Doctor of Philosophy / Department of Geography / John Harrington, Jr. / Geographers, as part of their work as scholars and academics, continually “do” geography. Geography is practiced as research when tools, perspectives, and techniques are applied to problems or areas of study, exploring, understanding, and building geographical information. Geography is practiced as a social discipline when geographers interact with those around them, sharing geographical knowledge through writing, publishing, presenting, teaching, and discussion so others can read, listen, and engage. In doing geography – continuously practicing research and engaging in the documentation and communication of geographical knowledge – geographers also actively continuously construct the history of geography. These incidences, slides, and pages of knowledges are the foundation and structure of geography as a practiced discipline. Research explored the historiographies of geographical knowledges in presidential addresses of the Association of American Geographers, thematic conceptualizations of the subfield of cultural geography, and representation of women across editions of introductory human geography textbooks through content analysis and spatial. Conclusions strongly support the contention that geographic knowledges and the nature of geographic thought actively evolve as contemporary scholars practice their profession. By paying attention to these constructive processes and understanding their interactive role in it, geographers are better informed of the history of their specialty and their direct and vested role in the enterprise.

The main purpose of this paper is to examine how the Holocaust is presented in textbooks, and if there are any differences in the textbooks since the Holocaust got more attention in the Swedish society. Six different textbooks, written for the two latest curriculums, are the empirical material for this study. They have been analyzed by using Ammerts theoretical perspective about four different ways of presenting the content in textbooks, and historical culture. The method for this study is a qualitative text analysis. The analysis shows that textbooks seem to have simplified presentations of the Holocaust. In the textbooks for the latest curriculum, the Holocaust is presented as a historical event that could be compared with other events in the past. Another difference is that authors for the newer textbooks presents the content by using values. The content about the Holocaust in the newer textbooks has also expanded. One possible reason could be that the authors would like to offer a more detailed explanation of the Holocaust. Another motive may be that generations that grew up after genocide has occurred see themselves as responsible to provide something similar to happen again. In relation to other countries, the historical culture in Swedish textbooks is different. It seems to be typical for Swedish textbooks to present how the Jews and other minorities were affected by the Holocaust. This could lead to make the students understand the value of the Holocaust, and preserve its place in the historical culture that exists in our society.

The diploma thesis will deal with film realizations of works by Bohumil Hrabal. Specifically, they will be films that were created until 1969. These include: Fádní odpoledne, Perličky na dně, Ostře sledované vlaky, Sběrné surovosti a Skřivánci na niti. At the same time, verbal and film versions of individual texts will be compared. In addition, the work will become familiar with the film Private Storm by Vladimir Paral's book. We will focus on comparing Hrabal and Páral's poetics. Part of the work will also include information about the 60 s in the film, theater and literature. It will then contain information on the position of Bohumil Hrabal in the so-called gray zone. From a didactic point of view, how Hrabal and the 1960s are taught will be dealt with and whether the film can be used to teach literature and how to get pupils to read.

A dissertação discute a abordagem de conceitos de construção geométrica nos livros didáticos dos anos finais do ensino fundamental do Brasil e Canadá. Para isso, pesquisamos o papel da construção geométrica na educação, da utilização dos livros didáticos e a relevância da análise comparativa na área. As fontes utilizadas foram os documentos oficiais: orientações curriculares brasileiras (PCN) e canadenses (the Ontario Curriculum); quatro coleções de livros: Projeto Teláris, Matemática na Medida Certa, Nelson Mathematics e Math Makes Sense; guia do livro didático (Brasil e Canadá). Usando a análise documental como modalidade de pesquisa, buscamos responder à pergunta: como os saberes relacionados ao desenho geométrico são representados em cada coleção e quais as principais diferenças e semelhanças entre os livros didáticos brasileiros e canadenses? Concluímos que algumas obras se destacam, como Projeto Teláris e Math Makes Sense, pois se aproximam das orientações de seus respectivos currículos. Encontramos, também, poucas construções comuns a todas as obras, apenas circunferência e triângulo, e que o conteúdo de construção geométrica por muitas vezes encontra-se incompleto nas coleções. / The dissertation discusses the approach of geometric construction concepts in both Brazilian and Canadian mathematics textbooks in the final years of elementary school. A study was conduct on the role of geometric construction and the use of textbooks, as well as the relevance of comparative analysis within the discipline. The research primary sources were based on official documents, including the Brazilian curricular orientation (PCN) and the Canadian one (the Ontario Curriculum); four textbook collections: Projeto Teláris, Matemática na Medida Certa, Nelson Mathematics and Math Makes Sense; and the guide of textbooks (Brazil and Canada).The method used to carry out the research is documental analysis, and the goal of the study is to identify and explain how the content of geometric shapes are represented on each book collection and which are the main differences and similarities between Brazilian and Canadian textbooks. The findings showed that the book Projeto Teláris and Math Makes Sense stand out for following their respective curricular orientations. It was also concluded that only a small amount of shapes were common to all textbooks, specifically circle and triangle, and that the geometric construction content is, in great majority, incomplete in all colections.

