Le monde du travail change. De plus en plus, nous sommes appelés à travailler en interdisciplinarité. Depuis longtemps, au bloc opératoire, le travail interdisciplinaire est de mise. Chacun possède une expertise qui contribue au travail d'équipe. Cependant, chacun a reçu une formation différente, a une fonction, un rôle différent, des buts et des objectifs différents. Bref, chacun vit une réalité différente. Pourtant, tout le monde doit travailler ensemble dans l'harmonie et avec efficacité. Notre expérience de travail au bloc opératoire nous a permis de vivre l'expérience d'équipes harmonieuses mais aussi d'équipes conflictuelles. Nous avons constaté que le fait de ne pas connaître l'autre, celui avec qui on travaille, amène des différences de perceptions et devient source de confrontations, d'irritations. Au bloc opératoire, les gens sont toujours pressés. Ils n'ont pas de temps pour apprendre à se connaître. Nous croyons donc que si on donne l'opportunité aux gens d'apprendre à se connaître ce la améliorera la communication et la coordination dans les équipes de salles d'opération. Nous nous sommes appuyés plus particulièrement sur les écrits de Paul Carle et d'Otto Scharmer pour élaborer notre projet d'intervention. Carle s'est intéressé aux processus de changements non-linéaires. Il a constaté que la vie de l'être humain est une suite de processus de changements, l'amenant de l'enfance à l'adolescence, à l'adulte pour ne nommer que ceux-là. Chaque passage amène une transformation. En colligeant les différents processus, il a noté que tous semblent suivre la même courbe, une courbe en forme de U. Si Carle décrit les processus subis, amenés par la vie, Scharmer, quant à lui, cherche à provoquer ces passages en U pour trouver des solutions aux nouvelles conditions de vie en société. Pour lui, le changement passe par l'écoute, l'écoute de soi et l'écoute de l'autre. Ce n'est que dans l'ouverture à l'autre et à l'expérience que surgissent des idées nouvelles. Nous avons donc voulu donner l'opportunité aux différents acteurs du bloc opératoire d'échanger sur ce qu'ils vivent dans leur travail. La méthode du World Café s'est révélée être une méthode toute dés ignée pour pratiquer le processus en U. Le World Café prend pour acquis que les gens possèdent en eux ce dont ils ont besoin pour relever les défis qu'ils rencontrent. Il invite les gens à travailler dans une ambiance détendue, de manière ludique. Il cherche à recréer l'ambiance d'un café afin de favoriser les échanges. Il a l'avantage de pouvoir se vivre en grands groupes. Lors de notre projet d'étude, nous avons animé quatre ateliers d'une heure pour le personnel d'un petit bloc opératoire. Ces gens avaient l'habitude de travailler en silo. Tout au long des ateliers, nous les avons fait travailler en équipes interdisciplinaires, selon les consignes du World Café. Nous avons pu suivre l'évolution du groupe qui est passé de la passivité à l'ouverture à l'interdisciplinarité. En effet, nous avons été témoin, à deux reprises, de la transposition de cette ouverture à l'interdisciplinarité dans leur travail quotidien. Le World Café s'est donc révélé une méthode efficace, dans ce milieu, pour développer l'interdisciplinarité au travail. ______________________________________________________________________________ MOTS-CLÉS DE L’AUTEUR : équipes interdisciplinaires, bloc opératoire, World Café, processus en U, communications interpersonnelles.

This is a non-traditional examination paper written after three years of studies at Malmö University and the Kaospilot Program. It is written in Swedish and in the spring of 2009. It describes a non-linear project based on a process-orientated theory called Theory-U by Otto C. Scharmer (2009). The project aims to investigate the changing conditions of Stage Theatre and deals with non-linearity as phenomena. As a result of Theory-U combined with a very personal approach, part of the project is reaching out to explore collective consciousness. The World Café model (Brown, Isaacs 2003) is chosen as a method for creating creative fields over a couple of linked dinner dialogues. There is no real conclusion in this paper. Instead five perspectives are presented in the last chapter with hopes of giving some nourishment to the field of performing arts. This paper will not provide final answers or any kind solid truth, instead it will give you some philosophical and personal perceptions of the Now.

