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The aim of this thesis is to find out if there is a gap between the formalization level and the realization level in the Namibian school system. Moreover, our aim is to figure out how we, as visiting teaching students, interpret the relationship between steering documents and the teaching in the classroom. In turn, the aim was used to formulate three different research questions: What can we experience while observing in the class room/at school? What do the interviewed teachers express concerning our asked questions? What are the main differences between the two latest steering documents? The reason why we decided to do a study about the school system in Namibia is because it is a young country, it was proclaimed independent in 1990. Therefore we think it is interesting to study how the school system and its political steering documents have developed over the years. Our theoretical framework includes the concept of curriculum, reconceptualism and cultural issues. Our focal point has been on the following three perspectives, democracy, gender and learner centred education. The method we used in this study is triangulation, in this case analyzing political steering documents, interviewing teachers and other people connected to the school and finally class room observations. The attitudes to the three above mentioned perspectives vary amongst the interviewed personnel This study as come to the conclusion that there is a gap between the formalization level and realization level.

Many scholars who study in social mobility have observed that the social status of the father does influence their children on how they will gain their social status in the future; however, it is the education those children receive that strongly influences their status in society. As the government proceeds with the policy of "Go South" and grants people the permission of visiting their relatives that dwell in Mainland China, an unrest wave of cross-border marriage was thus brought up. At the moment, it has been the time that the second generation of these cross- border marriages enters school and begins their compulsory education. According to several scholars' observation, these people who are cross- borderly engaged receive lower social status; therefore, the issue that whether their children would confront difficulties when they receive education has obviously become a fervent topic of public affairs. Accordingly, this study aims to investigate the children of the newly immigrant brides who have been in the elementary schools of Peng-hu County in the school year of 2003. In this research, the family background of the students is independent variable while the students¡¦ self-adaptation in elementary school is a dependent variable. How these variables influence one another are discussed in this study in order to figure out whether these children of newly immigrant brides confront any specific difficulties if they are facing problems in their learning at schools. Questionnaires were distributed for the empinical data, and the results were examined through descriptives, t-test,ANOVA and chi-square test, and after which, further inference and calculations were made. The findings of the study show as follow: 1. The school performance, learning attitude and the self-adaptation of the children of newly immigrant brides in Peng-hu County does not fall behind those of native children. This result differs to the general perceptions that the adaptation of these children from newly immigrant brides can not catch up with other native children. 2. The families of these newly immigrant brides in Peng-hu tend to be with low social and economical status. 3. The children whose mother come from Mainland China embrace better performance in language learning than native children, especially in learning ¡§Chinese spelling alphabets¡¨ and ¡§oral speaking competence.¡¨ However, no significant differences were found among these children in learning mathematics . 4. A mother¡¦s Mandarin ability influences her children¡¦s academic performance. 5. The writing ability of children of newly immigrant brides in Peng-hu County depends on the proportion between teacher and student at school. Suggestion: It is the first time we face the issue that the second generation of these cross- border marriages begin their education in school in Taiwan. If the survey could be directed and made by the Ministry of Education, different results come from differednt region study and different approaches could possibly be avoided, and the wrong decision making could also be prevented.

A cross age study was conducted to investigate 6th, 7th and 8th grade students&rsquo / value orientations, environmental optimism, and environmental concern. In addition, gender and grade level differences in the environmental-related attributes were examined. A total of 938 (491 girls and 447 boys) students attending public schools located in Kelkit, the district of Gumushane, were administered a questionnaire consisting of Demographics, Environmental Attitudes and Apathy Scales, Environmental Concern Scale , Environmental Optimism Scale, Locus of Control Scale and Conservation Behavior Scale. In general, students who participated in the current study found to endorse eco-centric attitudes, and express a high degree of concern as well as optimism level about the current and future state of the environmental issues and problems. They also seemed to be interested in environmental issues and problems and perceived environmental problems as one of the two or three most important problems currently being faced. In order to examine the role of gender and grade level on students&rsquo / environmental attitudes, two separate two-way MANOVAs were conducted. The results revealed a statistically significant gender and grade level differences both on students&rsquo / ecocentric, apathy and anthropocentric attitudes and on students&rsquo / environmental optimism and concern levels.

