VictorJuiz/thesis huggingface dataset:
An Examination of Monogamy Values Among Gay Men and the Influence of Masculine Gender Conformity

Monogamy values and the influence of masculine conformity were examined using a sample of 154 gay men within the Greater Toronto Area. Monogamy values were measured on four dimensions: emotional monogamy, sexual monogamy, perceptions of monogamy as relationship-enhancing and perceptions of monogamy as a sacrifice. Gay men generally found monogamy to be enhancing, however, they tended to value emotional monogamy more than sexual monogamy. Gay men with traditionally masculine attitudes valued sexual monogamy less than those who held non-traditional attitudes. Emotional monogamy was not associated with masculine attitudes. This relationship of masculine attitudes and monogamy values was moderated by length of longest relationship experienced, religiosity, as well as current relational status. Results are interpreted through evolutionary, social learning and queer theory perspectives to suggest that monogamy values are a multi-faceted construct. Counsellors would benefit by asking questions regarding monogamy values expecting multiple interpretations as well applications.

Keywords: homosexuality
gay
relationships
values
monogamy
sexuality
gender
men
Advisor: Gillis, Joseph Roy
Learning to Lead: A Naturalistic Evaluation of Two Secondary School Leadership Development Programs

This study evaluated two extracurricular leadership development programs offered by one urban high school. The programs were evaluated through an examination of the ways in which students understood their experiences in the programs in terms of their own leadership abilities, their leadership role with others and their perception of good leadership. The six study participants were observed facilitating groups of their peers through interactive activities at the programs' multiple-day events. In the three months following the programs, the participants were interviewed twice. The participants reported that their experience in a leadership development program helped them to feel confident in their leadership abilities. Also, the participants valued their relationships with their peers in their roles as leaders. Finally, the participants believed that good leaders exhibit caring behaviour towards others. This study provides information to assist the improvement of youth leadership development programs.

Keywords: leadership development
extracurricular programs
youth leadership
student leadership
secondary school
outdoor education
experiential education
peer mentor
Advisor: Campbell, C. Elizabeth
Animating Curriculum: An Exploration of Curriculum Integration

Abstract The expectation to teach content and skills within a structured educative setting creates a climate of tremendous challenge and opportunity for educators on a daily basis. Educators will seek out ways to integrate curriculum as a way of being efficient. Curriculum integration, while a commonly used educational term, remains a challenging concept to define and examine both in research and in classroom practice. Curricula integration is a microscopic lens whereby the educator approaches their practice. Curriculum integration can be an effective method of delivering curriculum. However, daily instruction that contains instructional methods that are embedded within multiple learning styles and modalities are paramount. More importantly, than the how a curriculum is integrated appears to be an educator&rsquo;s methods of instruction, management and organization. My thesis develops what I have called &ldquo;A Blended Curricula Deliverance Program&rdquo; that helps deliver instruction in a holistic manner.

Keywords: education
curriculum
Advisor: Trifonas, Peter
Choosing the Arts: Exclusion and Advantage in the Educational Marketplace

Situated within Toronto's expanding and increasingly segregated educational marketplace, this study examines how parents of students at one elite publicly funded specialized arts high school make meaning of their school choice decision. Utilizing a Neo-Marxist framework, I explore the role that material and symbolic resources play in making this school choice both available and exclusive. I conduct a critical discourse analysis of parent narratives to expose how they mobilize dominant discourses of the arts in order to produce the school as a good choice, and themselves as good parents. This research challenges dominant conceptions of the arts in education by showing how the arts are used to reinforce, obscure, and justify existing social hierarchies in school settings and society at large. This study further serves as an example of how arts education research can move beyond positivist conceptions of the arts.

Keywords: Arts Education
School Choice
Inequality
Cultural Reproduction
Advisor: Gaztambide-Fernandez, Ruben
The Romantic Relationships of Adolescents with Attention-deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)

The present study compared the romantic relationships of adolescents with and without Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) with regard to romantic involvement, partner identity, relationship content, and relationship quality. A community sample of 58 participants (30 ADHD, 28 Comparison), ages 13-18, completed a standardized battery of questionnaires. Adolescents with ADHD reported having more romantic partners than their typically developing (TD) peers. Females with ADHD were found to have shorter romantic relationships than TD adolescents while males with ADHD reported their age of first intercourse to be nearly two years sooner than TD peers. Irrespective of gender, adolescents with ADHD had nearly double the number of lifetime sexual partners. When choosing a romantic partner, adolescents with ADHD placed less importance on aspects of their partner’s academic and social competence than TD adolescents. However, the romantic relationships of adolescents with and without ADHD did not differ on levels of aggression and relationship quality.

