published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Education

Alkohol används ofta av ungdomar och kopplas med skadliga hälsorelaterade utfall (t ex skada, beroende). Denna uppsats undersökt unga kvinnors attityder till alkoholkonsumtion. Valet av unga kvinnor som studiegrupp motiverades av det faktum att unga kvinnor börjar vanligtvis att konsumera alkohol vid en tidigare ålder än unga män i samma åldersgrupp. Studien bestod av två fokusgrupper med totalt nio unga kvinnor i nionde klass från en kommunal skola i en liten stad i södra Sverige. Resultatet visade att de unga kvinnorna ansåg att konsumtionen av alkohol med andra unga kvinnor inträffade på grund av en kombination av grupptryck och effekten av föräldrars påverkan på sina barn. De unga kvinnorna tänkte att om det fanns tydliga regler i hemmet barnen skulle veta vad som förväntades från själva. Resultatet visade också att ett behov av att bli accepterad av andra jämnåriga ansågs utgöra ytterligare en viktig orsak bakom alkoholkonsumtion. Sammanfattning utav denna studie är att både tidigare forskning och denna studies resultat visade att föräldrars påverkan på sina ungdomar och grupptryck har stor påverkan på hur ungdomar väljer att agera kring olika hälsorelaterade val. / Alcohol are commonly used by adolescents and linked with harmful health-related outcomes (e.g. injury, dependence). This study explored young women’s attitudes to alcohol consumption. The choice of young women as a study group was motivated by the fact that young women typically start to consume alcohol at an earlier age than young males in the same age group. The study consisted of two focus groups with a total of nine young women in ninth class from a public school in a small town in the south of Sweden. The result showed that the young women believed that the consumption of alcohol with other young women occurred due to a combination of peer pressure and the effect that parents have on their child. The young women thought that if there were clear rules in the home the children would know what was expected from themselves. The result also showed that a need to be accepted by other peers were believed to constitute an additional important reason behind alcohol consumption. In sum, both previous research and the results of this study converge to indicate that parents' influence on their youth and peer pressure have a major impact on how young people choose to act on various health related life-style choices.

Kreativität – die Generierung und Verwertung von Ideen – und Psychopathologie werden schon seit langem miteinander in Verbindung gebracht. Jedoch wurde der Einfluss interkultureller Faktoren bisher weitgehend in der Fachliteratur ignoriert. Die vorliegende Dissertation zeigt, dass (1) Kreativität und Selbstverwirklichung kaum miteinander assoziiert sind, dass (2) Kreativität allerdings stark mit schizotyper Persönlichkeitsstörung verbunden ist, jedoch zeigen Menschen mit schöpferischen Leistungen verminderte Schizotypie-Symptome und es gibt einen Geschlechterunterschiede. Deshalb zeigt diese Dissertation (3), dass die Assoziation zwischen Kreativität und Schizotypie durch einen kulturellen Faktor (Deutsch, Russisch) moderiert wird. Die Ergebnisse werden diskutiert im Hinblick auf die kultur-unabhängige Validität der Konstrukte Kreativität, Schizotypie und Selbstverwirklichung, hinsichtlich psychometrischer Probleme bei der Erfassung dieser Konstrukte und hinsichtlich der Rolle für die allgemeine und spezifische mentale Gesundheit. Zukünftige Studien sollten eine wie hier vorgeschlagene Unterscheidung zwischen schöpferischen Leistungen und Kreativität als kognitives Konstrukt bzw. als Teil psychopathologischer oder persönlichkeitsrelevanter Aspekte vornehmen. Darüber hinaus sind die Hinzunahme von Aspekten, die Kultur, Geschlecht und Alter unterscheiden, sinnvoll. Unsere Resultate leisten einen Beitrag zur kulturellen Psychologie, indem sie das Wissen erweitern, wie die Kreativität-Schizotypie Assoziation durch kulturelle Faktoren beeinflusst wird und inwieweit schöpferische Leistungen und kognitive kreative Fähigkeiten diesbezüglich divergieren. Dies bedeutet, dass der humanistische Ansatz unterstützt wird, welcher zeigt, dass Selbstverwirklichung und kreative Fähigkeiten nicht unmittelbar auf ähnliche Persönlichkeitseigenschaften zurückzuführen sind. / Creativity – the generation of novel and appropriate ideas – and psychopathology have been associated for a long time. However, the impact of cross-cultural influence has been somewhat neglected in the literature. The present dissertation demonstrates that (1) creativity is barely related with self-actualization and that, nevertheless, (2) creativity has a strong association with schizotypal personality disorder. However, people with real-life creative achievements showed decreased schizotypy and there are gender differences regarding creative capacities. (3) The creativity – schizotypy link is likely to be moderated by cultural differences between Russians and Germans. Results are discussed with regard to culture-independent validity of the constructs creativity, schizotypy, and self-actualization, with regard to the problem of psychometrical assessment of these constructs, and with regard to a role of creativity in good mental health. Future studies might account for how real-life creativity differs from cognitive creative abilities in other psychopathological and personality aspects, how culture influences the creativity – self-actualization association, and whether the association of creativity with schizotypy and self-actualization is consistent in other age groups. Conclusively, these results contribute to cultural psychology of creativity by extending how the creativity – schizotypy association varies between cultures, as well as by pointing out the differences between real-life creative achievements and cognitive creative abilities. Furthermore, the results extend the humanistic approach showing that self-actualization and creative abilities may not rely on similar personality characteristics.

