LEARNING TOGETHER 2015
Presentation Abstracts
SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY
ENGAGING THE WORLD
LEARNING TOGETHER CONFERENCE 2015 Indigeneity: Ways of Knowing Faculty of Education, SFU Presentation Abstracts (By Session) ____________________________________________________________________________ Saturday, May 23 Concurrent Sessions, 9:00 – 10:15 Room 3250 TITLE: Caring for Adolescent Students —How do secondary teachers know what to do, for whom, and when? PRESENTER: Erin Cullingworth ABSTRACT: The perception exists that elementary school teachers are interested in forming caring relationships with students, while high school teachers are primarily interested in teaching the curriculum (e.g., Riley, 2011). This presentation, based on a 2014 grounded theory study, will challenge that perception, briefly discussing obstacles to the construction of teacher-­‐student relationships in high schools, but focusing principally on practices and contexts that facilitate the construction of positive, effective teacher-­‐
student relationships in high schools. In this study, teachers who were satisfied in their ability to create positive, effective relationships with their students worked in mini-­‐school or other “home classroom” settings within a large mainstream high school. They also practiced a kind of “authoritative” teaching style, similar to Baumrind’s (1978; 1991) definition of “authoritative” parenting, in that they held high expectations for students in a context of warmth, and genuine dialogue (see also Noddings, 2005). Most importantly, these teachers enacted curriculum and relationship as dialectic, rather than as a dichotomy. Those teachers who felt frustrated in their ability to create positive relationships with their students tended to work in “silos” as opposed to in “home classroom” settings, and to practice an authoritarian teaching style. They also treated curriculum and relationship as a dichotomy, not as dialectic. Recommendations for teaching practice, teacher recruitment and training, as well as for high school design, will be discussed. This should be of interest to practicing teachers, as well as to academics interested in effective teaching in high schools, and the formation of teacher-­‐student relationships generally. P. 1 of 32
LEARNING TOGETHER 2015
Presentation Abstracts
SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY
ENGAGING THE WORLD
BIO: Erin Cullingworth teaches Social Studies in French Immersion in Vancouver. She recently completed a Master of Arts in Educational Psychology at Simon Fraser University, focusing on teacher-­‐student relationships in secondary schools, and is the recipient of the 2015 Dunlop Award for Distinguished Graduate Contribution from the Canadian Association of Educational Psychologists. TYPE: 35 min – Presentation ____________________________________________________________________________ Room 3250 TITLE: Educational Language Policies and Programs in British Columbia PRESENTER: Angelpreet Singh ABSTRACT: Early childhood educators have experienced a significant shift in the demographics of the children and families in their classrooms. Drawing from data collected in a longitudinal study, this presentation will focus on current educational programs and policies in relation to English as a second language (ESL) instruction offered to young bilingual children in one of the largest school districts in the province of British Columbia. Using a sociocultural perspective, the study examined the ways in which three Punjabi-­‐
speaking children used their home language to participate in literacy practices in their preschool and kindergarten classroom, even when they were discouraged from speaking their home language. The study draws on a variety of qualitative methods including classroom observations, fieldnotes, audio-­‐ and video-­‐recordings of the focal children’s literacy interactions with their teachers and peers. In addition, semi-­‐structured interviews with the focal parents and grandparents provided further insights into their children’s literacy practices at home. This presentation will discuss some of the major findings that have emerged from the study in order to explore ways to expand current language programs, policies and practices to address the unique needs of young bilingual children. BIO: Angelpreet Singh is a PhD candidate in the Languages, Cultures and Literacies program in the Faculty of Education at SFU. TYPE: 35 min – Presentation ____________________________________________________________________________ Room 3270 TITLE: Our Narratives Endure PRESENTER: Meagan Innes ABSTRACT: Borrowing from the conference theme—Our Narratives Endure—I wish to respectfully share their experience at the World Indigenous People Conference on P. 2 of 32
LEARNING TOGETHER 2015
Presentation Abstracts
SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY
ENGAGING THE WORLD
Education that took place on the island of Oahu, Hawaii this past May. Situated outside a traditional Western conference, this presentation speaks to an Indigenous wit(h)nessing and intimate (co)sharing. I will speak to how the conference brought together nations from all over the world to talk about how we as Indigenous Peoples’ could include Indigenous issues and content into current pedagogical practices and Indigenous specific pedagogy. I saw first hand the raw and unbridled humanity in this process through song. It was through the songs that I really got to learn about specific family’s personal narrative. I will be sharing my own experience and key workshops that were offered at the conference. I will be sharing one song and also a series of pictures from the experience. I will focus on mini-­‐schools and how pedagogy had shifted in Hawaii in the last ten years. BIO: I am a graduate student at SFU and also a teacher with Burnaby South Secondary. I completed PDP at SFU with ITEM Indigenous Teacher Education Module. TYPE: 15 min – Presentation ____________________________________________________________________________ Room 3270 TITLE: Place-­‐Based Learning —Outdoor Learning Empowered by Indigenous World View and Inquiry PRESENTER: Regina Vosahlo ABSTRACT: Thank you for the opportunity to be able to present during Learning Together 2015 Conference. I would like to share my insights and research about how Indigenous world view can positively impact our teaching about environmental sustainability. Indigenous knowledge helps us to deepen the meaning of environmental education due to several reasons. Indigenous world view seeks to improve the natural world for all peoples. It focuses on relationships of human beings to both one another and to their ecosystem. This is especially relevant in teaching moral responsibility such as care-­‐taking of our community and land. Through the foundational values of Indigenous Education such as interconnectedness and wholeness students are encouraged to care for self, others and their environment. Hence, Aboriginal place-­‐based learning empowers our learners to be better connected to themselves and others in their own local communities. As a result of this deepened connection students will be able to have a positive impact in creating future sustainable communities for all people. I would also like to share an outdoor learning framework based on inquiry. Here, students would undertake their chosen journeys in local outdoors and would be given opportunities to research their own questions that they would then share with others. Students would P. 3 of 32
LEARNING TOGETHER 2015
Presentation Abstracts
SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY
ENGAGING THE WORLD
plan and take responsibility for their learning which would be rooted in a local, outdoor place. Inquiry place-­‐based learning would encourage our students to learn in accordance with their own interest in order to intrinsically motivate them to learn. BIO: Regina Vosahlo is an elementary French Immersion teacher in the North Vancouver School District. Currently she is completing her Master’s of Education in Curriculum and Instruction, Foundations program. She is interested in Indigenous knowledge, place-­‐based and inquiry frameworks and how they affect teaching students about environmental sustainability. In her spare time she enjoys staying active in the outdoors, running, cross-­‐
country skiing and travel. TYPE: 15 min – Presentation ____________________________________________________________________________ Room 3270 TITLE: Self in Relation and Indigenous Methodologies PRESENTER: Elisa Vandenborn ABSTRACT: The current dominant conception of selfhood in North America—the so-­‐called “individualistic self”—is characterized as a masterful, bounded, and autonomous self, ultimately divorced from its context and traditions. This Western conception of selfhood is a central premise of, and has been promoted successfully by, much of disciplinary psychology and other social sciences. I examine the centrality of this theoretical concept in scientific and societal issues concerned with Aboriginal research and welfare, in that this concept influences how governments think about its citizens, devise structures and techniques to manage them and the policies that serve to regulate and judge them on the basis of such beliefs. Using the example of the over-­‐representation of Aboriginal children in care in British Columbia, I discuss the social implications that warrant the call for an ontological reformulation, towards a more communal conception of selfhood where individuals are fostered in relationality and sociality as to promote methodologies that are both more representative and respectful of Indigenous peoples. BIO: Elisa Vandenborn is a PhD student in the Educational Psychology Program at Simon Fraser University. With a BA in Psychology and an MA in Educational Psychology, her research interests connect theoretical psychology and social policy, tracing the ways psychological concepts are interpreted and implemented into institutional practices concerned with child welfare (e.g., education, protection, heath). More specifically, it addresses the social implications of individualistic conceptions of selfhood in child protection systems in North America, particularly among socially disadvantaged groups. Her PhD extends on this research, comparing social, developmental, and psychological outcomes associated with institutional care in Canada and Nordic countries. This comparison hopes to provide child protection stakeholders with a psychosocial perspective on the outcomes associated with the provision of particular social welfare services and P. 4 of 32
