Research in Early Childhood Care,
Education and Health
HELP-UVIC: REACH
GRADUATE STUDENT RESEARCH DAY
NOVEMBER 28, 2009
Harry Hickman Building, Room 110
PRESENTATION ABSTRACTS AND BIOS
OF THE
KEYNOTE SPEAKER
AND
GRADUATE STUDENT PRESENTERS
http://reach.uvic.ca
KEYNOTE SPEAKER
ENID ELLIOT, PhD
Moving Early Childhood Outdoors: Tensions and Possibilities in Making Space Place
Together with Natasha Blanchet-Cohen, PhD, this research grew out of the interest of four centres to
focus on their outside playspaces. While each program recognized that the children enjoyed being
outside each had a different vision and a different landscape. There were initially three centres joined by
a fourth one later. An informal discussion group eventually became a research project. Included in their
discussions were the local licensing office, the provincial head of licensing, and a landscape architect.
Their research included conversations with children, as well as with the educators. Through listening
closely, videotaping and observing children and educators, their perceptions of being and acting outdoors
were explored with them. The children shared their thoughts by showing the researchers around their
outside environment, watching and commenting on their videos, looking at their photos and by their
actions outside.
With concerns for the environment and for children’s health and learning there has been a growing
interest in play out of doors (Trevarthern, 2008). Outdoor plants, rocks, dirt, and trees can afford children
unlimited opportunities of exploration, discovery and play. Having the opportunity for holistic learning and
establishing relationships with all things of the earth (Lester & Maudsley, 2007), children begin to
incorporate their experience outside into a sense of place.
From interviews, conversations and observations, children seemed engaged and enthusiastic about being
outside. Educators felt children were relaxed outdoors having different relationships with each other and
with the educators. Drawing on their own childhood experiences, educators felt positive about the
possibilities of engaging children with the natural world. All the educators experienced tensions in their
roles outdoors. Much of this tension centred on safety issues, their perceptions of safety, their beliefs
around children’s learning and the regulations set in place by the local licensing authority. The First
Nations program was concerned about cultural safety in their outdoor setting, wanting to create culturally
appropriate play areas outside that might not meet licensing standards.
Attempting to anticipate all possible accidents, regulations are reflective of the fears prevalent in society.
Regulations perceive the role of the educator as an adherent and enforcer of regulations and perceive
children as in need of protection. Educators hold different views and beliefs about safety, their role and
about children’s capability. Meanwhile, children are developing their own concept of safety and its
meaning in their lives. There are multiple plateaus (Deleuze & Guattari, 1987) coinciding and colliding.
Designing an outside space requires negotiating these tensions around safety. Educators, aware that
children can have qualitatively different experiences outside, balance providing experiences for children
with satisfying licensing regulations. Two of the programs began to make changes to their outside space
with plans for more. A natural playspace provides an opportunity for children to begin to discover who
they are in relationship to the trees, plants, and terrain of their local environment.
References:
Deleuze, G., & Guattari, F. (1987). Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.
Lester, S., & Maudsley, M. (2007). Play, naturally: A review of children's natural play. London: National Children's
Bureau.
Trevarthern, C. (2008). Land and freedom. Children in Scotland(84), 8-9.
Bio: Enid Elliot, Ph.D, has been an early childhood educator for many years now. She has worked in
Turkey, California, New York and British Columbia in a variety of contexts and programs. Over the years
of working in this field she finds herself continually surprised, intrigued and inspired by the children,
families and early childhood educators with whom she engages. Babies and toddlers are a particular
source of joy and inspiration. Going back to do a doctorate helped develop different perspectives on that
inspiration and her doctoral dissertation resulted in a book, We’re not robots: Listening to the voices of
daycare providers. Currently she is working with a group of educators on naturalizing outside playspaces.
Together they reflect on the impact of outside play, the educators’ role and the influence of the outside
world. As chair of the Greater Victoria Regional Child Care Council she continues to advocate for a
sensible system of child care for our children.
