Showing papers in "Canadian Journal of Education in 2015"

Exploring Student Persistence in STEM Programs: A Motivational Model

Abstract: To address continually decreasing enrollment and rising attrition in post-secondary STEM degree (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) programs, particularly for women, the present study examines the utility of motivation and emotion variables to account for persistence and achievement in science in male and female students transitioning from high school to junior college. Consistent with self-determination theory (Deci & Ryan, 2012) and achievement-goal theory (Senko, Hulleman, & Harackiewicz, 2011), structural equation modelling based on data from 1,309 students from four English-language CEGEPs showed students’ achievement goals, self-efficacy, and perceived autonomy support to impact intrinsic motivation, emotions, and achievement that, in turn, predicted persistence in the science domain.

Fostering Cultural Humility among Pre-Service Teachers: Connecting with Children and Youth of Immigrant Families through Service-Learning.

Abstract: This article documents a community-initiated service-learning project within a teacher education program. A social justice model guided the initiative to raise critical awareness on power and privilege while countering deficit-model thinking. Partnering with community agencies serving immigrant children and youth, the faculty researcher worked with an office for community-engaged learning. Data included pre- and post-experience interviews with pre-service candidates. Findings showed benefits from this justice-based approach in improving self-awareness, appreciating the strengths of immigrant children and youth, and an increased sense of cultural humility in pre-service teachers.

Digital Storytelling for Transformative Global Citizenship Education.

Abstract: This article explores how digital storytelling offers the potential to support transformative global citizenship education (TGCE) through a case study of the Bridges to Understanding program that connected middle and high school students globally using digital storytelling. Drawing on a TGCE framework, this research project probed the curriculum and digital stories using a multimodal critical discourse analysis. The findings of this study showed that digital storytelling, as integrated into the curriculum, enhanced student engagement with non-mainstream perspectives and self-reflection. However, the core elements of discussing controversial issues, analyzing systemic causes/impacts of global problems, and determining collective action responses required critical pedagogical practices beyond those embedded within the digital storytelling curriculum.

Education and Social Innovation: The Youth Uncensored Project—A Case Study of Youth Participatory Research and Cultural Democracy in Action

Abstract: This article discusses social innovation in education informed by arts-based and Indigenous ways of knowing. I use the term Indigenous to refer to First Peoples’ and their wisdom traditions from places around the world and the term Aboriginal to refer to the diverse First Nations, Metis, and Inuit peoples of Canada. The article looks at the ethical imperative for doing socially innovative work, and examines practices with potential for embedding social innovation in educational scholarship, including experiential and relational educational approaches, such as community-service learning and restorative justice; participatory action research as an allied research approach; and community arts framed as cultural democracy. It describes a research project with street-involved youth as a case study for research that moves toward social innovation through the Government of Canada Policy Research Initiative’s five steps involved in a co-creative social innovation project.

Implementing Parent Engagement Policy in an Increasingly Culturally Diverse Community of New Immigrants: How New is “New”?

Abstract: The Ontario Ministry of Education announced the Parent Engagement Policy for Ontario Schools in 2010. This policy aims to support parent engagement and provides a vision of its implementation at schools, boards, and the ministry. This mixed methods case study sheds light on its implementation and thus its implication by exploring the parent engagement experiences of parents and teachers. The study results reveal that the actual and desired levels of engagement are different between new immigrants and the established or non-immigrant families, and that teacher education in parent engagement is desirable in optimizing parent partnerships.

