Narrating the Writing Center: Knowledge, Crisis, and Success in Two Writing Center Stories' is year-long comparative case study of two writing centers in the US and the UK and draws upon ethnographic and textographic methodologies. Using writing center documents such as annual management reports, websites, training materials, and interviews with writing center staff and administration, I investigate historical, cultural, and political influences on writing centers and trace moments of change in writing center history in order to contextualize the changes both writing centers faced in terms of funding, location, and identity. I examine traditional and contemporary epistemological paradigms that inform writing centers' everyday practices and underlying ideology that both correspond with and resist institutionally-sanctioned ways of knowing and institutionally-embedded ideology. Using documents and interviews from both sites, I explore the ways in which writing centers find themselves in a reactive position during crises, such as the crisis of access, of literacy, and of funding, rather than a proactive position. Drawing from frame analysis, I argue for reframing the narratives surrounding writing center identity and praxis through the use of code words which have the potential to align writing center praxis with institutional values and result in increased agency for writing centers during crises. I conclude with a blending of contemporary definitions of kairos and stasis in order to create a rhetorical method of writing center communication that can serve as a potential path toward writing center sustainability, and I offer current writing center administrators a heuristic for implementation.

A great deal of evaluations are commissioned and conducted every year in social work, but research reports a lack of use of the evaluation results. This may depend on how the evaluations are conducted, but it may also depend on how social workers use evaluation results. The aim of this thesis is to explore and analyse evaluation practice in social work from an empirical, normative, and constructive perspective. The objectives are partly to increase the understanding of how we can produce relevant and useful knowledge for social work using evaluation results and partly, to give concrete suggestions on improvements on how to conduct evaluations. The empirical data has been organised as four cases, which are evaluations of temporary programmes in social work. The source materials are documents and interviews. The results show that findings from evaluations of temporary programmes are sparingly used in social work. Evaluations seem to have unclear intentions with less relevance for learning and improvement. In contrast, the evaluators themselves are using the data for new purposes. These empirical findings are elaborated further by using the knowledge form phronesis, which can be translated into practical wisdom. The overall conclusion is that social work is in need of knowledge that social workers find relevant and useful in practice. In order to meet these needs, researchers and evaluators must broaden their knowledge view and begin to include practical knowledge instead of solely relying on scientific knowledge when conducting evaluations. Finally, a new evaluation model is suggested. It is called phronesis-based evaluation and is argued to have great potential to address and include professionals’ praxis-based knowledge. It advocates a view that takes social work’s dynamic context into serious consideration and acknowledges values and power as important components of the evaluation process.

This dissertation interrogates obscured Indigenous identities by way of an original dramatic script that employs story-telling as an inherent cultural device that sustains a sense of peoplehood. In an art-based inquiry, I use Gerald Vizenor's notion of "postindian" to respond to the ways in which postindian identities establish "survivance"; that is, how the presence, resistance and endurance of Indigenous lives challenge simulations. Native histories in the shadow of dominance can be reimagined through cultural acts of resilience that overcome internalized oppressions or what Augusto Boal referred to as the "cop in the head". Reproductions of the image of oppressor are too often constructed in the image of self that prevents authentic being. The script demonstrates the criticality of authoring a counter-narrative that celebrates Indigenous history remembered and survived. Through Indigenous values of relationality and responsibility, it offers an unfinished third act of the play. The final act confers agency upon a future community audience to engage in an interactive style of participation known as Theater of the Oppressed to explore various resolutions.

