Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of North Texas, Dec., 2008. / Title from title page display. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Wyoming, 2009. / Title from PDF title page (viewed on May 18, 2010). Includes bibliographical references (p. 213-226).

Dissertation (Ph.D.)--The University of North Carolina at Greensboro, 2010. / Directed by Glenn Hudak; submitted to the Dept. of Educational Leadership and Cultural Foundations. Title from PDF t.p. (viewed Jul. 7, 2010). Includes bibliographical references (p. 167-173).

This interpretivist research aims to add to the body of knowledge in relation to the impact of managerialism in the youth work sector by investigating the ways in which youth workers and their practices are influenced by systems of accountability, externally imposed targets and measurement. Evaluation in this context is reduced to upward compliance; the professional no longer responsible for defining good practice or determining the outcomes of their work. The concern that the learning and development functions of evaluation are lost warranted the research. Participatory evaluation can offer resistance to evaluation as ‘technology of power’ because of its ongoing process of collective action, reflection and knowledge creation. Using an ‘insider’ methodology, a new participatory evaluation methodology was developed and implemented to explore how this different approach influenced the youth workers’ sense of self and practice. Data were gathered via individual semi-structured interviews before and after the implementation of the participatory evaluation and an inductive thematic analysis was used to identify emergent themes. This research contributes to knowledge by showing that youth workers have been serious challenged by managerialism, and performativity particularly in relation to maintaining their personal and professional values. It confirms that they view accountability metrics as inadequate for capturing the complexity and demonstrating the value of their work. Of particular significance is the knowledge that this study adds in regard to the design and use of participatory evaluation. A new way of thinking about evaluation is proposed. Transformative Evaluation (TE) offers a methodology that supports the learning and development functions of evaluation. In addition, TE was seen to enhance practice outcomes, raise worker confidence and well-being potentially supporting a more agentic response to change.

This research investigates the influence of introduced forest management approaches on transformative social learning in the community surrounding the Pugu and Kazimzumbwi forest reserves in Tanzania from 2000 to 2015. The term transformative social learning reflects an understanding of learning processes that emerge through conscious changes in the perspectives of individuals or communities while interacting with forest management practices. The investigation explores the learning (if any) that occurred in the community and how and why the learning occurred. It also explores whether the learning was social and transformative and examines the conditions that enable or constrain transformative social learning at the Pugu and Kazimzumbwi community. Thus, the three concepts of social learning, transformative learning, and social practices are central to the research. Participatory Forest Management (PFM) emerged globally in the early 1980s to mobilise rural capabilities and resources in development and environmental stewardship. The Pugu and Kazimzumbwi community was introduced to Participatory Forest Management (PFM) projects by the late 1990s. The recent global focus on empowering communities around forests has drawn attention towards transformational adaptation to climate change impacts and building resilience capacities. As a result, in 2011 the Pugu and Kazimzumbwi community started working with a project for Reduction of Emissions through Deforestation and forest Degradation (REDD), which forms a key focus in this study as the most recently introduced PFM with embedded social learning assumptions. This research is designed and conducted as a qualitative case study. The research seeks to study the complex object of socially and contextually constructed learning through a systemic exploration of learning,using semi-structured interviews, focus group discussions, analysis of documents and archival records as well as observations and a reflexive workshop. Supportive information throughfield notes and audio voice and video recording was also generated. A contextual profile of the research site was conducted in March 2012, prior to the actual data collection in 2013 and 2014. Field explorations during the contextual profile helped to describe the research site and promote initial understanding of the context. During data collection, field inquiries based on interactive relationships between a researcher and participants stimulated practice memories and people’s living experiences with forestry and the introduced PFM projects under examination. Analysis of data employed analytical modes of induction, abduction and retroduction. Thick descriptions of learning obtained from fieldi based interactionswere produced before re-contextualising data through theoretical lenses. The research employed realist social theory by Archer (1995), under-laboured by critical realism, and practice theory advanced by Schatzki (2012) and Kemmis et al. (2014). The research process as a whole was underlaboured by the layered ontology of critical realism which proposes emergence of phenomena in open systems as shaped by interacting mechanisms which in this study were both material / ecological and social /political /economic /cultural. And more...

