Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Pluralistic approaches'

Le strategie di apprendimento linguistico sono uno degli ambiti di ricerca più produttivi nel campo della glottodidattica. La maggioranza degli studi ha analizzato le strategie usate per imparare una singola lingua straniera. Tuttavia, l’uso delle strategie in corsi di lingua basati su approcci plurali non è stato considerato con altrettanta attenzione. Pertanto, questa tesi intende sopperire a tale mancanza esaminando le strategie impiegate dagli studenti di "Intercomprensione fra lingue romanze", un corso dell’Università di Verona basato sull’omonimo approccio plurale. Gli obiettivi di questo lavoro sono (1) identificare le strategie usate dagli studenti di intercomprensione e (2) paragonarle con le strategie impiegate da altri studenti di lingue che non frequentino tale corso. Le informazioni inerenti all’uso delle strategie sono state raccolte tramite un questionario composto dal SILL (Oxford, 1990) e da una sezione aggiuntiva basata sulle strategie incluse nel FREPA (2012). Inoltre, è stato utilizzato un think-aloud protocol per identificare le strategie impiegate dagli studenti di intercomprensione nello svolgimento di un’attività di comprensione in una lingua romanza a loro non familiare (Gallego). I risultati hanno mostrato che gli studenti di intercomprensione utilizzano le strategie più frequentemente e ne hanno una maggior conoscenza teorica rispetto agli altri apprendenti di lingue. Inoltre, dal think-aloud protocol si desume che gli studenti di intercomprensione padroneggiano una gamma di strategie di tre diverse tipologie (cognitive, compensative e metacognitive). Il risultato più significativo è che gli studenti sono in grado di combinare strategie diverse per far fronte alle parole opache del testo.

Increasing pluralism in Canadian society challenges educators who wish to continue religious education in Ontario's public schools. A brief history of religious education in Ontario helps explain the current situation.
Because religion is foundational to human experience, religious education is vital. Various scholars are cited in support.
Gabriel Moran is a major resource in developing religious education as an academic field. He helps teachers to teach religion itself rather than about religion.
Stanley Hauerwas broadens religious education to include character development. His emphasis on the self-agency of the moral agent helps teachers to educate character. His use of narrative encourages teachers to be inclusive and non-judgmental.
Religious education must change to accommodate pluralism. Yet it still has a valid place in the public school if it is multi-faith and inclusive, encouraging all students to be religious according to their own faith community.

La ricerca nasce con l’obiettivo di approfondire, da un punto di vista teorico e operativo, il tema della scoperta della diversità linguistica attraverso l’approccio intercomprensivo. In ambito glottodidattico il concetto di intercomprensione tra lingue affini (d’ora in avanti, IC) si trova attualmente al centro degli approcci plurali che propongono una didattica orientata allo sviluppo della competenza plurilingue e interculturale. Lo studio si articola in quattro capitoli tra loro interrelati. Nel primo capitolo, si presenta una ricostruzione storica dei progetti chiave che, in senso al Consiglio d’Europa, hanno gettato le fondamenta dell’attuale formulazione della politica linguistico educativa comunitaria. Il secondo capitolo offre una sintesi dei documenti e degli strumenti più recenti prodotti dall’Unità delle Politiche Linguistiche del Consiglio d’Europa per la promozione del plurilinguismo. Il terzo capitolo fornisce un’introduzione al concetto di intercomprensione da più punti di vista: come oggetto dell’apprendimento, come strategia di apprendimento, come approccio didattico e come strumento di politica linguistica. Nel quarto e ultimo capitolo si dà voce alla natura, agli obiettivi, alla metodologia e ai materiali utilizzati nell’ambito della sperimentazione in IC, condotta nell’anno scolastico 2014/15 con gli alunni di due classi quinte di una scuola primaria di Varese.
The aim of the research is to investigate, from both a theoretical and a practical point of view, the discovery of linguistic diversity through intercomprehension. In the field of ​​language teaching the concept of intercomprehension between related languages is currently at the heart of pluralistic approaches which promote plurilingual education. The study is divided into four chapters. The first chapter offers an historical reconstruction of the key projects which the Council of Europe developed for the foundation of its educational language policy. The second chapter provides a summary of the most recent documents and instruments produced by the the Council of Europe's Language Policy Unit for the promotion of multilingualism. The third chapter gives an introduction to the concept of intercomprehension from several points of view: as a learning object, as a learning strategy, as a teaching approach and as a language policy instrument. The fourth and final chapter introduces to the aims, the methodology and the materials used in the research conducted during the school year 2014/15 with Year 5 pupils of a primary school in Varese.

La ricerca nasce con l’obiettivo di approfondire, da un punto di vista teorico e operativo, il tema della scoperta della diversità linguistica attraverso l’approccio intercomprensivo. In ambito glottodidattico il concetto di intercomprensione tra lingue affini (d’ora in avanti, IC) si trova attualmente al centro degli approcci plurali che propongono una didattica orientata allo sviluppo della competenza plurilingue e interculturale. Lo studio si articola in quattro capitoli tra loro interrelati. Nel primo capitolo, si presenta una ricostruzione storica dei progetti chiave che, in senso al Consiglio d’Europa, hanno gettato le fondamenta dell’attuale formulazione della politica linguistico educativa comunitaria. Il secondo capitolo offre una sintesi dei documenti e degli strumenti più recenti prodotti dall’Unità delle Politiche Linguistiche del Consiglio d’Europa per la promozione del plurilinguismo. Il terzo capitolo fornisce un’introduzione al concetto di intercomprensione da più punti di vista: come oggetto dell’apprendimento, come strategia di apprendimento, come approccio didattico e come strumento di politica linguistica. Nel quarto e ultimo capitolo si dà voce alla natura, agli obiettivi, alla metodologia e ai materiali utilizzati nell’ambito della sperimentazione in IC, condotta nell’anno scolastico 2014/15 con gli alunni di due classi quinte di una scuola primaria di Varese.
The aim of the research is to investigate, from both a theoretical and a practical point of view, the discovery of linguistic diversity through intercomprehension. In the field of ​​language teaching the concept of intercomprehension between related languages is currently at the heart of pluralistic approaches which promote plurilingual education. The study is divided into four chapters. The first chapter offers an historical reconstruction of the key projects which the Council of Europe developed for the foundation of its educational language policy. The second chapter provides a summary of the most recent documents and instruments produced by the the Council of Europe's Language Policy Unit for the promotion of multilingualism. The third chapter gives an introduction to the concept of intercomprehension from several points of view: as a learning object, as a learning strategy, as a teaching approach and as a language policy instrument. The fourth and final chapter introduces to the aims, the methodology and the materials used in the research conducted during the school year 2014/15 with Year 5 pupils of a primary school in Varese.

L’école a longtemps ignoré les langues et cultures maternelles des élèves.Une exploration des apports de la recherche en didactique d’apprentissage des langues, avec notamment les approches plurielles, montre comment la didactisation du contact de langue permet de construire une réflexion métalinguistique favorisant de nouveaux apprentissages en langue vivante étrangère ou dans la langue de scolarisation. Une étude de l’évolution historique des programmes scolaires français laisse enfin entrevoir la perspective d’ouvrir l’école au plurilinguisme, en adéquation avec les préconisations des Institutions Européennes. L’intercompréhension entre langues apparentées, apparaît comme une modalité d’apprentissage favorisant la compréhension et le fonctionnement de plusieurs langues, d’autant plus si l’apprentissage organise l’intégration des langues entre elles. Nous décrirons le fonctionnement et les enjeux de l’intercompréhension intégrée en langues romanes.Une expérimentation fut menée sur deux classes de CM1-CM2 lors des apprentissages scientifiques en intercompréhension intégrée à l’aide du manuel Euromania. Dans une classe, cette expérimentation était couplée à l’approche interculturelle Comparons nos langues. Il s’agissait d’observer de quelle manière cette expérimentation contribuait à l’évolution des représentations linguistiques des élèves, au développement de compétences linguistiques ainsi qu’à l’élaboration de stratégies de compréhension. Nous observerons les bénéfices apportés par l’intercompréhension intégrée et les approches interculturelles, aux apprentissages linguistiques et discipinaires, au plurilinguisme, à une meilleure réussite et à un plus grand épanouissement des élèves
For a long time, primary education has overlooked the students' languages and cultures of origin. An exploration of the conclusions of research in the field of language didactics, and more specifically pluralistic approaches establishes that the didactisation of language interaction/language contact helps in building a metalinguistic reflection that can facilitate fresh learning in a foreign language or in the language in which the child is being educated. At last, a study of the evolution ofFrench school curricula can show us the way for opening schools to multilingualism, in conformity with European Union directives. Intercomprehension between related languages is shown to be a modality of learning that facilitates the comprehension and the way different languages work, especially if the learning process organizes the integration of these languages. We will describe the methodology and the stakes of integrated intercomprehension in romance languages. An experiment has been conducted with two classes of CM1-CM2/last grades of Middle School during science classes, using integrated intercomprehension with the help of the schoolbook Euromania, as well as, in one of the classes, the intercultural-approach based Comparons nos langues. The goal was to observe to which direction this experiment contributed to the evolution of the students' linguistic representations, to the development of linguistic competence and to the invention of strategies of understanding. We will present the benefits of integrated intercomprehension and intercultural approaches to language learning and to learning in other subjects, to multilingualism, and to the well-being of learners, conducive to more successfullearning

