Education Commons^™

Beyond The Portable Classroom: Investigating Portable Classrooms From Secondary Sources And Reframing Spatial Needs In Canadian Schools, Marzieh Forozantabar

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Despite the prevalence of portable classrooms in Canadian schools, research on their characteristics, utilization, and effects is limited. This study investigates portable classrooms in Canada through a two-stage research approach. First, it explored news articles to identify common concerns about portable classrooms in Canada. The dataset comprises 243 news articles. The analysis revealed three overarching concerns about these structures: 1) The factors that lead school districts to use portable classrooms; 2) Safety and comfort in portable classrooms; 3) Strategies to alleviate accommodation issues. Then, Nair’s (2014) principles of contemporary school design were used to critically interrogate the utilization of portable …

Global Mindedness And Its Development Across Space And Time: Illumination Of Lived Experiences From Study Abroad Students And Global Educational Scholars, Haoming Tang

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This dissertation explores the phenomenon of ‘global mindednesses’ and its development as the idealized pedagogical outcome of global/international education. I consider how individuals become globally minded across their life journeys and through study abroad experience under larger conditions and forces. There are three discrete studies in this integrated dissertation format. In the first study, I examined the biographical and autobiographical accounts of thirteen US-based global scholars presented in the edited collection The global education movement: Narratives of distinguished global scholars (Kirkwood-Tucker, 2018). Through a thematic analysis, I identified five major themes in their development of global mindedness: (1) Experiencing war …

Latina Immigrant Women’S Experiences Of Higher Education And Leadership: An Intersectional Perspective, Isabella Alencar Maroja Chaves

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

This study investigates the career progression of Latina immigrant women to achieve leadership positions in higher education. The purpose of this research is to examine, from an intersectional perspective, the career progression of Latina immigrant women in educational leadership roles in higher education in Southwestern Ontario. The central point of this research is the study of the lived experiences of Latina women navigating the obstacles of being immigrants and women attaining educational leadership positions. The intersectional perspective, via the lens of Latina feminist theory, serves as both a conceptual framework and a theoretical approach. Considering the methodological approach, this study …

Bribery In Higher Education In Former Soviet Countries: A Systematic Review, Roya Karimli

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Corruption, such as bribery, exists in varying degrees in many countries around the globe. In some of them, it has become systemic due to a large proportion of the population engaging in it and accepting it as the normal way of solving daily issues. In some countries (e.g., Bosnia and Herzegovina, Ukraine), it is widely perceived by the general public as one of the biggest problems in education.

This research examines the existing scholarly literature on bribery, the most visible type of corruption, in the former Soviet Socialist Republics’ higher education space, focusing on social and economic reasons and common …

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 …

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 …

Jamaican Secondary School Principals' Work And Occupational Well-Being, Annette R. Walker

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

This qualitative research explores Jamaican secondary school principals’ work and occupational well-being. Research on the topic of principals’ work and occupational well-being has largely been conducted in developed countries (e.g., Canada, Australia, Ireland, Netherlands, United Kingdom, etc.). The aggregate conclusion in these countries suggests that principals’ work has implications for their occupational well-being. Given that Jamaica, a developing nation, has adopted North American leadership standards and policies, it is necessary to examine if Jamaican secondary school principals’ work presents occupational well-being issues. Through qualitative semistructured interviews with 12 Jamaican secondary school principals, the study investigated these principals’ work. Specifically, principals’ …

The Trickiness Of Settler Colonialism: Indigenous Women Administrators’ Experiences Of Policy In Canadian Universities, Candace Brunette-Debassige

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Since the release in 2015 of the report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada, a plethora of new administrative policies has emerged in universities. A variety of interconnecting Indigenous administrative roles has also arisen, many of which have been taken up by Indigenous women who find themselves working in challenging and complex contexts steeped in settler colonialism. Studies of the challenges these women face—indeed of Indigenous educational leadership and policies in higher education in general—are, however, sorely lacking. The present study is a qualitative exploration of the embodied experiences of twelve Indigenous women administrators (including the primary researcher) …

Investigating The Experiences Of Faculty Members And Administrators With Quality Assurance And Accountability In Higher Education In Ontario, Melanie Lawrence

