Pasifika people are a youthful population group. It is important therefore that Pasifika youth have opportunities to live fulfilling and satisfying lives where they can achieve their dreams, support themselves and their families and make valuable contributions to their local communities, their country and global communities now and in the future. Government and local city councils have become more proactive in developing strategies that will assist young people to be part of an inclusive economy. One of the key areas identified, is the transitioning of low achieving and disengaged school leavers into further education, skills training or employment. Hence the government's and the councils' shared goals of implementing the Mayors' Taskforce for Jobs in 2007, which is to ensure that all youth between 15-19 years of age are in employment, education, training or other activities that lead to their long-term economic independence and wellbeing (Ministry of Youth Development, 2004). Transition courses provide bridging alternatives for youth transitioning from school to employment. They are designed to provide extra help for students who leave school with low or no qualifications. In some cases youth find themselves out of favour with mainstream education and have been forced to end secondary schooling prematurely. Transition learning gives youth a second chance at education by improving their employment marketability. This research highlights the rich stories of Samoan male youths' transitional journeys. The study discusses the critical factors that have contributed either positively or negatively in their ability to transition successfully into the workplace. Eight Samoan male participants were involved in the study ranging from 18-21 years of age. This research topic has evolved from the researcher's involvement in working with South Auckland Pasifika youth for over four years. Some of these youth have been traumatised by their school experiences and have had to face some enormous barriers when transitioning from school into the work place or further tertiary education. After selecting the topic, research frameworks that would be most appropriate for the research were explored. The researcher shares similar cultural and personal experiences to the participants. The framework for the study is therefore aligned to the values of the researcher. Accordingly, the multi-case study approach has been adopted; as such an approach has the potential to reveal what participants feel is significant. The interpretive paradigm underpins this research. The technique for gathering data was through semiformal in-depth interviewing. During the interviews, the participants had the opportunity to discuss the effects that the transitional courses had on them as learners and as Samoan youth. This method of research is culturally appropriate, as it allowed the depth of voices of these young Samoan people to be heard. The themes that have emerged from the findings reflect the broad categories of literature and research findings in the field of transition. The findings also provide new and insightful information about transitional experiences of Pasifika male youth. The research findings from this study focus on key aspects of programme implementation including; the teacher/student relationship, mentoring, student resiliency and the role of the government in youth transition. The research also evaluates the extent to which the transition course curriculum content supports student knowledge and skills in their current work situation. All participants in the study were generally positive about the courses they attended. They discussed the positives in terms of good tutoring, high degree of team cohesion and relevant meaningful learning experiences. The participants cited the negatives as poor teaching, and the low level of some of the literacy and numeracy activities they were expected to complete. Overall they were far more positive about their transitional learning than they were with learning at secondary school. Most felt prepared for work. The study proposes further research in the area of youth transition. Findings from this study will be disseminated to the appropriate government policy makers, city councils, youth services and tertiary providers through presentations at youth development conferences.

