Doctor of Philosophy, Education

Left unaddressed, disruptions in higher education created by emerging technologies, could irreparably damage the academy and the trust people place in our institutions of higher education. These same technologies, however, can be leveraged to enhance the ways in which we measure success and ensure academic integrity. By changing the primary way by which we assess performance we have an opportunity to leverage the functions of emergent technologies to create a robust system of evaluation that can sustainably manage a continuously changing technological landscape, while maintaining high levels of public trust.

Social networking environments have become a ubiquitous part of the university experience. Accordingly, postsecondary institutions have started to consider the role that social networking can play in teaching and learning across academic disciplines. This case study documents findings from a 2012-2013 mixed-methods data collection in six graduate and undergraduate Digital Literacies and New Media Literacies courses at a major Canadian comprehensive university. It examines the pedagogical implications of adapting the Facebook platform for online collaboration and multimedia learning in blended courses, and offers a model of Facebook implementation for engineering and architecture education. Questions guiding the research ask: What is gained pedagogically through the use of Facebook in higher education courses? What are the pedagogical challenges encountered, and how might these be addressed? Suggestions based on observed trends are offered for the effective inclusion of Facebook as a...

The diverse lives of Black girls within North America are deeply rooted in various histories of marginalization. They continue to face forms of oppression as a result of their intersectional identities, which produces consequences for their lived experiences. Literature focused on the lives of Black girls in the United States highlights and demonstrates the consistent resilience of Black girls as they struggle to resist the impacts of racism, sexism, and other barriers in their lives. Less available in scholarship, however, is data outlining and describing the circumstances that impact the social and educational realities of Black girls within a Canadian context. This qualitative study focuses on the school and social experiences of fourteen Black teenage girls living in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA). Through the analysis of narratives collected from focus groups and interviews, the study draws connections between media's controlling images and the situations the study participants encounter at school. Using theories that centre Black girlhood, intersectionality, and Black feminist pedagogy, this research examines the thoughts and opinions of the participants as they illustrate the impact of academic streaming, teacher apathy, differing academic expectations on Black girls, teacher microaggressions, and media stereotypes, on their experiences in school. In addition, using analyses of representation, this study assists in explaining how normalized readings of historical and contemporary representations of Black female identity construct meaning for Black girls. The goal of this study is to highlight the voices of Black girls as they speak on their own experiences and to illuminate the need for practices such as safer spaces and pedagogical approaches focused on purposeful inclusion to support the development and well-being of Black girls in the GTA.

This study explores peer feedback in a combined fifth and sixth-grade classroom.Drawing on Hattie and Timperley’s (2007) model for feedback, we analyzed 334 peer feedback comments gathered during six mathematics lessons. Our analysis revealed evidence of peer feedback being beneficial to the students who provide it as well as those who receive it. Specifically, we share examples of how peer feedback can support opportunities for providers of feedback to 1) self-regulate by choosing mathematics strategies, 2) make connections between their own mathematical ideas and those of their peers, and 3) engage in ongoing back-and-forth conversations. Findings from our study point to recommendations for teachers to be more purposeful in their prompts to students about the types of feedback they might provide one another.

This paper discusses the significance of conducting respectful research within urban schools, using the example of one large-scale university–school board partnership in north western Toronto. The authors, three research assistants on the project, use their experiences within three of the participating schools to interrogate the research approach and methods involved and highlight the challenges of conducting respectful research. The paper outlines how aspects of respectful research were both included and overlooked within the research project. The authors’ critical reflection builds on the existing conception of respectful research with the added inclusion of accountability as a primary focus, derived from existing work in decolonizing research methodologies.
Keywords: accountability, deficit discourse, researcher positionality, respectful research, school–community relationships, urban schools.

Children's voices in the early years are complex and not easily understood. There has been a growing interest in listening to children's voices and understanding what children do, feel and think about school in their early years (Tangen, 2008). Although there may be some differences in defining voice, it is common for educators to refer to children's verbal expressions as voice. However, in the last decade children's voice has taken a different meaning to include non-verbal and other forms of expression. Children from the dominant culture with English as a first language have relatively little difficulty in getting their voices heard. Among children who struggle to get their voices understood are children from minority groups with English as a second language. Drury (2007) terms these minority voices 'invisible' or 'silent' voices that often are not heard/listened to. Based on the UN Convention of the Rights of the Child (UN 1989), it is the fundamental right of every child to be heard. With increasing diversity of minority language groups, listening to every child's voice has become challenging. This paper emancipated from the growing interest in listening to children's experiences in various aspects of early childhood education (Tangen, 2008; James, Jenks and Prout 1998) and the shift in how children are viewed. The theoretical framework that guides this discussion draws from constructivists theories. Constructivist theorists share the belief that knowledge is constructed by the learner rather than being transmitted to the learner (New, 1998 cited in Edwards,). I set to explore children's various ways of expressions and how some of these silent voices go unrecognized. In examining children's various expressions, this paper will explore the teacher's perception of voice. The paper will examine Malaguzzi's concept of the hundred

Although student engagement plays a central role in the education process, defining it is challenging. This study examines teachers’ conceptions of the social and cultural dimensions of student engagement in learning at three low-achieving schools located in a low socioeconomic status (SES) urban area. Sixteen teachers and administrators from the three schools participated in two focus group discussions about their definitions of student engagement, indicators of and factors affecting student engagement, and how to facilitate it. The findings indicate that teachers’ conceptions of student engagement have profound ramifications for the ways that they approach their work. Additionally, the teachers recognize that student engagement is a symptom displayed by individuals, but the roots of engagement lay elsewhere. The teachers also described a wide range of strategies to enhance their students' engagement that focused primarily on the student, the teacher and the classroom through i...

