Although it is relatively easy to study and learn about a practice discipline in the safe environment of an academic institution, it is far more complex to make sense of what has been learned when faced with the real world of practice. Practitioners need to think on their feet and have to find new ways of managing complex problems which do not fit directly into the theoretical frameworks learned in a more formal setting. Knowledge of what the various disciplines say is not in itself sufficient, experiential knowledge is necessary. The key to learning in the experiential domain is critical reflective practice and emancipatory learning, which empower practitioners to explicate their implicit theories. If autonomy is the goal of professional education, the key is to help adult learners to distance themselves from their own values and beliefs in order to entertain more abstract modes of perception. The purpose of this inquiry was therefore, to construct a model for facilitation of critical reflective practice, based on thorough analysis of the main concepts (critical thinking and reflection), related viewpoints, models and theories; and the data gathered and analyzed during, the naturalistic inquiry. The inquirer sought to. develop each participant through Socratic & Learning Through Discussion (Dialogical) Technique, Critical Incident Reporting and participation in Critical Reflective Exercises. The constructed model for facilitation of critical reflective practice evolved from empirical observations, intuitive insights of the inquirer and from deductions combining ideas from several fields of inquiry. The model for facilitation of critical reflective practice postulates that practitioners have the inherent potential to change from auto-pilot practice to critical reflective practice. The purpose of the model is the facilitation of heightened awareness of the self, to enable health care professionals to consciously meet community needs and expectations. The desired outcome is transformative intellectuals who will strive to empower others to become critical reflective learners and practitioners. / Health Studies / D.Litt. et Phil. (Nursing Science)

Cette étude de philosophie comparée propose une herméneutique de l’idée de soi à partir d’une analyse de la dimension ascétique de la question « quel soi ? », qui se manifeste à travers les disciplines de libération mises en place par les traditions du Portique et du Zen. Déclinée sous différentes formes, cette question constitue la pierre angulaire des pratiques de soi propres aux deux traditions. Il apparaît que sa principale fonction est celle d’orienter l’idée de soi, eu égard à une polarité soi ↔ non-soi, afin de parvenir à la condition du sage, celle d’un accord libérateur avec une nature originelle commune à tous. Ainsi, au lieu de désigner simplement un fondement ontologique – réel ou supposé – l’idée de soi joue alors bien plutôt un rôle de vecteur, qui, selon son orientation,permet ou non d’actualiser cet accord. Par la prise en compte comparative du rôle de la négation (détachement) de soi, cette étude cherche donc à élargir le spectre des processus de subjectivation ou des pratiques de soi et, ainsi, de mettre au jour un aspect assez négligé par l’histoire occidentale de la subjectivité. Par là même, cette thèse permet de mieux comprendre comment une (méta)physique stoïcienne du plein peut être à même de penser la négation (détachement) de soi et, inversement, comment une métaphysique bouddhiste de la vacuité peut développer une pensée de la subjectivité morale et de la responsabilité / This study in comparative philosophy offers a hermeneutics of the idea of self. It explores the ascetic dimension of the question “what self?” apparent across the various disciplines of liberation developed by the Stoic and Zen traditions. In its diverse guises, this question is the cornerstone of specific practices of the self within these traditions. As such, its main function is to guide the idea of self, with regard to the polarity self ↔ non-self, in order to achieve the status of the sage, which represents a kind of harmony with an original nature that is common to all individuals. Therefore, rather than simply designating an ontological foundation – real or alleged – the idea of self has the role of a vector, which, depending on its orientation, allows one to actualise (or not) this harmony. Through comparative analysis of the role of negation (detachment) of the self, this study seeks to broaden the spectrum of the processes of subjectification or practices of the self and, thus, to bring to light an aspect that has been somewhat neglected by the Western history of subjectivity. In doing so, this thesis enables better understanding of how the full-bodied (meta)physics of the Stoics is able to think the negation (detachment) of the self and, conversely, of how the Buddhist metaphysics of emptiness can develop an idea of moral subjectivity and responsibility

