The importance of preschool quality in Sweden is a subject of concern for preschool workers, researchers, parents and other stakeholders internationally. After the revision of the national preschool curriculum in 2010, the examination of the role of heads in outlining and maintaining quality has become a topic of concern, in particular regarding systematic quality work and the responsibilities of the heads in relation to this work. The purpose of this literature review is therefore to examine the extant research on how preschool heads in Sweden understand and work with the issue of quality in Early Childhood Education and Care. The research questions are: What is preschool quality, and how can it be assessed in the eyes of the head preschool teachers in Sweden? And, how do the heads fulfil their responsibilities inrelation to quality work in preschool? Four studies were reviewed and analyzed based on three criteria of measuring quality: structural,result,and processual. The results showed that the preschool heads had broad areas of measuring quality work, covering all three areas of quality. However, their practical quality work only covered some of these areas. Collaboration with staff, parents and other preschools wasmost commonly mentioned by the heads, as they are also problematised on their daily tasks in practice. Generally, there was an emphasis on structural quality more than processual and result quality matters. The findings and implications are discussed also in terms of the three areas of measuring quality: structural,result,and processual. Overall, heads might need more support and guidance from experts in order to achieve quality work in relation to processual areas of quality matters in preschool. Future research ought to examine quality of care in preschool (rather than quality of education) from the perspective of preschool heads.

Focusing on relations between principals, other School Management Team (SMT) members and teachers, this study examines the potential of their active collaboration around instructional matters to enhance the quality of teaching and student achievement. The analysis is grounded in the theory of instructional leadership- and the conceptual framework locates instructional leadership within the context of the instructional core and the role of the school principal and SMT exercise in the learning context. The main question that drove this research was: How does the work of the school principal influence classroom practice of teachers? My study investigated the following three sub questions: i)Does leadership contribute to the ultimate success of schools?; ii) What are the three successful schools doing? and iii)How do the principals of these schools recognise, implement and bring about change that contributes to their success? The main aims were to examine how the primary school principal leads and influences classroom practice to encourage improved academic performance and how the principal and other senior management team members work together to communicate with, monitor and evaluate teachers. In addition, it investigated how teachers perceive and interpret the actions of the school leadership around their own classroom practice. It looked into the particular behaviours, relationships and interactions between the principals and SMT members and educators that influenced or hampered the delivery of quality education in the classroom. The sample comprised of three case studies of primary schools in Gauteng, South Africa. The methodology used was structured interviews of the principals and senior management members, focus group interviews with teachers, observations and documentary evidence. Data was collected, coded and analysed under themes that emerged from examining the data and literature around instructional leadership. The research objective was to understand the role that primary school principals play in instructional leadership and how instructional leadership can lead to effective teaching and learning. My goals were to characterize “best practice” for instructional iii leadership; and to identify strategies used by the school principals that show how their work influences classroom practice. The study found that effective instructional leadership is central to enhancing teaching and learning in a primary school to improve student academic outcomes and that the instructional leadership behaviours of school principals were significantly related to teacher's commitment, professional involvement and innovativeness and to the overall improvement of student results. This study demonstrated that instructional leadership success is not based on a one size fit all model for instructional enactment of success.

