Дисертації з теми "Cultura professionale"

This thesis discusses and promotes a humanistic way to interpret professionalism in the education and vocational training field. The aim of this research is contributing to transform the education of the future professionals into a concrete opportunity to make people able to participate in the social development, starting by supporting them in their processes of authentic development, both personal and professional. Currently, the theories and the principles that inspire the professionalizing practices in formal contexts are not closely connected to the foundations of the Philosophy of education based on the inheritance of The concept of Bildung. Therefore, in the first part of the thesis the points of contact and discordant elements among the theories of human Bildung and the patterns used in the educational practice for professionals are treated, in order to make emerge the problematic aspects that the maintenance of this separation produces. In accordance with the principle that says that every authentic professionalism can be achieved through a process that integrates the conformation to the professional models and differentiation from them, a new theoretical approach for the vocational training is proposed. It includes the reflections on (I) the authentical relationships among humans that can transform, both in the training contexts and in the professional practices, the interactions between trainers and trainees, among colleagues and between professionals and customers; (II) the subjective contributions that trainees can provide to their learning process and professional practices (emotions, opinions and personal attitudes are elements that are often marginalised in the training based on utilitarian training approaches); (III) the development of the reflective and transformative attitudes of the people, starting by the first stage of education till the adulthood.

Due sono le questioni che bisogna porsi per analizzare la “cultura di miniera nelle Alpi”: in che modo i fattori politici ed economici influenzarono la gestione e l’organizzazione mineraria? Esistono espressioni culturali specifiche della categoria professionale dei minatori? Pur nella loro diversità, le due questioni sono tra loro complementari. La presente ricerca è divisa in due parti: la prima prende in esame i sistemi di gestione e di organizzazione estrattiva nelle Alpi; a tal proposito sono stati comparati i contesti socio-economici delle seguenti comunità minerarie: del distretto minerario di Vipiteno-Colle Isarco ed in particolare della miniera di Ridanna-Monteneve in alto Adige; dell’Alta Val Trompia in provincia di Brescia; di Brosso e di Pont Canavese in provincia di Torino e di Premana in provincia di Lecco. La seconda parte di questo lavoro analizza le espressioni culturali della categoria professionale dei minatori che comprendono le leggende di miniera, i canti e le feste. Queste fonti sono importanti dal punto di vista antropologico in quanto esprimono i desideri, le ansie, le attese, in breve la coscienza dei minatori. I testi folklorici, soprattutto i canti, gettano luce sui loro modi di vita e di pensiero. Si tratta dunque di fonti autentiche per la conoscenza delle condizioni morali, oltre che materiali, dei minatori
Dans l’analyse de la culture minière dans les Alpes, il faut se poser deux questions: comment les facteurs politiques et économiques influencèrent la gestion et l’organisation minière? Est-ce qu’il existe des expressions culturelles spécifiques de la catégorie des mineurs ? Bien qu’elles soient très différentes, les deux questions sont complémentaires. Ce travail est divisé en deux parties : la première concerne les systèmes de gestion et d’organisation du travail minier dans les Alpes ; pour bien les analyser, on a comparé les contextes socio-économiques des communautés minières suivantes : le district minier de Vipiteno-Colle Isarco et en particulier la mine de Ridanna-Monteneve en Alto Adige. La Haute Val Trompia en province de Brescia ; Brosso et Pont Canavese en province de Turin et Premana en province de Lecco. La deuxième partie de ce travail analyse les expression culturelles de la catégorie professionnelle des mineurs comprenant les légendes minières, les chants et les fêtes. Ces sources sont très importantes du point de vue anthropologique, car elles expriment les inquiétudes, les désirs, les attentes, en bref la conscience des mineurs. Les textes folkloriques, surtout les chants, permettent de comprendre leurs vies et leurs pensées. Il s’agit donc de sources authentiques pour connaitre les conditions morales et matérielles des mineurs

Due sono le questioni che bisogna porsi per analizzare la “cultura di miniera nelle Alpi”: in che modo i fattori politici ed economici influenzarono la gestione e l’organizzazione mineraria? Esistono espressioni culturali specifiche della categoria professionale dei minatori? Pur nella loro diversità, le due questioni sono tra loro complementari. La presente ricerca è divisa in due parti: la prima prende in esame i sistemi di gestione e di organizzazione estrattiva nelle Alpi; a tal proposito sono stati comparati i contesti socio-economici delle seguenti comunità minerarie: del distretto minerario di Vipiteno-Colle Isarco ed in particolare della miniera di Ridanna-Monteneve in alto Adige; dell’Alta Val Trompia in provincia di Brescia; di Brosso e di Pont Canavese in provincia di Torino e di Premana in provincia di Lecco. La seconda parte di questo lavoro analizza le espressioni culturali della categoria professionale dei minatori che comprendono le leggende di miniera, i canti e le feste. Queste fonti sono importanti dal punto di vista antropologico in quanto esprimono i desideri, le ansie, le attese, in breve la coscienza dei minatori. I testi folklorici, soprattutto i canti, gettano luce sui loro modi di vita e di pensiero. Si tratta dunque di fonti autentiche per la conoscenza delle condizioni morali, oltre che materiali, dei minatori.
Analyzing the miners ‘culture in the Alpine environment, two questions are to be asked: how did political and economic factors affect the mineral organization and management? Can we find typical cultural expressions belonging to the miners ? Even if they are so different, these two questions can be complementary. This work is divided into two parts: the first one considering the different managing and organizing systems in the Alps: I compared socio-economic contexts in the following miners’ communities: the mining district of Vipiteno-Colel Isarco and the mine of Ridanna-Monteneve in particular,in Alto Adige. The mines in the Val Trompia, In the province of Brescia; the ones in Brosso and in Pont Canavese in the province of Turin, and Premana in province of Lecco. The second part of this work analyzes cultural expressions of the miners including mine legends, songs and celebrations. These sources are very important in an anthropological point of view, as they show wishes and fears, in brief, the conscience of the miners. Folkloric texts, songs in particular, highlight their way of living and thinking. They are actual sources permitting us to understand miners moral and material conditions.
Dans l’analyse de la culture minière dans les Alpes, il faut se poser deux questions: comment les facteurs politiques et économiques influencèrent la gestion et l’organisation minière? Est-ce qu’il existe des expressions culturelles spécifiques de la catégorie des mineurs ? Bien qu’elles soient très différentes, les deux questions sont complémentaires. Ce travail est divisé en deux parties : la première concerne les systèmes de gestion et d’organisation du travail minier dans les Alpes ; pour bien les analyser, on a comparé les contextes socio-économiques des communautés minières suivantes : le district minier de Vipiteno-Colle Isarco et en particulier la mine de Ridanna-Monteneve en Alto Adige. La Haute Val Trompia en province de Brescia ; Brosso et Pont Canavese en province de Turin et Premana en province de Lecco. La deuxième partie de ce travail analyse les expression culturelles de la catégorie professionnelle des mineurs comprenant les légendes minières, les chants et les fêtes. Ces sources sont très importantes du point de vue anthropologique, car elles expriment les inquiétudes, les désirs, les attentes, en bref la conscience des mineurs. Les textes folkloriques, surtout les chants, permettent de comprendre leurs vies et leurs pensées. Il s’agit donc de sources authentiques pour connaitre les conditions morales et matérielles des mineurs.

Per far fronte alle nuove sfide educative, i docenti delle scuole secondarie di primo e secondo grado hanno bisogno di esporsi ad esperienze di formazione continua, finalizzate all’acquisizione di competenze di progettazione necessarie all’allestimento di percorsi di apprendimento capaci di motivare e coinvolgere attivamente gli studenti. Ciò diventa tanto più necessario in mancanza di percorsi formativi di accesso al ruolo stabili e sufficientemente definiti, specie per un settore disciplinare come quello della didattica dello spagnolo e delle sue culture, che negli ultimi anni ha visto aumentare notevolmente la domanda di insegnanti specializzati. In questo senso, le comunità di pratica professionali rappresentano un valido strumento per stimolare dinamiche di interazione, supporto e scambio collaborativo, utili ad arricchire l’esperienza formativa di ciascuno con contributi spontanei di tipo informale. Tuttavia, per essere efficaci e costituire perciò un riferimento duraturo per i propri membri, le comunità di pratica professionali devono essere continuamente stimolate. Da questa premessa ha origine la principale domanda di ricerca che guida questa trattazione: può una comunità di pratica professionale essere trainata e stimolata attraverso proposte di e-learning che prevedano come attività finale la condivisione di un progetto didattico? Con lo scopo di fornire una risposta a questa domanda di ricerca e ad altri quesiti d’indagine secondari, questo studio sperimentale realizzato nell’ambito del dottorato di ricerca in Digital Humanities promosso dall’Università degli Studi di Genova, grazie anche al supporto metodologico e implementativo dell’Istituto per le Tecnologie Didattiche del CNR di Genova (ITD-CNR), intende descrivere il processo di allestimento e le ricadute empiriche di un ambiente multipiattaforma costituito da due spazi di coinvolgimento. Un corso online e un portale tematico, entrambi incentrati sulle principali metodologie didattiche di tipo ludico (gamification, game-based learning, serious games e game-making); approcci ancora poco esplorati dai docenti italiani, che possono contribuire all’innesco di circoli motivazionali virtuosi, anche grazie all’utilizzo di una ricca gamma di applicazioni e strumenti digitali disponibili.
In order to meet the latest educational challenges they are confronted with, teachers in lower and upper secondary schools need exposure to continuous training experiences, aimed at acquiring the educational planning skills required to set up learning paths which can inspire and actively involve students. This is all the more necessary in lack of clearly established, consistent training curricula for access to tenure, especially for an educational scope such as teaching Spanish language and cultures, which has witnessed a significant increase in demand for skilled teachers in the past few years. To this regard, professional practice communities provide a suitable tool to encourage interaction, support and collaborative exchange strategies, which may be useful to enhance and supplement individual learning experience with unprompted casual contributions. However, in order to be effective and thus represent a long-lasting role model for their members, professional practice communities should be constantly stimulated. The key research question this study is based on arises from this very premise – can a professional practice community be driven and inspired by e-learning projects leading to a shared educational plan as a final activity? Aiming at responding to this research question as well other ancillary research topics this experimental study, conducted within the scope of a Digital Humanities PhD programme sponsored by the University of Genoa and relying on the methodological and implementation support of the Institute for Educational Technologies of the Genoa National Research Council (ITD-CNR), intends to describe the set-up process and the experiential effects of a multi-platform environment consisting of two engagement spaces – an online course and a theme portal, both focusing on the main ludic teaching methods (gamification, game-based learning, serious games and game-making). These educational approaches are still relatively new to Italian teachers, but they may help trigger virtuous motivation circles, including through the use of a broad range of available applications and digital tools.