The Collaborative Teacher Inquiry Project: A Purposeful Professional Development Initiative

Abstract: The transition from Grade 8 to Grade 9 is particularly difficult for students who were not very successful in mathematics in Grade 8. Research into ways to improve this transition as well as improve the teaching practices at the Applied level will be helpful for teachers, administrators, and policy makers. The Collaborative Teacher Inquiry Project was a professional development initiative that brought together educators from nine schools across four neighbouring school districts in Ontario seeking to improve their Grade 9 Applied Mathematics program. As part of the Collaborative Teacher Inquiry Project, participants attended topic-specific workshops based on schools’ goals for professional growth and had opportunities to collaborate with other participants to create and share teaching materials for the Grade 9 Applied Mathematics course. Qualitative data from teacher interviews and written reflections indicate that the teachers felt that a mixture of collaboration and professional development made this project successful. Teachers also reported that the Collaborative Teacher Inquiry Project motivated further collaboration at the school and district level.

Development and Evaluation of a Peer Mentorship Program for Aboriginal University Students

Abstract: Although Aboriginal students encounter educational challenges, few post-secondary mentorship programs that facilitate positive educational and mental health outcomes within this population are described in the literature. This study describes the development and evaluation of a mentorship program for Aboriginal university students. Program development was informed by a literature review and needs assessment. Using a mixed-methods design, 12 Aboriginal students completed pre- and post-program measures of resilience and ethnic identity awareness. Post-program, improvements in social competence resiliency, other-group ethnic orientation, and school engagement were identified. Research and community stakeholders are encouraged to develop mentorship programs to improve the well-being of Aboriginal students.

Enseigner les stratégies de créacollage numérique pour éviter le plagiat au secondaire

Abstract: De nos jours, les eleves du secondaire ont de plus en plus recours au web lorsqu’ils ont besoin d’information pour leurs travaux scolaires. L’acces facile et rapide a cette information mene certains eleves au copier-coller. Afin de prevenir le plagiat, une serie de sept ateliers portant sur des strategies de creacollage numerique ont ete offerts a 63 eleves du secondaire. Les participants ont repondu a des questionnaires et participe a des entrevues. Les resultats montrent que les strategies de creacollage sont meconnues des eleves du secondaire et qu’elles gagneraient a y etre enseignees afin que ceux-ci prennent de bonnes habitudes de redaction et apprennent comment rediger sans plagier.

Athletics, Music, Languages, and Leadership: How Parents Influence the Extracurricular Activities of their Children

Abstract: In this study, we explore the impact that parents have on the participation of their children in extracurricular activities (ECAs) in a sample of Canadian parents with children between the ages of four and 17. Employing a concurrent, nested, mixed methods strategy, we use the insights gained through semi-structured interviews with parents to inform the creation of four regression models with which we investigate four types of activities (athletics, music, languages, and leadership). Our findings reveal that, depending on the type of activity, ECA participation by children varies by parental education. Values and experiences held by parents with the lowest educational attainment were stronger predictors of participation in specialized music programs, and those of parents with advanced degrees were stronger predictors of participation by their children in specialized language programs. We conclude by discussing the equity implications of our study for Canadian children.

