Education Commons^™

Changing Minds And Changing Practice: Barriers And Facilitators To The Use Of Methods Associated With Popular Musicianship, And Strategies Music Teachers Use To Navigate Them, Rhiannon Simpson

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

The purpose of this study was to identify factors which impede or facilitate teacher initiated changes to practice, and the ways in which these factors were strategically navigated by secondary school music educators employing methods associated with popular music education [PME] and/or informal music pedagogy [IMP]. The research was framed using a theoretical framework informed by Bourdieu’s (2000) concept of ‘hysteresis’ and Schmidt’s (2020) concept of ‘policy knowhow’. This served to highlight the dialectic relationship between the beliefs, values, agency and dispositions of individuals, and the presence of complex policy networks across macro, meso, and micro levels.

The research utilised …

Factors That Contribute To Teachers' Self-Efficacy For Inclusive Teaching: :A Thematic Analysis, Evan Charles

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Having a strong sense of self-efficacy for teaching has been shown to be associated with numerous positive benefits for both teachers and the students that they teach. As such, researchers have been interested in identifying factors and experiences that contribute to a strong sense of self-efficacy for teaching. However, very few studies have investigated these factors qualitatively and even fewer have compared the experiences of pre-service and early career teachers. This study examines the life experiences of pre-service and early career teachers, and how these experiences contribute to their self-efficacy for teaching within inclusive classrooms. Forty-nine pre-service and 86 early …

Teacher Professionalism, Embodiment, And Surveillance: An Autoethnographic Study, Melanie Cloutier-Bordeleau

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

This autoethnographic study entails using my own situated knowledge and experience as a white bisexual secondary school teacher from a low socioeconomic background as a basis for data generation and analysis. Attention is given to examining the current enforcement of specific norms governing behavioural and physical conduct, and the role these norms play in constructing and reinforcing hierarchical structures of identity related to race, gender, socioeconomic status and sexuality. The main question the study explores is: How does the performativity and performance of educator “professionalism” contribute to constructing/reinforcing hierarchies of identity with respect to gender, sexuality, social class and race? …

Muslim Girls' Experiences With Islamophobia, Sexism, And Anti-Black Racism In Ontario Secondary Schools: A Case Study, Sarah Halabi

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

This qualitative case-study explored the experiences of 20 Muslim girls who attended public secondary schools in Ontario, Canada. The main objective of this research was to understand how Muslim girls’ intersecting identities shaped their school, family, and community experiences. Drawing on anti-racist and postcolonial feminism, this study builds upon existing research conducted on Muslim girls by exploring how other categories of social difference, in addition to gender and religion, converge and influence their educational experiences.

The findings from this study uncovered the impact of racial diversity in Muslim girls’ school and community experiences. Namely, anti-Black racism was central to some …

Ontario High School Science Word List (Ohswl), Mohamed Mahfouz

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

This research aims to explain the development of an Ontario High School Science Corpus and subsequently an Ontario High School Science Word List (OHSWL). The OHSWL is a list of the most frequent technical words in the Ontario high school science curriculum. The science corpus was compiled from Ontario science textbooks and public written lecture material. A total of 803 lemmas were identified as part of the OHSWL. The coverage of the OHSWL in the science corpus vs non-science corpus is 7.79% and 1.52% respectively. The high frequency vocabulary (top 3,000 words) of the Corpus of Contemporary American English (COCA) …

Digital Literacies And Competencies: Examining Teacher Candidates’ Achievement, Engagement, Attitudes, And Personalized Learning In Technology Enhanced Environments, Stefano Vacca

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Teachers and students are increasingly operating in classrooms where the presence of digital technology impacts both parties across numerous facets related to teaching and learning. In an attempt to comprehend this dynamic, the current research aimed to understand the relationship from the perspective of the educator, acknowledging that today’s teachers are tasked with guiding students to become global, 21st century citizens who are capable of appropriately engaging with the opportunities and challenges put forth by digital technology. Therefore, this research aimed to examine teacher candidates’ (TCs’) a) attitudes towards digital technology, b) ability to manifest personalized learning experiences, and c) …

Project-Based Learning (Pbl) In Science, Technology, Engineering And Mathematics (Stem): Perspectives Of Students With Special Education Needs (Sens), Kayla Lambie

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

This study analyzes the engagement of students with SENs when a STEM Project Based Learning ( STEM PBL) method of teaching was implemented. Qualitative and quantitative data were collected to ascertain students’ and the teacher’s perspectives of STEM subjects, understanding and engagement in a STEM PBL approach, and changes in STEM skills. The results revealed that students had improved perceptions of some STEM subjects after the study. Results also showed that students were academically successful, engaged, and enjoyed the STEM PBL environment. Some STEM skills, both the teacher and students, improved throughout the study. The teacher showed improvements in some …

Promoting Mentally Healthy Classrooms: Evaluation Of Online Mental Health Literacy Instruction In Pre-Service Teacher Education, E. Robyn Masters

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

To better understand how to prepare large numbers of pre-service teachers for their role in creating and leading mentally healthy classrooms, this program evaluation explores outcomes related to an online mental health literacy course at a large central Canadian university. The course was delivered to 275 teacher education students simultaneously over 10-weeks and 20-hours of online instruction and professional reflection. Results indicated significant improvement in self-reported levels of mental health literacy, stigma toward mental illness, and self-efficacy for teaching students with diverse challenges. Qualitative reviews of participant feedback identified the most valuable aspects of the course and the ways in …

