Ontario high school sport : an investigation of organizational design and its context

In 2002, The Ontario Federation of School Athletic Associations (OFSAA) identified that in providing extracurricular sport programs schools are faced with the 'new realities' of the education system. Although research has been conducted exploring the pressures impacting the provision of extracurricular school sport (Donnelly, Mcloy, Petherick, & Safai, 2000), few studies within the field have focused on understanding extracurricular school sport from an organizational level. The focus of this study was to examine the organizational design (structure, systems, and values) of the extracurricular sport department within three Ontario high schools, as well as to understand the context within which the departments exist. A qualitative multiple case study design was adopted and three public high schools were selected from one district school board in Ontario to represent the cases under investigation. Interviews, observations and documents were used to analyze the extracurricular sport department design of each case and to better understand the context within which the departments exist. As the result of the analysis of the structure, systems and values of each case, two designs emerged- Design KT1 and Design KT2. Differences in the characteristics of design archetype KT1 and KT2 centered on the design dimension of values, and therefore this study identified that contrasting organizational values reflect differences in design types. The characteristics of the Kitchen Table archetype were found to be transferable to the sub-sector of extracurricular school sport, and therefore this research provides a springboard for further research in organizational design within the education sector of extracurricular high school sport. Interconnections were found between the data associated with the external and internal contexts within which the extracurricular sport departments exist. The analysis of the internal context indicated the important role played by organizational members in shaping the context within which the departments exist. The analysis of the external context highlighted the institutional pressures that were present within the education environment. Both political and cultural expectations related to the role of extracurricular sport within schools were visible and were subsequently used by the high schools to create legitimacy and prestige, and to access resources.

Capacity and transformational development within the 2005 Canada Summer Games host society

Although capacity has been used in recent federal government accords and policies related to the voluntary and amateur sport sectors, there is little consensus over the meaning of the term. Consequently, the purpose of this qualitative case study was to explore the concept of organizational capacity within a temporary voluntary sport organization. Specifically, the nature of organizational capacity was examined within the case of the Volunteers Division of the 2005 Canada Summer Games (CSG) Host Society. Data were collected from executive planning and middle management CSG volunteers through the use of a variety of methods: verbal journals, interviews, observations, documents and a focus group. Findings indicated several challenges associated with the volunteer management model utilized by the host society, varying levels of importance among six elements of capacity, and key aspects of the relationship between organizational capacity and transformational development. Implications focused upon the importance of highlighting individuals rather than the organizational as a whole in order to build capacity, and utilizing a brain or hybrid brain-machine organizational form to enhance capacity. Recommendations are provided for both the Canada Games Council and Canada Games host societies.

Adolescent females' self-concept and physical education : a Q-sort analysis /

This research illuminates the relationship between female adolescents' self-concept and their experience of physical education. This was accomplished through three stages of interviews and a Qsort. The topics through which the research was categorized included peer support, teachers as significant others, meaningful connections to the body, and curriculum content. During stage one female physical education specialists, curriculum coordinators, and adolescents were interviewed to develop Q-items for the Q-sort. The second stage Involved two groups of females between the ages of 12 and 14 years who participated in the Q-sort. The final stage involved an insight group that consisted of four Q-sort participants who interpreted the highest ranking Q-items. Critical to this research was giving these adolescents the opportunity to voice what was important to them. The results of the research included descriptions of the elements in physical education that were deemed most important by female adolescent students. The topics of "peer support" and "meaningful connections to the body" were ranked the highest. By interpreting the rich insights of the discussion group, it was found that peers were most influential to these young girls. Perceiving and bestowing respect were imperative in this stage of their lives.

