Faculty of Education Major Research Papers

Permanent URI for this collection

https://hdl.handle.net/10315/29721

Collection consists of Major Research Papers (MRP) produced by students in the Graduate Program in Education. This collection is managed by the Graduate Program.

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Now showing 1 - 20 of 22

Open Access
On Blackness and Boyhood: Exploring the Educational and Emotional Lives of Somali Male Youth
(2022-03) Ahmed, Suad Hassan; Farley, Lisa
While there is a shortage of literature addressing the educational experiences of Somali-speaking students at present, the research that does exist reveals that students of Somali descent show low educational attainment and some of the highest drop-out rates of any minority group within the Toronto District School Board (TDSB). My research aims to explore this exact phenomenon by looking to the educational and emotional experiences of boy students who are of Somali descent, and who have at some point during their education been suspended, expelled, and/or labeled as at-risk for academic, emotional, and/or behavioral issues. My goal is to examine how male Somali students represent, understand, and navigate their understandings of education in the context of their experiences of expulsion, segregation, and/or exclusion at school. My study uses in-depth, semi-structured interviews that will draw on both visual and narrative methodologies. Drawing from critical childhood studies, I propose to incorporate visual representation (i.e., drawing) as a way to accompany and deepen my understanding of participants’ experiences that are sometimes not easily captured in language alone (Luttrell, 2020). All told, my aims are to gain insight into the ways that Black boys understand and conceptualize a school structure that has historically marginalized them and continues to, and the ways that they remain actively and imaginatively engaged in their own world-making. Overall, this study aims to contribute to existing literature on institutionalized racism within the education system, and it particularly aims to pose relevant implications for topics emerging from the field of postcolonial psychoanalysis. This study is also the first of its kind in that it foregrounds the emotional lives of Somali youth as they lived within social structures of racism.
Open Access
Analysis of Representation in Children's Picture Books
(2019-08) Khokhar, Rabia; Norquay, Naomi
My Major Research Paper is an analysis of representation in children’s picture books with a social justice lens. I explore the categories of race, gender and religion which can be seen as social difference markers. I critically analyze 10-15 picture books in each category through content analysis and a critical checklist made through a social justice lens. The goal of my research is to ascertain the messages within the books to see how these social difference markers are represented. In an elementary classroom, picture books are a form of socialization and method of transmitting societal norms and values. My research analyzes and disrupts the idea of teaching as a neutral profession by demonstrating that teaching is political. It also provides insight into how social justice minded teachers can disrupt the managed curriculum when they critically think about the picture books they are sharing with their students.
Open Access
Educating from Difference: Black Cultural Art Educators' Perspectives with Culturally Responsive Teaching
(2020-08) Murray, Collette; James, Carl E.
The 2009 Ontario Ministry of Education’s Equity Action plan called for school boards to implement culturally relevant teaching in their strategic plans. As senior administration and educators work towards inclusive classrooms, a perspective that remains absent is that of the arts educator and their relationship to culturally responsive pedagogy. This qualitative study uses Critical Race Theory to examine the work and experiences—including the successes and challenges—of Cultural Art Educators using African diasporic artforms. The narratives from semi-structured interviews with eight Black Canadian artists, uncover that while successes occur, cultural art educators navigate the politics of institutional unpreparedness, Anti-Black racism, delegitimization of their cultural artistry and cultural appropriation. Institutional recommendations are made to understand the artists’ role, improve the working relationship and recognize Black art content supporting a Canadian education mandate. This is a valuable contribution to the topic of cultural relevance that counters the historical exclusion of race-based data of artists involved in education.
Open Access
How Armenian Syrian Millennial Refugees use Social Media to Facilitate Integration into Canadian Society
(2018-07) Racco, Alyssa; Schecter, Sandra R.
Using a conceptual framework that builds on the constructs of community of practice (Homles & Meyerhoff, 1990; Lave & Wenger 1998; Wenger 1998) and superdiversity (Blommaert, 2013; Blommaert & Rampton, 2012; Jørgensen, Karrebæk, Madsen, & Møller, 2011; Vertovec, 2007), this study reports on the ways Armenian Syrian millennial refugees access information via social media. Findings are based on data collected through participant observations, interviews and survey protocols. The study showed the use of semiotic resources as social media allowed respondents to extend the social implicatures of language beyond their verbal proficiency levels.
