Women of Substance : The Aspect of Education, Career and Female Identity in Pride and Prejudice and Bridget Jones's Diary

Although two hundred years separate Jane Austen and Helen Fielding and, subsequently, also their portrayals of society, the similarities outweigh the differences. When juxtaposing Pride and Prejudice and Bridget Jones’s Diary in the light of feminism it is evident that both books provide clear examples of the prevailing situation of women in each time and place. The aspects of the study, which are especially important today, show both the development and some degree of stagnation of women’s rights and identities.

Historical Consciousness, Historical Media, and History Education

This thesis by publication contains an introductory summary chapter and three papers. The first paper presents a study of how the concept of historical consciousness has been defined, applied, and justified in Swedish history didactical research. It finds that there is consensus regarding the definition of what a historical consciousness is, but that there is variation in how the concept is applied. It is suggested that this variation makes historical con­sciousness a complex and vague concept.      The second paper uses the results presented in the first paper as a point of departure and from thence argues for a broadened understanding of the concept of historical consciousness that incorporates its definition, applica­tion, development, and significance. The study includes research about his­torical consciousness primarily from Sweden, the UK, the USA and Canada. The paper presents a typology of historical consciousness and argues that level of contextualisation is what distinguishes different types of historical consciousnesses and that an ability to contextualise is also what makes his­torical consciousness an important concept for identity constitution and morality.      The third paper proposes a methodological framework of historical con­sciousness based on the theory of historical consciosusness presented in the second paper. It presents arguments for why the framework of historical consciousness proposed can be useful for the analysis of historical media and it discusses how aspects of the framework can be applied in analysis. It then presents a textbook analysis that has been performed according to the stipulated framework and discusses its results regarding how textbooks can be used to analyse historical consciousness and its development.

Student satisfaction in tourism education : The case of Dalarna University, Borlänge, Sweden

The students' expectations must be met to ensure their overall satisfaction. Because of this student satisfaction has become a measurement tool with which the universities can compete against each other in order to attract potential students and also a higher level of internal and external funding. This thesis deals with students' overall satisfaction in tourism education at Dalarna University in Sweden. It is important to understand what it takes for the universities to be able to produce a motivated workforce for the communities and how satisfied students could help in achieving this goal. Sweden was selected because of the recent introduction of tuition fees, in 2010, which has made it even more crucial to understand the factors affecting students' satisfaction. The method chosen for conducting this study was a questionnaire where the students of Dalarna University were asked to rate different aspects of their overall experience on a Likert scale. The research was conducted via Facebook and email questionnaire. The results show different levels of satisfaction based on the tourism programmes and gender for example. The major finding from this research implicate that the social conditions and surrounding city categories are the most influential when it comes to the overall satisfaction of students at Dalarna University. The results give the university and the city of Borlänge an insight on issues that really matter to the students and how to improve them.

The priority of temporal aspects in L2-Swedish prosody : Studies in perception and production

Foreign accent can be everything from hardly detectable to rendering the second language speech unintelligible. It is assumed that certain aspects of a specific target language contribute more to making the foreign accented speech intelligible and listener friendly, than others. The present thesis examines a teaching strategy for Swedish pronunciation in second language education. The teaching strategy “Basic prosody” or BP, gives priority to temporal aspects of Swedish prosody, which means the temporal phonological contrasts word stress and quantity, as well as the durational realizations of these contrasts. BP does not prescribe any specific tonal realizations. This standpoint is based on the great regional variety in realization and distribution of Swedish word accents. The teaching strategy consists virtually of three directives: · Stress the proper word in the sentence. · Stress proper syllables in stressed words and make them longer. · Lengthen the proper segment – vowel or subsequent consonant – in the stressed syllable. These directives reflect the view that all phonological length is stress-induced, and that vowel length and consonant length are equally important as learning goals. BP is examined in the light of existing findings in the field of second language pronunciation and with respect to the phonetic correlates of Swedish stress and quantity. Five studies examine the relation between segment durations and the categorization made by native Swedish listeners. The results indicate that the postvocalic consonant duration contributes to quantity categorization as well as giving the proper duration to stressed syllables. Furthermore, native Swedish speakers are shown to apply the complementary /V: C/ - /VC:/ pattern also when speaking English and German, by lengthening postvocalic consonants. The correctness of the priority is not directly addressed but important aspects of BP are supported by earlier findings as well as the results from the present studies.

