Rozprawy doktorskie na temat „Sociocultural investigation”

^{With the advent of globalisation driving the People.s Republic of China to embrace its future, the local government has shown great enthusiasm promulgating one of the oldest industries. Foreign higher educational providers that operate in China through the mode of joint venture cooperatives between a Chinese and foreign institution of higher learning are becoming increasingly .knowledgeable-hungry. public or private universities and colleges. Such operations commonly known as Sino-foreign educational cooperatives}

^{(SFEC), are hotly spawned on the mainland, enrolling Chinese students through the division of responsibilities, roles and resources. The Chinese party is mostly responsible for the hardware support, supplying facilities and logistics as the part of the bargain, whereas the foreign party provides the intellectual software of academic programs. The locus of this qualitative study aims to present and investigate a distinct phenomenon of learning in SFEC through the theories of sociocultural perspective encumbered in a transitional context; Sino-foreign (SF) graduates to other workplace communities. Without common interests of social interaction, co-participation, and transformation, SFEC are often discredited due to various factors. The learning aims will feature participative and transformative themes that feature qualitative and interpretive methods. Thus, this research involves interviewing four relevant participants from the likes of two Chinese nationals and two non-Chinese, and how they view learning in SFEC applied to a transitional context, the workplace. My furtherance of analysis will generally stress learning, co-participation and transformative learning in activities that circumvents discriminatory elements of artifacts, identity profiling, relationships, commitment and workplace employment for the necessary transition. In the initial research phase, it did seem that putting learning into community practice in China was essential. In the closing stages, thoughts will flow to the legitimisation of participative and transformative learning, which forms the backdrop of this original theme of research gathered through previous works of similar purview. Prawatt and Floden (1994) remark that knowledge, and the belief that knowledge is the result of social interaction and language usage, and thus is a shared, rather than an individual, experience. Presumably, my chosen theories frame the interactive and shared communal nature of the Chinese society and learning systems.}

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This thesis examines the issue of parent participation and cultural diversity in the Australian special education context. Previous research in the U.S. had suggested that the low participation by parents of culturally diverse backgrounds was due to cultural barriers that hindered their partnership with professionals. In reviewing and critiquing this previous research, it became clear that the key concepts of collaboration, disability and culture required reconceptualisation. The theoretical tools deployed in this reconceptualisation are drawn from sociocultural theory and ethnomethodology. Seventeen parents of Chinese and Vietnamese backgrounds and 20 professionals were interviewed regarding the provision of special education for children attending either a special school or special education unit. Follow-up interviews were carried out to probe specific issues related to the salience of culture in parent-professional communication, their understanding of disability, and barriers to parent participation. In addition, the communication books that were passed between parents and professionals on a regular basis were obtained for 7 of the children. These books provide a unique insight into the way parents and professionals accomplished the category of Child-with-a-disability during their entries regarding the mundane practicalities of school and home. In suspending judgment about parent-professional collaboration, this thesis adopts the multiple foci of sociocultural analysis to gain a critical understanding of parent-professional relationships through time and across personal, interpersonal, community and institutional settings. Within this framework, this thesis found that parents and professionals prefer and enact a 'communicating' type of parent participation. Their preferences seemed to depend on a range of circumstances such as their work commitments, financial resources, language resources and changing educational goals for the child. The approach taken in the thesis also affords the specification of diverse models of collaboration (e.g. obliging/directing, influencing/complying, respectful distancing, coordinating, collaborating), each of which may be regarded as worthwhile and acceptable in specific local circumstances. This study found that overall the parent-professional relationship was a trust-given one in which participants unproblematically regarded the professionals as experts. The professionals' reports revealed them to be doing accounting work - creating a moral view of the good parent and good professional. The emphasis on context in both sociocultural and ethnomethodological approaches reframes parental and professional discourse about disability as being context-driven. In employing Membership Categorisation Analysis (MCA) to examine parents' and professionals' descriptions of the child in the communication book and the research interviews, positive as well as negative attributes of the child were obtained. Interpreting the findings in terms of the context of home and school reveals how negative attributes of the child became foregrounded. For example, the orientation to the child as lacking capacity to remember was an outcome of parents and professionals orienting to their (institutional) roles and responsibilities to manage the practicalities of school. The comparison of views reveals strong agreement between the parents and professionals about the child. Interpreting the data based on the task-at-hand of particular data collection settings provides one explanation. For instance, the communication book is a site where parents and professionals align with each other to co-construct a version of the child. Culture is not treated as a static set of traits and behavioural norms that accounts for the communication difficulties between Western-trained professionals and culturally-diverse parents. Rather, culture is theorised in this thesis as an evolving set of semiotic resources and repertoires of practice that participants draw upon and enact in their everyday activities. Using MCA, the ways in which participants deployed cultural categories, the social ends achieved by such deployment, and the attributes they assigned to these cultural categories, are documented. This approach takes cultural difference to be a resource that people use to account for conflicts, rather than as a determining cause of conflict. The documentation of how participants legitimised their explanations to add credibility to their accounts captures their moment-by-moment cultural categorisation work. In comparison to prior research, the significance of this approach is that it looks seriously at the parents' and professionals' mundane and enacted notions of collaboration and participation, the child with a disability, and culture. This thesis has interwoven several data sources and applied complementary analytics in order to reveal and understand some of the everyday complexity of cross-cultural parent professional interaction in the special education context. There is reason to look carefully at the daily achievements of the participants for it is where the intricacies of a phenomenon lie.

