Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-28T20:57:43Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Maria Lucia Spadini da Silva.pdf: 820416 bytes, checksum: 13d88a011624f288076d7ee7d3267bc2 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2008-10-14 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / This study is part of a research-intervention Participation and Dialogue , performed by PUC-SP researcher group Educational Practical and Psycho Educational in the family, school and community , in an Elementary School from a suburbian neighborhood of the city of São Paulo. Its objectives are to comprehend the movements of approximation between school and families of students from forth grade that aren t literates and check how teachers perceive the participation of families in their process of learning. This is a qualitative research which data have been collected from observation of collectives meetings between Common-Pedagogical team and researchers in order to know the situation faced by these students. The data collected were analyzed according to the conceptions on relationship family-school brought by Lahire, Thin, Perrenoud and Szymanski. These references show the confrontation that happens between both Institutions and that comes mainly from the disrespect of the family culture also in opposition to the school culture; by the myth of the non participation of parents in monitoring of their children school s life; by guilting the family of their children failure or success; by the stereotypical model of family, on which school support itself to promote integration; and by some school s actions promote more withdrawal than approach to the families. Believing that approaching family and school is important to improve the quality of teaching, the reference also demonstrates the possibilities that may promote meeting spaces between both Institutions. The analysis of data demonstrated that the teachers referred to families experiences of students with difficulties at school as one of elements that helped the comprehension of their situation in classroom. Moreover the data showed that the technical team acknowledge of non literation situation of some students in forth grade, developed with the teachers, distinguished teaching activities, looking for improving the performance of these students. This pedagogical making improved by dialogical point of view from school and from researchers, strengthened the relationship between teachers and students promoting a progress in their way of literacy. The incentive to teachers to promote more contact with families led in planning a more welcoming with parents focused in students possibilities and advances. This point of view provided to families positive and indicative feelings of a higher approach to school / Este estudo é parte de uma pesquisa-intervenção Participação e Diálogo , realizada pelo grupo de pesquisas da PUC-SP Práticas educativas e atenção psicoeducacional na família, escola e comunidade , numa escola Municipal de Ensino Fundamental de um bairro periférico da cidade de São Paulo, Tem por objetivos compreender os movimentos de aproximação da escola com as famílias dos alunos das quartas séries que não estavam alfabetizados e verificar como as professoras percebem a participação das famílias no processo de aprendizagem. Trata-se de uma pesquisa qualitativa, em que os dados foram coletados a partir da observação de encontros coletivos, realizados entre a equipe técnicopedagógica escolar e as pesquisadoras, para conhecimento da situação vivida por esses alunos. Os dados coletados foram analisados a partir das concepções sobre a relação família-escola trazidas por Lahire, Thin, Perrenoud e Szymanski. Esse referencial demonstra os confrontos que acontecem entre as duas instituições e que são gerados principalmente pela desconsideração da cultura familiar como sendo diferente da cultura escolar; pelo mito da não participação dos pais no acompanhamento da vida escolar dos filhos; pela culpabilização da família, pelo fracasso ou sucesso do aluno na escola; pelo modelo estereotipado de família, no qual a escola se apóia para promover uma integração; e por ações geradas por parte da escola, que mais promovem o afastamento do que a aproximação com as famílias. Acreditando que a aproximação escola-família importante para melhorar a qualidade do ensino, o referencial também aponta para as possibilidades que promovem espaços de encontro entre as duas instituições. A análise dos dados demonstrou que as professoras reportavam-se às vivências familiares dos alunos com dificuldades escolares, como um dos elementos que facilitam a compreensão da situação vivida por eles em sala de aula. Os dados mostraram também que a equipe técnica, a partir do diagnóstico da situação de não alfabetização de alguns alunos das quartas séries, passou a desenvolver, com as professoras, atividades pedagógicas diferenciadas, visando melhorar o desempenho desses alunos. Esse fazer pedagógico, favorecido por uma postura dialógica da escola e das pesquisadoras, fortaleceu a relação entre professoras e alunos, promovendo um avanço dos mesmos no caminho da alfabetização. O incentivo às professoras para promover maior contato com as famílias resultou no planejamento de uma reunião de pais mais acolhedora, focada nas possibilidades e avanços dos alunos, mais do que nos seus fracassos. Essa postura proporcionou às famílias sentimentos positivos e indicativos de uma maior aproximação com a escola