The artist discusses his Master of Fine Arts exhibition, Meta-forms, held at the Tipton Gallery in downtown Johnson City. Exhibition dates are from March 14 through March 25, 2016. The artworks on display are a series of drawings made from carving wood panels and sheet metal and are accompanied with a large scaled site-specific installation. The exhibition culminates from research of historic and contemporary figures for non-objective art. The author gives insight to the artistic process while creating his exhibition, as well as their personal connection with the artwork.

<p>Although there are several achievements made by the Namibian government after independence, there are still many constraints and challenges facing the education system, particularly with regard to novice teachers&rsquo / support and professional development. Most novice teachers are coming into the teaching profession and receive little or no assistance. Nevertheless, novice teachers are expected to perform the full teaching responsibilities despite their inexperience. Novice teachers are expected to formulate their own coping strategies and to grapple with the challenges they encounter during their first year of teaching on their own. This study aims at investigating the coping mechanisms used by novice teachers to achieve their teaching goals during their first year of teaching. The study recommends that the teacher training institutions, the Ministry of Education and schools have an important role to play in facilitating the use of effective coping mechanisms and in assisting novice teachers in alleviating these challenges. Teacher training should ensure that a balance is maintained between theory and practice. In addition the Ministry needs to provide favourable working conditions and put up support systems for novice teachers. Schools should also provide orientation to all novice teachers and most especially render support to all novice teachers until they are fully integrated into the school and teaching culture.</p>

Dissertation (Ph.D.)--The University of North Carolina at Greensboro, 2008. / Directed by Anita Tesh; submitted to the School of Nursing. Title from PDF t.p. (viewed Jan. 28, 2010). Includes bibliographical references (p. 119-130).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 2003. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 294-311).

<p>Although there are several achievements made by the Namibian government after independence, there are still many constraints and challenges facing the education system, particularly with regard to novice teachers&rsquo / support and professional development. Most novice teachers are coming into the teaching profession and receive little or no assistance. Nevertheless, novice teachers are expected to perform the full teaching responsibilities despite their inexperience. Novice teachers are expected to formulate their own coping strategies and to grapple with the challenges they encounter during their first year of teaching on their own. This study aims at investigating the coping mechanisms used by novice teachers to achieve their teaching goals during their first year of teaching. The study recommends that the teacher training institutions, the Ministry of Education and schools have an important role to play in facilitating the use of effective coping mechanisms and in assisting novice teachers in alleviating these challenges. Teacher training should ensure that a balance is maintained between theory and practice. In addition the Ministry needs to provide favourable working conditions and put up support systems for novice teachers. Schools should also provide orientation to all novice teachers and most especially render support to all novice teachers until they are fully integrated into the school and teaching culture.</p>