Pasifika people are a youthful population group. It is important therefore that Pasifika youth have opportunities to live fulfilling and satisfying lives where they can achieve their dreams, support themselves and their families and make valuable contributions to their local communities, their country and global communities now and in the future. Government and local city councils have become more proactive in developing strategies that will assist young people to be part of an inclusive economy. One of the key areas identified, is the transitioning of low achieving and disengaged school leavers into further education, skills training or employment. Hence the government's and the councils' shared goals of implementing the Mayors' Taskforce for Jobs in 2007, which is to ensure that all youth between 15-19 years of age are in employment, education, training or other activities that lead to their long-term economic independence and wellbeing (Ministry of Youth Development, 2004). Transition courses provide bridging alternatives for youth transitioning from school to employment. They are designed to provide extra help for students who leave school with low or no qualifications. In some cases youth find themselves out of favour with mainstream education and have been forced to end secondary schooling prematurely. Transition learning gives youth a second chance at education by improving their employment marketability. This research highlights the rich stories of Samoan male youths' transitional journeys. The study discusses the critical factors that have contributed either positively or negatively in their ability to transition successfully into the workplace. Eight Samoan male participants were involved in the study ranging from 18-21 years of age. This research topic has evolved from the researcher's involvement in working with South Auckland Pasifika youth for over four years. Some of these youth have been traumatised by their school experiences and have had to face some enormous barriers when transitioning from school into the work place or further tertiary education. After selecting the topic, research frameworks that would be most appropriate for the research were explored. The researcher shares similar cultural and personal experiences to the participants. The framework for the study is therefore aligned to the values of the researcher. Accordingly, the multi-case study approach has been adopted; as such an approach has the potential to reveal what participants feel is significant. The interpretive paradigm underpins this research. The technique for gathering data was through semiformal in-depth interviewing. During the interviews, the participants had the opportunity to discuss the effects that the transitional courses had on them as learners and as Samoan youth. This method of research is culturally appropriate, as it allowed the depth of voices of these young Samoan people to be heard. The themes that have emerged from the findings reflect the broad categories of literature and research findings in the field of transition. The findings also provide new and insightful information about transitional experiences of Pasifika male youth. The research findings from this study focus on key aspects of programme implementation including; the teacher/student relationship, mentoring, student resiliency and the role of the government in youth transition. The research also evaluates the extent to which the transition course curriculum content supports student knowledge and skills in their current work situation. All participants in the study were generally positive about the courses they attended. They discussed the positives in terms of good tutoring, high degree of team cohesion and relevant meaningful learning experiences. The participants cited the negatives as poor teaching, and the low level of some of the literacy and numeracy activities they were expected to complete. Overall they were far more positive about their transitional learning than they were with learning at secondary school. Most felt prepared for work. The study proposes further research in the area of youth transition. Findings from this study will be disseminated to the appropriate government policy makers, city councils, youth services and tertiary providers through presentations at youth development conferences.

Health differs among people and education about health is of value to maintain and develop health. In a developing country as Fiji may the definition of health be of different holistic character, compared to industrial countries. It is important to clarify that no view of health is more right or wrong, but has been adapted to the existing conditions and culture within the arena. Knowledge about how to teach about health in a developing country is needed, where health is not as prioritized as other factors, for example to have an income. The aim of this study is to identify health as a concept and identify what strategies that are being used by the teachers to implement health education in Fiji. The research questions were used as contribution to the study’s aim to help the researchers understand how the participants of the study define health as a concept and investigate how pedagogical strategies are being used and what challenges they experience with their teaching. The study has an ethnographic approach with interviews and observations, which are methods used in a qualitative research. The results show there is lots of knowledge about certain themes within health among the teachers, but limited knowledge about health from a holistic perspective. The main conclusion regarding the study’s aim is that there are limited knowledge on how to conduct health education at the two participating schools in Fiji. The definition of health among the interviewed teachers were equivalent and with limited understanding of the concept.

Bakgrund: Bipolär sjukdom är en kronisk psykiatrisk sjukdom som innefattar maniska, hypomaniska, och depressiva episoder. Fler kvinnor än män drabbas av sjukdomen. Med en vardag som i en känslomässig berg- och dalbana står patienterna inför flera utmaningar och självmordsrisken är hög. Okunskap om sjukdomen i samhället försvårar situationen för patienterna och tidigare forskning visar att närstående och sjuksköterskan är ett viktigt stöd som kan bidra med välbefinnande.   Syfte: För att få en ökad förståelse och inblick i kvinnornas liv var syftet med studien att belysa kvinnors upplevelse av att leva med bipolär sjukdom. Metod: För att besvara syftet användes en kvalitativ ansats som utgick från fem självbiografier. Självbiografierna analyserades med en kvalitativ manifest analysprocess. Resultat: Kvinnorna upplevde lidande i sin maktlöshet att hantera sjukdomen och hur sjukdomen påverkade livet. Kvinnorna upplevde att de inte fick någon förståelse från omgivningen för sina ipulsiva beslut i maniska och hypomaniska episoder eller sina isolerande och negativa perioder under depressionens episoder. Omgivningen har för lite kunskap om bipolär sjukdom.  Välbefinnande och energi hämtade kvinnorna genom närståendes stöd och de kände en trygghet i att ha den psykiatriska sjukvården att tillgå.  Slutsatser:Kvinnornas livsvärld med bipolär sjukdom är en ständig kamp för att minska lidande och uppnå välbefinnande. Det är främst vardagen som innebär den största utmaningen. För att bemötandet inom sjukvården ska optimeras för patienterna och att deras närstående på bästa möjliga sätt ska kunna finnas som stöd, krävs ökad och utvecklande kunskap för sjuksköterskan och omgivningen om sjukdomen.