A pesquisa em questão pretendeu compreender o processo de construção de um território dos sentidos através do diálogo, no âmbito de um projeto de Educação Ambiental. Buscou-se investigar as relações de pertencimento e vínculo que se estabelecem entre os sujeitos e o ambiente da APA Embu-Verde através de um processo de diálogo e criação coletiva para uma leitura de mundo (FREIRE, 1996). Situada na região metropolitana de São Paulo, no município de Embu das Artes, a APA (Área de Proteção Ambiental) Embu-Verde é uma unidade de conservação criada pela Lei municipal n. 108/ 2008 (EMBU DAS ARTES, 2008). A pesquisa está inserida num projeto mais amplo de Diagnóstico Socioambiental da APA Embu- Verde, aprovado com recursos do FEHIDRO (Fundo Estadual de Recursos Hídricos) que envolve uma série de atores e instituições incluindo poder público, sociedade civil e Universidade de São Paulo. Neste contexto utilizou-se uma metodologia inovadora para a prática do diálogo The World Café (BROWN, 2001) que faz parte de um conjunto de metodologias intitulada Art of Hosting (Arte de anfitriar conversas significativas). Buscamos através do presente estudo responder a seguinte pergunta: Em que medida o World Café, entendido como método de diálogo pode contribuir nos processos de Educação Ambiental? Com a possibilidade de um estágio de doutorado-sanduíche nos EUA com apoio da Capes/Fulbright foi possível aprofundar o estudo sobre o World Café como método de diálogo e da abordagem do Art of Hosting no tratamento de questões complexas. Neste sentido foram realizadas 12 entrevistas com lideranças que vem utilizando tal abordagem na cidade de Columbus, Ohio, EUA para lidar com questões complexas em diversas áreas (Saúde, Educação, Moradia, Segurança alimentar). Os resultados destacam o forte componente de aprendizado presente em tais metodologias e a jornada pessoal de cada um dos anfitriões como parte essencial do processo. O referencial teórico é multirreferencial contando com o pensamento de autores de diversos campos: da Educação e complexidade ((FREIRE, MORIN) da Educação Ambiental (SORRENTINO, CARVALHO, SAUVÉ, JACOBI). A compreensão dos dados foi realizada segundo a hermenêutica, uma interpretação simbólica de cunho antropológico através da jornada interpretativa (FERREIRA-SANTOS, 2006) no campo da Antropologia da Educação. / This research aims to comprehend the process of building a territory of meanings through dialogue within the framework of an environmental education project. We sought to investigate the sense of belonging and connections established between people and the environment at the Embu Verde environmental protected area through a process of dialogue and collective creation for a reading of world (FREIRE, 1996). Situated in the metropolitan region of São Paulo, in the city of Embu das Artes, the APA (Environmental Protected Area) Embu Verde is a conservation unity recently created by a municipal law (n. 108/2008). This research is inserted into a bigger project called APA Embu Verde Social and Environmental Diagnosis, financially supported by FEHIDRO (Water Resources State Fund), which is composed by multiple stakeholders and institutions including the public sector, civil society and University of São Paulo. In this context we used The World Café methodology (BROWN, 2001) which is included at the Art of Hosting approach, a set of innovative methodologies to deal with complex issues. We sought through this study to answer the question: In which way The World Café, as a dialogue method, can contribute to the environmental education process? Through the opportunity of a Capes/Fulbright scholarship we could deeply understand the methodology principles in contact to The World Café Community Foundation. We did 12 interviews with host leaderships who have been using such an approach in various fields in the city of Columbus, Ohio (US) to deal with complex issues in areas like Health, Education, Homelessness, Food Security. The results highlights the strong learning component present in such methodologies and the personal journey of each host as an important part of the process. The theoretical reference has multidisciplinary sources, with the authors working on different fields, like Education and Complexity (FREIRE, MORIN), Environmental Education (SORRENTINO, CARVALHO, SAUVÉ, JACOBI). The analysis of the data was based on hermeneutics, which is a symbolic interpretation with an anthropological approach through an interpretative journey (FERREIRA-SANTOS, 2006) in the field of Anthropology of Education.

