Social and demographic changes have a tremendous effect on the care for older people to the effect that caring for older people might have become a rare commodity. Increased life expectancy during the past century has prolonged the period in which older people need care and has made family care giving an increasingly recurrent activity for adult children. After the demolition of the apartheid area in South Africa, most research focused on previously disadvantaged groups, namely Black and Brown people which resulted in a research gap regarding older White people. Little is known about older White people’s experiences of care in South Africa, as older White people are viewed as the minority group who were not previously disadvantaged. However, older White people’s vulnerability is increasing because poverty is currently escalating amongst older White South African people as a result of early retirement and retrenchment because of employment equity and the conversion goal of Black Economic Empowerment. The aim of this study was to explore older White people’s experiences of giving care to and receiving care from their children. A qualitative research approach with an explorative and descriptive nature was utilized for this study as the research question was aimed at understanding a subjective phenomenon. This research design allows the participants to give meaning to their own experiences. A case study design was followed during this research study in order to provide an in-depth description of older White people’s experience of care. The specific population for this study consisted of all White people older than 60 years, co-residing with their adult children and living in the Midvaal area of the Vaal Triangle, Gauteng. Data were collected through journaling and semi-structured interviews, with 10 older White people. Interviews were conducted on a one-on-one basis at the office of the researcher or at the houses of the participants. This ensured the preservation of the participants’ relationship with their children. The interviews were audio recorded and transcribed. Data were reduced through thematic data analysis and emerging themes and categories were identified. The principles and strategies for enhancing the trustworthiness of the data were done through crystallization and neutrality. The results indicated that older White people’s experience of care can be summarized by means of physical, emotional and financial care. Most of the participants in this study were still physically independent from their children and they could attend to their own physical care. Emotional care was identified by the participants as the ultimate indicator of caring and this component contributed profoundly to their psychological well-being. The financial care component highlighted that older White people’s vulnerability is increasing and that poverty is more prevalent in older White people than what is reflected in current research. / MA (Psychology), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2014

This project study addressed the problem of frequent turnover of nurse managers at a Northeastern community hospital. The lack of retention of nurse managers has led to attenuated support for the nursing staff who continued to hold the front line in patient care. The purpose of this qualitative bounded case study was to explore nurse managers' experiences with turnover in order to identify strategies for enhancing retention. Work empowerment and servant leadership theories served as the frameworks for the study. Research questions focused on nurse managers' perceptions of empowerment and servant leadership characteristics that were important in decisions to assume and remain in a management/leadership role. Data collection included audio-recorded interviews with seven current or past full-time nurse managers, and observation of three of the participants at a leadership meeting. Interview transcripts were open coded and thematically analyzed. Observation data were categorized according to empowerment and servant leadership characteristics. Five themes were identified that related to research questions: struggling in management transition, seeking opportunity for transformation, being committed but powerless, embarking unprepared on an unplanned journey, and having the presence to lead others by serving. The findings of this study guided development of a 12-month program for new nurse managers that integrated characteristics of servant leadership to empower leaders and others. These contributions may promote positive social change by preparing new nurse managers for their role and developing their skills to become successful nurse managers.

No description available.

