VictorJuiz/thesis huggingface dataset:
Preparing diverse teachers for diverse students: perceptions of linguistic identity, experiences and teaching responsibilities in a Canadian teacher education program
Keywords: English language, Study and teaching
English language, Ontario
Linguistic minorities, Education (Higher)
Linguistic minorities, Ontario
Minority teachers, Training of
Minority teachers, Ontario
Student teachers, Attitudes
Student teachers, Ontario

As the population in Canada is growing increasingly diverse, it has become critical to understand how to respond to such demographic change in the public school system and in teacher preparation programs. This thesis responds to this call by exploring perceptions of linguistic identity, experiences (participation, choices and challenges), teaching responsibilities and reported changes of future secondary teachers from diverse backgrounds in a Canadian teacher preparation program. The participants in this study include 25 linguistically diverse teacher candidates (TCs) enrolled in a 9-month intensive Bachelor of Education program and four teacher educators (TEs). Data were collected over the period of six months through interviews, questionnaires, observations and additional documents. This study draws on various sociocultural perspectives and more specifically the notion of "community of practice" (COP) (Lave Wenger, 1991). The examination of the participation, choices and challenges of TCs demonstrated the multiple, interrelated and complex issues underlying their experiences. These factors include specific COPs, instructors, peers, support in the program, age, culture, linguistic identity, personality, attitude, length of residence in Canada, curriculum and instructional practices. Findings also suggest that personal and professional experiences with ESL and diversity-related issues contribute to a higher level of empathy with English Language Learners (ELLs). However, empathy does not ensure that TCs are more likely to employ ESL-inclusive pedagogy. Explicit instruction on language education and diversity-related issues is required to help TCs develop such skills. The exploration of how TCs reported having changed as a result of the program revealed that there is evidence of both stability and change in their beliefs. The exploration of the respondents' native and nonnative self-ascription and self-assessed English proficiency, juxtaposed with the judgments of three TEs revealed the idiosyncratic and complex interplay between individuals and the social contexts in which they negotiate their linguistic identities. A six-category typology which better depicts the linguistic identities of the TCs is proposed. This inquiry reconceptualizes the native/nonnative dichotomy suggesting that linguistic identities should be viewed as dynamic, dialogic, relational, situated and multiple and thus explored in the process of their development in specific social contexts rather than as a unitary and fixed phenomenon in isolation.
Principles, prescriptions and polemics: Regulating conflicts of interest in the Canadian investment fund industry
Keywords: Investments, Foreign, Law and legislation
Investments, Foreign, Canada
Securities, Canada

Conflicts of interest permeate the Canadian investment fund industry. In response, securities regulators have promulgated National Instrument 81-107 Independent Review Committee for Investment Funds. In the view of securities regulators, NI 81-107 reflects a "principles-based" approach toward the regulation of conflicts of interest. This paper articulates a theoretical conception of principles-based securities regulation, one which transcends the formalism of the traditional "rules" versus "principles" debate to reveal a new regulatory paradigm. Thereafter, this paper explores whether and to what extent NI 81-107 truly reflects this principles-based paradigm, manifesting the potential to tap into its inherent wisdom while at the same time minimizing its potential drawbacks. Having reaped the fruits of this exploration, this paper concludes with a series of normative proposals respecting how securities regulators should approach both the regulation of conflicts of interest under NI 81-107 and, more broadly, the design of future principles-based regulatory mechanisms.
"Seeing through serpent and eagle eyes" enacting community in service-learning experiences
Keywords: Service learning
Student volunteers in social service
Experiential learning
College students
Educational innovations