A pesquisa em questão pretendeu compreender o processo de construção de um território dos sentidos através do diálogo, no âmbito de um projeto de Educação Ambiental. Buscou-se investigar as relações de pertencimento e vínculo que se estabelecem entre os sujeitos e o ambiente da APA Embu-Verde através de um processo de diálogo e criação coletiva para uma leitura de mundo (FREIRE, 1996). Situada na região metropolitana de São Paulo, no município de Embu das Artes, a APA (Área de Proteção Ambiental) Embu-Verde é uma unidade de conservação criada pela Lei municipal n. 108/ 2008 (EMBU DAS ARTES, 2008). A pesquisa está inserida num projeto mais amplo de Diagnóstico Socioambiental da APA Embu- Verde, aprovado com recursos do FEHIDRO (Fundo Estadual de Recursos Hídricos) que envolve uma série de atores e instituições incluindo poder público, sociedade civil e Universidade de São Paulo. Neste contexto utilizou-se uma metodologia inovadora para a prática do diálogo The World Café (BROWN, 2001) que faz parte de um conjunto de metodologias intitulada Art of Hosting (Arte de anfitriar conversas significativas). Buscamos através do presente estudo responder a seguinte pergunta: Em que medida o World Café, entendido como método de diálogo pode contribuir nos processos de Educação Ambiental? Com a possibilidade de um estágio de doutorado-sanduíche nos EUA com apoio da Capes/Fulbright foi possível aprofundar o estudo sobre o World Café como método de diálogo e da abordagem do Art of Hosting no tratamento de questões complexas. Neste sentido foram realizadas 12 entrevistas com lideranças que vem utilizando tal abordagem na cidade de Columbus, Ohio, EUA para lidar com questões complexas em diversas áreas (Saúde, Educação, Moradia, Segurança alimentar). Os resultados destacam o forte componente de aprendizado presente em tais metodologias e a jornada pessoal de cada um dos anfitriões como parte essencial do processo. O referencial teórico é multirreferencial contando com o pensamento de autores de diversos campos: da Educação e complexidade ((FREIRE, MORIN) da Educação Ambiental (SORRENTINO, CARVALHO, SAUVÉ, JACOBI). A compreensão dos dados foi realizada segundo a hermenêutica, uma interpretação simbólica de cunho antropológico através da jornada interpretativa (FERREIRA-SANTOS, 2006) no campo da Antropologia da Educação. / This research aims to comprehend the process of building a territory of meanings through dialogue within the framework of an environmental education project. We sought to investigate the sense of belonging and connections established between people and the environment at the Embu Verde environmental protected area through a process of dialogue and collective creation for a reading of world (FREIRE, 1996). Situated in the metropolitan region of São Paulo, in the city of Embu das Artes, the APA (Environmental Protected Area) Embu Verde is a conservation unity recently created by a municipal law (n. 108/2008). This research is inserted into a bigger project called APA Embu Verde Social and Environmental Diagnosis, financially supported by FEHIDRO (Water Resources State Fund), which is composed by multiple stakeholders and institutions including the public sector, civil society and University of São Paulo. In this context we used The World Café methodology (BROWN, 2001) which is included at the Art of Hosting approach, a set of innovative methodologies to deal with complex issues. We sought through this study to answer the question: In which way The World Café, as a dialogue method, can contribute to the environmental education process? Through the opportunity of a Capes/Fulbright scholarship we could deeply understand the methodology principles in contact to The World Café Community Foundation. We did 12 interviews with host leaderships who have been using such an approach in various fields in the city of Columbus, Ohio (US) to deal with complex issues in areas like Health, Education, Homelessness, Food Security. The results highlights the strong learning component present in such methodologies and the personal journey of each host as an important part of the process. The theoretical reference has multidisciplinary sources, with the authors working on different fields, like Education and Complexity (FREIRE, MORIN), Environmental Education (SORRENTINO, CARVALHO, SAUVÉ, JACOBI). The analysis of the data was based on hermeneutics, which is a symbolic interpretation with an anthropological approach through an interpretative journey (FERREIRA-SANTOS, 2006) in the field of Anthropology of Education.

