Draining the Everglades has been the central issue of southern Florida ever since the state was apnexed by the U.S. in .1845. Not until the twentieth century did water resource managers realize the detrimental repercussions of draining the Everglades. Now, south Florida finds itself in a state of crisis. In the aquifers and Lake Okeechobee water levels have dropped. Nutrient pollution has caused cattails to overrun the saw grass, from which the Everglades get there name. Continued development has placed more strain on the Everglades, and human water uses have often.been put under restraints due to lack of water. In order to understand the political and social priorities that guided the various water management agencies in the Everglades to this state of crisis, this research will review key events throughout the history of the Everglades, specifically analyzing what led to these events and how management reacted to them. This research will then analyze the priorities demonstrated through the various stages of water management in order to determine the presence of underlying social attitudes. Finally, this research will analyze the social attitudes as they pertain to water management in order to determine the presence of governing attitudes and paradigms, as well as implications of current attitudes on the future of the Everglades.

Numerous management scholars argue that management theory is anthropocentric and considers humans as being separate from the environment. Further anthropocentrism does not enable theory and organisations to contribute to sustainable development. To counter this it is argued theory and organisations should embrace an environmental paradigm that does not separate humans and the environment. This exploratory research attempts to identify whether any organisations operate with an environmental paradigm. The research questions focus on paradigms and some of the tensions surrounding the human-environment debate, such as; sufficiency versus profit maximisation and quoted status, money as a means or an end and notions of boundaries between the organisation and the environment. The questions are explored with individuals from 23 environmentally focused, primarily for profit, organisations. The results indicate that the organisations operate with an environmental paradigm, do not perceive of boundaries between the organisation and the environment, do not pursue profit maximisation, can demonstrate sufficiency, view money as a means rather than an end and do not have a favourable view of quoted status. Furthermore, the interviewees do not separate their world into two realms, one social and one natural. Narratives that arise include the organisations operating to a mode of mission and money and that an aphorism of “altruistically selfish and selfishly altruistic” (Maturana & Varela, 1998:197) can be applied. In short, the results indicate some challenges to conventional management theory, in particular strategy and competitive advantage, and that the organisations interviewed could help to, some extent, enable sustainable development. To close, the hope of this study it that its narratives and the conceptual tool it has prompted, provide succour to students and managers who want to develop a ‘future normal’ of theories and organisations that better enable sustainability.

The purpose of this research is to investigate whether or not adult education acts as an agent for social change in Lesotho, especially in communities of the urban and rural poor. The importance and value of adult education as an agent for social change are highlighted. The study has employed a descriptive approach with case studies, involving samples from chiefs, the Ministry of Education and three prominent institutions: the Lesotho Distance Teaching Centre, the Lesotho Association of Non-Formal Education and the Institute of Extra Mural Studies. The samples of these constituencies totalled one hundred and forty-three. The study has used interviews, questionnaires and observations for collection of data. The researcher observed and judged the natural environment under which facilitation education occurred. Occurrences of all instances under observation were recorded and analysed. The study revealed that even though there is no government policy regarding adult education in Lesotho, the role played by adult education is important as an agent for social change. Adult education has proven its importance and value as a means of providing solutions to pressing issues and problems of the disadvantaged groups. Adult education has a wide range of achievements through which social change is visible and measurable. On the other hand, there is an equally strong opposing side that argues that adult education, as a provision of education in general, does not bring social change in Lesotho; instead, it perpetuates social inequalities that exist. Adult education, according to practices which conform to consensus and conflict paradigm principles, is used as an instrument to promote and strengthen the status quo of social inequalities in Lesotho. However, the researcher believes, through the findings of this study, that educating the urban and rural poor is a reasonable move because these groups constitute a large number of the human resource in Lesotho. With this human resource, if well developed, it is hoped that all other resources can be mobilised for the good of the nation. Lastly, the researcher believes that follow-up studies are needed in order to assess impact of adult education in Lesotho and recommends further research concerning adult education programmes and other pressing issues that are not included in this study. / Educational Studies / D.Ed. (Didactics)

This Mixed Method Research Project examines the possible marketing strategies that can be used to market township schools in the Gauteng province, within an increasingly competitive educational system. These strategies are investigated within the largely unbalanced infrastructural and resource dichotomy that exists between most township schools and the former Model C schools; the results of which has seen among many other challenges, the ever increasing learner migration from the township schools to the former Model C suburban schools. This pedagogical manuscript adopts a case study approach while simultaneously integrating the influences of established research paradigms like pragmatism and enterpretivism. Within the attempt to find the best marketing options for township schools, the project also consciously attempts to identify the challenges (and possible solutions) that the said schools face as they try to market themselves. The benefits of implementing the marketing matrix within the education product are henceforth highlighted within the narrative of the project. / Educational Leadership and Management / M. Ed. (Education Management)