Submitted by Marlene Aparecida de Souza Cardozo (mcardozo@pucsp.br) on 2016-12-19T16:23:00Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Valéria Nicolau Paschoal.pdf: 3718463 bytes, checksum: a110ca5d0455634bc6a1de611f2ad18a (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-12-19T16:23:00Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Valéria Nicolau Paschoal.pdf: 3718463 bytes, checksum: a110ca5d0455634bc6a1de611f2ad18a (MD5) Previous issue date: 2016-11-22 / This study is characterized as a research-action, resulting from the claim of a school interested in providing the possibilities of perception wideness and a characterization that the teachers have from their students, which many times they are marked by negative and depreciative denotations. It was developed through collaborative and dialogic practices, which were brought to create a space that would enable the improvement of relationships in the scholar environment. According to UNESCO (2016), education must be integrated and humanist through the development of competencies to reach the living in society, becoming a viable way to enable people to respond to the transformations and challenges of present times. The four pillars of education for the 21st century – learn to know, learn to make, learn to be and to live together – they need to be incorporated in the implementation of the educational programs of the schools. The search for a construction of a conversational context organized for the promotion of new types and qualities of connections between teachers-students and students-students evidencing two pillars that represent the social function of a school: which are learning to be and learning to live together, started from the four pillars concept and was based on the social constructionism ideas and on the narrative and collaborative practices. Since this is a research-action, the research made use of procedures which were adapted to each of its four phases including: a free meetings and an interview with the curator; meetings with the teachers; meetings with the parents or with those responsible for the student; workshops of selfknowledge and reflective processes with students and teachers; feedbacks from all participants; and assessment meetings with teachers. The parts who took part of this research are: the curator, six teachers from the 1st to the 5th teaching course, one teacher assistant, ten children (from the age of seven to ten), their parents/or those responsible for them and the school group. The intervention made didn’t intend to find out a new problem and to resolve it, but it did have the proposition of building together with the participants new ways to be and to live together, re-affirming the social function of the school and its commitments with the transformation of the current reality. The narratives generated from this experience, were analyzed according to the social poetics and they were organized, being considered as arresting moments, around four categories: the effects of the collaborative and dialogic practices in the scholar context; considerations about the function of the school and their teachers in the 21st century; the collaborative posture in the implementation of such practices; and the development of the research through the planning of new actions. The application of this model to the scholar context was proved to be viable and useful for the construction of a more agreeable environment encouraging people to be together, mainly for the fact that it talks about values and because it triggers thoughts and attitudes to be reviewed, giving visibility to aspects of the participants’ life that weren’t noticed by them before the application of this experience / Este trabalho caracteriza-se como uma pesquisa-ação, resultante da demanda de uma escola interessada em fornecer possibilidades de ampliação da percepção e descrição que professores têm de seus alunos, muitas vezes marcada por denotações negativas e depreciativas. Desenvolveu-se por meio de práticas colaborativas e dialógicas, desenhadas para criar um espaço que facilitasse a melhoria das relações no ambiente escolar. Segundo a UNESCO (2016), a educação deve ser integrada e humanista pelo desenvolvimento de competências para o viver em sociedade, tornando-se um caminho viável para a formação de pessoas capazes de responderem às transformações e desafios da atualidade. Os quatro pilares da educação para o século XXI – aprender a conhecer, a fazer, a viver juntos e a ser – precisam ser incorporados na implementação dos programas das escolas. A partir desta proposta e baseada nas ideias construcionistas sociais e nas práticas colaborativas e narrativas, buscou-se a construção de um contexto conversacional organizado para a promoção de novos tipos e qualidades de conexões entre professores-alunos e alunos-alunos, evidenciando dois pilares: aprender a viver juntos e aprender a ser. Tratando-se de uma pesquisa-ação, utilizou-se de procedimentos adequados a cada uma das quatro fases que a compõem, incluindo: reunião livre e entrevista com a mantenedora; encontros com professores; reunião com pais e/ou responsáveis; oficinas de autoconhecimento e processos reflexivos com alunos e professores; feedbacks de todos os participantes; e encontros avaliativos com professores. Participaram da pesquisa: a mantenedora, seis professoras do Ensino Fundamental I (1o ao 5o ano), uma auxiliar de sala, dez