Caregiver Perceptions Of The Impact Of Psychoeducational Reports On Children With Learning Disabilities And Adhd, Rafia Junaid

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The present study aimed to investigate caregiver perceptions of the role of psychoeducational reports in facilitating positive educational and psychosocial outcomes for children identified with learning disabilities (LD) or attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Participants were twenty parents of children who previously received private psychoeducational assessments from a university-based teaching clinic in Southwestern Ontario. Data on children’s educational experiences and parents' concerns for their children’s functioning were collected through an online mixed-methods questionnaire. Findings suggested that psychoeducational reports facilitated a widespread increase in educational services and significantly addressed parent worries about children’s futures and autonomous, academic, and emotional functioning. However, the findings …

Teachers’ Work: Communicating On Difficult Knowledge In Ontario Schools, Zsofia Agoston Villalba

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This thesis examines how K-12 teachers in Ontario navigate the complexities of teaching "difficult knowledge"—topics such as racial and ethnic injustices, Indigenous perspectives, immigration experiences, and gender issues—within the parameters of the school and the curriculum. Utilizing an institutional ethnography approach, the study examines the curriculum as an institutional text that coordinates and shapes teachers’ practices. Working with and against the curriculum, teachers find innovative ways to engage their students on difficult knowledge topics. Based on interviews with 12 K-12 teachers, this research explores teachers’ work and pedagogical approaches. They employ diverse teaching methods like storytelling, open dialogues, and collaborative …

The Past, Present, And Future Direction Of Computer Science Curriculum In K-12 Education, Steven Floyd

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This integrated article thesis provides an analysis of the past, present, and potential future state of Computer Science (CS) in K-12 education. Once implemented in optional courses at the secondary level, CS concepts and skills are now being integrated into other subject areas such as mathematics, science, and technology and other grades including K-8. This new state of K-12 CS education is explored through an analysis of 1) related theory reflected in the literature, 2) historical secondary school CS curriculum, 3) enrolment data and important issues related to equity, diversity, and inclusion, and 4) K-8 CS-related curriculum approaches currently being …

Common Worlding Pedagogies In Early Childhood Education: Storying Situated Processes For Living And Learning In Ecologically Precarious Times, Kelly-Ann Macalpine

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As a society, we must prepare children for unknown futures—to live well amid the ruinous effects of ongoing human-induced climate change and the growing waste crisis. Given these enormous challenges, early childhood education for the 21st century requires a significant shift in pedagogical and curricular approaches that are both creative enough and receptive enough to meet them. This integrated thesis is based on a project that engages with the problematics that surround educating future generations faced by ecological devastation. I do this by engaging with common worlding pedagogies in early childhood education, in two different classrooms in two different locations. …

Peer Effects And Social Networks In An Mba Program, Zinaida Foltin

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In this dissertation, I explore peer effects and social networks among MBA students in a Canadian business school. The unique feature of the data collected for this research is that the students are administratively assigned to small groups, providing plausibly exogenous variation that allows me to identify causal peer effects. Chapter 1, “Peer Effects in an MBA class”, establishes the existence and magnitude of the effects of peer characteristics on academic outcomes of MBA students. It shows that peer effects are heterogeneous across courses and student characteristics. Chapter 2, “Testing team allocation rules”, uses these results to find the allocations …

Mental Health Literacy And Ontario Secondary School Curriculum, Christine J. Manser

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Student centered mental health initiatives have seen a rise in implementation as the mental health risks for adolescents and young people are becoming more recognized. However, regardless of these initiatives, youth continue to demonstrate poor mental health which can result in stigmatizing attitudes and behavior, low self-esteem, poor help-seeking behavior, and increased suicide risk. To explore the disconnect between the goal of educational initiatives and their current demonstrated outcomes, this dissertation utilized social constructivist learning theory and school-based mental health literacy to conduct a content analysis of curriculum documents and textbooks in use within Ontario high schools. This case study …

A Language Barrier To Human Capital Development: The Case Of Guatemalan Students, Fidel Pérez Macal

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Not being proficient in a school’s predominant language of instruction can represent a language barrier for students’ human capital development. In Guatemala, 24 languages are spoken apart from Spanish, which is the language of instruction in the majority of schools, and about 40 percent of the total population has a non-Spanish language as a mother tongue. National standardized tests show that non-Spanish mother tongue (non-SMT) students are outperformed by SMT students in elementary and secondary schools.

