Teisės edukologijos magistro baigiamojo darbo tema yra aktuali, nes pakankamai mažai tyrinėta ir labai svarbi šiandienos Lietuvos vaikystės tyrimų plėtros strategijai. Teorinių pozicijų pagrindą sudaro vaikystės fenomeno pagrindimo konceptai, kurie leidžia apibrėžti vaikystės statuso kaitos galimybes švietimo politikoje. Siekiama konceptualiai pagrįsti vaikystės sampratų daugiareikšmiškumą, vertingą vaikystės tyrimų mokslui ir praktikai kurti. Į vaikystės politiką galima žvelgti kaip į specifinę platesnės valstybės švietimo politikos kryptį, kuri turi savitus tikslus, uždavinius ir savitus įgyvendinimo metodus. Todėl atsižvelgiant į temos aktualumą tyrimo objektu šiame darbe pasirinkta vaikystės sampratos raiška. Tyrimo tikslu buvo siekiama aptarti vaikystės sampratos kaitos bruožus besikeičiančios švietimo politikos kontekste. Siekiant minėto tikslo, užsibrėžti tokie uždaviniai: remiantis mokslinės literatūros analize, pagrįsti vaikystės sampratą; taikant socialinių mokslų teorines prieigas numatyti vaikystės politikos raidos perspektyvas; atlikti empirinį tyrimą ir nustatyti, kokios vaikystės prasmės aptinkamos švietimo dokumentuose. Iškeltam tikslui pasiekti pasirinktas kokybinio tyrimo metodas: dokumentų turinio (content) analizė. Susisteminus gautus tyrimo duomenis buvo padarytos išvados, jog dvidešimtas amžius visai aiškiai pasakė, kad vaikas nėra suaugėlio miniatiura, kad žmogaus amžius susiskaido į eilę skirtingų laikotarpių, kad vaikai turi atskirą savo pasaulį... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / The theme of the present paper towards the Master‘s degree in law educology is quite topical as it has been scantily studied, however it is very important for development of childhood studies strategy in Lithuania of the present day. The base for the theoretical position is provided by the basic concepts of childhood phenomenon and they permit determination of the childhood status development possibilities in the education policy. It is attempted to provide the conceptual grounds for polysemy of childhood concepts being valuable for childhood research and development of practices. The childhood policy could be approached as a specific and wider direction of the state education policy, which has its specific goals, objectives and implementation methods. Taking into account the urgency of the topic the development of childhood concept has been elected to be object of the present paper. For the purpose of the study it was aimed to discuss the features of childhood concept changes in the context of education policy development. The goal led to setting the following objectives: to substantiate the childhood concept based on the analysis of scientific references; to previse the childhood policy development prospects through application of theoretical premises of social sciences; to conduct an empiric study and find out what meanings of childhood appear in the education related documents. The qualitative method of study, namely document content analysis, was selected for to... [to full text]

This thesis advances our understanding of how ideas play a role in policy making by examining the processes and conditions that facilitate their international diffusion into domestic debates, their acceptance by policy actors, and the ways in which their acceptance alters policy processes and policy itself. Specifically, the thesis studies the impact of labour market policy ideas from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and its large-scale study on unemployment, the Jobs Study, in three OECD member states: Canada, Denmark and Sweden. This thesis shows that ideas play a number of roles: sometimes they are simply employed to help legitimize pre-determined policy positions; but sometimes a process of learning takes place, and new ideas change actors’ beliefs about what is and what ought to be, and as well their conception of their own interests and goals. Consistent with previous research, policy failure and uncertainty open actors up to the policy learning process and acceptance of new ideas. More than earlier studies, however, this thesis highlights the role of pre-existing beliefs. Accepting one new idea over another is largely determined by the values and beliefs actors bring to bear when judging new ideas; and thus, the cases show a pattern of acceptance for OECD ideas that largely follows along professional boundaries and/or ideological leanings. Moreover, pre-existing beliefs that are intertwined with an actor’s identity tend to be more resistant to change. As other ideational scholars argue, a change in individuals’ beliefs can alter both the policy process and policy itself. When acceptance of an idea is widespread, problems of collective action can be overcome. When beliefs are not as widely shared, their impact on policy depends on many factors. Fragmentation of power and accountability can create “veto players,” and previous policies can create constituencies of supporters, some of whom may resist change. However, during a policy paradigm change, a shift in authority over policy can alter the political landscape and whose ideas matter. Given all these variables, the impact that a belief in new ideas can have on policy is highly mediated, and policy reforms, therefore, may not resemble the ideas which triggered the acceptance of change in the first place. / Thesis (Ph.D, Political Studies) -- Queen's University, 2011-01-31 12:49:18.185

