Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Bronfenbrenner's ecological model'

Despite decades of research on environmental behavior, it is unknown how various political actors aid in the development of ecological citizenship (EC). The purpose of this correlational study was to determine the relationship between environmental worldview (NEP) and willingness to take action (WTTA) among political actors within 5 states: Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska, South Dakota, and North Dakota. The overarching research question examined how EC can be increased within the 5-state region by identifying the similarities and differences in NEP and WTTA between state legislators, state partners, and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs). Bronfenbrenner's bioecological model provided the theoretical framework for the study. Out of 1,800 invited participants, 117 state legislators, 328 formal partnership directors, and 237 NGO administrators from the 5-state region participated in an online survey that measured their NEP, WTTA, and endorsement of EC principles. Nearly 20% of all respondents endorsed EC indicated by a high NEP and a high WTTA. Results of correlational analyses found a significant positive relationship between NEP and WTTA for each group. Further regression analysis found variation in group WTTA attributable to NEP varied from 32% for partnership directors and 36% for NGO administrators to 61% for state legislators. These findings indicated that EC can be affected by both private and public stakeholders. The implications for positive social change include demonstrating how state governments, in partnership with NGOs and other agencies, can increase EC within their states, and how improved partnerships can increase local opportunities to foster EC.

Magister Artium (Child and Family Studies) - MA(CFS)
Trauma exposure during childhood increases the risk of multitude complex post-trauma symptomology. Extensive research has been conducted on the effects of trauma exposure on adults, and the findings have been thereafter applied to children. This is problematic due to the developmental differences between adults and children. There is thus a need to understand the unique symptomology of children, who have been exposed to trauma, as understanding the effects of childhood trauma will certainly aid in the prevention and treatment of childhood trauma. This study incorporated a systematic review methodology to analyse the effects of exposure to childhood trauma on children’s mental health and wellbeing. Relevant literature from all the methodological paradigms that were published during the specified time period of this study (2000 – 2016) were considered for. Furthermore, the inclusion criteria also specified that only studies of which the participants were children were allowed to be included in the review; studies focusing on adults and their exposure were deliberately excluded. The initial search strategy yielded a total of 316 articles; after all duplicates had been removed and, the titles and abstracts of the remaining articles had been assessed, the number of relevant articles was reduced to 22. These 22 articles were thereafter assessed by means of a critical appraisal tool to evaluate whether they were suitable for inclusion. Several articles were excluded as the focus of the studies were on treatment modalities and the effects of child trauma in adulthood. This signifies a gap in the literature with regard to studies that investigate the effects of child trauma. Ultimately, only 13 of the 22 articles remained. These underwent full-text evaluation and data extraction. Results of this study provide insight into the effects of child trauma on child mental health and well-being. Based on thematic analysis, the results clearly show that children, who are traumatised, have a negative worldview. In addition, the symptoms they manifest are complex, which often lead to misdiagnosis. Moreover, these studies also explain the resilience processes involved when a child is exposed to trauma. In essence, this study provides parents, caregivers, researchers and mental health professionals with an all-inclusive understanding of the effects of childhood trauma based on a scientific body of literature.

Vi har valt att titta på den fysiska aktivitet som räknas till den friskvård som arbetsplatsen erbjuder. Det handlar om att hjälpa sina medarbetare till en god personlig hälsa, samtidigt som arbetsgivaren själv vinner på hälsosamma medarbetare. Studiens hälsopedagogiska idé innebar att belysa vad som möjliggör till fysisk aktivitet och hur arbetsplatsen kan bidra till personlig utveckling gällande den fysiska hälsan. Syftet med studien var att belysa hur medarbetare och arbetsgivare beskriver aspekter som påverkar möjligheten till att utföra fysisk aktivitet i arbetsgivarens regi. För att analysera och tolka studien har vi använt oss av en teori och ett perspektiv, Bronfenbrenners utvecklingsekologiska modell och ett salutogent perspektiv. Studien utgick från en kvalitativ ansats där enskilda intervjuer använts som datainsamlingsmetod. Urvalet bestod av åtta respondenter varav fyra var arbetsgivare och fyra var medarbetare. Studien kunde av resultatet konstatera att det är viktigt för arbetsgivaren att involvera medarbetarna i det utbud som erbjuds för att så många som möjligt ska nyttja friskvården på företaget. Det är även viktigt för arbetsgivaren att ta tillvara på den sociala tillhörigheten som uttalats vara en stor motiverande faktor och bibehålla denne som en positiv aspekt i medarbetarnas vardag.
In this study, we have chosen to look at the physical activity that counts as the wellness that the workplace offers. It is about helping your employees to good personal health, at the same time as the employer itself benefits from healthy employees. The study's health pedagogical idea meant to shed light on what enables physical activity and how the workplace can contribute to personal development regarding physical health. The purpose of the study was to shed light on how employees and employers describe aspects that affect the possibility of performing physical activity under the auspices of the employer. To analyze and interpret the study, we have used a theory and a perspective, Bronfenbrenner's developmental ecological model and a salutogenic perspective. The study was based on a qualitative approach where individual interviews were used as a data collection method. The sample consisted of eight respondents, four of whom were employers and four were employees. The study was able to establish from the results that it is important for the employer to involve the employees in the range offered so that as many as possible will use the wellness at the company. It is also important for the employer to take advantage of the social affiliation that has been stated to be a major motivating factor and maintain it as a positive aspect in the employees' everyday lives.