Abstract A profile on alcohol consumption among South African dentists – A dentist’s perspective: JH Olivier Background This study investigated alcohol use linked to the stress of a selected sample of South African dentists. The only other related topic in South Africa, that the researcher could find, was done in 1996 at the University of Stellenbosch. The literature suggests that prevalence studies of substance use and abuse rarely include dentists. Methods A dominant quantitative approach with a less dominant qualitative approach was utilized. The quantitative-descriptive design (survey with a questionnaire) was used to obtain data with regard to biographical/background information, stress and coping, quantity and frequency of alcohol use, and dysfunction as a result of alcohol use among a randomly selected sample of 110 South African dentists with a response rate of 70%. The respondents’ perspective on alcohol use linked to the stress of the dental profession with recommendations were also obtained. For the qualitative data collection, the researcher utilized the collective case study. He planned semi-structured interviews with an interview schedule with five dentists that have already had treatment for alcohol abuse or were self-characterized as problem drinkers. Unfortunately, two of the respondents who characterized themselves as heavy alcohol users died before they could be interviewed. Because of ethical reasons and the sensitivity of the topic they could not be replaced. Findings The quantitative study indicated that: (1) the respondents experienced significant amounts of occupational stress (2) the majority of the respondents do physical exercise to reduce their stress (3) a great number of respondents socialize with friends to reduce their stress (4) some respondents actually use alcohol to reduce their stress (5) stress levels of the respondents in private practice and stress levels of the respondents in other sectors are the same (6) alcohol consumption of male and female dentists is the same (7) respondents who reported less areas of stress consumed more alcohol than those who reported more areas of stress (8) a great number of the respondents experience high stress levels but do not use alcohol, or they only use alcohol to socialize (9) less than 3% of the respondents reported that alcohol use has affected their work as a dentist (10) the majority of the respondents believe that some dentists consume alcohol as a coping mechanism concerning social anxiety, occupational stress and personal factors. The qualitative study indicated that: (1) the habit of alcohol use that may lead to alcohol dependency starts at university (2) the respondents, who had treatment for alcohol dependency, experienced high levels of occupational stress (3) the respondents link their dependency directly to the stress and strain of their profession. Conclusions There are more intense and less intense stressors among South African dentists and there are some dentists that consume alcohol to relieve the stress and strain of their profession. However, the majority only use alcohol as a way of socializing. Less than 3% of the respondents reported that alcohol use has affected their work as a dentist. Recommendations Modules on coping mechanisms linked to the stress and strain of the dental profession should be included in the curricula at dental schools. The compulsory CPD programme of the HPCSA should include stress management and healthy coping mechanism courses. / Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2009. / Social Work and Criminology / unrestricted

The study examines the factors that cause school absenteeism and how the high school/upper secondary can work to prevent school absenteeism and promote school attendance. The overall purpose of the study was to investigate what the high school/upper secondary school students describe as absenteeism prevention and promote attendance. The theoretical framework for the study consists of a socio-cultural perspective, a relational perspective, and the theory of KASAM. The study approach is qualitative and the study data were collected through mixed methods where semi-structured interviews were supplemented with a survey of the high school/upper secondary school students in grades 2 and 3. Based on the students' descriptions, the school's work on preventing absence and promoting attendance can be seen as complex. The students show, as in previous research, that many different factors influence the students' attendance and absence and that the causal factors can vary from student to student. The result further shows that there are a variety of factors related to the school's learning environments that can prevent absenteeism and promote attendance. The conclusion of the study highlights the importance of high school/upper secondary school working to strengthen students' motivation, participation, security, health, wellness and well-being. Highschool/upper secondary school should also work actively to ensure that the learning environment in the school is varied and that the teaching is adapted to the diversity of pupils' needs and conditions. Based on the results, it is determined that a broad repertoire of strategies and methods is needed in the school's absence prevention and attendance promotion work. The special pedagogical relevance of the study is made visible by the study showing that the school's attendance promotion and absence prevention work is strengthened by the school working to identify and map obstacles and opportunities in the school's educational, social and physical learning environments and based on the development of the school's learning environments at both individual and organizational levels.