Demarginalizing voices : commitment, emotion, and action in qualitative research

Abstract: Introduction / Jennifer M. Kilty, Maritza Felices-Luna, and Sheryl C. Fabian Part 1: Alternative Pathways: Opting for the Road Seldom Taken 1 Observing a Self-Chosen Death / Russel D. Ogden 2 Ensuring Aboriginal Women's Voices Are Heard: Toward a Balanced Approach in Community-Based Research / Catherine Fillmore, Colleen Anne Dell, and Jennifer M. Kilty 3 Commitment and Participation: A Collective Action to Defend the Rights of Homeless People against Anti-Disorder Policing Practices in Montreal / Celine Bellot, Marie-Eve Sylvestre, and Bernard St-Jacques 4 Dance in Prison: Narratives of the Body, Performativity, Methodology, and Criminology / Sylvie Frigon and Laura Shantz 5 Producing Feminist Knowledge: Lessons from the Past / Dorothy E. Chunn and Robert Menzies 6 The Evolution of Feminist Research in the Criminological Enterprise: The Canadian Experience / Jennifer M. Kilty Part 2 Ethical Quagmires: Regulating Qualitative Research 7 The Politics of Threats in Correctional and Forensic Settings: The Specificities of Nursing Research / Amelie Perron, Dave Holmes, and Jean Daniel Jacob 8 How Positivism Is Colonizing Qualitative Research through Ethics Review / Will C. van den Hoonaard 9 Fighting the Big Bad Wolf: Why All the Fuss about Ethics Review Boards? / Maritza Felices-Luna 10 Doublespeak and Double Standards: Holding a Rogue University Administration to Account / John Lowman and Ted Palys Part 3 Emotion Work and Identity: Self-Examination and Self-Awareness 11 Reconciling the Irreconcilable: Resolving Emotionality and Research Responsibility When Working for the Traumatizer / Sheryl C. Fabian 12 Grappling with Reflexivity and the Role of Emotion in Criminological Analysis / Stacey Hannem 13 Epistemological Violence, Psychological Whips, and Other Moments of Angst: Reflections on PhD Research / Melissa Munn 14 Activist Academic Whore: Negotiating the Fractured Otherness Abyss / Chris Bruckert Concluding Thoughts / Maritza Felices-Luna, Jennifer M. Kilty, and Sheryl C. Fabian Index

Are You Providing an Education That Is Worth Caring About? Advice to Non-Native Teachers in Northern First Nations Communities.

Abstract: This article explores the development of culturally relevant teaching practices of non-Native teachers in First Nations communities. The findings were gathered from a qualitative study that asked First Nations and non-Native educators what they believed non-Native teachers needed to know about cultivating student success for First Nations students. Based on participants’ personal stories, suggestions, and advice, this article encourages non-Native teachers to enrich their teaching practices through self-reflection, communication and community engagement, and the right kind of attitude. Participants suggest that these activities can help non-Native teachers create a learning environment that is meaningful to the students they teach.

An Analysis of Aims and the Educational “Event”

Abstract: In this article, the author explores key distinctions relevant to aims talk in education. He argues that present formulations of aims fail to adequately capture or speak to several overlapping domains involved in schooling: qualification, socialization, and the educational in the form of subjectification (Biesta, 2010). Drawing off Egan and Biesta to differentiate the educational domain, the author details an ontological orientation to the educational “event” through the work of Badiou while grounding this exploration in ancient Western distinctions between sophistic and Socratic approaches to education as detailed by Bartlett. The article ends with a call for non-Indigenous educators to expand Canadian conceptions of educational aims and citizenship through Indigenous orientations to these vital education terms.

Islamic Education in a Multicultural Society: The Case of a Muslim School in Canada

Abstract: The case study explores the ways in which a prominent, private Canadian Muslim school provides an Islamic education while negotiating its place in an integrated, socially cohesive, multicultural society. The data are derived from an in-depth qualitative investigation utilizing documentary analysis, participant observation, and interviews (N = 22). The findings reveal the ways in which the school perceives the specific challenges in negotiating the tension between their aspiration to preserve Islamic values and wider socio-political pressures to integrate into Canada’s multicultural society. The study concludes that both the nature of Islamic educational provision and Canadian multicultural policy require modification and change.

Perceptions of the International Baccalaureate (IB) in Ontario Universities

Abstract: This article presents the results of the first phase of a research project on perceptions of the International Baccalaureate Diploma Program (IBDP) in Canadian universities. Establishing explicit university recognition policies for IBDP students has been an ongoing task for the International Baccalaureate Organization (IBO), which conducted two studies on university perceptions of the IBDP in the UK (2003) and Australia/New Zealand (2007). The present study replicates these studies in the Canadian context, to discover how admissions officers in Ontario universities perceive the IBDP in relation to other curricula. Preliminary results reveal a high degree of uniformity in responses, consistent with the previous studies. The IBO is indicated as being the primary source of information, suggesting that it plays an important part in forming perceptions of the IBDP.

