bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
A Contemporary Study with Early School Leavers: Pathways and Social Processes of Leaving High School
Authors: Tilleczek Kate , Ferguson Bruce , Edney Dara Roth , Rummens Anneke , Boydell Katherine , Mueller Michael
Published: December 2018

This article provides an account and discussion of research processes used in a contemporary study of early school leaving in Ontario, Canada. The Ontario Early School Leavers Study was conducted in conversation with 193 young people who left school prior to graduating, their educators and parents.  The study was informed by a review of international literatures which point to the need for innovative social approaches and youth-attuned methodologies in the study of early school leaving.  We present our research processes as informed by this literature and then present new analyses that illustrate critical social processes in early school leaving. The findings present unique data to show three pathways to early leaving and a constellation of risk and protective situations encountered by these young people along the way.  Risk situations included the daily social workings of poverty, low socioeconomic status, the need to take on early adult roles, “place”, academic and social disengagement, negative relations with families and/or school personnel, and inflexible or unsupportive school structures. Protective situations were encountered in supportive families; from parents and teachers; in schools that were caring, flexible, and proactive; and in processes of self determination. The perspectives of the young people are discussed in relation to the international literature and the perspectives of 71 parents and educators who participated in the study.  Impacts on practices in secondary schools suggest that early school leaving be recognized and treated as a heterogeneous, complex social process occurring at and across the nexus of families, schools, youth cultures and communities.
The “Parentification” Phenomenon as Applied to Adolescents Living Through Parental Military Deployments
Authors: Harrison Deborah , Albanese Patrizia
Published: December 2018

Many children and adolescents care for their family members in some form during their childhoods, but some take on adult roles and responsibilities beyond what is considered to be developmentally appropriate – a situation known in academic and clinical literature as parentification. Much of the literature on parentification comes from the disciplines of psychology and social work, and focuses on what are perceived to be “normal” or “abnormal” child development trajectories. The psychological literature mostly stresses the negative developmental processes that result from youth being prematurely and/or inappropriately exposed to adult roles and responsibilities.  In this paper, we consider the impact of parental deployments on the lives of adolescents growing up in military families on/near a large army base in Canada.  We use data from 61 semi-structured interviews conducted in 2009/10—part of a larger mixed methods research project—to assess the adolescents’ experiences of parental deployments in light of the concept of parentification. We depart from previous literature by taking a sociological approach, which shows that while adolescents take on more adult roles during parental deployments, the impact of this situation upon them varies according to their gender, their relationship with their undeployed parent, and their perception of the support they receive from their school.  For the most part, adolescents whose parents are deployed experience significant quality of life losses.  However, this is not true for every adolescent, and the impact of each loss depends upon the social context in which it occurs.
Determined to be Homesteaders: A Descriptive Analysis of the Homestead Records of Single Women Who Purchased Volunteer Bounty Land in Saskatchewan
Authors: Rollings-Magnusson Sandra
Published: December 2018

Under the land regulations set out by the Canadian government in 1871, single women were not eligible to obtain a free homestead of 160 acres in the western Canadian prairie region.  Rather, their male counterparts, those who were eighteen years of age and older, were deemed to be acceptable candidates and entitled to qualify for the quarter-sections.  However, by 1908, single women finally obtained an opportunity to register for homestead land, follow the homestead regulations, and gain title to property. This was done through The Volunteer Bounty Act of 1908.  While the primary purpose of this Act was to benefit Canadian soldiers who had volunteered and fought in South Africa in the Boer War (1899-1902) by granting them 320 acres of free homestead land in the western prairie region, the Act allowed soldiers to name a substitute; that is, any adult individual who would assume full responsibility for the property and follow homestead regulations. In many cases, the purchasers of these lands were women. Given this unique and innovative way for women to obtain homestead land, this paper will provide a descriptive analysis of the efforts made by single Saskatchewan women in their pursuit of gaining title to their own land.
Is there a Care Gap for Young Carers in Canada? Edmonton Community Agencies’ Perspectives
Authors: Waugh Earle , Szafran Olga , Duerksen Kimberley , Torti Jacqueline , Charles Grant , Shankar Janki
Published: December 2018

This paper presents the findings of a study exploring the perspectives of community agencies in Edmonton, Alberta on issues related to young carers (young people who are primary caregivers to a family member or friend who is ill, disabled, or has other conditions needing care or support). Four themes emerged from the qualitative research: lack or awareness and recognition of young carers; language and terminology used to label young carers; lack of community support; and the need for policy development relevant to young carers. The study draws attention to a group of young people who remain hidden and unrecognized in Canadian society.
Psychosocial Characteristics and Successful Labour Market Attachment Among Young Adults: The Internalization of Individual Inadequacy as Explanations for Failures within the Labour Market
Authors: Shier Micheal L , Graham John R , Eisenstat Marilyn
Published: December 2018

