This research seeks a clearer understanding of the field of social justice education in
Canada. Informed by multicultural and antiracist pedagogy, I explore the theoretical
underpinnings and practical realities of this work among 11 activist Alberta teachers and
students. Collaborative interviews with these participants reveal portraits of current activism
in voluntary coalitions in secondary schools. Through guided critical self-reflection, fellow
activists and I examine forming and sustaining ongoing projects. I present guiding hypotheses
and assumptions that steer this research, and a theoretical framework that accommodates
complex intersections of "race," class, gender, sexual orientation, and other considerations of
social justice pedagogy and activism.
This research addresses omissions in the educational literature; one such gap is a lack
of research attention to young people—particularly to their role as active participants in social
justice movements. In addition, I address teachers' previously undervalued role as crucial
participants in educational policy development, reform efforts, and research on social justice
education. Attending to the relatively few accounts of school-based action projects, I describe
the integrative STOP model of student and community activism.
An overview of the unique Canadian and regional contexts and recent political
developments around social justice issues, and a summary of relevant research and theory
from British and American literature, suggest specific areas of contention, influence, and
overlap of relevance to this study.
I employ a qualitative research methodology using a specific collaborative approach,
and include details of participant selection, data gathering and analysis, and ethical
considerations. Two chapters develop my research results along the lines traced by my
guiding hypotheses.
A concluding chapter outlines the specific significance of this research, factors that
promote coalition-building, and promising avenues for further scholarly study. A value of this
investigation is the rich offerings from my participants, whose reflections on their work are
solidly grounded in understandings of daily activism. Their contributions show the potential
mutual benefits of respectful research collaborations that both reveal and share the wisdom of
social justice practitioners as theorists.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LACETR/oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:BVAU.2429/12798 |
| Date | 11 1900 |
| Creators | Lund, Darren E. |
| Source Sets | Library and Archives Canada ETDs Repository / Centre d'archives des thèses électroniques de Bibliothèque et Archives Canada |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Relation | UBC Retrospective Theses Digitization Project [http://www.library.ubc.ca/archives/retro_theses/] |
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