Open Access
The Gospel Choir: Community in Motion
(2015-08-17) Burke, Karen; Manette, Joy
Open Access
Indigenous Education, Mino-Bimaadiziwin, and the Fostering of Relational Space Through Indigenous Pedagogy
(2015-08-27) Hupfield, John; Dion, Susan
This paper examines the varying impacts of Indigenous pedagogy and formal schooling on the learning path of the author. It focuses on the historical context of residential schools, the Indian Control of Indian Education paper of 1972, and the shifting control of schools to Indigenous communities. With a resulting increase in Indigenous administration, staff, and curricula, the time is opportune for discourse on Indigenous pedagogy to come to the fore. The author utilizes personal relationships with mentors, learning experiences in and outside of schools, and the process of learning regalia construction to identify their contributions towards Anishinaabe mino-bimaadiziwin, the good life. The self-reflective examination documents their journey of coming to know Indigenous pedagogy as Anishinaabe.
Open Access
Internationalization and Changing Student Demographic: How Ethno-Racial Clubs Help Shape and Navigate the Student Experience on Canadian University Campuses
(2015-08-21) Gangbar, Samuel; Trilokekar, Roopa
As globalization continues to make the world a smaller place, and the internationalization of higher education brings immigrant, international and domestic students closer together within post-secondary institutions, ethno-racial clubs have increasingly emerged on Canadian campuses. York University, for example, houses over 65 ethno-racial clubs, which provide both socio-cultural and psychological supports for students of diverse backgrounds. These ethno-racial clubs can be defined as “safe spaces” (Gee 2004) on campus where diverse students can embrace their ethnicity, cultures and backgrounds. These clubs may also serve as space to foster student engagement, intercultural dialogue, and international perspectives. This research proposes to contextualize the role and functions of ethno-racial clubs in an increasingly diverse university environment by conducting a case study of York University. Through interviews with two students from the Chinese Culture Club and the Ukrainian Students’ Associations, both clubs that represent a large and organized student membership on the York campus, this study will provide critical insights and perspectives on how ethnoracial clubs engage students around questions of self-affiliation. This research aims to broaden discussion on how post-secondary institutions are internationalizing, and how students are affected by internationalization and how they (re) envision their place on campus as a result of these efforts.
Open Access
Self-Advocacy as a Goal for Education
(2015-08-19) Choi, Eugenie; Israelite, Neita
This research project reviews selected literature on self-advocacy instruction to highlight (a) its importance as a focus for education and (b) the barriers towards its implementation. Several studies have recognized that the transition from high school to PSE presents a series of challenges for students with disabilities (e.g., Madaus, 2005; Eckes & Ochoa, 2005). Results of research, however, associate self-advocacy skills with better transitions into PSE and adult life by students with disabilities (Norton, 1997; Roessler, Brown, & Rumrill; 1998; Satcher, 1995). A salient barrier towards self-advocacy education is a lack of sufficient training in preservice education. This paper concludes with recommendations for the development of such training and implications for educational research.
Open Access
A Course of Becoming: Autobiography, Knowledge, Memory and (Re) Constructing Identity
(2015-08-31) Castillo, John; Crichlow, Warren
This major research paper will examine the concept of Toward a Course of Becoming: Autobiography, Knowledge, Memory and (Re) Constructing Identity. Throughout the discussion, significant considerations into possible contributions of William Pinar’s (1975) Currere Method (regressive, progressive, analytical, and synthetical) juxtaposed against Stuart Hall’s theory on Identity will further substantiate my discourse. In addition to Pinar and Hall, autobiographical writing will reflect on American Civil Rights Activist Frederick Douglass’ autobiography Narrative of the life of Frederick Douglass: An American Slave written by Himself (1845). Canada’s first Black Member of Parliament, Cabinet Minister and Lieutenant- Governor of Ontario; Lincoln M. Alexander’s Go to School, You’re a little black boy (2010) will also focus my discussion on conceptualizing autobiography, knowledge, memory and their interrelationships within the framework of (re) constructing identity. The main aim of this analysis is to derive a sense of the autobiographical course run by the Caribbean (migrant) subject constructing and re-constructing senses of identity, belonging, being, and becoming. The intention of the research is to indicate the potential contribution of specifically Caribbean and African descent, (im) migrant North American autographical experience to the currere approach to curriculum understanding.