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Graduate Student Research Day
November 28, 2009
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GRADUATE STUDENT PRESENTERS
MICHAEL MILLER (PSYCH)
The Configuration of Executive Function in Preschool Children
Executive function (EF) refers to higher mental processes that are involved in the conscious control of
actions and thoughts. Although there is general agreement about the importance of EF for adaptive
purposes (e.g., social understanding, school readiness and achievement), the nature of EF has remained
elusive. In particular, it remains unclear whether EF in preschool children is a unitary construct or whether
it is composed of a number of separable processes. The present study used advanced statistical
techniques in order to (a) assess the factor structure of EF in preschoolers, and (b) examine the
contribution of EF to preschoolers’ problem-solving abilities. A sample of 129 children between 3 and 6
years of age completed a battery of EF tasks. Confirmatory factor analysis was used to determine the
factor structure of EF. A two-factor model consisting of working memory and inhibition fit the data better
than a single-factor model. Findings are discussed in terms of selecting observable measures that are
appropriate to capturing EF in preschoolers.
Bio: Michael Miller is a graduate student in the Life Span Developmental Psychology program in the
Faculty of Social Sciences at the University of Victoria, working with Dr. Ulrich Müller. His research
interests include infant and child development, social understanding, executive function, humour
development, gender role development, and school readiness. Currently, Michael is working on his
doctoral dissertation proposal on the topic of humour development and social understanding in early
childhood. He hopes to begin collecting data for his dissertation in the spring of 2010.
EMILY CARTLEDGE (PSYCH)
Understanding Peer Victimization in Preschoolers: The Role of Emotional Competence
Peer victimization is the experience of an unprovoked, repeated display of aggression by a more powerful
peer (Eisenberg & Aalsma, 2005). Peer victimization is a significant problem reported in numerous
countries (Griffin & Gross, 2004) and Canada’s prevalence ranking compared to other countries has
deteriorated in recent years (Craig & Pepler, 2007). Emotional competence skills, including emotion
regulation and emotion understanding, can be viewed as intrinsically linked to peer victimization
episodes, as emotional reactions are constantly being monitored and altered during social interactions.
Helpful in understanding peer victimization, Lemerise and Arsenio’s (2000) social information processing
model outlines the emotional and cognitive processes children use during social interactions. Emotion
regulation skills are seen as a key feature of children’s psychological development and play an important
role in developing social competence. The goal of Emily’s ongoing research is to elucidate the relation
between preschoolers’ emotional competency skills and their involvement in peer victimization episodes.
The study of emotional competencies in relation to peer victimization in preschoolers can help recognize
problematic emotional control strategies used during peer interactions, and will therefore contribute to the
development of early prevention and intervention programs. This study will provide important information
about the relative contributions and interplay of emotionality, emotion understanding, and emotion
regulation in the prediction of peer victimization.
Bio: Emily Cartledge obtained her Bachelor of Science degree in Psychology in 2007 from the University
of Ottawa. She is currently in my second year of the Master of Science program in Clinical Psychology
(emphasis in Life-Span Development) at the University of Victoria. Her research focuses on peer
victimization and emotional competence in preschoolers. Emily is also interested in predictors of social
behaviour problems in preschool bullies and the development of executive function and theory of mind.
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Graduate Student Research Day
November 28, 2009
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SARAH HUTCHISON (PSYCH)
Executive Function and the Bilingual Experience
An emerging topic in cognitive development is whether being bilingual constitutes an advantage for
children’s performance on executive function tasks (Bialystok, 2001). Executive function (EF) broadly
refers to cognitive processes such as working memory, inhibitory control, and cognitive flexibility that are
involved in the conscious control of action and thought (Garon, Bryson & Smith, 2008). EF is important for
development because EF has been implicated in various developmental disorders such as Autism and
Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (Zelazo & Müller, 2009). Studies on the relation between
bilingualism and EF have shown that bilingual children perform better EF tasks (e.g., Bialystok, 1999).
However, extant research suffers from three shortcomings. First, the majority of studies focus on the
inhibitory control aspect of EF. As a result, it is not clear whether the bilingual advantage is also manifest
in other aspects of EF. Second, previous studies have rarely assessed children’s proficiency in both
languages. As a result, it is unclear how proficiency affects the bilingual advantage (Morton & Harper,
2007, Bialystok, 2008). Third, language exposure is rarely assessed. However, the assessment of
language exposure is important because different patterns of language exposure may have different
ramifications for the development of EF. Sarah’s proposed study will address these three shortcomings of
extant research and thus provide more detailed information about the effects of bilingualism on the
development of EF.
