ICT (Information Communication Technology) has enormous potential to positively impact educational institutions in developing countries. This thesis presents the results of a five month participatory study conducted in Bushenyi, Uganda on the impact ICT and ICT training had on a local primary school. This research specifically investigated the benefits and the problems associated with ICT in education, as well as, the impact of culture, training methods and research methodology.

Qualitative research in relation to treatment approaches for youth with mental health difficulties has been limited and, in particular, very little is known about how youth experience therapy. This qualitative study describes adolescent experiences of self in the context of Multiple Family Therapy groups. An ethnographic method was used for data collection and analysis. Two interrelated themes emerged that relate to the structure and the processes that contributed to co-construction of the group culture and the adolescents’ perceptions of self. The first theme: “I feel a whole lot better about myself”, relates to aspects of the group culture that supported the adolescents to experience an enhanced working self concept. The second theme: “We knew it was possible to change”, relates to transformations in the adolescents’ relational selves that they associated with their experiences in the group. These findings have implications regarding the potential of the MFT model to support youth: to express themselves authentically; to strengthen their sense of self; and to positively transform their relational selves, thus supporting their healthy development and future well-being as adults.

The World Health Organization and the United Nations state that people normally access water through their place of residence. However, in North America people regularly need access to water services, such as toilets, fountains, or bathing facilities, when not in a private residence. The purpose of this thesis is to explore the current situation of access to water for personal uses for people outside a place of residence as an emergent research topic. To accomplish this, I conducted a literature review and a thematic analysis of nine key-informant interviews with stakeholders in Victoria. Findings from the research reveal that access to water for personal uses is limited in Victoria when outside a place of residence. Furthermore, the consequences and implications of this limitation directly and indirectly influence both individuals and the broader community. Finally, policy recommendations, action responses, and future research directions inform possible responses to address this issue.

Eelgrass, Zostera marina L. (Zosteraceae), is a flowering marine plant in coastal regions in the Northern hemisphere. Apart from its significance as habitat for a diversity of marine organisms, it has been a direct resource in European and American economies, and once was a food source for people along the Pacific Coast of North America. This interdisciplinary study documented protocols and specifics of the Kwakwaka’wakw ts’áts’ayem (eelgrass) harvesting tradition in British Columbia, and how their methods of harvesting affected the remaining plants’ growth. Through interviewing 18 traditional eelgrass harvesters and participating in six harvesting sampling events, I documented the detailed protocols of the Kwakwaka’wakw eelgrass harvesting tradition. Based on the protocols of traditional ts’áts’ayem harvesting, I developed harvesting removal experiments in a dense Z. marina populations on Quadra Island (2005) and at Tsawwassen (2006) to examine the effects that traditional harvesting of eelgrass would have had on a shoot production and rhizome internode volume, within a growing season. At the Quadra site, a June treatment of between approximately 15 and 56% shoot removal corresponded with shoot regeneration above original numbers. An approximate 60% removal corresponded with the highest new shoot production after treatment, indicating the strong capacity of eelgrass meadows to promote new shoots after removal disturbance. Based on fieldwork with traditional knowledge holders, I estimate that traditionally harvesting would have been between 10-30% removal within areas the size of the experimental plots. Shoot regeneration, net shoot production and rhizome production results at the Quadra site supported the theory that a light amount of harvesting removal such that was conducted by Kwakwaka’wakw harvesters would have been within a level for full regeneration, and possibly even enhanced shoot population and rhizome production (measured by internode volume). Tsawwassen experiment treatment was applied too late in the season to show an effect of harvest, but the design provided efficient methodology for future experiments. Ecology literature substantiated many of the traditional eelgrass protocols documented in this study, strongly supporting the theory that eelgrass harvesting was a sustainable practice. Scientific literature about pollution also corroborated and explained the observations of elders on the state of today’s eelgrass: few locations yielded ts’áts’ayem fit to eat, as specimens were small, had heavy epiphytic growth and dark rhizomes that Kwakwaka’wakw consultants had not seen in their youth. The combination of traditional ecological knowledge and scientific inquiry holds much potential for providing a better understanding of eelgrass ecology and dynamics, and for defining concepts of sustainability and conservation of this important resource.

Continued documentation of the disproportionate burden of ill health faced by Aboriginal Peoples in Canada raises questions about the gap between what is known and what action is being taken to improve Aboriginal health in Canada. In order to explore this puzzle of knowledge translation (KT), a conceptual framework was developed by synthesizing the KT literature with the Aboriginal health research literature. Using this framework as a guide, this study explored the idea of KT within one Aboriginal health research context – the Network Environments for Aboriginal Research British Columbia (NEARBC). Concepts, ideas, and patterns drawn from the systematic thematic analysis of semi-structured qualitative interviews highlight the complexity of Aboriginal KT and the challenges that lie ahead. The lessons learned from these challenges are reviewed and opportunities for KT to help transform the discourse and practice of Aboriginal health research and policy in Canada discussed.