The purpose of this investigation is to discuss the relevance of Black theology in light of the emergence of reconstruction theology. It offers a critical survey of a range of contributions on this issue, questioning whether scholars who have used Black theology as a form of self description should shift emphasis, from the paradigm of liberation to reconstruction. The significance of this study has to be understood within the context of the proposal to redirect African theological initiatives from liberation theologies to reconstruction theology. The basis for this call was the end of apartheid in South Africa, which signalled the independence of all countries on the African continent.

Alors que les hypothèses de valence et de dominance hémisphérique droite ont longtemps été utilisées afin d’expliquer les résultats de recherches portant sur le traitement émotionnel de stimuli verbaux et non-verbaux, la littérature sur le traitement de mots émotionnels est généralement en désaccord avec ces deux hypothèses et semble converger vers celle du décours temporel. Cette dernière hypothèse stipule que le décours temporal lors du traitement de certains aspects du système sémantique est plus lent pour l’hémisphère droit que pour l’hémisphère gauche. L’objectif de cette thèse est d’examiner la façon dont les mots émotionnels sont traités par les hémisphères cérébraux chez des individus jeunes et âgés. À cet effet, la première étude a pour objectif d’évaluer l’hypothèse du décours temporel en examinant les patrons d’activations relatif au traitement de mots émotionnels par les hémisphères gauche et droit en utilisant un paradigme d’amorçage sémantique et une tâche d’évaluation. En accord avec l’hypothèse du décours temporel, les résultats obtenus pour les hommes montrent que l’amorçage débute plus tôt dans l’hémisphère gauche et plus tard dans l’hémisphère droit. Par contre, les résultats obtenus pour les femmes sont plutôt en accord avec l’hypothèse de valence, car les mots à valence positive sont principalement amorcés dans l’hémisphère gauche, alors que les mots à valence négative sont principalement amorcés dans l’hémisphère droit. Puisque les femmes sont considérées plus « émotives » que les hommes, les résultats ainsi obtenus peuvent être la conséquence des effets de la tâche, qui exige une décision explicite au sujet de la cible. La deuxième étude a pour objectif d’examiner la possibilité que la préservation avec l’âge de l’habileté à traiter des mots émotionnels s’exprime par un phénomène compensatoire d’activations bilatérales fréquemment observées chez des individus âgés et maintenant un haut niveau de performance, ce qui est également connu sous le terme de phénomène HAROLD (Hemispheric Asymmetry Reduction in OLDer adults). En comparant les patrons d’amorçages de mots émotionnels auprès de jeunes adultes et d’adultes âgés performants à des niveaux élevés sur le plan comportemental, les résultats révèlent que l’amorçage se manifeste unilatéralement chez les jeunes participants et bilatéralement chez les participants âgés. Par ailleurs, l’amorçage se produit chez les participants âgés avec un léger délai, ce qui peut résulter d’une augmentation des seuils sensoriels chez les participants âgés, qui nécessiteraient alors davantage de temps pour encoder les stimuli et entamer l’activation à travers le réseau sémantique. Ainsi, la performance équivalente au niveau de la précision retrouvée chez les deux groupes de participants et l’amorçage bilatéral observé chez les participants âgés sont en accord avec l’hypothèse de compensation du phénomène HAROLD. / While the right hemisphere and valence hypotheses have long been used to explain the results of research on emotional nonverbal and verbal stimuli processing, the literature on emotional word processing is highly inconsistent with both hypotheses, but appear to converge with the time course hypothesis. The time course hypothesis holds that in the processing of some parts of the semantic system the time course of activation is slower in the right hemisphere compared to the left hemisphere. The goal of this thesis was to find insight into the ways in which words with emotional words are processed in the cerebral hemispheres in young and older individuals. To this end, the first study investigated the time course hypothesis looking at the activation pattern of emotional words in the left and right hemispheres, using the priming paradigm and an evaluation task. Consistent with the time course hypothesis, the results in males revealed an early and later priming in the left and right hemispheres, respectively. The results for females, however, were consistent with the valence hypothesis, since positive and negative words were optimally primed in the left and right hemispheres, respectively. As females are considered more emotional than males, their results may be due to the nature of the task, which required an explicit decision concerning the target. The second study looked at the possibility that the preservation with age of the ability to process emotional words would follow the compensatory role of bilateral activation in high performing older individuals known as the HAROLD phenomenon (Hemispheric Asymmetry Reduction in OLDer adults). Comparing the pattern of emotional word priming in a group of equally high performing older and younger, it was shown that while priming occurred unilaterally in young participants, the pattern of priming in older participants appeared to be bilateral. The occurrence of priming in older adults occurred with a tiny delay, though, that may be due to an increase in sensory thresholds that causes older adults to need more time to encode stimuli and start activation through the semantic network. Thus, the bilateral pattern of priming and the equivalent level of performance in older adults provide behavioral evidence supporting the compensatory role of the HAROLD phenomenon.