The Church of England is living through a time of significant change in attitudes towards local church ministry, congregational participation and pastoral practices. As it seeks to respond with integrity to changes in contemporary society the Church’s dialogue with empirical social research is beginning to develop more fully. This thesis focuses on a pioneer national project to explore the effectiveness of pastoral ministry in contemporary church weddings. The social science research methods used in this project revealed insights into the ministry of contemporary church weddings with the intention of shaping responsive parochial wedding policies. This thesis considers the potential for further local enquiry by individual marrying clergy to understand the ordinary theology (proposed by Astley) of their communities using methods of ordinary research alongside a shared reflective practice. It highlights the socio-theological interface within reflective empirical theology by pastoral practitioners in the Church. A model of participatory action research incorporating online clergy forums and change agent groups is explored to stimulate parochial and institutional change among clergy in partnership with each other. The role of priest researchers is proposed and identified in other pastoral contexts to examine factors that motivate clergy to participate in the development of pastorally responsive national policies. A methodology of personal diaries, focus groups and one to one interviews is used to explore the responses of clergy to participating in reflective praxis. The findings point to key factors in developing pastoral practice and policies involving the place of ministerial development and attitudes towards collaborative working. A typology of pastoral ministry is developed towards identifying priest researchers in the Church. The research affirms the contribution of pastoral practitioners towards the development of pastorally responsive national policies but the nature of parochial deployment and clergy relationships with each other and the Church institutions frequently preclude much of this contribution.

Entry in the teaching profession is often dependent on a number of steps or phases involving standardized assessments and performance assessments. The relationships between and among the variables incorporated in such instruments are typically assumed, but not necessarily substantiated. Furthermore, the relationships between the variables assessed and factors involved in teacher preparation have not been investigated. This study was designed to investigate the nature of such relationships in one particular case. In the spring of 1997, the Louisiana legislature changed the Louisiana Teacher Assessment Program to create the Louisiana Teacher Assistance and Assessment Program (LaTAAP). LaTAAP is a uniform statewide program for new teachers entering service for the first time in a Louisiana Public School System. Through LaTAAP, each new teacher is assigned a mentor teacher who helps him or her transition into the career of education as successfully and effectively as possible (Louisiana Department of Education, Professional Development Manual, 2002-2003). The Praxis is a series of tests developed by Educational Testing Service (ETS) that provides tests and other services for states to use as a part of their teacher licensing and certification process. The Praxis Series is currently required for teacher licensure in Louisiana and 43 other states and U.S. jurisdictions (Educational Testing Service [ETS], 2005-2006). The purpose of this study was intended to address relationships by investigating the factors identified by novice teachers as influencing their performance on Praxis and LaTAAP. Additionally, this study addressed whether the mentoring component increased teachers' sense of their capacity to teach effectively. The central research question was: What factors or issues are identified by novice teachers as influences on their performance in standardized assessments and classroom teaching effectiveness? This qualitative study utilized a phenomenological approach employing data collection techniques consisting of personal questionnaires, interviews, and focus groups. Data were collected exclusively from ten participants who completed LaTAAP over the past four years and passed Praxis. An analysis of the data revealed several commonalities of the participants' Praxis and LaTAAP experiences which have had an effect on their professional practice. The issues in common included professional growth, mentoring, and testing.

<p></p><p>The objective of this dissertation is to highlight the way history is taught in Perú, more specifically in Chavín de Huántar. As well as bring to the light the complex dynamics that revolve around this teaching, including the education system and the archaeological, local, and national government policies. This study becomes important in a world where Indigenous Peoples and women continue to be excluded from historical narratives made for the public. The main motivation to conduct this work was the need to decolonize the way history is taught and transform it into an empowering topic that can potentially contribute to a more just world. </p><p>The aim of this research project was to answer the following research questions: (a) What do children in Chavín de Huántar, Perú know about their local past? (b) How do different institutions, organizations, and community members influence such teachings? and (c) How can archaeologists contribute to a more empowering and less oppressive teaching of the past? To accomplish this objective an ethnography of learning with a critical epistemology was conducted during August 2016 and August 2017. This ethnography included participant