Open Access
Silent Voices: "South Asian" Mothers and Transition to High School, A Decolonizing Institutional Ethnography of Mothering Work
(2015-09-22) Karnad-Jani, Rashmee; Haig-Brown, Celia
In the province of Ontario, the Ministry of Education uses its regulatory texts to govern transition related activities for students preparing for high school. Deadlines set out by schools and school boards arise from the transition policies and procedures of the Ministry of Education. During the Grade 8 year, administrators, teachers and parents of high school bound students do the transition work required to support the goals and deadlines laid out in these texts. Through in-depth interviews in participants’ heritage languages, textual analysis, and personal reflections, I have conducted a decolonizing institutional ethnography of mothering work conducted by “South Asian” mothers. I have explored in-depth the question: How does the institution, a large school board in the Greater Toronto Area, within the province of Ontario, use one important regulatory text, the regional course directory or RCD, to coordinate the work of “South Asian” mothers as they prepare for their children’s transition to high school?
Open Access
(Un)Confident Coders: What Gender Dynamics Appear When Canadian Children Learn How to Code
(Sep-15) Ali, Michelle; Jenson, Jennifer, Dr.
This paper reports on a mixed-methods study that examined the gender dynamics that could be observed when Canadian boys and girls learn to code in a formal classroom environment. The study involved sixty-four, sixth grade students in a suburban Toronto District School Board school who were taught basic computer programming skills using a curriculum developed by the PLAYCES lab at York University. The results showed that in all three classes, although the boys displayed more confident behaviours (e.g. willing to take risks while working, trouble shooting, persisting in the face of challenges etc.) than the girls, there were a few distinct situations in which the girls displayed a strong sense of confidence. The girls' behaviours were analyzed and linked to social contexts and social expectations.
Open Access
The Role of Peer Interaction and Second Language Learning for ESL Students in Academic Contexts: An Extended Literature Review
(2016-04-03) Tavares, Vander; Valeo, Antonella
This literature review explores the relationship between language proficiency and ESL students’ experiences in higher education contexts, with specific reference to the role of conversational peer interaction. The two major concerns that guide this review are (a) the academic challenges faced by students from an ESL background in relation to conversational interaction, and (b) the impact of conversational language proficiency on their overall academic experience. The studies reviewed in this project suggest that insufficient language proficiency results in several challenges for ESL students, most notably the inability to share their expertise and knowledge with their peers and participate successfully in classroom oral discussions. In addition, however, the literature suggests that language proficiency has a strong impact on the overall experiences of students and their abilities to navigate the social structures of the academic community and establish their own identity.
Open Access
Lend Me Your Ear: The Voice of Early African Canadian Communities in Ontario Through Petitions
(2016-01-26) Henry, Natasha; James, Carl
The inclusion of Black history in Ontario classrooms remains relatively marginalized and stagnant after thirty years of advocacy on the part of educators, groups and individuals in Black communities, and scholars to make the curriculum more inclusive of the Black experience in Canada and across the Diaspora. This Major Research Project investigates the current state of the teaching of African Canadian history in elementary and secondary public schools, to understand why it has remained virtually unchanged for decades despite gains in policy revision: the strong emphasis on American content, confinement to Black History Month in February. It also examines the impact of such systemic exclusion and marginalization of Black history on both Black and non-Black students.
Open Access
Negotiating Fragments: Implications of the Diasporic Consciousness on Teaching and Learning
(2017-02-10) Kassam, Salima; Yon, Dan
This paper aims to consider how the diasporic consciousness can be taken up in schooling as a construct that challenges multicultural and anti-racism frameworks. It looks at notions of identity and identities as fluid constructs that are contested, navigated and challenged as we consider student connections to their multiple narratives and journeys. In considering how the theory of diaspora plays out in classroom structures, we can envision how the curriculum can be used to open up spaces for this process to take place. Through connecting theory to practice in this paper, I hope to create a conversation for the possibilities of pushing teaching and learning beyond static constructs as we think about how all students can enact who they are becoming beyond the margins of conventional practice.
Open Access
Minor International Students in Canada: Does the Legal Framework Matter?
(2016-12-16) Mockute, Diana; Trilokekar, Roopa
As Federal and provincial governments invest to “ help secure Canada’s long – term prosperity and economic success” (DFATD, 2014; Scott et al. 2015) through increased international student recruitment and retention, there is a steady increase in international student numbers with a proportionate increase in international students under age of 18. This MRP examines the implication of this growth particular among minor international students (18 and younger) in a policy context in Canada where there is contradiction between provincial age of majority regulations and no requirement for guardianship for incoming minor international students. Unlike Canada two other jurisdictions, namely Australia’s and the UK’s which have also invested in increasing international students numbers, have established frameworks to ensure the safeguarding of international minors. This MRP will offer a comparative lens to examine frameworks in three jurisdictions with reference to minor international students and provide recommendations for Canadian regulatory framework. The legal protection of international students minors is a human rights issue with ethical implications for the Canadian government and institutions that are equally invested in recruiting international students. Thus this study recommends Canada must take responsibility in aligning federal immigration and legal provincial systems to better protect minor international students. These actions are necessary to protect Canada’s reputation, and ensure that the immigration of international students will continue to grow in Canada.
