Schools are sites of great power and influence where the “obesity” discourse is often taken uncritically as truth and reproduced, to the detriment of young people. The purpose of this thesis was to investigate how theories of fatness can inform theories of culturally relevant pedagogy with the goal of helping teachers create spaces where increased size acceptance is possible for secondary students. Literature from both these areas of study was reviewed and applied to the Ontario secondary curriculum documents for science and physical education. This analysis demonstrated a body acceptance orientation in teaching these disciplines, and that doing so can mitigate many of the negative effects of living in a fat hating world.

This research responds to the problem of minority teacher under-representation within North America’s increasingly diverse urban school systems. It weaves together what is known about educational equity, teacher education admission policy, and policy implementation to explore the research question, “How did equity-based admission policy shape candidate diversification in an urban Canadian teacher education program?” The conceptual framework grounds this study within organizational culture and describes how culture both shapes and is shaped by interactions between structure and agency. The conceptual question asks, “How did institutional norms and individual will work to support or constrain equitable candidate diversification?” Data collection occurred during private interviews with members of three organizational groups: Policymakers, policy implementers, and policy beneficiaries. Policymakers were senior administrators with several years’ experience in their respective positions. Policy implementers were admission personnel, ad hoc faculty, and field-based educators. The policy beneficiaries were candidates who self-identified as future French and Physics teachers, and as members of Aboriginal, Disabled, Gendered/Invisible, and Racialized/Visible minorities. Data analysis was an iterative process of applying demographic, thematic, and editorial coding to the interview transcripts. Discussion highlighted several themes that shaped the admission process: External admission policy context, Faculty of Education Equity Policy, admission policy instrumentation, qualification precedence and weighting, academic qualifications, non-academic identity-based and experience-based qualifications, admission policy gaps, and last-minute Policy disclosure. It also addressed admission personnel recruitment, training, and performance during candidate personal information form assessment. Significant findings emerged in the areas of preservice program partnerships, candidate support services, qualification transparency, labeling of identity-based candidate characteristics, and admission personnel training. Research applicability extends to consecutive and concurrent teacher education programs, other tertiary professional licensing programs, and multi-site qualitative research projects. Recommendations for policy and practice target teacher education admission, policy implementation, and equity policy development.

This thesis reports on a study designed to understand how learning theories fit in the practice of educational developers; specifically, developers’ conceptions of learning theories, their use of theories, and, finally, factors that influence the way learning theories shape developers’ practice. To investigate these questions, a qualitative study was undertaken with eleven Canadian university educational developers, all formally associated with a campus-wide teaching and learning centre. By taking an exploratory approach, while drawing upon learning theories and educational development literature, aspects of educational developers’ understanding and use of learning theories were highlighted. The findings showed that educational developers in this study: (i) conceptualize learning theories as lowercase ‘lt’ as opposed to uppercase ‘LT’, and (ii) define learning theories based on their prior disciplines. These practitioners didn’t associate learning theories with formal academic theories aimed at understanding a situation; instead they had formed their own synthesis of theories to help them perceive the characteristics of a particular situation. Also, the way the participants defined and conceptualized learning theories seemed to correspond to their prior disciplines and areas of study. Five definitions of learning theories were identified among educational developers: philosophy, language, educational-psychology, holistic, and neuroscience-based. In terms of how theories shape developers’ work, developers were categorized in three groups: (1) those who had a tendency to implicitly use learning theories –focusing more on practical explorations for achieving a desired outcome (seven in total); (2) developers who had a tendency to consciously use learning theories – taking more of a comprehensive approach by examining their assumptions and focusing on causes and effects that influence their practice (three in total); and, (3) one developer who had characteristics of both groups. Factors such as educational background, professional identities, and perceived audience readiness appeared to influence participants’ uses of learning theories. Seeing their work as part of a collective, and attending to the emotional needs of their audience also seemed to impact these practitioners’ work. Considering the limited research examining how educational developers conceptualize learning theories and the way theories inform their practice, this study contributes in generating discussions and future research in a community that continues to grow and situate itself within the higher education landscape.

