Canadian urban food security discourses have been explored by academics, local community organizations, practitioners (e.g., health and education) with the intention of understanding the histories and impacts of food insecurity and co-creating long-lasting solutions. In various urban centres, community initiatives and educational institutions have been collaborating on school gardening programs as a way to address food insecurity. Central to these conversations and projects have been how to make more inclusive spaces for people to share their own complex and diverse perspectives of food security—based on their local foodscapes (matrix of relationships between people, place, and food) and cultural worldviews. Pervasive power structures and narratives, however, have privileged certain voices over others and there are limited inquiries into cultural perceptions of food security. Children’s and youth’s own experiences and contributions to the discussion on foodscapes and food security have been marginalized, resulting in a knowledge gap of how young people situate and represent themselves. This research project works to amplify young people’s narratives surrounding their multifaceted relationships to foodscapes within three school gardens located in Treaty Six Territory (Saskatoon, SK). The aim is to make space for the fulsome perspectives and solutions that children and youth offer, as social change agents, towards food security discourses. Adopting a community-based approach, I collaborated with Agriculture in the Classroom Saskatchewan (AITC-SK), the Saskatoon Public School Division (SPSD), children, youth, and their guardians. Co-participants involved in the project included eleven children (between the ages of five and twelve) and seven adults who were connected to the three school gardens. Drawing upon theoretical frameworks rooted in narrative analysis, thematic analysis, and visual participatory action research (VPAR) methodologies, this project practiced meaning-making, which was both collaborative and interdisciplinary. The participating young people used digital cameras to take photographs during four garden workshops facilitated from July to September, 2013. In addition to the workshops, I conducted unstructured interviews with each adult co-participant that contributed to understandings on how children and youth interact with diverse foodways. Children and youth co-participants’ voices, shared in this study, add to current conversations on Saskatoon food security issues—namely the focus on cultural acceptability and accessibility to food. Their oral and visual narratives shed insight into how to re-imagine and expand dominant food security concepts—cultural acceptability and access—to foster inclusive foodscapes. Culturally acceptable foods for young co-participants, for example, was not limited to food products but to cultural relationships infusing foodscapes. Children and youth also blurred boundaries existing in Saskatoon community garden dichotomies of private and public, which had the potential to challenge hegemonic neoliberal views around access. School gardening and food ideologies— steeped in educators’ and program coordinators’ worldviews—were broadened by young people as they reflected upon their garden-based foodways. The inclusion of more children’s and youth’s perspectives on how food security is conceptualized, experienced, and addressed can be used to build greater resiliency in urban school gardening initiatives. By supporting genuine participation of young people in decision-making, alternative actions towards social change can be implemented. / Graduate / skukh075@uvic.ca

