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 …

Lighting The Way Of The Learner: Towards A Social Virtue Epistemology In Aḥmad Al-Ṣaghīr’S The Faqīh’S Lantern, Amani Khelifa

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

This thesis offers an original translation and analysis of a West African didactic poem in Islamic ethics and law, by the Mālikī-Ashʿarī Mauritanian scholar Aḥmad al-Ṣaghīr (d. 1272 AH/1856 CE) called The Faqīh’s Lantern (Miṣbāḥ al-Faqīh). In addition to the critical translation, I examine the poem thematically through the lens of social virtue epistemology. Chapter 1 sketches the background of the text and author, positioning the author historically as a product of a rich scholarly and pedagogical tradition while noting Mauritania’s contemporary place in the North American Muslim imagination. Chapter 2 is the translation of the text, making …

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

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

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 …

Championing Inclusive Education In Canada: Voices Of Educators, Advocates, And Researchers, Sydney K. Bota

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Previously conducted research overwhelmingly supports inclusive education for all students, however inclusive education is not always provided in Canada. This project aims to understand the current state of inclusive education in Canada. Participants included in this study were 33 experts in inclusive education in Canada and can be categorized into three groups: researchers, advocates, and educators. Chats regarding each participant’s experiences with inclusive education were transcribed and thematic analysis was used. Six themes emerged: Family; Values and beliefs; Definition of Inclusive Education; Networking/Connecting; Information, policy and implementation; and School systems. Results demonstrated that there are some happenings in inclusive education …

Professionals' Application Of Intersectionality With Marginalized Youth: Considerations For Teen Dating Violence Prevention Programming And Beyond, Bradley Kyle Daly

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Marginalized youth disproportionality experience adverse outcomes such as increased rates of mental health issues and teen dating violence. Addressing their compounding concerns requires an approach that considers their interlocking marginalized identities and the oppressive systems impacting them. Intersectionality incorporates both elements, yet the literature on how frontline practitioners understand and apply this complex theory within their practice remains sparse. This integrated-article dissertation explored how professionals working with marginalized youth within various settings, including teen dating violence prevention contexts, understood and applied intersectionality. The first paper (chapter two) used group concept mapping to explore how 12 professionals applied intersectionality. Results yielded …

Disengaged Or Differently Engaged? Students’ Motivations, Expectations, And Engagement In The Multi-Expectational Undergraduate Experience, Clifford Davidson

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

This thesis examines the undergraduate experience from the student perspective, specifically as it applies to the dominant engagement success narrative. is narrative articulates that, for undergraduate students to successfully navigate and gain the most from their time at university, they must engage in educationally purposive activities and enriching educational experiences. Research also connects students’ motivations for enrolling in university to engagement and suggests that intrinsically motivated students are more likely to engage according to the dominant narrative, leading to a successful undergraduate experience. Conversely, students who are more extrinsically motivated tend to not engage correctly or at acceptable levels and …

Non-Directed Time, Danial Derakhshan

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Non-Directed Time is a sixteen-minute composition for mixed septet and soundtracks. Its two movements are entitled Brainwash and Introduction. The piece aims to challenge listeners' perception of passing time through gradual transformations between timeless, non-directional musical textures to moments of textural clarity and directionality. The musical material in my composition repeats at both large-scale and micro-scale levels, developing an alternative musical time structure and a sense of familiarity. Thus, changes in repeating material affect the experience of this time structure, in which time seems to expand and contract. Because these changes are gradual and their goals are unpredictable, listeners may …

Intimate Partner Violence, Social Support, Mastery, And Mental Health, Alice Pearl Sedziafa

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Background: Despite the growth in research on intimate partner violence (IPV) as a chronic stressor, including studies on the negative mental health impacts of IPV, limited attention has been given to understanding the stress process in terms of the direct impact of IPV on mental health and the simultaneous mediating effects of social support (emotional or practical assistance from one’s network) and mastery (a sense of personal control) on the relationship between IPV and mental health [Depression symptoms and Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms]. These mechanisms are also poorly understood in the context of the concurrent effects of age, mothering, …

Creative Common Worlding With Research Creation In Early Childhood Education, Sarah M. Hennessy