Adolescent sexuality : an investigation into the relation between sexuality and self-concept /

The present study explored the connections among adolescents' sense of self, sexuality, and perceptions of risk. Such an exploration may help educators to further understand why adolescents engage in risk-taking behaviours such as unprotected sex. The study involved secondary analysis on the data collected from the Youth Lifestyle Choices - Community University Research Alliance 2000 (YLC - CURA) Youth Resilience Questionnaire (YRQ). Participants were 300 male and female students in Grades 9, 1 1 and OAC. Data analyses involved both descriptive and inferential statistics (correlational and multivariate analysis). Chi-square analyses were performed on the open-ended self-description question. Separate analyses were conducted on gender and age (grade levels). Correlational analyses revealed that adolescents with a more positive sense of self were more likely to perceive sexual involvement as a relatively high-risk behaviour. Specifically, results found that male adolescents were less likely than females to perceive sex to be risky. Results are discussed in relation to previous research in the area of selfcognitions and risk-taking sexual behaviour. Results are also discussed in terms of educational implications in that the current results may provide the beginnings of a framework for more holistic sexual education programs.

Gaining a better understanding of how Outward Bound Western Canada course outcomes are achieved : a research study /

This study examined how Outward Bound Western Canada (OBWC) course outcomes are achieved by exploring the relationships among course components, students' characteristics, and course outcomes. OBWC is a wilderness-based adventure education organization that helps students achieve outcomes such as increased self-awareness, self-confidence, motivation, interpersonal skills, concern for others, and concern for the environment. This study explored the ways in which the various components of courses and the characteristics of students contribute to determining the outcomes students experience as a result of their courses. The purpose of the study was to gain a better understanding of how OBWC course outcomes are achieved in order to strengthen adventure education theory, enhance practice at OBWC and other adventure education organizations, and provide a foundation for further research on this topic. As an interpretive case study, this study sought to describe how OBWC course outcomes are achieved and to provide interpretations of the research findings. Data was gathered from OBWC students and instructors using the quantitative and qualitative data collection techniques of questionnaire, interview, and observation. Data collected from 98 participants ensured a considerable breadth to the study, while interviews with a number of participants also enabled the collection of in-depth data. Analysis and triangulation of the data from the various sources allowed discernment of the research findings. A comprehensive and detailed picture of how course outcomes are achieved emerged from the findings. Twenty-nine course components were found to influence course outcomes, including various aspects of course activities, the physical environment, instructors, and the group. The findings indicated that certain course components were most influential in determining increases to students' self-awareness, self-confidence, self-reliance, self-esteem, self-concept, motivation, self-responsibility, interpersonal skills, concern for others, and concern for the environment. A number of course components were found to indirectly contribute to positive course outcomes by helping maximize the effectiveness of other components, by increasing students' motivation while on course, or by facilitating the processing and transference of new information. The findings also suggested that several course components either directly or indirectly affected course outcomes in negative ways. In addition, the gender, age, population, and expectations of students were found to play a role in determining the course outcomes they experienced and in determining which course components caused those outcomes. Interpretation of the findings resulted in the generation of research-based theory. The main theoretical argument derived from the results of the study was that course outcomes are influenced by a combination of course components and characteristics of students. More specifically, the theory generated by the study indicated that five groupings of factors contribute to course outcomes, including course activities, the physical environment, instructors, the group, and students' characteristics. The study was considered in relation to existing adventure education literature and larger theoretical issues. The generated theory and research findings were then used to develop suggestions for improving practice at OBWC and other adventure education organizations, as well as for enhancing future research studies.

Marginal/minority popular music : the concept of the "third space" and the case for "hybridities" of cultures/identities /