This qualitative research sought to better understand how young adults perceived factors leading to labour market success. Respondents (n=36) identified two psychosocial characteristics that contributed to their successful labour market attachment: 1) personal behaviours can contribute to labour market outcomes; and 2) individual inadequacies contribute to unsuccessful labour market attachment. The internalization of individual inadequacies is only enhanced by labour market policy strategies that seek primarily to aid in the development of basic skills (such as computer use and literacy), when, due to labour market shifts, government programs and policies should be focusing instead on the development of professional and technical level skills (such as field specific knowledge and abilities to carry out a particular employment role). Implications for programs and policies aimed at supporting young adult employment are discussed.
Review of: Totten, M.D. (2000). Guys, Gangs, and Girlfriend Abuse. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.
Authors: Bains Aneesha
Published: December 2018

Reviewed by: Aneesha Bains, MacEwan University
Review of: Totten, M.D. (2001). Guys, Gangs and Girlfriend Abuse. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.
Authors: Hynek Michel
Published: December 2018

Reviewed by: Michel Hynek
Review of: Langton, Jerry. 2008. Rage: The True Story of Sibling Murder. North York: John Wiley & Sons
Authors: Kruger Reiss
Published: December 2018

Reviewed by: Reiss Kruger
Review of: Langton, J. (2008). Rage: The True Story of a Sibling Murder. Mississauga: Wiley.
Authors: Sharkey Bryan
Published: December 2018

Reviewed by: Bryan Sharkey
Review of: Totten, M.D. (2001). Guys, Gangs and Girlfriend Abuse. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.
Authors: Small Alison
Published: December 2018

Reviewed by: Alison Small
Review of: Honoré, Carl. (2008). Under Pressure: Putting the Child Back in Childhood. Toronto: Vintage Canada
Authors: Wielinga Farron
Published: December 2018

Reviewed by: Farron Wielinga
Democratically Engaged Youth: Countering the Framing and Containing of Youth in Popular Discourses
Authors: Stock R Varainja
Published: December 2018

Youth is an unstable demographic encompassing an increasing age range, and popularly imbued with innate negative characteristics. Youth are often negatively portrayed and youth status invoked to suggest an inability to responsibly engage as citizens in order to undermine the impact of youths’ positive political participation. They are constructed as violent, lacking positive coping skills, and apathetic. These negative constructions reinforce youth as on the margins of society, unable to responsibly participate as citizens. Despite popular negative portrayals some researchers have demonstrated the many ways youth are politically and socially engaged. Youth are engaged where they find meaning and feel they can have an impact. From organized activism through transformational resistance, and participatory action research projects youth are engaging in creative ways to shape the world they live in.
Why Some Children Come to School with “Baggage”: The Effects of Trauma Due to Poverty, Attachment Disruption and Disconnection on Social Skills and Relationships
Authors: Wilkinson Irene G
Published: December 2018

Children living in adverse conditions of poverty and/or abuse or in institutional or foster care, suffer physiological changes in their developing brains which negatively affect their social skills and therefore their ability to socialize and form meaningful connections with others. Impeded social skills development also interferes with children’s ability to demonstrate self-control, to learn and to demonstrate appropriate behaviour. Their physical and emotional health and wellbeing also suffer. Without greater understanding, intervention and support from schools, the future for these children continues to look extremely bleak. The emotional and social costs are high. This paper looks at the effects of trauma due to poverty, parent-child separation (attachment disruption) and disconnection on social skills development in children and the reasons why some children who have experienced adversity early in their lives, come to school with “baggage”. It takes a cursory look at the effects of emotional trauma on the developing brain and examines why affected children often demonstrate anti-social behaviour and struggle with forming meaningful relationships and learning in school. Also considered are the problems encountered by some children at the upper end of the socioeconomic spectrum, most particularly their difficulties making friends.
Track and Field Day
Authors: Trowbridge Terry
Published: December 2018

This personal essay reflects on adolescent experiences of sport. The author points out how middle school is a time when he began develop critical consciousness, by thinking about the political power of space, place, time, and social hierarchies, through his experiences of Track and Field Day and Boy Scout camp.
A Compilation of Four Family-Oriented Songs
Authors: Poirier Theresa
Published: December 2018

The first song was written in one morning for the CBC hockey contest on October 5, 2013. The song is about hockey but it turned into a song about my dad’s role in our family life in western Canada circa 1960’s. The next two songs I can attribute directly to the legacy and fallout of residential schools and the foster care system in Alberta on my family life. The fourth song was sparked by my daughter’s make-up business and home life with children.
Adolescent Stress: Causes, Consequences, and Communication as an Interventional Model
Authors: Coward Ian G.
Published: December 2018