Relationships, according to national and international research, play a crucial role in the promotion of holistic well-being in school communities. However, the central role of relationships in school communities is not fully appreciated in the South African context. Concurrently, a gap in research on the promotion of relational well-being in South African school communities exists. The importance of addressing this shortcoming is especially evident when viewing recent research literature and media reports on dysfunctional behaviour in school communities, such as violence, bullying, child abuse, inappropriate sexual behaviour, and alcohol and substance abuse. These dysfunctional behaviours indicate the extent to which relational well-being is currently compromised in South African school communities. This study intends to address the abovementioned gap in knowledge regarding the promotion of relational well-being in school communities. The aim was obtained by involving a group of postgraduate students, enrolled for a Master’s or Doctoral programme with a focus on relational well-being, and who work in school environments in various capacities and contexts. The research was informed by a combination of theoretical lenses that offer a holistic, multi-dimensional, strength-based approach to the understanding of relational well-being, and acknowledge the complexity of relationships. A qualitative phenomenological research design was applied using the World Café method, to facilitate a space within which these students could reflect on the promotion of relational well-being in school communities. A total of 29 participants, selected by means of purposive and convenience sampling, were involved in a World Café event, and twenty of these participants completed an open-ended questionnaire, developed with the aim of crystallising the data obtained from the World Café. Thematic analysis of the data was conducted and four main themes were identified: Firstly, the participants reflected on the complex, integrated nature of the process of promoting relational well-being, from an eco-systemic perspective. Based on this understanding, they viewed members of the school community as inseparably integrated and bi-directionally influencing one another, as also indicated by complex dynamic interactive systems theorists. They also mentioned that certain environmental influences could impair relational well-being. Secondly, they reflected on the promotion of relational well-being as a collaborative and inclusive process that involves all the members of the school community and requires all of them to take responsibility. The teachers’ and school managements’ role as leaders in facilitating the process was specifically highlighted, although the parents/caretakers were also seen as bearing a responsibility in this regard. Therefore, home-school collaboration was emphasised. Thirdly, they reflected on the challenges relating to the promotion of relational well-being in school communities. These challenges encompassed the need to equip and support teachers and parents to be able to promote relational well-being, addressing the imbalanced focus on academics and achievement in schools at the expense of relationships, and the need to promote relational well-being more proactively by addressing the way in which limited time and large class sizes jeopardise relational well-being. Lastly, perceived key elements of interrelatedness for the promotion of relational well-being in school communities were highlighted. These key elements include respectful engagements, acceptance of one another, positive communication based on trust, a sense of belonging or connectedness, and care and support. In view of the findings of the study, recommendations are made to the Department of Education as well as to school management teams. Finally, recommendations regarding future research are offered. / MA (Psychology), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2014

The importance of promoting the health and wellbeing of children in educational contexts are recognised in national and international policy developments. However, according to international and local research, many challenges regarding the promotion of relational wellbeing prevail, despite various efforts to improve relationships within school communities. The continuous media and research reports on the escalation of violence in schools suggest that there are certain vices that act as barriers to the promotion of relational wellbeing in school communities, restraining relationships between all those involved in the school community. However, challenges relating to relational wellbeing are often construed as a matter to be addressed by professionals either in the service of the government or in private practice, who are expected to work with individuals who experience relational problems. Limited attention is given to barriers that might arise within the everyday interactions between the members of the school communities. The need to understand what hinders the promotion of wellbeing in school communities as interactive spaces was therefore evident. The aim of this study, therefore, was to explore perceived barriers to the promotion of relational wellbeing of children in South African school communities. In order to explore such barriers to the promotion of relational wellbeing, a group of postgraduate students, enrolled for a master’s or doctoral programme in Psychology and who work in various school contexts, was involved in a World Café event with a focus on relational wellbeing in school contexts. A combination of theoretical perspectives was applied as a basis for understanding the educational context in which the study was situated. In order to secure the capturing of the complex nature of relationships and relational wellbeing, a qualitative, interpretive descriptive research design was applied. The application of the World Café method created a context suitable to the interpretive and descriptive nature of the