My thesis analyzes whether non-SMT students face a language barrier and traces its source. Two main findings emerge. First, non-SMT students are not yet …

Training, Barriers, And Self-Efficacy To Physical Education Instruction, Stephanie Truelove

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The overall purpose of this dissertation was to explore the physical education (PE) training that generalist and PE specialist elementary school teachers receive during their pre-service programs across the province of Ontario, and the differences between these two types of teachers regarding barriers faced and self-efficacy in instructing PE. Using an online survey, Study 1 aimed to examine and compare the PE teaching self-efficacy of generalist and PE specialist elementary teachers across Canada and the barriers to instruction faced. Study 2 qualitatively explored the experiences of elementary school generalist and PE specialist teachers when instructing PE, and the perceived barriers …

Understanding Indigenous And Non-Indigenous Perspectives Of Reconciliation: A Case Study, Kaitlyn Watson

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Reconciliation in the Canadian context is difficult to define (Graeme & Mandawe, 2017; Martin, 2009), but is often linked to the residential school system (Chrisjohn & Wasacase, 2011; Nagy, 2012). This instrumental case study examines how reconciliation is understood and activated among a group of educators and community members involved with a professional learning event held in Southern Ontario inspired by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada. Employing narrative inquiry, and informed by decolonizing methodologies, seven event organizers, four presenters, and five attendees participated in conversational interviews. Two main themes were uncovered from the interview data. The first, reconciliation …

There Is A Secret Heart, Dru Farro

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late 14c., originally in grammar (in reference to certain nouns that do not name concrete things), from Latin abstractus "drawn away," past participle of abstrahere "to drag away, detach, pull away, divert;" also figuratively, from assimilated form of ab "off, away from" (see ab-) + trahere "to draw," from PIE root *tragh- "to draw, drag, move."

“To drag away” I find particularly evocative.

“The candidate must ensure that the abstract refers to all the elements that would make the thesis worth consulting.”

I find this, of course, to be a paralyzing requirement. This thesis is not worth …

Partners In Education, Health, And Safety: Development And Implementation Of Concussion Policy In Ontario School Boards, Amy E. Robinson

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In March 2014, the Ontario Ministry of Education was the first ministry in Canada to institute a formal concussion policy. The ministry stipulates that student long-term health and safety are essential preconditions for learning, and that concussions can negatively impact cognitive, physical, emotional, and social development. Policy/Program Memorandum (PPM) No. 158 requires all school boards and school authorities to establish a policy on concussions. Each school board in Ontario developed a concussion policy within their local context to address concussion awareness, prevention, identification, management, and training. School boards, administrators, teachers, staff, students, parents/guardians, volunteers, and community-based organizations were encouraged to …

Learning Lessons From The Impacts Of Relocating Indigenous Scholars For Academic Appointments, Andrew Judge

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In 2014 and 2015, significant efforts were made by colleges, institutes, and universities to overhaul Indigenous post secondary education in Canada. For universities, the reasons are clear. University achievement rates for Indigenous peoples living in the sixty-five closest communities to where the 15 research intensive universities in Canada (U15) are located is five times lower then the national average. Three major documents outlining strategic plans identified a need to increase Indigenous faculty who represent just .3% of total academic staff at U15. To better grasp how increasing IUI numbers at U15 will impact them a multisite exploratory case study grounded …

From The Igloo To The School, Jessica Sw Ford

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Abstract

Ten Inuit Elders currently living in Qamani’tuaq, Nunavut who were born and raised on the Land who then were relocated from the Land to the fixed Community of Qamani’tuaq shared some of their Learning experiences and Stories on the ways in which they acquired Inuit Knowledge. I am originally from the Community of Qamani’tuaq, and spent some of my Childhood there, but have not lived there for many years. I have extended Family members who still live in the Community.

