2011 Abstract Conversations

Faculty of Education

2011 Abstract Conversations

October 21, 2011
Pond Inlet, Brock University

Presenters
Ruth McQuirter-Scott
Joe Engemann
Leanne Taylor
Coral Mitchell
Jennifer Rowsell
Hilary Brown
Debra Harwood
Catherine Hands

Ruth McQuirter-Scott
"Still Engaged, Still Learning: Reflections of a Senior Faculty Member"

Abstract
Little research has been done on the final stages of academic careers. What studies there are suggest that older faculty face many stresses and challenges that are different from their early and mid-career colleagues. In this self-study, I reflect on my own late-stage career and look for features that have allowed me to remain engaged and productive. I conclude that the final stage of an academic career can be just as energizing and fulfilling as the early years if both the institution and the faculty member are intentional about nurturing and capitalizing on this phase of academic life.

Joe Engemann
"Investigating Multiple-Choice Assessment: Can It Be Improved?"

Abstract
The purpose of this research was to examine the quality of multiple-choice assessment questions used in a secondary school context and to determine the impact of professional development that aimed to improve teachers’ use of this form of assessment. Within the Ontario context, the widespread use of the multiple-choice format, which may be attributed to its ease of use and its objectively oriented nature, gives ample reason to carry out this study.

The following research questions guided this study:

How will a professional development opportunity meet expectations to enhance/improve teachers’ approach and attitude towards the development and implementation of multiple-choice question assessment?
How will guidelines for writing effective multiple-choice questions affect the quality, validity, and reliability of this form of assessment?
How well will teachers be able to create multiple-choice questions that match higher levels of thinking as described by Bloom’s Revised Taxonomy?

A qualitative research approach was utilized to investigate perceptions, opinions, and the understanding that educators possess with respect to their use of multiple-choice questions. Data reflecting the quality and type of multiple-choice question writing were collected through the review of artefacts (quizzes, tests, and/or examinations). In addition, surveys and focus group interview protocols provided information about teachers’ perceptions of and efficacy with the use of multiple-choice questions. Professional development, which outlined guidelines for writing multiple-choice questions and provided assistance with the use of Bloom’s Revised Taxonomy for writing multiple-choice questions that tap into higher levels of thinking, was provided to participants.

Participants were selected from three secondary schools within a large southern Ontario district school board. Each of these schools agreed to participate and to provide between 10-12 teachers who are interested in professional development related to the writing of multiple-choice questions and in participating in this research.The presentation will provide information about the preliminary analysis of the data collected throughout this study.

Leanne Taylor
"Toward a pedagogical literacy of mixed race"

Abstract
In the 2005 Policy Forum entitled “Canada 2017: Serving Canada’s Multicultural Population for the Future”, Statistics Canada claimed that by 2017, not only will one in five Canadians be a “visible minority” but half of the visible minority population will likely be of multiple origin. The last 20 years have witnessed a rapid increase among people claiming multiracial identities, including significant shifts in the ways such individuals are speaking about their experiences and lives within the national landscape. However, conversations about multiculturalism, including how we might meet the needs of diverse groups of students in schools, continue to overlook the experiences of multiracial students. This begs the question: who are the ‘diverse’ groups of students we are trying to reach?

Canadian multiculturalism as a vernacular practice shapes Canadian institutions, identities, and everyday life. In this presentation, I draw on multiracial autobiographical and narrative stories to explore how discourses of multiculturalism and schooling not only overlook multiracial experiences, but also reproduce binary approaches to race and ethnicity. These stories allow us to critically interrogate how celebratory and neoliberal notions of mixture (as well as other racialized locations) shape, construct, and inform schooling and teaching initiatives in ways that ultimately neglect those who are situated on the borders. Throughout, I engage the possibilities and challenges of developing a pedagogical literacy of mixed race – that is, a pedagogy that does not merely find strategies to ‘deal with’, ‘manage’ or ‘teach’ the mixed race students in our classes, but one that might also help teachers better understand, recognize and challenge the contradictions of the system in which they operate.