Adolescents are encountering a greater quantity, variety, and intensity of stress than any previous generation. This study analyses data from my own experience, pop culture, and statistics, as well as videos produced by artists and professionals. The purpose was to identify the primary stressors impacting junior high school students’ emotional well-being, examine how these stressors are affecting them socially and academically, and explore what role having someone to talk to might have in helping to reduce their stress levels. The study found that parents, peers, academics, and physical and psychological concerns are the greatest sources of stress for this particular age group. Anxiety, depression, and withdrawal/disengagement are the most common emotional effects, and communicating feelings to a trusted adult can mitigate some of these difficulties. These findings suggest that helping students cope with personal stress requires that it become a priority, teachers be provided with adequate training, and time and space be made available for students to discuss their problems. As a result, an intervention model focusing on brief, solution-focused interactions is proposed.
Intimate Partner Violence: Gendered Discourses Within a Human Context
Authors: Hopkins Sarah
Published: December 2018

Dominant cultural discourses of femininity and masculinity may intersect to perpetuate the high incidence of intimate partner violence, thereby framing the phenomena as a human issue. Our understanding of female and male perpetration of violence is thwarted by several complications, thereby convoluting understandings of bi-directional violence perpetration. Situational couple violence also provides evidence that IPV is a shared human issue. Dominant cultural discourses related to masculinity and femininity uncovered through the media, the justice system, and types of service provision show intersections that perpetuate IPV experiences. Recommendations to better support both offenders and victims drawn from the examination of discourses are suggested.
Marital Breakdown and Socio-Emotional Development of Adolescents in Ibadan Metropolis, Nigeria
Authors: Oniye Abdulrazaq Olayinka , Odebode Aminat Adeola , Okesina Falilat Anike
Published: December 2018

The incidence of marital breakdown is becoming alarming and taking its toll on the development of youths in Nigeria. This study investigated marital breakdown and socio-emotional development of adolescents in Ibadan Metropolis, Oyo State. Correlational research design was adopted for this study. An instrument which consisted of three sections, titled ‘Marital Breakdown and Socioemotional Development Questionnaire (MBSDQ) was used to collect information from the respondents. The validity of the instrument was done by experts in the Departments of Psychology and Counsellor Education, University of Ilorin, Nigeria. The reliability of the same was established using test re-test reliability method and correlation coefficients of 0.71 respectively was obtained. The descriptive data were analyzed using mean while the hypothesis was analyzed using Pearson Product Moment Correlation at 0.05 level of significance. Result showed that the indices of marital breakdown is manifested in spouses having different ideas on issues, insulting each other, frequent fighting, and doing things separately among others. The indices of socio-emotional development (which is in this case is poor) are loneliness, depression, inability to accept feelings from others, feelings of hatred towards oneself, feelings of inferiority complex and feelings of hatred towards parents among others. There is a significant relationship between marital breakdown and socioemotional development of adolescents. In line with the findings, it was recommended that couples should as much as possible tolerate each other, show that they like and care about each other and do their utmost to prevent marital breakdown.
Harlow’s Famous Monkey Study: The Historical and Contemporary Significance of the Nature of Love
Authors: Radetzki Phillip
Published: December 2018

If you were to contemplate what it meant to be loved or what exactly makes you love another individual, the brunt of your conceptualization may very well stem back to Harry Harlow’s famous 1958 study, “The Nature of Love.” At a time that approached love as a child’s need to reduce primary drives via his/her mother, Harlow aimed to identify other variables that could explain the underlying affection of an infant-mother bond – such as contact comfort. To do this, Harlow conducted a series of investigations as part of a novel experimental design that used infant rhesus monkeys and a set of inanimate surrogate mothers. Not only did he propose a new social paradigm for family life, the role of mothers and fathers, and what it meant to be a loving parent in the process, Harlow distinguished himself as one of the most controversial experimental researchers in the history of psychology. The present paper explores the context of Harlow’s academic career and the zeitgeists that marked his time while also providing an in-depth analysis of his landmark 1958 study, how his work has been interpreted for over a half-century, and factors contributing to his overall legacy.
Adolescent Pregnancy and Family History of Adolescent Pregnancy in El Salvador City, Philippines
Authors: Walag Angelo Mark P. , Gadian Dan Christer C. , Walag Ivy P. , Merlas Morie Allen G. , Larosa Louella V. , Lumantas Sydney P. , Salugsugan-Joaquin Ma. Corazon
Published: December 2018

