The purpose of this research study was to explore the possibilities of critical pedagogy and critical literacy in an English language course at a higher education institution in the Sultanate of Oman. Its aim was to propose an alternative curriculum for an English language pathway module by introducing socially-contextualized generative themes, position questioning and post-methodological teaching and learning strategies which would lead to an increased engagement with multiple perspectives hence an increased level of critical awareness. Moreover, the study sought to provide a platform for students’ voice where their views and choices were not only taken into consideration but had a direct impact on the direction of the critical intervention. The present study did not try to advocate for a new pedagogical framework that is prescriptive in nature but rather emphasize the ephemeral and hence dynamic nature classroom methodology. The study took place at a private higher education institution in the capital city of the Sultanate of Oman. The site of the intervention was a lower level English language vocabulary and reading focused module that served as support for English language majors. The participants were two teachers who had taught the module in the past as well as a group of students who had enrolled in the module at the time of the intervention. The group of student participants was entirely composed of females who possessed various levels of English language proficiency and originated from various parts of Oman. Data were collected during three intervention stages, following an action research design, through multiple methods: interviews, focus-groups, tests, questionnaires, observations. The research diary kept during the intervention represented another data source and an important instrument of recording instances of reflection on action. Participant confidentiality and anonymity was maintained throughout the data collection and analysis. The collected data was analysed following the principles of thematic analysis but also keeping in mind the democratic character of action research. Thus, a comparison of the researchers’ interpretations of the analysis with the experiences of the participants as well as the opinions of the external observers was undertaken. Several major themes emerged from the data at the different stages of the intervention: students’ needs and abilities, the need for a reformed curriculum, assessment of the students’ level of critical literacy, positioning and identifying multiple perspectives, students’ views on the critical intervention and their development of critical awareness as well as challenges and caveats at the intervention stage, students’ resistance versus emotional attachment to the module. In terms of readiness for a critical intervention, students and teacher participants held different views, as teachers associated readiness with a high level of critical thinking and language proficiency whereas students associated it with interest and emotional attachment. The majority of student experiences during the critical intervention were clustered around a shift in perspective which did not only evidence their increased sense of awareness of the world and its various social issues but also an increased display of empathy and compassion. Students also avowed an increased improvement in all four language skills as a result of this experience. Student silence had an impact on the reshaping of the intervention hence proved an opportunity for reflection and change. The key findings of the study suggest that, although considered a high-risk endeavour, critical pedagogy offers ample opportunities for English language education as students’ attitudes to it were generally positive. Students wish to take an active role in authoring the course of their learning and will make apparent their choices even through opposition, resistance and silence. Furthermore, critical pedagogy needs to be understood in the context of possibility as it is not a prescripitive set of rules or strategies nor automatically democratic and free from imposition. It is constantly informed and transformed by its authors’ and its participants’ contributions. The study has thus brought an overall understanding of the possibilities of critical pedagogical endeavours as well as the possibilities of critical action research to illuminate the phenomena of critical literacy and participant voice.

Submitted by Suelen Reis (suziy.ellen@gmail.com) on 2013-04-17T17:43:24Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertacao Cristiane Santanaseg.pdf: 659170 bytes, checksum: af18fffe0aa2152f253906caf5ae04f8 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Rodrigo Meirelles(rodrigomei@ufba.br) on 2013-05-24T11:33:25Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertacao Cristiane Santanaseg.pdf: 659170 bytes, checksum: af18fffe0aa2152f253906caf5ae04f8 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2013-05-24T11:33:25Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertacao Cristiane Santanaseg.pdf: 659170 bytes, checksum: af18fffe0aa2152f253906caf5ae04f8 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2008 / Este trabalho tem como foco de análise a influência do pensamento de Mao Tsé Tung nas práticas da Ação Popular entre os anos de 1967-1970. Neste período esta organização deu início ao processo de integração dos seus militantes ao trabalho produtivo no campo e nas fábricas no estado da Bahia. A prática da integração na produção tinha inicialmente o objetivo de inserir o militante pequeno burguês no meio operário e camponês para que este conhecesse de perto os problemas dessas classes sociais e através disso promovesse uma reforma em seu pensamento. Porém, a adesão ao maoísmo fez com que a Ação Popular (AP) iniciasse uma revisão nos objetivos da integração, a qual passou a ser interpretada como uma maneira de ampliar as bases do partido no meio operário e camponês visando à realização de um trabalho político no campo e na fábrica. Analisaremos a presença das idéias maoístas na articulação deste processo empreendido pelos militantes da Ação Popular. / Salvador