Philosophers and others have debated for centuries about the concept of “rights” - what they are, where they came from, how they evolved, on what authority they proceed, and in what formulations. Because rights express values and are not simply rules governing an immutable status quo, there will always be debates over some aspects of human rights. It is precisely because of this uncertainty that the international community, in 1948, through the General Assembly of the United Nations, drafted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights as a standard of measurement for the formulation and interpretation of human rights and freedoms. Acknowledged within the Declaration is the universal right to education. One reason for its acknowledgment is the crucial role that education plays in the promotion of equality and the full realization of all other human rights. A second reason concerns the growing appreciation of the relationship that exists between education and increased social and economic benefits. However, despite its pivotal role as a multiplier of human rights and socio-economic benefits, little has actually been written on the right to education to elaborate upon its direction or define its boundaries. Most of what is documented on the right to education comes from legal and political sources, through the voices of judges, lawyers, statesmen, and politicians. Educators, who are generally held responsible for its actual promotion and implementation, have to date contributed very little to our knowledge of the right to education. Clearly this must change. To prevail in practice human rights require not only articulation but interpretation, validation, legislation, enforcement by rule of law and, finally, to be conceived of in a positive formulation. Thus, rights have to be made, and the purpose of this study is to invite educators into the conversation to assist in the making of the right to education by contributing to its interpretations and validating its claims. This inquiry unfolds in twelve chapters. Chapter 1 sets an autobiographical context and includes my own memories and experiences interpreting the right to education as well as the research questions and methodology. Chapter 2 examines the concept of human rights, their evolution, and the basis for their authority. Chapter 3 examines existing interpretations of the right to education in the literature. Chapter 4 examines the meaning of education in the right to education. Chapter 5 examines the compulsory nature of the right to education and the basis for its distinct status among other human rights. Chapters 6 through 8 examine the concepts of equality and equal educational opportunity and their relationship to the promotion of human rights and the right to education. Chapters 9 and 10 examine the ends of the right to education as proclaimed in the Declaration, contrasting these ends with the goals set out by the Ministry of Education in the Province of British Columbia. Chapter 11 examines parental rights to choose the most suitable kind of education in the context of claiming the right to a free education for their children. The final chapter represents an attempt to make sense of the inquiry and the efforts and contributions of research participants and researchers in the literature towards increasing our understanding of the interpretations and implications of the right to education.

This thesis is a journey into the realm of Spider Woman—the Cosmic Weaver—and explores ways in which Spider Woman figures and textile imagery became increasingly important and powerful healing metaphors in literature, during the rise of second wave feminism. Margaret Atwood's Lady Oracle, Paula Gunn Allen's The Woman Who Owned the Shadows, and Alice Walker's The Temple of My Familiar illustrate the importance of these healing metaphors in women's fiction. Framing the analysis is Mary Daly's concept for creating a gynocentric literature (Gyn/Ecology) that escapes patriarchal linguistic constraints through the process of "spooking, sparking and spinning' new words and new stories on a "loom of our own."

Global warming is forecast to cause significant thawing of the permafrost that surrounds lakes and rivers across the Arctic, with potential wide-scale effects on the water quality and biotic characteristics of these water bodies. The benthic environment is believed to be especially sensitive to permafrost-induced ecological change, and this has been the focus of recent field intensive research. Five lakes disturbed and three lakes undisturbed by retrogressive permafrost thaw slumps were sampled during late summer of 2006 to assess the potential effects of slumping on benthos. Water quality parameters, submerged macrophytes, benthic invertebrates, and sediment were collected. A significant difference (p < 0.05) between disturbed and undisturbed lakes was found for macrophyte, invertebrates, underwater light attenuation, and some sediment variables. The results suggest that thaw slumps can affect submerged macrophyte biomass, benthic invertebrate abundance, and also community structure in upland tundra lakes. Such differences between undisturbed and disturbed lakes are suggested to be related to changes in water column transparency, sediment nutrient availability, soil and terrestrial vegetation loading from the landscape, and changes in slope angle of the littoral zone.

Single cell analysis techniques are valuable for revealing individual cell behaviour, which is of interest to many researchers. In such experiments, various types of devices capable of aligning cells into organized arrays are often used. Application of cell arrays reduces the cell-cell interaction during the experiment, allows parallel analysis of cells and facilitates the use of automated equipment. This thesis documents the development of a novel Magnetic Single Cell Micro Array (MSCMA), which makes use of magnetic force to array cells. The working principles, process of design, simulation and fabrication of the prototypes of the MSCMA are described. Prototypes of the MSCMA were successfully fabricated and tested using Jurkat cells that have been labelled with immunomagnetic labels. Experimental results show that the prototypes are effectively in capturing and arraying the cells labelled with immunomagnetic labels. In addition, tests using simple magnetic particles revealed the behaviour of the magnetic field created by the MSCMA, and matched the simulation results well. Although the prototypes suffered from some fabrication defects, these defects had little effect on the performance of the prototypes. Design changes to the MSCMA are proposed for future work, such as implementing a transparent substrate, and addressing the issues of fabrication defects.

Despite abundant research on the topic of temperance and prohibition in North America, very little has been written about the relationship between music and alcohol regulation during the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries. Both pro-drink (wet) cultures and anti-drink (dry) cultures amassed several hundred songs in support of their cause. This study compares these songs within the geographical context of Canada and northern North America during the years leading up to prohibition. It assesses both wet and dry songs’ relative success at attaching their causes to hegemonic ideologies, social groups, technologies, and modes of organization. It concludes that, during the period in question, dry music was more adept in each of these respects. This study contributes to current scholarship by demonstrating that wet and dry cultures in North America cannot be completely understood without also studying their music.