Cette thèse a pour objectif la mise au jour et la description des pratiques enseignantes en matière de comparaison des langues dans les écoles immersives français-occitan Calandretas. Les activités centrées sur l’observation comparée du fonctionnement de différentes langues font depuis quelques décennies l’objet de nombreuses recherches et suscitent l’intérêt des didacticiens, qui y voient de nouvelles pistes de travail pour l’enseignement des langues étrangères, de la langue maternelle et/ou de scolarisation avec, en arrière-plan, la perspective d’une meilleure maîtrise des langues et du langage. La mise en œuvre de ces activité questionne très clairement le rôle et la place attribués aux langues dans la formation linguistique des élèves, qu’il s’agisse des langues de leur biographie langagière, des langues du curricula, ou de langues inconnues. Les tendances actuelles allant dans le sens du rapprochement des langues entre elles, que ce soit à des fins d’apprentissage d’une langue-cible en particulier ou dans la perspective, plus large, d’une éducation aux langues et au langage, nous nous sommes demandée ce qu’il en était dans le contexte très spécifique de l’enseignement bilingue, et, plus particulièrement, dans le contexte de l’enseignement immersif en langue régionale. Dans les écoles occitanes Calandretas, les enseignants comparent-ils les deux langues de scolarisation (l’occitan et le français), et/ou d’autres langues entre elles ? Si oui, comment et pourquoi ? A partir d’une étude des pratiques déclarées et des pratiques observées menée auprès d’enseignants de cycle 3, notre thèse se propose de rendre compte de la façon dont sont mises en place les situations d’observation comparée du fonctionnement de l’occitan et du français et/ou d’autres langues, mais aussi d’étudier les contenus linguistiques abordés à travers la comparaison. Située à l’interface de la linguistique et de la didactique du plurilinguisme, la thèse cherche également, sur le plan épistémologique, à clarifier la place de la comparaison des langues dans les approches plurielles des langues et des cultures et à préciser ce que signifie comparer les langues
This thesis aims at presenting and describing the teaching practices related to language comparison in the immersive French-Occitan schools “Calandretas”. Activities focusing on the comparative observation of the functioning of different languages have been widely researched for a number of decades. They are of great interest to applied linguists who consider them as new ways of approaching language teaching, as much of foreign languages, as of the mother tongue or the language of schooling. The implementation of these activities very clearly questions the role and place attributed to languages in the language training of pupils; it addresses the languages of their language biography, of the curriculum or even languages unknown to them. Current trends lean towards disciplinary decompartmentalization and the setting up of links between languages, whether for the purpose of learning a particular target language or the wider perspective of language education. Therefore, I wanted to explore what took place in the very specific context of bilingual education, more specifically in the context of immersive teaching of the regional language. Do the teachers in the Occitan Calandretas schools compare the two languages of schooling (Occitan and French), and / or other languages? If so, how and why? Based on a study of reported and observed practices of teachers of Key Stage 3, our thesis offers to report not only on the way in which the situations of comparative observation of Occitan and French and / or other languages functioning are set up, but also to study the linguistic contents covered by the comparison. Situated at the interface between linguistics and the didactics of multilingualism, this work also seeks, to clarify the place of the comparison of languages in the plural approaches of languages and cultures from the epistemological point of view and to clarify what it means to compare languages

Human rights as codified in international documents are claims every human being have by virtue of being a human. Meaning that every state must ensure, through its laws, that each individual is guaranteed these claims or rights equally. Islamic principles like other religions are obligations that its members (Muslims) must perform rather than claims. Therefore, it is possible that individual rights may not be respected within Islamic principles because, of the differences in their origin and emphasis, one is a claim and the other a duty of believers.

The concern of violating rights of other people within Islamic law calls into attention how Islamic principles can be applied in a state while guaranteeing human rights as universal principles.

This study discusses various approaches proposed by Muslim authors on how human rights can be justified in Islam. Since human rights are political concepts, in the sense that each state must ensure that human beings go about their life freely, they should be the focus of consensus among different doctrines in a modern state. That is a principle to justify human rights in Islam must consider the fact of pluralism of religious doctrines and how all are included in the political process of the state.

Myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) is associated with physical, cognitive and emotional challenges, and much research suggests that mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) can be helpful for these difficulties. It is reasonable to assume that living with ME/CFS influences how people experience MBIs. However, existing literature provides little insight into what it is like to attend an MBI if experiencing ME/CFS and thus there is a paucity of information to guide intervention. The current research aimed to elucidate this experience by applying Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis to eight interview transcripts. Four master themes - ‘The gift of mindfulness’, ‘Struggling with doubts and understanding’, ‘The vulnerable self’, and ‘Healing relationships’ - emerged. Individuals gave complex reports of MBIs which encompassed both positive and negative accounts. Throughout these accounts, ME/CFS appeared at the forefront of individuals’ perceptions as if it were a lens they viewed their experiences through. For some, mindfulness gifted acceptance, ways of self-soothing and methods of regaining control. Many participants struggled with mindfulness however, fighting with their own internal barriers and finding the guidance they were given confusing. Being at the MBIs seemed to automatically place individuals in a vulnerable position. Participants reported that it was essential for them to ‘be on guard’, to monitor their activity and environment in regards to illness exacerbation. Indeed, many individuals seemed to expect the worst from the MBIs, particularly from the attitudes of their course peers and facilitators. In contrast to participants’ expectations, individuals commonly reported that their facilitators and peers understood their conditions and experiences. This sense of being validated and of belonging was reported to be therapeutic. Moreover, relationships with others on the course were found to elicit a sense of hope and helped individuals engage with the mindfulness material. Best practice recommendations include reducing participants’ anxieties and managing expectations around MBIs as well as harnessing the power of the group. Future research might further explore discourses around MBIs, the group dynamics involved, hope, demographic differences, and the potential utility of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy for ME/CFS.

This thesis is about developing a recovery ethos for psychiatric services in New Zealand. The argument of the thesis is that currently a procedural ethos is dominant in psychiatric services in New Zealand, based on eclectic ways of facilitating recovery. Recovery from mental illness, is based on the criteria of symptom reduction and functioning and can be further refined to have a client and professional perspective. Rather than using an eclectic approach to facilitating recovery the thesis argues for a pluralistic approach, where the virtues, the relationship with professionals, client narrative and the psychiatric community become central to decision making, rather than principle based procedures. The thesis is an argued, applied philosophical thesis in terms of methodology. The scope of the thesis is psychiatric services and the focus is broadly ethical decision making. There are three main divisions to the thesis. Part 1 is concerned with clarification of the main terms used in the thesis. This involves exploring the historical background to the concept of recovery, clarifying the concept of recovery itself and providing an argument for giving greater prominence to the term mental illness over the term mental disorder. Part 2 identifies the main problem of the thesis, namely the procedural ethos, and the problems it is causing clients suffering from mental illness in facilitating their recovery. Part 3 shows what is involved in developing a recovery ethos for psychiatric services in New Zealand.