observation, semi-structured interviews, photo and drawing elicitation with children, and two outreach projects (a summer camp and a teacher workshop). This work also includes a large number of photographs to contextualize the reader and make her/him/they feel more present at Chavín during my research, while I describe the surroundings and circumstances in which learning occurred while I was there. </p><p>This dissertation is divided in seven chapters. Chapter one provides the reader with a literature and theoretical background, while in chapter two I provide a general discussion and context of Chavín de Huántar as a town and as the archaeological UNESCO world heritage site with the same name. Chapter three will be dedicated to describing the methods used throughout this ethnography and applied public archaeological outreach. In chapter four, I begin to answer the proposed research questions. While in Chapter seven I will provide final remarks and conclusions. </p><p>My research and analysis has brought to light that children in Chavín de Huántar have a basic understanding of Chavín as a “Golden-Age”. This time period is promoted by the local and national government to incentivize tourism as well as what most archaeological work is concentrated on. In addition, local and national institutions mostly concentrate on this time period ignoring over 3000 years of local history, with some exceptions, especially the National Museum of Chavín. In addition, the political and communication problems between the town and the archaeological project “Research and Conservation project in Chavín de Huántar” influence strongly the lack of knowledge children and other community members have about the archaeological site. </p><p> </p><p>Although there is a constant blaming among the institutions of whose fault it is that children do not now too much about their history, my research provided evidence that in each one of these institutions there are people willing to work in collaboration in order to benefit children. In chapter six, I will provide details about two projects created and implemented in collaboration: a summer camp and a teachers’ workshop. These projects seemed to be well received in the community but more like them need to continue in order to have sustainable results. However, these projects proved that collaboration is possible and necessary. I conclude this dissertation providing recommendations for numerous stakeholders in Chavín de Huántar and in Perú, including the archaeological project, the municipality of Chavín, the Ministry of Culture, and the Ministry of Education. </p><p></p>

Les troubles spécifiques du développement praxique (ou gestuel) sont diagnostiqués comme Dyspraxie ou Trouble de l’Acquisition de la Coordination (TAC). Leur compréhension se heurte à de nombreuses impasses, et dans la définition des concepts de praxies et de coordination motrice et dans l’analyse théorique des déficits qu’ils recouvrent. En l’absence de théorie spécifique à l’enfant, les connaissances concernant le développement atypique des praxies se sont élaborées sur une transposition des modèles « adulte » mais sans en appréhender la pertinence. L’objectif principal ici est de dégager les arguments qui étayeraient l’hypothèse d’un trouble spécifique du développement praxique. Le parti est pris de proposer un examen fondé sur les théories du geste chez l’adulte, et qui cible les différents niveaux cognitifs engagés dans son développement: fonctions perceptives (visuelles, spatiales), exécutives (planification, flexibilité, inhibition) et compréhension orale. Les performances d’enfants diagnostiqués dyspraxiques ou TAC et au développement typique sont comparées dans deux études, de groupes puis de cas multiples. Nos résultats montrent des troubles divers « dans » la production du geste, inconstants dans les profils individuels, et associés avec des déficits non spécifiquement gestuels (perceptifs, exécutifs ou de compréhension). Face à cette hétérogénéité, la thèse propose de déconstruire la conception des troubles spécifiques du développement praxique, au profit d’une analyse qui ne confonde pas un trouble « du » geste avec tout déficit se manifestant « dans » le geste. / Specific deficit in praxic (or gestural) development are diagnosed as Dyspraxia or Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD). Understanding them proves problematic, both when defining the concepts of praxis/motor coordination and when providing a theoretical analysis of the deficits they cover. In the absence of theory specifically related to children, knowledge about atypical development of praxis is gleaned by applying « adult » models, without really understanding whether this is appropriate. The aim of this thesis is to explore the arguments underlying the hypothesis of a specific deficit in praxis development. Tasks were selected based on adult cognitive models of praxis processing in order to enable a comprehensive and theoretically analysis of gestures. We also examined different cognitive functions involved in the praxis development: perception (both visual and spatial), executive functions (planning, flexibility, inhibition) and oral comprehension. The performance of children diagnosed as dyspraxic or DCD is compared to those considered to show typical development in two studies: on groups and multiple case studies. Our results show various difficulties in producing gestures, mostly inconstant in case studies, and related to deficits that are not specifically gestural. Given the heterogeneity of the disorders that we found, this thesis is aimed at deconstructing the concept of specific deficit in praxis development in favour of an analysis that does not confuse gestural problems with other deficits made apparent through gesture.

