This study explores how developing purposeful relationships with students fosters engagement. Grade seven students were surveyed, interviewed, and given the opportunity to reflect on the first seven years of their schooling. Based in Appreciative Inquiry (AI), the students took a closer look at attitudes, teaching skills and the relationship with an enjoyable teacher and added their own personal experiences to research-based examples of factors contributing to engagement. The results confirm that developing purposeful relationships contribute to raising student engagement and yield numerous examples of what students value. These examples were compiled and highlight that there is an undeniable human aspect to teaching. Building purposeful relationships does not solve all school related issues but provides students with a more positive outlook on schooling. / xiv, 168 leaves : ill. (chiefly col.) ; 29 cm

Through narrative, poetic, and visual inquiry, this arts-informed thesis reclaims the silenced voices and life histories of both our elderly farmers and of our elderly architecture--the barn. Using the life history model of research (Knowles & Cole, 2001), I engage in informal "chats" (Archibald, 2008, p. 377) with my elderly father to seek out the meaning and significance of his life spent on the farm--and his emotional response to the taking down of his two bank barns after the sale of his farm. What results is a "responsive" (Knowles & Cole, 2001, p. 10) representation of data, an alternative type of meaning and knowledge that is known as arts-informed qualitative representation.

Professional development has been recognized as one of the most promising and powerful routes to teachers’ professional growth and job satisfaction, yet current research challenges many of the traditional approaches widely used today. As an alternative, research has advocated for contextually anchored and collaborative models of professional development. Before any judgments on the relative power and usefulness of these approaches can be made, descriptions of how and where these models might work are necessary. In this thesis I describe a study that examines the viability of peer observation as a form of job-embedded professional learning for secondary teachers. A qualitative design was employed to capture and communicate the experiences of five teachers as they participated in peer observation of teaching. Data collection techniques included: (a) individual interviews before and after participation in the study, (b) group interviews during the peer observation cycles (pre- and post-observation meetings and debriefing sessions), and (c) written artifacts in the form of participant observation records and a researcher log. Most of the previous research investigating the effectiveness of peer observation as a form of professional development has been conducted at the post-secondary level. The experiences of the teachers in this study support those findings and extend them to the secondary level. Although the approach taken by the two groups were significantly different, peer observation was found to promote professional growth by promoting: (a) pedagogical knowledge; (b) professional dialogue; (c) skill development, specifically inquiry skills and reflective practice; (d) contextualized learning; and (e) collegiality and collaboration. This study contributes to our understanding of the potential for professional growth resulting from participation in peer observation. It also contributes to the body of Canadian educational research on professional development while providing empirical research relating to the effectiveness of peer observation at the secondary level. Finally, this study makes recommendations for future research addressing the role of the facilitator and some of the challenges and barriers teachers may experience during the peer observation process. / Thesis (Master, Education) -- Queen's University, 2009-08-21 16:22:15.25

The prevalence of child sexual abuse remains high with girls 1.5 to 3 times more likely to be victims compared to boys. In addition to psychological and emotional challenges, this abuse can lead to spiritual difficulties that impact survivors’ ability to find meaning in their life, find a sense of purpose, experience hope or believe in a world that is just. Spirituality can facilitate healing and this study contributes to that knowledge base by exploring women’s own perspectives. The purpose of this qualitative narrative study is to understand, from women’s perspectives, the role of spiritual experiences in their healing from the impacts of child sexual abuse. Spiritual experiences were defined as any experiences that have a different reality or feeling compared to our usual everyday reality that may seem extraordinary or unexplainable, or very ordinary yet meaningful. Twenty in-depth individual interviews were conducted with ten women survivors of child sexual abuse. Narrative analysis methods were used to derive key themes that represent participants’ perspectives of how spiritual experiences enhance healing. Results of this study show that spiritual experiences opened doorways to self, shifted energy, expanded perspective, revealed truths, connected to the present moment, created possibilities of the positive and were an enduring source of support and strength. Spiritual experiences create inter-connections between aspects of the self that can simultaneously transcend the self and connect to the larger world thereby unifying each into a greater whole. These impacts prevail even when there is dissonance in the interpretation. Occupations facilitated spiritual experiences by acting as a portal to a spiritual dimension, transcending language and mind, facilitating internal communication, connecting to the body through doing and through innate healing qualities. Engaging in respectful dialogue on spiritual experiences requires reflection and awareness in the use of bias-free language. Health professionals are well situated to address spiritual experiences, using evidence-based practice and an understanding of embodied experience. Occupational therapists have a key role in validating spiritual experiences, facilitating the engagement in spiritual occupations, and providing resources to understand and interpret the experiences. / Thesis (Ph.D, Rehabilitation Science) -- Queen's University, 2010-09-24 15:57:19.931

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Thèse numérisée par la Division de la gestion de documents et des archives de l'Université de Montréal