Lesson observation is an established part of teachers' professional lives within a rational policy discourse which problematises teaching. The problematisation of teaching in official documentation and pronouncements has shaped understanding and experience of teachers' professional work. By approaching this study from a constructionist perspective, and employing the What's the Problem Represented to be? (WPR) approach developed by Bacchi (2009) to examine policy-as-discourse, it is possible interrogate the role of policy in making problems, and their solutions, in very specific ways. The innovative combining of the work of Bacchi with Bourdieu's sociological lens, in particular his concept of illusio, has enabled this research to examine the investment teachers make in the practice of lesson observation and to offer an interpretative rendering of 'how it is possible for "what is said" to be "sayable"' (Foucault 1991:59, cited in Bacchi and Goodwin, 2016:36 original emphasis). The contribution to knowledge within this empirical study is in the articulation of a vocabulary of motives used by participants to make meaning of why they play the game of lesson observation and, through this, an analysis of how policy work is done in a further education (FE) context. This research finds that by playing the game, teachers and observers are, in effect, making the policy work, which in turn produces the forms of objects which have been constructed through the representation of teaching as a 'problem' in official policy; 'outstanding teacher'; 'best practice'; 'effective teaching'; 'learning outcomes'. The reification of these objects within teachers' professional lives has created taken-for- granted realities which enable the binary of professional development and performance management to make sense. Furthermore, the research reveals how, in making the policy work, teachers are in fact doing the work of policy by enacting the objective entities constituted by evidence-based 'best practice' in their teaching. Interpretation of the empirical data contributes new knowledge by proposing that teaching has become represented as a 'problem' of learning within official policy discourse and that this has created a world where learning is a duty for both teachers and learners. The thesis concludes with the recommendation put forward by participants for a democratic and collaborative system of peer review to replace the current system of lesson observation. However, this recommendation is still within the parameters of rational policy narrative in its presupposition that teachers need to improve. The thesis, therefore, recommends debate about what 'development' might mean in the context of FE.

This article redirects extant critiques of the modern problem of war at this problem’s underlying logic of deviance. According to this logic, war constitutes a kind of international conduct that contravenes behavioural norms and that can be corrected through diagnostic and didactic means. Thereby, war is rendered into a problem falling within the scope of human agency. However, this agency rests on and reproduces this logic’s constitutive blind spots. Therefore, it seems imperative to develop ways of problematising war otherwise. The article provides two starting points for (critical) IR scholarship seeking to undertake such a project. Firstly, it combines two Foucaultian tools, the concept of problematisation and the method of genealogy, to direct critique at the logics underlying our evaluative – analytical, ethical, and political –judgements. Secondly, it uses these tools to trace the contingent emergence of the logic of deviance in a crucial example within the wider genealogy of the problem of war: the Carnegie Endowment’s commission of inquiry into the Balkan Wars of 1912 and 1913. Based on original archival research, I highlight different elements of this inquiry’s problematisation of war – its frames, assumptions, ways of knowing, and subjects of knowledge – to make them available for reconstruction.

Bakgrund: Barn i behov av särskilt stöd kan ses som ett komplext begrepp. En rapport från Skolinspektionen (2017) ligger till grund för uppsatsens motiv, rapporten visar att förskolepersonal ofta saknar en samsyn över vad särskilt stöd innebär och hur det särskilda stödet utformas. Den teoretiska ansats vår studie utgår från är socialkonstruktivistisk, där människors uppfattningar ses som socialt konstruerade. De analytiska begrepp som används i studien är det kompensatoriska perspektivet, det kritiska/relationella perspektivet och dilemmaperspektivet. Dessa används för att kunna problematisera och analysera förskollärares uppfattningar och erfarenheter om arbetet med barn i behov av särskilt stöd. Syfte: Den här studien syftar till att problematisera arbetet med barn i behov av särskilt stöd. Metod: I föreliggande studie används semistrukturerade intervjuer för att besvara våra frågeställningar. Nio förskollärare har intervjuats i en mellanstor kommun i Sverige. Resultat: Vi finner att förskollärarna anser att barn som avviker från normen, barn med språksvårigheter, barn med diagnoser och barn i gråzonen är de som är i behov av särskilt stöd. Inom temat barn i gråzonen beskrivs bland annat barn med utåtagerande, alternativt inåtvända beteenden och koncentrationssvårigheter. Det särskilda stödet utformas främst i helgrupp, genom bilder och tecken som stöd men även i mindre grupper och individuellt. Så gott som alla förskollärare betonar att deras bemötande är en central del i hur det särskilda stödet utformas. Slutligen anser nästintill alla förskollärare att även faktorer såsom ekonomi, tid och personaltäthet avgör hur särskilda stödet utformas.

