This qualitative case study examines the service-learning program at a charter high school (Austin Charter Academy [ACA]). The two-fold purpose of the study was to: (a) describe and explore the service-learning experience at ACA with attention to the structures of power shaping the program and (b) to examine the role of a White, female administrator in the service-learning program. The research questions for the study were: How does one high school charter community describe their experiences in service-learning programs? Who is being centered and what logics are being reinforced in service-learning projects? The study employed a decolonizing, critical community-based service-learning framework (Santiago-Ortiz, 2018) as its theoretical framework, adding an examination of decision-making processes, structural designs, and power dynamics, and highlighting where ACA’s program perpetuates colonizing notions often found in traditional, mainstream approaches to service-learning. By exploring the experiences of multiple stakeholders, this case study presented a holistic understanding of ACA’s service-learning program. Data for the study were collected through in-depth interviews with ACA staff and community partners, alumni focus groups, document analysis, and autoethnographic data. Using an inductive approach to data analysis, emergent themes were identified across data sources. Findings indicated although ACA’s approach to service-learning has good intentions, when examined with a decolonizing framework one can see misalignment between vision and outcomes for students, staff, and community partners. Without a clear vision and approach, staff have diverse interpretations of service-learning, resulting in confusion for students and families. Additional findings highlighted access to programs have not been equitable, leading to disproportionate outcomes and the need for supports to be put in place. Examining the program from a decolonizing lens presented the ways the current program has upheld colonial notions and centered the academic setting and student need over the community. The findings supported the need for ACA to build in reflective practices to shift their service-learning program from performative to providing authentic, meaningful learning experiences for all parties, in line with a decolonizing framework. Recommendations for policymakers and administrations include revisiting policies and program documentation with a decolonizing framework.

The notion of service has enjoyed historical longevity—rooted deeply within our institutions (i.e., churches, schools, government, military, etc.), reminiscent of indentured servitude, and rarely questioned as a colonizing practice that upholds oppression. Given the relentless insertion of service learning programs into working class communities, the sacrosanctity awarded and commonsensically given to service is challenged and understood within its colonial, historical, philosophical, economic, and ideological machinations. This political confrontation of service learning practices serves to: (a) critique the dominant epistemologies that reproduce social inequalities within the context of service learning theory and practice; and (b) move toward the formulation of a critical bicultural service learning theory and critical principles, in line with the humanizing and emancipatory intent of a critical decolonizing pedagogical practice. This dissertation is deeply influenced by the writings of Brazilian educational philosopher Paulo Freire and critical activist scholar Antonia Darder, among others, and incisively examines and critiques service learning through critical bicultural pedagogy and critical decolonizing interpretive methodology. As a radical political project, Darder’s decolonizing interpretive theoretical framework provides an opportunity to rupture the abyssal divide that epistemologically privileges the Eurocentric service learning discourse in an effort to place bicultural voices, scholarship, and communities at the forefront of this educational movement. In seeking to move toward equality and liberatory practices, both politically and pedagogically, it is imperative that critical consciousness be the guide to ensure that society does not stand by and accept the displacement and dehumanization of the oppressed by culturally invasive practices of service.

This thesis explores the possibilities of embodied writing for social inquiry. Using an examination of the social production of bodily pain to exemplify my approach, and drawing upon autobiographical writing, I develop an embodied writing practice and theorize its implications for decolonizing knowledge production. Following a phenomenologically informed interpretive sociology, I attend closely to language and the construction of meaning through reflexive engagement with pain as a social phenomenon. I also utilize mindfulness meditative practice methodologically to centre the body within social research and intervene in the mind/body split which underwrites much Western knowledge production and reproduces normative, medicalized relations to bodily knowledge. I suggest that by undoing those traditional boundaries demarcating the possibilities of knowledge production, and attending to our epistemological locations which are themselves deeply political, we might generate differently imagined relations to embodiment.

