The issue of special education in the United States has been a contentious issue, at best, for the past 40 years. In Ontario, to a lesser extent, there have been issues of equal access to education for minoritized and racialized students. Special education in the Toronto area has not been without its issues surrounding parental advocacy, the use of assessments, and disproportionate number of English Language Learners in special education. This project examines how racialized and minoritized families understand special education practices and policies, specifically within the Toronto, York, Peel, and Halton Regions. The investigation is informed by nine interviews with students in grades 7 to 12, their respective mothers, and five special education administrators and educators. Students and parents identified themselves as Black, Latino/a, and South Asian. Within these categories, parents identified themselves as Somali, Trinidadian, Jamaican, and Punjabi-Sikh. Students were identified with a range of disabilities including learning, behavioural, and/or intellectual. This research focuses on ways to interrogate and examine the experiences of minoritized students and their parents by bringing forward otherwise silenced voices and understanding what it means to “speak out” against the process of identification and placement in special education. The findings of this investigation suggest a disconnect how policies and practices are implemented, and how, parents’ rights are understood. In particular, policies are inconsistently applied and are subject to the interpretation of educators and administrators, especially in relation to parental involvement and how much information should be released to families. The issue of language acquisition being read as a disability was also a noted concern. This investigation points to implications for teacher education programs, gaps in parental advocacy and notions of parental participation within schools, and re-examining special education assessments, practices, and policies.

This thesis analyses the fabled public exchange of letters that occurred between political theorist Hannah Arendt and historian of Jewish religion Gershom Scholem in 1964 following the historic trial of Adolf Eichmann and Arendt's subsequent publication of her report of the event, Eichmann in Jerusalem. The thesis covers the historical issues that form the contextual background to the exchange. It involves the introduction of the two participants as defining Jewish intellectuals of the past century, the course of the trial itself and the political and ideological problems it entailed as well as the turbulent history of the reception of Arendt's book. It is down to these four factors that guaranteed the eminence of the exchange of letters analysed in the thesis. Oft-quoted as the exchange is, there has been no proper analysis of it to this date. To accomplish this task, the thesis adopts the theoretical-methodological framework of discourse analysis in general, and the version of rhetorically oriented discursive psychology, proposed mainly in the publications of Potter and Wetherell (1987) and Billig (1996), in particular. This approach allows the thesis to provide a fine-grained analysis of the various ways of textual construction. Firstly, the ways examined concern the significance, worth and value of the debate itself, as formulated by both of the participants. Secondly, they involve the construction of the attempt to establish definite versions of the content of the book. Thirdly, they cover the textual acts of accounting for that content, or the practice of misinterpretation of that content, respectively. What all these three aspects have in common is the positioning of the problems touched upon in a moral and political context, and ultimately approaching them in terms of the identities of the participants. In this sense, versions of the events and ways of accounting for it will not only aim at producing accurate descriptions of events but in the forms of an implied morality or politics an implied "action-plan" for the future as well. The construction of Arendt and Scholem is, hence, analysed in terms of its argumentative organisation in order to undermine the other's counterversion and to establish its own as the definite one. While, structurally, there are many similarities in the two letters, what distinguishes them is that they conceive of their objects (i.e. the text), subject positions, and political or moral values according to which they should be assessed in quite diametrically opposite ways. This thesis not only registers the various rhetorical ways the participants fashion their versions as definite ones, but also accounts for the differences in their contents.

No description available.