La perception de formateurs de stagiaires quant au développement et à l’évaluation formative des quatre compétences liées à l’acte d’enseigner

Abstract: Dans les deux dernieres decennies, la formation pratique semble s’etre imposee comme un incontournable pour assurer le developpement des competences professionnelles des futurs enseignants quebecois du primaire et du secondaire dans une perspective de professionnalisation. Ainsi, la pertinence de la formation en alternance, afin de mieux preparer les futurs enseignants pour leur insertion professionnelle, a ete reconnue et le projet mis sur pied (Korthagen & Vasalos, 2005; Mukamurera, 2005; Pelpel, 2002). Une reforme de la formation des maitres a ainsi eu lieu dans les annees 90 afin d’augmenter a 700 heures la formation pratique des futurs enseignants dans les programmes universitaires. Pres de 15 ans apres l’implantation de ce referentiel, quelle est la perception des formateurs de stagiaires quant au developpement et a l’evaluation formative de ces competences chez leurs stagiaires? Cet article permettra de soulever des aspects importants de l’accompagnement des stagiaires quebecois, et de realiser que malgre la presence du referentiel, l’accompagnement en formation pratique presente encore des zones grises.

Queer Pedagogy in Sex Education.

Abstract: While increased visibility of gay, lesbian, transgendered, and queer people in public settings, including schools, is certainly freeing for many students, critical questions concerning whether popular media depictions of LGBTQ identities serve to liberate students, or instead facilitate subtle strategies of containment and ghettoizing, are being raised. The present article argues that as a sex education strategy, the essentializing of sexual identity within sex education should be supplanted by more constructivist approaches; ones that allow for maximum individuation and self-expression. Rather than embracing particular labels and the commodification that sometimes flows from them in the popular media landscape, queer-positive sex educators might consider adopting some methods associated with spiritual pedagogy to assist students in rethinking questions of sexuality and creating new possibilities for identities and creative self-expression.

Embracing Diversity: The Dual Role of Gay-Straight Alliances

Abstract: The social landscape has changed regarding public knowledge, perception, and acceptance of “alternative” sexual lifestyles. In recent years, public and political discourse around issues of non-heterosexual orientations has shifted significantly. Despite many legal milestones, society has not realized complete inclusion of individuals whose sexual orientations do not conform to the mainstream, heterosexual majority. Non-heterosexual Canadians still experience negative repercussions of heterosexism in both social and institutional realms. This article discusses one important avenue of advocacy—gay–straight alliances—and takes the position that these alliances serve a dual role: education and social activism.

Enhancing Reading Comprehension Among Students With High-Functioning Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Randomized Pilot Study

Abstract: Reading with comprehension is a challenge for students with high-functioning autism spectrum disorder. Unfortunately, research has little to offer to teachers trying to help these students. The present study pilots a new intervention targeting vocabulary, main idea identification, anaphoric relations, and text structure. Students (N = 13, M age = 9 years) were randomly assigned to either a control or an intervention condition. Descriptive analyses suggest that the intervention is effective; compared with their control condition peers, students in the intervention condition apparently made more progress on the vocabulary, main idea identification, and comprehension measures.

Le climat scolaire : un point central pour expliquer la victimisation et la réussite scolaire

Abstract: Au Quebec, le faible taux de diplomation ainsi que la violence a l’ecole sont des enjeux societaux importants. De recentes etudes indiquent que la qualite du climat scolaire serait liee au niveau de victimisation par les pairs et a la reussite scolaire dans un meme etablissement. Cet article propose une recension des ecrits traitant du lien entre le climat scolaire, la victimisation par les pairs et la reussite scolaire.