Submitted by Milena Rubi (milenarubi@ufscar.br) on 2017-08-16T17:50:46Z No. of bitstreams: 1 FELIPPE_Mariana_2017.pdf: 61159853 bytes, checksum: 641fafb3902a18ffdb41f11b9927b2ec (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Milena Rubi (milenarubi@ufscar.br) on 2017-08-16T17:50:55Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 FELIPPE_Mariana_2017.pdf: 61159853 bytes, checksum: 641fafb3902a18ffdb41f11b9927b2ec (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Milena Rubi (milenarubi@ufscar.br) on 2017-08-16T17:51:00Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 FELIPPE_Mariana_2017.pdf: 61159853 bytes, checksum: 641fafb3902a18ffdb41f11b9927b2ec (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-08-16T17:51:07Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 FELIPPE_Mariana_2017.pdf: 61159853 bytes, checksum: 641fafb3902a18ffdb41f11b9927b2ec (MD5) Previous issue date: 2017-02-22 / Não recebi financiamento / This research analyses which perspective of theatre can be utilised as a method of teaching Science, serving as a dynamic for the construction of scientific knowledge through playful activities. That said, theatrical workshops were developed, at “Escola Estadual Julio Bierrenbach”, in the city of Sorocaba, utilising Paulo Freire and his moments proposed in the piece “Pedagogia do Oprimido” as well as chapter three and Augusto Boal and the Theatre of the Oppressed, as inspiration. The activities that were developed at the public school were analised through two categories chosen to find out the limites and overcomings of the students with the educational practices which are problematisation and dialogue. The research characterises itself as qualitative, in that the voice of the participants is fundamental to the analysis and development of the practice. In this way, we seek to make a critical analysis of the current scientific teachings in this text, with the basis of authors who discuss the theme as well as investigate the theatre in school education and the Science of nature, its limits and possibilities in the curricular practice. The developed practice, as the results show, had limites and advances which allows us to conclude that working on the problematisation of theatre in critical and dialogic perspective shows itself as fundamental to the development of independence and emancipation of individuals, where students show, during the practice, principles of a new outlook towards reality. / Esta pesquisa busca analisar em que perspectiva o teatro pode ser utilizado como método no ensino de ciências, servindo como dinâmica para a construção do conhecimento científico através de atividades lúdicas. Busca-se investigar as contradições presentes na realidade dos educandos que, posteriormente, com a construção do conhecimento científico, possibilite sua superação. Isso posto, foram desenvolvidas oficinas teatrais, na “Escola Estadual Júlio Bierrenbach”, na cidade de Sorocaba, utilizando como inspiração Paulo Freire e os momentos propostos em sua obra “Pedagogia do Oprimido”, capítulo três e Augusto Boal e o Teatro do Oprimido. As atividades foram realizadas com 8 alunos do 6º ano do ensino fundamental, com a faixa etária de 11 à 13 anos. As práticas desenvolvidas na escola estadual foram analisadas através de duas categorias escolhidas para averiguar os limites e superações dos educandos com a prática educativa, que são a problematização e o diálogo. A pesquisa caracteriza-se como qualitativa, em que a fala dos participantes é fundamental para a análise e desenvolvimento da prática. Dessa forma, buscamos nesse texto fazer uma análise crítica do ensino de ciências atual, com base em autores que discutem o tema, buscando compreender e superar defasagens, assim como investigar o teatro no ensino escolar e, especificamente, no ensino de ciências da natureza, seus limites e possibilidades na prática curricular. A prática desenvolvida, como apontam os resultados, teve limites e avanços, estes bastante perceptíveis na mudança de postura dos educandos diante de situações problemáticas, o que nos permite concluir que trabalhar o teatro problematizador, numa perspectiva dialógica e crítica, mostrou-se útil para o desenvolvimento da autonomia e emancipação dos educandos, que mostram, durante a prática, princípios de um novo olhar diante da realidade.