Bakgrund: Under de senaste åren har samarbetssamtalen ökat inom Sverige. Dagligen arbetar familjerättssekreterare med samarbetssamtal för att försöka föra tvistande och oeniga föräldrar mot ett samarbete i frågor gällande deras barn. Samarbetssamtalen ska ges under professionell och kompetent ledning av samtalsledare med relevant utbildning. Som samtalsledare är det därför viktigt att inneha kunskaper om konflikthantering, konfliktlösningsmodeller och medlingsteori. Detta för att på bästa sätt kunna leda ett samarbetssamtal. Syfte: Syftet med denna studie är att, utifrån transformativ teori, förstå hur familjerättssekreterare arbetar med medling i sitt arbete med samarbetssamtal. Metod: En kvalitativ intervjustudie genomfördes, vilket innebär att fem familjerättssekreterare har intervjuats för detta arbete. Resultat: Resultatet redovisas med hjälp av två grundteman som kunde urskiljas ur intervjuerna. Inom det första temat, Rollen som samtalsledare, berörs olika faktorer som familjerättssekreterarna ansett vara betydelsefulla i sin roll som samtalsledare. Inom det andra temat, Användning av medlingsmetoder inom samarbetssamtal, behandlas familjerättssekreterarnas tankar kring användandet av medlingsmetoder i sina samarbetssamtal. Slutsats: I slutsatsen framkommer det att familjerättssekreterarna arbetar olika gällande användandet av medlingsmetoder inom samarbetssamtal. De flesta säger sig arbeta utifrån en blandning av olika medlingsmetoder, dock nämns inga specifika metoder. Utifrån familjerättssekreterarnas beskrivningar av sitt arbete inom samarbetssamtal visade det sig däremot att samtliga familjerättssekreterare ändå arbetar utifrån den transformativa medlingsmodellen. Diskussion: Även om familjerättssekreterarna inte säger sig arbeta utifrån någon specifik medlingsmetod, så kunde den transformativa medlingen urskiljas när de beskrev sitt arbetssätt. Kanske arbetar de omedvetet utifrån olika medlingsmetoder? Även andra perspektiv, som den lösningsfokuserade korttidsterapin, kan relateras till deras sätt att arbeta inom samarbetssamtal. / Background: In recent years cooperation discussions between parents has increased in Sweden. The family law secretaries work daily with cooperation discussions in order to bring disagreeing and disputant parents towards working together regarding issues concerning their children. Cooperation discussions should be given under both professional and competent guidance by mediators with adequate education. That is why it is important, as a mediator, to possess knowledge about models of conflict resolution, mediation theory and about how to manage conflicts. And to, in the best way possible, lead a cooperation discussion as a mediator. Aim: The aim of this study is to understand how family law secretaries work with mediation within cooperation discussion, based on transformative theory. Method: A qualitative interview study was made in which five family law secretaries were interviewed. Results: The results are based and presented on two themes that could be distinguished out of the interviews. Within the theme The role of the mediator, different factors that the family law secretaries found important in the role of being a mediator within cooperation discussions are presented. Within the theme The use of mediation methods within cooperation discussions, the family law secretaries own thoughts of how they use mediation methods within cooperation discussions are presented. Conclusion: The family law secretaries work differently when it comes to using mediation methods within cooperation discussions. They describe that their work is based on a mixture of multiple mediation methods. Through the way that the family law secretaries describe how they work within cooperation discussion, it is made clear that they all work with transformative mediation. Discussion: Even if the family law secretaries explain that they do not use any given mediation method, the transformative method was recognized in the way they describe their work. Might they be unaware of that they may be working with different mediation methods? Approaches like the solution-focused brief therapy can also be tied to the family law secretaries work with cooperation discussions.

abstract: The pace of segregation of races continues to increase as the gap between wealthy people, and the rest of the human race, increases. Technological advances in human communication ironically decrease human communication as people choose news and social media sites that feed their ideological frames. Bridging the sociopolitical gap is increasingly difficult. Further, privileged hegemonic forces exert pressure to maintain the status quo at the expense of greater humanity. Despite this grave account, some members of the privileged hegemony have moved away from their previous adherence to it and emerged as activists for marginalized populations. Drawing on the theoretical frameworks of Pedagogy for the Privileged, Pedagogy of the Oppressed, Transformative Learning Theory and Critical White Studies, this study asks the question: what factors lead to an ideological shift? Fifteen participants agreed to an in-depth, semi-structured qualitative interview. There were four main themes that emerged. Most participants experienced significant childhood challenges as well as segregated environments. Additionally, they possessed personality traits of curiosity and critical thinking which left them at odds with their family members; and finally, each experienced exposure to new environments and new people. Most notably, in an attempt to satisfy their curiosity and to remedy the disconnect between the imposed family values and their own internal inclinations, most actively sought out disorienting dilemmas that would facilitate an ideological shift. This journey typically included copious reading, critically analyzing information and, mostly importantly, immersion in new environments. The goal of this study was to understand which factors precipitate an ideological shift in the hope of using the data to create effective interventions that bridge ideological gaps. It was revealed that some of the initiative for this shift is innate, and therefore unreachable. However, exposure to disorienting dilemmas successfully caused an ideological shift. Critically, this research revealed that it is important to identify those individuals who possess this innate characteristic of curiosity and dissatisfaction with the status quo and create opportunities for them to be exposed to new people, information and environments. This will likely lead to a shift from White hegemonic adherent to an emerging advocate for social justice. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Justice Studies 2020

