In this thesis, the author draws upon data collected through in-depth interviews with twelve social justice activists and organizers in London, UK and Austin, TX to look at contemporary practices of feminist antiracist social justice work. Informed by the Civil Rights, feminist and antiracist social movements of 1960s and 70s, activists and organizers in the United States continue to build upon theoretical understandings of intersecting systems of oppression to build new practices of community and racial justice. / text

This study examines representations of intercultural learning in global children’s literature through critical content analysis. Cosmopolitanism provides a vision to connect individuals to the global communities through a critical lens. According to Rizvi (2009), intercultural learning should bridge the local and the global, move between cultures and communities, and develop transnational compassion and collaboration. Intercultural learning involves explorations of culture, active participation in the world, and critical thinking on issues that are normally taken for granted. Intercultural learning is not just learning about other cultures but focuses on individuals’ awareness of their roles in the world and collaboration with people from global communities to make the world a better place. With this idea in mind, global children’s literature is a useful resource to introduce readers to the global community and to their responsibility in the world. This study is based on the importance of engaging with high quality global children’s literature to widen and deepen readers’ worldviews. Because readers are influenced by what they read and share, how books depict cross cultural experiences and international communities is crucial. Therefore, how books portray intercultural learning experiences in a global context is important to examine. This study provides a new lens on global children’s literature because limited research has been done to understand how the idea of intercultural learning through international travel is portrayed in books at a time when many readers have the opportunity to travel across the continents. The theoretical framework of this study consists of intercultural theories, global competency and critical literacy. This study looks at culture as ways of living that involve people’s thoughts, values and engagements in daily life. In addition, two intercultural learning theories are used to examine the protagonists’ learning including a continuum of intercultural learning by David Hoopes (1979) and a developmental model of intercultural sensitivity by Milton Bennett (1986, 1993, 2004, 2009). Theories relate to global education such as global competence by Hanvey (2000) and Case (1993), intercultural communicative competence by Michael Byram (1997), and cosmopolitanism by Rizvi (2005, 2006,2007, 2008, 2009 ) and Calhoun (2002). These theories inform my notion of intercultural learning in different ways. In addition, critical literacy is crucial to this study because it focuses on the characteristics that allow individuals to discover their role, relationship and responsibility with others in the world. Nine children and young adult’s realistic fiction novels were selected for this study. The books all involved protagonists’ explorations of new cultures, places, and people as they traveled to another country for short term visits. All of them have close relationships with at least one local friend. Critical content analysis is used to examine the text from a critical point of view to understand whether the international journey enables the protagonists to critically examine their privileges and responsibility in the world. In this study, critical literacy supports my concept of intercultural learning and it is also used to develop useful thinking tools (adapted from Jones, 2006) to examine the texts from a deeper perspective. First, the findings indicate that intercultural learning is portrayed with exoticism in this text set. In several of the books, international travel is associated with romance and exotic cultural icons. Secondly, insider authors and the authors who have close relationships with the groups they write about are more careful about cultural authenticity than outsider authors. Many of the insider authors care about the cultures they wrote about; therefore, they embed social messages in the stories. Additionally, several writers employ a writing formula to depict international travelers’ intercultural learning process. The formula does not reflect readers’ diverse cultural backgrounds in the current world. Lastly, throughout the journey, only a few protagonists develop critical consciousness regarding their roles in the global community. Conclusions from the analysis suggest the need for more sophisticated global children’s literature that highlights international travel and cross cultural relationships. The implication section provides recommendations to educators, teacher educators, and publishers and suggestions for further research.

Grounded in Freire's (1970) notion that the purpose of education in an unjust society is to bring about equality and justice, Critical Mathematics (CM) scholars consider mathematics to be a tool to understand, critique, and change the world by deconstructing power structures that marginalize certain groups. In particular, Gutstein's (2006) framework for integrating students' Community, Critical, and Classical mathematics knowledge bases (3 Cs) advocates for mathematics instruction that incorporates students' informal and everyday experiences. This involves investigations into social phenomena that draw on students' perspectives and experiences to inform critical analysis, while developing mathematical power. This dissertation presents the findings from a critical ethnographic study of a veteran teacher of color's approach to integrating the 3 Cs in his Precalculus class. In addition to discussing the creation and implementation of CM activities, this study examined the perspectives and participation of students of color during these curricular units. Data from 12 students of color, including interviews, focus groups, classroom observations, and student work, were collected over the course of a school year. Detailed descriptions are presented of three CM activities (i.e., Local Poverty Unit, AIDS Lab, Gini Coefficient Unit).Analysis of student participation found that students engaged most fully when units integrated transparent mathematical concepts into non-traditional social investigations. CM activities that lacked mathematical activity and/or reproduced traditional instructional norms resulted in high levels of open and passive resistance. Analysis of student perspectives found that repeated opportunities to integrate the 3 Cs promoted shifts in students' orientation toward mathematics. Some students came to see new ways of learning and using mathematics that included various means of participation and connections to one's personal life. In the end, students recognized that mathematics could be relevant and powerful for making sense of the world (reading the world), and acknowledged its potential for bringing about change (writing the world). Findings point to the essential role personalization plays in helping students develop a sense of social agency. That is, by prioritizing Community knowledge and inviting students to incorporate personal and family stories, teachers promote students' integration of their personal perspectives and experiences into their critical analyses.

