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.

An often discussed issue in the field of second language learning is the influence and importance of individual differences, IDs, such as motivation, personality, previous learning experiences and learning strategies. It has been claimed that IDs form a complex system in the learner, but little consensus has been reached as regards definitions of constructs or their relative importance. Taking the individual learner as a starting-point, this dissertation attempts to demonstrate the complexity of individual differences in the single learner by adopting an in-depth holistic approach. For this purpose a longitudinal case study was designed to follow the learning process of a young Greek woman's acquisition of Swedish during a ten-month intensive course in Sweden. The study is mainly based on self-report and personal diaries, which have been interpreted and analysed qualitatively. The learning process is extensively described and changes in, for example, strategy use, life situation and learning progress are illustrated. There are indeed many complex factors which have the potential to influence learning. In this particular case, seven factors are indicated as having had a positive influence: previous language learning experiences (especially as regards learning strategies), long-term motivation, metalinguistic awareness, social contacts with L2 speakers, access to English as a mediating language, access to a strict and intensive Swedish course, and a well-needed learning break in the middle of the studies. Negative factors were largely of an emotional nature, especially a period of liminality which created feelings of not belonging, of being betwixt and between. It is suggested that IDs form a dynamic variable system in the learner. All the IDs are present in the learner, but they seem to change both in substance over time and in importance for the learner at different times in the learning process. Furthermore, IDs appear to be interconnected in a complex and dynamic way. The results of this study strongly emphasise the importance of both an holistic and a longitudinal approach to IDs in second language learning. / digitalisering@umu

This thesis explores women's learning in unpaid household work through the lenses of impairment and disability. Informal learning from this standpoint is a perspective that is not yet integrated into the adult learning literature. The impetus for the study came from dissatisfaction with the social undervaluing of unpaid housework and carework, and the largely unrecognized learning behind the work, which is predominantly done by women. Disability and impairment provide unique lenses for making visible what people learn and how they learn in this context. Those who have or acquire impairment in adulthood need to learn how to do things differently. For this study I have taken a segment of data from a 4-year, 4-phase project on Unpaid Housework and Lifelong Learning in which I participated. The participants in this segment are women and men with disabilities who took part in 2 focus groups (11 women), an on-line focus group (20 women), and individual interviews (10 women and 5 men). Learning is explored through three different themes: first, learning related to self-care; second, learning to accept the impaired body; and third, strategies and resources used in the learning process. Analysis of the data shows that the learning that happens through unpaid household work is multidimensional, fluid, and diverse. Learning is accomplished through a complex 4-dimensional process involving a blend of the body, mind, emotions, and the spiritual self. Furthermore, what participants learned and how they learned is influenced by the sociocultural context in which it takes place. Learning, when seen as a 4-dimensional process, provides a framework for challenging traditional Western cultural beliefs about what counts as learning and knowledge. Such beliefs have cultivated the viewpoint that learning is individualistic, cognitive, and based on reason. I contest these beliefs by disrupting the binaries that support them (e.g., mind vs. body, reason vs. emotion). Participants used both sides of the binaries in their learning processes, negating the oppositional and hierarchical categories they establish. The concepts in the binaries still exist but the relationship between them is not oppositional, nor is one concept privileged over another, either within or across binaries.

