The aim of our study is to understand the importance of the preschool outdoor environment for children’s social relations and possibility of learning.    We have the following issues in our study; In what way can the preschool outdoor environment and children’s social relations contribute to children’s possibility of learning? In what way do the preschool teachers reason about how their preschool outdoor environment have significance on children’s social relations? In what way do the preschool teachers reason about their own importance as preschool teachers in the preschool outdoor environment and how their preschool outdoor environment can contribute to children’s possibility of learning? The central theoretical assumption in the present study is the social culture theory. We also inspires on how Karin Hultman uses the post humanistic theory. We have a qualitative approach on our study and the methods we use are observations and interviews.   The most important contribution of our study is that it gives an increased understanding of how the design of the preschool outdoor environment is significant for children’s social relations and possibility of learning. Our results from the study show that differences in the design of the preschool outdoor environment gives different prerequisites for children’s social relations and possibility of learning. For example; a preschool outdoor environment that contains a material which is not predetermined give the children more room for action and more possibilities of develop social relations. The increased possibilities of developing social relations also contribute to several possibilities of learning for the children.

This research provides one account of the complex relationship between differentiated experiences of deprivation and the dominant poverty construct in the Jamaican context. It is based on research conducted over a period of nine months in a Jamaican 'squatter' community, Windsor, in the Parish of St. Ann. The study is organised into two 'positional' chapters (conceptual framework and methodology) and four direct 'response' chapters that demonstrate the ways in which the official poverty approach (from concept to policy) resonates with the living experiences of individuals. The 'response' chapters step back from debates on the measurement of poverty so as to critically and reflexively consider the construct's conceptual and definitional antinomies. This is done through: (i) an excavation of a partial social history of poverty discourses in Jamaica; (ii) an evaluation of problems with knowledge production in the participatory method; (iii) an examination of the implications of the abstraction of the poor from spatial relations; and (iv) an exploration of different ways in which individuals 'picture' living in their surroundings. The conclusion drawn is that it is necessary to begin engaging in a multidisciplinary project which accounts for difference within the poverty construct. This is because, insofar as it is possible, the removal of the most extreme forms of deprivation is not in itself sufficient for the eradication of the social relations that give rise to these privative 'conditions'. There instead needs to be critical engagement with relations of deprivation as resident in the social body as a whole in conceptualising poverty.

<p>Recent research in classrooms has often had its focus on the pupil, the individual, and not on the different groups of students that exist. In a classroom there are normally several different groupings, each one having its own personal attitude towards the current lesson. If there had been more research we would find it easier to understand why pupils sometimes behave the way they do.</p><p>The purpose of this essay is to analyze how pupils` social relations create groupings. Furthermore I intend to investigate how and why pupils show their belonging to a certain group.</p><p>The two questions of the essay are:</p><p>1. How pupils’ social relations appear in a classroom?</p><p>2. What strategies do the pupils use to indicate their belonging to a grouping?</p><p>My final conclusion is that the pupils’ social relations appear in groupings, in which a certain standard dominates how the pupil should behave during a lesson. The members of a group use the same strategies to show their group belonging. For example, it can be different attitudes to the teacher’s lesson that mark a grouping.</p>

Credit was a central feature of the early-modern British economy. Due to shortages of specie, men and women of all social ranks participated in the urban, consumer marketplace by using credit. Historical research has convincingly shown that credit was socially mediated and constructed, and as such it sheds light not only on economic development, but also on contemporary culture. Several recent studies address these issues, but two gaps in the historiography deserve further consideration. The literature pertaining to personal credit and social relations has focused almost solely upon England, neglecting a wider British and comparative Atlantic context. Furthermore, the decades spanning the middle of the eighteenth century have not been subjected to dedicated treatment, though this period has often been considered an era when institutional development caused profound changes in the nature of interpersonal credit. This thesis examines credit and social relations in the British Atlantic between 1710 and 1770, comparing case studies drawn from two provincial, urban contexts: Edinburgh and Philadelphia. Particular attention has been given to artisans and tradesmen who have hitherto been less well served by the Atlantic historiography. Drawing on legal, institutional and personal records, the thesis begins by addressing economic structures of petty credit, before progressing to consider social constructions of credit and reputation and their change over time. The study concludes that while structures of credit changed, credibility continued to be built upon interpersonal trust, personal reputation, social capital and gender identity. Furthermore, this ‘culture of credit’ transcended national boundaries. Similarities of practice within two very different legal and institutional systems call into question the perceived influence of these structures upon the behaviour of the lower-middling sort.