research and granted participants the opportunity to render rich and vigorous descriptions of how they perceived the relational wellbeing of children in South African school communities. Twelve postgraduate students were selected through purposive and convenience sampling to take part in the World Café event, hosted in collaboration with a senior research professor on campus. The data gathered during the World Café event was used as the main data source. In addition, three semi-structured Skype interviews were conducted, following the thematic analysis of the data gathered during the World Café event. In order to ensure that the data was trustworthy, crystallization was applied throughout the data collection process. Thematic analysis was conducted and three main themes with subthemes were identified. Firstly, the participants identified a predominant focus on academics. They perceived this uncontested focus on academic results within the school community as a barrier to the enhancement of relational wellbeing in their places of work. The main concern was that this unequivocal focus on academic results held certain consequences for both teachers and learners. One of the consequences of this focus on academics is the stress that it creates for teachers. The participants indicated that the most attention in their school environments was paid to delivering good academic results and that the development of other needs of learners, such as emotional needs, were not deemed important. In addition, the participants indicated that they were most often appraised and rewarded according to the academic performance of their learners and to the extent to which they reached predetermined departmental goals within their schools. In addition to academic pressures to perform, teachers are often over-burdened with additional duties which leave them emotionally drained. As a result of their tapped emotional energy, teachers felt that they could not invest in connecting and caring for learners as they would like to, due to the overwhelming amount of other responsibilities. Furthermore, the participants indicated that, in addition to too little time to connect and care for learners and develop healthy relationships, they also experienced little collegial support. The participants also indicated that, in addition to the stress caused by the predominant focus on academic achievement, the consequence of this stance created the following: limited capacity to develop learners’ social-emotional skills; situations where harm to learners’ self-concept was experienced; and a general problem-focused approach in addressing challenges experienced by learners. Secondly, adults seemed to have a limited capacity to promote relational wellbeing. The participants indicated that, in the contexts and places where they worked, adults, such as teachers and parents, who were mainly responsible to guide and equip learners to create, develop, and maintain healthy and meaningful relationships, were perceived to lack the necessary skills themselves in order to engage in meaningful relationships with one another. With regard to parents’ capacities, the participants argued that the lack of social skills displayed by children in their classrooms might be ascribed to the home environment and the specific contextual challenges that parents and caregivers have to face, in addition to a general limited ability of parents to equip their children with the necessary social and emotional skills to be able to establish healthy and meaningful relationships. Concerning teachers’ capacities, the participants indicated that some teachers were not equipped with adequate knowledge to develop healthy relationships with children and therefore lacked skills to promote relational wellbeing of children in general. In addition to inadequate knowledge, the participants felt that teachers’ attitudes about relationships also played a role in the lack of promoting healthy relationships. Although inadequate knowledge and negative attitudes by teachers were perceived to compromise the development of healthy relationships, participants indicated that, even if teachers had the desire to develop healthy relationships, there were few or no opportunities created for them by their schools to focus on developing healthy relationships; there was also little opportunity to be models of healthy relational beings, due to a lack of time or system-related support, as well as personal contextual restraints. Thirdly, the perception of the participants was that unresolved conflict between role-players often created a barrier to the promotion of healthy relationships. The participants indicated that the conflict between role-players in the school communities were often excessive and remained unresolved, and that the conflict existed on all levels of interrelatedness. The unresolved conflict was perceived as a serious barrier to the promotion of relational wellbeing within their school environments; this conflict was mainly experienced between teachers and learners, teachers and staff, as well as between parents and teachers. / MA (Psychology), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2015