Callous and Unemotional (CU) traits are a relatively recent addition to the existing body of research examining the development of severe behavioural problems in children, and antisocial behaviour in adults. Children who are high in CU traits display shallow emotions, manipulate other children, lie easily, and demonstrate very little remorse or guilt. Additionally, they are more likely to engage in more severe forms of antisocial behaviour, more often, and from a younger age than their peers. Research has found that CU traits moderate the well-established relationship between parenting and conduct problems. That is, children who are high in CU traits seem to display levels of behaviour problems that are unrelated to the quality or type of parenting they receive. This has serious implications when one considers that the most effective psychosocial treatments available for behavioural disorders are based upon improving parenting, and would therefore require significant modification for children high in CU traits. In addition, the research exploring the moderating role of CU traits in the relationship between parenting and conduct problems has not taken a developmental perspective and considered different ages of children. Finally, existing research has not considered the reciprocal relationship that CU traits have upon parenting behaviour, or the direct relationship between parenting and CU traits. The present study has addressed these limitations by utilizing an accelerated longitudinal methodology. The present study recruited 449 grades one, three and five children from six public primary schools. Questionnaires assessing conduct problems, CU traits, and parenting styles were administered to their parents for completion. Additionally, teacher report was also sought on a number of key variables to ensure validity. One year later, all of these children and their families were re-approached to assess the extent to which each of these variables had changed over time. One year later 233 (51.89%) of the original sample completed the same measures allowing examination of the change in these variables over time. Given the relatively short time period, it was expected that one of the best predictors of any of the key variables at time 2, would be baseline scores measured at time 1. For this reason, hierarchical regression was used to control for temporal stability, as well as demographic factors. Additionally, the hypothesis that a different pattern of relationships would emerge for children of different ages was tested by examining the moderating effect of age upon all predictive relationships. This was done by entering the product of age and the predictor variable(s) as the final step of the regression analyses, and then conducting simple slopes analysis on all significant predictive interactions. Three distinct findings emerged from these analyses. Firstly, age moderates the effect of CU traits on the relationship between parenting styles and conduct problems. Behaviour problems in younger children are better predicted by parenting behaviours and by CU traits than in older children. Secondly, both CU traits and conduct problems were predictive of worsening parental behaviour. Once again, this was particularly evident in younger children. Finally, inconsistent parenting, and corporal punishment were found to be predictive of CU traits. These findings are discussed from a developmental perspective in the context of Bronfenbrenner's (1979) ecological model.

Callous and Unemotional (CU) traits are a relatively recent addition to the existing body of research examining the development of severe behavioural problems in children, and antisocial behaviour in adults. Children who are high in CU traits display shallow emotions, manipulate other children, lie easily, and demonstrate very little remorse or guilt. Additionally, they are more likely to engage in more severe forms of antisocial behaviour, more often, and from a younger age than their peers. Research has found that CU traits moderate the well-established relationship between parenting and conduct problems. That is, children who are high in CU traits seem to display levels of behaviour problems that are unrelated to the quality or type of parenting they receive. This has serious implications when one considers that the most effective psychosocial treatments available for behavioural disorders are based upon improving parenting, and would therefore require significant modification for children high in CU traits. In addition, the research exploring the moderating role of CU traits in the relationship between parenting and conduct problems has not taken a developmental perspective and considered different ages of children. Finally, existing research has not considered the reciprocal relationship that CU traits have upon parenting behaviour, or the direct relationship between parenting and CU traits. The present study has addressed these limitations by utilizing an accelerated longitudinal methodology. The present study recruited 449 grades one, three and five children from six public primary schools. Questionnaires assessing conduct problems, CU traits, and parenting styles were administered to their parents for completion. Additionally, teacher report was also sought on a number of key variables to ensure validity. One year later, all of these children and their families were re-approached to assess the extent to which each of these variables had changed over time. One year later 233 (51.89%) of the original sample completed the same measures allowing examination of the change in these variables over time. Given the relatively short time period, it was expected that one of the best predictors of any of the key variables at time 2, would be baseline scores measured at time 1. For this reason, hierarchical regression was used to control for temporal stability, as well as demographic factors. Additionally, the hypothesis that a different pattern of relationships would emerge for children of different ages was tested by examining the moderating effect of age upon all predictive relationships. This was done by entering the product of age and the predictor variable(s) as the final step of the regression analyses, and then conducting simple slopes analysis on all significant predictive interactions. Three distinct findings emerged from these analyses. Firstly, age moderates the effect of CU traits on the relationship between parenting styles and conduct problems. Behaviour problems in younger children are better predicted by parenting behaviours and by CU traits than in older children. Secondly, both CU traits and conduct problems were predictive of worsening parental behaviour. Once again, this was particularly evident in younger children. Finally, inconsistent parenting, and corporal punishment were found to be predictive of CU traits. These findings are discussed from a developmental perspective in the context of Bronfenbrenner's (1979) ecological model.
Thesis (PhD Doctorate)
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
School of Psychology
Full Text

