In South African schools various factors influence relationships between facilitators and learners, compounding their frustrations: class sizes, cultural and language barriers, and hierarchical power/knowledge relations. These problems have led to a polarisation between facilitators and learners which could cause facilitators to experience a lack of appreciation and agency. Learners participated in this qualitative study experienced themselves as without voices, and wanted to be acknowledged as people with worthwhile knowledges of their own. This report shows how the therapist and participants engaged in a participatory process of narrative co-search during individual and group conversations where social construction of knowledges and practices of acknowledgement and care, enchanced by letters and externalising conversations, led to the co-creation of a better understanding of one another. This resulted in a more caring, supportive and acknowledging school community, where facilitators re-connected with their preferred stories, and learners found acknowledgement for their own knowledge and preferred ways of living. / Philosophy, Practical & Systematic Theology / M. Th. (Practical Theology with specialisation in Pastoral Theology)

Thesis (MEdPsych)--Stellenbosch University, 2011. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The contexts of the experiences of teachers in South Africa, particularly in communities with low income levels, seem to invite meanings of hopelessness. These meanings appear to be supported by dominant discourses that could determine and limit the practices or actions of these teachers. Within these contexts, however, there are teachers whose actions, reflections or motivations suggest the possibility of alternative or preferred meanings that may be marginalised or silenced by dominant discourses of hopelessness. The theoretical framework that provided the foundation for this study was social constructionism, which argues that meaning is constructed through social interaction and that there is no underlying or objective reality that can be revealed through observation or experience. An understanding of this social construction of meaning allows for the construction of alternative or preferred meanings by individuals or groups in contexts where dominant discourses do not serve their best interests. The aim of the research was therefore to explore and describe the meanings that the participants make of their experiences as teachers in a primary school in Cape Town in a community where low income levels are prevalent. The study further aimed to describe how these teachers experience contextual factors and how these factors contribute to their meaning-making. Furthermore, the purpose of the study was to explore local knowledge in the form of actions, motivations and reflections of the teachers that suggest possibilities for alternative or preferred meanings. In keeping with the social constructionist nature of the study, a qualitative, interpretivist research approach was used. Participants were selected through purposive sampling and focus group discussions were used to generate data. Digital audio recordings were made of the group sessions, which were then transcribed and analysed using the constant comparative method. The research findings indicated that the teachers who participated in the study experienced various contextual factors that contributed to their meaning-making. Their experiences of most of these factors were described in similar ways to comparable contextual factors as portrayed in the literature. Furthermore, these contextual factors were linked by the teachers, and dominantly in the literature, to meanings that could be summarised as hopelessness. However, alongside these meanings, the teachers gave rich or detailed descriptions of a range of actions, reflections and motivations that suggest possible alternative or preferred meanings to the hopelessness that their context seems to invite, and that dominant discourses in the literature appear to portray. These findings led to recommendations that were centred largely on meeting some of the support needs of teachers and children in communities with low income levels. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Onderwysers se ervarings in Suid-Afrika, veral in gemeenskappe met ‘n lae inkomstevlak, word belewe binne kontekste wat lyk asof dit die betekenisse van hopeloosheid ontlok. Hierdie betekenisse word blykbaar deur dominante diskoerse ondersteun, wat hierdie onderwysers se werksaamheid of optrede kan bepaal en beperk. Binne hierdie kontekste is daar egter onderwysers wie se handelinge, nadenke of motivering die moontlikheid van alternatiewe of verkieslike betekenisse aandui, maar wat gemarginaliseer of stilgemaak kan word deur die dominante diskoerse van hopeloosheid. Die teoretiese raamwerk wat die grondslag vir hierdie studie verskaf het, was sosiale konstruksionisme, wat daarop dui dat betekenis deur sosiale interaksie gekonstrueer word en dat daar geen onderliggende of objektiewe realiteit is wat deur waarneming of ervaring geopenbaar kan word nie. ‘n Begrip van die sosiale konstruksie van betekenis maak voorsiening vir die konstruksie van alternatiewe of verkieslike betekenisse deur individue of groepe binne kontekste waar dominante diskoerse nie hul beste belange dien nie. Die doel van die navorsing was daarom om die betekenisse wat die deelnemers, as onderwysers in ‘n laerskool in Kaapstad binne ‘n gemeenskap met lae inkomste, aan hul ervarings heg, te verken en te beskryf. Die studie was verder daarop gemik om te beskryf hoe hierdie onderwysers kontekstuele faktore ervaar en hoe hierdie faktore ‘n bydrae lewer tot hoe hulle betekenis skep. ‘n Verdere doel van die studie was om plaaslike kennis in die gedaante van die optrede, motivering en nadenke van onderwysers, waardeur moontlike alternatiewe of verkieslike betekenisse na vore kom, te verken. Vanweë die sosiaal-konstruksionistiese aard van die studie, is ‘n kwalitatiewe, interpretiewe navorsingsbenadering as navorsingsmetodologie vir hierdie studie gebruik. ‘n Doelgerigte steekproef is gebruik om potensiële deelnemers te identifiseer en data is deur middel van fokusgroeponderhoude gegenereer. Digitale oudio-opnames van die fokusgroeponderhoude is getranskribeer en is met gebruik van die konstante vergelykende metode ontleed. Die navorsingsbevindings het aangedui dat die onderwysers wat aan hierdie studie deelgeneem het, verskillende kontekstuele faktore belewe wat bydra tot die betekenis wat deur hulle geskep word. Hulle belewenis van die meeste van hierdie faktore is op soortgelyke wyse beskryf as vergelykbare kontekstuele faktore wat in die literatuur bespreek word. Hierdie kontekstuele faktore is verder deur die onderwysers en in die literatuur aan betekenisse wat as hopeloosheid beskryf kan word, gekoppel. Naas hierdie betekenisse het die onderwysers egter ook ryk of gedetailleerde beskrywings van ‘n reeks handelinge, nadenkings en motiverings gebied wat moontlike alternatiewe of verkose betekenisse bied tot die hopeloosheid wat deur hulle konteks uitgelok word en deur die dominante diskoerse in die literatuur uitgebeeld word. Die navorsingsbevindings het gelei tot aanbevelings wat hoofsaaklik daarop gerig is om in sommige van die behoeftes aan ondersteuning wat deur onderwysers en kinders in gemeenskappe met lae inkomstevlakke ervaar word, te voorsien.

