Exploring the personal and professional lives of teachers in the search for authenticity /

"We teach who we are" (Palmer, 1998, p. 2). This simple, yet profound, statement was the catalyst that began my thesis journey. Using a combination of self-study and participant narratives, Palmer's idea was explored as search for authenticity. The self-study component of this narrative was enhanced by the stories of two other teachers, both women. I chose to use narrative methodology to uncover and discover the relationship between the personal and professional lives of being a teacher. Do teachers express themselves daily in their classrooms? Do any lessons from the classroom translate into teachers' personal lives? The themes of reflection, authenticity, truth, and professional development thread themselves throughout this narrative study. In order to be true to myself as a teacher/researcher, arts-based interpretations accompany my own and each participant's profile. Our conversations about our pasts, our growth as teachers and journeys as individuals were captured in poetry and photographic mosaics. Through rich and detailed stories we explored who we are as teachers and how we became this way. The symbiotic relationship between our personal and professional lives was illustrated by tales of bravery, self-discovery, and reflection. The revelations uncovered illustrate the powerful role our past plays in shaping the present and potentially the friture. It may seem indulgent to spend time exploring who we are as teachers in a time that is increasingly focused on improving student test scores. Yet, the truth remains that, "Knowing myself is as crucial to good teaching as knowing my students and my subject" (Palmer, 1998, p. 2).

Attitudes toward Konglish of South Korean teachers of English in the Province of Jeollanamdo /

This study examined the attitudes of South Korean teachers of English in Jeollanamdo toward Konglish, particularly in relation to English education. The literature search shows that Konglish is a typical local variety, evolved from the borrowing and redefining of English words that became part of everyday South Korean speech. Konglish is not unique in this regard. Japlish in Japan and Chinglish in China developed for similar reasons and display the distinctive characteristics of those languages. However, Konglish is usually defined as poor and incorrect. Teachers in the study expressed embarrassment, shyness, guilt, and anger about Konglish. On the other hand, they also valued it as something uniquely theirs. Teachers believed that students should not be taught that Konglish is bad English. However, students should be taught that it is poor or incorrect. With few exceptions, they correct Konglish in their classes. Teachers exhibited considerable inner conflict. They defined Konglish as valid when used in Korea with Koreans. However, some preferred that their students not use it, even with their friends. This may cause students to judge Konglish as unacceptable or inferior. The teachers believed that students should learn to distinguish between Konglish and "Standard English," and that they should learn about the contexts in which each is appropriate or preferred. The conclusion, therefore, is that South Korean teachers see the value of teaching about varieties of English. The recommendations are that intelligibility, broader communication skills, and information about International English be included in the curriculum in South Korea.

Conversations with EFL teachers: toward an understanding of whiteness in the classroom /

Few teachers would question that teaching is a contextual and situational process, yet as Gay (2000) reminds us, too few teachers have sufficient knowledge of how teaching practices reflect dominant cultural values. This qualitative study explored whiteness in the EFL classroom and the relation between teacher identity and pedagogy. This research was shaped by the overarching research questions: How does being white influence teachers' educational practices? How can teachers successfully negotiate crosscultural teaching? Data included open-ended interviews, a content analysis of EFL training materials, and my research and personal journals. The experiences of five EFL teachers form the central focus of this study. My personal story, as a white EFL teacher, is also included throughout this thesis. This study offers a detailed description of the complex and dynamic ways in which these five teachers understood their racial identities, and the classroom decisions they made in response to their understandings. Included in the discussion are the strategies that my participants and I used to subtly resist the notion and exploration of racial privilege. Implications for teacher education programs and possible directions for further study are offered.