<p>Cilj rada je da se ukaţe na prednosti i ograniĉenja kvalitativnih istraţivaĉkih pristupa u saznavanju i unapreĊivanju pedago&scaron;ke stvarnosti, kao i da se ukaţe na mogućnosti i probleme kombinovanja kvalitativnih i kvantitativnih metoda u prouĉavanju odreĊenih pedago&scaron;kih problema. U prvom delu rada, razmatraju se teorijske pretpostavke koje leţe u osnovi kvalitativnih istraţivaĉkih pristupa, predstavljajući ih kao kritiĉke i kao komplementarne kvantitativnim pristupima. Diskutujemo o posebnim pitanjima koja smatramo vaţnim za polje kvalitativnog pedago&scaron;kog diskursa: o kriterijumima nauĉnosti, strategijama formiranja uzorka i relevantnosti ovih istraţivanja za praksu i planiranje obrazovne politike. Detaljnije su razmotrena tri kvalitativna istraţivaĉka pristupa: studija sluĉaja, etnografski pristup i akciono istraţivanje, odnosno dometi i ograniĉenja primene ovih pristupa u prouĉavanju pedago&scaron;kih fenomena. Na kraju prvog dela rada, raspravljamo o mogućnostima i ograniĉenjima istraţivaĉkih nacrta u kojima se kombinuju kvalitativne i kvantitativne metode. U drugom delu rada, na primeru na&scaron;eg akcionog istraţivanja u osnovnoj &scaron;koli ilustrujemo doprinos ovog pristipa saznavanju i menjanju pedago&scaron;ke stvarnosti. Reĉ je o razvijanju i evaluaciji alternativnog programa razredne nastave, ĉija je jedna od osnovnih karakteristika primena grupno-istraţivaĉkog modela uĉenja. U istraţivaĉkom nacrtu kombinovani su kvalitativni i kvantitativni postupci i tehnike za prikupljanje podataka. Detaljnije je prikazan deo rezultata istraţivanja koji se odnosi na primenu grupno-istraţivaĉkog rada uĉenika u nastavi na tematski organizovanim nastavnim sadrţajima Poznavanja dru&scaron;tva u ĉetvrtom razredu, kao ilustracija mogućnosti akcionog istraţivanja da doprinese lak&scaron;em uvoĊenju inovacija u pedago&scaron;ku praksu. U tom smislu, kao poseban doprinos istraţivanja, dajemo predlog za izmene u programskim sadrţajima ovog predmeta i pristupima za njihovo izuĉavanje.</p> / <p>The goal of this paper is to point out to the advantages and limitations of qualitative research approaches in learning about and advancing the pedagogical reality, as well as to point out to the possibilities and problems of combining qualitative and quantitative methods in studying certain pedagogical problems. In the first part of the paper, we discuss theoretical assumptions underlying qualitative research approaches, presenting them as critical and complementary to quantitative approaches. We discuss special issues that we consider important for the field of qualitative pedagogical discourse: the criteria of scientific nature, the strategies for sample formation and relevance of these types of research for practice and planning of educational policy. Three qualitative research approaches have been considered in more detail: case study, ethnographic approach and action research, that is, the scope and limitations of application of these approaches in studying pedagogical phenomena. In the end of the first part of the paper, we discuss the possibilities and limitations of research designs that combine qualitative and quantitative methods. In the second part of the paper, on the example of our action research in primary school, we illustrate the contribution of this approach to learning about and changing the pedagogical reality. We are dealing with the development and evaluation of an alternative program of primary school, which has as one of its basic characteristics the application of group-investigation model of learning. This research design combines qualitative and quantitative procedures and data collection techniques. There is a more detailed presentation of that portion of research results that refers to the application of group-investigation work of pupils in class on topically organised teaching contents of Social Science in the fourth grade, as an illustration of the possibilities of action research to contribute to the easier introduction of innovations in educational practice. In that sense, as a special contribution of this research, we provide a suggestion for changes in program contents of this subject and approaches to their studying.</p>

This thesis develops a new way of engaging emotion in a large organisation and develops a new form of organisational practice entitled “Reflective Emotional Practitioning.” The thesis argues that the concept of emotional intelligence as accepted in organisations represses rather than embraces emotion. The conceptual framework centres the inquiry on the problem of organisational power as an obstacle to the creative harnessing of emotion at work. The thesis reverses the organisations’ centralised power by placing the individual at the centre so that the individual learns to reflect upon and embrace emotion in collective and self inquiry, and demonstrates how this may lead to creative and ethical work. The thesis is divided into two parts: in the first, the author carried out action research workshops on emotional intelligence and performance management, but it became clear that power was an issue, repressing emotions. But through reflection this became a turning point after the author engaged in deep self-reflection in meditative supervisions, writing and reflective practice. This enabled the author to process experience into a methodological shift towards a self-ethnography and research action applied to the work situation in what became called Reflective Emotional Practitioning (REP). The REP model was used as a tool to venture further on a visceral pathway, uncovering the author’s relationship with emotion. The author began to recognise that the self and the other could be held in reflexive practice and writing. In the second part evidence comes through further vignettes representing the author’s pathway and shone a light on a dialogical process between the self and others. Freedom and space were revealed and the research began to demonstrate the inner- and outer-selves working through emotion. Through this process emotion became conceptualised as “felt energy”. Felt energy was triggered by the outer world, but also a place of knowing from which further action could be taken, and then further reflected upon. The reflexive writing process used vignettes to illustrate how emotion was engaged, fed back and stored as a “return to the self” in a continual learning process. Through illuminating a new way of both conceptualising and working with emotions, the author shows how, over several years of reflective practice, the method underpinned some major innovative and sustainable work projects. The thesis concludes by defining the contribution of this research as a transferable approach that can engage emotion in self-empowered actions within an organisation’s power regime. The contribution is to both methodology and knowledge about the way emotion is experienced, used and conceptualised, although the author acknowledges and discusses the difficulty of producing knowledge through writing the self, particularly within the confines of a large public sector organisation. However, the struggle to write the self has produced a rich text that conveys the possibilities of transferring the approach for other organisational researchers and reflective practitioners engaging emotion in their different personal and organisational contexts.

