The comprehensive evidence presented by a number of researchers established that the nature of the classroom environment has a potent influence on students' academic, social and psychological development. This thesis set out to advance the idea that taxonomy of relevant optimum conditions for identity development can serve to illuminate thinking and research on the impact of the classroom environment on identity development in adolescence. A systems approach was used. The subjects were Grade 11 pupils of a high school in Gauteng. They completed questionnaires in paragraph format, and case studies were conducted with five students. Questions relating to their classroom environments were asked. The unit of study was primarily the classroom, but since the classroom is part of the larger school system, aspects of the school environment were explored as well. Positive and negative elements in the classroom environment, that enhance or hamper identity development, were identified. Recommendations were made to improve the classroom environment in order to create an environment that is conducive to identity development, and ultimately, academic achievement. / Psychology / D.Litt et Phil (Psychology)

Text in English / Exploring the Impact of Emotional Intelligence Training in the Workplace. The complexity of mental development in humans together with human interaction in the social context presents itself to be a continued source of investigation and exploration. Emotional Intelligence (EI) is such a field of study in the discipline of psychology. Researchers emphasized the importance and value of emotional development ("soft-skills") equal to cognitive development (“hard-skills”). EI abilities are associated with key skills and competencies required for operating successfully in today’s organizations. This study focused on this theme specifically and tried to determine how EI training impacted on the success of the individual who fits the modern working profile and how emotionally intelligent employees are beneficial to organisational success overall. An ethnographic qualitative study (including an autoethnography) was performed on individuals of different participant groupings who completed the Neuro-Link EI Program. The aim was to assess if they showed increased growth in areas of EI, specifically addressed in the program namely self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, and social management. Findings indicated that EI training works with positive results. It was of great value to the individual having an immense impact on their personal lives. It further had a major positive impact on the group dynamics of individuals who attended the training. At companies where facilitators presented the program, EI training had a positive impact. A conclusion on the impact that such training had on the two companies whose staff members directly participated in this study, was not yet possible at the time of the study. The development of an awareness model for the promotion of EI training in the workplace is recommended. This may increase available knowledge regarding corporate EI training but also accelerates an emerging, but a too slowly growing movement. / Psychology / M.A. (Psychology)

The comprehensive evidence presented by a number of researchers established that the nature of the classroom environment has a potent influence on students' academic, social and psychological development. This thesis set out to advance the idea that taxonomy of relevant optimum conditions for identity development can serve to illuminate thinking and research on the impact of the classroom environment on identity development in adolescence. A systems approach was used. The subjects were Grade 11 pupils of a high school in Gauteng. They completed questionnaires in paragraph format, and case studies were conducted with five students. Questions relating to their classroom environments were asked. The unit of study was primarily the classroom, but since the classroom is part of the larger school system, aspects of the school environment were explored as well. Positive and negative elements in the classroom environment, that enhance or hamper identity development, were identified. Recommendations were made to improve the classroom environment in order to create an environment that is conducive to identity development, and ultimately, academic achievement. / Psychology / D.Litt et Phil (Psychology)

Includes bibliographical references (leaves 191-202) / This dissertation addresses the problem of toxic leadership, especially in Christian contexts. Toxic leadership behaviors of narcissistic and obsessive-compulsive leaders will be emphasized. To counteract toxic Christian leadership, this dissertation proposes a leadership development model, called formational leadership, which is based on Wesleyan spirituality. Formational leadership emphasizes the spiritual, emotional, and ethical development processes in the leader and includes an analysis of orthokardia, orthodynamis, and orthopraxis. These components have a circular relationship with one another. Orthokardia includes the concepts of spiritual and emotional maturity that a Christian leader needs to develop in order to become an ethical and effective leader. Orthodynamis includes right power and influence motives based on Christian affections that should inform formational leadership. Orthopraxis refers to right and just leadership behaviors informed by Wesley’s social holiness and justice values that need to be adopted as organizational core values. The implications of these components for leadership development are outlined in chapters 4-6 that include practical steps for helping toxic leaders change their dysfunctional and sinful intentions and behaviors. / Christian Spirituality, Church History and Missiology / M. Th. (Theological ethics with specialisation in Christian Leadership in context)