This thesis examines whether or not differences in people’s water conservation attitudes, political party orientation, severity of drought, and attention to drought news affect their engagement in water conservation behavior during a time of continued water shortage. Previously, it has been found that attitudes are predictive of intentions that relate to behaviors (e.g., Dietz et al. 2005). Democrats have been shown to be more pro-environmental then Republicans (e.g., Dunlap et al. 2000). It has also been found that severity of drought is positively related with environmental concern (e.g., Accury and Christianson 1990), and access to news information is directly related to willingness to take action (e.g., Johnson and Scicchitano 2000). However, during a time of drought, what is the relationship between individual water conservation attitudes and behaviors? Do conventional understandings of political party orientation and water conservation behaviors hold during a time of drought? Do those living in counties that experience more severe drought engage in more water conservation behaviors? Do those who pay more attention to drought news engage in more water conservation behaviors? Using data from Georgia’s 2007 Peach State Poll, I explore the answers to these questions. I examine how water conservation attitudes (Model 1), political party orientation (Model 2), drought severity (Model 3), attention to drought news (Model 4), sociodemographics, controls, and other factors from models 1-4 (Model 5) influenced water conservation behavior during the 2007 Georgia drought. Results indicate that differences in people’s water conservation attitudes, political party orientation, drought severity, and attention to drought news did not significantly affect their water conservation behavior during the 2007 drought. However, race, class, and gender variables in the full model did have a significant effect, which seems to suggest that one’s location in the social stratification system affects their opportunities to engage in water conservation behavior. Therefore, environmental policy issues should not be considered apart from social issues. The fundamental theoretical significance of the following research is that we affect and are in turn affected by the biophysical world in a dialectic fashion. Recognizing the quality, quantity, and interrelatedness of nature-society relationships is essential for future research.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of employee motives regarding select leadership-OCB relationships. Based on previous research, it was hypothesized that the relationships observed between transformational leadership and various dimensions of OCB would be mediated by subordinate Organizational Concern. In contrast, the relationship between LMX-quality and subordinate Altruism was predicted to be either mediated or moderated by subordinate Prosocial Values. Two hundred and one part-time and full-time employees (subordinates and supervisors) served as participants in this study, representing a total of 13 organizations in the Southeast United States. Results were based on a final sample of 131 supervisor-subordinate pairs. In general, participants responded to questionnaires that measured transformational leadership, LMX-quality, and OCB Motives (i.e., Prosocial Values, Organizational Concern, and Impression Management). Both subordinate and supervisor ratings of OCB were also collected. Analyses were based upon Baron and Kennys (1986) approach for mediation and moderation, as well as the Aroian version (1944/1947) of the Sobel test (1982). Across self- and supervisor-reports of OCB, results revealed that the Organizational Concern Motive significantly mediated the relationship between transformational leadership and various dimensions of OCB (Conscientiousness, Sportsmanship, Courtesy, and Civic Virtue). Results also supported the Prosocial Values Motive as a partial mediator in the relationship between LMX-quality and self-reported Altruism. Surprisingly, a stronger mediating effect was consistently observed for the Organizational Concern Motive across both leadership styles and all five of Organs (1988) OCB dimensions. In contrast, no evidence was found for either motive with regard to moderation. Results also differed based on leadership perspective (subordinate versus supervisor). Taken as a whole, these results suggest that both transformational leadership and LMX-quality are strongly associated with an employees general concern for the organization. This motive is, in turn, associated with a variety of citizenship behaviors. In summary, this evidence addresses an important gap in the OCB literature by providing evidence for an indirect relationship between leadership perceptions and OCB.

