The practices of existential psychotherapists: Development and application of an observational grid

Within the major therapeutic paradigms, observational instruments have been developed to assess orientation-specific interventions or processes. However, to date, no such instrument exists to assess existential practices. Recent research indicates the key practices of existential therapists, and forms an empirical basis on which to develop an observatory grid. This paper describes the development of such a grid, and its exploratory testing with eight clients of four Portuguese existential psychotherapists. A total of 32 sessions were observed and both speaking turn and whole-session analysis showed that it was feasible to assess existential therapy using the instrument, although psychometric findings recommend further refinement of the tool. Session-rating data suggest that the chief practices applied by existential therapists were relational, followed by the use of hermeneutic interventions and reformulations. Interventions based on phenomenological and existential assumptions were observable in practice but limited in frequency. Further refinements and developments of the observational grid, together with additional research – using a range of therapists from different schools of existential therapy – are recommended.

In search of good relationships to music : understanding aspiration and challenge in developing music school teacher practices

This study focuses on teacher practices in publicly funded music schools in Finland. As views on the aims of music education change and broaden, music schools across Europe share the challenge of developing their activities in response. In public and scholarly debate, there have been calls for increased diversity of contents and concepts of teaching. In Finland, the official national curriculum for state-funded music schools builds on the ideal that teaching and learning should create conditions which promote ‘a good relationship to music’. The meaning of this concept has been deliberately left open in order to leave room for dialogue, flexibility, and teacher autonomy. Since what is meant by ‘good’ is not defined in advance, the notion of ‘improving’ practices is also open to discussion. The purpose of the study is to examine these issues from teachers’ point of view by asking what music school teachers aim to accomplish as they develop their practices. Methodologically, the study introduces a suggestion for building empirical research on Alperson’s ‘robust’ praxial approach to music education, a philosophical theory which is strongly committed to practitioner perspectives and musical diversity. A systematic method for analysing music education practices, interpretive practice analysis, is elaborated with support from interpretive research methods originally used in policy analysis. In addition, the research design shows how reflecting conversations (a collaborative approach well-known in Nordic social work) can be fruitfully applied in interpretive research and combined with teacher inquiry. Data have been generated in a collaborative project involving five experienced music school teachers and the researcher. The empirical material includes transcripts from group conversations, data from teacher inquiry conducted within the project, and transcripts from follow-up interviews. The teachers’ aspirations can be understood as strivings to reinforce the connection between musical practices and various forms of human flourishing such that music and flourishing can sustain each other. Examples from their practices show how the word ‘good’ receives its meaning in context. Central among the teachers’ concerns is their hope that students develop a free and sustainable interest in music, often described as inspiration. I propose that ‘good relationships to music’ and ‘inspiration’ can be understood as philosophical mediators which support the transition from an indeterminate ‘interest in music’ towards specific ways in which music can become a (co-)constitutive part of living well in each person’s particular circumstances. Different musical practices emphasise different aspects of what is considered important in music and in human life. Music school teachers consciously balance between a variety of such values. They also make efforts to resist pressure which might threaten the goods they think are most important. Such goods include joy, participation, perseverance, solid musical skills related to specific practices, and a strong sense of vitality. The insights from this study suggest that when teachers are able to create inspiration, they seem to do so by performing complex work which combines musical and educational aims and makes general positive contributions to their students’ lives. Ensuring that teaching and learning in music schools remain as constructive and meaningful as possible for both students and teachers is a demanding task. The study indicates that collaborative, reflective and interdisciplinary work may be helpful as support for development processes on both individual and collective levels of music school teacher practices.

Domain-Specific Program Checking

Lint-like program checkers are popular tools that ensure code quality by verifying compliance with best practices for a particular programming language. The proliferation of internal domain-specific languages and models, however, poses new challenges for such tools. Traditional program checkers produce many false positives and fail to accurately check constraints, best practices, common errors, possible optimizations and portability issues particular to domain-specific languages. We advocate the use of dedicated rules to check domain-specific practices. We demonstrate the implementation of domain-specific rules, the automatic fixing of violations, and their application to two case-studies: (1) Seaside defines several internal DSLs through a creative use of the syntax of the host language; and (2) Magritte adds meta-descriptions to existing code by means of special methods. Our empirical validation demonstrates that domain-specific program checking significantly improves code quality when compared with general purpose program checking.

