This study aimed to explore the complexity and interrelationships of language, culture and identity from the learners' perspectives. The focus of the study was on the exchange experiences of five Hong Kong students in the Canadian tertiary contexts. The participants were bilingual learners. They came from an educational background which emphasized English as a medium of instruction. In Canada, the students had the language competence to integrate into mainstream courses during their one year stay. This study questioned whether language was also their passport into a new culture. The study was divided into two phases. The first phase was a pilot study (January 1997- May 1997). Emergent themes from the pilot study guided the research questions in the second phase of the study ( October 1997 - July 1998). The methodology employed in this study emphasized a naturalistic inquiry approach and co-authorship with the participants. The research focused on a multiple case study approach with an ethnographic link to highlight the interpretive and sociocultural perspectives of the study. Research strategies included direct and participant observation, home visit, e-mail, phone conversation, informal interview, intensive discussion, secondary informant, artifact and metaphor. Personal narratives were central to the discussions in data analysis. Data collected in the study support the learner agency framework on the issue of social identity. Themes which emerged from the research process suggest multiple voices, multiple interpretations and multiple realities in the process of language socialization. Many interactive variables in the social contexts influence the construction and reconstruction of knowledge on language, culture and identity. Language socialization is a complex interweave of meanings between the individual and the environment. Ambivalence, contradictions and uncertainties are recurring themes in the rites of transition. Learners are empowered by their awareness and agency in their struggle. They are active agents of their identities, roles and status in changing sociocultural settings. This study urges the need for language educators to include voices of the learners in language research and to re-examine the notions of language power, cultural diversity, social access, claim of ownership, learner investment and human agency in language pedagogy. / Education, Faculty of / Language and Literacy Education (LLED), Department of / Graduate

No description available.

A discrepancy appears to exist between the value placed on reflective journal writing by the writers of journals and the value seen by educators of that same journal writing. In this study, I explored the journal writing of six tutors working in a learning centre at a two-year community college in western Canada. I examined: (1) tutors' perspectives on the journal writing task; (2) the content and reflectivity of tutors' journals; and, (3) the accuracy of the journals in representing tutor thinking initiated by the journal writing task. The initial data collection for the study included observation of weekly in-service training sessions and examination of tutor journal entries. Tutors were interviewed about their perceptions of journal writing and their thinking around issues they wrote about in their journals. The tutor trainer was interviewed about his expectations of tutor journal writing, his reactions to tutors' journals and his perceptions of the journal writing task. After the initial data collection, the participants were given summaries of data collected in the initial phase. Tutors read the summaries and as a group discussed issues raised by the data. I interviewed the trainer about insights he had gained from the summaries. Content choices and levels of reflectivity in the tutors' journals varied widely. Factors affecting the content and levels of reflection in the tutors' journals were affected by tutors’ understanding of the journal writing task, their motivation for journal writing, their feelings of vunerability, their personal histories, their tutoring experience, their preference for writing as a mode of learning, and their purposes for writing journals. Most tutors perceived their journals as useful to them, but the tutor trainer regarded the journals as less useful. This difference in perception of the benefits of journal writing can be attributed, at least in part, to the differing levels of access of the trainer and the tutors to the benefits of journal writing. The trainer based his understanding of the benefits of journal writing on the journals themselves whereas the tutors were aware of benefits that were not apparent from studying the journals. Interviews with the tutors showed that tutors reflected more as a result of the journal writing task than was evident from their journals. The trainer’s view of the reflection initiated by the journal writing task was obscured in tutors’ journals due to the fact, that tutors reported prior reflection, provided incomplete representation of their reflective thinking, made rhetorical choices which masked their levels of reflection, and continued to reflect after completion of journal entries. Implications of the study for educators include the importance of a process approach to journal writing, the risks of assuming that journals provide an accurate picture of the reflection the task initiates, and factors for consideration in the construction of the prompt for journal writing. Implications for researchers focus on the risks of assuming that journals provide an accurate measure of the benefits of the journal writing task. Collaboration with journal writers is seen as essential for any such measure to be achieved.