This thesis examines the issue of parent participation and cultural diversity in the Australian special education context. Previous research in the U.S. had suggested that the low participation by parents of culturally diverse backgrounds was due to cultural barriers that hindered their partnership with professionals. In reviewing and critiquing this previous research, it became clear that the key concepts of collaboration, disability and culture required reconceptualisation. The theoretical tools deployed in this reconceptualisation are drawn from sociocultural theory and ethnomethodology. Seventeen parents of Chinese and Vietnamese backgrounds and 20 professionals were interviewed regarding the provision of special education for children attending either a special school or special education unit. Follow-up interviews were carried out to probe specific issues related to the salience of culture in parent-professional communication, their understanding of disability, and barriers to parent participation. In addition, the communication books that were passed between parents and professionals on a regular basis were obtained for 7 of the children. These books provide a unique insight into the way parents and professionals accomplished the category of Child-with-a-disability during their entries regarding the mundane practicalities of school and home. In suspending judgment about parent-professional collaboration, this thesis adopts the multiple foci of sociocultural analysis to gain a critical understanding of parent-professional relationships through time and across personal, interpersonal, community and institutional settings. Within this framework, this thesis found that parents and professionals prefer and enact a 'communicating' type of parent participation. Their preferences seemed to depend on a range of circumstances such as their work commitments, financial resources, language resources and changing educational goals for the child. The approach taken in the thesis also affords the specification of diverse models of collaboration (e.g. obliging/directing, influencing/complying, respectful distancing, coordinating, collaborating), each of which may be regarded as worthwhile and acceptable in specific local circumstances. This study found that overall the parent-professional relationship was a trust-given one in which participants unproblematically regarded the professionals as experts. The professionals' reports revealed them to be doing accounting work - creating a moral view of the good parent and good professional. The emphasis on context in both sociocultural and ethnomethodological approaches reframes parental and professional discourse about disability as being context-driven. In employing Membership Categorisation Analysis (MCA) to examine parents' and professionals' descriptions of the child in the communication book and the research interviews, positive as well as negative attributes of the child were obtained. Interpreting the findings in terms of the context of home and school reveals how negative attributes of the child became foregrounded. For example, the orientation to the child as lacking capacity to remember was an outcome of parents and professionals orienting to their (institutional) roles and responsibilities to manage the practicalities of school. The comparison of views reveals strong agreement between the parents and professionals about the child. Interpreting the data based on the task-at-hand of particular data collection settings provides one explanation. For instance, the communication book is a site where parents and professionals align with each other to co-construct a version of the child. Culture is not treated as a static set of traits and behavioural norms that accounts for the communication difficulties between Western-trained professionals and culturally-diverse parents. Rather, culture is theorised in this thesis as an evolving set of semiotic resources and repertoires of practice that participants draw upon and enact in their everyday activities. Using MCA, the ways in which participants deployed cultural categories, the social ends achieved by such deployment, and the attributes they assigned to these cultural categories, are documented. This approach takes cultural difference to be a resource that people use to account for conflicts, rather than as a determining cause of conflict. The documentation of how participants legitimised their explanations to add credibility to their accounts captures their moment-by-moment cultural categorisation work. In comparison to prior research, the significance of this approach is that it looks seriously at the parents' and professionals' mundane and enacted notions of collaboration and participation, the child with a disability, and culture. This thesis has interwoven several data sources and applied complementary analytics in order to reveal and understand some of the everyday complexity of cross-cultural parent professional interaction in the special education context. There is reason to look carefully at the daily achievements of the participants for it is where the intricacies of a phenomenon lie.
Thesis (PhD Doctorate)
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
School of Education and Professional Studies
Full Text

Over the last 50 years research has consistently suggested that some types of adult guidance can improve upon 'pure discovery learning' (Mayer, 2004). In the preschool age group studies have suggested that pedagogical strategies identified with Scaffolding, Sustained Shared Thinking, and Co-construction can be advantageous to children's later educational success (Siraj-Blatchford & Sylva, 2004). This thesis examines the cultural practices of adults supporting children's learning in 'free play' during practitioner facilitated 'Parent and Toddler Group' sessions to consider the extent to which these children are being guided towards participating in collaborative learning interactions (Rogoff 1998) by both practitioners and parents. The investigative approach adopted is informed by Socio-cultural theory (Hedegaard & Fleer, 2008, Rogoff, 1998) and develops the complementary use of affordance theory (Gibson, 1979) to investigate the learner as part of a system of mutually effective elements. The thesis draws on observations of 12 children's interactions in two ethnographic case studies set in context by interview and survey data. The thesis identifies and describes a range of modes of interaction employed in the case study parent and toddler groups. The thesis shows how children's experiences vary as a result of the balance of modes that they experience. It suggests strategies to broaden parents' and practitioners' awareness of promoting children's learning through a range of modes of interaction. The study findings echo those of international studies suggesting that early education contexts may encourage individual and peer-learning much more frequently than collaborative learning with adults (Pramling-Samuelsson & Fleer, 2009, Rogoff, 1998).