Teachers’ Professional Practice, Policy Enactment, And Indigenous Education In Ontario: A Case Study, Natalie Currie-Patterson

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

This qualitative case study investigates the research question: How do educators understand and enact government policies on Indigenous education in Ontario? The case study explores the content of The Ontario First Nation, Métis and Inuit Education Policy Framework, the foundational policy document for Indigenous education in Ontario released by the Ministry of Education in 2007 and a series of associated ministry publications as well as the responses of secondary school teacher participants to these policy efforts. In doing so, the case study draws on the scholarly literature about decolonizing education, as well as work on anti-colonial, anti-oppressive and critical …

Trends, Affordances, And Implications For Learners' Literacy And Identity Options: A Systematic Review Of Studies On Transnational Education, Bethany C. Mckishnie

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

The purpose of this systematic literature review (SLR) was three-fold: to identify the trends of the reviewed research on transnational education (TNE) and investigate the reported affordances of TNE and the implications for TNE in curriculum, pedagogy, and teacher training regarding expanding learners’ literacy and identity options. Through the lens of a multiliteracies framework, this SLR is premised on 60 screened articles that are based on the understandings of the relationships between TNE, literacy and identity options for students in globalized contexts. Findings indicate that this study offers TNE scholars future areas of research to investigate. It enhances the existent …

A Case Study Of Literacy Curricula In A Canadian Offshore School In China, Wanjing Li

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

This single case study is embedded in a multiple case study conducted in Canadian offshore schools in China. In response to the scant literature on literacy curriculum in transnational education contexts, particularly in secondary schools, this study reports findings regarding literacy curricula implementation in a secondary Sino-Canadian school.

The theoretical tools of the study include theories on curriculum, multiliteracies, and multimodality. Data presented in this paper emerges from observations of 46 periods of Mandarin and English literacy classes, interviews with two Chinese and two foreign literacy teachers regarding curricula actualization, and related curriculum documents.

Findings relate how Chinese and Canadian …

How Do Teachers Challenge Neoliberalism Through Critical Pedagogy Within And Outside Of The Classroom?, Rezvan Shahsavari-Googhari

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

This thesis uses the qualitative case study approach to investigate current strategies and skills four Ontario public secondary school teachers apply both within and outside of the classroom to enhance students’ critical consciousness. The focus is on teachers’ pedagogical work in the era of neoliberal restructuring in order to provide a rich account of how neoliberalism challenges and affects their teaching. Existing literature shows a crisis of identity and political agency among youth in many Western societies, characterized by individuals’ inability to think critically about social, political and economic issues, which is rooted in neoliberal education reforms. Adopting a critical …

An Investigation Of Multiliteracies Pedagogies In Language Teacher Education: A Mixed Methods Study, Adrienne Doucette-Vanthuyne

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Research into teacher preparedness within teacher education programs and its relationship to teacher attrition is an increasing area of interest in Canada and around the world. In Canada, on average, the estimated turnover for second language educators is approximately 30% in the first five years and 50% of these are within the first two years (Canadian Teacher’s Federation (CTF), 2004; Karsenti, Collin, Villeneuve, Dumouchel, & Roy, 2008; Siwatu, 2011; Swanson, 2012). The CTF (2004), French and Collins (2014), Karsenti et al. (2008) and Swanson (2012) have reported on several factors that influence language teacher attrition and retention: teacher preparedness, teacher …

Adolescent Bystander Perceptions Of Sexual Violence Scenarios, Gloria Zhang

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Sexual violence is an ongoing problem in Canada that affects youth, and has become complicated due to the increased use of social media and the Internet. As a result, new violence prevention programs focus on bystanders’ potential to intervene and has been shown to promote prosocial attitudes toward sexual violence (e.g. Banyard, Moynihan, and Plante, 2007; Katz, Heisterkamp, & Fleming, 2011). The present study examine current attitudes of adolescents in wrongfulness and willingness to intervene in scenarios of sexual violence that occur in either online or offline contexts. The study replicated and modified an existing evidence-supported American questionnaire that uses …

Student Perspectives Of Misbehaviour, Katie A. Knowlton

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Recent research in classroom management and student misbehaviour has focused on teacher and administrator perspectives with little attention paid to student perspectives. This study examined the effects of student misbehaviour on their perspectives of well-being in the classrooms, as well as their ability to control and regulate their own behaviour (i.e. behavioural self-efficacy). A Student Misbehaviour Questionnaire, constructed by the author, was administered to students in grades three through twelve, and follow-up focus group discussions were conducted with randomly selected students from each grade. Questionnaire results showed that both elementary and secondary students, in the presence of misbehaviour, felt …

Investigating Teachers' Understandings Of Gender Equity And Achievement In Postfeminist Times, Katee Joy Van Campen

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Drawing from feminist post-structuralism and critical social theories, this thesis examines the significance of postfeminist and neo-liberal influences on teachers’ perspectives about gender equity and girls’ success within the context of Ontario’s high-stakes standardized testing policies and their pedagogical experiences in the classroom. The significance of this inquiry is in its capacity to contribute to further theorizing about how teachers are negotiating the changing meaning of gender equity through a neo-liberal and postfeminist lens. It also adds to the growing body of research that investigates the significance of socio-economic background with regards to girls’ achievement and participation in school 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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …