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The purpose of this qualitative study was to examine regular education and special education teacher perceptions of inclusion services in an elementary school setting. In this phenomenological study, purposeful sampling techniques and data were used to conduct a study of inclusion in the elementary schools. In-depth one-to-one interviews with 8 participants were conducted using semistructured format. The 2 research questions were focused on perceptions regarding the practice of inclusion in an elementary school setting, the effectiveness of inclusion, the supports that facilitate inclusion programs, and barriers to successful incorporation of inclusion services. The findings suggest teacher recognition of barriers that interfere with their ability to meet the needs of students with special needs, an understanding that successful inclusion requires teamwork between general and special education providers, and that inclusion in the general education environment may not be appropriate for all students.

Public policy has important implications for the lives of the poor. This dissertation analyzes how three types of policy impact the poor in developing countries. First, tax and transfer systems can benefit many poor while still making some poor worse off, and this phenomenon is overlooked by measures currently used to assess transfers in tandem with the taxes used to pay for them. I show that comparisons of poverty before and after taxes and transfers, as well as measures of horizontal equity and progressivity---which are often used to analyze anti-poverty policies in tandem with the taxes used to pay for them---can fail to capture an important aspect: that a substantial proportion of the poor are made poorer (or non-poor made poor) by the tax and transfer system. I call this fiscal impoverishment, and axiomatically derive a measure of its extent. Second, the government's choice of how to measure poverty---specifically, the choice between a unidimensional (usually income or consumption-based) measure and a multidimensional measure that incorporates other dimensions such as health and education---can affect the strategic interactions between government ministers, leading to changes in the amount of resources spent to alleviate poverty. In a game-theoretic framework, I show that despite introducing free riding, a multidimensional measure usually leads to an increase in total antipoverty spending; antipoverty expenditures can be further increased by publishing partial dimensional indices alongside the scalar multidimensional one. Third, efforts to digitize government transfer programs through savings accounts and debit cards can enable the poor to build trust in financial institutions and save more. I study a natural experiment in which debit cards were rolled out to beneficiaries of a Mexican conditional cash transfer program, who were already receiving their transfers in savings accounts through a government bank. Using a rich combination of administrative and survey data, I find beneficiaries initially used their cards to check their balances and build trust in the bank, after which they used the account to save. Formal and overall savings increased, and this effect was higher for women with low baseline bargaining power who may have the most difficulty saving at home. / Sean Higgins

Cette thèse est composée de deux partie. La partie 1 (chapitre 1, 2 et 3) s’intéresse à la dimension spatiale du phénomène microfinancier. Le chapitre 1 revient sur l’histoire récente du système bancaire indien et plus particulièrement sur sa capacité en termes d’inclusion financière dont nous analysons la distribution spatiale. Dans le chapitre 2, après avoir dressé une histoire du champ microfinancier indien, nous procédons à une analyse de la distribution et de l’évolution de la méthodologie microfinancière dominante en Inde, à savoir, les Self-Help Group. Le chapitre 3 présente une analyse spatiale de l’offre de service d’une institution de microfinance particulière. A cette fin, nous utilisons une base de données unique permettant de suivre l’évolution spatiale d’une institution particulière depuis le début de ses activités. La partie 2 (chapitre 4 et 5) s’intéresse aux limites du financement du secteur agricole par la microfinance et aux aspects politiques de cette dernière. Le chapitre 4 procède à une analyse des déterminants du financement agricole en Inde. En revenant sur la crise microfinancière 2006 en Andhra Pradesh, le chapitre 5 complète nos analyses économétriques par une analyse des acteurs, de leurs motivations et de leurs contraintes afin de mettre à jour la dimension politique de la construction microfinancière. La conclusion explicite la notion de construction donnée en intitulé. L’élaboration des services microfinanciers, leurs diffusions sur le territoire indien ainsi que leurs utilisations, détournements et réappropriations produisent la construction spatiale de la microfinance.