A discrepancy appears to exist between the value placed on reflective journal writing by the writers of journals and the value seen by educators of that same journal writing. In this study, I explored the journal writing of six tutors working in a learning centre at a two-year community college in western Canada. I examined: (1) tutors' perspectives on the journal writing task; (2) the content and reflectivity of tutors' journals; and, (3) the accuracy of the journals in representing tutor thinking initiated by the journal writing task. The initial data collection for the study included observation of weekly in-service training sessions and examination of tutor journal entries. Tutors were interviewed about their perceptions of journal writing and their thinking around issues they wrote about in their journals. The tutor trainer was interviewed about his expectations of tutor journal writing, his reactions to tutors' journals and his perceptions of the journal writing task. After the initial data collection, the participants were given summaries of data collected in the initial phase. Tutors read the summaries and as a group discussed issues raised by the data. I interviewed the trainer about insights he had gained from the summaries. Content choices and levels of reflectivity in the tutors' journals varied widely. Factors affecting the content and levels of reflection in the tutors' journals were affected by tutors’ understanding of the journal writing task, their motivation for journal writing, their feelings of vunerability, their personal histories, their tutoring experience, their preference for writing as a mode of learning, and their purposes for writing journals. Most tutors perceived their journals as useful to them, but the tutor trainer regarded the journals as less useful. This difference in perception of the benefits of journal writing can be attributed, at least in part, to the differing levels of access of the trainer and the tutors to the benefits of journal writing. The trainer based his understanding of the benefits of journal writing on the journals themselves whereas the tutors were aware of benefits that were not apparent from studying the journals. Interviews with the tutors showed that tutors reflected more as a result of the journal writing task than was evident from their journals. The trainer’s view of the reflection initiated by the journal writing task was obscured in tutors’ journals due to the fact, that tutors reported prior reflection, provided incomplete representation of their reflective thinking, made rhetorical choices which masked their levels of reflection, and continued to reflect after completion of journal entries. Implications of the study for educators include the importance of a process approach to journal writing, the risks of assuming that journals provide an accurate picture of the reflection the task initiates, and factors for consideration in the construction of the prompt for journal writing. Implications for researchers focus on the risks of assuming that journals provide an accurate measure of the benefits of the journal writing task. Collaboration with journal writers is seen as essential for any such measure to be achieved. / Education, Faculty of / Language and Literacy Education (LLED), Department of / Graduate

No description available.

No description available.

Through case study research, two pioneering schools in Canada that developed whole-school approaches to education for sustainability were investigated to illuminate how conceptual root metaphors resonate with ecological philosophy and educational practices. The study considers philosophy, policy formation, organization/ management structures, buildings/ grounds and resources, curriculum development, and teaching and learning practices at each of these schools. The findings are highlighted and further informed by what the administrators, teachers, community volunteers, parents, and students perceive to be the successes, obstacles and needs they faced in trying to establish their pioneering approaches. These insights provided methodological triangulation as they reinforced the literature review and analysis of findings. The case study includes an Independent school founded and designed specifically around bioregionalism so as to promote sustainability, and a government-run elementary school that decided to teach and model sustainability. The analysis reveals differences in the underlying conceptual metaphors and the significant extent to which these metaphors resonated with practice. This research suggests that root conceptual metaphors are significant and can be associated with various intentions and enactments of the whole curriculum. Ecological and mechanistic metaphorical perspectives have been found to be associated with policy formation, organization and management structures, decision-making and communication; curriculum development; community involvement; changes to the buildings and grounds; and teaching/ learning practices. Although this research suggests that where ecological metaphors were in play school practices were more strongly associated with an ecological model in education for sustainability, it has also shown that this may not be sufficient. Being aware of the underlying conceptual root metaphors in all aspects of the educational approach is also a critical step. The context within which a school operates may preclude or act as a strong obstacle to change. Simply grafting a sustainability program imbued with ecological metaphors onto the accepted educational system, one founded on contradictory ‘mechanistic’ metaphors, may not be as effective as intended as metaphors seem to seep into the school’s culture and systems. This, however, implies that there needs to be freedom and room to challenge significant systemic obstacles. There would need to be noteworthy changes in the socio-political structure that is in play. Accordingly, for schools to lead the change towards an ecological worldview or paradigm shift, schools would need to be free to adopt an alternative vision of education, ethos and particular organizational structures.

