New Zealand church initiatives for international development : a taxonomy and assessment framework : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Philosophy in International Development at Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand

Individuals, groups and organisations are increasingly feeling compelled to take action and become personally involved in the field of development cooperation in an attempt to alleviate poverty and improve the lives of the poor. One such do-it-yourself phenomenon that has been observed in New Zealand involves the Christian church. A grey area has emerged where development activities are now carried out by churches which are amateurs in the field. These initiatives are run by pastors and congregation members acting on the teachings of the Christian faith but with little understanding of the complexities of poverty or development. The altruistic and often selfless intentions of those involved in such initiatives are commendable. But are these do-it-yourself solutions to complex issues of poverty and development really achieving what they say they are? If these initiatives were tested to determine their level of effectiveness, what would the results be? Motivated by these observations and questions, this thesis seeks to explore this emerging phenomenon. It asks, what does it look like? How might it be defined? Is it effective? This thesis calls the phenomenon Church Initiatives for International Development (“CIID”). It argues that CIID is conducted by new development actors and situates CIID in relation to current trends within the industry: the emergence of a fourth channel of development cooperation and the role of religion in development. CIID is compared to current actors in international development, specifically citizen-led initiatives and faith-based initiatives to demonstrate its similarities and differences. A taxonomy outlining the different types of CIID is presented which provides insight into the range of forms that CIID takes. The research also explores how the effectiveness of CIID might be understood. To achieve this, an assessment framework consisting of eight criteria was created drawing upon mainstream and alternative approaches to effectiveness. This framework was then tested through indepth interviews with six CIID case studies from donor churches in New Zealand. By analysing information from the in-depth interviews with donor churches, the study concludes that CIID is more effective across the criteria of local ownership & participation, collaboration, relationship and partnership, and less effective in the areas of accountability, measuring success, holistic well-being and attitudes and knowledge. The research also reveals that CIID is typically more effective when a development organisation is involved in a partnership with a church that is implementing CIID. The findings on the emerging field of CIID that this thesis presents contribute further insight into the nature of do-it-yourself development initiatives in the fourth channel and the role that NZ churches are playing in international development

A Comparative Study between Army Civilian Workforce and Private Industry Workforce Workers\u27 Compensation Claims Management

This study compares the Department of the Army, Civilian Worker\u27s Compensation Program to the Private Industry Workforce Worker\u27s Compensation Program. Quantitative research is implemented throughout the study and will compare the cost of workers compensation (WC) claims between the Army and Private Industry. Ultimately, the study will analyze the following items; (a) the Army\u27s current WC program and case management procedures, (b) the description of a gold standard private industry WC program and case management procedures, and (c) a comparison of the costs and outcomes of both programs. Specific research and methodology included an investigation of the Army and Private Industry Workers Compensation doctrine, programs, and policies to gain a greater understanding of what is being implemented and why the private industry workforce serves as a golden standard. Interviews have also been conducted with case managers and safety and occupational health specialist from both workforces. Additionally, the final step included a cost analysis of carpal tunnel workers compensation claims that have been filled from 2008-2012

Protecting the Texas Nonprofit Property Tax Exemption: The Unintended Absence of a Nonproducing Mineral Exemption and Its Consequences

This Comment will address the current Texas property tax exemption for nonprofit organizations, its lack of exemption for nonproducing mineral interests, and the potential implications of the lack of such an exemption for nonprofit organizations with otherwise exempt land holdings. Taxation of nonproducing mineral interests held by non-profits has very real policy implications. Should tax assessors choose to pursue this route, it creates serious liabilities on certain nonprofit organizations with large, nonproducing mineral interests under their otherwise tax-exempt property. This Comment proposes that the Texas Legislature create a narrowly tailored extension of the non-profit organization property tax exemption for nonproducing mineral interests attached to otherwise exempt properties

Project work as a vehicle for information literacy education in disadvantaged schools : an ethnographic field study of grade seven project work in a primary school in Cape Town