The examination of predictors of success in two programmes requiring self-direction /

The new Physiotherapy and Occupational Therapy programmes, based in the Faculty of Health Sciences, McMaster University (Hamilton, Ontario) are unique. The teaching and learning philosophies utilized are based on learner-centred and selfdirected learning theories. The 1991 admissions process of these programmes attempted to select individuals who would make highly qualified professionals and who would have the necessary skills to complete such unique programmes. In order to: 1 . learn more about the concept of self-directed learning and its related characteristics in health care professionals; 2. examine the relationship between various student characteristics - personal, learner and those assessed during the admissions process - and final course grades, and 3. determine which, if any, smdent characteristics could be considered predictors for success in learner-centred programmes requiring self-directed learning skills, a correlational research design was developed and carried out. Thirty Occupational Therapy and thirty Physiotherapy smdents were asked to complete 2 instruments - a questionnaire developed by the author and the Oddi Continuing Learning Inventory (Oddi, 1986). Course grades and ratings of students during the admissions process were also obtained. Both questionnaires were examined for reliability, and factor analyses were conducted to determine construct validity. Data obtained from the questionnaires, course grades and student ratings (from the admissions process) were analyzed and compared using the Contingency Co-efficient, the Pearson's product-moment correlation co-efficient, and the multiple regression analysis model. The research findings demonstrated a positive relationship (as identified by Contingency Coefficient or Pearson r values) between various course grades and the following personal and learner characteristics: field of smdy of highest level of education achieved, level of education achieved, sex, marital stams, motivation for completing the programmes, reasons for eru-oling in the programmes, decision to enrol in the programmes, employment history, preferred learning style, strong selfconcept and the identification of various components of the concept of self-directed learning. In most cases, the relationships were significant to the 0.01 or 0.(X)1 levels. Results of the multiple regression analyses demonstrated that several learner and admissions characteristic variables had R^ values that accounted for the largest proportion of the variance in several dependent variables. Thus, these variables could be considered predictors for success. The learner characteristics included: level of education and strong self-concept. The admissions characteristics included: ability to evaluate strengths, ability to give feedback, curiosity and creativity, and communication skills. It is recommended that research continue to be conducted to substantiate the relationships found between course grades and characteristic variables in more diverse populations. "Success in self-directed programmes" from the learner's perspective should also be investigated. The Oddi Continuing Learning Inventory should continue to be researched. Further research may lead to refinement or further development of the instrument, and may provide further insight into self-directed learner attributes. The concept of self-directed learning continues to be incorporated into educational programmes, and thus should continue to be explored.

A qualitative analysis of reflection in undergraduate and graduate programs

The purpose ofthis study was to explore various types ofreflection and to explore reflection on action, reflection as a practice, and reflection as a process. In doing this, the intent was to discover the perceived benefits of reflection in the classroom and to provide guidelines for future use at the undergraduate and graduate level. The qualitative components in this study included the data collection strategy of semistructured interviews with 2 undergraduate students, 2 graduate students, 1 undergraduate studies professor, and 1 graduate studies professor. The data analysis strategies included a within-case analysis and a cross-case analysis. Through the interviews participants discussed their experiences with the use ofreflection in the classroom. Through the completion ofthis analysis the researcher expected to discover the benefits ofreflection at this level of education, as well as provide suggestions for future use. Both undergraduate and graduate students and professors were found to benefit from the use of reflection in the classroom. The use ofreflection in the undergraduate and graduate classroom was found to improve student/teacher and student/peer relationships, foster critical thinking, allow for connections between learned theory and life experience, and improve students' writing abilities. Based on the results ofthe study the implications ofreflection for the undergraduate and graduate classroom and for further research are provided.

The effects of teaching a mathematics problem solving strategy on the problem solving ability of grade nine students

Forty grade 9 students were selected from a small rural board in southern Ontario. The students were in two classes and were treated as two groups. The treatment group received instruction in the Logical Numerical Problem Solving Strategy every day for 37 minutes over a 6 week period. The control group received instruction in problem solving without this strategy over the same time period. Then the control group received the treat~ent and the treatment group received the instruction without the strategy. Quite a large variance was found in the problem solving ability of students in grade 9. It was also found that the growth of the problem solving ability achievement of students could be measured using growth strands based upon the results of the pilot study. The analysis of the results of the study using t-tests and a MANOVA demonstrated that the teaching of the strategy did not significaritly (at p s 0.05) increase the problem solving achievement of the students. However, there was an encouraging trend seen in the data.

