convergência estabelecidos entre a economia brasileira, seus desdobramentos institucionais e a informalidade no mercado nacional de trabalho no período estudado. / The informal economy composes the world of work of all the capitalist societies, in lesser or greater extent. In Brazil, historically it is observed that this phenomenon has always been very broad, mostly motivated by and resulting from socio-economic, legal and political context. Due to national idiosyncrasies, since the advent of the labour market in the country, this situation exists in several panoramas and various hues, hindering a better overall performance of the Brazilian economy and denying opportunities for individual and social development over time. Thus, and through the prism of Social and Labour Economics, the aim of this work is to analyze the main conjunctural and structural factors of informality observed in the national labour market in the interregnum 1980-2012, showing the dimension of this problem and exposing their economic and institutional roots, in order to contribute with new elements to the discussion of informality at the national level. The central hypothesis of this research is that high degree of labour informality in Brazil remains essentially – even if subject to historical specificities – at the level of mentalities of the different agents, meaning that before having a national labour market with a high degree of labour informality has been a highly informal Brazilian society. The institution of “informal work” remains an embedded habit even when a change in the socio-economic order occurs, which precludes much of the population access to formal and decent work (according to ILO definition). It is imperative a greater effectiveness of laws and institutional improvements accompanied by coordination and “political will”, grounded by the growing awareness of civil society with regard to the importance of formal work and the evils of the informal work for its citizens and for the nation as a whole. Beyond to the economic and legal aspects, it is suggested as a possible alternative to reduce the degree of labour informality a more consistent consideration of the cultural, historical and behavioral backgrounds together with the embedded social habits that affect and drive them. These last ones are the axes that guide the process of individual and social development. In this sense, this study (of descriptive and analytical nature) is based on systemic and multidisciplinary theories developed by Karl Paul Polanyi and Amartya Kumar Sen, interpreted as artificers of a dignified life, as well as endorsers of the “re-embeddedness” of the economy in the society and, by analogy, the “desembeddedness” of the informality institutionally rooted in the Brazilian society. This will take place as a consequence of the expansion of the instrumental and substantive freedoms in a sort of “circular and cumulative causation” applied to the issue of informality, with the “highly desirable side effect” of socio-economic development. The main contributions of this research emerged precisely from the theoretical conceptions of these two authors along with a convergent nexus established among the Brazilian economy, its institutional unfolding process and the informality in the national labour market during the studied period.

El Enfoque de las Capacidades de Sen se distingue en el terreno de la justicia distributiva porque ha intentado establecer criterios evaluativos que superen el atomismo de las teorías utilitaristas. Pero algunos pensadores críticos han señalado que el Enfoque aún mantiene una impronta individualista que limita su alcance a la hora de implementar políticas públicas tendientes a transformar estructuras injustas. Para estos críticos, los conceptos básicos de Sen deben complementarse con una noción de capacidad colectiva o común, irreductible a términos individuales, que permita dar cuenta de los procesos intersubjetivos del desarrollo de la agencia y de la constitución de la identidad personal. En este artículo se analizarán algunas críticas comunitaristas al Enfoque y se intentará postular un candidato plausible a capacidad colectiva, que respete el núcleo vivo de los comentarios y que mantenga los conceptos de capacidad y de agencia centrales en la teoría de Sen.---Communities of Meaning as Collective Capabilities. A Communitarian Revision of Amartya Sen’s Theory”. Sen’s Capability Approach it is distinguished in the field of the distributive justice, because It has tried to set evaluatives terms that exceed the atomism of the Utilitarian theories. But some critical thinkers have pointed out that the Approach still keep an individualistic style that restrict its impact at the moment of implementing public policies. For these critics, Sen’s basic concepts must be complemented with the idea of collective capability, irreducible to indivudual terms, that allows to account to the intersubjective process of agency and the personal identity constitution. This paper will attempt to present a plausible candidate to the collective capability, that respects the live core of the communitarian comments and that keeps the capability and agency concepts, which are fundamental in Sen’s theory.