Bio: Sarah Hutchison received a BA in Psychology from Athabasca University through Mount Royal
University in 2008. She is currently a graduate student in the MSc Life-Span Developmental Psychology
program at the University of Victoria. Research interests include the development of executive function in
bilingual preschoolers, the neural basis of language in bilinguals, social understanding, and selfregulation.
CHRISTINE HOCHBAUM (SOC)
Child Health Status as a Correlate of Child Behavioural Outcomes: The Mediating Effect of
Parenting Style
The purpose of this investigation is to test the mediational effect of parenting style on the association
between child health status and child behavioural outcomes in children. Using cross-sectional data of
children 4 and 5 years old from National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth (NLSCY) Cycle 4
2000-2001, the paper explores the degree to which child health status is related to child behavioural
outcomes. In addition, the present study investigates the extent to which child health status is linked to
parenting style. Another aim of this study is to explore the association between parenting style and child
behavioural outcomes. Child outcome measures assessed in this study include: hyperactivity-inattention,
emotional-disorder anxiety, conduct disorder—physical aggression and indirect aggression. Child health
status is assessed using the Health Utility Index Mark 3. The Health Utility Index gives a description of an
individual’s overall functional health, founded on eight attributes that include: vision, hearing, speech,
mobility, dexterity, cognition, emotion, pain and discomfort. Parenting style is measured using several
parenting scales that consist of: positive interaction, hostile/ineffective parenting, consistent parenting,
and rational (punitive/aversive) parenting. Statistical analysis was conducted using Ordinary Least
Squares (OLS) and logistic regression to test the conceptual model and the significance of relationships
between the variables of interest. There was partial support for the mediational model of parenting style
on the association between child health status and children behavioural outcomes. Specifically, both
ineffective and rational parenting each showed a mediational effect. Child health status and child
behavioural outcomes were found to have a strong relationship to each other. However, ineffective
parenting was more strongly related to child behavoiural outcomes than child health status. This suggests
that children that are exposed to ineffective parenting are at greater risk for developing behavioural
difficulties than children receiving other forms of parenting. Moreover, children who receive this type of
parenting and have poorer health are at even greater risk for developing these behavioural problems.
However, these conclusions are tentative as the directionality of these relationships is uncertain because
of the cross-section design of this study.
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Graduate Student Research Day
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Bio: Christine Hochbaum is currently pursuing her Doctorate in Philosophy specializing in Sociology at
the University of British Columbia. Christine obtained a Master of Arts degree in Family Studies at the
University of British Columbia. Her proposed dissertation research will be an expansion on the work she
completed at the Master’s level. Christine’s research interests centre on the sociology of health and
disability with particular focus on mental health, stigma, deviance, impairment, disability, and social
determinants of health. In addition, she is interested in the sociological study of the family with special
attention given to parenting, parental stress, parent-child interaction, family functioning, family resilience,
and the community context in which the family is embedded.
RACHEL MARK (EPHE)
Testing the Effectiveness of Interactive Game Bikes on Physical Activity Motivation among
Parents and Young Children in the Home: An Intervention Study
Background: Over 51% of adults and 57% of children ages 5-17 are not currently active enough to reap
the health benefits associated with regular physical activity (PA) 1,2. While numerous self-regulatory
interventions have been introduced with the hopes of improving participation, they have proven to have
only a modest effect3. Interactive video games (particularly interactive stationary bikes) are PA initiatives
that provide positive affective experiences and physiological benefits 4,5, however prior research has been
limited to adult populations within laboratory settings. This pilot study sought to overcome these past
limitations by examining usage of GameBikes (GB) in comparison to traditional stationary bikes (SB)
among families (parents and children) in the home-setting and including a validated theoretical frame to
understand motivation for their use (i.e., Theory of Planned Behaviour). Method: Following CONSORT
protocol for randomized, controlled trials, families were randomized to receive a GB or a SB and kept the
equipment for six weeks. After all family members had a ten minute trial with the bike; parents completed
questionnaires (T1) and then repeated them after six weeks (T2). Usage by all family members was
tracked using logs. Following the trial, belief elicitation was performed with families of the GB group.