Understanding the processes that allow all students to successfully learn mathematics has been an important objective for most education systems including those in Canada. Educational systems however, have not achieved this goal as many students with low socioeconomic status, females, and minority students fail to achieve an adequate knowledge of mathematics. Much of the discussion regarding this lack of achievement concerns classroom resources and practices, school policies within educational systems, and the specific domain of mathematics achievement considered. This study conceptualizes a successful mathematics classroom in terms of its level of mathematics achievement and how equitably achievement is distributed. The study employs multilevel models and the Canadian data from the Third International Mathematics and Science Study to address three main research issues: 1) the extent to which differences in mathematics achievement is attributable to gender, family background, classrooms, and the province where a student attends school; 2) whether the variation in achievement is specific to a mathematics domain; and 3) whether the variation among six provinces (Newfoundland, New Brunswick, Ontario, Alberta, British Columbia, and Quebec) in the levels of their mathematics achievement is associated with various aspects of school policy and practices. The analyses indicate a slight male advantage in mathematics achievement, and a large, significant gap in achievement associated with the socioeconomic status (SES) of the students' families. Students from low SES backgrounds are disadvantaged as they tend to have relatively low achievement in mathematics within classrooms, especially in Proportionality, Measurement, and Fractions. The most successful classrooms are those in which students from disadvantaged backgrounds excel in mathematics. Disadvantaged students excel in mathematics classrooms in which there are fewer groupings, the mathematics teachers are specialized, and in schools with lower pupil-teacher ratio. Mathematics achievement is equitably distributed in provinces with high mathematics achievement levels. Provincial achievement levels are stable across mathematics domains; that is, provinces with high achievement levels in one domain also tend to have high achievement levels in other domains. On average, Quebec's mathematics achievement is higher than the other provinces in all mathematics domains, and at all levels of SES. This high achievement level in Quebec is partially attributed to higher teacher specialization, lower pupil-teacher ratio, and lower withinschool remedial tracking. The study recommends a comprehensive longitudinal study employing multilevel models with a focus on what other provinces can learn from Quebec's advantage in mathematics. Such a study should conceptualize successful mathematics classrooms as those in which an average student excels in mathematics and where mathematics achievement is equitably distributed.

This project explores the racialized construction of the Canadian nation through the teaching of history and the discourse of multiculturalism, and investigates the ways in which young people experience and make sense of history, nation and race in the context of 'official' narratives of the nation. I begin by reviewing the literature of critical race theory, then use this theoretical framework as a lens through which to review the literature of qualitative studies of young people's historical meaning-making. Following a discussion of the methodological approach, I analyse the construction of race and nation through the discourse of Canadian history, as manifested in a variety of sites, including federal policy, curriculum frameworks, textbooks, and the Historica Foundation's Heritage Minutes. Finally, I present the results of a conversation with youth about their experiences with and views of race, nation and history.

Understanding the processes that allow all students to successfully learn mathematics has been an important objective for most education systems including those in Canada. Educational systems however, have not achieved this goal as many students with low socioeconomic status, females, and minority students fail to achieve an adequate knowledge of mathematics. Much of the discussion regarding this lack of achievement concerns classroom resources and practices, school policies within educational systems, and the specific domain of mathematics achievement considered. This study conceptualizes a successful mathematics classroom in terms of its level of mathematics achievement and how equitably achievement is distributed. The study employs multilevel models and the Canadian data from the Third International Mathematics and Science Study to address three main research issues: 1) the extent to which differences in mathematics achievement is attributable to gender, family background, classrooms, and the province where a student attends school; 2) whether the variation in achievement is specific to a mathematics domain; and 3) whether the variation among six provinces (Newfoundland, New Brunswick, Ontario, Alberta, British Columbia, and Quebec) in the levels of their mathematics achievement is associated with various aspects of school policy and practices. The analyses indicate a slight male advantage in mathematics achievement, and a large, significant gap in achievement associated with the socioeconomic status (SES) of the students' families. Students from low SES backgrounds are disadvantaged as they tend to have relatively low achievement in mathematics within classrooms, especially in Proportionality, Measurement, and Fractions. The most successful classrooms are those in which students from disadvantaged backgrounds excel in mathematics. Disadvantaged students excel in mathematics classrooms in which there are fewer groupings, the mathematics teachers are specialized, and in schools with lower pupil-teacher ratio. Mathematics achievement is equitably distributed in provinces with high mathematics achievement levels. Provincial achievement levels are stable across mathematics domains; that is, provinces with high achievement levels in one domain also tend to have high achievement levels in other domains. On average, Quebec's mathematics achievement is higher than the other provinces in all mathematics domains, and at all levels of SES. This high achievement level in Quebec is partially attributed to higher teacher specialization, lower pupil-teacher ratio, and lower withinschool remedial tracking. The study recommends a comprehensive longitudinal study employing multilevel models with a focus on what other provinces can learn from Quebec's advantage in mathematics. Such a study should conceptualize successful mathematics classrooms as those in which an average student excels in mathematics and where mathematics achievement is equitably distributed. / Education, Faculty of / Curriculum and Pedagogy (EDCP), Department of / Graduate