Le contexte de notre étude est celui du Mozambique qui est caractérisé par un multilinguisme où le français cohabite avec des langues bantoues en sus du portugais qui a un statut de langue officielle et qui est la seule langue de scolarisation. Dans ce contexte, le français est appris comme une langue étrangère mais sans aucune considération des autres langues connues et pratiquées par les élèves. Cette recherche réinterroge cette pratique d’enseignement.Ainsi, l’objectif de cette recherche est d’observer l’impact dans l’apprentissage du français d’un appui sur la totalité du répertoire linguistique des apprenants. Cette recherche, qui est une recherche empirique, compare à partir d’un dispositif pédagogique commun deux milieux contrastés : l’un urbain et l’autre dans la banlieue rurale de la ville de Maxixe.L’hypothèse principale que nous cherchons à vérifier s’appuie sur les recommandations des derniers travaux des didacticiennes et des didacticiens du plurilinguisme qui plaident pour un enseignement articulé des langues. En sus de ce choix, nous ajoutons la variable milieu où l’enseignement se déroule car nous considérons que les conditions contextuelles d’un enseignement ont une influence sur la réussite de l’apprentissage.Le dispositif pédagogique que nous avons mis en place pour vérifier l’objectif de notre recherche est le suivant : recueil des données dans des classes du milieu urbain et celles de la banlieue rurale. Dans ces deux contextes, nous comparons pour des adolescents de lycée qui ont entre 14 et 15 ans, trois situations d’enseignement du français : la première, qui sert de référence, dispense l’enseignement du français de manière habituelle, la seconde appuie l’enseignement du français sur une comparaison explicite du français avec la langue portugaise et la troisième situation, s’appuie sur la comparaison entre le français et les langues bantoues régionales : le guitonga, le cicopi et le citswa. Les résultats de cette comparaison sont diversifiés
The context of our study is Mozambique. A country which is characterized by multilingualism, where French coexists with other Bantu languages, in addition to Portuguese, which bears the status of official language and the only language of education. In this context, French is taught as a foreign language, but without any consideration of the other languages known and spoken by the students. This is the practice that this research seeks to re-examine.Therefore, the main objective of our research is to draw the impact of learning French while taking into account the support of the entire linguistic background the students have. This is an empirical research which compares two different teaching environments using one common educational context: one is the urban area of the city of Maxixe and the other context is the rural outskirts of the same city.The main hypothesis we are trying to verify is based on the recommendations of the latest studies carried out by multilingualism teaching experts who advocate for an articulated language teaching process. In addition to this option, we added the variable of the context where the education process takes place, because we are of the opinion that the contextual condition in which the teaching occurs has influence in the success of the learning process itself.The pedagogical framework we used to test this hypothesis is the following: classroom data collection in rural and urban areas. In both contexts, we compare three different scenarios of French teaching among students aged between 14 and 15 years: the first scenario, which is our main reference, is based solely on French teaching in the classic fashion, the second scenario articulates French teaching in explicit comparison with Portuguese and the third scenario is based on the comparison between French teaching taking into account other Bantu languages like: guitonga, cicopi and citswa. The overall results of this comparison are quite diversified

In this dissertation, I make a serious philosophic application of several aesthetic theories to the emerging medium of video games. I look at concepts such as the play of art, psychical distancing, and an experience, and apply each of these to a representative video game. Hence, I use a variety of aesthetic works, but apply these in a pluralistic manner. The thesis I defend is that a number of specific video games offer possibilities for aesthetic experience that can be comprehended through these traditional aesthetic theories. The purpose of my project is not a comparative one among these theories: I do not argue that any one of these is definitive in application to all video games. Instead, I hold these theories in tension by showing that each has practical merit in being applied to different games I use a variety of aesthetic approaches to argue that a specific game exemplifies the aesthetic value which is at the core of a particular theory. I apply John Dewey's notion of an experience as a single, distinctive whole consisting of parts in unity to the music-based game Rock Band. To consider the distance between the player of a video game and the game's content, I discuss Edward Bullough's theory of psychical distance and apply this concept to a violent game such as Grand Theft Auto IV. Finally, I consider Hans-Georg Gadamer's thoughts on the play of art and the connection of play to seriousness and apply these thoughts to a game which integrates a sense of playfulness with serious themes: Braid.

In the early part of the 20th Century Egyptologists were often on the cutting edge of archaeological practice, but in the latter part of the century, Egyptology had seemingly fallen behind other areas of the world in regard to methodology and archaeological theory. A historical survey covering not just the development of Egyptology, but also of archaeological theory is provided to support this contention. This dissertation then reviews this situation and seeks to remedy it by providing a theoretical methodology for interpreting Egyptian sites. Instead of selecting either processualism or post-processualism or holistic explanations as a sole theoretical model, the question is ask and answered as to what kind of theoretical methodology should be developed for use in Egypt. The Pluralistic Contextual Approach is introduced, which builds on the interpretive works scholars such as Lynn Meskell and Stuart Tyson Smith. It features the use and interplay of textual, artistic/representational, archaeological data sets which are then examined through an integrated, mutually supporting theoretical structure drawn from both processualism and post-processualism to provide interpretive insights into Egyptian culture. Two Middle Kingdom (2055-1650 BC) sites, Kahun and Buhen, were chosen as case studies. These case studies were not intended to be full reinterpretations of the sites, but rather to demonstrate the interpretive value of the Pluralistic Contextual Approach. The case studies focus on interpretations of social class at these sites using this methodology, thus providing indications of class relations and hierarchies in Middle Kingdom Egypt.

Qualitative and quantitative research methods were used to study instances of sudden gains within the case load of a private practice practitioner. Five clients whose progress was marked by such changes were contrasted with the views of five clients whose progress was marked by significant setbacks. Results from the quantitative analyses indicated that clients who experienced sudden gains during therapy tended to retain their therapeutic gains over a 2-year time period. In contrast, individuals who experienced setbacks in therapy generally continued to be distressed at the 2-year reassessment. Clients who experienced sudden gains were more distressed prior to treatment and were more satisfied with their experience looking back. A stronger working alliance was found amongst those who experienced sudden gains, although there was no difference between the groups' ratings regarding the strength of the therapeutic bond. Qualitative results suggested that therapy was helpful in bringing about many changes in clients' lives, but clients who experienced sudden gains generally recalled more positive aspects of therapy, demonstrated greater utilization of therapeutic techniques, endorsed more long-term changes, accepted more responsibility for their treatment outcomes, and were less likely to react negatively to therapeutic techniques. Clients who experienced setbacks in therapy were generally less optimistic about the future, felt that they had regressed since termination, and demonstrated more resistance to therapeutic techniques.