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The main objective of this qualitative case study was to explore the professional experience of six faculty members and three administrators in higher education during a time of increasing quality assurance and accountability policies so to gain a deeper understanding of how neoliberalism is changing their work experience as academics in Ontario, Canada. I have presented the research findings by employing policy sociology as both theory and methodology using the method of the qualitative case study. This form of qualitative inquiry provided an opportunity to explore how each interviewee navigated the current context of neoliberalism within their respective roles in …

University Partnership Of The Confucius Institute: A Case Study In Canada, Yinan Wang

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

This study aims to explore the university partnership of the Confucius Institute between its partner from Canada and China. Drawing on organizational theory through the lens of higher education partnerships, the study uses a qualitative research method with a case study approach. Taking the Confucius Institute in a Canadian university as a case, the study probes into research questions regarding the nature and characteristics of the partnership built via the Confucius Institute as the platform, the key stakeholders involved in the partnership of the Confucius Institute, and in what ways have the key stakeholders shaped the partnership. Data were collected …

Leadership-As-Disciplinary Stewardship: A Social Movement For Kinesiology’S Future Success In The 21st Century University, Jenna R. Lorusso

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Some scholars in kinesiology have advocated for the adoption of the leadership-as-disciplinary stewardship (LDS) construct as a way for the discipline to survive and thrive in the challenging 21^st Century university climate. Despite budding interest in LDS, there is a lack of empirical research on the construct and the limited conceptual literature lacks the specificity, practicality, and transformative quality necessary for realistic and fruitful application. This participatory research, informed by the social movement theory of collective action frames, investigated the meaning, need, development, and motivation of LDS in kinesiology by engaging 10 senior scholars from various countries and sub-disciplinary …

Is Responsible Leadership Possible? Exploring The Experiences Of Business Leaders, Educators, And Scholars, Kanina Blanchard

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

This study addresses a simple yet complex question: How can leaders come to make more responsible decisions within today’s highly economized context? Using narrative inquiry, I explore the stories which leaders in academia, business, and education tell about their experiences at what I call the point of impingement—the point where, as leaders, they must make decisions while facing conflicting and opposing norms and values. Underpinning the inquiry is Kempster and Carroll’s (2016) conceptualization of responsibility in leadership, and their argument that transformation toward a future in which responsible leaders address societal, ecological, and humanitarian challenges requires exploration of lived experience. …

Leadership Effectiveness In International School Contexts: A Synthetic Mapping Of Emergent Literature, Michael C. Butler

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Further research is necessary in the emerging field of international school leadership. To illuminate how is effective international school leadership conceived in the emergent academic literature, a synthetic mapping was conducted. Six key elements were identified and were used to select and analyze a set of twenty-two key articles from the current literature. Elements were extracted from each article and then compared to produce the synthetic mapping. Despite the wide range of types of international schools and geographical contexts, there are several key challenges and features of leadership effectiveness found in the literature, including the following: the effects of turn-over; …

Challenges And Social Supports Of Chinese Parachute Kids In A Canadian Secondary School: A Case Study, Yueyi Su

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

This study investigates the experiences of Chinese parachute kids: secondary school international students who ‘parachuted’ to Canada without parental accompaniment, with a focus on the relationships between their faced challenges, social supports, and well-being. The researcher applied a qualitative case study by conducting face-to-face interviews with eight participants, aimed to gain a deeper understanding of their experiences through analyzing their narratives under the concept of Bourdieu’s capital theory. Compared to existing studies, the results indicate similar challenges faced by Chinese parachute kids. However, those who had participated in a higher standard ‘study abroad’ program enjoyed a higher degree of social …

Challenges For Police In Safety Planning And Risk Management For Adults Victims And Children Living With Domestic Violence: Barriers And Promising Practices, Carolyn Anne Fraser

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

This dissertation focused on how police services from across Ontario are employing safety planning processes and procedures with adult victims and children living with domestic violence and the effectiveness of adopting risk management strategies to reduce the risk of potential future violence by the offender. Police response in Ontario has been guided by procedures and processes that have been manualized since the year 2000 to manage and investigate offences of this nature. Furthermore, challenges and barriers to providing effective safety planning and risk management strategies were examined along with best practices that police services are incorporating to ensure overall victim …

Inclusive Leadership Processes And Practices That Improve Educational Social Justice Outcomes For Manitoba’S Children In Care – An Exploratory Case Study, Regine Nuytten