La cognition physique correspond à l’ensemble des connaissances que nous possédons sur les objets inanimés qui nous entourent, et à leurs relations avec l’environnement. Selon l’hypothèse de l’intelligence sociale générale, la cognition physique se serait développée tel un continuum (à l’instar de tous les autres domaines cognitifs), chez les espèces vivant au sein de groupes sociaux complexes. A l’inverse, l’hypothèse de l’intelligence sociale adaptée suppose que le fait d’interagir avec des congénères a permis de développer des capacités cognitives supérieures, mais spécifiques, du domaine social. Bien que les recherches relatives à l’évolution de la cognition physique se soient d’abord focalisées sur les primates, nous savons aujourd’hui que certains oiseaux sont capables d’interagir de manière complexe avec leur monde physique, en utilisant et en fabriquant des outils (p. ex., voir Article 1). Néanmoins, de nombreuses familles aviaires restent à ce jour non étudiées, laissant ce débat en suspens. L’objectif général de ce travail de recherche est de contribuer à une meilleure compréhension des facteurs responsables de l’évolution de la cognition, grâce à l’apport théorique de l’hypothèse de l’intelligence sociale suivant son aspect général et adapté. Quatre espèces, jusqu’alors inconnues sur le plan cognitif, ont été sélectionnées suivant leur degré de socialité mais également la spécificité de leur écologie. Ce dernier facteur, trop souvent ignoré en biologie du comportement, est crucial pour apprécier le comportement dans son ensemble. Nous avons ainsi estimé la faculté des sujets, à savoir des pélicans blancs Pelecanus onocrotalus (sociaux) et des euplectes vorabés Euplectes afer afer (grégaires), à reproduire le comportement d’un congénère (domaine social) grâce à un test d’apprentissage social (Articles 2 part I & 3). Nous avons ensuite évalué leur capacité à se servir d’un objet pour obtenir une récompense alimentaire hors de portée (domaine physique), grâce à un test d’utilisation d’outils (Articles 2 part II & 4). Bien que les pélicans fussent capables de résoudre rapidement la tâche d’apprentissage social, ils ne réussirent pas à utiliser spontanément des outils (cf. discussion Article 2 part II). A l’instar du pélican, l’euplecte imita le comportement d’un congénère. Néanmoins, il échoua à utiliser des outils dans le contexte du fourragement, malgré le fait que cet oiseau utilise et fabrique des outils de manière complexe pour construire son nid.A défaut d’avoir pu étudier l’apprentissage social et l’utilisation d’outils chez deux autres espèces sociales, les calaos terrestres Bucorvus et les toucans Ramphastidae, cette recherche consistait également à administrer un paradigme permettant d’apprécier le domaine physique : le test de la ficelle (Articles 5 & 6, respectivement). La tâche impliquait de tirer sur une ficelle afin d’obtenir une récompense alimentaire accrochée à son extrémité. Les calaos terrestres échouèrent à tirer sur la ficelle dans la configuration verticale, mais réussirent rapidement la tâche dans diverses conditions de la configuration horizontale. Chez les toucans, cependant, un seul sujet réussit le test dans sa configuration verticale. Les résultats obtenus nous permettent de réfuter l’hypothèse de l’intelligence sociale dans son aspect général. En effet, aucun lien ne semble se dessiner entre le domaine social et physique chez les quatre espèces aviaires étudiées. Bien que l’hypothèse de l’intelligence sociale soit soutenue depuis plus de quatre décennies, une théorie unitaire est requise. Dans ce cadre, un nouveau modèle d’évolution cognitive, permettant d’évaluer l’importance de l’intelligence générale chez une espèce donnée, pourrait s’avérer particulièrement prometteur. / Physical cognition is defined as the knowledge that we possess about the inanimate objects surrounding us, and their relation with the environment. According to the general social intelligence hypothesis, physical cognition would have developed as a continuum (like all the other cognitive domains), in species living in complex social groups. By contrast, the adapted social intelligence hypothesis assumes that interacting with conspecifics has allowed development of superior, but specific, cognitive capacities related to the social realm. Although research on the evolution of cognition first focused on primates, we now know that some avian species are capable of interacting with their physical world in a complex way by using and manufacturing tools (e.g., Article 1). However, to date, various bird families are still unstudied, leaving open this debate. The general goal of this work is to contribute to a better understanding of the factors acting on the evolution of cognition, thanks to the theoretical input of the social intelligence hypothesis according to its general and adapted aspect. Four species that had never been studied in cognitive studies before were selected according to their degree of sociality but also according to the specificity of their ecology. This latter factor has been largely ignored in behavioural biology, although it is crucial for a more holistic comprehension of the behaviour. This work aimed to assess the ability of two avian species, great white pelicans Pelecanus onocrotalus (social birds) and yellow-crowned bishops Euplectes afer afer (gregarious birds), to imitate the behaviour of a trained conspecific (social domain) with a social learning task (Articles 2 part I & 3, respectively). Subsequently, we have studied heir ability to use an object in order to get an out-of-reach food reward (physical domain) with a tool use task (Articles 2 part II & 4). Although pelicans were capable of rapidly solving the social learning task, they did not succeed in using tools spontaneously (cf. discussion Article 2 part II). The bishops were able to imitate the behaviour of a conspecific, however they were not capable of using tools in the foraging context, although these birds are well known to use and manufacture tools in quite a complex way in order to build their nests. We have also administrated to two other avian social species, ground-hornbills Bucorvus and toucans Ramphastidae, an experimental paradigm to assess cognition in the physical domain: the string-pulling test (Articles 5 & 6, respectively). The task involved pulling on a string in order to obtain a food reward attached to its extremity. Ground-hornbills failed to pull on the string in the vertical configuration, but rapidly solved the task in various conditions within the horizontal configuration. In toucans, however, only one subject succeeded in the vertical configuration. These results allow us to refute the social intelligence hypothesis in its general aspect. Indeed, no link seems to be drawn between the social and the physical domains in the four species studied. Although the social intelligence hypothesis is supported since decades, a unitary theory is required. A new model of cognitive evolution, that allows assessing the importance of general intelligence in species, may be particularly promising.