Text in Afrikaans / Die objek van studie in hierdie proefskrif is ietwat ongewoon. Die studie is outobiografies en is gegrond op die aanname dat daar tussen die psigoterapeut, sy geskiedenis, die wetenskap (etnografie en tweede-orde kubernetika) en die klient(e) 'n unieke patroonverband bestaan. Die psigoterapeut in die platteland het weens afstand of finansies nie altyd die voorreg om supervisie van 'n eksterne supervisor te ontvang nie. In so 'n situasie kan selfsupervisie, deurdat dit 'n proses van selfontdekking is, 'n belangrike rol in die psigoterapeut se selfontwikkeling speel. Selfsupervisie plaas die klem op die psigoterapeut as persoon en as terapeut; oor wie hy is, waar hy vandaan kom en waarheen hy binne die psigoterapeutiese proses op pad is. Vir enige psigoterapeut is dit belangrik om na 'n hoer vlak van psigoterapie te streef. Hierdie strewe impliseer 'n proses van selfondersoek, delwing, selfevaluasie en disseksie. Hierdie proses is aan die hand van dagboekinskrywings gedoen, waar die psigoterapeut sy daaglikse ervarings en gebeurtenisse vanuit die verlede interpreteer het. Dit plaas die psigoterapeut as hoofspeler, met sy familiegeskiedenis en huidige interpersoonlike opset as inherente deel van sy mondering, op die voorgrond. In hierdie proses word die psigoterapeut sentraal geplaas met die klem op eie verantwoordelikheid met betrekking tot die proses van selfsupervisie. Die probleme wat deur hierdie persoonlik gekleurde, wetenskaplike studie aangespreek word, is probleme wat die psigoterapeut deur middel van sy selfsupervisie ge1dentifiseer het. So 'n selfondersoek lei tot 'n diepere selfkennis wat die psigoterapeut tot voordeel van homself, sy gesinsisteem en klientsisteem kan gebruik. Hierdie studie is 'n poging om 'n nuwe wyse van navorsing te identifiseer. Dit is omvattend en lei tot persoonlike vervulling asook diepere selfkennis en is 'n man waardeur ander psigoterapeute ook hulself en hul werelde kan ontdek. Dit is 'n stadige en pynlike proses. Hoofstukke 1 tot 4 is die teoretiese, wetenskaplike beredenering van die studie en hoofstukke 5 tot 12 is 'n uitbeelding van die geskiedenis van die psigoterapeut. Hoofstuk 13 plaas selfsupervisie as selfevalueringsmetode binne die psigoterapeutiese beroep. / The object of this study somewhat unusual. The study is an autobiography based on the assumption that there exists an unique patterned connection between the psychotherapist, his history, science (ethnography and second-order cybernetics), and his clients. Due to distance or financial problems, a rural psychotherapist cannot experience the privilege of supervision with an external supervisor. In such a situation selfsupervision could play an important role in the self-development, because it includes a search of self that will lead to more effectiveness in psychotherapy. Self-supervision focuses on the psychotherapist as a person and therapist, who he is, where he comes from, and in what direction he, as a psychotherapist, is developing within the psychotherapeutic process. It is important to any psychotherapist to strive towards a higher level of psychotherapy. This implies a process of selfinvestigation, dissection and self-evaluation. This process was conducted by means of diary entries in which the psychotherapist interpreted his daily experiences and events in terms of his past. This places the psychotherapist, with his family history and current interpersonal situation, as intrinsic parts of himself, in the foreground. In this process the psychotherapist takes centre stage with emphasis on his responsibility concerning the process of self-supervision. The problems addressed by this personally coloured, scientific study, are problems that the psychotherapist identified through the process of self-supervision and introspection. Such introspection leads to a deeper personal knowledge which the psychotherapist can use to his own benefit but also to the benefit of his family and client system. This study is an attempt to identify a new way of research. It is comprehensive and leads to personal fulfilment and deeper self-knowledge and is also a method by which other psychotherapists could discover themselves and their worlds. It is a slow and painful process. Chapters 1 to 4 comprise of the theoretical rationale of the study and chapters 5 to 12 depict the history of the psychotherapist. Chapter 13 situates self-supervision as a method of self-evaluation in the profession of psychotherapy. / Psychology / D. Litt. et Phil.