The process of care in Mental Health services (MHS) could be influenced by a number of different staff related factors, such as staff morale and burnout levels, staff technical and interpersonal skills, attitudes and values. Social processes are particularly relevant in the Mental Health sector, since workers deal with clinical conditions and care procedures that rely on professional social constructions. Mental health services staff in middle and high income countries is composed mainly by specialized workers such as psychiatrists, nurses, social workers, psychologists and support workers organized in multi-professional teams whose composition is determined by local level regulations. Beside the professional knowledge, each profession is also constituted by the social dynamics that are proper of a specific social group. The creation of a professional role, such as mental health nurse or clinical psychologist, leads to the development of a system of values, schema and knowledge, shared among the members of that professional group and that orient professional behavior and coping. Those shared cognitive and behavioral schemata constitute the “professional culture” (PC) that could be considered as a subsystem of the broader organizational culture and it also linked with further constructs such as professional identity, professional role, attitudes and beliefs toward clients, professional values, cultural artifacts and affective issues related to team working, inter-professional collaboration and clients. Currently, there's lack of studies that try to develop a comprehensive model professional culture of mental health professionals (PCMHP). This dissertation makes an attempt to define the construct of professional culture of mental health professionals using a bottom up approach to derive theoretical construct from empirical data. The first chapter introduces the issue of professionalization in mental health services. The main idea is that professionalization of mental health staff is the result of cultural changes in the history of the western countries that created a complexification of task and organization of mental health services. In the second chapter is presented a synthesis of the current literature performed using the meta-ethnographic approach to link together relevant qualitative studies on mental health staff work experiences. The results show that professionals working in mental health field share some common elements of PC such as the importance of the interpersonal relationship with users, the relevance of values in the professional practice and the need of keep a mindful and reflective attitude toward the work. The third chapter describes the development of a new questionnaire, the Bicocca Mental Health Professional Culture Inventory (BMHPCI) in collaboration with the research center of the Institut Universitaire en Santé Mentale de Montréal. A pilot phase was conducted to determine whether linguistic or cultural differences could affect items’ comprehension to prevent reductions of internal validity. BMHPCI validation phase is presented in chapter 4. Questionnaire validity and reliability was tested through a survey of a representative sample of mental health services workersThe instrument developed shows good psychometric properties and statistically significant correlations with team climate and burnout scores. Statistically significant differences in BMHPCI subscales were found between professional roles and mental health settings.

The present essay is the result of an ethnographic research, carried out through participant observation and interviews from September 2005 to September 2006 in the Milan branch of Etnocom, first – and unique so far – Italian communication agency operating in multicultural marketing (ethnomarketing). The research takes an interactionist, constructivist perspective, focusing not so much on organizations considered as basically stable, but on the social processes which inform their action (organizing); it inquires into the processes that inspire the everyday life of organizations operating in the professional communication field. The core of the research deals with the working activity of a group of professionals operating in the multicultural marketing: it was from that activity that originated and shaped the ethnomarketing business. However ethnomarketing is studied mainly for its capacity to emphasize dynamics and processes that pass the limit of its own professional sphere; it also helps to better understand the background of this new – for Italy – type of marketing. In other words, the study of ethnomarketing – in its embryonic stages – helps to emphasize and get a clearer idea of the implicit conditions and the social processes that permeate traditional marketing. Furthermore, the organizations of professional communication are a breeding ground of imagination and (scraps of) meaning, which many people will make use of in order to build and interpret the world they are living in. Thus, those who work in such organizations act as social workers, whether they are aware of it or not. Considering that today’s power shows itself in its capacity to control both language and imagination, if such power is concerned in the way the meaning of communication is produced and received, the observation and the research into the professional communication organizations afford a great many starting points for investigating into the complex connections between knowledge, communication and power.
Il presente studio è il frutto di una ricerca etnografica, svolta attraverso osservazione partecipante e interviste in profondità tra il settembre del 2005 e il settembre del 2006 all’interno della sede milanese di Etnocom, prima – e a tutt’oggi unica – agenzia di comunicazione italiana operante nel marketing etnico. Da una prospettiva interazionista e costruzionista, che focalizza l’attenzione non tanto sulle organizzazioni intese come realtà oggettive tendenzialmente stabili (organizations) quanto sui processi sociali che informano l’organizzare (organizing), la ricerca indaga dall’interno i processi che animano la vita quotidiana di una organizzazione operante nel settore della comunicazione professionale. Al centro dello studio vi sono le pratiche lavorative di un gruppo di professionisti riconducibili al ceto professionale del marketing etnico, a partire dalle quali prende forma e si struttura il campo economico-professionale dell’etnomarketing. Il marketing etnico, tuttavia, è indagato primariamente per la sua capacità di enfatizzare dinamiche e processi che travalicano il campo professionale dell’etnomarketing stesso e consentono di proiettare un fascio di luce sulla più ampia cornice in cui questa nuova (per il contesto italiano) tipologia di marketing si inserisce. In altri termini, lo studio delle pratiche che animano l’etnomarketing – in fase statu nascenti – consente di mettere a fuoco, enfatizzandole, le premesse implicite e i processi sociali che informano il marketing tradizionale. Le organizzazioni della comunicazione professionale sono, inoltre, delle fucine simboliche in cui si elaborano immaginari e (frammenti di) senso, che molte persone utilizzeranno per interpretare e costruire la realtà sociale in cui sono immerse; chi lavora all’interno di tali organizzazioni svolge dunque, che ne sia o meno consapevole, un ruolo di “operatore culturale”. Se è vero che il potere odierno si manifesta nel controllo dei linguaggi e degli immaginari, se tale potere ha a che fare con il modo in cui si produce e si riceve il senso della comunicazione, l’osservazione e lo studio delle organizzazioni della comunicazione professionale offrono una nutrita messe di spunti per riflettere sulle complesse connessioni tra conoscenza, comunicazione e potere.

Este estudo teve o propósito de compreender como os profissionais de saúde constroem o significado do sofrimento do paciente oncológico, segundo suas experiências. A investigação foi desenvolvida segundo as propostas da antropologia interpretativa de Clifford Geertz, a antropologia médica de Arthur Kleinman e no conceito de sofrimento de Morse. A amostra constou de doze profissionais, membros da equipe interdisciplinar que atuam com pacientes oncológicos. Os dados foram coletados por meio de entrevistas semi - estruturadas e de observações participantes, no contexto sociocultural hospitalar. A análise dos dados foi realizada segundo os pressupostos referencial metodológico de narrativas. Com as experiências relatadas pelos informantes foi possível compreender que os significados do sofrimento do paciente oncológico são construídos segundo os sistemas de cuidado cultural profissional e não profissional. O estudo levou a compreensão de que a experiência de sofrimento do paciente pelos profissionais leva a construção de significados comuns, integrados em temas que destacam a empatia, a emoção, o conflito, a individualização dos papéis, as estratégias de intervenção e que estão embasados nos conhecimentos culturais dos profissionais.
The purpose of this study was to understand how health professionals construct the meaning of oncology patients suffering based on their experiences. The research was conducted according to the Clifford Geertz proposal of interpretative anthropology and Arthur Kleinman medical anthropology and Morse?s suffering model. The sample was formed by twelve professionals, members of an interdisciplinary team that work with oncology patients. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews and participant observation at a hospital socio-cultural context. Data analysis was performed according to the presuppositions of the narrative method. Based on the experiences of suffering reported by the professionals, the author understood that the meanings of suffering to the oncology patients are constructed according to the professional and non-professional cultural care systems. The author concluded that the experience of suffering results in common meanings, integrated in themes such as empathy, emotion, conflict, role individualization, intervention strategies and that they are based on the professionals? cultural knowledge.