This study concentrated on word problems in Grades Kindergarten-3 and the application of the Standards for Mathematical Practice and the Content Standards. The study also included an analysis of focus, coherence, and rigor in the materials. The textbooks used were among the first editions to be published after the acceptance of the Common Core State Standards in more than 40 states. The study analyzed the presence of the Common Core Standards in each series and how the three textbook series compared to each other in their word problem solving. The correlation of materials in the three textbook series relied on publishers’ descriptions in the Lesson Openers where the usages of the Standards for Mathematical Practice and the Content Standards and the principles of focus, coherence, and rigor are listed. The publishers’ descriptions were analyzed and compared to the individual evaluation criteria. Using an evaluation criterion, the study examined how Standards for Mathematical Practice were implemented in the textbooks. With the exception of a few grades in two textbook series, the texts displayed low percentages in their adherence to the Standards. The textbook series were similar in their development of word problems labeled with Standards for Mathematical Practice and word problems not labeled with the Standards. In this comparison, the only difference between the two types of word problems was in the verbiage. The Content Standards were used to determine the textbook series alignment with the Standards. The three textbook series showed low implementation of word problem Content Standards when compared to the total number of Standards. In two series, only one Content Standard was listed multiple times rather than a combination of comparable Standards. Relying on the publishers’ descriptions, the study showed how publishers implemented focus, coherence, and rigor in their materials. Of the three publishers, one publisher did not list coherence and rigor in its materials. The other two publishers adhered to focus and coherence in most or all of their materials. All of the publishers fell short in the application of rigor in their textbook series.

A dissertation submitted to the Faculty of Science, University of Witwatersrand, in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science. Johannesburg, 10 October 2016. / This research explores the potential influence of Life Sciences teacher curriculum support materials on unscientific ideas about evolution by natural selection. The Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement document, seven learner Life Sciences textbooks and their seven teacher guides were investigated by content analysis to find out firstly, the nature and extent of misconceptions about evolution; secondly, the nature and extent of latent problems associated with the topic of evolution; thirdly, the extent to which the Grade 12 Life Sciences textbooks pointed out common misconceptions and went on to provide the correct scientific explanations to counter the misconceptions; and fourthly, the extent to which teacher guides address teachers’ pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) for teaching the topic of evolution by a) pointing out common misconceptions; b) providing the correct science to counter a specific misconception; c) pointing out pre-requisite knowledge which ought to be learnt first in order to understand the topic of evolution; d) pointing out typical difficulties students encounter when learning the topic of evolution. The Grade 10 and 11 textbooks and teacher guides were analysed for fragmentation and sequencing by use of a checklist. The results show the presence of manifest errors and latent problems in the CAPS document, textbooks and teacher guides. The CAPS document had one manifest error and five instances of latent problems. The section on alternatives to evolution was judged to be a manifest error because religious ideas are not regarded as science by the scientific community. The manifest error found in the CAPS document was also found in the textbooks and teacher guides. Frequent manifest errors occurred in the textbooks, averaging 11 per publisher. The CAPS document had fragmented evolution ideas and probably because textbook authors use this document to write their books, the evolution content in textbooks was also found to be fragmented. Whilst some of the teacher guides were found to address the issue of teacher PCK for teaching the topic of evolution in different ways, some of them were found to be deficient in that respect. The presence of latent problems across all the three curriculum support materials investigated is a cause for concern. Latent problems are problematic if not handled with care because they pose a risk of being misinterpreted, and this may in turn cause the development of evolution misconceptions. An investigation of whether the unscientific evolution ideas in the curriculum documents actually influenced learners’ evolution ideas was not part of this study. However, because textbooks are generally considered as authoritative sources of knowledge upon which teachers and students rely, the presence of misconceptions in these curriculum support materials poses a risk that users of such documents could pick up these misconceptions during teaching and learning. The study highlights the need for a multifaceted approach involving all relevant stakeholders (teachers, authors, publishers and the Department of Education officials) working together in an attempt to address the problem of evolution misconceptions in the Life Sciences curriculum support materials. / TG2016