Övervikt och fetma är ett växande problem i samhället. Med hjälp av fysiskaktivitet kan man arbeta för att förhindra detta. Förskolan är en viktig del iarbetet, eftersom en stor del av alla barn mellan 1-5 år är inskrivna i förskolanoch spenderar mycket av sin vakna tid där. Forskning visar att det råder delademeningar om hur upplevelsen av att bo och växa upp på landsbygden ser ut.Syftet med den här studien är att utifrån ett utvecklingsekologiskt perspektivstudera hur verksamma förskollärare på landsbygden beskriver hur arbetet medfysisk aktivitet formas. Kvalitativa intervjuer med förskollärare verksamma pålandsbygden har genomförts för att försöka svara på syftet och frågeställningen. Resultatet i studien presenterar utifrån de olika nivåerna i den utvecklingsekologiska modellen informanternas svar. Dessa visar att för att kunnaskapa förståelse för hur olika instanser i samhället samverkar för barnet sombefinner sig i mitten av modellen. Slutsatsen av studien visar att utifrån Bronfenbrenners modell formas platsen, barnens närmiljö, genom olika nivåer isamhället. De nivåer som presenterats i studien visar på hur viktig interaktionen mellan dessa är för att förstå och kunna skapa förutsättningar för barn iförskolan att utvecklas inom fysisk aktivitet.
Overweight and obesity are a growing problem in society. With the help ofphysical activity, one can work to prevent this. Preschool is an important partof the work, as a large proportion of all children between 1-5 years old areenrolled in preschool and spend much of their waking time there. Researchshows that there are divided opinions about what the experience of living andgrowing up in rural areas looks like. The purpose of this study is to studyfrom a developmental ecological perspective how active preschool teachersin rural areas describe how work with physical activity is formed. Qualitativeinterviews with preschool teachers working in rural areas have been conducted to try to answer the purpose and the question. The results of the studypresent the respondents' responses based on the different levels of the developmental ecological model. These show that in order to create an understanding of how different instances in society interact for the child who is in themiddle of the model. The conclusion of this study shows that based on Bronfenbrenner's model the place, the children's local environment, is formedthrough different levels of society. The different levels presented in this studyshows how important the interaction between these are. By understandingand being able to create the conditions for children in preschool to develop inphysical activity.

Det huvudsakliga syftet i denna studie var att ta reda på skolpersonals uppfattning om varför ätstörningar uppstår bland unga flickor samt vilka metoder de använder sig av i förebyggande syfte för att motverka ett ätstörningsutvecklande. Empirin bygger på kvalitativa semistrukturerade intervjuer bestående av två skolkuratorer, två skolsköterskor samt en skolpsykolog i en mellanstor svensk stad. Fyra huvudteman identifierades i intervjuerna vilka var: Olika typer av yttre påverkan, Tonåringar har störst tendens att utveckla ätstörningar, Preventiva metoder samt Skolpersonal saknar hållbara metoder. Analysen av de teman som framkom i studien kan ge en förståelse för hur skolpersonal preventivt arbetar med unga flickor och ätstörningsproblematik samt vilka faktorer som uppfattas vara bidragande till ett ätstörningsutvecklande. Sammanfattningsvis visar studien att skolpersonal i stort uppfattar att faktorer såsom självkänsla, krav och stress, koncentrationssvårigheter samt media och skönhetsideal kan bidra till ett ätstörningsutvecklande. Vidare visar studien att skolpersonal gör försök att arbeta preventivt med ätstörningsproblematik genom att reagera på förändrat beteende och samtala med vårdnadshavare och elev men även genom att arbeta med självkänslan hos flickorna. Det framkommer dock inga gemensamma hållbara metoder i skolpersonalens arbetssätt med unga flickor som tenderar att utveckla en ätstörning där flertalet informanter tycks vara i behov av detta.
The main purpose of this study was to find out the view of the school staff on why eating disorders arise among young girls and which methods the school staff use for prevention. The empirical data is based on qualitative semi-structured interviews with two school counselors, two school nurses and a school psychologist in a medium-sized Swedish town. Four main themes were identified in the interviews which were: Different kinds of external influences, Adolescents have the greatest tendency to develop eating disorders, Prevention methods and School staff lack sustainable methods. The analysis of the themes that emerged from the study can provide an understanding of how school staff preventively work with young girls and eating disorder problems and the factors that are perceived to be contributing to a developing eating disorder. In summary, the study showed that school staff, at large, perceive that factors such as self-esteem, demands and stress, concentration difficulties, as well as the media and beauty ideals can contribute to a developing eating disorder. Furthermore, the study showed that school staff do try to work preventively with the eating disorder problems by reacting to changes in behavior and talking with both parents and students, but also by working with the self-esteem amongst girls. No common sustainable methods were found in the school staff’s work with young girls that tend to develop an eating disorder in which the majority of respondents appear to be in need of this.