This dissertation begins with the contention that the concept of community has been insufficiently problematized in the field of service learning. A survey of the current literature suggests that educators and theorists in this area tend to accept an understanding of community that is local and geographically constitutive. This study seeks to address this gap, through exploring models of community available for enactment of service-learning experiences and through examining the implications of possible enactments. More specifically, the study commences by reviewing three models of communityâ€”the constitutive community, the created community, and the community of differenceâ€”interrogating each to determine its value and limitations for service-learning experiences. Each model has merit for particular learning situations, but it is argued that, in cases where the goal of the service-learning experience is to create new knowledge, the community of difference model would seem the model most likely to facilitate such a goal. Julia Kristeva's theory of alterity within identity, and Gloria Anzaldua's concept of â€œborderlandsâ€ are also presented as providing a means of theorizing motivation for and engagement with community. To enrich and complicate our understanding of the theoretical models of community, the study also includes an ethnographic interpretive study of five students enacting a service-learning experience. The students are interviewed at various stages of researching, drafting, and completing their service-learning projects; their narratives are offered as counterpoints to the conclusions made about the value of the three models of community discussed. The concluding chapter of the study synthesizes the findings of the ethnographic study with the discussion of the three community models. It is asserted that: (1) students may resist the notion of the constitutive tie of citizenship, finding it too abstract to enact meaningfully; (2) the created community model permits students to achieve a level of comfort that may facilitate learning; (3) the community of difference model may prevent the student from completing work for the community if too great an emphasis is placed on student difference; and (4) undergraduate students are more concerned with strengthening their constitutive ties to the university academic community than the current literature would suggest.
Creating context for community knowledge building
Keywords: Knowledge, Sociology of
Community life
Experiential learning
Continuing education
Context effects (Psychology)

The purpose of this study was to describe and provide an explanation for the emergence of community knowledge building in a group of foreign-trained pharmacists (FTPs) who were unaware of community knowledge principles and unfamiliar with community knowledge practices. A case study methodology was adopted using sixteen FTPs seeking licensure as pharmacists in Ontario. A virtual learning community was created using Knowledge Forum Â®. A variety of data analysis techniques were used to establish the nature, frequency of use, quality, pattern of use and impact of knowledge building practices among participants. Two frameworks for coding, categorizing and analyzing the Knowledge Forum database were used: one followed from a method described by Chi and another described by Scardamalia. Qualitative analysis of interview and focus group data was undertaken to identify meaningful themes related to group dynamics and socio-cultural processes used in knowledge building. Analysis of the database using both Chi's and Scardamalia's methods showed episodic use of knowledge building heuristics with considerably more use in some small groups than others. Analysis of interview and focus group transcripts provided unique insights into the lives and experiences of FTPs, an historically vulnerable and disenfranchised group within the profession of pharmacy. This study demonstrated the interconnectedness of the facets of knowledge building and the naturalness of knowledge creation even in less-than-ideal circumstances. Issues related to group behaviours and the socio-cultural dynamics of knowledge building were examined, including factors leading to within-group assimilation and differentiation, between-group contrast effects, in-group favouritism and out-group hostility. Elements of group socialization theory were used to explain findings such as the importance of saliency in self-categorizaton and reference grouping, and the value of peer-to-peer socialization. The study also provided insight into how more effective community knowledge building environments could be designed for immigrants with professional qualifications.
The deterrent effects of cigarette taxation policy on smoking
Keywords: Economics
Public health

There has been much research into how cigarette taxation affects cigarette use in various demographic groups, but little work into its effect on daily and non-daily user groups and within these user groups. Also, none of the existing studies assesses the extent to which alcohol use influences the deterrent effects of cigarette taxation policy. The present research used innovative quantile regression techniques on individual-level Canadian data: (1) to estimate separately the impact of cigarette prices on various levels of smoking among daily and non-daily smokers, and (2) to explore how frequency of alcohol consumption affects cigarette price sensitivity among daily and non-daily smokers at various levels of smoking.
Lpin1: A new p53 regulated gene induced by DNA damage and glucose withdrawal and its involvement in fatty acid oxidation
Keywords: Molecular biology

The upregulation and activation of the p53 tumour suppressor gene in response to a variety of stress signals leads to cell cycle arrest and DNA repair, senescence or apoptosis. In addition to these functions, emerging evidence indicates a role for p53 in regulating metabolism. p53 was recently shown to be phosphorylated by AMPK in response to glucose withdrawal. p53 has also been shown to regulate expression of genes involved in mitochondrial respiration as well as glycolysis. In this study, we provide further evidence for a role of p53 in metabolism. We show that p53 protein is phosphorylated and accumulates in myoblasts cultured under low glucose conditions. Surprisingly, phosphorylation of p53 at Ser-15 in this context occurs in an ATM-dependent but AMPK-independent manner. Furthermore, we identify a new p53-regulated gene, Lpin1, which encodes lipin1. Lpin1 is essential for fat metabolism and mutation in this gene is responsible for the lypodystrophy phenotype in fld mice. Lpin1 was also demonstrated to regulate fatty acid oxidation in transgenic mice. We show that Lpin1 is induced in response to DNA damage and glucose deprivation in a p53-dependent manner in cell lines as well as tissues. In addition, we show that Lpin1 regulates fatty acid oxidation under normal and reduced glucose conditions.
Experiences of women teachers in the Northern Areas of Pakistan
Keywords: Women teachers, Pakistan