The aim of the thesis is to examine how everyday social interactions and relations in a school class in years 8-9 are experienced by pupils and teachers and how they can be understood and improved. The research design is an action research approach and is carried out as a case study involving four teachers and 24 pupils. Four issues are formulated and the teachers and the researcher together suggest how certain problems might be solved, which in turn directs the action process over the period of three school terms. Analytical concepts are used to map and understand pupils’ everyday social relations in terms of peer groups, positions and norms. Eriksson’s (2001) sociological theory on bullying is used to analyze and explain the complexity of a case of bullying. Defined dominating norms that appear to guide the pupils’ social interactions are: (1) You should make room for yourself, be visible and heard, (2) you should have many friends and (3) you should look down on those who study. The everyday social relations are affected by the pupils’ positioning and by the groupings that are formed in the class. Crystalized groups that emerge in the study are: (1) those who make a lot of noise and take up a lot of room, (2) those who study, (3) pupils who are frequently absent, (4) those who feel uncomfortable and (5) those who are outside (a marginalized group). In addition to these findings, three dominating norms among the teachers emerge. These norms guide and affect how the teachers act and think when victimized pupils and their situations are discussed. Teachers’ dominating norms seem to prevail in situations where some pupils are victimized by other pupils in the class. This in turn could contribute to various kinds of moral disengagement on the part of the teachers when dealing with victimizing acts among pupils. From the perspective of the victimized pupils, such a way of acting could be understood as teachers, in their role as “security guarantors”, are unable to prevent the powerlessness of victimized pupils.

The submitted thesis is concerned with the research of individual distinctions of sociability of pupils through analysis of their social relations. The theoretical part deals with findings on general range of the concept of sociability, defines interindividual relations as a theoretical and empirical resource of the sociability research, characterizes the developmental period of early adolescence. The further part of the thesis briefly describes sociability of pupils from the view of basic psychical components. It is connected to socialization and social relations at school. The empirical part represents quantitative research, where first of all "corelation" (relationship) between individual distinctions of sociability of pupils and extraversion was found out. Futher, it describes to what extent the ability of sociability varies in relation to gender, how social characteristics between genders are different.

University of the Witwatersrand Faculty of Humanities Department of Sociology/ Global Labour University / This research report analyses the relationship between the Solidarity Economy framework and democratic values and practices. The research involved a literature review of the principles informing the Solidarity Economy (SE) framework, the experience of the SE in Brazil compared to South Africa, and the differences compared to conventional co-operatives. The field work involved semi structured interviews and participant observation in a worker co-operative located in Ivory Park, Gauteng. The co-operative is a bakery with approximately seven years of history with struggles and changes. The observation focused on the organization of power relations within the co-operative, the social relations between members themselves, with the community and with another institutions The research found that, despite facing challenges and being a small size cooperative, the social relationships are marked by democratic decision making, a flat, horizontal form of internal organisation and harmonious, collegial social relationships with an overall emphasis on solidarity. It suggests that co-operatives organised in terms of the Solidarity Economy framework have the potential to deepen sustainable democracy. Keywords: Solidarity Economy, Worker Co-operative, South Africa, Brazil, Qualitative method, Leadership, Social Relations, Democracy.