The topic of this thesis is marginaVminority popular music and the question of identity; the term "marginaVminority" specifically refers to members of racial and cultural minorities who are socially and politically marginalized. The thesis argument is that popular music produced by members of cultural and racial minorities establishes cultural identity and resists racist discourse. Three marginaVminority popular music artists and their songs have been chosen for analysis in support of the argument: Gil Scott-Heron's "Gun," Tracy Chapman's "Fast Car" and Robbie Robertson's "Sacrifice." The thesis will draw from two fields of study; popular music and postcolonialism. Within the area of popular music, Theodor Adorno's "Standardization" theory is the focus. Within the area of postcolonialism, this thesis concentrates on two specific topics; 1) Stuart Hall's and Homi Bhabha's overlapping perspectives that identity is a process of cultural signification, and 2) Homi Bhabha's concept of the "Third Space." For Bhabha (1995a), the Third Space defines cultures in the moment of their use, at the moment of their exchange. The idea of identities arising out of cultural struggle suggests that identity is a process as opposed to a fixed center, an enclosed totality. Cultures arise from historical memory and memory has no center. Historical memory is de-centered and thus cultures are also de-centered, they are not enclosed totalities. This is what Bhabha means by "hybridity" of culture - that cultures are not unitary totalities, they are ways of knowing and speaking about a reality that is in constant flux. In this regard, the language of "Otherness" depends on suppressing or marginalizing the productive capacity of culture in the act of enunciation. The Third Space represents a strategy of enunciation that disrupts, interrupts and dislocates the dominant discursive construction of US and THEM, (a construction explained by Hall's concept of binary oppositions, detailed in Chapter 2). Bhabha uses the term "enunciation" as a linguistic metaphor for how cultural differences are articulated through discourse and thus how differences are discursively produced. Like Hall, Bhabha views culture as a process of understanding and of signification because Bhabha sees traditional cultures' struggle against colonizing cultures as transforming them. Adorno's theory of Standardization will be understood as a theoretical position of Western authority. The thesis will argue that Adorno's theory rests on the assumption that there is an "essence" to music, an essence that Adorno rationalizes as structure/form. The thesis will demonstrate that constructing music as possessing an essence is connected to ideology and power and in this regard, Adorno's Standardization theory is a discourse of White Western power. It will be argued that "essentialism" is at the root of Western "rationalization" of music, and that the definition of what constitutes music is an extension of Western racist "discourses" of the Other. The methodological framework of the thesis entails a) applying semiotics to each of the three songs examined and b) also applying Bhabha's model of the Third Space to each of the songs. In this thesis, semiotics specifically refers to Stuart Hall's retheorized semiotics, which recognizes the dual function of semiotics in the analysis of marginal racial/cultural identities, i.e., simultaneously represent embedded racial/cultural stereotypes, and the marginal raciaVcultural first person voice that disavows and thus reinscribes stereotyped identities. (Here, and throughout this thesis, "first person voice" is used not to denote the voice of the songwriter, but rather the collective voice of a marginal racial/cultural group). This dual function fits with Hall's and Bhabha's idea that cultural identity emerges out of cultural antagonism, cultural struggle. Bhabha's Third Space is also applied to each of the songs to show that cultural "struggle" between colonizers and colonized produces cultural hybridities, musically expressed as fusions of styles/sounds. The purpose of combining semiotics and postcolonialism in the three songs to be analyzed is to show that marginal popular music, produced by members of cultural and racial minorities, establishes cultural identity and resists racist discourse by overwriting identities of racial/cultural stereotypes with identities shaped by the first person voice enunciated in the Third Space, to produce identities of cultural hybridities. Semiotic codes of embedded "Black" and "Indian" stereotypes in each song's musical and lyrical text will be read and shown to be overwritten by the semiotic codes of the first person voice, which are decoded with the aid of postcolonial concepts such as "ambivalence," "hybridity" and "enunciation."

A discursive analysis of children's recreational adult-organized sport : when do children get to play?

Adult-organized children's sport attracts millions of participants in Canada and the United States each year. Though there is a great deal of research that considers children's sport, little of it focuses on recreational or house league sport and less of it offers a deep examination of children's experience of their participation. Using observations, interviews, and focus groups involving ten participants in mixed-gender recreational basketball, this qualitative research project examined their experiences. With Foucault's concepts of correct training and the panoptic gaze in mind, I used discourse and deconstruction analyses to consider the children's descriptions along with my observations of their basketball experience. I was particularly looking for prevalent discourses on sport, childhood, and gender and how they affected their experiences. Despite the league's discursive emphasis on fun, participation, fairness, and respect, that was not necessarily what the children experienced. While most stated they enjoyed their season many also expressed serious disappointments. Size and particularly skill very much determined who was most involved in the action and thus actually played baskethaW. Gender also played a significant role in their sport experiences. My findings invite questions about what genuine sport participation actually is and how it might be alternatively imagined.

