VictorJuiz/thesis huggingface dataset:
Constructing Mathematical Knowledge Using Multiple Representations: A Case Study of a Grade One Teacher

This study examined how an elementary teacher fostered student mathematical understanding and the strategies that she used to help students learn mathematical concepts. A case study of a Grade 1 teacher is described based on qualitative data from interviews and classroom observation sessions using a peer coaching model. The evidence from the study suggests that this teacher benefited from professional development opportunities to gain deeper insights regarding her teaching practices. There were five major findings: (1) enthusiasm for improving her practices was necessary to successfully meet her goals; (2) this teacher’s role in the classroom was important to facilitate the construction of knowledge; (3) the classroom was an environment where her students felt safe; (4) a variety of tasks and strategies that students of varied abilities, interests and aptitudes can enjoy were used; and (5) multiple representations (including the use of manipulatives) were used to scaffold the construction of knowledge.

Keywords: Mathematics education
Elementary education
Professional development
Construction of knowledge
Teaching strategies
Advisor: McDougall, Douglas Emerson
Extension: Towards a Genealogical Accountability: (The Critical [E]Race[ing] of Mad Jewish Identity

Can we be accountable to privilege? Can we find a space for coherent anti-racist secular Ashkenazi Jewish identity in North America, where Jews have been deeply implicated in structural violence? Can we be agents of both complicity and change? This auto-ethnography describes a haunting; focusing on the ghostly presences of my deceased uncle Larry Treiman and Bruno Bettelheim, child psychologist and director of the residential treatment facility where Larry was institutionalized as a child, it creates a deeply personal explanation for how the whitening of Ashkenazi North American Jewish identity, the shifts in discourses of madness and major sociological and economic change in Chicago and New York over the second half of the 20th century constituted my subjectivity and my privilege. This text proposes accountability through genealogy, teasing out the possibility for ethical thought and action through cultivating a deeply personal relationship to the ghosts that make us.

Keywords: Jewish Identity
Privilege
Advisor: Nestel, Sheryl
The Ideological Construction of a Second Reality: A Critical Analysis of a Romanian EFL Textbook

Drawing on the assumptions that old ideologies persist over a long period of time, impact on intercultural communication, and can be identified in texts, this study is a critical analysis of the content of an English as a Foreign Language (EFL) textbook, which was published between 1983 and 1988 in communist Romania. Specifically, the research questions of the present study are: 1) How do the EFL textbook‘s readings represent the relationship between Romanian and non-Romanian people?, and 2) What are the sociopolitical implications of these representations? Based on critical discourse analysis (CDA), as well as content analysis and literary theory, the method of analysis of this study builds on central concepts such as ideology and intertextuality, and delivers a multilayered framework of analysis that comprises the historical and ideological context of the texts, as well as the context of other texts. The findings show that the communist ideology was legitimated and transmitted in language textbooks, and, compared to the Romanians, non-Romanians were unequally represented.

Keywords: textbook analysis
Romanian textbook
communist ideology and curriculum
second reality
textbook content analysis
intertextuality
Advisor: Labrie, Normand
A Peaceful Partnership? A Qualitative Case Study of Three IB English A1 Teachers' Conceptions of Peace Education at an IB World School in Peru

The International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme, renowned for its academic rigor, is also committed to forwarding the larger organization’s mission of creating “a better and more peaceful world” through education. This qualitative case study explores the conceptions of peace education held by three IB Diploma English A1 teachers, the factors that shaped those conceptions, and possible obstacles to teaching for peace in an international school. A framework of peace education as distilled from an extensive literature review and Johan Galtung’s definitions of peace provide the study’s theoretical foundation. Using observations, document analysis, and semi-structured interviews, this study examines teachers’ concepts of peace, pedagogical practices, and approaches to peace education within the context of an A1 classroom and an IB World School. The findings conclude that teachers’ conceptions of peace education are shaped by personal factors such as prior experiences and pedagogical content knowledge, and not by official IB documents.

Keywords: Peace Education
International Baccalaureate
Advisor: Bencze, Larry
Teaching Teachers to Teach Peace: A Reflective Pre-service Case Study

This thesis explores the relationships between pre-service teacher training, peace education, anti-racism education, gender equity education and conflict resolution. Specifically, this study investigates the mandatory School and Society course within the Initial Teacher Education Program at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education at the University of Toronto, to explore peace education training within the pre-service teacher education program. The methodology employed involves the combination of a curriculum analysis and reflective case study; both are utilized to illustrate the author’s experiences as a pre-service student, and the training received during this program. The findings illustrate that components of a peace education curriculum are observable in the Initial Teacher Education program. There is however, no formal requirement for delivering peace education within the program. As a result, this thesis offers recommendations for the development of formal peace education training in OISE/UT’s pre-service program.