O ambiente do bairro torna-se significativo para os idosos com o passar dos anos, e suas condições são importantes para manter os laços sociais com familiares e amigos, e desenvolver o senso de apego ao lugar e pertencimento, melhorando a saúde, qualidade de vida e bem-estar na velhice. Quando o espaço familiar passa por transformações, essas refletem no comportamento individual, na maneira como os espaços são apropriados e nas relações sociais. Um dos processos de transformação que tem ocorrido no ambiente da vizinhança é o chamado studentification, ou a formação de guetos estudantis com a chegada de universitários em bairros tradicionais. Esta dissertação busca elucidar as percepções dos idosos sobre o processo de studentification, focando especialmente nos aspectos das relações sociais, sobretudo com seus vizinhos, e das mudanças no ambiente do bairro. Para tanto, dois artigos compõem a dissertação, sendo o primeiro deles uma revisão scoping de literatura, com o panorama recente dos artigos publicados sobre as relações sociais na velhice e o meio urbano. Seu objetivo é descrever os principais aspectos sócio-físicos, conceitos e teorias estudados na literatura, através da revisão de 35 artigos coletados em 3 bases de dados distintas. Os resultados indicam que há uma concordância na literatura quanto aos principais conceitos relacionados ao tema; as teorias ainda são muitas, o que dificulta o consenso sobre as mais relevantes; faltam instrumentos comuns e validados que possibilitem a reprodução e generalização das pesquisas; a literatura aponta que o tema ainda deve ser debatido e explorado dentro da gerontologia ambiental. O segundo artigo traz os resultados de uma pesquisa empírica de estudo de caso, realizada com 21 idosos moradores de um bairro adjacente a uma universidade e que sofre o processo de studentification, e objetiva explorar os efeitos deste processo no ambiente sócio-físico, nas relações sociais e no aging in place; os dados foram analisados segundo a técnica de análise de conteúdo. Os resultados sugerem que as relações com vizinhos já eram fracas antes das mudanças ocorridas, não tendo afetado a escolha por envelhecer no lugar. As mudanças também não foram fatores primordiais para esta escolha, mas sim o apego e o senso de pertencimento. Os dados demonstram que apesar das transformações no ambiente, na verdade o processo de studentification pode ser visto como catalizador de novas relações intergeracionais no bairro. Espera-se que esta pesquisa possa contribuir para uma melhor compreensão dos efeitos da vizinhança e seu ambiente sócio-físico sobre os mais velhos, incentivando a expansão das pesquisas na área da gerontologia ambiental / The environment of the neighborhood becomes significant to the elderly over the years, and its conditions are important to maintain social ties with family and friends and develop the sense of attachment to place and belonging, improving health, quality of life and well-being in old age. When the familiar space undergoes transformations, these reflect on individual behavior, the way spaces are used and in social relations. One of the processes of transformation that has taken place in the neighborhood environment is called studentification, or the formation of student \"ghettos\" with the arrival of university students in traditional neighborhoods. This dissertation seeks to elucidate the perceptions of older people about the process of studentification, focusing especially on the aspects of social relations, particularly with their neighbors, and on the changes of the neighborhood environment. Therefore, two articles compose the dissertation, the first of them is a scoping review of literature presenting a recent panorama of published articles about social relations in old age and the urban environment. It aims to describe the main socio-physical aspects, concepts and theories studied in the literature, through the revision of 35 articles collected in 3 distinct databases. The results indicate that there is an agreement in the literature about the main concepts related to the topic; there are many theories, which hinder the consensus about the most relevant ones; there are a lack of common and validated instruments that facilitate the reproduction and generalization of research; the literature points out that the subject must still be debated and explored within the environmental gerontology. The second article brings the results of empirical research, a case study conducted with 21 elderly residents of a neighborhood adjacent to a university that suffers the studentification process. It aims to explore the effects of this process on the social-physical environment, social relations and aging in place; data were analyzed according to the content analysis technique. The results suggest that relations with neighbors were already weak before the changes in the neighborhood, and it has not affected the choice for aging in place. Likewise, the changes were not primary factors for this choice, but the attachment and the sense of belonging. The data demonstrate that despite the changes in the environment, these do not affect the ability of aging in place, in fact, the process of studentification can be seen as a catalyst of new intergenerational relations in the neighborhood. It is expected that this research may contribute to a better understanding of the effects of the neighborhood and the socio-physical environment on the elderly, encouraging the expansion of research in the field of environmental gerontology

