Evaluating Mental Health Training For Teachers: Identifying And Supporting Students With Mental Health Challenges, Jessica A. Woods

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

The number of children and youth struggling with mental health challenges is prevalent, and teachers have an influential role in the lives and learning of students and teachers require professional development training regarding student mental health issues. The current study was an evaluation of a professional development workshop designed in response to teachers’ requests for education about teaching children with anxiety and depression. The present study aimed to explore the immediate and long-term effectiveness of a professional development program designed for teachers regarding the impact of anxiety and depression on student learning. A one group pre-test, post-test design was implemented …

Learning To Prevent Burning And Fatigue: Teacher Burnout And Compassion Fatigue, Adam Koenig

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

During a professional development workshop, 64 Canadian educators from Southwestern Ontario participated in a workshop about natural consequences that may develop as a result of their line of work. A focus on teacher compassion fatigue, an unresearched area with respect to Canadian educators, and burnout, was taken. The current study hypothesized professional development would positively influence educators’ knowledge, skills, and awareness regarding burnout, vicarious trauma, and compassion fatigue, in both the short and long term. Furthermore, it was predicted there would be a correlation between burnout and compassion fatigue, and that years of experience would be related to the level …

Early Childhood Educators' Experiences Of The Ontario Full-Day Early Learning: Promises To Keep, Rose M. Walton

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

School-based kindergarten is a place where Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) and schooling practices meet and overlap. This initiative has resulted in many changes including a legislated partnership between Early Childhood Educators and kindergarten teachers under the umbrella of the Ontario Ministry of education. In classrooms, these two diversely positioned partners shared professional space within the context of the newly minted program.The purpose of my narrative case study was to learn about participants’ experiences of a legislated partnership with a kindergarten teacher. Three early childhood educators employed by three different district school boards, I posed semi-structured interview questions and …

A Case Study Mapping Literacy Learning Opportunities And Identity Construction Among African Immigrant Youth In A Canadian Secondary School, Wambui J. Gichuru

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Studies with immigrant and refugee youth highlight challenges, school failure and early push-out rates (Anisef, 2008; James, 2012; Roessingh, 2010). There is limited research about how immigrant students especially from continental Africa negotiate their identity at school for positive outcomes. The goal of this qualitative case study was to explore literacy learning opportunities afforded by the school for African youth who were learning to become literate in English as an additional language in a Canadian secondary school and the implications for the students’ communicative and identity options.

The study utilized ethnographic tools, i.e., interview, classroom observation, mapping literacy activities and …

"Sit-Still And Shut-Up": The Construction Of Childhood And Classroom Management Pedagogies In A Preservice Education Textbook, Marlene P. Frederick

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

This study addresses the limitations and restrictions of approaches to classroom management that are promoted in one particular textbook that is used in Teacher Education faculties in Canada. It contributes to building an understanding of the role of textbooks in endorsing certain truth and knowledge claims about childhood and classroom management. The thesis is informed theoretically by Foucault (1977-1982), Gee (2001) and poststructuralists such as Weedon (1999). Through undertaking a discourse analysis informed by the work of Gee and Foucault, I conduct a single case study of one particular textbook to highlight the particular role of educational psychology as ‘a …

A Comprehensive Mental Health Training Format For Adult Education Teachers, Fiona Meek

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

The present study investigated the needs of adult education staff pertaining to adult students’ mental health issues within a local school board by utilizing a mixed-methods design. The study was divided into progression of three separate studies. An initial focus group was conducted in order to identify the 12 participants’ concerns and provide a direction for the needs assessment survey that was administered to the entire population of adult education teachers in the board. Two 2-hour workshops were designed for the 120 members of the staff based on the needs identified by the surveys. An evaluation of the workshops indicated …

College Instructors’ Preparedness To Teach Students With Learning Disabilities, Kathryn D. Hansen

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

An increasing number of students with learning disabilities (LD) are attending community colleges in Ontario. Accessible education depends on educators having the knowledge and attitudes needed to reduce barriers and provide an inclusive learning environment. This study investigated the perceptions of community college instructors regarding their preparedness to teach students with learning disabilities. A mixed-methods approach used an on-line questionnaire and semi-structured interviews to collect data from instructors at a large community college in southwestern Ontario. The “Instructor Preparedness Questionnaire” was developed to measure instructors’ knowledge about and attitudes towards students with LD. Follow-up interviews with twelve participants provided …