FERNANDES, Antônio Batista. A naturalização do homem e a ação política em Hannah Arendt. 2013. 120f. – Dissertação (Mestrado) – Universidade Federal do Ceará, Programa de Pós-graduação em Filosofia, Fortaleza (CE), 2013. / Submitted by Gustavo Daher (gdaherufc@hotmail.com) on 2017-09-21T11:28:21Z No. of bitstreams: 1 2013_dis_abfernandes.pdf: 1103224 bytes, checksum: 08afb4e52d477b31099186635d6c3a11 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Márcia Araújo (marcia_m_bezerra@yahoo.com.br) on 2017-09-23T14:32:37Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 2013_dis_abfernandes.pdf: 1103224 bytes, checksum: 08afb4e52d477b31099186635d6c3a11 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-09-23T14:32:37Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 2013_dis_abfernandes.pdf: 1103224 bytes, checksum: 08afb4e52d477b31099186635d6c3a11 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2013 / O objetivo dessa dissertação é examinar a moderna naturalização do homem e a teoria da ação política em Hannah Arendt. Para tanto, iniciaremos com a análise da terceira parte da obra Origens do Totalitarismo. Nessa obra, a autora apresenta os campos de concentração como sendo o núcleo dos regimes totalitários e os primeiros a reduzirem o homem a sua condição natural, eliminado a liberdade e aniquilando a pessoa jurídica e moral dos indivíduos. Na sequência, refletiremos sobre a crescente naturalização do homem ocorrida na modernidade, tendo como base os escritos posteriores a Origens do Totalitarismo. Neste sentido, analisaremos os textos: A condição humana e Sobre a Revolução, onde Arendt reflete sobre o declínio do espaço público e a moderna ascensão do social, caracterizada pela redução da liberdade ao campo das necessidades biológicas. Por fim, apresentaremos a teoria da ação política como alternativa à moderna naturalização do homem. A ação em Arendt tem sempre uma relação política e está fundada na capacidade que os homens têm desde seu nascimento de dar início a novos começos, de fundar novos corpos políticos. Assim, é somente através da redenção da ação que poderemos vislumbrar uma retomada da dignidade da política nos tempos atuais, principal hipótese de nossa pesquisa.

This thesis evaluates the effectiveness of having students reflect upon their experiences of learning and use of critical thinking in their first year of study at University. Specifically, it responds to the debate on whether teaching a general course on critical thinking skills constitutes a 'syntax or semantic' for the students. McPeck (1990) initiated this debate, claiming that teaching general courses on critical thinking skills do not improve students' processes of reasoning. He believes that such courses are not meaningful to students and their learning, stating that the thinking skills the students require, must instead be derived directly from the subjects that they are studying. Educators such as Paul (1991; Siegel 1990) disagree with McPeck and argue that these courses improve students' reasoning processes at University level. In responding to this debate, I designed an introductory critical thinking skills course entitled the <em>Process of Learning</em>. This course was implemented with first year students enrolled on a design and media management course at a University in the United Kingdom. This case study was evaluated using an action research methodology. The findings of this research are discussed within the framework of student learning theory and the learning environment. The data includes student and staff interviews conducted over 18 months, triangulated findings from the course sessions and analysis of related assignments. This research found that students can benefit from first year introductory critical thinking courses in several ways. Students become sensitised or aware of the critical thinking skills that they use in first year. The subsequent application of these skills can lead to improvement in learning quality outcomes in subsequent studies. Students with a higher level of competency discuss these thinking skills more coherently and recognise their personal responsibility in learning. Students achieve insights into their own personal perception of learning and begin to assess objectively the implications of what they have learnt from this. Wide ranging feedback from students discussing critical thinking skills and learning activities can provide a medium for staff committed to improving both pedagogy and the curriculum. Better understanding of critical thinking skills can improve the students' confidence in learning. Further insights are presented in this research that help us to further understand the nature of `confidence' in learning. Students identified a number of difficulties with the <em>Process of Learning</em>. This would appear initially to support McPeck's belief that such courses arc not helpful to students in the first year of study. However, four key findings are presented in this thesis which explain why these difficulties arose. Consequently, this research supports educators who advocate the teaching of general critical thinking skills courses in higher education, due to the benefits for students and staff. It concludes that the 'syntax versus semantic' dichotomy is an oversimplification of the debate and explains why this is so. Finally, suggestions are made for future research directed at integrating critical thinking skills courses across the degree level at University.