Cette recherche, réalisée en milieu scolaire québécois, concerne l’enseignement et l’apprentissage de la géométrie à l’entrée au secondaire. Ce contexte est caractérisé par une géométrie non clairement définie d’un point de vue épistémologique, tant dans le programme d’études du premier cycle que dans les manuels scolaires. Ainsi, nous avons cherché à voir d’une part, l’activité géométrique souhaitée et actualisée par des enseignants incluant les problèmes proposés et, d’autre part, les conceptions d’élèves développées par ces problèmes. À partir de données recueillies auprès de quatre classes, nous avons déterminé cette activité géométrique et répertorié six types de problèmes dont quatre sont dominants ainsi que des conceptions d’élèves. L’activité géométrique en classe a donné lieu à des moments d’hésitation épistémologique, lesquels ne sont pas sans effet dans le développement des conceptions des élèves. / This research was conducted in a Quebec classroom environment. It pertains to the teaching and learning of geometry at the outset of secondary school. This context is characterized by a geometry that is not clearly defined from the epistemological point of view in either the secondary cycle one program or in textbooks. We attempted to find firstly, the desired geometric activity and updated by teachers with the proposed problems and, secondly, students conceptions developed by these problems. Using data collected from four classes, we then determined this geometric activity and identified six types of problems from which four were predominant. We also observed students conceptions. The classroom activity gave birth to moments of epistemological hesitance that may have had a certain effect on the development of the students’conceptions.

Master of Science / Department of Special Education, Counseling, and Student Affairs / Christy Craft / This master’s report is a study of current textbook trends within higher education. The report looks at multiple methods of textbook delivery for faculty members within the higher education community. The report further investigates a new textbook paradigm created by faculty members at the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh. The author of this report has spent several years researching textbook trends and has presented on this topic on several occasions. By analyzing some qualitative data collected at the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh, the author will provide a partial evaluation of the CoreTxtPlus® paradigm and offer suggestions to future faculty members looking for an innovative way to provide course content to their students.

This thesis explores a conceptual understanding of dialogue within a community of practice. It argues that meaningful conversations are at the core of critical, reflective, and analytical praxis, and that a critical understanding holds transformative possibilities for teaching and learning. Aspects of western and ethnic paradigms and their theoretical constructs, which may either enhance or hinder current practices, are identified, as are elements that arise from several case studies drawn from a large banking organisation operating out of South Africa. It is hoped that an evaluation of the research findings will provide a basis for an understanding of dialogue within a local context and that, further, it will provide a platform for extended dialogical exploration and research.

This Mixed Method Research Project examines the possible marketing strategies that can be used to market township schools in the Gauteng province, within an increasingly competitive educational system. These strategies are investigated within the largely unbalanced infrastructural and resource dichotomy that exists between most township schools and the former Model C schools; the results of which has seen among many other challenges, the ever increasing learner migration from the township schools to the former Model C suburban schools. This pedagogical manuscript adopts a case study approach while simultaneously integrating the influences of established research paradigms like pragmatism and enterpretivism. Within the attempt to find the best marketing options for township schools, the project also consciously attempts to identify the challenges (and possible solutions) that the said schools face as they try to market themselves. The benefits of implementing the marketing matrix within the education product are henceforth highlighted within the narrative of the project. / Educational Leadership and Management / M. Ed. (Education Management)

Em 2011 foi promulgada no Brasil a Lei 12.527/11, conhecida como Lei de Acesso à Informação LAI, regulamentando somente após 23 anos um direito fundamental reconhecido na Constituição de 1988. A LAI estabeleceu o normativo legal que orienta a efetivação do direito de amplo acesso à informação detida pelo Estado, promovendo inovações de políticas de transparência governamental, controle social da administração pública e governo aberto no Estado brasileiro em seus vários poderes e níveis de governo. Diversos trabalhos vêm buscando analisar a implementação da LAI, mas poucos estudos se dedicaram a estudar a formação da agenda política que produziu a Lei de Acesso, e nesses há maior ênfase na identificação de atores, interesses, arenas decisórias e estratégias envolvidas neste processo. Este estudo busca avançar o conhecimento sobre a formação dessa agenda numa outra perspectiva, a abordagem pós-positivista ou cognitiva de análise de políticas públicas, investigando as diversas ideias, sentidos e discursos presentes nas discussões sobre o direito à informação pública que atravessam as últimas décadas e que colaboraram na construção da Lei de Acesso à Informação brasileira / In 2011, a Right to Information Act (Law 12,527/2011), was enacted in Brazil, regulating only after 23 years a fundamental right recognized in the countrys 1988 Constitution. The LAI (Lei de Acesso à Informação, Access to Information Act, in Portuguese) established the legal norms that guide the implementation of the right of broad access to information held by the State, promoting innovations of government transparency policies, social control of public administration and open government in the Brazilian State in its various institutions and jurisdictions. Several studies have sought to analyze the implementation of the Brazilian Right to Information Act, but few studies have studied the agenda-seting process of the Right to Information Act, and in these studies, there is a greater emphasis on the identification of actors, interests, decision-making arenas and strategies involved. This study seeks to advance the knowledge about the formation of this agenda in another perspective, the post-positivist or cognitive approach of public policy analysis, investigating the diverse ideas, meanings and discourses present in the discussions about the right to information in the last decades in Brazil and that collaborated in the construction of the Brazil\'s Law on the Right to Information

