This diploma work is primarily oriented at application of the authentic materials when using the LT strategy of authentic learning in teaching English to the pupils at Czech primary schools. In the theoretical part of this work there were at first analyzed curricular documents of the Czech Ministry of Education concerning the changes in the sphere of educational policy regarding Language and Language Communication. After that, there were described various ways of application of didactic principles of adequity, systematic approach, illustrativeness, willful learning, activity, individual approach, compactness of learning process and cyclical arrangement of the newly learned information. Next, there were defined the term of authentic learning and the difference between the didactic and authentic materials. There were also compared various views on the use of innovative authentic learning strategy in ELT and mentioned various possibilities of presenting sociocultural context of English speaking countries in language teaching. In the research part of these theses there was conducted research whether the authentic learning had really happened when the authentic materials were used in teaching English and if yes, to what extent exactly the authentic learning happened. For this reason there was done research at...

The English language is widely used throughout the world and has become a core subject in many countries, especially for students in the upper elementary classroom. While textbooks have been the preferred EFL teaching method for a long time, this belief has seemingly changed within the last few years. Therefore, this study looks at what prior research says about the use of authentic texts in the EFL upper elementary classroom with an aim to answer research questions on how teachers can work with authentic texts, what the potential benefits of using authentic texts are and what teachers and students say about the use of authentic texts in the EFL classroom. While this thesis is written from a Swedish perspective, it is recognized that many countries teach EFL. Therefore, international results have also been taken into consideration and seven previous research studies have been analyzed in order to gain a better understanding of the use of authentic texts in the EFL classroom. Results indicate that the use of authentic texts is beneficial in teaching EFL. However, many teachers are still reluctant to use these, mainly because of time constraints and the belief that such texts are too difficult for their students. Since these findings are mainly focused on areas outside of Sweden, additional research is needed before conclusions can be drawn on the use of authentic texts in the Swedish upper elementary EFL classroom. / <p>Engelska</p>

Master of Architecture / Department of Architecture / David R. Seamon / This thesis examines the notion of regional identity and connection to place as a means for developing countries to use their cultural heritage, traditional construction methods, and everyday life patterns to create a built environment appropriate for contemporary needs. Regional identity expressed through architectural form not only establishes a connection between people and the space they inhabit but also contributes to conserving the natural environment and strengthening people’s attachment to place. To support this claim, the thesis focuses on two design thinkers who have examined placemaking from a regional perspective: Architectural theorist Kenneth Frampton and his theory of critical regionalism (Frampton 1983, 1987); and architectural theorist William J.R. Curtis and his theory of authentic regionalism (1986). Using criteria derived from Frampton’s and Curtis’s theories, this thesis analyses two Mexico City houses designed by Mexican architect Luis Barragan: his home and studio, built in 1947; and the Eduardo Prieto Lopez house, built in 1950. Using contrasting criteria from Frampton and Curtis, I examine these two houses' relative success in evoking a sense of regional identity. I argue that my analysis of the two houses, first, offers possibilities for clarifying Curtis´s and Frampton’s understandings of good regional architecture; and second, indicates how local tradition might be adequately integrated with global modernity, while at the same time providing a unique sense of place.

Authenticity is a positive psychological construct often described as being true to oneself, and being authentic means displaying behaviour and expressing oneself in a manner that is consistent with the true self. The aim of this research was to explore managerial experiences of authenticity in the workplace. Purposive sampling was used to select five managers to participate in the study. Data was gathered using semi-structured interviews and data analysis revealed four main themes and related sub-themes. Key findings include that managers construct authenticity as being true to oneself, and that their authenticity is facilitated by contextually appropriate behaviour, the manifestation of multiple selves and open, structured work environments. Barriers to authenticity include interpersonal judgement, limitations on self-expression, leader power and authority, organisational culture and irregular work practices. Being authentic was found to have a positive impact on intrapersonal and interpersonal relations, whilst inauthentic behaviour had negative consequences at both levels. / Industrial and Organisational Psychology / M. A. (Industrial and Organisational Psychology)