Doctor of Education / Department of Special Education / Robert H. Zabel / This study investigated the effects of new teacher induction programs on feelings of burnout of 69 newly hired special education teachers from two Midwestern, metropolitan school districts. The central research question was whether there was a significant difference in feelings of burnout between new teachers in a district that uses a special education instructional resource teacher as a key feature of their induction program and teachers in a district that uses a more traditional induction model. Participants’ scores on the Maslach Burnout Inventory – Educators Survey provided the dependent measures. There were, on average, no statistically significant differences (p < .05) in feelings of burnout of newly hired special education teachers in the two school districts. There were, on average, no statistically significant differences between the two groups. These findings suggest that, at least in these districts, special education teachers are staying in the field longer than originally expected, newly hired special education teachers are coming to the job better prepared, and deliberate and responsive induction programs did not influence feelings of burnout. The influence of participant demographic characteristics, particularly the amount of experience and licensure status, is discussed. Implications of these findings for special education teacher induction programs are suggested. Among these are the examination of supports from various sources, the availability of resources, and the structure of the induction program itself to meet the needs of more experienced teachers.

Cette recherche porte sur la transition de l'exercice d'un métier vers son enseignement des enseignantes et enseignants débutants de la formation professionnelle au Québec et vise à comprendre leur expérience vécue lors de leur transition. Elle traite d'abord de leur insertion professionnelle caractérisée par des conditions de travail précaires. Elle aborde ensuite la transition de l’identité professionnelle vécue et les tensions qu'elle entraine. Le concept d'expérience de Dewey a été utilisé pour penser la transition vers l'enseignement comme un processus d'apprentissage basé sur le principe de la continuité et de l'interaction avec l'environnement. Les travaux de Dubar sur la socialisation professionnelle et son concept de transaction se sont avérés pertinents pour comprendre les transformations identitaires en jeu. Nous avons recueilli des données qualitatives issues de douze entretiens semi-dirigés que nous avons analysés à l'aide d'une méthode d'analyse thématique. Les résultats montrent que l'expérience professionnelle dans leur propre métier est la ressource la plus importante que les enseignantes et enseignants mobilisent à la fois pour composer avec la transition et dans le cadre de leurs pratiques en enseignement. Cependant, la recherche montre que la transition vers l'enseignement peut être représentée et accomplie de deux manières très différentes par les personnes participantes : en parallèle à la pratique continue de leur métier, où l'enseignement va de pair avec la pratique continue du métier, ou plutôt comme un engagement entier dans une carrière d'enseignement, où la pratique du métier est considérée comme une ressource sous la forme d’expériences passées. / This research looks at the transition from the practice of a trade to the practice of teaching that trade by new teachers in trade schools in Quebec. It aimed at understanding the lived experience of new teachers as they navigated transition from their trade to teaching. It first deals with their professional integration characterized precarious working conditions. It then discusses the professional identity transition they undergo and the tensions it entails. Dewey’s concept of experience was used to think about the transition to teaching as a learning process based on the principle of continuity and interaction with the environment. The works of Dubar on professional socialization and its concept of transaction was found insightful in understanding the identity transformations involved. We collected qualitative data, mainly from 12 semi-directed interviews which we analyzed using a thematic analysis methods. The results show that the professional experience in their own trade was the most significant resource teachers draw upon both in dealing with the transition and in their teaching practices. However, the research shows that the transition to teaching can be framed and realized in two quite different ways : in parallel with the continuing practice of their trade, where teaching goes together with the continuing practice of the trade, or as a full commitment to a career in teaching where the practice of the trade is seen as a resource in the form of past experiences.

Doctor of Philosophy / Curriculum and Instruction Programs / Margaret G. Shroyer / This qualitative case study focused on 11 non-traditional, ELL, Latinas within a community-based, teacher education program. The purpose of the study was: (a) to explore the various internal characteristics and external factors that foster Latina, English language learner (ELL), non-traditional students’ resiliency in reaching and remaining in college and (b) to determine what ways these internal characteristics and external factors influenced participants’ desire to pursue and ability to persist in teacher education. The researcher utilized two primary sources of data, (1) an autobiographical, qualitative survey, and (2) individual in-depth, semi-structured interviews. As a secondary source, the researcher used academic documents to provide context for student success in the program. The internal characteristic of sense of purpose and a future (demonstrated in participants’ determination, identity, and responsibility) proved to be most protective for participants’ resiliency. Caring relationships (with the features of: consejos (advice or homilies), quality not quantity, and high expectations in the context of care) proved to be the most significant external factor for fostering participant resiliency. The study also identified the overarching emergent theme of advocacy inspired by hardship found among participant discourse. Within this theme, findings indicated that, as a result of their cultural and experiential understandings, participants were able to enact culturally responsive teaching with their Latino/a students. Furthermore, participants demonstrated a strong sense of agency to improve the education outcomes of culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD) students and a desire to advocate specifically on behalf of ELL Latino/as students.

