This thesis focuses on liberal peace building in the DRC. The thesis takes a critical approach which emphasises local agencies and their engagements with liberal peace building. However, it seeks to bring this critique back to the institutions with which liberal peace building is preoccupied, by focusing on the hidden local that operates within these institutions. This approach seeks to give new meaning to processes of institution building without rendering institutions irrelevant as a top-down approach. Focusing on the first legislature of the Congolese Third Republic (2006-2011) this thesis provides a case study of how local agencies consume liberal democracy within the National Assembly, and make it their own. It discusses current liberal peace building practices as a process of mutual disengagement, in which both the local and liberal intervention seek to disengage from each other. Although this results in a lack of legitimacy of the peace building project both locally as well as with liberal interventions, it also creates hybrid space in which local agencies consume liberal democracy. The thesis conceptualises these local agencies as being convivial, in other words, they are enabled by people's relations. The thesis therefore focuses on MPs relations with their electorate, as well as with the executive and other MPs in their party or ruling coalition. In through these interactions local agencies consume liberal democracy – it is accepted, rejected, diverted, substituted, etc. The thesis concludes that through these practices of consumption local agencies negotiate liberal democracy. The liberal democratic framework is kept intact, but it is not enabled to function as foreseen, because local agencies are responsive to a moral matrix of the father-family. However, the liberal democratic framework itself provides new tools through which local agencies also renegotiate the unwritten rules of the moral matrix of the father-family.

Exposure to increased diversity has been found to produce beneficial results in both learning and democracy outcomes across races; however, this relationship is more consistent for White students than students of color (Gurin, Dey, Hurtado, & Gurin, 2002). Using the data from a campus-wide diversity survey, the relationship between two types of diversity (informal-interactional and classroom) with learning and democracy outcomes was examined in a mid-sized university. Additional analyses were conducted to identify trends in diversity attitude and perception of campus climate toward diversity. Increased classroom diversity and informal-interactional diversity were both found to be related to increased learning and democracy outcomes for White students. For students of color, only classroom diversity was related to increased learning and democracy outcomes. Students of color and females were found to possess more positive attitudes toward diversity. Students of color perceived the more negative campus diversity climate than did White students.

This dissertation is a qualitative case study within an interpretive epistemology that explores the construction and engagement of the informal curriculum and the subsequent interaction with rationalized systems of knowledge by four young autodidactics between the ages of 9 and 15. The analyses of these constructions, engagement and interactions coalesced into three themes. Theme one establishes autonomy as the penultimate emic feature of autodidaxy through its relations with commitment to endeavors, connections along the experiential continuum, and perceived confidence in abilities to learn and to organize the social environment for further learning. Theme two entails the inherent connection participants conceive between interests and progressive, challenging goals. Theme three focuses on how interests are initiated through the exploratory stance of the participants as they purposefully seek out experiential problems from their environment, as well as the control of habitual patterns of pursuit and moments of interest assessment. These themes in relation to the research focus on the informal curriculum and interactions with rationalized systems of knowledge result in three findings. First, rigor is found to operate at multiple levels within autodidactic endeavors; secondly, relevance functions as initial questions arising out of productive boredom tether knowledge to experience and results in persistence and versatility of interest; and finally, the finding of autonomy operates as a process of choice which frames interests with future orientations that afford challenging experiences resulting in joy and the progression of knowledge and skills associated with the interest. Data analysis throughout the themes and findings discussed above culminate in three implications. First, while not engaging all of the disciplines traditionally associated with formal schooling, the informal curriculum does afford opportunities for the rigorous interaction with rationalized systems of knowledge. Second, the informal curriculum also allows for distinct processes by which connections are made along the experiential continuum resulting in relevance. Finally, in order to facilitate the use of the informal curriculum in formal educational institutions, research is needed in which the informal curriculum is operative to varying degrees in contexts with differential affordances of autonomy, most critically with learners form a variety of lived experiences. / text

This qualitative study is an exploratory look at family experiences at night time telescope observing events, often called star parties. Four families participated in this study which looked at their expectations, experiences and agendas as well as the roles that identity and family culture played in the negotiation of meaning. Two families who had prior experience with attending star parties were recruited ahead of time and two other families who were first time visitors were recruited on-site at the observing event. Data were collected at two star parties. At each event, one experienced family was paired with an on-site family for the purposes of facilitating conversations about expectations and prior experiences.The results of this study showed that learning is constantly occurring among families, and that star parties and family culture were mediational means for making meaning. Expectations and agendas were found to affect the families' star party experiences and differences were observed between the expectations and experiences of families based on their prior experiences with star parties. These data also showed that family members are actively negotiating their individual and family identities. These families use their cultural history together to make sense of their star party experiences; however, the meaning that families were negotiating was often focused more on developing family and individual identity rather than science content. The families in this study used the star party context as a way to connect with each other, to make sense of their prior experiences, and as raw material for making sense of future experiences.