This thesis investigates and analyses the practice of formative assessment, or assessment for learning (AfL) in a secondary school context. It is oriented from a personal account of my practice, both as a researcher and a teacher and charts the challenging journey of change in both. Assessment for learning (AfL) as it was presented in staff training at my school did not engage pupils in my history classes. This experience defied the recommendations of those who claimed that greater learner autonomy and better results could be achieved using it (Black et al2003; Black and Wiliam, 2006a). My department linked AfL to summative test performance so that faults by individual students could be identified and targeted. This was a view of formative assessment that ran counter to' what many researchers working in AfL intended. Lesson observations, interviews with staff and pupils in the Drama Department, which the school held up as a model of best AfL practice, revealed that this was a common approach which produced similar results. Nevertheless, observations of practice in drama did reveal a more spontaneous and emergent form of formative assessment embedded in pupils' and teachers' interactions and dialogue. It appeared much more purposeful in terms of pupils' learning but it remained unrecognised by teachers and school leaders. The thesis explores this conundrum by establishing what is problematic with the enactment of the practices advocated at institutional level and seeks to understand formative assessment based on sociocultural learning theories, which view learning as situated and social. It uses tenets distilled from the theories and observed practice to inform how similar conditions could be created that would enable a formative assessment dialogue that engages pupils in their learning to emerge in the subject of history. The main study employs a sociocultural action research design taking account of Rogoffs three planes of analysis and foregrounding the interactions in the history settings to explore the intervention in my practice to generate a formative learning discourse. Detailed analysis of interactions and dialogue within classroom settings and interviews with pupils focused on the impact of changes and lessons learned.

This thesis describes an investigation into the changing professional practice of educational psychology services in England and Wales with particular reference to the consultation meetings held between educational psychologists and teachers in the schools they visit. The study uses sociocultural and activity theory models and research to structure and guide the analysis and in particular utilises a developmental work research methodology. As part of the investigation a historical-genetic account of evolving EP services describes their progress, the contradictions and underlying psychological paradigms governing practice since the beginnings of the twentieth century. A second phase of the research describes and analyses some of the working practices of EP services based on a national survey conducted in 1998 in England and Wales utilising data from 92 Local Education Authority Educational Psychology Services. The final phase of research considers the mediating artefacts, activity levels and contradictions that form important elements of the meetings between EPs and teachers. The study concludes that role of educational psychologists historically and currently is heavily restricted by their employment basis and the resulting enforced focus upon children with special needs. The use of sociocultural and activity theoretical approaches is highly recommended as a theoretically rich and creative paradigm. Developmental work research methodology, although in its infancy, provides a flexible but robust framework for structuring the recursive research process.

Historians have made a considerable contribution to the study of the Romantic ballet in terms of chronological development, the Romantic movement in the arts and the contribution of specific dancers and choreographers; very little research has been attempted to date on the interrelationship between the dance form and the wide range of human experience of the period. This holistic approach provides insight into form, content and stagecraft; political, economic and social influences; the prevailing artistic aesthetic and cultural climate; sex, gender and class issues; and the priorities, value system and nuances of the times. Recent work by historians and social scientists (eg Brinson 1981, Adshead 1983, Spencer 1985, Hanna 1988, Garafola 1989) advocates a recognition of the role of social and cultural systems in the evaluation of dance. This approach further ackowledges the equal status of all cultures, and has opened up areas of African performing dance in cultural systems outside the west. My parallel investigation of the gumboot dance in its South African context, which appears in Appendix B, provides an example. The first half of the nineteenth century was characterized by the disruptive beginnings of the emergent industrial world, centred in Paris and London; and the Romantic ballet tradition reached its greatest heights at this time. Chapter one establishes the political, economic, social and artistic environment, and identifies middle class dominance as a key factor. Chapters two and three focus primarily on the three great ballets of the age, La Sylphide, 1832, Giselie, 1841, and Pas de Quatre, 1845, as expressions of the essential duality of the times, and of Romantic synaesthesia in the arts, which enabled them to transcend the pedestrian bourgeois materialism of faciliatators and audience. Chapter four examines the images of the idealized ballerina and the 'Victorian' middle class woman in relation to bourgeois male attitudes to female sexuality, gender and class. The conclusion sums up the themes of duality, middle class influence, and the Romantic aesthetic, and discusses the prevalent notion that this period was identified as a 'golden age' of the Romantic ballet.