LEARNING TOGETHER 2015
Presentation Abstracts
SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY
ENGAGING THE WORLD
practices, in an effort to help guide social expenditure and legislation towards optimal outcomes for children. TYPE: 15 min – Presentation ____________________________________________________________________________ Room 3270 TITLE: Rethinking Intercultural Practices in the Classroom PRESENTER: Alexa Bennett Fox ABSTRACT: Multiculturalism has long been valued in Canadian educational systems. In British Columbia, for instance, the “Diversity in Schools” (2008) policy document states the province’s “commit[ment] to recognizing and honouring the diversity of all British Columbians” (p. 3) so as to “foster success for all students and…[to] promote fair and equitable treatment for all” (p.4). But what does this mean for teaching practice? How do teachers, whose identities and cultures may be far removed from those of their students, fully recognize their students and understand their needs? Drawing on Martine Abdallah-­‐Pretceille’s intercultural theory (2003), this paper has three goals. The first is to examine “how individuals use cultural traits… to express themselves verbally, physically, socially and personally” (Abdallah-­‐Pretceille, p. 20-­‐21). The second is to show how a teacher may use a critical analysis of their own practices to better understand their own situated identity and their relationship to the Other. Lastly, using a detailed examination of a single critical incident from the researcher’s teaching practice, this paper will outline how Abdal-­‐lah-­‐Pretceille’s approach to interculturality can make the classroom more equitable, and truly understanding of diversity. BIO: Alexa Bennett Fox is a MA student in Simon Fraser University’s Education Faculty. She is also a high school French Immersion teacher in North Vancouver. TYPE: 15 min – Presentation ____________________________________________________________________________ Room 3280 TITLE: Ecological Education in a Time of Crisis PRESENTERS: Lee Beavington, Dave Chang and Maureen Jack La-­‐Croix ABSTRACT: Over 50 years since the publication of Rachel Carson’s “Silent Spring” (Carson, 2002) and the putative birth of the environmental movement in the West, news of ecological and environmental degradation continues unabated. From grim reports of species extinction (Carrington, 2014) to the accelerating rate of global warming P. 5 of 32
LEARNING TOGETHER 2015
Presentation Abstracts
SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY
ENGAGING THE WORLD
(Carrington, 2014), the Earth’s ecological integrity continues to erode under the pressure of rapid industrial expansion. Schools in the West have for the most part been complicit in this economic project – preparing students for a life of production and consumption within a capitalist mega-­‐apparatus entirely estranged from the ecological relationships that form the biotic community (Orr, 2004). If the Earth is indeed undergoing a tumultuous period of transition in its evolution as a result of human activity, educators have an ethical obligation to consider the far-­‐reaching implications of this epochal shift. As educators working to promote ecological values and world-­‐views, we propose three unique responses to the following question: What should education look like in light of the current ecological crisis? Works Cited: Carrington, D. (2014). Earth has lost half of its wildlife in the past 40 years, says WWF. The Guardian. Retrieved from http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2014/ sep/29/earth-­‐lost-­‐50-­‐wildlife-­‐in-­‐40-­‐years-­‐wwf Carrington, D. (2014). IPCC: rapid carbon emission cuts vital to stop severe impact of climate change. The Guardian. Retrieved from http://www.theguardian.com/ environment/2014/nov/02/rapid-­‐carbon-­‐emission-­‐cuts-­‐severe-­‐impact-­‐climate-­‐
change-­‐ipcc-­‐report Carson, R. (2002). Silent spring. Boston: Mariner. Orr, D. (2004). Earth in mind: On education, environment, and the human project. Washington: Island Press. BIO: Lee Beavington, Biology lab instructor at Kwantlen Polytechnic University, will speak to engaging science students in a holistic and ecocentric manner. Drawing upon activities and lessons he teaches in the lab and in the field, Lee will outline a series of practical, interactive and thought-­‐provoking exercises that promote the understanding of humans being but one species in a web of relations, from the bacteria that make up 90% of our cells to the leaves that form the foundation of the planet’s food system. BIO: Dave Chang, Faculty Associate with the Professional Development Program at SFU, argues for a pragmatic realism that envisions a future in which reduced biodiversity, climate instability, and resource scarcity demands a different understanding of human “flourishing” grounded in the cultivation of ecological virtues, spiritual well-­‐being, completed by practical skills of resourcefulness and relationship that enable communities to cope with a harsher ecological reality. P. 6 of 32
LEARNING TOGETHER 2015
Presentation Abstracts
SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY
ENGAGING THE WORLD
BIO: Maureen Jack La-­‐Croix, Creative Director of Be the Change Earth Alliance, will discuss how global sustainability education can be integrated into a variety of mainstream courses and is an ideal topic through which students learn creative and critical thinking, as they connect global issues to local actions and exercise values-­‐based decision making that develops personal and social responsibility. This discussion will be based on Maureen’s field work, piloting a global sustainability curriculum in 30 BC secondary schools. TYPE: 35 min – Presentation ____________________________________________________________________________ Room 3280 TITLE: Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) —a relationship to place and nature PRESENTERS: Nicole Armos and Thea Rutherford ABSTRACT: Autobiographical writing can be valuable entry point in exploring an individual’s relationships with their places of origin and the natural world, as they often commence with a description of the physical and emotional setting that makes up their earliest sense of “home.” To illustrate this, we look at the autobiographies of two renowned artists: Bahamian actor Sidney Poitier’s The Measure of a Man (2000), and Senegalese writer Ken Bugul’s The Abandoned Baobab (2008), to explore their connections to their places of origin. Our examination unearths the realization that indigeneity—a relationship to place and nature—bleeds into their development of a strong sense of identity, equips them physically and emotionally to face adversity, including racism and poverty, influences their career paths and artistic choices, and becomes a unique channel for them to understand themselves and their world. In particular, this presentation proposes that the theoretical underpinnings and process of the qualitative research method of Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) provides a valuable framework for such an examination. IPA’s focus on understanding another’s lived experience, world-­‐view, and the meanings they ascribe to a phenomenon such as place is a particularly important when one considers histories of dysfunctional environmental practices and inter-­‐cultural relationships. Further, IPA incorporates a practice of reflexivity that allows the researcher to partially write themselves into the inquiry, opening up our understanding of our own connections to place. BIO: Nicole Armos and Thea Rutherford are Arts Education Master’s students at SFU. Born and raised in the Bahamas, Thea holds a BA in History and Political Science, an MS in Journalism and has worked as a journalist and high school English teacher. Nicole is a research assistant in the SSHRC-­‐funded Arts for Social Change project and is interested in art’s role in environmental education. TYPE: 35 min – Presentation ____________________________________________________________________________ P. 7 of 32
LEARNING TOGETHER 2015
Presentation Abstracts
SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY
ENGAGING THE WORLD
Room 3290 TITLE: Pre-­‐Calculus Mathematics Understanding in the Absence of Sight PRESENTER: Mina Sedaghatjou ABSTRACT: It is assumed that representation and visualization are at the core of understanding Mathematics, however study shows that spatial imagination amongst people who do not see with their eyes relies on tactile and auditory activities (Healy, 2012; Healy, 2014). Pre-­‐calculus course (Math 100) which deals with algebraic and trigonometric functions conations number of graph representations. Each graph contains a concise but complete summary of function(s) and/or equation(s); such as: many ordered pairs, axes, origin, grid lines, tick marks, intersections, labels, etc. Obviously, these components are all visual. For this study which is in its preliminary stage, I adopt Vygotsky’s “mediation” theory (1986) with a disabled learner, and took a qualitative perspective to explore how access to different mediating resources impacts learning mathematics (Vygotsky, 1986). During the presentation, I will provide a brief description of some useful software, the materials and manipulative that I made, as well as the procedures that we followed to assist Anthony through his pre-­‐calculus course. References: Healy, L. (2012). Hands That See , Hands That Speak : Investigating Relationships Between Sensory Activity , Forms Of Communicating And Mathematical Cognition. Healy, L. (2014). Blind Students, Special Needs, and Mathematics Learning. Vygotsky, L. (1986). Thought and Language. (A. Kozulin, Ed.), October (Vol. 28, p. 287). MIT Press. doi:10.2307/1249570 BIO: Mina Sedaghatjou, is a doctoral candidate in mathematics education. Her primary research interests focus on the ways digital technology (e.g.: iPad Apps, GSP and GeoGebra) enhance mathematical thinking and understanding. She strongly believe in embodied cognition and study the role of body in learning mathematics in the area of touchscreen-­‐