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Grounded in a critical transformative paradigm, this case study examined how Manitoba public school principals worked to support social justice goals in education for Manitoba’s children in care. A qualitative case study methodology was used to investigate how inclusive school principals develop processes and practices to work towards improved social justice outcomes for children in care. Social justice outcomes and inclusive leadership, as it is operationalized through processes and practices in schools, comprised the study’s conceptual framework. Data were collected using document analysis of government documents, semi-structured interviews with principals/vice principals from six Winnipeg school districts, and focus groups with …

Policy Transfer Across Borders: An Actor Network Analysis Of Standards For Principals And Vice-Principals In China, Wei Wei

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Adopting a critical approach to policy analysis, this qualitative comparative case study uses Actor Network Theory (ANT) to explore the transfer of the global discourse on leadership standards to China, the adaptations of the discourse as observed in the Professional Standards for Compulsory Schools Principals (PSfP) (MoE of the PRC, 2013), and the enactment of the PSfP in schools. While most studies researching the PSfP are limited to related background in China, this dissertation situates the policy in the global convergence of leadership standards, and highlights the nature of policy transfer, which is multi-directional and political. Focusing on the notion …

Improving International Teacher Retention In São Paulo International Schools: What Can Leaders Do?, Christiaan Rombaut

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

The exponential growth of international schools worldwide has created a high demand for native English-speaking teachers around the world. São Paulo international schools are not exempt from this increase in demand for these expatriate teachers. As international schools typically offer short-term contracts of two years to expatriate teachers that are often not renewed, international teacher retention becomes a significant factor in improving teaching and learning in international schools. High teacher turnover is even more a concern in South American international schools, where teachers tend to stay at their schools for less time than in international schools in other regions and …

The Experiential Learning Connections Between University And Community: Recent Ontario Experience, Emmanuel Asafo-Adjei

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Experiential Learning (EL), including a range of pedagogical approaches such as co-ops and community service learning, connect the university and its external community. Universities are considering such approaches to meet a number of needs and priorities both on and off-campus. As it unfolds rapidly at the present time, EL becomes the connection between the university and the community beyond its gates, both locally and more extensively. However, university-community or so-called town-gown (TG) connections traditionally focus on research and/or science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). This thesis focuses on the teaching and learning connections, especially in Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences …

Teaching For Equity: A Case Study Of Teachers’, Vice Principals’, And Principals’ Perspectives In Three High-Poverty Elementary Schools In Ontario, Canada, Abhilasha Duggal

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Elementary students in high-poverty schools have diverse learning needs. Their academic and social learning, in particular, varies between students - especially so for those students from culturally non-dominant backgrounds. In 2009, the Ontario Ministry of Education mandated that all school boards in Ontario develop and implement equity education policies, as specified in Policy/Program Memorandum No. 119: Developing and Implementing Equity and Inclusive Education Policies in Ontario Schools (2009). This dissertation explored the implementation of Ontario’s Equity Strategy in three highpoverty elementary schools within one district school board in Ontario. This exploratory case study investigated the following research questions: 1. How …

Understanding The Lived Experiences Of Saudi Students Enrolled In Canadian Graduate Nursing Programs, Aisha Namshan Aldawsari

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Despite the increased number of students in the field of nursing, there is a great shortage of Saudi nurses in Saudi Arabia (SA). Cultural issues in SA have influenced the development of the nursing profession. For instance, it is not culturally acceptable for female nurses or nursing students to work for long hours and night shifts in a mixed-gender practice environment in SA. Thus, a large proportion of nursing students tend to look for positions other than working in hospital settings upon completion of their undergraduate degree. Pursuing graduate nursing education overseas is also viewed as a viable option. To …

The Stranger In Contemporary Practice: A Critical Autoethnography, Michelle Pajot

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

The Stranger in Contemporary Practice explores the perils (Şenocak, 2009; 2016) of negotiating differences in public sector organizations dominated by neoliberalism. This autoethnography draws on my lived experience as a critically-informed workplace consultant to explore the existential issues I have confronted in striving to align my practices with espoused values of justice in contemporary practice environments. I draw on a critical incident (Tripp, 1993) in which I reached a communicative impasse – and found myself critically challenged in communicating with professional associates whose clinical views I found irreconcilably different from mine. My research question is: how do I discern right …

Inclusion Of Muslim Students In Ontario Public Education: A Qualitative Inquiry Of Elementary School Principals, Farah Ghonaim