Coral Mitchell
"Learning Communities in Model, Theory, and Practice"

Abstract
This presentation will track the development of the learning community construct through two decades of exploration. Early research had led to the development of a capacity-building model of school-based learning communities, and subsequent research was conducted to identify how teachers and administrators worked in high-capacity learning-community schools. This research yielded a set of professional and educational practices that could be best understood when situated within an explanatory theory. Specifically, the practices indicated that educators in high-capacity schools had moved away from the constraints of a managed system and had constructed schools that reflected the principles of living systems. In this presentation, I will briefly describe the origins and character of the original model, the methodology of the subsequent research, the key findings from the studies, the theoretical constructs that explained the findings, and the development of a new model that situated the learning-community practices within the theoretical apparatus.

Jennifer Rowsell
"Exploring Time and Space Through an Ecological Perspective"

Abstract
This presentation draws on a three-year ethnographic/ecological study in two countries. A postmodern lens is used to explore the role commercial spaces play in early learning and negotiated parental practice. The research team examines shopping malls as places where parents find information and advice about caring for and educating children. We extend an ecological survey method developed by Neuman and Celano (2001) to record these affordances. The research design for our study incorporates ethnographic and geosemiotic methods (Scollon & Scollon, 2003) that allow us to document and analyze semiotic materials and social practices in consider what they reveal about diverse and dominant perspectives related to parenting.

The situated nature of the project is emphasized. The concept of geosemiotics, defined by Scollon and Scollon (2003), is the study of social meaning related to the “material placement of signs and discourses and of our actions in the material world” (p. 2). Our international longitudinal research project involves three interconnected foci:

Environmental focus: Artefact collection, mapping, visual documentation and observation in three contrastive sites
Organisational focus: Interviews with information workers, network tracing and artefact collection
Family focus: Ethnographic participant observation, interviews and artefact collection.

Neuman, S. & Celano, D. (2001). Access to print in low-income and middle-income communities: An ecological study of four neighbourhoods. Reading Research Quarterly 36(1): 8-26.

Scollon, R.and Scollon, S. (2003). Discourses in Place: language in the material world, London: Routledge.

Hilary Brown
"In Order to Be You Have to Be: Modeling a Constructivist Approach for Teacher Candidates"

Abstract
This action self-study was designed to examine the experience of concurrent education students who were immersed in a constructivist modeled Foundational Methods course. Focus Group interviews were used to collect data. The study documents the role of the instructor as the most important person in facilitating a constructivist modeled course. Most participants experienced cognitive dissonance, which resulted in a transformational experience for some. Inherent in the study are implications to design courses that model theory in order to meet the needs of concurrent education students so they will attempt to implement a constructivist approach in their teaching practice.

Keywords: constructivism; immersion; self-study; action research; concurrent education

Debra Harwood
"Understanding Children and Teachers Perceptions of Teasing"

Abstract
Teasing is a complex relational behaviour that incorporates elements of ambiguity, humour and aggression. Given the ambiguous nature of teasing, it is not surprising that teachers and children may find it challenging to discern between teasing behaviors and other forms of social interactions (e.g., bullying) (Mooney, Creeser, & Blatchford, 1991). This research project sought the insights and perceptions of practicing teachers and children as they were immersed in real-world experiences of peer teasing. Teachers’ personal experiences and history of childhood teasing as a potential window of understanding how teachers make pedagogical decisions regarding the issue of teasing (i.e., personal definitions of teasing, the identification of teasing, and strategies of addressing teasing behaviours) was a unique aspect of the study. Additionally, the research was aimed toward understanding how children “experience the world” (Clandinin & Connelly, 2000) of teasing.

Catharine Hands
"“It’s Part of Contributing to Global Citizenship”: Students’ and Teacher Leaders’ Perspectives on School-Community Partnerships"

Questions
The following question guided the research: What is the nature of the interaction between students and community members in the development of partnerships? The following subquestions were addressed to further clarify the students’ perceptions of school-community partnerships:

How do adolescent students understand the role of school-community partnerships in education?
What conditions influence students’ interest and involvement in school-community partnerships?
To what extent are students involved in the development of partnerships, and if they are involved in the development, what is the nature of the involvement?