This dissertation initially utilizes the analogy of an Andean intellectual's magnum opus of resistant visual art and text created in the 1600s, to explore the impact of current global influences on the identity of Awajún and Wampís Amazonian students residing in Lima, the capital city of Perú. The participants in this study are urban Amazonian indigenous intellectuals applying to enter, currently studying in degree programs, or pursuing graduate degrees at local universities of Lima. Using an amalgamation of Photovoice and Photo-Elicitation components, digital photography, open-source applications, and computer technology, participants creatively expressed through their visual discourse what it means to be an Awajún or Wampís citizen of Perú during difficult times of conflictive global interests and unattended local needs. Between the time of preliminary fieldwork in the Amazonian communities in 2008, and the final interviews in Lima of 2010, violence erupted during a local road blockade in the Amazon that claimed the lives of Awajún/Wampís citizens and mestizo police officers alike. It is in that convoluted context where the dissertation delves into the views of the students and professionals regarding their own indigenousness, nationality, and "new" literacies, languages, and technologies that should be considered by the mestizo population and governments in order to make Perú a safer and more inclusive place for indigenous peoples from the Amazon.

This qualitative exploratory study sought to explore and analyse the perceptions of first year nursing students aged 18-25 years toward older persons in aged care facilities. The expectations of first year nursing students in relation to performing nursing care on older persons was also examined. The students’ perceptions were explored using a photo-elicitation technique to evoke an emotive response. By challenging and confronting the participants with realistic photographs of nursing care, this technique encouraged the research participants to engage in anticipatory reflection prior to their first aged care clinical placement. Data were gathered through demographic questionnaires and semi-structured photo-elicitation interviews. Findings were analysed using thematic analysis. Themes included dissecting what it means to be a nurse, recognising dependence, and the re-visioning of therapeutic relationships including considering patient dignity and empathising with older persons. A youthful reflection on the differences between young and old included participants’ fearing for themselves in future, and this was another identified theme. The photo-elicitation technique challenged and confronted participants as they became aware of the responsibilities of performing nursing care and their belief that they lacked emotional preparedness. Experiencing sensitivity and awkwardness to nakedness of older person’s bodies was also highlighted by most of the participants’ responses. The findings suggest that it is essential in this time of demographic change and the growing ageing population that nursing education responds to the challenge of an evolving health care system by providing qualified, experienced aged care nurses who are familiar with the reality of older people. Therefore, first year nursing students’ transition to aged care nursing clinical placement and the adoption of positive attitudes is paramount. Despite a large number of research studies highlighting nursing students’ disinterest in caring for older persons, there have been few studies investigating educational interventions that could assist in overcoming this negative trend. The findings from this study have important implications for teaching strategies aimed at understanding undergraduate nursing students. Using photography to elicit emotional responses can also assist with reflective practice, which can be useful to enhance self awareness and an aesthetic and personal knowing. Encouraging anticipatory reflection can help socially prepare nursing students, increase their readiness for learning and foster more positive attitudes to caring for older people prior to the students’ initial aged care clinical placement.

<p>In Western society, food is debated and in various ways contested. Social science research has described various cultural imperatives related to food and choices of diet, that raises questions about how people understand issues of food and eating in their everyday lives. The aim of this study is to explore everyday notions of food and eating in urban Sweden. Drawing on social representations theory, qualitative interviews were carried out with fifteen men and women about their experiences and understandings of food and eating, also using a photo-elicitation method where visual material from cookery books and dietary advice were used as a point of departure for the interview conversation.</p><p>The interviewees categorize food into different sorts, such as ‘ordinary food’, ‘modern food’, ‘dangerous food’, ‘healthy food’, ‘ethic food’ and ‘festive food’, that are ascribed a meaning in relation to different arenas in time and space, for instance childhood, and related to health values as well as ethical and aesthetic values. Food is also discussed as different diets, such as mixed or vegetarian, and patterns of eating, which are in turn related to risk, health and the body. The analysis thus reveal notions about what food is and how we should eat, notions that are characterised by internal tensions and contradictions such as discipline contra pleasure, societal norms contra personal interests, everyday life contra ideals. These ‘fields of tension’ are analysed as a cultural repertoire of identity-positions. Finally, these results are discussed in terms of risk and opportunities, where the reflexive human being is depicted as able to both incorporate food imperatives and to challenge these imperatives in a process of striving for bodily and mental balance.</p>