Doctor of Philosophy / Curriculum and Instruction Programs / Margaret G. Shroyer / The purpose of this mixed methods case study was to examine the impact of lesson study professional development on teacher self-efficacy and outcome expectancy using Bandura’s Social Cognitive Theory as a framework (1977). The focus of this lesson study was implementing Common Core State Standards for mathematics. Thirteen K-6 teachers participated in the lesson study professional development, completed a pre/post Mathematics Teaching Efficacy and Expectancy Beliefs Inventory (MTEEBI) and completed ongoing journaling prompts while the researcher conducted observations throughout the process. Qualitative and quantitative data gathered in this research indicated the lesson study professional development had a positive impact on both self-efficacy and outcome expectancy of the teacher participants. Though the teachers possessed a satisfactory level of self-efficacy and outcome expectancy at the onset of the study, a measurable gain was evident. Comparison of the pre and post MTEEBI surveys, through statistical analysis using a Paired-Samples t-test, indicated a significant positive change in both self-efficacy and outcome expectancy scores. Though growth for both constructs was significant at the .05 level of probability, self-efficacy growth was greater than outcome expectancy. This finding is supported in historical research of the challenge of yielding outcome expectancy growth. The qualitative analysis of observations and journal prompts corroborated the MTEEBI results, indicating a majority of the teachers’ self-efficacy and outcome expectancy beliefs were positively impacted by the lesson study professional development. Bandura’s four sources of efficacy (mastery experiences, modeling, verbal/social persuasion, physiological responses) positively impacted personal self-efficacy, while three of the four sources (mastery experiences, modeling, physiological responses) impacted outcome expectancy. Qualitative data indicated mastery experiences were most critical for both constructs. Lesson study professional development is a natural catalyst for addressing Bandura’s four sources of efficacy and thus building self-efficacy and outcome expectancy. Given the demands of rigorous educational reform, lesson study professional development is a promising approach to positively impact teacher self-efficacy and outcome expectancy, through engaging Bandura’s four sources of efficacy to develop and strengthen these beliefs. Therefore lesson study ought to be a more frequent component of teacher professional development and teacher preparation.

Doctor of Philosophy / Curriculum and Instruction Programs / Rosemary S. Talab / The purpose of this study was to assess the professional development needs of academic instruction librarians required to improve information literacy instructional effectiveness in higher education institutions within the state of Kansas. The population in this correlational study was the 84 academic librarians with instruction duties at Kansas two-year colleges, four-year colleges, and universities. The majority of the population included administrators, staff, and specialized librarians. Most of the participants held a faculty rank, were between the ages of 41 and 55, and had served as academic librarians for less than fifteen years. Data was collected through twelve closed-ended and twelve open-ended questions on an electronic survey. The data was used to answer the primary research question of this study: “What professional development opportunities are needed in order to improve information literacy instructional effectiveness?” Three sub-questions were included in order to identify professional development needs on the various means by which information literacy is delivered, the content areas addressed during information literacy instructional sessions, and the assessment practices employed to determine the effectiveness of information literacy instruction. Data analyses for the quantitative measures of the study were conducted through the use of frequency distributions (in order to identify professional development needs of the total population) and chi-square tests (in order to identify professional development needs of the individual sub-populations). Due to the low number of answers to open-ended questions, responses to these questions were analyzed for codes and developed into categories. Analyses of the data indicated that the sub-populations shared a preference for library instruction delivered via face-to-face means; all institutions represented in this study offered considerably more instruction than what was required by their parent institution; Kansas academic instruction librarians addressed a wide variety of services, resources, search techniques, and information literacy skills during information literacy instructional sessions; and Kansas academic instruction librarians were cognizant of ensuring instruction practices were designed to include content that met the guiding information literacy standards as defined by the American Library Association. The study found Kansas academic librarians with instruction as a function of their job duties would benefit from professional development opportunities designed to develop proficiency in teaching skills, instructional design skills, assessment and evaluation skills, information literacy integration skills, and presentation skills.