Delegating responsibilities for ensuring data quality to employees close to operations is generally regarded as beneficial according to academia, rather than allowing the IT department full authority. The business employees are suitable for this task, as they have both a practical understanding for the business and a role that often is regarded as data-driven. However, delegation of responsibilities is argued to be one of the biggest barriers concerning data quality. This study examines this phenomenon by connecting delegation of responsibilities for ensuring data quality to research on the motivational aspects of controlling data, which lays the foundation for the empirical investigation.  This single case study was conducted qualitatively using semi-structured interviews. The data sample consisted of a business department, including six business controllers and their manager, at a large Swedish manufacturing company. Further, the data collection was complemented by conducting an interview with a representative at the IT department.  The study shows how business controllers are dependent on the quality of data, and due to their awareness of the benefits in avoiding data errors they are autonomously motivated to ensure good data quality. This strengthen the argument of delegating control of data quality to the business department, which gives the study practical significance.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-03-15T19:34:07Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Adriana Cristina Pereira.pdf: 1063922 bytes, checksum: 7f49b66af7a0ef3a99401d190108be93 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2014-02-26 / In search of the upturn in the economy, six years ago the State and the financial institutions have encouraged the granting of credit to consumers from all economic classes, eager to enter the consumer Market they have been induced by the loan offers, credit cards and overdrafts. Thus, household debts have grown steadily and, consequently, default rate has increased. In this sense, the present work aims to determine the liability of financial institutions regarding the default because they offer easy credit in an unrestricted manner, stimulating the consumer to consume increasingly to take on huge debts which often become unpayable. The choice of this theme is based on the importance of itself, given the risk of unrestricted credit and rising consumer debt, beyond the actuality of the topic in recent years. The growth of the supply of abusive credit, lack of risk analysis by financial institutions, the lack of information with regard to contractual terms ( interest rate , loan amount ) , led consumers to consume and borrow even more . So based on these dictates and on the guiding principles of the Federal Constitution, we must highlight the responsibility of the banking sector in this matter, since the consumer cannot be solely responsible for taking the credit and also for the default rate of this obligation. / Já há seis anos, na busca pelo aquecimento da economia, o Estado e as instituições financeiras têm incentivado a concessão do crédito para os consumidores de todas as classes econômicas que, ávidos por ingressar no mercado de consumo, foram induzidos pela oferta de empréstimos, cartões de crédito e cheques especiais. Assim, o endividamento das famílias tem crescido paulatinamente e, nessa esteira, tem aumentado a taxa de inadimplência. Nesse sentido, o presente trabalho tem por objetivo verificar a responsabilidade das instituições financeiras no tocante à inadimplência, pelo fato de ofertarem crédito de modo irrestrito e facilitado, estimulando o consumidor a consumir cada vez mais, assumindo dívidas enormes, muitas vezes impagáveis. A escolha deste tema baseia-se na importância do mesmo, em face do risco do crédito irrestrito e do crescente endividamento do consumidor, além da atualidade do assunto nos últimos anos. O crescimento da oferta abusiva do crédito, a falta de análise dos riscos por parte das instituições financeiras, a falta de informação no tocante às cláusulas contratuais (juros, taxas, valor total do empréstimo), levaram os consumidores a consumir e se endividar cada vez mais. Assim, com fulcro nestes ditames e baseado nos princípios norteadores da Constituição Federal, há que se destacar a responsabilidade do setor bancário neste assunto, vez que o consumidor não pode é o único responsável pela tomada do crédito e adimplemento desta obrigação.

Raising a child with a pervasive developmental disorder (PDD), particularly that of Fragile X Syndrome (FXS), is challenging, as it comes with parental stressors for both mothers and fathers. Research on these stressors has been limited to only the stressors that mothers of children with a PDD experience and has failed to thoroughly examine the experiences and stressors of fathers of children with a PDD, particularly that of FXS. Using Hill's ABC-X family stress theory, this quantitative research study investigated the effects of marital satisfaction due to the amount of shared childcare responsibilities and parental stress among the mothers and fathers of children diagnosed with FXS. This study also examined whether significant differences exist among these parents, who were recruited through the use of flyers, notices, and handouts that were randomly passed out to parents at the FXS Alliance of Texas located in the southwest region of Texas. Participants for this study were 128 parents of children with FXS, each of whom completed a demographic questionnaire, the Kansas Marital Satisfaction Scale, and The Sharing of Childcare Responsibilities Scale and Parental Stress Level Scale. An independent samples t test and multiple linear regression statistical analysis was employed. The results of the study indicated that parental stress associated with the amount of shared childcare responsibilities accounted for a significant degree of the variance in marital satisfaction. Yet the study did not find a significant mean difference in the level of parental stress that was experienced uniquely across gender. Potential social changes may include future development and improvements in treatment, therapeutic approaches, and predicted outcomes in efforts to enhance parental stress interventions so as to improve stress-related outcomes for parents of children with FXS.