To meet ambitious climate goals, of keeping global warming below 2°C, past emissions need to be removed from the atmosphere with the help of negative emissions technologies (NETs). The transition of energy systems, however, needs to follow the requirements of sustainable development to benefit all three pillars of sustainability, those are the environment, society, and economy. A NET that has gained increased attention from policymakers and businesses in recent years is direct air capture (DAC). The technology is currently on a small scale and faces challenges for scale-up such as energy and water intensity, the unclear requirements of resources and uncertain environmental, social, and economic impacts. The aim of this study was, therefore, to address DAC's impact on the three pillars of sustainability to answer the research question: How does direct air capture influence or connect to the three pillars of sustainable development? Because of the lack of research on DAC in connection with sustainability a qualitative interview approach was chosen where five interviews were conducted with researchers working with DAC. The findings derived from the interviews were separated into the different pillars of sustainability. The finding for the sustainability aspect included the definition of sustainability, various justice aspects and contributions to the SDGs. For the environmental aspect, DAC's carbon footprint and impact on mitigation were highlighted. The economic aspect of DAC showed the need for a clear business model and a supportive carbon mechanism. Lastly, for the social aspect low level of knowledge and the importance of social acceptance were recognized. Concluding, these different aspects influence the pillars of sustainability and need to be considered before further scale-up of DAC.

Cette thèse explore l’identité organisationnelle des entreprises familiales à travers le prisme des employés non familiaux. L’identité familiale de ces entreprises constitue pour elles à la fois un atout – « action intangible » difficilement imitable – et en même temps un enjeu, puisque l’imprégnation de la famille et de ses valeurs au sein de l’entreprise pose question à mesure que sa croissance l’amène à intégrer des membres extérieurs. Cet enjeu est d’autant plus sensible que la famille dirigeante cherche souvent à maintenir son influence identitaire sur l’entreprise, leurs histoires et réputations respectives étant intimement liées. Pour autant, peu de travaux ont jusqu’à présent étudié le rôle des employés non-familiaux dans l’identité de ces entreprises. Cette thèse interroge la façon dont les employés non-familiaux contribuent à la perpétuation de l’identité familiale de l’entreprise, à travers l’étude du cas d’une entreprise familiale française. Trois résultats principaux découlent de ce travail. D’abord, l’exploration des perceptions identitaires des employés non-familiaux révèle que la famille est, à leurs yeux, indissociable des éléments caractérisant leur entreprise. Les mécanismes conduisant à ces perceptions sont ensuite examinés : incarnation, rappel, diffusion et adaptation sont identifiés comme « amenant » dans l’entreprise une image spécifique de la famille, de ses valeurs et de son rôle. Ensemble, ils constituent le processus de « familisation » de l’entreprise. Enfin, une typologie est proposée pour classer les employés non familiaux selon leurs motivations et capacité à contribuer à ces mécanismes. Deux catégories d’employés (les adoptés et les convertis) jouent un rôle déterminant dans ces mécanismes. Occupant une place prédominante dans le top management, ils utilisent cette famille comme outil de management ayant une fonction d’exemple incarnant un système de valeurs qu’ils associent à la Famille comme entité générique. Les apports théoriques et pratiques, ainsi que les limites de ces résultats sont discutés en conclusion. / This dissertation explores family firms’ organizational identity from a non-family member’s perspective. The family identity of these firms constitutes both an intangible asset, that is difficult to imitate – and a crucial stake as during their growth process, family firms incorporate external members who tend to progressively represent the majority of the payroll. This stake is even more salient as owning families aim at durably influencing their firms’ identity since the family’s and the firm’s history and reputation are interrelated. However, the role of non-family members’ in the family firm’s identity has not been directly investigated by researchers so far. My dissertation aims at filling in this gap, by investigating the way non-family members contribute to enacting the family identity of the firm. The case study I conducted in a French family firm leads me to formulate three main sets of results. First, the exploration of non-family members’ perceptions of the firm reveals that they associate what they consider to be the core attributes of the firm with the owning family. Secondly, I investigate the mechanisms leading to such perceptions and identify that the family’s image and values are “brought” into the organization through four mechanisms – embodiment, reminding, spreading and adaptation – that together constitute the overall process of “familization” of the firm. Lastly, I suggest a typology of non-family members depending on their motives for contributing to “familization” mechanisms. Two categories (the adopted and the converted) play a crucial role in these mechanisms. Moreover, I show that the top management is composed of adopted and converted, who use this specific family of owners as a managerial tool having a role-modeling function. They do it because they perceive this family as embodying an axiology that is symbolized by the Family – as a generic entity –, an axiology that they consider to be valuable in an organizational context. The theoretical and practical contributions of these results are discussed.