Adolescent pregnancy has been a common problem not only in the Philippines but also in most countries of the world, may it be developing or first world. In this study, the prevalence of adolescent pregnancy was determined throughout the 15 barangays in El Salvador City using a correlational-descriptive approach. A total of 497 respondents were taken into consideration. The majority of the respondents were 16-18 years old at the time of the study and came from barangay Molugan and Poblacion. Adolescent pregnancy was also determined to be at 32.39% or 161 out of the 497 respondents which is relatively high and comparable to the neighboring countries in Asia. Correlational statistics was also employed to determine the correlation between prevalence of adolescent pregnancy and family history of adolescent pregnancy. A range of strong negative, no relationship, strong positive, to negligible relationship was shown in all 15 barangays. Six out of the fifteen barangays showed positive relationship while five barangays showed negligible relationship. Overall, there was a negligible relationship between the variables studied. This supports the idea that adolescent pregnancy is a multifactorial problem which requires multifaceted intervention strategies and approaches to minimize adolescent childbearing risks. Furthermore, it is recommended that various steps should be taken to develop pregnancy prevention intervention programs targeting young women according to maternal and sibling adolescent pregnancy histories, increase awareness campaign in schools and public places on the risks of adolescent pregnancies, and lastly to improve childhood intervention and youth development programs for reducing unintended and unplanned adolescent pregnancy.
April 16, 2017 – Notes of the Captain of the Spaceship sent to Planet of Exile
Authors: Basar Deniz
Published: December 2018

I started writing this story on the day after the constitutional referendum in Turkey, which took place on 16th of April, 2017. The referendum took place under a State of Emergency which meant that the legal structures which could check the elections were not functioning as they should have been. The referendum was about Turkey’s state system changing into a presidential system or not; and in the case of “yes” to the presidential system, the parliament would only have symbolic power beginning with the establishment of new constitution and current political power would have the legal basis to stay in power forever. The election turned out to be 51% “yes” after the High Electoral Board decided to accept ballots that had not been officially stamped (which “coincidentally” turned out to be approximately two million new “yes” ballots) a few hours before the election was about to result. I was in Toronto on that day, surrounded with my friends from Turkey working towards their PhDs in Toronto like me. My experience as a young person trying to deal in Canada alone had been deeply traumatizing despite my privileges like being able to speak English (with an accent), not being “illegal”, studying at the University of Toronto, and having enough economic sources to live. In Canada I, for the first time in my life, understood what it means to be stripped from my personhood and to negotiate on my own existence. I understood that the best immigrant is the quiet and grateful one, the one who doesn’t dare to see herself as equally human; and I was, and am, far away from that. On the day of the referendum my pride and human dignity were severely broken because of the incommunicable situation I was in (both for Canadians and for my friends and family in Turkey), and this story is about that. I hide it in the allegory to make it speakable.
Method as Process, Process as Method
Authors: Holec Victoria , Mack Amy
Published: December 2018

A Publication from the Inaugural Institute for Child and Youth Studies Symposium -At the Intersections of Childhood 2017: Digital, Indigenous, and Youth Issues, April 2017.
Bridging Cultures Over-Under: Digital Navigation to Create Liminal Spaces of Possibility
Authors: Hogue Michelle , Forrest Joanne
Published: December 2018

In this paper, we as educators of Indigenous students transitioning into post-secondary education, reflect on our collaborative pilot project: Bridging Cultures Over-Under, a connection of Indigenous students in similar preparation for university programs at the University of Lethbridge in Lethbridge, AB, Canada, and at Batchelor Institute in Darwin, NT, AU. Unbeknownst to the students, the story of attempted assimilation of Indigenous peoples in both countries, and the resultant socio-economic conditions, is both parallel and similar. Through Skype sessions, Indigenous students in polar opposite countries shared their own experiences, culture, history, stories, dreams and desires and some of their academic work. The goal was to understand their shared experience and further build on these relationships so they might learn from and support each other through peer mentoring. Outcomes of this project have lead to a continued connection and the development of a secure Facebook site so that the students can further build their relationships and develop a more extensive network as they continue on their academic journey.
A Digital Snapshot – A Media Arts Justice Toolkit Approach to Support Indigenous Self-Determining Youth
Authors: Lindquist Kirsten
Published: December 2018

In this piece, Lindquist provides a toolkit for working with Indigenous youth through media arts. In doing so, she braids the three themes of the Symposium together: Indigenous, digital, and youth issues. Here, she presents her work as part academic article, part toolkit. The toolkit includes four examples of media arts justice activities that can be used to engage and support youth as they make connections between local and global issues. These activities were used by nehiyaw youth from Frog Lake First Nation who were attending Heinsburg Community School with support from Native Youth Sexual Health Network. Each activity includes a step-by-step guide, as well as background information on the relevance for young people as well as the scholarly community. They are grounded in both project- and place-based pedagogical approaches, and have benefits for Indigenous and non-Indigenous students. Lindquist theorizes around these examples throughout using Indigenous feminisms, reproductive justice, and education-based frameworks and thus bridges the gap between scholar and practitioner. This toolkit is emerging as a bridge between where we are at now and what we can imagine.
Epilogue
Authors: Newberry Jan
Published: December 2018

