The chief aim of my thesis is to study and analyse how the multiculturalism of schools is reflected in research and reports in Sweden and in the way in which teachers talk about multicultural issues at school. Part of the work is done in the form of reflecting talks with two groups of teachers in two different schools on issues and situations taken from their own everyday experience. The talks are conducted over two years. One partial aim is therefore to study whether this working method can help teachers to develop their strategies with regard to multicultural issues at school. I describe how the talks develop over two years in an ethnically heterogeneous group of teachers in one of the schools, some areas related to multicultural issues in the school that the teachers find problematic, and how the talks to some extent influence the teachers’ choice of strategies in the school’s practice. Part of the work is an analysis of a talk from each group of teachers and their conceptions of “the immigrant pupil” and her/his parents are focused on. The analytical tool of interpretive repertoires is used to visualise patterns of common points of departure and values in the talks. Also part of the work is an analysis of how research and reports reflect the discourse on multicultural issues from 1980 to 2005. I emphasise some themes and how these change over time. Through the study, parts of the content of the discourse about the multicultural Swedish education are made visible. The discourse contains expressions of a focus on shortcomings and problems that are regarded as linked to pupils, parents and to some extent to teachers with foreign backgrounds. The discourse also contains expressions of seeing differences, chiefly between groups of pupils with foreign and ethnic Swedish backgrounds respectively. By focusing on differences and shortcomings a boundary is at the same time set up between “us” and “them”. The composition of teachers in Swedish schools is relatively homogeneous as regards ethnicity. When, in addition, it is many times teachers that have the responsibility and power to define what are seen as problems and to find solutions in schools’ practice, the problems and solutions are often defined from a majority perspective. It is also from a majority perspective that decisions are made about to what extent, to what degree and in what way minority perspectives should be represented in these contexts. It is a matter of who has the power to define themselves and the others and the others’ shortcomings.

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Ce travail souligne la nécessité d’un changement de paradigme sociétal face aux défis environnementaux contemporains et met l’accent sur l’éducation comme vecteur essentiel de cette transformation. Il se concentre sur les écoles vertes, qui tendent à s’enraciner dans une approche holistique de l’éducation environnementale, afin de cerner leur contribution face à la crise environnementale actuelle. Il commence par l’exploration de l’impact significatif de l’activité humaine sur la biosphère et le système terrestre, mettant en évidence l’influence profonde de l’anthropocentrisme. Ensuite, il souligne l’insuffisante intégration de la dimension écologique dans l’éducation formelle qui est principalement attribuable à l’influence persistante des pressions économiques et politiques sur la pensée et la pratique éducatives dominantes. Il poursuit en analysant les mouvements d’écoles vertes sur le plan théorique ainsi que leur orientation sur une approche scolaire environnementale globale. Enfin, il combine une analyse de la littérature sur les mouvements Éco-écoles et Enviroschools avec une étude de terrain menée en Uruguay auprès de l’école pionnière du mouvement Escuelas Sustentables afin de mettre en évidence leurs contributions respectives aux effets directs (impact environnemental) et indirects (littératie environnementale). Il conclut que les écoles vertes offrent une réponse multidimensionnelle aux enjeux soulevés par la crise environnementale actuelle. À ce niveau, il est remarqué que, parmi les mouvements d’écoles vertes étudiés, Enviroschools se distingue de manière significative en contribuant à la fois de manière substantielle à l’impact environnemental et à la littératie environnementale, notamment grâce à son enracinement local et à sa valorisation des perspectives autochtones locales. Dans l’ensemble, il découle de ce travail que l’efficacité des écoles vertes pour répondre à la crise environnementale repose sur leur décolonisation, intégrant les perspectives autochtones de manière culturellement appropriée pour assurer une adaptation à un monde en déséquilibre. / This work highlights the need for a societal paradigm shift in the face of contemporary environmental challenges and emphasizes education as an essential vector of this transformation. It focuses on green schools, which tend to be rooted in a holistic approach to environmental education, in order to assess their contribution to the current environmental crisis. It begins by exploring the significant impact of human activity on the biosphere and the Earth system, highlighting the profound influence of anthropocentrism. Next, it underscores the insufficient integration of the ecological dimension in formal education, mainly due to the ongoing influence of economic and political pressures on prevailing educational ideologies and practices. It continues by analyzing green school’s movements on a theoretical level as well as their orientation towards a whole school environmental approach. Finally, it combines an analysis of the literature on the Eco-Schools and Enviroschools movements with a field study carried out in Uruguay with the pioneer school of the Escuelas Sustentables movement to assess their respective contributions to direct (environmental impact) and indirect (environmental literacy) effects. It concludes that green schools offer a multi-dimensional response to the issues raised by the current environmental crisis. At this level, it is noticed that, among the green school’s movements studied, Enviroschools stands out as making a substantial contribution to both environmental impact and environmental literacy, thanks in particular to its local roots and its valuing of local indigenous perspectives. Overall, it follows that the effectiveness of green schools in responding to the environmental crisis rests on their decolonization, integrating indigenous perspectives in culturally appropriate ways to ensure adaptation to a world in imbalance.