Tidigare forskning av Cheng, Tracy och Henrich (2010) har identifierat samband mellan tvåfacetter av stolthet och två olika strategier för att nå social status. Dessa samband harkonceptualiserats till stolthet-statusmodellen. Den har tidigare undersökts i en amerikanskpopulation och det finns enbart en studie på en liten avgränsad svensk population. Vidarefinns det inga tidigare studier som har undersökt om stolthet-statusmodellen samvarierar medpositiva attityder till utbildning. Denna studies syften var därför att undersöka stolthet-statusmodellen på en svensk population samt undersöka hur de olika statusstrategierna ochstolthetsfacetterna samvarierar med positiva attityder kring utbildning. För att undersöka dettagjordes ett bekvämlighetsurval av 609 stycken elever på teoretiska gymnasieprogram som fickskatta sin subjektiva upplevelse av stolthetsfacetterna, statusstrategierna samt sina positivaattityder till utbildning. Gymnasieelevernas skattningar korrelerades och skillnaden mellankorrelationerna undersöktes. Resultaten visar att stolthet-statusmodellen delvis är valid på ensvensk population, att statusstrategier samvarierar signifikant med positiva attityder tillutbildning och att stolthetsfacetterna till viss del samvarierar signifikant med positiva attitydertill utbildning. Möjliga förklaringar till resultaten diskuteras tillsammans med enmetoddiskussion samt praktiska implikationer och förslag på framtida forskning om stolthet-statusmodellen och positiva attityder till utbildning. / Previous research by Cheng, Tracy and Henrich (2010) has identified relationships betweentwo facets of pride and two different strategies to attain social status. These relationships havebeen conceptualized to a pride-status model. The model has been tested on an Americanpopulation and only in one study has it been tested in a Swedish context. Moreover, there areno previous studies on the possible relationship between the pride-status model and positiveattitudes towards post-secondary education. Therefore, the purposes of this study were toinvestigate if the pride-status model is valid on a Swedish population and investigate how thedifferent status strategies and facets of pride relate to positive attitudes towards post-secondary education. In order to examine this, a convenience sample consisting of 609students in high school preparing for post-secondary education rated subjective experiences offacets of pride, social status strategies and attitudes towards post-secondary education. Thestudents’ ratings were correlated with each other and the difference between the correlationswas examined. The findings show that the pride-status model is partly valid on a Swedishpopulation and that the status strategies correlated significantly with positive attitudes towardspost-secondary education. The facets of pride were significantly correlated with positiveattitudes towards post-secondary education to some extent. Possible explanations of thefindings are discussed together with a methodology discussion and proposals for futureresearch within the area of the pride-status model and attitudes towards education.

Thesis (MBA)--Stellenbosch University, 2014. / This discourse was sanctioned by the University of Stellenbosch Business School (USB) in pursuit of the MBA and is a theoretical exploration of personal authentic leadership, its development and associated constructs. The author endeavoured to describe current thinking on the emerging field of research as well as to raise pressing questions and concerns with respect to the measurement of authentic leadership as a finite quantifiable construct. This was done within the context of a theme, which is inherently subjective and dynamic in nature. The author began by examining some of the organisational and environmental considerations that may have triggered an interest in studying and defining the construct and its associated concepts. An overview was then provided of its content, including the diverse theoretical and methodical perspectives presented, followed by a discourse on the alternate conceptual foundations and definitions that constitute authenticity, authentic leadership, authentic leaders and authentic leadership development. A detailed account of the various components of authentic leadership follows. The similarities and defining features of authentic leadership theory in comparison with transformational, charismatic, servant and spiritual leadership perspectives were subsequently examined. The writer then developed the theme of adult learning and its pertinence within the context of authentic leadership development and this literature was also developed as a philosophical construct. In closing, he discussed the status of authentic leadership theory with respect to its purpose; construct definitions, consideration of context, relational/procedural focus, along with promising directions for possible future research to augment the current body of knowledge on authenticity within the context of leadership and its development.