Teachers' Mental Health Literacy And Capacity Towards Student Mental Health, Tamara D. Daniszewski

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

The current youth mental health care system is ineffective at meeting the needs of Canadian youth. More than ever, teachers are placed on the frontlines of mental health care provision, including identification and intervention delivery. The present study explored teachers’ mental health literacy and capacity in the context of providing help to their students. Secondary data from a large-scale survey of teachers in one Ontario school board was analyzed to assess teachers’ current levels of knowledge, awareness and comfort levels in student mental health care. Teachers were compared based on teaching experience, school division, and school location, in terms of …

The Ontario Leadership Framework And Leadership Interactions In A Sustained Working Group In Ontario Education, Daniel Ballantyne

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

This study investigated the prevalence of the five Core Leadership Capacities (CLCs) in the Ontario Leadership Framework (OLF) in the work of teachers and administrators charged with developing an integrated Grade 10 curriculum incorporating student use of emergent electronic and web-based technologies. Retrospective interviews were conducted with members of this group --known as the Futures Forum Project (FFP)-- to elucidate and explore their professional interactions for traces of the CLCs. The researcher concluded that the CLCs were not used as an intentional framework for leadership, but did detect traces of distributed leadership closely linked to exchange theories of power. These …

The Volunteer Work Of Newly-Certified Unemployed Teachers In Ontario Schools, Jennifer C. Pearce

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

This mixed-methods study explored the volunteer work of newly-certified, unemployed teachers in Ontario by asking the research question: How do newly-certified, unemployed teachers understand their volunteer work in schools? Quantitative data pertaining to unemployed volunteers and their volunteer behaviour from the National Survey of Learning and Work was analyzed using descriptive statistics in order to provide context for qualitative interviews. Six newly-certified, unemployed teachers completed a semi-structured interview that asked about volunteer tasks, learning, and access to teaching. Findings demonstrated that volunteer-teachers perform a wide range of tasks, engage in informal learning that is both volunteer-related and job-related; and perceive …

Working Toward Transformation And Change: Exploring Non-Aboriginal Teachers’ Experiences In Facilitating And Strengthening Students’ Awareness Of Indigenous Knowledge And Aboriginal Perspectives, Sarah B. Burm

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

This study explores non-Aboriginal teachers’ accounts of ways in which they integrate Indigenous knowledge and perspectives into their teaching within the parameters set by the Ontario official curriculum. Ontario policy-makers and educational stakeholders have acknowledged the need to incorporate Aboriginal perspectives and content into curriculum and school communities, as reflected in documents such as the Ontario First Nation, Métis, and Inuit Education Policy Framework (2007). Nevertheless, non-Aboriginal educators continue to seek opportunities to advance professional growth and vocational clarity regarding their practice. Utilizing narrative inquiry within a case study approach, the study provides a space in which Aboriginal learners inform …

How Do Teachers Teach Students With Working Memory Impairments In The Regular Classroom? A Grounded Theory Approach, Laura Vanderlaan

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

This study uses a qualitative, post-positive grounded theory approach to investigate the process of teaching primary students with working memory impairments. Semi-structured, in-depth interviews were used to collect data specific to students with WMI from nine primary teachers. After transcript coding and data analysis, themes were extracted from the data. The themes reflect how having a working memory impairment may alter the students’ education. The interacting themes included: learning with a working memory impairment and the characteristics of the student, adaptations made by the teacher including effective teaching strategies , and adaptations made by the students as a result of …

The Influence Of Physical Education Teachers' Beliefs On Secondary School-Based Physical Activity Opportunities: A Case Study Of One Ontario Public School, Gregory D. Rickwood

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this inquiry was to investigate the relationship between the beliefs of physical education teachers from one public secondary school in Ontario concerning physical activity and school-based physical activity opportunities. More concisely, did physical education teachers’ beliefs influence school-based physical activity opportunities and were there other social factors that influenced their engagement in these opportunities.