Background: Relationship is core to academic and psychological psychotherapeutic practice supported and linked by research. The success of the working alliance and psychotherapeutic practice are dependent on the properties of the psychologist, client and the therapeutic relationship, where all facets of the therapeutic relationship including the transpersonal, are integrated to a pluralistic practice. The present research looked at the transpersonal in psychotherapeutic psychology: Psychologists’ perceptions and experiences of the transpersonal and transpersonal psychology in their therapeutic work, and of transpersonal psychotherapeutic teaching while in training. Methods: ‘Survey monkey’, an online data gathering tool, was used to collect data using a multiple sorting procedure (MSP) based on Kelly’s personal construct theory. MSP was a projective technique and allowed different conceptual styles to be researched. MSP results were analysed and visually illustrated using correspondence analysis; a multidimensional and descriptive graphical technique. Responses to semi-structured open-ended questions were analysed phenomenologically using Clarkson’s seven level model (2002a) and Braun and Clarke’s (2006) thematic analysis. Two phases of data gathering were conducted. The initial phase examined clinicians’ personal perceptions and experiences of the transpersonal, and their experiences of the transpersonal in training and in practice. The second phase, the ’validation of findings study’, gathered feedback and reflections from original participants on the findings of the original study. Results: Phase 1: 25 participants took part in the study. 70% of participants were interested in transpersonal psychology while 72% were familiar with it. 65% did not receive information on transpersonal psychology while in training as psychologists. Participants’ clinical experience varied between 0-25 years. This was reflected in responses which were influenced by different experiences of trainings at different times, whereby the transpersonal was omitted or included. Experiences of teaching received was both positive and negative. Different discourses and narratives, as well as different levels of awareness and acknowledgement of the transpersonal were identified. MSP accessed conscious and unconscious experiences and perceptions. Responses to the semi-structured open-ended questions included responses of a scientific, rational and normative narrative. Some viewed transpersonal psychology as not scientific, some identified the transpersonal as separate and unique, while others’ viewed both as integrated to clinical practice. A dichotomy and incompatibility of transpersonal psychology with psychology, and between science and the spiritual was presented by some participants. Phase 2: Validation of findings study: The validation of findings study reinforced findings relating to the identified themes in the original study, and supported an Emerging Theoretical Model of Transpersonal Perceptions, Experience, Practice and Education (henceforward referred to as the emerging theoretical model) as part of a pluralistic approach. Here the interconnected transpersonal themes of the personal experience, experience in training, and use in clinical practice are refined. Conclusions: Findings suggest participants’ personal experience of the transpersonal in training and in clinical practice influenced responses, awareness, experience and acknowledgement of the transpersonal evident in the results. Considering the functioning of each individual, and the mind/body relationship, especially across the lifespan, many theoretical approaches recognise the complex and important relationship involved in functioning which leads to psychological well-being. Perhaps because transpersonal psychology considers that which functions beyond the ego ,it does not comfortably fit into the rules of research and theory which apply within other fields of psychology. In relation to research, the expectations of scientific validity may not seem to be met by transpersonal psychology, as it does not adhere to a Newtonian/Cartesian approach to research in practice. It mainly takes the form of subjective experience using qualitative research methods and is based in human inquiry, which is also reliable and valid. Results indicate trainings in psychology should place more emphasis on incorporating transpersonal psychology in trainings as an essential facet of an integrated therapeutic relationship.

The terms of debate over the civic purposes of public education in a plurally diverse polity have been centred on the educational significance of engagement with forms of diversity that are both plural and heterogeneous. Central to these discussions have been various challenges, problems and difficulties related to the status, scope and justification of a citizenship education that would educate students so as to recognise and respect one another as free and equal members of a polity that is plural in its cultures, values and traditions. Yet, existing conceptions of citizenship education, I argue, both misrepresent our commitment to civic equality and also fail to treat with equal civic respect the normative significance of individuals' diverse commitments and allegiances. This thesis explores how and why a defensible conception of the civic purposes of public education is to be squared with the fair terms of engagement with diversity and how an alternative way of articulating the civic priorities and the individual interests in educating citizens as fully cooperating members of a polity is to be justified. I maintain that the challenges, problems and difficulties linked to the education of citizens so as to recognise and respect one another as free and equal members of a polity depend in large part on how we define and connect the two principled commitments associated with the liberal version of the rights-based conception of citizenship. In this thesis I outline and defend an egalitarian pluralist account of citizenship education that offers a distinctive response to the theoretical problems and practical difficulties in educating citizens so as to recognise and respect one another as free and equal members of a polity. I articulate a conception of the fair terms of engagement with diversity that would be of the greatest benefit to those students that are the least advantaged.

Mon projet de thèse est divisé en trois parties. Dans les premières deux parties j'illustre différentes approches à la notion d'explication mathématique des phénomènes physiques. Je reporte les critiques qui ont été adressé à ces approches et j'essaie d'identifier des traits partagés entre eux. En particulier, dans la première partie j'analyse trois approches (proposés par Philip Kitcher, Bas Van Fraassen et Mark Steiner) qui essaient de capturer la notion par une modèle unique (modèles Winner-Take-All). Dans la deuxième partie je me focalise sur deux approches (proposés par Christopher Pincock et Robert Batterman) qui se proposent de capturer la notion d'explication mathématique en physique sans offrir une modèle unique mais en considérant qu'il y a différents situations explicatives et chaque situation peut exiger une modèle d'explication différente (j'appelle Pluralistes ces positions). Dans la troisième partie, en partant des positions analysées dans les premières parties, je propose mon approche à l'explication mathématique des phénomènes physiques. En particulier, je me focalise sur un cas exemplaire d'explication mathématique d'un phénomène physique (un cas qui les scientifiques considèrent comme un cas d'explication mathématique d'un phénomène physique) et je propose une approche pluraliste à la notion d'explication en terme des « ressources conceptuelles » et « outils intellectuels ». Finalement, je propose une généralisation de mon approche et je considère les conséquences favorables que l'adoption de cette approche peut avoir dans des débats qui concernent différents sujets de philosophie des sciences et philosophie des mathématiques
My dissertation consists of three separate parts. In the first two parts I illustrate various approaches to the notion of mathematical explanation of physical phenomena. I report the criticisms which have been addressed to these approaches and I try to identify some traits shared by them. In particular, in the first part I analyze three approaches (proposed by Philip Kitcher, Bas Van Fraassen and Mark Steiner) that are designed in order to capture the notion via a single model (Winner-Take-All models). In the second part I focus on two approaches (proposed by Christopher Pincock and Robert Batterman) whose aim is to capture the notion of mathematical explanation of physical phenomena without offering a single model but considering that what makes an explanation good can vary from case to case and every case of explanation might necessitate a different model (I call Pluralists those views). In the third part, taking as starting point the views analyzed in part one and part two, I propose my original approach to mathematical explanation of physical phenomena. In particular, I focus on a paradigmatic case of mathematical explanation of physical phenomena (a case of mathematical explanation of physical phenomena recognized as such in the scientific practice) and I propose a pluralist approach to the notion of explanation in terms of « conceptual resources » and « intellectual tools ». Finally, I propose a generalization of my approach and I point to the payoff that the adoption of this approach may have with respect to different topics in philosophy of mathematics and philosophy of science

Mestrado em Educação Pré-Escolar e Ensino no 1º Ciclo do Ensino Básico
O presente Relatório de Estágio apresenta o desenvolvimento de um projeto de intervenção desenvolvido numa escola do 1º Ciclo do Ensino Básico (CEB) do distrito de Aveiro. Este estudo, elaborado a partir de um projeto de intervenção com uma turma do 1.º numa escola do 1º CEB de um agrupamento de escolas do distrito, teve como principal objetivo sensibilizar para a língua gestual portuguesa através da literatura para a infância. Desta forma pretendeu-se dar resposta à seguinte questão para reflexão educativa: de que forma a sensibilização à língua gestual portuguesa, através da literatura para a infância, pode educar para a diversidade linguística? Neste sentido, concebeu-se e desenvolveu-se um projeto de intervenção didática intitulado “A língua gestual vai à escola”, comportando três sessões individuais e uma sessão conjunta com as colegas de estágio. Cada uma das sessões pretendeu sensibilizar para a língua gestual portuguesa com o intuito de os alunos conhecerem alguns gestos comunicativos e ficarem sensibilizados para a diferença do outro. O projeto desenvolvido assenta numa metodologia de caráter qualitativo, com características de investigação-ação, pelo que os métodos e instrumentos de recolha de dados a que recorremos foram a observação direta e participante, a fotografia, a vídeo gravação, o inquérito por questionário e as fichas de registos das sessões pelos alunos. A análise de conteúdo foi o método escolhido para analisar os dados recolhidos. Os resultados obtidos permitem-nos concluir que os alunos encararam e realizaram as atividades de forma positiva, demonstrando bastante interesse e curiosidade. A abordagem à língua gestual levou as crianças a desenvolverem atitudes positivas face ao outro e à diferença, ajudando a formar cidadãos mais conscientes da diversidade que os rodeia. Este projeto permitiu-nos ainda concluir que educar para a diversidade linguística desde os primeiros anos de escolaridade é crucial na medida em que permite dar a conhecer o mundo, as línguas, as culturas e, sobretudo, desenvolver atitudes de respeito e valorização pelas línguas e pela diferença.
This Internship report introduce the development of an intervention project developed in a school of the 1st cycle of basic education (CEB) in the Aveiro district. The study was elaborate from an intervention project with collaboration with a class from 1st in a school of 1.º CEB from a group of schools in Aveiro district, the main objective is raise awareness of Portuguese sign language through literature for children. It was possible to find the answer to this research question: How we could raise awareness of Portuguese sign language thought literature to childhood, can educate to cultural diversity? In this sense, it was conceived and developed a didactic intervention project with this title: “sign language go to school” containing three individual sessions and one with internship colleagues. Each session intended to raise awareness of Portuguese sign language, with the objective to let the students know some communicative gestures and also be aware of how different it is to others. The developed project is based in qualitative character methodology, with characteristics of an action- research, so the methods and the data gathering tools that we used were the direct and participant observation, photography, video recording, questionnaire survey and records of the sessions by the students. The content analysis was the chosen method for analyzing the collect data. The results allow us to conclude that the students realize and did activities positively, demonstrating a great interest and curiosity. The approach to sign language took to the children to develop positive attitudes towards each other and the difference, by making citizens more aware of the diversity that surrounds them. This project allows us to conclude that educate for the language diversity since the first years of school is very important because it allow to know more the world, the languages, the cultures, and most important of all, develop of respect attitudes and appreciation for languages and diversity.

