A transformative decision rule alters the representation of a decisionproblem, either by changing the sets of acts and states taken intoconsideration, or by modifying the probability or value assignments.Examples of decision rules belonging to this class are the principleof insufficient reason, Isaac Levi’s condition of E-admissibility, Luceand Raiffa’s merger of states-rule, and the de minimis principle. Inthis doctoral thesis transformative decision rules are analyzed froma foundational point of view, and applied to two decision theoreticalproblems: (i) How should a rational decision maker model a decisionproblem in a formal representation (‘problem specification’, ‘formaldescription’)? (ii) What role can transformative decision rules play inthe justification of the principle of maximizing expected utility?The thesis consists of a summary and seven papers. In Papers Iand II certain foundational issues concerning transformative decisionrules are investigated, and a number of formal properties of this classof rules are proved: convergence, iterativity, and permutability. InPaper III it is argued that there is in general no unique representationof a decision problem that is strictly better than all alternative representations.In Paper IV it is shown that the principle of maximizingexpected utility can be decomposed into a sequence of transformativedecision rules. A set of axioms is proposed that together justify theprinciple of maximizing expected utility. It is shown that the suggestedaxiomatization provides a resolution of Allais’ paradox that cannot beobtained by Savage-style, nor by von Neumann and Morgenstern-styleaxiomatizations. In Paper V the axiomatization from Paper IV is furtherelaborated, and compared to the axiomatizations proposed byvon Neumann and Morgenstern, and Savage. The main results in PaperVI are two impossibility theorems for catastrophe averse decisionrules, demonstrating that given a few reasonable desiderata for suchrules, there is no rule that can fulfill the proposed desiderata. In PaperVII transformative decision rules are applied to extreme risks, i.e.to a potential outcome of an act for which the probability is low, butwhose (negative) value is high. / <p>QC 20100622</p>

Stemming from increased levels of participation and diversity of the student base (Biggs & Tang, 2011) and growing scrutiny on the quality of university degrees (Crowley, 2013; Marr, 2013), governments have begun putting in place mechanisms to monitor and support quality in higher education. Over the last few decades, a notion of quality that has gained traction in the scholarly community is that of quality in terms of enhancement and transformation (Cheng, 2017; Houston, 2008; Williams, 2016). Guided by the discourses of Transformative Learning Theory (Mezirow, 2000) and transformative conceptions of quality in higher education (Harvey & Green, 1993), this study examined graduate student learning experiences and perceptions of quality. Of further interest was the extent to which these learners were living the intended transformation that academic programs are seeking to foster. Using a multiple case-study design, Seidman’s (2013) three-stage interview protocol served as primary source of data from a sample of six PhD candidates across three faculties. Secondary data sources included collected documents, a reflexivity journal and field notes. A within-case analysis was performed for each case and compared via a cross-case analysis. Institutional characterizations of quality were examined across 25 artifacts via a document analysis. The four principal factors that characterized the PhD candidate learning experience emerged as the significance of intentional individualized guidance, becoming an independent scholar, the importance of social interactions and community, and the transformative nature of learning. Gaps were identified between institutional intent and the learner experience. However, complementarity between discourses of transformation appeared to offer bridges between the macro-level institutional orientation toward fostering student transformation and the micro-level transformative learning experiences lived by students. The dissertation makes conceptual, methodological and empirical contributions to the domains of postsecondary quality and transformative learning. Implications for policy related to quality assurance as well as practice in program development and doctoral supervision are equally shared.

Syftet med föreliggande studie har varit att uppnå ökad förståelse för hur det upplevs att få en synskada i en sen ålder i livet, samt hur synskadade äldre hanterat denna livsförändring.  Studien utgick från semistrukturerade intervjuer av sex äldre personer med synskada i Danmark, som alla drabbats av grav synnedsättning efter att de fyllt 60 år.  En kvalitativ innehållsanalys ledde fram till fyra överkategorier som tillsammans summerar de centrala teman i intervjuerna; Lärande, Coping, Självständighet och Acceptans. Den studie som presenteras här grundar sig i Mezirows teori om transformativt lärande kombinerat med ett fenomenologiskt livsvärldsperspektiv. Studien beskriver hur det att drabbas av en synskada innebär en stor livsförändring som tvingar individen genom en lärande process på flera plan: fysiskt, mentalt och inte minst identitetsmässigt. Studiens konklusion pekar därför på betydelsen av att ha ett holistiskt synsätt när man arbetar med människor som genomgår stora livsförändringar samt behovet av mer kunskap om hur professionella och samhället i övrigt bättre kan stödja individen genom den sorge- och bearbetningsprocess det innebär att förlora sin syn, helt eller delvis, i en sen ålder. / The aim of this study was to improve our understanding of how elderly people, affected by visual loss late in life, experience and handle such a life-changing process. The thesis is based on a qualitative scientific method, in which six elderly participated in semi-structured interviews, after which thematic content analysis was conducted. The analysis resulted in four overarching themes: Learning, Coping, Independence, and Acceptance. This thesis presents a phenomenological study of the experiences of visually impaired elderly people. It is grounded in the concept of the “life-world” - the world we perceive in living our daily lives, and the theory of Transformative learning. Our research aims to highlight the perspective of the senior him- or herself. The results show that learning processes are individual and related to the participants' respective life-worlds and lived experiences. The conclusions show the importance of adopting a holistic approach adapted to the needs of the individual and providing integrated mental health support alongside the conventional low vision intervention.