Can old history text books (written in the Apartheid Era) be used to promote the new democratic ideals in Curriculum 2005? This investigation addresses this question through an analysis of selected chapters of two history text books presently used in Katlehong schools. The analysis deploys an instrument developed at the University of Belgrade by members of the Democracy Education Project, in conjunction with the project team from the University of the Witwatersrand. Through the instrument, the democratic content of the textbooks was analysed and assessed. The analysis focus on declarative, elaborated and implied democratic content. The conceptual framework for the investigation draws from recent philosophical and sociological work on democracy. Amy Gutmann’s principles of non-repression and nondiscrimination, for example, provide the main argument for the necessity of equal and critical education in South Africa. The analysis and discussion show both text as deeply floored regarding the availability and nature of the democratic concepts. However, if used by critical teachers both texts are suitable for promoting democracy in South Africa.

Apresentam-se nesta dissertação os resultados da pesquisa desenvolvida com o objetivo de investigar a partir de qual conteúdo os livros didáticos mais vendidos pelo PNLD 2014 apresentam o primeiro conteúdo explícito da álgebra escolar no Ensino Fundamental II, e de verificar se situações anteriores a ele estão, implicitamente, relacionadas a esse campo da matemática. Verificou-se que as coleções analisadas iniciam a álgebra com o foco em equações, diferentemente do recomendado pela literatura, que afirma que o caminho mais adequado seja iniciá-la abordando situações que exploram a ideia de variável, por meio de observação de regularidades e generalização, pois essas favorecem o desenvolvimento do pensamento algébrico. Além disso, observou-se que as coleções abordam as equações no 7o ano do Ensino Fundamental II, em descompasso com o que orientam os PCN, que indicam que ele deve ser abordado a partir do 8o ano. / This work presents the results of the research developed in order of investigate from which content the most sold textbooks by the 2014s PNLD presents the first explicit content of School Algebra in the Elementary School II, checking if the previous mathematic situations are, implicitly, related to this specific ground of Math. It was noted that the investigated book collections start with an Algebra focused on equations, differently of what is recommended by the literature, which states the most convenient way is by questions that explore the variable idea, with the observation of regularities and generalizations, because of their support to the development of the algebraic thoughts. Besides that, it was noted the collections approach the equations on the Elementary School II\'s 7th grade, disagreeing with the PCN orientations, that points that it must be approached from the 8th grade.