現有文獻指出在程度差異大班級中的英語教學相關研究傾向將研究重點置於教師遇到的困難以及他們發現可有效解決問題的教學實務方法。少有研究會進一步研究教師的心理層面以解釋這些教學實務方法是如何以及為何被使用在特定教學時機與場域，也因此使他們的研究討論僅流於教學的表層。 為了呈現一個對程度差異大班級中的英語教學較為全面且深入的理解，本研究採用教師敘事、訪談、觀察以及文件分析來研究一教師如何在程度差異大班級中教英語、她在這樣的班級中教英語時抱有什麼教學認知以及她如何發展出這樣的認知。 研究結果顯示此研究對象之教師持有四大教學認知與實務，包括（一）瞭解並同理其學生、（二）使其教學實務多樣化以容納學生的多樣性、（三）將學習標準層級化以照顧學生的多樣性，以及（四）接納有些事情乃是其力所不逮。經分析後，研究者發現這四大教學認知與實務乃是研究對象之教師基於她所持有的廣泛經驗，不論其發生於教室內或外，所進行省思後，構成並再次構成的教學認知與實務。然而，儘管懷有這四大教學認知，研究對象之教師並非總能落實符合其認知的教學實務。事實上，研究者發現研究對象之教師能實施符合其認知之教學實務的程度乃是她個人落實其教學認知的能力與外在教學場域願意提供多大空間予其落實其認知於實務之互動下的結果。 試圖促進在程度差異大班級中的英語教學與研究，本研究向在此種班級中的四大主要族群，包括教師、教師培育者、研究者以及此班級下的其他相關人士提出相關建議。 / A review showed that existing literature on teaching English in multilevel classrooms tends to focus on the difficulties teachers encounter and practices they find to be effective in addressing the problems in teaching such classes (Chen, 2009; Chiang, 2003; Liu, 2004; Maddalena, 2002; Xanthou & Pavlou, 2008). Few studies have probed further to investigate the mental dimension of teaching that accounts for how and why certain practices are adopted in particular periods of class time and specific teaching contexts (Lu, 2011; Teng, 2009), hence rendering the discussions rather superficial touching only the surface of teaching. To present a more holistic and in-depth understanding of teaching large multilevel English classes, the present study drew on a teacher narrative, interviews, observations and document analyses to investigate how the teacher participant taught large multilevel English classes, what cognitions she held in teaching such classes and how she developed such cognitions. The findings revealed that the teacher held four major cognitions and practices in teaching large multilevel English classes, including (1) knowing and empathizing with her students; (2) building variety into teaching practices to accommodate the diversity of students; (3) adding differentiation into criteria to attend to the diversity of students and (4) admitting that things can be beyond her control. The four major cognitions and practices were found to have structured and restructured through the reflection that the teacher undertook on the vast experiences that she had accumulated both inside and outside the classroom. However, despite holding these cognitions, the teacher could not always implemented practices that conformed to her cognitions. In fact, it was found that the extent to which the teacher could implement practices congruent with her cognitions was the interactive result of her internal capacity to find spaces to realize her cognitions and the surrounding teaching contexts’ willingness to allow room for her to put her cognitions into practices. In an attempt to facilitate instruction and research in large multilevel English classrooms, the study yielded implications for four parties working in the relevant contexts, including teachers, teacher educators, stakeholders of teaching contexts other than teachers, and researchers.

Social and demographic changes have a tremendous effect on the care for older people to the effect that caring for older people might have become a rare commodity. Increased life expectancy during the past century has prolonged the period in which older people need care and has made family care giving an increasingly recurrent activity for adult children. After the demolition of the apartheid area in South Africa, most research focused on previously disadvantaged groups, namely Black and Brown people which resulted in a research gap regarding older White people. Little is known about older White people’s experiences of care in South Africa, as older White people are viewed as the minority group who were not previously disadvantaged. However, older White people’s vulnerability is increasing because poverty is currently escalating amongst older White South African people as a result of early retirement and retrenchment because of employment equity and the conversion goal of Black Economic Empowerment. The aim of this study was to explore older White people’s experiences of giving care to and receiving care from their children. A qualitative research approach with an explorative and descriptive nature was utilized for this study as the research question was aimed at understanding a subjective phenomenon. This research design allows the participants to give meaning to their own experiences. A case study design was followed during this research study in order to provide an in-depth description of older White people’s experience of care. The specific population for this study consisted of all White people older than 60 years, co-residing with their adult children and living in the Midvaal area of the Vaal Triangle, Gauteng. Data were collected through journaling and semi-structured interviews, with 10 older White people. Interviews were conducted on a one-on-one basis at the office of the researcher or at the houses of the participants. This ensured the preservation of the participants’ relationship with their children. The interviews were audio recorded and transcribed. Data were reduced through thematic data analysis and emerging themes and categories were identified. The principles and strategies for enhancing the trustworthiness of the data were done through crystallization and neutrality. The results indicated that older White people’s experience of care can be summarized by means of physical, emotional and financial care. Most of the participants in this study were still physically independent from their children and they could attend to their own physical care. Emotional care was identified by the participants as the ultimate indicator of caring and this component contributed profoundly to their psychological well-being. The financial care component highlighted that older White people’s vulnerability is increasing and that poverty is more prevalent in older White people than what is reflected in current research. / MA (Psychology), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2014