Bibliography: leaves 216-228.This is a qualitative interpretive case study of project work (independent enquiry learning, also labeled topic work or theme work) in a disadvantaged South African primary school. The underlying problem was to examine the potential role of project work in the teaching of information literacy in "information poor" environments. Information literacy is recognised as a crucial outcome in the documentation of Curriculum 2005, the new South African curriculum now being phased in. An Information Skills Learning Programme has been developed and placed in the Learning Area Language, Literacy and Communication. Moreover, information skills have been a compulsory subject in the Western Cape Education Department's Interim Curriculum since 1995. Both the WCED interim curriculum and Curriculum 2005 stress continuous formative assessment via projects and portfolios. Information skills are inherent in good project work, which, internationally, is seen as the ideal context for the integrated learning of these skills. However, information literacy education internationally assumes access to a wide variety of learning resources, such as school libraries, which cannot be assumed in South African schools. The paucity of research within disadvantaged environments as well as the nature of the construct of information literacy explains the choice of methodology - exploratory ethnographic field study. An ex-House of Representatives primary school, within a historically coloured township on the Cape Flats, Cape Town, which regularly undertakes project work, was chosen. The Grade Seven class was selected as Curriculum 2005 was due to be phased in at that level in 1998. The questions framing the study aimed at finding out how projects were conducted within the school, what resources were used, how teachers managed them, and how information literate teachers were

The readiness of public libraries in South Africa for information literacy education: the case of Mpumalanga Province

The purpose of the study is to investigate the readiness of public libraries in South Africa for an enhanced educational role in developing the information literacy of school learners. The public libraries in Mpumalanga Province provide the case site for the study. Across the world, information literacy education has been identified as the raison d'etre of school libraries. There are two arguments for public libraries in South Africa to take on this mission: • the demands of the global economy for information literate school leavers - reflected in South Africa's new school curriculum, which is widely described as "resource-based" and which lists infonnation skills as a critical cross-curricular outcome • the shortage of school libraries in South Africa. It has been estimated that eight million out of 12 million learners do not have access to libraries in their schools. In recent years there have been suggestions that South African public libraries take on a more direct educational and developmental role - which might be more appropriate than the inherited Western model of service. Information literacy education might well be their unique contribution to social inclusion in a country where, on average, less that 10 percent of the population belong to public libraries. The introduction in the late 1990s of the new curriculum has brought a huge increase in the use of public libraries by school learners - most of whom are not signed-up members but who need access to public library resources as they grapple with the information seeking demands of their school projects and assignments. The increase in use has led to much comment in public library circles on the iJJ-preparedness of school learners for project work in the library. The theoretical underpinning of the study comes from the research and theory building of Carole Kuhlthau and Christine Bruce - both of whom have enriched information literacy theory with their "borrowing" from constructivist and relational learning theory. To Kuhhhau, information literacy is a constructive process of building meaning and knowledge. The task of information literacy education in schools and libraries - is to teach people how to learn - not how to find discrete bits of information. Christine Bruce's research highlights the significance of people's conceptions of information and information literacy. She identifies categories of conceptions ranging from those which see information literacy as knowing about resources to those who describe it as creating new knowledge and building wisdom. Effective information literacy education has to take into account the existence of these different conceptions. The PhD study sets out to examine if indeed public libraries in South Africa might assume an enhanced responsibility for information literacy education and, if so, what inhibiting and 111 facilitating factors might exist. The word "readiness" in its title has two layers of meaning: at one level it refers to physical capacity and on a second level to more intangible and subjective attributes such as staff attitudes and beliefs. The research questions examined in the study relate to these two layers of meaning. They are informed also by a wide-ranging survey of the literature of educational change in South Africa and of the role of public libraries, internationally, in information literacy education. The questions can be grouped into three categories: • What is happening at present in terms of information literacy education for school learners? • Do public libraries have the physical capacity for information literacy education? • What are the attributes of public library staff in terms of their experience of and attitudes towards information literacy, information literacy education, and, indeed, towards a stronger educational role for public libraries? Any discussion on the capacity of Mpumalanga's public libraries for information literacy education has immediately to acknowledge the uneven distribution of libraries - common to all South African provinces. The Director of Mpumalanga Provincial Library Service estimates that his province requires 98 new libraries. The Province of Mpumalanga lends itself to the research problem for a number of reasons. Its social and economic characteristics throw into relief the critical issues highlighted in the literature review. It is one of South Africa's five "new'' provinces, having amalgamated two apartheid era "homelands". It is regarded as a "rural" province" with sprawling densely populated but underdeveloped areas. Only 18 percent of its schools have libraries. The study took place in a time of upheaval and restructuring of local government - the tier of government responsible for the day to day management of public libraries. The climate of uncertainty is found to play a significant part in the prevailing low morale of public library staff. The research project has a design structure of two interdependent phases. The overarching theoretical framework is interpretivist constructivism. The realities and meanings constructed by public library staff are central to the problem. However, it employs both qualitative and quantitative methodologies as each contributes to the understanding of the problem. The first phase is a broad survey of 46 public libraries in Mpumalanga, undertaken in March/April 2004, which gathers both qualitative and quantitative data by means of interviews with 57 staff members - based on a semi-structured questionnaire. The aim was to gather quantitative data on the resources and facilities within the libraries and their services to schools - and, by means of several open-ended questions, qualitative data on library staff views on the impact JV of the new curriculum and possible changes in their social role. The first phase leads into the next phase - a more focused participant observation case study of the information literacy programmes in two public libraries in one small town throughout October 2004. Three vignettes scaffold the case study, which serve both to give a sense of context and to highlight the theoretical issues. In this phase, an added perspective is school educators' use of the library - and their beliefs about learning and libraries. Twenty-seven interviews with Grade 7 and 8 educators and principals in the seven schools served by the public libraries were conducted. The analysis of the first phase data led to tentative findings. The second phase case study started afresh - open to alternative or contradictory interpretations. However, its findings are surprisingly convergent with those of the first phase. It seems that Mpumalanga public libraries are heavily engaged in serving school learners. The study indeed concludes that public libraries need school learners - given their low use by adults. Shortcomings in certain physical facilities, such as the lack of space and absence of retrieval tools, are inhibiting factors with the heritage of apartheid still impacting on the availability of and quality of service. The low level of professional education of public library staff is found to impede innovation in library and information service programming. The prevailing information literacy education largely comprises, at present, one-to-one support, although there is a fair amount of source-based group library orientation. Moving from library orientation towards information literacy education will depend on a shift in conceptions of the educational role of public libraries. In the absence of recognition of their curricular role by public library authorities and educationists, many public librarians are not sure that their services to school learners are legitimate. There is, at the same time, dawning recognition that present approaches are not meeting the needs of school learners and that more effective communication with educators is required. This recognition comes from public librarians' frustrating encounters with learners rather than from insight into information literacy education theory and experience. And educators' simplistic conceptions of project work and lack of cognizance of the demands of information seeking in the library do not allow for a more dynamic role for public libraries. The study makes recommendations for various role-players - the library profession, the governance structures of public libraries, public library staff, educators and educationists, and information literacy researchers. The fundamental conclusion is that sustainable information literacy education in public libraries will depend on more dynamic leadership and on a vision of a new model of public library

