Global climate change (GCC) may be the most pressing social and environmental issue of our time. The use of fossil fuels tops the list of human behaviors that contribute to GCC. Several ‘alternative’ energy sources are now being considered in an effort to mitigate GCC, including—controversially—nuclear energy. Examined here were environmental worldview and faith in science as moderators of the relationship between beliefs about and attitudes toward nuclear energy (ATNE). Participants were 272 college students who completed an on-line survey. Predictor variables were beliefs about whether nuclear energy contributes to GCC (GCC-beliefs) and to energy independence (EI-beliefs). Results indicated that environmental worldview moderated the negative relationship between GCC-beliefs and ATNE. Results implied that the effectiveness of arguments salient to the current nuclear energy debate concerning GCC have a medium effect on ATNE except when people are more ecocentric in their environmental worldviews.

There are myriad definitions of the terms race, ethnicity and culture in social sciences literature. Often these terms are used interchangeably with no conceptual rationale. This study aims to contribute to our greater understanding of the similarities and differences between the conceptualization and use of race and culture as they are experienced by African American adolescents. Multiple regression analyses and factor analysis were conducted for 223 African American high school aged students who completed a survey about racial and ethnic identity and a variety of positive youth development outcomes. Results showed preliminary support for race and culture being distinguishable yet intricately related. Results are also presented that compares the relationship of either a racial or cultural orientation on various youth development outcomes.

Pastoraat aan die Afrika-mens is a Masters' thesis, which explores the hypotheses and finds that an African life and worIdview must consciously be taken into account in pastoral care to Christians with an African life and worldview in order to improve effective care. The practical-theological model of Heitink is being used as research method. This entails the following: Hermeneutically 1. To show from Scripture as basis some perspectives on the research concepts 'pastoral care' and 'life and worldview'. Empirically 2. To describe the main aspects of an African life and worldview. 3. To determine the extent to which an African life and worldview still influence the thought and life of believers in Mamelodi. Strategically 4. To determine which aspects of an African life and worldview are relevant for pastoral care, 5. To formulate guidelines for pastoral care concerning Christians who are having an African life and worldview. Especially exegesis about Moses and Paul shows that life and worldview must be taken into consideration in pastoral care. The religion phenomenological approach to religious consciousness by the Dutch scholar Johan Herman Bavinck serves as basis to describe an African life and worldview in terms of totality, norm, higher powers, need of salvation and life between activity and passivity. The socio-cultural category of space is added. Empirical research among seven ecclesiastical congregations in Mamelodi points to the fact that an African life and worldview still has an effect on the Iives of Christians. Pastoraat aan die Afrika-mens give guidelines for pastoral care, after looking at some 'emic' en 'etic' contributions regarding African-ness in pastoral care. The departure of a psycho-sociocuItural hermeneutic approach to African life and worldview as well as a Word-based holistic approach to the pastoral conversation is promoted. / Thesis (Th.M. (Practical Theology))--Potchefstroom University for Christian Higher Education, 2003

The material of this study includes literature on the historically bound nature of the ideographical nature vs. culture polarity. From this material, general concepts of "nature" and "culture" are formed on the basis of value in the context of environmental management. Then, the existence of a polar dualism (nature vs. culture) is indicated via a transcendental critique of the worldview underlying the construction of this relationship. It is shown that the polarity is asymmetrical, causing a hierarchical organization in the Western ontology. The nature/culture hierarchical polarity is subjected to a less radical deconstruction and a non-dualistic, less reductionist conception of "nature" and "culture" formulated. This enables a foresee ably sustainable environment in terms of quality of life of the human being in totality. / Thesis (M.A. (Philosophy))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2005.