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

In order to include Muslim students in Ontario schools, inclusive principals are expected work to understand the inclusion of Muslim students in order to grant them with equal recognition and opportunities as other students in schools. In Ontario, school principals can influence students’ learning and achievement through their leadership role and through their routine duties for leading schools, enacting policies, and ensuing quality of instruction at schools. As leaders, principals can enhance the inclusion of Muslim students through working with staff and teachers, and creating working conditions that support Muslim students learning. Ontario policies call for inclusion of all students …

An Exploration Of Collaboration In Indigenous Language Revitalization In A First Nation Community, Sara General

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

This dissertation explores how Indigenous language leaders at Six Nations of the Grand River can collaborate for the purpose of revitalizing Indigenous languages. Using an Indigenous research study approach, I conducted single 45-60 minute semi-structured interviews with 10 Indigenous language leaders from the Six Nations of the Grand River. To develop an understanding about the concept of collaboration informed by Haudenosaunee epistemologies, I explored three cultural stories that generally constitute the foundation of Haudenosaunee philosophy and worldview. Together, insights from both the participants and the cultural stories informed this study and supported the development of my conceptual framework, which includes …

Growing Citizens: Students’ Social Emotional Learning Via School Gardens, Kathryn Markham-Petro

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

The importance of social and emotional learning in the life of a student is now being recognized as a factor for academic and life success. How a garden can help in the promotion of skills related to social and emotional learning will provide further justification for the implementation of gardens in schools. The purpose of this exploratory, interpretivist qualitative study, with data collected from a purposive sample of educators involved in classroom-based education within schools, was to explore the social and emotional practices of primary grade students (kindergarten through grade five). The sample size consisted of 14 educators who were …

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

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

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 …

Leadership In A Complex Adaptive System: An Exploratory Case Study Of One Faculty At A Canadian Post-Secondary Educational Organization, Helen Mawdsley

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

The research study examined leadership in one post-secondary educational organization through the lens of complexity theory. The post-secondary educational organization in this study is a complex adaptive system that is entangled in uncertainty, non-linearity, and interconnectivity, where the system is under constant change and predictions based on past practice are not always possible. Leaders in this context do not have the luxury to rely primarily on history, best practices, or simplistic linear solutions in response to their challenges. This dissertation focuses on providing a connection between educational leadership and complexity theory, so that the latter can strengthen investigation of the …

A Case Study Of Students' Experiences And Nursing Educators' Leadership Practices To Facilitate Rpn To Bscn Professional Socialization, Susan L. Eldred

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This interpretive qualitative case study of nursing educators’ facilitation of bridging students’ professional socialization in support of their transition from RPN to BScN in the context of one Canadian Registered Practical Nurse (RPN) to Baccalaureate of Science in Nursing (BScN) bridging program explored: (1) how nursing educators understand bridging students’ professional socialization; (2) what leadership practices they use to facilitate professional socialization; (3) how bridging students understand these leadership practices in support of their professional socialization; and, (4) what programmatic support nursing clinical educators receive to support bridging students. Transition, professional socialization, and leadership practice constitute this study’s conceptual framework. …

Skills And Student Affairs: A Discourse Analysis, Shannon Mckechnie

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Media, industry, and other public actors have claimed that a ‘skills gap’ exists in students exiting post-secondary education and entering the workforce. The Ontario provincial government has developed policy, the Highly Skilled Workforce Strategy, to provide directives to universities in the province to provide skills development to students to aid in closing the gap and providing a workplace relevant education. In this study, I explore the experiences of student affairs and services (SAS) staff responsible for enacting provincial policy related to skills development at the university level by investigating the discourses that shape policy and practices of these staff …

Social Emotional Learning Policy And Its Implementation In One School District In British Columbia, Jenny Kim

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Social-emotional learning (SEL), is an umbrella term that refers to students' "acquisition of skills to recognize and manage emotions, develop care and concern for others, make responsible decisions, establish positive relationships, and handle challenging situations effectively" (“What is SEL”, 2018). It has gained popularity in North America over the past two decades as schools see the need to educate students both socially and emotionally to promote responsible citizenship and personal awareness. Despite increasing belief in the importance of SEL, its implementation is still widely inconsistent (Cohen), 2006). Thus, the purpose of this research was to examine SEL as it is …