The 1980s saw an increase in learning support assistants (LSAs’) in colleges for further education to support post-sixteen learners with learning difficulties and disabilities (LDD). LSAs’ were appointed on an ad hoc basis with little or no experience, or relevant qualifications to deliver support in ‘inclusive’ vocational classrooms. The Workforce Development Plan in 2004 acknowledged this phenomenon and advocated that occupational standards be developed. Two years later, in October 2006, the first National Occupational Standards (NOS) for college LSAs was launched but it did not include an official training framework for their professional learning and although there are some training structures in place, this still remains the case today. Learners with LDD are, therefore, still supported by untrained LSAs’ who are not professionally equipped to deal with the particular challenges they present. Educators like myself who work alongside LSAs’ in colleges, must seek to naturalistically explore professional learning opportunities to enhance their knowledge and skills. Such professional learning opportunities should reflect the creative and dynamic contribution college LSAs’ bring to inclusive classrooms and, thereby, not only improve the quality of the support LSAs’ give but the overall integrative, ethical and non-discriminative ethos of a college. With this knowledge, I developed and implemented an Enhanced Learning Support Assistant Programme (ELSAP) for the professional learning of volunteer LSA participants with the aim of improving their knowledge and skills to deliver a more meaningful education for postsixteen learners with LDD. For the acquisition of new knowledge and skills, professional learning for LSAs’ needs to occur systemically over time and be integrated within the multilayered context of a college to allow dynamic and reciprocal influences to make transformative connections. Critically, my action research study strengthens the connection between socio-political theory and practice within the sociology of disability education on moral, ethical and human rights grounds.

Disproportionately high numbers of Black people use mental health services and experience involuntary treatment in the UK. There is no simple explanation, but research and policy suggest that groups run by and for Black people with mental health problems provide valued support. This study asks how community development (CD) practice can help these groups to develop and thrive. The research adopted an action research framework to develop four cycles of research, each informing the next, within a social constructivist paradigm. Methods were mainly qualitative: interviews, group discussions and observation, with a questionnaire survey in cycle one. This asked CD practitioners about their activities and helped to identify two groups for case studies in cycles two and three. During the case studies, groups received development support on their chosen topic while participating in qualitative research; activities were clearly demarcated. Reflective field notes added to the data. In the fourth cycle reflective conversations with eminent ‘critical friends’ refined and affirmed the learning. Thematic analysis was continuous and progressive. Findings suggest that CD practitioners can inspire and help Black people with mental health problems to come together in member-led, mutually supportive groups, justifying Black-only membership. Effective practitioners, especially Black role models, helped groups to generate self-belief and self-efficacy through collective action, enabling members to change their status, services and community. Those practitioners who demonstrated critical humility, commitment and competence broke the pattern of racial and psychiatric dominance. Others inadvertently reinforced societal oppression. A new concept is introduced to encapsulate the learning: the ‘liberation approach’ to CD which synthesises four perspectives: radical CD, mental health recovery, Black self-help and liberation theories. This approach helps groups to challenge oppressive processes, breaking the mould in which they feel constrained. The study contributes new theory, evidence and research methodology about CD and self-organising groups within this context.