Espaço enquanto matéria da arte, espaço enquanto matéria do museu : (re)configurações da experiência site-specific

The central theme of this dissertation encompasses the importance of space, particularly the exhibition space, and how it has become part of the subject matter, as well as a medium in art. Some artistic practices of the 20th century, mainly in the 20s and 60s, both in Europe and the United States of America have provided the contextual foundation. The close relation between the architectural and exhibition spaces has become an intrinsic link to establish the existence of the three-dimensional work of art. The overarching importance of space in the contemporary artistic practice is visible through the creative and exhibition installation process, most notably in the artistic movements of Installation art and Site-specific. By carrying over the transformative contemporary art scene concepts to an institutional and museological context, paired with the inherent evolution of its practices, these have allowed for a convergence of the museological fields. With the intention of providing audiences a unique experience, curators and museologists have relied on site-specific practices. By inviting artists (typically featured in the current artistic scene) to develop projects specially thought for a specific museum space, this simultaneously allows for a dialogue between the work of art and the space. These temporary exhibitions have garnered the attention a more diverse audience. As a result sustainability and independence of the museums are a constant source of debate. The result of which has allowed for the broadening of the notions of how museums function and have integrated the audience as a main element of the strategies of the museum programming. The principles of the cultural marketing provide museums a clearer vision of the understanding of the different audience and their needs. Thus, the main goal of this study is to perceive the importance of the museum space in the relation to the artistic practice. While existing as a strategic resource of the museological program, insofar as having the ability to lure new audiences. It also matters to notice, if the fact of the artist working directly inside the museum, contribute to a narrowing of the artist/audience relationship, being the museum the mediation element

Predicting type of delivery by identification of obstetric risk factors through data mining

In Maternity Care, a quick decision has to be made about the most suitable delivery type for the current patient. Guidelines are followed by physicians to support that decision; however, those practice recommendations are limited and underused. In the last years, caesarean delivery has been pursued in over 28% of pregnancies, and other operative techniques regarding specific problems have also been excessively employed. This study identifies obstetric and pregnancy factors that can be used to predict the most appropriate delivery technique, through the induction of data mining models using real data gathered in the perinatal and maternal care unit of Centro Hospitalar of Oporto (CHP). Predicting the type of birth envisions high-quality services, increased safety and effectiveness of specific practices to help guide maternity care decisions and facilitate optimal outcomes in mother and child. In this work was possible to acquire good results, achieving sensitivity and specificity values of 90.11% and 80.05%, respectively, providing the CHP with a model capable of correctly identify caesarean sections and vaginal deliveries.

A Infância na latitude zero: as brincadeiras da criança 'global' africana

Tese de Doutoramento em Estudos da Criança (área de especialização em Sociologia da Infância).

Habiter touristique et agencement de l'espace urbain : le cas de Los Angeles : recherche sur le concours des compétences des individus quant à leurs manières de faire avec les épreuves spatiales d'une métapole touristique