The mission of the Gareganze's Brothers in Christ Church facing the chaos of the socio-political situation in DRC resulting mostly from the question of the Congolese nationality is to dynamise the christian mission and to protect the poor, set free the captives, because God is always at their side. The DRC, though, has enormous natural resources and the competent human resources capabilities. The national institutions seem to be unable to handle this situation because of the lack of political culture, mismanagement and moral untidiness. The successive Congolese crises mostly are the same, the common denominator resides in the causes that brought them about. The main objectives of the antagonist groups are political leadership and material wealth. The findings of our analysis will help the Church of Christ in Congo, to fulfill the prophetic mission and the vision of God, for the positive transformation of the Congolese society. / Christian Spirituality, Church History and Missiology / M. Div. (Missiology)

This study analyses the perspectives of teachers on English as a language of learning and teaching in the context of government recommendations that Shona and Ndebele be used alongside English as languages of learning and teaching in Zimbabwean secondary schools. Through a questionnaire survey, open interviews and classroom observation, it was found that the teachers regard English as a language of learning and teaching in a positive way though they are aware of the difficulties associated with its use. There was a high consensus on the desirability of English among teachers as informants with various attributes obtained attitude, pedagogical beliefs and perceived difficulties scores that were, in the main, not statistically significant. It also emerged that government recommendations for the use of endoglossic languages as languages of learning and teaching (LoLT) have not been complemented by concrete measures and that the subsequent efforts to change the language-in-education policy have so far seemed insincere. / Linguistics / M.A. (With specialisation in Applied Linguistics)

This thesis is an in-depth study of Shona fiction about the liberation war in Zimbabwe. It looks at the way Zimbabwe’s liberation war is portrayed in Shona fiction and focuses on the factors that shaped writers’ perspectives on that war. It is argued that Shona war fiction writers romanticised the war and in the process simplified and distorted history. The researcher postulates that writers’ perspectives on this liberation war were shaped by factors that include the mood of celebration and euphoria, the dominant ideology of the time, the situations of independence and freedom, and literary competitions. The thesis further raises and illustrates the point that writers produced romances of adventure because they were writing on the theme of war, and if one writes on the theme of war one ends up writing an adventure story. However, it is also acknowledged that because authors were writing on a historical event they could not ignore history completely. Some aspects of history are incorporated into the fiction, thereby retaining a semblance of historical realism. The post-independence period is also seen as a time of cultural revival and this is considered as the reason behind the authors’ tendency to celebrate Shona traditional institutions and culture. The celebration of Shona traditional religion and culture introduced into the fiction the element of the supernatural that strengthened the romance aspect of the novels. Shona war fiction writers also perpetuate female stereotyping. Female characters are depicted as everything except guerrilla fighters. It is argued that there are no female characters that play roles of guerrilla fighters because during the actual war women were not visible at the war front, fighting. The thesis argues that men, who were pioneers of the guerrilla war and writers of the war stories, excluded women from liberation war discourse and ultimately from literary discourse as well. A few writers who comment on the quality of Zimbabwe’s independence and freedom show the disillusionment and despair of the peasants and ex-combatants as they struggled to settle down and recover from the war. / African Languages / D.Litt. et Phil.

How African individuals perceive the family life cycle, is the topic of this research. This qualitative study was facilitated with two individuals. Constructivism was used to explore how individuals create their reality. The Person-Centred Approach was studied to understand the importance of the Self- concept in the individual, and the role played by perceptions created in an ever-changing environment. Systems theory helped understand the interaction of family members as a system (family), especially the creation of stability after a state of disequilibrium – in this case, transitions between stages of the life cycle. Only with one respondent were some differences identified compared to the Western view of the life cycle. It was thus concluded that the family life cycle can be used as a guideline during therapy, regarding difficult transitions people (including African people) have to make, for therapists working from both the Person-Centred Approach and the systems perspective. / Social Work / (M.A. (Social Work (Mental Health))

The study explored cultural perspectives of the Zimbabwean Ndebele on alternative modes of childbirth. A qualitative generic, exploratory and descriptive design guided the study. The problem is that alternative modes of birthing are not acceptable to the Zimbabwean Ndebele. Women who give birth through alternative modes of birthing, which include caesarean section (CS) instrumental deliveries (ID) and any other unnatural modes are stigmatised. Data were collected from purposively selected samples of women who had given birth through alternative modes of birthing, spouses, mothers-in-law, community elders, sangomas (traditional healers) and traditional birth attendants (TBAs) using individual unstructured in-depth interviews, structured interviews and focus group interviews (FGIs). Data were analysed through use of qualitative content analysis which involved verbatim transcripts. Interpretations of narrations of data and script reviewing were done while simultaneously listening to audio-tapes which were transcribed in the IsiNdebele the language that was used to collect data. Data were then translated into English to accommodate all readers. Accounts of all the informants that were interviewed point to effects of supernatural ancestral powers, infidelity and use of traditional and herbal medicines as cause for “tiedness” (labour complications), a concept that showed a strong thread throughout the study. Study findings illuminated that traditional practices are culture-bound and the desire is to perpetuate the valued culture. Recommendations made from the study are; cultural orientation of local and foreign health workers, cultural consultation and collaboration with sangomas (traditional healers) and particular recognition of the significance of the study as a cultural heritage of the Zimbabwean Ndebele society. Further research on how women and their spouses cope with the grieving process after experiencing the crisis and grief following CS is recommended. With all the recommended areas addressed, Zimbabwean Ndebele would find alternative modes of birthing acceptable. / Health Studies / D. Lit. et Phil. (Health Studies)