Orientador: Edineis de Brito Guirardello
Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Faculdade de Ciencias Medicas
Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-12T06:51:34Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Gasparino_RenataCristina_M.pdf: 3151695 bytes, checksum: aa41cf80c6b9d81e7b23176333f73544 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2008
Resumo: A prática profissional do enfermeiro é definida como um sistema que o apóia no controle sobre o cuidado prestado ao paciente e sobre o ambiente no qual esse cuidado é oferecido. As principais características de ambientes de trabalho que favorecem essa prática profissional são a autonomia, o controle sobre o ambiente e a relação colaborativa entre médicos e enfermeiros. A presença desses atributos no ambiente de trabalho contribuem para obtenção de resultados positivos para os enfermeiros: maior satisfação profissional e menor nível de exaustão emocional - "burnout"; para os pacientes: menor taxa de mortalidade e maior nível de satisfação com os cuidados recebidos e para a instituição: menores taxas de absenteísmo e rotatividade. O "Nursing Work Index - Revised" (NWI - R), é um instrumento que foi desenvolvido para avaliar a presença desses atributos no ambiente de trabalho do enfermeiro, porém não está disponível na cultura brasileira. O presente estudo teve como objetivo realizar a adaptação cultural do NWI - R e validação das suas subescalas, para a cultura brasileira. É um instrumento composto por 57 itens, dentre os quais 15 foram agrupados para derivar quatro subescalas: autonomia, controle sobre o ambiente, relações entre enfermeiros e médicos e suporte organizacional, que têm resultado em alta consistência interna. Para o procedimento metodológico de adaptação foram seguidas as etapas de: a) tradução; b) retrotradução; c) avaliação das equivalências semântica, idiomática, cultural e conceitual por um grupo de seis juízes que sugeriram alterações na maioria dos itens a fim de assegurar essas equivalências e d) pré-teste com 46 sujeitos. Participaram do estudo 278 enfermeiros de três instituições públicas. A validade das subescalas do NWI - R - Versão Brasileira foi avaliada por meio da validade relacionada com critério concorrente, em que as médias dos escores das subescalas foram comparadas com a variável satisfação com o trabalho e percepção da qualidade do cuidado oferecida ao paciente e correlacionadas com a variável intenção em deixar o emprego no próximo ano e pela validade de construto divergente, em que as médias dos itens das subescalas foram correlacionadas com as médias das subescalas do Inventário de "Burnout" de Maslach. Obtiveram-se correlações significantes tanto para a validade relacionada com critério como para a validade de construto. A confiabilidade foi avaliada por meio do coeficiente alfa de Cronbach e resultou em uma consistência interna satisfatória para os 57 itens do instrumento (a:0,95) e para as subescalas autonomia (a:0,63), controle sobre o ambiente (a:0,75), relações entre médicos e enfermeiros (a:0,75) e suporte organizacional (a:0,75). Conclui-se que o processo de adaptação do NWI - R foi realizado com sucesso e a validade e confiabilidade das subescalas foram consideradas satisfatórias, demonstrando a viabilidade da utilização das mesmas para o desenvolvimento de novas pesquisas, na cultura brasileira.
Abstract: The professional practice of a nurse is defined as a system that supports nurse controle over the delivery of nursing care and the environment in which care is delivered. The characteristics of work environment that enhance this professional practice are: autonomy, control over the work environment and relationships with physicians. The presence of these attributes in the work environment may break out positive results to nurses (higher nurse satisfaction and lower emotional exhaustion level - burnout); for patients (decreased mortality and higher patient satisfaction regarding received care) and for institutions (lower rate of absenteeism and turnover). The Nursing Work Index - Revised (NWI - R) was developed to measure these attributes of the nurse's work setting, however they are not available in brazilian culture. This study had the objective to do the cultural adaptation of the NWI - R and validate the subscales. The instrument contains 57 items and 15 were used to develop four subescales: autonomy, control over the work environment, relationships with physicians and organizational support, showing results of high internal consistence. For the methodological procedure of adaptation, the followed stages were: a) translation; b) back translation; c) the valuation of semantic, idiomatic, cultural and conceptual equivalences, which was made by a group of six judges who suggested alterations in most of the items in order to assure these the equivalences and d) pre-test with 46 persons. The sample was comprised of 278 nurses of three public institutions. The validity of the subescales NWI - R - Brazilian Version was evaluated by the validity regarding criterion, where the means of the subescales were correlated with the variables job satisfaction, perception of care quality offered to patients and the intention of leave the job in the following year and validity of divergent construct, where the subscales means were correlated with Inventory Burnout of Maslach subescales averages. Significant correlations were obtained, no only for validity regarding concurrent criterion but also for validity type construct. The reliability was evaluated by used the alpha coefficient of Cronbach showing results of satisfactory internal consistence for the 57 itens of the instrument items (a:0.95) and for the autonomy subscales (a:0.63), control over the work environment (a:0.75), relationships between physicians and nurses (a:0.75) and organizational support (a:0.75). The conclusion is that the NWI - R process of adaptation was accomplished with success and its validty and reliability of subescales were considered satisfactory , showing the viability of the instrument subescales use for the development of new researches in brazilian culture.
Mestrado
Enfermagem e Trabalho
Mestre em Enfermagem

During the last years, due to the globalization markets become more and more involved in an international level. Cultural diversity in the workplace is something common nowadays, it involves countless benefits for the companies and the other professional contexts. While simultaneously, it involves conflicts and misunderstandings therefore it is more and more required to get people able to deal with different cultures. The main purpose of our Thesis is to study the process through which an individual becomes able to deal and work with different cultures. In other words, we pretend to discover how someone can become culturally intelligent. This thesis has been conducted using the Grounded Theory method. By analyzing the data we have collected throughout eight interviews from different culturally intelligent people and the data we have obtained by reading literature, we came with the idea that the process for becoming culturally intelligent is composed by three elements: the first one is related with the individual, the second one is related with the interaction of the individual within a multicultural group and the third one is related with the benefits and disadvantages that emerged while someone is working with different cultures.

In recent decades, both global migration in general and specifically migration to Sweden have increased. This development compels the need for delivering healthcare to the increasingly diverse populations in Sweden. To support health professionals, for instance occupational therapists, in developing their professional knowledge in encounters with foreign-born clients a self-rating instrument measuring cultural competence is developed. This may contribute to the development of suitable services for foreignborn clients and improve person-centered interventions for these clients. The general aim of this thesis was to develop an instrument for health professionals by examining psychometric properties and utility of the Swedish version of the Cultural Competence Assessment Instrument (CCAI-S) among occupational therapists. The specific aim of study I was to evaluate the content validity and utility of the Swedish version of the Cultural Competence Assessment Instrument (CCAI-S) among occupational therapists. The study had a descriptive and explorative design. Nineteen occupational therapists participated, divided into four focus groups. Qualitative content analysis was used to examine the content validity and utility of the CCAI-S. The specific aim of study II was to examine the clinical relevance, construct validity and reliability of the Swedish version of the Cultural Competence Assessment Instrument (CCAI-S) among Swedish occupational therapists. The study had a cross-sectional design. A web-based questionnaire was e-mailed to a randomised sample of 428 occupational therapists to investigate the construct validity, reliability and utility of the CCAI-S. Factor analysis was performed as well as descriptive statistics. The findings from study I revealed high content validity for all 24 items. However, six items needed reformulations and exemplifications. Regarding utility, the results showed strong support for CCAI-S. The category ‘Interactions with clients’ showed that the CCAI-S could be utilised individually for the health professional and create a higher awareness of cultural questions in practice. The category ‘Workplace and its organisational support’ displayed potential for use in different workplaces regarding CCAI-S and indicated the importance of organisational support for health professionals in the development of cultural competence. The findings from study II regarding construct validity generated a three-factor model with the labels ‘Openness and awareness’, ‘Workplace support’ and ‘Interaction skills’. All three factors showed high factor loadings and contained 12 of the 24 original items. The Cronbach’s Alpha showed high support for the three-factor model. Concerning utility, the participants reported that all 24 items had high clinical relevance. In conclusion, the findings from the two studies indicated good measurement properties and high clinical relevance for the CCAI-S. This may sup-port the utilisation of CCAI-S in the Swedish context for health professionals, for instance occupational therapists. The results of the instrument development show that the upcoming published version of the CCAI-S can be a valuable self-assessment tool for health professionals who strive to improve in person-centred communication in encounters with foreign-born clients. CCAI-S can also be of support for the organisation to serve as a guide for what to focus on to develop cultural competence within the staff. Altogether this presumably influence the effectiveness of the healthcare and enhance the evidence of interventions for foreign-born clients. To develop an instrument is an iterative process requiring several evaluations and tests in various settings and populations. Therefore further psychometric testing and utility studies on the CCAI-S is crucial.

Since the statement of then -Secretary of Education Paige on the "soft bigotry of low expectations," the necessity of holding "high expectations" appears to be generally accepted as an important factor in student achievement. Secretary Paige asserted that not all teachers hold high expectations of their students, yet the possibility of such thinking is not typically acknowledged among educators. Instead there appears to be a presumption that all teachers do hold high expectations for their students and there is no evidence that this assumption is ever questioned. The assumption that high expectations are universally held negates belief that expectations should be part of the professional conversations in which educators engage and precludes the topic from being included in the professional development programs in which school staffs are engaged.

My review of literature includes learning from the other social sciences on beliefs, cultural assumptions, and expectations. This dissertation examines the development of negative stereotypes and manifestations of those stereotypes in the educational experiences, past and present of African Americans, as representatives of those segments of the population who have historically been under-served by education.

The results of the survey conducted as part of this study indicate that expectations are rarely included in professional development programs. Additionally, the results demonstrate a lack of consistency among districts in approaching similar challenges. Finally, a model developed to increase the effectiveness of professional development is proposed.

Professional interactions that are both functional and mutually beneficial are rare. The purpose of this study is to explore an application of a Third Culture Building (TCB) approach, a mutually constructed interpersonal process between two individuals, for Black American professionals (with advanced knowledge acquired from institutions of higher learning), to generate a new space in Predominantly White Institutions (PWis). These institutions include settings where the racial composition is becoming consistently more diverse (through past desegregation efforts). Although the U.S. has moved beyond integration and the monumental Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s, racism and intercultural barriers that prevent functional cross-cultural communication still exist in these settings. This research is directed toward answering the question: How might Black American professionals generate a Third Culture space in PWis through cross-cultural social exchange? The research builds on my previous study where the TCB approach was found to be conducive for the intercultural barriers faced by Black Americans in PWis. The research emphasizes the perspective of Black Americans and de-emphasizes the perspective of White Americans, given the body of literature that points to their adaptation and intercultural interactions in the U.S. and in international contexts. A sample of six Black American professionals (ages 30 to 72; 4 men and 4 women) from my baseline study was invited to take part in this study. Respondents were chosen based on their backgrounds and similarity of race, to learn about their perspectives of the intercultural interactions in PWis. Participants live in the Midwest region of the U.S. Using interpretive, critical theory, and other qualitative approaches, the discussions from a focus group and interviews were transcribed and combined with the interviewer's notes. The participants' responses were organized around TCB frameworks and the interview questions, and then reduced to codes. Two evaluators reviewed the interview data, codes, and themes.

Enric Prat de la Riba i Sarrà fou un destacat polític català que, en el període comprès entre 1907 i 1917, des de la presidència, primer, de la Diputació provincial de Barcelona i, més endavant, també de la Mancomunitat de Catalunya, impulsà una destacada actuació en els àmbits de les obres públiques, la beneficència i la cultura.

L'obra i l'actuació de Prat s'han estudiat des d'una triple orientació: com a home d'idees, que sistematitzà els principis doctrinals del nacionalisme catalanista; com a home de partit, que defensà els objectius polítics del catalanisme; i com a home de govern, que aconseguí dur a la pràctica alguns dels objectius que s'havien formulat des del catalanisme polític.

A la nostra recerca ens hem plantejat l'objectiu d'estudiar si l'obra institucional de cultura que impulsà Prat de la Riba com a home de govern, des de la presidència de la Diputació de Barcelona i de la Mancomunitat de Catalunya, va respondre al pensament polític i social que formulà en l'obra que escrigué com a home d'idees i que defensà com a home de partit.