I investigate the differences between Hispanic high school graduates, both male and female, who chose not to attend college, who chose to initially enroll into a two-year college, or who chose to initially enroll into a four-year college or university. The 1994-1995 National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health was used to determine how family structure, family responsibilities and family closeness influenced the decisions made by Hispanic youth. There are five major findings regarding Hispanics and their decisions after high school graduation. The findings show that socioeconomic status (parents' education), grade point average and college aspirations influence the decision to attend college. Males who enrolled into four-year colleges were more influenced by participating in household chores compared to females; females who initially enrolled into four-year colleges were more influenced by the number of household members than males. High school graduates with fewer household members were more likely to initially enroll into a four-year college and participate in more household chores compared to students who attended two-year colleges. Parental aspirations were influential for high school graduates whether they attended two- or four-year colleges. Last, living with two biological parents compared to living with a single mother was highly influential for high school graduates who initially enrolled into a four-year college. Overall, the findings indicate that family structure, family closeness and family responsibilities affect the college decisions of Hispanic high school graduates.

This study was designed to ascertain, analyse and compare the perceptions of College Librarians and their associates about the role responsibility which College Librarians in libraries in New South Wales Colleges of Advanced Education (CAEs) were actually assuming and ideally should be assuming as part of their role as library managers. Using as its basis a theoretical framework of role and role-related concepts, as developed by social psychologists such as Kahn et al. (1964), a role set group of Principals, Registrars and Senior Library Staff was identified as the survey population. A review of the literature about CAEs and their libraries and overseas studies about the role of library managers assisted with the development of a role responsibility questionnaire. Data from the questionnaire was analysed in respect of actual and ideal role responsibility and any gaps between actual and ideal role responsibility. Gaps between perceptions of actual and ideal role responsibility between College Librarians and associates may indicate a potential for role conflict for persons enacting the role of College Librarian. This study found statistically significant results in respect of both actual and ideal role responsibility between College Librarians and Senior Library Staff, which indicated that there was not clear agreement between the two groups about either the role responsibility currently assumed by College Librarians and that which ideally should be assumed. In respect of the gap between actual and ideal role responsibility, however, there was no statistically significant result between College Librarians and associates, indicating that the potential for role conflict resulting from divergent perceptions between role set groups was not evident. This does not preclude the potential for role conflict from other sources.

The number of elderly in society is increasing and therefore the number of people with dementia. They continue to live in their homes longer, which also increases the responsibility of district nurses. The purpose of this study was to describe the experiences of district nurses to care for and have responsibility for the care of people with dementia in home care. The method chosen was a qualitative interview study. The method chosen was a qualitative interview study and content analysis was used for data processing. The results revealed five categories: Collaboration with other professionals and relatives, to have the possibility to develope in the professional role, a time-consuming work, inadequacy and anxiety and to provide security for the person with dementia. / Antalet äldre i samhället ökar och därmed antalet personer med demenssjukdom. De bor kvar i sina hem längre, då ökar även ansvaret på distriktssköterskorna. Syftet med studien var att beskriva distriktssköterskornas erfarenheter av att vårda och ha vårdansvaret för personer med demenssjukdom i hemsjukvård. Metoden som valdes var kvalitativ intervju studie och innehållsanalys användes vid databearbetning. I resultatet framkom fem kategorier: Samarbete med andra yrkesgrupper och anhöriga, att kunna utvecklas i yrket, ett tidskrävande arbete, otillräcklighet och oro och att skapa trygghet för personen med demenssjukdom.