crianças (de sete a dez anos de idade), seus pais e/ou responsáveis, e a equipe escolar. A intervenção realizada não teve o propósito de descobrir um problema e solucioná-lo, mas de construir juntamente com os participantes, novas possibilidades de ser e de conviver, reafirmando a função social da escola e seu compromisso com a transformação da realidade. As narrativas geradas a partir desta experiência, foram analisadas de acordo com a poética social e organizadas em momentos marcantes em torno de quatro categorias: efeitos da prática colaborativa e dialógica no contexto escolar; considerações sobre a função da escola e dos professores no século XXI; postura colaborativa na implementação de tais práticas; e desdobramentos da pesquisa pelo planejamento de novas ações. A aplicação desse modelo ao contexto escolar mostrou-se viável e útil na construção de um ambiente de convivência mais harmonioso, principalmente por abordar valores e encorajar a revisão de pensamentos e atitudes, dando visibilidade a aspectos de vida dos participantes que não eram percebidos por eles antes desta experiência

Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-28T18:22:50Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Bruno Tateish.pdf: 2738906 bytes, checksum: f475e34fa1ca9c0335391b9968083a79 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2014-04-07 / Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico / Lusophony is a concept built in the intersection of Portuguese speaking cultures. Despite their marks of identity, heterogeneity can be found in linguistic manifestations that bring out the diversity of the concept. In order to understand the issue of Lusophony in the Macanese context, this study aims to observe the construction of this concept in Amor e dedinhos de pé by Henrique de Senna Fernandes, a Macao writer (1923-2010), who is considered a significant representative of literature written in Portuguese. Based on the objective of this research, we seek to answer the following research questions: 1) In what way does the chosen work contribute to the understanding of the concept of Lusophony in the Macanese context? 2) As Henrique de Senna Fernandes is Macanese, how does he represent the relationship between cultures that interfere with the construction of this concept? In order to answer these questions and to achieve the objective of this research, we will first offer an overview of the history of the Portuguese presence in Macao. Besides colleting elements of the history of the Portuguese colonization of Macao, we will present a brief overview of the literature in Portuguese produced in Macau and a brief study on the characteristics that underlie the composition of the works of Henrique de Senna Fernandes. Then, we will carry out a study on the concept of Lusophony, trying to establish relationships with some concepts developed by the Bakhtin Circle, such as identity and otherness. The study of Amor e dedinhos de pé, taken as a corpus of this work, will be divided into three parts: the search for elements that prove the existence of interculturalism in Macao, the analysis of the character Chico Frontaria as an element of contrast between Portuguese and Chinese cultures, and, finally, the issue of multilingualism in the book. This work is justified by the need to further studies on Macao and also to reflect upon the concept of Lusophony in an enunciative-discursive perspective, situating, by means of the corpus and the theoretical framework chosen, some aspects of the heterogeneity that promotes controversies among researchers and participants of the Lusophony world. This research aims to contribute to a better understanding of these issues, as conceived in works of Macanese history and literature, situating the problem in Applied Linguistics, in the contemporary discussion on identities and differences / Lusofonia é um conceito construído na intersecção de culturas de língua portuguesa. Apesar das marcas identitárias de cada uma delas, a heterogeneidade pode ser constatada em manifestações linguísticas que trazem à tona a diversidade do conceito. O objetivo deste trabalho, com o intuito de entender a questão da Lusofonia no contexto de Macau, é observar a construção deste conceito na obra Amor e dedinhos de pé, de Henrique de Senna Fernandes, escritor macaense (1923-2010), considerado significativo representante da literatura de expressão em língua portuguesa. Partindo do objetivo desta pesquisa, buscamos responder às seguintes perguntas de pesquisa: 1) Em que a obra escolhida contribui para a compreensão do conceito de Lusofonia no contexto de Macau? 2) Sendo o autor Henrique de Senna Fernandes macaense, de que maneira apresenta a relação entre culturas que interferem na construção desse conceito? Para responder a estas perguntas e alcançar o objetivo desta pesquisa realizaremos, em primeira instância, uma síntese da história da presença dos portugueses em Macau. Além do levantamento de elementos da história da colonização portuguesa em Macau, será elaborado um breve panorama da literatura de expressão em língua portuguesa produzida em Macau e um estudo sucinto sobre as características que permeiam a composição das obras de Henrique de Senna Fernandes. Em seguida, realizaremos um estudo sobre o conceito de Lusofonia, tentando estabelecer algumas relações com conceitos desenvolvidos por Bakhtin e o Círculo, tais como identidade e alteridade. O estudo da obra Amor e dedinhos