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This dissertation examined the assumptions and motivations that shape teachers’ participation in a service-learning practice and community of practice and how their participation affects their professional practice and identity. Framed by Santoro’s (2013) model of teacher integrity, defined as an educators’ ability to teach in alignment with their commitments, it presents an understanding of challenges to participants’ integrity, and how they mitigate those challenges. Heuristically, this project can be understood as the study of two components conducted using an ethnographic perspective over the course of 16 months: (1) the study of the community of practice and (2) the study of how its characteristics manifest in practice. It involved 100 hours of participant observation, 31 interviews, and the collection of artifact data. Data promote service-learning as a vital pedagogy by shedding light on its potential to sustain urban educators whose integrity is challenged by discourses, policies, and practices that emphasize competition and social efficiency rather than more holistic understandings of education as a civic and social good. Findings show how and why urban educators’ professional and personal commitments are intertwined with beliefs about social justice and democracy. Because of their work with student populations underprivileged and marginalized by systemic situations, meeting students’ social and emotional needs, honoring student voice, and teaching citizenship skills were important to participants. Conditions in their urban schools— a lack of curricular autonomy; insufficient time and resources to meet students’ needs; and deficient support systems— challenged participants commitments. As a result, participants were pushed to participate in service-learning and a service-learning community of practice. In addition, several characteristics of the community of practice pulled participants to participate: a framework for integrating quality service-learning into school- or school district-mandated curriculum; pedagogical and emotional supports specifically needed by urban teachers; and recognition that countered discouragingly negative perceptions of urban teachers. These resources and supports helped urban teachers’ fulfill their professional and personal commitments, validated their work, and sustained them in the profession. / Urban Education

When the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) called for all provinces and territories in Canada to develop curriculum related to residential schools, most ministries of education began the process of reform. Despite this Call to Action, Quebec remains the only province that has yet to publicly commit to or develop any curricula related to residential schools. In this context, this study examines the Community Learning Centre (CLC) network, which has empowered English schools across Quebec to participate in projects that address the Calls to Action, encouraging social justice and reconciliation. It examines the experiences of teachers and CLC coordinators who have participated in CLC projects between 2012-2016. The findings indicate that there is increasing frustration among teachers concerning the absence of residential school history from the Quebec curriculum. Findings also indicate many pedagogical benefits of teaching for social justice. Finally, the study identifies challenges and best practises, and provides recommendations for program and curriculum development in the movement for reconciliation in education in Quebec.

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Today, the world faces its worst refugee crisis since the Second World War. The number of forcibly displaced people globally has hit a historic high, with half of them being children. Most refugees seek shelter in neighboring host countries where they encounter barriers to accessing their fundamental right to education, resulting in the emergence of refugee-led educational initiatives. The 4A framework coupled with Nussbaum’s list of capabilities guides our analysis by applying the criteria of - availability, accessibility, acceptability, adaptability - and assesses the potential of refugee-led education among the Rohingya community. Building on a case study of education amongst displaced Rohingyas in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh, this research adds to the existing literature on refugee education. This study comprises semi-structured interviews with Rohingya refugees and humanitarian workers from Cox’s Bazar’s education sector as well as academic and grey literature to triangulate the findings. Situated within the academic subfield of migration studies, it contributes to ongoing peace and development efforts, highlighting the importance of global refugee education. The research finds that while refugee-led education initiatives in Cox’s Bazar demonstrate greater availability, accessibility, and adaptability to the Rohingya community’s context compared to traditional models, challenges remain in ensuring full capability development due to limited resources and government restrictions.