In an increasingly complex world, there is a need for youth to address scientific issues both locally and globally. While interest and proficiency in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) decline, diverse methods to successfully engage, educate, and empower youth based on informal, learner-centric approaches are being tested. The factors potentially contributing to the success of a technology-supported civic engagement program were documented for 20 after school programs using qualitative methods. Using content analysis, the data was coded and tabulated and key variables were constructed. Univariate regression analysis revealed that four out of seventeen potential predictor variables proved to have a significant relationship with program success. The final multivariate regression model for predicting program success included youth-drivenness and total events (R-squared =0.58, p-value=0.0006), suggesting that encouraging participant ownership of the learning process is important to community and environmental problem awareness and the pursuit of solutions through STEM skills.

Dėl šiais laikais besivystančių technikos galimybių ir išaugusio asmenybę veikiančio informaliojo ugdymo poreikio, buvo tirta grožinės literatūros iliustracijų įtaka paaugliui. Yra daug literatūros apie vaikų meninius gebėjimus ir knygos dizainą, bet paauglio požiūris į knygos iliustraciją beveik nenagrinėtas. Todėl darbo tikslas buvo ištirti grožinės literatūros iliustracijų poveikį paaugliui, o keliami uždaviniai - išanalizuoti su tiriama problema susijusią literatūrą; išnagrinėti ugdomąsias teksto iliustracijos įtakas paaugliui; atlikti kokybinį ir kiekybinį tyrimą, išanalizuoti gautus duomenis ir pateikti išvadas. Buvo surinktos ir apibendrintos filosofų, psichologų, menininkų ir pedagogų mintys tiriamu klausimu, atlikta grožinės literatūros paaugliui iliustracijų analizė. Po to palyginti to paties pavadinimo kelių leidimų knygų paaugliams, iliustruotų skirtingų dailininkų, poveikiai skaitytojui. Padaryta išvada, kad teksto iliustracija turi įvairius poveikius: estetinį, pažintinį, meno terapinį ir kt.; ir kad knygų iliustracijos gali sustiprinti arba sušvelninti, papildyti teksto poveikį. Iš atliktos anketinės apklausos ir interviu analizės gauta išvada, kad paaugliams priimtinos skirtingos iliustracijos, priklausomai nuo interesų, lyčių skirtumo, gabumų, pasaulio suvokimo ypatumų; be to, paaugliams patinka, kai iliustracija skatina pažinimą, mąstymą, lavina fantaziją, formuoja nuotaiką. Paaiškėjo, kad paauglystės vizualinės raiškos krizė pastebima vertinant ne tik... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / Because of today’s development of technical possibilities and increased demand for personality influencing informal education, influence of fiction illustrations to youth was analyzed. There is a lot literature about artistic abilities of children and book design; however youth attitude toward book illustration is almost unstudied. Therefore objective of work was to investigate influence of fiction illustration for youth, and tasks – analyze literature related to research problem; investigate influence of educational text illustrations for youth; perform qualitative and quantitative research, analyze data received and provide conclusions. Thoughts of philosophers, psychologists, artists and pedagogues regarding research question were collected and summarized. Analysis of fiction illustrations for youth was performed. Then, the influences of illustrations made by different artists in the different editions of the same book to reader were compared. Conclusion is that text illustrations have various influences: aesthetical, cognitive, therapeutic and other; and that illustrations of books can strengthen or mitigate, or constitute to text influence. It was made conclusion from questioning and interviews that different illustrations are acceptable to youth depending on interests, gender, capability, work perception characteristics; moreover, youth like when illustrations stimulate cognition, thought, imagination, forms mood. It emerged that youth visual expression crisis... [to full text]