Education, sport and myth in the community of Glengarry, Ontario : the athletic career of Roderick R. McLennan. 260 St. Catharines, Ont. : Faculty of Education, Brock University ;

This study examined how the athletic career of Roderick R. McLennan contributed to the popularization and subsequent development of Caledonian games in Ontario during the latter nineteenth century. Initially, the development of Caledonian games during the 1800s was examined to provide a contextual framework for McLennan's career. This investigation revealed that the games emerged from rural athletic events at pioneer working bees in the first quarter of the nineteenth century to regional sporting events by the mid-1800s, and finally into annual federated Caledonian games in 1870. Noteworthy primary source material for this chapter included the John MacGillivray Papers at the National Archives of Canada, the Scottish American Journal (NY) and the files retained by the Glengarry Sport Hall of Fame in Maxville, Ontario. Following the investigation of Caledonian games, McLennan's early athletic career was studied. Analysis of the Roderick and Farquhar McLennan Papers at the Archives of Ontario and the newspapers from the period revealed that McLennan rose to popularity in 1865 through a "Championship of the World" hammer throwing match in Cornwall and two "Starring Tours". The next chapter examined the height of McLennan's career through an investigation of the Roderick McLennan versus Donald Dinnie rivalry of the early .. n 1870s. It was detennined that the rivalry between McLennan and Dinnie, the champion athlete of Highland games in Scotland, was a popular attraction and had an impact on the Toronto and Montreal games of 1870 and the Toronto games of 1872. Finally, the athletic records established by McLennan during the 1860s and 1870s were investigated. These records were examined through the context of a media controversy over McLennan's feats that developed in the early 1880s between two newspapers. This controversy erupted between the Toronto Mail and the Spirit of the Times. Caledonian games in Canada have only been briefly examined and a thorough examination of prominent Canadian figures in this context has yet to be undertaken. This study unearths a prominent Canadian athlete of Scottish decent and details his involvement in the Caledonian games of nineteenth century Ontario.

Experiential learning instruments : an examination of the concept of the instrumental approach in experiential learning

Experiential Learning Instruments (ELls) are employed to modify the leamer's apprehension and / or comprehension in experiential learning situations, thereby improving the efficiency and effectiveness of those modalities in the learning process. They involve the learner in reciprocally interactive and determining transactions with his/her environment. Experiential Learning Instruments are used to keep experiential learning a process rather than an object. Their use is aimed at the continual refinement of the learner's knowledge and skill. Learning happens as the leamer's awareness, directed by the use of Ells, comes to experience, monitor and then use experiential feedback from living situations in a way that facilitates knmvledge/skill acquisition, self-correction and refinement. The thesis examined the literature relevant to the establishing of a theoretical experiential learning framework within which ELls can be understood. This framework included the concept that some learnings have intrinsic value-knowledge of necessary information-while others have instrumental value-knowledge of how to learn. The Kolb Learning Cycle and Kolb's six characteristics of experiential learning were used in analyzing three ELls from different fields of learning-saxophone tone production, body building and interpersonal communications. The ELls were examined to determine their learning objectives and how they work using experiential learning situations. It was noted that ELls do not transmit information but assist the learner in attending to and comprehending aspects of personal experience. Their function is to telescope the experiential learning process.