Current statistics suggest women form the majority of online learners. Their enrollment levels may be a result of promotional materials suggesting online learning allows learners access to flexible learning opportunities that will complement their busy lives. This research questions those assertions by examining the tensions women experience while learning online. Using a poststructural feminist approach, tensions are defined as the messy spaces where complexities, contradictions and competing ideas, actions, expectations, values and emotions interact to produce opposition and opportunities. Research questions asks: How do women learning online mediate tensions in the learning environment and in their own personal context? What tensions do women face when learning online? What strategies do they use to address these tensions? Are they able to find ways to balance or overcome these tensions? A poststructural feminist theoretical framework acknowledges the diversity of womens experiences and allows space for questioning discourse around lifelong learning, online learning, womens responsibilities, and institutional authority. Data was collected using multiple methods: photo-elicitation interviews and an online focus group plus a demographic survey and autoethnography. Twelve women, who all completed at least two online courses, participated representing learners of different ages, marital and family situations, geographical locations, and level and field of study. Six women took photographs, which formed the basis of face-to-face interviews. Six other women participated in an asynchronous online focus group. Themes from the results showed the tensions they experience, namely, the blurring between the boundaries between home and school, the cost of flexibility, and three strategies they used for mediating tensions (multitasking, procrastinating and persevering). While the women acknowledged the benefits of online learning and demonstrated that they were successful students, their narratives make it clear that they faced challenges in attending to and completing their schoolwork to the standards they desired, while meeting family and work responsibilities. A theoretical analysis explores how the poststructural feminist concepts of positionality and subjectivity are useful in examining womens experiences learning online and where there are gaps in applying this theoretical framework in online learning contexts. Participants narratives and photographs and the researchers own autobiographical narrative are included. / Adult Education

In Western society, food is debated and in various ways contested. Social science research has described various cultural imperatives related to food and choices of diet, that raises questions about how people understand issues of food and eating in their everyday lives. The aim of this study is to explore everyday notions of food and eating in urban Sweden. Drawing on social representations theory, qualitative interviews were carried out with fifteen men and women about their experiences and understandings of food and eating, also using a photo-elicitation method where visual material from cookery books and dietary advice were used as a point of departure for the interview conversation. The interviewees categorize food into different sorts, such as ‘ordinary food’, ‘modern food’, ‘dangerous food’, ‘healthy food’, ‘ethic food’ and ‘festive food’, that are ascribed a meaning in relation to different arenas in time and space, for instance childhood, and related to health values as well as ethical and aesthetic values. Food is also discussed as different diets, such as mixed or vegetarian, and patterns of eating, which are in turn related to risk, health and the body. The analysis thus reveal notions about what food is and how we should eat, notions that are characterised by internal tensions and contradictions such as discipline contra pleasure, societal norms contra personal interests, everyday life contra ideals. These ‘fields of tension’ are analysed as a cultural repertoire of identity-positions. Finally, these results are discussed in terms of risk and opportunities, where the reflexive human being is depicted as able to both incorporate food imperatives and to challenge these imperatives in a process of striving for bodily and mental balance.

Second home use or cottaging is an increasingly desirable practice across Canada. In Manitoba, cottaging sub-divisions are generally situated along lakes and rivers in the province, many of which are situated on Crown land or in provincial parks. This study explored what is meaningful about cottaging to bring about a better understanding of the importance of cottaging as a culturally meaningful social practice. The objectives of the research were to identify what makes Flanders Lake and surrounding area of Nopiming Provincial Park a meaningful place for cottagers; determine if there are shared meanings among cottagers; and consider the implications of the cultural landscape of cottagers for natural resource management. The case study research considered the sense of place that is derived from cottagers’ experiences and what specifically contributes to the significance of cottage culture in the cottaging sub-division of Flanders Lake, Manitoba. A qualitative, interpretive research design was used for data collection. Photo-elicitation also known as resident employed photography was used, whereby cottagers were asked to photograph things, places or people that represented meaningful aspects about cottaging and the surrounding area. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with individual participants to validate and triangulate perspectives. Using NVivo 7 qualitative software to manage data and elicit themes, a cultural landscape framework of cottagers was developed. Cottagers cited recreational activities, connections with people, interactions with nature and the tonic-like effects of cottaging experiences, as the most meaningful aspects of cottaging. The study showed that it is possible to determine the most meaningful aspects of a place, and that many of those attributes are shared between community members. However, dissecting those meanings into constituent parts of a collective body of shared, interrelated and sometimes dependent meanings is complex, and not always possible. Further study on the cultural landscape of additional cottaging communities and of other area stakeholders is recommended given the increasing desirability and interest in cottaging, and potential for negotiating place meanings in multiple land use areas. / October 2008

