Literacy in the 21st century is constantly evolving. To teach literacy effectively, educators need to embrace and understand linguistic, cultural and textual practices that are relevant for students. Reading and responding to graphic novels in face-to-face and online settings are such 21st century literate practices. This thesis focuses on how grade 6 students who are both English Language Learners and non-English Language Learners respond and connect to social justice issues in graphic novels through literature circles, online blogging and personal journals. Responses to social justice issues were fairly similar between English Language Learners and non-English Language Learners, especially based on a cultural experience standpoint. It is important for educators to encourage students to connect with prior experiences and knowledge with social justice issues and stereotypes that exist in their own world. This prepares students to become more socially conscious and critical thinkers about the world around them.

Literacy in the 21st century is constantly evolving. To teach literacy effectively, educators need to embrace and understand linguistic, cultural and textual practices that are relevant for students. Reading and responding to graphic novels in face-to-face and online settings are such 21st century literate practices. This thesis focuses on how grade 6 students who are both English Language Learners and non-English Language Learners respond and connect to social justice issues in graphic novels through literature circles, online blogging and personal journals. Responses to social justice issues were fairly similar between English Language Learners and non-English Language Learners, especially based on a cultural experience standpoint. It is important for educators to encourage students to connect with prior experiences and knowledge with social justice issues and stereotypes that exist in their own world. This prepares students to become more socially conscious and critical thinkers about the world around them.

Since the turn of the millennium the national Open Universities in China and India have been integrating online learning as an additional means of course delivery. Over this period both countries have witnessed exponential growth in Internet access and a commensurate need, mandated by government, to increase enrolments in higher education with one focus placed on using networked technologies. Prevailing arguments suggest there is a growing convergence towards a universal model of higher education based on a western world culture. The question of whether online learning may support, or accelerate, such a convergence by hastening the displacement of national ideas and values is the central question addressed in this investigation. Aspects of online learning in the Open University of China (OUC) and the Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) are compared: policy, curriculum and students’ experiences and perceptions A comparative case study methodology has been used, incorporating a mixed methods design. Data collection techniques include document analysis, interviews and surveys. The analysis of policy documents, covering the period from 1997 to 2011, and data from interviews with institutional policymakers point to differences in the experience of developing online learning in the two national institutions. The OUC has taken a top down linear approach backed by government oversight, whereas IGNOU has tended to devise policy based on the emerging experiences of instructors and students learning online. A consideration of the content of four courses in each institution, combined with data from interviews with course developers, offers a glimpse of curriculum design for online learning within the larger Open Universities. A rubric is used to quantify the extent of national and foreign content in some of the courses. The findings point to varying degrees of a national representation of knowledge in the presentation of content. The third data set presents findings of a student survey. Results point to general satisfaction with online learning at each Open University, including a positive outlook for future employment as an outcome of learning online. Additional findings indicate that students believe the representation of national knowledge in content may be compromised as the use of online learning grows. Tying these results together, this investigation aims to bring a deeper awareness of the impact of online learning within each Open University. As each institution enrolls approximately three million students, with growth expected, it is valuable for policymakers and curriculum designers to reflect on how national knowledge may be balanced with global learning content in this new and widely used medium. Finally, the fact that the two institutions are similar in infrastructure, enrolments and openness to online learning, results in insights into how each system may learn from the other as it goes forward.

Since the turn of the millennium the national Open Universities in China and India have been integrating online learning as an additional means of course delivery. Over this period both countries have witnessed exponential growth in Internet access and a commensurate need, mandated by government, to increase enrolments in higher education with one focus placed on using networked technologies. Prevailing arguments suggest there is a growing convergence towards a universal model of higher education based on a western world culture. The question of whether online learning may support, or accelerate, such a convergence by hastening the displacement of national ideas and values is the central question addressed in this investigation. Aspects of online learning in the Open University of China (OUC) and the Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) are compared: policy, curriculum and students’ experiences and perceptions A comparative case study methodology has been used, incorporating a mixed methods design. Data collection techniques include document analysis, interviews and surveys. The analysis of policy documents, covering the period from 1997 to 2011, and data from interviews with institutional policymakers point to differences in the experience of developing online learning in the two national institutions. The OUC has taken a top down linear approach backed by government oversight, whereas IGNOU has tended to devise policy based on the emerging experiences of instructors and students learning online. A consideration of the content of four courses in each institution, combined with data from interviews with course developers, offers a glimpse of curriculum design for online learning within the larger Open Universities. A rubric is used to quantify the extent of national and foreign content in some of the courses. The findings point to varying degrees of a national representation of knowledge in the presentation of content. The third data set presents findings of a student survey. Results point to general satisfaction with online learning at each Open University, including a positive outlook for future employment as an outcome of learning online. Additional findings indicate that students believe the representation of national knowledge in content may be compromised as the use of online learning grows. Tying these results together, this investigation aims to bring a deeper awareness of the impact of online learning within each Open University. As each institution enrolls approximately three million students, with growth expected, it is valuable for policymakers and curriculum designers to reflect on how national knowledge may be balanced with global learning content in this new and widely used medium. Finally, the fact that the two institutions are similar in infrastructure, enrolments and openness to online learning, results in insights into how each system may learn from the other as it goes forward.