Recovery is a new concept positing that people with schizophrenia can lead fulfilling, satisfying, and productive lives. Family carers often play a helpful but largely unacknowledged role in the support of service users with schizophrenia, and the nature of their contribution to and their role in recovery has hitherto not been investigated. This original PhD explores whether learning about the recovery approach through participation in a training intervention changes the way carers view recovery, whether they find the concept helpful, whether it modifies their behaviour, and their evaluation of the intervention. A participatory action research methodology was applied in this study, actively supported by a steering group consisting of different stakeholders. Training on the recovery approach was delivered to a group of eleven carers to explore their response to the recovery concept. The training programme was delivered by me and a carer, utilising my personal experience as a service user with the diagnosis of schizophrenia. Focus groups and individual, semi-structured follow-up interviews were applied to assess self-reported changes in attitudes and behaviours. Mainly qualitative data were collected with supplementary socio-demographic data. The analysis of the qualitative data suggests that being more ‘recovery-aware’ gives carers increased hope and optimism for their own and the service user’s future. Greater awareness of the impact of caring upon the service user’s life helps them to begin to care in such a way as to promote recovery in the service user, and gain more confidence in their own expertise-by-caring. Professionals have a key role to play in recovery, a three-cornered partnership between the carer, professionals and the service user is desirable. The carers evaluated the training programme as helpful, and particularly valued its authenticity as it was led by a service user and carer trainers. Conclusions suggest that recovery is a helpful concept for carers. It shows that learning about recovery helps them to care more effectively for the service user and for themselves. It suggests the usefulness of developing a recovery concept for carers based on reconciliation of their caring identity, their caring role and their relationships with the service user and professionals. Recovery for the service user and for the carer requires support from professionals, based on a partnership service model, a contribution to the development of recovery practice. The training programme is a useful way of conveying the hope in recovery and is strengthened by the service user perspective of recovery.

The Church of England is living through a time of significant change in attitudes towards local church ministry, congregational participation and pastoral practices. As it seeks to respond with integrity to changes in contemporary society the Church’s dialogue with empirical social research is beginning to develop more fully. This thesis focuses on a pioneer national project to explore the effectiveness of pastoral ministry in contemporary church weddings. The social science research methods used in this project revealed insights into the ministry of contemporary church weddings with the intention of shaping responsive parochial wedding policies. This thesis considers the potential for further local enquiry by individual marrying clergy to understand the ordinary theology (proposed by Astley) of their communities using methods of ordinary research alongside a shared reflective practice. It highlights the socio-theological interface within reflective empirical theology by pastoral practitioners in the Church. A model of participatory action research incorporating online clergy forums and change agent groups is explored to stimulate parochial and institutional change among clergy in partnership with each other. The role of priest researchers is proposed and identified in other pastoral contexts to examine factors that motivate clergy to participate in the development of pastorally responsive national policies. A methodology of personal diaries, focus groups and one to one interviews is used to explore the responses of clergy to participating in reflective praxis. The findings point to key factors in developing pastoral practice and policies involving the place of ministerial development and attitudes towards collaborative working. A typology of pastoral ministry is developed towards identifying priest researchers in the Church. The research affirms the contribution of pastoral practitioners towards the development of pastorally responsive national policies but the nature of parochial deployment and clergy relationships with each other and the Church institutions frequently preclude much of this contribution.

Women’s lived experiences of abuse and depression are examined within the context of gendered and racialized pathways to incarceration among 403 women randomly selected from a diagnostic unit in a state prison. This study utilizes feminist action research and community psychological methods to understand what factors predict incarcerated women’s placement on the mental health caseload and provides quantitative support for the pathways theoretical framework. Findings indicate that, among the sample, the prevalence of abuse experiences prior to incarceration exceeded 90%, prevalence of mental health problems exceeded 70%, and less than 35% were receiving mental health care. Being Caucasian, experiencing depression and suicidal ideation, and serving time for certain types of (non-violent, non-property, and non-drug related) crime (e.g., cruelty to children, prostitution, public order, “technicals,” and others) predicted the placement of women on the mental health caseload. Implications for trauma-informed, anti-racist, gender-responsive policies and interventions are discussed.