Results: Repeated measures (RM) ANOVA for frequency of use among parents and children yielded a
large time effect (F5,34 = 3.15, p < .05; η2 = .32) with post-hoc analysis suggesting a decrease in usage by
both groups over time creating a large, significant effect for SB (t18 = 3.77, p < .01; d = .89) and a small
effect for GB (t20 = 1.02, p = .32; d = .32). SB had higher usage during week one than GB yielding a
medium effect (t38 = -2.17, p = .04; d = .55), whereas GB had higher usage at week 6 yielding a small
effect (t38 = 1.35, p = .19; d = .36). In addition, parents in the GB condition increased the proportion of
those meeting Health Canada’s PA guidelines by 33.3% compared to an 8.34% increase for SB, yielding
a medium effect size difference (h = .51) across the trial. RM ANOVA for affective attitude (AA) of
parents yielded a large effect for both time and intervention effects (F1,22 = 32.73, p < .01, η2 = .60; F1,22 =
8.54, p = .01, η2 = .60 respectively). Both GB (t11 = 6.08, p < .01, d = 1.67) and SB (t11 = 3.27, p < .01, d =
.88) lowered across time, but GB experienced higher levels of AA at both T1 (t25 = 2.69, p < .01, d = 1.55)
and T2 (t22 = 2.58, p < .05, d = 1.39). Elicited behavioural beliefs were primarily affective- and controlbased and concerned the equipment and sizing for children as some children were too small to use the
bike. Conclusions: From this investigation it can be noted that usage decreases less rapidly with the
GB than with the SB for parents and children. As well, the difference in AA between groups highlights the
importance of AA in PA interventions. This study provides support for the use of interactive video games
by both adults and children to augment current physical activity initiatives. As effect sizes for this pilot
study were classified as medium and large, it is suggested that larger powered trials be initiated. As well,
future studies may wish to use equipment built for specifically for children such as the Fisher Price Smart
Cycle.
References:
1. Canadian Fitness and Lifestyle Research Institute (2005). Physical Activity Levels Among Canadian Adults.
Retrieved Feb 2, 2008 from http://www.cflri.ca/eng /levels/adult_levels.php
2. Craig, C.L., Cameron, C., Russell, S.J., & Beaulieu, A. (2001). Increasing physical activity: Supporting children’s
participation. Ottawa, ON: Canadian Fitness and Lifestyle Research Institute.
3. Rhodes, R.E. & Pfaeffli, L.A. (2009). Mediators of behaviour change among adult non-clinical populations: A
review update. Annals of Behavioral Medicine, 37, s85.
4. Warburton, D.E.R., Bredin, S.S.D., Horita, L.T.L., Zbogar, D., Scott, J.M., Esch, B.T.A. et al. (2007). The health
benefits of interactive video game exercise. Applied Physiology, Nutrition and Metabolism, 32, 655-663.
5. Rhodes, R.E., Warburton, D.E.R. & Bredin, S.S.G. (in press). Predicting the effect of interactive video bikes on
exercise adherence: An efficacy trial. Psychology, Health and Medicine.
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Bio: Rachel Mark is currently a Master’s student of Dr. Ryan Rhodes in the School of Exercise Science,
Physical and Health Education. She graduated from the University of Calgary in 2007 with a Bachelor’s
degree in Kinesiology and moved to Victoria later that year to begin graduate work at the University of
Victoria. She is currently finishing her thesis and will defend in December. Her research area has been
interactive video games and family physical activity. Outside of school, Rachel enjoys yoga and spending
time with friends. She is currently completing yoga teacher training and is planning a trip to Mysore, India
next year to study with master teachers there.
CINDY LAU (HDLC)
“Let Us Tell You About It”: Parent-child Evaluation of a Preschool Readiness Programme
The Welcome to Kindergarten Programme is part of an early-learning literacy initiative. The purpose of
the programme is to enhance children’s learning experiences just before school begins, and to encourage
families to participate in their children’s early education. Children are provided with a bag of schoolrelated materials in May of the year just before they are due to enter kindergarten. The idea is that they
will work and play with the materials at home over the summer with their caregivers. By engaging children
in meaningful and academically oriented activities with caregivers prior to their regular school attendance,
they are expected to build a familiarity with, and expectations for, formal education.