Utilitzant com a font de dades primàries, amb un criteri cronològic, el corpus format per l'obra escrita completa de Prat la Riba, es desenvolupen els objectius generals següents:
- Conèixer el pensament de Prat de la Riba fins a l'any 1905, en què fou elegit diputat provincial, en referència al marc social i polític, a l'anàlisi que en feia i a les propostes que presentava: és la concreció del plantejament polític i social que Prat formulà com a home d'idees i com a home de partit abans de ser escollit diputat i president de la Diputació provincial de Barcelona.
- Conèixer quins eren els objectius que es proposà assolir Prat des de l'actuació política i a través de l'obra institucional que, de 1907 a 1917, promogué des de la presidència, primer, de la Diputació provincial i, més tard, també de la Mancomunitat de Catalunya.
- Analitzar si existeix una correspondència directa entre les propostes que presentà, com a home d'idees i com a home de partit, i les realitzacions concretes que impulsà des de les institucions en l'àmbit de la cultura catalana, com a home de govern.

Complementàriament, prenent com a referent el marc polític i social del període, es desenvolupen els objectius específics següents:
- Presentar els objectius polítics que formulà el catalanisme polític a les sis primeres Assemblees de Delegats que celebrà la Unió Catalanista.
- Presentar les demandes de regeneració de la política espanyola que es feren des de Catalunya i la petició d'establir un concert econòmic.
- Presentar l'ús que Prat va fer del recurs de l'emissió de deute públic per a poder dur a terme l'obra institucional que impulsà des de la Diputació provincial de Barcelona i des de la Mancomunitat de Catalunya.

La tesi s'organitza en una part primera, en què es presenta l'obra de Prat de la Riba publicada en el període anterior a la seva entrada a la vida política activa, fins el març de 1905, obra que per la varietat de les temàtiques tractades i del públic a qui es dirigia tenia una component pedagògica de divulgació de l'ideari catalanista i dels objectius del catalanisme polític; una part segona, en què es presenta l'obra de Prat de la Riba publicada en el període comprés entre la incorporació a la vida política activa i la seva mort, des d'abril de 1905 fins a juliol de 1917, que es correspon amb el desenvolupament de l'obra de cultura; la recapitulació i conclusions de la tesi, la bibliografia i els annexos.
Enrique Prat de la Riba y Sarrá fue un destacado político catalán que, en el período comprendido entre 1907 y 1917, desde la presidencia, primero, de la Diputación provincial de Barcelona y, más tarde, también de la Mancomunidad de Cataluña, impulsó una destacada actuación en los ámbitos de las obras públicas, la beneficencia y la cultura.

La obra y la actuación de Prat se han estudiado desde una triple orientación: como hombre de idees, que sistematizó los principios doctrinales del nacionalismo catalanista; como hombre de partido, que defendió los objetivos políticos del catalanismo; y como hombre de gobierno, que consiguió llevar a la práctica algunos de los objetivos que se formularon desde el catalanismo político.

En nuestra investigación nos hemos planteado el objetivo de estudiar si la obra institucional de cultura que impulsó Prat de la Riba como hombre de gobierno, des de la presidencia de la Diputación de Barcelona y de la Mancomunidad de Cataluña, se corresponde con el pensamiento político y social que formuló en la obra que escribió y que defendió como hombre de idees y como hombre de partido.

Utilizando como fuente de datos primarios, con un criterio cronológico, el corpus formado por la obra escrita completa de Prat la Riba, es desarrollan los objetivos generales siguientes:
- Conocer el pensamiento de Prat de la Riba hasta el año 1905, en que fue elegido diputado provincial, en referencia al marco social y político, al análisis que hacía y a las propuestas que presentaba: es la concreción del planteamiento político y social que Prat formuló como hombre de ideas y como hombre de partido antes de ser elegido diputado y presidente de la Diputación provincial de Barcelona.
- Conocer cuáles eran los objetivos que se propuso alcanzar Prat desde la actuación política y a través de la obra institucional que, de 1907 a 1917, promovió desde la presidencia, primero, de la Diputación provincial y, más tarde, también de la Mancomunidad de Cataluña.
- Analizar si existe una correspondencia directa entre las propuestas que presentó, como hombre de ideas y como hombre de partido, y las realizaciones concretes que impulsó desde las instituciones en el ámbito de la cultura catalana, como hombre de gobierno.

Complementariamente, tomando como referencia el marco político y social del período, se desarrollan los objetivos específicos siguientes:
- Presentar los objetivos políticos que formuló el catalanismo político en las seis primeras Asambleas de Delegados que celebró la Unión Catalanista.
- Presentar las demandas de regeneración de la política española que se presentaron desde Cataluña y la petición de establecer un concierto económico.
- Presentar el uso que Prat hizo del recurso de la emisión de deuda pública para poder llevar a cabo la obra institucional que impulsó desde la Diputación provincial de Barcelona y desde la Mancomunidad de Cataluña.

La tesis se organiza en una parte primera, en que se presenta la obra de Prat de la Riba publicada en el período anterior a su entrada en la vida política activa, hasta marzo de 1905, obra que por la variedad de las temáticas tratadas y del público a quien se dirigía tenia una componente pedagógica de divulgación del ideario catalanista y de los objetivos del catalanismo político; una parte segunda, en que se presenta la obra de Prat de la Riba publicada en el período comprendido entre la incorporación a la vida política activa y su muerte, desde abril de 1905 hasta julio de 1917, que se corresponde con el desarrollo de la obra de cultura; la recapitulación y conclusiones de la tesis, la bibliografía y los anexos.
Enric Prat de la Riba i Sarrà was a very important catalan politician. Since 1907 to 1917 he was the president (firstly in the provintial Deputation of Barcelona and later in the Catalonia Union, too). He stimulated a emphasized actuation in the public works, the charity an the culture fields.

In the culture field Prat de la Riba worked on an extensive whole of actions that treated about the ortographic normalization of catalan language and the creation of institutions as, for example, the Catalan Studies Intitute, the Catalonia Library, the Popular Libraries, the Theatre Institute, the Industrial School and the Work School.

Prat's work and action have been studied from a triple point of view: as an ideas' man (systematizing the doctrinal points of catalan nationalism), as a party-s man (defending the politic catalanism objectives) and as a government's man (he attained to lead to practice some objectives that had been formulated from politic catalanism).

In our searching we have proposed the objective to study if the culture insitutional work that Prat de la Riba carried out as a government man (from the provintial Deputation of Barcelona and the Catalonia Union presidency) answered to the political and social thought that formulated in the work that wrote as an ideas man and he defended as a party man.

The corpus shaped by the complete writen work of Prat de la Riba has been used as a mainly source. The following objectives are developed:
- To know the Prat de la Riba thought until 1905, when he was elected provincial delegate, in reference to the social and political framework, to the analysis that he did and the proposals that he show: this is the summary of the political and social exposition that Prat designed as a ideas man and as a party man before been elected delegate and president of the provincial Deputation of Barcelona.
- To know the objectives that Prat de la Riba was thinking on since the politic action and trough the institutional work that, since 1907 to 1917, promoted from the presidence (firtsly, from provincial Deputation of Barcelona and later from Catalonia Union).
- To analyze if exists a direct correspondence between the proposal that he shows, as an ideas man and as a party man, and the concrete accomplishments that he carried out from the institutions in the catalan culture field, as a government man.

In addition, using as a reference the social and politic framework of the period, the following specific objectives are developed:
- To show the politic objectives that politic catalanism formulated to the six first ones Delegate Assemblies that celebrated the Catalanism Union.
- To show the regeneration requests of the Spanish politic that were done from Catalonia and the request to stablish an economic agreement.
- To show the use that Prat did from the emission's resort of the public debt to be able to carry out the institutional work that he did from the provincial Deputation of Barcelona and from the Catalonia Union.

The thesis is organized in two parts. The first one shows the work of Prat de la Riba published in the previous period to his active political life, until the March of 1905. The work pedagogic component of Catalanist ideology and the objectives of the Catalanist politic were caused by the extent topics treated and the public. The second one, shows the Prat de la Riba's work published in the period between the insertion in the active politic life and his death, from April of 1905 to June of 1917, that corresponds to the culture work development. Finally, the recapitulation and the thesis' conclusions, the bibliography and the annexe.

O presente estudo, de natureza qualitativa e etnográfica, teve como grande objetivo identificar contributos da cultura relacional de escola para o desenvolvimento profissional dos professores. Foram para isso inquiridas nove professoras de uma escola básica dos 2° e 3° ciclos do concelho do Barreiro, através de entrevistas semiestruturadas. Dos discursos das entrevistadas, foi possível inferir o relevo que atribuíam ao papel positivo do órgão de gestão da escola na promoção de uma cultura escolar de apoio ao professor, com particular destaque para as estratégias de acolhimento e para a preocupação com o bem-estar docente. Verificou-se, além disso, que nesta escola tenderão a coexistir dois tipos essenciais de interações entre os professores: interações formais, como reuniões e outros encontros mandatados, e interações informais. Embora se possa admitir a presença na escola de alguns dos tipos de colegialidade apresentados na literatura, os professores pareceram privilegiar a individualidade, em detrimento de um trabalho mais colaborativo. Destaca-se, no entanto, a disponibilidade das inquiridas para a mudança e consequente adopção de práticas inovadoras. /ABSTRACT - The present study, of a qualitative and ethnographic nature, had as its main goal to identify contributions of the scholarly culture, in its relational dimension, for the professional development of the teachers, trough different stages of their professional lives. For that purposed, nine teachers working in a 2nd and 3rd cycles of basic education school were inquired, through half-structuralized interviews. During the analysis of the content of the interviewed speeches, it was possible to infer about the importance of the management board of this school, in particular, the promotion of a proper school culture, based on the acceptance and well-being of the teachers. On the other hand, we confirmed that in these school two essential types of interactions between teachers reign: one the formal interactions, with formal meetings, and another the informal interactions. In terms of collegiality or autonomy of the effectuated analysis, we concluded that it is the individualistic position that prevails; however, we noticed the will and the availability to change this, with the adoption of different and innovated practices.

The purpose of this investigation is to examine formal and informal resources available for teaching Spanish to health care professionals mainly in the Portland, Oregon area. Seventeen different Spanish-for-health-care-professionals texts are commented on by the author, some of which are the texts used in medical Spanish language classes. The majority of the texts contain little if any instruction on cultural aspects which affect the Latino patient population's health care behaviors and decision making. With the recent growth in the Latino population there is a greater demand for health care services by Spanish-speaking persons of the Latino community. The author discusses at length current information about the health status of this population, factors affecting access to health care, and language barrier. There is a lack of bicultural and bilingual health care professionals to provide needed health care services to Latinos. One factor is that the percentage of Latino medical and allied health providers is a small fraction of the percentage of Spanish-speaking patients in the U.S. Therefore, Spanish language instruction must be provided to medical personnel who do not have the cultural and language background to provide culturally relevant and efficient health care to Latinos. This language training must incorporate instruction on cultural issues that affect Latino patients' health care. At present very few Spanish-forhealth- care-providers texts and courses have this type of focus. Exemplary clinical programs specializing in the medical treatment of the Latino population, both inside and outside of the Portland Oregon area, are noted to highlight that effective and culturally relevant medical treatment is possible with adequate training of personnel. Outstanding courses integrating the instruction of both the Spanish language and culture are discussed. Often these courses are not offered as permanent parts of the curriculum. The author gives examples of some of the cultural issues that need to be addressed in language instruction, and makes suggestions for adapting this focus into Medical Spanish instruction.