based technology. She currently started new study on “Issues and aids for teaching and learning mathematics to undergraduate students with visual impairment” in addition to other ongoing researches. TYPE: 35 min – Presentation ____________________________________________________________________________ P. 8 of 32
LEARNING TOGETHER 2015
Presentation Abstracts
SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY
ENGAGING THE WORLD
Room 3290 TITLE: Understanding by Design —What do they really understand? PRESENTERS: Tanya Virani, Alex Lieblich and Heidi Postl ABSTRACT: As secondary science and math teachers we often succumb to the pressure of ‘too much curriculum to cover,’ and frequently ask ourselves how can we get students to see that this curriculum is important, connected and meaningful to them now, as it will be in their future. Tanya’s unit in Biology 11 focused on fascinating questions like “Is DNA destiny?” Alex asked her students to build earthquake-­‐proof structures in Geology 12, while Heidi knows that her Math 10A WP students want to know “What’s for lunch?” Our thirty-­‐five minute presentation gives a brief overview of the Understanding by Design framework and it’s theoretical underpinnings and Heidi briefly contributes the connections she’s made to the IB framework. The bulk of our presentation is a critical examination and reflection on the successes and challenges in our classrooms. While Tanya’s work includes many traditional practices like quizzes and tests, Alex’s work is experiential and hands-­‐on, and Heidi incorporates many elements of Project Based Learning to engage her complex and challenging class. Highlights include epiphanies around assessing for true understanding, engaging students in connecting their lives and families with the curriculum and celebrating students’ cultures and backgrounds by offering students choice in the math classroom. BIO: We are three North Vancouver high school math and science teachers. We met and are collaborating via the Frameworks for Innovative Teacher Collaboration and Inquiry Graduate Diploma at SFU. Tanya Virani and Alex Lieblich have worked together at Sutherland Secondary School for close to 10years. They were happy to invite Heidi Postl from Carson Graham World IB School to join in their collaborative inquiry into the back ward design model championed by Grant Wiggins and Jay McTighe in their book Understanding by Design. We would like to present the results of our inquiry into this framework in our classes. TYPE: 35 min – Presentation ____________________________________________________________________________ Concurrent Sessions, 10:30 – 11:45 Room 3200 TITLE: The Quality of Parent-­‐Child Interaction and Use of Mathematics Language during Shared Reading of E-­‐Storybooks PRESENTERS: Soaad Abdelhadi and Dr. Maureen Hoskyn P. 9 of 32
LEARNING TOGETHER 2015
Presentation Abstracts
SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY
ENGAGING THE WORLD
ABSTRACT: The purpose of this research is to explore how interactive features of e-­‐
storybooks prime usage of mathematical language during parent-­‐child shared reading. E-­‐
storybooks are increasingly purchased by parents of young children, yet little is known about whether benefits accrue from parent-­‐child shared reading. In this multiple case-­‐
study, the influence of interactive features of e-­‐storybooks on parent-­‐child conversation and use of mathematical language is investigated. To highlight the complexity of this interaction, three case studies of mother-­‐child dyads (two boys, one girl, aged 3.75, 4.5 and 5.4 years) sharing two e-­‐storybooks were conducted. All mothers spoke English, but for two mothers, English was spoken in addition to a language. Two e-­‐storybooks were matched in word length and the number of interactive features; interactive features were closely aligned to mathematical content of the narrative in one, but partly in the second e-­‐
storybook. Mothers were asked to read two different e-­‐storybooks to their children as they naturally do. Digital video recordings were coded to document the complexity of mathematical language especially when the dyads engaged with the interactive features. As expected, parent and child references to mathematical thinking were more frequent in the e-­‐storybook with interactive features that were well-­‐aligned with mathematics content. Qualitative differences were found in how each mother-­‐child dyad attended to the interactive features. Mothers either attended to the child’s tapping of the interactive features and the narrative of the e-­‐storybook together, or they attended to only the narrative of the e-­‐storybook and tried to suppress their child’s attention to interactive features. Findings suggest that interactive features of e-­‐storybooks can enhance the use of mathematical language, but only when a parent is attuned to their child’s use of these dynamic features. BIO: My name is Soaad Abdelhadi, I am a PhD candidate in Educational Psychology at SFU. My program of research addresses a critical issue concerning the impacts on mathematics literacy associated with increasing use of electronic book (eBook) technology with young children. BIO: Dr. Maureen Hoskyn is Associate Profession in Educational Psychology TYPE: 15 min – Presentation ____________________________________________________________________________ Room 3200 TITLE: Understanding the Learning and Social Gameplay Experience of Older Adults Playing a Bingo Digital Game PRESENTER: Erik Tiong W. Seah ABSTRACT: Recent studies reported that older adults (aged 60 and above), who maintained playing digital game as a regular activity, have treated playing digital game as a serious activity (Mubin, Shahid, & Al Mahmud, 2008; Derboven, Gils, and Grooff, 2012; McLaughlin, Gandy, Allaire & Whitlock, 2012), and that they also derived learning benefits P. 10 of 32
LEARNING TOGETHER 2015
Presentation Abstracts
SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY
ENGAGING THE WORLD
from playing digital game. Another group of studies also discovered that the social aspect of being able to play with other players is one of the key to motivate older adult players to enjoy those gameplay sessions (Shim, Baecker, Birnholtz & Moffatt, 2010; De Schutter & Vanden Abeele, 2010; McLaughlin, Gandy, Allaire, and Whitlock, 2012). With these two strong key research opportunities, this study uses a mixed-­‐methods research approach that consists of 4 weeks of gameplay experiment, followed by 4 weeks of interviewing sessions so as to explore the social gameplay experience and learning during gameplay sessions of older adults (60 years above). The digital game used for this study is a customised multiplayers Bingo digital game that has embedded nutrition and health learning content in it. The key reason to use Bingo is that it is a very popular traditional game played amongst older adults; while nutrition and health are also important topics these seniors are concerned about at this phase of their life. The participants for this study are older adults, aged 60 and above, target population of 60 to 80, who have some basic computer skills and are deemed healthy for the study. It also includes both male and female gender and a diversity of ethnicity in Greater Vancouver. The participants will be selected from a mix of residential homes and community centres in Greater Vancouver, Canada. As for the research instruments, a set of pre and post-­‐test questionnaires, consisting of questions that focus mainly on social game playing experiences and educational aspects of the game, will be used. An interview session that comprises a small number of open-­‐ended questions will be used to gain a deeper understanding of the responses to the research questions. The combination of quantitative and qualitative data will be helpful in supporting each other; thereby, providing richer details of learning and social behaviour of older adult players during and after the gameplay treatment. References De Schutter, B., & Vanden Abeele, V. (2010, September). Designing meaningful play within the psycho-­‐social context of older adults. Paper presented at Fun & Games 2010, The 3rd International Conference on Fun and Games, Leuven, Belgium. Derboven J., Gils, M. & Grooff, D. (2012). Designing for collaboration: A study in intergenerational social game design. Universal Access in the Information Society, 11(1), 57–65. McLaughlin, A., Gandy, M., Allaire, J., & Whitlock, L. (2012). Putting fun into video games for older adults. Ergonomics in Design: The Quarterly of Human Factors Applications, 20(2), 13-­‐22. Mubin, O., Shahid, S., & Al Mahmud, A. (2008, September). Walk 2 Win: Towards designing a mobile game for elderly's social engagement. In Proceedings of the 22nd British HCI Group Annual Conference on People and Computers: Culture, Creativity, Interaction-­‐
Volume 2, 11-­‐14. British Computer Society. P. 11 of 32
LEARNING TOGETHER 2015
Presentation Abstracts
SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY
ENGAGING THE WORLD