By its very nature, child and youth studies is transdisciplinary. Yet, conversations that truly cross epistemological and ontological categories remain difficult. The first-ever Intersections of Childhood symposium illustrated how risky and rewarding is the talk that enters into the spaces between established categories. In these spaces, created by acts of refusal as well as creation, new possibilities arise for imagining what youth, the digital, and indigeneity can mean.
Examining How the Mental Health Needs of Children Who Have Experienced Maltreatment are Addressed within Ontario Children’s Aid Societies
Authors: Czincz Jennifer , Romano Elisa
Published: December 2018

American data suggest that there is often a lack of mental health service provision to children in the child welfare system that have experienced maltreatment and are exhibiting psychological difficulties. These data are concerning given that the existing literature unanimously concludes that children who have experienced maltreatment present with significantly higher rates of mental health difficulties than general samples of children in the community. Given that little Canadian research has been conducted in this area, this study examined the need identification and referral process made to mental health services by Ontario Children’s Aid Societies (CAS) for children who have experienced maltreatment. Findings indicate a high prevalence of mental health difficulties in this population and a limited standardized approach to the identification and assessment of these issues. It was found that the majority of children who do receive referrals to mental health services are referred to community-based psychologists. Findings regarding the tracking of community referrals and interagency collaboration were encouraging as compared to American data.
Turning to the Pedagogy of “Listening”
Authors: Hua Zhang
Published: December 2018

“Lecturing” pedagogy puts teachers’ lecturing at the core of education. Both knowledge and norms become the “goods” waiting to be transmitted to students. This pedagogy keeps a control- based axiology and mirror-based epistemology. The “listening” pedagogy puts teachers’ listening and mutual listening between teachers and students, among students as the core of education. On the level of axiology, it makes “good listeners” i.e. persons with freedom as the aim of education, who integrate morality and creativity. On the level of epistemology, it sees educational process as the cooperative creation of knowledge. On the level of methodology, it integrates listening, description, interpretation, and action as a whole. In today’s China, educational fields should turn to the paradigm of a “listening” pedagogy.
Educating far from Equilibrium: Chaos Philosophy and the Quest for Complexity in Education
Authors: Larsson Joakim , Dahlin Bo
Published: December 2018

It would be futile, John Dewey argued in 1902, to think that we have to choose between child-centered, progressive education and traditional, subject-matter-oriented approaches. Calling for adaptivity, he stressed that we need the act of balancing the one with the other. The tendency in current educational policy to lean in favor of traditional, disciplinary modes of control appears to lose sight of this need. The aim of this paper is to reconnect to the task of maintaining a balance between educational freedom and structure, using a variety of theoretical resources such as complexity science, and the philosophies of Deleuze and Guattari, Schiller, and Nietzsche. Based on these resources, the authors also discuss Steiner Waldorf education as an example of how educational practice may approach, and integrate the significance of chaos in the form of a “virtual pedagogy”.
Envisioning curriculum as six simultaneities
Authors: Hussain Hanin Binte , Conner Lindsey , Mayo Elaine
Published: December 2018

This paper uses the discourse of complexity thinking to envision curriculum as six partial and coupled facets that exist simultaneously: curriculum as structure, curriculum as process, curriculum as content, curriculum as teaching, curriculum as learning and curriculum as activity.  Such a curriculum is emergent and self-organising.  It is emergent in two ways: (1) in its deliberate intention to foster new learning, activities and teaching without knowing or dictating exactly what will emerge, and (2) in the sense that curriculum is an ever-evolving reality that is brought forth in the ongoing interactions of the six coupled facets.  A self-organising curriculum enables a teacher to create ‘a space for running’ and foster ‘interactive running in that space’ to meaningfully honour both the requirements set by authorities and the interests of children and teachers, rather than a pre-determined curriculum.  This model of curriculum was developed and is discussed in the context of the early childhood curriculum in Aotearoa New Zealand.
Quantitative Research Methods in Chaos and Complexity: From Probability to Post Hoc Regression Analyses
Authors: Gilstrap Donald L.
Published: December 2018

In addition to qualitative methods presented in chaos and complexity theories in educational research, this article addresses quantitative methods that may show potential for future research studies. Although much in the social and behavioral sciences literature has focused on computer simulations, this article explores current chaos and complexity methods that have the potential to bridge the divide between qualitative and quantitative, as well as theoretical and applied, human research studies. These methods include multiple linear regression, nonlinear regression, stochastics, Monte Carlo methods, Markov Chains, and Lyapunov exponents. A postulate for post hoc regression analysis is then presented as an example of an emergent, recursive, and iterative quantitative method when dealing with interaction effects and collinearity among variables. This postulate also highlights the power of both qualitative and quantitative chaos and complexity theories in order to observe and describe both the micro and macro levels of systemic emergence.
A Fresh Take on Democratic Education: Revisiting Rancière through the Notions of Emergence and Enaction
Authors: Bastrup-Birk Henriette , Wildemeersch Danny
Published: December 2018