This thesis used fifty hours of naturally occurring video and audio taped data from the ‘weigh-in' section of four commercial weight management groups in the East Midlands of England. This thesis is a discursive psychological and conversation analytic investigation of the turn-taking organization of the talk, examining what the group leaders and members make relevant in their talk about food and dieting. The data was transcribed using the Jeffersonian method. Group members attend the group weekly, and are weighed - their weight gain, loss or maintenance is recorded on a membership card. The analytic chapters follow the format of the ‘weigh-in' section of the meeting exploring firstly how the group leaders and members manage the practices of getting ready to be weighed; then how the ‘news' of weight gain, loss or maintenance is told and receipted; before exploring how ‘advice-giving' is constructed and the final analytic chapter deals with the issues of morality and accountability in the leaders' and members' talk. Analysis shows that the ‘pre-weigh in practices' involved before the group members are weighed consists of two robust patterns, 1) the practice of getting undressed is not oriented to by either the group members or group leaders and the group leaders avoided direct eye contact and concerned themselves with other business or 2) when no undressing practices took place, the group leaders were much more comfortable with direct eye contact. These sequences show how the body and its practices are constructed in particular ways within, and as part of the practices of getting ready to be weighed. Analysis showed the telling and receipting of weight news gets done differently depending on whether the group members have gained, lost or maintained weight. When the news concerned weight gain, the sequence included a ‘pre-announcement' and the news TCU was punctuated with marked trouble. When the news concerned weight loss, only the group members produced a pre-account and the news TCU contained no marked trouble. Finally, when the group members had maintained weight, the news TCU was delivered bluntly, and there was no evidence of trouble. In relation to advice-giving, analysis showed that group members repeatedly worked to assert their epistemic priority to avoid having to acknowledge the advice and the advice was receipted minimally. Finally, analysis showed that group members produced accounts with reference to a moral evaluation, such as blame or culpability. Sometimes an account was produced to circumvent being held publicly accountable for the event or action. It became apparent that both the group leaders and group members could not orient to themselves, their behaviour or food without it being constructed within a moral or accountable framework. Therefore, the thesis is an exploration of how group leaders and members manage the ‘dieting-practices' involved in getting weighed in a commercial weight management group and how using DP and CA can show the intricate turn by turn organization of such practices.

Den här uppsatsen handlar om hur rapporteringen om registrerat partnerskap och könsneutralt äktenskap i svensk dagspress såg ut under perioden 1 januari till 31 mars 1995 respektive 1 maj till 31 juli 2009. Genom att jämföra hur samkönade relationer, äktenskap och familjebildning gestaltas i texterna under de båda tidsperioderna, har syftet varit att undersöka huruvida rapporteringen har förändrats i riktning mot en mer tolerant diskurs. Studiens frågeställningar rör bland annat förekomsten av olika former av uttryck för diskursiv diskriminering i texterna samt andelen positiva/negativa uttalanden. Studien utgår från ett socialkonstruktionistiskt perspektiv, och betraktar de dagliga medierna som betydelsefulla agenter när det gäller att befästa eller utmana diskurser om vad som betraktas som normalt avseende olika sociala grupper. 341 artiklar i svensk dagspress har undersökts med hjälp av kvantitativ innehållsanalys. Tjugo artiklar har också valts ut för en kritisk diskursanalys baserad på Norman Faircloughs modell och Kristina Boréus typologi över diskursiv diskriminering. Resultatet visar att negativa uttalanden om samkönade relationer inte är lika vanliga 2009 som de var 1995, och att representationerna har förändrats i riktning mot en större mångfald när det gäller könsfördelning såväl som olika former av sexuell orientering. Samma mönster kan ses när det gäller negativ andrafiering och förslag som pekar mot negativ särbehandling av samkönade par, vilka inte är lika vanliga 2009 som de var 1995. Den övergripande slutsatsen är att dagspressens rapportering om samkönade relationer har förändrats i riktning mot en mer tolerant diskurs. / This study examines the coverage of registered partnership and same-sex marriage inSwedish daily newspapers at two periods of time; 1995-01-01–1995-03-31 and 2009-05-01–2009-07-31. By comparisons between the representations of same-sex couples and the construction of the concept of marriage and family during the two periods, the aim has been to analyse whether the coverage of the topic has changed towards a more tolerant discourse. The questions raised concern for example the presence of different forms of discursive discrimination in the texts, and the frequency of positive/negative statements. The study is based on a social constructive perspective, and the assumption that the daily newspapers are important agents when it comes to maintaining or contesting the discourse on what is regarded as normal concerning different social groups. 341 articles in Swedish newspapers have been analysed using quantitative content analysis, and twenty articles have been selected for a critical discourse analysis based on Norman Fairclough’s approach and Kristina Boréu’s typology of discursive discrimination. The results show that negative statements about same-sex relations are less frequent in the texts 2009 compared to 1995 , and that the representations have changed towards a larger diversity concerning female and male same-sex couples as well as regarding different sexual orientations. The same pattern applies to negative other-presentation and proposals pointing towards unfavourable treatment of same-sex couples, which are not as visible in the daily newspapers in 2009 that it was in 1995. The overall conclusion is that the media coverage about same-sex couples has changed towards a more tolerant discourse.