Psychological resilience has been described as a multidimensional, context specific concept, and has been defined in numerous ways that attempt to encapsulate the process by which individuals positively adapt following stress or significant adversity. Research within competitive sport has highlighted several components that influence this process, which include; meta-cognitions and challenge appraisals, coping strategies, personal risk and protective factors, and sociocultural influences (Brown et al., 2015; Galli & Vealey, 2008; Fletcher & Sarkar, 2012; Sarkar & Fletcher, 2014a). Significantly, resilience is described as a dynamic process that is developed through exposure to challenge within the competitive environment (Galli & Vealey, 2008); however, little is known about the nature of psychological resilience at a junior level. The understanding of how resilience is conceptualised at this level is important as this knowledge can help to foster the appropriate protective and promotive factors required to thrive in a competitive junior environment, and best equip athletes for future periods of unrest. The aims of the current research program were to investigate the nature of psychological resilience within a junior sport context, and to explore appropriate measures or methodological approaches by which to achieve this. To achieve these, eight research objectives are presented. To address these objectives, five research investigations were proposed: Study 1. This study aimed to explore the psychometric qualities of the original 25-item CD-RISC (Connor & Davidson, 2003) amongst a sample of junior athletes. Three hundred and forty seven athletes (M age=15.42, SD=1.72) completed the original CD-RISC questionnaire. Participants represented a range of individual and team sports. Internal consistency and factor structure were analysed using confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and exploratory factor analyses (EFA). CFAs did not support the original 5-factor or unitary factor structure of the 25-item CD-RISC, but did support a unidimensional shortened 10-item measure (Cambell-Sills & Stein, 2007). Subsequently, an EFA and CFA also supported a valid and reliable 2-factor sport specific version of the CD-RISC, which was favoured based on stronger conceptual and theoretical support. This study supports the contention that resilience is not consistent across all populations and context specific measures may be required e.g., sport specific. The emergent 2-factor measurement model suggests an underlying structure of resilience in sport that represents an individual's control through adversity and growth mindset. Study 2. The aim of this study was to explore the nature of resilience within junior sport, with a specific focus on sport type, gender and age differences, and the association between resilience and sensation seeking characteristics. Participants completed the modified version of the CD-RISC, which emerged in the previous study and the Brief Sensation Seeking Scale (BSSS; Hoyle at al., 2002), which measures dispositional risk taking behaviours. The results suggested that male and team athletes have significantly higher resilience scores than their female and individual sport counterparts. In general, protective factors associated with resilience positively relate to sensation seeking characteristics. Specifically, feelings relating to ‘control through adversity' more broadly relate to tendencies leading to greater risk exposure. These findings may suggest that those with a greater perception of control take more calculated risks and set goals that are more challenging. This may offer the opportunity to increase personal mastery through developed interpersonal relations, emotional expression, problem solving skills and coping resources. Nevertheless, our understanding of resilience seems limited by the capacity of a psychometric questionnaire to encapsulate such a complex construct. Study 3. This study aimed to provide a review of the literature concerning resilience in athletes, with a specific focus on identifying the differing methodological approaches to examine the nature of the construct in sport. Fourteen research articles that attempted to directly measure psychological resilience with an athlete sample were identified using both quantitative (n=8) and qualitative (n=6) approaches. Quantitative research has increased conceptual understanding of resilience in sport, relating to its positive associations with similar constructs (e.g., mental toughness), and its moderation qualities. This approach permits statistical analyses to track development, however is unlikely to offer sufficient depth to understanding given the complexities surrounding both the construct of psychological resilience and the nature of an elite sporting environment. Qualitative studies have helped to develop theoretical understanding of psychological resilience amongst athletes through adopting phenomenological methodologies, however, the application of knowledge relies on user generalisability alone and does not offer an objective measure of the construct. The review proposes an exploration of novel methodological approaches that consider the positive elements of both qualitative and quantitative research, but does not consolidate their pitfalls. Study 4. The purpose of this study was to develop a novel tool to measure psychological resilience using a Q-method approach. Specifically, this study aimed to construct a Q-set, by identifying the subjective viewpoints of junior rugby league players, associated with how they would respond to stress or adversity and their perceptions of the resilience process. Twenty-nine junior rugby league players (aged 13-14) were recruited to take part in one of two focus groups designed to generate statements relating to responses to adversity. Thirty statements emerged following inductive thematic analysis, and were retained for the Q-set. There are commonalities between these statements and characteristics of theoretical models and previous research concerning psychological resilience in sport. Study 5. The purpose of this study was to use the Q-set developed in the previous study to explore the nature of psychological resilience in the context of junior Rugby League, using a novel Q-sort method. Sixty junior rugby league players (aged 13-14) completed a standard Q-sort protocol, ranking the previously developed 30-item Q-set using a fixed quasi normal distribution, with anchors of +5 (most like me) to -5 (least like me). PQ Method statistical analysis software was used to analyse the data. Principle component analysis with varimax rotation identified four distinct subgroups that explained 72% of the total variance. These groups were distinguished through patterns relating to: social support, emotional control, unpleasant emotions, personal resources, and cognitive strategies. Shared qualities across the four subgroups were also identified, and included low ratings for evasion strategies, and seeking support, whilst generally high ratings for perseverance. The results from this study showed that junior rugby league players display a range of psychological responses when experiencing adversity and four subgroups with both defining and shared characteristics emerged. This study provides preliminary evidence for the potential usefulness of a Q-method approach for understanding the process of resilience in junior sport. Q-methodology provides an alternative to previous research designs attempting to understand the nature of resilience, and offers an engaging activity to participants, encouraging analytical reflections of their experiences. In summary, the data collected within the current research program has presented an original contribution to knowledge concerning the nature of psychological resilience in junior sport.
The thesis has delivered the first study of its kind, by employing Q-methodology to understand psychological resilience, revealing previously untapped complexities associated with the construct. This approach offers future researchers and practitioners the depth of insight and level of objectivity associated with qualitative and quantitative measures respectively, and recommends this as a viable alternative to psychometric measures of resilience.

In response to limited research conducted on the practice of assessment for learning (AfL) in higher education and in Asian educational settings, this qualitative study, using sociocultural theories of learning and a multiple case study approach, investigates how AfL was implemented by three lecturers in one Vietnamese university. Findings revealed that the lecturers engaged with AfL principles and practices to some extent. However, despite the lecturers' significant efforts, Vietnamese sociocultural factors such as respect for harmony, hierarchy, and examination-oriented learning, impacted on their practice of AfL. This study therefore argues that AfL requires adaptation for it to be effective in the Vietnamese tertiary context.