Questa tesi propone una lettura cumulativa della raccolta Responsibilities: Poems and a Play di William Butler Yeats, pubblicata per la prima volta nel 1914 e successivamente inclusa in un’opera di più ampio respiro nel 1916. Questa raccolta si colloca cronotopicamente in un contesto pubblico nel quale le dinamiche sociali irlandesi, tra la fine dell’Ottocento e gli anni venti del Novecento, erano al centro di forze indipendentiste ed in un contesto privato nel quale emerge il prolungato interesse, da parte del poeta, per la costituzione di un’etica pubblica come base per la creazione dell’indipendenza irlandese. Essa diviene, pertanto, una presa di coscienza da parte dell’autore del proprio ruolo di guida, non più solo poetica ma anche sociale, che avrebbe potuto accelerare il processo di riscoperta dell’identità irlandese come requisito fondamentale per l’indipendenza. / This thesis deals with the analysis of the collection Responsibilities: Poems and a Play by William Butler Yeats, published for the first time in 1914 and lately included in a wider collection in 1916. Responsibilities was conceived in a public context where the social dynamics in Ireland were subjected to contrasting forces, and in a private context in which the poet conceived the idea that only the constitution of a public ethic could have paved the way to the creation of an independent Irish state. For this reason, this collection can be considered as the beginning of a process of awareness by W. B. Yeats of his role, not only as a poet, in a social process that could have accelerated the rediscovery of the Irish cultural identity as an essential requirement for independence.

L'éducation à la citoyenneté comme forme de socialisation juridique est un moyen parmi d'autres qui nous permet de concevoir un possible dépassement de la « raison paresseuse» dans laquelle sont engagés les modèles politiques occidentaux. Les bases d'un nouveau code moral proposant à la fois une identité individuelle et collective pour le citoyen sont nécessaires. Ainsi, les énergies consacrées à la meilleure formation possible des futurs acteurs de la société québécoise, au partage d'idées et de perceptions dans une perspective contemporaine, ne peuvent être que bénéfiques pour l'avancement et l'avènement d'une société où l'équité coexiste avec la différence. C'est en réfléchissant et en échangeant sur le sujet avec notre entourage que nous avons décidé de concentrer nos recherches dans le domaine de 1'« éducation à la citoyenneté» avec comme contenu le droit. Naturellement, l'analyse à proprement positiviste du droit est ici mise de côté. Comme nous le verrons plus loin, une étude qui aborde la vision que se font les jeunes de l'univers juridique qui les entoure commande plutôt une approche sociologique. Les conclusions tirées de notre projet de recherche contribueront au débat entourant les concepts de citoyenneté, de droits fondamentaux et de responsabilités sociales dans une dynamique d'apprentissage. En tenant compte de la dimension culturelle de la citoyenneté, nous décrirons les différences d'interprétation et de représentation des droits fondamentaux et des responsabilités sociales dans la conscience d'« initiés» et de « non initiés» à une activité de socialisation juridique organisée par le Centre de développement pour l'exercice de la citoyenneté (CDEC), Débats de citoyens. Ce n'est qu'une fois cet exercice complété que nous tenterons d'évaluer le bienfondé et la validité d'une telle approche pédagogique. / Citizenship education as a form of legal socialization is a way to conceive a possible overtaking of the « lazy reason » that embodies western political paradigms. The basis of a new moral code proposing an individual and collective identity for each citizen is necessary. Thus, the efforts invested in the best possible development of future actors in the province of Québec, in the sharing of ideas and views in a contemporary perspective, can only benefit the promotion and the upcoming of a society where equity coexists with difference. It is through reflection and while exchanging on the subject with others that we decided to concentrate our research on citizenship education with law as its content. Naturally, a positivistic analysis of the law is absent in such work. As we will see, a study that tackles young individuals' view of the legal universe they live in, rather commands a sociological approach. The conclusions we reached will contribute to the debate on the concepts of citizenship, fundamental rights and social responsibilities in a learning environment. Taking into account the cultural dimension of citizenship, we describe the differences in the interpretation and the representation of fundamental rights and social responsibilities in the conscience of "initiated" and "non-initiated" to a legal socialization activity organized by the Centre de développement pour l'exercice de la citoyenneté (CDEC). This activity is called Débats de citoyens, which translates to Citizens' debate. Only once this work is done will we attempt to evaluate the value and worth of such a pedagogical approach.