Philosophiae Doctor - PhD / In this study the construct of personal theories is used to represent the teacher's conceptions, which are interpreted as the consciously held beliefs. The teacher's personal theories encompass beliefs, images, values and attitudes as well as understanding about teaching and learning. This study investigates the influence of the teacher's conceptions of mathematics, of the teaching and learning of mathematics and of the context before and after a structured learning experience. The interest in the teacher's conceptions is derived from the assumption that these serve as a primary component that influence how teachers think about their professional responsibilities and how they act in their classrooms. Furthermore, the extent of implementation of a new curriculum has been linked to the scope of congruence between the teachers' conceptions and the underpinning philosophy of the intended curriculum. The study of the teacher's conceptions is especially relevant during a time of educational reform, such as the current transition to an Outcomes Based Education curriculum in South Africa. The participants in this study consist of four primary school mathematics teachers with various educational backgrounds, who teach at schools situated in different physical environments. The conceptions that these teachers have of mathematics, of the teaching and learning of mathematics and the influence of the context are investigated using a variety of instruments. Data collection was done with a questionnaire, a repertory grid, a semi-structured interview and lesson observations. The teachers participated in the Teaching Intervention and Support Programme (TISP), as a structured teacher learning experience. The programme is centred on the integration of the developmental and socio-cultural perspectives on teacher learning. With the developmental perspective the focus is on the acquisition of intellectual skills, while the socio-cultural perspective emphasizes participation in social practice. Both are directed at effecting conceptual change. With the developmental approach the process of conceptual change involves the development of new conceptions from existing conceptions. From the socio-cultural perspective the context is paramount and conceptual change is seen as new ways of being and acting within a particular context. The teachers were invited to attend a two-week intervention session, followed by a six months support programme that was aimed at establishing a teacher learning community. The learning experiences provided during the intervention session were drawn mainly from Realistic Mathematics Education. On completion of the programme, the teachers' conceptions of mathematics, of the teaching and learning of mathematics and the influence of the context were again investigated. The results of this study show that two of the participants had highly mechanistic conceptions of mathematics, and the teaching and learning of mathematics. The remaining two had a more empiristic approach with its high focus on environmental activities. After the programme, the teachers with the mechanistic views adopted a mixed. conception with some of the mechanistic conceptions retained, but now interspersed with some empiristic and realistic conceptions. The participants with the empiristic conceptions adopted a more realistic conception, but again to varying degrees. Thompson's (1991) hierarchical structure for the development of conceptions was also used to describe the extent of conceptual change. However, it was found that a concentric, rather than a hierarchical representation is a more appropriate to describe these changes. With regards to the socio-cultural view of conceptual change, all the participants perceived the context differently. The teachers' actions were also more commensurate with the practices associated with teachers that encourage learner autonomy, mathematical investigations and a facilitative role for the teacher.

This thesis offers a reading of GQ South Africa 2000, the first glossy men’s magazine to be launched in South Africa (in 2000). It traces the possible iconographical genealogy of glossy men’s magazines to canonical erotic artworks and examines the aesthetic conventions used by GQ to elevate its contents through an implied association with art. This thesis, furthermore, investigates the commonalities between GQ, a ‘mainstream’ publication, and ‘pornography’ (as defined by the United States Civil Rights Ordinance 1985). In this way, the fluid impermanence of ‘art’, ‘pornography’ and ‘popular culture’ as typologies is highlighted. The new taxonomy of ‘gentlemen’s pornography’ is introduced in order to counter the notion that material that has the gloss of ‘high culture’ and is deemed socially acceptable, cannot be pornographic. This thesis submits that a critical reading of glossy men’s magazines from an interdisciplinary perspective is imperative in order to reveal their ideological assumptions. The ideological position that informs this study is the radical feminist belief that pornography objectifies and subordinates women and is, therefore, harmful. The thesis is simultaneously grounded in the theoretical methodologies of visual culture and art history, and as such assumes the intonation of these disciplines. From a Postmodern point-of-view, popular visual culture not only wields power in terms of generalising (capitalist and sexist) western paradigms, but is also skilful at masking its significant influence in doing so. For this reason, this dissertation endeavours to raise a critical dialogue concerning the ideological ‘message’ of glossy men’s magazines. The sometimes antithetical nature of discourse critically centered on gender representation in visual culture may be attributed to the pervasiveness of familiar (and therefore seemingly harmless) female objectification in the popular media. This thesis examines the iconography of gendered stereotypes against the erotic/pornographic, high culture/low culture object/subject binaries, and, furthermore, situates these types in the wider dialectic of ‘obscene’ (off-scene) versus ‘acceptable’ culture. The glossy men’s magazines that form the interest of this study are a trade situated in the alliance of social elitism and representational control over the female body, and, thus, this thesis marks the point of intersection between consumer culture and the politics of display. / Dissertation (MA (Visual Arts))--University of Pretoria, 2003. / Visual Arts / unrestricted