de pé, tida como corpus deste trabalho, será dividido em três partes: a busca de elementos que comprovam a existência da interculturalidade em Macau, a análise do personagem Chico Frontaria enquanto elemento de contraste entre as culturas portuguesa e chinesa e, por fim, a questão do plurilinguismo na obra. Este trabalho justifica-se pela necessidade da ampliar os estudos sobre Macau e, também, refletir sobre o conceito de Lusofonia, de uma perspectiva enunciativo-discursiva, situando, por meio do corpus e da teoria escolhida, alguns aspectos da heterogeneidade constituinte e promotora de controvérsias entre os estudiosos e partícipes do mundo lusófono. Esta pesquisa pretende contribuir para um maior conhecimento destas questões, conforme concebida em obras de história e de literatura sobre Macau, situando o problema na Linguística Aplicada, em seu sentido contemporâneo de discussão de identidades e diferenças

This thesis aims to present a practical example of how art can become an instrument capable of investigating, showing and facing a social problem. For doing so, art can overcome communication issues; secondly, it can create a “common world” of shared values that leads to changes in society. The ethnographic example shown here is set among the theatrical company of the KulturParken association (Uppsala, Sweden), which works with people with disability. The fieldwork focuses on the development and staging of their theatrical show “Sagan om Liv och Lust” which deals with the problem of sexuality and disability. The thesis structure follows two main arguments: communication process and evolution in society. The arguments are framed and analysed through the embodied knowledge concept and Turner’s theory about ritual in theatre, as well as through Kester’s dialogical and relational aesthetic theory and Rancière’s Dissensus one. This thesis highlights how disability arts and a disability aesthetic allowed the members of the company to develop a personal awareness, leading them to overcome self-imposed barriers and those imposed by society. Moreover, it shows how the receivers of the theatrical message become active actors themselves, carrying forward the communicative process.

<p>The study catered for empirical and metaphysical dimensions of science and IKS. The study employed a quasi-experimental design as well as a qualitative research design. Two cohorts of students from a fictitiously named &ldquo / Culture Secondary School&rdquo / have been used in this study. The list of instruments for data collection were as follows: Conceptions of Fermentation (COF) questionnaire which was used to elicit learners&rsquo / pre- and post-test conceptions of fermentation with special reference to traditional beer or &ldquo / Umqombothi&rdquo / , an Attitudes to Science (ATS) questionnaire which was used to find out the learners&rsquo / worldviews, a Science Achievement Test (SAT) which was used to assess the learners&rsquo / generalised knowledge of fermentation, a classroom observation schedule as well as a focus group interview schedule to gather additional qualitative data. All the instruments were in English with all technical and difficult terms in both English and isiXhosa (the learners&rsquo / home language). Both groups were exposed to Science/IKS-based lessons. The only difference between the two groups was that, the experimental group (E group) was exposed to a Dialogical Argumentation Teaching Model (DAIM) and the comparison group (C group) to a traditional teaching approach. The data gatherred were both analyzed in terms of qualitative and quantitative descriptions.</p>

<p>The study catered for empirical and metaphysical dimensions of science and IKS. The study employed a quasi-experimental design as well as a qualitative research design. Two cohorts of students from a fictitiously named &ldquo / Culture Secondary School&rdquo / have been used in this study. The list of instruments for data collection were as follows: Conceptions of Fermentation (COF) questionnaire which was used to elicit learners&rsquo / pre- and post-test conceptions of fermentation with special reference to traditional beer or &ldquo / Umqombothi&rdquo / , an Attitudes to Science (ATS) questionnaire which was used to find out the learners&rsquo / worldviews, a Science Achievement Test (SAT) which was used to assess the learners&rsquo / generalised knowledge of fermentation, a classroom observation schedule as well as a focus group interview schedule to gather additional qualitative data. All the instruments were in English with all technical and difficult terms in both English and isiXhosa (the learners&rsquo / home language). Both groups were exposed to Science/IKS-based lessons. The only difference between the two groups was that, the experimental group (E group) was exposed to a Dialogical Argumentation Teaching Model (DAIM) and the comparison group (C group) to a traditional teaching approach. The data gatherred were both analyzed in terms of qualitative and quantitative descriptions.</p>