This paper aims at contributing to new ways of thinking about democratic education. We discuss how revisiting this concept may help raise fresh questions in relation to non-formal fora grappling with intricate sustainability issues that span international borders. Starting from Rancière’s ideas on democracy, we first examine a conception of democratic education derived from these ideas. Next, we turn to a complexity informed notion of education as proposed by the two strands of emergence and enaction. We discuss how, in introducing additional dimensions, these strands might fruitfully complement the Rancierian conception of education. We conclude our discussion by proposing to reposition democratic education as a process of (co)-emergence afforded by a series of critical moments which, we suggest, can call forth radically novel visions for governing the commons.
The Complexity of Care
Authors: Collins Steve , Ting Hermia
Published: December 2018

The profession of teaching is unique because of the extent to which a teacher becomes involved in the lives of their "clients". The level of care required to support students well can be intense, confusing, and overwhelming. Relationships co-evolve within an ever-changing process and care is considered an essential aspect of complex relationships between students and teachers. While we do have many standard guidelines to help us, such as codes of ethics, rules, and policies, this paper examines their limitations. The ethics of care require more than standards or guidelines. To mitigate these limitations, we offer a more complex way of thinking as a way to navigate the dynamic disequilibrium of caring relationships. In the process, we emphasize the need for caring teachers to embrace their own vulnerability. This way of thinking provides us with an ecological ethical approach for engaging in professional relationships that promotes respect, safety, and self-worth for all involved.
Complex Adaptive Schools: Educational Leadership and School Change
Authors: Kershner Brad , McQuillan Patrick J
Published: December 2018

This paper utilizes the theoretical framework of complexity theory to compare and contrast leadership and educational change in two urban schools. Drawing on the notion of a complex adaptive system—an interdependent network of interacting elements that learns and evolves in adapting to an ever-shifting context—our case studies seek to reveal the complexities, tensions, characteristics, and related implications for school leadership derived from using this heuristic to understand adaptive change. In particular, we highlight the need to disrupt the status quo as a precursor to adaptive change, the power generated by distributing authority through decentralized networks, the importance of relational trust, and the impact of school culture.
Multiple Possibilities: The Multi-literate Lives of Three Children
Authors: Wood Jeffrey
Published: December 2018

This paper presents findings from an eleven-year ethnographic study which describes how three children used different sign systems to become literate, to define who they are and to construct their literate identity. They each engaged with literacies in powerful and life transforming ways. Each child used multiple literacies to learn, understand and create meaning more fully; using their motivated interest in a preferred literacy to scaffold their learning of another literacy.In analysing this rich literacies use I have come to understand that literacies are complex in their conception and use and that all sign systems (e.g. art, dance, reading, writing, videogaming, etc.) operate using common semiotic principles.  Sign systems as literacies are multimodal, meaning-focused and motivated; they involve specific social and cultural practices which differ depending on site and community. During every literate act the children in this study made extensive use of the semantic, sensory, syntactic and pragmatic cuing systems to make meaning, regardless of the literacies used.
School Architecture and Complexity
Authors: Upitis Rena
Published: December 2018

Recent studies document the importance of well-designed facilities on the academic performance of students in language and mathematics, but there is very little research on how space dictates what is learned and how it is learned. What about learning that is not directly measurable by standardized test scores? How does architectural space affect what is learned in the “non-core” disciplines such as music, drama, dance, and the visual arts? How does the built environment affect the ways that teachers and students operate in what might be viewed as a learning collective? These are some of the central questions addressed in the present paper. These issues are first explored through a brief discussion of the main themes in school architecture research and discourse, followed by a description of how Froebel kindergartens, Reggio Emilia schools, and Waldorf schools have given attention to some of the physical elements that affect learning. Next, I explore engaging forms of adult learning and the perspectives of John Dewey. Then follows a discussion of the ways that classrooms and schools can be seen as collectives, using complexity science theory as a theoretical framework. Finally, the complexity science model is extended by including the actual physical spaces as important ‘agents’ in influencing a non-linear and dynamic system, and by drawing implications for school design based on the principles of complexity.
Six Degrees: The Science of a Connected Age
Authors: Bower David F.
Published: December 2018

A review of Six Degrees: The Science of a Connected Age, by Duncan Watts, 2003. New York: W.W. Norton, 374pp. ISBN 0393041425. $15.95 USD.
Linked: How Everything is Connected to Everything Else and What It Means for Business, Science and Everyday Life
Authors: Mackay Robb
Published: December 2018

A review of Linked: How Everything is Connected to Everything Else and What It Means for Business, Science and Everyday Life, by Albert-László Barabási, 2003. New York: Plume Books, 294pp. ISBN 0452284392. $15.00 USD.
Teaching and Ethics in Complexity Science: The Ethics of Absolute Unitary Being
Authors: Mgombelo Joyce
Published: December 2018