Marriage and participation in postgraduate study : exploring the motivations and experiences of married female psychology masters students.

The profession of Psychology in post-apartheid South Africa has been dominated by women, despite attempts to address issues of equity, access and redress in recruitment and training. Certain obstacles to entering the profession, that may be specifically relevant to men, included the longevity and cost of training; the notion that Psychology is a ‘woman’s profession’; and the appeal of more lucrative job opportunities. Women, on the other hand, were often encouraged to enter female-dominated professions such as Psychology and financial support either from one’s family or an economically-independent partner facilitates the pursuit of this career trajectory. The purpose of this study was to explore the experiences of married females who were embarking on postgraduate study. Using semi-structured interviews, eight married female participants currently enrolled in Professional Masters programmes provided in-depth information on why they took on the dual adjustment of marriage and postgraduate study and what were the challenges and benefits associated with this process. Thematic content analysis was used to interpret these accounts which revealed that the dating phase of relationships often concluded as postgraduate study commenced due to the longevity of the study trajectory. To address the accompanying relationship insecurity, marriage was idealised as offering enhanced security and stability. Despite the notion that Masters and marriage would complement each other in order to overcome the difficulties of marriage and postgraduate study, a blurring of boundaries was experienced between the perceived challenges and benefits as the idealised complementarity was not actualised. Using feminist theory, the study added value to debates on the perpetuating influence of chauvinistic notions regarding marriage and career development for women inherent in the family life cycle theory, as well as explored the implications of the “feminisation” of the profession of Psychology on recruitment, training and future practice of female Psychologists

Molecular mechanisms of metastasis in prostate cancer

Prostate cancer (PCa) preferentially metastasizes to the bone marrow stroma of the axial skeleton. This activity is the principal cause of PCa morbidity and mortality. The exact mechanism of PCa metastasis is currently unknown, although considerable progress has been made in determining the key players in this process. In this review, we present the current understanding of the molecular processes driving PCa metastasis to the bone