The status of drama in education in an Ontario school board

Drama in education has been describea- as a valuable pedagogical medium and methodology, enriching child development in the cognitive, skill, affective, and aesthetic domains, and spanning all areas of curriculum ~ oontent. However, despite its considerable versatility and cost-effectiveness, drama appears to maintain low status within the education system of ontario. This thesis investigated teacher perceptions of both the value and status of drama in education in one ontario school board. Data were gathered in the form of an attitude questionnaire, which was devised for the purpose of this research and administered to a stratified cluster sample of 126 teachers employed in the board's elementary schools. These data were then used to examine teacher perceptions based on their knowledge, attitudes, and self-reported behaviour in the classroom. Teacher characteristics of gender, teaching assignment, years experience, and courses taken in drama were also analyzed as potential determinants of teacher attitudes towards drama in education. Results of the study confirmed apparent discrepancy between teacher perceptions of the value of drama and its current educational status. It was indicated that what teachers value most about drama is its capacity to enhance creativity, social skills, empathy, personal growth, and problem-solving ability among students. Teachers attribute its low status both to school and board priorities of time and resources, and to deficiencies in their knowledge and confidence in the planning, implementation, and evaluation of drama in the classroom. Teacher subgroup analysis revealed no significant differences in attitudes towards the status of drama in education; it did, however, suggest that both teachers who have studied drama and teachers with between ten and twenty years experience are most likely to value drama more highly than their colleagues. Recommendations proposed by the study include the provision of increased - time and resource allotment for drama within the elementary curriculum as well as increased teacher training at both faculty of education and board inservice levels.

Verbal ability, previous practice and load on short-term memory as determiners of differences in a complex learning task: an experimental study

Traditional psychometric theory and practice classify people according to broad ability dimensions but do not examine how these mental processes occur. Hunt and Lansman (1975) proposed a 'distributed memory' model of cognitive processes with emphasis on how to describe individual differences based on the assumption that each individual possesses the same components. It is in the quality of these components ~hat individual differences arise. Carroll (1974) expands Hunt's model to include a production system (after Newell and Simon, 1973) and a response system. He developed a framework of factor analytic (FA) factors for : the purpose of describing how individual differences may arise from them. This scheme is to be used in the analysis of psychometric tes ts . Recent advances in the field of information processing are examined and include. 1) Hunt's development of differences between subjects designated as high or low verbal , 2) Miller's pursuit of the magic number seven, plus or minus two, 3) Ferguson's examination of transfer and abilities and, 4) Brown's discoveries concerning strategy teaching and retardates . In order to examine possible sources of individual differences arising from cognitive tasks, traditional psychometric tests were searched for a suitable perceptual task which could be varied slightly and administered to gauge learning effects produced by controlling independent variables. It also had to be suitable for analysis using Carroll's f ramework . The Coding Task (a symbol substitution test) found i n the Performance Scale of the WISe was chosen. Two experiments were devised to test the following hypotheses. 1) High verbals should be able to complete significantly more items on the Symbol Substitution Task than low verbals (Hunt, Lansman, 1975). 2) Having previous practice on a task, where strategies involved in the task may be identified, increases the amount of output on a similar task (Carroll, 1974). J) There should be a sUbstantial decrease in the amount of output as the load on STM is increased (Miller, 1956) . 4) Repeated measures should produce an increase in output over trials and where individual differences in previously acquired abilities are involved, these should differentiate individuals over trials (Ferguson, 1956). S) Teaching slow learners a rehearsal strategy would improve their learning such that their learning would resemble that of normals on the ,:same task. (Brown, 1974). In the first experiment 60 subjects were d.ivided·into high and low verbal, further divided randomly into a practice group and nonpractice group. Five subjects in each group were assigned randomly to work on a five, seven and nine digit code throughout the experiment. The practice group was given three trials of two minutes each on the practice code (designed to eliminate transfer effects due to symbol similarity) and then three trials of two minutes each on the actual SST task . The nonpractice group was given three trials of two minutes each on the same actual SST task . Results were analyzed using a four-way analysis of variance . In the second experiment 18 slow learners were divided randomly into two groups. one group receiving a planned strategy practioe, the other receiving random practice. Both groups worked on the actual code to be used later in the actual task. Within each group subjects were randomly assigned to work on a five, seven or nine digit code throughout. Both practice and actual tests consisted on three trials of two minutes each. Results were analyzed using a three-way analysis of variance . It was found in t he first experiment that 1) high or low verbal ability by itself did not produce significantly different results. However, when in interaction with the other independent variables, a difference in performance was noted . 2) The previous practice variable was significant over all segments of the experiment. Those who received previo.us practice were able to score significantly higher than those without it. J) Increasing the size of the load on STM severely restricts performance. 4) The effect of repeated trials proved to be beneficial. Generally, gains were made on each successive trial within each group. S) In the second experiment, slow learners who were allowed to practice randomly performed better on the actual task than subjeots who were taught the code by means of a planned strategy. Upon analysis using the Carroll scheme, individual differences were noted in the ability to develop strategies of storing, searching and retrieving items from STM, and in adopting necessary rehearsals for retention in STM. While these strategies may benef it some it was found that for others they may be harmful . Temporal aspects and perceptual speed were also found to be sources of variance within individuals . Generally it was found that the largest single factor i nfluencing learning on this task was the repeated measures . What e~ables gains to be made, varies with individuals . There are environmental factors, specific abilities, strategy development, previous learning, amount of load on STM , perceptual and temporal parameters which influence learning and these have serious implications for educational programs .