Human Resource Management (HRM) is a critically important function that contributes to organizational performance (Bowen & Ostroff, 2004; Leroy, Anseel, Gardner, & Sels, 2015). Its presence in an organization is influenced by the organization’s leadership style/s (Vermeeren, Kuipers, & Steijn, 2014). In the Middle East, the notion of leadership has often been associated with an authoritarian – or directive - style of control (Dorfman, Javidan, Hanges, Dastmalchian, & House, 2012; House, Hanges, Javidan, Dorfman, & Gupta, 2004). But there has been limited empirical research to establish this notion of leadership. Research on HRM in the developing countries of the Middle East are few and far between, especially in politically unstable environments like Palestine (Budhwar & Mellahi, 2016). This thesis seeks to address this gap in the literature by exploring the way in which HRM practices in organizations operating in Palestine reflect different leadership styles in different employment sectors. Palestine is the focus of this research because Palestine and the Middle East region more broadly are an important part of the global economic system in the sense that they are home to large multinational organizations particularly in the production and export of crude oil and liquid natural gas (Fesharaki & Isaak, 2016; OPEC, 2018). Additionally, researchers have for years been urging more studies to investigate HRM practices in the Middle East, due not only to the importance of this region, but also to the interesting idiosyncrasies of its sociocultural environment. Furthermore, this study seeks to understand whether authoritarian leadership is indeed the dominant style of leadership in the sampled organizations – and, if so, what it looks like in practice. In this thesis, I conducted studies focussing on HRM practices in two types of Palestinian organizations: For-Profit (Private); and Not-For-Profit (NFP) organizations. I compared the relationships between the practices and leadership styles in these organizations in order to investigate sectoral differences between them. Moreover, I explored the ways in which their employees perceive the Humane Resources (HR) practices of their organizations (and whether employees’ perspectives align with the perspectives of their managers). The findings of my empirical research, in this project, show that HRM practices at Palestinian Private organizations are mostly influenced by a functional style of leadership with some elements of transformational leadership. In contrast to expectations based on earlier literature on this topic (e.g., House et. Al., 2004), there is little evidence that authoritarian leadership dominates HRM practices in these organizations. I hypothesise that this largely because the sampled organizations are significantly influenced by Western HRM practices. After all, my sampled organizations are large and operate in the formal labor market (cf. small businesses such as street venders). In NFP organizations, HRM practices are more also influenced by functional leadership (again, contrary to the expectation that authoritarian leadership plays a dominant role). But, unlike in Private organizations, elements of transformational leadership play a much smaller role. Moreover, some directive-leadership style of management was observed – and seems to be more evident in these NFP compared to Private organizations. The (lesser) influence of transformational leadership style on NFP organizations’ HRM functions could have originated from cross-cultural exchange with Western aid organizations which o ten participate in conducting development projects with NFPs in Palestine. These include USAID and UNDP among others: organizations that are likely to abide by Western best-practice standards in their dealings with personnel. A factor that adds to the complexity in my analysis is the fact that the relationships between HRM practices and leadership styles are often perceived differently between employees and managers. Employees tend to have a more cynical view of HRM, whereas managers perceive HRM practices as benign if not benevolent in nature. In this thesis, I contribute to the fields theoretical understanding of the models of HRM that managers use in Palestine in both Private and NFP organizations and propose a framework for understanding these in relation to the leadership in the organizations. My practical contribution is to provide a better insight to the HRM practices in Palestine and the factors that drive these in both Private and NFP organizations. Limitations of my research and potential future directions for this study are discussed.
Thesis (PhD Doctorate)
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Dept Empl Rel & Human Resource
Griffith Business School
Full Text

The research was a case study into the pedagogy in a maintained nursery with a specialist provision for children with severe and complex additional needs (AN). It used conceptual frameworks developed within a sociocultural approach from Vygotsky’s (1978) theory to investigate the mediation of children’s cognitive development and inclusion, regarded as participation, by the pedagogy and practitioners. Rogoff’s (1995) Three Planes of Analysis was adopted as a unifying conceptual framework to represent the pedagogy. Data was collected from: semi-structured interviews with 13 practitioners working with children with and without AN in the mainstream and specialist provision; observations of Mediated Learning Experiences (MLEs) between practitioners and children with and without AN, and observations of two children, one with and one without AN during a session in the nursery. A thematic analysis of the data (Braun and Clarke, 2006) suggested themes relating to practice, learning and cognitive development and participation within the community plane; mediation of learning and cognitive development within the interpersonal plane and mediation of participation within the personal plane. Cultural Historical Activity Theory (CHAT) (Engeström, 1999) was used to show the interconnected activity systems that constituted the pedagogy within and between these three planes. Implications for EP practice were suggested.