This three-phase qualitative study examined the significance of personal learning in the lives of full-time elementary school teachers in Ontario, Canada. The research aimed to provide an awareness of the effects of engaged personal learning on teachers’ in-school practices and on student engagement in school. An online questionnaire was used as the initial exploratory tool. The questionnaire was completed by 87 Ontario elementary teachers, and results were stratified by age, gender, range of learning experiences, and career stage. The questionnaire was used to generate descriptive statistics, identify how elementary teachers pursue personal learning interests across different career stages, and gather open responses, in order to determine how teachers characterize their engagement in personal learning opportunities. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with eleven participants to characterize the teachers’ learning experiences, and to explore their views as to how their learning affected them personally and professionally. Classroom observations ensued with three of the interviewees. The data analysis indicated that the nature of personal learning varies across different career stages, and that such learning occurs most often in an informal setting. It also revealed the significance of learning opportunities that both challenge and extend knowledge in real-life contexts and/or that is social or collaborative in nature. Three themes—connections, self as learner, and vitality—emerged from the reported effects of teachers’ personal learning on their students and their classroom practice. The teachers’ passion for learning was evident in the many ways that they provide meaningful, collaborative, and challenging opportunities for their students in a very supportive and nurturing environment. Through the data collection and analysis, it became clear that some of the most profound learning experiences were not preplanned or intentional in nature, but arose as a result of life. In some cases, the participants did not consider these experiences to be learning—until they began to detail the effects that these experiences had on them, both as individuals and as educators. Suggestions for future research are offered to continue learning from teachers who take part in personal learning, and from the students that they teach. / Thesis (Ph.D, Education) -- Queen's University, 2012-10-19 08:38:23.555

Abstract: The study deals with the interplay between migration and metropolitan growth in Peru during the last decades. The key question is to what extent Peru's rural-urban migration and rapid urban growth is triggered by opportunities within the formal and informal sectors in the growing metropolis of Lima. Aggregated data about migration have been related to information of socioeconomic and geographical conditions in rural and urban areas. Multivariate models of interregional migration are constructed and tested. A study of the life paths of a limited group of migrants has generated hypotheses about causes of migration and the assimilation of migrants in the city. Migration is related to historical changes in Peruvian society and to structural and individual conditions affecting migrants. The historical transformation of the rural and urban sectors is one important precondition for the increasing rural-urban migration in 20th century Peru, including the declining importance of the traditional socio-economic structure (the hacienda system and the peasant communities), population growth, and the increasing importance of capitalistic forms of exchange and production as well as of interregional interaction and non-agrarian sectors. Regional disparities appear to be the most important structural condition affecting migration in Peru, in accordance with the so-called gap-theories, which indicate that changes and conditions in urban areas are more important for temporal and spatial variations in the migration pattern, than corresponding changes in rural areas. Furthermore, young and better educated individuals are overrepresented in the migrant groups and outinigration seems to be highest from rural areas with well-established urban contacts. Urban pull is more important than rural push. The study reveals that personal contacts are essential as a generator of migration, for information flows and for the migrants' adaptation to the urban society. In general, the rural-urban migration can be regarded as a rational adaptation to living conditions in rural and urban areas, since most migrants seem to have a higher living standard in the cities in comparison with their former situation in rural areas. A significant conclusion is that informal solutions are important for solving migrants' housing and subsistence problems. The informal sector is interpreted as an integrated and often dynamic element in the urban economy, rather than as an indicator of over-urbanization. The study provides empirical support for a conjecture termed metropolitan informal sector pull, in which the informal sector of Lima is a major part of the magnet that pulls people from the rural areas and generates metropolitan growth and migration in Peru. / <p>Diss. Umeå : Umeå universitet, 1988 ;</p><p></p><p></p><p></p> / digitalisering@umu

