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Many schools have employed inclusion practices as an instructional framework, meaning general and special educators are expected to coteach students with disabilities in the general education classroom. The research problem at the local study district was that inclusion as an instructional framework challenged the roles of general and special education coteachers as well as the students they were intended to benefit. The conceptual framework for this project study was the social constructivist theory. The purpose of this basic qualitative study was to gain an understanding about inclusion as an instructional framework. The research questions addressed how the experiences of the participants in this study shaped their thinking about successful inclusive practices. Semistructured interviews focused on the perception and experiences of the 10 teachers from four different elementary schools. Interview responses were analyzed on a continuous basis during data analysis, and themes through a coding process were identified. The key findings were that participants at the local study district site believed that they were unprepared to teach students within the inclusion framework. Some key elements were highlighted for professional learning that would support inclusion as an instructional framework. This research can foster social change for coteachers through ongoing professional learning that is sustainable, which could improve the working relationship between coteachers that would benefit the social and academic outcome of the students they teach. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]

Disasters and climate change threaten the very existence of a special group of developing states- Small Island Developing States (SIDS). This research tackles the problem of limited uptake of integrated approaches to address risk in practice- in particular through disaster risk reduction (DRR) and climate change adaptation (CCA). The benefits of these approaches are so significant that they can be considered to be investments in development. Focusing on Barbados, a SIDS, this research therefore seeks to identify the prospects for establishing an integrated disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation (DRR-CCA) development decision-making framework. It also seeks to understand the policy implications for other SIDS. In addressing the research problem, a risk governance framework and mixed methods approach is proposed for identifying the prospects for DRR-CCA. This allows for the challenges and the potential in actor networks, institutions, and the various dimensions of risk decision-making to be identified. The specific SIDS DRR-CCA risk governance framework utilised to generate the prospects is identified from literature. Data from documents, surveys and in-depth semi-structured interviews with 30 representatives from 20 organisations operating at different levels were gathered on DRR and CCA risk governance in Barbados from November, 2014 to May 2015. Analysis was carried out using document analysis, thematic analysis; social network analysis, and descriptive statistics. The research identifies that SIDS require an enhanced risk governance framework for DRR-CCA. This framework has a systemic approach at the core, as well as an explicit development approach supported by a joined-up governance approach. Furthermore, risk assessments should include assessments of adaptive capacity. Existing potential for DRR-CCA risk governance was identified in highly dense networks, established disaster management networks, and a unique polycentric network that engages intraregional partners in national governance. Notwithstanding, challenges related to cohesion within and across institutions and sectors; missing community and socio-economic participation; as well as issues connected to unadjusted mind-sets to address the DRR paradigm shift in practice, and limited development-socio-ecological systems approaches, meant that the prospects identified mainly addressed these shortcomings. A spatial methodology for DRR-CCA seemed feasible. This research contributes a framework for conceptualising DRR-CCA risk governance in SIDS which could be applicable to others. It offers a Caribbean SIDS perspective and practical suggestions for DRR-CCA that are relevant to SIDS practitioners and donors. Further research should focus on testing the prospects across the varying governance contexts of SIDS.

This thesis seeks to discuss and analyse the taxonomy of post-apocalyptic fiction in the 20th and 21st century, while at the same time detail why the subgenre is distinctive and attractive for writers. The thesis delves into both the cultural and historical backgrounds of both the novels discussed and the authors, to give each taxonomic category a factual base and context. The overall end result of this thesis is an evolutionary survey of the post-apocalyptic subgenre of both form and content.