Relationships, according to national and international research, play a crucial role in the promotion of holistic well-being in school communities. However, the central role of relationships in school communities is not fully appreciated in the South African context. Concurrently, a gap in research on the promotion of relational well-being in South African school communities exists. The importance of addressing this shortcoming is especially evident when viewing recent research literature and media reports on dysfunctional behaviour in school communities, such as violence, bullying, child abuse, inappropriate sexual behaviour, and alcohol and substance abuse. These dysfunctional behaviours indicate the extent to which relational well-being is currently compromised in South African school communities. This study intends to address the abovementioned gap in knowledge regarding the promotion of relational well-being in school communities. The aim was obtained by involving a group of postgraduate students, enrolled for a Master’s or Doctoral programme with a focus on relational well-being, and who work in school environments in various capacities and contexts. The research was informed by a combination of theoretical lenses that offer a holistic, multi-dimensional, strength-based approach to the understanding of relational well-being, and acknowledge the complexity of relationships. A qualitative phenomenological research design was applied using the World Café method, to facilitate a space within which these students could reflect on the promotion of relational well-being in school communities. A total of 29 participants, selected by means of purposive and convenience sampling, were involved in a World Café event, and twenty of these participants completed an open-ended questionnaire, developed with the aim of crystallising the data obtained from the World Café. Thematic analysis of the data was conducted and four main themes were identified: Firstly, the participants reflected on the complex, integrated nature of the process of promoting relational well-being, from an eco-systemic perspective. Based on this understanding, they viewed members of the school community as inseparably integrated and bi-directionally influencing one another, as also indicated by complex dynamic interactive systems theorists. They also mentioned that certain environmental influences could impair relational well-being. Secondly, they reflected on the promotion of relational well-being as a collaborative and inclusive process that involves all the members of the school community and requires all of them to take responsibility. The teachers’ and school managements’ role as leaders in facilitating the process was specifically highlighted, although the parents/caretakers were also seen as bearing a responsibility in this regard. Therefore, home-school collaboration was emphasised. Thirdly, they reflected on the challenges relating to the promotion of relational well-being in school communities. These challenges encompassed the need to equip and support teachers and parents to be able to promote relational well-being, addressing the imbalanced focus on academics and achievement in schools at the expense of relationships, and the need to promote relational well-being more proactively by addressing the way in which limited time and large class sizes jeopardise relational well-being. Lastly, perceived key elements of interrelatedness for the promotion of relational well-being in school communities were highlighted. These key elements include respectful engagements, acceptance of one another, positive communication based on trust, a sense of belonging or connectedness, and care and support. In view of the findings of the study, recommendations are made to the Department of Education as well as to school management teams. Finally, recommendations regarding future research are offered. / MA (Psychology), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2014

The importance of promoting the health and wellbeing of children in educational contexts are recognised in national and international policy developments. However, according to international and local research, many challenges regarding the promotion of relational wellbeing prevail, despite various efforts to improve relationships within school communities. The continuous media and research reports on the escalation of violence in schools suggest that there are certain vices that act as barriers to the promotion of relational wellbeing in school communities, restraining relationships between all those involved in the school community. However, challenges relating to relational wellbeing are often construed as a matter to be addressed by professionals either in the service of the government or in private practice, who are expected to work with individuals who experience relational problems. Limited attention is given to barriers that might arise within the everyday interactions between the members of the school communities. The need to understand what hinders the promotion of wellbeing in school communities as interactive spaces was therefore evident. The aim of this study, therefore, was to explore perceived barriers to the promotion of relational wellbeing of children in South African school communities. In order to explore such barriers to the promotion of relational wellbeing, a group of postgraduate students, enrolled for a master’s or doctoral programme in Psychology and who work in various school contexts, was involved in a World Café event with a focus on relational wellbeing in school contexts. A combination of theoretical perspectives was applied as a basis for understanding the educational context in which the study was situated. In order to secure the capturing of the complex nature of relationships and relational wellbeing, a qualitative, interpretive descriptive research design was applied. The application of the World Café method created a context suitable to the interpretive and descriptive nature of the research and granted participants the opportunity to render rich and vigorous descriptions of how they perceived the relational wellbeing of children in South African school communities. Twelve postgraduate students were selected through purposive and convenience sampling to take part in the World Café event, hosted in collaboration with a senior research professor on campus. The data gathered during the World Café event was used as the main data source. In addition, three semi-structured Skype interviews were conducted, following the thematic analysis of the data gathered during the World Café event. In order to ensure that the data was trustworthy, crystallization was applied throughout the data collection process. Thematic analysis was conducted and three main themes with subthemes were identified. Firstly, the participants identified a predominant