The loss of central vision subsequent to macular disease is often extremely debilitating. People with central field loss (CFL) must use other peripheral areas of the retina in order to see; areas with inferior resolution capacity, which are also affected by off-axis optical errors. The overall aim of the work encompassed by this thesis was to identify and evaluate methods of improving vision for people with CFL; with focus on the effects of off-axis optical correction and stimulus motion on resolution acuity and contrast sensitivity. Off-axis optical errors were measured using a commercially-available COAS-HD VR open-view aberrometer. We used adaptive psychophysical methods to evaluate grating resolution acuity and contrast sensitivity in the peripheral visual field; drifting gratings were employed to   measure the effect of motion on these two measures of visual performance. The effect of sphero-cylindrical correction and stimulus motion on visual performance in healthy eyes and in subjects with CFL was also studied; in addition, the effect of adaptive optics aberration correction was examined in one subject with CFL. The COAS-HD aberrometer provided rapid and reliable measurements of off-axis refractive errors. Correction of these errors gave improvements in low-contrast resolution acuity in subjects with higher amounts of oblique astigmatism. Optical correction also improved high-contrast resolution acuity in most subjects with CFL, but not for healthy subjects. Adaptive optics correction improved both high and low contrast resolution acuity in the preferred retinal locus of a subject with CFL. The effect of stimulus motion depended on spatial frequency; motion of 7.5 Hz improved contrast sensitivity for stimuli of low spatial frequency in healthy and CFL subjects. Motion of 15 Hz had little effect on contrast sensitivity for low spatial frequency but resulted in reduced contrast sensitivity for higher spatial frequencies in healthy subjects. Finally, high-contrast resolution acuity was relatively insensitive to stimulus motion in the periphery. This thesis has served to broaden the knowledge regarding peripheral optical errors, stimulus motion and their effects on visual function, both in healthy subjects and in people with CFL. Overall it has shown that correction of off-axis refractive errors is important for optimizing peripheral vision in subjects with CFL; the use of an open-view aberrometer simplifies the determination of these errors. In addition, moderate stimulus motion can have a beneficial effect on contrast sensitivity for objects of predominantly low spatial frequency.