Vivre, c'est passer d'un espace à un autre en essayant le plus possible de ne pas se cogner déclamait George Pérec. Cet énoncé poétiquement géographique pourrait résumer d'une certaine façon le défi de connaissance saisi par cette recherche. L'enjeu consiste effectivement à envisager le fait à'habiter, entendu dans son acception du « faire avec de l'espace » de la part des individus, comme n'allant pas de soi, de mettre en exergue le caractère problématique que constitue la pratique d'un lieu pour un individu. A ce titre, l'une des propositions de ce travail est de considérer tout lieu comme un assemblage d'épreuves spatiales face auxquelles les individus sont confrontés. La question se pose alors de savoir comment les individus font avec ces épreuves spatiales. L'hypothèse défendue dans ce travail est celle de la mobilisation, par ces derniers, de compétences - ressortissant d'une « capacité à » telle qu'exprimée par Wittgenstein dans le domaine linguistique, c'est-à-dire d'une « maîtrise technique » - et d'un capital spatial - que l'on peut faire synthétiquement correspondre à l'expérience accumulée par un individu en terme de pratique de lieux. L'argumentation étaye l'hypothèse que les manières d'habiter touristiquement une métropole dépendent notamment de ces deux éléments interdépendants dont dispose tout individu de façon variable et évolutive ; leur importance, sans déterminer aucunement des pratiques spécifiques, participe d'une maîtrise accrue de l'espace, d'une facilité pour faire avec les épreuves spatiales, atténuant le caractère potentiellement contraignant de ces dernières. Il s'agit donc d'une enquête menant une réflexion tout à la fois sur la dimension actorielle des individus, mais également sur le lieu en tant qu'espace habité : travailler sur cette question revient à investir la question de l'agencement urbain d'un lieu, c'est-à-dire d'appréhender la façon dont une configuration urbaine (les épreuves spatiales coïncidant avec les principales caractéristiques de cette dernière) est habitée, et plus particulièrement en l'occurrence ici, est habitée touristiquement. Pour aborder empiriquement cette problématique, l'enquête se focalise donc sur les touristes : d'une part pour leur faible degré de familiarité avec le lieu pratiqué (faire avec cet espace ne relève donc pas d'une routine) et d'autre part parce que leur présence dorénavant massive au sein des métropoles a des effets sur l'agencement de ces lieux qu'il est nécessaire d'envisager. Le laboratoire utilisé est celui de Los Angeles, cette aire urbaine de 18 millions de résidents : son étalement considérable, l'absence d'un centre-ville historiquement important, et la forte prégnance de sa métrique automobile étant des caractéristiques qui font de ce lieu un « exceptionnel normal » aux épreuves spatiales particulièrement proéminentes. La recherche avance à ce titre des arguments permettant d'en souligner un agencement, par les manières d'habiter des touristes, différencié du modèle classique de la métropole touristique : pour exprimer cette singularité, l'enquête étaye l'hypothèse consistant à qualifier ce lieu de métapole touristique. - Living is moving from one space to another while trying not to collide claimed George Pérec. This poetically geographic statement could in a way sum up the challenge seized by this research. The challenge is indeed to consider the fact of dwelling, in the sense of "make do with space" on the part of individuals, as not an evidence but highlighting the problematic characteristics of the practice of a place by people. Accordingly, one of the proposals of this work is to consider each place as a gathering of spatial stakes against which individuals are faced. The question then arises how are individuals facing these spatial stakes. The hypothesis debated in this work is that of the mobilization of skills such as "the ability of' as expressed by Wittgenstein in the linguistic field, i.e. a "technical mastery" - and a spatial capital - that can synthetically correspond to the experience accumulated by one single individual in terms of practice of places. Argument supports the hypothesis that the ways of touristically dwelling a metropolis depend on these two interdependent elements which everyone deal with in a variable and scalable manner; their importance, without determining any specific practices, participates in an increased proficiency of space, easing to make do with the space stakes, moderating the potentially binding character of the latter. It is therefore a survey leading a reflection both on the actorial dimension of individuals, but also on the place as a living space: working on this issue is exploring the question of the urban layout of a place, i.e. to understand how an urban configuration (the space stakes coinciding with the main features of the latter) is inhabited, and in particular in the present case, is touristically dwelled. To empirically address this issue, the inquiry therefore focuses on tourists: on the one hand for their low degree of familiarity with the place (make do with this space is therefore not a routine) and secondly because their now massive presence within the metropolis has effects on the layout of these places that is necessary to consider. The laboratory used is that of Los Angeles, this urban area of 18 million residents: its considerable spread, the absence of an historically important downtown» and high salience of "automobile metric" are features that make this place a "normal exceptional" with particularly prominent space stakes. Hence, research advances the arguments underlining the layout, by the ways of tourists dwelling different from the classical model of the metropolis: to express this uniqueness, the survey supports hypothesis to describe this place as a tourist metapolis.

1228-013 Center Lake Watershed Final Report

A targeted approach is being used in the Iowa Great Lakes Watershed with a keystone project featured within this project application in the heavily urbanized Center Lake Watershed. As identified in the Iowa Great Lakes Watershed Management Plan, urban runoff is the only remaining watershed concern in the Center Lake Watershed as the map in the attachments clearly shows. Fully one third of the watershed concerns of Center Lake will be treated through the installation of 7 keystone urban practices and will remove 63 pounds of phosphorous from entering the lake annually. Due to the interconnectedness of the Iowa Great Lakes (IGL), the watershed has been broken down into sub units called Resource Management Areas (RMA's) for priority practice implementation. This project will mesh with the existing Iowa Great Lakes Watershed Management Plan by reducing pollutant loads from the highest priority RMA's which are resulting in impaired water bodies. The majority of the funding needed for the specific practices specified in this proposal has already been secured through the Iowa DNR Section 319 and Lake Restoration Programs, The Water Quality Commission and the City of Spirit Lake. This funding request will simply bring the overall cost of these keystone practices into the range of affordability for the committed funders and the City of Spirit Lake

