The purpose of this dissertation was to develop a discipleship training program at New Horizons Church of God in Christ. The model sought to develop this program with a view towards incorporating elements of the tradition of the Church of God in Christ along with Bible study and intercessory prayer. The project was composed of eight weekly sessions. The purpose of this project was to determine whether this style of training, in conjunction with traditional forms of spiritual formation already in place, would promote more committed church members. This project was developed out of the writer's personal concern for retaining new and oriented members. At the heart of this dissertation is the theory that spiritual transformation takes place as a result of intentional and, consistent Bible study and prayer in a small group setting in addition to the Holiness-Pentecostal discipleship uniquely appropriated through its traditions, worship style and community. The result of this study exposed an added dimension necessary to the process of transformation already present in the Pentecostal Church; that is the small group, in-depth study of the Word of God that promotes a hunger for scripture and therefore a hunger for God. The ultimate aim of this study was to find a way to develop commitment to one's faith in the context of the Church of God in Christ. This project was developed in response to a perceived lack of commitment and understanding of the nature and definition of what it means to be a disciple of Jesus Christ.

Approximately one in two parents across the province of Ontario, regardless of personal religious beliefs, now choose to enrol their children in a public Roman Catholic secondary school over the public secular school counterpart. The Ontario Roman Catholic school system has historically struggled for recognition and independence as an equally legitimate system in the province. Students in modern schools regard religion and spirituality as critical aspects to their individual identities, yet this study investigates the language and knowledge delivered within the systemic marginalization and colonial framework of a Euro-centric school system and the level of inclusivity and acceptance it affords its youth. Using a critical ethnographic methodology within a single revelatory case study, this study presents the voices of youth as the most critical voice to be heard on identity and identity in faith in Ontario Roman Catholic schools. Surveys with students and student families are complemented with in-depth student interviews, triangulated with informal educational staff interviews and the limited literature incorporating youth identity in modern Ontario Roman Catholic schools. Through the approach of an anti-colonial discursive framework, incorporating a theology of liberation that emphasizes freedom from oppression, the voice of Roman Catholic secondary school youth are brought forth as revealing their struggle for identity in a system that intentionally hides identity outside of being Roman Catholic. Broader questions discussed include: (a) What is the link between identity, schooling and knowledge production?; (b) How do the different voices of students of multi-faiths, educators, administrators, and so forth, contradict, converge and diverge from each other?; (c) How are we to understand the role and importance of spirituality in schooling, knowledge production, and claims of Indigenity and resistance to colonizing education?; (d) What does it mean to claim spirituality as a valid way of knowing?; (e) In what way does this study help understand claims that spirituality avoids splitting of the self?; (f) How do we address the fact that our cultures today are threatened by the absence of community?; and (g) What are the pedagogic and instructional relevancies of this work for the classroom teacher?

Approximately one in two parents across the province of Ontario, regardless of personal religious beliefs, now choose to enrol their children in a public Roman Catholic secondary school over the public secular school counterpart. The Ontario Roman Catholic school system has historically struggled for recognition and independence as an equally legitimate system in the province. Students in modern schools regard religion and spirituality as critical aspects to their individual identities, yet this study investigates the language and knowledge delivered within the systemic marginalization and colonial framework of a Euro-centric school system and the level of inclusivity and acceptance it affords its youth. Using a critical ethnographic methodology within a single revelatory case study, this study presents the voices of youth as the most critical voice to be heard on identity and identity in faith in Ontario Roman Catholic schools. Surveys with students and student families are complemented with in-depth student interviews, triangulated with informal educational staff interviews and the limited literature incorporating youth identity in modern Ontario Roman Catholic schools. Through the approach of an anti-colonial discursive framework, incorporating a theology of liberation that emphasizes freedom from oppression, the voice of Roman Catholic secondary school youth are brought forth as revealing their struggle for identity in a system that intentionally hides identity outside of being Roman Catholic. Broader questions discussed include: (a) What is the link between identity, schooling and knowledge production?; (b) How do the different voices of students of multi-faiths, educators, administrators, and so forth, contradict, converge and diverge from each other?; (c) How are we to understand the role and importance of spirituality in schooling, knowledge production, and claims of Indigenity and resistance to colonizing education?; (d) What does it mean to claim spirituality as a valid way of knowing?; (e) In what way does this study help understand claims that spirituality avoids splitting of the self?; (f) How do we address the fact that our cultures today are threatened by the absence of community?; and (g) What are the pedagogic and instructional relevancies of this work for the classroom teacher?

