In this study I attempt to shed light on the experiences of the teacher researcher and university students who explored social justice issues in an art education course. The primary purpose of this study is to provide insights in teaching practice and students' learning processes when the course is designed to examine systems of oppression through class discussions and art-based assignments. The study delves into what challenges and rewards the teacher and students experience in an art class focusing on social injustice. I conducted this study in a semester-long art education course, where I taught as an instructor, with twelve university student participants. The questions that guided by study were: 1) How do I understand my experience of teaching social justice issues through art in an undergraduate art education course and what do I continue to learn from it?; 2) In what ways do undergraduate students navigate and learn about social justice issues through class discussions, writing and art-based assignments? I utilized two methodologies, autoethnography and case study, in order to provide in-depth descriptions of the participants' and my perspectives. The theoretical frame I used was critical race feminism, which highlights the intersectional experiences of females of color. For the autoethnographic study, I collected data from the artifacts I created during the study period including researcher’s journals, visual journals, and audio narratives. I also collected data from the participants, such as pre-course questionnaires, reading responses, reflection notes, personal narratives, peer interview responses, audio narratives, and final art projects. The findings of the study reflect different challenges and rewards that the student participants and I experienced in the university course on social justice art. Themes included student resistance, the teacher's self-doubt, the students' vague understanding of social justice, a difficulty to understand the concept of privilege, and the lack of hands-on activities. The participants also addressed significant learning moments including, learning about colorblindness, personal reflections about their own social identities in relation to systems of oppression, and various art-based assignments they created during the course. Both the participants and I found strong connections between the teacher and students, a sense of learning community, and student empowerment as the rewarding experiences. These findings suggest the need for teachers to reconsider the meaning of a safe space, student resistance, and the role of emotions when they teach social justice issues. Furthermore, the findings suggest that female teachers of color need to positively acknowledge our racial, sexual, cultural, and linguistic identities and envision our roles as border-crossers and agents of change.

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Internalized oppression is one of the conceptual foundations of social justice education. Though the literature on internalized oppression is rich with descriptive data, little theory has been developed in this area. To date, the field of Social Justice Education has been limited by this oversight. Drawing upon the work of theorists who have examined this topic across a variety of social identities, this study presents a generalizable framework for understanding and analyzing internalized oppression. More specifically, this research focuses on the internalized oppression of subordinant groups, also known as internalized subordination. The framework presented within this study identifies internalized oppression as having three core components or "defining elements": process, state, and action. It is intended to be used as a foundation and starting point for, rather than in lieu of, the examination of the internalized oppression specific to particular social identities. Further, this framework is intended to benefit both scholars and practitioners of social justice and will aide in the development of methodologies and pedagogies aimed at interrupting internalized oppression and promoting liberatory consciousness.

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published_or_final_version / abstract / Linguistics / Master / Master of Arts

The impact of homonegativity on both sexual minorities and heterosexuals is profoundly debilitating. Due to the implicit power of their privileged status, heterosexually-identified individuals can serve a crucial role as allies in eliminating sexual minority oppression. Because minimal research exists around heterosexual identity issues, broadly, and sexual minority ally development, specifically, it is difficult to promote such ally work without a clear understanding of the developmental processes and motivational issues that lead heterosexuals to sexual minority social justice action. The current study sought to explore the developmental experiences of heterosexuallyidentified exemplars who work in their communities for sexual minority social justice. The present investigation was conducted through interviews with 12 individuals who demonstrated commitment to sexual minority volunteer work. Through the use of a discovery-oriented interviewing methodology, participants revealed the paths they have taken as they committed to social justice ally work alongside sexual minority activists. The qualitative data collected were subjected to a systematic, collaborative analysis by a team of researchers. The results revealed six general themes that arose from these participants stories, and specified subcategories within each domain: Early Family Modeling (positive modeling and negative modeling), Recognition of Oppression and Privilege (recognition of LGBT individual oppression, recognition of the oppression of others, recognition of oppression directed at oneself, recognition of ones own privilege, and recognition of others privilege), Response to Recognition (emotional reactions, taking responsibility, and behavioral reactions), Impact of Values/Attitudes (equality, attitudes about sexual orientation, personal responsibility, valuing diversity, and religious/spiritual beliefs), Reactions to Ally Work from Others (positive support from family/friends, negative reactions from local community, positive reactions from local community, positive reactions from LGBT community, and negative reactions from LGBT community), and Rewards from Ally Work (making a difference, friendships and connections, and other rewards). These findings highlighted key elements that contribute to the development of sexual minority allies. Interdependence with and empathy for others were vital elements of this growth. These often developed from encounters with otherness and led to greater involvement with social justice action. Finally, homophobia was revealed as a significant barrier to ally identification. Methods for cultivating developmental experiences are outlined.