This study aims to explore and investigate students’ attitudes towards reading aloud in English in an upper secondary school in Sweden and whether the students’ previous experiences in reading aloud in L2 (English as a second language), as well as their language backgrounds have an impact on their attitudes towards reading aloud in L2. Additionally, the study will investigate which factors that might affect students’ attitudes towards reading aloud in L2. The data collection method which has been utilized in this study is a questionnaire. The questionnaire included questions about students’ attitudes towards reading aloud in L1 and L2, students’ previous experiences in reading aloud in L2, along with the factors that they bear in mind when they read aloud in L2. A mixed-methods approach was used to analyse data, involving both quantitative and qualitative approaches. The participants in this study comprised 90 students in an upper secondary school in Sweden, aged between 16-20. The results of the study show that the students contributing to this study show a reluctance to read aloud in L2. Moreover, prior experiences in reading aloud in L2 from an early age and students’ language backgrounds might have a correlation with students’ attitudes towards reading aloud in L2. The study also reveals that confidence, concerns about mispronunciation and the impact of reading aloud on comprehension are factors that may influence the students’ attitudes towards reading aloud in English.

Local education agency (LEA) administrators often require elementary teachers of standardized tested subjects English Language Arts, math, science, and social studies to use pre-published pacing guides and scripted lesson plans. These administrators do not require the same of music educators. As such, elementary general music educators often create and use their own lesson plans with the same cohort of students over multiple years. They are responsible for the liberating yet daunting task of helping students meet local or state standards with few to no mandates for short- or long-term planning.Elementary music teachers may draw from published music curriculums or create their own based on established music pedagogical frameworks (Bresler, 1995; Bugos, 2011; Hernandez, 2022; Mynatt, 2018). As an elementary general music teacher, I have drawn heavily from Gordon’s (2012) Music Learning Theory (MLT) as my pedagogical basis for music instruction. MLT-based materials I have used for kindergarten through 4th grade include Jump Right In: The Music Curriculum, Revised Edition (Taggart et al., 2000, 2001, 2004, 2006, 2010). However, I have found that I need to supplement Jump Right In with contemporary materials to craft a modern curriculum fitting my unique teaching context and students. When I looked to the literature to understand how other MLT elementary general music teachers have written their own curriculum, my searches yielded no results. To improve instruction in elementary general music, the purpose of this qualitative research was to understand the experiences of elementary general music educators who created and used LEA-wide elementary MLT-based curriculums. The single question guiding my study was, how do MLT-based, elementary general music teachers describe their experiences writing and implementing a formal curriculum in their LEA? I selected a qualitative, interview-based design for my study. I used purposeful sampling to recruit three elementary general music teachers who had worked with colleagues in their LEA to write and implement an MLT-based curriculum. Using Seidman’s (2006) three-interview design, I gathered information from the participants. Because of my personal connection to the study, I used Braun and Clarke’s (2013, 2022) six-phase iterative approach to conduct reflective thematic analysis: familiarizing myself with the data; coding; generating initial themes; developing and reviewing themes; refining, defining, and naming themes; and writing up. While analyzing the data, I developed codes from which sixteen subthemes emerged. I assigned each of these subthemes to one of three emergent themes: (a) teachers were steadfast and determined, (b) teachers were advocates, and (c) LEA policies helped and hurt. Participants’ data became organized by one overarching theme, instigators of and obstacles to change. For these three teachers, the experience of creating and using LEA-wide elementary MLT-based curriculums was hard to earn and easy to lose. I present implications for music educators and their LEA administrators who aim to undertake similar projects. I discuss personal implications, and I make recommendations for future research. Keywords: Music Learning Theory, elementary general music, teacher-created curriculum, reflexive thematic analysis, critical qualitative approach / Music Education