語用教學研究大多專注在教學成效，並以量化研究比較跨文化語用文化規範和溝通策略之差異，然，只有少數的質化研究探討語用研究理論如何落實在外語教學師生的學習動機。準確來說，本研究檢視以英語為外語師生如何看待語用能力培養，以及學習社會語言之動機相關經驗。先前文獻已經指出，第二語言語用學習動機研究，需要投入更多的努力。 因此，本質化個案研究旨在探討臺灣以英語為外語師生學習語用動機。資料蒐集透過面訪、課室觀察和課堂筆記以及研究者的省思日誌，從學習動機的角度審視外語語用教學，洞悉多層次語言學習動機。 研究結果顯示，受訪師生均認為語用教學對第二語言發展極為重要，縱使社會政治情境因素的干擾，諸如考試領導教學、授課時數嚴重不足和偏重語法教學，然而，在學習語言禮貌和適切性方面，受訪者均偏好語言實用功能和實際生活應用，甚於傳統單一語法教學。受訪老師指出在語言四項技能統整課程，語用教學比例明顯偏低，認為語用教學在臺灣並不普及。另外，臺灣英語為外語老師普遍未能滿足學生語用學習需求。 雖然師生起初對學習外語語用似乎未注意其重要性，然而，在回顧外語學習的歷程中，受訪者提高對於文化適切表達之醒覺。本研究期許幫助臺灣學習英語為外語師生了解語用教學在溝通功能中扮演的重要角色，促進未來語用教學研究之實踐，發展語言使用者之溝通能力。 / Though much of L2 pragmatics research has focused on the effectiveness of instructional pragmatics and cross-cultural variations of pragmatic norms and strategies used in the target language via cross-sectional quantitative research, little, however, has been conducted to explore teachers’ and students’ motivational experiences of implementing pragmatics instruction in real-life teaching and learning practices in EFL contexts. Specifically, little was known about what and how teachers and students perceive the role of developing pragmatic ability and their motivations to teach and learn socio-pragmatic functions since prior research has suggested that more research efforts should be done in the line of L2 pragmatics research. Therefore, this study aims to investigate both teachers’ and students’ motivations of learning and teaching pragmatics through qualitative research. Multiple data sources were collected through face-to-face interviews, classroom observations and field notes as well as the researcher’s reflective journals, to illuminate the dynamic, multifaceted motivational experiences of L2 instructional pragmatics. The findings suggest that both teachers and students considered the role of teaching and learning pragmatics essential to second language development pertaining to the polite and appropriate use of the target language, and its learning utility, practical functions and intrinsic interest in using language for authentic communication purposes despite the sociopolitical factors, such as exam-oriented teaching, lack of top-down institutional support and the implementation of English language policy in Taiwan. Nevertheless, the teacher voiced her inadequacy of teaching L2 pragmatics in a four-skill integrated course and demonstrated her concerns about the prevalence of teaching students how to speak English in a culturally appropriate way, which is, however, contrary to students’ eager expectations to learn L2 pragmatics. Albeit both the teacher and the students tended to ignore L2 pragmatics at first, after the initial reflections they raised their awareness of culturally speaking in an appropriate way. In this study, it was hoped to empower both teachers and students to understand their teaching and learning practices by sensitizing them to L2 pragmatics in EFL contexts, to facilitate the implementation of L2 pragmatics instruction in the classroom and to underscore the importance of developing learners’ communicative competence in Taiwan.