This thesis examines how discourses of biology textbooks can work to constitute various kinds of subjectivities. Using a Foucauldian archaeological approach to discourse analysis I examine how four Ontario secondary school biology textbooks discursively delimit what can be thought and acted upon, and in the process work to partially constitute students/teachers as sex/gendered; neocolonial; neoliberal (and a subject of work), and ethical subjects and subjectivities. This thesis engages the topic of how discourse can constitute subjectivity in science in three basic ways: First, on a theoretical level, in terms of working out an understanding of subject constitution/interpellation that would also be useful when engaging with other sociopolitical and ethical questions in science education. Secondly, in terms of an empirically based critical discourse analysis that examines how various statements within these four textbooks could set limits on what is possible for students to think and act upon in relation to themselves, science, and the world. Thirdly, this thesis represents a narrative of scholarly development that moves from an engagement of my personal experiences in science education and current science education literature towards the general politico-philosophical topic of subjectivity and biopolitics. This thesis begins with a discussion of my experiences as a science teacher, a review of relevant science education literature, and considerations of subjectivity that relate specifically ii to the specific methodological approach I employ when examining these textbooks. After this I present five chapters, each of which can be thought of as a somewhat separate analysis concerning how the discourses of these textbooks can work to constitute specific subjectivities (each involving different theoretical/methodological considerations). I conclude with a reflection/synthesis chapter and a call to see science education as a site for biopolitical struggle.

This thesis examines how discourses of biology textbooks can work to constitute various kinds of subjectivities. Using a Foucauldian archaeological approach to discourse analysis I examine how four Ontario secondary school biology textbooks discursively delimit what can be thought and acted upon, and in the process work to partially constitute students/teachers as sex/gendered; neocolonial; neoliberal (and a subject of work), and ethical subjects and subjectivities. This thesis engages the topic of how discourse can constitute subjectivity in science in three basic ways: First, on a theoretical level, in terms of working out an understanding of subject constitution/interpellation that would also be useful when engaging with other sociopolitical and ethical questions in science education. Secondly, in terms of an empirically based critical discourse analysis that examines how various statements within these four textbooks could set limits on what is possible for students to think and act upon in relation to themselves, science, and the world. Thirdly, this thesis represents a narrative of scholarly development that moves from an engagement of my personal experiences in science education and current science education literature towards the general politico-philosophical topic of subjectivity and biopolitics. This thesis begins with a discussion of my experiences as a science teacher, a review of relevant science education literature, and considerations of subjectivity that relate specifically ii to the specific methodological approach I employ when examining these textbooks. After this I present five chapters, each of which can be thought of as a somewhat separate analysis concerning how the discourses of these textbooks can work to constitute specific subjectivities (each involving different theoretical/methodological considerations). I conclude with a reflection/synthesis chapter and a call to see science education as a site for biopolitical struggle.

The Creating Borderlands using a Multicultural Approach: a reflective ethnography focuses on an exploration into the psychological landscapes of junior-level students, whose minds have been riddled with stereotypes, single-stories, and images of Nazi Germany and of the Jewish people. The research navigates these young minds through a sea of images and preconceptions of the German and Jewish cultures and attempts to break down barriers, and reconstruct a borderland and a geography of renewed/reshaped understanding. The research intends to explore issues of social justice through a multimodal, multi-literacy unit within the context of the Holocaust. Through the qualitative paradigm of ethnography the research uncovers a mosaic of preconceptions and stereotypes, a tapestry of emotions, and a puzzle of renewed cultural awareness. Key terms: Border Crossing, Social Scaffolding, Multimodal Literacy, Reflexive Ethnography, Narrative Inquiry, Cultural Awareness, Polyvocality, Autobiographical Narrative, Qualitative Paradigm, Bricolage, Reflexivity, Multicultural Education

