The purpose of this thesis is to identify the names of the students who died while attending the Brandon Indian Residential School (BIRS) and determine the location of the school’s burial grounds along with the number of unmarked graves on the school property. My research project uses mixed methods including; archival research, qualitative interviews, Ground-Penetrating Radar (GPR), Electromagnetic Ground Conductivity (EM38), control burns, and aerial photography to systematically survey the school’s burial grounds. My investigation into the deaths and burials of BIRS students aligns closely with a larger project being conducted by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada’s (TRC) Working Group on Missing Children and Unmarked Burials (n.d.). This Working Group attempts to locate the burial grounds for the Indian residential schools across Canada and identify the names of the students who died at the schools in the archives. This research was conducted in collaboration with Sioux Valley Dakota Nation, the University of Manitoba, Brandon University, the United Church of Canada, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), and in consultation with the TRC, Manitoba Historic Resources Branch, and Brandon Research Centre. By using an applied anthropological approach my thesis works to contribute to the ongoing TRC’s Missing Children’s Project. It is my hope that this research can assist the Sioux Valley Dakota Nation with future restoration, protection and commemoration plans. / May 2015

This paper demonstrates, through Sagkeeng First Nation narratives, how the Fort Alexander Indian Residential School (FAIRS) is a micro-instance of genocide. An understanding is offered from the perspective of a settler colonial academic, in consideration of decolonizing principles. Using relational theory, namely Actor-Network Theory, this paper discusses how FAIRS’s practices were designed and operated to disrupt relations between Anishinaabe children and their community, and the ways children and their families negotiated and undermined these practices. Data was collected through critical narrative analysis and sociohistoric inquiry to identify and unpack themes of "language," "space/place," and "the natural environment" as identified in FAIRS Survivors’ testimonies, interviews, stories, and memoir.

This thesis looks at the stories of second-generation survivors of residential school. Storytelling is the methodology utilized in this research. The practice of Indigenous storytelling is a way to transfer knowledge to the younger generations. It is also a way to ensure history is not lost. Using a storytelling methodology is a healing method for the writer and the storyteller. A storytelling approach to methodology honours the words of the one sharing their story within this thesis. Included is an overview of the oppressive policies that forced Indigenous children to residential schools, how survivors of residential school were impacted with an overview of research on the intergenerational effects. The research identifies how these storytellers were impacted by their parents’ attendance at residential school and the themes are shared. / Graduate

Thesis (Master, Education) -- Queen's University, 2010-12-09 18:03:40.27 / This was a qualitative research study involving Aboriginal offenders at a Federal institution in the Ontario Region. The purpose of this study was to illuminate the Aboriginal offenders perspectives on their experiences that led to their incarceration. The major research questions guiding this study include: 1. What experiences do Aboriginal offenders feel contributed to their incarceration? 2. What do Aboriginal offenders feel could have prevented their incarceration? 3. How do Aboriginal offenders describe their experiences with the Residential School and child welfare systems? 4. What are the Aboriginal offenders' perspectives on their experiences with CSCs healing and intervention programs? One of the goals of this study was to provide information to CSC to improve the reintegration programs and help Aboriginal offenders become law abiding citizens. The data was collected from individual interviews, which was analyzed in detail to develop themes. The analyses sought for stories that captured the depth of the experiences that led to the Aboriginal offenders incarcerations. This study provided the personal perspective of the offenders as to how the Residential School and child welfare system have impacted their lives, and offers some insight into the over-representation of Aboriginal offenders in the prison system. This study also demonstrated how the socio-economic situation of these Aboriginal offenders played a role in their path towards prison. It is important to capture the voices of the Aboriginal offenders experiences towards incarceration. Their stories offer ways to help other Aboriginal people. We must have Aboriginal community members involved in the lives of Aboriginal youth to prevent them from getting into trouble, and find alternative positives outlets and activities. We must instill and provide hope and inspiration so that our youth have something to look forward to in their lives. I know this is happening to varying degrees in our Aboriginal communities; however, we need to keep working towards this goal. In addition, CSC might consider allocating more resources and financial assistance to Aboriginal communities, who are dealing with their people involved within the prison system. / Master

Deaf-Latina/Latino Critical (Deaf-LatCrit) Theory in Education is a new theoretical proposition for this qualitative study. Deaf-LatCrit recognizes and validates Deaf-Lat epistemology and challenges the topic of racism and linguicism in educational research. This study explores the multiple identities and experiences of five Deaf-Latina/o (Deaf-Lat) high school students. Deaf-Lat students reside at a residential school for the Deaf, "Rainy State School for the Deaf" (RSSD), during the week and go home for the weekend, traversing from the margin to the center of educational scholarship and discourses. The intention of this research is to explore the singular Deaf identity discourse and its inter-group diversity in the field of Deaf Studies, particularly in education. This study examines the main question: What are the intersectional identities and experiences of high school Deaf-Lat students enrolled in a residential school for the Deaf? The methods include demographic questionnaires, semi-structured interviews, participant observations, and cultural documents/artifacts. Using Deaf-LatCrit ethnographic techniques, the researcher worked with Deaf-Lat students and their families for over one year at each Deaf-Lat student's home and RSSD. This study emerges with two themes: cultural-emotional ties and microaggressions. First, it discusses how Deaf-Lat students' cultural-emotional ties in certain spaces make reference to their multiple intersecting identities. The second theme discusses how Deaf-Lat students experience multiple microaggressions and how their agentic behaviors help them cope. The findings suggest the need to look beyond Deaf identity by embracing the multiple intersectional race, class, gender and sexual orientation identities of Deaf-Lat students, particularly in schools. Understanding the experiences and overlapping identities of Deaf-Lat students can promote that residential school administrators and classroom teachers explore into their privilege(s) and learn about the history of institutional and individual racism and linguicism. These findings can push for the creation of safe spaces for Deaf-Lat students in the field of education and other multiple disciplines. / text