FDI har sedan början på 80-talet växt sig allt större och blivit en av de viktigaste tillgångarna till finansiellt och fysiskt kapital i världen. FDI har enligt många studier en viktig funktion för ett lands ekonomiska utveckling, detta gäller främst för outvecklade länder men också utvecklade länder. Studiens mål var att hitta viktiga faktorer som påverkade FDI inflöde till Sub-Sahara regionen. Den empiriska analysen gjordes med hjälp av en OLS regressionsmodell och hade 42 observationer sammanlagt. Huvudvariabeln var FDI/BNP. Resultatet av den empiriska analysen visade att den viktigaste faktoren för FDI inflöde hos länder söder om Sahara är ett lands ekonomiska öppenhet. Öppenhet visade en positiv signifikans i alla regressioner som gjordes. BNP per capita hade en negativ signifikans i den första regressionen men visade ingen signifikans när kunskapskapital och språkskillnader testades i regressioner. Variabeln för naturtillgångar hade en positiv signifikans när en tredje regression gjordes där länder delades upp i två språkkategorier.

The purpose of this study was to explore and describe the experiences of adolescents living with a diagnosed chronic auto-immune Illness (CAI) due to the fact that there is a wider increase in the prevalence and incidence of auto-immune illnesses among adolescents. The researcher applied one primary scientific paradigm and two theories in this study, namely the Gestalt paradigm, Field theory and Erikson’s Theory of Adolescent Development, pertaining to adolescents living with a CAI. A qualitative, explorative and descriptive case study approach was followed. Purposive sampling was used to select six adolescents with a diagnosed CAI. Data was collected through individual semi-structured interviews and observations. Qualitative data analysis using Creswell’s “data analysis spiral” was used to analyse data and identify themes. It was clear that the adolescents” environments, as well as their intra- and interpersonal resources and outlook on life have an influence on the way they experience their illness. They experienced a continuum of feelings which ranged from support and encouragement from family and community members, to a lack of understanding from community members, and ridicule and isolation by peers. Sharing success stories and exploring a multidisciplinary, more holistic treatment plan that focuses on mind, body and soul, may benefit adolescents living with a CAI. / Thesis (MA (Psychology))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2013

Every reader will respond to and think in a different way about a book. They will have different interpretations of the book. It is not possible to say with scientific certainty in what way a reader will interpret a book. To address this issue, this study focuses on the reader response theory as explained by Iser and Jauss. However, the reader response theory is at present supported by research from the cognitive theory to narratology. This study attempts to understand how a reader reasons with regards to a certain text. A further aim is to understand why a specific reader will think about and interpret the text in the way he or she does. In this study the books 30 Nagte in Amsterdam (30 Nights in Amsterdam) by Etienne van Heerden and Swartskaap (Black Sheep) by Odette Schoeman is used to test the hypothesis. Qualitative research methods were used and the data was processed in different stages as is displayed in the addendum DVD. Cognitive theory wants to explain how the reader will respond to the book as a whole, characters, events and the places and spaces represented in the novel. In this study, it was found that a reader's response will always be influenced by his/her background. Readers use their background either to make sense of the book and the story it tells or to make sense of what has happened in their own lives in order to accept and understand it. On account of the results reached in the study it can be argued that readers should be taken into account when books are reviewed and discussed, because they are the ones that have to do the actual reading. Because of this finding, this study puts forward the suggestion that a review model is developed so that readers can make informed decisions as to which book will be best suited to them. / Thesis (M.A. (Afrikaans and Dutch))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2012

