V&B promotes V&B

This is an example of Vickers & Benson regularly promoting their creative philosophy and their successes in trade publications.

Teacher survival : staying alive in the job of teaching /

This study presents information gathered during personal interviews with dynamic and capable teachers in the areas of preparedness for teaching, teaching concerns, survival skills and strategies, and how these teachers support themselves and others in the teaching profession. The data are related to Purkey and Novak's work on invitational education and connections are made to Combs' perceptual orientation. Potential participants were gathered through personal recommendations from their colleagues. All teachers recommended were approached and asked for voluntary participation. Of those who agreed to participate, 6 were selected based on gender and years of experience. There was a male and female participant at each of the following career levels: early, mid, and late. The 4 major survival skills that became apparent were the ability to believe in oneself and others, to act decisively upon that belief through personal and professional goal-setting as well as accessing resources, to actively seek opportunities for interaction with other professionals, and to celebrate personal and professional successes.

The female coach as a role model for personal growth and development to the female adolescent athlete

Research interest on the topic of female coaches as role models has recently emerged in the coaching literature. Social learning theory (Bandura, 1963; 1977; 1986) has also emerged as an essential framework in explaining learning through modeling. Previous research has examined the coach as a role model, as well as gender differences between coaches. Several authors, with several different conclusions, have studied the significance of gender as an influencer in role modeling. Whitaker and Molstad in 1988 conducted a study focusing on the coach as a role model. What they found was when they combined the results of high school and college aged athletes; the female coach was considered to be a superior role model. The current research used a social learning theory framework to examine the benefits and intricacies of the modeling relationship between female adolescent athletes and influential female coaches. To accomplish this task, the formative experiences of thirteen adolescent female athletes were examined. Each athlete was interviewed, with each semi-structured interview focusing on extracting the salient features of a coach that the athlete identified as being the most influential in her personal development. The data from these interviews were quaHtatively analyzed using case studies. From case studies, a template emerges in which the coach/athlete relationship can be seen as an essential construct in which caring and strong role models can have lasting effects on the lives, values, and successes of adolescent female athletes.

Comprehensive school health : an ethnographic case study

The purpose of this ethnographic case study was to describe the characteristics of one school's Comprehensive School Health (CSH) initiative and to explore the experiences of school community members in order to gain an understanding of how one school embraced a Comprehensive School Health approach. An elementary school (grades Junior Kindergarten to six) in Burlington, Ontario was the research site for this study. Multiple methods of data collection (observations, document analysis, interviews) were used in keeping with the ethnographic and case study approach. The data were coded using both a deductive and then inductive process (Merriam, 1998). From a deductive perspective, the coding system and the subsequent identification of categories were based on a priori categories identified by using the elements of CSH based on the Comprehensive School Health Consensus Statement prepared by the Canadian Association of School Health and the research questions. Findings included the role that various school community members as well as the implementation of different programs and policies played in applying a CSH approach. The impact ofthe physical environment was described as well as successes and challenges related to the school's experience in implementing CSH. Three main themes emerged that characterized this school's experience. The first theme relates to the fundamental question about CSH which is the school community's understanding o/the concept. The second theme focused on positive school culture and the third and most diverse theme was that of capacity. Engaging in CSH is a complex and long-term undertaking involving both the school and greater community. Based on the experiences of this school's community members, recommendations address the different levels of influence on the health of children.

Steeltown scene : genre, performance and identity in the alternative independent music scene in Hamilton, Ontario

This thesis examines the independent alternative music scene in the city of Hamilton, Ontario, also known, with reference to its industrial heritage, as "Steeltown." Drawing on the growing literature on the relationship between place and popular music, on my own experience as a local musician, direct observation of performances and of venues and other sites of interaction, as well as ethnographic interviews with scene participants, I focus on the role of space, genre and performance within the scene, and their contribution to a sense of local identity. In particular, I argue that the live performance event is essential to the success of the local music scene, as it represents an immediate process, a connection between performers and audience, one which is temporally rooted in the present. My research suggests that the Hamilton alternative music scene has become postmodern, embracing forms of "indie" music that lie outside of mainstream taste, and particularly those which engage in the exploration and deconstruction of pre-existing genres. Eventually, however, the creative successes of an "indiescene" permeate mass culture and often become co-opted into the popular music mainstream, a process which, in turn, promotes new experimentation and innovation at the local level.

