This study explores the ways in which Indigenous and non-Indigenous educators have experienced working together as allies for social and racial justice. The study is grounded in anti-oppressive, decolonizing, and participatory action research paradigms. Theoretically, it is framed by anti-racism and anti-oppressive approaches that highlight oppression, exploitation, and power. Within the theoretical field of antiracism, there is a tendency to ignore Indigeneity, and the ongoing oppression and racialization of Indigenous peoples (Lawrence & Dua, 2005; St. Denis, 2007). This study puts Indigeneity and oppression at the forefront of ally development research. The research was modeled upon an action research method called co-operative inquiry (Heron, 1996). The inquiry group involved seven group members, including the researcher. These group members came from diverse racial and social backgrounds. They were all women who work in diverse educational capacities (adult educators, nurse educator, counselor, teacher, lawyer). The inquiry spanned 11 weeks, with 18 hours spent together over six group sessions. Two Indigenous leaders joined the group in two sessions, to lend their experiences and insights on the role of allies. Group members retained a high level of commitment throughout the study. The study was a success in terms of analyzing many of the issues Indigenous and non-Indigenous educators face when working together. It also highlighted the roles of allies and useful strategies for allies to use. The study was shown to have a high level of catalytic validity (Herr & Anderson, 2005) as many group members reported a high degree of both epistemological (what they know) and ontological (how they become) learning. The results of this study lead to new insights on how allies have traditionally been conceptualized and the role that ontology plays in learning. The study also discusses how the congruence between topic and method was navigated, and how that in turn led to the creation of an allied space. / Graduate

Yes / The development of a clear personal and professional identity – ‘knowing oneself’ – is frequently cited as a key factor in supporting anti-oppressive practice. In the field of health and social care, work placements are a major vehicle for equipping students to become anti-oppressive practitioners committed to making effective diversity interventions in a range of organizational settings. This article highlights some of the tensions inherent in the formation of such an identity and pays particular attention to issues such as discomfort, power inequalities, the discursive production of the self and ways in which educational and workplace organizational settings can simultaneously promote and inhibit such identity development. The article concludes that the discomfort experienced by students as part of this learning process is not only inevitable but necessary to becoming an anti-oppressive practitioner, and that the narrative process offers ways of empowering both students and service users to challenge oppression.

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) students, students of color, and students with disabilities are failing school and being pushed out at much higher rates that majority populations students while also experiencing high rates of bullying, harassment, and physical violence in school. This study explores efforts to reduce the violent experiences and academic disparities for these students through teacher practice at the classroom level. It examines public pedagogy and conflict pedagogy as curricular strategies in a preservice teacher education course over 5 years. The course aims to develop and support an advocate/activist teacher identity, a teacher identity that is not neutral and can challenge and disrupt the ideas and practices that have become normalized in our schools. This research draws on three theoretical frameworks to inform the design and analysis of this study on teacher identity: poststructuralism, feminist pragmatism, and queer theory. These theories provide a conceptual vocabulary for critically examining anti-oppressive teacher education curricula. Specifically, this work looks at the way public and conflict pedagogy can be used to achieve anti-oppressive curricular ends through the potential impact on preservice teacher identity.

Greece is seven years into a socio-economic crisis, where oppression has increased as a result of austerity measures driven by the political parties in governance and Troika. In a context of attacks on social care and social work, dominant social values of intolerance and violation of human rights, the pursuit of anti-oppressive practice is more crucial than ever. However, discussions and debates on social work and anti-oppressive practice have mostly taken place outside of the context of Greece. Reflecting on this gap, this doctoral research project asks: What is the role of social work education in influencing students' ability to manage value tensions in relation to anti-oppressive practice within the current context of social work education in Greece? It is the first such study of its kind in Greece. Using a qualitative case study methodology, the research was based in one of the four national Departments of Social Work (subsequently abolished). Semi-structured interviews were undertaken involving social work students in their first and final years of professional education (n=32) and academic staff/placement supervisors (n=10). Data analysis was informed by a ground theory approach. The study revealed social work education's failure in stimulating the development of an ethical and anti-oppressive self in students. The key determinants identified were: students' narrow understandings and individualistic approaches towards oppression; the unjust educational policies within which students are educated and educators work; an outdated curriculum with a clinical and technical approach; and lack of social action/connection with the community by the Department. Results are interpreted using the conceptual lens of Foucault (1977; 1980; 1982) and Freire (1970; 1993; 1994). A conceptual model is also presented, in order to understand and promote (anti-) oppressive practice at multiple levels: subjectivity, discipline and governmentality, as well as discourse, oppressive reality and dividing practices. The key implications of the study are for social work education to reflect and respond to current social needs by developing a radical and anti-oppressive curriculum; being involved in social action through social movements and professional associations; establishing a dialogical and reflexive learning process with the active participation of students and service users in designing and evaluating educational content and processes; and a constant deconstruction/reconstruction of the self for students, educators and practitioners.

