This dissertation explores the life and work of a philosophy of education and multicultural education teacher, through the use of narrative inquiry. As a Palestinian/Lebanese Canadian researcher, teacher, mother, activist and writer, I present the journey of freeing myself from colonial grand narratives through the construction of my personal, practical knowledge and values, while providing an answer to the question: "What does it mean to be situated on the boundary between the English West and the Middle Eastern Arab world?" I demonstrate how the Orientalist tradition, as defined by Edward Said (1978), served to confuse, frustrate, and alienate me as an embodied person situated within a web of historical, ethnic, linguistic, social, and cultural tensions. I describe how, having been educated in an English missionary school in the context of a Palestinian culture of dispossession and Diaspora, this education served to paradoxically both estrange and enrich me. I demonstrate how narrative inquiry, modeled after Clandinin and Connelly (1995, 2000), has enabled me to understand and communicate who I really am as an educator in the multiple social contexts I have known. Through story-ing my epistemology, I illustrate how the Canon in philosophy and the grand meta-narratives underpinning it served to oppress and alienate me over the years. I emphasize that education is not value-neutral. My autobiographical writing in this dissertation explores how the constructs of ethnicity, gender, religion, culture, language, and class serve to shape thinking and values. Since I believe that who we are is a blend of the personal and the social, and that 'we teach who we are,' I critically assess my experiences and share aspects of that experience that have empowered me as a female, Palestinian educator. Going back and forth, and in and out of my life, narrating it and commenting critically on it in the three-dimensional space of narrative inquiry, I convey what I mean by the statement "the personal is political" and what was involved in the process of seeking freedom from the bondage of intellectual subservience. My voice and my signature (Clandinin & Connelly, 2000) within the text reveal what I mean pedagogically by a dynamic curriculum and a transformative education. Methodologically, this dissertation extends the boundaries of narrative inquiry through a nuanced use of auto-ethnography while providing insight into the life of a Palestinian teacher and writer within the Canadian context.

This inquiry focuses on Qallunaat (non-native) teachers' perceptions of their lived experiences teaching and learning in the arctic region of Nunavik, Quebec, Canada. Academic underachievement of Inuit children and high drop out rates in northern schools are a great concern for every community. An important contributing factor to the lack of academic success of Inuit children is the high turnover rate of Qallunaat teachers. Social distancing, isolation and cultural dislocation are major problems that many southern teachers find difficult to confront. Through a year-long Action Research Project in Nunavik focusing on eight Qallunaat teachers, I used a narrative inquiry to explore these teachers' shifting perceptions of their experiences as they attempted to adapt to their Inuit host community. Data confirms that without appropriate preparation and support, Qallunaat teachers perceive that they face overwhelming challenges educating Inuit youth and building relationships with Inuit community members. During my work in this northern community, I observed how these teachers seeking direction within such significant cross-cultural tensions, were confronted with profound existential issues. I examined why their southern perceptions and their northern experiences made them question some fundamental values that are at the core of their identities. I used an interdisciplinary dialogical post-colonial framework to situate these Qallunaat teacher voices in the educational contexts of Nunavik. By listening to these teachers, I began to understand how conflicts in identity arose when teachers' attitudes did not match their perceptions of their positionings in their host community. Methods included formal and informal conversations, individual and group interviews, photovoice and journals. I found that Qallunaat teachers can contribute to the North if they learn to position themselves as compassionate observers and listeners. Through dialogue, Qallunaat teachers can create shared spaces to better understand the particular needs of Inuit community members and consider alternatives and solutions. I provide recommendations to the Kativik School Board that might better prepare and support Qallunaat teachers. This study has direct implications for policy regarding pre-service and in-service education for educators within the Kativik School Board, Quebec Ministry of Education and the McGill Faculty of Education.

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M.Ed. (Psychology of Education) / Please refer to full text to view abstract

A cross-case approach was employed to examine early childhood teachers’ perspectives on quality of early childhood programs and how they embed those perspectives in their daily classroom practices. Questions explored teachers’ education levels, years of experience, and the ways in which their individual perspectives are manifested in the classroom. Three early childhood teachers were interviewed and observed, each with a different level of education: Child Development Associate (CDA)certification, associate’s degree in early childhood education, and bachelor’s degree in early childhood education. Each teacher worked in a licensed, nationally accredited program that is rated at the highest level of the Indiana quality rating system, Paths to QUALITY (Level 4). Qualitative methods were used, including analysis of teacher surveys and interview transcriptions, as well as CLASS observations. Results indicated that the three teachers held similar perspectives on the importance of professional development, but they differed on the preferable way to obtain professional development: college education versus in-service training. There was a clear divergence among the teachers regarding the importance of a college degree in relation to manifestations of quality in the classroom. While the three teacher agreed that there is a lack of respect associated with their profession, they did not agree on the reasons behind this lack of respect. Likewise, all three voiced a need for increased support in their roles, but they had varying ideas of what that support should entail. The three teachers also varied in their understanding of the global concept of quality, specifically in regard to the National Association for the Education of Young Children accreditation and the quality rating system. While the teachers holding associate’s and bachelor’s degrees displayed similar quality implementations, the teacher with a CDA was not observed to apply the same level of quality practices. This study has implications for practice and for future research. In order to meet professional development needs that can ensure quality practices, teacher education programs and non-formal training agencies need to provide early childhood teachers with professional development opportunities that help them advance their knowledge and link theories to application in the classroom. Opportunities should focus on personal factors and meet the individuality of the early childhood teacher. Policy makers and state administrators need to value the role of the early childhood teacher by providing a classification system that links qualifications to salaries and positions. Compensation initiatives for early childhood teachers should be brought into discussion and linked to the quality rating system’s children and dollars received per program. There is a necessity for future research into the perspectives of early childhood teachers in a cross-case study with teachers who hold an early childhood education/child development bachelor’s degree. Such future investigation may indicate additional similarities or differences in beliefs on quality in early childhood education and could illuminate potential methods for ensuring that teachers are able to provide the level of quality that is called for. / Department of Elementary Education