Drama in education : deconstructing the role of movement in text

The purpose of this study was to conduct a comparative textual analysis on the role of movement in 3 texts in Drama in Education in Canada. As the subject is holistic and encourages creative, active participation, movement was expected to appear, even inadvertently, in both theory and practice. It was hoped that guidelines for the use of movement within Drama in Education would emerge from the texts and that these guidelines would serve as models for others to use. A total of 26 Drama in Education experts in Canada were each asked to list the 10 most important texts in the field. Those who answered were assigned numbers and charted according to age, gender, and geography. An objective colleague helped narrow the group to 16 participants. A frequency count was used, assigning 10 points to the first text on each list, and descending to 1 point for the tenth text listed. Based on the highest number of points calculated, the 5 most frequently used texts were identified. These were compared to ascertain the widest representation ofthe authors' geographic location and gender, as well as differences in theory and practice. The final selection included 3 texts that represented differing approaches in their presentation and discussion of Drama in Education theories and practices. Analysis involved applying 5 levels of commitment to determine if,how, why, when, and with what results movement was explicitly or implicitly addressed in the 3 texts. Analysis resulted in several unexpected surprises around each of the 3 texts. The study also provided suggestions for extending and clarifying the role of movement in teaching and learning in general, as well as for Drama in Education in particular.