La variété des situations auxquelles sont confrontés les acteurs de la vie des affaires, et l’importance des sommes en jeu, constituent un aiguillon particulièrement stimulant pour la réflexion des spécialistes dans le domaine financier et juridique. Un engouement s’enracine également dans la tendance des marchés financiers à exiger une plus grande transparence dans la gestion des groupes diversifiés, dont la lisibilité financière est souvent réduite. Une telle exigence de lisibilité est au cœur de la définition des actions traçantes. Apparues outre-Atlantique au début des années 80, elles ont bénéficié, avec l’avènement de la nouvelle économie, d’un regain d’intérêt notable et d’un volume d’émission élevé sur le marché financier américain depuis les années 90. L’émission d’actions traçantes, mis à part leur nature hybride, constitue une mesure de restructuration assez particulière qui vient compléter la base d’études déjà constituée sur le thème de la restructuration de capitaux. Cette recherche a pour ambition de montrer comment introduire les actions traçantes sur le marché financier français et plus particulièrement, elle permettra d’élargir le choix des formes de restructuration qui seront présentés pour des entreprises souhaitant chercher de nouvelles sources de financement, se procurer de nouveaux moyens d’acquisition et atteindre l’objectif fondamental qui est celui de la création de valeur. De ce fait, l’émission d’actions traçantes se trouvera en concurrence avec d’autres formes de restructuration (scission et apport partiel d’actif). Par conséquent, on présentera les facteurs dont les entreprises devront tenir compte dans le choix des restructurations envisagées. / The variety of situations faced by actors of the business concerning their field, and the importance of the amount of money involved, is considered as a mind moving element particularly for specialists in financial and legal matters. Enthusiasm is also rooted in the financial markets which tend to require greater transparency from groups, including financial visibility that is often reduced. Such a requirement is highly recommended in the definition of tracking stock. Emerged across the Atlantic in the early 80s, they have benefited, with the advent of the new economy, a noticeable income of interest and have increased since the early '90s until now through a large number of issuances on the U.S. financial market. The issuance of tracking stock, apart from its hybrid nature, contains a certain measure of restructuring rather special that completes the basis of studies already made on the subject of capital restructuring. This research also aims to show how to introduce tracking stock on the French financial market, and more particularly to expand the choice of forms of restructuring that will be presented to companies in hope to seek new funding sources, to obtain new ways of acquisition and achieve a fundamental objective which is the creation of value. Therefore, the issuing of tracking stock will have to compete with other forms of restructuring (spin-off, equity carve-out). Thus, we present the factors that companies should deem when choosing the restructuring proposed.

Childlessness in the Czech Republic, Germany, and Austria Abstract The main goal of this thesis is to examine and compare the state of childlessness in the Czech Republic, the Federal Republic of Germany and Austria. In Germany particularly, childlessness has become a phenomenon and a society-wide issue. Austria, where childlessness is at a high level in comparison with other European countries is in a similar situation. Data analysis in this thesis showed that childlessness is more widespread in the former West Germany and Austria than in the Czech Republic and former East Germany. This difference is caused, among other things, by the pro-natal policies adopted in the former communist countries which led to a temporary increase in total fertility rate. Further, the thesis deals with the perception of parenthood and childlessness in society on the basis of the European Values Study 2008 international survey and with the relationship between the ideal and preferred number of children on the basis of the Eurobarometer 2006 international survey. The results of the surveys show that childlessness cannot be considered as a new kind of lifestyle, and that the preferred family form still involves two children. Considerable part of the study focuses on the causes and consequences of childlessness and its possible...

