Cultural representations of bushfire have long reflected the importance of these events in both the nation’s history and in popular imagination. / The central argument of this thesis is that depictions of fire in literature, art, film and popular culture have demonstrated the capacity to shape community understandings of bushfire behaviour and may influence the way in which people respond to and behave during such emergencies. In support of this, the role that bushfire has played in popular culture is explored and the perpetuation of certain myths and understandings through a range of cultural expressions is examined. It is contended that these cultural artefacts can have a direct impact upon community understanding of bushfires, their place in the Australian landscape and — importantly — how the broader community respond to such events. / The work discerns the shift in attitude towards bushfire in such cultural expressions from the 19th century until the present day. One purpose of the research is to posit whether such influences may act as impediments to the delivery of community bushfire education programs. / The structure of the thesis incorporates an introductory review of relevant literature and theoretical material. As the study of the cultural interpretation of disaster in Australia is in its infancy, pertinent overseas research is examined that identifies theoretical models that may be applied to bushfires in Australia. In particular, the representation of bushfire in • visual art • children’s literature; • adult fiction; is examined in detail. / Primary texts and artistic works will be examined for evidence of the understandings about bushfire that they generate or sustain. These interpretations will be compared with scientific and experiential understandings of bushfire behaviour and to the limited literature in disaster studies that has examined myths and perceptions of such events. / In the visual arts, fire has an obvious attraction for practitioners, both during its impact and in its aftermath. There has been an evident revival of interest in fire as a theme in the late 20th and early 21st centuries parallel to the intense interest artists showed in these events at the end of the 19th century. / Juvenile literature in Australia has produced extensive manifestations of bushfire representations. Fire lends itself to depiction in this genre for a number of reasons. It has been used, for example, to locate stories in a distinctly Australian context. It provides the elements of danger and adventure that allow for the development of strong narratives. Finally, it has a bold visual element that lends itself to pictorial interpretations. There is significant theoretical support for the idea that knowledge learned at this stage of a person’s development is retained until much later in life. / Conversely, bushfire appears to be relatively unusual as the basis for adult fiction, although (particularly in the 19th century) it is often incorporated into the background landscape. There are only a handful of adult novels in which bushfire is central to the narrative, while there are many in which it forms part of the backdrop.

<p>The main purpose with this study was to get an insight in how to best be able to help children with language difficulties, and learn to see those who are in need of extra help and attention.</p><p>The study is the result of three separate interviews with a speech therapist, a preschool teacher, and a teacher for children with special needs. The other information that my study is built on comes from books.</p><p>The answers that I got from the interviews questions, have I built my discussions from.</p><p>Since I only have done three interviews, can´t I do any general conclusions, from my findings.</p><p>The answers that I got shows that it`s not always the same answers from the speech therapist, preschool teacher and the teacher for children with special needs, are the same. But most of the answers had a similar conclusion. The most important finding in my study, which also the literature agrees with, is that. It´s always important to read out loud to the children.</p><p>Keywords: language difficulties, exertion, learning to speech and communication.</p> / <p>Huvudsyftet med studien var att få en inblick i hur man på bästa sätt ska kunna hjälpa barn som har språksvårigheter, att man även ska kunna lära sig hur man kan se på barn som behöver extra hjälp.</p><p>Studien har kommit fram genom att jag har gjort intervjuer med en logoped, en förskolelärare och en speciallärare som på olika sätt har kontakt med barn som har språksvårigheter. Den övriga informationen som jag har tagit med i mitt arbete har bestått av böcker.</p><p>Genom svaren som jag har fått på mina intervjufrågor har jag byggt min diskussion utifrån. Eftersom att jag bara har gjort tre intervjuer så kan man inte dra någon generell slutsats i mina svar som jag fick på frågorna.</p><p>Svaren som jag fick på mina frågor visar att det är inte alltid som logoped, förskolelärare och specialpedagoger tycker lika. Fast på de flesta frågorna stämde svaren någorlunda överrens. Det viktigaste som jag fick fram i min undersökning som även stämde in på vad litteratur sade, var att det är alltid bra att läsa högt för barnen.</p><p>Nyckelord: språksvårigheter, bemötande, språkutveckling och kommunikation.</p>

No description available.