focus on academics. They perceived this uncontested focus on academic results within the school community as a barrier to the enhancement of relational wellbeing in their places of work. The main concern was that this unequivocal focus on academic results held certain consequences for both teachers and learners. One of the consequences of this focus on academics is the stress that it creates for teachers. The participants indicated that the most attention in their school environments was paid to delivering good academic results and that the development of other needs of learners, such as emotional needs, were not deemed important. In addition, the participants indicated that they were most often appraised and rewarded according to the academic performance of their learners and to the extent to which they reached predetermined departmental goals within their schools. In addition to academic pressures to perform, teachers are often over-burdened with additional duties which leave them emotionally drained. As a result of their tapped emotional energy, teachers felt that they could not invest in connecting and caring for learners as they would like to, due to the overwhelming amount of other responsibilities. Furthermore, the participants indicated that, in addition to too little time to connect and care for learners and develop healthy relationships, they also experienced little collegial support. The participants also indicated that, in addition to the stress caused by the predominant focus on academic achievement, the consequence of this stance created the following: limited capacity to develop learners’ social-emotional skills; situations where harm to learners’ self-concept was experienced; and a general problem-focused approach in addressing challenges experienced by learners. Secondly, adults seemed to have a limited capacity to promote relational wellbeing. The participants indicated that, in the contexts and places where they worked, adults, such as teachers and parents, who were mainly responsible to guide and equip learners to create, develop, and maintain healthy and meaningful relationships, were perceived to lack the necessary skills themselves in order to engage in meaningful relationships with one another. With regard to parents’ capacities, the participants argued that the lack of social skills displayed by children in their classrooms might be ascribed to the home environment and the specific contextual challenges that parents and caregivers have to face, in addition to a general limited ability of parents to equip their children with the necessary social and emotional skills to be able to establish healthy and meaningful relationships. Concerning teachers’ capacities, the participants indicated that some teachers were not equipped with adequate knowledge to develop healthy relationships with children and therefore lacked skills to promote relational wellbeing of children in general. In addition to inadequate knowledge, the participants felt that teachers’ attitudes about relationships also played a role in the lack of promoting healthy relationships. Although inadequate knowledge and negative attitudes by teachers were perceived to compromise the development of healthy relationships, participants indicated that, even if teachers had the desire to develop healthy relationships, there were few or no opportunities created for them by their schools to focus on developing healthy relationships; there was also little opportunity to be models of healthy relational beings, due to a lack of time or system-related support, as well as personal contextual restraints. Thirdly, the perception of the participants was that unresolved conflict between role-players often created a barrier to the promotion of healthy relationships. The participants indicated that the conflict between role-players in the school communities were often excessive and remained unresolved, and that the conflict existed on all levels of interrelatedness. The unresolved conflict was perceived as a serious barrier to the promotion of relational wellbeing within their school environments; this conflict was mainly experienced between teachers and learners, teachers and staff, as well as between parents and teachers. / MA (Psychology), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2015

This dissertation brings attention to the communication processes taking place during design of an Idea Zone at a science center. It focuses on the conceptual phase of design, during which designers seek to integrate the ideas and needs of stakeholders into design processes through such frameworks as Participatory Design (PD). In bringing a focus on communication process to conceptual design frameworks such as PD, I explore the assumed roles behind participatory design processes and the contexts created through those processes during actual design work. As these Idea Zone design efforts took place in a museum and also within the context of an ongoing action research program there, I explored the organizational challenges of cultivating spaces and conversations where designers, community members, researchers, and other participants cooperatively explored contexts and spaces for jointly designing together. A central assertion of this work is that the World Café, a designed discussion format, fits with the needs of a science center for inviting community participation in design processes. A related goal of this work was to test that assertion not as a success or failure but as an emergent and contingent process requiring changes and course adjustments through reflective practice. To do this, my central method was an ethnographic engagement in the spirit of action research where with the Museum of Science and Industry (MOSI) in Tampa, Florida I planned for and hosted a series of World Cafés revolving around design of an Idea Zone in the science center. Café participants included MOSI leadership and board members, designers, community members, University of South Florida (USF) students, museum