This thesis proposes a critical, systemic and pluralist approach to evaluating health programs. It examines ways in which efforts to promote equality and plurality are undermined by the application of foundationalist and universal conceptions of social justice and evaluation. This approach is developed within the current debate taking place in the field of Critical Systems Thinking, particularly in the area of the evaluation of social and health programs. It is argued that the potential for equality and plurality in Western societies goes beyond the questions of economic exploitation, military, cultural and political oppression and encompasses the relation between power and knowledge which is inherent in rationalities governing the formulation, the implementation and the operation of health programs. The thesis offers an alternative view of social justice that conciliates equality with plurality, and promotes these values through an evaluative procedure. Using Foucault's philosophy, it is proposed that a nonfoundationalist conception of social justice should be understood in terms of the interactions between three areas of human activity, namely knowledge, morality, and techniques and technologies of government. As regards the possibilities for developing a non-foundational and non-universal evaluative judgement, the thesis assumes a decentered conception of truth in the analysis of society and morality, and acknowledges the role of power as factor of generalisation or diversification of truth. Thus complexes of power-knowledge-morality are at the centre of our evaluative judgements of social justice. In order to encourage equality and plurality, this thesis proposes a rationale for evaluation that includes three main methodological guidelines: a decentered conception of critique regarding the problems and negative effects of a health program (unfolding in reverse); the promotion of subjectivity (autonomy, diversity, solidarity) through self-knowledge and self-regulation of desires (folding); and participation in the reordering of society through an ethical and political process of decision-making (ethical and political unfolding of the situated truths of the subjects). The processes are designed to interrelate and iterate in a complex way. They should include the exploration, choice and combination of methods and/or their parts, and of the strategic positions in scientific and ethical discursivities by thinking critically and acting in a situated and participative way.

The purpose of this thesis is to argue that the core of a monetary economy is a network of triangular contracts between banks, firms, workers and capital goods suppliers. Not only does this network give rise to the creation and valuation of money but it is the organising feature of modern economies, giving rise to both episodes of stability and crises. In constructing this argument I consider both orthodox and heterodox points of view. We analyse equilibrium models of money, and find that while money can exist in sequence economies with frictions, models of this type give no justification for its creation, valuation or holding for any significant duration, either theoretically or experimentally. Models that introduce dated goods and trading frictions to motivate the issue of risk-spreading ‘bundled’ debt are more promising for money creation, although they still cannot explain the the holding and valuation of money. Using the concept of team-production of Alchian and Demsetz and that of ‘hostage-taking’ in contracts owing to Williamson, we demonstrate how the issue of a token of generalised purchasing power from a team-production contract can enhance output and consumption. This conclusion motivates an original monetary theory of production that integrates the insights of Post-Keynesian monetary theory and the triangular contracts of the Circulation Approach and expresses them in a way that shows consistent asset and liability matching through a balance sheet approach. The creation and valuation of money and the determination of interest are embedded within the central processes of this economy. The features of the monetary production economy we analyse are in contrast to the mainstream proposition that the economy as a whole is rendered coherent by the existence of a unique and stable equilibrium determined by the utility-maximisation of households and the profit maximisation of firms. Apart from their inability to describe the economy in aggregate, such models treat money as an afterthought that is in no way core to their conception. We set the triangular contracts within a rigorous stock-flow framework of the type developed by Godley and Lavoie and argue that the shifting of the level of impact of uncertainty and failed expectations induced by money leads to specific patterns of economic disruption. These patterns are independent of the specific behavioural characteristics of households and firms and so are robust to policy changes that leave the institutions of the monetary production economy intact. We briefly assess current monetary policy and alternatives in the light of these findings.

Despite the contribution that agriculture makes to the Indonesian Gross Domestic Product, the income of small subsistence farmers continues to fall. While many development activities and policies have been implemented to reduce the gap in income between farmers and non-farmers, the situation remains unchanged. In part this is because the majority of research has focused on improving production rather than addressing the social and economic aspects of farming and its supply chains. Very few approaches have adopted a holistic systems approach. This study examines holistically the agri-food supply chains of dryland farmers of Lombok, in eastern Indonesia, using a pluralistic approach. The objective of this study was to investigate the utility of developing a pluralistic model which combined the benefits of SSM with hard systems approaches like statistical and technical efficiency analyses and test this approach on the agri-food supply chains of dryland farmers of Lombok, in eastern Indonesia.Agribusiness is a complex social system both to understand and to manage but is also driven heavily by the need to produce efficiently for a market. This means that solving problems within such systems requires the melding of both the qualitative and quantitative aspects in a pluralistic way. The research presented here combines an interpretative research approach the Soft Systems Methodology (SSM) with hard systems tools like descriptive and inferential statistical analyses, and technical efficiency analysis.The SSM analysis was successful in identifying a feasible pathway for change for the agri-food supply chains studied. The key benefits of adopting this approach was its ability to produce realistic and feasible solutions in a culturally acceptable way and to unconsciously help the supply chain members to understand, look at, think, analyse and solve their problems through collaborative action. It is however, a complex tool to use and there is a need to develop a simplified SSM approach which significantly reduces the sophisticated systems jargon and technical terms that have been developed by the SSM research community if it is to be adopted more widely for use in solving agri-food supply chain problems in developing countries.The farm productivity analysis found significant variations in the technical efficiency of the farms analyzed; from 47.6 to 94.5 per cent, indicating that there is still significant opportunity for improvements in production practices. Age and education were found to significantly affect farm-specific technical efficiency suggesting that programs that educated the rural young generally, but more specifically in new innovations and farm management practices, would show production efficiency benefits.An analysis of the marketing system revealed that a number of market intermediaries were involved in the marketing and distribution of agricultural commodities. Market intermediaries arrange for the collection, consolidation and subsequent transport of the product and to varying degrees, with the sorting, grading and packing of the product to better fulfill downstream customers’ needs. Quality at the farm gate was problematic, for much of the product is sold under the tebasan system where there are few incentives for quality and farmers face difficulties in disposing of product which fails to meet customers’ expectations. As the quality of the product deteriorates as it moves down the supply chain, the marketing margin increases to cover the increasing losses, and the uncertainty of price inherent in highly volatile commodity markets. In order to reduce risk, farmers and downstream market intermediaries prefer to transact with those exchange partners with whom they have developed long-term relationships. However, in the absence of reliable market information and the propensity for actors to sell to whichever market intermediary offers the highest price, little trust is evident in the exchange. As the geographic distance between actors increase, relationships down the supply chain become increasingly less personal and more businesslike.This study resulted in a new pluralistic model for analyzing the agribusiness supply chain of Lombok referred to as the Lombok Method (LM). This pluralistic approach was found to be a more effective way to analyse and design solutions than SSM alone for the following reasons. First, the inclusion of hard system analysis enhanced the robustness of the model produced which in turn means it can be validated and challenged. Secondly, hard systems approaches were used to verify the findings of the SSM and also provide feedback into the SSM. Finally, the SSM was able to bring the experience of the participants to the interpretation of the hard system analysis.While the model was successful in providing some solutions to the problems experienced in the supply chains, the research also highlighted the need to do further studies that 1) identify the nature and scale of market failure, 2) apply optimization techniques to supply chain systems and 3) identify a means of including external variables like climate in the model. There may also be a role for modeling the relationships between supply chain participants using structural equation modeling (SEM) or causal loop diagrams (CLD). With a focus on SSM there is a need to develop a simplified approach for use in developing countries and establishing standards for the conduct of human interaction in the SSM process.