Explorações educacionais (educational explorations) : schooling experiences of second-generation Portuguese Canadian students

This study explores the stories and experiences of second-generation Portuguese Canadian secondary school students in Southern Ontario, Canada. The purpose of this research was to understand the educational experiences of students, specifically the successes, challenges, and struggles that the participants faced within the education system. Questions were also asked about identity issues and how participants perceived their identities influencing their educational experiences. Six Portuguese Canadian students in grades 9 to 11 were interviewed twice. The interviews ranged from 45 minutes to 90 minutes in length. Data analysis of qualitative, open-ended interviews, research journals, field notes and curricular documents yielded understandings about the participants' experiences and challenges in the education system. Eight themes emerged from data that explored the realities of everyday life for second-generatiop Portuguese Canadian students. These themes include: influences of part-time work on schooling, parental involvement, the teacher is key, challenges and barriers, the importance of peers, Portuguese Canadian identity, lack of focus on identity in curricul:um content, and the dropout problem. Recommendations in this study include the need for more community-based programs to assist students. Furthermore, teachers are encouraged to utilize strategies and curriculum resources that engage learners and integrate their histories and identities. Educators are encouraged to question power dynamics both inside and outside the school system. There is also a need for further research with Portuguese Canadian students who are struggling in the education system as well as an examination of the number of hours that students work.

Youth, Global Citizenship and Help: A Critical Rhetorical Analysis of Free The Children

Since 1995 Free The Children (FTC) has grown to be one of the largest and most recognized youth-focused and youth-led non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in Canada. FTC has distinguished itself by developing slick marketing campaigns, promising youth that they will become agents of change who can make a significant contribution towards eradicating poverty and promoting global social justice. The organization has utilized the Internet, creating an engaging and dynamic web page used to promote its development initiatives and celebrate the altruistic actions of its young participants. FTC uses a variety of strategies including text, video and images to persuade the viewer to engage with and elicit support for the organization. FTC attracts viewers by highlighting the successes of its overseas initiatives and the contributions made by young Northern volunteers in the global South. The organization also uses celebrity ambassadors, and cultural events such as We Day to raise its profile. Using a critical rhetorical analysis, this thesis interrogates FTC’s online promotional materials, exploring how the organization uses rhetorical strategies to persuade young people to take an interest in social justice activities. More specifically, an examination of FTC web-based promotional materials identifies and problematizes the organization’s rhetorical emphasis on youth empowerment, global citizenship and direct forms of helping the global South. This thesis argues that FTC does not direct adequate attention to fostering critical awareness among it participants. Further, the organization fails to provide its online participants with the appropriate tools or opportunities to critically engage with the structural issues related to global inequities. This thesis also examines how the organization uses rhetoric that promotes simplistic, feel-good projects that avoid exposing young people to an analysis of global social injustices.

Library Open Access publishing funds

Presentation on scope, successes and challenges facing library Open Access publishing funds delivered at the Canadian Association of Learned Journals meeting at Congress 2014, Brock University, St. Catharines, ON, Canada. Focus on Canada but also some info on the U.S.

Social Organization on the Web: How Sex workers Rights Organizations Engage in Activism and Advocacy Work Online

The purpose of this study was to examine how sex workers rights organizations use their websites as a site of activist and advocacy work and ask (i) how do various organizations conceptualize sex work on their websites, and to what extent do they incorporate an intersectional feminist perspective? (ii) what communication strategies are used by the four organizations to target audiences in the viewing public? (iii) what audiences do the four websites target? (iv) how do the four organizations discuss successes and challenges on their websites? (v) in what ways do sex worker right organizations use websites to further their goals? The websites of Maggie’s, POWER, and Stella attempt to embrace an intersectional feminist perspective of sex work, while PACE does not. The four organizations strategically use their websites to target audiences with diverse needs, specifically through advocacy efforts in educating the general public about the legitimacy of sexual labour. Additionally, to increase the use of the websites by sex workers, using social media platforms, such as Facebook and Twitter augment the untapped potential for creating action, mobilization, interaction, and dialogue on the websites.