Att bli, att vara och att ha varit - om ingångar i och utgångar ur Jehovas vittnen i Sverige

Summary To become, to be and to have been: about the  Jehovah’s Witnesses The Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, in the following text referred to as the Jehovah’s Witnesses or “the organisation”, is a worldwide Christian organisation with about 6.7 million members. The organisation has many times, without any success so far, proclaimed Armageddon when they expect Jehovah to return to Earth. They interpret the Bible in their own, often very literal way, and require their members to live according to these interpretations. Among the consequences of this, members are forbidden to vote, to do military service or to receive blood transfusions. Apart from attending the three weekly meetings, members are expected to be active in missionary work, known as “publishing”. If a member fails to do a certain number of hours’ publishing, he or she risks being deprived of active membership status Sweden in general is considered to be a society where the population is not very religious. The formerly state-governed Lutheran church has lost its influence and the vast majority of ordinary Swedes do not visit church on other occasions than weddings, funerals or christenings. Expressing one’s own religious values has become somewhat of a private matter where publicity is seldom appreciated, which is contrary to the practice of the Jehovah’s Witnesses. This is one of the reasons why the Jehovah’s Witnesses are commonly perceived by average Swedes as a “suspicious” religious organisation. The aim and methods of the study This dissertation seeks to describe and investigate the entering and leaving of a highly structured and hierarchical religious community, exemplified in this case by the Jehovah’s Witnesses. What are the thoughts and aspirations of someone who is considering becoming a Jehovah’s Witness? What are the priorities and what experiences seem important when a person is going through such a process? And when this person has finally reached his or her goal of becoming a member, is it the same motivation that makes him or her stay in the organisation for longer periods of time, possibly for the rest of their lives, or does it change during the process of entering, or does this motivation change its character during the transition from entering to being a regular member? Why do some of the members change their attitude to the Jehovah’s Witnesses from rejoicing to bitterness? And how does this process of exit manifest itself? In what way is it different from the process of entry? The respondents in this study were chosen from both active members of the Jehovah’s Witnesses in Sweden and those who have left the organisation for personal reasons. Repeated interviews with ten active members of the organisation have been conducted in the course of the study and compared to equal numbers of former members. The interviews have been semi-structured to deal with questions of how a person has come into contact with the organisation; how they retrospectively experienced the process of entry; the reasons for becoming a member. Questions have also been asked about life in the organisation. The group of “exiters” have also been asked about the experience of leaving, why they wanted to leave, and how this process was started and carried out. In addition to this I have analysed a four-year diary describing the time inside and the process of leaving the organisation. This has given me an extra psychological insight into the inner experience of someone who has gone through the whole process. The analysis has been done by categorising the content of the transcribed interviews. An attempt to outline a model of an entry and exit process has been made, based on ideas and interpretations presented in the interviews. The analysis of the diary has involved thorough reading, resulting in a division of it into four different parts, where each part has been given a certain key-word, signifying the author’s emotional state when writing it. A great deal of the information about the Jehovah’s Witnesses has been collected through discussion boards on the Internet, informal talks with members and ex-members, interviews with representatives of the organisations during visits to its different offices (Bethels), such as St. Petersburg, Russia, and Brooklyn, New York, USA. The context Each organisation evolves in its own context with its own norms, roles and stories that would not survive outside it. With this as a starting point, there is