Esta dissertação tem por objetivo investigar o conhecimento que os professores do ensino fundamental da rede pública estadual de ensino de São Paulo possuem a respeito da teoria dos gêneros discursivos principal sustentação teórica do paradigma vigente do ensino de Língua Portuguesa. Para tanto, foram analisados os textos de documentos oficiais normatizadores desse ensino no Brasil e em São Paulo Parâmetros Curriculares Nacionais do Terceiro e Quarto Ciclos do Ensino Fundamental de Língua Portuguesa (Brasil,1998), o Currículo do Estado de São Paulo- Linguagens, Códigos e suas Tecnologias (Ensino Fundamental - Ciclo II e Ensino Médio) (São Paulo, 2010) e os Guias de Livros Didáticos PNLD 2008 e 2011 (Brasil, 2007;2010) em busca de evidências da hegemonia do paradigma dos gêneros discursivos no ensino de Português e, também, de um possível ponto de irradiação das novas concepções de ensino de língua. Posteriormente, realizou-se uma pesquisa de campo dividida em duas fases: pré-teste (com seis professores) e a fase definitiva de coleta de dados com 29 professores de cinco escolas públicas estaduais da cidade de São Bernardo do Campo - SP. A análise e interpretação das respostas coletadas permitiram concluir que, embora o paradigma de ensino por meio dos gêneros discursivos seja atualmente hegemônico, não é possível afirmar que os professores de Português da rede pública estadual de ensino dominem seus principais fundamentos teóricos, visto que se percebe haver ainda a coexistência de práticas e pressupostos associados não só ao paradigma vigente, mas também aos paradigmas anteriores relacionados ao ensino considerado tradicional. Essa coexistência foi revelada nas formas de apropriação do novo conhecimento realizadas pelos professores para acomodá-lo aos conhecimentos já existentes e consolidados. Do ponto de vista teórico, foram levadas em consideração as discussões de Bakhtin (2003; 2006) a respeito dos gêneros discursivos, as discussões de Tardif (2002; 2010) a respeito das origens dos saberes docentes e sua relação com o tempo e a realidade social na qual os professores se encontram inseridos e as ideias de Geraldi (2003) acerca do processo de produção do conhecimento científico. / This dissertation seeks to investigate the knowledge that elementary public school teachers in São Paulo possess on the theory of discourse genres the main theoretical framework to teach Portuguese nowadays. To achieve it, it was done the analysis of the official texts used to regulate this teaching in Brazil, including São Paulo Parâmetros Curriculares Nacionais do Terceiro e Quarto Ciclos do Ensino Fundamental de Língua Portuguesa (Brasil,1998), Currículo do Estado de São Paulo- Linguagens, Códigos e suas Tecnologias (Ensino Fundamental - Ciclo II e Ensino Médio) (São Paulo, 2010) and Guias de Livros Didáticos PNLD 2008 e 2011 (Brasil, 2007; 2010) searching for both evidences in order to prove the hegemony of the discourse genres paradigm in teaching Portuguese and possible starting points for new concepts in language teaching. Subsequently, it was carried out a field survey divided in two stages: one called pre-test (with six teachers) and the final one when data was collected with 29 teachers from five different public schools in São Bernardo do Campo SP. The datas analysis and interpretation showed that, although the discourse genres paradigm is currently hegemonic, it is not possible to state that public schools Portuguese teachers master its main theoretical basis, since it is still noticed the coexistence of assumptions and practices related not only to the current hegemonic paradigm, but also to previous ones, related to a traditional teaching perspective. This coexistence was revealed through the way those 29 teachers accommodate this new knowledge to an existing and already consolidated paradigm. From the theoretical point of view, it were taken into account some discussions Bakhtins on discourse genres (2003; 2006), Tardifs on the origins of teacher knowledge and its relationship with time dimension and social reality in which teachers work (2002; 2010) and Geraldis ideas about the produce of scientific knowledge (2003).