This thesis studies five women teachers of the Aga Khan Education Service schools in the Northern Areas of Pakistan. It examines how these women manage their responsibilities in the traditional home domain in conjunction with their commitments as teachers. The thesis inquires whether their act of taking up a profession is an attempt to redefine the place of women in the patriarchal culture of the mountain communities of the Northern Areas and examines the extent to which this patriarchy itself is responding to new economic realities. The use of qualitative life history identifies the connection between women teachers' experiences and their present day and historical social context. The study indicates that these women teachers are part of the major socio-economic changes taking place in this mountainous region as it shifts from a subsistence to a cash economy. The study also reveals that patriarchy continues to direct women's lives. Some flexibility in patriarchal norms has allowed women's paid work, which has expanded the traditional familial boundaries and has enabled women to exert some influence on their families and communities. The participants have been able to make only slight changes in traditional patriarchal norms and gendered task division, which still prevail in the wider community and in the organization for which they work. The study is significant as it places the voices of the participants in their broader social and historical context while documenting the historical transition in their lives. It contributes new insights to the literature on women teachers and thus provides some guidance to educators working with or in similar situations. Education and employment became accessible to women in the 1970s. Since then, some women have become teachers and have been involved in community development. The interconnectedness of families, schools and communities blur the boundaries between these spheres of women's work; rather they overlap, so that the women and many other actors rotate through them in "multi-layered cyclic routines." The juxtaposition of women's paid jobs and traditional familial roles has created tensions and has increased women's workloads. The indigenous patriarchal extended families have both aided and hindered the women teachers. The practice of sharing childcare, household and farming tasks helped them fulfill their professional and community commitments. However, the familial demand that teachers continue to do their share of these tasks and remain on the land has created tensions which hinder the participants' work and career aspirations.
Dental hygiene quality assurance programs and related behavioural change: a comparative study of British Columbia and Ontario
Keywords: Dental hygiene, Quality control

The study objective was to compare the impact of two models of quality assurance (QA) programming on change in professional behaviour. The survey compared dental hygienists from British Columbia (BC) where continuing education (CE) time requirements exist and Ontario (ON) where a self-directed learning (SDL) approach is administered. Results demonstrated appropriate practice behaviour change was similarly implemented in both provinces. ON dental hygienists selected learning activities yielding appropriate change opportunities significantly more than BC dental hygienists. Small to moderate, positive correlations were demonstrated between SDL and participation in learning activities, change opportunities and change implementation. It is concluded that SDL is enhanced through QA programming, and SDL is positively correlated with quality outcome measures. Exclusion of CE time requirements did not negatively affect change implementation, and SDL positively impacted appropriate selection of learning activities. This suggests more productive use of learning time substantiating implementation of SDL in QA programming.
Effective teaching and adaptive instruction in core French: a case study of a grade 8 classroom in Ontario
Keywords: French language, Study and teaching (Elementary)
Inclusive education, Ontario
Learning disabled children, Education
Learning disabled children, Ontario

The impetus for this study was provided by an on-going debate over the suitability of second language education for students who underperform in these programs and whether it is possible for teachers to effectively address these students' needs within the confines of the current conception of successful second language instruction in Ontario. Qualitative and quantitative observational techniques were used to identify and describe a Grade 8 core French teacher's use of pedagogical strategies that have been previously designated in research on learning disabilities, effective teaching, and/or second language education as helpful for facilitating student success. A series of semi-structured teacher interviews were conducted to gain a deeper understanding of the belief systems, contextual influences, and decision-making processes that impacted this teacher's pedagogy. In addition, a series of seven individual semi-structured student interviews were held in an effort to understand the students' perceptions and conceptions of their learning experience in core French. At the conclusion of the study, a focus group interview comprised of these seven students was organized to provide a forum for further exploration of issues that were raised during the individual interviews. Overall, the teacher participant in this study can be viewed as an effective educator of students with learning difficulties and other learning needs within the context of the core French classroom. The teacher was found to have created a classroom environment defined by characteristics of an effective inclusive classroom through her use of adaptation strategies and was respectful of the tenets of the approach to second language education mandated by the Ontario Ministry of Education. Results from the teacher and student interviews indicate a strong perception of the effectiveness of these strategies in facilitating student proficiency in the target language. Further, the teacher's apparent success in fostering student learning in spite of a wide range of individual learner needs is primarily attributable to her own skill in negotiating her pedagogical content knowledge and a strong belief in her ability to foster student achievement.
Personal change and organizational passages: transitions from teaching to the vice-principalship in a reform climate
Keywords: School administrators, Ontario
Career changes, Ontario
Educational change, Ontario
High schools, Administration
High schools, Ontario
High school teachers, Ontario