The study aimed to investigate the characterization of unaccompanied child refuges in two of Sweden’s leading newspapers by analyzing the rhetoric used in publications. The empirical material was collected from Aftonbladet and Expresses’s databases and was limited to 50 electronically published leaders, debate and news articles for the period of September 2015 up to February 2016. The empirical analysis was based on Norman Fairclough’s interpretation of critical discourse analysis, CDA and the theoretical discourse concept of power, knowledge and stigma. The result of the study showed two recurring themes within the discourse of unaccompanied child refugees titled “victim” and “prisoner”. Description within the themes portrayed the children as exposed, affected and involuntary addicts as well as criminal, violent and threatening. The portrayal of the children effected human perception, attitudes and actions toward the group. Media is described to have an undeniable impact on the creation of human perceptions, believes and attitudes. By doing so, the portrayal of children as perpetrators can have a negative impact on human processes, which however can be altered by nuances given to the subject by the portrayal of the children as victims.

The theoretical movement known under the heading of posthumanism has entered the academic field. Posthumanisms most prominent feature is to retrieve the concept of matter into the analytical framework. Matter is understood to be under-theorized within the social sciences as a result of the permeative focus upon language and discourse. A prevailing understanding of posthumanism that has been used within educational science and philosophy thus consists of moving the searchlight from language/discourse onto matter. Notably, these scholars are turning to the philosopher Karen Barad in order to spell out their posthumanistic implications. The aim of the thesis is to give an account of the philosophy of Karen Barad in contrast to other prevailing renderings of her. The analysis is carried out using a contrastive methodological approach. In this study I demonstrate how my reading of Barad differs from the scholarly readings that I choose to engage with. The results show that with an alternative conceptual understanding of Barad’s posthumanistic theory the analysis is being steered towards the entanglement of matter and discourse rather than towards the materialistic components of a posed problem. In addition, the results also show how a focus on the ontological underpinnings of Barad’s theoretical framework can give crucial contributions when it comes to understanding the generative conditions of science and knowledge-making.

Mémoire numérisé par la Division de la gestion de documents et des archives de l'Université de Montréal.

This thesis examines interactions between professionals and children who have been identified as having social, emotional, and behavioural difficulties (SEBD). More specifically, this thesis examines video-recorded interactions that take place during the delivery of two interventions: one-to-one pastoral care within a primary school, and group coaching for children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Using conversation analysis (CA) and discursive psychology (DP) these data were analysed to identify the ways in which professionals package and deliver their support, and manage psychological notions to do with the self, or what I call self-work - moments within the interactions when children are supported to talk about their emotions, feelings, and behaviour in order to help them make sense of the difficulties they are experiencing; and moments within the interaction when children are given the skills and knowledge they need to manage, change, or overcome those difficulties. The main findings from this thesis are that support and self-work are not taken-for-granted outcomes simply achieved because children attend intervention programmes. Instead, support and self-work are packaged and delivered through ordinary conversational practices. Chapter 4 shows how encouraging self-assessment supports a child s agency and participation to construct a more positive version of their self. Chapter 5 respecifies reassurance as an interactional practice to show how it works to prevent the emotional affect of a child s personal troubles becoming internalised and self-imposed. Chapter 6 shows how questions promote the collaborative building of knowledge, and how person references normalise and unpathologise emotions often bound to ADHD constructs. The findings from this thesis demonstrate applicability to both research and practice by offering a unique insight into the interactional environments of pastoral care and coaching. Firstly, by examining the interactional landscapes of these two interventions Chapter 3 provides a rich overview of pastoral care and coaching activities to show how these interventions are accomplished as real life activities. Secondly, by examining the conversational practices through which pastoral care and coaching are delivered this thesis respecifies everyday notions of support and self-work as members situated actions, and in so doing furthers our knowledge and understanding of these somewhat abstract notions. Such findings are valuable because interventions are informed by theoretical guidelines that recommend children experiencing difficulty can be helped if they are supported to understand their difficulties and to develop a more positive sense of self. However, such guidelines offer little in terms of how such recommendations should be put into practice by the professionals working with children. This research uncovers some of the ways in which theoretical recommendations are delivered via interactional practices, to make visible members methods for delivering support and managing self-work . The need for this work to be done is that support and self-work are performed as much through the ways in which professionals deliver their interventions, as it is through the content of those interventions.

Thèse numérisée par la Direction des bibliothèques de l'Université de Montréal.