Doctor of Education / The teaching and learning field has been renowned for being a rapidly changing and multifaceted environment. Moreover, being both intensely personal and public, the process of cultivating, discovering and relaying knowledge has also been influenced from a wide range of participating individuals to the broader groups in society. Such numerous possibilities for interaction have highlighted the difficulty of defining ‘good’ teaching and learning, especially considering the growing objectivism of modern day value systems. An increasing number of educators have thereby responded to this confusion by returning to more fundamental and holistic views of ‘knowing’ the ‘other.’ Such rising concerns for holistic teaching and learning practices represent many exciting possibilities for developments towards authenticity and autonomy, as teachers become responsible explorers of their profession. The current study is an autoethnography of my own teaching experiences at a small Korean Christian University. It captures my desires to develop greater sensitivity and empathy as a critical teacher practitioner, and further documents efforts to acquire aesthetic and creative skills as a writer. Ultimately, through my experiences as a teacher researcher, I have sought to develop a deeper picture of the knowing process as a rich and mutual dialogue between the 'knower' and the 'other.’ To do this, I have constructed eight stories based on my teaching experiences. The first describes the reflections accompanying my experiences of writing, whilst the next three involve narrative portrayals of certain striking colleagues and students. The following two stories convey the ‘faith’ and ‘acceptance’ experienced through the study, and the last two act as a form of reflective closure to the overall teaching and researching experience Since I believed that the symbolic and holistic nature of story writing could convey the depth, complexity and open-endedness of the knowing process, I have chosen narratives and reflective writing to capture and depict my experiences (Van Manen, 1997). Interviews and journals writing of my students and my colleagues have also been included to further explore these ideas. Accordingly, this current study seeks to portray a view of 'knowing' that enables teachers and students to become co-researchers, who can cultivate sensitivity, creativity and empathy towards the 'other.’

Doctor of Education / The teaching and learning field has been renowned for being a rapidly changing and multifaceted environment. Moreover, being both intensely personal and public, the process of cultivating, discovering and relaying knowledge has also been influenced from a wide range of participating individuals to the broader groups in society. Such numerous possibilities for interaction have highlighted the difficulty of defining ‘good’ teaching and learning, especially considering the growing objectivism of modern day value systems. An increasing number of educators have thereby responded to this confusion by returning to more fundamental and holistic views of ‘knowing’ the ‘other.’ Such rising concerns for holistic teaching and learning practices represent many exciting possibilities for developments towards authenticity and autonomy, as teachers become responsible explorers of their profession. The current study is an autoethnography of my own teaching experiences at a small Korean Christian University. It captures my desires to develop greater sensitivity and empathy as a critical teacher practitioner, and further documents efforts to acquire aesthetic and creative skills as a writer. Ultimately, through my experiences as a teacher researcher, I have sought to develop a deeper picture of the knowing process as a rich and mutual dialogue between the 'knower' and the 'other.’ To do this, I have constructed eight stories based on my teaching experiences. The first describes the reflections accompanying my experiences of writing, whilst the next three involve narrative portrayals of certain striking colleagues and students. The following two stories convey the ‘faith’ and ‘acceptance’ experienced through the study, and the last two act as a form of reflective closure to the overall teaching and researching experience Since I believed that the symbolic and holistic nature of story writing could convey the depth, complexity and open-endedness of the knowing process, I have chosen narratives and reflective writing to capture and depict my experiences (Van Manen, 1997). Interviews and journals writing of my students and my colleagues have also been included to further explore these ideas. Accordingly, this current study seeks to portray a view of 'knowing' that enables teachers and students to become co-researchers, who can cultivate sensitivity, creativity and empathy towards the 'other.’