Ethnicity and Gender in Textbook and Practice - Language Courses for Immigrants in Sweden

Este texto se presentó como comunicación al II Congreso Internacional de Etnografía y Educación: Migraciones y Ciudadanías. Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona, Barcelona, 5-8 Septiembre 2008.The contribution at hand here deals with conceptions of gender, ethnicity and views of knowledge in textbooks and practice/ interaction within Swedish Language Courses for Immigrants (SFI) - adult education. Twelve Turkish course participants and some educators have been interviewed. The empirical data also consist of field notes and analysis of some widespread textbooks and diverse documents about and for the school. ?Turkish? and ?Swedish? perspectives are confronted in conversations in different contexts. A discourse analysis approach is applied within the ethnographical framework. The analysis shows how textbooks, other materials and the teaching are positioned in a grid of discursive practices (cf. Gergen 2001, Norton & Kelleen 2004, Popkewitz 1998). They altogether express and interact with dominating values, norms and ways of thinking during different periods in Swedish society. For example the values and images conveyed to the SFI-participants during some periods, almost in a spirit of upbringing, deal with becoming good workers, clients and students - and not least, good "democratic" citizens in a "Swedish" sense (cf. Carlson 2001). Anorm of "Swedish" gender equality is also evoked in the SFI-education, which both teachers and course participants reflect and act upon (cf. Wheterell & Gallois 2003). In narrating the SFI-studies, the Turkish women, relate their experiences to both "Turkish" and "Swedish" discourses about family and identity (cf. Davies & Harré 1990, Kemuma 2000, Norton 2000, Shotter 1993, Talja 1999). However within the educational institution being a SFI-student is more discussed with the concept of immigrant in Swedish culture, where the "Swedish" is a norm. Ideas are constructed of both "the Swedish" and "the others" in mutual encounters - among both course participants and educators (cf. Hall 1992, Fournier 2002, Mohanty 1991, Parati 1997, Xavier de Brito & Vasques 1998). The SFI educators embrace their visions related to the ?Swedish model? characterized by a rational Enlightenment concept with strong beliefs in modernity and secularization. By talking about the SFI-education as a "modern" practice of knowledge, the educators themselves become representatives of ?modernity? in relation to ?the others?. But the course participants are also a part of a powerful discourse of modernity - both in the present and in the past

Expectations of land value in rural and suburban regions

Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Architecture, 2005.This electronic version was submitted by the student author. The certified thesis is available in the Institute Archives and Special Collections.Includes bibliographical references (leaf 45).Timberland has become a new and emerging asset class among investors. Institutional investors have committed large amounts of capital through the private equity market. Timber real estate investment trusts (REITs) have also allowed smaller individual investors to participate in the ownership in timberland. Given that land supply is fixed, the demand for land is expected to increase as baby boomers near retirement. Owners of timberland are faced with making strategic decisions as to whether timberland remains the highest and best use. Given these facts, this thesis examines over 300 predominately rural counties where timberland is harvested and attempts to create a model to identify where land has the highest value as an urban use, and secondly, where this urban land value is expected to experience the most appreciation. Using house prices as a proxy for land value, models for both house price and house price appreciation were developed. The results indicated that two variables were significant factors in forecasting appreciation: 1) the percentage of developed land within a county and 2) the percentage of seasonal units. As a result, urban counties with a lower percentage of seasonal units appreciated less, whereas rural counties with a higher percentage of seasonal units appreciated more. The results are significant in that it shows how there is an option growth effect for rural land beyond the urban edge which can potentially yield higher appreciation rates for speculative landowners.by Dianna Marie Carlson.S.M

WE\u27D ALWAYS RETURN TO THIS CENTER: UNDERSTANDING URBAN SPACE AS A DAKOTA PLACE IN MNI SOTA MAKOCE

This thesis intends to bring to popular consciousness the historical and ongoing injustices committed against Indigenous peoples by sharing the knowledges and experiences of a number of Dakota people in Minnesota. Part landscape analysis, part ethnography, and by most substantially relying on narrative and lengthy excerpts from interviews, I challenge the dominant notion that Minnesota is a non-Native space. Rather, Mni Sota Makoce, the land where the waters reflect the sky, with a place called Bdote at its center, forms the traditional territory of the Dakota Oyate, the Dakota Nation. More specifically, this thesis tells a story about Dakota peoples\u27 struggle to maintain and assert their relationships to urban public spaces in the Twin Cities Metropolitan Region as indisputably Dakota places

Nonfiction Text Usage in the Primary Grades

The past and current role of nonfiction text, also referred to as informational text, in the elementary classroom setting was studied. The educational benefits of nonfiction use was examined and found to have a significant impact on the learning and success of students. Effective uses for nonfiction books were compiled into a handbook for the use of primary teachers

An Exploration Of Creative Arts Therapies In Pediatric Hospitals

This research paper explores the use of creative arts therapies with children and families in a pediatric hospital setting as experienced by the therapists who provide these services. The research investigates art therapy, music therapy and dance/movement therapy at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles (CHLA), with an in depth consideration of the role of art therapy services in this setting. The researchers reviewed general literature regarding hospitalization, specifically its effects on children and families, availability and role of psychosocial services and the intensive care units (ICU). Literature discussing creative arts therapies (art therapy, music therapy and dance/movement therapy) was also reviewed, with a focus on art therapy and its role in medical settings with children/families, with pediatric cancer patients and in psychosocial services. Based on information gleaned from the literature review, the researchers crafted an online survey utilized to gather information regarding the experience of providing creative arts therapies in a pediatric hospital setting. The researchers conducted in-depth interviews with three selected survey respondents to further explore these experiences through interview questions and art making. The qualitative data from survey/interview responses, including the art, was reviewed and analyzed by the researchers. Analysis of the data resulted in five prominent themes from the online survey data: being present, family, support, change and identity. Four prominent themes emerged from the interview data: empowerment, culture, being present and identity. The researchers then examined these themes in the context of the general and art therapy literature. The meanings derived from these findings demonstrate the importance of continued and expanded use of creative arts therapies in pediatric hospitals

The Iowa Homemaker vol.10, no.7

Does Your Dress Fit? By Marie Stephens Please Pass the Pie! By Thelma Carlson Lengthen the Life of Your Furs By Katherine Cranor The Tin Can Family By Nellie Goeth

LCI Data Modelling and a Database Design

A large scale operative data format for transparent storage, administration and retrieval of environmental Life Cycle Inventory (LCI) data has been implemented by applying data modelling and database design. Key concepts in the design are ‘activity’ and flow’: An activity is a technical system, such as a process or a transport, or an aggregate of different processes or transports. A flow is any matter entering or leaving an activity, such as natural resources, energywarc, raw material, emission, waste or products. Any numerical data set on an activity can he thoroughly described by supplying meta data. Meta data fields are prepared for a wide set of commonly known LCA-data aspects, such as descriptions of data acquisition methods, system boundary conditions and relevant dates

Effects Of Vitamin D Metabolites On Egg Shell Characteristics Of Aged Hens

This Poultry Day report provides information regarding various treatments administered to aged hens