This thesis examined body dissatisfaction and body change behaviors among adolescent girls and boys from a biopsychosocial framework. The contribution of biological, psychological and sociocultural factors were examined in relation to body dissatisfaction, weight loss, weight gain and increased muscle tone behaviors among early adolescent girls and boys. In particular, pubertal maturation, body mass index (BMI), perception of body shape and size and psychological factors, such as depression, anxiety, ineffectiveness, self-esteem and perfectionism, were examined as possible factors that may precipitate or maintain body dissatisfaction and engagement in body change strategies. The sociocultural factors evaluated were the quality of family and peer relationships, as well as the influence of family and peers in predicting the adoption of specific body change strategies. The specific mechanisms by which these influences were transmitted were also examined. These included perceived discussion, encouragement and modelling of various body change strategies, as well as perceived teasing about body shape and size. A number of separate cross-sectional and longitudinal studies were conducted to examine the above relationships and identify the factors that contribute to weight loss, weight gain and increased muscle tone behaviors in adolescents. Study 1 examined the psychometric properties and principal components structure of the Bulimia Test Revised (BULIT-R; Thelen, Farmer, Wonderlich, & Smith, 1991) to assess its applicability to adolescent samples. Study 2 investigated the nature of body dissatisfaction and weight loss behaviors among 603 adolescents (306 girls and 297 boys) using a standardised questionnaire. This preliminary study was conducted to ascertain whether variables previously found to be relevant to adolescent girls, could also be related to the development of body dissatisfaction and weight loss behaviors among adolescent boys. Studies 3 and 4 described the development and validation of a body modification scale that measured weight loss, weight gain and increased muscle tone behaviors. Studies 5 and 6 were designed to modify an Excessive Exercise Scale developed by Long, Smith, Midgley, and Cassidy (1993) into a shorter form, and validate this scale with an adolescent sample. Study 7 investigated the factors that contribute to weight loss, weight gain and increased muscle among adolescent girls and boys both cross-sectionally and longitudinally (over one year). Structural equation modelling was used to examine associations among self-reported body dissatisfaction, body change strategies and a range of biological, psychological and sociocultural variables both cross-sectionally and longitudinally. Overall, the results suggested that both girls and boys experience body dissatisfaction and engage in a number of different body change strategies in order to achieve an ideal size. A number of gender similarities and differences were identified in the expression of body dissatisfaction and the adoption of body change strategies for both girls and boys. Girls were more likely than boys to report body dissatisfaction and engage in weight loss behaviors, while boys were more likely than girls to engage in weight gain and increased muscle tone behaviors. Generally, the same factors were found to contribute to weight loss, and more specifically, bulimic symptomatology, ad weight gain in both adolescent girls and boys. While a combination of biological, psychological and sociocultural factors contributed to bulimic symptomatology, only biological and psychological factors were found to contribute to weight gain in adolescents. The most notable gender differences were found in the model of increased muscle tone. Sociocultural and biological factors contributed to increased muscle tone behaviors in girls, while sociocultural and psychological factors were implicated in these behaviors in adolescent boys. With the exception of the model of increased muscle tone for boys, body dissatisfaction was a consistent factor in the adoption of body change behaviors. Consistent with previous investigations, the present thesis provides empirical support for the need to examine the etiology and maintenance of such concerns and behaviors from a multifaceted perspective.

This thesis explores the Predicament of the Learner in an age during which an emergent Participatory Culture supported by networked computers is converging or colliding with a top-down Culture Industry model of education associated with centralised control and traditional learning media. Two case studies explore attempts to use advanced E-learning tools, the Learning Activity Management System (LAMS) and Revolution (a multiplayer role-playing game) to mediate learning activities in the digital classroom. Both reveal the shifting locus of agency for managing and regulating learning and identify a need to understand how learners are creatively appropriating a range of digital media to advance self-directed learning agendas. The main study, The Agency of the Learner in the Networked University, develops these insights through a cognitive anthropology, informed by post-Vygotskian theory, focussed on the digitally mediated practices of 16 post-graduate students who enjoyed unrestricted access to the Internet from their study rooms. The findings chapters explore i) learners designing personalised learning environments to support advanced knowledge work; ii) learners creatively appropriating web-based digital tools and resources for course related study and self education; iii) learners cultivating, nurturing and mobilising globally distributed funds of living knowledge; iv) learners breaking away from lifeworld communities and learning with others in online affinity spaces; and v) learners seeking out opportunities to bootstrap themselves towards the actualisation of a projective identity through serious play in virtually figured worlds. In each case, an attempt is made to innovate conceptual tools that can help us to identify and conceptualise the New Media Literacies (conceived of as expert-like digitally mediated practices) required to exploit the full potential of new media as a resource for course related study, independent learning and self-education.

Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Centro de Comunicação e Expressão. Programa de Pós-Graduação em Letras/Inglês e Literatura Correspondente.
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Recentemente tem-se presenciado um crescente número de estudos sobre o ensino de leitura através de estratégias de leitura em escolas brasileiras, Alguns desses estudos analisam o ensino de leitura em aulas de ensino fundamental e médio a partir de uma perspectiva cognitiva e outras pesquisam a interação em sala de aula em aulas de leitura nestes mesmos níveis e também em nível superior, a partir de uma perspectiva crítica. Entretendo, este tipo de pesquisa em aulas de Inglês Instrumental (ESP) tem se desenvolvido de forma a apresentar um visão geral do ensino de estratégias de leitura, sem analisar como este ensino realmente acontece em salas de aula de Inglês Instrumental. A fim de preencher esta lacuna, este estudo baseado numa Perspectiva Sociocultural ( embasada nos trabalhos de Vygotsky, 1978, 1986 e seus seguidores) investiga como o ensino de leitura acontece em duas salas de aula de Inglês Instrumental e o que os dois respectivos professores pensam sobre esta metodologia de ensino. Portanto, os dados para este estudo vêm de duas turmas de Inglês Instrumental: uma de uma escola pública em Florianópolis, SC e outra de um escola particular em Pata Branco, PR, das quais 9 aulas foram observadas, áudio e vídeo gravadas e os professores foram entrevistados, Os dados analisados revelaram que os professores investigados instruem seus alunos a usarem estratégias de leitura dos tipos to-down e bottom-up. Tais estratégias são mediadas através de diálogo e outros mecanismos semióticos para atender às necessidades dos alunos e alcançar os objetivos dos cursos. Este estudo também indicou que os professores objetivam conscientizar seus alunos sobre a importância do uso de estratégias de leitura e fazer com que os mesmos as utilizem de forma consciente e independente na compreensão de textos específicos e gerais.