The method of inquiry was grounded in the academic literature that examined the characteristics of effective school cultures, and how culture was related to school-based physical activity opportunities. From this review, it showed that a post-positivism framework within a case study design …

Women In Science And Engineering: The Impact Of Gender Equity Policies In Mexican Higher Education, Elida Sanchez Cruz

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

In a globalizing world, Mexico’s higher education system is undergoing significant transformations. One of the more hopeful, positive transformations is the emergence or strengthening of gender equity policies in many education institutions. The equity-oriented policies, packaged in transnational policy spheres, are interpreted and set in motion based on the interplay of national, local and institutional contexts. While this emergent equity-friendly policy environment represents a positive movement for equity, its manifestations and effects remain understudied.

Considering that there is at least a policy environment supportive of gender equity, this study examines how gender equity plays out at the ground level. It …

Relations Of Mathematics Teacher Education Research Categories With Pre-Service Teacher Education Syllabi, Leslie-Anne R. Purdy

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Using an evaluative tool, the Mathematics Teacher Educator (MTEd) Instrument, mathematics teacher education syllabi were analyzed to determine the extent to which practice lines up with research at the mathematics teacher educator level. Analysis revealed that only moderate evidence of research-to-practice was found. Technology and assessment were the only categories that were correlated across all combinations of the data set (elementary, secondary, full) to overall score. Consequently, technology and assessment may be overall indicators of the level of research-to-practice contained in mathematics teacher education courses. The elementary and secondary course syllabi only differed in the area of content knowledge (elementary …

A Critical Analysis Of The Factors That Promote And Support Leadership And Advocacy For People With Lived Experience With Mental Health Problems Or Illness., Kathryn L. Storey

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

ABSTRACT

Our ways of thinking and acting are complex. Personal and social influences mediate who we are and what we believe. This is particularly true for people who have personal lived experience with mental health problems or illnesses. While mental illness can result in challenges with living, ironically, the challenges increase when people use medical or clinical services. Many people who speak out about their experience describe themselves as “survivors”. Yet, these same experiences with the care system effectively inform and evoke leadership and advocacy.

A growing number of survivors recognize that it is important to use their experience to …

General Education Elementary Teachers' Perceptions Of Developing "Interventionist" Beliefs And Practices, Michelle Pompeo

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

This thesis investigates how “Interventionist”, “general education” (GEN) teachers, (or “core” teachers, as opposed to special educators) in the elementary stream, in Ontario, have learned inclusive beliefs and practices that have been considered effective for teaching and including children with exceptionalities in their classrooms. 10 GEN elementary teachers, consisting of 3 men and 7 women, from 2 local school boards, were interviewed to determine if they were “Interventionist” (Stanovich & Jordan, 1998). From this sample, 6 GEN teachers; 2 men and 4 women, were found to be “Interventionist”. Classroom observations and follow-up interviews were used to gain insight into the …

The Role Of Reflection In Audiology Students’ Development As Professional Practitioners: A Constructivist Grounded Theory, Stella Ng

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Audiology is a young health profession striving toward a value for and use of evidence-based practice (EBP). Currently within audiology, there is a lack of attention to a complementary epistemology of practice; that is, one that explicitly values experience as a valid and important source of knowledge, worthy of theoretical and empirical scholarly attention. The current study addresses this gap using a constructivist grounded theory approach to explore the research question: How is reflection enacted and implicated in audiology students’ development as professional practitioners? A total of 18 participants contributed data to this study (13 audiology students from a single …

The Research To Practice Gap In The Identification And Instruction Of Students At Risk For Reading Disabilities: Teachers' Perspectives, Katherine Davidson

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

This study investigated teachers' uses of research on the identification and instruction of students at risk for reading disabilities (RD). It identified obstacles to teachers' uses of RD research and methods to bridge RD research and teachers' practices. Two theoretical frameworks underpinned the study. The knowledge utilization framework consisted of eight stages of knowledge use (reception, search/find, cognition, reference, effort, adoption, implementation, and impact), and three categories of obstacles to knowledge use (supply, demand, and context). A critical perspective also informed the study's methods, analyses, and implications. A mixed methodology was employed by way of: (a) a pre-pilot study which …