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By exploring selected Western epistemologies and Lutheran theology, this thesis argues for an approach to Lutheran Confirmation centered on the meaning-making process. Specifically, it is argued that meaning coemerges as an amalgam of inherited content, life experience and community interaction. For Confirmation to be a resource and catalyst for lifelong learning, curricula and teachers must account for the complexity and contributions of learner-formed meaning.<p> Confirmation is analyzed as a rite and a process of ordered learning: constructivist theory guides a concise study of the epistemological roots of Piaget, Dewey, Polanyi and Whitehead. Luthers intent, contemporary theology and the assumptions of constructivism are consistent with coemergence. Essential, fallible and gracious knowing are offered as epistemological-theological pillars to guide the intent of confirmation.

Perceptions concerning training and development continue to appear in practitioner literature; however, the fact that those perceptions are not explored in HRD literature is a problem. The purpose of this study was to examine perspectives of participants in organization-sponsored training. A general qualitative methodology was utilized in this study. Then, through a social constructivism lens, the researcher looked closely at the interactions described in the trainees? experiences in order to understand their assumptions and how they made sense of their experiences. The researcher collected 10 interviews from participants representing various types of training experiences. The 10 interviewees identified shared experiences that led to the formation of four themes: (1) relevance and applicability, (2) attitudes and preferences, (3) immediacy, and (4) relational learning. Within the first theme, there were three subthemes: (1) responsibility for relevance and application, (2) communicating relevance, and (3) trainees? recognition of relevance and application. Theme 2, immediacy, consisted of three subthemes as well. Immediacy was explained by trainees as verbal, nonverbal, and environmental. No subthemes emerged from the other two themes. Finally, the themes revealed two episodic narratives. The two narratives were "Time is money--Is this worth the time?" and "If you don't care, I don't care." The two episodic narratives, pieced together, disclose the idea of the desired training described by the 10 participants. In conclusion, the findings of the study lead to a number of implications for practice and research. This study demonstrated the importance of trainers and instructional designers to develop clear understandings regarding what trainees think of face-to-face and online training and why they hold those opinions. Also, trainers and/or instructional designers should explore the use of communication and technology theories to develop training modules. In addition to practice, scholars should conduct more qualitative studies exploring trainee perceptions in online organizational training. Finally, the findings of the study showed that instructional communication researchers have not explored the issue of the importance of out-of-the classroom learning experiences in the field of human resource development.

The study was prompted by the lack of existing research with regard to what people locally think and believe about dreams. The study aimed to uncover, explore, and describe current, local dream related beliefs, discourses, and practices (in the Vaal-Triangle area of South-Africa), using a postmodern, social constructivist, as well as a generally sociological approach. In support of this aim, a literature review of various religious, cultural, and psychological dream related discourses was executed. Semi-structured, qualitative interviews were conducted with twenty respondents who were purposively selected from the administrative database of a Vaal-Triangle University on the basis of culture and gender. The interviews were recorded and the edited transcriptions thus derived served as basis for a thematic qualitative analysis of the respondents' dream related beliefs and practices. The findings were also examined with regard to cultural and gender related patterns, as well as in relation to existing dream discourses. Findings included that dreams were accorded differing degrees of importance by the respondents, that dreams were believed to originate both from internal factors such as an individual's mental and emotional state and neurological processes, as well as from external factors such as daily events and experiences, deceased relatives, and God. Furthermore, dreams were believed to serve several different functions such as mental processing, releasing pent-up emotions, expressing fears or desires, predicting the future, or providing warnings and solutions to problems. Dreams also often served as basis for decisions and actions, most often in order to avoid a negative outcome, or actualize a positive scenario shown by a dream. Several types of unusual dream experiences were reported, including precognitive dreams, dreams that provided contact with a deceased relative or ancestor, spiritual experiences in dreams, as well as sleep paralysis. The most significant sociological findings included that dreams often influence the nature and content of social interaction between individuals, frequently serving as a source of humour and entertainment; that the mother often serves as the "keeper" of knowledge about dreams, and that local dream discourses and practices might in part be transmitted matrilineally. / Thesis (Ph.D. (Sociology))--North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2005