Thesis (MPhil)--Stellenbosch University, 2012. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Literature suggests that post-literacy (PL) is a seriously under-researched field in most African countries including South Africa. From the literature, it also became evident that, if PL is not viewed as a government priority, a gap will continue to exist between what PL programmes offer, and what the newly literate adults may need. Various authors emphasise the importance of PL to prevent relapsing into illiteracy, the applicability of PL in enhancing everyday private and occupational life, as well as the potential contribution of PL to poverty reduction, social, economic and political development and in sustaining communities. The aim of this study was to identify the PL perceptions of newly literate adults in the PL programme at the Simondium Community Learning Centre (SCLC) in the Western Cape of South Africa. A basic qualitative research approach to collect data was undertaken. During the data production ten semi-structured interviews were conducted, with the individual participant as the unit of analysis. All interviews were recorded digitally (using a tape recorder) and transcribed verbatim. Data analysis was done using the HyperQual computer programme to identify, retrieve, isolate and regroup data. The results and conclusions of data based on the literature studied and findings of the study indicate a learner-centred PL programme is required which focuses mainly on non-formal and vocational programmes for sustaining communities and economic development. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Literatuur dui daarop dat nágeletterdheid (NG) is ’n ernstig onder nagevorsde gebied in die meeste Afrika-lande wat Suid Afrika insluit. Vanuit die literatuur het dit duidelik geblyk dat, as die regering nie NG as 'n prioriteit beskou nie, 'n gaping sal bly voortbestaan tussen dit wat nuutgelettterde volwassenes moontlik kan benodig en dit wat die program bied. Verskeie skrywers benadruk die belangrikheid van NG om 'n terugval na ongeletterdheid te voorkom, die toepaslikheid van NG om alledaagse private en beroepslewe te bevorder, asook NG se potensiële bydrae tot armoedeverligting, maatskaplike, ekonomiese en politieke ontwikkeling en by die volhoubaarheid van gemeenskappe. Die doel van hierdie studie was om die NGpersepsies van nuutgeletterde volwassenes in die NG-program by die Simondium Gemeenskapleersentrum (SGLS) in die Wes-Kaap van Suid-Afrika te identifiseer. ’n Basiese kwalitatiewe navorsingsbenadering is gebruik om data te versamel. Tydens die data versameling is tien semi-gestruktureerde onderhoude gebruik met die individuele deelnemer as die eenheid van analise. Alle onderhoude is digitaal deur 'n bandopnemer opgeneem en verbatim getranskribeer. Data-analise is gedoen deur gebruik te maak van die HyperQual-rekenaarprogram om data te identifiseer, te herroep, te isoleer en te hergroepeer. Die resultate en opsommings van data gabaseer op literatuur wat bestudeer is en die bevindinge van die studie, dui aan dat 'n leerder-gesentreerde NG program wat hoofsaaklik fokus op nie-formele en beroepsgerigte programme vir die volhoubaarheid van gemeenskappe en ekonomiese ontwikkeling, mag nodig wees binne die bestudeerde konteks.

Significant interest is witnessed in the context of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) mediated interventions for development and empowerment of people living in Rural India since the turn of the century. An objective evaluation of impact of such initiatives is important for enrichment of these initiatives as well as potential scaling up and replication. Despite a large number of such initiatives and their subsequent scrutiny in the literature, there is a dearth of comprehensive studies to establish the potential and scope of ICT mediated interventions on empowerment and the role of participation. The present study focuses on bridging this gap. The study is undertaken in three phases- (1) Longitudinal observation, (2) Intensive analysis of ongoing ICT mediated interventions to study stages of empowerment and their measurement and (3) Analytical modelling of the processes and outcomes of empowerment. In the first phase, a longitudinal observation using Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) approach was undertaken in Sirsa, Haryana over two years to explore the relevance of ICT mediation through various communication devices. In the second phase, mobile phone based interventions, involving dissemination of information, were intensively studied. Nine PRA studies were undertaken at eight locations from three states representing diverse agriculture and allied contexts. A Knowledge Gap Analysis (KGA) was undertaken in which a participant was assessed at three different stages – (a) awareness, (b) knowledge and (c) internalization. A specimen based approach based on PRA techniques was adopted, to assess their retention and internalization. A ‘Knowledge Gap Indicator (KGI)’ approach was used to assess and compare retention between people who were part of the intervention with those who did not have exposure to it. In the third phase, the process of empowerment was conceptually modeled as ‘The Participation based ICT Mediated Empowerment Cycle (PICTEC)’. The conceptual model – PICTEC was empirically tested using data obtained from seven locations from three states based on a survey using structured audio-enabled questionnaire. The structural model of PICTEC based on the factors that influence the empowerment cycle was studied using Generalized Partial Least Square (PLS) techniques. The research points to the utility of understanding empowerment through the three distinct approaches adopted in the three phases. The other main contributions include design and development of a methodology to assess empowerment at various stages using Knowledge Gap Analysis (KGA), measurement of empowerment using Knowledge Gap Indicators (KGI) and data collection approaches in the spirit of PRA techniques based on specimen based approach and audio enabled questionnaires which are amenable to rigorous analysis. The results indicate evidence for positive impact of technology mediation in achieving the overall objectives of empowerment in the rural India context. The enabling role of participation is also observed. The results show that the stages of manifestation of empowerment and the internal processes can be studied simultaneously which has positive implications for designing effective interventions. The outcome of the present study are expected to contribute to existing literature on the subject and have relevance for policy makers, managers, designers and administrators of ICT based interventions targeting empowerment.