Identification of a person suspected of a heinous crime before being charged risks prejudicing a fair trial. Present laws place this type of publicity outside the reach of sub judice contempt. This thesis argues there should be a change in the law of sub judice contempt making it an offence for the media to publish the fact that a person is under investigation until the person has been charged.

Airlines have endured a prolonged period of intense competition with the advent of deregulation in 1978. Market innovations and price-cutting dramatically expanded the number of travelers utilizing the national air transportation network. Bankruptcies and mergers reduced the number of contestants in the industry and eventually produced four national carriers controlling 80-85 percent of the passengers and routes. This new market power of the dominant airlines is resulting in industry changes designed to reduce operational uncertainty but is also having detrimental effects on many airports, particularly the smallest airports. This study employs qualitative and quantitative methods to explore the viability of the nation’s smallest primary commercial service airports. Three journal articles are fused in examining different aspects of the viability question. In Article 1, a longitudinal comparative analysis presents historic growth patterns for various sized airports during deregulation and reveals a distinctly lower growth rate for nonhub airports than their larger rivals. Even with a burgeoning market for travelers, growth for nonhub airports was anemic and the industry experienced massive passenger migration to the 60 largest airports. Article 2 addresses the topic of consumer switching, expands on extant literature with qualitative analyses, and proposes a theoretic, conceptual framework of four primary types of traveler purchasers. Each traveler type has its own distinct switching rationale and creates leakage patterns contoured to the features of their preferred airport. Building on the migration and switching findings of the first two articles, Article 3 explores converging market conditions and factors that are threatening future airline service for dozens of the smallest airports. By extracting findings from contemporary research, a comparative analysis of airports identifies 33 airports that face the highest risk of losing air service. The explanatory model places the airports in rank order by weighting various threat criteria. Qualitative interviews of air service professionals offer insider observations generally not known to the public, confirm observations found in existing research and verify that market forces are acting to reduce the number of airports in the network. The key contribution of the three articles of the thesis is its description of how key actors (firms, customers, agencies) interact and respond to policy decisions that have unintended consequences to small airports and their regional economies. There are predictable patterns in the relational linkages of these actors that contribute to our understanding of how a particular industry evolves under various pressures and how it interacts with factors outside the industry. The preponderance of the evidence from this study reveals that current market trends are generally caustic to the continued operation of small airports. Industry experts are reticent in acknowledging that the next phase of deregulation is underway with the consolidation of the nation’s nonhub airports.

In South African schools various factors influence relationships between facilitators and learners, compounding their frustrations: class sizes, cultural and language barriers, and hierarchical power/knowledge relations. These problems have led to a polarisation between facilitators and learners which could cause facilitators to experience a lack of appreciation and agency. Learners participated in this qualitative study experienced themselves as without voices, and wanted to be acknowledged as people with worthwhile knowledges of their own. This report shows how the therapist and participants engaged in a participatory process of narrative co-search during individual and group conversations where social construction of knowledges and practices of acknowledgement and care, enchanced by letters and externalising conversations, led to the co-creation of a better understanding of one another. This resulted in a more caring, supportive and acknowledging school community, where facilitators re-connected with their preferred stories, and learners found acknowledgement for their own knowledge and preferred ways of living. / Philosophy, Practical and Systematic Theology / M. Th. (Practical Theology with specialisation in Pastoral Theology)