Utstillingens retorikk : et bidrag til en retorisk didaktikk for kunst og håndverk

The topic of this dissertation is the didactic exhibition in the Arts and Crafts subject. Exhibiting student work and art and form culture is part of a long professional tradition in the field. Yet, exhibition as form and as a way of learning are inadequately explored and debated. The didactic problem area of the thesis, where studies of formative practices are central, place it within the research field of Educational Slojd. The didactic standpoint and main theoretical perspective relate the project to the Arts didactics research field at the University College of Bergen where the aim is to develop an alternative didactics thinking for the arts; a rhetoric arts didactics. Didactic focus is shifted from the relationship between teacher – pupil – teaching materials, to studies of how knowledge is formulated in specific practices. The thesis has a premise that every exhibition has its own rhetoric and that didactics is inscribed in this rhetoric in the broadest and cultural sense. Through impulses from classical rhetoric and recent text theory, the thesis challenges the Arts and Crafts’s own idiom, its theoretical foundation and didactic grasp such as shown in the discourse established by the discipline and its specific exhibitive practices, as well as studying the relationship between verbal language and the discipline’s own register. The overall objective is to develop knowledge about exhibition rhetoric and its potential as a knowledge and learning arena in this field, and thereby contribute to developing a rhetoric didactics for the Arts and Crafts subject. This raises questions such as: How is an exhibition considered to be used and understood in the subject’s didactics texts and texts about didactics? How do different exhibition spaces inscribe conditions for exhibition work? How can a rhetoric perspective of didactics make aspects of an exhibition’s form register visible and contribute to knowledge of the creative processes in an exhibition? How do some selected exhibitions inscribe creativity and learning? What can a rhetoric perspective bring to the Arts and Crafts? A rhetoric didactics perspective includes knowledge of the tradition. A historical-ideological overview traces how exhibition, of both pupil/student work and of art and form culture, are used and considered as used in the discipline over time. This part can be read separately, but in this thesis, is primarily conceived as a backdrop for the development of the dissertation’s main rhetoric perspective. The empirical data are collected from my teacher training institution and consist of specific exhibition spaces and practices, of which my own production of two exhibitions can link the research to artistic development work. A rhetoric didactics is concrete, specific and contextual. The rhetoric readings are descriptive and show how culture and nature, temporality, materiality and technology are inscribed in the exhibition’s form. Didactic reflection develops from, and close to, the rhetoric readings of the exhibition’s form and content to finally arrive at a rhetorical concept for creativity and learning.

Les notions de possession et d'exorcisme en Grèce ancienne à la lumière des auteurs anciens, des phylactères et des PGM

La notion d'un esprit étranger et invisible qui prend possession d'un corps est, croit-on, sémitique. Les peuples proche-orientaux et juifs avaient développé des rituels et des pratiques spécifiques pour s'en débarasser. Les Grecs, pour leur part, avaient parfois à composer avec différentes entités, des daimones, des morts ou des apparitions et parfois des divinités dont les actions pouvaient s'avérer très nuisibles, si ce n'est nettement invasives. Toutefois, la communis opinio maintient que les concepts de la possession et de l'exorcisme ne furent chez eux, que tardivement introduits, et ce, sous l'influence des sémitiques. Pourtant, la littérature et les sources épigraphiques, papyrologiques et archéologiques semblent démontrer que les Grecs avaient déjà, dès l'époque classique, dans leur propre culture et religion, les éléments caractéristiques de la possession et de l'exorcisme. Une analyse approfondie de textes d'auteurs anciens, de formulaires de magie,dont les très connus Papyri Grecs Magiques et de diverses amulettes, apporte des arguments décisifs en ce sens.