The paper argues for the significance of complexity science and its role in the ethics of teaching that is not based on moral codes. Through the work of Varela on human consciousness, and the work of Newburg and his colleagues on neurotheology, the paper explores the elements of human consciousness that are relevant for characterising an ethical act. Varela’s concepts of emergent self and autopoiesis as well as Newburg’s concept of Absolute Unitary Being provide the necessary conditions for characterizing an ethical act as essentially unconscious. Finally the paper discusses the implication of these contentions for ethics in teaching.
Harnessing the Complexity of Children's Consumer Culture
Authors: Khan Steven K.
Published: December 2018

In this paper I argue that consumption is a common matrix of childhood experience that children bring to curriculum, schooling and learning. Next I describe how children’s consumer culture (CCC) can be seen to share some important characteristics of complex systems. Finally, I address the question of how the emergent potential of children’s consumer culture could be utilized by educators to assist in the project of forming lifelong ethical relationships with and between peoples, places, things, and thoughts. Unprecedented changes on a global scale have revealed our traditional notions of citizenship as being deficient, partial, and incomplete. These changes prompt us, then, to examine what it might mean to be a citizen in a truly globalized and technologically connected world. Schools and curriculum have an important role to play in an unfolding political project to craft new social, natural, cultural and ethical contracts. The context through which such a project could emerge, I suggest, is from within the complex system that is children’s commercial culture. Neither school and its curriculum nor CCC and its curriculum by themselves have served as effective sites for a successful pedagogy of citizenship. However, both reveal only partial aspects of different cultures of power necessary for citizenship. Both powers exist in a schizophrenic tension. The space created between such tensions might be appropriated to foster a pedagogy for citizenship that emerges from a common curriculum of consumption. A complex systems perspective opens windows of possibilities that might offer a view of how such tensions could be harnessed for this project.
Sustaining School Improvement
Authors: Bower David F.
Published: December 2018

Complexity theory offers new concepts such as self-organization and emergence that may assist schools to find more holistic ways to sustain reform and improvement. The article summarizes a qualitative phenomenological study that examined the experiences of the staff of one middle school in order to better understand the phenomena of self-organization and its role in sustaining school improvement. Self-organization and renewal sustain reform and improvement indirectly and are also related to emergence. Leadership supports and sustains the dynamics of self-organization, renewal, and improvement in individual and collective ways. This study suggests that processes of self-organization can help schools to sustain reform and improvement by internalizing purpose and focus.
Curriculum Dynamics: Recreating Heart
Authors: Gregor Pearl
Published: December 2018

A review of Curriculum Dynamics: Recreating Heart, by M. Jayne Fleener, 2002. New York: Peter Lang, 215pp. ISBN 0820455407. $29.95 USD.
The Emergent Ego: Complexity and Coevolution in the Psychoanalytic Process
Authors: Burris Elizabeth D.
Published: December 2018

A review of The Emergent Ego: Complexity and Coevolution in the Psychoanalytic Process, by Stanley R. Palombo, M.D., 1999. Madison, CT: International Universities Press, 365 pp. ISBN 0823616665. $65.00 USD.
The Paradox of Control in Organizations
Authors: Stanley R. Darren
Published: December 2018

A review of The Paradox of Control in Organizations, by Philip J. Streatfield, 2001. London and New York: Routledge, 208 pp. ISBN 0415250323. $40.95 USD.
Some Differences between Maturana and Varela 's Theory of Cognition and Constructivism
Authors: Proulx Jerome
Published: December 2018

The theory of cognition of Varela and Maturana differs in specific aspects from constructivist theories and so should not be seen or interpreted as another form of constructivism. To encourage the emergence of a discussion on important differences between both theories, this paper aims at highlighting three of these specific aspects, namely the biological roots of cognition, its phylogenic and ontogenic basis, and the nature of reality and knowledge. In many regards, it is possible that the first two points were seen as extensions of constructivism, and had not been theorized previously as distinctions, as is done in the paper. The third point concerning the ideas of “bringing forth a world” represents a clear conceptual shift from the visions inherent in constructivism, and should not be neglected in discussions on epistemology and the nature of knowledge and reality. This third fundamental point brings us to see Varela and Maturana as being different than constructivists, rather seeing them as “bring forthists.”
A New Science Look at Negotiating Curriculum and Classrooms
Authors: Blackman Perrin
Published: December 2018

Chaos and complexity theories provide a new perspective on curriculum design and application, especially in the area of Teaching English as a Second Language. Since language learning is a fluid process, teachers need to be able to react in real time to factors beyond their control. Rather than seeing these factors as interruptions to a closed system, teachers can make decisions about what to focus on and what to gloss over, when to pick up the pace and when to slow down, finding a natural rhythm that helps to create a symbiotic relationship with the students, the classroom and the university or school structure. Time and identity figure largely in the ESL classroom, and as each semester progresses, an essential layering process occurs and narrative structures are built. As language skills develop and as the classroom takes form, personalities are defined and redefined not only for the students but for the class as a whole. This paper attempts to make new science theories more accessible to ESL teachers with the hope that they can describe and discover ways to allow for necessary classroom flexibility while also respecting conventional curriculum standards and outcomes.
Bootstrapping a Theory of Thinking and Learning
Authors: Fleener M. Jayne
Published: December 2018