a chapter dedicated to the description of the organisation’s history, structure and activities. It has been stated that the organisation’s treatment of its critical members and the strategies for recruiting new members have evolved over the years of its history. At the beginning there was an openness allowing members to be critical. As the structure of the organisation has become more rigid and formalised, the treatment of internal critics has become much less tolerated and exclusion has become a frequent option. As a rule many new members have been attracted to the organisation when (1) the day of Armageddon has been pronounced to be approaching; (2) the members of the organisation have been persecuted or threatened with persecution; and (3) the organisation has discovered a “new market”. The processes for entering and exiting How the entering processes manifest themselves depends on whether the person has been brought up in the organisation or not. A person converting as an adult has to pass six phases before being considered a Jehovah’s Witness by the organisation. These are:  Contact with the Jehovah’s Witnesses, Studying the bible with members of the organisation, Questioning, Accepting, Being active as publisher (spreading the belief), Being baptised.  For a person brought up in the organisation, the process to full membership is much shorter:   Upbringing in the organisation, Taking a stand on the belief, Being baptised. The exit process contains of seven phases:   Different levels of doubts, Testing of doubts, Turning points, Different kinds of decisions, Different steps in executing the decisions, Floating, a period of emotional and cognitive consideration of membership and its experiences, Realtive neutrality.   The process in and the process out are both slow and are accompanied with anguish and doubts. When a person is going through the process in or out of the organisation he or she experiences criticism. This is when people around the adept question the decision to continue in the process. The result of the criticism depends on where in the process the person is. If he or she is at the beginning of the process, the criticism will probably make the person insecure and the process will slow down or stop. If the criticism is pronounced in a later phase, the process will probably speed up. The norms of the organisation affect the behaviour of the members. There are techniques for inclusion that both bind members to the organisation and shield them off from the surrounding society. Examples of techniques for inclusion are the “work situation” and “closed doors”. The work situation signifies that members who do as the organisation recommends – doing simple work – often end up in the same branch of industry as many other Jehovah’s Witnesses. This often means that the person has other witnesses as workmates. If the person is unemployed or moves to another town it is easy to find a new job through connections in the organisation. Doubts and exclusions can lead to problems since they entail a risk of losing one’s job. This can also result in problems getting a new job. Jehovah’s Witnesses are not supposed to talk to excluded members, which of course mean difficulties working together. “Closed doors” means that members who do as the organisation recommends – not pursuing higher education, not engaging in civil society, working with a manual or in other way simple job, putting much time into the organisation – will, after a long life in the organisation, have problems starting a new life outside the Jehovah’s Witnesses. The language used in the organisation shows the community among the members, thus the language is one of the most important symbols. A special way of thinking is created through the language. It binds members to the organisation and sometimes it can work as a way to get back into the normative world of the organisation. Randall Collins’s (1990, 2004) thoughts about “emotional energy” have enabled an understanding of the solidarity and unity in the organisation. This also gives an understanding of the way the members treat doubting and critical members. The members who want to exit have to open up the binding/screening off. A possible way to do that is through language, to become aware of the effect the language might have. Another way is to search for emotional energy in another situation. During the exit process, shame might be of some importance. When members become aware of the shame they feel, because they perceive they are “acting a belief”, the exit process might accelerate.