This thesis explores the possibilities of embodied writing for social inquiry. Using an examination of the social production of bodily pain to exemplify my approach, and drawing upon autobiographical writing, I develop an embodied writing practice and theorize its implications for decolonizing knowledge production. Following a phenomenologically informed interpretive sociology, I attend closely to language and the construction of meaning through reflexive engagement with pain as a social phenomenon. I also utilize mindfulness meditative practice methodologically to centre the body within social research and intervene in the mind/body split which underwrites much Western knowledge production and reproduces normative, medicalized relations to bodily knowledge. I suggest that by undoing those traditional boundaries demarcating the possibilities of knowledge production, and attending to our epistemological locations which are themselves deeply political, we might generate differently imagined relations to embodiment.

In 2015, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission made their final recommendations for Canadian society to address cultural genocide: by affirming stories of survivors, taking personal and professional inventory of their practices and making concrete steps to meet the Calls to Action. In particular, the TRC recognized damage done by museums and art galleries to perpetuate colonialism and yet, believed that these institutions could be sites of justice, particularly in relation to arts and artists The Art Gallery of Greater Victoria, an institution steeped in colonialism and under pressure to create accountable relationships with Indigenous communities, began to act by revamping their education program for school age children entitled the Gallery in the Schools art program. My study asked Indigenous artists and educators to contribute their ideas for a new art program. I used a blended research of community based and decolonizing research models, contextualized within decolonizing and critical theoretical frameworks. Overall, research findings suggest that process is as important as the end product in the context of reconciliation and decolonization. Significantly, relationships were esteemed over the concept of reconciliation. These finding further imply that a successful art program would ground pedagogical content within a critical historical framework, be informed by a fluid understanding of identity and search out possibilities of hope. The theoretical implications of this study support increased contributions by Indigenous artists as key policy makers, who will challenge the deeply embedded power structures of institutions and offer alternative ways to share power and support Indigenous envisioned futures. / Graduate

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.

This study explores Coast Salish s’ulxwe:n (Elders)-in-residence and Coast Salish xwulmuxw (First Nation) Professors’ application of xwulmuxw (First Nation) pedagogy specifically from southeast Vancouver Island, Coast Salish speaking people in higher education using nutsamaat uy’skwuluwun meaning to work together as one, with a good heart and good mind to obtain a goal. This study used interviews to gather narratives of eight Elders and three professors who use Coast Salish pedagogy in higher education. Participants are members of the Snuneymuxw, Quw'utsun, Penelakut, Lyackson, Tsawout, Tsartlip, and Songhees First Nations of southeast Vancouver Island First Nations and one participant from Katzie First Nation on the lower mainland of British Columbia. The implication of this research is significant because Coast Salish pedagogy has very little research by an authentic Coast Salish researcher and is not fully documented. My analysis of the interviews offers insight on ways the participants apply Coast Salish pedagogy in higher education. I found many themes that the participants use while teaching Coast Salish pedagogy in higher education. The three main common themes were 1) respect, 2) uy’skwuluwun and 3) nutsamaat uy’skwuluwun. Respect was a term that was central to the many teachings and themes shared by the participants. Second, uy’skwuluwun was also a term woven through many of the Coast Salish teachings, meaning to have a strong heart and mind. Lastly, the term nutsamaat uy’skwuluwun was a common theme that kept arising among many of the participants, meaning to we work together as one, with a good heart to obtain a goal. It is a term, that weaves throughout all the common themes and pertains to the educator, students and non-Indigenous peoples that learn and work with Indigenous peoples in higher education. The analysis offers insight on what would the present Coast Salish Elders-in-residence and xwulmuxw professors like future Coast Salish Elders-in-residence and Coast Salish professors to continue to teach in higher education. Some of the main topics the participants would like future Elders and professors to instruct on are; protocol, spirituality, language, experiential learning, and for the university to hire more Elders-in-residence and Coast Salish professors. The analysis offers insight on why it is important to teach Coast Salish pedagogy in higher education. Participants shared that they thought it was important to teach Coast Salish pedagogy in higher education because Indigenous and non-Indigenous people need to understand Coast Salish ways of doing, understand the history and impacts of colonization, and the local languages of the area. By doing so, Coast Salish Elders and professors create space to further instruct Coast Salish pedagogy for all students, and work together as one with a good heart and good mind to obtain a goal, that is to create a better society for all mustimmuxw, in higher education regarding First Nations history, culture and language of the local area. / Graduate