staff, and other stakeholders. Data sources from the World Café included the Café planning efforts, conversations and other data generated during the Cafés themselves, as well as organizational outcomes from hosting the Cafés. Outcomes in this sense might include, for example, the potential for future Cafés around design of the Idea Zone or how what is learned in the Café becomes integrated into other Idea Zone design processes or everyday organizational contexts such as meetings at MOSI. In addition to the Café and as part of understanding Café outcomes, I also drew from data generated through follow-up interviews I conducted with Café participants including designers, community members, and others. Finally, I drew upon ethnographic data generated through my observations and interactions within the Idea Zone and the larger scene of MOSI, ranging from everyday conversations with museum visitors to the possibility of performances in the space. With this research we (MOSI, the MOSI community, and I) learned together 1) how assumptions and issues of participation play out during group communication processes in the conceptual phase of design, 2) about ways of engaging in ethically challenging work of designing group communication processes for design, 3) how generative metaphors for the group communication process might emerge from the World Café that foster flexible and inviting space for participatory design, and 4) how each of these local questions related to designing communication for design of the Idea Zone play out within the larger organizational context of MOSI specifically and science centers more broadly. Key outcomes from these four research questions include practical contributions to design for learning spaces in MOSI, how the World Café fits with Participatory Design processes at a science center and also potential redesigns for the future, how the World Café metaphor became a way to rapidly prototype new museum experiences, and how democratic invitations offered by MOSI to the community brought about creative possibilities for community design of the Idea Zone and for staff to engage in designing MOSI's broader organizational processes of change.

Older people often experience loneliness and depression, especially those dependent on institutional care. The loneliness can be attributed to multiple losses such as the loss of physical and cognitive abilities, the loss of relationships with familiar environments, the loss of significant others, as well as changing contact with family members and friends. The strategy commonly used by older people to deal with such feelings of loss, is to reminisce on such losses as well as on the lost or altered relationships. This strategy might result in a situation where the focus older people have on the past prevents them from recognizing the potential of relationships in their immediate environment. In order to make older people more aware of meaningful relationships in their immediate environment, the method of appreciative inquiry was used. Appreciative inquiry uses questioning as an intervention. Questions were formulated in such a way that the positive aspects of possible relationships in interpersonal environments were emphasised. The aim of the appreciative inquiry was to determine what relationship qualities older people experience as meaningful or effective. A qualitative and investigative research method was used in an attempt to investigate older people's subjective experiences of the relationships they have in the residential care facility. Participants to the study were volunteers who permanently reside in a residential care facility for older people in Gauteng, South Africa. Textual- and visual data was collected through the use of the World Café method, where the participants were divided into three separate groups of approximately six members each. Group discussions were facilitated as group leaders alternated with various activities between the groups. Sheets of A2 paper served as tablecloths allowing participants to conveniently jot down notes from the group discussion, and also to draw symbolic representations of their subjective experiences of the relationships they enjoy in their immediate environment. Data gathered in the various groups was then visually displayed so that a focus group discussion could occur. Crystallization confirmed the trustworthiness of the findings. Crystallization is an approach where data is combined using two or more genres of representation of socially constructed meanings as well as different methods of data analysis. In this study, several different data collection methods were used, including the use of symbols, group discussions and a focus group. The data analysis comprised of a combination of several methods of analysis, being thematic analysis, interactive pattern analysis and the visual analysis of posters. Approval pertaining to the ethical aspects of the research project was obtained from the North-West University. From the findings it became apparent that essential relationship qualities such as confirmation, empathy, unconditional acceptance and clarity of self-presentation between the residents spontaneously developed out of the safe and enabling interpersonal environment created by the management. This safe and enabling interpersonal environment is characterized by predictability, interpersonal flexibility, confirmation, congruence and empathy. According to this research, it can be argued that residents in this specific care facility were still able to identify and describe relationships that could effectively satisfy their needs – despite having experienced multiple losses associated with the aging process and/or losses in their particular lives. This study hence holds important implications for the creation of an interpersonal context by management in order to promote wellbeing among older people that reside in residential care facilities. / Thesis (MA (Clinical Psychology))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2013.