Matematik är ett debatterat ämne som diskuteras i såväl skolans och medias värld. Få andra skolämnen skapar så mycket känslor som detta ämne (Olèn, 2016). Detta arbete syftar till att undersöka attityder till matematik hos unga elever samt dess bakomliggande faktorer i den sociala närmiljön. Vidare ämnar även studien att undersöka om det förekommer skillnader i attityder på två grundskolor i Malmö med olika socioekonomiska förutsättningar. För att undersöka detta har en enkät blivit besvarad av elever i en klass från varje skola. Tidigare nationell och internationell forskning visar på elevers negativa attityder gentemot matematik. Trots det visar resultatet i denna studie att en majoritet av eleverna uttrycker positiva attityder oavsett socioekonomiska förutsättningar. Framträdande skillnader mellan skolorna är användandet av matematik utanför skolmiljön. Tendenser påvisar att vårdnadshavare med högre utbildning har en prevalens av att vara mindre involverade i elevers matematik-utveckling i hemmet, enligt elevernas uppfattning. Samma elever uttrycker i högre utsträckning att de sällan får hjälp i eller samtalar om matematik i hemmet. Däremot visar resultatet att de elever som uppgett att deras vårdnadshavare saknar utbildning på högskola eller universitet erbjuds mer stöttning genom hjälp och samtal om matematik i hemmet. Studiens resultat belyser att läroboken, av eleverna, anses utgöra en central roll i matematikundervisningen på båda skolorna. Övriga likheter uppvisas genom att samtliga respondenter anser att ämnet är viktigt och en majoritet uppger även att de vill fortsätta att arbeta i läroboken i matematikundervisningen. Det framgår av resultatet att en merpart av eleverna upplever att undervisningen utgörs av kommunikation i form av diskussion och samtal i tillägg till lärobokens centrala roll. Flera svar tyder också på att mottagarna av undervisningen uppfattar lektionerna som varierade. Studien visar vidare att lärare eller vårdnadshavare är de som, ur elevernas perspektiv, har störst inverkan på attityden till matematik.
Mathematics is a topic which is up for debate and discussion in school as well as the media. Few other educational subjects induces emotions in the same manner as mathematics. The purpose of this paper is to examine the attitude towards mathematics in young students and the underlying influences by the immediate social environment. Further, the papers intends to examine if there are differences in attitudes towards mathematics in two different elementary schools in Malmö, Sweden, with different socio-economic conditions. In order to examine the topic, a questionnaire has been conducted with one class from each school. Pre-existing national as well as international research indicates a negative attitude towards mathematics in students. In contrary to this, the results of this study concludes a majority of the students expresses positive attitudes on the subject regardless of socio-economic basis. Augmented differences between the two schools are found to be in the use of mathematics outside of the educational environment. There are tendencies at display which indicates parental guardians with higher education are prevalent to be less involved in the students development in mathematics at home, according to the students perception. To a higher extent, the same students expresses that they receive less assistance or discussion regarding mathematics at home. On the contrary, the result indicates that students who stated their parental guardians lack higher level education such as a university degree receives more support through assistance and discussion regarding mathematics at home. The result illustrates that the textbook is, by the students, perceived as a central role of the mathematical education on both schools. Other similarities are at display through the fact that all respondents are of the opinion that mathematics is an important subject and a majority of them reports that they would like to continue working in the text book during mathematics education. It also apparent from the result that a majority of the students experience that the learning is conducted through communication in the form of discussion and conversation in addition to the central role of textbooks. Several answers also indicates that the recipients of the education acknowledges the classes or lessons as varied. Further, the study demonstrates that teachers or parental guardians are the ones, out of the students perspective, who implicates the students attitude towards mathematics the most.