Keywords: ADHD
romance
adolescence
Advisor: Wiener, Judith
Literacy Inside and Out: Investigating the Literacy Practices of Adult English Literacy Learners

Adult English literacy learners (ELLs) are learners with limited or no formal schooling in their first language who are learning to read and write in English. At present, the limited research surrounding adult ELL instruction does not fully investigate the literacies that learners make use of outside of the classroom in a Canadian context. Through the lens of the New Literacy Studies, this case study examines the variety of print-literacy practices that adult ELLs engage with inside and outside of the classroom, highlights the value of these literacy practices, and emphasizes the importance of connecting out-of-class literacy practices with those occurring in the classroom. Additionally, this study uses learner perspectives to describe out-of-class literacy practices and provides a platform for adult ELLs to discuss their in-class preferences. The findings indicate the necessity of acknowledging prior experiences of ELLs in the classroom and provide implications for in-class instruction and resettlement agencies.

Keywords: Literacy Practices
Adult English Literacy Learners
Literacy
ELL
Advisor: Piccardo, Enrica
The Marking of Tamil Youth as Terrorists and the Making of Canada as a White Settler Society

This thesis examines the production of Tamil youth in the state of Canada as threats, extremists, radicals, terrorists, and as subjects to be engaged in de-politicized humanitarian discourses of reconciliation and peace. By drawing attention to the exclusion of Tamils from rights in legal proceedings, the positioning of youth protesters as harbingers of a multicultural 'crisis,' and the role of education in securing Canada's response to the MV Sun Sea as a 'humanitarian' project, I argue that the targeting Tamils is not only integral to Sri Lanka's ongoing genocide, but is also crucial to the Canadian state's project of white settler colonialism. In examining the law, media and education as sites of racial management in the 'War on Terror' and its globalized counter-terrorism regime I identify the targeting of Tamil diaspora youth as a necessary racial logic for the legitimacy of the Canadian state in an era of official multiculturalism.

Keywords: Tamil
Diaspora
Race
Terror
Education
Sociology
Gardiner Protest
MV Sun Sea
multiculturalism
settler colonialism
diaspora nationalism
Sri Lanka
Tamil Eelam
migrant youth
education
diaspora youth
Advisor: Razack, Sherene
The Relationship between Differential Parenting and Children's Other-orientedness

The current study examined whether there is a curvilinear association between differential parenting and children’s Theory of Mind (ToM) and two similar abilities we defined as “ToM- in-Action”. These were, use of perspective taking language and cognitive sensitivity (providing tailored verbal or non-verbal guidance) while completing a challenging task with a younger sibling. A community sample of 372 children (52% were males, average age=5.6), their younger siblings (average age=3.14) and their mothers were observed in their homes. Findings showed a linear association rather than a curvilinear effect, where favored older siblings had significantly poorer cognitive sensitivity and perspective taking when interacting with their younger sibling in a challenging task. This relationship remained significant when other variables such as age and SES were controlled. The relationship between differential parenting and ToM was non-significant. Results demonstrate the specific and complex impact of differential parenting on children’s social cognition.

Keywords: Theory of Mind
Differential Parenting
Advisor: Perlman, Michal
The History of Compliance, Non Compliance, and Alienation of Ontario Educators between 1969 and 1999

From 1969 to 1999, teachers and principals in Ontario exercised a degree of compliance, non-compliance, and resentment towards educational reforms imposed by provincial authorities. Historically, there has been a struggle between those who govern society and those who labour in society. Through the use of state laws, institutions, and corporate interests, those in positions of powers have introduced change without the consultation of the workers. In retaliation, these groups have opposed reform through collective and individual acts that involve passive and aggressive forms of opposition in order to contribute to the political, socio-economic discussion of how a society should be both governed and educated.

Keywords: history
education
ontario
1969-1999
Advisor: Levine, David
Investigating Early Spatial and Numerical Skills in Junior Kindergarten Children Learning in an Inquiry-and Play-based Environment

In the current study, three possible interpretations of children&rsquo;s number line estimation (NLE) performance were examined for appropriateness and possible correlates of performance were tracked over time in a classroom exemplifying recommended mathematics pedagogy for young children. In December and May, 21 4-year-olds completed the NLE task (0-10 range) and measures of numerical knowledge, spatial skills, and visual-motor integration. With high-quality teaching, children made large gains in these skills (d = 0.96-1.28). Due to uniformly high achievement, few expected correlations were observed, however. A strategy account of NLE performance was supported over the traditional logarithmic-to-linear shift account and the newly proposed proportion-judgement account. Patterns of error in estimation provide a better indication of understanding of the linear number line than models of best fit. Indeed, interpreting linearity of NLE as indicative of an underlying representation of number could lead to inappropriate conceptualizations of math learning disabilities and misguided interventions.