The purpose of this exploratory study of adult learning was to investigate the lived experience of 15 employees who encountered a significant job loss event (an unplanned loss of employment with no immediate replacement of employment—coupled with an unintentional and tangibly significant reduction in income), and how the resultant fear(s) from that event affected their navigation through unemployment in order to become successfully reemployed. This study used two theories in the field of adult learning—Transformative Learning (TL) and Learning From Experience (LFE)—with an aim of uncovering how the principles and methods of TL and LFE were relevant to the participants’ job loss episode and self-assessed, perceived workplace performance. TL offers adults a path for reframing a job loss episode. LFE can help advance an understanding of how the cumulative set of life events develops and shapes coping capacities (ways of learning) and skills relative to job loss episodes. This study was conducted using qualitative research methods, predominately exploratory participant interviews. The participants were 15 U.S.-based employees: five Black males, nine White males, and one White female. The participants were largely but not exclusively middle management staff. Through a series of one-on-one interviews, the research process captured the participants’ perceptions and learnings with respect to how they experienced their job-dismissed event, navigated unemployment, and applied learnings from their job loss episode. In addition, given the availability of five Black participants, discussions related to how race permeated the study were pursued when surfaced. Findings from the study indicated that participants experienced manifestations of fear from losing their job; used their intervening period of unemployment in a constructive, action-based manner; and saw themselves differently as a result of their job loss event. Several conclusions were derived from the study: (a) the job dismissal event is unlike onboarding—employees generally feel kicked out without care or warning; (b) navigation through unemployment requires self-awareness, self-determination, and both social and financial support; and (c) the richness of experience from a job loss episode can offer improvements to perceived workplace performance.

Syftet med studien är att fånga ledarens upplevelser och utmaningar kopplat till deras ledarskap och kommunikationen under pandemin. Studien bidrar med kunskap om hur olika ledares ledarskap och kommunikation har påverkats av pandemin, för att sedan dra lärdomar från det till framtida kriser. Det går tydligt att se utifrån resultatet i studien att ledarna har stött på utmaningar under pandemin i kommunikationen med medarbetarna som har tvingat ledarna att förändra sitt ledarskap och sättet de kommunicerar på med medarbetarna. Studien består av sex semistrukturerade intervjuer med personer med ledande positioner inom offentlig sektor i Sverige. Intervjuerna har sedan transkriberats och analyserats utifrån ledarskaps och kommunikationsteorier. Respondenternas svar visar att de upplever att de i egenskap av ledare har tappat delar av den fysiska och sociala kontakten med medarbetarna men upplever samtidigt att de har blivit mer tillgängliga och att mötena har blivit effektivare. Respondenterna har förändrat sitt ledarskap och kommunikation till följd av pandemin. Det går att utläsa då respondenternas ledarskap och kommunikation har förändrats genom att de har blivit mer tydliga och raka gentemot medarbetarna som en konsekvens av pandemin. / The purpose of the study is to capture the leader's experiences and challenges linked to their leadership and communication during the pandemic. The study will contribute knowledge about how different leaders' leadership and communication have been affected by the pandemic, and then draw lessons from it for future crises. It is clear from the results of the study that the leaders have encountered challenges during the pandemic in communication with the employees which has forced the leaders to change their leadership and the way they communicate with the employees. The study consists of six semi-structured interviews with people with leading positions in the public sector in Sweden. The interviews have since been transcribed and analyzed based on leadership and communication theories. The respondents' answers show that they, as leaders, have lost parts of the physical and social contact with the employees, but at the same time feel that they have become more accessible and that the meetings have become more efficient. The respondents have changed their leadership and communication as a result of the pandemic. This can be read as the respondents' leadership and communication have changed as they have become clearer and more direct towards the employees as a consequence of the pandemic.

