Education Commons^™

Empowering Teachers To Become Change Agents Through The Science Education In-Service Teacher Training Project In Zimbabwe, Yovita N. Gwekwerere Dr., Emmanuel Mushayikwa, Viola Manokore

Comparative and International Education / Éducation Comparée et Internationale

This paper presents findings from a study of three Zimbabwean science teachers who participated in the Science Education In-service Teacher Training (SEITT) program. At the turn of the century, the SEITT program was designed to develop science and mathematics teachers into expert masters and resource teachers for Zimbabwe’s ten school districts. The study investigated the successes and challenges faced by the three teachers who were in the process of reforming their pedagogical practices as well as writing and using contextualized science curriculum materials to teach secondary science. Data were collected through telephone interviews. The three teachers reported that the SEITT …

Interprofessional Socialization And Dual Identity Development Amongst Cross-Disciplinary Students, Hossein Khalili

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

The purpose of this study was to develop and test an interprofessional socialization (IPS) framework through assessing the impact of an IPS-based interprofessional education program on interprofessional socialization and dual identity development among health professional students. Although health professional educational programs have been successful in equipping graduates with skills, knowledge and professionalism, the emphasis on specialization and profession-specific education has enhanced the development of a uniprofessional identity, which has been found to be a major barrier towards Interprofessional Person-Centered Collaborative Practice (IPCPCP). Despite the growing acknowledgment of IPS in the current IPE and collaborative practice literature, there is a lack …

Multimodal Literacy Learning Opportunities In One Grade Six Classroom: Possibilities And Constraints, Terry S. Loerts

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

The goal of this qualitative case study was to provide insights into the place of multimodal literacy learning opportunities in the classroom literacy curriculum in a junior level context that is under-represented in the research literature, to ascertain the possibilities and constraints for multimodal literacy learning opportunities therein, and to document the students’ literacy practices within these opportunities. To achieve these ends, the study explored the multimodal literacy learning opportunities that were afforded by a grade six classroom curriculum within Ontario, Canada. Specifically, the study asked: What, if any multimodal literacy learning opportunities does a grade six classroom curriculum afford? …

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 …

Out Of Alignment: Managing Literacy Assessment Work In The Primary Classroom, Holly Carol Parkinson

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

This thesis presents findings that were investigated using Institutional Ethnography (IE) into teachers’ accountability work in four Ontario primary classrooms. Informed by the writing of Dorothy E. Smith (1987, 2005, 2006), my thesis documented and analyzed curriculum work using IE strategy to explore the social relations organizing the teachers’ accountability work. Specifically my study asked: What work do primary teachers carry out as they engage in literacy assessments? How are literacy assessments implicated in the coordination of teachers’ curriculum work? How is this work coordinating and being coordinated with the work of students, administrators and policy makers at local, national …

Reflecting On Multimodal Pedagogy: An Autoethnographic Narrative Of The Inclusion Of Art Across The Elementary Classroom Curriculum, Jessica S. Taylor Charland

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

This thesis explores the inclusion of art and visual modes of literacy across the elementary classroom curriculum in Ontario. Positioned within social semiotics, multimodal literacy and multimodal pedagogy, it situates art as a literacy practice. I use autoethnographic narratives to share stories of classroom experiences teaching multimodal literacy, and reflect on the following questions: What were my experiences using art as a multimodal literacy? What resources enabled or constrained the enactment of multimodal pedagogy in my practice? and What were the affordances and limitations of the modes and multimodal pedagogies for my students and for myself as a teacher? Reflections …

The Effects Upon Students Of Supplementing Aboriginal Post-Secondary Transition Programs With Traditional Cultural Activities, Karen Favell

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

THE EFFECTS UPON STUDENTS OF SUPPLEMENTING ABORIGINAL POST-SECONDARY TRANSITION PROGRAMS WITH TRADITIONAL CULTURAL ACTIVITIES

Karen Favell

Department of Education

University of Western Ontario

ABSTRACT

This study investigates Aboriginal student experiences in an Aboriginal transition program that was co-developed by the student-participants. Data was collected from participants in the study through a focus group, journals, and surveys. The results show that adding Aboriginal cultural activities to the curriculum improved the experience of students in the transition program. Students felt that their contributions were important and valued, that they learned more about their traditional culture, and that their contributions enhanced their experience …

Print Literacy Opportunities For Young Children In A Multimodal Literacy Ensemble, Lori Mckee

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

This study explored the opportunities for print literacy learning within multimodal ensembles that featured art, singing, and digital media. Study questions concerned how reading and writing were practiced and what learning opportunities were afforded for them during an intergenerational program that united 13 kindergarten children with 7 elders to work through a chain of multimodal projects. Data were collected through ethnographic tools in the Rest Home where the projects were completed and in the children’s classroom where project content and tools were introduced and extended by the classroom teacher. Themes were identified through the juxtaposition of field texts in a …

A Crosslinguistic/Cultural Perspective Of Learning Chinese As A Foreign Language In Canadian Universities, Xiuhua Ke

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

This study examines adult student learning of Chinese as a foreign language (CFL) in a Canadian university context, focusing in particular on how students’ diverse prior language(s) and experiences influence their CFL learning and how student motivation develops. It aims at gaining a better understanding of the nature of adult CFL learning; at yielding pedagogic implications and raising questions for further research. Framed by sociocultural theory and cognitive linguistic perspectives, the research was guided by the following questions: 1) What elements of Chinese as a foreign language challenge student learning? 2) How do students’ prior language(s) and language learning experience …

Teaching In Northwestern China Under A Market Economy: Opportunities And Challenges, Gulbahar H. Beckett

Comparative and International Education / Éducation Comparée et Internationale

This article discusses a case study that explored the impacts of a market economy on some Northwestern Chinese teachers’ working and living conditions as well as opportunities and challenges the new economy presented from teachers’ perspectives. Analysis of surveys, interviews, and documents revealed that the participants believed they had benefited from the market economy, citing pay raises as well as improved working and living conditions. Participants thought opportunities under the market economy included additional earnings as well as improved national and international professional development. However, the participants found the shift from the traditional teacher-centered pedagogy to a more student-centered approach …