Bone speed of sound in overweight and normal-weight girls and adolescents

Over the last two decades, the prevalence of obesity in the general population has been steadily increasing. Obesity is a major issue in scientific research because it is associated with many health problems, one of which is bone quality. In adult females, adiposity is associated with increased bone mineral density, suggesting that there is a protective effect of fat on bone. However, the association between adiposity and bone strength during childhood is not clear. Thus, the purpose of this study was to compare bone strength, as reflected by speed of sound (SOS), of overweight and obese girls and adolescents with normal-weight age-matched controls. Data from 75 females included normal-weight girls (G-NW; body fat:::; 25%; n = 21), overweight and obese girls (GOW; body fat ~ 28%; n = 19), normal-weight adolescents (A-NW, body fat:::; 25%; n = 13) and overweight and obese adolescents (A-OW; body fat ~ 28%; n = 22). Nutrition was assessed with a 24-hour recall questionnaire and habitual physical activity was measured for one week using accelerometry. Using quantitative ultrasound (QUS; Sunlight Omnisense™), bone SOS was measured at the distal radius and mid-tibia. No differences were found between groups in daily total energy, calcium or vitamin D intake. However, all groups were below the recommended daily calcium intake of 1300 mg (Osteoporosis Canada, 2008). Adolescents were significantly less active than girls (14.7 ± 0.6 vs. 6.3 ± 0.6% active for G and A, respectively). OW accumulated significantly less minutes of moderate-to-very vigorous physical activity per day (MVPA) than NW in both age groups (114 ± 6 vs. 57 ± 5 min/day for NW and OW, i respectively). Girls had significantly lower radial SOS (3794 ± 87 vs. 3964 ± 64 mls for G-NW and A-NW, respectively), and tibial SOS (3678 ± 86 vs. 3878 ± 52 mls for G-NW and A-NW, respectively) than adolescents. Radial SOS was similar in the two adiposity groups within each age group. However, tibial SOS was lower in the two overweight groups (3601 ± 75 mls vs. 3739 ± 134 mls for G-OW and A-OW, respectively) compared with the age-matched normal-weight controls. Body fat percentage negatively correlated with tibial SOS in the study sample as a whole (r = -0.30). However, when split into groups, percent bo~y fat correlated with tibial SOS only in the A-OW group (r = -0.53). MVPA correlated with tibial SOS (r = 0.40), once age was partialed out. In conclusion, in contrast withthe higher bone strength characteristic of obese adult women, overweight and obese girls and adolescents are characterized by low tibial bone strength, as assessed with QUS. The differences between adiposity groups in tibial SOS may be at least partially due to the reduced weight-bearing physical activity levels in the overweight girls and adolescents. However, other factors, such as hormonal influences associated with high body fat may also playa role in reducing bone strength in overweight girls. Further research is required to reveal the mechanisms causing low bone strength in overweight and obese children and adolescents.

Unveiling Shi’i Religious Identities: Case Studies of Hijab in Culturally Homogeneous Canadian Schools

This qualitative case study explored 10 young female Shi’i Muslim Arabic-Canadian students’ experiences associated with wearing the Hijab (headscarf) within their home, community, and predominantly White Canadian public elementary school environments. The study integrated several bodies of scholarly theories in order to examine the data under a set of comprehensive lenses that more fully articulates and theorizes on the diversity of female Shi’i Muslim Canadian students’ experiences. These theories are: identity theories with a focus on religious identity and negative stereotypes associated with Muslims; feminism and the Hijab discourses; research pertaining to Muslims in school settings; and critical race theory. In order to readdress the dearth of information about Shi’is’ experiences in schools, this study provides an in-depth case study analysis in which the methodology strategies included 10 semi-structured in-depth interviews, 2 focus-group meetings, and the incorporation of the researcher’s fieldnotes. Data analysis revealed the following themes corresponding to participants’ experiences and values in their social worlds of home, community, and schools: (a) martyrdom and self-sacrifice as a means for social justice; (b) transformational meaning of the Hijab; (c) intersectionality between culture, religion, and gender; and (d) effects of visits “back home” on participants’ religious identities. Additional themes related to participants’ school experiences included: (a) “us versus them” mentality; (b) religious and complex secular dialogues; (c) absence of Muslim representations in monocultural schools; (d) discrimination; (e) remaining silent versus speaking out; and (f) participants’ strategies for preserving their identities. Recommendations are made to integrate Shi’i Muslim females’ identity within the context of Islam and the West, most notably in relation to: (a) the role of Muslim community in nondiverse settings as a space that advances and nurtures Shi’i Muslim identity; and (b) holistic and culturally responsive teaching that fosters respect of others’ religiosity and spirituality. This study makes new inroads into feminist theorizing by drawing conceptual links between these previously unknown connections such as the impact of the historical female exemplary role model and the ritual stories on the experiences of Muslim females wearing the Hijab.