Shim, N., Baecker, R., Birnholtz, J., & Moffatt, K. (2010, May). TableTalk poker: An online social gaming environment for seniors. Paper presented at the Proceedings of the International Academic Conference on the Future of Game Design and Technology (pp.98-­‐104), New York: ACM. Research Team: Principal Investigator: Mr. Tiong W. Seah, Erik, PhD Student, Email: eseah@sfu.ca Senior Supervisor: Dr. David Kaufman, Professor, Email: dkaufman@sfu.ca Research Assistant: Ms. Simone Hausknecht, PhD Student, Email: shauskne@sfu.ca Research Assistant: Ms. Fan Zhang, Post-­‐doctorate fellow, Email: fza26@sfu.ca Research Assistant: Ms. Haley Rutherford, Undergraduate Student, Email: hrutherf@sfu.ca Sponsor: This study is being funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) Digital Games project. Grant Name: Ageing well: can digital game help? TYPE: 15 min – Presentation ____________________________________________________________________________ Room 3200 TITLE: Socio-­‐Emotional Impacts of Playing Massively Multiplayer Online Role-­‐Playing Games (MMORPGs) on Older Adults PRESENTER: Dr. Fan Zhang ABSTRACT: Due to shift from career or family focus, loss of long-­‐term companions and increasing likelihood of chronic and debilitating illness, older adults face some key social and psychological challenges such as loneliness, depression and lack of social support. Gerontology researchers have demonstrated that social interaction is an important component of successful aging. Massively Multiplayer Online Role-­‐Playing Games (MMORPGs) can offer older adults many opportunities to maintain current and develop meaningful and supportive relationships. Drawing on the challenges facing older adults and prior theoretical and empirical studies, this research analyzed the relationships between older adults’ social interactions in MMORPGs and six social and emotional factors (i.e., bridging and bonding social capital, loneliness, depression, social support and belongingness). An online survey was developed and published to eight World of Warcraft (WoW, a popular MMORPG) player forums to gather information about older gamers’ demographic characteristics, play patterns, social interactions in WoW and measurements of the six social-­‐emotional dimensions. Data were collected over a three and half months period (from May 15th to September 1st, 2014) from a sample including 222 WoW players aged 55 and older. Similar to their younger counterparts, older adults’ social interactions in MMORPGs can take place on several different levels, and can be casual or intimate, and even romantic. Social interaction in MMORPGs is an important source for older adults’ social learning. The regression analyses revealed that enjoyment of relationships and quality of guild play has deep impacts on older adults’ social and emotional wellbeing. P. 12 of 32
LEARNING TOGETHER 2015
Presentation Abstracts
SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY
ENGAGING THE WORLD
BIO: Fan Zhang finished her doctoral degree in Educational Technology and Learning Design at Simon Fraser University. She is interested in the application and assessment of digital games in learning environments and the cognitive and social impacts of digital games on older adults. She is currently part of a research project, called “Aging Well: Can Digital Games Help?” TYPE: 35 min – Presentation ____________________________________________________________________________ Room 3250 TITLE: Why is it Important to Re-­‐Member Indigeneity? (Reflecting on our perspectives of Indigenous Knowledge Values!) PRESENTERS: Tim Michel and Dr. Nigel Haggan ABSTRACT: This workshop challenges perceptions that people hold about Indigeneity. There is pervasive common belief that Indigenous knowledges are inherently similar in such widely diverse groups as Maori's in New Zealand to the Inuit in Nunavut. Within this context, some people look Indigenous knowledge for answers on the global problems of over-­‐exploitation and climate change. Others counter that Indigenous knowledge is fine at the local scale but becomes less relevant at regional and global scale. The diversity of Indigenous relationships to lands, waters, weather, ecology and the human imagination accounts for vast differences in the expression of Indigenous knowledge. Additionally, the temporal shifts in Indigenous knowledge pre-­‐colonial times to the present day are not well understood. Nonetheless, we think it reasonable to suppose that Indigenous knowledge and values (IKV) could be a vitally important contribution to life on this planet. We propose a Q methodology workshop to at least start the process of identifying Indigenous knowledge values that students of Indigeneity and that Indigenous knowledge holders attach significance. Q methodology works like this: 1) For discussion purposes; we will present a set of statements on Indigenous Knowledge Value perspectives. 2) Participants will then be asked what IKV means to them. 3) Together we will 'boil down' the input to a representative set of statements. 4) Participants will read each statement, and sort into one of the three piles (Agree/Neutral/Disagree). 5) Participants will then be asked to sort the full set of statements onto a scorecard, say from -­‐5 (most disagree) at one end to +5 (most agree). 6) the Q methodology software will identify up to 4 significant factors within the group of responses. Each factor will generate a set of statements that will allow us to describe a perspective on the relevance of IKV to the interests of workshop attendees. During the sorting process, participants will also have the opportunity to add statements they think were missing. The result of this preliminary exercise can form the basis for a much more in-­‐depth project. P. 13 of 32
LEARNING TOGETHER 2015
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SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY
ENGAGING THE WORLD
BIO: Tim Michel is a Lecturer in the Faculty of Education BIO: Dr. Nigel Haggan, UBC Interdisciplinary Studies TYPE: 35 min – Workshop ____________________________________________________________________________ Room 3250 TITLE: Indigenous Language and Culture Maintenance Attempts at a Canadian University PRESENTER: Dr. Naghmeh Babaee ABSTRACT: This research has attempted to examine how Aboriginal university students perceived Aboriginal language and culture maintenance and how a Canadian university in the Prairies has facilitated Aboriginal language and culture maintenance opportunities for Aboriginal students. A qualitative case study, informed by identity theories (Norton & Toohey, 2011), was conducted with three Aboriginal university students. Data were collected through an in-­‐depth, semi-­‐structured interview and descriptive and reflective field notes on the interviews. The results indicated that the participants attempted to learn or maintain Aboriginal languages and cultures to connect with their past and construct an Aboriginal, ethnic identity. Moreover, it was found that the university played a positive role in Aboriginal language and culture maintenance by offering Aboriginal language courses and organizing Aboriginal cultural events. Recommendations for universities to facilitate Aboriginal language and culture maintenance opportunities for Aboriginal students follow at the end. BIO: Naghmeh Babaee received a PhD in Education in 2014. She has extensively published and presented on socio-­‐cultural and critical perspectives on heritage language maintenance and bilingual development, immigrant students’ education, and identity. TYPE: 35 min – Presentation ____________________________________________________________________________ Room 3270 TITLE: A Mentorship Program for University Students with Autism Spectrum Disorder PRESENTER: Nicole Roberts ABSTRACT: We learn better when our environment provides opportunities for us to succeed. For students who have autism spectrum disorder (ASD), extra support is often needed for their success at university. A mentoring program, such as the Autism Mentorship Initiative (AMI) can help students to achieve their goals at university, as it provides an environment that opens up more opportunity to do so. This research is a P. 14 of 32
LEARNING TOGETHER 2015
Presentation Abstracts
SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY
ENGAGING THE WORLD
qualitative study of the experiences of participants in the Autism Mentorship Initiative (AMI) at SFU, a program that started in 2013. In the AMI, each mentee (an SFU student with a diagnosis of ASD) is paired with a mentor (a senior undergraduate or graduate student) for one academic year. Pairs meet weekly to discuss the mentee’s learning, communication, and social goals, through individualized guidance and support. The feeling of connectedness and belongingness comes from learning how to navigate university, keep up with academic requirements, learning how to emotionally regulate oneself and learning how to meet others and form connections and friendships. This presentation will address which components of the AMI program are effective in helping SFU students with ASD to improve academically and socially at university. My presentation will involve the audience in discussion by listening to the research that I have completed so far on the AMI program. I will open the floor with an engaging activity that connects my research to the idea of indigeneity. I will also engage the audience in a video followed by discussion to end the presentation. BIO: I’m a master’s student in Educational Psychology and a Behaviour Therapist who has worked with individuals with ASD of all ages for the last ten years. I’m hoping to run my own program that opens more opportunities for adults with ASD and addresses their social, emotional, health, and academic needs. TYPE: 15 min – Presentation ____________________________________________________________________________ Room 3270 TITLE: “Knowing” that Vaccines Cause Autism, and the Power of Collaboration PRESENTER: Samantha Fischer ABSTRACT: Recently, there have been many outbreaks of vaccine preventable diseases; many of these outbreaks are due to parents not vaccinating their children, and this is largely due to the belief that vaccines cause Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Although virtually all of the existing scientific literature finds no link between vaccines to ASD, a large portion of the general public still believe that vaccines cause ASD. The presentation will explore the reasons for the rise of the belief that vaccines cause ASD. It will discuss the importance of including the voices of people with Autism Spectrum Disorder in the discourse on this subject, and the importance of collaboration across many disciplines. First, research on ASD and vaccines will be discussed. Next, an overview of the anti-­‐vaccine movement will be presented. Then, with a focus on self-­‐publishable information on the internet (which often involves many people collaborating), possible reasons that people believe that vaccines cause ASD will be explored. Then, there will be a discussion on how P. 15 of 32