A promotion to vice-principal represents an important career milestone within the field of education. It signals an elevation in status, marks the culmination of years of teaching and preparation, and symbolizes the beginning of a new personal and professional journey. This study explored the trajectories of eight recently appointed secondary school vice-principals as they crossed the threshold between teaching and administration. It focused specifically on the nature of their transition, the factors that were significant in facilitating or hindering it, and the challenges, tensions and dilemmas they encountered in this process. A review of the psychological and sociological literature on change, transition and socialization was used to provide a perspective on the subjective and objective nature of the change and transition process, and a conceptual framework was derived to explore and understand these phenomena. Qualitative data was collected through the use of personal inquiry methods. These focused conversations created opportunities and space for the vice-principals to relate and reflect on their personal narratives of the internal and external trajectory across the professional landscape of administration. The findings suggest that the transition from teaching to administration is a complex developmental passage that disrupts the world of new vice-principals. Becoming a vice-principal involves changing physical locations, interacting with a wide range of constituents at the multiple levels of system arenas, and assuming different roles, responsibilities, behaviours and perspectives. The participants experienced additional challenges because of factors related to inadequate preparation for the role; a lack of training and support from their school district; competing expectations from multiple stakeholders; and the demands of the rapidly changing Ontario reform context. These changes triggered a paradoxical socio-emotional process that required letting go, holding on to, and reframing aspects of their former teaching orientations, values and identities. A visual metaphor of recurring epicycles is used to describe this iterative trajectory of change and transformation. This study recommends that ministry regulatory bodies, school districts, professional development providers and administrative professional associations co-ordinate efforts to address the problematic nature of this role and the long-range developmental needs of new administrators. It concludes with a discussion of the ways in which vice-principals' transitions can be facilitated at the personal, professional and organizational levels, and provides suggestions for future research.
The recycled fetus: ethics of waste and gift exchange in new reproductive technologies
Keywords: Fetus, Legal status, laws, etc
Human reproductive technology, Moral and ethical aspects

The goal of this thesis is to expose and analyze the ethical problems of the proposed use of fetal ovarian tissue as a source of donor eggs for infertility treatment, from an embodied, feminist ethical perspective. Fetal ovarian tissue is taken from an aborted fetus and used to help another woman become pregnant. An ethical analysis of this use must begin by considering the construction of pregnancy in the powerful discourses of medicine and law. Medical discourse constructs pregnant women as fetal containers. Legal regulation of pregnant women normalizes and enforces this status. Medical discourse further constructs female reproduction as wasteful. Fetal tissue, and other reproductive tissues, are medically understood as waste. This classification makes their use, which this thesis argues is akin to recycling, appear ethically acceptable. The drive to recycle fetal ovarian tissue reflects a pervasive inability to accept loss in medical technoscience and modern Western culture. Recycling fetal ovarian tissue elevates the biological building blocks of life, or â€œlife itselfâ€ over individual lived lives. In a society which already devalues people based on social characteristics such as gender, race and class, the elevation of â€œlife itselfâ€ will further devalue these lived lives. Recycling has further implications: it destroys the work of memory and forgetting; it provides redemption for abortion thus confirming the success of the American anti-abortion movement in establishing it as a â€œbadâ€ act; and it helps medical technoscience, as a cultural system in itself, to manage the problem of death. Currently, human tissue donation is ethically acceptable only when it is given and received as a gift. This thesis argues that giving and the gift relationship do not transform the waste and recycling aspects of fetal ovarian tissue use into an ethical process; rather, they disguise this utilitarian approach to fetal ovarian tissue and women seeking abortions. Women's ethical work in remembering, forgetting and narrating abortion stories is lost in the drive to recycle fetal ovarian tissue. The recycled fetus is an unethical gift.