Keywords: spatial skills
number knowledge
mathematics education
early childhood education
visual motor integration
number line
mathematics
play
Advisor: Moss, Joan
Teachers' Writing Instruction Across the Disciplines in Grades 9 and 10

This study was aimed at addressing the adolescent learners’ writing needs by assessing teachers’ needs on writing instruction across the disciplines in Grades 9 and 10 in one school in Southwestern Ontario. The research employed a mixed-methods approach using qualitative data from focus group and one-on-one interviews, and quantitative data collected through document analysis. The data revealed that there is a range of beliefs about writing instruction and that participating teachers offer many valuable writing opportunities to their students; however, there is a reluctance to provide more instructional time on writing according to the content area. The findings also pointed to the influence school administrators have in leading the instructional program. These findings concur with existing literature on writing instruction and the role principals play in literacy instruction.

Keywords: writing instruction
secondary
across the disciplines
writing to learn
writing assessment
role of school administrators in supporting instruction
Ontario
Advisor: Peterson, Shelley Stagg
Emerging Views on Making: Fibre Graduates Reflect on their Practice

This narrative research examines the ways in which craft is conceptualized from the perspective of five recent graduates from the Material Art and Design Fibre Program at a prominent Canadian art and design university. Recognizing the cultural currents that have excised acts of making, including Western de-industrialization and abundant access to offshore labour markets, this research looks at the role of maker within a new societal context. A nascent theoretical platform for craft, shaped by artists and academics, counters a dearth of voices that has characterized the field’s history. Here, craft is posited as a methodology, characterized by embodiment, subjectivity, resistance, and skill. The experience of emerging makers, and their reflection in relation to this theoretical framework, allows for a broader consideration of present-day craft practice, and a renewed consideration of material arts curricula.

Keywords: craft theory
craft education
Advisor: Gaztambide-Fernandez, Ruben
Critical Civic Education: When History Becomes Geography

This tri-theoretical study of globalization attempts to contribute to the limited scholarly research on global citizenship in education. Utilizing three important critical theories: neo-Marxism, gender and postcolonialist theory; this study analyzes in-depth the hidden process behind the formation of current global citizenship education. The findings reveal that it is possible to teach global citizenship education through critical civic education; however, a better understanding and application of critical theory and especially the critical sociology of space is required in current curriculums. In the absence of resources, motivation and infrastructure within school boards to implement a more state-guided critical citizenship education within their global citizenship education programs, assimilation of critical theory by teachers becomes absolutely necessary.

Keywords: critical civic education, global citizenship education, protoglobalization, microglobalization, triglobalization, superfrontier, species-space
Advisor: Olson, Paul
Working Memory Training in Post-secondary Students with Attention-deficiti/Hyperactivity Disorder-pilot Study of the Differential Effects of Training Session Length

This thesis evaluates the effectiveness of study components in order to aid in design refinements for a larger randomized controlled trial (RCT). A total of 38 post-secondary students with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) were randomized into a waitlist control group, or standard-length (45 minute) or shortened-length (15 minute) WM training group. Criterion measures included the WAIS-IV Digit Span (auditory-verbal WM), CANTAB Spatial Span (visual-spatial WM) and WRAML Finger Windows (visual-spatial WM). Transfer-of-training effects were assessed using indices of everyday cognitive functioning. Participants in the standard- and shortened-length groups showed greater improvements at post-test on auditory-verbal WM and reported fewer cognitive failures in everyday life than waitlist controls. Participants in the standard-length group showed greater improvements in visual-spatial WM at post-test than participants in the other two groups. Preliminary findings suggest that shorter training may have similar beneficial outcomes as documented for the standard-length training, indicating that a larger-scale RCT is warranted.

Keywords: ADHD
Working Memory Training
Post-secondary Students
CogMed
Working Memory
Randomized Controlled Trial
Advisor: Tannock, Rosemary
Swing Beam: My Father's Story of Life on the Farm and the Barns He Loved and Lost--An Arts-informed, Life History Perspective

Through narrative, poetic, and visual inquiry, this arts-informed thesis reclaims the silenced voices and life histories of both our elderly farmers and of our elderly architecture--the barn. Using the life history model of research (Knowles & Cole, 2001), I engage in informal "chats" (Archibald, 2008, p. 377) with my elderly father to seek out the meaning and significance of his life spent on the farm--and his emotional response to the taking down of his two bank barns after the sale of his farm. What results is a "responsive" (Knowles & Cole, 2001, p. 10) representation of data, an alternative type of meaning and knowledge that is known as arts-informed qualitative representation.