While there is a large body of literature on the subject of inclusion from a student’s perspective in terms of program delivery, little has been written about how minoritized parents are included in special education processes. This critical study examines how minoritized parents – those who are at times disadvantaged because of how they are differentiated within society – are included in and/or excluded from special education in the varying circumstances associated with this process. To delve into the parameters and implementation of special education identification, placement, and program delivery, I spoke with four minoritized parents and one minoritized youth engagement worker. Additionally, I examined codified policies and regulations, in order to consider how individuals interpret and shape the enactment of this policy within school cultures. In recording and coding the stories of minoritized parents, I have found that Ontario’s system of identification, placement, and program delivery presently leads minoritized parents to experience varying degrees of inclusion and/or exclusion. These degrees may be influenced by a number of circumstances, including how knowledge, language, positioning, and philosophy are presented. As outlined in this paper, Ontario’s Ministry of Education, along with school boards across the province, may pursue a number of different change avenues, and these paths will inevitably lead to different outcomes. While some paths may lead to conflict resolution and enriched inclusion, others may intensify situations of exclusion. Any sort of policy change that sets out to transform special education identification, placement, and program delivery along an Inclusion/Exclusion, Transparency/Opaqueness continuum would ultimately have to address a variety of complications. While the two general forces of larger social context and policy complications are addressed in the concluding chapter of the paper, the specific manner in which they materialize cannot be predicted with complete accuracy. Rather than articulating a detailed set of instructions to redesign policy, I hope to generate critical reflection and discussion on the matter of transforming Ontario’s special education model. If special education inclusion is to be enriched in Ontario, change is imperative.

While there is a large body of literature on the subject of inclusion from a student’s perspective in terms of program delivery, little has been written about how minoritized parents are included in special education processes. This critical study examines how minoritized parents – those who are at times disadvantaged because of how they are differentiated within society – are included in and/or excluded from special education in the varying circumstances associated with this process. To delve into the parameters and implementation of special education identification, placement, and program delivery, I spoke with four minoritized parents and one minoritized youth engagement worker. Additionally, I examined codified policies and regulations, in order to consider how individuals interpret and shape the enactment of this policy within school cultures. In recording and coding the stories of minoritized parents, I have found that Ontario’s system of identification, placement, and program delivery presently leads minoritized parents to experience varying degrees of inclusion and/or exclusion. These degrees may be influenced by a number of circumstances, including how knowledge, language, positioning, and philosophy are presented. As outlined in this paper, Ontario’s Ministry of Education, along with school boards across the province, may pursue a number of different change avenues, and these paths will inevitably lead to different outcomes. While some paths may lead to conflict resolution and enriched inclusion, others may intensify situations of exclusion. Any sort of policy change that sets out to transform special education identification, placement, and program delivery along an Inclusion/Exclusion, Transparency/Opaqueness continuum would ultimately have to address a variety of complications. While the two general forces of larger social context and policy complications are addressed in the concluding chapter of the paper, the specific manner in which they materialize cannot be predicted with complete accuracy. Rather than articulating a detailed set of instructions to redesign policy, I hope to generate critical reflection and discussion on the matter of transforming Ontario’s special education model. If special education inclusion is to be enriched in Ontario, change is imperative.

While the arts have gained a more prominent place in inclusive educational settings, inclusive arts programming in the context of community recreation requires further exploration. In my practice I have found that while inclusive arts opportunities are in high-demand, programs that run are typically infrequent and short-term, leaving many potential participants without a space to explore the arts. In this research I undertook a phenomenological inquiry into the experience of ten practitioners providing inclusive arts programs. Practitioners were drawn from Southwestern and Northwestern Ontario, and from a variety of arts-based fields. This exploration examined practitioners’ images and understandings of inclusion, disability, the arts, and their experiences with inclusive arts programs. The key essences which emerged as components of the inclusive arts experience for practitioners were: Inclusive Arts as an Enabling Space; Exploring Potential through Creative Expression; Flexibility, Adaptations, and Possibilities for Inclusion; Valuing Sameness and Difference in Ability and the Arts; Practitioners’ Experiences of Receiving Gifts and Feeling Strained; and, Embodying Inclusive Arts Values. Practitioners’ experiences within inclusive arts programs were impacted by the values associated with inclusion and the arts. Practitioners who embodied those values in their everyday life found inclusive arts programming to be highly rewarding and meaningful, despite sometimes significant financial and emotional challenges. The essences are also discussed in relation to three cross-cutting aspects of the practitioners’ experience: the medical and social construction of disability, art as inclusion, and the notion of embodiment.