The purpose of this investigation was to support and foster parent participation among Mexican origin parents of special needs children. However, a limited amount of empirical research existed that considered Mexican origin parents' understanding of participation in general and special education settings.Parent participation was viewed as a dynamic and evolving process through which parent participants could construct knowledge and meaning. Novice (newcomer) parents worked with veteran (experienced) parents to learn about participation. Critical and reflective discussions were central to their learning and parents moved toward full participation as they developed confidence, skills, and awareness about themselves as agents of change.A Critically Compassionate Intellectualism (CCI) model, derived from Sociocultural Theory and Critical Race Theory (CRT), was applied to analyze the ways parents demonstrated their understanding of participation through cooperation, caring, and critical consciousness. A Participatory Action Research (PAR) approach was implemented as a method through which parents' roles in the investigation and their definitions of participation were explored.Primary data sources included individual and focus group interviews, discussion/planning sessions, and a debriefing session. Secondary sources consisted of weekly journals, an open-ended survey, and audio memos. Most data sources were transcribed and coded using an "open-coding" procedure. Then primary sources were coded a second time for a more detailed analysis of parents' evolving views of participation.Novice parents reported that within a cooperative environment they could share their thoughts and feelings about their children. They acknowledged that their voices were heard and, therefore, felt validated and supported. Parents' critical consciousness was raised as they felt more confident in generating positive changes for their children. Both veteran and novice parents' roles changed over time. Veteran parents' leadership grew and novice parents became more active and vocal in the research process.This study presented alternative ways to understand parent participation. Being listened to and respected by teachers and school administrators were important reasons for parents' active participation. Feeling supported at IEP meetings and having open communication with teachers also were important factors contributing to parents' participation. Definitions of participation should continue to expand to allow a space for parents' diverse experiences.

This dissertation is a critical ethnographic study of institutional, ideological, and cultural factors influencing the educational pathways of low-income Latino/a students. The study lasted for nine months, and research was conducted in two field sites: a public high school and a public university in the Southwest. There were eighteen research participants--seventeen students and one teacher. A funds of knowledge approach combined with a Latino/a Critical Theory lens and best practices in college access allow a consideration of these factors in public schooling. I balanced institutional data with interviews, writing samples, and class discussions, and I found that factors hindering students' persistence included material conditions such as overcrowding, ideological constraints such as low expectations, and a cultural disconnect between students' values and the values embedded in school curricula and policies. Although these Latino/a students demonstrate experiential critical literacy, the students are not given an opportunity to connect their lived experiences to theory in school, which can hinder college-going attitudes. To foster critical democracy, practitioners of First-Year Composition have an opportunity to rethink our purpose and goals to make sure that what we advocate in theory--college persistence for all students--matches up with our practice. This study suggests remedies to ensure that in a system in which social, economic, and political inequities are fed by and feed our inequitable educational system, we can take an active role in reshaping the educational pipeline by working in partnership with public schools and communities to bring equity to college access and retention efforts.

This thesis examines the tension between the evolving demand for the protection and promotion of human rights and the dissatisfaction with the legal institutions charged with these responsibilities. This problematique is examined and reconstructed with the objective of determining how Canadian legal institutions could be structured so as to more effectively contribute to the achievement of social justice. A critical theory approach is undertaken in this thesis. This method involves the development of a transformative ideal against which current practices are examined. This juxtaposition illuminates both the problems with, and the possibilities of, the courts and human rights commissions in interpreting and applying human rights norms. The transformative ideal comprises two elements. The first element postulates that the legal institutional role should be conceived as contributing to a broad and evolving discourse on human rights and responsibilities within the public sphere. The second element holds that this role should be enhanced through the development of transformative human rights practices and their integration into legal processes. The transformative ideal is constructed through a series of six discussions comprising: (1) the development of an analytical framework based on the concepts of social transformation, social justice, human rights and the right to equality; (2) an examination of the critique of the role and functions of courts and human rights commissions; (3) an elaboration of a normative account of the public sphere and discourse together with a discussion of the role of human rights norms therein; (4) a discussion of current mediation practices in the human rights context leading to the development of a normative model of transformative mediation; (5) an examination of the transformative ideal in human rights commission practices; and (6) an exploration of the transformative ideal in court practices. The thesis concludes that the transformative ideal and particularly the concept of transformative human rights practices, will assist in reform of Canadian legal institutions so as to enhance social justice.