For each of the interviews, I began with three research questions: 1) what are the customary Inuit practices of …

Investigating The Transnational Identities Of Filipina/O/X Youth In Toronto Urban High Schools: A Critical Ethnographic Study Of The Impact Of Canada’S Live-In/Caregiver Program, Jessica Ellen Ticar

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This dissertation investigates the impact of transnational family separation and reunification through Canada’s Live-in/Caregiver Program (L/CP) on the educational experiences of Filipina/o/x newcomer youth in Toronto urban high schools. I draw on theories of identity and belonging, intersectionality, and postcolonial and transnational feminism to understand the experiences of Filipina/o/x youth. This is in relation to the migration trajectories of their mothers and the impact that these have had on their identity and belonging, as well as their experiences of schooling in Canada. Utilizing a critical and performance ethnographic approach, the youth engaged in oral history and memory through the use …

Fall Prevention In An Acute Care Hospital: The Challenges Encountered By Patients, Staff And Administrators, Barbara J. Watson

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Abstract

Falls are frequent and often serious events that take place in hospitals. Healthcare providers find it challenging to minimize fall risk factors. In fact, just being in a hospital is a risk factor in itself! The aim of this thesis was to investigate the reasons behind patient falls, identify gaps in prevention strategies and suggest additional recommendations to improve patient safety. A mixed method approach was used to interpret the data and uncover the reasons for falls.

The first study was a secondary data analysis where 7,721 patient falls were examined. The data were taken from the hospital’s central …

An Investigation On The Value Of Integrating Mental Health Supports In Education To Build Capacity For Change, Erin Keith

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Current statistics in Ontario show that one in five students suffer from mental health issues (Canada, 2012). Mental health disorders cause significant distress, impairing students’ functioning at school, at home, and in the community (Children’s Mental Health Ontario, 2014). Research has shown that prevention and early intervention strategies targeting students at risk for mental health challenges are beneficial, cost-effective, and reduce the need for more costly, intensive interventions. (Ontario Ministry of Education, 2013). In response to recent Ontario Ministry mental health initiatives (Ontario Ministry of Education, 2006; 2011; 2013), the Peel District School Board, in Ontario, Canada, launched an interprofessional, …

Beyond Burnout: Educators' Experiences Of Mental Health Issues, And Stigma In The Workplace, Jenny Kassen

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This study examines Ontario teachers’ experiences of mental issues (MHI) and identity management in the workplace. Although numerous local and national initiatives exist to help raise awareness, decrease stigma, and assist teachers in supporting students with MHI, there appears to be an absence of literature that focuses on teachers' personal experiences with MHI and stigma in their professional environment. Two theoretical frameworks, Framework Integrating Normative Influences on Stigma (FINIS) (Pescosolido, Martin, Lang, & Olafsdottir, 2008), and Jones and King’s (2014) Managing stigmatized identities in the workplace, provide a lens for making meaning of the experiences of the participants. A …

Truth Functions And Memory In English Language Learners, Eric Smiley Mr.

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English Language Learners (ELLs) are consistently found to overuse, misunderstand, and misuse connectives in the English language (Bolton et al., 2002; Chen, 2006; Hinkel, 2002; Ozono & Ito, 2003; Zhang, 2000) and current research has not investigated whether this misunderstanding effects the memory of claims. The primary goal of the present study was to examine whether knowledge of truth-functional connectives is related to conjunctive bias in ELL students. Using a within-subjects design, the effects of instruction in truth-functional connectives on conjunctive bias in nine ELL students were investigated. Repeated measures analyses of variance (ANOVA) revealed an elimination of conjunctive bias …

Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder And Youth Education: Caregiver Perspectives, Kyle Cleversey

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The purpose of this study was to identify caregivers’ needs in helping youth with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) succeed in school, and services that caregivers believe would help youth with FASD succeed in school. Thirty-two caregivers raising a youth with FASD participated in telephone interviews that included two questions: “What do caregivers need to help youth be successful in school?” and “What services would help youth be successful in school?” Participants then sorted responses to these questions into piles they believed to be a conceptual fit with one another, and the data was analyzed using multi-dimensional scaling and cluster …