This dissertation is a report on research into the development and evaluation of a career assessment and counselling procedure that falls under the aegis of the constructivist, narrative approach: My Career Chapter: A Dialogical Autobiography. My Career Chapter enables an individual to construct a holistic understanding of his or her career. The procedure facilitates an individual writing and reflecting on an autobiographical account of his or her career that is contextualised amidst systems of career influences. The resulting autobiographical text can be used in career counselling, including co-constructive dialogue between client and counsellor. The literature underpinning the research project is described with a wide-ranging discussion of issues that critically pertain to the research endeavour and essentially provide a primary base for the work. Two theoretical frameworks that exemplify constructivism in vocational psychology underpin the research: the Systems Theory Framework and the Theory of Career Construction. From the base of those two theoretical frameworks, narrative career counselling is explicated and exemplars are described. The Theory of Dialogical Self is introduced to inform the design of My Career Chapter and, ultimately, the theory and practice of narrative career counselling. The research is predominantly positioned within a paradigm of constructivism/interpretivism and the results of the studies are collectively interpreted accordingly; but postpositivism and critical ideological paradigms are present in a secondary form due to the mixture of research methods used in the project as a whole. Six empirical studies investigate the experience of My Career Chapter from the perspective of the developer, the counsellor-user, and the client-user; each explicated with two studies respectively. Research methods include autoethnography for the developer's experience, interpretative phenomenological analysis and focus group for the counsellor-users' experience, and quasi-experiment and interpretative phenomenological analysis for the client-users' experience. The studies of the developer's experience of My Career Chapter comprehensively explicate how and why the procedure was developed and emphasise the importance of reflexive science and practice. Crucially, the autoethnographies revealed a nexus of theory-practice-person which underpins the production of My Career Chapter, and critically influences the entire research project. The studies involving counsellor-users affirmed My Career Chapter's alignment with recommendations for the development and application of qualitative career assessment and counselling procedures. These studies also raised questions pertaining to the characteristics of client-users that may mediate the efficacy of the procedure (e.g., age, language ability). Studies of client-users firstly support the conclusion that My Career Chapter is a safe career assessment and counselling procedure, with minimal attendant risk of inducing psychological harm or distress. The procedure was experienced as being helpful as a tool for personal reflection, through its theoretically-derived processes of facilitating clients writing, reading, and hearing and talking their autobiographical manuscripts through in the interpretation phase. There are four dimensions of significance associated with this research project. Firstly, the divide between theory and practice has indeed been much lamented in vocational psychology and counselling psychology. Thus, the overall significance of the research reported upon in this dissertation is significant because it attempts to bring theory and practice together through a reflexive and theoretically informed research process into a career assessment and counselling procedure. Secondly, the research and development process produced a new career assessment and counselling product which will add to the limited range of techniques that fall under the aegis of constructivist career assessment and counselling broadly, and the narrative approach specifically. My Career Chapter complements other procedures. Thirdly, two of the research methods used in the project (viz., autoethnography and interpretative phenomenological analysis) demonstrated their potential as additional qualitative methods for research within vocational psychology. Finally, the research process has enabled the articulation of the Theory of Dialogical Self—from another branch of psychology—into the extant corpus of literature on career development theory and practice.

The purpose of this study was to develop Gestalt guidelines for mine worker fathers living in Oranjemund in order to enhance a dialogical relationship with their children in middle childhood. The researcher made use of the first four stages of the Design and Development model of intervention research. These stages include problem analysis and project planning, information gathering and synthesis, design and the early development of the guidelines. For the purpose of this study, focus groups were conducted with father participants and semi-structured interviews were conduct with children participants. The research study was based on existential dialogue with the focus on four main themes, namely; commitment to dialogue, presence, inclusion and confirmation. Existing literature from Gestalt approach, middle childhood and culture was used together with functional elements of other existing parent child relationship and family programmes or models, to develop the guidelines. / Social Work / M. Diac (Play Therapy)