Officially in 1934, socialist realism emerged in Soviet society as the new cultural aesthetic, providing an artistic framework for all forms of cultural productionart, music, architecture and literature. In the realm of childrens writing, socialist realism had particularly interesting effects on the themes and formulas that were utilized by authors. Though once thought to represent the tsarist and peasant past, the Party encouraged the use of traditional folk elements to popularize the new overtly Soviet tales, despite the apparent unorthodoxy. Similarly, authors were encouraged to reintroduce the hero, also seemingly unorthodox in what was a theoretically collective society. Nonetheless, heroic themes and characters emerged to recognize achievements in industry and the drive for modernization, encourage vigilance against internal and external spies and saboteurs, propagandize the Soviet war effort against Germany, and honour Soviet soldiers for their sacrifices. Soviet childrens books demonstrated to youth the communist qualities of selflessness and devotion to the collective, and about the dangers of idleness. Children learned that the Soviet Union was to be the new Soviet family, replacing the bond of blood kinship. The leader cult filtered down to childrens books and Stalin made a significant appearance as the father of all heroes. This thesis argues that the Party recognized the value of childrens literature for shaping the character development of young readers. Popular in their own right, childrens books were not able to avoid the manipulation and control of the Party, which employed them as tools of propaganda. However, it is difficult to separate the extent of their genuine popularity from their appeal as propaganda.

No description available.

Behaving in a socially competent manner (i.e., interacting with other social actors in an effective manner by adjusting one’s goals and behaviours according to the demands of various social situations) is a complex process that requires various cognitive skills. The purpose of the current study was to determine the unique contributions of executive functions, theory of mind and verbal skills to socially competent behaviours in either a cooperative or a competitive context. The impact of manipulating children’s perspective-taking (e.g., taking the perspective of another person) on their socially appropriate behaviours was also investigated. Pairs of children completed a cooperative and a competitive social task together and were assigned to either focus on their own or another’s perspective. Children then completed measures of executive functioning, theory of mind, and verbal skills. Results revealed that executive functioning was related to more appropriate social behaviours in the cooperative task, even when controlling for theory of mind and verbal skills; however, this relation was not found in the competitive task. Furthermore, there was no significant effect of the manipulation of perspective-taking on children’s behaviours. These findings indicate that executive functions make a unique contribution to children’s socially competent behaviours in a cooperative social context.

Officially in 1934, socialist realism emerged in Soviet society as the new cultural aesthetic, providing an artistic framework for all forms of cultural productionart, music, architecture and literature. In the realm of childrens writing, socialist realism had particularly interesting effects on the themes and formulas that were utilized by authors. Though once thought to represent the tsarist and peasant past, the Party encouraged the use of traditional folk elements to popularize the new overtly Soviet tales, despite the apparent unorthodoxy. Similarly, authors were encouraged to reintroduce the hero, also seemingly unorthodox in what was a theoretically collective society. Nonetheless, heroic themes and characters emerged to recognize achievements in industry and the drive for modernization, encourage vigilance against internal and external spies and saboteurs, propagandize the Soviet war effort against Germany, and honour Soviet soldiers for their sacrifices. Soviet childrens books demonstrated to youth the communist qualities of selflessness and devotion to the collective, and about the dangers of idleness. Children learned that the Soviet Union was to be the new Soviet family, replacing the bond of blood kinship. The leader cult filtered down to childrens books and Stalin made a significant appearance as the father of all heroes. This thesis argues that the Party recognized the value of childrens literature for shaping the character development of young readers. Popular in their own right, childrens books were not able to avoid the manipulation and control of the Party, which employed them as tools of propaganda. However, it is difficult to separate the extent of their genuine popularity from their appeal as propaganda.

The purpose of this research project was to examine representations of male characters and masculinity in Disney animated feature films. Social learning theory, gender and hegemonic masculinity were used to theoretically frame this study. Twenty-two movies were examined; a total of ninety-one characters were included in the analysis. The movies included in the sample were produced between 1930 and 2007. This study sought to examine the dimensions of character descriptions, physical descriptions, socioeconomic status, sexuality, family structures and practices, and aggression as well as to understand how constructions of masculinity in Disney films changed over time. The results of the present study regarding character role indicate that good characters were most often middle aged, slender and fit but not muscular, single, royalty, and had community as family. They were most often heterosexual, equally likely to be romantically involved as to be not romantically involved, were sexual in nature, and were most often the victims of physical aggression. Evil characters were most often middle aged, slender and fit but not muscular, single, royalty, had community as family, and were well dressed. Evil characters were most likely to trap other characters and to steal. Neutral characters were most often old/elderly, overweight and not muscular, and were most often employed as inventors, royalty, and diamond miners. They were also most often single and to have community as family. The results regarding character centrality indicated that central characters were most often white, slender and fit but not muscular, single, middle aged, showed physical strength, and were well dressed compared to peripheral characters. Central characters were heterosexual, romantically involved, sexual in nature, engaged in hand to hand fighting, and engaged in social isolation and name calling. Peripheral characters were most often white, slender and fit but not muscular, single, and also more likely than central characters to be old/elderly. For the analysis of masculinity across time, it was found that the types of masculinity shown in Disney films did not match with hegemonic masculinity historically. Overall, the most common theme of masculinity that was observed throughout all decades was the fatherhood movement.

Thesis (EdD)--Open University.

Thesis (doctoral)--Göteborgs universitet, 1983. / Summary in English and German. Includes bibliographical references (p. 283-302) and index.