The overall goal of this study was to develop a comprehensive model of moral development to explicate the complexities of everyday morality. Based on a holistic and complementary perspective, the model relates the constructs of “worldview” and “self-view” to represent the influence of cultural individualism-collectivism and personality on moral development. It posits that worldview shapes self-view and moral inclusiveness [what is included in one’s moral consideration (Carter, 1980)] and then worldview, self-view, and moral inclusiveness jointly influence moral orientation (the main hypothesis). Interacting with situational factors, moral orientation would further influence moral judgment and behavior, thus connecting habitual morality with reflective morality. The specific objectives were: (a) to examine the relational structures among worldview, self-view, moral inclusiveness, and moral orientation; and (b) to construct a moral orientation index that measures various moral orientations, including egocentric, family, care, norm, justice, biocentric, and religious orientations, reflecting the corresponding worldviews, self-views, and levels of moral inclusiveness. Moral inclusiveness was operationalized as relationship closeness to different social groups at expanding levels of moral inclusiveness: (1) self only, (2) family, (3) peers, (4) society, (5) humanity, (6) nature, and (7) God. Survey data were gathered from 640 Grades 8-12 students and 472 adults. Structural equation models (SEM) were developed using the student data while making some comparative references to the adult data. Results of SEMs generally supported the main hypothesis. For example, individuals scoring higher on vertical individualism, social Darwinism, and independent self scored higher on egocentric orientation; individuals scoring higher on vertical collectivism and closeness to family scored higher on family orientation; and individuals scoring higher on horizontal collectivism and interdependent self scored higher on care orientation, at Levels 1, 2, and 3 respectively. Individuals scoring higher on collectivism, horizontal worldview, and moral self scored higher on justice orientation, but individuals scoring higher on closeness to nation scored lower on justice orientation at Level 5. The primacy of worldview, particularly collectivism, over self-view and moral inclusiveness in moral orientation development has implications for education. Exploring the roots of habitual morality, this study advances theory by integrating different schools of moral psychology with cultural psychology.

African descent students often are subjected to pedagogical practices and curricula that do not validate their home cultures or their individual and collective histories. In response to this problem, many teachers implement culturally relevant pedagogy (CRP) and curricula to address the needs of this population. Focusing on two African descent teachers in an African-centered school, the purpose of this qualitative African-centered inquiry was to 1) examine how the ancient Kemetic philosophy, Ma’at, manifests in their epistemologies, worldviews, and pedagogical practices, 2) explore how their epistemologies and worldviews inform their pedagogical practices, and 3) understand how their life experiences shaped their epistemologies and worldviews. A holistic theoretical framework comprised of Afrocentric and womanist theories and a CRP theoretical approach informed the “retooled” life history methodology employed in this study. The culturally sensitive data collection methods included dialogue, storytelling, participatory witnessing, and Afrocentric group conversation. Thematic and dialogic/performance narrative analysis techniques were used to analyze the data. The significance of this study is fourfold. First, this study adds to the paucity of existing literature on exemplary African descent teachers by bringing to the fore how the epistemologies and worldviews of teachers shape their pedagogical practices in an African-centered school. Second, this study explored the intended liberatory effects of African descent teachers’ implementation of CRP for themselves and for their students, ultimately affecting how both position themselves in the broader society. Third, use of the cardinal virtues of Ma’at (truth, justice, righteousness, order, harmony, balance, and reciprocity) as the philosophical foundation for this study presents an ontological alternative to privileging western philosophical frameworks typically used in educational research. Finally, as the ancient Kemetic philosophy employed in this study and as this study’s philosophical foundation, Ma'at specifically encourages policy makers, researchers, and practitioners to reexamine their notions of contemporary education in terms of its purpose, methods, and conceptions of the whole child. The findings illuminate ways that Ma’at undergirds the participants’ epistemologies, worldviews, and culturally relevant pedagogical practices enabling them to facilitate critical thinking, critical consciousness, and identity development with their students.

