Doctor of Philosophy / Curriculum and Instruction Programs / F. Todd Goodson / By the end of March 2011, 2.3 million active-duty military personnel and reservists had deployed to combat operations in Iraq and Afghanistan (Golding, 2011). Many of them had experienced multiple deployments in which they served in war zones for 12 to 15 months, returned to the US for 12 months, and then deployed again to another war zone (Huebner & Mancini, 2008; Morse, 2006). Adolescents in military families whose service members are deployed repeatedly, and for longer durations, experience circumstances unique to current conflicts. Documents such as the Educator’s Guide to the Military Child During Deployment (retrieved 2008) recommend various literacy practices as a means of coping with the circumstances of deployment. This qualitative phenomenological inquiry seeks to extend the body of research in the area of adolescent literacy by examining the perceptions of adolescents regarding their out-of-school literacy practices within the experience of deployment. In this study, the perspectives of five adolescents were examined regarding their literacy practices as they shaped their identities, enacted agency, and navigated structures of power during deployment. Phenomenological analysis, critical discourse analysis, and sociocultural theory were applied to data gathered from initial interviews, literacy logs, and follow-up interviews. During the phenomenological analysis, descriptions of each participant’s experiences were developed, replete with the words and expressions of the adolescents themselves. Horizontalization of significant statements from these descriptions yielded a composite description offering an understanding of what it is like to engage in out-of-school literacy practices within the circumstances of military deployment. Three themes emerged; ambiguity, responses, and roles. A theoretical analysis utilizing critical discourse analysis and sociocultural theory examined the discourses of the participants and interpreted relationships between the adolescents’ literacy practices and their experiences with deployment. This examination offered insight to the ways these adolescents established identity and enacted agency within power circulations as their families experienced deployment. This study places the voices of adolescents at the foreground of consideration. Listening to their words and reading their texts offers true insight into their literacy practices as they navigate the lived experience of deployment.

Doctor of Philosophy / Curriculum & Instruction Programs / Kay Ann Taylor / African American males have the second highest dropout rate in this Midwest state‘s largest public school district. Often, African American male students take an abundance of elective classes but do not complete core classes that guarantee a diploma. This study documented and analyzed the experiences of African American male students who completed or attempted to complete their high school diplomas in an alternative setting. The study is significant because it reveals the importance of how time is structured in an alternative educational setting; it discloses the pervasiveness of racism in public education, and it exposes the widespread stereotyping of African American males by teachers and other authority figures. African American male students who have attended both traditional and alternative public schools have been overlooked in previous research. Self-ethnography comprised the methodology. The intersectionality of gender, race, grades, racism, athletic involvement, law, and relationships formed a crucial paradigm of this investigation. Research findings include: (a) the major difference between traditional public and alternative schools is how time is structured, (b) African American males believe that they often are stereotyped, (c) high school athletes receive special privileges that they see later as obstacles, (d) African American males sometimes deliberately assume a pleasing demeanor toward teachers, (e) African American male students respond positively to teachers who conduct themselves with clear purpose, (f) African American males returning to school for high school credit recovery demonstrate tenacity and resist stereotypes. The cornerstone tenets of CRT—racism is the norm, interest convergence, and the need for social justice for oppressed groups—were evident in the findings of the frequency of stereotyping and treatment of African American male high school athletes. In the interest of social justice for African American male students, it is recommended that teachers are provided with the following information: (a) how to avoid consciously stereotyping; (b) that African American males make conscious efforts to be approachable; (c) how to make necessary changes involving their authority. Recommended future research for African American males includes: (a) how the construction of time in traditional public schools affects their credit acquisition; (b) communication between the counseling and athletic departments; (c) the impact of athletic involvement on academics.

