The conflict in Afghanistan which has predominated much of the first decade of the new millennium has resulted in the creation of a new generation of Canadian war veterans. This veteran culture will include Canadian military personnel who were either directly or indirectly involved in active peacekeeping duty during their careers. Some of these men and women choose retirement to pursue other interests or second careers in the civilian world. Others are facing involuntary early retirement due to permanent medical or combat-related stress factors, such as post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Medical release, in combination with age and socioeconomic circumstances can result in adjustment difficulties (Sweet, Stoler, Kelter, & Thurrell, 1989; Westwood, Black & McLean, 2002). A qualitative study of the experiences of ten Canadian soldiers in transition from military life to civilian education environments over a three-month period from November, 2011 to February, 2012 was carried out. The following themes emerged as major areas of discussion: transition issues, unanticipated transitions and non-events, camaraderie and the veteran identity, transferable skills, and support and resources. The transition model developed by Schlossberg and presented by Goodman, Schlossberg, and Anderson (2006) was used as a guiding theory to develop an understanding of the transition experience in reference to this new population of Canadian military veterans. Theories of cross-cultural transition were used as a framework for discussion. Recommendations for facilitating transition through education for Canadian soldiers are included. / Thesis (Master, Education) -- Queen's University, 2012-04-23 17:09:52.269

This thesis examines the way refugee and immigrant children, newly-arrived in Australia, perceive and describe music learning and music making. Sited in a specialist English Language School for primary school-age new arrivals, it explores the meaning that children from diverse cultural backgrounds and prior schooling experiences ascribe to their music classes and experiences, inviting their perceptions of what they are learning, how they learn it, what aspects of the music program most engage and motivate them, and what sense they make of the music program and its existence at this school. / The study also focuses on the methodological issues at play in a research context where multiple languages, culture shock, and pre-adolescent children with unknown pre-migration experiences, coincide with a subject matter that does not lend itself easily to spoken descriptions. These include issues of interpretation and assigning meaning, and the way that different cultural values and expectations can influence participants’ responses. The researcher sought to develop research methods and tools that would effectively elicit the children’s responses, supporting them in the unfamiliar research environment, while remaining sensitive to their preferred ways of communicating. / This is a qualitative multiple case study that focuses on three individual students from diverse cultural and schooling backgrounds, with the school’s music program being the issue or concern upon which they offer their different perspectives. Both within-case and cross-case analysis was utilised, and a phenomenological approach to the inquiry was embedded within the case-study structure and research design. Data were gathered by means of interviews and participant observation, and were analysed and interpreted for emergent categories and themes, and for the additional meanings hidden between what was not said, or within awkward language, using interpretive poetics methods and direct interpretations of individual instances. / Discussion points and conclusions include the significance of the music pedagogy in building shared understanding among culturally-diverse children, the impact of culture shock on children’s perceptions, the importance of social learning contexts for newly-arrived children, and methodological challenges and recommendations for research with a similar cohort of children.

This thesis examines the way refugee and immigrant children, newly-arrived in Australia, perceive and describe music learning and music making. Sited in a specialist English Language School for primary school-age new arrivals, it explores the meaning that children from diverse cultural backgrounds and prior schooling experiences ascribe to their music classes and experiences, inviting their perceptions of what they are learning, how they learn it, what aspects of the music program most engage and motivate them, and what sense they make of the music program and its existence at this school. / The study also focuses on the methodological issues at play in a research context where multiple languages, culture shock, and pre-adolescent children with unknown pre-migration experiences, coincide with a subject matter that does not lend itself easily to spoken descriptions. These include issues of interpretation and assigning meaning, and the way that different cultural values and expectations can influence participants’ responses. The researcher sought to develop research methods and tools that would effectively elicit the children’s responses, supporting them in the unfamiliar research environment, while remaining sensitive to their preferred ways of communicating. / This is a qualitative multiple case study that focuses on three individual students from diverse cultural and schooling backgrounds, with the school’s music program being the issue or concern upon which they offer their different perspectives. Both within-case and cross-case analysis was utilised, and a phenomenological approach to the inquiry was embedded within the case-study structure and research design. Data were gathered by means of interviews and participant observation, and were analysed and interpreted for emergent categories and themes, and for the additional meanings hidden between what was not said, or within awkward language, using interpretive poetics methods and direct interpretations of individual instances. / Discussion points and conclusions include the significance of the music pedagogy in building shared understanding among culturally-diverse children, the impact of culture shock on children’s perceptions, the importance of social learning contexts for newly-arrived children, and methodological challenges and recommendations for research with a similar cohort of children.

This longitudinal qualitative research case study analyzed how international students in their first semester at an intensive English program (IEP) managed their English language learning experiences while transitioning to a new academic learning environment. Their experiences of cultural and educational transition were viewed through the lens of self-regulatory learning habits and behavior. Three linguistically and internationally diverse students who identified as highly self-regulated learners through Likert-scale questionnaire responses were interviewed at the beginning, middle, and end of their first semester at a large university-affiliated IEP in the western part of the US. The three students came from Central America (Spanish speaking), Sub-Saharan Africa (Malagasy & French speaking), and Asia (Mandarin Chinese speaking). Semi-structured interviews yielded data about what self-regulated learning (SRL) principles and practices the students brought with them to the IEP and which SRL principles and practices were maintained, newly developed, or not used throughout their first semester. Data collected from the semi-structured interviews about their transition experiences were organized and analyzed within a six-dimensional model of SRL that included how students managed their motives, in-class and out-of-class learning methods, time, physical environments, social environments, and language performance. Implications for researchers, administrators, and teachers are discussed, including the role of resilience as an important self-regulated learning practice for language learners.