Esta pesquisa realizou-se com o objetivo de mostrar a existência de um discurso, denominado, aqui, de discurso da reforma, que funciona de acordo com determinadas regularidades e cujos efeitos se mostram no processo de tensionamento que há entre os discursos pedagógico e científico, sendo que o primeiro se relacionaria mais diretamente à formação para atender ao mercado de trabalho, enquanto que o segundo estaria mais ligado à formação para a produção de conhecimentos científicos. Entretanto, tais discursos relacionam-se de diversos modos, se integram, se excluem, se aproximam, se distanciam, conforme as diferentes configurações históricas nas quais estão inseridos. Dessa tensão resultam: i) o que se entende por universidade, hoje, que responde à concepção de universidade moderna, traduzida pela indissociabilidade entre pesquisa, ensino e extensão, e ii) o que se entende por ensino superior, que prepara para atender ao mercado e que, também, pode se filiar a uma concepção mercadológica. Para tanto, procurou-se descrever como se constitui o discurso da reforma nos contextos histórico, político, econômico, social e ideológico. Procurou-se ainda aproximar grandes linhas teóricas que pudessem referenciar a caracterização do discurso da reforma, estabelecendo paralelos entre modelos de universidade, teorias de currículo e concepções de linguagem, a fim de observar de que modo determinado modelo de universidade se relaciona a uma teoria de currículo e a uma concepção de linguagem. Ademais, neste trabalho, observou-se o funcionamento do discurso da reforma com base na análise de Projetos Políticos Pedagógicos (PPPs) de cursos de Letras de duas universidades: uma pública e outra privada. O objetivo foi verificar de que modo o discurso da reforma se materializa em documentos normatizadores de formação acadêmica. Com a análise, evidenciou-se que o discurso da reforma produziu efeitos diversos para a construção de uma concepção moderna de universidade e para a eclosão de uma universidade prestadora de serviços. Nas duas universidades, produziu-se tensão, concorrência e contraposições nas quais se sustenta a instituição universitária. Tem-se, assim, uma configuração em que o Estado atual responde ao público e ao privado de modo produtivo, numa formação discursiva em que se controlam instituições diversas com o uso das mesmas regras discursivas. / This research was conducted with the aim of showing the existence of a discourse, called here reform discourse, which operates according to certain regularities and whose effects are shown in the tensioning process which exist among the pedagogical and scientific discourses. The first would relate more directly to training to meet the labor market needs, while the latter would relate more directly to training for the production of scientific knowledge. However, such discourses are related in various ways they integrated themselves, exclude themselves, get closer, or move away, according to the historical configuration in which they are inserted. Out of this tension come the following results: i) what is meant by university today that responds to the conception of modern university, translated by the permanent integration between research, teaching and extension, and ii) what is meant by higher education that prepares to serve the market, which is affiliated to a marketing concept. For the purpose of answering these questions, one tried to describe how is constituted the reform discourse in historical, political, economic, social and ideological contexts. It was also sought to highlight broad theoretical lines that could be a reference for the characterization of the reform discourse, establishing parallels between University models, curriculum theories and concepts of language, in order to observe how a certain university model relates to a curriculum theory and to a conception of language. Moreover, in this study, it was possible to observe the functioning of the reform discourse based on an analysis of Pedagogical Political Projects (PPP) of courses of Letters in two universities: one public and another private. The goal was to determine how the reform discourse is embodied in regulatory documents of academic formation activities. From this analysis, it became clear that the reform discourse has produced several effects for the construction of a modern conception of university, and for the outbreak of a service provider university. At both universities, one produced tension, competition, contrasts, on which the university in sustained. There is, thus, a configuration in which the State nowadays responds to the public and the private productively in a discursive formation in which various institutions are controlled by using the same discursive rules.

Asset-based approaches to welfare may be seen as part of a broader trend towards individual responsibility and private provision. With pressures on pension systems and the concentration of wealth in owner-occupied housing, there is debate about the potential of equity release as a source of funding in later life. However, very little is known about the role that it plays in practice. Using a mixed methods approach, this thesis fills that gap by exploring older people’s use of equity release products and finds that they play a limited role in meeting income needs as so few people use them. Among those that do, they play different roles for different groups and make an important difference to the living standards of those with middle incomes and medium to high levels of housing wealth. However, they make less of a difference to home owners with lower incomes and more limited housing assets. The research concludes that equity release has the potential to provide financial security but questions whether it can really function as an adequate safety net for those in need. Governments have encouraged people to accumulate housing assets partly so that they can be more self-reliant, yet have done little to help them decumulate their assets. It is suggested that governments could do more to make equity release more accessible to those at the lower end of the income and housing wealth distribution, but this should not be at the expense of asset-excluded groups.

