Favelas are Brazilian informal housing settlements that are areas of concentrated poverty. In Rio de Janeiro, favelas are perceived as areas of heightened criminal activity and violence, and residents experience discrimination, and little access to quality education and employment opportunities. In this context, hundreds of non-formal educational arts and leisure programs work to build the self-esteem and identity of youth in Rio’s favelas as a way of preventing the youth from negative local influences. The Morrinho organization, located in the Pereira da Silva favela in Rio, uses art as a way for the local male youth to communicate their lived reality. This study used a visual critical ethnographic methodology to describe the way in which the Morrinho participants interpret living in a favela. Seventeen semi-structured interviews with young men aged 15 to 29, the feature-length documentary film on the organization, 206 researcher produced documentary style photographs of the Morrinho artwork, and the researcher’s field notes were analyzed. Truth claims, ways of seeing as communicated through words and actions, were induced through a cyclical process of reconstructive horizon analysis that incorporated the societal context and critical theory. The participants communicated their concerns about life in a favela; however, they did not describe their societal positions in terms of complete marginalization. They named multiple benefits of living in Pereira da Silva, discussed positive and negative experiences in school, and described ways they circumvented discrimination. Morrinho as an organization was described as an enthralling game and a social project that benefited dozens of local youth. Character development was a valuable result of participation at Morrinho. The Morrinho artwork communicates a nuanced vision of both benevolent and violent social actors, and counters the overwhelmingly negative dominant characterization of Rio de Janeiro’s favelas. This study has implications for an inclusive critical pedagogy and the use of art as a means to facilitate a transformative education. Further research is recommended to explore terminology used to refer to favelas, and perceptions that favela residents have of their experiences in public education.

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This dissertation documents a critical-ethnographic-action-research (CEAR) project conducted in two elementary schools in Oaxaca, Mexico, with the collaboration of one language teacher educator and ten language student teachers. The two schools have a diverse student body composed of mestizo children and children from different Indigenous groups. The CEAR Project challenged historical and societal ideologies that position Indigenous children as deficient learners and their translanguaging and multiliteracies practices as inappropriate for schools. The CEAR Project was also a response to a world phenomenon that associates English with “development” and economic success and Indigenous and “minoritized” languages with backwardness marginalization. The CEAR Project’s purpose was to use the student teachers’ English language praxicum in order to: (a) develop elementary school teaching expertise, (b) co-construct affirming identities among all the participants, (c) foster multilingual, multiliteracies, and intercultural practices, and (d) dialogue with the children in order to change pejorative ideologies that regard certain languages, literacies, and cultures as better than others. The Transformative Multiliteracies Pedagogy developed by Cummins (in press) and critical pedagogies theory (Freire, 1970; Norton & Toohey, 2004) informed the CEAR Project and the data collected through classroom observations, semi-structured interviews, and children’s work samples. Using narrative, photos, and videos, this dissertation presents the migratory lives, the families, and the language and literacy practices of 50 children, and their views regarding the English language and Indigenous languages and peoples. It portrays the vivid critical moments and changes that occurred in the praxicum as the children became teachers and linguists. Through the construction of identity texts and the translanguaging and multiliteracies practices that the student teachers and the children engaged in, stories emerge that portray them as the intelligent, creative, and genuine individuals that they really are. This dissertation also documents how the children’s complex lives challenged constructs such as “family” and “Indigenous,” and the new Mexican educational policy that brings English into public elementary schools using a generic English software. It is concluded that every policy, theory, social construct, pedagogy, and curriculum should be challenged on a daily basis if we are truly to serve the ever-evolving diverse classrooms of today.