This study examines the marketing margins; the gap between what each actor expected and what they received from upstream suppliers and downstream customers; and the nature of the relationships between exchange partners in Da Lat, Viet Nam. As prices were determined after the sale, farmers and market intermediaries preferred to transact with those exchange partners with whom they had developed a long-term relationship, and with whom there was a strong element of trust. Coercive market power was seldom exercised.

It is 25 years since my first publications in professional and academic journals, Resource and the British Journal of Religious Education respectively, and thus a suitable point to reflect on my contribution to the discipline, or rather disciplines, of Religious Education and Religious Studies. Although the majority of my published work relates to religious education, my teaching and administrative career has included both religious studies and religious education, and I have also published materials relating to the religions themselves and the teaching of religious studies at university level.

The problem: For protected areas to remain relevant, we need to understand their impact on a wide set of conservation objectives and environmental outcomes. We also need to evaluate how this influence relates to the socio-ecological environment within which they occur. This is a complex endeavour requiring a pluralistic approach, which draws on a wide range of interdisciplinary fields. Research question: This thesis addresses the following question: What effects do mountain protected areas have on ecosystem services over time and how does this influence relate to broader socio-economic and ecological drivers of landscape change? Aim and objectives: I use a pluralistic, socio-ecological framing to assess the impact of ~40 years of mountain protection, drawing on comparisons of ~30 and ~40 years before and after protection respectively, with an adjacent area of similar terrain informing scenarios of counterfactual conditions. I also investigate what types of values (economic and intrinsic) are important when determining the impact of mountain protected areas. Thesis approach and methods: I operationalise the concepts of socio-ecological systems, ecosystem services, land use transitions and counterfactuals to investigate socio-ecological change and how it relates to protected area impact in the Groot Winterhoek, a mountain catchment in the south-western Cape of South Africa. This mountain catchment is important for regional water supplies for agricultural and domestic uses and falls in the Cape Floristic Region, a global biodiversity hotspot. It is comprised of privately owned mountain wildlands and a wilderness-protected area, known as the Groot Winterhoek Wilderness Area, established in 1978 (gazetted in 1985) which forms part of the Cape Floristic Region World Heritage Site. I combine methods from social science, ecology, environmental geography, geomatics and hydrology to understand the history of land use and cover (land use/cover) and associated ecosystem service trade-offs, how they are perceived by landowners as well as their wider impact on the region. Specifically, I assess the impact of protection on land use/cover, vegetation, fire and water flows over the last ~50 years, by comparing and contextualising results of change within the protected area to alternative scenarios of “no protection” (the counterfactual conditions). Vegetation and land use/cover change inside the protected area were determined respectively using 72 repeat terrestrial photographs and vegetation surveys, and an analysis of orthorectified aerial imagery. Methods used to construct the counterfactual scenarios of mechanisms (e.g. changes in land use/cover) that would likely drive vegetation changes inside the protected area included: i) 60 repeat surveys and in-depth interviews with landowners adjacent or proximal to the protected area owning unprotected land of similar terrain to the protected area; and ii) land use/cover change analysis of orthorectified aerial imagery of adjacent unprotected land of similar terrain before and after protected area establishment. 4 This latter information was used to understand the role of the protected area in driving vegetation changes inside the protected area. Social, biophysical and remote sensing results were directly used to parameterise land use/cover components of a hydrological model to determine the influence of protection on water flows. Specifically, water flows were simulated for the current state of the environment inside the protected area as well as for several counterfactual scenarios i.e. the alternative land use/cover scenarios of “no protection”. These counterfactual scenarios included land use/cover at two-time steps of ~30 and ~8 years before protection and one-time step ~40 years after protection both inside and outside the protected area. Results: Long-term change in ecosystem service use outside the protected area on privately owned land of similar terrain to inside the protected area (Section 3): Over the last ~50 years, outside the protected area, there was a shift from livestock-based, subsistence agriculture and small-scale farming to a diversified set of ecosystem service uses. The combined area of grazing and wildflower harvesting declined by 39%, while the number of landowners using the mountains for personal nature-based recreation and ecotourism increased by 61% and 23% respectively. Agriculture intensified in suitable areas of mountain land with the number of landowners cultivating land increasing by 20%. Exogenous socioeconomic drivers associated with globalisation and economic growth were important causal mechanisms of land use change. Landowners valued mountain protection for intrinsic and non-use reasons (73-80% of landowners), including existence, bequest and option values, as well as for the indirect use of water supply (72% of landowners) in comparison with direct use reasons such as spiritual/cultural experiences and nature-based recreation inside the protected area (18 and 50% of landowners respectively). Personal, nature-based recreation outside the wilderness-protected area was associated with valuing the protection of mountain land for intrinsic and non-use reasons. Long-term vegetation change inside the protected area and plausible mechanisms driving vegetation change (Section 4): Inside the mountain protected area, fynbos vegetation cover increased on average between 11 and 30% and there were significant declines in bare ground and rock cover. In 5 accumulation and fire intensities. However, these latter changes in land use/cover also occurred outside the protected area (see results summarised for Section 3 above and Section 4 below) and therefore cannot be attributed to protected area establishment. Land use/cover and the influence on water flows inside the protected area compared to counterfactual scenarios of no protection (Section 5): Declines in grazing and changes to the fire regimes occurred regardless of the protected area boundaries. In the past, there was a high frequency of small, low intensity fires across the landscape, both inside and outside the protected area. More recently, fires have been actively suppressed and this resultsin the build-up of biomass and the development of extensive, high intensity fires which, under suitable conditions, burn large expanses of the mountain catchment. Hydrological modelling showed that a high intensity burning regime negatively affected streamflow regardless of protected area boundaries. Streamflow increased by more than 80% under high flow conditions and decreased by more than 40% under low flow conditions relative to an unburnt ‘natural’ scenario. Over the last 50 years there has also been a substantial increase in dams, buildings and roads and minor increases in cultivation outside the protected area. This has been avoided inside the protected area where these land use/cover classes declined. If the increase in these land use/cover types observed outside the protected area occurred inside the protected area this would have resulted in reductions in daily streamflow leaving the protected portion of the catchment. For example, outside the protected area reductions of 8% to 25% of streamflow were observed during mid and low flow conditions respectively, particularly during dry years, in comparison to a ‘natural’ scenario. In contrast, inside the protected area streamflow recovered from past conditions to more closely resemble the natural flow conditions of the catchment. Therefore, had the protected area not been established there would have been losses in streamflow from the catchment as well as an increase in the degree of fragmentation within this mountain area. However, with increased water storage and fragmentation outside the protected area has also come increased socio-economic opportunities such as employment and local opportunities for ecotourism and sustainable agriculture e.g. indigenous cut flows. This highlights the importance of maintaining various forms of land management systems (multifunctional landscapes) within mountain ecosystems but also the need to understand the sustainability of different land management system types. Determining appropriate land management systems for mountain areas should be based on a full understanding of the impacts on ecosystem service benefits and costs at local and regional levels between social groups both spatially and temporally. Broader significance: This thesis contributes to the conservation literature on two main fronts. Firstly, it contributes conceptually and theoretically to understanding the dynamics of ecosystem services in relation to mountain protection. Secondly, it contributes methodologically by using an inclusive, trans- and interdisciplinary research approach for evidence-based conservation at a place-based and landscape level. The study provides a case 6 study example of the positive impact that mountain protection has on water-related ecosystem services, notably by maintaining streamflow throughout high to low flow periods and during dry years. It also provides clear evidence that ecosystem service trade-offs do not remain constant over time and shows that intrinsic and non-use values are required when describing the importance of mountain protected areas. In terms of understanding the impact that protected areas have in mountain regions, the research shows that complex processes are at play that extend beyond the boundaries of a specific protected area in both time and space. Interactions between global and local drivers were found to be prominent causal mechanisms of socio-ecological change and ultimately determined the influence of mountain-protection on land use/cover, fire, vegetation and water-related ecosystem services. The thesis emphasises that counterfactual framings are necessary to understand and attribute the impacts of protected areas on environmental outcomes, however pluralism and socio-ecological approaches are critical to determine plausible counterfactual conditions. This thesis focused only on landowners adjacent and proximal to the protected area owning the majority of mountain catchment land of similar terrain. It is likely that multiple socioeconomic trade-offs have occurred between different social groups and generations at both local and regional levels. Understanding how the disadvantages and benefits of the impacts of protected areas are apportioned across the landscape and temporally is an aspect that requires future research. Central to this would be to fully consider how human well-being is influenced both upstream and downstream, including at regional levels, and between social groups and across generations. Considering the impact of protected areas on the full range of ecosystem services and linking this to societal preferences and perceptions should be incorporated into the overall goal of developing an evidence base for conservation. This is because it is both scientific evidence and societal change that can determine protected area persistence and thus long-term protected area impact.