The Creating Borderlands using a Multicultural Approach: a reflective ethnography focuses on an exploration into the psychological landscapes of junior-level students, whose minds have been riddled with stereotypes, single-stories, and images of Nazi Germany and of the Jewish people. The research navigates these young minds through a sea of images and preconceptions of the German and Jewish cultures and attempts to break down barriers, and reconstruct a borderland and a geography of renewed/reshaped understanding. The research intends to explore issues of social justice through a multimodal, multi-literacy unit within the context of the Holocaust. Through the qualitative paradigm of ethnography the research uncovers a mosaic of preconceptions and stereotypes, a tapestry of emotions, and a puzzle of renewed cultural awareness. Key terms: Border Crossing, Social Scaffolding, Multimodal Literacy, Reflexive Ethnography, Narrative Inquiry, Cultural Awareness, Polyvocality, Autobiographical Narrative, Qualitative Paradigm, Bricolage, Reflexivity, Multicultural Education

In this study, I examined how science curricula designed based on the Knowledge Community and Inquiry (KCI) model (Slotta, 2007) would foster the development of knowledge communities in secondary school science classrooms. KCI situates scaffolded inquiry activities within a collective context. In two design iterations, I collaborated with high school teachers to design and implement grade-nine science curriculum units with the topic of Climate Change. Then, I probed the extent to which characteristics of classroom-based knowledge communities manifested in students’ collaborative inquiry activities and the product of their work. In both iterations, students worked for approximately 8 weeks in a sequence of interconnected collaborative inquiry activities, creating digital inquiry artifacts. Two class sections engaged in iteration 1 and created wiki pages about the effect of climate change in Canada. They, then, used these wiki pages to examine the implications of climate change on certain industries. Five class sections engaged in iteration 2 where students identified important climate change-related issues and examined scientific aspects of those issues along with existing remediation plans. Knowledge co-constructed in this collaborative inquiry activity, contained in a Drupal platform, was used to propose improvement to existing remediation plans. Analyzing the process and the product of collaborative inquiry allowed me to examine the extent to which a knowledge community developed in each of the iterations. Findings from iteration 1 revealed that students needed tighter scaffolds during collaborative inquiry activities to stay focused on science connections. Additionally, epistemic scaffolds were added to the designed curriculum unit in iteration 2. Also, students were given regulative scaffolds to plan and monitor their collaborative inquiry. Findings from iteration 2 showed more science connections in co-constructed knowledge and higher amount of collaboration among students while constructing shared knowledge comparing to iteration 1. This study provided further evidence of the effectiveness of KCI model to foster characteristics of knowledge communities in secondary school science classrooms. In addition to elaborating pedagogical and technological scaffolds that facilitated KCI curriculum units, recommendations were made for future research to improve existing scaffolds and, thus, progressing towards knowledge communities that are responsive to curricular expectations of science classrooms.

In this study, I examined how science curricula designed based on the Knowledge Community and Inquiry (KCI) model (Slotta, 2007) would foster the development of knowledge communities in secondary school science classrooms. KCI situates scaffolded inquiry activities within a collective context. In two design iterations, I collaborated with high school teachers to design and implement grade-nine science curriculum units with the topic of Climate Change. Then, I probed the extent to which characteristics of classroom-based knowledge communities manifested in students’ collaborative inquiry activities and the product of their work. In both iterations, students worked for approximately 8 weeks in a sequence of interconnected collaborative inquiry activities, creating digital inquiry artifacts. Two class sections engaged in iteration 1 and created wiki pages about the effect of climate change in Canada. They, then, used these wiki pages to examine the implications of climate change on certain industries. Five class sections engaged in iteration 2 where students identified important climate change-related issues and examined scientific aspects of those issues along with existing remediation plans. Knowledge co-constructed in this collaborative inquiry activity, contained in a Drupal platform, was used to propose improvement to existing remediation plans. Analyzing the process and the product of collaborative inquiry allowed me to examine the extent to which a knowledge community developed in each of the iterations. Findings from iteration 1 revealed that students needed tighter scaffolds during collaborative inquiry activities to stay focused on science connections. Additionally, epistemic scaffolds were added to the designed curriculum unit in iteration 2. Also, students were given regulative scaffolds to plan and monitor their collaborative inquiry. Findings from iteration 2 showed more science connections in co-constructed knowledge and higher amount of collaboration among students while constructing shared knowledge comparing to iteration 1. This study provided further evidence of the effectiveness of KCI model to foster characteristics of knowledge communities in secondary school science classrooms. In addition to elaborating pedagogical and technological scaffolds that facilitated KCI curriculum units, recommendations were made for future research to improve existing scaffolds and, thus, progressing towards knowledge communities that are responsive to curricular expectations of science classrooms.