While the arts have gained a more prominent place in inclusive educational settings, inclusive arts programming in the context of community recreation requires further exploration. In my practice I have found that while inclusive arts opportunities are in high-demand, programs that run are typically infrequent and short-term, leaving many potential participants without a space to explore the arts. In this research I undertook a phenomenological inquiry into the experience of ten practitioners providing inclusive arts programs. Practitioners were drawn from Southwestern and Northwestern Ontario, and from a variety of arts-based fields. This exploration examined practitioners’ images and understandings of inclusion, disability, the arts, and their experiences with inclusive arts programs. The key essences which emerged as components of the inclusive arts experience for practitioners were: Inclusive Arts as an Enabling Space; Exploring Potential through Creative Expression; Flexibility, Adaptations, and Possibilities for Inclusion; Valuing Sameness and Difference in Ability and the Arts; Practitioners’ Experiences of Receiving Gifts and Feeling Strained; and, Embodying Inclusive Arts Values. Practitioners’ experiences within inclusive arts programs were impacted by the values associated with inclusion and the arts. Practitioners who embodied those values in their everyday life found inclusive arts programming to be highly rewarding and meaningful, despite sometimes significant financial and emotional challenges. The essences are also discussed in relation to three cross-cutting aspects of the practitioners’ experience: the medical and social construction of disability, art as inclusion, and the notion of embodiment.

People with disabilities have been marginalized and excluded from the mainstream of life, including leisure contexts (Datillo, 2002, Lord & Hutchinson, 1979, Schleien et al ., 1997). As a result, this causes major barriers to social inclusion (Bedini, 2000 ; Devine & Datillo, 2001; Devine, 2004). While inclusion may be appealing on theoretical and policy levels, it remains a confusing, complicated, and fragmented term (Shakir, 2005). The purpose of this study was to conduct a case study of an adventure therapy organization that delivers outdoor programs for people with disabilities . I specifically focused on an adaptive kayaking program offered to people with disabilities and interviewed or conducted focus groups with clients, staff, and volunteers (n=30) . I examined how they view the meanings and experiences of inclusion as well as the inclusion strategies employed by the organization. I also examined what contributes to the constraints to inclusion and ideas for improvement. The interviews were augmented by document analysis and participant observations. The meanings of inclusion that were voiced included : the integration of people with and without disabilities, treating people uniquely, participating in activities that able bodied people do, being with others like me, and inclusion is mutually understood. The clients' experiences with inclusion encompassed: enjoying friendships with others, experiencing barriers, benefiting from participating in the outdoors, and challenging oneself. The constraints that were evident were feeling belittled when receiving help, dealing with the limitations of disability, not including clients in decision making , over protectiveness from family, and liability in the outdoors. The strategies identified as fostering inclusion included: using the outdoors, the use of adaptations, encouraging clients to take responsibility, and convenient facilities. Promoting the adventure therapy program better, create additional choices for clients, and increasing opportunities for them to take responsibilities were identified as desired improvements. Exploring the various understandings of inclusion through the voices of people with disabilities within a recreation program is rare and contributes to the literature by identifying what the term means to them and how it can be implemented to increase the benefits derived. The implications of the findings and recommendations for future research are provided.

The aim of this thesis is to analyze social inclusion among young adults with intellectual disabilities in small towns and rural community settings. The specific context is three small towns in south eastern Ontario in 2006/2007. A phenomenological study relying on a hermeneutics cycle is undertaken to derive an understanding from multiple sources. In the first instance, policy documents related to the province's approach to supports for adults with intellectual disabilities, the research literature on experiences of adults with intellectual disabilities in rural communities, and conceptual models of social inclusion were reviewed. Seventeen young adults with intellectual disabilities (20 to 28 years of age), their caregivers (n=13) and other community members (n=20) from the three selected towns were interviewed. The interviews included quantitative tools and open-ended questions. Data from the Canadian census were also used to characterize the towns. The data collected led to quantitative (counts, median scores, proportions) and qualitative (significant statements, formulated meanings, themes) analyses for comparisons within and across towns in order to reveal the role of context in social inclusion. The results highlight the importance of context. While similarities exist among the small towns in the region, they each have unique features which impact on the experience of social inclusion for young adults with intellectual disabilities. Key lessons are learned. Attention needs to be given to the availability and proximity of spaces and structures for interaction. The role played by developmental service agencies needs to be examined critically as it may hinder social inclusion and sense of belonging. As community involvement is easier for those seen as similar and sense of community is stronger among those who see themselves as similar, the socio-demographic profile of a town can be an important factor mitigating for or against social inclusion efforts. Finally, since residents of a small town who have a greater need for supports derive more sense of community from knowing that other residents are willing to help those in need, fostering caring communities may be as important as creating services specific to persons with intellectual disabilities. The need for geographers, epidemiologists and other social and life scientists to study persons with intellectual disabilities within the places where they live remains a research area where there is still much to learn and be done. / Thesis (Ph.D, Geography) -- Queen's University, 2012-09-17 12:24:42.783