Submitted by Flavia Hennessey (flavia.hennessey2012@gvmail.br) on 2014-09-29T16:56:46Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Hennessey, Flavia - MPGI Thesis 2014.pdf: 1257612 bytes, checksum: 21e4c1ba5aa5f01e696e07c42f04ca51 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Luana Rodrigues (luana.rodrigues@fgv.br) on 2014-09-29T18:27:14Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 Hennessey, Flavia - MPGI Thesis 2014.pdf: 1257612 bytes, checksum: 21e4c1ba5aa5f01e696e07c42f04ca51 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2014-09-29T18:30:03Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Hennessey, Flavia - MPGI Thesis 2014.pdf: 1257612 bytes, checksum: 21e4c1ba5aa5f01e696e07c42f04ca51 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2014-09-19 / The Inter-American Development Bank, the World Bank, and other organizations conceive, design, and fund projects to foster development in the Latin America and Caribbean. Prior to the late 1980s, several of the projects and policies of these institutions lacked serious gender considerations and were criticized for this oversight (Flora, 1998). In 1987, the IDB published its Operating Policy on Women in Development and has since made efforts to institutionalize gender and to create indicators to measure gender impacts in its projects. The aim of this dissertation is to explore gender in the context of international development by looking at how the Inter- American Development Bank is including gender in its operations. After a literature review on the importance of gender and of development banks, this paper will explore the ways through which gender is included in IDB operations at an institutional level. The research will be based on documentation available to the public, internal documents and video interviews with staff members. After a thorough analysis of all data collected, recommendations on future action will be provided. / O Banco Interamericano de Desenvolvimento, o Banco Mundial, e outras organizações financiam iniciativas para acelerar o desenvolvimento da região da América Latina e Caribe. Antes do final da década de 80, vários projetos e políticas dessas instituições careciam de considerações ligadas à gênero e foram criticadas por essa falta (Flora, 1998). Em 1987, o BID publicou um documento sobre uma nova política operacional sobre mulheres e desenvolvimento e vem desde então buscando institucionalizar gênero e criar indicadores para medir os impactos relacionados à gênero em seus projetos. O objetivo dessa dissertação é explorar o tema de gênero no contexto do desenvolvimento internacional através de uma análise de como o Banco Interamericano de Desenvolvimento inclui gênero em suas operações. Após uma revisão literária sobre a importância de gênero e de bancos de desenvolvimento, essa dissertação irá analisar de que maneira gênero é incluído nas discussões dos projetos do Banco à nível institucional. A pesquisa será feita através de documentação disponível para o público geral, documentos internos e entrevistas em vídeo com pessoal do BID. Após uma análise dos dados coletados, recomendações para ações futuras serão dadas.

Perfectionism has been investigated related to the consequences to mental health it might entail for gifted students and their socioemotional development. However, findings have been inconclusive. This exploratory study aims to discover the main characteristics of adaptive and maladaptive perfectionism in gifted Chilean secondary students. For this purpose,  extreme cases were found using Frost´s Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale to subsequently conduct semi-structured interviews with a sample of four students. Results pointed to parental and societal expectations as the main aspects involved in the development of perfectionism, which sheds light on how to support the manifestation of perfectionism both in educational and clinical realms. / El perfeccionismo ha sido investigado en torno a las consecuencias que este podría significar para la salud mental de alumnos talentosos y su desarrollo socioemocional. Sin embargo, los hallazgos han sido poco concluyentes. Este estudio exploratorio apunta a descubrir las principales características del perfeccionismo adaptativo y desadaptativo en estudiantes chilenos académicamente talentosos de educación media. Para ello se detectaron casos extremos con la aplicación de la Escala Multidimensional de Perfeccionismo de Frost, para luego realizar entrevistas en profundidad semiestructuradas en una muestra de cuatro casos. Los resultados apuntan a las expectativas parentales y sociales como los principales aspectos involucrados en el desarrollo del perfeccionismo, entregando así luces de cómo apoyar la manifestación del perfeccionismo en el ámbito educativo y clínico. / Apesar dos estudos sobre a cognição dos alunos com Altas Habilidades ser abrangente, investigar as questões sócioemocionais desse grupo se faz necessário. Uma das vertentes que vem sendo estudada é o perfeccionismo, pois apresenta significado para saúde mental e desenvolvimento desse grupo de pessoas. Contudo, as descobertas ainda são pouco conclusivas. Este estudo exploratório visa descobrir as principais características do perfeccionismo adaptativo e mal adaptativo em estudantes chilenos academicamente talentosos do Ensino Médio – 1º a 3º / Ensino Fundamental – 5º-9º através da Escala Multidimensional de Frost. Para isso, detectou-se casos extremos com a aplicação desse modelo e na sequência do trabalho foram realizadas entrevistas com profundidade em uma amostra de quatro casos. Os resultados apontam para as expectativas sociais e familiares como os principais aspectos envolvidos no desenvolvimento do perfeccionismo, tanto no âmbito educativo quanto no clínico.

