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For students with emotional and behavioural issues the bridge from middle years to senior years can be particularly challenging. This transition is especially problematic if the students are moving from self-contained or specialized programming supports in middle years to inclusive senior years environments. This qualitative research study examined the perspectives and experiences of four principals and three student services personnel regarding the transition of students from specialized middle years placements to inclusive senior years schools. Each participant was asked their opinions on what strategies, structures, policies and supports assisted with the transition process as well as those that detracted from successful transitioning. Qualitative analysis of the data suggested that students need to connect with a positive adult upon transitioning to senior years, and they need to perceive that their senior years school is a safe and positive place for them to attend.

The purpose of this study is to contribute to the discussion of social inclusion and sport programs for marginalized people by giving voice to program participants and volunteers, while critically examining the tensions inherent in such programs. Presented as a case study of the Victoria Dreams—using realist and creative ethnographic representations—this research study offers important insights on the social dynamics of street soccer and strives to contribute to the larger body of research on sport, and social inclusion. An original fictional representation, and four interviews illuminate the culture and experiences of Victoria Dreams street soccer players and volunteers. Social Capital theory is used as a guiding framework to explore both bridging and bonding links. The results address central issues including: the importance of friendship and integration; eating together; motivation, self-confidence and the role of competition. The discussion offers further exploration of key points including: access and inclusion; the role of tournaments; social capital theory; communication and leadership; and fictional representation as a research genre. A number of future research directions are offered, in the hope of adding to the street soccer experience and adding to the research base on sport and social inclusion. Notably, it is suggested a community-based participatory action research project could help improve the delivery of street soccer and ensure more participants and volunteers are engaged. / Graduate / 0575 / 0534 / julmac16@hotmail.com

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This study examines the ethical challenges and dilemmas that teachers experience in their work with students who have special needs in inclusive classrooms. Moreover, it investigates the ways in which teachers cope with or resolve such difficulties, the supports currently available to assist them in managing ethical issues, and their recommendations for potential supports. Accounts of ethical challenges reported by 12 teacher participants working at the elementary and secondary level were interpreted from two stages of interviews. Data were analyzed qualitatively using a constant comparison method, with data analysis occurring during and after each stage. Emergent themes were coded and categorized to elicit major and sub-themes. The ethical challenges reported by the participants primarily dealt with issues of care, equity, and fairness, where participants felt that the best interests of students were not being met. Difficulties occurred in the context of accommodations and modifications, assessment and evaluation, discipline, distribution of time and resources, and the rights of the individual student versus the group. In the accounts provided, participants consistently raised concerns about ethical dilemmas they experienced as a result of colleagues. In all of the situations that dealt with colleagues, teachers were unwilling to confront the unethical behaviors of co-workers despite their potential to harm the student. All of the teachers faced ethical challenges in the context of inclusion. While most support the practice of inclusion, concerns were raised about existing inequities, specifically in regard to the degree of inclusivity and access to learning opportunities. Shortages in supports, resources, and training were the primary reasons attributed to the teachers’ struggles. The participants’ recommendations for supports consisted of collaborative professional development opportunities, specifically in special and inclusive education. This study contributes to the growing body of literature in the ethics of inclusive and special education. It has significant implications for policy makers, certifying bodies, teacher education programs, and teachers’ professional lives as it provides insights into the ethical challenges faced by teachers in inclusive classrooms. The results of the study have the potential to influence the development of policies and practices to support both teachers and students.

This research examines settlement services and their ability to provide assistance with social inclusion for newcomer youth in the Peel Region, Ontario. Focus groups are used to examine the experiences and perceptions of settlement services and their ability to enhance social inclusion among 44 newcomer youth. The findings indicate that newcomer youth have positive perceptions of settlement services. Furthermore, there are five arenas in which settlement services are assisting with social inclusion for newcomer youth. These include relational inclusion, labour market inclusion, spatial inclusion, educational inclusion, and socio-political inclusion. Additional research is required to examine the social inclusion impacts that settlement services have on newcomer youth over the life-course. Moreover, reconsidering government initiatives and policies involving funds for settlement services and community organizations is necessary.

Social isolation is a concern for the health of older adults in Canada. Community-engaged arts (CEA) programs are thought to support social inclusion but how such programs contribute to building community connections for older adults at risk of social isolation is poorly understood. This study, therefore, is aimed to explore the experience of community for this population in the context of a CEA program as well as the role the program plays in that experience. A qualitative study using ethnographic methods was conducted to answer two research questions: (1) What does community mean to seniors in the Arts, Health and Seniors program? (2) What is the role of the Arts, Health and Seniors program in the participants’ experience of community? Data were collected over a six week period using participant observation, semi-structured interviews and document analysis. The sample was a group of 20 urban-dwelling seniors at risk for social isolation who participated in a CEA program once a week. Regular group art sessions were observed by the researcher and extensive field notes were recorded. Interviews were conducted with five senior participants and four other key informants (including two artists, a senior worker, and an administrators), and documents related to the community were reviewed. Data were analyzed throughout the data collection process and interpretations were noted. Through immersion in the data and a movement between the data and interpretations, themes were developed. Connections between themes were explored and taken back to the data. Findings were presented as a detailed description of the participants’ experience of community. Community for the participants focused around the Seniors Centre where the program was held. The participants expressed that the meaningful relationships at the centre made it ‘another home’ and was a place they could find resources to adapt to challenges. The CEA program provided a unique experience of community through working together as a group and making new social connections. For health professionals working with older people at risk for social isolation, this research will add to the understanding of how community is experienced by older adults and how community is supported by CEA programs.