Résumé La diversité religieuse est un fait bien attesté aujourd’hui en République du Bénin. Chrétiens, Musulmans, adeptes des religions traditionnelles et ceux d'autres spiritualités se côtoient autant dans la sphère publique que privée sur le territoire béninois. N’épargnant donc aucun domaine de la société béninoise, cette diversité s'exprime également dans les milieux scolaires notamment dans les écoles privées catholiques du pays. La volonté du diocèse de Cotonou d'ouvrir les portes de ses écoles à tous les enfants sans distinction de religions ni d'ethnies, entraine de facto l'épineux problème de la gestion de la diversité religieuse et du pluralisme dans ses institutions confessionnelles. Sensible à cette problématique en milieu scolaire auprès des jeunes, le cas du collège catholique Père Aupiais nous intéresse pour son approche du cours de religion dispensé aux élèves du premier cycle. Le présent travail dans une démarche praxéologique, observe, analyse et interprète un cours confessionnel de religion donné en classe de 5è secondaire dans ledit collège. Cette interprétation s’appuie sur des référents théoriques que sont le Magistère de l'Église, un texte biblique, l’approche pédagogique de Philippe Meirieu, la théologie dialogale de Richard Bergeron, l’apport de certains responsables d'écoles privées confessionnelles québécoises. Ces derniers constituent des éléments importants dans notre intervention dans le contexte de ce travail. Il s’agit en définitive de proposer quelques recommandations pour la mise en place d'un cours d'enseignement moral et religieux favorisant le « vivre ensemble ». L’intérêt de ce travail est de susciter le débat sur la gestion de la diversité et du pluralisme en milieu scolaire catholique béninois. / The religious diversity is a reality in the territory of Benin. Christians, Muslims, and traditional religion adepts and members of other spiritualties live together in the public and private area in Benin Republic. This diversity is a reality in all the areas of Benin society as it is present in its private catholic schools. The wish of the diocese of Cotonou to welcome all in its schools without any kind of ethnic, religious or cultural discrimination causes the problem of how to manage the religious diversity and pluralism in its confessional institutions. Sensible to this problematic en context of youth education, the case of Aupiais catholic College retains our attention for its course of religion to the pupils of the first cycle. In its praxeology approach, this reflection observes, analyses and interprets a course of religion given in class of 5e in the secondary catholic college Père Aupiais. This interpretation is based on theoretical referents which are the Magister of the Church, a biblical text, the pedagogic approach of Philippe Meirieu, the dialogale theology of Richard Bergeron and the contribution of private and confessional schools leaders in Quebec. There are the important composites of our intervention in this reflection. The purpose is to make some recommendations for the establishment of a course for a religious and moral teaching in order to live together. The interest of this reflection is to provoke a debate of the management of the diversity and pluralism in catholic school area in Benin Republic.

This study examines the experiences of nine hijabi and non-hijabi Muslim girls from diverse backgrounds with curriculum/schooling in public secondary schools in Ontario. The study uses individual interviews and a focus group discussion to delve into how Muslim girls understand their educational experiences. The participants were independent, thoughtful, and conscientious students who were evolving as individuals through their curriculum/schooling experiences. School was a forum where they questioned themselves, discovered their interests, and made sense of their multiple identities. The differences between a participant’s home and school life varied, and each girl had a unique manner in dealing with the various ideological and practical conflicts. As Muslim girls, they were confronted with certain challenges in school; however, this did not detract from the overall positive aspects of their public schooling experiences. My participants felt respected and validated as individuals in their schools and optimistic regarding their futures as Muslim Canadian females.

This study examines the experiences of nine hijabi and non-hijabi Muslim girls from diverse backgrounds with curriculum/schooling in public secondary schools in Ontario. The study uses individual interviews and a focus group discussion to delve into how Muslim girls understand their educational experiences. The participants were independent, thoughtful, and conscientious students who were evolving as individuals through their curriculum/schooling experiences. School was a forum where they questioned themselves, discovered their interests, and made sense of their multiple identities. The differences between a participant’s home and school life varied, and each girl had a unique manner in dealing with the various ideological and practical conflicts. As Muslim girls, they were confronted with certain challenges in school; however, this did not detract from the overall positive aspects of their public schooling experiences. My participants felt respected and validated as individuals in their schools and optimistic regarding their futures as Muslim Canadian females.

Contributing to the literature on the Muslim experience post-9/11, the purpose of this study was to engage with a group that is often talked about, but not with: Muslim youth. Using an integrative anti-racist and anti-colonial approach with an emphasis on a spiritual way of knowing, this study gives voice to young Muslim activists in Toronto who have made the choice to “do something”. The study aims to understand what motivates these young activists, particularly in the context of post-9/11 Islamophobia, with the goal being to challenge stereotypical perceptions of Muslims, while contributing to the body of knowledge that aims to disrupt dominant notions of what “Canadian” identity is. The following analysis helps answer this question, which includes the role of spirituality, the attachment to Canadian identity and the desire to educate. Key challenges and what these youth prescribe for Canada’s future are also discussed.