Narratives of Experience in Education: Living and Working Through Poverty in a Rural Community

In this study, I use my own experiences in education as a former elementary student, research assistant, and as a current secondary school teacher, to examine how living in a marginalised rural community challenged by poverty affected my formal education. The purpose of this study was to use stories to: (a) explore my formative elementary education growing up in a community that was experiencing poverty, and; (b) to examine the impact and implications of these experiences for me as a teacher and researcher considering the topic of poverty and education. This study used narrative inquiry to explore stories of education, focusing on experiences living and working in a rural community. My role in the study was both as participant and researcher as I investigate, through story, how I was raised in a marginalised, rural community faced with challenges of poverty and how I relate to my current role as a teacher working in a similar, rural high school. My own experiences and reflections form the basis of the study, but I used the contributions of secondary participants to offer alternative perspective of my interpretation of events. Participants in this study were asked to write about and/or retell their lived stories of working in areas affected by challenging circumstances. From my stories and those of secondary participants, three themes were explored: student authorship, teaching practice, and community involvement. An examination of these themes through commonplaces of place, sociality and time (Connelly and Clandinin, 2006) provide a context for other educators and researchers to consider or reconsider teaching practices in school communities affected by poverty.

Part Time University Teaching in Ontario: A Self-Study

This qualitative self-study explored the disappointment I felt as a part-time university teacher in a mid-sized, primarily undergraduate Ontario university, where I experienced difficulty integrating my beliefs about teaching into my practice of teaching. The purpose of this qualitative study was to inquire into why it was difficult for me, representative of a part-time university teacher in a mid-sized, primarily undergraduate university, to enact the critical pedagogical practices I espoused in my teaching philosophy. The secondary purpose was to apply the findings of the study to reframe my university teaching practice in a way that met my need to enact my beliefs about university teaching while complying with the broader geo-political conditions of part-time university teaching in Ontario (Loughran, 2006; Russell & Loughran, 2007). This study is grounded in the sociological theoretical framework of critical pedagogy (Freire, 1970; Giroux, 1988, 2010; McLaren, 2003) and the methodological framework of The Self-Study of Teacher Education Practices (S-STEP). This study combined the methods of Brookfield’s (1995; 2002) critically reflective practice and Cole and Knowles (2000) practice of reflexive inquiry with Creswell’s (2005) methods of thematic analysis to answer the research question: Why is it difficult for me to enact my beliefs about university teaching as a part-time teacher in an Ontario university? Findings suggest the geo-political contexts of part-time university teaching work can impact a teacher’s ability to enact his/her beliefs about teaching within his/her practice of teaching.

An Exploration of Professors’ Use of Twitter in Higher Education

Scant research has explored how professors in Canadian universities use Twitter as a teaching tool or to augment knowledge about their subject disciplines. This case study employed a mixed-method approach to examine how professors in an Ontario university use Twitter. Using a variation of the technology acceptance model, the survey (n = 17) found that professor participants—41.2% of whom use Twitter—perceive Twitter as somewhat useful as a teaching tool, not useful for finding and sharing information, and not useful for personal use. Participants’ gender and number of years teaching are not indicators of Twitter use. Furthermore, the level of support from peers and the university may be reasons why some do not use Twitter or have stopped using Twitter. Face-to-face interviews (n = 3) revealed that Twitter is not used in classrooms or lecture halls, but predominantly as a means of sharing information with students and colleagues. Another deterrent to using Twitter is not knowing who to follow. Findings indicate that some professors at this university embrace Twitter, but not necessarily as an in-class teaching tool. The challenge and the advantage of using Twitter is to discover and follow people who tweet material and to select relevant material to pass along to students and colleagues. Professor participants in the study found a use for the social network as a means to increase student engagement, create virtual information-exchange communities, and enrich their own learning.

Benefits of Using Target Activities to Assist in Improvement of Striking in Striking and Fielding Games for Individuals with Autism: A Comparative Case Study

The purpose of the research study was to increase understanding about the potential benefits of combining target activities with striking-fielding games for individuals with high functioning autism spectrum disorder. A comparative case study was conducted to understand if target activities can assist in improving the skills of striking and throwing, aid the learning of tactics and add to current understanding of how certain teaching skills might be linked to the transfer between target and striking-fielding games. Data was collected through observations, student journals and interviews and were analyzed using both inductive and deductive methods. Results show an appearance of improvement in throwing, striking, bowling and badminton for overall skill levels. In regards to teaching skills, appropriate and effective teaching techniques, appropriate and effective equipment, dynamic of participants and student-instructors and consistency of attendance are vital. Future research should further look at the transferability to outdoor settings and interview the participants.