Teaching speaking is an area of language education which is frequently neglected in English classes in Turkey. This dissertation reports on an action research study designed to address this problem. The study involved data collection through interviews, questionnaires, and observations, as a way of eliciting students’ views as a means to improve speaking classes and to outline the impact of student negotiation on students’ classroom participation and performance. The research, conducted in the ELT Department at a university in Turkey, comprised three different stages. In the first reconnaissance phase, initial data were collected to understand the classroom context. This informed the second stage, comprising eight weekly-based interventions that involved planning, action, observation and reflection, in which students were given a voice and classroom activities were designed accordingly. In the third stage, the final data were collected to understand the effectiveness of student negotiation. According to the findings, students wanted more opportunities to practise spoken language in class. Student negotiation allowed for the design of classes according to students’ needs and wants, with students becoming more motivated to engage in classroom activities. This led to the development of more positive attitudes towards speaking classes, and more positive perceptions of their speaking ability were reported at the end of the term, together with increased classroom participation, greater willingness to communicate, higher self-esteem, and lower levels of anxiety. The findings also suggested that student negotiation is likely to impact on students’ and teachers’ professional development. The study has a number of implications for both the teaching of speaking and for research: it demonstrates the significance of student engagement in classroom activities, made possible through designing activities which take into account students’ views and perceptions. Student negotiation and attention to students’ needs and wants would appear to promote a high level of student participation, increased motivation and more positive attitudes towards speaking classes. Further research studies, and specifically, more action research, should be conducted in Turkey to generate practical implications to improve classroom practice.

One of the most pressing challenges facing the world today is how to sustainably feed a growing population while conserving the ecosystem services we depend on. Coffee landscapes are an important site for research on agrifood systems because they reflect global-scale dynamics surrounding conservation and livelihood development. Within them, we find both what is broken in our global agrifood system, as well as the grassroots struggles that strive to change the system by building socio-ecologically resilient, sustainable livelihoods. Research shows that smallholder shade coffee farmers steward high biodiversity and provide essential ecosystem services. At the same time, studies in the last decade demonstrate that many smallholder coffee farmers in Mesoamerica suffer annual periods of seasonal hunger, as well as pervasive poverty. This dissertation explores household livelihood strategies, with a particular emphasis on agroecology, and how they can contribute to build sustainable systems that secure food and maintain biodiversity in coffee communities of Chiapas, Mexico. Research was conducted using a mixed methods approach, which included the collection of quantitative and qualitative socio-ecological data through focus groups, surveys, semi-structured interviews, participant observation and plant inventories. Surveys were conducted with 79 households in 11 communities, all located within the buffer zone of a biosphere reserve. A stratified random sample of 31 households from these 79 were surveyed again to collect more in-depth data, including the collection of biophysical data in their subsistence and coffee land use systems. The following research questions were explored: 1) What are the major ecological, social, economic, and political drivers of seasonal hunger? 2) What is the relationship between agrobiodiversity (plant and livestock diversity) and food security (months of adequate household food provisioning and dietary diversity)? 3) What household livelihood assets and strategies contribute to or limit food security and food sovereignty? Across the sample population, total agrobiodiversity and maize and bean production were strongly correlated with improved food security. Coffee income was not strongly correlated with improved food security, which suggests that income is used for priorities within the household other than food, despite seasonal food shortages. Results demonstrate the importance of balancing subsistence and commodity (i.e. coffee) production in these communities, where subsistence food serves as a risk management strategy to buffer against volatility in coffee prices, in addition to offsetting income that might be used for food towards non-food expenses. Subsistence production, which typically applies agroecological practices in this site, also holds important cultural and environmental value. The results of this research indicate that government policy and development practice should enable farmers to maintain the social, ecological and cultural processes that support the management of agrobiodiversity for subsistence and coffee.