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the voices of people with ASD have been excluded from virtually all discourse on this subject. Finally, the implications of this information for, and the importance of collaboration between, people with ASD, professionals, researchers and the public will be discussed (if possible, with audience involvement). The underlying themes in this presentation are how knowledge is generated and spread (which is often through collaboration), and the importance of including – rather than appropriating – the voices of those we are discussing in both public and academic discourse. BIO: Samantha Fischer is a student in the MEd program in Educational Psychology at Simon Fraser University, and she holds an undergraduate degree in Social Development Studies & International Studies from The University of Waterloo. She is currently interested in the social deficits associated with ASD, gender and ASD, race & the educational system, and the role of qualitative research in the fields of education and psychology. TYPE: 35 min – Presentation ____________________________________________________________________________ Room 3270 TITLE: Transforming Frequencies —Women’s Story Telling Project in Paarl South Africa PRESENTER: Sylvia Richardson ABSTRACT: What is the artist pedagogical place in radio? Explored through an arts practice-­‐based path to knowing this thesis reveals: How do I/we (women) create an intentional creative space unveiling the artist in service of community radio. A quest to heal the wounded inner landscapes of my being inevitably means transformation of both the linear paradigm of post-­‐industrialism and the metaparadigm of domination. Because differences are too often occluded in reading across lines of race, class, sexuality, and culture, I seek an ethical and interdependent path to visibility, and introduce a “Disappearance Theory” (Richardson, 2014) as a path to co-­‐creation and visibility. Epistemology and ontology are intertwined and self-­‐informing and forming, as the technologies of the smaller paradigm are crucial tools in the transformation of the larger metaparadigm. Learning to read between the lines this paper reflective lens is simultaneously imaginative and constructive (poetic), self-­‐critically interpretative (hermeneutic), and attentive to issues of socio-­‐cultural location (intersectional) bridging a body/mind divide through an intentional creativity experiential process. The journey to knowledge is a process of learning and unlearning were identity of being and becoming are merged and emergent. Looking through the lens of UBUNTU unlearning of dominance and learning affective interdependence this paper explores the path of co-­‐
creation and collaboration as a relational pedagogy of life. How to co-­‐create a participatory P. 16 of 32
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action research arts-­‐based process with women who answer the invitation to co-­‐create programming for community radio? What are the stories that bond our reciprocal engagement? Key Words: UBUNTU, community radio, interstitial spaces and embodied knowing. BIO: Sylvia Richardson, PhD Candidate, Arts Education, Simon Fraser University Flesh Mapping Cartography of Struggle, Renewal and Hope in Education. Peter Lang Publishing. 2013 TYPE: 15 min – Presentation ____________________________________________________________________________ Room 3280 TITLE: Poetry and Music in/as Research and Teaching PRESENTERS: Lee Beavington and Dr. Michael Ling ABSTRACT: How can music be used in – or even as – research? How does it cross cultural boundaries? And how can we use this in an educational setting? When is a poem art? When is it research? When is it transformative? All of the above? And, how can both music and poetry reflect a conception of indigeneity, in the foundational sense of being “sprung from the land…[of] demonstrating the critical relationship between nature and human beings” (as described in the conference call for papers). A poetic inquiry uses poetry to study and consider fuller understandings of a research subject (Wiebe, 2008; Faulkner, 2009; Prendergast, 2009a). As Carl Leggo (2004) states, “the poet is a human scientist” (p. 30), working with language to construct understanding. Further, Prendergast (2009b) explains that poetry of all forms can “also be argued to be a form of research, a re-­‐searching of experience and sorting into expression and communication through language” (p. xxii). In this presentation, Lee Beavington’s poetry will explore sense engagement in nature, environmental education, and ecology and creativity. Music and poetry, of course, are intricately related. Both use rhythm, cadence, meter, tone, and timbre, and they both engage the senses and the imagination. And, it is evidently the case that they have been connected historically, evolutionarily, and cross-­‐culturally (see, eg. Rothenberg & Ulvaeus, 2001). Michael Ling’s presentation will outline how he uses the notion of ‘soundscapes’ and ‘acoustic ecology’ (drawing on the work of Schafer, Westerkamp, Truax, et al.) to explore P. 17 of 32
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and attend to the ecologies of ‘place’ and ‘space’ with students in his classes. Those in attendance will be invited to participate in a brief, though hopefully engaging and enlivening ‘soundscape’ activity. We will draw our respective presentations into a dialogue about the place of poetry and music in scholarly work. References Faulkner, S.L. (2009). Research/poetry: Exploring poet’s conceptualizations of craft, practice, and good and effective poetry. Educational Insights, 13(3). Retrieved from http://www.ccfi.educ.ubc.ca/publication/insights/v13n03/articles/faulkner/index.
html Leggo, C. (2004). The curriculum of joy: Six poetic ruminations. Journal of the Canadian Association for Curriculum Studies, 2(2), 27–42. Prendergast, M. (2009a). Poetic inquiry is ... 29 ways of looking at poetry as qualitative research. Educational Insights, 13(3). Retrieved from http://www.ccfi.educ.ubc.ca/ publication/ insights/v13n03/intro/prendergast.html Prendergast, M. (2009b). Introduction: The phenomena of poetry in research. In M. Prendergast, C. Leggo & P. Sameshima (Eds.), Poetic inquiry: Vibrant voices in the social sciences (pp. xix-­‐xlii). Rotterdam, The Netherlands: Sense Publishers. Rothenberg, D. & Ulvaeus, M. (eds. 2001) The Book of Nature and Music: An Anthology of Sounds, Words, Thoughts. Middletown: Wesleyan University Press. Schafer, R. Murray (2011). The Soundscape: Our Sonic Environment and the Tuning of the World. New York: Destiny Books. Truax, B. (1978). Handbook for Acoustic Ecology. Vancouver: A.R.C. Books. Westerkamp, H. (1988) Listening and Soundmaking: A Study of Music-­‐as-­‐Environment. Burnaby: Simon Fraser University. Wiebe, N.G. (2008, May). Mennocostal musings: Poetic inquiry and performance in narrative research. Forum Qualitative Sozialforschung / Forum: Qualitative Social Research, 9(2), Art. 42, Retrieved from http://www.qualitative-­‐
research.net/index.php/fqs/article/ view/ 413/897 BIO: Lee Beavington, PhD student in Philosophy of Education, is an author and biologist, and teaches in the biology lab at Kwantlen Polytechnic University. He writes poetry frequently to deepen his understanding of pedagogy, philosophy and science, and invites his students to do the same. P. 18 of 32
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BIO: Michael Ling, PhD, is a Senior Lecturer in the Faculty of Education at SFU. His primary scholarly interests are in the fields of the history and anthropology of ideas about education, the arts, aesthetics and arts education, and, the nature of inquiry, particularly qualitative research methods. Methods and questions regarding arts-­‐based research and arts-­‐based forms of representation in the social sciences have been an ongoing interest of his since the mid 1980’s. He is also a musician and visual artist. TYPE: 35 min – Presentation ____________________________________________________________________________ Room 3280 TITLE: MODAL Research Group —Canadian youth’s artistic learning and arts engagement PRESENTERS: Dr. Gordon Cobb and Dr. Susan O'Neill ABSTRACT: The presentation will be a collaboration of two of the members of MODAL Research Group in the Faculty of Education at SFU. MODAL stands for Multimodal Opportunities, Diversity and Artistic Learning and the research focuses on developing evidence-­‐based theoretical frameworks for understanding the cultural ecologies and learning trajectories of diverse Canadian youth’s artistic learning and arts engagement in today’s digital age. Within the presentation, we will discuss our collaborative research on youth-­‐engaged multimodal research in action. An SFU special topics course entitled “Positive Youth Development: Supporting Youth Engagement, Empowerment and Social Innovation in Practice” provided opportunities to increase experiential learning opportunities for students and support an integrated community engagement project. This innovative education initiative was able to bring together SFU students in education to work with senior secondary students at the Sarah McLachlan School of Music to explore interests and issues that concern youth. This research focused on putting multimodal research into action to support knowledge sharing, communication and social innovation. The findings explore what the students’ learned and how they learned by providing opportunities for university and high school students to work collaboratively, creatively and equitably. Nature of Collaboration: The members of the MODAL Research Group that will be participating in this presentation are Dr. Suzie O’Neill, MODAL Director and Associate Professor, and Dr. Gordon Cobb, MODAL Graduate Research Assistant and PhD graduate of the SFU Arts Education program. A blended learning approach integrated knowledge sharing through online and classroom learning. Key concepts and theories in positive youth development were examined critically, reflected on, and put into practice. Course participants gained more inclusive, discriminating and integrating perspectives on youth issues and learned how to initiate and sustain meaningful and equitable youth-­‐adult creative collaborations that encouraged and supported youth engagement, empowerment and social innovation. P. 19 of 32
