This study explored collaborative inquiry as a professional learning model for five elementary teachers at an inner-city school in Western Canada. Collaborative inquiry – a branch of action research – was the process used to support teachers’ professional learning in the use of technology in their arts education programs. The research questions were: (a) in what ways has the collaborative inquiry approach to professional learning had an impact on teachers’ learning and thinking about the use of ICT in arts education? (b) in what ways has the collaborative inquiry approach to professional learning had an impact on participants’ changed practice? and (c) how do collaboration and dialogue foster the construction of knowledge related to teachers’ integration of ICT to support their arts education program? The findings suggest that collaborative inquiry was an effective strategy for professional learning and impacted teachers’ learning and thinking about the use of technology in their arts education program in several ways. There were indications that the collaborative inquiry group afforded social-emotional support, a forum for dialogue and collaboration, as well as an avenue to explore alternative perspectives and new ideas. It was also evident that new habits of mind were beginning to emerge. Teachers felt increased confidence and efficacy which led to risk-taking and exploration of new technologies, an increased capacity for evaluating ICT with pedagogical intent, as well as a strengthened ability to think reflectively about their practice. Furthermore, changes in practice were evident in the following areas: subject matter and materials, organizational structures, roles and behaviors, knowledge and understanding, and value internalization. And finally, the findings reveal that dialogue and collaboration are important factors in helping teachers foster their construction of ICT knowledge. These processes helped advance understanding as participants challenged one another, pushing each other to a higher level of pedagogical and divergent thinking. Dialogue sessions offered participants a powerful forum for idea generation, idea sharing, and cooperative problem solving.

Inquiry-based learning (IBL) has existed since the early 1500’s and research points to it being a successful pedagogy, so why do so few educators use it? One reason may be the confusion found in the literature encountered by educators. In light of this confusion, how teachers defined and implemented IBL in diverse, 21st Century classrooms was investigated. Looking at whether IBL was, or could be, an inclusive practice was also researched. Furthermore, the possibility that inquiry-based learning (IBL) encompassed differentiated instruction (DI) in its implementation and could therefore be used as a process to incorporate both was explored. To investigate these ideas, current literature was reviewed; including the works of John Dewey and Lev Vygotsky, and a qualitative research project was conducted using a phenomenological method. The research consisted of observations and interviews in the natural setting, of an inclusive elementary classroom.

The educational landscape for Manitoba has continued to shift with the arrival of many immigrants. In particular, there has been a noticeable increase in the numbers of refugee students in our schools who may have experienced interruptions in their education. Their presence in our schools brings unique challenges for teachers and school systems. This narrative inquiry explores my lived experiences as an English as an Additional Language (EAL) teacher in a Manitoba high school working with refugee students who have had their learning interrupted due to a variety of reasons. I examine three main topics: the challenges and successes I have experienced while working with this particular group of EAL learners; how these experiences have impacted me in the past; and how they inform what I do now and in the future as I navigate through a new professional landscape. My goal is to provide readers with a firsthand account of what it is like to be an EAL teacher working with refugee students and some of the issues that have emerged as I worked and lived alongside these students in a Manitoba context. My hope is that this narrative inquiry will shed some light on how teachers might work with these students to help them succeed in high school.

The ultimate aim of this inquiry is to expand understandings of what it can mean to engage meaningfully with children, youth, and families and the systems designed to support them, in context. By widening our gaze to include the discursive, political, and other dimensions of lived experiences, practitioners and policy makers may be able to engage in practices that prioritize the wellbeing of all community members, recognizing social justice as central to this development. Methodologically, the challenge has been to work emergently, in line with social constructionist and postmodern understandings of social reality in which conditions are always in flux. Since there has been a call from qualitative researchers to make visible more ‘messy texts’ through which decision making processes can be made transparent, this document tracks the course of the study from beginning to end. By making explicit the methodological decisions as they are made, and contextualizing these decisions within not only the academic literature and data but also within personal and political realities, the author aims to demonstrate an ontological approach to learning and change. By experiencing research not only as product (findings), but also process (ways of engaging), the researcher highlights the transformative potential of relating differently with(in) one’s inquiry. The five-part exploration itself begins by unpacking dominant discourses of both struggles and support, which are becoming increasingly individualized due to a number of contextual realities. It then explores relational theories of subjectivity as well as theories of multiplicity, in an effort to look at other – albeit often concealed – dimensions of experience. By taking these theories and the multitude of practices they inform into consideration, possibilities for other ways of engaging in human service practices and policy development become intelligible. However, even when relational processes are acknowledged, avenues for action are significantly constrained through power relations. Deliberately incorporating notions of nomadism, non-unitary subjectivity, situatedness, and diversity into our discourses and practices can function politically in that they can provide opportunities for us to embrace and enact new narratives and ways of being. These in turn open space in which different kinds of meaningful social engagement can occur. In the pursuit of more just ways of being, deliberately attending to multiple stories can thus contribute to shifts in practice and policy that are responsive to what was, what is, and what may be possible. Drawing from existing empirical research as well as personal narratives shared by community members and policy makers, this dissertation argues that by blurring lines between self and other, contextualizing practices, understanding change as ontological, reconceptualising power, and recognizing justice as an ongoing and shared responsibility, we might collectively access and mobilize fruitful possibilities that are often obscured. / Graduate