This research examines a multi-level language ability ESL secondary school classroom in relation to Lave and Wenger’s (1991) community of practice and Dörnyei and Ottó’s (1998) L2 motivation conceptual frameworks. Both qualitative and quantitative methodologies were employed. Case study data were collected through monthly interviews, semi-monthly observations, and monthly written journals over 3 months in Toronto from 6 participants (5 students and 1 teacher). Also, students who had been in Canada 5 years or less, and ESL teachers were invited to complete an on-line questionnaire. Results indicate that the multi-level classroom positively and negatively impacts participation and motivation. Participants define the most striking factor to impact participation and motivation as themselves; this links the two conceptual frameworks because “self-regulation” in the Actional Phase (Dörnyei & Ottó, 1998) can be better understood by legitimate peripheral participation or the ability to “imagine” and “align” oneself (Lave & Wenger, 1991). In this multi-level classroom, self-regulation is when students actively imagine possible selves who are aligned with their family or peer goals, or when faced with disengagement, students envision new roles for themselves in the classroom to overcome barriers and realign themselves with shared family or peer goals. In these cases, alignment drives imagination; however, students also use imagination to create alignment. When lower level learners see advanced students as possible selves, they feel hope for their future. Similarly, advanced learners recall their past selves when seeing their lower level peers and feel empathy for them. This interaction cements student alignment and sets a context conducive to cooperative learning which enhances students’ abilities to remain aligned with their families. Overall, this research highlights the interplay of imagination and alignment which impacts student identity. Moreover, it reveals that one aspect of the Post-actional Phase in Dörnyei and Ottó’s (1998) model, “self-concept beliefs,” can be enhanced by the notion of identity in Lave and Wenger’s (1991) framework. Finally, these findings could serve to change policy and improve programming and serve as an archive for future research.