Capability outcomes from educational and ICT capability inputs : an analysis of ICT use in informal education in Kenya

In the field of Information and Communication Technologies for Development (ICT4D) ICT use in education is well studied. Education is often seen as a pre-requisite for development and ICTs are believed to aid in education, e.g. to make it more accessible and to increase its quality. In this paper we study the access and use of ICT in a study circle (SC) education program in the south coast of Kenya. The study is qualitative reporting results based on interviews and observations with SC participants, government officers and SC coordinators and teachers. The study builds on the capability approach perspective of development where individuals’ opportunities and ability to live a life that they value are focused. The aim of the study is to investigate the capability outcomes enabled through the capability inputs access and use of ICT in education as well as the factors that enabled and/or restricted the outcomes. Findings show that many opportunities have been enabled such as an increase in the ability to generate an income, learning benefits, community development and basic human development (e.g. literacy and self-confidence). However, conversion factors such as a poorly developed infrastructure and poor IT literacy prevent many of the individuals from taking full advantage of the ICT and the opportunities it enables. 

Inspired by the past, driven by the passion: music in state-supported education in New South Wales and Victoria 1848-1920

This investigation considers the development of class music teaching in New South Wales and Victoria during the first seventy-two years of state-supported primary education. The first chapter describes the English background including music teaching methods (resulting from the mid-nineteenth century English choral singing movement) and the subsequent development of music teaching in English elementary schools. The promotion of school music is then considered on a broadly chronological basis in the two states and several themes are identified in relation to school music policy and practice. These include the status of music (core curriculum or extra-curricular subject), who should teach music (generalist or specialist teachers), what teaching methods and music notation should be used (staff or Tonic Sol-fa), musical training for generalist teachers, and curriculum content in relation to the aims and objectives of school music. Comparisons are made between developments in both states and between both states and English school music. The final chapter demonstrates the relevance of many of the historical themes identified for music education today. The thesis concludes by identifying a recurring problem from the past. namely the lack of co-ordination between various aspects of school music policy, as the most serious problem to be overcome in the future.

Understanding criminal behaviour: identifying psychological differences between domestically violent offenders and non-offenders

Numerous theories have been formulated in an attempt to explain the psychological differences between violent offenders and non-offenders. Constructs that have emerged as salient in such scholarship include anger expression, social problem solving, locus of control, attitudes toward women, impulsivity and temper. Although a considerable amount of sound research has been conducted into 'violent offending' per se, in general terms, research into family and domestic violence is yet to be as methodologically and theoretically rigorous. In an attempt to link these areas of work, and to identify the risk factors (or 'criminogenic needs') of specific sub-groups of male offenders, this research compared: (I) property offenders, (2) those who had been· 'violent against strangers', (3) those who had been 'violent against intimates' and (4) non-offenders. In an effort to address one of the shortcomings of prior research, potentially confounding variables such as age, education level cultural identity, and socio-economic status were controlled for in an effort to arrive at more meaningful representations of each offender group's specific psychological deficits and abundances. A number of differences were highlighted between the groups, but few of these remained after demographic
covariates were controlled for. This paper details the nature of these differences, while also proposing that future studies adopt a similar methodology.

`I feel enlightened now, but...`: the limits to the pedagogic translation of critical social discourses in physical education

The emancipatory goal that underpins critical theories of teaching and learning is built on a theory of rational self-determination. In the context of physical education, critical educators believe that through a process of enlightenment teachers can recognize and transform elements of injustice and inequality that exist, albeit unwittingly, in their practice. However, despite the broad appeal of this orientation there are relatively few empirical accounts of how theories of enlightenment manifest themselves in the practice of emancipation. Propelled by the lacuna that clearly exists between critical theory and critical practice, this paper reports on the introduction of critical social discourses to a preservice PE program. It uses a case study methodology to report on two student-teachers' engagement with a range of critical social discourses during a year-long PE unit. The paper discusses some of the ways these students engaged with the theory and practice of a critical orientation for teaching and learning in physical education. Aspects of their experiences are then interpreted through Fay's (1987) critical but postmodern "limits to change" thesis. The paper concludes with tempered optimism about the potential for critical social discourses to guide preservice teachers in practical ways.

From personal reflection to social positioning: the development of a transformational model of a professional education in midwifery

A transformational model of professional identity formation, anchored and globalized in workplace conversations, is advanced. Whilst the need to theorize the aims and methods of clinical education has been served by the techno-rational platform of 'reflective practice', this platform does not provide an adequate psychological tool to explore the dynamics of social episodes in professional learning and this led us to positioning theory. Positioning theory is one such appropriate tool in which individuals metaphorically locate themselves within discursive action in everyday conversations to do with personal positioning, institutional practices and societal rhetoric. This paper develops the case for researching social episodes in clinical education through professional conversations where midwifery students, in practice settings, are encouraged to account for their moment-by-moment interactions with their preceptors/midwives and university mentors. It is our belief that the reflection elaborated by positioning theory should be considered as the new epistemology for professional education where professional conversations are key to transformative learning processes for persons and institutions.

Teacher subject specialisms and their relationships to learning styles, psychological types and multiple intelligences: implications for course development

This study explores issues in teacher education that increase our understanding of, and response to, the individual differences displayed by learners. A large undergraduate teacher education cohort provided evidence of the range and distribution of preferences in learning styles, psychological types and multiple intelligences. This information revealed that distributions of scores on the Kolb Learning Style Inventory, the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, and the Multiple Intelligences Checklist for Adults provide evidence about the scope and range of differences between four teacher subject specialisms. This rich information about those participating in teacher education courses provides some guidance for educating those with their own clear preferences to the range of different preferences expressed by many other learners and highlights the existence of four sets of major differences in approaches to teaching and learning in prospective teachers.