Keywords: peace education
pre-service teacher education
Advisor: Feuerverger, Grace
"The Picturesque Playground of Canada": Landscaping the Geographical and Social Identity of Muskoka, 1850-1914

This thesis explores the complexities of Muskoka’s past between 1850 and 1914. Through the lenses of class-consciousness and popular notions of ethnicity and race, Muskoka’s geographical and social landscape were redefined during this period by the government, the area’s industries, visitors, and local inhabitants. It was not until the early twentieth century that the nature-tourism industry was able to standardize a regional identity for the district; this identity has remained prevalent through to the twenty-first century. As the title of Edward Roper’s 1883 booklet "Muskoka; the Picturesque Playground of Canada" suggests, the area became closely associated with leisure and recreation. However, this Muskoka identity misrepresented the district’s terrain and populace, and our contemporary understanding of the region has consequently been compromised. In order to better recognize Muskoka’s diverse social and geographical landscape, this thesis explores several historical viewpoints and questions the manner in which the district was promoted.

Keywords: Canadian History
Muskoka
Advisor: Morgan, Cecilia
An Analysis of the Factors that Enhance Participation in European University Networks - A Case Study of the University of Tartu, Estonia

The thesis provides an analysis, from the institutional perspective, of the factors that are contributing towards mutually beneficial participation in European University Networks. Previous research about institutional networks has concentrated on the networks' perspective on beneficial operational factors. Joining institutional university networks has been stated to be a recent strategic trend in Europe. Therefore it is important to provide detailed data from the institutional point of view to enable other institutions to make informed decisions about joining such networks. The University of Tartu provides an interesting case study on its experience of participation in the Coimbra Group and the Utrecht Network. Strategic management theory was used as a theoretical framework for this analysis. Relevant documents were reviewed. Twenty three e-mail interviews were conducted among the University of Tartu administrators, faculty members and representatives of both networks. Ten cross-cutting themes were identified as having impact on network participation.

Keywords: university networks
multilateral partnerships
internationalization
higher education
regionalization
Europe
Advisor: Hayhoe, Ruth
Knight, Mélanie Jane
Inner City Students: Stamped, Labled and Shipped Out! Deficit Thinking and Democracy in An Age of Neoliberalism

My thesis topic on deficit thinking, democracy and an ethic of care emerges as a result of the clashes that take place under political and socio-economic agendas which are deeply connected with the conflicting interpersonal challenges that inner city students face. My thesis focuses on two major aspects regarding deficit thinking: 1. What are the different frameworks that create and support deficit thinking and deficit practices, and are there any philosophical inconsistencies or overlap amongst them? Moreover, what is the conceptualization(s) of deficit thinking that arise from these different frameworks? 2. Why is deficit thinking toward inner city students philosophically problematic and inconsistent with creating true democratic education possibilities? After presenting and highlighting my concerns about deficit thinking practices, I briefly provide an alternative vision for education. This truly democratic vision of education is comprised of four main components: critical thinking, participatory democracy, moral responsibility, and an ethic of care.

Keywords: deficit thinking
philosophy of education
Advisor: Portelli, John P.
Textuality, Performativity and Archive: Examining the Virtual Body in Socially Networked Space

This thesis argues that contemporary theorizations of online identities on social-networking sites (SNS) require more robust accounts of the relationship between language, perfomativity, and the tensions of the material/virtual binary. In her analysis of subject formation on multi-user domains, Internet sociologist Jenny Sundén uses poststructuralist philosophy to theorize identity as a process of “textual performativity”. Citing Sundén, many contemporary sociologists theorizing subjectivity on SNS use the terms “writing the self” and “performing the self” and overlook the poststructuralist philosophy that informs them. To explore the lack of philosophical analyses within sociological accounts of subject formation on SNS, and to rethink “writing” and “performing” the self, I draw on the work of J.L. Austin, Judith Butler and Jacques Derrida. I argue that creating a self on SNS is a ”sedimentation” process whereby different discursive identity performances are reiterated over time, and I investigate the implications of archiving and externalizing the self.

Keywords: social networking
derrida
butler
archive
performativity
writing the self
Advisor: Boler, Megan
Simon, Roger I.
Centennial Celebrations in Toronto-area Schools

This thesis investigates and analyzes certain significant aspects of the Centennial celebrations of 1967 as they took place in Toronto-area schools. By considering the Centennial activities involving art, travel, music and historical pageantry—those deemed most significant by educational planners—I propose to evaluate how students, and Canadians in general, were thinking and learning about Canada and its people at the time. Throughout this essay, I argue that the Centennial celebrations are crucial evidence of a developing shift in the way that Canadians conceived of national identities and a change in how students were educated about Canadian history. In particular, I will argue that the Centennial celebrations in Toronto-area schools often demonstrated the continued development of a post-imperial vision of Canada’s national character, and an approach to history education which moved beyond the traditional timeline-oriented and British nation-building narratives that dominated early-twentieth-century Canadian education.