Social exclusion is the restriction of participation in one’s community; it is the denial of access to rights, services, dignity and respect. Youth who are homeless experience social exclusion on numerous fronts, as they are marginal to the social, economic and civil worlds of Canadian society. This dissertation is a qualitative, participatory project on youth homelessness that prioritizes voice by employing a “methods from the margins” approach (Kirby & McKenna, 1989). During this project I worked with youth who have experienced homelessness (ages 16-25), first in focus groups (n=13) and, then, through interviews (n=30), to explore their views on topics connected to social exclusion. The youth guided the topics that I explored, which I connected to the features of social exclusion outlined by Silver and Miller (2003). Results of this study highlight that youth who are homeless do not describe their experiences in terms of social exclusion. The results of this work question the homogeneity of experiences of the youth in the age bracket of 16-25, and review findings through three specific age categories of youth being “not yet adults,” “new adults” and “adults.” My findings indicate that youth who experience homelessness perceive themselves to be more independent and mature than youth who have not experienced homelessness, questioning dominant constructions of both “youth” and “homelessness.” Youth respondents also mentioned a number of other difficulties they experienced because of homelessness, including discrimination and limited opportunities for education and conventional employment and access to housing. This highlights the multidimensionality of social exclusion. At various points in the thesis I discuss youths’ views on rights and social citizenship, pointing to the impacts of limited rights and social safeguards in a neo-liberal state. Recommendations are made for reducing the social exclusion of youth who experience homelessness through “housing-first” approaches to addressing homelessness.

Anti-oppressive practice is a commonly accepted concept in social work education that concentrates on alleviating oppression and advancing social justice. The goal of this research is to highlight the social work students’ perspectives on anti-oppressive practice and to uncover their experiences of anti-oppressive practice in the field and classroom. A comparative case study based on photovoice was conducted with social work students from Canada and Finland. Qualitative interviews were carried out with research participants in conjunction with the photovoice discussion. Research findings indicate that most social work students who participated in this study have a positive view of anti-oppressive practice. The majority of participants position themselves as anti-oppressive social work practitioners, however, some perceive the anti-oppressive practice as purely theoretical, as opposed to be a part of practical social work. Differences that were found between student responses in samples from Finland and Canada are discussed. / February 2016

Social exclusion is the restriction of participation in one’s community; it is the denial of access to rights, services, dignity and respect. Youth who are homeless experience social exclusion on numerous fronts, as they are marginal to the social, economic and civil worlds of Canadian society. This dissertation is a qualitative, participatory project on youth homelessness that prioritizes voice by employing a “methods from the margins” approach (Kirby & McKenna, 1989). During this project I worked with youth who have experienced homelessness (ages 16-25), first in focus groups (n=13) and, then, through interviews (n=30), to explore their views on topics connected to social exclusion. The youth guided the topics that I explored, which I connected to the features of social exclusion outlined by Silver and Miller (2003). Results of this study highlight that youth who are homeless do not describe their experiences in terms of social exclusion. The results of this work question the homogeneity of experiences of the youth in the age bracket of 16-25, and review findings through three specific age categories of youth being “not yet adults,” “new adults” and “adults.” My findings indicate that youth who experience homelessness perceive themselves to be more independent and mature than youth who have not experienced homelessness, questioning dominant constructions of both “youth” and “homelessness.” Youth respondents also mentioned a number of other difficulties they experienced because of homelessness, including discrimination and limited opportunities for education and conventional employment and access to housing. This highlights the multidimensionality of social exclusion. At various points in the thesis I discuss youths’ views on rights and social citizenship, pointing to the impacts of limited rights and social safeguards in a neo-liberal state. Recommendations are made for reducing the social exclusion of youth who experience homelessness through “housing-first” approaches to addressing homelessness.