A proposta da pesquisa foi explorar a dimensão relacional existente no trabalho em saúde, tendo como foco as relações interpessoais desenvolvidas na Equipe de Saúde da Família ESF. Os objetivos do estudo buscaram: Analisar a dinâmica interacional na construção de lugares sociais a partir dos quais os integrantes de ESF e os gerentes buscam sustentação para o trabalho em equipe mapeando o Repertório Interpretativo e identificar os sentidos das práticas sociais mecanismos e linguagem em uso que contribuem para as interações sociais/relações interpessoais no trabalho em equipe. Trata-se de um estudo qualitativo de cunho exploratório, com bases teórico-metodológicas no construcionismo social. O estudo foi realizado em duas Unidades Básicas de Saúde (UBS) do Distrito Sanitário Leste da Secretária Municipal de Saúde do Município de Belo Horizonte, em dois momentos: de outubro de 2009 a fevereiro 2010 e de maio 2010 a agosto de 2010. Os dados foram coletados por meio de observação direta e entrevistas semi-estruturadas. Foram observadas 28 atividades integrativas das quatro ESF que atenderam aos critérios de inclusão deste estudo. Foram entrevistados 32 colaboradores, sendo: dois gerentes de UBS, quatro enfermeiros, três médicos, cinco Auxiliares de enfermagem e 18 Agentes Comunitários de Saúde (ACS). A análise dos dados nos deu a conhecer as características gerais dos colaboradores que articulados às entrevistas nos forneceram uma melhor compreensão dos processos relacionais desenvolvidos no contexto do trabalho em equipe das ESF. A análise dos discursos baseada na perspectiva construcionista social possibilitou identificar seis repertórios interpretativos: (a) espaço da reunião: o lugar do encontro das diversidades sociais; (b) Vivencias com os usuários: os momentos de choques de visão de mundos; (c) trabalhar em equipe: Falar é fácil, fazer é que são elas...; (d) As relações interpessoais e o desencontro entre a organização de trabalho e os trabalhadores; (e) os gerentes e os integrantes da ESF: o espaço existente; (f) espelho mágico: espelho, espelho meu...O uso dos repertórios permitiu justificar e legitimar as práticas sociais das relações interpessoais nas construções interacionais no contexto do trabalho da ESF, de diferentes maneiras, porém houve um predomínio na responsabilização de caráter individualista abstraída dos contextos sociais e anulada no trabalho, o qual é parcialmente isentado de suas responsabilidades. Os desempenhos sociais para a interação com o outro na construção de projetos comuns no cotidiano do trabalho são vividas de formas particularizadas. Entretanto, acreditamos serem importantes novas construções sobre os fazeres e dizeres das praticas relacionais no contexto do trabalho em saúde e em particular, no contexto do trabalho em equipe. / The aims of this study were to investigate the relational dimension within the healthcare work, focusing on interpersonal relations developed in a family health teamwork; to analyze the interactional dynamics in establishing social roles for the participants of the family health and the managers who support teamwork through mapping interpretative repertoire; to identify social practices-mechanisms and language in use - which contribute to social interactions/interpersonal relations in teamwork. It is an explorative qualitative study. Theoretically and methodologically, this research is based on social construcionism. The study was carried out in two Health Units in Belo Horizonte City in two periods: October 2009 to February 2010 and May 2010 to August 2010. Data was collected through observation and semi-structured interviews. Twenty-eight integrative activities of four family health teamworks (who met the criteria of the study were observed. Thirty-two collaborators were interviewed: two health unit managers, four nurses, three physicians, five nurse technicians and eighteen community health agents. Data showed the general characteristics of the collaborators who provided us a better understanding of the relational processes developed within family health teamwork settings. Speech analysis based on a construcionist approach allowed us to identify six interpretative repertoires:: (a) meeting place: the local where social diversity meet ; (b) Users share: a clash of points of view; (c) teamwork: It ain´t so easy to do; (d) Interpersonal relations and the gap between the Organization ( or Institution) and the workers; (e) The managers and the participants of the family health teamworks: the living space; (f) Magic mirror: mirror ,mirror on the wall The use of repertoires allowed us to justify and legitimate interpersonal relation practices within family health teamwork settings. However, there was a predominance in individualist responsibility character traits observed from social contexts and not present in the work settings, which is responsibility-free. The performance of social roles, for the interaction with others in building projects in common on a daily basis in a family health teamwork setting, are individually experienced. Nevertheless, we (strongly) believe them to be important and new relational practices in health-care work, especially teamwork.

Essa pesquisa tem como objetivo avançar na compreensão dos problemas relacionados à alimentação da classe trabalhadora. Para isso, tomamos como ponto de partida a crítica ao conceito de segurança alimentar e ressaltamos como sua aplicação em políticas nacionais e internacionais não resultou na erradicação da fome. Em seguida, buscamos superar uma compreensão redutora da alimentação (que define-a como uma necessidade elementar ou biológica) por meio da consideração das práticas alimentares (produzir, adquirir, preparar e consumir os alimentos). Neste percurso, ressaltamos que considerar a reprodução das relações sociais capitalistas é indispensável para a compreensão da alienação que caracteriza tais práticas. Na segunda parte da tese passamos a considerar o processo de urbanização da metrópole paulistana, com o objetivo de explicitar como a segregação espacial interfere na reprodução da classe trabalhadora e consequentemente na maneira como ela realiza suas práticas alimentares. Destacamos a importância do conceito de urbanização crítica, fundamental para a interpretação da reprodução da classe trabalhadora na cidade e tomamos dois recortes espaciais (Brás e Grajaú) como meio de aprofundar a análise das práticas alimentares em São Paulo. Por fim, no último capítulo identificamos as dificuldades e os constrangimentos que caracterizam as práticas alimentares dos trabalhadores entrevistados e destacamos formas específicas de lidar cotidianamente com a falta de alimentos e a fome. / This research aims to advance in the comprehension of the problems related to the way in which the working class realizes its food practices. Firstly we start make a critique of the food security concept and highlight how national and international policies based on it were not able to eradicate hunger. In order to overcome the understanding of food as an elementary or biological need we consider all the practices (produce, purchase, prepare and consume) related to food and highlight that because of the reproduction of capitalist social relations these practices are alienated. In the second part of this work we take into account the urbanization process to explicit how spatial segregation interferes in working class reproduction and consequently in the way it realizes the food practices. We have conducted interviews in two different neighbourhoods from São Paulo (Brás and Grajaú) in order to deep the analysis and understand better how the critical urbanization weigh over the food practices. In the last chapter, we try to interpret the difficulties and constraints that characterizes the food practices of our interviewees highlighting the way they deal with the lack of food and hunger.