Keywords: history of education
centennial celebrations
Toronto
schools
pageantry
history education
Expo 67
art
music
travel
Igartua
Osborne
identities
Canada
nationalism
multiculturalism
Advisor: Morgan, Cecilia
The Varsity Man: Manhood, the University of Toronto and the Great War

This research examines the relationship between masculinity and recruitment at the University of Toronto during the Great War. Through a gendered framework established by historians such as Judith Butler, masculinity is approached as a constructed process that encompasses a variety of complex relationships between the individual subject and social processes. The following questions are explored: What motivated the administration the University to instate policies that first encouraged, and then forced, male students to enter active service? How did dominant discourses of masculinity influence recruitment efforts and the subsequent movement towards mandatory military training? The research reveals that gendered understandings of war and recruitment on campus presented active service as the defining moment of manhood. Enlisting, then, was understood as more than a willingness to take up arms; it publicly signified that a man was committed to the defense of democracy and to securing the freedom of generations to come.

Keywords: The Great War
Masculinity
University of Toronto
Militarism
The First World War
Gender
Education
Recruitment
Advisor: Morgan, Cecilia
How has Character Education been Implemented at the School Level at an Ontario Sample School Board?

This paper explores character educations policy documents from two Ontario school boards as well as several published articles that report on results from research related to implementation of character education programs in Ontario and the United States. This paper examines the connection between school board documents of two school boards with the Ontario Ministry of Education character education initiative that was put in place during the 2008-09 school year. It also includes interviews with three principals at one school-board as to how they approached implementation of character education and its relationship to the goal of the school and provincial policy directives.

Keywords: character
implementation
Advisor: Stiegelbauer, Suzanne
Learning How to Be Ukrainian: Ukrainian Schools in Toronto and the Formation of Identity, 1947-2009

This thesis follows the development of the Ukrainian identity in Toronto since World War II. It explores the formation of collective memory by the Third Wave of Ukrainian immigration who arrived in Toronto in the early 1950s and the crystallization of a particular Ukrainian identity within this community. In particular, it looks at the role of the Ukrainian schooling system as an important institution shaping the community’s understanding of Ukrainian identity. It also discusses the challenges to that identity since the arrival of the Fourth Wave of Ukrainian immigration which began in 1991. It charts the intra-group tensions which arose in the community due to different understandings of what it means to be Ukrainian and describes how competing Ukrainian identities found within the Fourth Wave of immigration have shifted the dynamic in the Ukrainian community, explaining low involvement of Fourth Wave members within community institutions such as the Ukrainian school.

Keywords: Ukrainian School
Ethnic Schooling
Identity
Ethnicity
Toronto
Ukrainian Immigration to Canada
Ukrainian Diaspora
Religion and Schooling
Ukrainian Orthodoxy
Greek Catholic
Displaced Persons
Soviet Union
intra-ethnic tension
Third Wave
Fourth Wave
Ukrainians
Ukrainian Canadians
Canadian Ukrainians
Ukrainian Organizations in Toronto
Regionalism in Ukraine
World War II
USSR
Ukrainian Catholic
Ukrainian School Board Toronto
Collective Memory
Ukrainian Canadian History
Conflicting Identities
Conflicting Naratives of History
Advisor: Troper, Harold M.
Inattention and Written Expression Difficulties in Children with Normal and Poor Word-reading Skills

This study examined written expression skills in children with attention problems with and without word reading difficulties. The sample consisted of 28 children with attention problems (AP) only, 18 children with coexisting attention and reading problems (ARP), and 34 children without attention or word reading difficulties (TYP). Curriculum-based measurement (CBM) indices of accuracy and fluency, plus teacher ratings of handwriting, spelling, and overall writing skills were used to assess children’s written expression skills. The analyses indicated that the AP and ARP groups received significantly lower scores on all measures of written expression than the TYP group. The ARP group scored significantly lower than the AP group on the teacher ratings of writing and spelling. These findings suggest that inattention is significantly related to written expression difficulties independent of word-reading skills.