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BIO: Dr Susan O'Neill Associate Professor, Faculty of Education Director, MODAL Research Group (Multimodal Opportunities, Diversity and Learning) Director, Research for Youth, Music and Education (RYME) BIO: Dr. Gordon Cobb Graduate, SFU, PhD in Arts Education Research Assistant, MODAL Research Group TYPE: 35 min – Presentation ____________________________________________________________________________ Room 3290 TITLE: Indigeneous Knowing Through Devotion to the Other PRESENTER: Dr. Charles Scott ABSTRACT: “Indigeneity brings us face-­‐to-­‐face with the places we inhabit and spaces where we gather.” I suggest devotion as a practice that can deepen our connection to, knowing of, and alignment with all that is other; further, devotion can help us apprehend the other as Other. Devotional approaches and expressions offer us, collectively and particularly, intersubjective ways of being in/with and relating to others and the world that may be applicable in a social milieu that is characterized as being ever more connected, ever more rapidly changing, and ever more uncertain. Because devotion is a universal human sentiment, and one that can find expression in a purely secular context, the universality of these approaches offers us richness, depth, and integration that can find applicability in a number of educational venues. Devotion becomes a means of acquiring knowledge that can foster collaborative learning and helps us develop better and more sustainable relations with our surrounding ecologies. Contemplatives and artists have a well-­‐established bodies of theory and practice with respect to devotion. I will draw upon these in illustrating the nature of devotion and how we might use devotion and devotional practices in deepening our knowledge of others and the world. BIO: I am an adjunct professor whose research interests include dialogue and its applications in developing learning relationships in educational settings. Relatedly, the development of theories and practices in contemplative inquiry and their applications in education is another area of investigation. I am also interested in student narrative and the roles narrative plays in identity formation. I most enjoy teaching and feel fortunate in being able to work with students of many cultures and nationalities. TYPE: 35 min – Presentation ____________________________________________________________________________ P. 20 of 32
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Room 3290 TITLE: Indigeneity of Our Human Knowing PRESENTER: Sandy Gillis ABSTRACT: The word indigenous comes from the Latin and means native to a land, natural to a country or region, originating or springing forth from that area. Stretching the meaning of indigenous, the region I wish to focus on is the region called our ‘selves’ and our native activity of human knowing. Our human knowing springs forth in us through our senses and perception and imagination, through our questions, through our insights, and takes shape in our plans, decisions, actions and deeds. By this native process, we come to learn this or that about our world, about the universe, about ourselves, but how does this process of knowing that we take so much for granted go forward in us? “The question is not whether knowledge exists but what precisely is its nature” (Lonergan, 1992/1957, p. 11). In his book Insight: A Study of Human Understanding, Canadian philosopher Bernard Lonergan invites each of us (and all together) to personally appropriate the various conscious acts and their relations that form our human knowing and doing. “The aim is not to set forth a list of the abstract properties of human knowledge but to assist the reader in effecting a personal appropriation of the concrete dynamic structure immanent and recurrently operative in his [or her] own cognitional activities” (p. 11). In my short presentation, I wish to encourage such appropriation through collaborative interactive participation and exploration of the dynamic structure of knowing that is native to us all. BIO: Alexandra (Sandy) Gillis is a professional teacher, graduate research assistant and PhD candidate in the Department of Education at Simon Fraser University. Current PhD research brings together a comprehensive background and interest in cognitional structure (insight), aesthetics, pedagogy and education based on the work of Canadian philosopher, Bernard Lonergan (1904-­‐1984). TYPE: 35 min – Presentation ____________________________________________________________________________ Main Conference Address, 12:00 – 1:30 Room 3310 TITLE: Letsemot — Collaboration between Indigenous communities and School Districts to work together to enable Indigenous students to be successful through Enhancement Agreements KEYNOTE: Colleen Hannah and Cheryl Gabriel BIO: Colleen Hannah is a member of the Okanagan Indian Band and has both Syilx and Scottish Ancestry. Colleen has worked as an Aboriginal educator in the public P. 21 of 32
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education system over the past 17 years in the Oceanside School District and in Mission Public Schools. She has been a teacher, administrator and now a secondee at the Ministry of Education as the Aboriginal Education Enhancement Agreement Coordinator. Colleen resides in Maple Ridge with her husband and three children. BIO: Cheryl Gabriel is an elder of the Kwantlen First Nation. She is granddaughter to Chief Anthony and Rose Jose from Shacken First Nation, near Spences Bridge, and Chief Alfred and Mary Gabriel from Kwantlen First Nation. She is daughter to Grand Chief Joe and Maureen Gabriel, and the oldest sister to current Chief Marilyn Gabriel. Cheryl is the Education Coordinator (K to post-­‐secondary) for the Kwantlen First Nation and an advocate for aboriginal communities, such as participation in the Provincial Aboriginal Education Enhancement Agreement. Cheryl and her husband, Lekeyten, of 41 years have five children and eight wonderful grandchildren. ____________________________________________________________________________ Concurrent Sessions, 2:35 – 3:50 Room 3200 TITLE: The Educational Consultant’s ‘Hot Potato’ —Juggling institutional stakeholders, student-­‐athletes, and academic support challenges PRESENTER: Bhuvinder S. Vaid ABSTRACT: This session will present the experiences of a Curriculum Consultant working with the Student Services and Athletics department at a major University, to meet the academic development needs of student-­‐athletes after transitioning into the NCAA as its first international member. Having entered into the NCAA in fall 2012, this University has attempted to utilize existing Student Services resources like orientations, progress reporting, workshops and peer mentoring (Gunn and Eddy, 1989), and advising support models to monitor eligibility, course selection, and tutoring (Figler and Figler, 1984), to meet the unique academic skills development and support needs of student-­‐athletes (Jordan and Denson, 1990). The results of utilizing these pre-­‐existing resource and support models have been varied, in part due to the diverse mix of the student-­‐athlete population (Carodine, Almond and Gratto, 2001). A Curriculum Consultant was tasked with developing a project to augment these pre-­‐existing resource and support models in an attempt to better meet the needs of the student-­‐athletes. Working exclusively with the Men’s Basketball team over the course of a semester, the Consultant developed an advising model that first assessed the academic skills deficiencies of a student-­‐athlete, and then guided the student-­‐athlete to access the existing resources and support. This integrative model served to attend to the individual needs of each student-­‐athlete (Denson, 1996) and thereby empowered each student-­‐athlete to approach these resources with a more complete sense of how they would personally benefit (Lottes, 1991). P. 22 of 32
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References: Carodine, K., Almond, K. F. and Gratto, K. K. (2001), College Student Athlete Success Both In and Out of the Classroom. New Directions for Student Services, 2001: 19–33. Denson, E. L. (1996). “An Integrative Model of Academic and Personal Support Services for Student Athletes.” In E. F.Etzel, A. P.Ferrante, and J. W.Pinkney (eds.), Counseling College Student Athletes: Issues and Interventions. (2nd ed.) Morgantown, W. Va.: Fitness Information Technology. Figler, S. K., and Figler, H. (1984). The Athlete’s Game Plan for College and Career. Princeton, New Jersey: Peterson’s Guides. Gunn, E. L., and Eddy, J. P. (1989). “Student Services for Intercollegiate Athletes.” College Student Affairs Journal, 9: 36–44. Jordan, J. M., & Denson, E. L. (1990). Student Services for Athletes: A Model for Enhancing the Student-­‐Athlete Experience. Journal Of Counseling & Development, 69(1), 95-­‐97. Lottes, C. (1991). “A Whole-­‐istic Model of Counseling Student Athletes on Academic, Athletic and Personal–Social Issues.” In E. F.Etzel, A. P.Ferrante, and J. W.Pinkney (eds.), Counseling College Student Athletes: Issues and Interventions. Morgantown, W. Va.: Fitness Information Technology. Ward, E. (1999). “History of the NCAA CHAMPS/Life Skills Program.” In S. Robinson (ed.), Gaining the Competitive Edge: Enriching the Collegiate Experience of the New Student-­‐
Athlete. Columbia: National Resource Center for the First Year Experience and Students in Transition, University of South Carolina. BIO: Bhuvinder S. Vaid is a PhD candidate at Simon Fraser University in the Faculty of Education in the area of Philosophy of Education. He has lectured on educational philosophy and sociology, as well as children’s literature, curriculum development, conceptual design thinking, and academic writing. His research focuses upon spatial philosophies in educational policy, curriculum development, and instructional practices. He is also the primary of Vaid Concepts, a conceptual services consultancy that has worked extensively on human resource training projects with companies in the fields of petroleum and mineral extraction. TYPE: 35 min – Presentation ____________________________________________________________________________ Room 3200 TITLE: Indigenizing the Academy in Modern Times —A Literature, Conference, and Experiential Review P. 23 of 32