Global citizenship education is becoming increasingly appreciated in Ontario as an important component of formal schooling. Although all disciplinary areas have a role to play in global citizenship education, geography, which is primarily concerned with the study of people, places, and environments at home and around the world, provides an especially important context in which to foster the values and attitudes often cited as important for global citizenship. The purpose of this qualitative study is to describe how seven secondary students in the province of Ontario make meaning of global citizenship through geography education. More specifically, this study investigates the way that Grade 12 students, who had recently completed the course titled, “Canadian and World Issues: A Geographic Analysis”, conceive of the concept of global citizenship, value its importance, and experienced its values within this course. Qualitative data was collected through an analysis of the course curriculum and though interviews with seven students. The interviews revealed four themes that were most apparent in how the students conceptualized global citizenship: global awareness, belonging, caring, and commitment to action. It was revealed that the students’ personal involvement with the issues being studied helped them learn to be global citizens, as did the rich discussions of global issues they experienced in class. Careful analysis of both the students’ conceptions of global citizenship and how they experienced global citizenship in the curriculum revealed an uncritical perspective – one which emphasizes acts of charity and volunteerism rather than a commitment to social justice. In examining the participants’ perceptions of the value of global citizenship education as part of the curriculum, it was clear participants felt this was an important feature of geography education. In fact, since their perception was that they experienced global citizenship in this course exclusively, they attributed great value to the course and to geography education more generally. Overall, the findings are valuable to both teachers and teacher candidates seeking to better engage their students in global issues and equip them with global thinking strategies, and to curriculum developers wishing to effectively incorporate issues and topics concerning global citizenship within school curricula. / Thesis (Master, Education) -- Queen's University, 2013-08-30 16:23:30.774

This study addresses violent urban disturbances which occurred in England in the early 1980s with particular reference to the Bristol ‘riots’ of April 1980 and the numerous disorders which followed in July 1981. Revisiting two concepts traditionally utilised to explain the spread of collective violence, namely ‘diffusion’ and ‘contagion,’ it argues that the latter offers a more useful model for understanding the above-mentioned events. Diffusion used in this context implies that such disturbances are independent of each other and occur randomly. It is associated with the concept of ‘copycat riots’, which were commonly invoked by the national media as a way of explaining the spread of urban disturbances in July 1981. Contagion by contrast holds that urban disturbances are related to one another and involve a variety of communication processes and rational collective decision-making. This implies that such events can only be fully understood if they are studied in terms of their local dynamics. Providing the first comprehensive macro-historical analysis of the disturbances of July 1981, this thesis utilises a range of quantitative techniques to argue that the temporal and spatial spread of the unrest exhibited patterns of contagion. These mini-waves of disorder located in several conurbations were precipitated by major disturbances in inner-city multi-ethnic areas. This contradicts more conventional explanations which credit the national media as the sole driver of riotous behaviour. The thesis then proceeds to offer a micro analysis of disturbances in Bristol in April 1980, incorporating both qualitative and quantitative techniques. Exploiting previously unexplored primary sources and recently collected oral histories from participants, it establishes detailed narratives of three related disturbances in the city. The anatomy of the individual incidents and local contagious effects are examined using spatial mapping, social network and ethnographic analyses. The results suggest that previously ignored educational, sub-cultural and ethnographic intra- and inter-community linkages were important factors in the spread of the disorders in Bristol. The case studies of the Bristol disorders are then used to illuminate our understanding of the processes at work during the July 1981 disturbances. It is argued that the latter events were essentially characterised by anti-police and anti-racist collective violence, which marked a momentary recomposition of working-class youth across ethnic divides.

Complex Indigenous and racialized poverty exists in Canada. Child poverty obviously has a negative impact on our youth who are served by school systems. As Silver (2014, 2016) and others have demonstrated, poverty can lead to poor educational outcomes. The purpose of this study was to examination the understandings and actions of four superintendents in Winnipeg, Manitoba related to complex Indigenous and racialized poverty. The superintendency is incredibly complex and extremely political, and there cannot be a recipe book from which superintendents can help advance the cause of greater equity for all our students. That said, we can learn from the stories of those who have made a difference, no matter how small or contextualized. We can advance our knowledge to inform how superintendents can contribute to the creation of educational environments in which people challenge, develop, and, in the words of Foster (1986), “liberate human souls” (p. 18). Using a qualitative approach informed by critical theory, this study explores how the superintendents understood issues related to complex, racialized poverty in particular; and how these understandings influenced their work in highly complex, political, and contextual work environments. In this study, each of the superintendents participated in a series of individual interviews and a group dialogue. The study attempts to ascertain (a) what the participants believed about complex poverty and how they have come to these understandings, (b) how they described the socio-political and organizational environments that informed and influenced their work as superintendents and; what they were able and unable do to mitigate the effects of poverty upon students and their communities, and (c) what actions have they undertaken to attempt to address issues of racialized poverty and what else they think should be done in schools, in school systems, and in the greater communities. / February 2017