The purpose of this study is to deepen the knowledge of guardians experiences of coordination between the various support measures for their children with intellectual disabilities in special schools. My research questions are to find out how the guardians describe the contact with LSS administrators, child and youth habilitation personnel and specialist teachers in schools for children with special needs as well as the experiences of the guardians based on their contacts with LSS administrators, child and youth habilitation personnel and specialist teachers in special schools. To find this out, a qualitative study is conducted in the form of interviews with guardians of children with intellectual disability. Informants in the study were nine guardians from three different municipalities. The results have been analyzed using Bronfenbrenners developing ecological model. The results show amongst other things that the guardians want more coordinated meetings to facilitate everyday life for the family. Another result was that the contact between the different instancesvary greatly both in quantity and quality and it is up to the guardians if contact occurs. It commonly emerged that the guardians experiences are that there is a good competence in general within different personnel groups. Another finding was that there are shortcomings regarding documentation and monitoring. Finally, it also emerged that it differs regarding how agencies act in preparing guardians for the future in different instances. One conclusion is that variation seems to be bound to whom the guardians have as an administrator and it becomes clear that the role of the special education teacher as a qualified conversation partner is important both in special schools but also in meeting with other professionals. It cannot be stressed enough how important the role is as a special education teacher and coordinator to simplify everyday life for parents or guardians. In addition, monitoring and evaluations fill an important function in professional practice as necessary for improving mutual understanding between home and special schools.
Syftet med denna studie är att fördjupa kunskapen om vårdnadshavares erfarenheter av samordning mellan olika stödinsatser för deras barn med intellektuell funktionsnedsättning i grundsärskolan. Mina forskningsfrågor utifrån syftet är att dels att ta reda på hur vårdnadshavarna beskriver kontakten med LSS-handläggare, barn-och ungdomshabiliteringens personal samt speciallärare i grundsärskolan, dels att ta reda på vilka erfarenheter av stöd vårdnadshavare har utifrån sina kontakter med LSS-handläggare, barn- och ungdomshabiliteringens personal samt speciallärare i särskolan.   För att ta reda på detta har en kvalitativ undersökning genomförts i form av intervjuer med vårdnadshavare till barn med intellektuell funktionsnedsättning. Antalet informanter i intervjun var nio stycken personer från tre olika kommuner. Resultatet har analyserats med hjälp av Bronfenbrenners utvecklingsekologiska modell. Resultatet visar bland annat att vårdnadshavare önskar mer samordnade möten för att underlätta vardagen för familjen. Ett annat resultat var att kontakten mellan olika instanser varierar mycket i både antal och kvalitetoch det är upp till vårdnadshavarna om kontakten sker. Gemensamt framkom det att vårdnadshavarnas upplevelser är att det finns en god kompetens över lag hos olika personalgrupper. Ytterligare ett resultat var att det finns brister gällande dokumentation och uppföljning. Till sist framkom det också att det är ojämnt hur myndigheteragerar föratt förbereda vårdnadshavare inför framtiden inom de olika instanserna. En slutsats är att det verkar vara mycket bundet till vem vårdnadshavarna har som handläggare om stödet fungerar och det blir tydligt att speciallärarens roll som kvalificerad samtalspartner är viktig både i grundsärskolan men även i mötet med andra yrkesgrupper. Det kan inte nog betonas hur viktig rollen är som speciallärare samt samordnare för att förenkla vardagen för vårdnadshavarna. Dessutom fyller uppföljningar och utvärderingar en viktig funktion i yrkespraktiken då detta krävs för att öka samförståndet mellan hemmet och grundsärskolan.