Although it is relatively easy to study and learn about a practice discipline in the safe environment of an academic institution, it is far more complex to make sense of what has been learned when faced with the real world of practice. Practitioners need to think on their feet and have to find new ways of managing complex problems which do not fit directly into the theoretical frameworks learned in a more formal setting. Knowledge of what the various disciplines say is not in itself sufficient, experiential knowledge is necessary. The key to learning in the experiential domain is critical reflective practice and emancipatory learning, which empower practitioners to explicate their implicit theories. If autonomy is the goal of professional education, the key is to help adult learners to distance themselves from their own values and beliefs in order to entertain more abstract modes of perception. The purpose of this inquiry was therefore, to construct a model for facilitation of critical reflective practice, based on thorough analysis of the main concepts (critical thinking and reflection), related viewpoints, models and theories; and the data gathered and analyzed during, the naturalistic inquiry. The inquirer sought to. develop each participant through Socratic & Learning Through Discussion (Dialogical) Technique, Critical Incident Reporting and participation in Critical Reflective Exercises. The constructed model for facilitation of critical reflective practice evolved from empirical observations, intuitive insights of the inquirer and from deductions combining ideas from several fields of inquiry. The model for facilitation of critical reflective practice postulates that practitioners have the inherent potential to change from auto-pilot practice to critical reflective practice. The purpose of the model is the facilitation of heightened awareness of the self, to enable health care professionals to consciously meet community needs and expectations. The desired outcome is transformative intellectuals who will strive to empower others to become critical reflective learners and practitioners. / Health Studies / D.Litt. et Phil. (Nursing Science)

Rembrandt's use of light in his self-portraits has received an abundance of scholarly attention throughout the centuries--and for good reason. His light delights the eye and captivates the mind with its textural quality and dramatic presence. At a time of scientific inquiry and religious reformation that was reshaping the way individuals understood themselves and their relationship to God, Rembrandt's light may carry more intellectual significance than has previously been thought. Looking at Rembrandt's oeuvre of self-portraits chronologically, it is apparent that something happened in his life or in his understanding that caused him to change how he used light. A distinct and consistent shift can be observed in the location and intensity of light to the crown of the forehead. This change indicates that light held particular significance for Rembrandt and that its connection to the head was a signifier with intentional meaning. This meaning could have developed as a result of Rembrandt's exposure to and interest in the contemporary theological and philosophical debates of the seventeenth-century Netherlands, particularly those relating to the physical and eternal nature of the soul stemming from the writings of René Descartes. The relative religious and intellectual freedom of the Dutch Republic provided a safe place for Descartes to publish and defend his metaphysical ideas relating to the nature of the soul and know-ability of God through personal intellectual inquiry. The widespread disturbance to established thought caused by his ideas and methods sped their dissemination into the early seventeenth-century discourse. Rembrandt's associations with the educated elite, particularly Constantijn Huygens and Jan Six, increases the probability that he knew of this new philosophy and had the opportunity to consider its relevance to his own quest for self-knowledge. With his particular emphasis on self-exploration and expression, demonstrated through his prolific oeuvre of self-portraits, and his inclination toward emotive, complex, and interdenominational religious works, it follows that Rembrandt would be eager to embrace Descartes' metaphysics and demonstrate his awareness through his self-portraits. Light on the forehead becomes a metaphor for enlightenment and is the key to reading Rembrandt's late self-portraits through the lens of Cartesian influence.