Disease, Disparities and Decision Making: Mandatory HIV Testing of Prospective Immigrants to Canada

Étude de cas / Case study

Pratiques et usages de l'Europe dans le maintien de la paix : la coopération franco-irlandaise au Tchad

Thèse réalisé en cotutelle avec l'Université libre de Bruxelles (Belgique)

Implementing Revisionism: Assessing a Revisionist Theory of Moral Responsibility

The aim of this paper is to examine a particular substantive theory among others in the set of “revisionist” theories of moral responsibility, namely, Manuel Vargas’ version of the moral influence account of the justification of responsibility- specific practices. Moderate revisionism, which Vargas (2005) endorses, advocates a clear distinction between descriptive and normative questions, which enables a naturalistically plausible account of responsibility that does not jeopardize the normative aspect. However, while Vargas provides a useful framework for thinking about revisionism, I argue that despite its initial appeal, an actual revisionist theory does not seem to track as closely as we would like what I call the “meta-theory” of revisionism, viz. what Vargas defines as the features of moderate revisionism. Outlining these differences enables the formulation of observations about 1) the role of revisionist approaches for theorizing about moral responsibility and 2) how revisionism can be integrated with scientifically informed approaches.

Cuando creces, yo crezco contigo”: La configuración de áreas de protección ambiental y de subjetividades en el Humedal de Córdoba y la vereda El Verjón Bajo

La configuración de lugares como áreas de protección ambiental puede ser vista como un proceso técnico y objetivo, en el que se crean políticas públicas que definen prácticas adecuadas e inadecuadas en el lugar. Pero esta configuración es un proceso histórico y negociado. Este se construye en contante diálogo entre diferentes actores que se preocupan por definir qué es la naturaleza y el cuidado ambiental, y las percepciones que individuos que habitan en o cerca a estos lugares construyen en su diario vivir. Es así como la configuración socioambiental de lugares como áreas de protección ocurre por transformaciones en la forma de percibir un lugar, la relaciones con este y sobre todo, prácticas y relaciones que se traducen en formas de negociar nociones de naturaleza y cuidado ambiental. Esta negociación tiene grandes implicaciones en los individuos, particularmente en su subjetividad. Es decir, en hechos como la forma de nombrarlo, caminarlo, observar las especies, iniciar proyectos de agricultura orgánica, cambiar prácticas productivas, el cerramiento de zonas para proteger las fuentes de agua o zonas de vegetación. También sobre su subjetividad, la manera como se sienten frente al lugar, como juzgan sus acciones y las de otros y cómo construyen objetivos personales con respecto a la idea de cuidado ambiental.

Práticas de Animação do Livro e da Biblioteca numa Perspetiva de Cooperação entre Bibliotecas Escolares e Municipais

Tem sido difícil alcançar posições consensuais na definição da importância do papel da animação sociocultural e do seu contributo para o desenvolvimento de toda uma comunidade, através das suas práticas e metodologias específicas. A cooperação, entre bibliotecas escolares e municipais, tem sido pouco explorada, estudada e até valorizada. Os problemas de desenvolvimento de práticas de animação dentro destas bibliotecas é uma questão que merece toda a atenção em proveito do aumento da coadjuvação ativa entre estas instituições documentais, onde urge cada vez mais não só o trabalho de tratamento documental, mas também o trabalho para os utilizadores numa ótica de desenvolvimento de atividades e projetos de diversos tipos de animação, em contextos específicos onde estes espaços se inserem. Este trabalho de investigação sobre práticas de animação do livro e da biblioteca numa perspetiva de cooperação entre bibliotecas escolares e municipais incide no estudo de caso de três bibliotecas escolares e uma biblioteca municipal, no Município de Câmara de Lobos, ilha da Madeira, local onde a mestranda desempenhou, no passado, funções de animadora sociocultural como licenciada na área, tendo desenvolvido, através de metodologias e práticas de animação, competências sociais, culturais e educativas, nos espaços bibliotecários e seus respetivos utilizadores. Assim, com esta investigação, pretende-se apurar se existem práticas de cooperação desenvolvidas nas bibliotecas em estudo e qualificá-las; recolher informação pertinente relativa à investigação levada a cabo e obter opiniões sobre o papel dos profissionais de animação de bibliotecas; conhecer o impacto do trabalho desenvolvido pela investigadora no passado, nestes espaços de biblioteca. A metodologia de investigação consistiu na realização de entrevistas orais semiestruturadas e na análise dos planos de atividades e relatórios anuais das bibliotecas de objeto de estudo. As principais conclusões/resultados verificam-se no sentido amplo da cooperação entre bibliotecas municipais e escolares, baseadas basicamente, na existência das práticas de animação, deixando estas muito ainda por desenvolver e explorar nos espaços em estudo.