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Creative Common worlding with research-creation in early childhood education engages with provocations that disrupt dominant understandings of children and their relations with more-than-human and human others. Reconceptualizing alternatives through art, this dissertation contemplates the potent possibilities beyond human stewardship, underscores the influence of an uncommoning lens, and emphasizes the difficulties with humancentric notions of research. If, by disrupting how we understand ourselves and our role in place, we modify our actions and change our habits, then perhaps we can live differently and contribute differently to the planet. Through a common worlds framework together with research-creation, this dissertation considers climate education …

Investigating The Perspectives Of Early Years Professionals’ Anti-Racist Practices, Amy Williams

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

This qualitative case study explored the perspectives and experiences of early years professionals engaging in anti-racist practices in Ontario licensed child care settings. Critical race theory and whiteness studies were the guiding theoretical frameworks for the study. The qualitative case study draws from semi-structured interviews with four early years professionals working in licensed child care settings. Based on the experiences of the early years professionals, there seemed to be an overall lack of in-depth continuous anti-racist practices among the participants. The findings highlight that the participants engage in anti-racist work using play materials, videos, and discussion-based learning with children. Some …

The Impact Of Covid-19 On Undergraduate University Students With Part-Time Jobs, Miguel F. Bernard Bravo

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

This study explored how the pandemic and the shift to online learning impacted university students’ experiences of learning and working, and how students’ capital and other resources impacted their university experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic. Eighteen undergraduate students who had paid employment in the last 12 months were recruited. In interviews participants were asked about their experiences with work, schooling and balancing the two with the pressures of the pandemic. Students cited financial concerns, as well as challenges with difficulties with online learning, motivation, and isolation. Importantly, this study found that students experiences differed in accordance with their capital and …

Acting Out Gender: Embodied Criticality And Performance-Based Pedagogies, Danielle K. Carr

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Using an adapted Theatre of the Oppressed workshop titled Acting Out Gender, this study explored the use of embodied, performance-based pedagogies to examine gender identity and performance with undergraduate and teacher education students. Attending to feminist and queer epistemological questions of embodiment and gender, this qualitative, arts-based study used observation and interviews to explore participants’ understanding and experience of gender and to experiment with performance-based pedagogies for exploring embodiment and embodied rituals. This study highlighted the usefulness of Acting Out Gender in supporting students’ interrogation of embodied gender subjectivity in their own lives and illuminated how performance-based pedagogies function in …

The Enactment Of Quality Assurance Policies In Ecuadorian Higher Education: A Case Study In The Public Universities In The Province Of Manabí, Diego R. Sornoza Parrales

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

This study investigates how the administrators in the research and quality assurance offices in the regional universities in Ecuador enact the national research quality assurance policy. The massification and diversification of higher education and the internationalization, as well as globalization of higher education institutions create an increasingly competitive environment. Given this competition, resources are scarce, resulting in more frequent and more aggressive budgetary constraints. Government and national funding agencies are including the notion of “quality” in their policies to measure the performance and efficiency of universities and determine budget allocation, demanding universities to “prove their value” to remain operational. In …

Early Gaze Behaviours In Infants At High Familial Risk For Autism Spectrum Disorder: Association With Brain Development, Julia Teixeira Pinto Montenegro

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Children diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) show impairments in gaze-following and will seldom engage in joint attention (JA). The ability to initiate JA (IJA) can be more impaired than the ability to respond to JA (RJA). In a longitudinal study, 101 high-risk infants for ASD (62% males) completed MRI scans at 4 or 6 months of age. Subcortical volumes (thalamus, basal ganglia, hippocampus, amygdala) were extracted. Gaze and JA behaviours were assessed with standardized measures. The majority of infants were IJA non-responders (n=93, 92%), and over half were RJA non-responders (n=50, 52%). In the non-responder groups, models testing the …

Exploring The Underrepresentation Of Women Coaches In Canadian University Sport, Hayley Finn

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Currently, there are disproportionally few women who hold coaching positions within Canadian university sport. To investigate the gender gap, this dissertation explores the institutional practices that inform women coaches’ working realities. Applying Smith’s (1987) institutional ethnography as a mode of inquiry directed the exploration towards the everyday practices and processes that inform experience, to better understand current barriers and supports in place. In this study, particular attention is given to social relations, which Smith (2005) calls the relations of ruling that coordinate activities and experiences of individuals within organizations. Institutional ethnography aims to explicate these relations of ruling by exploring …