This thesis aims to explore the interplay between culture and professional identity in global management consulting with a focus on the power relations and conflicts. A number of research gaps are identified in existing literature from different domains in association with the strategic and structural implications of globalisation for the management consulting field; culture in management consulting; formation of professional identities in management consulting; and identity, capital formation and career in management consulting. Accordingly, four research questions are set for the purpose of addressing the identified research gaps. Bourdieu's notion of field, habitus and capital is adopted as the core theory to study the management consulting field in terms of culture and professional identity by linking the field, firm and individual levels relationally and holistically. I also draw on the writings of other influential theories, notably Giddens' structuration theory, DiMaggio's ne o-institutionalism and Scot's concept of power relationships to complement Bourdieu's theories in relation to culture and professional identity. This research contains two elements - quantitative and qualitative. The quantitative element is founded upon comparative case studies on six leading global management consulting firms with supplement of practice related data source. The qualitative element is built upon in-depth semi-structured interviews with consulting professionals at different levels in the management consulting field. An empirical analysis is conducted in order to obtain a comprehensive illumination and comparison of management consultants' live experience of, and insights on, the interrelationship of culture and professional identity in global management consulting. This research presents a number of novel findings which have theoretical and empirical contributions to enrich our understanding of different areas of management consulting. This research contributes to the systematic analysis of the intellectual field that was not completed by Bourdieu. It also enriches the volume of organisation studies literature in relational approaches particularly in management consulting settings and encourages further research of the same kind.

The aim of this research was to explore the relationship between culture and the educational leadership of six secondary school principals in Samoa. Educational leadership is a bounded process and is subject to the cultural traditions and values of the society in which it is exercised. To date, no research has been undertaken on this topic in Samoa. This qualitative study used a semi-structured interview process to gather data from the secondary school principals who had been principals for more than three years in government schools. It also sought to explore how professional development of the principals might be undertaken. The principals in this study were interviewed both face-to-face and by telephone. The findings revealed that culture significantly impacted on their leadership. The matai culture was particularly influential. For example, respect, Christianity, role modelling and the importance of using the Samoan language to communicate within the school context were all influential. The findings also revealed the effective leadership styles applicable to Samoan school context in relation to indigenous cultural leadership. For example, inclusive/consensus/collaborative leadership style that is practiced in Samoan culture is effectively used by principals to lead schools. The organisational culture of the Ministry of Education Sports and Culture in Samoa (MESC) also considerably impacts on educational leadership. For example, the policies from the MESC sometimes contradict with the practice of the principals, such as the principal's practice of corporal punishment is a crime in the MESC and United Nation policies. This research also revealed the gap between the western models of leadership and the Samoan indigenous cultural context and leadership practice by the principals. Therefore, all the principals involved in this study positively engaged with their Samoan cultural values and beliefs to lead schools effectively. However some Samoan indigenous cultural values and beliefs impact negatively on the education system. They need to be considered so as not to inhibit the development of educational leadership of Samoan principals. Today's education has grown rapidly in terms of technology therefore educational leaders must adapt and change their leadership. Principals must be professionally trained so that they would lead effectively. According to Smith (1992, p. 9) To change education is to change society

Academics and social commentators have emphasised the importance of religion and specific cultural characteristics in influencing or explaining the perceptions, values and behaviours of cultural groups. The quantitative empirical research into ethical perceptions, intentions and behaviours has used culture and religion to define cultural groups, or compare and contrast two national cultural groups. Little focus has been placed on intra-cultural differences. While there has been some quantitative empirical research into the role of Thai Buddhist religiosity in ethical decision making, there has been no such research that deals with the unique Thai cultural characteristics of greng jai and patron-client relationships or differences between urban and provincial Thai managers and professionals. In the research conducted for this thesis, I explore the relationship between Thai Buddhist religiosity, patron-client relationships and greng jai, and ethical intentions, expectations of other’s behaviour and the nature of ethical dilemmas (ethical or unethical). In addition, intra-cultural differences between ‘Thai managers and professionals in Bangkok and ‘less developed’ provinces on these items are investigated. Survey responses from 522 Thai managers and professionals from Bangkok and provincial Thailand were obtained in the research conducted for this thesis. The instrument used includes five scenarios from previous research, two new scenarios that address greng jai and patron-client relationship dilemmas, demographic and cultural measures, and measures of ethical intentions, behaviour of others, and the nature of the ethical problem. Neither patron-client relationships nor greng jai were found to influence ethical intentions, perception of other’s behaviour or perception of the nature of ethical problems. This suggests that importance of these cultural characteristics has been exaggerated in previous qualitative research, that these previously important characteristics are no longer important, or that Thai managers and professionals insulate their ethical perceptions in business settings from Thai cultural influences. The latter explanation would indicate convergence of Thai business culture with a more modern globalised perception of business ethics. Thai Buddhist religiosity did not consistently play a role in perceptions of ethical intention, behaviour of others or the nature of the problems. In scenarios in which it did play a role, the effect was small. Again, this suggests that the importance of religiosity may have been exaggerated in the past, was once important but is no longer so, or that Thai managers and professionals compartmentalise the role of religion in business and non-business settings. No differences were found between Thai managers and professionals in Bangkok and provincial Thailand. Again, this suggests a convergence with a modern globalised perception of business ethics.

The overall goal of the research was to deepen our understanding of the culture of college access work through the views of practitioners who design and staff college access programs. This study sought to explore the values, standards, philosophical foundations, career patterns, and networks that influence and guide the work of college access professionals. The study was based primarily upon interviews with twenty college and university professionals who work in the state of Arizona and an analysis of the professional associations in which they participate. The study was modeled after Becher's analysis of the culture of academic disciplines and interview questions fell in the following categories: 1) characteristics of the field, 2) epistemological issues, 3) career patterns, 4) reputations and rewards, 5) professional activity, and 6) value systems. Results indicate that college access professionals tend to describe their work in terms of programs and services to students, family engagement, and developing capacity in the schools. The use of research varies amongst practitioners. The change in the scope of college access work and the growth in the field have also led to the creation of new professional associations. Implications of the study include the need for practioners and professional associations to collaborate, and the need for practitioners to build their knowledge base of the research supporting their work.

This paper reconsiders the relation between what is studied, here homelessness, and the way of study, here anthropology. We will arrive at the notion of moral regulation which is useful in thoughts of the complex implications of otherwise seemingly disparate phenomena: homelessness and anthropology. Along the way we touch on order and morality. It is suggested that the professionalization of anthropology might be an active detriment to cogent anthropological analysis.

Britain has a culture of long working hours, resulting in significant levels of work-related stress. Teachers are arguably the professional group most likely to experience pathological stress and burnout as a result of working long hours. Research in schools suggests that teachers’ work orientations are strongly influenced by factors of personal identity, social background, career stage and personal resilience to stress. In Further Education (FE) research hitherto has emphasised the impact of Government policy and managerial style on teacher behaviour, and notions of teacher professionalism. There has been less research into the impact of FE teacher identities and attitudes towards work upon their working lives. This thesis investigates the relatively under-researched area of work culture within a single FE College, in an attempt to discover the reasons underlying teacher’s reactions to the pressures of overwork. In-depth, semi-structured interviews were carried out with 13 teachers and managers to investigate teacher responses to the work culture of the College. Based upon existing theoretical models of stress and burnout, three groups of potential determinants are explored: personal identity, the social context of the College, and the impact of external political, economic and social factors. The research confirms the existence amongst College teachers of a culture of working long hours, and identifies examples of stress and burnout. Interview responses support previous research findings concerning the central importance of teacher identity. Interview data underline the importance of personal factors in determining teachers’ responses to workload and their resilience to stress. A model is developed which summarises potential teacher responses to workload stress, and proposes ways in which these may be linked to factors of teacher identity and work cultures. The findings also highlight the pivotal role of managers and work teams in supporting teachers, particularly those most emotionally susceptible to stress.

The socio-economic challenges caused by ageing populations, are encouraging many countries to re-evaluate the place of older people in society and to adopt measures to encourage active ageing. Brazil and the UK will have similar proportions of people aged 60 or over as a percentage of the total population by 2050. As a consequence of this, changes to retirement policies in the UK and Brazil, aim to make the welfare system more financially sustainable. It is therefore relevant to study the retirement patterns of occupational groups where their members hold specialised skills, knowledge and have the scope to remain active for longer. This study aims to compare the transition to retirement of academics and their experiences of professional continuity thereafter, in Brazil and the UK. A mixed methods approach combining an on-line survey and in-depth narrative interviews was used to address the research questions. The study found that among Brazilian and UK retired academics there was a desire for a continuity of professional identity, and most tended to experience some professional continuity following retirement. How the retirees engaged in academic activities varied among individuals; the amount of activities usually related to time in retirement, age and health status. It was noted that in the UK there was more scope for alternative retirement arrangements than in Brazil. Life satisfaction in retirement was associated with financial stability, enhanced freedom and the possibility to actively use academic skills and knowledge. The findings suggest that universities’ retirement policies should be made more transparent and, in some cases, reviewed. Additionally, retirees should be encouraged to prepare for retirement to facilitate their adjustment. It is suggested that future research should investigate the retirement of women in academia, the retirement policies of universities and the retirement of academics in other countries.