Saurssure argues that the relationship between form and meaning in language is arbitrary, but sound symbolism theory argues that there are forms in language that can develop non-arbitrary association with meanings. This thesis proposes that there is a sound symbolic association between consonants and action words. To be more specific, a stop sound is likely to be associated with the action of percussion and a continuant sound with continuing movements. Evidence for such an association was found through three empirical studies. The findings of two experiments revealed that such an association is motivated by the gestures when pronouncing the consonants and by their phonetic features. A study of the verbs in Teochew dialect also revealed a similar sound symbolic association existing in the colloquial language. This thesis was conducted to direct attention to the use of empirical methods to investigate sound symbolism in real language. / 2015-10-03

Affirming actions, fallacy of American post racial society: Policy analysis and critique of United States Supreme Court effect on Black student access to higher education. Since the inception of the country that is now known as the United States of America, the inquiry of racial equity and inclusion is one that has not been unequivocally and diligently answered. In attempt to remedy these societal burdens, the government leadership has retreated to various affirmative action policy initiatives. The affirmative action policies range from Executive Order from the President of the United States, policies in governmental contractors work sector, to university admissions policies. In turn, these policies, especially the college admissions policies, have been legally scrutinized and attenuated by the United States Supreme Court. As a result, theses policies, that were initially put in place to help Black students get equitable access to higher education, have had meager effects on creating a equitable education society. The meager effects are attributed to continuous restrictive guideline and regulations of the Supreme Court. In that vein, chronological research findings suggests that the Supreme Courts decisions have had injuriously powerful impact on Black students ability to get into an institute of higher education and subsequently find economic success. Furthermore, society’s increasing apprehension and non-understanding of the fundamental goals of affirmative action suggests that the Supreme Courts affirmative action decisions will morph from the restrictive and injurious strict scrutiny to permanent decease of any utilization of race based policy.

A cultura nacional influencia o processo de tomada de decisão? Quais são os pressupostos da tomada de decisão? Qual a relação entre a cultura nacional do tomador de decisão, seus constructos pessoais, a produção de sentido e a tomada de decisão? Este trabalho buscou desenvolver um raciocínio acerca desta temática, criando um modelo que integra conceitos de culturas nacionais, a teoria dos constructos pessoais e a teoria da produção de sentido. Este modelo de análise foi então aplicado a estudantes universitários de origem alemã, italiana e ibérica no Estado do Rio Grande do Sul. Foram aplicados dois questionários estruturados, um aberto e um fechado bem como um quase-experimento para chegar-se aos resultados. Aproximadamente 700 pessoas participaram da pesquisa em 6 cidades. Os dados foram então analisados através de análise de conteúdo (para as questões abertas), e técnicas estatísticas como regressão linear e análise fatorial para as questões fechadas. A relação entre cultura nacional, constructos pessoais, produção de sentido e tomada de decisão foi evidenciada parcialmente. Observou-se que os constructos pessoais variaram conforme a origem dos respondentes, porém a diferença entre as culturas italiana, alemã e ibérica não foi significativa para a decisão individual, não influenciando de forma diferente a tomada de decisão e a produção de sentido. Houve no entanto, uma diferença importante entre decisão individual e organizacional, verificando-se a influência da origem cultural (ascendência) no processo de tomada de decisão organizacional, no que tange a percepção da qualidade, sem no entanto alterar a ordem de importância dos atributos (constructos pessoais) de decisão. Estes resultados são importantes pois ajudam a entender o processo decisório, ressaltando a emergência de uma cultura regional (geral), mais forte do que as influências dos países de origem (ascendências). / Does national culture influence the decision-making process? What are the assumptions of decision-making? What is the relationship between the decision maker´s national culture, his personal constructs, his sensemaking and his actual decision? This study aimed to develop an argument about this issue, creating a model that integrates concepts of national culture, the personal constructs theory, and the sensemaking theory. This analysis model was then applied to Brazilian university students of German, Italian and Iberian origins (ancestry) in the state of Rio Grande do Sul (Brazil). Two structured questionnaires were applied as well as a quasi-experiment to get to the results. Approximately 700 people participated in the survey in 6 cities. The data were then analyzed using content analysis (for open questions), and statistical techniques such as correlation, regression and factor analysis for the closed questions. The relationship between national culture, personal constructs, sensemaking and decision-making was evidenced in part. It was observed that personal constructs varied according to the origin of the respondents, but the difference between Italian, German and Iberian cultures was not significant for the individual decision, not influencing in a different way the decision-making and the sensemaking. There was however, an important difference between individual and organizational decision, showing the influence of cultural origin (ancestry) in the organizational decision making process regarding the perception of quality, without changing the order of importance of the decision attributes (personal constructs). These results are useful to understand the decision-making process, highlighting the emergence of a (general) regional culture, stronger than the influence of countries of origin (ancestry).