Cette thèse est une enquête multi-perspective sur le phénomène d’utilisation des médias sociaux dans le contexte organisationnel. Il met l’accent sur les processus d’adoption de cette nouvelle technologie et examine comment ces développements sont intégrés dans le contexte des normes professionnelles, des rôles sociaux, du contrôle de l’organisation et de l’autonomie. Le cadre de la recherche est basé sur la campagne de mise en œuvre des médias sociaux de 19 mois par une organisation centrale européenne de médias comme un moyen d’améliorer la communication et la coordination au sein de l’organisation. La mise en œuvre comprenait deux départements, journalistes et agents de publicité, qui ont été invités à créer et ouvrir leurs profils de médias sociaux en ligne et ajouter leurs collègues comme « amis ». La thèse comprend quatre documents de recherche, chacun prenant une perspective distincte sur le phénomène. Méthodologiquement, la thèse se fonde sur une approche d’étude qualitative de cas et raisonnements adductifs et inductifs. La thèse fournit des contributions théoriques et pratiques à la compréhension des conditions normatives préalables, le processus et les conséquences d’utilisation des médias sociaux dans le contexte organisationnel pour les normes professionnelles, la collaboration de connaissances en ligne et le contrôle de l’organisation, tout en présentant la coévolution de la signification et l’utilisation de la technologie. / This dissertation is a multi-perspective inquiry into the phenomenon of social media use in organizational context. It focuses on the processes of enactment of this new technology and investigates how these developments are embedded in the context of occupational norms, social roles, organizational control and autonomy. The research setting is based on the 19-month social media implementation campaign by a central European media organization as a means of enhancing communication and coordination within the organization. The implementation encompassed two departments, journalists and advertising agents, who were asked to create and open their online social media profiles and befriend their colleagues. The dissertation comprises four research papers each taking a separate perspective on the phenomenon. Methodologically, the dissertation builds on qualitative case-study approach and abductive and inductive reasonings. The thesis provides theoretical and practical contributions to the understanding normative prerequisites, process and consequences of social media use in organizational context for occupational norms, online knowledge collaboration and organizational control while presenting co-evolution of the technology meaning and use.

The retail industry has faced many developments over recent decades as a result of digitalisation including the E-commerce and multichannel retailing phases. Consumers have seen the progression of new and digitised channels as well as solutions such as marketplaces, social media touchpoint and augmented reality tools. During the Covid-19 pandemic more consumers engaged on digital channels as the physical bricks and mortar stores were forced into lockdowns. However, the customer experience has not been seamless even in the era of digital retailing. Retailers have also experienced emerging dilemmas as a result of digitalisation. Despite the decades of retail digitalisation, the customer experience and industry remain somewhat tumultuous. Digitalisation has produced positive developments in retail. In parallel it has been challenged to adapt to the changes. The multichannel era has created a disjointed value chain and infrastructure that is impacting the customer experience. Furthermore, consumer behaviour has also changed. The current objective in the industry is to meet the new customer demands. To make it seamless for them, but also for the industry. This concept is omnichannel retailing - the current transformation objective in the industry. It remains novel and emerging. Many have started the transformation and evident in literature. However, this research domain remains minute in comparison to the knowledge in the E-commerce and multichannel domains. Those who have entered the journey are larger organisations and are experiencing the complexity of this digital transformation. This poses the question if  omnichannel transformation of small retail businesses is plausible, which also happens to represent the majority of the industry.  This qualitative case study’s objective is to gather and contribute to the limited knowledge in omnichannel retailing, and specifically for small business retailers. The business model concept and Complex Adaptive Systems theory, both associated to digitalisation of complex change has been combined as an omnichannel theoretical framework to assess the participants of this study. This study gathered empirical findings on business model changes and adaptive capabilities through in-depth interviews. The findings demonstrated small business retailers having the capacity to execute complex changes in their business models through adaptive behaviours. The study also highlighted areas in their business models and adaptive capabilities needing more consideration and development to support the ongoing omnichannel transformation.