Improvisation is a construct that uses a set of minimal heuristic guidelines to create a highly flexible scaffold that fosters extemporaneous communication. Scholars from diverse domains: such as psychology, business, negotiation, and education have suggested its use as a method for preparing professionals to manage complexity and think on their feet. A review of the literature revealed that while there is substantial theoretical scholarship on using improvisation in diverse domains, little research has verified these assertions. This dissertation evaluated whether improvisation, a specific type of dramatic technique, was effective for training pre-service teachers in specific characteristics of teacher-child classroom interaction, communication and affective skills development. It measured the strength and direction of any potential changes such training might effect on pre-service teacher’s self-efficacy for teaching and for implementing the communication skills common to improvisation and teaching while interacting with student in an inclusive classroom setting. A review of the literature on teacher self-efficacy and improvisation clarified and defined key terms, and illustrated relevant studies. This study utilized a mixed-method research design based on instructional design and development research. Matched pairs ttests were used to analyze the self-efficacy and training skills survey data and pre-service teacher reflections and interview transcripts were used to triangulate the qualitative data. Results of the t-tests showed a significant difference in participants’ self-efficacy for teaching measured before and after the improvisation training. A significant difference in means was also measured in participants’ aptitude for improvisation strategies and for self-efficacy for their implementation pre-/post- training. Qualitative results from pre-service teacher class iv artifacts and interviews showed participants reported beneficial personal outcomes as well as confirmed using skills from the training while interacting with students. Many of the qualitative themes parallel individual question items on the teacher self-efficacy TSES scale as well as the improvisation self-efficacy scale CSAI. The self-reported changes in affective behavior such as increased self-confidence and ability to foster positive interaction with students are illustrative of changes in teacher agency. Self-reports of being able to better understand student perspectives demonstrate a change in participant ability to empathize with students. Participants who worked with both typically developing students as well as with students with disabilities reported utilizing improvisation strategies such as Yes, and…, mirroring emotions and body language, vocal prosody and establishing a narrative relationship to put the students at ease, establish a positive learning environment, encourage student contributions and foster teachable moments. The improvisation strategies showed specific benefit for participants working with nonverbal students or who had commutation difficulties, by providing the pre-service teachers with strategies for using body language, emotional mirroring, vocal prosody and acceptance to foster interaction and communication with the student. Results from this investigation appear to substantiate the benefit of using improvisation training as part of a pre-service teacher methods course for preparing teachers for inclusive elementary classrooms. Replication of the study is encouraged with teachers of differing populations to confirm and extend results.