Keywords: arts-informed
narrative
elderly
farmers
Canadian
farm
dismantling
barn
loss
poetic
visual
inquiry
life
history
Advisor: Allen, Guy
A Critique of Canadian Multiculturalism as a State Policy and Its Effects on Canadian Subjects

This thesis explores the implication of subject formation and individuality within the confines of multiculturalism as a state policy in Canada. I examine three particular books &ndash; Will Kymlicka&rsquo;s Politics in the Vernacular (2001), Richard Day&rsquo;s Multiculturalism and the History of Canadian Diversity (2000), and Sunera Thobani&rsquo;s Exalted Subject (2007) &ndash; in an effort to provide different perspectives and critiques of Canada&rsquo;s multiculturalism. I also frame multiculturalism as Foucault&rsquo;s biopolitics, which has not been extensively theorized in the context of multiculturalism as a state policy in Canada in relation to subjectivity or the effect on individual&rsquo;s identities. While most studies focus on racial relations in the contemporary political sphere, and racialization in the health care system, I see multiculturalism as a form of biopower because of the way multiculturalism reasserts a national identity and calls for assimilation of subjects.

Advisor: Boler, Megan
Attitudes Towards Native and Non-native French Speaking Teachers in Ontario

Through the implementation of a closed and open-item questionnaire, parents&rsquo; (N=40) perceptions of and attitudes toward native and non-native French-speaking teachers (NFSTs and Non-NFSTs) of French as a Second Language in the Greater Toronto Area were investigated. Participants defined the native French speaker predominantly as someone who learned French as a first language and who learned French in informal environments &ndash; namely home and community. Descriptive statistics of 24 Likert-scale items revealed preference for NFSTs to teach oral-aural aspects, the written system of French and form better student relationships. Non-NFSTs were preferred to teach reading, vocabulary, learning strategies and make connections between English and French more salient. Parents stated a variety of strengths and areas needing improvement for both NFSTs and Non-NFSTs, which suggested complimentary and complementary views of these teachers.

Keywords: French as a Second Language
Native Speaker
Non-native Speaker
FSL
Teacher
Advisor: Piccardo, Enrica
East Asian International Students' Experiences in High School Mathematics Classrooms

This qualitative study of five Chinese or Korean international high school students takes place in the Greater Toronto Area and explores, from a sociocultural perspective, their discourse on the topics of differences between their home countries and Canada on matters of school structure, home life, and views on the model minority myth of Asian students excelling academically. The model minority myth is defined as homogenizing Asian students as an encompassing group of students whose academic success is attributed to their ethnicity. Through semi-structured interviews, it was discovered that most of the participants agreed that Asian students who had been educated outside of Canada were stronger academically in the subject of mathematics due to earlier and more rigorous training. These students also expressed their changing identities as independent students, the relevance of mathematics to their future academic and career goals, and their parents' support of them following their own goals.

Keywords: mathematics
international students
high school
model minority
Asian
discourse
Advisor: Gérin-Lajoie, Diane
The Impact of Pressures and Supports on Teacher Learning and Teacher Sense of Efficacy in an Intentionally Designed Learning Community

The primary purpose of this study was to explore the impact of various forms of pressure and support experienced by teachers in an intentionally designed learning community on teacher learning and teacher sense of efficacy. Eleven Grade 6 teachers in a middle school in Southern Ontario were interviewed and a complex systems approach was adopted to analyze their experiences. The results suggested three key implications: (1) teachers’ experiences of pressures and supports are variable and influenced by teacher sense of efficacy and administrative decisions about the implementation of those pressure and support mechanisms; (2) a coherent, cohesive and balanced system of formal and informal structures of pressure and support is important to support teacher learning; and (3) structures, mechanisms and culture must facilitate transfer of learning in meaningful ways between the subsystems operating in a school in order to support teacher learning and teacher sense of efficacy.

Keywords: learning communities
teacher learning
sense of efficacy
accountability
Advisor: Bennett, Barrie
Literacy, Standardization and the Digital Age: Exploring the Digital Literacy Practices of Students who Failed the Ontario Secondary School Literacy Test

This phenomenological study explores the digitally-mediated literacy practices of a group of students who have been unsuccessful with the Ontario Secondary School Literacy Test. More specifically, this study documents the out-of-school online literacy practices that are attractive to students who have failed to achieve dominant school literacy and explores the conditions that drive them. These practices are recognized as socially situated. Interviews were conducted at a Toronto school with 3 grade twelve students enrolled in the Ontario Secondary School Literacy Course, an alternative method to fulfil the provincially mandated literacy graduation requirement. Three findings emerged: a) participants’ desire for “real” texts, defined as those that reflect their understanding of the world and connect them to the lives of others, b) the high value placed on visual and verbal semiotic resources and c) participants felt empowered by their online literacy practices but regarded in-school literacy as a site of resistance.

Keywords: Literacy
Digital technologies
Advisor: Simon, Robert