This is a case study of the development of plans for a piece of legislation and of the part played in that process by interest or pressure groups. It examines the wording of the National Health Service Act, 1946 and, in contrast, the health services of 1939. The main events of 1939 to 1946 are surveyed together with a review of the interest groups and their views. The main evidence of the study shows the development of plans for a National Health Service from the first plan put forward by Mr. E. Brown as Minister of Health (the plan of his officials rather than himself) through the 'White Paper of 1944 and the Revised White Paper of 1945 (both prepared by Mr. H.U. Willink as Minister) to the final plan adopted in the Act of 1946. Studied section by section the plan adopted by Mr. Sevan is shown as a development of the previous plans, together with changes necessary by the arrival of a new and powerful interest group, the Labour Party, rather than any dogmatic expression of party views. This analysis brings out quite clearly the following pattern. In the first place an official’s plan (Brown Plan) was prepared as a necessary basis for discussion with the groups. (Mr. Brown discarded it and therefore was unable to make any definite progress). As a result of these discussions, another plan (the White Paper) was drawn up as a basis for more detailed discussion (or negotiation). Bit by bit a plan emerged from this further discussion which seemed to command general agreement among the main groups. This, plan, the revised White Paper plan, was being translated into legislation when the general election of 1945 brought a change of government. Mr. Bevan, the new Minister, adopted the previous plan and applied to it, as far as he considered necessary to ensure his party's support, the views of the Labour Party. The result was the National Health Service Act, 1946. In a final section some suggestions for a wider study on the role of interest groups in the drafting of legislation are made.

Cuando las Escuelas Europeas se crearon, su misión era doble. Por un lado, se quería ofrecer una solución para los hijos de los funcionarios europeos proporcionando movilidad y enseñanza en la lengua materna, asegurando así que el niño pudiera crear laboratorios de experimentación pedagógica para el multilingüismo, la educación multicultural, y un programa europeo de armonización. Desde este contexto el objetivo de este estudio fue analizar el proceso de reforma del sistema de las Escuelas Europeas y a su vez involucrar en este proceso los grupos de interés. Han participado entre ellas Oficina del Secretariado General, la Comisión Europea, los Estados Miembros -en particular los representantes de los Ministerios de Educación e inspectores-, directores, directores adjuntos, profesores, alumnos, personal administrativo, padres, las instituciones, las comunidades locales y el Parlamento. El análisis de los resultados ha sido a través de una metodología mixta (cuantitativa y cualitativa). Esta investigación concluye que los grupos de interés valoran, por encima de todo, el aspecto multilingüe y multicultural del sistema de Escuelas Europeas. En cuanto a las áreas de mejora, las partes interesadas del sistema de Escuelas Europeas señalan que el sistema necesita una mayor participación por parte de los actores, incluyendo a la comunidad local. En ese sentido, están de acuerdo con los autores de estudios anteriores en que la superpoblación y la falta de una alternativa al bachillerato europeo son importantes debilidades del sistema. Además consideran que hay demasiada burocracia y que se necesita una mayor autonomía para las escuelas. En algunos elementos la reforma ha sido exitosa y en otros consideran que se necesita mejorar algunos aspectos (por ejemplo mejoras pedagógicas). Como conclusión y recomendaciones finales de este estudio destacamos las siguientes: (1) En cuanto a los grupos de interés: involucrar más a los alumnos e ex-alumnos, que son los mejores defensores del sistema. Dar voz los funcionarios de contratación local, ya que su número está en aumento, y se quedan más de 9 años. Aumentar la participación de los Estados Miembros mediante la colaboración con las escuelas del tipo 2, que pueden ser considerados una plataforma para crear espíritu europeo de escolarización en toda Europa, donde las buenas ideas pueden ser intercambiadas. Involucrar a los docentes y directores adjuntos en el liderazgo para el compromiso y la mejora. (2) En cuanto a la gobernanza: avanzar hacia un Sistema de Gestión de la Calidad (como ISO 9001). Establecer una red de investigación académica para desarrollar un fondo de conocimientos y en continua expansión y renovación.

