In spite of a multi-decade mandate to enact inquiry in science, research reports that a large gap continues to exist in Ontario between the vision of science education presented in curriculum documents and what is enacted in the classroom. A three-staged, mixed methods design was chosen to examine teachers’ beliefs and practices that contribute to an understanding of this longstanding gap in teaching practice related to inquiry. The participants in this study were secondary school science teachers currently employed by one medium-sized, urban & rural district public school board. Quantitative data was first collected through a self-reporting survey designed to explore teachers’ beliefs related to teaching and learning in inquiry. Completed questionnaires were submitted by 80 % (n = 83) of the population of science teachers. Qualitative data, collected through semi-structured interviews (n = 17), were used to confirm and expand the quantitative findings. Quantitative analysis resulted in the development of an empirical framework to illustrate the dimensionality of teachers’ beliefs and practices related to inquiry. Four types of science teachers were identified during qualitative analysis, each associated with a preferred type of inquiry and each identifiable by a cluster of beliefs. A stance was determined for each of these types of teachers representing their generalized view of teaching and learning related to inquiry including: utilitarian science, content-based science, authentic contextual science, and citizenship science. Additionally, each group of teachers could be associated with one of the four quadrants in my framework. Lastly, a beliefs profile was produced to represent each quadrant in this framework based on integration of the quantitative and qualitative findings. Challenges to enactment and types of program support to foster enactment of open-ended inquiry were identified by science teachers associated with each stance. A few of these challenges and types of program support represent newer areas for research that can inform educational leaders and teacher-educators and support decision-making so as to meet the diverse needs of both pre-service and in-service science teachers, thereby, fostering the enactment of open-ended inquiry as practical science.

Bachelor-Arbeit Univ. St. Gallen, 2007.

The trend of green consumerism and increased standardization of environmental regulations has driven multinational corporations (MNCs) to seek standardization of environmental practices or at least seek to be associated with such behavior. In fact, many firms are seeking to free ride on this global green movement, without having the actual ecological footprint to substantiate their environmental claims. While scholars have articulated the benefits from such optimization of uniform global green operations, the challenges for MNCs to control and implement such operations are understudied. For firms to translate environmental commitment to actual performance, the obstacles are substantial, particularly for the MNC. This is attributed to headquarters’ (HQ) control challenges (1) in managing core elements of the corporate environmental management (CEM) process and specifically matching verbal commitment and policy with ecological performance and by (2) the fact that the MNC operates in multiple markets and the HQ is required to implement policy across complex subsidiary networks consisting of diverse and distant units. Drawing from the literature on HQ challenges of MNC management and control, this study examines (1) how core components of the CEM process impact optimization of global environmental performance (GEP) and then uses network theory to examine how (2) a subsidiary network’s dimensions can present challenges to the implementation of green management policies. It presents a framework for CEM which includes (1) MNCs’ Verbal environmental commitment, (2) green policy Management which guides standards for operations, (3) actual environmental Performance reflected in a firm’s ecological footprint and (4) corporate environmental Reputation (VMPR). Then it explains how an MNC’s key subsidiary network dimensions (density, diversity, and dispersion) create challenges that hinder the relationship between green policy management and actual environmental performance. It combines content analysis, multiple regression, and post-hoc hierarchal cluster analysis to study US manufacturing MNCs. The findings support a positive significant effect of verbal environmental commitment and green policy management on actual global environmental performance and environmental reputation, as well as a direct impact of verbal environmental commitment on green policy management. Unexpectedly, network dimensions were not found to moderate the relationship between green management policy and GEP.

The present study examined client perspectives on recovery from Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD). It aimed to investigate recovery meant to people diagnosed with BPD, whether people at the advanced stages of Dialectical Behavioural Therapy (DBT) considered themselves to be in recovery and what are the specific elements of therapeutic treatment that facilitate or hinder recovery from BPD, from a client perspective.

"Arab World" is the only region in the world that lacks democratic values. However, back in December 2010, the authoritarian regimes of the Middle East had faced rapid and remarkable political change under the dynamics of the so-called "Arab Spring". The existing regimes in some of the Arab countries have met the popular opposition that demanded for the changes towards democratization processes, which was perceived by many scholars as a positive factor to the emergence of democracy. Since then, the question of the perspective of democratization of the Arab world has come to the agenda of most political debates. Thus, the aim of this thesis is to discuss and analyze whether democracy is able to develop in Arab region, what are the main challenges to it and whether in the past four years Arab Spring has facilitated the transformation of the political regimes.

The dissertation thesis deals with the topic leadership development within businesses operating in the Czech Republic. The main objective of the work is focused on mapping the current trends in leadership development and proposes a model leadership development that is applicable within the framework of the Czech business. In practical part research the research compares different methods of leadership development, according to the size of business, the country of ownership and the industry in which the company operates. In the research framework were mapped the main expected challenges in the economic field by the year 2020 and proposed methods for leadership development. In the context of the work is also described the difference in the concept of leadership role within Czech branches of multinational companies and companies with the Czech ownership.

Magister Scientiae (Physiotherapy) - MSc(Physio) / About 10% of children world-wide experience developmental disorders and require access to the health care system. These disorders also require extensive care giving, often throughout childhood and into the adult years. Cerebral palsy (CP) is one such chronic condition, and can serve as a major cause of childhood disability. It is the commonest cause of neurological impairment in childhood and is associated with functional limitations and lifelong disability. Providing the high level of care required by a child with long-term functional limitations can become burdensome and may impact on both the physical and psychological health of the care giver. To prevent problems suffered by mothers of children with CP, it is important to explore the challenges experienced. All studies conducted previously on cerebral palsy in Zambia focus on impairments and difficulties experienced by children with CP and none of the mothers’ challenges have been explored. The aim of this study therefore was to explore the challenges that mothers of children with cerebral palsy experience in Ndola, Zambia. The study was conducted at two rehabilitation centers (Twapia and Mushili) under the Community Based Rehabilitation (CBR) catchment area in Ndola. A qualitative research design was employed. The mothers were stratified and purposefully selected and interviews were stopped once theoretical saturation was reached. Permission to conduct the research was obtained from relevant bodies and ethical issues were observed throughout the study. Sixteen (16) mothers of children with CP were interviewed. In-depth interviews were done using an interview guide which was designed after extensive review of literature. The interviews were audio recorded. The recorded data was transcribed verbatim and thematic analysis was used to analyze the data. The results showed that the mothers faced many challenges which included emotional, physical health, socio-economic, environmental, misdiagnosis of the condition of their children, marital problems and lack of implementation of policies regarding children with CP by the Zambian government

No abstract available. / Dissertation (LLM)--University of Pretoria, 2012. / gm2014 / Centre for Human Rights / unrestricted

No abstract available. / Dissertation (LLM)--University of Pretoria, 2012. / gm2014 / Centre for Human Rights / unrestricted

Magister Artium (Development Studies) - MA(DVS) / This research foregrounds the experiences of raising a family as a refugee parent in Cape Town, using a case study of Somali refugee parents. Global reports have shown that international migrants make up 3.5% of the world’s population, an estimated 272 million people. In Sub-Saharan Africa, 88.9% of international migrants have been displaced and reside within the Sub-Saharan African countries. Somali migrants arrived in South Africa due to a civil war that ravaged Somalia for over 20 years. Several studies investigated the migrants’ experiences in the host country