Wie funktioniert Stadtplanung in einem politischen Zeitalter, in dem Dialogfähigkeit eine Tugend und eine Notwendigkeit zugleich ist? Die Stadtplanung, die als institutionalisierte Technokratie zielorientierte Effektivität anstrebt und doch schwer fassbar ist, wurde zum Gegenstand ständiger öffentlicher Anfechtungen und obliegt einer immer häufigeren politischen Rechenschaftspflicht. Mit der unablässigen Forderung nach mehr städtischer Demokratie verschieben sich die Schwerpunkte und Wertvorstellungen der Stadtplanung hin zu mehr Öffentlichkeitsarbeit, Partizipation und Transparenz. In der vorliegenden Dissertation wird ein pragmatischer, von der Akteur-Netzwerk-Theorie inspirierter Forschungsansatz verwendet, um die zum Teil widersprüchlichen Auswirkungen des planerischen Strebens nach urbaner Lebensqualität im Zusammenspiel mit den öffentlichen Maßnahmen zu untersuchen. Unter dem Einfluss einer sich neu definierenden Norm, veränderten Werten und zunehmender Bürger:innenbeteiligung wird Stadtplanung als ein Ensemble von Situationen und Ereignissen beleuchtet, welche durch das Aufgreifen aktueller Fragen die Öffentlichkeit erreichen. Durch die Gegenüberstellung von drei verschiedenen Stadtverwaltungen -–Lissabon, Wien und Zürich–- und deren politischen Hintergründe, analysiert die Dissertation empirisch die Entstehung städtischer Herausforderungen als kollektives Anliegen angesichts der verschiedenen Formen öffentlichen Handelns in der Stadtplanung. Mit anderen Worten, es werden Beispiele der Stadtplanung in einer Vielzahl von Erscheinungsformen und Konfigurationen untersucht, indem analysiert wird, wie das Vorhandensein verschiedenster Weltanschauungen zu einer gemeinsamen Expertise hybridisiert wird. Zu diesem Zweck wird die Stadtplanung nicht als eine feste Modalität betrachtet, die zu téchne oder démos gehört, oder periodisch definiert wird; sondern als öffentliche Angelegenheit und Gemeingut, wobei hinterfragt wird, wie „gutes“ städtisches Leben an der Schnittstelle von Politik, Wissenschaft und Ethik problematisiert wird. / How does city planning work in a political age where being dialogic constitutes a virtue and imperative at once? Known as institutionalised technocracy and bounded polity, city planning has come to be the object of continuous acts of public contestation, and the subject of an increasing prevalence of political accountability. With a relentless demand for increased urban democracy, the conduits and implications of city planning are reassembled into novel layers of visibility, worth, transparency and discernibility. The present dissertation endorses a pragmatist-inspired ANT-lens to examine the adverse itineraries of planning’s pursuit to achieve good city life, and what sustains its current co- constitutions as a public action. Subject to normative shifts, value variations and civic engagements, city planning is investigated as an ensemble of situations and events that involves the particular urgent attribution of problems to publics. By juxtaposing political backgrounds from three diverse city administrations –– Lisbon, Vienna, and Zurich–– the dissertation empirically inquires the emergence of urban issues as collective concerns, in the face of planning’s various modes of public action. In other words, samples of city planning across a variety of expressions and configurations are examined, by analysing how the presence of many truths are framed, counter-framed and hybridised into shared expertise. To this end, city planning is studied not as a fixed modality belonging to téchne or démos, or as a periodic abyss, but as public matter and common good, questioning how good urban living is problematised at the intersection of politics, science and ethics.

This essay examines policy discourses in the 30th Baltic Parliamentary Conference held in 2021. By examining several policy proposals from the resolution adopted by the participants, as well as related key documents and speeches from parliamentarians, the underlying assumptions and logics shaping these policys are examined. The thesis analyses whether there are gendered patterns in the policy discourses. The policy areas examined are about cooperation, identity, climate, and the environment. The material is analysed by combining the theory feminist discursive institutionalism and by using Carol Bacchi's method "What's the problem represented to be?". The conclusions are that there are many underlying problematisations that contribute to shaping policies in the 30th Baltic Sea Conference, which are supported by hidden gender coded language. The problematisations underpinning the policys are ”hiding” other ways of evaluating and shaping problems, solutions, and policy areas.