The Development, Short-Term Efficacy, And Pilot Implementation Of An E-Learning Course In Physical Activity And Sedentary Behaviour For Pre-Service Early Childhood Educators, Brianne Bruijns

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

The overarching purpose of this dissertation was to develop an e-Learning course in physical activity and sedentary behaviour and test its short-term efficacy and implementation among pre- and in-service early childhood educators (ECEs). The Delphi approach was adopted for Study 1, wherein a panel of international experts in physical activity and sedentary behaviour suggested topics for the course and, together with a panel of ECE experts, rated their importance. Study 2 employed a pre-post design to explore the changes in pre- and in-service ECEs’ physical activity and sedentary behaviour-related knowledge, self-efficacy, behavioural intention, and perceived behavioural control following course completion. …

Troubling Service User Involvement In Health Professional Education: Toward Epistemic Justice, Stephanie Leblanc-Omstead

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

It has become increasingly popular in health professional education to solicit the contributions and involvement of people who have firsthand or ‘lived’ experiences of using mental health services – a practice hereafter referred to as service user involvement (SUI). SUI is founded on the premise that service users ought to be involved in the development and evaluation of services and systems they experience, which includes the education of future health professionals. Despite the momentum this practice has gained in a range of international contexts, SUI is often conceptualized, organized, and implemented uncritically, and with tremendous inconsistency across health professional education …

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? …

Understanding Service Gaps And Support Opportunities In The Treatment Of Childhood Anxiety, Chelsey R. Masson

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Globally, anxiety disorders represent the most prevalent mental health disorders in children and youth (Polanczyk et al., 2015), with an increasing number of individuals perceiving the need for professional help (Georgiades et al., 2019). It is unclear, however, where families are seeking help from, what barriers families are facing, and what services are being provided for effective management of symptoms. Two methods were used to investigate possible treatment support models; a questionnaire identified patterns in parental help-seeking behaviours and outlined perceived barriers to professional help, while a scoping review examined key components of parent/caregiver treatment models. Findings showed that parents …

Early Adversity And Positive Parenting: Predicting Executive Functioning In Children With Asd, Elizabeth A. Kuenzel

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) are statistically more likely to experience early adversity; however, little is known about which types of adversity are most prevalent, the role of parenting as a protective factor, and how this early life stress impacts cognitive outcomes. We assessed adversity and parenting styles in 238 children (ASD=82) aged 6–16 years using parent report. Intellectual abilities were assessed using the WISC-V. Children with ASD had increased incidence of familial stressors compared to Typically Developing (TD) children. Positive parenting was associated with significant decreases in familial adversity for all children. Environmental stressors were associated with cognitive …

Exploring Effectiveness Of Implementation Of The Mindup Program Through Implementor Perspectives, Maria Jelic

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Developing feasible universal school-based programs that help children develop social and emotional competencies is crucial for the development of improved mental health in children, especially those who have been exposed to trauma. Educators need to be motivated to implement such programs with high quality so that intended outcomes are more likely to occur, but a variety of both internal and external factors can affect implementation. The present study explores these factors by inviting the perceptions of implementers and support staff who were involved in an SEL program called MindUP. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with eight participants, the interviews were transcribed …

Individual Differences In Lifestyle Factors And The Effects Of Acute Exercise On Executive Functioning In Children And Youth With Adhd, Jasmyn Skinner

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Acute exercise interventions can improve executive functioning among children and youth with ADHD, however not all individuals experience the same benefit. We focused on three lifestyle factors (medication use, physical fitness, and physical activity behaviours) and their impact on the relationship between acute exercise and executive functioning. Participants completed a battery of executive functioning measures, followed by a 10-minute bout of moderate-intensity stationary biking (experimental condition), or silent reading (control condition). The same battery of assessments was re-administered immediately after the intervention and after a 10-minute delay. Overall, regardless of medication status, physical fitness level, or physical activity behaviours, an …