This study focuses on Charles Taylor’s educational thought with a view to understanding his contributions to the discipline of Philosophy of Education. No comprehensive study of Charles Taylor’s educational thought has been attempted. There is a single dissertation and a dozen or so published periodical articles that do take Taylor’s educational views into consideration, to be sure. Yet these studies, which limit themselves to Taylor’s account of the recognition and/or non-recognition of identity in multicultural societies, are insufficient on five accounts: i) they are indifferent to the historical nature of Taylor’s scholarly work; ii) they neglect the philosophical sources of his educational thought; iii) they fail to highlight the interconnections between the key educational themes he takes up; iv) they disregard his major critics and the dialectical tensions raised by these critics; and v) they are somewhat dated in that they do not consider his more recent scholarship. My dissertation seeks to fill these scholarly gaps. My thesis is that an inner logic is implicit in Charles Taylor’s educational thought. I argue that Taylor’s views on the modern condition, (i.e. in his readings of Descartes, Kant, Herder, and Hegel), are closely interwoven with his views on modern education, and that interconnected currents in the modern history of ideas elucidated by Taylor, (i.e. scientific rationality, exclusive humanism, and the ethics of authenticity), have contributed to the rise of, and the sensitivity toward, both the theory and the practice of the politics of recognition in contemporary educational institutions. I conclude that an education for culturally diverse minds and hearts, anchored in human, historical, and epistemological recognition, and democratically open to both immanence and transcendence, is the true calling of Taylor’s educational thought.

Over the past 20 years, Western societies have undergone profound transformations, among other things, due to immigration. These transformations are characterized by an increasing diversity and the impact of a multitude of traditions and religious beliefs. The proliferation of religious traditions and their expression often poses a real challenge, bringing the question of the place of religion in the public space and, consequently, making proselytism and its regulation at the heart of concerns. In certain European societies, considered modern and secularized, such as France, governments are inclined to ensure a certain social cohesion and assert secularism. This is also the case in Quebec, as in June 2019, the law of secularism was adopted. This law, among other things, attests to the neutrality and separation of the state and religion. However, sometimes, some individuals go beyond these principles, viewing secularism as a means to eliminate any traces of religious beliefs in the public space. For some, it could even be a tool to limit the proselytism of religious groups. Based on a few interviews, this research examines the experience of proselytism as lived by evangelical Protestant believers in Montreal. Does the Quebec context generate notable resistances to this religious practice protected by the law? / Depuis ces 20 dernières années, les sociétés occidentales connaissent des transformations profondes entre autres, à cause de l’immigration. Les croyances, religions et origines se diversifient. Cette multiplication de traditions religieuses et leur expression représentent souvent un véritable défi pour le vivre ensemble, plaçant la question de la religion dans l’espace public et notamment le prosélytisme et son encadrement au cœur des préoccupations. Certaines sociétés européennes dont la France, afin de garantir une certaine cohésion sociale, affirment la laïcité de l’État. C’est aussi le cas du Québec, alors qu’en juin 2019 a été adoptée la loi sur la laïcité de l’État. Cette dernière, entre autres, établit la neutralité, de même que la séparation entre État et la religion. Des personnes vont parfois au-delà de ces principes, en voyant en la laïcité un moyen de se débarrasser des traces d’expression de croyances religieuses dans l’espace public. Pour certains, ce serait même un outil permettant de limiter le prosélytisme de groupes religieux. S’appuyant sur quelques entretiens, le présent mémoire se penche sur l’expérience du prosélytisme tel qu’il est vécu par des croyants protestants évangéliques de Montréal. Le contexte québécois produit-il des résistances notables face à cette pratique religieuse protégée par les chartes ?

Recent historians who have written about the development of Methodist religious identity in Upper Canada have based their narratives primarily on readings of documents concerned with ecclesiastical polity and colonial politics. This study attempts to complicate these narratives by examining the way religious identity in the province was affected by the cultural production and distribution of books as denominational status objects in a wider North American market before the middle of the nineteenth century. The first chapter examines the rhetorical strategies the Methodist Book Concern developed to protect its domestic market in the United States from the products of competitors by equating patronage with denominational identity. The remaining chapters unfold the influence a protracted consumption of such cultural commodities had on the religious identity of Methodists living in Upper Canada. For more than a decade after the War of 1812, the Methodist Book Concern relied on a corps of Methodist preachers to distribute its commodities north of the border. This denominational infrastructure conferred the accidental but strategic advantage of concealing the extent of the Concern’s market and its rhetoric from the colony’s increasingly anti-American elite. The Concern’s access to its Upper Canadian market became compromised, however, when Egerton Ryerson initiated a debate over religious equality in the province’s emergent public sphere in the mid-1820s. This inadvertently drew attention to Methodist textual practices in the province that led to later efforts on the part of Upper Canadians to sever the Concern’s access to its market north of the border. When these attempts failed, Canadian Methodists found ways to decouple the material and cultural dimensions of the Concern’s products in order to continue patronizing the Concern without compromising recent gains achieved by strategically refashioning themselves as loyal Wesleyans within the colony’s conservative political environment. The result was the emergence of a stable and enduring transnational market for Methodist printed commodities that both blunted the cultural influence of British Wesleyans and prepared the ground for a later secularization of Methodist publishing into and beyond the middle decades of the nineteenth century.