This dissertation engages with contemporary interpretations of Nietzsche and Heidegger on the issue of self-knowing with respect to the notions of honesty and authenticity. Accounting for the two philosophers' developing conceptions of these notions allows a response to interpreters who conceive the activity of self-knowing as a primarily personal problem. The alternative accounts proposed take as a point of departure transitional texts that reveal both thinkers to be engaged in processes of revision. The reading of honesty in Chapters 1 and 2 revolves around Nietzsche's groundwork on prejudice in Morgenröthe (1880-81), where he first problematizes the moral-historical forces entailed in actuating the 'will to truth'. The reading of authenticity in Chapters 3 and 4 revolves around Heidegger's lectures on what motivates one's thinking in Was heißt Denken? (1951-52). The lectures call into question his previous formal suppositions on what calls forth one's 'will-to-have-a-conscience', in an interpretation of Parmenides on the issue of thought's linguistic determination, discussed further in the context of Unterwegs zur Sprache (1950-59). Chapter 5 shows how Heidegger's confrontation with Nietzsche contributed to his ongoing revisions to the notion of authenticity, and to the attending conceptions of critique and its authority. Particular attention is given to the specific purposes to which distinct Nietzschean foils are put near the confrontation's beginning--in Heidegger's lectures on Nietzsche's second Unzeitgemässe Betrachtung (1938), and in the monograph entitled Besinnung (1939) which they prepare--and near its end, in the interpretation of Also Sprach Zarathustra (1883-85) presented in the first half of Was heißt Denken? Chapter 6 recapitulates the developments traced from the vantage point of the retrospective texts Die Zollikoner Seminare (1959-72) and the fifth Book of Die fröhliche Wissenschaft (1887). Closing remarks are made in relation to recent empirical research on the socio-environmental structures involved in determining self-identity.

Text in English / The aim of the current study was to explore the impact of the Educhange and Research Foundation (ERF) self-awareness programme on the participants’ reactions, experiences, and changes in opinion regarding their knowledge of concepts of self-awareness. This study constitutes an evaluation of a workshop presented by the ERF which is a Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) aimed at generating solutions toward a better education for all learners through the application of Kirkpatrick’s model of evaluating education and training programmes. Kirkpatrick’s model follows the goal-based evaluation approach and is based on four levels of evaluation. These four levels are widely known as reaction, learning, behaviour, and results. Due to the feasibility of the research, only the reaction and learning evaluation levels were researched. The population identified for the study comprised 15 grade 9 to 11 secondary school learners from Soweto in South Africa which were encouraged to volunteer to take part in the study at their convenience. The sample consisted of all the learners who attended the self-awareness workshop, in effect making this a purposive, convenience sampling. The ERF Board were responsible for the sample selection for their scholarship programme. One of the minimum criteria of selection to take part in the programme was that the learner must have obtained 70% and stem from poor backgrounds. The relatively small sample size possesses the potential to limit the generalisation of the findings. A mixed method approach was employed for this research. Positivist paradigm is the epistemological stance adopted due to the social reality investigated. The sources of data consisted of pre- and post-evaluation questionnaires on self-awareness. The results were thematically and statistically analysed. Thematic analysis included familiarisation with the data and first finding meaning, and then identifying patterns of recurring meaning by generating initial codes and lastly generating themes that run through these meanings.Statistical analysis was conducted through comparison of the data before and after the workshop using chi-square. Objective self-awareness theory and the self-regulation theory were the theoretical framework that informed the current research study. The main finding from this study was that the programme was perceived to have raised positive subjective opinions and feelings of most of the participants, although one participant raised negative subjective opinions about the programme and made suggestions for improvement. After the workshop, the participants felt that they had gained a better understanding of the key concepts of self-awareness, although most items were found to be statistically insignificant. / Psychology / M.A. (Psychology)

The aim of the current study was to explore the impact of the Educhange and Research Foundation (ERF) self-awareness programme on the participants’ reactions, experiences, and changes in opinion regarding their knowledge of concepts of self-awareness. This study constitutes an evaluation of a workshop presented by the ERF which is a Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) aimed at generating solutions toward a better education for all learners through the application of Kirkpatrick’s model of evaluating education and training programmes. Kirkpatrick’s model follows the goal-based evaluation approach and is based on four levels of evaluation. These four levels are widely known as reaction, learning, behaviour, and results. Due to the feasibility of the research, only the reaction and learning evaluation levels were researched. The population identified for the study comprised 15 grade 9 to 11 secondary school learners from Soweto in South Africa which were encouraged to volunteer to take part in the study at their convenience. The sample consisted of all the learners who attended the self-awareness workshop, in effect making this a purposive, convenience sampling. The ERF Board were responsible for the sample selection for their scholarship programme. One of the minimum criteria of selection to take part in the programme was that the learner must have obtained 70% and stem from poor backgrounds. The relatively small sample size possesses the potential to limit the generalisation of the findings. A mixed method approach was employed for this research. Positivist paradigm is the epistemological stance adopted due to the social reality investigated. The sources of data consisted of pre- and post-evaluation questionnaires on self-awareness. The results were thematically and statistically analysed. Thematic analysis included familiarisation with the data and first finding meaning, and then identifying patterns of recurring meaning by generating initial codes and lastly generating themes that run through these meanings.Statistical analysis was conducted through comparison of the data before and after the workshop using chi-square. Objective self-awareness theory and the self-regulation theory were the theoretical framework that informed the current research study. The main finding from this study was that the programme was perceived to have raised positive subjective opinions and feelings of most of the participants, although one participant raised negative subjective opinions about the programme and made suggestions for improvement. After the workshop, the participants felt that they had gained a better understanding of the key concepts of self-awareness, although most items were found to be statistically insignificant. / Psychology / M.A. (Psychology)