Physical inactivity is a serious public health concern in Canada, especially among the country’s youth. Adolescent girls, in particular, suffer many life-long consequences due to inactivity. Physical Education (PE) can offer a solution. However, the vast majority of girls discontinue enrollment in PE as soon as the mandatory credits are met. Tailored PE courses designed to meet the needs and interests of girls may motivate girls to continue participating in PE. This narrative inquiry explored three girls’ stories of their past experiences in elementary, middle, and high school PE, as well as their current experiences in a tailored elective PE course entitled Girls Actively Living (GAL). The goals of this study were to explore how the girls’ experiences with the course content, learning environment, and assessment in GAL affected their perceptions of physical education. Additionally, it was of interest how their experiences outside of PE influenced their desire to continue in elective PE and how their experiences in GAL affected their perceptions of physical activity. Findings emphasized the importance of (a) variety and cooperation within PE course content, (b) a fun and welcoming PE learning environment, (c) fair and private assessment, and (d) feelings of confidence, social safety, and competence for girls in PE. / Graduate / 0523 / jgruno@uvic.ca

The purpose of this research was to inquire into the phenomenon of beginning teacher attrition, and more specifically, beginning physical education teacher attrition and retention. Utilizing the methodology of narrative inquiry, I first studied my own autobiographical stories that brought me to teaching. I then wove these stories into the current research around beginning teacher attrition and from this weaving, I began to look at beginning teacher attrition as a problem of identity shifting and shaping. This framing allowed me to narratively inquire into two beginning physical education teachers experiences. Looking at their experiences through this lens enabled me to become attentive to the experiences that sustained them as beginning teachers. Their sustaining experiences resonated closely with the stories that had brought them to teaching and the stories that had created their imagined stories of who they would be as teachers.

This dissertation presents an instrumentalist’s perspective on cognition and meta-cognition in music performance. The goal of the study is to identify and apply methods of inquiry that are phenomenologically resonant with instrumental practice. The first chapter, situating the study in the context of the writer’s musical training, examines ways of studying and representing performance knowledge. The second chapter presents a case study of the preparation of Tōru Takemitsu’s Masque for Two Flutes (1959-1960). Using grounded theory methodology, this chapter investigates the role of gesture in the negotiation of musical understanding. Chapters 3 through 5 draw on Herbert H. Clark’s joint activity theory of language use to conceptualize music-making, taking into account context, process, and other domains of musical activity. Finally, Chapter 6, in addition to re-defining "virtuosity" for the 21st century instrumentalist, presents a set of philosophical considerations for cognitive studies in music performance.

Neo-liberal political-economic ideology, theory and practice have had an immense influence on public and private life across the world, including the delivery of health care, and neo-liberalism has become the dominant economic paradigm. Market practices, business management theories and practices, and private enterprise have become increasingly significant in health care, as the welfare state and public health services have been challenged by factors such as rising costs, economic efficiency, globalisation and increasing competitive demands. The question of how, and to what extent, neo-liberalism has influenced contemporary health care is, however, deserving of more critical attention. This thesis examines the neo-liberal approach to, and effect on, contemporary health care, in the context of Western developed countries, and offers a conceptual analysis of the theoretical and ideological framework of neo-liberalism, especially regarding its ethical and moral underpinnings. Additionally, this thesis is concerned with the moral nature of health care. The objectives of this thesis are to articulate and analyse the neo-liberal interpretive framework, moral values and language; and to articulate and analyse the neo-liberal approach to, and effect on, contemporary health care. Thus, it is the intention that this thesis will provide a framework for reflection on the context of contemporary health care in Western developed countries and the influence of neo-liberalism. To achieve these objectives, the research strategy of this thesis is that of philosophical inquiry, additionally drawing on political philosophy; and the research is, therefore, basic, theoretical research. This thesis finds that neo-liberalism, and the neo-liberal approach to health care, is a highly complex theory and ideology, constituted of several intricate concepts and moral underpinnings. It is found that the neo-liberal approach affects the nature and purpose of health care, for example by making health care part of the free, competitive market, by commodifying health care, and by replacing the notions of the common good, social justice and public health care with an emphasis on the rational, self-interested consumer, individual responsibility and self-sufficiency. Another essential aspect of the neo-liberal approach is that it emphasises the ability to pay (user-pays system), rather than health care need, as the dominant determinant in health care. Furthermore, this thesis finds that the neo-liberal ideology excludes the ontological complexity and reality of the human condition, and in health care this has consequences in relation to, for example, interdependency, interrelationships, vulnerability and need. In essence, this thesis finds that there are several pragmatic and moral problems with applying a neo-liberal approach to health care, and that the complexities, irregularities, and unpredictability of health care make a neo-liberal approach difficult to realise in health care. The neo-liberal approach undermines the moral purposes of health care, and it is concluded that the neo-liberal approach offers no well-founded moral alternative to the universalistic, solidarity based approach common in most Western developed countries (except in the United States). This thesis seeks to add to the knowledge and literature concerning neo-liberalism, especially as regards its moral underpinnings and normative framework, and, furthermore, concerning the neo-liberal approach to, and effect on, contemporary health care in Western developed countries. Additionally, this thesis seeks to contribute to the knowledge of philosophical inquiry by documenting the method of 'doing' philosophical inquiry. Based on the research in this thesis, it is clear that there is a need for more empirical research into the pragmatic consequences of applying neo-liberal policies and practices to health care, and the analysis in this thesis could favorably serve as a basis for empirical inquiry.