Esta tese de doutorado é uma discussão sobre a precariedade na articulação poíesis/práxis/ theoria na formação musical no Brasil. A educação brasileira encontra-se, atualmente, numa estrutura de semiformação (Halbbildung1), com tendência tecnicizante, na qual está inserido o ensino de música (da escolaridade regular e das escolas especializadas na formação musical). Essa articulação precária da poíesis/práxis/theoria no ensino musical talvez seja decorrente, entre outras possíveis razões, da hegemonia da indústria da cultura (enquanto sistema ideológico) que promove padrões pré-estabelecidos para o consumo, aprisionando a aísthesis num gosto nivelador e mediano. Nesta perspectiva, buscamos investigar as possibilidades de rearticulação dialética das atividades musicais (poíesis/práxis/theoria) para uma formação musical alicerçada na apreciação musical e na compreensão da obra de arte, alternativa à indústria da cultura. Para tanto, partimos da fundamentação teórica dos conceitos adotados (educação, arte, cultura, indústria da cultura, formação/Bildung, as atividades da poíesis, práxis e theoria) e abordamos as considerações de Adorno sobre a educação em música, com ênfase no pensamento dialético e discutimos formas para que ocorra esta articulação poíesis/práxis/theoria, uma vez que em diversos contextos do ensino musical essas atividades se encontram totalmente dissociadas, dificultando uma compreensão global do objeto de estudo. Por meio das várias propostas pedagógicas sobre a educação e a formação musical surgidas no século XX no mundo e seus desdobramentos no Brasil, traçamos uma retrospectiva da gradativa exclusão da música da escolaridade regular e a crescente interferência da indústria da cultura nos âmbitos do ensino, da poética e da práxis musicais, influenciando os hábitos de audição e a aísthesis (percepção), o gosto e o juízo estético, bem como o uso indiscriminado de métodos de ensino de música tendenciosos e restritos à canção popular. A nossa discussão sobre a formação e o ensino de música busca a religação das atividades musicais da poíesis, da práxis e da theoria, de forma dialética, interativa e complementar, plena e não tecnicizante, onde a poética (compositores e obras) venha a ser o eixo sincronizador dessas atividades, das disciplinas e do conteúdo, desenvolvendo um pensamento crítico, hermenêutico e emancipado dos padrões do consumo musical, seja o músico compositor, intérprete ou musicólogo. Por fim, analisamos o projeto de educação musical Tocando a Vida da Instituição Aparecido Savegnago que contempla essa rearticulação das atividades musicais desde suas diretrizes ao cotidiano pedagógico, a fim de verificarmos a pertinência, a viabilidade e a exequibilidade das ideias por nós discutidas. / This doctoral thesis is a discussion of the precariousness of the articulation poiesis/praxis/ theoria in music education in Brazil. Currently, the structure of Brazilian education finds itself in a half education (Halbbildung2) structure, with technicalizing tendencies, into which the teaching of music (in regular schooling and special schools in musical training) is inserted. This precarious articulation of poíesis/praxis/theoria in music education may be due, among other possible reasons, to the hegemony of the culture industry (as an ideological system) that promotes pre-established standards for consumption, and in the process traps aisthesis within a leveling and average taste. In this perspective, we seek to investigate the possibilities for the dialectical re-articulation of musical activities (poíesis/praxis/theoria) for a musical education grounded in music appreciation and comprehension of the work of art, an alternative to the culture industry. In this light, we start from the theoretical framework based on the adopted concepts (education, culture, culture industry, training / Bildung, the activities of poiesis, praxis and theoria), and we discuss the considerations of Adorno regarding music education, with emphasis on dialectical thinking. We examine ways for the articulation poiesis/praxis/theoria to occur, since in many contexts of musical teaching these activities are fully decoupled, making difficult a comprehensive understanding of the object of study. Through the various pedagogical proposals on education and musical training that emerged throughout the world in the twentieth and their evolution in Brazil, we retrospectively trace the gradual exclusion of music from regular schooling and the growing interference of the culture industry in the fields of education, of musical poetics and praxis, influencing listening habits and aisthesis (perception), taste and aesthetic judgment, as well as the indiscriminate use of methods of music education both biased and restricted to popular song. Our discussion of the training and teaching of music seeks the recoupling of the musical activities of