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 …

Students' Experiences Within A Community-Based Orchestral Music Education Program: A Phenomenological Exploration, Leigh C. Walter

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Phenomenology was used to explore eighteen students’ experiences of participating within a community-based orchestral music education program with the aim of gaining understanding of experiences that may enter into the continuance of musical instruction. Interpretive analysis of audiotapes of in-depth interviews revealed three themes which together captured students’ holistic experience of being in a community-based orchestral music education program: (1) contextual factors facilitating/impeding progress; (2) enacting progression; and (3) experiencing the process of participating in the program. Findings revealed the importance of instructor feedback, students’ perceived necessity of striving, and students’ subjective feelings of participating in the program to student …

Interplay Of Masculinity And Schooling In Rural Zimbabwe, Alfred Masinire

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

This thesis investigates the interplay of masculinity and schooling in postcolonial rural Zimbabwe, which has been affected by both local influences that have antecedents in colonization and by the external, current forces of globalization.

By focusing on the construction of masculinities, this study contributes to a deeper understanding of the complicated relations between boys, girls and implications on schooling. This is significant because much research on gender in Zimbabwe has excluded boys’ experiences and how they are implicated in unequal and unjust gender relations.

A partial ethnographic study methodology was employed and in-depth interviews, informal conversations and observations with ten …

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 …

The Power Of Silence And The Price Of Success: Academic Achievement As Transformational Resistance For Aboriginal Women, Dawn M. Harvard

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Using an anti-racist feminist framework, and revised concepts of resistance, this qualitative study utilizes traditional Aboriginal Sharing Circles and personal interviews for a culturally sensitive exploration of the experiences of successful Aboriginal women in mainstream post-secondary institutions. The research focuses on two questions. What barriers confront Aboriginal women in mainstream post-secondary institutions generally, and how were these particular Aboriginal women able to overcome the challenges they faced, i.e. what coping strategies and support mechanisms had, in their experience, facilitated academic achievement and persistence? Analysis revealed how experiences of discrimination, and an awareness of societal inequities, in combination with a belief …

International Chinese And Canadian Students' Experiences Of Internationalization At A Canadian University, Linda J. Weber

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Internationalization, as a response to globalization, is one of the key drivers and shapers of the fundamental changes transforming the world of higher education. There is a need to understand internationalization within higher education from the vantage point of the domestic and international students who are currently being educated because their experiences testify to the provision of quality education. Using a Case Study approach this research explores ways that the internationalization of higher education impacts students’ intercultural relations, identities, intercultural sensitivity, critical understandings, notions of citizenship and futures. A postcolonial perspective is used to explore how students perceive the influences …