Improving the use of the nursing process: the impact of charting methodology developed from King's conceptual framework on the use of the nursing process

The purpose of this study was to assess the effects of changing a nursing documentation system, developed from King's Conceptual Framework, on the use of the nursing process. The null hypothesis was that there would be no significant increase in the reflection of the use of the nursing process on the nursing care plan or nurses' notes, as a result of using a nursing documentation system developed using King's Conceptual Framework (1981). The design involved the development of a questionnaire that was used to review health records pre and post implementation of a documentation system developed based on King's Conceptual Framework and Theory of Goal Attainment (1981). A Record Completeness Score was obtained from some of the questions. The null hypothesis was rejected. The results of the study have implications for nursing administration and the evaluation of nursing practice. If the use of a documentation system developed from a conceptual framework increases the reflection of the nursing process on the patient's health record, nursing will have the means to measure patient outcomes/goal attainment. All health care organizations and levels of government are focusing on methods to monitor and control the health-care dollar. In order for nursing to clearly determine the costs associated with nursing care, measurement of patient outcomes/goal attainment will need to be possible. In order to measure patient outcomes/goals attainment nurses will need to be able to collect data on their practice. It will be critical that nursing have a documentation system in place which facilitates the reflection of the nursing process within a theoretical framework.

Continuing education learning preferences and styles of legal clinic lawyers /

The purpose of this qualitative research was to study the learning preferences and styles of management lawyers who work in Ontario's legal aid clinics. Data were gathered from two sources and analyzed using the constant comparison method. A preand postconference survey provided the principal data on clinic lawyers' learning preferences. Follow-up interviews were then conducted with 3 purposefully selected survey participants to explore their personal learning styles. Kolb's experiential learning theory provided the theoretical framework for discussing personal learning styles. The findings showed a general consistency among the lawyers to learn by listening to lectures and experts. This preference may suggest a lingering influence from law school training. The lawyers' more informal learning associated with daily practice, however, appeared to be guided by various learning styles. The learning style discussions provided some support for Kolb's model but also confirmed some shortcomings noted by other authors. Educators who design continuing education programs for lawyers may benefit from some insights gained from this exploratory research. This study adds to a limited but growing body of work on the learning preferences and styles of lawyers and suggests new questions for future research.

A framework for understanding the factors that influence spectators' recall and recognition of embedded sponsorship stimuli

Now, more than ever, sponsors of athletic events demand to see evidence of a commercial return, such as enhanced brand awareness, for their investment of cash or non-cash resources (Lough et aI., 2000). The most common way to measure the impact of perimeter signage (Le., any billboard or sign that displays a company's brand name and/or logo and which surrounds the playing area) on spectators' awareness of event sponsors has been through the use of brand name recall and recognition tests (Shilbury & Berriman, 1996). Recall testing requires spectators to list all of the sponsors they can remember seeing at, for example, an athletic event, strictly from memory and without any help (Cuneen & Hannan, 1993). With recognition testing, spectators are required to identify sponsors from a prepared list which include "dummy" brand names (i.e., sponsors that are present in the list but which do not actually sponsor the event). In order to determine whether sponsors' brand awareness objectives are being met, it is important for sport and recreation marketers to understand what influences a spectator's ability to remember (Le., recall and/or recognize) the brand names of companies who advertise on perimeter signage. The purpose this study was to examine the factors that influence spectators' recall and recognition of embedded sponsorship stimuli (i.e., company brand names on perimeter signage surrounding the play area) at a Canadian University's men's basketball game and football game. These factors included the number of games spectators attended over the course of the season (i.e., repeated exposure to sponsorship stimuli), spectators' level of involvement with the event, and spectators' level of involvement with the advertisements (i.e., perimeter signage). This study also examined the differences between recall and recognition as a means of measuring spectators' awareness of sponsors, and attempted to determine if there are sport differences in spectators' recall and recognition of perimeter signage. Upon leaving the football stadium or gymnasium, spectators were approached, at random, by trained research assistants located at each exit and asked to complete a brief survey questionnaire. Respondents completed the survey on-site. A total of 358 completed surveys were collected from spectators who attended the football (N = 277) and basketball (N = 81) games. The data suggest that football and basketball respondents recognized more sponsors' brand names than they recalled. In addition, football respondents who were highly involved with the event (i.e., those individuals who viewed attending the events as fun, interesting and exciting) attended more games over the course of the season and had significantly higher brand name recognition of sponsors who advertised on perimeter signage than those individuals with low involvement with the athletic event. Football respondents who were highly involved with the sponsors' advertisements (i.e., those individuals who viewed sponsors' perimeter signage as appealing, valuable and important) had significantly higher brand name recall of event sponsors than those individuals with low involvement with these sponsors' advertisements. Repeated exposure to perimeter signage did not have a significant influence on football or basketball respondents' recall or recognition of sponsors. Finally, the data revealed that football respondents had significantly higher recall of sponsors' brand names than basketball respondents. Conversely, basketball respondents had significantly higher recognition of sponsors' brand names than did football respondents.