Research on employment in Canadian AIDS service and allied organizations (AASOs) should recognize the unique experiences of immigrant women workers of African descent given their transnational HIV histories, working roles, relationship and responsibilities, interconnected identities and senses of belonging, and intersecting systems of oppressions they navigate within their working lives. Guided by decolonizing, anti-colonial, and transnational feminist thoughts, the Because She Cares study aims to understand the experiences of African women living with HIV who are employed in the HIV sector in the province of Ontario, Canada. Using performance narrative methodologies, this inquiry explored HIV-related work as agential, cultural and social practices of caring work; and deciphered the local and transnational interconnections to African women’s sensemaking of their work as HIV caring work. Ten African women with employment histories in Canadian AASOs participated as the Narrators. Using performance narrative methods based on oral traditions, I gathered, interpret and shared their stories of HIV caring work. In collaboration with the Narrators, I poetically “retold” interview narratives to embody the emotive resonance of the original telling and evoke the theoretical and political relevance of the sharing. Study findings illuminate the multiple self, communal and social modes of caring that emerged in women’s HIV-related work, the shifting responsibilization of African women living with HIV as carers, the intersecting systems of oppression African woman navigate in Canadian work spaces and strategies of care-full work that translocates “back home”. This study documents work experiences of African women whose HIV-related engagement is notable yet, typically overlooked in Canadian research on HIV-related employment and civic engagement. Decolonizing, anti-colonial, and transnational feminist thinking allowed me to use culturally responsive methodologies that highlight how HIV caring work becomes processes of identity and belonging, and its corresponding rights and responsibilities, within and across local and transnational contexts. / Dissertation / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) / Guided by decolonizing, anti-colonial, and transnational feminist thoughts, the Because She Cares study aims to understand the experiences of African women living with HIV who are employed in the HIV sector in Ontario, Canada. Study aims include better understanding HIV-related work as agential, cultural and social practices of caring work and deciphering its local and transnational interconnections. Ten African women with employment histories in Canadian AIDS service and allied organizations (AASOs) participated as the Narrators. Using performance narrative methods based on oral traditions, I gathered, interpret and shared their stories of HIV caring work and “retold” narratives as poems. Study findings illuminate the multiple self, communal and social modes of caring that emerged in women’s HIV-related work, the shifting responsibilization of African women living with HIV as carers, the intersecting systems of oppression African woman navigate in Canadian work spaces and strategies of care-full work that translocates “back home”.

American schooling and Indigenous peoples share a coarse relationship mired by devastating periods of forced removal, indoctrination, and brutal assimilation methods. Over the course of more than a century of failed education policy—though often veiled in good intentions—Indigenous peoples have yet to witness a comprehensive Indigenous education program that fundamentally honors the federal trust responsibility of the United States government. On the contrary, with a contemporary approach of apathy, invisibility, and institutionalization, it is not difficult to see the legacy of settler colonialism continuing to wield its oppressive influence on Indigenous communities. Wolfe’s (2006) claim that “invasion is a structure, not an event” (p. 388), prompts the recognition of the coloniality of power—referring to the interpellation of modern forms of exploitation and domination, long after the termination of formal colonial operations. This decolonizing interpretive approach of this dissertation served to: a) examine the historical and philosophical foundations of colonizing epistemicides and their impact on contemporary Indigenous education; and b) move toward the formulation of a decolonizing Indigenous curricular framework for contemporary Indigenous education. Grounded in Antonia Darder’s (2012, 2019) critical bicultural theory and a decolonizing interpretive methodology, this qualitative study examined the complex factors facing the indigenization of education, while implicating the pernicious impact of epistemicides and a culture of forgetting. The study provided a robust framework by which to situate a particular curricular approach through a set of five decolonizing principles that aim to shape a meaningful reflection of Indigenous consciousness. A commitment to these decolonizing principles necessarily means an emancipatory re-reading of Indigenous relations within the scope of contemporary education. It calls on educational leaders to paradoxically ground their decision-making in the ancestral teachings of Indigenous communities, for a genuine reimagination of self-determination and sovereignty in the contemporary moment.