A Response to Ton Jörg’s Programmatic View
Lev Vygotsky as Muse to Complex Learning/Teaching
Authors: Kirshner David , Kellogg David
Published: December 2018

A Response to Ton Jörg’s Programmatic View
Response to Dobson and Iftody: A Slacker Darkly? No Interpretation Without Intertextualization
Authors: Gough Noel
Published: December 2018

In ‘Consciousness and Complexity in “Waking Life”,’ Teresa Dobson and Tammy Iftody argue persuasively for interpreting Richard Linklater’s film, which deploys innovative animation techniques to portray discussions of theories of consciousness, from a complexivist perspective. They demonstrate how complexity theorizing might inform interpretive practices and recommend the film as a focus for discussion in humanities education. This response concurs with much of their analysis, but suggests that there are limitations to interpretive practices that focus on a single text, and argues for an alternative approach that deliberately foregrounds intertextuality – that is, interpreting any given text in terms of other texts. Examples of intertextual readings that produce multiple and unpredictable interpretations are provided, including interpretations of Waking Life’s intertextual relations with other films by Linklater, and with other visual and literary texts.
Brought-Forth Possibilities for Attentiveness in the Mathematics Classroom
Authors: Khattar Randa
Published: December 2018

A Response to Elizabeth Mowat & Brent Davis
Mathematics as Complex System: Learning in Complex Adaptive Systems
Authors: Jordan Michelle E.
Published: December 2018

A Response to Elizabeth Mowat & Brent Davis
In the Flesh: Living Growing Conceptual Domains in a Geometry Lesson
Authors: Thom Jennifer S. , Roth Wolff-Michael , Bautista Alfredo
Published: December 2018

A Response to Elizabeth Mowat & Brent Davis
Compliance or Complicity?
Authors: Maheux Jean-François
Published: December 2018

A Response to Elizabeth Mowat & Brent Davis
Mathematics and Metaphor
Authors: Ernest Paul
Published: December 2018

A Response to Elizabeth Mowat & Brent Davis.
Between Chaos and Entropy: Community of Inquiry from a Systems Perspective
Authors: Stoyanova Kennedy Nadia , Kennedy David
Published: December 2018

This paper considers the psychosocial and cognitive dynamics of an educational community of inquiry as an inquiring system. It identifies seven characteristics of social systems dedicated to inquiry that are open (as opposed to “control” systems)—autopoiesis, teleology, feedback, noise, redundancy, ambiguous control, and system “event”—and traces their function in the ongoing reconstruction of argument that collective, dialogical inquiry entails. The paper also analyzes the process of group inquiry from a dialectical perspective, interpreting conceptual and argumentation system development as a continuously emergent process of reorganization, which makes its way through the ongoing resolution of the oppositions and contradictions it encounters, resulting in greater organizational complexity and clarity. Rather than maintaining homeostatic stability by rejecting or resisting noise, it develops through accepting and incorporating it in the interest of dialectical emergence. The role of a facilitator in such a system is to provide both positive and negative feedback, navigating between system entropy and system chaos. Finally, the autopoietic inquiring system is offered as one exemplar of the “ideal speech situation,” which requires that all its members have equal opportunity to participate in and contribute to system emergence, free from internal constraints or external coercion. This implies the need for a pedagogy that not only develops communicative competence, but which models a form of argumentation that understands itself as a collective project of ongoing reconstruction—with the major goal of agreement arrived at through open, free communication.
Redefining Mandatory Vaccination as Necessary to Life and the Refusal of Vaccination as Criminal Negligence Causing Death
Authors: Submissions SUSA , Bondarchuk Cody
Published: December 2018

This paper argues that childhood vaccination should be considered a necessary of life as defined in Section 215 (1) of the Canadian Criminal Code, and parents who do not vaccinate their children should be considered responsible for death by criminal negligence if their child dies from a preventable disease. It timelines the long history of the vaccine debate from the perspective of both science of skeptics and points to the since-retracted Wakefield paper as the catalyst for the re-emergence of this debate, detailing the science behind why vaccination is safe, effective, and necessary. It then outlines the theory of medical neglect as a form of indirect killing in the same way starvation or lack of shelter is currently considered neglect under the Code, to prove that vaccination is required for all children who can be vaccinated and the dangers of not doing so. It concludes with notes on disease prevention and education to increase the number of vaccinated children, as the goal of defining vaccination as a necessary of life is not meant to punish parents but to encourage higher rates of vaccination and a greater communal knowledge of medical procedures.