Exploring authentic leadership : a narrative case study

The purpose of this study was to provide an in-depth, life history examination of the leadership qualities of the President of a for-profit sport organization and explore this individual's leadership development within the framework of the Authentic Leadership Development Model (ALDM). A series of semi-structured interviews was conducted, including interviews with the President, three employees within the organization, and three individuals as selected by the President who attested to her authenticity and lifehistory. As well, observations for a period of three months were used to create a lifehistory of the President and determine if she was aligned with the ALDM. Creating a lifehistory of the President allowed the researcher to outline the story of her life up until the conclusion of the study. The narrative case study of the female President of a for-profit sport organization provided a glimpse into the life of a person whose values, beliefs, and actions aligned. The major findings of this study suggested that the President displayed characteristics similar to those identified as outcomes of the ALDM model.

Self concept, acculturation, and fashion orientation

The research begins with a discussion of the worldwide and the Canadian market. The research profiles the examination of the relationship between a person's self concept (as defined by Malhotra) and fashion orientation (as defined by Gutman and Mills), and to understand how these factors are influenced by acculturation, focusing in-depth on their managerial implications. To study these relationships; a random sample of 196 ChineseCanadian female university students living in Canada was given a survey based on Malhotra's self-concept scale, and the SLASIA acculturation scale. Based on multiple regression analysis, findings suggest that the adoption of language and social interaction dimensions of acculturation constructs have significant effects on the relationship between self concept and fashion orientation. This research contributes significantly to both marketing theory and practice. Theoretically, this research develops new insights on the dimensionality of fashion orientation, identifies various moderating effects of acculturation on the relationship of self concept and fashion orientation dimensions, and provides a framework to examine these effects, where results can be generalized across different culture. Practically, marketers can use available findings to improve their understanding of the fashion needs of Chinese-Canadian consumers, and target them based on these findings. The findings provide valuable implications for companies to formulate their fashion marketing strategies for enhance fashion orientation in terms of different dimensions, based on different levels of acculturation.

Socially Constructed Environmental Issues and Sport: A Content Analysis of Ski Resort Environmental Communications

Due to the impact of sport on the natural environment (UN, 2010), it is important to examine the interplay between environmental issues and sport (Hums, 2010, Mallen & Chard, 2011; Nauright & Pope, 2009; Ziegler, 2007). This research content analyzed 82 ski resort environmental communications (SRECs). These communications were rated for their prominence, breadth, and depth using the delineation of environmental issues provided by the Sustainable Slopes Program (SSP) Charter. This data was compared to the resorts’ degree of environmentally responsible action as rated by the Ski Area Citizens’ Coalition (SACC). An adaptation of Hudson and Miller's (2005) model was then used to classify the ski resorts as inactive, reactive, exploitive, or proactive in their environmental activities. Recommendations have been made for standardization and transparency in environmental disclosures and an environmental management system to aid ski resorts in moving from ad hoc processes to a systematic and comprehensive framework for improving environmental performance.