Thesis (Ph.D. (Sociology))--North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2005

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The study was prompted by the lack of existing research with regard to what people locally think and believe about dreams. The study aimed to uncover, explore, and describe current, local dream related beliefs, discourses, and practices (in the Vaal-Triangle area of South-Africa), using a postmodern, social constructivist, as well as a generally sociological approach. In support of this aim, a literature review of various religious, cultural, and psychological dream related discourses was executed. Semi-structured, qualitative interviews were conducted with twenty respondents who were purposively selected from the administrative database of a Vaal-Triangle University on the basis of culture and gender. The interviews were recorded and the edited transcriptions thus derived served as basis for a thematic qualitative analysis of the respondents' dream related beliefs and practices. The findings were also examined with regard to cultural and gender related patterns, as well as in relation to existing dream discourses. Findings included that dreams were accorded differing degrees of importance by the respondents, that dreams were believed to originate both from internal factors such as an individual's mental and emotional state and neurological processes, as well as from external factors such as daily events and experiences, deceased relatives, and God. Furthermore, dreams were believed to serve several different functions such as mental processing, releasing pent-up emotions, expressing fears or desires, predicting the future, or providing warnings and solutions to problems. Dreams also often served as basis for decisions and actions, most often in order to avoid a negative outcome, or actualize a positive scenario shown by a dream. Several types of unusual dream experiences were reported, including precognitive dreams, dreams that provided contact with a deceased relative or ancestor, spiritual experiences in dreams, as well as sleep paralysis. The most significant sociological findings included that dreams often influence the nature and content of social interaction between individuals, frequently serving as a source of humour and entertainment; that the mother often serves as the "keeper" of knowledge about dreams, and that local dream discourses and practices might in part be transmitted matrilineally. / Thesis (Ph.D. (Sociology))--North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2005

From a social constructivist perspective (SCP) we analyse TV-commercials’ success. We address the following questions: Does the customer co-create meaning, and, more specific, is a commercial more successful if a customer plays a co-creating role? If so, both the customer and her experience, as well as the commercial, play a significant part in explaining the commercial’s success. As independent constructs to explain commercials’ success we used storytelling, indicating the commercial’s part, and experiential conclusiveness, indicating the customer’s part. We found support that the customer and seller via the commercial co-create meaning and coordinate their activities.

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The purpose of this study, The after-school care teacher’s professional role - A study of  primary school teachers understanding and attitudes towards the after-school care teachers professional role and how that can affect collaboration between the school and after-school care, is to illustrate the understanding and attitudes towards after-school care teachers found with primary school teachers. Another purpose is to examine in what way the understanding and the attitudes can affect the collaboration between school and after-school care as well as the after-school care teachers ability to operate professionally. I have chosen to conduct a qualitative study through questionnaires and one interview. This study is built on a social costructivistic perspective. The results show that the understanding and attitudes found with primary school teachers do effect the possibilities of cooperation between the school and after-school care. Mostly the understanding of the professional role of the after-school care teacher can be found to be quite good whilst the attitudes show that primary school teachers see the after-school care teacher as having more of a supporting role to the primary school teacher. / Syftet med denna studie, Fritidslärarens yrkesroll - En studie av grundskolelärares förståelse för och attityd till fritidslärarens yrkesroll och hur den kan påverka samverkan mellan skola och fritids, är att belysa förståelse och attityder gentemot fritidsläraren hos grundskolelärare. Ett vidare syfte är att undersöka på vilket sätt förståelsen och attityden kan påverka möjligheten för samverkan mellan skola och fritids samt fritidslärares möjligheter att verka professionellt. Jag har valt att använda en kvalitativ metod genom enkäter och en intervju. Studien bygger på ett socialkonstruktivistiskt perspektiv. Studiens resultat visar på att grundskolelärares förståelse och attityd kan ses påverka möjligheten till samverkan mellan skola och fritids. Till stor del kan en se att grundskolelärares förståelse för fritidslärarens yrkesroll är god medan attityder visar på hur grundskolelärare ser fritidsläraren som en medhjälpare och assistent till grundskoleläraren.