Thesis advisor: Marilyn Cochran-Smith / Current institutional and technological innovations are challenging face-to-face, college- and university-based teacher preparation programs as never before. Among those innovations are two emerging phenomena: New graduate schools of education (nGSEs) and fully online teacher preparation programs. nGSEs are new independent graduate schools that are not university-based but are state-authorized and approved as institutions of higher education to prepare teachers, endorse them for initial teacher certification, and grant master’s degrees (Cochran-Smith et al., 2019). Fully online teacher preparation programs are programs that relocate teacher preparation from the physical environments of the brick-and-mortar university to the digital environments of the internet and provide prospective teachers with flexible alternatives to face-to-face pathways. While both fully online teacher preparation programs and nGSEs have garnered enthusiastic media attention and critique, there is a very limited amount of in-depth knowledge about fully online teacher preparation programs and virtually no independent research on nGSEs. This dissertation helps to address those gaps in research. The central purpose of this dissertation was to examine the intersection of fully online teacher preparation and the phenomenon of teacher preparation at nGSEs by investigating teacher preparation at TEACH-NOW Graduate School of Education, a fully online, for-profit, nGSE headquartered in Washington, D.C. and rapidly expanding as a provider of initial teacher education. Intended to be descriptive and interpretive, this qualitative case study sought to understand the phenomenon of teacher preparation at TEACH-NOW from the perspectives of its participants. Based on qualitative analysis of multiple sources of evidence, the main argument of this dissertation is that TEACH-NOW operated at the nexus of a complex tension between the push to be innovative and the pull to be legitimate. Findings suggest that TEACH-NOW skillfully navigated that tension by establishing tight coherence around three key indicators of innovation (business model, technology, program structure) and by achieving major accepted markers of credibility within the larger teacher education organizational field. This dissertation also argues that TEACH-NOW’s approach to teacher preparation necessitated that teacher candidates self-manage their program experiences in accordance with their individual needs, circumstances, and preferences. The dissertation concludes with discussion of important themes and specific research, practice, and policy implications. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2019. / Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education. / Discipline: Teacher Education, Special Education, Curriculum and Instruction.

The purpose of this study was to explore whether non-profit immigration organizations are ready for a comprehensive immigration reform. Social workers need to recognize that a lack of readiness among non-profit immigration organizations for a comprehensive immigration reform will lead to a lack of required services for undocumented populations. The sample consisted of twelve religious and non-religiously affiliated non-profit immigration organizations. A qualitative research method was used to analyze the data. The results of the study concluded that non-profit immigration organizations are not ready for a CIR. Although the organizations are not ready, several factors were found to affect their readiness for a comprehensive immigration reform. Factors that negatively contributed to their readiness included learned experiences with Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), directors’ perceptions, and funding. Recommendations for better service delivery to undocumented populations include the recommendation that organizations reviewing their plans by addressing these factors.

Thesis (MBA.) --University of Limpopo, 2008 / Land reform is divided into three sub-programmes, which are redistribution programmes, restitution and tenure reform. The redistribution programme consists of Land Redistribution for Agricultural Development settlement and non-agricultural enterprises. Land Redistribution for Agricultural Development programme was established to redress the imbalances of land owners aroused from the previous government and its policies. A person who qualifies to purchase farms through the Land Redistribution for Agricultural Development programme is a previously disadvantaged person, that is, an African, Coloured and Indian. If a person belongs to a previously disadvantaged group and that particular person works for the government he/she does not qualify to be funded by the Land Redistribution for Agricultural Development programme. The National Department of Agriculture introduced a new programme called the Comprehensive Agricultural Support Programme. The primary aim of the Comprehensive Agricultural Support Programme is to make provision for agricultural support to targeted beneficiaries of the land reform and agrarian reform programme. This dissertation proposed an investigation of the success factors of Comprehensive agricultural Support programme on the farms allocated under the Land redistribution for Agricultural Development in the Waterberg District of the Limpopo Province. The objectives of study were: i. To determine factors influencing the success of the Comprehensive Agricultural Support Programme projects on farms allocated under the Land Redistribution for Agricultural Development farms ii. To suggest recommendations for the improvement of the implementation of the Comprehensive Agricultural Support Programme. iv A case study approach was used to investigate the Comprehensive Agricultural Support Programme funded projects. Personal interview questions were posed to participants who were the farmers who receiving the Comprehensive Agricultural Support Programme grant and managers who were managing the Land Redistribution for Agricultural Development farms. Open-ended questionnaires were used to collect data and four farms allocated under Land Redistribution for Agricultural Development funded by the Comprehensive Agricultural Support Programme and four municipal managers in the Waterberg District of the Limpopo Province were interviewed. The qualitative approach was used to process the data The chapter layouts of this research are as follows: Chapter 1: Problem Statement, Aims and Objectives of the Study, Chapter 2: Literature Survey, Chapter 3: Research Design, Chapter 4: Analysis of Data and Interpretation, and Chapter 5: Recommendations and Conclusion. The analysis of the data revealed that Comprehensive Agricultural Support Programme is a success on the farms allocated under the Land redistribution for Agricultural Development in the Waterberg District of the Limpopo Province.