How do mathematics teachers present themselves? The construct of identity–the stories mathematics teachers tell about themselves and their practice–is an important and understudied construct in understanding mathematics teaching. This study investigates the use of photo-elicitation/photovoice interviews with six high school algebra teachers. Each teacher captured or chose photographs of their “world”, then presented them during a formal interview. The teachers framed their mathematics teacher identity through three connected story types: Public Stories, the stories a teacher presents about their practice within a professional register, Private Stories, the stories about personal connections to practice shared only in closed spaces, and Touchstone Stories, the important stories a teacher constantly references but rarely shares. I found these teachers’ stories contained little about mathematics content or actual classroom practice. Rather, they positioned the teachers as isolated in their profession; the themes were about pain, being “othered”, or feeling powerless. Framing the identities of these six mathematics teachers through visual stories presented them as real, struggling humans. I posit this process of eliciting mathematics teaching identity through visual narrative is important to the field of mathematics education for three reasons: framing their identities helps mathematics teachers understand the complex lives of their own students, these narratives showcase the uniqueness of each mathematics teacher as an individual, and this process of telling stories is an empowering form of reflection. / text

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Second home use or cottaging is an increasingly desirable practice across Canada. In Manitoba, cottaging sub-divisions are generally situated along lakes and rivers in the province, many of which are situated on Crown land or in provincial parks. This study explored what is meaningful about cottaging to bring about a better understanding of the importance of cottaging as a culturally meaningful social practice. The objectives of the research were to identify what makes Flanders Lake and surrounding area of Nopiming Provincial Park a meaningful place for cottagers; determine if there are shared meanings among cottagers; and consider the implications of the cultural landscape of cottagers for natural resource management. The case study research considered the sense of place that is derived from cottagers’ experiences and what specifically contributes to the significance of cottage culture in the cottaging sub-division of Flanders Lake, Manitoba. A qualitative, interpretive research design was used for data collection. Photo-elicitation also known as resident employed photography was used, whereby cottagers were asked to photograph things, places or people that represented meaningful aspects about cottaging and the surrounding area. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with individual participants to validate and triangulate perspectives. Using NVivo 7 qualitative software to manage data and elicit themes, a cultural landscape framework of cottagers was developed. Cottagers cited recreational activities, connections with people, interactions with nature and the tonic-like effects of cottaging experiences, as the most meaningful aspects of cottaging. The study showed that it is possible to determine the most meaningful aspects of a place, and that many of those attributes are shared between community members. However, dissecting those meanings into constituent parts of a collective body of shared, interrelated and sometimes dependent meanings is complex, and not always possible. Further study on the cultural landscape of additional cottaging communities and of other area stakeholders is recommended given the increasing desirability and interest in cottaging, and potential for negotiating place meanings in multiple land use areas.

Second home use or cottaging is an increasingly desirable practice across Canada. In Manitoba, cottaging sub-divisions are generally situated along lakes and rivers in the province, many of which are situated on Crown land or in provincial parks. This study explored what is meaningful about cottaging to bring about a better understanding of the importance of cottaging as a culturally meaningful social practice. The objectives of the research were to identify what makes Flanders Lake and surrounding area of Nopiming Provincial Park a meaningful place for cottagers; determine if there are shared meanings among cottagers; and consider the implications of the cultural landscape of cottagers for natural resource management. The case study research considered the sense of place that is derived from cottagers’ experiences and what specifically contributes to the significance of cottage culture in the cottaging sub-division of Flanders Lake, Manitoba. A qualitative, interpretive research design was used for data collection. Photo-elicitation also known as resident employed photography was used, whereby cottagers were asked to photograph things, places or people that represented meaningful aspects about cottaging and the surrounding area. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with individual participants to validate and triangulate perspectives. Using NVivo 7 qualitative software to manage data and elicit themes, a cultural landscape framework of cottagers was developed. Cottagers cited recreational activities, connections with people, interactions with nature and the tonic-like effects of cottaging experiences, as the most meaningful aspects of cottaging. The study showed that it is possible to determine the most meaningful aspects of a place, and that many of those attributes are shared between community members. However, dissecting those meanings into constituent parts of a collective body of shared, interrelated and sometimes dependent meanings is complex, and not always possible. Further study on the cultural landscape of additional cottaging communities and of other area stakeholders is recommended given the increasing desirability and interest in cottaging, and potential for negotiating place meanings in multiple land use areas.