Healing in education is both an ancient and an emerging idea. Approaching students as whole beings with a need for balance and health of their mental, emotional, spiritual and physical selves is not a common teaching practice in North American educational systems, but one which has had some success and demanded research.<p> This research study examined one teacher's approach to working with at risk students in an integrated school-linked services collegiate. It documented her practices and beliefs about teaching at-risk students, and explored the interactions and strategies she used with these students.<p> This was a qualitative case study, a tradition which allowed the researcher to observe the natural teaching conditions of the teacher participant, selected by the researcher for her superior reputation of working with at-risk students. The study, conducted by one researcher, took place in an urban Saskatchewan high school during five weeks in May and June of 2002. The methods used to collect that data were semistructured interview, classroom observation and document analysis. Use of these methods served to triangulate the data. A reflective journal was also kept by the researcher. Data analysis was done inductively, through a search and discovery of themes in the written records, data were then reduced, organized and a description of the case written.<p> Based on the findings of the study, the researcher concluded that the teacher participant used a healing approach to teaching and endeavoured to make her classroom a place of learning and healing. Her emphasis on students as whole people combined with her unique character, beliefs, practices, and talents harmonized into practicing this approach with her students. Extending love and showing care to interact and form relationships with students was the basis of her practice. A variety of teaching strategies were employed to reach and help heal students. Building a safe and caring classroom and establishing a sense of community in the classroom and school for her students supported the healing approach. Accessing on-site human support services for students through referrals was a great asset to the teacher. The healing approach was underpinned by the teacher participant's belief in holistic teaching and the necessity for hope, honesty and respect in her students and herself.<p> The study allows for increased understanding about healing and its potential for use in public education. A number of recommendations for teacher practice were made as a result of the findings of the study.

Healing in education is both an ancient and an emerging idea. Approaching students as whole beings with a need for balance and health of their mental, emotional, spiritual and physical selves is not a common teaching practice in North American educational systems, but one which has had some success and demanded research.<p> This research study examined one teacher's approach to working with at risk students in an integrated school-linked services collegiate. It documented her practices and beliefs about teaching at-risk students, and explored the interactions and strategies she used with these students.<p> This was a qualitative case study, a tradition which allowed the researcher to observe the natural teaching conditions of the teacher participant, selected by the researcher for her superior reputation of working with at-risk students. The study, conducted by one researcher, took place in an urban Saskatchewan high school during five weeks in May and June of 2002. The methods used to collect that data were semistructured interview, classroom observation and document analysis. Use of these methods served to triangulate the data. A reflective journal was also kept by the researcher. Data analysis was done inductively, through a search and discovery of themes in the written records, data were then reduced, organized and a description of the case written.<p> Based on the findings of the study, the researcher concluded that the teacher participant used a healing approach to teaching and endeavoured to make her classroom a place of learning and healing. Her emphasis on students as whole people combined with her unique character, beliefs, practices, and talents harmonized into practicing this approach with her students. Extending love and showing care to interact and form relationships with students was the basis of her practice. A variety of teaching strategies were employed to reach and help heal students. Building a safe and caring classroom and establishing a sense of community in the classroom and school for her students supported the healing approach. Accessing on-site human support services for students through referrals was a great asset to the teacher. The healing approach was underpinned by the teacher participant's belief in holistic teaching and the necessity for hope, honesty and respect in her students and herself.<p> The study allows for increased understanding about healing and its potential for use in public education. A number of recommendations for teacher practice were made as a result of the findings of the study.

This study used life experience methods to gather the narratives of seven adult Indigenous transracial adoptees who have reclaimed their Indigenous identities after experiencing closed adoption during the late 1950s through to the early 1980s. Participants had been members of Aboriginal (First Nations, Metis, Inuit) communities at birth but were then raised outside their Indigenous nations in non-Indigenous families. Through analysis of their stories, I identified four themes that marked their trajectories to reclamation: Imposed fracture (prior to reclamation); Little anchors (beginning healing); Coming home (on being whole); Our sacred bundle (reconciling imposed fracture). Their stories of reconnecting to their Indigeneity, decolonizing and healing illustrate their shifts from hegemonic discourse spaces that characterized their lived experiences as “other” to spirit-based discourses that center Indigenous knowledge systems as valid, life affirming, and life changing. This dissertation contributes to the debate on state sanctioned removal of children and the impacts of loss of Indigenous identity in Canadian society. My findings indicate that cultural and spiritual teachings and practices, as well as, the knowledge of colonization and its impacts on Indigenous families, communities, and nations, all contributed to adoptees’ healing and ability to move forward in their lives. Key recommendations include: further exploration of the concept of cultural genocide in relation to settler-colonial relations in Canada; further examination of the intersection of counter-narratives, resistance discourse, and colonial violence; increased investigation of the connections between Indigenous knowledge systems, living spirit-based teachings and educative aspects of community wellness; and more research examining education beyond formal schooling, including the formative effects upon Indigenous youth of social values, public policy, and legal frameworks. / Graduate