Individual Differences In Executive Functioning And Psycho-Emotional Well-Being And The Impact Of Acute Exercise On Children And Youth With Adhd, Madeline Crichton

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Short bouts of exercise can improve inhibitory control in children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). However, individual differences among children with ADHD may impact the effectiveness of exercise interventions. We investigated how individual differences in inhibitory control, mood, and self-efficacy impact the efficacy of acute exercise among children with ADHD. Sixteen participants (ages 10-14) completed two interventions: 10 minutes of exercise and 10 minutes of silent reading (control). Inhibitory control was assessed prior to the intervention, immediately after the intervention, and after a 10-minute delay. Results suggested that participants with lower initial inhibitory control benefited more from exercise than …

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

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

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 …

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

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

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 …

Understanding The Effects Of Physical Activity On Executive Functioning And Psycho-Emotional Well-Being In Children With Adhd, Hannah B. Bigelow

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

A short bout of physical activity has been shown to improve executive functioning in children. However, the implications for children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) has been understudied. We examined the impact of a 10min bout of physical activity on executive functioning and psycho-emotional well-being in children with ADHD. Participants engaged in two lab-based sessions separated by 1-week: a physical activity session and a control session. The physical activity session included a 10min bout of moderate-intensity biking, with a pre-post battery of cognitive and psycho-emotional assessments. The control session consisted of 10mins of silent reading. We used functional imaging …

Microdosing Mindfulness: Understanding The Effects Of Brief Mindfulness Meditation In Children With Adhd, Marcus D. Gottlieb

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Mindfulness Meditation (MM) is receiving increased empirical support as a method for addressing ADHD symptomology. Research shows that MM interventions lasting weeks or months promote key aspects of cognitive and psycho-emotional functioning in youth with ADHD. Using a pre-post within-subjects design, we sought to determine whether a single MM session supports neurocognitive and/or psycho-emotional functioning in youth with ADHD. Sixteen participants aged 10-14 completed measures of executive and psycho-emotional functioning before/after a 10-minute MM session and silent reading control. Functional neuroimaging assessed whether MM supported changes in prefrontal cortex (PFC) activation during cognitive tasks. We found that a single MM …

Investigating Elementary School Food Programs: Impacts On Child Knowledge And Dietary Behaviours, Paige Colley

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Good nutrition is an important part of maintaining a healthy lifestyle. A balanced diet can promote positive health outcomes, protecting against health problems caused by nutritional deficiencies. Canada has reported poor diet quality and high rates of overweight and obesity among children. Obesity has been linked to several non-communicable diseases including type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and some forms of cancer. Efforts to improve lifelong, healthy eating behaviours must be implemented.

This dissertation investigated the impacts of school food programming on child nutrition. A Centrally Procured School Food Program (CPSFP) was implemented at 30 elementary schools in Southwestern Ontario, Canada. …

Construction And Preliminary Validation Of The Interrai 0-3 Developmental Domains, Jo Ann M. Iantosca

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Background. With no standardized approach for early assessment of childhood development in Canada, and with a lack of a comprehensive assessment-to-intervention system that amalgamates social, psychiatric, medical, functional, psychological, and environmental constructs, the interRAI 0-3 was developed to support intervention efforts based on the needs of young children and their families. The interRAI 0-3 includes over 650 items that seek clinical information, developmental milestones, and context items regarding the family and social relationships surrounding the child. The newly developed interRAI 0-3 was most recently evaluated to examine the reliability and validity of the Expressive and Receptive Language and the Gross …

Mental Health Literacy And Initial Teacher Education: A Program Evaluation, Jasprit K. Pandori-Chuckal

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Utilizing a program evaluation framework, this study explored the effectiveness of a 10-week, mandatory, online mental health literacy course for 275 teacher candidates in a large central Canadian faculty of education. Shifts in teacher candidates’ mental health literacy (using the Mental Health Literacy Questionnaire; Rodger Johnson, & Weston, 2017), attitudes toward mental health (Opening Minds Scale; Modgill, Patten, Knaak, & Szeto, 2014), and two types of coping skills, seeking social support and self-control (Ways of Coping Scale; Folkman & Lazarus, 1985), were examined. The findings indicated that the course demonstrated efficacy in positively shifting teaching candidates’ mental health knowledge, stigma …