This qualitative case study was initiated to identify the existing process present in the Italian International Languages Program in the Hamilton-Wentworth area of the Province of Ontario. The premise was to investigate the various school practices that surround the International Languages Program as well as the interests of the various stakeholders in order to interpret and explain the current policies and practices that characterizes the Program. The purpose of this study was to demonstrate a distinctive problematic area within the Italian International Languages Program through an exploratory qualitative case study. The conceptual framework for this study looks at Bourdieu‘s (1977) theory that language is an individual capital as well as a social capital for its linguistic market. The value of a language cannot be settled in linguistic terms: languages are linguistically equal; however, many argue that they are not socially equal (Bourdieu, 1977). This case study revealed precisely that language is not socially equal. Through this research, the process that exists within the Italian International Languages Program was revealed, along with the stakeholders‘ individual interests in the program. The International Languages Program is only worth what the people who speak it feel it is worth. iii The study population was selected purposefully including various categories of stakeholders in the program; school administrators, teachers, students, parents and the community at large. Selection of each individual participant was random. The information was analyzed through interpersonal qualitative methods that included the representations and accounts from the various stakeholders about the Italian International Languages Program. The stakeholders‘ views and comments were the analysis of the representative discourse. The most striking results from the study were the stakeholders‘ representations of a program whose very existence is bordering on survival and quickly heading for demise. Through the stakeholders‘ accounts and representations, it is clear that the Italian International Languages Program may no longer be viable. The study is a last attempt for the stakeholders to convey their reality of the program and to educate those that have the power to make a change.

This study presents an account of the lived-experience of internationally-trained midwives who have immigrated to Canada, attended a bridging program to reaccredit as a midwife, and currently meet the requirements for registration with the College of Midwives of Ontario. Ten internationally-trained midwives were interviewed about their experience of this transition in their life. The interviews were then subjected to a qualitative analysis based on the principles of grounded theory. The findings outline the experience of immigration and reaccreditation focusing on the barriers and challenges faced by these female immigrants. The impact on the individual’s sense of identity was explored. Coping strategies used by the participants were investigated.

Reform as a social process is underresearched in the case of Tibet. This study addresses this gap using Social Movement Theory, which sees social change as a complex process involving various Tibetan social groups and external reformers, the Communist Party of China (CPC). This approach was applied by comparing recruitment and mobilization efforts of several key internal and external reform movements in 20th century Tibetan history. Findings include that internal reform failures can be explained by their narrow social and geographic basis and limited mass appeal. Moreover, initial CPC reforms succeeded through recruitment and mobilization across Tibetan regions and social groupings. Subsequent reforms failed due to decreased attention to recruitment and mass mobilization of Tibetans. A major implication of the study is that understanding social reform in today’s Tibet requires a SM Theory approach, which currently is lacking among scholars of the Tibetan question and political representatives of both sides.

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.

This study examines relationships between Indigenous parents and their children’s non-Indigenous teachers. As many Indigenous students are taught by mostly non-Indigenous teachers, this thesis aims to provide teachers with insights or strategies on how to work in a community that is perhaps unknown to them. There are three areas of focus within this thesis: critical issues within systems of education in Indigenous communities, critical issues that Indigenous parents face, and critical issues that schools with Indigenous students face. This project has given both parents and teachers the chance to talk about the experiences of Indigenous children, the experiences of parents and teachers, and the relationships that form between the school, home, and the community. Also included are ideas that can be used by schools, school boards, and Indigenous communities to encourage strong relationships between homes of students and their schools.

Utilizing autoethnographic reflections in the forms of lyric, collage, and personal narrative, this inquiry shows how one teacher developed resiliency. That teacher is me. My early teaching experiences in an Ontario high school provide a qualitative focus of an inner, emotional journey to regaining strength and rediscovering passion after a period of burn-out. Tracing the passage from idealism to defeatism to resilience through metaphors, this arts-informed inquiry represents the inner life of a young woman and teacher.

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.

This study examines relationships between Indigenous parents and their children’s non-Indigenous teachers. As many Indigenous students are taught by mostly non-Indigenous teachers, this thesis aims to provide teachers with insights or strategies on how to work in a community that is perhaps unknown to them. There are three areas of focus within this thesis: critical issues within systems of education in Indigenous communities, critical issues that Indigenous parents face, and critical issues that schools with Indigenous students face. This project has given both parents and teachers the chance to talk about the experiences of Indigenous children, the experiences of parents and teachers, and the relationships that form between the school, home, and the community. Also included are ideas that can be used by schools, school boards, and Indigenous communities to encourage strong relationships between homes of students and their schools.