The purpose of this qualitative research study, which utilizes a phenomenological inquiry method, is to inquire into the awareness of what it means to be a whole teacher from the perspective of the philosophy of Jiddu Krishnamurti, a philosopher/spiritual teacher. Four participants (teachers) were interviewed from the Oak Grove School, an alternative, holistic school founded by Krishnamurti in 1974. This inquiry probed into teachers’ thinking, teachers’ lives, teachers’ inner lives, teachers’ contemplative practices, teachers’ calling/vocation and teachers’ pedagogy. The findings of this inquiry reveal the awareness that exists among the participants with regards to their understanding of Krishnamurti’s educational philosophy and the way in which this philosophy has shaped their lives and the lives of their students (both implicit- ly and explicitly) The findings from this research further show that Krishnamurti’s philosophy has certainly had an impact on the participants’ wholeness. Krishnamurti was never interested in imposing his philosophy on the teachers to think in a narrow groove. Rather, he challenged them to arrive at wholeness or a holistic approach towards living by their own volition, by putting aside all philosophy, including his own. This research points towards the possible ways in which wholeness can be developed using: Innate wisdom (teachers’ inner life, teachers’ calling); wisdom gained through experiencing life (teachers’ life, teachers’ thinking); wisdom gained through their teaching experience (teachers’ pedagogy) and wisdom gained through practices that bring harmony to the mind, body and spirit (teachers’ contemplative approaches). An experiential model titled, The Flower Model: An Experiential Metaphor – which integrates the three stages of awareness – was developed using Krishnamurti’s approach towards wholeness. This model can be used to guide teachers with their respective psychological conditionings that reside or exist in their thinking, lives, inner lives, contemplative practices, vocation and pedagogy/curriculum design.

The purpose of this qualitative research study, which utilizes a phenomenological inquiry method, is to inquire into the awareness of what it means to be a whole teacher from the perspective of the philosophy of Jiddu Krishnamurti, a philosopher/spiritual teacher. Four participants (teachers) were interviewed from the Oak Grove School, an alternative, holistic school founded by Krishnamurti in 1974. This inquiry probed into teachers’ thinking, teachers’ lives, teachers’ inner lives, teachers’ contemplative practices, teachers’ calling/vocation and teachers’ pedagogy. The findings of this inquiry reveal the awareness that exists among the participants with regards to their understanding of Krishnamurti’s educational philosophy and the way in which this philosophy has shaped their lives and the lives of their students (both implicit- ly and explicitly) The findings from this research further show that Krishnamurti’s philosophy has certainly had an impact on the participants’ wholeness. Krishnamurti was never interested in imposing his philosophy on the teachers to think in a narrow groove. Rather, he challenged them to arrive at wholeness or a holistic approach towards living by their own volition, by putting aside all philosophy, including his own. This research points towards the possible ways in which wholeness can be developed using: Innate wisdom (teachers’ inner life, teachers’ calling); wisdom gained through experiencing life (teachers’ life, teachers’ thinking); wisdom gained through their teaching experience (teachers’ pedagogy) and wisdom gained through practices that bring harmony to the mind, body and spirit (teachers’ contemplative approaches). An experiential model titled, The Flower Model: An Experiential Metaphor – which integrates the three stages of awareness – was developed using Krishnamurti’s approach towards wholeness. This model can be used to guide teachers with their respective psychological conditionings that reside or exist in their thinking, lives, inner lives, contemplative practices, vocation and pedagogy/curriculum design.