Bedömningen av företagets fortsatta drift, eller ”going concern” är en av revisorernasuppgifter. För att underlätta denna bedömning har en förhållandevis ny revisionsstandardkommit fram i Sverige, RS 570. Denna standard fungerar som en vägledning för hur enrevisor skall agera när väsentliga osäkerhetsfaktorer kring fortlevnaden är för handen. Dennastandard tar varken hänsyn till de olika förhållanden som karaktäriserar varje bransch ellerföretagens storlek, utan gäller på ett generellt plan. Vår studie syftar till att beskriva ochanalysera revisorernas träffsäkerhet vid bedömningen av ”going concern” för aktiebolag somgått i konkurs i Sverige. Vidare kommer vi att kartlägga och beskriva om det finns någonskillnad i träffsäkerheten och bedömningen av ”going concern” i förhållande till företagensbranschtillhörighet och storlek. Vi har även jämfört dessa mot anmärkning på förbrukat egetkapital och revisionsberättelsens utfall (ren eller oren) då de har en nära koppling till ”goingconcern”. Vi har gjort både en kvantitativ och kvalitativ studie utifrån material från ettforskningsprojekt på Mittuniversitetet i Sundsvall. Den data som vi fick ta del av bestod av801 företag som gick i konkurs under januari och februari 2009. Med hjälp av detta materialhar vi därefter gjort statistiska undersökningar och kommit fram till att den generellaträffsäkerheten ligger på cirka 12 procent. När det gäller företagens branschtillhörighet fannvi ingen skillnad vid ”going concern” bedömningar, anmärkning på förbrukat eget kapitaleller ren/oren revisionsberättelse. Vi fann heller ingen skillnad när det gäller ”going concern”bedömningar i förhållande till företagens storlek. Däremot fann vi en signifikant skillnad vidanmärkningar på förbrukat eget kapital respektive revisionsberättelsens utfall, där små företagär mer benägna att få en anmärkning på förbrukat eget kapital respektive orenrevisionsberättelse än stora företag. Vår slutsats är att träffsäkerheten är oacceptabelt lågvilket gör att vi ställer oss frågande till om revisorerna skall ha till uppgift att bedömaföretagens fortsatta drift. En alternativ lösning är att förändra arbetsprocessen för att höjaträffsäkerheten till en acceptabel nivå. Detta kan ske i form av branschspecialisering, vilkettorde öka den allmänna revisionskvaliteten och även träffsäkerheten i ”going concern”bedömningar. / The assessment of the company's continued operation, or "going concern" is one of theauditors' duties. To facilitate this assessment, a relatively new auditing standard has emergedin Sweden, RS 570. This standard serves as a guide for how an auditor should act whensignificant uncertainties’ surrounding the survival is at hand. This standard does not take thedifferent circumstances that characterize each industry or company size into account, butappears in a general plan. Our study aims to describe and analyze the auditors' accuracy inassessing the "going concern" for companies that went bankrupt in Sweden. Furthermore, wewill identify and describe if there is any difference in accuracy and assessment of "goingconcern" in relation to business size and industry affiliation. We also compared these to thedepleted equity and audit report outcomes (clean or qualified) as they have close links to the"going concern". We have made both a quantitative and qualitative study based on materialfrom a research project at Mid Sweden University in Sundsvall. The data that we receivedconsisted of 801 companies that went bankrupt in January and February 2009. Using thismaterial, we have subsequently done surveys and found that the overall accuracy is around 12percent. We found no difference in "going concern" assessments, observation of depletedequity or clean / qualified audit report between industries. We also found no difference interms of "going concern" assessments in relation to their size. On the other hand, we found asignificant difference in the remarks on the depleted equity and audit report outcomes, wheresmall firms are more likely to get a comment on the depleted equity and qualified opinionthan large companies. We conclude that the accuracy is unacceptably low, which makes uscritical whether the auditors should have the task of assessing companies’ continued operationat all. An alternative solution is to change the work process to increase accuracy to anacceptable level. This change may be done through an industry specialization, which shouldincrease the overall audit quality as well as accuracy in “going concern” judgements.