Woolum Bellum KODE (Koorie Open Door Education) School is located at Morwell in the Latrobe Valley of Victoria. The school is unique in that its curriculum is centred on the Gunnai/Kurnai language and culture of the traditional owners. The aim of this thesis is to describe and tell the history of Woolum Bellum School. My research questions are: 1. what led to the establishment of the Woolum Bellum KODE School? What are the critical success factors of the school attaining autonomy within the Victorian State Education system? The story of Woolum Bellum and its journey is important in the context of sharing knowledge. It exemplifies how a school like Woolum Bellum can be autonomous and how it presents a challenge as it comes to terms with what works and why. As a community we can assess the overall success of the school in terms of outcomes for the community. The benefits are seen in the generation of young people who attended the school over the past fifteen years. Their experience of schooling at Woolum Bellum as opposed to their experiences in the mainstream system amounts to significant successes. My ways of knowing have informed how I have used a method of research that respects my knowledge gifted from my Elders and Ancestors. My indigenous ways respected in using Dadirri as a methodology for narrative inquiry in research underpins and informs respect for honouring an indigenous paradigm; with tools within that paradigm to guide and shape my research. My cultural ways of knowing, my guidance in reciprocal and respectful relationships, talking together in circles, telling stories in conversations, and understanding community are at the core of these ways of knowing. My quilts crafted with multiple layers of knowledge offer the community a visual representation of the journey. They share the narrative and knowledge in conversations and in stories. They are relational and interrelated and they interpret the issues from my ways of knowing. This is a story I have shared with others already who believed in the possibilities for a Woolum Bellum School. Like me, they welcomed the challenges, the responsibilities that came with it to our community and Elders. And like me, the community held on to the dream that time and through listening, through learning and with knowledge, the possibility remains.

Global diasporas caused by wars carry many streams of people - in the 1970s one of these streams contained orphans from Vietnam delivered to white parents in the West. On arrival, the social expectation was that these children would blend seamlessly into the culture of their adoptive parents. Now some adoptees, as adults, reflect on their lives as 'Asian' or racially 'Other' children in white societies, charting the critical points in their maturation. This thesis interrogates their life histories to explore the role of birth-culture in the self-definition of people removed from that culture at birth or in childhood. Thirteen adult adopted Vietnamese participants were interviewed. These interviews provided qualitative data on issues of racial and cultural identity. These data were developed and analysed, using a framework drawn from symbolic interactionism and cultural studies, in order to reveal the interpersonal dynamics in which people were involved, and the broader cultural relations that sustained them. The findings reveal that in early childhood the adopted Vietnamese identity process was shaped by a series of identifications with, and affirmations of, sharing their adoptive parents racial and cultural identity. Such identifications were then challenged once the adoptees entered society and were seen by others as different. The participants' attempts to locate a secure sense of self and identity within the world they are placed in are disturbed by numerous uncertainties surrounding racial and cultural difference. One of the most crucial uncertainties is the adopted Vietnamese knowledge about their cultural background. While most felt they lacked positive knowledge about Vietnam and racial diversity, their sense of identity was unsettled by experiences with racism and negative cultural stereotypes throughout their late childhood to adolescence. As their recognition and acceptance of their difference develops in adulthood, they experience a degree of empowerment due to their being able to access more knowledge about their cultural background and a greater appreciation of racial diversity. Many participants have formed closer ties with other people born in Vietnam, most notably other adoptees; most returned to visit Vietnam. The thesis concludes that those adoptees who were able to develop an understanding of the Vietnamese and other backgrounds to their complex identities, tended to be more integrated as adults than those who either rejected or were unable to come to terms with their Vietnamese ancestry.