544x376 Normal 0 false false false EN-US JA X-NONE /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0cm; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman";} This paper discusses the significance of conducting respectful research within urban schools, using the example of one large-scale university-school board partnership in north-western Toronto. The authors, three research assistants on the project, use their experiences within three of the participating project schools to interrogate the research approach and methods involved and highlight the challenges of conducting respectful research. The critical reflection the authors engage with builds on the existing conception of respectful research wit...

Candidato Mirco Stella 1508630 Relatore Correlatore Giovanni Ruocco Paolo Armellini A/A 2013/2014 2 … E LUCE FU I "soldati di trincea" tornavano dalla "grande" guerra. Avevano ritrovato il loro villaggio tale e quale come lo avevano lasciato, in ritardo di cent'anni nei confronti dei luoghi che avevano visti. E la sera, durante la veglia, mentre la lampada fumosa palpitava, i più arditi dicevano: "E dire che abbiamo là la grande sorgente che nasce nel cuore del villaggio, dove fa girare il mulino di Andrea, e che con quell'acqua sarebbe così facile fare l'elettricità." E gli ideatori di piani, gli estensori di progetti e i disputanti ripetevano: "Sarebbe pur facile!". "Il nostro villaggio ne verrebbe ben trasformato!". Ma gli scettici, che conoscevano il risultato di quelle inutili velleità concludevano: "Noi abbiamo sempre vissuto così, col nostro legno grasso e la lampada fumosa…. Dal dire al fare, c'è di mezzo il mare!..." Matteo, un giorno parlò per due; fondò un sindacato, fece preparare un progetto e versare i fondi. Ebbe contro, naturalmente, le autorità, l'amministrazione e la prefettura. E i "novatori" di tutte le correnti, e i progettatori di piani si fecero premura di molestare con il loro scetticismo l'impresa temeraria di colui che pretendeva di realizzare i sogni di quelli che, a suo tempo, avevano discusso tanto. E una sera la corrente illumina il villaggio!... La luce fu… La gioventù del villaggio danza attorno alle lampade sistemate lungo le vie per festeggiare il miracolo finalmente realizzato. L'illuminazione era diventata ormai una cosa pubblica, evidente e definitiva. Allora i "novatori", gli ideatori di piani e i disputanti, ne vantarono i benefici. Abili nell'arte di sfruttare il lavoro altrui, formarono un comitato, informarono i giornali e, all'inaugurazione ufficiale, furono invitate quelle stesse persone, prefetto in testa, che avevano osteggiato il progetto audace. Ma fu dimenticato Matteo, che prese la sua vanga e se ne andò nei campi a sognare del futuro raccolto. Egli, d'altra parte, aveva già avuto la sua ricompensa, poiché aveva fatto brillare la luce!

What is the sound of a place? Can we picture a place solely through its sounds? These questions may sound awkward at first, yet are perfectly sound to ask. Sounds have a physical dimension, places have an audible dimension.  Indeed, sounds are implicated in the creation of places, as well as in our relationship to those places. What is the sound of a classroom? What is the sound of a rainforest? What would it mean for a classroom to sound like a rainforest an d vice versa? Would it change the way we relate to the specific place?  We discipline sounds according to the dominant narration of the space: what is its main purpose, who does it belong to, who and what is welcome within it? In turn those soundscapes discipline, colonize or normalize people’s behaviours in spaces, people’s relationship with the space, reproducing and reinforcing those same dominant narrations. Sound has a political economy (Attali, 1985), which works to label, reproduce, and reinforce, to alienate and exclude. Sound. Noise. Music. Voice. Silence. How to we determine what to include and exclude in each, and what are the implications of this very political act?

Lee Maracle’s Memory Serves, practices of classroom correspondence between Brazil and Italy, squatting experiences in Rome. What do they all have in common? The paper wishes to argue they are examples of border thinking, which push for a grounded and critical reworking of a cosmopolitan framework. Practices arising from pluriversal cosmologies, that enable us, even for a limited time, to inhabit a space on the edge, next to the window, a subtle space that allows for connection – unlike a wall or a door that acts like a gatekeeper- allowing us to rethink attitudes.

A snowy school courtyard, busy with children playing, talking, waving to their parents, as they prepare to commence a new day of learning, a fresh day at school. A candid shot. The purity of the white snow, the safety of an enclosed space, hopes and curiosity, the contagious laughter and smiles of children, the serenity and comfort of the parents as they drop-off their children. The opening scene of "Monsieur Lahzar", is a perfect depiction of the presumed innocence of education, the notion of schools as a haven, that mask the very inherent violence to the psyche, the demand for alteration, that the process of "learning to become" implies for the self. A process which is well documented by Sharon Todd, throughout her book "Learning from the Other".

Child and Youth Care practitioners (CYCPs) provide services to young people living with an array of diverse disabilities including autism, developmental disabilities, intellectual disabilities, physical disabilities, and many others. Despite our increased presence in the lives of these young people, CYC practice is underrepresented as a valuable means of support. Current 'best-practice' approaches are too often viewed through behavioural management lenses that focus on changing young people. In addition, blanket policies promote inclusion and integration without properly addressing stigma and oppression. Similarly, social justice theories including the social model of disability, neurodiversity, and disability rights are often excluded from CYC education and training. Citing examples from both practice and theory, this paper explores how CYC approaches within a social justice framework can provide optimal support young people diagnosed with disabilities.