En compétition comme à l’entrainement, le comportement des nageurs émerge de l’interaction entre les ressources des nageurs et les contraintes éprouvées (organismique, environnementale et de tâche). L’objectif de ce travail est d’analyser la variabilité intra et inter-individuelle des aspects cinématiques du mouvement des nageurs en compétition et à l’entrainement. Nos résultats montrent l’existence d’une stabilité inter-longueur et une variabilité fonctionnelle intra-longueur dépendantes de la distance de l’épreuve, du genre et des différentes parties de la course en compétition. Les profils de gestion de course singuliers dépendent probablement des ressources mobilisables émotionnelles, cognitives, métaboliques et techniques. Les adaptations du nageur au cours d’un test maximal (9 X 25m) sans fatigue avec incrémentation aléatoire de la fréquence de nage a révélé la difficulté des nageurs à respecter des fréquences imposées situées au-delà de leurs fréquences préférentielles, et ce, surtout chez les nageuses. Pour les nageurs masculins, les fréquences éloignées des fréquences préférentielles ont induit une désorganisation motrice caractérisée par une augmentation des accélérations latérales et verticales. Ce travail propose des nouvelles pistes d’entraînement comme le travail individuel des stratégies de course inter et intra longueurs, et l’intérêt d’élargir la gamme de fréquences sollicitées afin d’acquérir une technique stable et économe, mais variable et adaptable en même temps. Cette variabilité faciliterait la mobilisation de leurs ressources pour développer une capacité et une flexibilité adaptatives permettant de surmonter les contraintes éprouvées. / In swimming competition just like in training, swimmers’ behaviours emerge from the interaction of constraints (organismic, environmental, and task). The aim of this work is to analyse the intra and inter-individual variability of the cinematic aspects of the movement of swimmers during competition and training. Our results have shown there is inter-lap stability and intra-lap functional variability in competition which depends on the distance of the race, the gender and the lap. Singular pacing profiles was discovered suggesting swimmers manage their speed differently depending on the available resources to deal with the race constraints. The swimmers’ adaptations at training during a protocol of 9 X 25m whilst increasing the stroke rate and the swimmers’ ability to respect an imposed frequency range was assessed, as well as the stroke rate amplitude range from the preferential and maximal stroke rate. Upon completion of the trials, the impact of stroke rate amplitude ranges on motor adaptability (coordination, efficiency) was evaluated. The difficult for all swimmers when performing above their preferential stroke rate, particularly for female athletes has been found and male swimmers exhibited disruption in forearm acceleration beyond their preferential stroke rate. This work proposes news paths for swimming training: working race strategies and training beyond the preferential stroke rate can allows swimmers to have a stable technique with a certain variability. This variability would give to swimmers the ability and flexibility to adapt and cope with constraints using their individual resources. / Durante la competencia o al entrenamiento, el comportamiento del nadador aparece de la interacción entre los recursos de él y sus restricciones encontradas (organísmicas, ambientales, y de acción). El objetivo de este trabajo es de analizar la variabilidad individual del aspecto cinemático del movimiento de nadadores en competencia y al entrenamiento. Nos resultados muestran la existencia de una estabilidad entre los largos y una variabilidad funcional al interior de cada largo, la cual depende de la distancia, el tipo de prueba, el género y de las diferentes partes de la carrera en situación de competencia. Los modelos singulares de la gestión de la carrera dependen probablemente de los recursos utilizados emocionales, cognitivos, metabólicos y técnicos. Las adaptaciones durante un test de sprint sin fatiga (9 X 25m) con una incrementación aleatoria de la frecuencia de nado han mostrado la dificultad de los nadadores a guardar la frecuencia pedida cuando es superior a la frecuencia preferencial (FRP), sobre todo en las nadadoras. Las frecuencias alejadas de la FRP inducen una desorganización motriz aumentación de aceleraciones laterales y verticales en los nadadores masculinos. Este trabajo propone nuevas pistas para el entrenamiento como el trabajo individual de las estrategias de carrera entre y al interior de cada largo, o el interés de aumentar el rango de frecuencias solicitado con el objetivo de adquirir una técnica estable y económica, así como variable y adaptable. Esta variabilidad facilitaría a los nadadores la movilización de sus recursos para desarrollar une capacidad a ser flexible y adaptativo, lo que podría permitir de superar las adversidades encontradas.

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