This thesis seeks to understand and improve the effectiveness of partnerships formed by industry, community and government members of natural resource management (NRM) groups. The increasing popularity of partnership-based approaches to NRM is reflected in the rise of landcare, catchment management and other social mobilisation approaches throughout Australia and overseas. This thesis uses critical ethnographic methods to identify the characteristics of effective NRM partnerships and the factors influencing their effectiveness. This research also investigates appropriate methods for evaluating the effectiveness of such relationships and for determining when working in partnership with others may be the most appropriate response to a given NRM problem and context. The critical intent of the study means that it sought not only to understand the nature of such issues but also sought to enlighten and empower participants to improve the practice of partnerships in natural resource management. These characteristics and factors are analysed from three perspectives: the coordinators employed to broker and facilitate community-based NRM groups, the groups themselves and individual group members. This was done in order to reflect the importance of the continuous (re)negotiation of power that characterises long-term group relationships. It also enabled theories of power, cultural transformation, citizen participation, social capital and social learning to be used in the analysis of the NRM partnerships investigated in this study. These concepts were used to develop three tools for analysing NRM partnerships: a pendulum of citizen participation, an NRM citizen participation decision tree, and an NRM partnership typology. The study is based upon the analysis of nineteen cases, predominantly in South East Queensland, which were selected as examples of successful and effective NRM partnerships on the basis of referrals from regional managers and coordinators from State and Local Government. The research design was 'T' shaped, with Phase 1 of the study providing breadth through the analysis of fifteen partnerships. Depth was achieved in Phases 2 and 3. Phase 2 was a long-term ethnographic case study of one catchment management group while Phase 3 comprised a detailed analysis of three issue-specific partnerships formed by this group. These three phases concentrated on the viewpoint of coordinators, NRM groups and participants, respectively. Data on each of the nineteen cases were collected through interviews, field observations, workshops, document analyses and a short questionnaire. Data were analysed qualitatively. All data records were systematically coded to reveal themes and concepts relating to the research objectives from the viewpoints of coordinators, NRM groups and participants. Coding also revealed implications for governments seeking to enter into or to facilitate partnerships with others. The coding and interpretation of this data revealed a suite of twelve characteristics typical of effective natural resource management partnerships. These fell into five groups: (i) definitional characteristics (relating to effectiveness and shared power and responsibility) (ii) relationship characteristics (focusing on social capital building processes; communication; processes for knowledge acquisition and social learning; shared values, intent, action and risk-taking) (iii) participant characteristics (high levels of motivation and realistic expectations); (iv) a context characteristic (that the context is appropriate for a partnership) and (v) an 'outsider' perception characteristic (that the partnership is perceive positively by outsiders). A comparative analysis of cases reveals that only one of the nineteen cases exhibited all twelve characteristics. Importantly, three of these characteristics are not mentioned in the literature reviewed for this thesis. Two of these, share values and shared intent are relationship characteristics. Study findings emphasise that effective NRM partnerships are built on good personal relationships, based on shared values and intent. The third new characteristic is that people outside the partnership should perceive the relationship favourably. Since funds and other resources may be under the control of people outside a partnership, it is important that participants are able to effectively communicate their shared values and intent to others. Five factors were found to be significant in the development of effective partnerships (i) the need for participants and those brokering partnerships to realize that effective partnerships are built on positive personal relationships in which (ii) participants have high levels of motivation for being involved, particularly early in the relationship. The study further revealed that such relationships: (iii) need to be supported by a continuity of adequate funding and resources and (iv) the services of skilled, enthusiastic coordinators who (v) enjoy and are skilled at working in 'grey areas', the constantly changing social and organizational environment that is typical of NRM groups. These findings of the study are synthesized through a critical ethnography which depicts three years in the life of a typical, yet hypothetical, NRM group, the Armstrong Narrows-Yarooba Catchment Management Group (ANY Group). Based on the literature review and the analysis of results from this study, this composite story protects the anonymity of those who have participated in this research. Each of the three vignettes that make up this story contains two sections -As it was and As it could be. This 'double take approach' highlights the critical nature of the ethnography, emphasising how the development of collaborations and partnerships among members of NRM groups may be improved and evaluated. Coordinators, NRM group members and agencies supporting their efforts may use this ethnography as a basis for reflection and deliberation on the development of effective partnerships in natural resource management. Recommendations for how different stakeholders in NRM partnerships may develop the effectiveness of the partnerships they form are provided.

This dissertation documents a critical-ethnographic-action-research (CEAR) project conducted in two elementary schools in Oaxaca, Mexico, with the collaboration of one language teacher educator and ten language student teachers. The two schools have a diverse student body composed of mestizo children and children from different Indigenous groups. The CEAR Project challenged historical and societal ideologies that position Indigenous children as deficient learners and their translanguaging and multiliteracies practices as inappropriate for schools. The CEAR Project was also a response to a world phenomenon that associates English with “development” and economic success and Indigenous and “minoritized” languages with backwardness marginalization. The CEAR Project’s purpose was to use the student teachers’ English language praxicum in order to: (a) develop elementary school teaching expertise, (b) co-construct affirming identities among all the participants, (c) foster multilingual, multiliteracies, and intercultural practices, and (d) dialogue with the children in order to change pejorative ideologies that regard certain languages, literacies, and cultures as better than others. The Transformative Multiliteracies Pedagogy developed by Cummins (in press) and critical pedagogies theory (Freire, 1970; Norton & Toohey, 2004) informed the CEAR Project and the data collected through classroom observations, semi-structured interviews, and children’s work samples. Using narrative, photos, and videos, this dissertation presents the migratory lives, the families, and the language and literacy practices of 50 children, and their views regarding the English language and Indigenous languages and peoples. It portrays the vivid critical moments and changes that occurred in the praxicum as the children became teachers and linguists. Through the construction of identity texts and the translanguaging and multiliteracies practices that the student teachers and the children engaged in, stories emerge that portray them as the intelligent, creative, and genuine individuals that they really are. This dissertation also documents how the children’s complex lives challenged constructs such as “family” and “Indigenous,” and the new Mexican educational policy that brings English into public elementary schools using a generic English software. It is concluded that every policy, theory, social construct, pedagogy, and curriculum should be challenged on a daily basis if we are truly to serve the ever-evolving diverse classrooms of today.