Recent research argues that sequential forms of Cross-Cultural Training (CCT), offered pre-departure CCT as well as post-arrival CCT are more advantageous than non-sequential CCT. This study examines the impact of sequential CCT upon the level of sociocultural and psychological adjustment of expatriate managers. This thesis also targets to fill the gap in the literature about the effectiveness of sequential CCT. A mixed methods methodology was adopted, more specifically an Explanatory Sequential Mixed Methods Design which included a quantitative survey followed by qualitative interviews of Greek expatriate managers assigned in overseas assignments. The quantitative data and their analysis gave a general understanding of the impact of sequential CCT upon the levels of sociocultural and psychological adjustment while the qualitative data, by exploring expatriates’ assessments, offered more depth to the research and explained the quantitative results. Unexpectedly but significantly, both quantitative and qualitative results showed that sequential CCT has no any significant impact upon the sociocultural and psychological adjustment of the expatriate managers. However, the qualitative findings indicated that CCT has helped the expatriate managers in their sociocultural and psychological adjustment, regardless of whether it was sequential or not. Furthermore, the findings underline the importance of the timing of CCT and not its sequentiality. Overall, the findings of the research suggest that the effectiveness of the CCT depends both on its content and on its delivery time. Propositions refer to the delivery time and the appropriate content of CCT in enhancing sociocultural and psychological adjustment of the expatriate managers.

Thesis (MA)--Stellenbosch University, 2015.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Over the last 25 years socially-based SLA research has increasingly focused on contextual factors that constitute the local learning environments of learners of English as a second language in attempting to better comprehend the socially embedded nature of learning outcomes. These scholars have largely postulated language learning not only as the acquisition of linguistic knowledge in the abstract but rather as fundamentally constituted by participation in social praxis as situated within local sociocultural and institutional contexts. The emergence of „the social‟ in SLA research is especially significant to academic contexts in which learners belonging to diverse cultural and literacy traditions typically struggle to identify with target literacy practices of their academic communities. Drawing on a sociocultural approach and the community of practice construct, this thesis takes a qualitative approach. Through the analysis of teacher and student focus group data, this thesis sets out to illustrate learner and teacher articulations surrounding what constitutes learner engagement in an academic English program at an international university in Vietnam. The data collected in this study suggests that the focal learners perceived higher levels of learner engagement in learning contexts in which collaborative, dialogic activity was extensively integrated in the acquisition of target academic literacy practices. While the focal teacher articulations surrounding student engagement also took into account the importance of such collaborative class activity, the teachers did not attribute the same level of importance to it that the focal students did. This study concludes that teachers should extensively use activity frameworks within class that encourage group work in the learning of target academic literacy practices, especially academic reading and writing practices. Even where target practices will ultimately be elaborated and assessed on an individual basis, this study illustrates that collaborative dialogic frameworks seemed to provide students with opportunities to pool linguistic, content, and skills-related resources, thus allowing students to overcome learning difficulties associated with academic literacy practices. Ultimately, such activity frameworks appeared to mediate higher levels of student engagement within class activities, which students linked to more effective and enjoyable learning of academic English.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Geen opsomming beskikbaar

Au cours des 50 dernières années, la Palestine, a été le lieu d’une transformation importante tant du point de vue politique qu’économique, social, urbain, etc. Tout au long de cette transformation, le concept architectural des habitats traditionnels à cour (introvertis) a été abandonné en faveur de nouveaux concepts résidentiels (extravertis). Ces derniers sont quasiment identiques sur l’ensemble de la Palestine malgré ses différentes zones climatiques. Contrairement au concept traditionnel, les concepts contemporains n’ont malheureusement pas respecté les valeurs environnementales, énergétiques, fonctionnelles et socioculturelles tant sur le plan du coût que de la taille, de l’emplacement et de l’esthétique. En outre, les architectes se sont plutôt intéressés à l’environnement intérieur qu’à celui extérieur dans l’habitat contemporain. Pour toutes ces raisons, ce nouveau type d’habitat extraverti est en train d’être remis en cause ce qui justifie notre étude. Pour notre recherche doctorale, nous nous penchons sur le rôle que peut jouer par rapport à cette problématique l’espace extérieur (privé) et ses caractéristiques spatiales, environnementales et humaines. En quoi l’existence de la cour est-elle une stratégie efficace pour un habitat durable en Palestine ? Pour répondre à telles questions, nous avons dans une première phase commencé ce travail en présentant un état de l’art des différents repères et facteurs intervenants dans la conception de l’habitat, la transformation qu’a subie cette conception au cours du temps et la qualité des ambiances (hygrothermiques et lumineuses) dans ces espaces. Une attention particulière est apportée à la cour, forme traditionnelle de l’espace extérieur dans l’architecture vernaculaire ainsi qu’à ses fonctions. Pour l’habitat contemporain cet espace prend majoritairement la forme d’un balcon ou d’une loggia. Dans une deuxième phase, nous abordons l’interrelation entre l’espace extérieur et la question de la qualité des ambiances dans l’habitat palestinien (traditionnel et contemporain) à travers deux approches : qualitative et quantitative. Dans la première, nous effectuons une étude analytique et bioclimatique de l’habitat traditionnel dans deux villes climatiquement différentes. Nous investiguons ensuite les caractéristiques et la dimension socio-environnementale de l’habitat contemporain par le biais d’une enquête. Pour la seconde approche, nous réalisons des campagnes de mesures in-situ dans des exemples de différente typologie d’habitat en vue de valider les résultats obtenus par la première approche. Enfin, en termes de conclusion, nous proposons un ensemble de recommandations et principes conceptuels susceptibles d’améliorer la qualité des ambiances dans le futur habitat palestinien
Palestine has been witnessing enormous political, economical, social, cultural, urban…. transformation over the past 50 years resulted in changing the architectural residential designs from introverted into extraverted schemes. The latter are almost identical to all Palestine despite different climatic zones. Unlike traditional designs, contemporary architecture have, unfortunately, focused on issues such as cost, size, form and aesthetics rather than environmental, energetic, functional and socio-cultural values. Moreover, in contemporary housing, architects are more interested in interior environment than exterior. For all of these reasons, this new type of habitat extrovert is being questioned that justifying our study. This research focuses on the role of private outdoor space (traditional and modern) regarding spatial, environmental and human characteristics, How a courtyard is vital for sustainable housing in Palestine?To answer such questions, a state of the art of different benchmarks and factors involved in the housing design was presented in the first phase, the transformation it has been witnessing over time the hygrothermal quality and luminous environments. Particular attention was paid to the courtyard, a traditional form of outdoor space in the vernacular architecture and its functions. For contemporary dwelling this space takes mostly the form of a balcony or a loggia.In the second phase, the interrelationship between outdoor space and environmental quality of the Palestinian residences (traditional and contemporary) was discussed following two approaches: qualitative and quantitative. In the first one, an analytical and bioclimatic study of traditional dwellings in two cities (Jericho and Nablus) of two different climatic zones of Palestine was carried out. Then, the characteristics and the socio-environmental dimension in the contemporary housing design were investigated by conducting a questionnaire survey. For the second approach, in-situ measurements were carried out in a number of different habitat types to validate the outcomes of the first approach. Finally, in terms of conclusion, a set of design principles and recommendations were suggested that may improve the environmental quality in any future Palestinian residences