If auditors question a company’s ability to continue existing, they should issue a going concern opinion in the audit report. Whether or not auditors will issue a going concern opinion depends on auditors’ ability to identify going concern problems, as well as their decision whether or not to issue going concern opinions. In Sweden, the going concern accuracy rate has been low compared to other countries. The aim of this study is therefore to analyse whether it is auditors’ lack of ability to identify going concern problems or their decision not to issue a going concern opinion, or perhaps both, that could explain the relatively low accuracy rate. Interviews with four auditors from the Big Four audit firms and four CFOs from middle sized companies were conducted. The results show that there are factors speaking both for and against auditors’ ability to identify going concern problems, why we cannot say for sure whether auditors’ lack of ability to identify going concern problems could be an explanation to the relatively low accuracy rate. The results do however reveal that auditors actively make decisions not to issue going concern opinions to their clients as much as possible, which could explain the relatively low accuracy rate.

Companies are under increasing pressure from every category of stakeholder, from government and community to supply chain and consumer, to improve the environmental sustainability of their operations, products and services. To be most successful with environmental sustainability improvement initiatives, a company must have the commitment and effort of its employees. The purpose of this research is to study the effect of the company’s approach to the initiative on the level of employee commitment to the company’s environmental sustainability goals. This research was conducted with a two-factor, factorial experiment. The experimental factors were construal level and small wins framing. Each of these factors had two levels, creating a 2x2 design with four treatment level combinations. A third study factor was environmental concern. Four other variables, goal difficulty, perceived organizational efficacy, gender and age, were included in the model as control variables. The dependent variable was goal commitment. Approximately 150 participants were recruited for the experiment and randomly assigned to one of the four fixed, treatment combinations. Hierarchical regression was used to estimate the factors’ main and interaction effects, as well as the significance of the control variables. Neither of the two manipulated variables, construal level and small wins, was found to have a significant main effect on goal commitment. There were, however, significant interactions between environmental concern and construal level, and between environmental concern and small wins framing, on goal commitment. At high levels of environmental concern, the effects of construal level and small wins were as hypothesized, but at low levels of environmental concern, the effects of construal level and small wins were opposite of what was expected. Additionally, both organizational efficacy and gender were found to significantly affect one’s goal commitment.

Diabetes typ1 är en av de vanligaste kroniska sjukdomar hos barn och är en allvarlig sjukdom som hela tiden kräver god kontroll och egenvård. Eftersom barnet tillbringar en stor del av dagen i skolan behöver egenvården fungera bra även där. Som lärare kommer man troligtvis att möta elever som har eller insjuknar i diabetes typ 1. Syftet Var att ta reda på om lärare anser att de har tillräcklig kun- skap om diabetes för att kunna vara delaktig i dess egenvård samt hur de får kunskap och informat- ion om diabetes. Jag ville även ta reda på om de upplever oro kopplat till elevens sjukdom och oro kring ansvarstagandet i samband med elevens egenvård. Följande frågeställningar har använts: Hur upplever lärare det medicinska ansvaret i mötet med elever med diabetes? Vad orsakar oro respek- tive skapar trygghet hos lärare till elev med diabetes? Hur ser lärarna på sin egen kunskap om diabe- tes, anser de sig ha tillräcklig kunskap? Hur har lärarna fått information och kunskap om diabetes? Insamling av data har skett genom skriftliga kvalitativa intervjuer via e-post och litteraturstudie. Re- sultatet visar att kunskapen om diabetes är viktig. När Lärarna har den kunskap som de anser sig be- höva i arbetet med eleven med diabetes leder det till ett tryggare arbete och först då uppfattar de sin kunskap som tillräcklig. Okunskap tillsammans med rädsla för akutsituation är de faktorer som skapar oro hos lärarna. Undersökningen visar på tre källor som lärarna anger som informatörer: från föräldrar, eget initiativ och genom erfarenhet eller bekantskap.