This thesis is concerned with those 'social' rights that relate to the provision of the basic necessities of life; that is the right to an adequate standard of living (including food, clothing and shelter), the right to health and the right to education. The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural rights (ICESCR) recognises obligations pertaining to the progressive realisation of these rights, whilst leaving the method of implementation within domestic discretion. The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms only accords domestic constitutional protection to civil rights, leaving the implementation of these social rights within government discretion. This study will examine what has, in the Canadian experience, proven to be the practical consequences of adopting such a policy of 'selective constitutionalisation,' that puts social rights by definition outside the ambit of legal enforcement. Firstly, it will examine the court's approach to cases that have, in the absence of constitutionalised social rights, attempted to indirectly invoke social rights by encouraging a positive social interpretation of the right to equality and the right to life, liberty and security of the person, and will illustrate that the courts have failed to interpret these rights so as to indirectly protect social rights. Secondly, it will consider the relationship between legal, political and social discourse, illustrating that, in light of the non- constitutionalised status of social rights, the values underlying these rights have been marginalised in political and social discourse, facilitating reforms that have restructured and eroded the welfare state, reducing the realisation of social rights within Canada. Thirdly, it will consider the practicability of adopting the alternative approach of according equal constitutional protection and justiciable status to social rights, through an examination of the theoretical literature and the approach taken to social rights under the Final Constitution of the Republic of South Africa 1996. It will illustrate that the philosophical arguments that have been utilised to support the nonconstitutionalised status of social rights are no longer sustainable and that the constitutional experience of South Africa provides evidence that a practical alternative to the position adopted in Canada exists.

This research is grounded in my observation that we live in a society that is racist, sexist, classist, heterosexist, able-ist, and oppressive in other ways for a variety of groups and individuals outside of the dominant norm. Schools functions as sites of reproduction that work to maintain the status quo through the reproduction of racist, sexist, classist, and heterosexist language and discourse (among others) that maintain the normalcy of oppressive behaviour. However, in as much as schools may reproduce inequalities, they could equally well produce possibilities for equal and just relations in society. In many ways, schools are contradictory places where the dynamics of reproduction and production are simultaneously at work. The question becomes one of how to encourage and nurture the possibility of schools to become sites of struggle over oppressive relations in society. Critical multicultural theory has been proposed as one possible answer to this question. While critical multicultural education understands schooling as a site of social reproduction, it is also believed that schools can work to challenge the inequality engendered by the process of social reproduction by educating students about the dynamics of oppression and privilege. Schools are, thus, understood as sites of possibility, where the normative and common sense understanding of society’s current oppressive relations are deconstructed and critiqued. In this work, I use critical multicultural theory to focus on the role of teacher education in the creation of new possibilities for schooling. The purpose of this research is to examine new possibilities for teacher education by making problematic the normative discourse of a university teacher education program and its implication for critical multicultural teaching. As such, this research will deconstruct the dominant discourse in a Faculty of Education at a mid-size Canadian university through an examination and analysis of the perspectives of current teacher candidates; examine how the discourses in teacher education work to constrain and limit the possibility of critical multicultural education; consider the pedagogical challenges of a critical approach to multicultural education; and provide new possibilities for teacher education and, in particular, critical multicultural teacher education. / Thesis (Master, Education) -- Queen's University, 2007-12-12 09:21:57.648

This multiple-case study examined the factors that influence activist artists in the production of their work. Four artists who were well established in their careers took part. The research was designed to gain insight into what motivates artists to become activists. The research methodology was rooted in qualitative hermeneutic phenomenological traditions with a descriptive, interpretative and exploratory approach, using data collected from in-depth interviews. This study sought to explore and synthesize common patterns and similarities of activist artists. Seven themes emerged: identity, place, and personality as style, life experience, world issues, community and change. Regarding activist artists using a variety of what is typically considered “style” to present their work, this study concluded that there are similarities that support the notion that activist artists can be seen as a group. / Thesis (Master, Education) -- Queen's University, 2010-01-27 15:59:37.792

This paper considers the contribution of urban agriculture to the local food system and the role of the city council in this system. Using an interdisciplinary mixed method approach, the study explores local stakeholders’ perspectives of these aspects in the city of Bristol, UK. The findings were viewed through the lenses of two conceptual frameworks, resilience and social justice. The results reveal that urban agriculture increases resilience through building community, maintaining a diverse food supply network, and strengthening adaptability by retaining the knowledge and skills to produce food. Urban agriculture also supports social justice, by providing access to healthy food, promoting equality and inclusion, and encouraging healthier living through education. Furthermore, the results indicate that the city council can increase resilience and support social justice in the local food system through four key interventions; their procurement policy, urban planning, assisting urban agriculture initiatives, and developing a holistic urban food policy. In conclusion, urban agriculture is regarded as more than a form of food production because local stakeholders use it to support a broad range of social objectives. Developing an urban food policy is the shared responsibility of the city council as well as private and voluntary sector actors. Resilience and social justice are advocated as normative goals of the food system, and can be used as frameworks to guide the complex process of urban food system reform.