Frente à necessidade emergente de se esclarecer os obscuros períodos de ditaduras e violência de Estado na América Latina ou de construir e manter versões que os neguem surge em diversos países um novo conflito entre os diferentes setores da sociedade, que agora disputam qual versão sobre o passado ascenderá ao status de verdade. A memória coletiva, como fenômeno construído a partir de relações sociais e constituidor dessas mesmas relações, ao ser transformada em memória histórica, aquela que é legitimada institucionalmente, parece ser um meio de determinar o que deve e o que não deve ser recordado, possibilitando o reconhecimento ou o apagamento de identidades. Muitos dos processos de reconstrução e recuperação de memória desenvolvidos nos últimos anos reproduzem modelos ocidentalocêntricos de pensar e fazer, excluindo o saber de grupos historicamente marginalizados. A produção de informes e publicações com dados sobre os eventos violentos do passado, ganha mais relevância que as vidas que relataram tais eventos. Estratégias para que se rompa o silêncio são elaboradas sem que se questione como fazer falar o silêncio sem que ele fale necessariamente a língua hegemônica que o pretende fazer falar. Muitas comunidades cansadas de esperar que se cumpram seus direitos por parte do governo, decidem levar a cabo suas próprias formas de reparação do tecido social, desenvolvendo processos de recuperação e reconstrução de memória particulares, destinados à reorganização e remotivação, a partir, sobretudo, das memórias de suas resistências. A Guatemala, como país tremendamente afetado por 36 anos de conflito armado interno, tem concentrado em seu pequeno território, uma imensidão de processos de memória. Sendo a população indígena a mais atingida pela violência do conflito armado, pelo racismo e pela discriminação até os dias de hoje, muitos destes processos não visam tratar causas estruturais da violência, e as próprias comunidades terminam por desenvolver estratégias para seguir resistindo. A partir das memórias destas resistências, lidas, escutadas e vividas ao longo da presente pesquisa, pretende-se refletir sobre os efeitos das políticas de recuperação e reconstrução de memória como modos de reparar os danos causados pela violência política. Para tal, serão propostas algumas relações entre racionalidade colonial e memória histórica, a partir do recente movimento descolonial latino americano; será traçado um caminho de leitura pela história da Guatemala, para chegar-se às contribuições que podem ser feitas ao campo, a partir de um caso específico de recuperação e reconstrução de memória histórica na Guatemala. / Regarding the emerging need to clarify the hazy periods of dictatorships and State violence in Latin America or the need to build and maintain versions that deny them in many countries a new conflict emerges, between the different sectors of society, which now dispute which version about the past will earn the status of truth. Collective memory, as a phenomenon built over social relationships and something which constitutes these very relationships, when transformed in historical memory, the one which is institutionally legitimated, seems like a mean to determine what should and what should not be remembered, allowing the recognition or the erasure of identities. Many of the processes of reconstruction and recuperation of memory developed in the last years reproduce Western-centric models of thinking and doing, ruling out the knowledge of historically marginalized groups. The production of reports and publications with data regarding violent events of the past gains more relevance than the lives that reported such events. Strategies to break the silence are elaborated without questioning how to make silence speak without it speaking necessarily the hegemonic language that intends to make it speak. Many communities, tired of waiting for their rights to be fulfilled by the government, decide to perform their own ways of repairing the social tissue, developing processes of recuperation and reconstruction of particular memories, aiming to the reorganization and remotivation, from, above all, the memories of their resistances. Guatemala, as a country tremendously affected by 36 years of internal armed conflict, has been concentrating in its small territory a huge amount of memory processes. Being the indigenous population the most affected by the violence of the armed conflict, by racism and discrimination until nowadays, many of these processes do not aim to treat the structural causes of violence, and communities themselves end up developing strategies to keep resisting. From the memories of these resistances, read, listened and lived throughout the present research, it is intended to reflect upon the effects of the policies of recuperation and reconstruction of memory as means to repair the damage caused by political violence. For such, some relations will be proposed between colonial rationality and historical memory, a reading scrip will be traced through the history of Guatemala aiming to reach out to the contributions that can be made to the field, from a specific case of recuperation and reconstruction of historical memory from Guatemala.