Relationship between men's and women's body image and their psychological, social, and sexual functioning

This study was designed to examine the relationships between different aspects of body image and psychological, social, and sexual functioning throughout adulthood. The respondents were 211 men and 226 women (age range 18–86 years; mean = 42.26). Respondents completed measures of self-rated attractiveness, body satisfaction, body image importance, body image behaviors, appearance comparison, social physique anxiety, self-esteem, depression, anxiety, and social and sexual functioning. Body image was associated with self-esteem for all groups, but was unrelated to other aspects of psychological, social, and sexual functioning. There were some exceptions; a disturbance in body image was related to problematic social and sexual functioning among middle-aged men and to depression and anxiety symptoms in late adulthood among men and women. Middle-aged men who presented with the type of body image disturbance typical of women were more likely to have impaired interpersonal functioning. These results demonstrate that social aspects of body image appear to be important in understanding psychological functioning in later life.

A comparative analysis of international education satisfaction using servqual

University education, the world over, has undergone significant transformation and reform with respect to higher education systems meeting the growing role of information and communication revolution, and the demand for knowledge, which represent the new challenges of globalisation. These challenges are seen as threats as well as opportunities for higher education systems around the world. The driving force of globalisation is competition and the international education market has become fiercely competitive with different marketing strategies being implemented by educational institutions to attract the growing number of students seeking higher education. The objective of this paper is to examine the relationship between the SERVQUAL constructs proposed by Parasuraman et al (1988 & 1985) and the country of origin and satisfaction among four cohorts of Asian international postgraduate students studying in Australian universities. Country of origin is recognized as an important predictor of satisfaction and choice in the international education environment. The data used in this study is derived from a mail survey conducted among international postgraduate students from China, India, Indonesia and Thailand studying in five universities in Victoria, Australia. An adapted version of the SERVQUAL instrument was used to collect the data and was designed to measure the gap between student responses on expectations and perceptions of the university as a study destination on a seven point bi-polar scale. The responses were sought on 36 statements representing aspects of the operations and services of the university under desired (ideal) expectations of choice and post-choice perceptions. Scales were developed to investigate the relationship between the SERVQUAL constructs of reliability, responsiveness, assurance, empathy and tangibles and the country of origin and were shown to be reliable. Using ANOVA and MANOVA techniques, the study found significant differences between country of origin and the SERVQUAL constructs and discusses strategic implications and opportunities for higher
educational institutions

Children's mental health and wellbeing and hands-on contact with nature

Research on the health and wellbeing benefits of contact with animals and plants indicates the natural environment may have significant positive psychological and physiological effects on human health and wellbeing. In terms of children, studies have demonstrated that children function better cognitively and emotionally in 'green' environments and have more creative play. In Australia as well as internationally, many schools appear to be incorporating nature-based activities into their curricula, mostly via sustainability education. Although these programs appear to be successful, few have been evaluated, particularly in terms of the potential benefits to health and wellbeing. This paper reports on a pilot survey investigating the mental health benefits of contact with nature for primary school children in Melbourne, Australia. A survey of principals and teachers was conducted in urban primary schools within a 20km radius of Melbourne. As well as gathering data on the types and extent of environmental and other nature-based activities in the sample schools, items addressing the perceptions of principals and teachers of the potential effects of these activities on children's mental health and wellbeing were also included. Despite a lower than expected response rate, some interesting findings emerged. Although preliminary, results indicate that participants' perceptions of the benefits to mental health and wellbeing from participation in hands-on nature based activities at their school are positive and encompass many aspects of mental health.

Assessment as a strategic tool for enhancing learning in teacher education: a case study

This small exploratory case study describes an attempt to integrate the academic and practical aspects of a teacher education course in order to promote deep understanding of children's ways of understanding mathematics. The assessment regime of the course was used as a strategic tool for engaging students, and the assessment tasks themselves were used as the means of generating genuine integration, or case knowledge, of the content of the course. The results indicate that the approach was effective in achieving the aims of the course, and student reaction to the approach was extremely positive.