In the past twenty years there has been a movement against the tradition of positivist, scientific research that treats children as the ‘object’ of research. This movement has been led by the sociology of childhood literature but also has supporters in disciplines such as developmental psychology and early childhood studies. Research within this new paradigm often seeks to gain the perspectives and lived experiences of children, giving them a voice through naturalistic methodologies such as ethnography and informal interviews. However, giving children a ‘voice’ has not been purely an academic endeavour. Supported by the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (1990) which stipulates that States should assure that children have the right to express their views in all matters affecting them, there is a push at all levels of government for children to be given a chance to express their views on issues that concern them. In Australia and overseas, the consulting of children on issues that concern them has become more commonplace. Thus in both research and policy development, methodologies which enable adults to get closer to the world of the child and to hear their views are being explored. This thesis explores some of the issues involved in this form of qualitative research with children. It does so through combining theoretical exposition and systematic reflection with the author’s own empirical research which sought to gain an understanding of young children’s views of ‘difference’ through an ethnographic methodology. Part One provides the theoretical base for the thesis, by exploring how ‘the child’ and childhood have been conceptualised within western thought. Drawing on the sociology of childhood, it also probes a number of the implications of this tradition and examines how it has shaped research on children both in terms of the methods that have been employed and the topics that have been of interest. Both chapters in Part Two focus on the empirical component of the study. The first is an extended methodology chapter which explores not only the method employed and the research setting but also some of the challenges that the author faced in the field and a discussion of issues such as ethics and the status of the researcher. Using logs of the children’s activities and the author’s field journal, the next chapter explores how the initial research question altered and the issues that came to the fore during the research. Part Three reconsiders a number of the theoretical issues raised in Part One in light of the fieldwork discussed in Part Two. It asks how certain ethnographic studies, claiming affiliation with the sociology of childhood, nevertheless ended up with depictions of children not far from the positivistic studies their authors had critiqued. It argues that this can be explained by the persistence of a ‘problem centred’ adultcentric frame which privileges understanding of a particular issue (e.g. the development of racism in children) over the actual experiences of individual children. Given the renewed interest in consulting children this proposition has practical as well as theoretical significance as it reveals how easy it is for slippage to occur and the importance of preventing it.

This thesis discusses the notion of amicitia in early Christian literature. By examining letters and normative texts ranging from the third to the early fifth century, the study illuminates not only how contemporary authors shaped friendship conceptually but also how these concepts relate to the actual social practice. Typically, scholars confine their reading of Christian friendship to the late antique period. In so doing, they approach amicitia either as a particular kind of relationship performing crucial social functions or as a subject for theorization that followed the example of a longstanding ancient philosophical tradition. Particularly influential has been the view that links amicitia with affection and love. Hence, scholars tend to stress the inclusiveness of friendship. By contrast, my own study focuses on the aspect of exclusion as the necessary by-product of social inclusion processes. Along these lines, amicita is described as existing in a dialectical opposition with its antonym, inimicitia. This approach yielded a number of insights. First, as the study moves into uncharted territory, the examination of third century texts highlights a tradition of amicitia-related thought that reached further back than has previously been assumed. From this, a more nuanced picture of friendship emerges that is not constrained by scholarly established boundaries between different fields of study. Second, the principle of inclusion and exclusion, dividing the world into amici and inimici, has been revealed as a powerful tool in church politics and religious controversy that established sharp boundaries between competing Christian factions. This view, which posits the truth of faith as the necessary prerequisite for friendship, is set off against other contemporary voices that did not make amicitia dependent on a particular religious group affiliation. Third, while disentangling friendship from the question of love, the character of Christian amicitia is viewed against the backdrop of the divine household. Though the conceptual overlap between friendship and kinship is not unique to the Christian tradition, such thinking ties in with an idea of community that builds on the paternity of God. These findings have implications for both the study of ancient friendship and the history of the early church. They improve our understanding of the relation between the conceptualization of amicitia and the actual social practice and moreover offer a deep insight into the social dynamics of contemporary religious controversies.

In a time when education and inclusion, are very much on the political agenda, what makes some teachers confident and competent teachers of special educational needs (SEN) and others less so? This thesis aimed to explore a variety of factors; attitude to inclusion; school climate; burnout and general teaching self-efficacy as they relate to self-efficacy for inclusive teaching. It also aimed to explore the teaching practices of teachers who report high self-efficacy for inclusive teaching scores. 66 participants, selected from seven primary schools took park in the first phase of the research. From this sample, five participants were selected for their high self-efficacy for inclusive teaching scores and were interviewed about their inclusive teaching practice. A mixed methods approach was used; utilising questionnaires in the first phase to explore the six factors and the correlations between them. Interviews were employed in the second phase to explore the inclusive practices of participants. Initial statistical analysis from the questionnaires indicated that years teaching experience, as well as aspects of attitude to inclusion, school climate, burnout and general teaching efficacy are predictive of self-efficacy for inclusive teaching scores. Regression analysis indicated that attitude to inclusion; school climate and general teaching self-efficacy were together the best predictors of self-efficacy for inclusive teaching. Thematic analysis from the interviews suggested that stress was a major factor for the participants. It also identified that participants who were good at including children with SEN were those who got to know their children well, and who were engaged, motivated members of staff. The study concluded with a consideration of how the above results are relevant to educational psychologists by suggesting that their role is vital in supporting teachers to get to know children holistically and in supporting staff with stress management through supervision or staff clinics.