Not available / text

published_or_final_version / Radioisotope / Master / Master of Philosophy

No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

This thesis examines disaster policy at the local government level. Specifically, earthquake preparedness planning in three British Columbia school districts is examined. The disaster policy cycle and seismic risk in British Columbia are also addressed. Prior to the late 1980's, the Vancouver, Coquitlam and Langley school districts had not adopted specific measures to prepare for an earthquake. The Loma Prieta earthquake in California in 1989 increased earthquake awareness in British Columbia substantially. Thus, the Vancouver, Coquitlam and Langley school districts were faced with the same problem: the formulation and development of earthquake preparedness plans. One might expect that since all three school districts were faced with the same problem that a convergent approach to earthquake preparedness planning would be taken. However, the case studies reveal significant divergence in terms of earthquake preparedness. In relation to earthquake preparedness planning in the three school districts case studies, four factors are analyzed: amount of money spent, centralized approach versus decentralized approach, reliance on external expertise and thoroughness of the plan. Four possible explanations for the divergence of earthquake preparedness plans at the school district level are discussed in this thesis. These explanations are influence of interest groups, influence of key personnel, availability of community wealth, and magnitude of risk. The data base of for this thesis consists of the earthquake preparedness planning experience in the Vancouver, Coquitlam and Langley school districts. Relevant school district managers, staff, teachers, school administrators and parents were interviewed. Interviewees were chosen to represent departments or committees that were directly responsible for disaster preparedness or had some stake, direct or indirect, in the issues posed by earthquake preparedness. Documentary sources, government reports and statistics and newspaper articles were also used. Several conclusions can be drawn regarding emergency preparedness at the school district level. First, if magnitude of risk is significant and recognized, then the natural disaster problem has a greater chance of being addressed in an adequate manner. Second, if interest groups focus on a natural disaster problem, then there is more likelihood of more thorough action being taken than if interest groups were not involved. Third, current fiscal restraint indicates that funding, both public and private, will affect the thoroughness of emergency preparedness planning. Fourth, the preferences and actions of government officials cannot be ignored in regard to emergency preparedness planning. The degree to which natural disaster problems occupy the scope of government officials' preferences and actions will determine the extent to which disaster policy receives attention in many instances.

Earthquakes, such as the ones capable of affecting the Lower Mainland of British Columbia, can have a devastating effect on the environment that people live and work in. The purpose of this thesis is to examine methods of dealing with the hazards and problems created by existing, often historically significant, unreinforced buildings in earthquake-prone areas. Gaining an understanding of the complexity of this problem and the issues involved in establishing hazard mitigation policies gives insight into the policy-making process. The research indicates that a number of internal and external factors affect the formulation, adoption, and implementation of hazard mitigation policies. Despite limited awareness of the problem, low political salience of the issue, and limited resources in most communities, there are many steps that can be taken that will reduce the public's exposure to the risks created by unreinforced buildings and strengthen historically significant buildings that hold value, socially, economically, and culturally. Establishing more extensive mitigative measures, such as implementing a seismic retrofit policy, requires a decision-making process that must involve the people who live and work within that community. Each community, through a process of consultation with the stakeholders, needs to decide if it is in their interest to pursue hazard mitigation strategies to reduce the seismic risk. There is a need to integrate hazard mitigation strategies into the daily decision-making process of politicians and planners. The thesis concludes with some points for stakeholders to consider in designing policy to reduce the earthquake hazard that all the communities in the Lower Mainland of British Columbia face.

No description available.

No description available.

Bullying at schools is a problem that has recently gained much media exposure highlighting its increasing occurrence and violent nature. It has also gained attention in the educational field with an increasing number of pertinent studies. The link between school bullying and school violence has been drawn by educators and researchers alike. Of great importance is the positioning of school bullying in the sphere of Peace Education in the school. Despite bullying being mentioned in many relevant educational policies and documents pertaining to school governance, incidents are on the increase. The severity of bullying incidents is also worsening. This context led to the interest of addressing bullying amongst the Representative Council of Learners (RCL) at my school. As the Teacher Liaison Officer (TLO) to the RLC, I decided to initiate an Action Research project with the RCL of this school. The study explores and acts on the RLC perspectives on bullying at their school and their perspectives on suitable interventions. The methodology of action research suited an intervention goal. Learners need to be involved in processes of creating a peaceful learning environment for all. As stated by McNiff and Whitehead, “Working out ideas is the learning, working out how to live with one another is the peace process” (McNiff & Whitehead, 2002, p.13). The study is framed by Freire’s theory on pedagogy and Butler’s theory of gender. It involves several data collection methods, including questionnaires, focus group interviews, creative writing responses, posters, workshops and observations. My findings are presented as discussions based on various generative themes which emerged from the data. The findings of the study revealed that learners had difficulty formulating a comprehensive definition of bullying. Many initially felt that few incidents of bullying occurred at their school and were unaware of the full range of incidents of bullying. Boys and girls experienced bullying differently while different age groups had similar experiences of bullying. Features such as power, aggression and abuse were commonly raised in learners understanding of bullying. While a broader knowledge on bullying was generated through the action research process, many silences still emerged. Learners failed to draw the link between bullying and violence. They also did not mention any incident related to new age bullying or incidents involving the educator as a victim or as the bully. The study acknowledges that in order for bullying at this school to be reduced, a second and possibly a third cycle of the action research process is needed. The study indicates that bullying is not a simple problem that can be dealt with in a short period of time. It needs to be incorporated annually in the school programme dealing with pertinent societal dynamics which affect teaching and learning. / Thesis (M.Ed.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2011.