In the past 30 years there has been a steady and growing appreciation in the literature of the importance and value of teachers' practical wisdom (TPW) - or phronesis as it is also known - to further an understanding of classroom practice and of the need to find ways to help teachers generate and share their perspectives with others. Nevertheless, the potential of this kind of knowledge (understood by Aristotle to be both practical and moral in its orientation) to contribute valuable insights to educational debates has still to be realised. Rather, educational decisions about policy and practice in many contexts (whether at a national or institutional level) are still largely driven by theoretical and technical knowledge perspectives and teacher practical wisdom perspectives are still often under-valued and remain under-represented in educational literature. One of the main reasons for this put forward in this thesis is the tendency in much of the literature to see this form of knowledge as classroom bound rather than to realise the ways in which it can inform broader pedagogical discussions. Bearing all of the above in mind, the aim of the study reported in this thesis into the TPW of 14 experienced expatriate English as a foreign language teachers (EEEFLTs) working in English language centres (ELCs) across the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) is threefold. Its first aim is to provide a platform for the EEEFLTs to demonstrate the contribution their TPW can potentially make in addressing syllabus related issues in the KSA ELCs they have worked and, in doing so, show how the use of TPW is not confined to the classroom. Its second aim is to increase the visibility of the participants' TPW and thus raise awareness of the importance of research into TPW and to provide a model for how this can be conducted. The study's final aim is to provide a deeper understanding of the nature of TPW. Located in the interpretive paradigm, this study uses a TPW-friendly methodology to investigate TPW: interpretive phronetic educational research (IPER), which approaches and conducts educational research through a moral and practical problem-driven lens. This understanding drives the study's methodology and all stages of its data collection and analysis and the methods used in both. The goal of such methods is an epistemological one to generate TPW whilst empowering it also by highlighting its validity and how it is easily articulated - and thus captured - and not confined to the classroom. To assist with its articulation and capture, the study employs a process defined as Problematisation: a four-stage process consisting of reflection, problematisation, deliberation and articulation which drives and shapes the semi-structured interviews the study employs and the secondary research questions that inform the primary research question. The study concludes that the EEEFLTs use their TPW as a lens (that has 12 qualities) through which to view KSA ELC syllabi and, in doing so, identify many problems with the syllabi and subsequent consequences and suggest solutions to address both. These problems, consequences and solutions have been organised under six prominent categories that represent six main problem areas to emerge from the data that suggest the syllabi are teacher, textbook and test-centred, top-down, teacher-proof and time-driven. These categories represent six problem areas that in turn reflect the problematic, negative and disempowering context from which the data informing such categories and themes have been drawn. In this study, TPW is considered disempowered knowledge as a result of the disempowering context within which it has been acquired and is used. Previous TPW studies have been conducted in more positive settings and have perhaps for this reason not focused on TPW's disempowerment. In contrast, this study takes on a much more political role as it explores TPW's disempowerment in the KSA ELC context as well as in the broader context of academia and the literature. TPW's lack of visibility in TESOL and education has several implications because unless TPW achieves greater visibility, it may fade into extinction and its potential may never be realised. This study has been conducted in an attempt to prevent this happening.

A Sceptical Aesthetics of Existence: The Case of Michel Foucault Emmanouil Simos (Hughes Hall) Michel Foucault's genealogical investigations constitute a specific historical discourse that challenges the metaphysical hypostatisation of concepts and methodological approaches as unique devices for tracking metaphysically objective truths. Foucault's notion of aesthetics of existence, his elaboration of the ancient conceptualisation of ethics as an 'art of living' (a technē tou biou), along with a series of interconnected notions (such as the care of the self) that he developed in his later work, have a triple aspect. First, these notions are constitutive parts of his later genealogies of subjectivity. Second, they show that Foucault contemplates the possibility of understanding ethics differently, opposed to, for example, the traditional Kantian conceptualisation of morality: he envisages ethics in terms of self-fashioning, of aesthetic transformation, of turning one's life into a work of art. Third, Foucault employs these notions in self-referential way: they are considered to describe his own genealogical work. This thesis attempts to show two things. First, I defend the idea that the notion of aesthetics of existence was already present in a constitutive way from the beginning of his work, and, specifically, I argue that it can be traced in earlier moments of his work. Second, I defend the idea that this notion of aesthetics of existence is best understood in terms of the sceptical stance of Sextus Empiricus. It describes an ethics of critique of metaphysics that can be understood as a nominalist, contextualist, and particularist stance. The first chapter discusses Foucault's late genealogy of the subject. It formulates the interpretative framework within which Foucault's own conceptualisation of the aesthetics of existence can be understood as a sceptical stance, itself conceived as nominalist, contextualist and particularist. As the practice of an aesthetics of existence is not abstract and ahistorical but the engagement with the specific historical circumstances within which this practice is undertaken, the second chapter reconstructs the intellectual context from which Foucault's thought has emerged (Heidegger, Blanchot, and Nietzsche). The third chapter discusses representative examples of different periods of Foucault's thought -such as the "Introduction" to Binswanger's "Traum und Existenz" (1954), Histoire de la folie (1961), and Histoire de la sexualité I. La volonté de savoir (1976)- and shows in which way they constitute concrete instantiations of his sceptical aesthetics of existence. The thesis concludes with responses to a number of objections to the sceptical stance here defended.