In my scientific essay, I an experienced child minder, describe two different preschools cultures and investigate how preschool culture can be influenced and created by different conditions. In my first story I describe a professional preschool with a preschool director who is involved in the activities every day. The second story is about a preschool that is characterized by a different preschool culture and members of the staff who are stuck in old patterns and with an absent preschool director. What is it that really creates a professional preschool? I want through my essay highlight pedagogues child perspective, attitude, approach to ethics and preschool values. I'm also researching preschool manager's responsibility and commitment in the preschool educational activities. The text treats communication as an important aspect of a preschool to function. To examine the issue of preschool culture, I use current research literature on professional ethics reflecting on what it is that can affect a preschool culture. It's also about the pedagogue’s ability to handle different situations with children, parents and colleagues, in a respectful manner. All employees within the preschool have the same mission and commitments including through preschool curriculum. "Why is there a difference between preschool cultures and the quality of preschools? And "How can I, as an experienced child minder, influence and develop the educational activities, values and attitudes that have characterized a preschool for many years?" I have come to the conclusion that commitment and understanding about the preschool assignments both from the preschool manager and pedagogues contribute to how a preschool culture is created. Above all, each and every individual within the preschool has an important role in the preschool in order to create a professional environment with a culture of good quality.

Class of 2010 Abstract
OBJECTIVES: To examine the potential differences in attitudes between the colleges of pharmacy, nursing, medicine, and social work relating to the “Culture and Communication” IPE activity at the University of Arizona in 2007. METHODS: This was a retrospective study comparing the opinions and attitudes of different groups of healthcare students concerning the IPE activity “Culture and Communication” at the University of Arizona. The independent variable in this study was academic discipline: medicine, pharmacy, nursing, law, or social work. The dependent variables were the attitudes and opinions of the effectiveness of this IPE activity on Culture and Communication. RESULTS: A total of 589 questionnaires (medicine=119, pharmacy=89, nursing=77, social work=21) were completed and included in 2007. Overall, students felt the Culture and Communication IPE activity improved their knowledge of how to identify barriers to communication and reduce the likelihood of miscommunication with other healthcare professionals. The percent of students who believed they had a very high understanding of the barriers to effective communication among health care providers increased from 11.3% before the IPE activity to 34.5% after. The percent of students who believed they had a very high knowledge of how to reduce the likelihood of miscommunication increased from 6.6% before the IPE activity to 37.4% after. There were differences between the groups relating to the different questions that the questionnaire focused on. CONCLUSIONS: There were significant differences between the various healthcare professionals relating to the usefulness and effectiveness of the Culture and Communication IPE activities at the University of Arizona. Overall, students seemed to benefit from and enjoy the IPE activity and would recommend having future students participate in the activities. The majority of students felt the Culture and Communication IPE activity was benificial and allowed for the improvement of relationships and attitudes between the health care professions. There were similar responses between the medicine, nursing, pharmacy, and social work students.

Within the Hollywood film industry, sound is marginalized as the lowest status craft whose use and functions are often not considered until the last phase of filmmaking. The professional culture of Hollywood film sound is wrought with social, political and occupational misgivings as a result of sound's lower status. This thesis utilizes empirical research in an examination of the professional discourse of film sound practitioners to illuminate the issues, conditions and politics of labor that affect and form the professional culture of Hollywood film sound. Hollywood film sound practitioners critically analyze and theorize over social, occupational and political aspects of their work in email discussion groups such as the Sound Article List and the Sound Design List as well as within the professional journals of the Cinema Audio Society and the Motion Picture Editors Guild. The examination of professional discourse between Hollywood film sound practitioners reveals tension within the professional culture concerning filmmaking practices, work roles, professional identity, creative contribution, recognition and status. An in- depth case study considers the ways in which one leading practitioner, Oscar winning sound designer and re-recording mixer Randy Thorn, actively engages in discourse and activity invested in improving the marginalization of film sound and film sound practitioners. This investigation of industrial reflexive professional discourse and film sound organizations illuminates a dynamic picture of the professional culture of Hollywood film sound and how practitioners conceive and negotiate their professional identities, status within the industry and their impact on film.

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This doctoral thesis is connected to the research line "Education, Society and Culture", developed in the PHd. Education Program at PUC Goiás. In recent years, the discussion about the teaching knowledge occupied considerable space in the discussion on school education practice, resulting in the creation of various types of knowledge and the materialization of efforts to build a guided epistemology to recognize the complex nature of the teaching activity. The investigation started from the teachers relationship with their work, as well as the ways of being and acting of this profession, at the Technical Course in Agriculture Integrated to High School, in a school whose culture is guided by the shape of an agricultural education. The theory focuses mainly on Pierre Bourdieu´s sociological concepts. The analyses are based on his concept of habitus. This habitus consists of the life styles, manners and tastes incorporated in the life history of teachers, their psychic dispositions. And all these related to the process of teaching. Thus, the analyses take in the methodologies and assimilated attitudes in the teaching experience, initially experienced as students and then as teachers and knowledge professionals of the field, and other experiences in different formative spaces or different instances of socialization. In specific, the thesis was based on existing production in the institutional field, based on the Culture Theory, whose foundations were sought in Williams, Cevasco, and contributions from other studies about the teaching culture, based in the concepts of teaching culture - discussed by Viñao Frago, Dominique Julia, Jean-Claude Forquin, and Pérez Gómez and teaching skills, developed by Tardif, Nóvoa and Perrenoud (1993, 2001, 2002). It dialogues, also, with the literature in the area of Labor and Education, about the purposes and goals of professional education. This is mostly a qualitative research that, in terms of methodology, involves the identification and the study of bibliographical sources; data collection through documental analysis; the use of questionnaires; semistructured interviews with selected teachers, according to the research criteria; also the systematic observation of teachers´ everyday life in the school facility. Data related to student and family trajectories were collected in addition to teaching practices on professional education. It was identified a teacher habitus in the teaching practices and in the professional education. There is a construction through the history of this teacher and it is inscribed on profession rituals, memories of primary socialization and different conceptions about teaching, diluted in the formation courses of professional education teachers. And all these make the professional teaching culture unique. This study represents the achievement of new insights and, in a broader perspective, it appears as an important contribution in the range of academic productions on this theme because it is relevant and still underexplored.
A presente tese de doutorado vincula-se à Linha de Pesquisa Educação, Sociedade e Cultura do Programa de Pós-Graduação em Educação - PPGE da Pontifícia Universidade Católica de Goiás - PUC Goiás. Nesta pesquisa, investigou-se a relação dos docentes com seu trabalho, suas formas de ser e agir, em uma escola cuja cultura é pautada pelo formato da educação profissional agrícola. Está centrada, teoricamente, nos conceitos sociológicos de Bourdieu, na análise do habitus dos docentes da educação profissional, considerando suas disposições psíquicas, estilos de vida, maneiras e gostos incorporados na trajetória de vida, por meio de metodologias e atitudes assimiladas nas experiências de ensino, vividas inicialmente como alunos e depois, como docentes e profissionais da área de conhecimento, além de outras experiências em espaços formativos diversos ou diferentes instâncias de socialização. Fundamentou-se na produção existente no campo institucional, segundo a teoria da cultura, em Williams e Cevasco, e as contribuições aos estudos da cultura escolar discutidos por Viñao Frago, Dominique Julia, Forquin e Pérez Gómez e nos conceitos de saberes docentes, desenvolvido por Tardif, Nóvoa e Perrenoud. Dialogou-se com a literatura da área de trabalho e educação, acerca dos fins e objetivos da educação profissional. Considerando essas reflexões, apresentaram-se algumas questões norteadoras com relação aos docentes do Curso Técnico em Agropecuária do Instituto Federal Goiano - Câmpus Urutaí: Quais habitus mobilizam sua prática? Quais os fundamentos da cultura escolar que sintetiza o habitus professoral? Há especificidades em relação ao habitus, em se tratando da profissão docente dessa modalidade? Quais concepções de ensino norteiam a constituição do habitus professoral nesse campo? No delineamento da pesquisa de matriz metodológica qualitativa, foram utilizados como procedimentos para a base empírica: análise documental, questionários, entrevistas e observações. Utilizou-se a análise de conteúdo para organização e categorização dos dados, que foram interpretados a partir dos pressupostos do método dialético. Constatouse que no exercício da docência, há um habitus professoral construído por meio da trajetória do docente em estudo e nele estão inscritos rituais da profissão, memórias da socialização e diferentes concepções sobre a docência, diluídas nos fazeres docente. Esta investigação visa colaborar com a compreensão do modo como os docentes constroem a docência e convivem com as especificidades do campo da educação profissional, possibilitado pela compreensão do habitus professoral e, a partir dele, contribuir para em outros domínios da cultura da escola. Visa, ainda, provocar a reflexão sobre os aspectos constitutivos do habitus professoral dos docentes da Educação Profissional, gerando elementos impulsionadores de debates entre os formadores e entre os próprios docentes, possibilitando o aperfeiçoamento e a qualificação do trabalho nessa modalidade de ensino. Apresenta contribuições sobre a produção e a natureza do habitus, considerando que o trabalho docente na Educação Profissional se realiza por meio de um habitus professoral, independente da formação específica para a docência. Apresenta relevância no conjunto das produções acadêmicas, uma vez que é pouco explorado, principalmente, em termos de educação profissional agrícola e, ainda, contribui, de forma significativa, com o desvelamento e a compreensão do desenvolvimento institucional da escola.

This study aimed to explore professionals’ experiences of working with cultural differences within Early Intervention in Psychosis Services (EIPSs), to develop insights that will support professionals in working effectively and appropriately with diverse service users experiencing psychosis. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with ten professionals undertaking the role of a Care-Coordinator within EIPSs, and thematic analysis was conducted to generate a broad range of themes. Care-Coordinators experienced cultural factors as both useful and obstructive within their work. It appeared that their efforts to be culturally-competent were constrained by the limits of the service, with regard to the service culture and service demands and priorities. Their own cultural backgrounds also posed challenges for how service users engaged with them, and how they, in turn, engaged with service users. Care-Coordinators experienced a range of communication challenges that impacted on their sense of control and inhibited their ability to assess psychotic symptomology accurately, and therefore their understanding of the service user’s presentation. What Care-Coordinators appeared to value was the importance of gaining cultural knowledge and developing links with the community to support them in providing culturally-competent care. While EIPSs are not cultural services, the results have placed an emphasis on the various challenges experienced in working with cultural differences, including challenges in disentangling psychotic symptomology from cultural phenomena. This suggests that culture is not something that simply needs to be attended to, but something that is crucial to the role of Care-Coordinators within EIPSs, in supporting their ability to make accurate interpretations of service users’ presentations, and support their mental health needs most effectively. The findings highlight a range of suggestions for developing culturally-appropriate practices within EIPSs.