Labels in Education: The Role of Parents and Parental Cultural Capital in Acquiring Diagnoses and Educational Accommodations

Abstract: This study provides a qualitative examination of the original tenets of Labelling Theory (LT) within the realm of education using a relatively new medical label, developmental coordination disorder. Labelling Theory, although initially proposed in the areas of crime and deviance, has been applied to mental illness and educational labels. However, recent social changes have prompted a renewal of its sustainability in these areas. This study empirically evaluates the original tenets of LT and explores the role of parents in the diagnostic process. Arguably, parents play an active role in their well-being and educational opportunities today; this study uses one case in exploring this role and in asking four research questions. It finds that parents, from beginning to end, played an active role in acquiring formal labels and services for their children throughout the diagnostic process and afterwards. Parents drew from the considerable resources and capital in this process. The findings of this article have profound implications for health care policies and educational policies, which are discussed in this article.

Typologie des usages des ressources didactiques par des enseignants d’histoire au secondaire du Québec

Abstract: Cette etude multicas analyse des pratiques enseignantes observees durant le cours d’histoire au secondaire. L’objectif est de decrire les ressources utilisees en classe, mais surtout les modalites et les fonctions epistemiques qui favorisent ou non l’exercice de la methode historique. Il est avance une typologie qui distingue des types d’usages observes en classe et explicites par des entretiens. Les pratiques constatees restent magistrocentrees, malgre des objectifs curriculaires encourageant un exercice autonome de la methode historique. En outre, le manuel ne semble pas avoir un effet structurant sur les pratiques de ces enseignants. Ce serait plutot l’usage du cahier d’exercices ou l’importance du cours magistral qui structure le savoir historique pour les eleves.

Les pratiques de gestion des directions d’école secondaire sont-elles liées à la réussite des élèves?

Abstract: Cet article examine les liens entre les pratiques de gestion des membres de la direction dans six ecoles secondaires et la reussite des eleves. Les perceptions des directions (N = 17), du personnel professionnel (N = 20) et des eleves (N = 1 560) a cet egard ont ete mises en relation avec la reussite des eleves, mesuree a l’aide des resultats obtenus en francais et en mathematiques. L’etude revele que 35 pratiques de gestion et caracteristiques d’ecole sont associees a une meilleure reussite des eleves. D’une part, les pratiques axees sur la pedagogie et le suivi des resultats sont liees a une reduction des taux d’echec, tandis que les pratiques axees sur l’instauration d’un climat harmonieux et respectueux pour les eleves sont pour leur part liees a une augmentation des taux de reussite. Les pratiques de gestion pourraient jouer un role mediateur entre l’experience vecue en classe et la reussite des eleves.

Gendered Science: Representational Dynamics in British Columbia Science Textbooks over the Last Half Century

Abstract: Gender continues to segregate schools despite substantial progress in promoting genderequity. The practice of science has long been associated with masculinity (e.g., rational, objective, and unemotional) but there have been recent attempts to assert a more nuanced gender balance in science education. These would include highlighting female scientists in curricula, teaching science in ways more appealing to both girls and boys, and providing female as well as male role models in textbooks. The concepts gender balance, gender roles, and gender framing are used to focus our analyses. We investigate the representation of gender by analyzing images and the context surrounding these images in BC science textbooks used in Grades 7 to 11.

Education 2.0: The Learning Web Revolution and the Transformation of the School

Abstract: Education 2.0: The Learning Web Revolution and the Transformation of the School Par L. J. Waks Boulder, CO: Paradigm Publishers, 2013, 256 pages. ISBN: 978-1-61205-036-2 (PB)

For the Love of the Child: Bestowing Value Amidst Inconsistent Inclusive Education Beliefs and Practices for One Student with Severe Disabilities.

Abstract: In this article, we chart developments of inclusive education practice and policy in Alberta, Canada, and conclude that much remains to be done toward achieving an educational system where all students, including those with severe disabilities, feel welcome and valued. We argue a need for deeper understandings of parent and educator beliefs about, and practices of, inclusive education in order to promote “mutual adaptation,” built on shared beliefs and consistent practices. To this end, we present an instrumental case study examination of the inclusion experience of one Canadian student with a severe disability described from multiple parent and educator perspectives. We call attention to inconsistencies in educator beliefs and practices, yet we draw out shared beliefs rooted in “love of the child.” Our study derives from Paulo Freire’s understanding of love as key to educational pedagogy (1968/1970, 2005), and we uphold love as a point of convergence

The Influence of Collective Asynchronous Discourse Elaborated Online by Pre-Service Teachers on Their Educational Interventions in the Classroom.