Thesis (M.Dev.) --University of Limpopo, 2012

La culture et les méthodes chinoises restent encore aujourd’hui bien méconnues pour le monde non asiatique. Or, le système bancaire chinois est un mélange de culture et de traditions millénaires et de méthodes et concepts modernes, importés de l’étranger. Cet amalgame particulier est donc difficile à caractériser. L’objectif présent est de déterminer si le système bancaire chinois actuel, cœur du système financier du pays, peut être considéré comme le socle d’un modèle de capitalisme -selon la définition de la théorie de la régulation- aujourd’hui, ou s’il le sera demain à travers une analyse de son histoire, de sa structure et de l’évolution des réformes, jusqu’à l’implémentation de Bâle III et les réformes de Wenzhou. De nombreux experts s’accordent à penser que le système bancaire nécessite des réformes profondes, dont notamment le retrait de l’Etat et une plus grande ouverture. Ce type de réforme bouleverserait cependant les rapports institutionnels. L’Etat devrait laisser une place beaucoup plus importante au marché et le socle que constitue le système bancaire actuel serait alors méconnaissable. Si les dernières réformes chinoises montrent une réelle volonté politique de libéralisation du secteur financier chinois, celles-ci soulignent également les obstacles auxquels sont confrontés les acteurs du système. Les méthodes d’implémentation suggèrent non pas la caractéristique d’un modèle ou d’une culture mais bien une volonté, de permettre à l’Etat de rester l’institution dominante. / The Chinese culture and methods are still unknown for the non-Asian world. Besides, the Chinese banking system is a merge of culture and ancient traditions and modern methods and concepts imported from abroad. This particular mix is difficult to characterize. The objective of this thesis is to ascertain if the current Chinese banking system, heart of the country's financial system, can be considered as the core of a model of capitalism as defined by the Regulation Theory - today or tomorrow- through an analysis of its history, structure and evolution up to the implementation of Basel III and Wenzhou’s reforms. Many experts agree that the banking system requires deep reforms, including the withdrawal of state control and a greater openness. However, this type of reform would transform deeply the institutional relationships. If the government allows a much more powerful market institution then the core of the current banking system would be changed beyond recognition. Recent Chinese reforms show a real political will to liberalize the Chinese financial sector, but they also highlight the obstacles faced by actors of the system. Besides, the implementation methods don’t suggest characteristics of a model or culture but a strong willingness of the state to remain the dominant institution.

In this project, I sought to understand how evidence-based practices are understood and implemented by individuals who work within the criminal justice system, with specific focus on the Iowa Correctional Institution for Women (ICIW). I collected interviews in the summer and fall of 2016 and observations at local criminal justice agencies from summer 2016 to summer 2017. Thirty-eight individuals agreed to be interviewed, including ICIW staff, Department of Corrections (DOC) staff, prison volunteers, and prisoner advocates. I found that how individuals understand “what works” in prison policy and practice is shaped by three main factors. First, their ideological standpoints on what purpose prison ought to serve influenced how they thought evidence should be used to inform policy, whether they believed it should achieve humanitarian goals of giving offenders second chances, utilitarian goals of keeping the community safe, or bureaucratic goals of ensuring that prisons are run efficiently and rationally. Second, their experiences with prisoners shaped their acceptance or skepticism of certain types of evidence, and respondents placed more value in experiential and anecdotal evidence in the case of women-centered policies. Third, the respondents’ stereotypes about who women are and what their place is in the larger correctional system contributed to more ready acceptance of women-centered practices, and more skepticism of statewide or uniform evidence-based practices. In turn, these different interpretations of evidence and the policies based upon it contributed to conflict and resistance to statewide DOC policy, as well as greater feelings of frustration and disenchantment among correctional stakeholders.