This thesis investigates source memory for performed and observed actions in recall and recognition tasks. The motor simulation account predicts that motor activation during action observation results in source misattributions of observed actions as self-performed. Alternatively, source judgements at test may be based on the evaluation of source features (source monitoring framework) or memory strength (relative strength account). Experiments 1, 2 and 3 in Chapter 2 test if the motor simulation account explains false memories of self-performance after observation. Interfering with participants’ ability to encode the motor trace during observation does not reduce participants’ propensity to falsely recall observed actions as performed, but increases it. Experiment 4 in Chapter 3 manipulates motor and visual interference at retrieval. Participants’ false recognition of observed actions as performed and performed actions as observed is not significantly affected by motor or visual interference. Experiments 5, 6 and 7 in Chapter 4 test if participants are better able to discriminate performed and observed actions if they generate the idea for the action they perform themselves. Participants’ source discrimination in a recall task improves if they generate the ideas for self-performed actions (Experiment 5 and 6), only if they do not also generate ideas for actions they observe (Experiment 7). Experiment 8 in Chapter 5 manipulates participants’ visual perspective of actions they observe. There is no evidence for a significant effect of visual perspective during observation on subsequent false memories of self-performance in a recognition paradigm. In my thesis I find no substantial support for a motor simulation account. While the results are broadly compatible with the source monitoring framework, model-based analyses show that participants’ performance may be based on items’ overall strength, in line with the relative strength account, rather than evaluation of source features.

abstract: Social-ecological systems (SES) are replete with hard and soft human-made components (or infrastructures) that are consciously-designed to perform specific functions valued by humans. How these infrastructures mediate human-environment interactions is thus a key determinant of many sustainability problems in present-day SES. This dissertation examines the question of how some of the designed aspects of physical and social infrastructures influence the robustness of SES under global change. Due to the fragility of rural livelihood systems, locally-managed common-pool resource systems that depend on infrastructure, such as irrigated agriculture and community forestry, are of particular importance to address this sustainability question. This dissertation presents three studies that explored the robustness of communal irrigation and forestry systems to economic or environmental shocks. The first study examined how the design of irrigation infrastructure affects the robustness of system performance to an economic shock. Using a stylized dynamic model of an irrigation system as a testing ground, this study shows that changes in infrastructure design can induce fundamental changes in qualitative system behavior (i.e., regime shifts) as well as altered robustness characteristics. The second study explored how connectedness among social units (a kind of social infrastructure) influenced the post-failure transformations of large-N forest commons under economic globalization. Using inferential statistics, the second study argues that some attributes of the social connectedness that helped system robustness in the past made the system more vulnerable to undesirable transformations in the current era. The third study explored the question of how to guide adaptive management of SES for more robustness under uncertainty. This study used an existing laboratory behavioral experiment in which human-subjects tackle a decision problem on collective management of an irrigation system under environmental uncertainty. The contents of group communication and the decisions of individuals were analyzed to understand how configurations of learning-by-doing and other adaptability-related conditions may be causally linked to robustness under environmental uncertainty. The results show that robust systems are characterized by two conditions: active learning-by-doing through outer-loop processes, i.e., frequent updating of shared assumptions or goals that underlie specific group strategies, and frequent monitoring and reflection of past outcomes. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Sustainability 2015