Denna uppsats är till sin form en reflekterande vetenskaplig essä som undersöker en normkritisk jämlikhetsarbetares praktiska kunnande och yrkesvillkor. Författarens egen yrkeserfarenhet finns med i form av en berättelse från ett genusprojekt inom högre skådespelarutbildning. Denna dilemmasituation bildar utgångspunkt för ett undersökande i dialog med historiska och samtida tänkare och praktiker. Framträdande i undersökningen är Aristoteles kunskapsbegrepp fronesis – den praktiska klokheten. Undersökningen beskriver några av de komplexiteter som finns i att bedriva ett arbete som utmanar maktordningar i en organisation och visar att det krävs praktisk klokhet för att hantera motstånd, starka känslor och våld. / This reflective scientific essay examines the practical knowledge of the equality worker involved with anti-oppressive education in a Swedish context, where the term “norm critique” is used. The writers personal experience is included in the work, in the form of a narrative from a “messy situation” in a project centered on gender perspectives in actor training. This dilemma is the starting point for an inquiry in dialogue with contemporary and historical thinkers and practitioners. Prominently in the essay is Aristotle's term for skill and practical wisdom, phronesis. The inquiry describes some of the complexities that lies in doing counter hegemonic work within organizations and it shows that this kind of work demands practical wisdom to be able to handle resistance, strong emotions and violence.

The magical fictional setting of the Harry Potter novels is not one separated from our own. It features the same nations and the same history as the real world. Its society is parallel to ours due to similar traditions and hierarchies, such as heteronormativity, ageism, racism, and fascism. Some of these are clearly problematised in the novels, others are not. While issues of racism and blood status are clearly at the forefront of the story of Harry Potter, there are layers to the conflict which reveal that there is more to the discriminatory dilemma than the issue of blood purity. This essay aims to investigate how teachers can use J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series to lead a discussion about othering and discrimination, focusing on the issue of ableism in particular. The goal when studying processes of othering in Harry Potter is not necessarily for the reader to identify with the protagonists. Instead, textual silences will be interpreted to investigate whether the othering of people like the readers themselves, an othering the reader partakes in when empathising with the protagonists, can be compared to ableism in the real world, and how teachers can use Harry Potter as means to introduce the idea of able-bodiedness as a social construct. By applying crip theory to the text, it can be stated that the division between the protagonist and his non-magical Other is based on ableist ideologies, which result in a positioning of the non-magical as disabled in the magical society. This position is maintained by naturalising the link between impairment and character flaws.

From an anti-oppressive and a gender perspective, the aim of this paper is to examine whether three English teachers at a comprehensive school in Stockholm make gender conscious selections when selecting novels for their English literature lessons. Through quantitative research, semi-structured interviews and e-mail interviews with these teachers I have attempted to find out if they include both male and female writers when selecting English novels for their students and also what factors affect their selections. I have analyzed the interviews and the quantitative research by using a qualitative and a quantitative content analysis. The theories that I have established my analysis upon are gender theories about the male norm in society, the feminist Simone de Beauvoir’s ideas about the woman as a second gender and the sociologist Raewyn Connell’s gender regimes. Furthermore, the Professor Kevin K. Kumashiro’s theories on anti-oppressive education have been very useful when interpreting my research. My results show that these teachers do not make gender conscious selections for their English literature lessons since they almost only choose novels written by men. They explain their choices to depend upon factors such as them wanting to individualize their literature lessons by selecting novels that their students will enjoy. They also elucidate the issue that the school only has a limited selection of novels to choose from, which narrows their choices. But I argue that since the teachers are able to purchase new novels to the school and also borrow class sets from the Public Library, they have the possibility to select novels by female writers as well. I interpret the fact that they almost only use novels written by men as a result of the male norm in society, which influences the teachers on a subconscious level. That the teachers select male writers prior to female writers results in the students achieving an inadequate education, given that they mostly learn about the male perspective upon the world, since the female angle is invisible. If these teachers would begin working from an anti-oppressive perspective and make gender conscious selections of novels for their English literature lessons, they must first be aware of how the male norm influences them.