The general objectives of the study were to evaluate a social work support group programme with informal caregivers that aimed to enhance the quality of care provided to older persons in an urban and rural community setting in Namibia. In order to achieve the general objectives of the study, the following specific objectives were formulated: * To explore how informal caregiving situations in urban and rural communities lead to elder abuse and neglect. * To describe existing literature on the various factors that contribute to elder abuse and neglect within community settings. * To develop a support group programme for informal caregivers of older persons in urban and rural community settings that aimed at preventing elder abuse and neglect. * To implement and evaluate the effectiveness of the support group programme for informal caregivers that aimed at preventing elder abuse and neglect. The thesis consists of 5 sections: Section A consists of the problem statement, research objectives, central theoretical argument and the theoretical approaches that underpin the study. Furthermore, the research methodology, the definition of key concepts and the limitation of the study are presented. Section B contains four articles that together formed part of the research outcomes. Each article can function independently with it’s own objectives and distinctive content. However, each article is also a sub-project of the umbrella research study. Therefore, some of the data have to be repeated in different sections. The four articles are: Article 1: Informal caregiving, elder abuse and neglect in urban and rural areas of the Khomas region in Namibia: A needs assessment A needs assessment on informal caregiving situations and how it may lead to elder abuse and neglect of older persons from an urban and rural constituency in the Khomas region was explored. Data was collected through in-depth interviews with professional and community leaders. In addition, focus group discussions were held with older persons and informal caregivers in the urban and rural constituency. Article 2: Factors contributing to elder abuse and neglect in community settings In this article, a comprehensive review of the literature pertaining to the risk and protective factors to elder abuse and neglect was done. The ecological theory was worthwhile to describe the risk factors to elder abuse and neglect. Article 3: Designing a social work support group programme with informal caregivers of older people in Namibia A social work support group programme was developed for informal caregivers of older persons in community settings. The eight-week support group programme was developed based on a needs assessment and a comprehensive literature review, and included the following topics; the normal processes of aging, handling of difficult caregiving situations, caregiver stress, self-care of the caregiver, elder abuse and neglect and caregiver grief and loss. The planning model for group work was also utilised to design the group. Article 4: Evaluation of the effectiveness of a support group programme with informal caregivers to prevent elder abuse and neglect An eight-week support group programme with ten female informal caregivers from an urban group and twelve informal caregivers from a rural group setting was implemented and evaluated. Standardized measuring instruments that assessed the outcome of the group at pre-test, post-test and postponed post-test were the Zarit Burden Interview (ZBI), Potentially Harmful Behaviour (PHB) scale and the Caregiver Abuse Screen (CASE). The Group Engagement Measure (GEM) assessed the group processes at the fourth, sixth and eight group sessions. In addition, open-ended questions were used to collect qualitative data. The quantitative and qualitative evaluations indicated that both the urban and rural groups gained knowledge on aging and caregiving, and caregivers acquired vital qualities such as patience, compassion and communication skills. The process evaluation showed that caregivers from the urban group were more engaged in the group process than the rural group. Elder abuse was underreported in the study, while personal stress of caregivers reduced significantly because of the intervention. Section C consists of the summary of the most important findings and conclusions to the research study. In addition recommendations are provided. Section D consists of the annexures to the research report, such as the measuring instruments and interview schedules used for data collection. Section E contains a consolidated list of references. / PhD (Social Work), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2014

Learning and assessment are inextricably intertwined, since assessment not only measures learning, but future learning is also dependent on assessment. The purpose of this two phase sequential mixed-methods study was to examine the interplay between informal and formal assessment in Grade 9 EFAL classrooms in order to gain a better understanding of teachers’ assessment practises. Argued from a constructivist point of view, the study endorses continuous assessment (CASS), which balances informal and formal assessment. In order to direct the study towards the stated purpose, the researcher embarked on a literature study to contextualise English as First Additional Language against the background of educational developments in South Africa since 1994 and to examine assessment of English First Additional Language in an OBE framework. The literature study was followed by an empirical study. By applying a sequential mixed-methods research design, 66 conveniently sampled EFAL teachers in the Johannesburg-North District of the Gauteng Department of Education participated in the quantitative phase of the empirical study. By means of a survey as strategy of inquiry, these teachers completed a questionnaire. Six randomly selected teachers from the initial sample participated in the qualitative phase of the empirical study which followed a case study strategy of inquiry and consisted of individual interviews and observations. The empirical research findings revealed that the sampled teachers experienced the official Departmental documents as regulatory, overwhelming and ambiguous and that they gave more attention to formal assessment than informal assessment. Due to this emphasis on formal assessment, the teachers felt uncertain about the purposes of informal assessment which, as a consequence, was considered as less important than formal assessment. A preference of conventional assessment methods was also disclosed which implied that the sampled teachers were not willing to experiment with alternative assessment methods. In conclusion, the researcher discovered that although CASS was implemented in the sampled teachers’ classrooms, learner-centred teaching founded on constructivism with the aim of encouraging scaffolding, was not high on the teachers’ teaching agendas. / MEd (Learning and Teaching), North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2013