Text in Afrikaans / Summaries in Afrikaans and English / Die inhoud en vorm van 'n preek is 'n eenheid. Beide aspekte vorm deel van die teologiese teorie van die prediking. In hierdie studie word daar teoreties besin oor 'n bepaalde vorm van prediking. Dit behels 'n ondersoek na die literere vorm waarin die boodskap gestruktureer en verwoord word. Die Skrif bevat 'n verskeidenheid literere vorme wat deur Bybelskrywers aangewend is om die intensie van die teks effektief te kommunikeer. Elk van hierdie vorme besit 'n eiendomlike kommunikatiewe aard. Die ontwikkeling van die moderne literatuurwetenskap sedert die tagtigerjare van die twintigste eeu het stukrag verleen aan die insig dat die Bybel ook as 'n versameling godsdienstige literatuur bestudeer kan word. Dit het meegebring dat die intensie van die teks van die Bybel op 'n teologies verantwoordbare wyse, met inagneming van die historiese verbande, beter begryp kan word deur die gebruikmaking van insigte uit ander literatuur. As sodanig word erkende literere kunsvorme wat naas die logies-analitiese ook die emotiewe betrek, aanvaar. Die resultaat van hierdie ondersoek dui aan dat die preek as kunsvorm geevalueer en in die moderne preekteorie geregverdig kan word. Die proses van transformasie wat die moderne hermeneutiese benadering kenmerk; die veranderde beleweniswereld en verstaanshorison van die huidige hoorders asook die eiesoortige aard van Bybelse literatuur is vanuit 'n kommunikatiewe aanname in 'n kunsvorm binne die moderne homiletiese teorie haalbaar. Die teorie orienteer binne die kommunikatiewe handelingsteorie as meta-teorie wat ingestel is op dialogiese kommunikasie wat betekenisgewing deur waarnemerbetrokkenheid bevorder en 'n bepaalde denkwyse by die hoorders tot gevolg het. Die tradisionele vorm van prediking, gekenmerk deur absolute dominasie van die rede en intellektualisme uit die modernistiese tydvak, het teen die einde van die tweede millennium in ernstige diskrediet gekom. Die radikale verandering in die samelewing deur die moderniseringsproses met gepaardgaande paradigma verskuiwinge dwing die homiletiek om teoreties te herbesin. In hierdie studie word die preek as kunsvorm afgebaken tot die verhalende preekvorm, konseptueel ontwikkel en teoreties omskryf asook geplaas binne die moderne homiletiese teorie as komponent wat daarby pas. Die resultaat is verkry deur 'n vergelykende studie van gemeenskaplike wesenstrekke wat voorkom by erkende kunsvorme in die moderne kunsteorie; die verhalende kunsvorm in die moderne literere teorie met spesifieke verwysing na die Afrikaanse roman asook die verhalende preekvorm in die moderne homiletiese teorie. Deur hierdie vorm van prediking in die moderne preekteorie op te neem, kan 'n sinvolle bydrae gemaak word om die Christelike boodskap deur oortuiging sander enige vorm van dwang te kommunikeer. / In a sermon form and content are one. Both aspects form part of the theological theory of preaching. This theoretical survey investigates one of the various literary forms through which the biblical writers attempted to communicate the intention of the biblical text in the most effective way. Each of these forms possesses a distinctive communicative character. The development of modern literary theory since the eighties of the twentieth century was a propulsive force leading to the conviction that the Bible was also a collection of religious literature. This conviction implied that the intention of the biblical text could be more clearly understood in a theological justified manner within the historical context by using insights gained from other literature. Acknowledged literary art forms adhering to the emotive as well as the logic-analytical are embraced as such. In this study the sermon as an art form is limited to narrative preaching, developed as a concept; theoretically described and placed within the modern homiletical theory as a suitable component. Results are obtained by means of a comparative study of mutual features that are distinctive to acknowledged art forms in the modern theory of art; narrative art forms in modern literature theory specifically in the modern Afrikaans novel, as well as the narrative form of preaching in the modern homiletical theory. The modern homiletical theory is orientated within the communicative acts theory as meta-theory focusing on dialogical communication which promotes meaning through the involvement of the observer. The conclusions reached indicate that the sermon as an art form can be evaluated and justified within the modem homiletical theory. Taken up in this theory, it can prove significant in communicating the Christian message to the listeners in a convincing rather than compulsive manner. / Philosophy, Practical and Systematic Theology / D.Th. (Practical theology)

This thesis is a transdisciplinary study of leading South African Marxist intellectual, political activist and sociologist of language Neville Edward Alexander’s written work in English. It is an attempt to explore the “dialogical narratives” as a proposition in my assessment of his work and it is also a description of a method he employs to arrive at his own political and literary compositions. In tracking his formation as a political subject and an activist, Alexander’s and other writers’ interpretations of his meetings with and his stories about people are explored. His writings cover the spectrum of politics, education and language, and he employed a political economy approach in all his written expositions. The study argues that he had an exceptional ability to “argue against himself” because he was a dialectical reasoner and because he embraced the political and sociological toolkit of historical materialism as the philosophical matrix of his work. / History / D.Lit et Phil. (History)