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PRESENTER: William G. Lindsay (Cree-­‐Stoney) ABSTRACT: William G. Lindsay of Cree-­‐Stoney heritage is a PhD student and the Director of the Office for Aboriginal Peoples (OAP) at Simon Fraser University. Since 2010, the OAP has cultivated relationships with on and off-­‐campus partners in its work to implement the university’s Aboriginal Strategic Plan. The OAP/SFU has since made remarkable progress, with “Indigenization” of the university becoming a strategic priority. So much has been accomplished, that the year 2010 is now being identified as a breakthrough year at SFU regarding the process of “Indigenization”. Much of this progress can be attributed to the establishment and maintenance of the above-­‐mentioned “relationships.” Such an overall, university-­‐wide process has not been without its challenges, though. For this conference presentation, based on an academic paper currently being prepared, Mr. Lindsay will discuss processes, challenges, failures, successes, and ways of measuring such. He will end with some words of advice -­‐ based on experience -­‐ for those in similar positions, doing similar work. Applicable theories to this particular process of “Indigenization” include post-­‐colonialism, critical theory, critical pedagogy, rationalism, and deconstructionism. BIO: William G. Lindsay is of Cree-­‐Stoney heritage. He has worked for many years as an Indigenous teacher, professor, student services provider, and senior administrator, at numerous Lower Mainland colleges and universities. William currently serves as the Director of the Office for Aboriginal Peoples at SFU and is a PhD student in the Faculty of Education. He is also a published writer in the field of Aboriginal issues, with a TESOL textbook, a plethora of newspaper essays, and numerous academic papers and book reviews to his credit. William has also been the editor of two university newsletter/magazines and is the current publisher of the SFU News, Aboriginal Edition. William also has much experience dealing with local, provincial, and national media concerning Aboriginal issues. TYPE: 35 min – Presentation ____________________________________________________________________________ Room 3250 TITLE: Process-­‐oriented learning in Social Studies PRESENTERS: Katharine Shipley & Erin Cullingworth ABSTRACT: Inspired by our experiences working in the classroom, in the school library, in the PDP program and in graduate studies, we have noticed that students who engage in explicit process-­‐oriented learning are more engaged in their work. They also take greater P. 24 of 32
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ownership of their learning and are able to articulate what skills they have learned. However, process-­‐oriented learning can be challenging to design in Social Studies because in that course, scaffolding specific skills often loses out to a focus on historical content. Therefore, over the past three years we have been experimenting with ways to incorporate the teaching of research, writing and critical thinking skills and processes into Social Studies. We have created content-­‐based but process-­‐oriented units on the Atlantic slave trade, global climate change, the Canadian political system, and the histories of minority groups in Canada. Over the course of these endeavors we have learned much about how to create effective units in Social Studies: which skills and processes are most important to teach, how to incorporate content into skill building activities, how to get students to buy into these assignments, and how to ensure that students’ process-­‐oriented learning is genuine, authentic, and lasting. In fact, these collaborative experiments with process-­‐
oriented teaching have become a process-­‐oriented learning experience for us, as educators, too. In particular, we have learned that both student and teacher process-­‐oriented learning must include ongoing reflective practice, and that this is more powerful when done collaboratively. BIO: Katharine Shipley is a teacher-­‐librarian in Vancouver. She has a Masters in Library Studies and is a former Faculty Associate in the PDP program at SFU. BIO: Erin Cullingworth teaches Social Studies in French Immersion in Vancouver. She recently completed a Master of Arts in Educational Psychology at SFU. TYPE: 35 min – Presentation ____________________________________________________________________________ Room 3250 TITLE: 'Literariness' as a Model of Plurality PRESENTER: Cary Campbell ABSTRACT: This presentation examines and repackages the Russian formalist conception of 'literariness' and addresses how it can be applied to encouraging an educational outlook that places the values of the literary utterance in a central role. Literariness surprises us by thwarting or delaying our normal expectations. It plays with the clarity and ephemerality we come to expect from language and our normal communicative mediums. It is precisely this ambiguity of meaning inherent in the literary utterance (its capacity to defamiliarize) that causes us to question and re evaluate our normal cognitive and interpretative processes. In this presentation I reformulate the foundational definition of Roman Jacobson for educational purposes. This entails envisioning a concept of literariness that does not run the risk of being relegated to that Kantian realm of the purposeless aesthetic object; one P. 25 of 32
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that is pragmatic and applicable to many diverse aspects of human life. This reformulation is enriched by Gadamer and Iser's work in hermeneutics as well as Milan Kundera's discussions of literature in his book of essays 'the Art of the Novel'. The concept of literariness I gradually arrive at embraces an 'open ended' notion of truth that tolerates the 'essential relativity of things'. I address how the values of literariness can be used to fight the 'quest for certainty' proliferated by much schooling, philosophy, and science. BIO: Cary Campbell is a full time Music educator and Jazz guitarist residing in Vancouver. He is currently completing an MA in arts education in the Faculty of Education at Simon Fraser University. TYPE: 35 min – Presentation ____________________________________________________________________________ Room 3270 TITLE: Struggling Towards Aboriginal Ways of Knowing —a traditional talking circle PRESENTER: Teresa Farrell ABSTRACT: Currently in the new BC curriculum is a focus on Aboriginal Ways of Knowing. This is a marked epistemological shift and requires deep ontological understanding. This is a serious pedagogical challenge. It is especially difficult as Indigenous knowledge has been marginalized in our colonized education system that the majority of us have been raised and socialized in. My purpose is to provide an opportunity to explore some central thoughts on this endeavour and to co-­‐construct some new understandings. My theoretical underpinning will be based on the Anishinaabek concept of Mino-­‐
Bimaadiziwin (The Way of a Good Life) a non-­‐argumentative collaborative learning and discovery process, which works to empower participants by validating the knowledge that each one of us carries as human beings. My format will be the protocol of a traditional talking circle where I will use a practise of the Coast Salish Oratory Tradition to spiral around our subject towards revealing what “was cherished and hidden, but is now seen in the light of our different perspectives, from our separate, and now shared, observations” (Maracle,2007, p. 66). To frame my understanding I am using the image of the medicine wheel. This will allow us to explore our subject through our physical, mental, emotional and spiritual selves. P. 26 of 32
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Specifically I want to focus on • forms and formats for learning • stories as epistemological holistic baskets of knowledge • holistic connections and relationships in a deconstructed system References Andreotti, Ahenakew & Cooper(2011). Epistemological pluralism: Ethical and pedagogical challenges in higher education. AlterNative: An International Journal of Indigenous Peoples, 7:11. 40-­‐50 Maracle, L. (2007). Oratory on Oratory in S. Kambourell & R. Miki (Ed.). TRANS.CAN.LIT.: Resituating the Study of Canadian Literature. (pp. 55-­‐70). Waterloo, Ontario: Wilfred Laurier University Press BIO: Teresa Farrell is actively engaged in including a focus on Indigenous and Aboriginal Perspectives Awareness moving toward inclusive practice in her Social Studies method courses in Vancouver Island University's Education Program where she has been teaching for over five years. She is currently in the final stages of completing her doctoral studies at SFU in Educational Leadership: Transformational Change. TYPE: 35 min – Presentation ____________________________________________________________________________ Room 3270 TITLE: Anchoring Classroom Practice in Indigenous Pedagogy PRESENTERS: Shirley Turner and Shannon Leddy ABSTRACT: Between 2010 and 2012, Shirley Turner and Shannon Leddy both served as Faculty Associates in PDP at SFU. Shirley worked with the IPTEM Module (Indigenous Perspectives) and Shannon worked with the SEEDs Module (Sustainability and Environmental Education). Both women entered their work with a strong interest in helping student teachers infuse their practices with Indigenous pedagogy and inclusive content. Despite a clear provincial mandate regarding the inclusion of Aboriginal content across the curriculum, bringing Indigenous perspectives into the K-­‐12 classroom in meaningful ways still poses many challenges to both new and practicing teachers. Now, as graduate students, both researchers are working on projects that seek to ameliorate that tension. Shirley will present her work with the Spectrum Program in Vancouver where she uses Indigenous pedagogy to inform her sustainable resources garden coursework. Premised on the centrality of reciprocal benefit and embodied experiential learning she is exploring how P. 27 of 32