Indigenous people make up approximately 3% of the Australian population, but carry a heavy burden of mental ill-health. Almost 75% of Indigenous people have moderate to severe scores on the Kessler 10 measure of psychological distress. Robust research recognises racism as a risk factor for depression and social exclusion. However, there are significant within-community factors that add to the level of psychological distress. Using Bronfenbrenner’s ecological social capital model, Tajfel’s social identity theory and a created model of indigenist research (the Yerin Dilly Bag model) a 52-item questionnaire was created for a mixed method, parallel convergent study to answer the research questions: 1) What are the risks and protective factors that contribute to psychological distress in Indigenous populations?; 2) What is the self-perceived level of community inclusion / exclusion of Indigenous Australians?; 3) Is being manifestly Indigenous a protective factor for the psychological distress of Indigenous Australians?; and 4) What interactions of Indigenous participants with their communities add to the prediction of psychological distress? Using a purposive snowball sampling technique, 172 participants from 3 Indigenous communities completed either a hard or electronic questionnaire that assessed the perceived level of their community inclusion, their skin colour scores, their level of psychological distress and using a modified Measure of Indigenous Racism Experiences (Paradies, 2006), their experience of lateral violence, or community exclusion. Of these participants, 32 were interviewed using eco-map genograms to prompt narrative style questions about their life experiences, ending in 45.5 hours of recorded interviews. Quantitative data was scored using SPSS V23, with descriptive and interpretive results obtained. Qualitative findings were coded using thematic analysis. Both data sets were then triangulated looking for silence, dissonance, and agreements, using Bronfenbrenner’s four systems of ecological social capital model. Results demonstrated that the most reliable predictor of psychological distress in Indigenous people was community exclusion. The risk factors for community exclusion are living off country, having a different skin colour to the majority of the community (either darker or fairer), and not being involved with the Indigenous people in one’s family. Interventions to improve mental well-being are best placed in the mesosystem of Bronfenbrenner’s model, and might include increasing access to family support services, and alternative ways of being formally recognised as ‘Indigenous’. The Yerin Dilly Bag model is a useful method for working in Indigenous communities as it keeps the focus of the research on the best outcomes for Indigenous communities, where the focus should always be. Policy makers need to consider vehicles of community and social inclusion to decrease psychological distress and its concomitent risk of depression in Indigenous people and communities. Indigenous communities are often violent places, and all interventions need to have community inclusion as a core component. Unless this root cause of psychological distress is addressed, Indigenous Australians will continue to live with a high risk of inter and intra generational depression.

The enduring, mythical and antisemitic figure of Ahasuerus is central to the unraveling and reframing of post-Shoah Jewish identity in Rabinovici’s novel Suche nach M for it serves as the mythological color palette from which Rabinovici draws his characters and, to extend that metaphor, how the Jews have been immortalized in European culture. There is no escape in Suche nach M. When painting the Jew, both Jews and non-Jews can only use brush strokes of color from the Christian-created palette of the mythic, wandering Jew, Ahasuerus, who is stained in the blood of deicide, emasculated, treacherous, and evil. He is the constitutional “Other.” By deploying Urie Bronfenbrenner’s (Bio) Ecological Systems Theory, the Mythic Jew and the Ikhud (“Fusion”) Models that represent an evolving psychosocial environment combined with personal reflection, this thesis explores how Suche nach M invokes yet critiques the process of Jewish male identity formation in postwar Austria.
Graduate

The pace of technological advancement and growth in the twenty-first century continues to soar at unprecedented levels and beyond human imagination. As the fourth industrial revolution unfolds, it has become increasingly difficult to predict the direction technological innovation will take in the not too distant future. Digital technologies have become an integral part of every aspect of human existence (work, play, schooling and personal relationships). The purpose of this study was to explore the various ways mobile technological gadgets like cell phones, tablets and laptops could be leveraged to promote a culture of leisure reading amongst a group of Zimbabwean adolescent learners. Data was collected using the literacy practices interview, mobile reading diaries, focus group interviews and the researcher’s personal field notes. Theoretically, the study was guided primarily by Urie Bronfenbrenner's Bioecological systems theory. Also, the study was supported by Guthrie and Wigfield's reader engagement model and Turner and Hicks' connected reader model. The empirical data collected through the data collection instruments were analysed inductively. The findings revealed that adolescent learners are a digital generation whose reading needs are ever growing and expectations are ever changing. The adolescent participants expect their reading to be like the rest of their digital lives, which is quick, uninterrupted, personalised and smart. It was found that the adolescent participants like to read on their terms, as they dislike being told when to read or what to read. Three reader identities were revealed namely; the eager reader, the ‘fifty fifty’ reader and the non-reader. The adolescent participants who were not already mobile readers readily accepted and adopted mobile reading as it afforded them vast reading opportunities. Besides, the findings of the study revealed that participants encountered many challenges, which in some instances militated against their mobile reading endeavours. These challenges were because of mobile phone use restrictions in schools, prohibitive data costs, a strong emphasis on academic reading as opposed to leisure reading and internet connectivity problems amongst other issues. In this study, the recommendations and guidelines outlined provide a framework with which schools, parents, mobile reading application developers and policymakers can adopt to support a robust mobile reading culture amongst Zimbabwean adolescent learners. The researcher concluded that mobile reading devices are a novel, noble and credible means through which they can foster positive leisure literacy practices amongst Zimbabwean adolescents.
Language Education, Arts and Culture
Ph. D. (Curriculum and Instructional Studies)