This study investigated whether participation in the Partnership for Research and Education in Plants (PREP), a long-term authentic plant research project, in conjunction with explicit verses implicit instruction can change high school students' conceptions of the nature of science (NOS). The participants included a total of 134 students comprised of three groups from 10 total classes over the course of two academic years. Participants in four classes (two each year) participated in PREP and received explicit instruction on NOS. Participants in four other classes (two each year) participated in PREP and received implicit only instruction on NOS. Additionally, two classes (one each year) of high-achieving freshmen participated in PREP and received explicit instruction on NOS. This third group was used as a comparative group to the other two groups, due to their high achievement in middle school math and science. The treatment for all three groups spanned 8 weeks and included participation in an authentic plant research project. An open-ended questionnaire (modified Views of Nature of Science - VNOS), in conjunction with semi-structured interviews, was used to assess students' conceptions before and after the intervention. Results showed that all three groups improved their conceptions of NOS equally. The high-achieving group began with significantly higher-scoring views prior to the completion of the intervention, and improved to the same degree as the other two groups. A comparison of the explicit group to the implicit only group showed that there was no significant difference in their improvement, as both groups improved equally. Implications for the teaching and learning of NOS are discussed.

In leadership development, an established literature and a fertile praxis fall short of clarifying how individuals may develop the many and varied capabilities that contribute to leadership processes. Literature promoting personal growth tends to reduce personal development to cognitive development or rely on broadly defined and under-evidenced notions. The adult development literature offers to this research a conceptualization of personal development as systemic qualitative change in individual sensemaking. As sensemaking develops, it progresses toward greater integration (of interdependent cognitive, emotive, purposive, and conative dimensions), sophistication, and self-determination. The research aimed to examine how changes in the sensemaking of individuals may result in developmental outcomes relevant for personal and leadership development. This inquiry moves from a perspective idealist ontology and a social constructivist epistemology, selects philosophical hermeneutics as a research paradigm, and embraces exploratory qualitative longitudinal research. Purposive sampling guided the selection of research context, a leadership program focused on personal growth. Transcripts from 32 semi-structured constructivist-phenomenological interviews, collected from nine participants across fourteen months, were analyzed through constructivist grounded theory. Development was assessed ipsatively according to a literature-based framework. Contributions, in terms of substantive theory, are not generalizable beyond research context and sample. This research advances the differentiation of developmental context, process and outcomes. Context is found to transcend holding environment—to be ideally conducive to a specific type of change in virtue of a distinctive emerging quality. While vector processes facilitate development, core processes (individual sensemaking) are development. In terms of outcomes, the research supports an association between personal development and development of leadership capabilities, but questions whether self-awareness or personality adjustments per se constitute authentic personal or leadership development. This research exposes a pattern of seeking affirmation, associated with disproportionate identity salience of external image, which is potentially capable of hindering personal development by triggering maladaptive rather than adaptive self-reflection.

This thesis aims to discuss three main categories such as: leadership, working environment and followers’ creativity. Particularly, the general principle of the work is to define how those notions are intertwined. Having used the principles of the Grounded theory (Corbin &amp; Strauss, 2008), we conducted our research with the main emphasis of originating theory from the data that was collected from empirical and theoretical materials. In particular, we found out that leadership factors classified as “work-related” influence the “organizational culture”. Similarly, “management skills” of the leader are closely interrelated with “organizational structure”. Finally, “team-related” leadership traits have their immediate effect on “organizational climate”. Consequently, we can state leadership is able to set up a creative working environment that fosters individual’s creativity. Later forward, the creative working environment is believed to be an ultimate prerequisite that fosters individuals’ creativity. However, it is pertinent to note that leadership as such, can directly influence employees’ creativity as well. As a final analysis, we claim that authentic leadership due to its indispensable attributes is an ultimate prerequisite that enhances individual’s creativity based on the findings of our research.

In our research, we have investigated the influence of tall- and flat organizational structures on authentic leadership in the Swedish- and German context. The research was approached by the systems view and the data were analysed through Grounded Theory. Our aim was to research in which dimension authentic leadership is enabled or restricted to a larger extent – tall- or flat organizations. We discovered that authentic leadership can be performed in both, however it might be more or less encouraged. Hierarchical structures could be seen as a tool for performing authentic leadership – which we were able to confirm in the German context. While flat organizational structures could enable leaders and followers to act according to their true inner selves as well – which we were able to observe in the Swedish context. Interesting differences between tall- and flat organizational structures in Sweden and Germany were observed in terms of authentic leadership performance.