I denna studie har syftet varit att besvara hur globaliseringsprocessen framställs i läroböcker för gymnasieskolan utifrån ekonomiska, politiska och sociala perspektiv, klargöra eventuell förändring över tid samt besvara på vilket sätt läroböcker ska värderas utifrån teoretiska aspekter. Det har gjorts genom en kvalitativ innehållsanalys med ett operationaliseringsschema som stöd. Resultatet visar att det ekonomiska perspektivet är överrepresenterat i läroböcker när det handlar om globaliseringsprocessen. Politiska och sociala perspektiven behandlas inte alls i samma utsträckning som det ekonomiska perspektivet. Av de underkategorier som undersöks – orsaker, konsekvenser och aktörer – var det konsekvenserna av globaliseringen som behandlade till största del. Enligt teorin var handel en ekonomisk orsak till globaliseringen. Enligt materialet var handel en konsekvens av globaliseringen. Samtidigt var teknisk utveckling enligt teorin en ekonomisk konsekvens medan materialet presenterade teknisk utveckling som en orsak till globaliseringen. Detta indikerade på att läroböckerna inte fullt vilade på samma vetenskapliga grund som föreslogs i det teoretiska ramverket. Slående var materialets likheter mellan den tidigare och senare upplagan. I många fall var behandlingen av globaliseringsprocessen identiska mellan upplagorna. / The purpose of this study has been to answer how the globalization process has been presented in textbooks for upper secondary school by economic, political and social perspectives, bring clarification to any possible changes over time that may occur and answer how textbooks should be evaluated based on theoretical aspects. A qualitative content analysis has been made with an operationalization scheme as a support. The result show that the economic perspective is overrepresented in the textbooks when globalization process is being processed. The political and social perspectives is not processed the same amount as the economic perspective is being processed. Of the subcategories – cause, consequence and participants – the consequence of the globalization was processed mostly. The economic cause of globalization according to the theory was trading. According to the material trading was one of the consequences of the globalization. Meanwhile the technical development was according to the theory an economic consequence in the meantime the material presented technical development as a cause of the globalization. This indicated that the textbooks did not fully rest on the same scientific basis as suggested in the theoretical framework. The materials similarities between the earlier and later edition was striking. In many cases the processing of the globalization process vas identical between the editions.

La classe de langue se compose d'individu·e·s pris·es dans des dispositifs sociaux et culturels. Leur identité s'exprime et se construit dans l'enseignement-apprentissage : ce travail interroge la place du sexe dans ce paradigme. Le genre est un concept permettant de penser la sexuation, l'organisation des catégories sexuées, et les effets des rapports sociaux de sexe. Il croise dans cette recherche les manuels de langue pour adultes allophones : points de rencontre entre le contexte socioculturel de la langue-cible et les acteur·trice·s de la classe, les manuels véhiculent un ensemble de représentations. En quoi le discours du manuel répond-il à une politique de genre, créant des catégories de sexe binaires (hommes/femmes, masculin/féminin) et hiérarchisées (hommes/masculin>femmes/féminin) ? Un ensemble d'analyses qualitatives et quantifiées fait apparaitre !e genre dans trois manuels de FLE édités en France (2012-2013}, à travers la mise en scène des personnages et les choix métalinguistiques. Des entretiens menés auprès de leurs concepteur·trice·s, auteur·e·s et maisons d'édition, éc!airent les facteurs commerciaux, culturels, politiques, qui conditionnent le modèle posé pour le genre.Les conclusions de ce travail amènent à penser un ensemble de pratiques didactiques pour construire un enseignement non-sexiste, non -cissexiste, non-hétérosexiste. La thèse a pour objectif d'intégrer le concept de genre en didactique des langues et du FLE, pour enrichir !a sociodidactique et penser l'enseignement-apprentissage du point de vue des dynamiques de pouvoir et des tensions idéologiques qui le traversent. / Language classes are made up of individuals involved in social and cultural layouts. Their identity is expressed and built in teaching learning sessions : this study questions the place occupied by gender into this paradigm. Gender is a concept which allows one to think sexuation, organization of gender categories and the effects of social gendered relations. This concept meets language textbooks for allophone adults : textbooks are conjonction points between the sociocultural context of targeted language and the participants of teaching-learning ; it conveys representations. How is the textbooks' discourse a result of gender politics, thus creating binary sex categories (men/women, masculine/feminine) and organizing these categories in a hierarchy (men>women, masculine>feminine)?An ensemble of quantified and qualitative analysis highlights gender in three FFL textbooks published in France (2012-2013) through characters performance and metalinguistic strategies. Interviews with authors and publishing houses show commercial, cultural and political parameters that are taken into account to determine a gender model.This study's conclusion aims at promoting didactical practices to build a non-sexist, non-cissexist and non-heterosexist teaching.This thesis tends to integrate gender concepts into didactics of languages and FFL, to enhance sociodidactics and think teaching-learnin~from a power's dynamics and idealogical tensions' point of view.