Children with special needs are often considered as a vulnerable group, who faces double risk  than general peer groups to be bullied. Bullying interventions are a useful method that can be used to help children enhance their self-esteem and coping skills. The aim of this systematic review is to explore anti-bullying interventions programs for children with special needs, and intervention outcomes. A search for scholarly articles has been carried out in four databases,739 articles were identified and six articles included in the analysis after applying inclusion and exclusion criteria. The anti-bullying interventions were beneficial for children with special needs to reduce risk of bullying , while the results were varied. This study combined  Bronfenbrenner's ecological model with various anti-bullying intervention designs to discuss the results. This study make up a lttle gap in the area of anti-bullying intervention for children with special needs, and provide an overview of  these program. Limitations of the study and further research will be discussed.
有特殊需要的儿童通常被视为弱势群体， 并且面临着两倍于同龄人的被霸凌风险。欺凌干预作为一种有效手段，可以用来帮助儿童增强自尊和应对能力。本系统综述的目的是探讨针对有特殊需要的儿童的反欺凌干预方案和干预效果。在四个数据库中搜索了学术文章，得到738个结果，并最终得到满足条件的六篇文章。反欺凌干预措施对于有特殊需要的儿童有利于减少欺凌的风险，但干预结果却各不相同。这项研究结合了Bronfenbrenner的生态模型与各种反欺凌干预设计来讨论干预结果， 弥补了对有特殊需要的儿童的反欺凌干预方面的一点空白，并提供了这些计划的概述。研究的局限性和进一步的研究将讨论。

Na década que foi proclamada como a “Década da Educação para o Desenvolvimento Sustentável” (DEDS), a sensibilização para a problemática ambiental deverá assumir crescente importância e ser desenvolvida o mais precocemente possível, no sentido de se contribuir para melhorar a “literacia ambiental”. Pretende-se que esta possa concorrer para uma elevada competência de acção e participação, atendendo à mudança de atitudes e aquisição de valores pró-ambientais. No presente trabalho de investigação pretendemos planificar um Projecto a que chamamos “EcoConchas”- Centro de Recursos de Educação Ambiental, a desenvolver no Parque da Quinta das Conchas e dos Lilases, Freguesia do Lumiar, Lisboa, com o intuito de promover a consciência para a Educação Ambiental (EA) em crianças do Ensino Pré-escolar. Queremos ainda averiguar se um Projecto de Educação Ambiental, de carácter não-formal, poderá ser facilitador da criação de sinergias entre um espaço verde, famílias, escolas, agentes de Administração Local e Regional (Junta de Freguesia, CML) e Organismos Públicos (como a Agência Portuguesa do Ambiente). Partimos de um breve historial relativo à EA, delimitando o tema atendendo à sua abordagem na Infância, considerando as Orientações e Metas para a Educação Pré-Escolar em Portugal (1997, 2010). Após essa breve introdução ao tema da EA, perspectivámos abordagens relativas à dimensão não-formal e à importância do estabelecimento de parcerias, para o desenvolvimento de Projectos e maximização da oferta de serviços de sensibilização ambiental junto da população. Debruçámo-nos sobre os processos de apreensão do conhecimento pela criança (Teoria do Desenvolvimento Social ou Sócio-Constructivista de Vygotsky, 1988), as características da criança em idade pré-escolar, bem como os conteúdos de sensibilização ambiental, transmitidos neste nível de ensino. Pretendeu-se compatibilizar constructos e processos teóricos, enquadrando-os no Modelo da Ecologia do Desenvolvimento Humano de Bronfenbrenner (1979/2000), que considera a acção das crianças como catalisadoras de mudança ambiental, na família, na escola (“microssistemas”) e na sociedade/comunidade. Foram realizadas 23 entrevistas a Crianças, Pais, Educadores, Presidente da Junta de Freguesia do Lumiar, Assistente Técnico de Projectos Ambientais da D.S.E.S.A- Câmara Municipal de Lisboa e à equipa Responsável pelo Departamento de Comunicação e Cidadania Ambiental da Agência Portuguesa do Ambiente para saber da sua opinião sobre o projecto. A análise de conteúdo dessas entrevistas permitiu perceber o interesse dos possíveis implicados na implementação deste Projecto, no Parque das Conchas e dos Lilases, que apresenta inúmeras potencialidades para o desenvolvimento de actividades de EA, com os mais novos. Também foi considerada de elevada importância o estabelecimento de parcerias entre todos os actores sociais que de alguma forma podem vir a contribuir e beneficiar da sua implementação, sendo que o trabalho desenvolvido em conjunto pode ter resultados mais eficazes. Este estudo permitiu reflectir sobre a pertinência do desenvolvimento da temática ambiental junto das crianças pré-escolares, concluindo que sendo iniciada nesta faixa etária, trará no presente e futuro, inúmeros benefícios não só para as próprias crianças, mas também para os pais, a comunidade em geral e todo o Planeta.