The purpose of this study was to explore and describe the experiences of adolescents living with a diagnosed chronic auto-immune Illness (CAI) due to the fact that there is a wider increase in the prevalence and incidence of auto-immune illnesses among adolescents. The researcher applied one primary scientific paradigm and two theories in this study, namely the Gestalt paradigm, Field theory and Erikson’s Theory of Adolescent Development, pertaining to adolescents living with a CAI. A qualitative, explorative and descriptive case study approach was followed. Purposive sampling was used to select six adolescents with a diagnosed CAI. Data was collected through individual semi-structured interviews and observations. Qualitative data analysis using Creswell’s “data analysis spiral” was used to analyse data and identify themes. It was clear that the adolescents” environments, as well as their intra- and interpersonal resources and outlook on life have an influence on the way they experience their illness. They experienced a continuum of feelings which ranged from support and encouragement from family and community members, to a lack of understanding from community members, and ridicule and isolation by peers. Sharing success stories and exploring a multidisciplinary, more holistic treatment plan that focuses on mind, body and soul, may benefit adolescents living with a CAI. / Thesis (MA (Psychology))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2013

Over the past few years many changes have taken place in the content and presentation of teacher education programmes in South Africa due to the paradigm shift from teaching to learning. As a result, the primary learning environment for undergraduate students, the fairly passive lecture-discussion format where teacher educators talk and most students listen, is contrary to almost every principle of an optimal student learning setting. The current view in teacher education is that teacher educators should create learner-centred and learner-controlled environments where student learning and success determine the boundary. The idea of focusing on learning rather than teaching requires that teacher educators rethink their role and the role of students in the teaching and learning process. When focussing on learning rather than teaching, teacher educators must challenge their basic assumptions about how people learn and what the roles of teacher educators should be. It may be necessary to unlearn previously acquired teaching habits, and rethink the role of assessment and feedback in learning. Meaningful, formative assessment can play a key role in shifting to a learner-centred approach because it provides important information to both students and teacher educators at all stages of the learning process. To achieve this, it is essential that teacher educators do not simply add assessment as an extra to an existing, non-interactive scheme of work, but that they integrate assessment effectively and efficiently with their instruction. This requires a major shift in how assessment is planned and integrated and a working framework for integrating assessment with instruction can be most valuable to teacher educators. The purpose of this study was to: Determine the nature and scope of ESL teacher educators' tasks, within a Faculty of Education Sciences, at a tertiary institution. Determine the extent to which ESL teacher educators are implementing a learner-centred approach to teaching and learning. Identify the factors, if any, that impede the transition to a learner-centred approach to teaching and learning. Provide recommendations to facilitate the implementation of a learner-centred approach to teaching and learning. Determine how, when and how often ESL teacher educators are currently conducting assessment. Identify possible shortcomings of the existing assessment system of ESL teacher educators. Provide a framework for implementing assessment within a learner-centred approach to teaching and learning. A one-shot cross-sectional survey design was used in this study. The participants included all the teacher educators (N=5) within the Subject Group English in the Faculty of Education Sciences .at the Potchefstroom University. Three data collection techniques were used in this study, namely a questionnaire, semi-structured interviews and classroom observations. The purpose was to triangulate the data in order to get as complete a picture as possible of the extent to which the teacher educators' teaching and learning ~racticesre flected a focus on learner-centredness. The results of the study can be summarised as follows: Descriptive statistics (means and percentages) were used to analyse the data. The data collected during the interviews were reported as narratives. The results indicated that the teacher educators in this study spent a significant percentage of their time on preparation for class meetings and assessment. Each teacher educator taught for the full twelve weeks of each semester and, therefore, did not have one week free of teaching the entire year. Although the teacher educators embraced some learner-centred methods such as group work and interactive class discussions, they still assumed most of the responsibility for the learning processes and classroom behaviour of the students. They mainly focused on what to present in the contact sessions and spent time organizing presentations of information rather than developing materials to facilitate learning. The teacher educators often reverted to more familiar, traditional approaches and emphasized the following issues as affecting the effective and efficient transition to learner-centredness: curriculum coverage and lack of time, lack of proper training, size of student groups, other teacher educators' cynical attitudes and students' attitudes towards learning. The teacher educators made use of a variety of assessment methods and assessed students continuously, but these assessments were not used for promoting student learning, but rather for grading purposes. Students received traditional feedback such as grades, marks and scores, but they seldom received feedback on what they did wrong and how they could rectify it. Overall, it was assessment of learning and not assessment for learning. A major factor impeding the implementation of a learner-centred assessment approach was the demand formative assessment methods placed on the professional time of the teacher educators. In order to utilise time effectively and integrate assessment with the instructional design, teacher educators expressed the need for a workable framework to assist them in planning their assessment practices. / Thesis (M.Ed.)--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2004.