Especialmente em EN III, Aristóteles dedicou-se a apresentar os elementos que compõem uma teoria da ação. Tal teoria se encontra detalhada no quadro amplo do que se entende por responsabilidade moral e requer a investigação do raciocínio prático implicado nas ações humanas, que é efetivado na escolha deliberada. A ação é sempre aberta aos contrários sendo, portanto, indeterminada, e será voluntária se o princípio motor estiver no agente e as circunstâncias forem conhecidas. Entretanto, nem toda ação voluntária é deliberada, como nos casos em que se age por ímpeto, de modo passional, mas toda escolha deliberada é voluntária. Mas, onde se situa, propriamente, a responsabilidade moral? Basta a voluntariedade da ação ou é necessário que haja deliberação e escolha? Esta pesquisa busca entender tais questões e a relação que há entre a teoria da ação e a virtude, em uma tentativa de melhor compreender os elementos que balizam a tomada de decisão e, em específico, a tomada de decisão no âmbito da gestão empresarial. Para tanto, há que se investigar a importância do bem humano supremo, a felicidade, além da importância da educação correta dos desejos na construção do bom hábito e na verificação das condições de construção da virtude perfeita. O caminho percorrido inclui a análise da motivação das ações e as justificativas para cada etapa na evolução do agente em busca da sua formação na direção da virtude perfeita, que se manifestará nas ações voluntárias, deliberadamente escolhidas. Na busca dos objetivos traçados para esta dissertação, esteve presente um dos preceitos de grande importância em Aristóteles: a atenção à precisão e clareza cabíveis em cada investigação, de acordo com a natureza do objeto investigado. A responsabilidade moral, em Aristóteles, é possível de ser identificada na conjugação das ações praticadas com a disposição de caráter do agente, o que inclui não só a contingência e a circunstância, mas também algo mais complexo, que é justamente o resultado do desenvolvimento pessoal dos potenciais humanos, fruto da soma do que foi apreendido pelo mesmo durante uma vida de aprendizado. / Submitted by Ana Guimarães Pereira (agpereir@ucs.br) on 2016-06-27T16:50:58Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertacao Marcel Andre Molon.pdf: 1459185 bytes, checksum: 3293dd44a71234cc5e70934c87ebcfa3 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-06-27T16:50:59Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertacao Marcel Andre Molon.pdf: 1459185 bytes, checksum: 3293dd44a71234cc5e70934c87ebcfa3 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2016-06-27 / Especially on EN III, Aristotle devoted himself to present the elements for a theory of action. Such a theory is detailed in the broad picture of what is meant by moral responsibility and requires an investigation of practical reasoning in human actions, which is effective at the deliberate choice. The action is always opened to the contraries and therefore undetermined, and will be voluntary if the principle is in the agent and the circumstances are known. However, not all voluntary action is deliberated, as in cases where the action is based on impulse or passion, but all deliberated choice is voluntary. Moreover, one question arises: where is it placed the moral responsibility itself? Would it be enough the willingness of the action or is it necessary deliberation and choice? This research seeks to understand these issues and the relation between the theory of action and virtue, in an attempt to better understand the elements that guide decision-making and, in particular, decision-making in the context of business management. Therefore, it is necessary to investigate the importance of the supreme human good, happiness, and the relevance of proper education of desires on the way of building the good habit and the conditions for perfect virtue. The path taken in this research includes the analysis of the motivation for actions and the justifications for each step in the evolution of the agent in its searching for perfect virtue, which will manifest itself in voluntary and deliberated chosen actions. In pursuit of the goals set for this thesis, one of the very important principles in Aristotle is in place: the constant attention of the accuracy and appropriate clarity in each investigation, according to the nature of the investigated object. Moral responsibility in Aristotle, it is possible to be identified in the combination of the actions taken by the character disposition of the agent, which includes not only the contingency and circumstance, but also a more profound subject, which is, precisely, the result of personal development of personal potentials, as a result of a lifetime of learning summed up.