Master of Science / Department of Counseling and Student Development / Doris Wright Carroll / Living-learning communities in higher education play a critical role in the success of our student population. Having the option of living-learning communities on campus is a sought after option for students and parents of students beginning college. For student retention efforts, it is important that our student affairs professionals understand the impact that living-learning communities have on the first-year student population. It is additionally important that professionals understand the different types of living-learning communities and determine which is best to implement on their campus. This report takes a deeper look into living-learning communities across the country and the impacts on living-learning communities have on campus. Taking into consideration the diversity of varying living-learning communities, three specific types were examined and their success was determined based on a national study called The National Study of Living-Learning Programs (2007). This report communicates the depth and necessity of living-learning communities in higher education for students, parents, and student affairs professionals.

Waves of education reform in Ontario since the 1960s have resulted in widespread changes to curriculum, governance, and policy directives. Despite these continual reforms the structures and the practices of special education have changed very little since the early twentieth century. This dissertation looks at special education policy historically (1965-1980) in Ontario and offers an explanation for this resistance to change. Policy archaeology is developed in this study to map policy texts backwards through time and to interpret the meaning of policy discourses in these texts. The discourses produced by various policy actors are interpreted within the historical context to illuminate the ideologically informed beliefs of society about children with disabilities and their education. The ideologies of conservatism, liberalism, and scientific rationalism continue to construct the identities of children with disabilities as deviant from “normal” children. These differences are scientifically measured and quantified by medical and psychological professionals. The hierarchical organization of schooling sorts students into homogeneous groups according to ability. The constructed identities and segregated placements marginalize children with disabilities from the opportunities available to children in the regular classroom. Ideologies are stable and enduring and contribute to the stability of beliefs about special education in spite of extensive and continuous reforms in other areas of education. This dissertation builds on the earlier theories of the policy web (Joshee & Johnson, 2005). The large policy web of special education is composed of individual webs of meaning that represent the condensation symbols of disability, education, professionalism, management, and equality in particular ways that support the marginalization of children with disabilities. These webs are internally cohesive and related to each other by shared discourses. These interconnections give the web an intricate, irregular design but also give the web strength. Based on Pierre Bourdieu’s theories of capital, the members of the Ontario Association for Children with Learning Disabilities, and its members as individuals, held high forms of capital that were used as power. This association shaped policy discourses in particular ways that influenced beliefs about learning disabilities, acquired resources for children with learning disabilities, and reproduced privilege for the association.

This dissertation reports on a study of educational administrators and the value conflicts experienced within their schools. The extensive review of literature on values in educational administration has determined very little consensus regarding the influence of values on the practice of educational administrators. A lack of common understanding about the definition of the term values exists along with variations and inconsistencies regarding the pervasiveness of values in educational administration. School leaders frequently encounter value conflicts and their resolution involves considerable degrees of decision making. Participants in this study include members of the cohort of the Ed.D. Program in the Department of Theory and Policy Studies at the University of Toronto, Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE) as well as practising educational administrators with extensive experience in school leadership. As the researcher works within the Catholic school system, the majority of study participants are Catholic administrators who were accessible to the researcher for participation. A qualitative research methodology was employed and fourteen semi-structured interviews were conducted which focused on the three main research questions. The following research questions were addressed in the study: 1. How do educational administrators see the role of values in their work? 2. What types of value conflicts do educational administrators experience? 3. How do educational administrators resolve conflicts that stem from values issues? The findings herein indicate that administrators view values as extremely important and relevant in their work. The influence of values on administrator behavior is evident in how leaders define the term value: as a code/set of rules and fundamental beliefs that guide daily interactions; and a basis for decision making. In terms of conflicts, administrators experience interpersonal conflicts frequently and attribute this type of conflict to differences in stakeholder values. Educational administrators resolve conflicts that stem from values issues by taking a moral stand which allows them to remain committed to their values. The results of this study acknowledge and contribute to the existing field of studies relating to values and value conflict resolution within educational administration while simultaneously suggesting further implications for future research. The adoption of a values-based leadership model and its associated values clarification process is recommended for school leaders as a framework to deal with the existing realities of their complex role. This model has tremendous potential to transform the existing face of educational administration provided it is seamlessly integrated within educational organizations and becomes the new standard of leadership practice.