Keywords: Inattention
Written expression
Reading
Learning
Literacy
Advisor: Martinussen, Rhonda
Tannock, Rosemary
Impact of Working Memory Deficits on Academic Achievement in Adolescents with Attention-deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder

This study examined the impact of working memory deficits (WMD) on the academic achievement of adolescents with ADHD. Adolescents (n=79) aged 13 to 17 years with a clinical diagnosis of ADHD were subtyped into those with and without WMD based on impairment in at least two measures, and then compared on their academic achievement and clinical profile. Results indicated that adolescents with ADHD plus WMD (23%) manifest significantly lower academic achievement than those with adequate WM. By contrast, there were no group differences in psychiatric comorbidity, severity of ADHD symptoms and psychological adjustment. We also found a unique contribution of WM to academic achievement over and above that of other clinical features. These findings suggest that WMD compromise the educational attainment of a subgroup of individuals with ADHD. Individuals with ADHD should be screened for WMD to prevent academic failure and WM should be considered as a treatment target.

Keywords: Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder
Working Memory
academic achievement
executive functions
working memory deficits
adolescents
Advisor: Tannock, Rosemary
Examining Performance Monitoring in Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder

Behavioural symptoms, cognitive deficits, and findings from electrophysiological, neuroimaging and genetic studies all suggest atypical performance monitoring in ADHD. Performance monitoring involves error detection and post-error behavioural adjustment and is crucial to behavioural self-regulation and reinforcement learning, both of which are dysfunctional in ADHD. Therefore, post-error slowing was examined in children with ADHD and controls using a modified flanker task both with, and without, error detection provided. There was a significant main effect of group on post-error slowing across conditions and when error-detection was provided, significant post-error slowing deficits were found in children with ADHD. These findings suggest that the performance monitoring deficit in ADHD is specific to post-error behavioural adjustment and supports the inclusion of this deficit in the neurocognitive profile of ADHD. Findings are discussed in terms of current neurocognitive reinforcement learning models of ADHD.

Keywords: ADHD
performance monitoring
error monitoring
cognition
Advisor: Schachar, Russell
The Effects of Morphological Awareness on Reading in Chinese and English Among Young Chinese Children: A Longitudinal Study

This thesis comprised two longitudinal studies examining the role of morphological awareness in Chinese and English reading among Chinese children. In Study 1, participants were 84 kindergarten and first grade Chinese-speaking English Language Learners (ELLs) from Canada. Children’s morphological awareness, vocabulary and reading comprehension in English were assessed at two measurement points spaced one year apart. Study 2 involved the Chinese-Canadian children from Study 1, and 98 kindergarteners and first graders from China. Their morphological awareness, vocabulary and reading comprehension in Chinese were measured at the beginning of two successive academic years. Study 1 showed that for the ELLs, morphological awareness explained increasingly large proportions of variance in English vocabulary and reading comprehension with age. In Study 2, compound awareness significantly predicted Chinese vocabulary for children from both countries. Taken together, the two studies substantiated that morphological awareness contributes to reading in Chinese and English across different language-learning contexts.

Keywords: morphological awareness
English Language Learners
bilingual children
reading
vocabulary
Advisor: Chen, Xi
Understanding Substance Use Treatment Motivation: The Role of Social Network Pressure in Emerging Adulthood

Research has shown that social pressure is related to treatment motivation and plays an important role in treatment engagement in adults with problematic substance use. Despite the shifts in autonomy and decision-making in emerging adulthood, the factors affecting treatment motivation (e.g., readiness to comply with treatment) and motivation to change (e.g., problem recognition and taking steps towards change) during this period have been largely ignored. In this study, 134 youth presenting to an outpatient substance abuse program completed questionnaires investigating substance use history, mental health, social pressure to reduce use and enter treatment, and motivation. Results indicated that peer pressure accounted for significant variance in internal positive and internal negative treatment motivation. Family pressure was related only to external treatment motivation. Neither social network source had a significant impact on motivation to change. Limitations, directions for future research and treatment implications are discussed.

Keywords: Substance Use
Emerging Adulthood
Treatment Motivation
Motivation to Change
Social Pressure
Advisor: Peterson-Badali, Michele
Henderson, Joanna
Poetry Composition and Revision: An Expert Novice Study

Expertise in poetry reading and writing have been examined in previous studies using think-aloud protocol analysis of expert and novice participants. These studies have revealed important information about the way in which expert readers understand poetry and the way in which expert writers compose and revise expository pieces of writing. However, there are no previous studies that examine how expert and novices compare in terms of poetry composition. The current study confronts this gap by analysing the how expert and novice poets engage in a task of poetry revision and composition. Analysis of think-aloud protocols indicates that expert poets think more about processes of recursive revision and strategies for creative engagement, than do novice poets. In addition, issues of syntax and semantics drive the revision process for experts, whereas novices are concerned with issues of whether the poem conforms to expectations of poetic form and poetic textual devices.

Keywords: Poetry
Composition
Advisor: Peskin, Joan