Parce qu’elle est intimement liée à l’action professionnelle (Schön, 1983), la pratique réflexive est souvent associée aux stages d’enseignement qui ponctuent la formation initiale des maîtres. Parmi les dispositifs de soutien à la pratique réflexive en stage d’enseignement, l’interaction en ligne semble particulièrement pertinente dans la mesure où : (1) elle permet de répondre à la dispersion géographique des enseignants-stagiaires (Karsenti, Lepage et Gervais, 2002) ; (2) elle couvre un potentiel sociocognitif (Depover, Karsenti et Komis, 2007) susceptible d’être mis au profit du développement de la pratique réflexive. Pourtant le rapport entre l’interaction en ligne et la pratique réflexive, bien qu’il semble positivement perçu lorsqu’il est évoqué (Barnett, 2002 ; Zhao et Rop, 2001), reste toutefois peu abordé dans la littérature scientifique et peu problématisé au niveau théorique. Or ce rapport pose question dans la mesure où la pratique réflexive réfère à un processus intra-personnel alors que l’interaction en ligne est inter-personnelle par définition. Ce paradoxe apparent est à l’origine de la présente recherche, dont l’objectif général consiste à mieux comprendre le rapport entre la pratique réflexive et l’interaction en ligne en stage d’enseignement. En vue de répondre à cet objectif, nous présentons le cadre conceptuel de la pratique réflexive interactionnelle, lequel a été élaboré par un arrimage de la théorique de la médiation sémiotique (Vygotsky, 1962) à la pratique réflexive (Schön, 1983). La méthodologie mixte à dominante qualitative pour laquelle nous avons opté a inclus la participation de trois groupes d’enseignants-stagiaires de quatrième année en enseignement secondaire (N=34) et leurs superviseurs respectifs (N=3). Puisqu’il s’agit d’une thèse par articles, les résultats obtenus auprès des trois groupes d’enseignants-stagiaires sont présentés dans trois articles distincts. Le premier d’entre eux s’attache à examiner comment la pratique réflexive se construit dans l’interaction en ligne des enseignants-stagiaires. Les résultats empiriques auxquels il donne lieu indiquent que deux types d’interaction (interaction inter-personnelle et interaction intra-personnelle) semblent intervenir conjointement dans le processus réflexif des enseignants-stagiaires. Dès lors, nous sommes amené à proposer une bonification du cadre conceptuel de la pratique réflexive interactionnelle en passant d’un mouvement circulaire du processus réflexif à un mouvement binaire. Ayant ainsi précisé le processus réflexif propre à la pratique réflexive interactionnelle, l’article 2 vise à établir les limites de cette dernière et à en déduire les conditions d’efficacité, dans la perspective de son opérationnalisation en contexte de stage d’enseignement. Quatre types de limites sont identifiés (limites académiques, sociales, développementales et interactionnelles). Ils donnent lieu à certaines conditions d’efficacité, ce qui permet de compléter le cadre conceptuel de la pratique réflexive interactionnelle par des considérations liées à son opérationnalisation en stage d’enseignement. Enfin, l’article 3 a pour but de déterminer le rôle de l’interaction en ligne pour la pratique réflexive des enseignants-stagiaires. Il s’agit donc de « confronter » l’interaction en ligne à d’autres soutiens à la pratique réflexive des enseignants-stagiaires, en vue de déterminer sa place. Il en ressort que l’interaction en ligne semble jouer un rôle secondaire mais néanmoins positif, tant pour la pratique réflexive des enseignants-stagiaires que pour d’autres dimensions du stage d’enseignement tels que la dimension sociale ou la dimension psychologique et émotionnelle. Finalement, des recommandations à l’intention du milieu de formation et des pistes de recherches futures sont offertes en conclusion. / Since it is tightly linked to professional action (Schön, 1983), reflective practice is commonly associated with teaching internships that generally punctuate initial teacher training programs in North America. Among the devices supporting reflective practice during teaching internships, online interactions seem particularly relevant since: (1) they help overcome the geographic scattering of student teachers (Karsenti, Lepage and Gervais, 2002); (2) they have a sociocognitive potential (Depover, Karsenti and Komis, 2007), likely to contribute to reflective practice development. However, the relationship between online interaction and reflective practice, even though it looks positive when mentioned, remains hardly addressed in the scientific literature and little problematized at the theoretical level. Yet, this relationship raises questions since reflective practice refers to an intrapersonal process whereas online interaction is, by definition, interpersonal. This apparent paradox instigated this research. The general objective is to better understand the relationship between reflective practice and online interactions during teaching internships of student teachers. To achieve this objective, we present the conceptual framework of interactional reflective practice developed through the association of semiotic mediation (Vygotsky, 1962) with reflective practice (Schön, 1983). The mixed-methodology that we have chosen, though qualitatively prevalent, included the participation of three student teachers groups in the forth year of secondary teaching (N=34) and their academic, university supervisors. We decided that the results obtained from the three student teachers groups ought to be presented in three separate research articles (chapters 6, 7 and 8). The first one aims at examining how reflective practice is built through student teachers’ online interaction. The empirical results indicate that two types of interactions (interpersonal interaction and intrapersonal interaction) seem to intervene jointly in student teachers’ reflective process. Consequently, we improved the conceptual framework of interactional reflective practice by moving from a circular movement of the reflective process to a more binary-like movement. After having refined the conceptual framework of interactional reflective practice in the article 1, the second article aims at establishing its limits and success factors. In doing so, we aimed at informing its implementation in teaching internships. Four types of limits were identified (academic, social, developmental and interactional limits). They lead to four success factors, which leads us up to complete the conceptual framework of interactional reflective practice. Finally, the third article aims at determining the role of online interaction for student teachers’ reflective practice. In other words, this meant “confronting” online interaction with other devices supporting student teachers’ reflective practice in order to better understand its role. It appears that online interactions seem to have a secondary but nevertheless positive role for student teachers’ reflective practice but also for other aspects of teaching practicum, such as social, psychological and emotional aspects. We finish by suggesting some recommendations aimed at initial teacher training stakeholders, as well as future research perspectives.