The 21st Century Community Learning Center Program is a key component in the No Child Left Behind Act. It presents an opportunity for students and their families to continue to learn new skills after the regular school day has ended. The focus of the program is to provide expanded academic enrichment opportunities for children attending low performing schools. Tutorial services and academic activities are designed to help students meet local and state academic standards in subjects such as reading and math. In addition, programs provide youth development activities, drug and violence prevention programs, technology education programs, art, music, and recreational programs. The purpose of this study was to analyze the components of a rural 21st Century Community Learning Center program located in Tazewell, Tennessee, and to determine the impact of the center on the education and welfare of the students and their families who live in this rural town and attend the three Claiborne County schools involved in the grant program. The study focused on the extent to which Claiborne County’s 21st Century Community Learning Center Program was successful in implementing the criteria set forth by the U.S. Department of Education concerning the eight components necessary to be an effective after-school program. The findings from the study indicated that these eight components were being implemented; however, there were also areas of need that should be monitored closely to ensure that the program continues to progress towards becoming an exemplary after-school program.

The purpose of this study was to determine what, if any, associations exist between students' academic success on achievement tests and the predictor variables of students' socioeconomic status, participation in an after-school program, and gender. Middlesboro Intermediate School contains a high number of students who participate in the federal free- or reduced-price school meals program, as well as attend the after-school program. This study factored in the student's academic success on the Kentucky Core Content Test and the socioeconomic status of students based on their qualification for the federal free- or reduced-cost school meals program, their participation in the after-school program, and their gender. This study was based on test results for students in the fourth grade in the areas of math, science, reading, writing on demand, and writing portfolio, as well as the test results for the fifth-grade students in the areas of arts and humanities, practical living-vocational studies, social studies, math, and reading. The entire school population was included except for students never attending the after-school program and students receiving testing modifications on the Kentucky Core Content Test. Based on the analysis of the data and findings of this study, the implementation of an after-school program appears to have benefits for all students regardless of socioeconomic status; however, student success differs by content areas and the number of days of attendance in the after-school program.

This thesis comprises a critical review and suggestions for enhancement of the Community of Inquiry Framework (CoIF), the frequently cited model of collaborative community-based online learning. It combines a systematic engagement of relevant literature and research, with the application of the CoIF thinking to six of my peer-reviewed publications. Although not initially conceived as forming part of a doctorate submission, these publications are drawn upon throughout this narrative, to assist my interrogation of the CoIF. They are also used to provide evidence of my continuing journey as an education researcher. This thesis is therefore not an exegesis – a traditional meta-narrative encompassing this candidate’s publications. It moves beyond my findings in the publications to create and present supplementary concepts, and develop pointed guidance about using the Framework in supporting online learning in tertiary education. My review first critically interrogates the three constituent elements or Presences of the CoIF. Social presence emerges as a highly complex and multi-faceted construct, in which the de-emphasising of the affective in the CoIF seems at variance with current research reporting the strong student emotional response to working online, and particularly in collaborative, community-based groupings. Then, in Cognitive presence, there has been little consideration of, and specificity about, reflection in the CoIF. My critique proposes that reflection and critical thinking are distinct but inter-related concepts; both of which need to be addressed. Teaching presence is renamed ‘Tutoring presence’ informed by my review based upon my emergent understandings of student-centred learning. Two enhancements to the CoIF are then proposed, together with the rationale for establishment of a Tutors’ Network. The first enhancement, referred to as 'the Influences,’ unites and enriches the individual Presences. The second argues for the existence and use of a personal learning retreat at the heart of a community of inquiry, addressing a perceived omission in the CoIF. This learner ‘space’ provides a ‘quiet, safe place’ for the private (internal) world of the learner, as a foil to the shared collaborative space in the CoIF (the external world). Finally, a Tutors’ Network is outlined as a vehicle for advancing their understandings and knowledge of online, collaborative, community-based learning in general, and in particular of communities of inquiry. This should develop the abilities of online tutors, improve their learners’ educational experiences and encourage research and scholarship into the CoIF.