There is a consensus within the United Nations (UN), as well as various governmental entities, politicians, individuals, scholars, and academic communities, on the need to reform governmental performances. However, there is no unanimity among them pertaining to a specific reforming model that is valid for all contexts worldwide. Accordingly, many performance management processes and practical techniques have been put into practice, which aim at improving governmental institutions' performance. Hence, the purpose of this research is to develop, by studying the public health services that are provided by the government, an effective model, with the aim of improving governmental performance in the context of Bahrain. With regard to originality and values, the research discerns that among the many factors affecting governmental entities' performance, there are two dominant contextual factors, i.e. the sociocultural and political forces, both of which synergise with the so-called United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Good Governance Approach. The study develops a new perspective on the Interactive Complex Intervention Model (ICIM), stemming from the Grounded Theory (GT) and Normalisation Process Theory/Model (NPT/M), as disclosed in practical terms by the outcomes of the data gathered and its analysis. In fact, although those elements influence all other factors, there are interactive correlative impacts among all factors. Despite these outcomes, the data obtained from the research cannot be generalised, as they are derived from the local context of Bahrain; certainly until now, they can allow other similar contexts in particular to implement the insights reported in this study. It is important to note that the most influencing factor enabling this research, which aims to develop the ICIM for reforming governmental entities' performance in Bahrain, is the salient points raised in Imam Ali's famous consultative letter to the Governor of Egypt, Malik Ashtar, which he wrote while he was the Caliph, as scholars regard this letter as a basic guide for the Islamic administration and the UNDP Good Governance Approach. Regarding the practical implications, the research has attempted to empirically understand the role of the aforementioned primary contributing forces, that are regarded as the critical prerequisite - the first step that allows the governments' decision makers, based on the underlying knowledge involved in the work, to forthwith provide them with several contextual practical insights towards adopting the ICIM in order to enhance and reform the government entities' performance.

In the 21st Century and beyond, it is clear that science and technology will be a catalyst in strengthening economic competitiveness and fostering social cohesion. However, some minoritized students are not engaged in science or related careers in science such as medicine. This study addresses the systemic issue of equitable and accessible science education as a requisite for career acquisition such as medicine. Mentoring is presented as a sociocultural participatory activity for engaging students in science learning. The purpose of this study is to assess the University of Toronto Faculty of Medicine Summer Mentorship Program (SMP) and to use the data to theorize on the mentoring phenomenon. In 1994, the SMP was established as a means of ameliorating the traditionally low participation of Aboriginal and Black students in medicine and other health sciences. For the first 10 years (1994 – 2004), 250 participants enrolled in the program. Recently, ten past mentees of the program matriculated into various medical schools (5 in the Class of 2008 at the University of Toronto, this is significant, as the norm is usually 0 or at most 2). The study utilized a qualitative approach, requiring the collection of semi-structured one-on-one interview data and an interpretive phenomenological methodology to evaluate the data. There was an increased level of school and community involvement when students returned to high school and an increased awareness of the academic and career choices available to protégés. Mentees indicated that the influence of the SMP followed them much further than the end of the summer and considered it to be an important and defining moment in their educational journey. Communication could be improved so that mentors get a sense of their own impact and for professional development. Recommendations include conducting a study more focused on the impact of the SMP on Aboriginal students who completed the program. Finally, from a theoretical perspective, further work is recommended in order to fine-tune the proposed Mentoring Oriented Teaching and Learning Strategy (MOTALS) framework that incorporates students as natives in a welcoming community of science practice rather than immigrants in a strange land of non-contextual science knowledge.