abstract: ABSTRACT The purpose of this study is to explore how LDS (Mormon) fans of Stephenie Meyer's Twilight saga make meanings from the text in the blogging community known as the Bloggernacle. It investigates how fans recognize, reflect, reinterpret, and resist meanings surrounding multiple Big "D" Discourses (Gee, 1999/2010; 2011) in and around the text. It examines the ways in which LDS fans (Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) of the Twilight saga use language in order to signify membership in a particular Discourse. In addition, it seeks to understand how LDS fans use language to perform various identities and position themselves and others within the digital space. This dissertation study analyzes the threads of five blogs and three discussion forums using the combined methods of critical ethnography (Carspecken, 1996) and Gee's (1999, 2010;2011) discourse analysis. It concludes, that, while multiple Discourses are present within the conversational threads, mainstream Mormon Discourse remains dominant and normalized within the space, which both informs and limits the interpretations available to Mormon fans. In addition, identity performance is negotiated in the blogs, and members form specific sub-communities within the Bloggernacle so as to create a space for those with distinct ways of believing, valuing, knowing, and identifying. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Curriculum and Instruction 2015

Background. Despite the prevalence of sex work and strip clubs across Canadian urban geographies, few studies explore the occupational health and safety outcomes related to indoor male sex work, let alone male stripping whereby men dance for men. Moreover, the sexual service negotiation process in the sex work industry remains to be explored. In knowing that sexual practices with high HIV/STI rates occur in strip clubs (e.g., condomless oral, vaginal, and anal sex), as well as widespread psychoactive substance use among strippers, the purpose of this study was to explore the cultural features of male strippers’ work that impact their health and safety outcomes. Methodology. For this study, we recruited 14 male strippers working with male clients in a Canadian city. Critical ethnography was our espoused methodology. Through field observations, informal conversations, questionnaires, and semi-structured qualitative interviews, we explored the process of sexual transactions between strippers and clients. We used a postmodern angle to interpret our findings through the works of Deleuze, Guattari, and Foucault. Findings. The male strip club is a social matrix produced by the intersection of motivational forces: the motivation to gain money, pleasure, or intimacy, and the motivation to abide by socio-cultural and legal norms. It is upon a matrix of financial necessity and socio-cultural and legal constraints that sex work transactions unfold in the club. Moreover, the club’s health and safety conditions and strippers’ transaction outcomes result from intersecting motivations. Finally, sexual service negotiation is a process of configuring motivational forces between social agents. The motivation for financial gain revealed itself to be the strongest and most consistent force; the focus on capital gain generated asymmetrical connections between strippers, clients, and business entrepreneurs, resulting in specific health and safety outcomes. Conclusion. The Canadian legal and political context surrounding male sex work negatively impacts male strippers’ occupational health and safety conditions by disabling safe connections with clients. Further, the emphasis on money-making activities encourages strippers to value financial gain over their physical and mental integrity. In short, the male strip club work environment is configured in a manner whereby capital gain is prioritized and strippers’ health and safety is undermined.

In dialogue with Critical perspectives in the field of Forced migration, this thesis aims to explore the spaces of „irregularity‟ regarding unaccompanied minors living non-status in the city of Malmö. With a theoretical departure in the ontological ideas of Hanna Arendt and Giorgio Agamben, the perspective of the Autonomy of Migration, and the concepts of „Acts of Citizenship‟, the thesis argues that these spaces are structured by multiple mechanisms of control, such as deportability, racism, poverty and precarity. In addition, the thesis investigates how these structures of control are contested by the minors. As the „irregular‟ subject in its presence challenges the Nation-state „order‟, the study argues that all her or his acts must be interpreted as confrontations. Hence the study aims to highlight the claims of rights and freedoms performed, not only by the minors themselves but also by the social networks surrounding them. The research is built upon fieldwork with non-status minors, asylum rights activists and semi-grass root actors in the spring of 2011 in the city of Malmö. Influenced by Methodological and Epistemological perspectives of Critical Ethnography and Action Research, the thesis also contains a normative requisite to deconstruct and question hegemonies and marginalizing structures.

Examining service providers’ perspectives of barriers and facilitators for immigrant women seeking employment / There are multi-faceted barriers that shape the employment trajectories and economic outcomes of immigrant women in the Canadian labour market. In response to the barriers that immigrant women experience, the Federal government, Immigration, Refugee, and Citizenship Canada (IRCC), have initiated funding towards employment programs for immigrant women. This critical ethnographic study examines the perspectives of ten service providers in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA), in order to identify the barriers and facilitators immigrant women experience within employment services when trying to obtain secure well-paid employment. The data analysis revealed three major themes: the role of funding for employment programs and settlement services, the categorization of immigrant women by skills; and the application of individualized services to meet the needs of immigrant women. Using an intersectional lens, my research highlights that immigrant women experience various challenges to finding, obtaining, and maintaining employment due to the intersection of their social location (e.g. race, gender, immigration status, language, culture, and religion). Service providers mitigate some of these barriers to secure well-paying employment by providing individualized services to meet differential needs of immigrant women. While this approach has led to success in matching some immigrant women to jobs that align with their field of expertise and career goals, service providers are restricted in their ability to meet the full needs of immigrant women due to underfunding and structural barriers. My research reveals that employment services, immigration processes, and labour market practices can (re)produce and maintain the marginalization of immigrant women in the labour market. This paper concludes with some policy recommendations for immigrant-serving employment services and social work practice. / Thesis / Master of Social Work (MSW)