Maps have been important elements of visual representation in the development of different societies, and for this reason they have mainly been considered from a practical and utilitarian point of view. This means that cartographers or mapmakers have largely focused on the technical aspects of the cartographic products, and cartography has given little attention to both its theoretical component and to its philosophical and epistemological aspects. The current study is dedicated to consider these views. In this study the main trends, thoughts and different directions in cartography during positivism/empiricism, neo-positivism and post-structuralism are reviewed; and cartography is analysed under the modernism and post-modernism periods. Some of the arguments proposed by philosophers such as Ludwig Wittgenstein and Karl Popper are examined as important contributions in our understanding of the development of cartography and mapping. This study also incorporates the idea or concept of paradigm, which has been taken from the field of the epistemology of sciences. The aforementioned opens a space to analyse cartography in terms of a paradigm shift. In the analysis of each trend within contemporary cartography – from the second half of the twentieth century until today – it is necessary to keep in mind the theoretical scheme of a scientific discipline (object of study, research aims, methods and approaches, and results). This helps to determine the body of knowledge in cartography. It is also important to consider the epistemological context in which the tendencies are developed: positivism/empiricism, realism/structuralism and idealism/hermeneutic. In this way, by considering three epistemological levels - essentialist/ontical (scientific), deconstructive (sociological), and ontological (emergent) - some paradigmatic tendencies are postulated. The first level results in tendencies such as cartographic communication, cartographic semiotics, analytical cartography and cartographic visualisation - all of these belong to the scientific-empirical perspective. In the second level, we have critical cartography, belonging to the critical perspective and that confronts the scientific stances. Finally, in the third level the so-called post-representational cartography arises in open opposition to the traditional representational cartography. / Im Entwicklungsprozess verschiedener Gesellschaften sind Karten immer wichtige Elemente visueller Darstellung gewesen. Karten wurden meist aus einer praktischen und utilitaristischen Sicht betrachtet. Das heißt, dass sich Kartographen oder Kartenmacher gezielt auf die technischen Aspekte kartographischer Produkte fokussiert haben, und Kartographie sich nur wenig mit den theoretischen Komponenten und philosophischen oder epistemologischen Aspekten auseinandergesetzt hat. Diese Arbeit verfolgt das Ziel, diese Sichten zu analysieren. Diese Studie untersucht die verschiedenen kartographischen Denkrichtungen, die während des Positivismus/Empirismus, des Neo-Positivismus und der Post-Strukturalismusperioden entstanden sind und analysiert Kartographie der Moderne und post-moderner Perioden. Argumente von Philosophen wie Ludwig Wittgenstein und Karl Popper werden untersucht als wichtige Beiträge zu unserem Verständnis der Entwicklung der Kartographie. Diese Arbeit berücksichtigt auch das Konzept des Paradigmas, welches aus dem Gebiet der wissenschaftlichen Epistemologie adaptiert wurde. Dies eröffnet die Möglichkeit, Kartographie hinsichtlich eines Paradigmenwechsels analysieren zu können. Wenn man die Tendenzen der zeitgenössischen Kartographie – von der zweiten Hälfte des zwanzigsten Jahrhunderts bis heute – studiert, muss der theoretische Rahmen einer wissenschaftlichen Disziplin (Forschungsobjekt, Forschungsziel, Arbeitsmethodik und Ergebnisse) berücksichtigt werden. Dies erlaubt es, das gesammelte Wissen der Kartographie zu ermitteln. Ebenfalls wichtig ist die Berücksichtigung des epistemologischen Kontexts, in dem diese Tendenzen entstanden: Positivismus/Empirismus, Realismus/Strukturalismus und Idealismus/Hermeneutik. Unter Berücksichtigung dreier epistemologischer Ebenen – Essenzialisten/ontisch (wissenschaftlich), dekonstructiv (soziologisch) und ontologisch (emergent) – werden ausgewählte paradigmatische Tendenzen postuliert. Die erste Ebene ergibt Tendenzen wie die kartographische Kommunikation, die kartographische Semiotik, die analytische Kartographie und die kartographische Visualisierung, die alle zu der wissenschaftlich-empirischen Perspektive gehören. Zur zweiten Ebene gehört die kritische Kartographie, welche der kritischen Perspektive zugeordnet ist und die wissenschaftliche Standpunkte konfrontiert. Die so genannte post-repräsentative Kartographie entsteht aus der dritten Ebene im offenen Widerstand zur traditionellen repräsentativen Kartographie.