This study presents a critical investigation into the teaching of computer ethics. A qualitative pluralistic approach (a mixture of qualitative approaches) was used to investigate case studies of teaching computer ethics to university-level students from Bahrain. The main issue was that ethics to Arabs and Muslims is a matter of religion than a matter of philosophy whereas the dominant perception in the academic literature which discussed computer ethics teaching is that computer ethics is a form of practical philosophy and hence separate from religion. In order to shed light on this, the study investigated computer ethic’s perceptions and teaching practices which were occurring in universities in Bahrain. The study found that the issue was not a matter of perception but rather a matter of confusion and a misconception. Computer ethics was being confused with morality, religion, basic computer skills to name just a few. And such confusion was causing computer ethics to gradually disappear from the curriculum and become substituted with concepts which were not necessarily capable of building students’ ethical thinking. The study recommends that computer ethics teachers and policy makers from Bahrain distinguish computer ethics from religion, morality and from any other concept and identify it as an independent field of study, also teachers need to involve their students in social and ethical analysis of various kinds so that students understand that ethics is not a set of rules on what is forbidden and allowed aimed at providing straightforward answers to a given problem but rather ethics is a ‘cognitive tool’; a mechanism through which different competing ethical theories and standards are used to reflect on a given problem.

How can we pursue egalitarian distributive justice? Starting from the assumption that an egalitarian distribution of advantage is one in which no one is worse off than anyone else as a matter of luck, this thesis examines how such a distribution might be brought about. It begins with an investigation of how the luck egalitarian ideal should be interpreted, advancing a critique of the ‘attributivist’ approach to conceptualizing luck developed by Andrew Mason and a (limited) defence of the ‘metaphysical’ approach favoured by G. A. Cohen and others. It then turns to the question of what can be done about the inegalitarian influence of luck on people’s levels of advantage, proposing a pluralist approach to the regulatory strategies of luck egalitarian distributive justice. It argues that, in addition to ‘redistributive compensation’, strategies of ‘levelling’ and ‘direct structural regulation’ should be included in the luck egalitarian armoury. The thesis then applies these arguments to a case study of contemporary internships in the UK. While internships have become a crucial route into employment within many professional sectors, they have yet to receive any sustained critical attention from egalitarian political philosophers. The thesis demonstrates how the distribution of internships contributes to distributive injustice and then examines the various regulatory actions luck egalitarians might endorse in response to that injustice. The ways in which contemporary injustice is produced are many and varied: the pluralist approach to luck egalitarian regulatory strategies provides a useful and clear framework within which to identify and evaluate the many and varied ways in which we might respond.

Thesis advisor: Nasser Behnegar
Political ideology can be described in terms of value pluralist theory. Much of the variation between political ideologies can be explained by the fact that the principles that are essential to society--liberty, equality, fraternity, peace, loyalty, and civilization--are incommensurable and often conflict forcing each person and community to emphasize some principles over others leading to an imperfect society. Each political ideology is a combination of interests and the selected balance of principles and thus can be essentially defined according to the level of preference for each of these six principles. This paper studies major political ideologies throughout the globe and develops a model for understanding them in these terms. This paper further argues for a pluralist democracy, with constantly shifting ideological dominance in a community as the next best thing to an impossible utopia and the only means of preventing the collapse of society due to a lack of essential principles. This model makes clear the fallacy of understanding political ideology in terms of "left" and "right," which not only oversimplify political ideology but also fundamentally misrepresent it. It also leads to narrowing visions of politics that prevent significant changes to a political system and undermine the possibility for pluralist democracy
Thesis (MA) — Boston College, 2012
Submitted to: Boston College. Graduate School of Arts and Sciences
Discipline: Political Science

The Classical Tradition, now more commonly known as Classical Reception, is a growing sub-discipline in Classics which seeks to trace the influence of Greco-Roman culture in post-classical works. While scholars have already done much to analyze specific texts, and many of these analyses are theoretically complex, there has yet to be a review of the theories these scholars employ. The purpose of this study is to provide researchers with a theoretical tool kit which allows them greater scope and nuance when analyzing usages of classical mythology. It examines five different approaches scholars have used: adaptation, allusion, intertextuality, reception, and typology. Each theory is followed by an example from Spanish literature or film: Apollo and Daphne in Calderón's El laurel de Apolo, Orpheus in Unamuno's Niebla, Dionysus in Unamuno's San Manuel Bueno, mártir, Persephone in del Torro's El laberinto del fauno, and the werewolf in Naschy's Waldemar Daninsky films. This thesis argues that a critical pluralist approach best captures the nuance and variety of usages of classical mythology. This allows for both objective and subjective readings of texts as well as explicit and implicit connections to classical mythology.

In this era of globalization, there has been much western investment in the eastern world, increasing the number of large projects financed by internal and foreign investments. It was thought a challenging proposition to investigate whether systemic approaches could be used in eastern developing countries that are in transition between Toffler’s first (agricultural focused) and second (industrial centered) waves of economic development.

Research Purpose: This research explores how individuals with experience of emotional or mental distress use different forms of community-based peer support to enhance their well-being, specifically in one to one, group and online settings. Research Background: Attention has been paid, in recent years, to the potential of peer support to enhance the well-being of individuals experiencing mental or emotional distress. However, existing studies tend to concentrate on forms of peer support in isolation. Recent research suggests that a plurality of use exists, whereby individuals actively choose to access more than one form of peer support to improve their well-being. It is important to revisit the landscape of peer support to develop a better understanding of the motivations and experience driving this plurality of use. Research Design: Data was collected through 18 in-depth qualitative semi-structured interviews. Participants were recruited through a strategy of purposive sampling. All had experience of at least two forms of peer support. Research Findings: Individuals use different forms of peer support in both sequence and combination to enhance their well-being. Personal agency plays an important role in how and why individuals use different forms of peer support. Different forms of peer support make nuanced, diverse and sometimes unique, contributions to individual well-being, especially in supporting individuals to reframe their experiences, source new forms of social support and participate in reciprocal giving. Research Conclusions: Research findings demonstrate the importance of community-based peer support as part of the welfare landscape and illuminate new complexities around the way in which individuals use and experience different forms of peer support. Whilst mental health policy tends towards short-term use and formal one to one peer support, this research illustrates that individuals benefit from using a variety of forms, and the importance of ensuring the availability of different forms of peer support.

In this dissertation, I advance a new interpretation of the meaning and political implications of Isaiah Berlin's theory of value pluralism. My argument focuses on two puzzles within the literature on value pluralism: first, value pluralist political theorists advance a variety of differing political views on an ostensibly value pluralist basis; second, and more deeply, their writings betray significant ambiguity on what value pluralism means in the first place. I identify two central sources of these problems. First, two distinct sets of ideas in Berlin's work, which I label the "moral-practical" and "societal groupings" versions of value pluralism, are persistently conflated by both Berlin and more recent value pluralist theorists. Second, attempts to justify a political view on the basis of value pluralism run aground on a "priority problem" stemming from the central value pluralist concept of incommensurability. In my approach, I maintain the distinction between the moral-practical and societal groupings theories, focusing on the moral-practical version as a more original and less well-understood contribution of Berlin's thought. I also develop a strategy, which I call "giving incommensurability its due," that avoids the priority problem by focusing on metaethical (or second-order), epistemic, and procedural considerations. This strategy supports two major sets of political implications: a liberal-constitutional framework of basic rights and liberties, and a robust, vibrant form of participatory and deliberative democratic politics. This turn to democracy constitutes an important shift vis-à-vis the current literature, which has, up to now, been preoccupied with value pluralism's relationship to liberalism.