Abstract: Networked learning communities are growing and they offer new opportunities for reflection on practice in education. Many authors have studied the processes followed and the contents produced by such communities. On the other hand, few have observed how collective asynchronous discourse can be enacted in the classroom. This objective was pursued in the context of this exploratory research. Data was provided by asynchronous discourse written on the Knowledge Forum by five pre-service teachers during a 14-week practicum throughout the winter 2011 semester, as well as in situ observations from their university supervisor, while they were teaching students. Qualitative and descriptive quantitative analyses were conducted. In particular, results showed participants were highly concerned with quality of teaching when elaborating collectively in the electronic forum regarding ideas of interventions, and with the importance of properly handling the possible enactment of such ideas in the classroom while teaching.

L'éducation aux médias dans le Programme de formation de l'école québécoise : intégration, pratiques et problématiques

Abstract: Cet article interroge l’etat de l’education aux medias au Quebec. Pour ce faire, il introduit et definit d’abord cette notion, pour ensuite presenter et problematiser ses ancrages dans le Programme de formation de l’ecole quebecoise. Cet article souleve egalement la question de la formation des enseignants, notamment par une analyse des formations universitaires offertes dans les universites quebecoises et quatre entrevues de groupes realisees avec des enseignants de niveaux primaire et secondaire. La synthese effectuee permet de conclure que les enseignants rencontrent deux obstacles importants dans leurs pratiques pedagogiques sur ces questions : un ancrage problematique de l’education aux medias dans le PFEQ appelant a une revision de la structure d’integration et a une mise a jour des contenus, et un support minimal offert par le systeme scolaire quebecois en matiere d’education aux medias qui se traduit par la rarete des formations, des ressources et des appuis institutionnels.

Professor of Teaching: The Quest for Equity and Parity.

Abstract: Emerging from the contested site of a new university campus, this article reflects on the transformative process of reconceptualizing and rebuilding a professional and an academic stream in a 21st-century Faculty of Education. In order to maximize her own capital, an assistant professor sought tenure in an innovative new stream introduced to her campus, professor of teaching. The novel rank reflected the commitment of the university to provide educational leadership, outstanding teaching, and curriculum innovation to higher education. However, guidelines for promotion to professor were not directive and exhaustive but more suggestive of being situated in place-based environments. Within the context of a market driven and policy-laden post-secondary institution, this was problematic. Since evidence supporting promotion to full professor is dependent on the discipline and the faculty, a myriad of interpretations of what exactly constituted a professor of teaching emerged. Based on the ambiguity of these policies, the discussion surrounding the experiences of otherness and marginalization which arose as this scholar-practitioner focused on her work as a teacher educator and a researcher in an emerging rank became of singular interest.

Analyse d’une démarche de transformation de pratique en sciences, dans le cadre du nouveau programme de formation au secondaire, à la lumière de la théorie de l’activité

Abstract: Dans un contexte de reforme de programme d’etudes au secondaire au Quebec, une enseignante de biologie s’engage dans la mise sur pied d’une campagne de sensibilisation sur les dangers des salons de bronzage. D’une pratique centree sur l’enseignement magistral, elle chemine vers un enseignement plus ouvert et participatif. C’est en adoptant la troisieme generation de la theorie de l’activite que nous analysons comment elle resout des tensions introduites par les nouvelles prescriptions ministerielles, modifie certaines regles de fonctionnement en classe et rallie des acteurs de sa communaute pour mettre en oeuvre neuf cours de 75 minutes qu’elle considere novateurs.