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To farm more sustainably, some farmers are rediscovering and innovating knowledge, skills, and technologies that were used before the modernisation of agriculture in the 1950s. One such 'retro-innovation' is the use of draft animals as a source of labour on farms. As modern farming and agronomy pay little attention to 'retro-innovations', not much is known about why and how farmers reintroduce draft animals on their farms. Therefore, the potential of draft power to contribute to the sustainable development of agriculture also remains unclear.   To fill this gap, this study uses interviews and participant observation with seven draft animals’ farmers in Northern Italy. Results indicate that these farmers are organic small-scale farmers using both draft animals and tractors. Engaging in multiple farming activities is an important aspect of these farms. Although draft animals are primarily used in vegetable growing, they can, among others, be involved in logging, marketing the farm production, and used for horse-riding. Their reintroduction as source of labour aligns with the so-called “peasant logic” to farming. This style of farming is reflected in farmers’ craftsmanship, co-production, and autonomy, and the use of draft animals as a skill-oriented technology. Farmers engaged in a peasant style of farming use draft animals as: (1) a technology to increase the farm autonomy and sustainability; (2) work companions with whom they collaborate and develop a strong relationship; and (3) a retro-innovation that is motivated by their self-perception as local stewards.   The study indicates that the relationship between farmers and their draft animals is the most rewarding aspect of animal traction, confirming the meaningful role of non-humans in farm practices and emphasising the central role animals can take in a peasant logic of farming. Future research should continue exploring the role of retro-innovation and of relationships between humans and non-humans for sustainable agricultural development.

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[pt] A presente dissertação de mestrado procurou investigar a relação de Gilles Deleuze com a teoria psicanalítica mais tradicional e a conseqüente repercussão de seu pensamento sobre ela. A partir da leitura das obras de Deleuze e de S. Freud viabilizou-se uma comparação de dois pensamentos divergentes. O pensamento freudiano, fundado em grande parte numa lógica transcendente, e o pensamento deleuziano numa lógica imanente. Fez-se necessária, inicialmente, uma incursão pela obra deleuziana visando fundamentar suas críticas ao campo psicanalítico; para isso, analisou-se sua contraposição ao pensamento representacional, dual, e sua proposta de criticá-lo a partir um sistema aberto às singularidades e às multiplicidades. Procurou-se ainda analisar algumas proposições clássicas da teoria psicanalítica - como o desejo e o inconsciente - que na perspectiva deleuziana estariam presas a coordenadas universais e dadas a priori. Por fim, o trabalho debruçou-se sobre a formulação do plano de imanência para pensar a possibilidade de uma psicanálise renovada, mais viva e mais criativa. / [en] This Master`s Grade dissertation aimed at studying Gilles Deleuze`s relation to the mainstream traditional psychoanalytic theory and his thought`s repercussion on it. From the reading of Deleuze`s and Freud`s works a comparison between two divergent thinking could be made, Freudian thinking grounded for it`s most part on a transcendent logic and the Deleuzian on an immanent logic. At first, an incursion in Deleuze`s works was necessary, aiming at substantiating his critics to the psychoanalytic field; for that, we analyzed his opposition to the dual, representational, thinking and his proposal to criticize it from the standpoint of a system opened to uniqueness and the multiplicities. We still intended to analyze some classical propositions of psychoanalytic theory, as the wish and the unconscious, which, from Deleuzian perspective, would be tied to universal and a priori coordinates. Finally, the work scrutinized the formulation of an immanence plan for thinking the possibility of a renewed psychoanalysis, livelier and more creative.