Abstract This qualitative study is designed to examine how the 8 university students (from 8 different secondary schools) define their high school experiences. The study focuses on how the 8 study participants’ unique identities shape their experiences of secondary schooling. The three paradigms, students’ heterogeneity, multiple worlds, and identity conceptually framed the study. Through the focus group interactions and two sets of individual interviews, each student’s unique identity and agency were revealed; both individual-social-collective entities that were developed in relations to others. The other sources of data were school websites, relevant media reports on schools and their communities, and policy documents on academic and international baccalaureate programs; finally, field notes were also taken. In so doing, the research critically explores participants’ voices on heterogeneity, multiple worlds of family, neighbourhood, peers,cultural and multicultural identities. Finally, the 8 young people also reflect on their 8 schools, their academic programs, overall educational experience, and particularly, how young people articulate their belonging in high schools. Findings of the study suggest that participants’ identities of who they were often echoed their class, race, and ethnicity, and in turn, affected their academic engagement and identity. Despite the public invitation of all schools on their websites for students to participate in the school communities, the participants painted an altogether different picture; not all adolescents had equal access to schooling. The study makes recommendations for policy-makers, schools, and their districts which address the issues of inequity raised in this study. Specifically, schools need to be aware of the cultural,socioeconomic, and ethnic issues and the challenges that are in the way of minority adolescents’ progress so that secondary schools can extend their support to low income and immigrant students.

This project is based on a study supported by the Canadian Education Association. The project examines how research activities have been implemented and carried out in nine secondary school districts across Canada. The main research questions are to understand how school districts organize to embed knowledge from external research in their secondary schools and to understand the impacts of small-scale interventions intended to increase the use of research in secondary schools and districts. This thesis documents a part of the greater project with a focus on educators’ knowledge about two main areas related to secondary school improvement: success factors for students and student pathways/trajectories. Data were collected through questionnaires, teleconference calls and individual communication with district leaders. The study concludes that it is difficult to know the impact of the interventions; impact seems modest but a few key elements have been identified that facilitate take-up of the research activities.

Traditional administrative approaches to conflict in schools tend to be punitive, dominated by Western cultural assumptions, and to disregard students’ cultures. Cultural responsiveness attends to different worldviews while appreciating the impact of one’s own cultural lens. This thesis applies a cultural proficiency framework to analysis of the conflict management practices of administrators in secondary schools in a south-central Ontario school board. Analysis of data from interviews with secondary school administrators, students, school board cultural community liaisons, and school board documents indicate that culturally proficient cross-cultural interactions between administrators and students tended to include relationship-building efforts aimed at learning from and about disputants. In contrast to typical punitive and uncommunicative approaches, cultural proficiency was evident in some elements of alternative participatory or restorative approaches. In combining cultural proficiency with conflict management, this thesis helps to fill a gap in research relevant to equitably serving diverse student populations in southern Ontario schools.

This study examines the ways that knowledge on public-private partnerships in education (PPPE) spreads due to the knowledge mobilization (efforts to incorporate research into policy and practice in education) work of World Bank Education Sector. Specifically, this study looks at the role of the World Bank in research mediation between research producing contexts and research using contexts. Using bibliometric analysis this study a) traces the citations in five World Bank publications on PPPE in order to clarify the origins of the evidence used; and b) maps the spread of this research through its online take-up by other organizations. This study provides baseline data about the knowledge mobilization efforts of the World Bank around PPPE, and illuminates the broader discussion in the literature on who is included (and excluded) from this research enterprise.

This project is based on a study supported by the Canadian Education Association. The project examines how research activities have been implemented and carried out in nine secondary school districts across Canada. The main research questions are to understand how school districts organize to embed knowledge from external research in their secondary schools and to understand the impacts of small-scale interventions intended to increase the use of research in secondary schools and districts. This thesis documents a part of the greater project with a focus on educators’ knowledge about two main areas related to secondary school improvement: success factors for students and student pathways/trajectories. Data were collected through questionnaires, teleconference calls and individual communication with district leaders. The study concludes that it is difficult to know the impact of the interventions; impact seems modest but a few key elements have been identified that facilitate take-up of the research activities.

Traditional administrative approaches to conflict in schools tend to be punitive, dominated by Western cultural assumptions, and to disregard students’ cultures. Cultural responsiveness attends to different worldviews while appreciating the impact of one’s own cultural lens. This thesis applies a cultural proficiency framework to analysis of the conflict management practices of administrators in secondary schools in a south-central Ontario school board. Analysis of data from interviews with secondary school administrators, students, school board cultural community liaisons, and school board documents indicate that culturally proficient cross-cultural interactions between administrators and students tended to include relationship-building efforts aimed at learning from and about disputants. In contrast to typical punitive and uncommunicative approaches, cultural proficiency was evident in some elements of alternative participatory or restorative approaches. In combining cultural proficiency with conflict management, this thesis helps to fill a gap in research relevant to equitably serving diverse student populations in southern Ontario schools.

This study examines the ways that knowledge on public-private partnerships in education (PPPE) spreads due to the knowledge mobilization (efforts to incorporate research into policy and practice in education) work of World Bank Education Sector. Specifically, this study looks at the role of the World Bank in research mediation between research producing contexts and research using contexts. Using bibliometric analysis this study a) traces the citations in five World Bank publications on PPPE in order to clarify the origins of the evidence used; and b) maps the spread of this research through its online take-up by other organizations. This study provides baseline data about the knowledge mobilization efforts of the World Bank around PPPE, and illuminates the broader discussion in the literature on who is included (and excluded) from this research enterprise.