Open Access
How Do Three Immigrant Women From Former Yugoslavia Perceive the Role of Accent in Intelligibility and Comprehensibility in the Canadian Workplace?
(2017-05-10) Vujinovic, Sanja; Ippolito, John
Recent trends in language instruction have begun to shift away from achieving a native-like accent and towards a focus on intelligibly and comprehensibility. However, a subset of learners continues to feel discriminated against due to their perceived foreign accents. This may be a result of a listener bias towards familiar accents. Learners may feel the pressure to adhere to a native-like linguistic fluency that is nearly impossible for some to achieve. The following ethnographic feminist study examines the impact of perceived foreign accent on the professional career of adult immigrant women in a Canadian context. The study is ethnographic in that it centres around three adult immigrant women and their challenges in acquiring English as an additional language in Canada. It is feminist to the extent that it gives a voice to the women being studied, as well as taking a qualitative approach to exploring their stories. Interviews are used to create a narrative of the experiences that the participants have undergone since their arrival to Canada. The study addresses the question, how do three immigrant women from former Yugoslavia perceive the role of accent in intelligibility and comprehensibility in the Canadian workplace?
Open Access
Fear of Apocalypse and Sinister Truths in the X-Men Universe: An Analysis on Metaphors of Mutation, the Collective Shadow, and Prevalent Archetypes of Good and Evil in the X-Men Comics
(2017-04-05) Mesquita, Marco; Krasny, Karen
Open Access
Hear My Voice- A Research Project on Youth Needs in the Jane and Finch Community
(2017-04-19) Skeete, Krystle; Dippo, Don
This research paper explores the current research on urban youth needs, and ways in which youth workers can develop and employ strategies to engage marginalized youth. The purposes of this study is to gain insight on the needs, challenges, and benefits of youth engagement for youth living in the suburban/urban Jane and Finch community, and explore youth knowledge of available resources and services to them in the community. In addition, this paper will give youth service organizations/ youth workers the opportunity to provide insight into the challenges and needs working with young people in the community. The findings from this study confirm that there is a significant amount of young people who are unaware of the resources available to them, and there are many challenges to service providers to reach and offer quality services to young people in the community.
Open Access
The Impact of Bias Present in High School Science Textbooks
(2017-07-15) Poredi, Sanika; Farley, Lisa
Open Access
Understanding the Power of Literacy and Ontario’s Literacy Education: A Critical Analysis of the EQAO and its Definition of Literacy Practices
(2017-08-16) Godin, Neil; Shanahan, Theresa
Initially introduced through the Royal Commission on Learning and later created through legislation, the Education Quality and Accountability Office (EQAO) is a publically funded, crown agency that determines the quality and effectiveness of the Ontario’s education system1. Administered by the EQAO to students at the Grade Ten level, the Ontario Secondary School Literacy Test (OSSLT) provides education stakeholders with accurate information regarding the degree to which the students are able to properly demonstrate their understanding of how to utilize certain literacy skills and participate in society once graduated (EQAO, 2007, p.9). Framed by a Foucauldian framework that critiques a technical rationalist understanding of education, this MRP will contribute to the growing research regarding the OSSLT and discuss the potential implications that the literacy assessment may have on students, as well as an individual’s understanding of literacy and their own academic and non-academic capabilities. Using a qualitative research method to perform a critical analysis on the Royal Commission on Learning’s report, For the Love of Learning (Royal Commission on Learning, 1995), the 1996 Education Quality and Accountability Office Act (EQAO Act, 1996; EQAO, 2013), the Ontario Curriculum: Grades 9 and 10 – English (Ontario Ministry of Education, 2007), the EQAO’s Framework: Ontario Secondary School Literacy Test document (EQAO 2007) and the “OSSLT Sample Assessment Booklet: New Layout” (EQAO, 2015a; EQAO 2015b), findings reveal that the EQAO disregards the complexity of literacy practices. The EQAO constructs its own definition of literacy practices to simultaneously reproduce the definitions of literacy and illiteracy. The illiterate individual is constructed by the EQAO as one to be feared and isolated from the social and economic activities that occur outside of the school. The EQAO establishes literacy practices as a mechanism that can be measured and evaluated, but not challenged, critiqued, nor used to criticize society, or the economy within a society.