Cultural competence and ethical decision making are two separate, yet intrinsically related concepts which are central to services rendered by all health care professionals. Cultural competence is based on ethical principles and informs ethical decision making. In spite of this important connection, the interrelationship of these two concepts does not receive the attention it deserves in the literature. This issue is addressed by appraising the training and assessment of cultural competence and ethical decision making in the health care professions. The integrated relationship of these two concepts is illustrated within the broader contexts of higher education, research and clinical practice. Health care professionals who incorporate cultural competence and ethical decision making will be empowered to provide the best services to their clients/ patients in multicultural contexts to ensure optimum outcomes.

Composing Containment speaks to the paradigm shift in composition studies that has been codified in a number of ways, such as the post-process movement, social-epistemic rhetoric, and cultural rhetoric. Integrating concerns in reception theory, textual and cultural analysis, rhetorics of difference, queer theory, and critical composition pedagogy, each chapter includes an investigation of the rhetorical construction and ideological function of difference in a particular social site: the disciplinary practices in composition, the pop-culture program, Will & Grace, and the discourse advocating the legalization of same-sex marriage. Admittedly, these are substantially different sites of inquiry with their own distinct rhetorical, generic, and political expectations; each site deploys difference as it participates in the production of dominant social values, however. Moreover, as the critiques presented in this project reveal, these sites produce similar ideological effects that secure racist, sexist, classist, and heterosexist ideology. Articulating this discursive resonance extends scholarship in rhetoric and composition in multiple ways. First, it engages the discourse of sexuality in order to further chart its rhetorical terrain. Second, while doing so, it identifies and critiques a dominant rhetorical strategy of this discourse, the rhetoric of incorporation. Third, it models a process of critique to demonstrate how this rhetoric works in contradictory ways. While it creates an image of progressive politics through its inclusion and apparent advocacy on behalf of the Other, for instance, the rhetoric of incorporation actually functions to contain the potentially disruptive power of difference---whether that difference is associated with queerness, basic writing, or liberatory pedagogy. Finally, this project suggests that the social prominence and efficacy of this rhetorical strategy can be countered only with methods of critique that link studies of rhetoric to theories of ideology and materiality.

Abstract The culture of law enforcement is an all or nothing proposition with no gray area where membership into this society is concerned. You are either “on the job” or you are not. Even references among officers to “the job” indicate there is only one job. Likened to a secret handshake, that initial phrase if answered correctly opens the door to instant fraternal acceptance, get out of violation passes, and the many other assumed privileges of brotherhood. Manning (1980) describes the powerful mystification of policing as the “sacred canopy”. He further asserts that “the police role conveys a sense of sacredness or awesome power that lies at the root of political order, and authority, the claims a state makes upon its people for deference to rules, laws and norms” (Manning, 1980, p. 21). These elements make policing unique to all other American occupations. The sacredness of the profession creates social autonomy protected by the officers’ code of silence. Operating in this vacuum apart from public accountability fosters an environment for behavior outside of laws the institution is charged with enforcing. My research shows the process of occupational socialization ushers officers into a state of becoming blue, or the enculturation of expectant behavior and actions. I confirm that assignments into the Special Operations Group (SOG) facilitate a subculture separate and apart from the institutional ideals (Librett, 2006) and encourage a darkening of the shade of blue identifying officers with a labeling of deviance. While previous research identifies the code of silence as a by-product of the policing culture, my research identifies it as fundamental for maintaining the covenant of the dark blue fraternity.

Professional learning communities (PLCs) are a group of educators working collaboratively to improve student achievement and expand the pedagogy of the individual as well as the group. Studies on PLCs, grounded by the social constructivism theory of Vygotsky, Bandura, and Wenger, have found that collaboration and collegiality foster a positive school climate. This case study explored the perspectives of PLC participants at a suburban high school on the impact of their PLC on the school's culture. Ten teacher participants with at least 2 years of experience at the research site were individually interviewed, and 5 observations of content PLC meetings were conducted. Data were open coded to determine emergent trends. The analysis resulted in thick, rich descriptions of the experiences of the teacher participants. The findings suggested that the school's ineffective use of PLCs negatively affected its culture due to a lack of established norms, collaboration, communication, and accountability. A professional learning opportunity was developed focusing on effective PLC usage and the impact on school culture. The study supports positive social change by providing school leaders and PLC participants at the study site with information to sustain PLCs in a manner that promotes a positive school climate that could lead to a more efficient, consistent learning environment that benefits students.

The purpose of this research project has been to gain a deeper awareness of the practice of Cultural Awareness Training and to develop resources that will support other practitioners in the field. My hope in undertaking this project is to make the wider community more aware of what it means to be Aboriginal, at a time when jail is replacing initiation for many young Indigenous people. I want to engender a greater understanding about social, cultural and political issues in the Aboriginal community, by building bridges of awareness between Indigenous and Western cultures. My research question is: How does my approach to Cultural Awareness Training deal with uninformed and racist attitudes towards Aboriginal people in ways that effect positive, constructive change? In the documentation of my professional practice, I have examined critical incidents that have shaped my responses to uninformed and racially stereotyped attitudes within an educational context. This includes stories of overt racism in the classroom experience. In undertaking critical reflection about my professional practice as a Cultural Awareness Trainer, I have aimed to provide insights, as well as practical resources, to support the professional practice of others in this field.

2008 saw the implementation of a new Ethics and Religious Culture program in Québec classrooms. This program replaces the former religious and moral instruction courses and has the potential for being ground-breaking and transformative. In order to teach this program teachers are required to adopt a professional stance of objectivity and impartiality. Although a beginning exploration, this thesis demonstrates that cultural norms of Whiteness are impeding the successful implementation of the new ERC program. The majority of pre-service teachers are white, Christian and female who are unaware of privilege and who enter teaching with the objective to civilizing their students. Observations of and discussions with both pre-service and classroom teachers indicate a dialogue has begun and that more self-examination and critical reflection is necessary before this program can experience success.
En 2008, dans les écoles du Québec, on a mis en œuvre un nouveau programme d'éthique et de culture religieuse. Ce programme vient remplacer les anciens cours d'instruction religieuse et morale et pourrait être innovateur et transformateur. Il est requis que les enseignants qui enseigneront ce cours adoptent une attitude d'objectivité et d'impartialité.Bien que cette thèse ne soit qu'un début d'exploration, elle prouve que les normes culturelles de la blancheur nuisent au succès de la mise en œuvre du nouveau programme ÉCR. La plupart des professeurs qui ont l'intention d'enseigner le cours sont caucasiennes, chrétiennes et des femmes, qui ne sont pas conscientes des privilèges et se lancent dans l'enseignement dans le but de civiliser leurs élèves.L'observation des enseignants et enseignantes avant qu'ils ne commencent leur carrière et en cours de route, ainsi que les discussions avec eux et elles, indiquent qu'un dialogue a été amorcé et que plus de prise de conscience de soi et de réflexion critique seront nécessaires avant que ce programme ne puisse réussir.

As Saudi Arabia strives to position itself strategically in global markets in response to globalization, education has become one of the most important tools to achieve this aim. While demands for reform in Western countries have fostered new notions of school excellence, equivalent concepts have to date received little attention in Saudi Arabia. This study aims to fill this gap by exploring the nature of outstanding schools in Saudi Arabia, and thus claims to be an original and important contribution to the understanding of this phenomenon. A qualitative case-study approach was used drawing on data from three high schools in Saudi Arabia, each having been rated outstanding by the city’s local authority. Principals, Deputies and Social Instructors from the three schools were interviewed (n=9), while group interviews were conducted with the majority of teachers from each school (n=68); 25 out of 26 teachers from school 1; 20 out of 24 teachers from school 2 and 23 out of 28 from school 3. In addition, the daily work of Principals in each school was observed and relevant documents were collected. The resulting data were thematically analysed using a framework based on the inter-related concepts of leadership practices, culture and professional development The findings reveal that leadership practices in these outstanding schools included a number of common features, such as establishing school vision, restructuring the organisation, leadership distribution, effective communication, strategic planning and quality assurance. Cultural aspects revealed the effect of both macro-level cultures: global and national cultures on these schools, as well as micro-scale effects. Professional development was perceived to be important, and both leaders and teachers engaged in training opportunities. While these results cannot be generalised, it is hoped that they will be important to inform practitioners, policy makers and researchers about the nature of outstanding schools in Saudi Arabia.

The purpose of this paper is to study cross-cultural communication from a Chinese perspective. Professional relationships between the West and China have become pivotal in the political, economic, and cultural domains. It is, therefore, of importance to understand and make use of different communication practices in a bilateral context. This research draws upon studies in the field of sociolinguistics and the material consists of Chinese papers and journals as well as interviews and questionnaires. The results show that the differences in communication practices from a Chinese perspective are considered significant in terms of certain aspects; the reasons at large being argued as cultural and societal. The results furthermore show that direct communication style is regarded as confrontational and emotionless, the strong emphasis on the individual is seen as rude and impolite and the Western concept of negative face is not applicable to Chinese conditions. Factors as high and low context, collectivism and individualism, direct and indirect communication style as well as face is of great importance to better understand and avoid pragmatic failures regarding professional relationships in a bilateral context.
本文的目的在于从中文的视角来研究跨文化交际。中瑞双边关系在政治、经济和文化等领域都十分关键。因此，在中瑞双边语境下，正确理解和应用不同的交际习俗也变得非常重要。本文通过总结社会语言学领域的研究成果，参考中文报刊杂志的语言材料，结合问卷和访谈，得出了以下结论:中瑞交际习俗的差异在某些特定方面影响显著，其原因在于文化和社会方面。在中文的视角下，直接交际的交际风格被认为是具对抗性的和缺乏情感的，而在西方文化中，“面子”的贬义概念并不适用于中国的情况。在中瑞双边语境下，正确理解高语境和低语境、集体主义和个人主义、直接交际风格和间接交际风格等因素对于更好地理解双边关系、避免语用失误有着极其重要的意义。

Abstract A STUDY OF A PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT INITIATIVE TO INCREASE CULTURAL COMPETENCY By Jennifer Crowe Coleman, Ph.D. A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at Virginia Commonwealth University. Virginia Commonwealth University, 2014 Major Director: Charol Shakeshaft, Ph.D. Professor, Department of Educational Leadership School of Education While there are broad, societal forces that contribute to achievement gaps, the professional development of teachers is one way educational leaders have sought to improve schools, improve teacher performance, and increase teacher knowledge and skills. Given the achievement and cultural gaps that exist between teachers and students, professional development that targets the development of teacher cultural competence in an effort to reach all students is necessary. The purpose of this study is to describe the implementation of a cultural competency professional development program across 62 schools in a large, suburban school district in central Virginia, comparing and contrasting implementation activities and outcomes over the 2-year period of its implementation with the initial expectations for the professional development initiative. This quantitative, nonexperimental study was carried out in two phases. The purpose of Phase 1 was a content analysis of the professional development plans of each of the district’s schools. Phase 2 consisted of a multiple choice, electronic survey of those who were trainers of the cultural competency professional development initiative in order to examine the implementation of the cultural competency professional development program and the relationship between the intended goal and the actual outcomes of the initiative. The survey was also used to collect demographic data, such as race and years of experience in education, in order to determine what, if any, impact these factors may have had on the implementation of the professional development initiative. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to generalize the results to the population the sample represents. As this initiative was not designed to provide the training necessary to expect changes in classroom practice, this survey and its analysis focused on the trainers’ perspectives on the implementation of the professional development initiative. The results of this research were offered to frame a discussion around the fidelity of implementation; the factors that affected implementation; the relationship between the intended goals of the initiative and the actual outcomes of the initiative; and suggested next steps for the district as it moved toward a goal of a more culturally proficient workforce.