The aim of the study was to understand the teachers’ experiences of learners with disciplinary problems. A literature study was conducted on various issues related to disciplinary problems in schools. In the empirical investigation a qualitative research approach with a phenomenological research design was used. The study was conducted in one secondary school in KwaZulu-Natal. The purposive sample comprised of 10 teachers who experienced discipline problems and two teachers who were knowledgeable about the issue. Semi-structured interviews were conducted and the data were analysed and interpreted by means of the theoretical frameworks of the Bar-On Model of Emotional Intelligence and the Bronfenbrenner ecological model of child development. The findings revealed how disciplinary problems impacted negatively on the emotional and social well-being of the teachers. It was concluded that teachers needed improved coping strategies and collaborative support from the School Management Team and the Department of Education to deal with disciplinary problems.
Inclusive Education
M. Ed. (Inclusive Education)

The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of negative influences facing children with physical disabilities living in rural areas. Children with physical disabilities living in rural areas of South Africa have to deal with many negative influences in addition to their disability. The main theme is that all children in rural areas face negative influences, but these are far worse for the children with physical disabilities. Societal and educational exclusion and poverty continue to place these children at a disadvantage despite South Africa’s policies that promote inclusion and equality. These rights are central to a meaningful democracy yet; research indicates that children with physical disabilities remain in a hopeless situation in the rural areas. To escape their plight inclusive education is pivotal. It is argued that the government’s capacity to deal with all the negative influences is limited and this therefore necessitates community involvement. Bronfenbrenner’s Bio-ecological approach was used both to investigate the impact of the negative influences facing children with physical disabilities as well as providing a framework that tackles the barriers that prevent this marginalised group of children having an equal opportunity to education. A qualitative and ethnographic study was undertaken to investigate these issues. This entailed the researcher living in four rural areas in KwaZulu-Natal, and collecting data through community participation, observations, questionnaires and interviews as well as photographs and drawings collected from the children. Data was analysed and poverty and exclusion clearly impacted not only on the children with physical disabilities, but their parents/caregivers. It became clear to the researcher that unless this group of children received early intervention to prepare them for education they would not be able to be included in formal education from Grade 1 but would need to begin their schooling in a specialised and exclusive environment. A framework for intervention based on Bronfenbrenner’s model was formulated that involved community involvement on the micro and mesosystemic levels. This framework is unique in that it will provide intensive early intervention for children with physical disabilities with the explicit aim of preparing them for inclusion and at the same time giving their parents/caregivers an opportunity to escape their plight of poverty.Every child in South Africa according to our Constitution and other policies is guaranteed equality. This equality needs to be provided to children with physical disabilities before they attend formal schooling and end up floundering never having had the opportunity to lift themselves out of the cycle of poverty that they face. Contemporary models for understanding these negative impacts and exclusion suggest that an important outcome of rehabilitation services is to optimise children with physical disabilities participation in the home, school and community life. Bronfenbrenner’s Model is based on the premise that disability involves an interaction between features of the child and features of the environment that can be adapted to promote educational inclusion and thus reduce the cycle of poverty.
Psychology of Education
D. Ed. (Inclusive Education)

This research focuses on the issue of parent involvement at selected secondary schools in the Zeerust District of the North West Province in order to gain an understanding of relevant participants’ views on the following aspects that relate to the management of parent involvement: the concept of parent involvement, ways in which parent involvement should be realised, its benefits and challenges, as well as strategies to improve the management of parent involvement in the education of learner children. The theoretical frameworks that informed this study were Epstein’s theories of overlapping spheres and her typology of parent involvement, as well as Bronfenbrenner’s ecological model. These frameworks provided a meaningful lens for interpreting data and making recommendations in the final chapter. The researcher undertook an extensive literature study and conducted interviews with principals, SGB chairpersons, as well as selected SGB parent members and other active and inactive parents from the selected schools in the Zeerust district. The research shows, inter alia, that parent involvement has various benefits and that it faces several challenges which affect the management thereof. Benefits concern improvement in terms of academic performance of learners, provision of teaching and learning resources, relationships between parents and the school, learner motivation and school attendance. Challenges to parent involvement that were identified were time constraints of parents, poor communication between home and school, parents’ lack of interest and commitment, principals’ limitations in terms of the management of parent involvement, parents’ limited education, negative parental attitudes and negative teacher attitudes. Key recommendations were made in terms of Bronfenbrenner’s micro, exo- and macrosystem for addressing the management of parent involvement in a synergetic manner. They concerned, inter alia, the national Department of Basic Education in the macrosystem, provincial Departments of Basic Education in the exosystem and schools and parents in the microsystem.
Educational Leadership and Management
M. Ed. (Education Management)