Magistro darbas „GILUMO konceptas lietuvių ir anglų kalbų pasaulėvaizdyje” yra bandymas pažvelgti į dar Lietuvoje beveik netyrinėtą erdvinių konceptų sritį. Darbas sudarytas iš įvado, penkių dalių ir išvadų. Įvade bendrais bruožais nusakoma tyrimo situacija, apibrėžiamas darbo tikslas, uždaviniai, metodai, hipotezė bei kaip buvo gauti tyrimo rezultatai. Pirmojoje dalyje aprašomas konkrečių konceptų vaidmuo abstrakčių konceptų struktūroje. Šioje dalyje apžvelgiama teorinė medžiaga, paaiškinamos pagrindinės sąvokos: kalbos pasaulėvaizdis, konceptas, konceptualizacija, konceptualioji sistema bei trumpai aptariama, kokį vaidmenį konceptualizacijos procese vaidina metaforos. Antroji dalis skirta aptarti, kas iki šiol nuveikta, tiriant GILUMO koncepto raišką kitose šalyse. Trečiojoje dalyje pristatoma GILUMO koncepto raiška lietuvių ir anglų kalbose. Aptariamas bendras gilumo suvokimo principas, gilumo prototipinė reikšmė. Remiantis tekstynų medžiaga, analizuojama konkretaus GILUMO koncepto struktūra, iliustruojant gretinamų kalbų pavyzdžiais. Ketvirtojoje dalyje GILUMAS analizuojamas kaip konceptualiųjų metaforų ištakos sfera. Penktojoje dalyje aprašoma, kaip GILUMAS vertinamas lietuvių ir anglų kalbų pasaulėvaizdyje. Darbas baigiamas išvadomis, naudotos literatūros sąrašu ir šaltiniais. Šis magistro darbas galėtų sudominti kalbininkus, vertėjus, kultūrologus, sociologus. / Language is an important source of evidence to find out human understanding of the world. Our conceptual system, the way we think and act is metaphorical in nature. The essence of metaphor is understanding and experiencing one kind of thing in terms of another. The paper is devoted to the concept DEEPNESS in Lithuanian and English. This concept in Lithuanian is presented by adjective gilus, in English by adjectives deep and profound as well as their derivatives. The aim of the paper is to investigate the concept DEEPNESS in Lithuanian and English worldview. To achieve this aim the following objectives have been set: 1) to present the main principals of understanding of deepness; 2) to provide theoretical background on investigation of the concept DEEPNESS and to show basic principles of investigation of spatial concepts; 3) to analyse examples with adverbs gilus and its derivatives in Lithuanian language, deep and profound and their derivatives in English; 4) to compare the expression of the concept DEEPNESS in Lithuanian and English. Methods have been used are: comparative analysis and conceptual analysis. The analysis is Corpus based. All examples have been cited from Lithuanian language online Corpus Donelaitis and The British National Corpus. The prototypical meaning of deep is the container located in space downwards. Close to it are meanings: layer (stratum), remoteness, penetration. The explications of the meaning: a big distance along the vertical... [to full text]

Bakalauro darbo tema – ,,Konceptualiosios vilties ir nevilties metaforos lietuvių kalbos pasaulėvaizdyje“. Iš ,,Dabartinės lietuvių kalbos tekstyno“ buvo išrinkti ir suklasifikuoti 589 pavyzdžiai, juos analizuojant siekta atskleisti, kaip lietuvių kalbos pasaulėvaizdyje suvokiamos viltis ir neviltis, su kokiais konkrečiais daiktais ar reiškiniais šie abstraktūs fenomenai siejami, kaip viltis ir neviltis charakterizuojamos. Šiame darbe konceptualiųjų vilties ir nevilties metaforų aprašymo tvarką nulėmė išrinktų pavyzdžių skaičius. / The bachelor work topic – ,,Conceptual metaphors of hope and despair in Lithuanian worldview”. 589 examples were selected and classified from modern Lithuanian lexical dictionary. Analyzing them it was tried to disclose the meanings of hope and despair in Lithuanian language, with what concrete things and phenomena they are associated and characterized. In this work the description order of conceptual hope and despair metaphors was determined by member of selected examples.

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<p><font face="Times New Roman"> <p align="left">This study looks at the effect of a cross-cultural instructional approach on the learners&rsquo / conceptions of lightning and attitude towards science. It explored Basotho conceptions of lightning and thunder under the following themes: nature of lightning, protection against lightning, animalistic/humanistic behaviour of lighting and nature of wounds inflicted by lightning.</p> </font></p>