The goal of this qualitative study was to gain insight into which personal factors most affect student adjustment in a state residential STEM school. Factors from Tinto’s Model of Institutional Departure were used as the framework to capture the transition of gifted high school students from traditional high school to The Carol Martin Gatton Academy of Mathematics and Science in Kentucky, a statewide residential STEM school. Tinto’s Model predicts college persistence using pre-existing individual characteristics and institutional experiences. These qualities and experiences were used to form questions about student traits and transition. Questionnaires were administered to Gatton Academy first-year students, parents, and staff members. Participants included 10 students, two parents, and six staff members. The answers were analyzed using deductive analysis. The study found the student participants at The Gatton Academy came from intact families, were often not challenged at their sending high schools, and entered the residential setting with very few study habits but high self-control. The findings suggest that gifted students are highly adaptable to the college environment despite being younger than traditional college age.

Behavior management is arguably the cornerstone of good teaching and this is particularly so in traditional educational school settings. In Thailand, the most common strategy for managing problem behavior is the use of the Ministry of Education's Code of Conduct for all children. However, reactive strategies produce negative side effects in terms of student prognosis, inclusion, and also teacher stress. There is currently no data regarding the types of problem behaviors experienced by teachers working in special residential schools for students with visual impairments. Therefore, the goals of this thesis are to examine teacher perceptions regarding the types of problems they typically encounter and the behavior management practices they use in their classrooms. Thai teachers working in these special residential schools completed a 61-item questionnaire rating the extent to which they agreed or disagreed that problem behaviors were observed and the extent to which they found specific behavior management practices effective. Results suggested Thai teachers occasionally experienced problem behaviors related to distractibility and stereotypy, which can interfere with instructional activities and learning. However, the teachers infrequently encountered more serious behaviors such as aggression or self-injury. Teachers also reported using more proactive instructional approaches and positive disciplinary practices to keep students engaged in instruction as opposed to more punitive management practices, like reprimands or office referrals. Results are discussed in the context of behavior management practices across traditional and self-contained educational settings, and a focus on transition practices to facilitate including more Thai students with visual impairments into traditional educational settings with their non-disabled peers.

Approximately 150,000 First Nation, Metis, and Inuit children attended Canadian residential schools from the 1840s to 1996. Most residential school children had negative experiences of physical, verbal, and sexual abuse that led to parenting repercussions once these children became parents. These repercussions of residential schools led to a rate of neglect for First Nation children 12 times higher than non-First Nation children. The purpose of this qualitative phenomenological descriptive study was to explore the lived experiences of second generation parents, who were schooled in residential schools as children and their current parenting styles. The conceptual frameworks of trauma theory and family systems theory were used to understand the parenting styles of second-generation parents. Data were collected through one-on-one interviews with 20 second generation parents living within 10 Treaty 8 territory Woodland Cree reserves of Alberta, Canada. The interviews were audio recorded, transcribed, and coded using NVivo10 software to determine common themes. The themes were little affection, too much alcohol and substance abuse, lack of positive reinforcement, an abundance of household chores, coparenting with extended family and friends, and spanking, revolving privileges, and yelling as forms of discipline. Social change may occur through better understanding of the parenting styles of second-generation parents. Recommendations include making levels of government aware of the need for a program to aid second-generation parents in healing from their past trauma. Another recommendation is that First Nation curricula should include the history and legacy of residential schools to allow children and their parents to acknowledge the effects of colonialism on their lives today and, hopefully, to overcome them.

Through a theoretical and practical examination of how space is socially constructed and perceived, this study hypothesizes that the monolithically negative portrayal in the media and academic literature of the Indian residential school experience does not adequately reflect the full range of the experiences of all children at such institutions. A typology of spaces is constructed which establishes that concepts of gender, race and age impact the ways that institutions and institutional spaces are organized and perceived. This typology is applied to the Coqualeetza Residential School and the Coqualeetza Indian Tuberculosis Hospital in Sardis, BC for the period 1935 - 1950. Interviews were conducted with former Coqualeetza residents. Their comments, along with extant accounts of residential school experiences were examined within the context of this typology. The results reveal that, at Coqualeezta and at other residential schools, social constructions and personal perceptions of spaces affect and reflect peoples' experiences in profound ways. Examining such perceptions has revealed that residents' experiences and memories are heterogeneous, diverse and very personal.

Through a theoretical and practical examination of how space is socially constructed and perceived, this study hypothesizes that the monolithically negative portrayal in the media and academic literature of the Indian residential school experience does not adequately reflect the full range of the experiences of all children at such institutions. A typology of spaces is constructed which establishes that concepts of gender, race and age impact the ways that institutions and institutional spaces are organized and perceived. This typology is applied to the Coqualeetza Residential School and the Coqualeetza Indian Tuberculosis Hospital in Sardis, BC for the period 1935 - 1950. Interviews were conducted with former Coqualeetza residents. Their comments, along with extant accounts of residential school experiences were examined within the context of this typology. The results reveal that, at Coqualeezta and at other residential schools, social constructions and personal perceptions of spaces affect and reflect peoples' experiences in profound ways. Examining such perceptions has revealed that residents' experiences and memories are heterogeneous, diverse and very personal. / Arts, Faculty of / History, Department of / Graduate