Indian academics leave India in large numbers to study or work abroad, primarily in the U.S.A., Great Britain, and Canada. Some subsequently return to India with new skills, knowledge, behaviour patterns, views and expectations.
This study focuses, within the context of the migration process, on the professional and personal adaptation of returning Indian academics. It examines adaptation in relation to motivations for emigration from India, life abroad, and return motivations.
Professionally, returnees face conflicts with the nature of the institutional environment, with limited opportunities to maximize the skills and knowledge acquired abroad, with the lack of support for research, and the resulting constraints on the contributions they could otherwise make to science and development.
At a personal level, they face conflicts with regards to salary and living conditions, differences in culture and value systems, and conformity with the expectations of others.

This multiple case study was designed to explore the adjustment and cultural learning of sojourning English language teachers (ELTs) in Japan and South Korea. Qualitative research methods were used to design the study and to collect the data. Using Holliday's Host Culture Complex model (1994) as a theoretical framework, shared patterns in the adjustment process emerged from the participants' blogs and interviews. The patterns provide evidence supporting cultural learning through relationships with various people in different parts of the host culture complex. The strongest pattern revealed that the relationship between sojourning ELTs and their co-teachers was one of the more beneficial relationships for the sojourners' cultural learning. However, these relationships were only found in government-sponsored English language programs, such as the JET Program in Japan and EPIK in South Korea. Another strong pattern revealed that the participants' relationships with their significant others marked a shift in their adjustment patterns in one or more parts of the host culture complex. This study prompted the creation of a new revised host culture complex, which includes foreigners within the target culture. These foreigners, some who are also sojourning ELTs, have shown to influence the adjustment process of the participants. Additionally, this study demonstrates the use of social media for research and professional development in English language education.

In-depth interviews were conducted with eight European life-long sport professionals who were former elite athletes and then successful coaches in team sports. The purpose of the interview was to explore the role and the evolution of imagery from athlete to coach and to also determine whether mental imagery was used in any way by these professional coaches for enhancing team unity. Analysis showed that all these exceptional performers had excellent imagery skills and they used imagery training to achieve their sport related goals. Practical implications for enhancing team unity through imagery are also presented.

This study is the result of the research developed in North East Italy which involves 44 female entrepreneurs who have been personally selected and interviewed using a semi structured outline in order to take down experiences, real life, stories and emotions concerning the entrepreneurship as female. The purpose, the aim of this research, is to describe and understand, through the voice of the interviewed, the instruments which are daily used by female entrepreneurs in order to transform professional bonds in suitable resources to face difficulties and issues in the organisation of the different contexts of action: company managemant, family and free time. This dissertation wants to find which styles and innovated leaderships are used to construct new cultural references, different from the models offered in the past and directed to equality between man and women, both at work and within the family/domestic framework. In this study the ''gender'' is considered a dynamic social category frequently changing and related to the concepts of profession and domestic/familiar orders. Making a careful study of the organized studies, is put in evidence that some social actors assume the role of the center of power more than others. These are able to have an effect on one's own experience and circumstantial context. The state of art presented in this study underlines how the profession studied has been for a long time described as an exclusive territory of the man which means a lot of obstacles and bonds for females, that helped to reinforce the idea of female enterpreneur as a minority, as an isolated (segregated) voice in an uninhabited world. These limits and obstacles to the access in this "field" and the issues related to reconciliation have contributed to create a weak actress in a context which prefers and encourages males. This study doesn't want to check quantitatively if the presence of female enterpreneur is more or less considerable than in the past, a fact which will be analyzed in the introduction of this essay, but it will focuse on the procedures and leaderships that have been created in order to achieve more sex equality, and the weakening and re-interpretation of those bonds for a long time described as insuperable and stigmatized. Since the initial hypothesis of this study states that the social representation of human kind can not neglect the aspects concerning the professional and domestic/familiar dimension, it is very interesting to find out in which way and through what special nets, the actresses have innovated, re-shaped and re-converted the entrepreneurship in order to live better, to live fully an equal situation pursuing and reaching the equilibrium between the working and domestic area
Questo studio è frutto di una ricerca svolta nel Nord Est Italia che ha coinvolto 44 imprenditrici, personalmente selezionate, incontrate ed intervistate utilizzando una traccia semi-strutturata ed indirizzata a raccogliere esperienze, vissuti, narrazioni ed emozioni relative al vivere l’imprenditorialità come donna. L’interesse di ricerca è mirato a descrivere e a comprendere, attraverso le voci delle intervistate, quali siano gli strumenti quotidianamente messi a punto dalle imprenditrici per trasformare i vincoli professionali in risorse da impiegare nella quotidianità, per far fronte alle problematicità e alle tensioni nell’organizzazione dei vari contesti d’azione scelti e vissuti: la conduzione aziendale, la famiglia, il tempo fuori dalle mura dell’impresa. L’obiettivo della tesi è indagare quali stili e leadership innovative vengano attivate per costruire nuovi riferimenti culturali che siano differenti dai modelli proposti in passato e che siano orientati alla parità tra i generi, sia nel lavoro che nello spazio familiare e domestico. In questa ricerca il genere è considerato una categoria sociale di carattere dinamico, in continuo cambiamento e correlato ai concetti di professione e ruoli domestico-familiari. Approfondendo alcuni spunti provenienti dalla cornice degli studi organizzativi, viene evidenziato come alcuni attori sociali più di altri vestano i panni di attivatori e centri di potere, capaci di incidere sulla propria esperienza e sul contesto circostante. Lo state of art presente in questo lavoro sottolinea come la professione indagata sia stata a lungo descritta come esclusivo territorio della maschilità, rappresentando per la donna una serie di ostacoli e vincoli che hanno contribuito a rafforzare l’immaginario dell’imprenditrice come minoranza, come voce segregata in un mondo inabitato. Barriere e limiti nell’accesso al campo e problematiche legate alla conciliazione hanno contribuito a disegnare un’attrice debole rispetto al contesto che predilige e incoraggia il genere maschile. La ricerca non è indirizzata a verificare quantitativamente se la presenza delle imprenditrici sia più o meno rilevante rispetto al passato, dato che comunque verrà preso in considerazione e problematizzato nella parte introduttiva della tesi, ma si focalizzerà su quali modalità e leadership siano state create e messe in pratica per compiere uno spostamento verso la parità tra i generi, verso l’indebolimento e la re-interpretazione di quei vincoli a lungo descritti come insuperabili e stigmatizzanti. Poiché, secondo l’ipotesi iniziale di questo lavoro, la rappresentazione sociale del genere non può trascurare gli aspetti relativi alla dimensione professionale e domestico-familiare, risulta particolarmente interessante scoprire in quale modo e attraverso l’attivazione di quali reti speciali, le attrici abbiano innovato, ri-configurato e ri-convertito l’imprenditorialità per vivere meglio, per vivere a pieno una situazione di parità inseguendo e raggiungendo l’equilibrio tra spazio lavorativo e domestico

The central theme or 'red-thread' that I consider in this thesis is the concept of risk as it is perceived by and affects the two sides of the medical encounter -in this instance ethnic Pakistanis and Health Professionals- in Britain. Each side very often perceives risk quite distinctively, relating to the balance between the spiritual and temporal realms. This is particularly germane in matters to do with possible congenital defects within the prenatal realm for the ethnic Pakistani, and predominantly Muslim, side of this encounter. Thus one of the factors considered in this thesis is how senses of Islam impact upon the two sides. By ethnic Pakistanis Islam is seen as central to all life decisions, whilst Health Professionals view Islam with some considerable trepidation, little understanding it or its centrality to the former's decision-making processes. This is particularly significant with regard to attitudes to health and health care. In the initial stages of the project I had thought first cousin marriage (FCM), seen by ethnic Pakistanis as desirable and by Health Professionals as putting ethnic Pakistanis at-risk to be central to the argument, but concluded that concerns around FCM were a 'red herring', merely a trope for the tensions between the two sides -at once both British and at-risk from audit culture. Although no longer central, FCM remains a viable touchstone in consideration of the two sides' perceptions of genetic risk. In this thesis the medical encounter between ethnic Pakistanis and Health Professionals is performed within the realm of the so called New Genetics. Here the respective understandings of the New Genetics are informed by the enculturation processes that shape the two sides' world view. Furthermore, I will agree with Lord Robert Winston's and others' concern that any attempt to eradicate an adaptive genetic mutation, in this instance, thalassaemia, from the gene pool is not only undesirable in the short term, but also that such eradications may have an adverse, and far reaching, effect on whole population groups in the future. The main thrust of my argument is that audit culture not only compounds risk for both sides, but also perpetuates institutional racism within the National Health Service (NHS), by promulgating what I have called the language myth. That is to say that much institutional racism is the unwanted by-product of the NHS's attempts to become more patient centred and its continuing efforts to develop systems of best practice. This professionalisation process within the NHS can be seen to impact most strongly in relation to communication -particularly the claimed language barrier between the two sides. This 'barrier' has worrying policy implications for any meaningful communication between the two sides, notably relating to obtaining informed consent from ethnic Pakistani patients -with a resultant increase in risk for the two sides and clear economic consequences for the NHS.