This qualitative, multisite case study, framed by a constructivist perspective, addresses a deficit in the literature regarding multicultural consciousness of culturally responsive novice teachers. Existing studies identify the importance of culturally responsive pedagogy and the impact of the field of multicultural education on pedagogy that considers teaching and learning of nonmainstream student populations. These studies are inadequate due to their: lack of specific strategies for gaining and sustaining multicultural consciousness in P-12 schools, quantitative nature, or emphasis on preservice teacher education as opposed to in-service teachers in contact with nonmainstream students in the school context. The significance emphasized was the impact of culturally responsive pedagogy and its impact for narrowing the achievement gap regarding nonmainstream students. The themes that emerged, dimensions of multicultural consciousness, led to implications for: education, an ethic of care, “Otherness,” intrinsic motivation, advocacy, and reflexivity. It was concluded that the sustainability of a multicultural consciousness in context is less persuasive than the case findings for gaining consciousness for culturally responsive pedagogues, yet, all dimensions should be expounded upon for further study and better understanding of the relevant and persisting concern for nonmainstream student achievement. / Department of Educational Studies

This dissertation explores the life and work of a philosophy of education and multicultural education teacher, through the use of narrative inquiry. As a Palestinian/Lebanese Canadian researcher, teacher, mother, activist and writer, I present the journey of freeing myself from colonial grand narratives through the construction of my personal, practical knowledge and values, while providing an answer to the question: “What does it mean to be situated on the boundary between the English West and the Middle Eastern Arab world?” I demonstrate how the Orientalist tradition, as defined by Edward Said (1978), served to confuse, frustrate, and alienate me as an embodied person situated within a web of historical, ethnic, linguistic, social, and cultural tensions. I describe how, having been educated in an English missionary school in the context of a Palestinian culture of dispossession and Diaspora, this education served to paradoxically both estrange and enrich me. I demonstrate how narrative inquiry, modeled after Clandinin and Connelly (1995, 2000), has enabled me to understand and communicate who I really am as an educator in the multiple social contexts I have known. Through story-ing my epistemology, I illustrate how the Canon in philosophy and the grand meta-narratives underpinning it served to oppress and alienate me over the years. I emphasize that education is not value-neutral. My autobiographical writing in this dissertation explores how the constructs of ethnicity, gender, religion, culture, language, and class serve to shape thinking and values. [...] / Cette dissertation explore la vie et l’oeuvre d’une philosophie de l’éducation et d’une enseignante dans le domaine de l’éducation multiculturelle, a travers l’emploi des approches de l’enquête narrative. Comme chercheure, enseignante, mere et écrivaine d’origine palestino-/libano-canadienne, j’y présente le cheminement de ma libération des grandes narrations coloniales, par le biais de ma création des connaissances et des valeurs personnelles et pratiques, tout en essayant d’offrir une réponse a la question: « Que signifie le fait de me situer entre l’ouest anglophone et l’est le monde arabe du Moyen-orient? » Je voudrais démontrer comment la tradition orientaliste, telle qu’elle a été définie par Edward Said (1978), a contribué a mon état de confusion, frustration et aliénation et a l’impossibilité de me retrouver « bien dans ma peau », dans ma situation a l’intérieur d’une toile de tensions historiques, ethniques, linguistiques, sociales et culturelles. J’ai tenté de décrire comment, apres mon instruction dans une école anglaise dirigée par des missionnaires, dans le contexte d’une culture palestinienne de dépossession et de diaspora, cette scolarisation a eu, comme résultat, une situation paradoxale qui, a la fois, m’aliénait et m’alimentait. J’y démontre aussi comment l’enquête narrative, selon le modele de Clandinin and Connelly (1995, 2000), m’a permis de comprendre et de communiquer mon identité véritable, qui je suis comme enseignante dans les contextes sociaux multiples que j’ai connus. [...]

M.Ed. / The research report in this study deals with the views of teachers on Planning, Organisation and Implementation of EE in the senior phase. The aim of the study was to investigate teachers' views on how EE could be integrated within existing learning Programe in the senior phase of Primary Schools.It also seeks to identify necessary support Programs, which may be, needed by senior phase teachers in introducing EE within the Curriculum. A random Sample of five (05) Primary Schools from the total of eleven (11) primaries within the Itsoseng Circuit in the Lichtenburg district participated in the study. Interview was used as a sole tool for data gathering from the participants viz: teachers and principals (Educators and site managers). The findings of the study indicate that the majority of teachers responsible for senior phase have knowledge on EE, but have insufficient in-depth knowledge on EE related issues. The sites managers and subject advisors have a mammoth task to perform, so that EE can be integrated within existing learning areas of the core curriculum, like other school subjects. The general impression captured is that Environmental Studies and EE are just one as the same. Based on the findings of the research, it is the recommended that site managers together with subject advisors should take the leading role in ensuring that EE related activities are well planned, organised and implemented in primary schools. The main implications of the findings are: There is a need for support programs for senior phase teachers in the circuit. There is a need for active involvement of all stakeholders for the successful implementation of EE in schools.

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