poiesis, praxis and theoria in a dialectical, interactive and complementary, full and not technicalizing form, where poetics (composers and works) will be the synchronizing axis of these activities, disciplines and content, developing a critical, hermeneutic thought that is emancipated from the standards of musical consumption, be the musician songwriter, performer or musicologist. Finally, in order to verify the relevance, feasibility and practicability of the ideas discussed, we analyze the design of the musical education project Playing the Life (Tocando a Vida) of the Aparecido Savegnago Institution (Instituição Aparecido Savegnago), which takes into account this rearticulation of musical activities, from their pedagogical guidelines to their everyday pedagogy

Os estudos situados no campo de intersecção entre a psicologia e a política têm contribuído de forma significativa para a investigação de diversos fenômenos ligados ao comportamento político. Entre os principais temas abordados nesse campo interdisciplinar, está presente a participação política. Os referenciais que abordam tal temática, via de regra, têm privilegiado os processos e os fatores implicados na participação política. A presente pesquisa teve como foco de interesse compreender esse fenômeno partindo das perspectivas dos sujeitos e das tensões por eles vivenciadas. A partir do referencial vigotskiano, em articulação com a teoria gramsciana, objetivou-se estudar os sentidos e os significados atribuídos à participação política por sujeitos do setor de educação de um assentamento rural vinculado ao MST. A práxis política, ação intencional que visa a intervenção no homem enquanto ser social, é a categoria central do trabalho. Ela é entendida aqui como imersa em uma realidade social e política gramsciana e orientada a partir de uma subjetividade vigotskiana. Segundo o referencial aqui adotado, a constituição do sujeito é perpassada a todo o momento pelas relações sociais nas quais ele está inserido, ou seja, as tensões presentes no campo social e econômico também se manifestam no campo da subjetividade, na organização do seu drama subjetivo. Participaram da pesquisa quatro sujeitos adultos. Foram priorizados como participantes os envolvidos com as atividades de educação de crianças e jovens no assentamento. O corpus empírico foi construído por meio de duas entrevistas individuais com cada participante e observações de atividades que envolviam o setor de educação do assentamento. As informações obtidas por esses dois instrumentos foram articuladas durante a análise. A análise foi elaborada a partir da construção de categorias baseadas nas entrevistas e nos referenciais teóricos. Foram realizadas análises individuais e uma análise transversal com o intuito de abordar elementos comuns aos quatro sujeitos. Os principais conceitos que orientaram o olhar para o corpus empírico foram: práxis política, sentido, drama e senso comum. Evidencia-se que a práxis política deve ser entendida como um processo em constante movimento e transformação, relacionado a dimensões diversas: gerais e específicas; objetivas e subjetivas; cognitivas e afetivas. Além disso, o entendimento da práxis política não pode se limitar somente à participação no movimento social, mas deve abranger vivências nos diferentes campos da vida dos sujeitos: família, religião, trabalho, etc. Os papéis desempenhados nesses diferentes campos se entrelaçam com o papel de militante. Os sujeitos demonstram passar por contínuos processos de mudança relacionados à práxis política. Destacam-se aqui mudanças ligadas aos seus sentidos, aos seus dramas subjetivos e ao senso comum. Tais mudanças são apenas possíveis a partir das contradições e potenciais críticos presentes na própria subjetividade dos participantes. Por fim, defende-se a importância de se entender a práxis política dos sujeitos enquanto processo concreto sempre manifestado a partir de um contexto específico e um projeto/objetivo determinado. / Studies located in the field of intersection between psychology and politics have contributed significantly to the investigation of various phenomena related to political behavior. Among the main topics discussed in this interdisciplinary field, political participation is present. As a rule, the references that deal with this theme have privileged the processes and factors involved in political participation. This research focused on understanding the phenomenon starting from the perspective of the subjects and the tensions they experienced. From the Vigotskyan point of view, in conjunction with the Gramscian theory, the research aimed at studying the senses and significances attributed to political participation by individuals of the education sector of a rural settlement linked to the MST. The political praxis, which is an intentional action aimed at the intervention in men as a social being, is the central category