This research explored the complexity of language teacher identity from a holistic perspective involving two features: the integration of teachers’ personal and professional experiences, and the application of conscious/rational and intuitive/tacit thought processes. The study examined four ESL teachers’ beliefs, perceptions, and interpretations about the influences of their important personal, educational, and professional experiences on the development of their teacher identity. It also investigated the overall impact of an autobiographical reflective process combined with a guided visualization activity on the re-construction of participants’ perceptions of teacher identity. The interdisciplinary theoretical orientation was grounded in theories and concepts from psychology and educational research, e.g., Personal Construct Theory (Kelly, 1955, 1963), the complementary nature of reason and intuition, and the concept of “perspective transformation” (Mezirow, 1978, 2000). The methodology was heuristic research (Moustakas, 1990, 1994) and methods included reflexive autobiographical journaling, guided visualization, and in-depth interviews. The results confirm that teacher identity is deeply embedded in one’s personal biography. Participants’ beliefs, perceptions, and interpretations nurtured in the family environment strongly influenced their school experiences, career choice, instructional practice, teaching philosophy, and teacher identity. The use of the guided visualization technique, integrated with rational reflection, considerably enhanced the depth and breadth of participants’ self-understanding and personal/professional growth, which is an important methodological contribution of the study for teacher development. The results strongly suggest that it is essential to explore teachers’ personal life experiences in order to gain a holistic understanding of the dominant influences on the development of teacher identity. The study presents a model for designing a longitudinal professional development program offered in a series of workshops to raise teachers’ awareness of the implicit influences on teacher identity and instructional practice through the application of both conscious/rational and intuitive/tacit methods to access their beliefs, perceptions, and interpretations of their life experiences.

There are unequivocal health disparities, both physical and mental, between the Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples of Canada. Utilizing narrative inquiry, a qualitative methodology, 15 néhiyawak (Plains Cree people) between 18 and 71 years of age from Thunderchild First Nation were interviewed to explore what improved their mental health and well-being and what they needed to attain optimal mental health and well-being. The néhiyawak interviewed for this study responded with descriptions of strength and resilience. By posing questions that focused on the positive, the strengths, and resilience of the néhiyawak in this study came to the forefront. Narrative thematic analysis of the interviews conducted with the néhiyawak from Thunderchild First Nation consistently revealed four overarching themes that highlighted what positively impacted their mental health and well-being and their perceived needs to attain optimal mental health and well-being: relationships; spiritual beliefs and cultural practices; tānisīsi wāpahtaman pimātisiwin (worldview); and ēkwa ōhi kikwaya piko ka-ispayiki kīspin ka-nohtē-miyo-mahcihoyān (these are the things that need to happen if I want to be healthy). The néhiyawak in this study described holistic health determinants that could best be associated with the medicine wheel and the determinants of health as making a positive difference to their mental health and as necessary for them to obtain optimal mental health and well-being. These results suggest that mental health programming and intervention should be harmonious with Indigenous culture; utilize a holistic approach that takes physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual well-being into consideration; and address the existing mental health disparities using the determinants of health as a framework, with an increased focus on the current socio-economic status of Indigenous peoples in Canada.

Web accessibility guidelines have textual representation and provide little support in systematic analysis and usage. The study hypothesizes that the guidelines can be reorganized and represented using the goal oriented technique and design patterns which will allow their usage in a more systematic manner and accommodate detailed analysis of the guidelines with other competing goals. For this study, knowledge from web designers’ experiences in using the guidelines, researchers’ findings, and the actual guidelines have been amalgamated. Six web designers have been consulted on a one-on-one basis and difficulties in using the guidelines for (1) specific scenarios, (2) systematic application, and (3) detailed systems analysis have been reported. Goal oriented modeling and design patterns have been introduced for (1) graphical representation of the guidelines using goal graphs, and (2) keeping the technical details separate from the goal graphs. The proposed representation allows for the accessibility guidelines to be systematically applied into interface design, and systems design using the goal oriented modeling technique.