More Than Plumbing: The History Of Sexual Education In Ontario, 1960-1979, Michelle K P Hutchinson Grondin

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During the 1960s and 1970s, Ontario educators were concerned that the “sexual revolution” would encourage youths to engage in sexually promiscuous behaviour, become unwed mothers, and contract STIs. As parents were perceived as unreliable sex educators, school administrators and educators felt compelled to teach traditional sexual values, and the importance of the nuclear family through sexual education. This dissertation analyzes the creation and instruction of sexual education in physical and health education courses throughout the 1960s and 1970s in Ontario. This study provides the first comprehensive discussion of sexual education in Ontario during the sixties and seventies through an examination …

Physical Culture As Citizenship Education At Pelican Lake Indian Residential School, 1926-1970, Braden Paora Te Hiwi

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Pelican Lake Indian residential school, also known as Sioux Lookout Indian residential school, was an Anglican run institution that was a part of the Canadian residential school system; the school operated from 1926 to 1970. It is well established in the literature that the Department of Indian Affairs intended to evangelize, assimilate, and civilize its students, but the function of citizenship in the residential schools is less well known. The focus of this study was to examine physical culture activities, specifically sport, exercise, and recreation as a form of training for citizenship. In particular, I centered this research on the …

The “Fifth Business" Of Department Heads: Examining The Perceptions Of Department Heads About Their Role, Nikola Paranosic

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Using an exploratory case study methodology, the study records the perceptions of thirteen secondary school department heads in an Ontario school board. After analysing the interviews with these department heads, this study uses the metaphor of Fifth Business to demonstrate how the role is perceived. This research demonstrates that department heads occupy a role that is vital but undervalued and not well-understood. Lacking supports and guidance to help them understand their role, department heads use metaphors – “advocate”, “clerk”, “liaison”, “filter,” “model” and “coordinator” – to describe how they perceive how they act in fulfilling the obligations of their role. …

Barriers To Education In Homeless Youth, Michelle S. Solomon

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Most homeless youth in Canada have not completed high school. Lack of education is a critical issue that affects pathways to gainful employment, financial security, and positive health. Several risk factors affect their ability to succeed in school; however, there has been limited research in Canada that identifies the most influential factors. This study is a secondary analysis of the Youth Matters in London: Mental Health, Addiction and Homelessness study in London Ontario. It is guided by Bronfenbrenner’s ecological theory of human development. The effects of several environmental factors on the academic achievement of 187 homeless youth with mental health …

Fostering Creativity: Ontario Teachers’ Perceptions, Strategies, And Experiences, Catharine M. Dishke Hondzel

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This study provides a broad overview of perceptions elementary school teachers hold regarding creativity, the strategies those teachers use to foster creative thinking and behaviour in their students, and the environmental challenges and opportunities they navigate when striving to develop 21^st century skills in students. Earlier research examining teachers’ perceptions and creativity-fostering behaviours have typically asked teachers to describe their classroom practices, or self-report their perceptions regarding creative children or children’s creative actions. Using a mixed-methods approach, in this study 22 Grade 5-7 teachers working in Ontario completed an online questionnaire which measured their creativity-fostering behaviours. Following the survey, …

Moving Beyond The “Mosqueteria:” A Critical Analysis Of The Media’S Coverage Of Religious Accommodation At An Ontario Public School, Aruba Mahmud

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This qualitative case study considers the weekly congregational Muslim prayers held at an Ontario public middle school and the widespread media and public reaction to them. Drawing primarily from the work of Said (1997, 2003), this research questions how and why the prayers became the source of controversy nearly four years after they commenced, and what, if any, impact this media and public reaction has had on the school community. Eight interviews were conducted, along with a critical analysis of the news coverage of the prayers. The results reveal the persistence of post-colonial discourse and prejudice towards Muslims and Islam …