The purpose of this case study was to explore and describe educational psychology students' experiences of academic service learning (ASL) as part of a higher education- rural school partnership in order to inform knowledge on higher education community engagement. The Transformative Learning Theory framed the study by engaging students in an active meaningmaking process of critical self-reflection and integration of experiences. Qualitative methodology was chosen as the preferred mode of inquiry which contributed to my insight and understanding of participants' subjective experiences of ASL. A constructivist epistemology guided dynamic interaction with participants, providing a platform for co-constructing knowledge generated based on participants' retrospective experiences. Seven cohorts of Master's students in Educational Psychology (2007 to 2013; n=22), who were involved in assessments and interventions at a rural school as part of their training at the University of Pretoria, were purposefully selected. Participants were, as far as possible, representative in terms of gender, age and cultural background. Qualitative data generation techniques (i.e. questionnaires and semi-structured interviews) were used to collect data, which were then thematically analysed by reporting on patterns across cohorts. The findings suggested that participants experienced the ASL practicum as an engaged scholarship that is socially transformative. The findings furthermore revealed that participants experienced ASL as an integral part of the educational psychology curriculum and a platform for initiating and developing professional identity. The ASL practicum experiences of participants are consistent across cohorts and similar to that experienced by other students in ASL programmes. / Dissertation (MEd)--University of Pretoria, 2016. / Educational Psychology / MEd / Unrestricted

À la suite des conflits violents qui ont eu lieu au Soudan du Sud à partir du 15 décembre 2013, il se pose la question de savoir comment construire dans le pays une paix durable tout en rendant justice aux milliers de victimes des conflits? Pour répondre à cette interrogation, cette thèse doctorale fait recours à la discipline de la justice transitionnelle. Toutefois, en raison des limites constatées dans la mise en œuvre de ce processus dans de nombreux pays ces dernières années, la thèse adopte la théorie d’une “approche transformative de la justice transitionnelle” pour examiner dans quelle mesure le pays pourrait faire une transition réussie vers la paix durable. Ainsi, l’étude soutient que pour mieux appréhender les causes des conflits post-décembre 2013, il faut d’abord comprendre le contexte historique et socio-politique des conflits Nord-Sud au Soudan. Elle souligne que depuis la période coloniale, la région du Sud a été l’objet violences structurelles continues se manifestant par l’exploitation économique et politique, le sous-développement, l’extrême centralisation du pouvoir entre les mains d’une minorité, la marginalisation et l’exclusion du Sud de la gouvernance du Soudan, le non-respect des accords de paix, l’instrumentalisation de la religion et de l’ethnicité à ses fins politiques, etc. L’étude révèle que toutes ces violences ont façonné le Soudan du Sud pour donner lieu – en raison des compétitions pour le contrôle du pouvoir politique et économique dans le nouvel État – aux violences graves que le pays a connu à partir de décembre 2013. Ensuite, pour la mise en œuvre de l’“approche transformative de la justice transitionnelle” dans le pays, l’étude soutient qu’en reconceptualisant les mécanismes ordinaires de la justice transitionnelle, ceux-ci peuvent jouer un rôle important dans la transformation du contexte conflictuel pour y édifier une paix durable.

The purpose, of this mini dissertation is to understand South Africa as a country in a spatial crisis that leads to the entrapment of the black body in a social, political, economic and legally depressed state. The crisis describes and is as a result of the multiple upheavals and ruptures that have shaped the post-colonial, particularly African, landscape, and experiences of its people. Particular to the post-colonial landscape is that these ruptures are largely defined by the history of extraction, exclusion and violence by the white elite against the black poor. The nature of the crisis is that it continues to support and re-enact the same colonial oppressive outcomes, ensuring the black poor continue to exist in a state of marginalisation. The spaces in the crisis also work to physically push out and keep marginalised black people in informal spaces away from economic activity. But additionally, the intangible elements of space mean that black people carry the consequences and definitions of these spaces with them which define how they are interpellated, ensuring that in and out of the physical space they are viewed as sub-human. In this dissertation I am particularly interested in how transformative constitutionalism can proactively facilitate spatial justice for the historically and presently marginalised in ameliorating the effects of the crisis. Spatial justice, in my understanding would mean the removal of the abyssal line and simultaneity between those interpellated as human and sub-human. / Mini Dissertation (LLM)--University of Pretoria, 2019. / Jurisprudence / LLM / Unrestricted