This thesis explores women's learning in unpaid household work through the lenses of impairment and disability. Informal learning from this standpoint is a perspective that is not yet integrated into the adult learning literature. The impetus for the study came from dissatisfaction with the social undervaluing of unpaid housework and carework, and the largely unrecognized learning behind the work, which is predominantly done by women. Disability and impairment provide unique lenses for making visible what people learn and how they learn in this context. Those who have or acquire impairment in adulthood need to learn how to do things differently. For this study I have taken a segment of data from a 4-year, 4-phase project on Unpaid Housework and Lifelong Learning in which I participated. The participants in this segment are women and men with disabilities who took part in 2 focus groups (11 women), an on-line focus group (20 women), and individual interviews (10 women and 5 men). Learning is explored through three different themes: first, learning related to self-care; second, learning to accept the impaired body; and third, strategies and resources used in the learning process. Analysis of the data shows that the learning that happens through unpaid household work is multidimensional, fluid, and diverse. Learning is accomplished through a complex 4-dimensional process involving a blend of the body, mind, emotions, and the spiritual self. Furthermore, what participants learned and how they learned is influenced by the sociocultural context in which it takes place. Learning, when seen as a 4-dimensional process, provides a framework for challenging traditional Western cultural beliefs about what counts as learning and knowledge. Such beliefs have cultivated the viewpoint that learning is individualistic, cognitive, and based on reason. I contest these beliefs by disrupting the binaries that support them (e.g., mind vs. body, reason vs. emotion). Participants used both sides of the binaries in their learning processes, negating the oppositional and hierarchical categories they establish. The concepts in the binaries still exist but the relationship between them is not oppositional, nor is one concept privileged over another, either within or across binaries.

This research explored the complexity of language teacher identity from a holistic perspective involving two features: the integration of teachers’ personal and professional experiences, and the application of conscious/rational and intuitive/tacit thought processes. The study examined four ESL teachers’ beliefs, perceptions, and interpretations about the influences of their important personal, educational, and professional experiences on the development of their teacher identity. It also investigated the overall impact of an autobiographical reflective process combined with a guided visualization activity on the re-construction of participants’ perceptions of teacher identity. The interdisciplinary theoretical orientation was grounded in theories and concepts from psychology and educational research, e.g., Personal Construct Theory (Kelly, 1955, 1963), the complementary nature of reason and intuition, and the concept of “perspective transformation” (Mezirow, 1978, 2000). The methodology was heuristic research (Moustakas, 1990, 1994) and methods included reflexive autobiographical journaling, guided visualization, and in-depth interviews. The results confirm that teacher identity is deeply embedded in one’s personal biography. Participants’ beliefs, perceptions, and interpretations nurtured in the family environment strongly influenced their school experiences, career choice, instructional practice, teaching philosophy, and teacher identity. The use of the guided visualization technique, integrated with rational reflection, considerably enhanced the depth and breadth of participants’ self-understanding and personal/professional growth, which is an important methodological contribution of the study for teacher development. The results strongly suggest that it is essential to explore teachers’ personal life experiences in order to gain a holistic understanding of the dominant influences on the development of teacher identity. The study presents a model for designing a longitudinal professional development program offered in a series of workshops to raise teachers’ awareness of the implicit influences on teacher identity and instructional practice through the application of both conscious/rational and intuitive/tacit methods to access their beliefs, perceptions, and interpretations of their life experiences.

There are unequivocal health disparities, both physical and mental, between the Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples of Canada. Utilizing narrative inquiry, a qualitative methodology, 15 néhiyawak (Plains Cree people) between 18 and 71 years of age from Thunderchild First Nation were interviewed to explore what improved their mental health and well-being and what they needed to attain optimal mental health and well-being. The néhiyawak interviewed for this study responded with descriptions of strength and resilience. By posing questions that focused on the positive, the strengths, and resilience of the néhiyawak in this study came to the forefront. Narrative thematic analysis of the interviews conducted with the néhiyawak from Thunderchild First Nation consistently revealed four overarching themes that highlighted what positively impacted their mental health and well-being and their perceived needs to attain optimal mental health and well-being: relationships; spiritual beliefs and cultural practices; tānisīsi wāpahtaman pimātisiwin (worldview); and ēkwa ōhi kikwaya piko ka-ispayiki kīspin ka-nohtē-miyo-mahcihoyān (these are the things that need to happen if I want to be healthy). The néhiyawak in this study described holistic health determinants that could best be associated with the medicine wheel and the determinants of health as making a positive difference to their mental health and as necessary for them to obtain optimal mental health and well-being. These results suggest that mental health programming and intervention should be harmonious with Indigenous culture; utilize a holistic approach that takes physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual well-being into consideration; and address the existing mental health disparities using the determinants of health as a framework, with an increased focus on the current socio-economic status of Indigenous peoples in Canada.

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.