language. Chilean leaders, in connection to their development goals to reach a developed

country status by 2020, have highlighted the need for Chilean citizens to become

bilingual in order to attract foreign investment and further integrate into the world

market. Leaders also highlight how English education will serve as an equalizing

measure to combat the socioeconomic inequality that has plagued this country since

Spanish colonization. While the economic benefits are clear, questions remain as to what

the social and cultural costs will be. This research project presents how a group of

Chilean students feels in regards to their leader’s goal of creating a bilingual citizenry: do

they see English proficiency as advantageous or a threat to Chilean cultural individuality.

This thesis answers the questions: (a) do Chilean students agree with the government that

becoming bilingual will raise Chile to a developed country? (b) do they think that they

will personally benefit from learning English and (c) what changes do they deem

necessary if English education programs are to continue in Chile?

The purpose of this study, therefore, was to survey ten YA novels with an artist character, either real or imagined, incorporated into the story. More specifically, this study evaluated the image of the multicultural artist using the methodology of qualitative content analysis and a theoretical framework presented by Mingshui Cai for the evaluation of multicultural literature (2002). The four research questions addressed authenticity, stereotyping, cultural integrity, and authorship and its relationship to cultural criticism within literary analysis.

The findings revealed the depiction of the multicultural image of the artists in the ten YA novels: (1) were all culturally and historically authentic; (2) were not negatively stereotyped based on ethnic or cultural background; (3) maintained a cultural integrity of the people and cultures represented; and (4) confirmed that the author's social-cultural perspective did not negatively influence the main literary perspectives in the novel.

Presence, although it involves action at times, is a humanitarian quality of relating that is ethically generated and has real-world implications for both patient and nurse. It is an interpersonal process characterized by sensitivity, holism, intimacy, vulnerability, and adaptation to unique circumstances that results in enhanced mental wellbeing for nurses and patients, and improved physical wellbeing for patients. Knowing and being with are foundational to being present.

Theory and Protocol

This research is grounded in critical hermeneutics and follows an interpretive approach to field research and data analysis (Herda 1999). This orientation places the researcher and participants in a collaborative relationship that exemplifies the power of conversation and the importance of language to unveil new understandings about our world.

Research Categories

Three critical hermeneutic concepts, drawn from the work of Paul Ricoeur and Hans- Georg Gadamer, provided the categories for this research. The concepts were narrative identity, play, and solicitude. These categories served as the boundaries for both data collection and analysis: Narrative identity informs the nurse about herself, the patient, and provides context for the development of possibilities. Play describes the nature of the interaction between nurse and patient. Solicitude describes the ethical foundation of the relationship that the nurse has with the patient and also with her or himself.

Findings

Being present with a patient requires the ability to be open to possibilities in the moment, along with a strong ethical commitment. The ability of a nurse to be present with a patient requires self-knowledge, knowledge of the process of healing, and the ability to fully engage in the shared experience with the patient. The ability to be present with a patient can be fostered through self-care practices, meditation, other healing practices, and the provision of an environment that is conducive to nursing presence

This qualitative study utilized virtual research methodology to explore the De La Salle Christian Brothers' personal experiences of Catholic identity in higher education in the United States as the sponsoring congregation on their campuses. The researcher interviewed 20 Brothers from four institutions of higher education regarding their definitions of Catholic identity, their experiences of Catholic identity from an historical and current-day perspective, as well as their visions of Catholic identity in higher education in the future.

The study's findings revealed that the Brothers experienced themselves as the animators of Catholic identity at the institutions of higher education where they were assigned; that there is a need and desire for education and formation programs in the Catholic and Lasallian traditions; that, where Catholic identity is strong, the rituals and practices of the Catholic faith are also a vital part of the religious life of the campus; that presidential leadership is critical to the Catholic identity of the institution; and, that aspects of the operations of the institution reflect a connection to Catholicism, including the Catholic composition of the student body and faculty in terms of religious affiliation, the integration of the curriculum within the Catholic intellectual tradition, and programs that support the Catholic faith tradition.

This study provided research on Catholic identity from the personal voices of the sponsoring religious congregation of institutions of higher education in the United States. With decreasing vocations in religious life and, therefore, less religious present in colleges and universities, an important segment of higher education, the voices of the sponsoring religious congregation, may be lost forever.

This research studies the experiences of Central American immigrants in the San Francisco Bay Area, California, and is focused on the mimetic power of the narrative to foster within the individual a sense of home, identity, and forgiveness, calling for meaningful action.

Theory and Protocol

Using critical hermeneutic field based protocol (Herda 1999), I analyzed the data, transcriptions of conversations with Nicaraguan, Salvadoran and Guatemalan immigrants in the Bay Area, and interpreted the narratives of the participants' pasts, including the causes of their fleeing their homelands, in light of a shared imagined future, on both personal and institutional levels, in order to come to new understandings in the present about home, narrative identity (Ricoeur 1983) and forgiveness (Ricoeur 1992). This research is also focused on the research participants' experiences with applying for asylum through the United States government and their ideas on fostering communicative action (Habermas 1998).

Findings

The sense of narrative identity instilled in the research participant through the mimetic configuration (Ricoeur 1983) of time and place with others: 1) guides the growth of an immigrant's personal conception of home; 2) fosters a realization of one's ontological connection to others and a mutual commitment towards ethical and communicative action in the future; 3) may lead to individuals seeking and giving forgiveness, and develop new and shared understanding of the past. Three actions surfaced from the analysis: 1) a plan for further, ongoing narrative symposiums, or workshops, 2) a call for reform of United States immigration law and policy, 3) a call for communicative action on an international level.

The interpretation of the narratives of immigrants following critical hermeneutic protocol can also be useful to individuals who work with immigrants, such as educators, lawyers, and lawmakers as an inroad into immigrants' lives, in order to better understand the complex historical, social, political, and economic forces that work in tandem to create the conditions which led to their migration.

This study explains different ways of thinking about education that may improve the quality of life for women in Cambodia. The present inquiry portrays the personal histories, narratives and hopes of selected women to uncover possible ways in which government and non-government agencies may transform the lives of Cambodian women through education programs.

Theory and Protocol

This research is grounded in critical hermeneutic theory formulated by Paul Ricoeur (1992) and follows an interpretive approach to field research and data analysis (Herda 1999). This orientation places the researcher and participants in a collaborative relationship that exemplifies the power of conversation and the importance of language to unveil new understandings about our world.

Research Categories

Two categories served as the boundaries for both data collection and analysis: Narrative Identity, understood from a critical hermeneutic orientation, reveals the process wherein a person reconfigures the story on the basis of who he or she is and it is through the recounting and retelling that one’s identity can change; and Mimeses may happen when history is reinterpreted providing a basis for understanding the current situation, and in turn, lead to imagining a possible future that could become a reality through appropriate action in the area of adult learning.

Findings

The participants, who live in the rural villages now or have lived there, posit that the Cambodian government lacks solicitude for their education because they are currently the poor inhabitants and farmers of the country. To re-imagine their future life through an education program, changes must occur within themselves as well as with government policies. The following findings were derived from the conversations with participants: (1) women play a minor role in the current economic development (2) there is an absence of literacy curriculum with trained and skilled educators (3) authentic communications are closed. If these concerns were addressed, there could be an improvement in the lives of some of the women in Cambodia.