The late 20th century attempts at the professionalization of translation as a modern system – with professional associations as its organizing institutions – have been accompanied by the ‘need’ to codify and regulate ethical issues. The purpose of this process of ‘professionalization’ and, by extension, ethics codification as a part of that process, is to reduce doubt and uncertainty between the different agents involved in the translation occupation, on the one hand, and impose the translator’s recognition, on the other hand – as we learn from the sociology of professions. Within this context, a number of translator associations have created codes of ethics , adopting a deontological approach based on a priori principles. Precise solutions have been proposed in these documents to respond to the ethical issues that arise in translation. This thesis argues that these solutions are problematic as they may not only ignore the complex nature of ethical encounters but may also impact on the translator’s empowerment. The study demonstrates how codes of ethics – supposedly one of the traits of professionalism, which is equated with symbolic recognition and self-control of one’s occupation in the sociology of professions – may be internal sites where a low status of the translator is reinforced and an external control is discerned. Also, the thesis shows how in the name of ethics, these documents may be sites where ‘ethics’ function as ideologies of alienation and where the translator’s ethics per se are neutralized. It also examines how codes may impact on those beyond the circle of translation, as a consequence. Drawing on Pierre Bourdieu’s and Zygmunt Bauman’s sociologies, the current project investigates the codes/charter of ethics of a selection of national/provincial and international associations, in addition to the UNESCO Nairobi Recommendation, in order to find out how they impact on the translator's capital and moral self. Drawing on Michel Foucault’s notion of Epimeleia Heautou (self-care) and transformative learning theory, the study proposes alternative ethics to the current codes of ethics.

abstract: Users of psychedelic drugs frequently report various types of healing effects after the experience has completed. How these substances actually do the healing work is still being understood. I argue that the phenomenology of the psychedelic experience is relevant to and doing at least some of the healing work. This occurs in part via the phenomenon of transformative experiences. Psychedelic experiences provide insight into first and second order desires of an individual. They alter an individual’s self-narrative and provide an ideal to aim for in addition to the motivation to achieve that ideal. Additionally, psychedelic experiences foster feelings of connection to other people and nature. This heals through altering an individual’s in-group/out-group perceptions and provide a sense of oneness which increases accurate perspective taking. The experience of ego-dissolution had under psychedelics can be compared to the ultimate transformative experience—death—which facilitates the healing process. These experiences promote social healing and serve as a reopening of previously closed possibilities due to trauma or mental illness. / Dissertation/Thesis / Masters Thesis Philosophy 2020

This thesis is a documentation of an empirical study in which qualitative methods were employed to investigate the current programmes offered to pre-service Creative Arts teachers at selected South African universities. The subject, Creative Arts, is one of the compulsory learning areas for grades R - 9 in all South African public schools as prescribed by the Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement of 2011. In order for learners to gain maximum benefit from the subject Creative Arts, pre-service teachers should be educated to gain an understanding of the interrelatedness of the different art forms. The theoretical framework underpinning this study is Mezirow's theory of transformative learning which is based on critical reflection. Pre-service teachers should therefore be encouraged to critically reflect on the learning process, rethinking their own perspectives and constructing new knowledge in the process of discourse with others. Information on the current programmes offered at five South African universities involved in this collective case study, was extrapolated from interviews with both lecturers of Creative Arts programmes, and pre-service teachers enrolled for courses in Creative Arts. Furthermore, observations were done at various sites to obtain an in-depth perspective of how the arts are presented at these institutions. Findings revealed that most universities offer Creative Arts programmes with an arts specific approach. This corresponds with the demands of artistic disciplines, and especially performance arts, which require the development of practical skills which should be developed over an extended period. Although developing these specialized skills and knowledge in each art form is important, the discrete presentation of these arts may limit opportunities for students to experience integrated arts activities. Moreover, pre-service teachers need practice in school based settings to hone their teaching skills in delivering meaningful arts activities to learners. The recognition of common grounds between the different art disciplines makes the merging of these arts into the broad subject, Creative Arts possible. These commonalities should be further explored, especially in a South African context where African arts are inherently integrated. Benefits of co-operative curriculum planning between the departments of Basic and Higher Education in the provision of competent and skilful teachers for Creative Arts is the key to successful arts education in South African schools. / Thesis (DMus)--University of Pretoria, 2016. / Music / DMus / Unrestricted

This paper is a case-study on a group of American students, who spent a four- month period in Oman on a semester abroad program hosted by Al Amana Cen- tre. This paper examines the changes that have occurred in the students concep- tual thinking, their attitudes towards Muslims, Arabs and Islam and their personal theology, and identifies causes of those changes. In the first section, I will introduce the interfaith work that Al Amana Centre does, and lay a summary of the history and theory of Christian-Muslim dialogue. I will also explain the concept of Theology of Religion, which is central in examining the students’ own theological views. I will also introduce transformative learning theory that I use as a theoretical framework in this study In the last section of this paper, I analyze the research material which includes program curriculum, student interviews, student essays and students’ answers to questionnaires and surveys. From this material, I have identified repeating ideas and patterns and compared them to the framework offered by transformational learning theory. This paper seeks to answer to the question: what kind of effects does the Al Amana semester abroad program, infused with cultural immersion, have on the students in this particular case study. In the conclusion part of this paper, I con- clude that the semester abroad program facilitates opportunities for deep reflec- tion and extrarational experiences that work as a catalyst for transformation. It is hoped that this study can offer guidelines for other programs that aim at transforming attitudes and believes, and that work with cultural immersion and interfaith dialogue. It should be noted though, that the conclusions and outcomes of this study are tied to the specific context and people who attended the semes- ter abroad program, and should not be taken as universal or context-free.

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