of this work. It is understood here as immersed in a social reality and in a Gramscian-oriented politics from a Vygotskian subjectivity. According to the framework adopted, the constitution of the subject is constantly permeated by the social relations in which the subject is embedded, i.e., the tensions that are present in the social and economic fields are also manifested in the field of subjectivity, in the organization of their subjective drama. The participants of this research were four adult subjects. Those involved with educational activities for children and young people in the settlement were prioritized as participants. The empirical corpus was constructed through two interviews with each participant and observations of activities involving the education sector of the settlement. The information obtained by these two instruments were articulated during the analysis. The analysis was performed from the construction of categories based on the interviews and on the theoretical framework. Individual and across-sectional analyses were performed in order to approach common elements to the four subjects. The main concepts that guided the look for the empirical corpus were political praxis, sense, drama and common sense. It is evident that the political praxis must be understood as a process in constant motion and transformation, related to different dimensions: general and specific, objective and subjective, cognitive and affective. Furthermore, understanding the political praxis can not be limited only to the participation in the social movement, but it must cover experiences in different fields of the subjects life: family, religion, work, etc. The roles played in these different fields intertwine with the role of being an activist. The subjects demonstrate they undergo continuous change processes related to political praxis. Changes linked to their senses, to their subjective dramas and to common sense stand out from the analyses. These changes are only possible from the contradictions and critic potential present in the participants\' own subjectivity. Finally, we advocate the importance of understanding the political praxis of the subjects as a concrete process that is always manifested from a specific context and a determined project / goal.

Nesta tese, irei investigar as implicações que o uso consistente que Píndaro e Baquílides fazem do termo têm para a ocasião de performance dos epinícios. Irei argumentar, do ponto de vista da Linguística e da Poética Cognitivas, que, através de uma análise das passagens relevantes da literatura grega, de Homero ao drama do século V, o termo sempre implica algum tipo de celebração, seja móvel ou não, e que ele nunca é usado para denotar canção ou coro. Também irei argumentar que implica um frame dentro de um Modelo Cognitivo Idealizado para CELEBRAÇÃO DE VITÓRIA, dentro do qual referências às odes devem ser entendidas. Baseando-me nesta análise irei discutir as implicações dos resultados e reexaminar a pressuposição, atualmente tida como não problemática, segundo a qual as odes eram sempre executadas por um coro em sua première. Além disso, irei discutir também o problema da identificação da persona loquens nos poemas e irei propor que, na maioria dos casos, ela nunca parece se referir a um coro. Finalmente, discutirei alguns cenários de transmissão das odes, propondo que a escrita não precisa ser proposta para a transmissão do texto até uma data bem tardia e que uma tradição de reperformances orais dos poemas deve ter tido um papel essencial na preservação do texto. / In this thesis I shall investigate the implications of the consistent use Pindar and Bacchylides make of the term to the occasion of the performance of the epinikia. I shall argue, from the perspective of Cognitive Linguistics and Poetics, that, through the 9 analysis of the relevant passages in Greek literature from Homer to the V century drama, the term always implies some sort celebration, either mobile or not, and that it is never used to denote either song or chorus. Most importantly I shall argue that implies a frame in an Idealized Cognitive Model for VICTORY CELEBRATION within which references to the victory ode must be understood. Based on this, I shall discuss the implications of these results and try to reexamine the assumption, held as unproblematic by the majority of critics, that the victory odes were always performed chorally on its premiere. Additionally I shall also discuss the problems of identifying the persona loquens in the poems and I shall propose that in most cases it never seems to refer to a chorus. Finally, I shall discuss some scenarios of transmission of the odes, proposing that writing needs not be assumed for the transmission of the text until a fairly late date and that a continuous tradition of oral reperformances must have played an essential role in the preservation of the text.