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students might connect their own work to its community benefits. She will share her investigation into her students articulation of wellbeing through their work in the Spectrum school food system. Shannon will present her proposed research in using Aboriginal art in the teacher education program at SFU to engage pre-­‐service teachers in connecting with contemporary self-­‐representations of Aboriginal people. She proposes that current K-­‐12 learning about Aboriginal people tends to focus on historic life-­‐ways and tensions during early contact, often resulting in the replication of colonial stereotypes and the anchoring of knowledge about Indigenous people in the past. By looking at contemporary art, pre-­‐service teachers can begin to build understandings rooted in the present and the art with which they engage can function both as a mechanism for inquiry and as a method for classroom use. BIO: Shirley Turner is a PhD Candidate in the Curriculum Theory and Implementation program in the Faculty of Education at SFU. She also teaches science, yoga and sustainability with the Spectrum Alternate School in Vancouver. BIO: Shannon Leddy is a PhD student in the Arts Education program in the Faculty of Education at SFU. She is the Coordinator for the Athena Arts Program at Windermere Secondary in Vancouver, where she also teaches English. TYPE: 35 min – Presentation ____________________________________________________________________________ Room 3280 TITLE: Multilingualism as a Resource in a Language Classroom —Implications for learning, pedagogy, institutions PRESENTER: Kristina Berynets ABSTRACT: Globalization has made Multilingualism part of everyday life for people in many different countries. The borders between nations and cultures have become ambiguous, which has turned Language into the terrain of ambivalence and multiplicity. Language, communication, and linguistic practices are becoming less possible to determine or classify. That is why so many people are bilingual, multilingual, and plurilingual. They use translanguaging, and code-­‐switching, and attunement in order to learn, communicate, participate in communities, and to navigate the world around them. The presentation is focused on the implications of using multilingual practices as a resource in language education, in particular the impact on learning and learners, the pedagogic implications, and the institutional implications. The learning outcomes are influenced on both practical level and the sociocultural and sociolinguistic levels of learning and participation. Multilingualism, used as an asset in a classroom, would have an enormous impact on teaching and pedagogy, and on policy-­‐makers of different levels and P. 28 of 32
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SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY
ENGAGING THE WORLD
institutions. It would also require a new view on language, linguistic competence and proficiency. The implementation of multilingual practices is especially significant in Vancouver where much research has been done on the learning processes of multilingual youth due to multiculturalism, multilingualism, and multilingual communication being part of everyday reality for so many people. BIO: Kristina Berynets is a MEd TEFSL student at the Faculty of Education. She works as a research assistant and has experience working at language schools in Ukraine and Canada. English is her fourth language and as s plurilingual speaker, she is interested in multilingualism and multilingual practices in education. TYPE: 35 min – Presentation ____________________________________________________________________________ Room 3280 TITLE: Re-­‐considering the Native/Non-­‐native Dichotomy —Influences and Implications for NNETs’ Teaching Practices and Their Identities PRESENTER: Emma Wu ABSTRACT: Is there a clear-­‐cut distinction between natives and non-­‐natives with regard to English language teaching? This dichotomy has been controversial among scholars (Canagarajah, 1999; Cook, 1996; Holliday, 1996; Holliday and Aboshiha, 2009; Phan, 2008; Phillipson, 1992; and Sayer, 2014); this situation has not only affected English learners/educators, causing them to hold certain stereotypes, but also has allowed the “native speaker fallacy” to penetrate into non-­‐native English teachers’ teaching practices and meanwhile influence their identities. As a non-­‐native speaker myself, I am interested in discovering what people think of the dichotomy, and whether we should re-­‐consider it in terms of our teaching practices and identities. The key question which needs to be answered among us is that what makes a good language teacher, and, as well, we should consider why we should re-­‐examine the dichotomy. I will first share my pleasant and unpleasant experiences as a language learner/teacher, and ask the audience to share theirs. I will then invite members of the audience to share their initial thoughts on whether a native or non-­‐native English teacher is best in an ESL (or EFL) context. Then, I will discuss the “native speaker fallacy”, and how it affects NNETs in their teaching practices continued with discussion with the audience. The last part I will discuss is how the fallacy falls into NNETs’ lives, and influences our identities. At present, English is widely recognized as an international language or a lingua franca; thus, it brings o the surface the issue of NNETs as bilinguals or multilinguals, and how we should treasure our roots to turn disadvantages into advantages to be utilized in our teaching practices. I will conclude with a discussion of what makes a good teacher, inviting audience participation. P. 29 of 32
LEARNING TOGETHER 2015
Presentation Abstracts
SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY
ENGAGING THE WORLD
BIO: I have been enrolled in the M.Ed. Program in TEFSL since 2014, and my desire to become a future educator originally came from my English teachers in Taiwan. Their love, dedication, and passion for teaching had greatly influenced me to be a successful English learner. Despite being a non-­‐native speaker, I want to encourage people like me to harness the strengths and multilingual competence we have to assist our (future) teaching. Most of all, be confident and welcome challenges! TYPE: 35 min – Presentation ____________________________________________________________________________ Room 3290 TITLE: Ways of Knowing Through Popular Song PRESENTERS: Jin Thindal and Dr. Allan MacKinnon ABSTRACT: How many times has it happened to you? You have not heard a song in years and the minute you hear it again, you instantly sing along and remember the lyrics. Why is it that we can re-­‐member song, its melody, rhythm and lyrics but struggle to remember all that stuff we are taught in our schools? This interactive presentation will try to unpack this very ques-­‐tion. Why? Well, to see how popular music can and does teach us so much? Nicolas Cook maintains that, “People think through music, decide who they are through it, express them-­‐selves through it.” Also if ‘Music represents life’ as the solo per-­‐cussionist Dame Everlyn Glennie states, then surely music can play a critical role in our knowing and therefore the education-­‐al process, not only of schooling but also of life. This presentation will also discuss how educators can make use of popular song as way of knowing and a pedagogical tool to engage students in a more meaningful manner. Thereby leading to a more rewarding and enjoyable learning experience, something that most schools still struggle with. BIO: Jin Thindal is a PhD candidate in the Faculty of Education at SFU. BIO: Allan MacKinnon is an Associate Professor in the Faculty of Education at SFU. TYPE: 35 min – Presentation ____________________________________________________________________________ Room 3290 TITLE: When Worlds Collide —Transformative Engagement Through Arts-­‐infused Service-­‐Learning PRESENTER: Sharon Widdows P. 30 of 32
LEARNING TOGETHER 2015
Presentation Abstracts
SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY
ENGAGING THE WORLD
ABSTRACT: Social responsibility has become an important part of school curriculum in recent years, prompting educators to involve students of all ages in service-­‐learning projects. Indeed, service has become a coveted badge of prestige for many schools, resulting in a frenzy of bake sales and clothing drives designed to aid recipients at local and global levels. However, as service-­‐learning continues to increase in schools, there are as yet no guidelines for assessing levels of engagement or depth of learning for students; nor are there established learning intentions to guide educators in the process of designing and carrying out effective service-­‐learning projects. Furthermore, few (if any) such projects include the arts as a means to initiate dialogue and encourage collaboration between volunteers and recipients. Important in all cultures, music is an excellent point of entry for making intercultural connections and working toward a common goal. My work explores how arts-­‐infused, intercultural service-­‐learning programs may encourage transformative engagement in youth and reduce/eliminate the power inequities inherent in typical service projects. This presentation highlights a study currently underway through MODAL Research in the Faculty of Education at Simon Fraser University. Approximately 180 students at two Canadian public schools and the Sobral School of Music in Sobral, Céara, Brazil are participating in this cross-­‐cultural collaboration with a focus on music and the arts. Students will participate in interviews, questionnaires, student reflections, visual recordings, surveys, and meetings with Brazilian students via Skype; in June students will participate in a cross-­‐cultural performance spanning two continents. BIO: Sharon Widdows is a PhD student at Simon Fraser University. Her work involves music engagement in children and youth, particularly those deemed to be at risk. She is a vice-­‐principal in School District #75 in Mission, and has developed and coordinates the SPAARK (Supporting and Providing Arts for At-­‐Risk Kids) program, also in Mission. TYPE: 35 min – Presentation ____________________________________________________________________________ Closing Plenary Session, 4:00 – 5:00 What did we learn together about Indigeneity: Ways of Knowing? (room 3240) ____________________________________________________________________________ P. 31 of 32
LEARNING TOGETHER 2015
Presentation Abstracts
SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY
ENGAGING THE WORLD
SESSION CHAIRS Dominic Trevisan Eleonora Joensuu Jacqueline Barreiro Linette Schut Mary Giovannetti CONFERENCE ORGANIZING COMMITTEE Dr. David Kaufman ( dkaufman@sfu.ca ) Dr. Jan Maclean (jlmaclea@sfu.ca) Matthew Kruger-­‐Ross (mkrugerr@sfu.ca) Marco Espinoza (maespino@sfu.ca ) Thank you to the generous support from our sponsors Office of the Dean Office of the Director of Graduate Programs Office of the Vice-­‐President, Academic Education Graduate Student Association (EGSA) PARTICIPANTS CONTACT LIST TO BE POSTED ON THE CONFERENCE WEBSITE P. 32 of 32