Dissertation

The use of classical taxonomy, with its reliance on the physically observable, is currently waning in the face of increased reliance on molecular phylogenetics. This thesis demonstrates that a pluralistic approach to classical taxonomic practice can lead to increased internal cladistic resolution within a clade, including the recognition of new taxa at all nomenclatural levels. In particular, this thesis has three aims to bring greater resolution to the clade Stromboidea Rafinesque, 1815 (Gastropoda Linné, 1758): 1) to divide the Stromboidea into two distinctive evolutionary crown clades using morphological evidence, thereby reinstating the historical understanding of the internal cladistic relationships that have been lost as a consequence of taxonomic inflation; 2) to complete an α-taxonomic revision of Seraphsidae Gray, 1853 (Stromboidea) based on a pluralist approach to species conception; and 3) to resolve the infrafamilial relationships within Seraphsidae using morphological cladistics. This thesis examined all species hypotheses and their synonymies, and revised these in a pluralist light against the rules that govern precedence and availability. From this information, an annotated synonymy was generated for each taxon, the precedence of names determined, and revised descriptions formulated. Character sets that reflect the synapomorphies within the major subclades of Seraphsidae were coded and a cladogram generated using maximum likelihood within the tnt program with default settings. Four forms of material and evidence were used in this systematic review: 1) the type material for each taxon; 2) physical material; 3) published images; and 4) literary references for specimen localities without illustration. The current morphologically-based classification of Seraphsidae was found to be sound in terms of current species delimitations. Regardless of this, the use of a pluralist approach improved understanding of the internal cladistic relationships within Seraphsidae, which led to higher resolution of the internal cladistic arrangements and taxonomic delimitation. Furthermore, this increased resolution is now reflected in the higher evolutionary contextualisation of the family nomenclature. This thesis included Mauryna de Gregorio, 1880 within Seraphsidae on the grounds that it provides a basal link to the Seraphsidae sister taxa Semiterebellum Cossmann, 1889 and Terebellopsis Leymerie, 1846, both contained within Rostellariidae Gabb, 1868, and all three clades may in time be brought together under one family. It was not possible within the context of this thesis to test the results of the pluralist α-taxonomic findings against phylogenies generated with molecular data. This was due to the high number of extinct taxa within the Seraphsidae. Therefore, it is imperative that further revisions be undertaken with groups of predominantly extant taxa to test the pluralist classical taxonomic methodologies against molecular data, and thereby seek to reverse the trend in the literature whereby classical taxonomy is deemed fundamentally redundant in the face of advances in analysis of molecular data.

Plusieurs problèmes liés à l'utilisation de substances et méthodes interdites de dopage dans les sports posent de grands défis à la gouvernance antidopage. Afin de lutter contre le dopage, certains pays ont mis en oeuvre des cadres juridiques basés exclusivement sur le droit pénal tandis que d'autres pays ont plutôt misé sur des mécanismes et organismes spécialisés trouvant fondement en droit privé ou sur un régime hybride de droit public et privé. Ces différentes approches réglementaires ont pour conséquence de faire en sorte qu’il est très difficile de lutter efficacement contre le dopage dans les sports, notamment parce que leur exécution requiert un degré de collaboration internationale et une participation concertée des autorités publiques qui est difficile à mettre en place. À l’heure actuelle, on peut par exemple observer que les États n’arrivent pas à contrer efficacement la participation des syndicats et organisations transnationales liés au crime organisé dans le marché du dopage, ni à éliminer des substances et méthodes de dopage interdites par la réglementation. Par ailleurs, la gouvernance antidopage basée sur les règles prescrites par l’Agence mondiale antidopage prévoit des règles et des normes distinctes de dopage distinguant entre deux catégories de personnes, les athlètes et les autres, plaçant ainsi les premiers dans une position désavantageuse. Par exemple, le standard de responsabilité stricte sans faute ou négligence imposé aux athlètes exige moins que la preuve hors de tout doute raisonnable et permet l'utilisation de preuves circonstancielles pour établir la violation des règles antidopages. S'appliquant pour prouver le dopage, ce standard mine le principe de la présomption d'innocence et le principe suivant lequel une personne ne devrait pas se voir imposer une peine sans loi. D’ailleurs, le nouveau Code de 2015 de l’Agence attribuera aux organisations nationales antidopage (ONADs) des pouvoirs d'enquête et de collecte de renseignements et ajoutera de nouvelles catégories de dopage non-analytiques, réduisant encore plus les droits des athlètes. Dans cette thèse, nous discutons plus particulièrement du régime réglementaire de l’Agence et fondé sur le droit privé parce qu’il ne parvient pas à répondre aux besoins actuels de gouvernance mondiale antidopage. Nous préconisons donc l’adoption d’une nouvelle approche de gouvernance antidopage où la nature publique et pénale mondiale du dopage est clairement reconnue. Cette reconnaissance combiné avec un modèle de gouvernance adapté basé sur une approche pluraliste du droit administratif global produira une réglementation et une administration antidopage mieux acceptée chez les athlètes et plus efficace sur le plan des résultats. Le nouveau modèle de gouvernance que nous proposons nécessitera toutefois que tous les acteurs étatiques et non-étatiques ajustent leur cadre de gouvernance en tenant compte de cette nouvelle approche, et ce, afin de confronter les défis actuels et de régler de manière plus satisfaisante les problèmes liés à la gouvernance mondiale du dopage dans les sports.
Several issues which are related to the use of prohibited substances and doping methods in sport pose great challenges to the anti-doping governance. In order to fight against doping, some countries have implemented legal frameworks which are based exclusively on criminal law while other countries have relied on specialized mechanisms and bodies, either based exclusively on private law or on a hybrid regime of public and private law. These different regulatory approaches make the fight against doping in sport severely complicated as its success requires a degree of international cooperation as well as the concerted involvement of public authorities. However, such cooperation is often difficult to realize. At present, it can be observed, for example, that nation states are unable to effectively prevent transnational organized crime syndicates and organizations from involving in the doping market nor from restricting and eliminating prohibited doping substances and methods through their regulatory frameworks. Furthermore, the anti-doping governance framework which is based on the rules and standards of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) distinguishes athletes from nonathletes, placing the former in a disadvantageous position. For example, the standard of strict liability of no fault or negligence imposed on athletes requires less than proof beyond a reasonable doubt and allows the use of circumstantial evidence to establish an anti-doping rule violation. This standard of proof undermines the presumption of innocence principle and the principle of no penalty without a law. Moreover, the new World Anti-Doping Code of 2015 will empower the National Anti-Doping Organizations (NADOs) with investigative and intelligence-gathering powers and will add new categories of non-analytical based doping categories, while reducing the rights of athletes even further. In this thesis, we discuss specifically the private law-based regulatory framework of WADA because it fails to meet the current needs of global anti-doping governance. We therefore advocate for the adoption of a new approach where the penal and public global nature of doping is clearly recognized. Such recognition, combined with a suitable governance model based on a pluralistic approach of global administrative law, will produce a better accepted and more effective anti-doping governance among athletes and will also be of benefit for non-athletes. However, the new governance model that we propose will require all state and non-state parties to adjust their governance frameworks to meet the current challenges and problems, related to the global governance of doping in sport.

Thesis (M.A.)--York University, 2005. Graduate Programme in Communication and Culture.
Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 104-106). Also available on the Internet. MODE OF ACCESS via web browser by entering the following URL: http://gateway.proquest.com/openurl?url%5Fver=Z39.88-2004&res%5Fdat=xri:pqdiss &rft_val_fmt=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:dissertation&rft_dat=xri:pqdiss:MR11924