Views of teaching: implications for the didactic training of mathematics teachers. School mathematics teaching is an essential learning area in South African schools. Owing to persistent traditional positivist-based views and approaches, it still suffers from a variety of teaching-learning problems. Various national attempts have already been made to develop an effective teaching-learning program for school mathematics. Prominent researchers reveal that the failure of teaching-learning programmes often have to be attributed to the lack of an underlying grounded didactic theory. Therefore this study focused on the development of a grounded teaching-theoretical framework for school mathematics teaching. A further problem regarding school mathematics is that its teaching and learning traditionally are viewed from a narrow school subject disciplinary perspective. Therefore this study departed from a general didactic-theoretical perspective, creating the opportunity to approach and solve problems from a wider angle. A constructivist-based post-positivist view of effective teaching was developed, before entering the field of school mathematics. In this way an integrated ontologicalcontextual view of teaching was developed in terms of six identified ontological essential features, and their contextual coherence, namely: intention, teacher, leamer, interaction, content and context. Contrary to traditional positivist views, no causal relationship between teaching and learning was imposed, and teaching was not qualified in terms of learning products. Instead, teaching was characterised and qualified on ontological grounds, departing from the phenomenon itself. In this way the limitations of positivist process-product views of teaching could be identified, explained and overcome. Alternatively, a dynamic integrated view of teaching as a human act, directed at the facilitation of relevant and meaningful learning, was grounded and developed. Based on this general ontological-contextually based view, a specific ontologicalcontextual view of effective school mathematics teaching was grounded and developed. To this end a variety of prominent contemporary views of and approaches to school mathematics, and its teaching and learning, needed to be analysed in a critical way. According to this analysis school mathematics, and its teaching and learning should be viewed and approached from a constructivist-based dynamic change-and-grow perspective as human acts. In addition, it could have been proved that the perspective concerned can facilitate the treatment and solving of the currently experienced teaching-learning problems. This requires the reconsideration, from a similar perspective, of the current school mathematics curriculum, as well as the preservice didactic training of mathematics teachers. Specific implications of the developed ontological-contextual view of effective school mathematics teaching were identified, and practically tested in the corresponding preservice didactic training situation in the North West Province. Based on this an integrated model for the training concerned was formulated. It was found that the current training largely contributed to the continuation of traditional views of and approaches to school mathematics teaching, and its essential features. From the developed integrated ontological-contextual perspective definitive proposals regarding the transformation of school mathematics teaching and the corresponding didactic training were made and motivated. Further areas for investigation and development, resulting from this study, were identified, as well. This study aimed at investigating, and revealing for further exploration, the specific and broadening interaction between the general teaching and subject didactical fields and research, particularly in the two contexts of effective school mathematics teaching and the corresponding preservice didactical training. A particular attempt was made to accomplish this in a grounded and integrated way, to the benefit of both fields. / Thesis (PhD)--PU for CHE, 1998.