Sponsored by HELP and in conjunction with the Vancouver School Board, program evaluation was
conducted in Vancouver schools. In order to improve and ensure the sustainability of the program, parents
and children were invited to take part in the evaluation process. Parents were engaged in an initial
telephone interview which was followed up with parent-child joint interviews at their local kindergartens.
Sixteen families completed both the phone and face-to-face interviews. In the parent-child interview,
parents were encouraged to serve the role of interviewers (with back-up from the researcher), and they
invited children to use the materials as they had done at home. Their interactions were videotaped and
transcribed for analysis. Both parents and children thought that getting hands-on experience with
educational materials before school was beneficial. They also made some suggestions for the program; for
example, including games and problem-solving activities, books with social and emotional content, and
more information about the school to help parents (especially immigrants) gain a better understanding of
Canadian school expectations.
This methodology differs from other evaluations in that parents guide their own interviews and frame
questions to meet their own children’s needs. Children had the materials in front of them to help them
situate their perceptions, demonstrate their involvement with the materials, and express their thoughts.
Consequently, researchers have richer and more in-depth information that is beyond what might have
been available from standardized surveys and interviews. Moreover, based on our observations, childparent collaboration and engagement in learning has emerged as another key to successful transition to
school. Future research can consider employing this joint parent-child interview approach to increase
interview reliability with young children, and inspect how parent-child collaborations mediate the
exploration of learning in out-of-school contexts.
Bio: Cindy Lau earned her Honours Bachelor of Science degree in Psychology from the University of
Toronto, and is currently reading for her Masters degree in Human Development, Learning, and Culture
at the University of British Columbia. Having been born and raised up to her early teenage years in Hong
Kong, and having experienced a diversity of cultures in Canada, she was led in the direction of crosscultural research, and became interested in the socio-cultural impacts of bi-cultural experiences on
children’s development and education. As part of Dr. Ann Cameron’s research team, Cindy became
involved in numerous research projects related to youths’ resilience, children’s moral development and
education, and young children’s school readiness. Her goals are to enhance the current preschool
curriculum through her research studies, pursuant to which she has begun to develop culturally and
developmentally appropriate, evidence-based applications that could build strong and positive homeschool connections to foster early childhood development.
HELP-UVic: REACH
Graduate Student Research Day
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ANDREA K. TITTERNESS (MED)
Ethanol and stress: Independent or compounding culprits?
Background: Animal models of fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS) have shown that prenatal ethanol exposure
(PNEE) can impair long-term potentiation (LTP), a putative mechanism behind learning and memory, in
the hippocampus of adult males. Interestingly, prenatal stress, like PNEE, can also reduce the capacity
for LTP in male offspring. Surprisingly, it is unknown how either PNEE or prenatal stress affect LTP in the
hippocampus of females. The goals of the current study were to 1) investigate how PNEE affects LTP in
female offspring and 2) determine if prenatal stress compounds the effects of PNEE on long-term
potentiation in male and female offspring. Methods: Pregnant Sprague-Dawley rats were assigned to one
of three feeding conditions on gestation day 1 (GD1): 1) ethanol (E): ad libitum access to a liquid diet
containing 35.5% ethanol derived calories; 2) pairfed (PF): liquid diet similar to E dams containing
maltose-dextrin instead of ethanol; dams received the same amount of food in g/kg/day as matched E
dam; 3) control (C): ad libtum access to standard rat chow. E, PF and C dams were further separated into
a prenatal stress treatment (3, 45-min restraint sessions/day during GD12-21) or non-stress treatment
(remained undisturbed in home cage). LTP was assessed in the dentate gyrus of male and female
offspring between postnatal days 30-35. Results: PNEE reduced LTP in male offspring compared to C
males but enhanced LTP in female offspring compared to C females. Surprisingly, prenatal stress did not
reduce LTP in male offspring, regardless of prenatal diet. In contrast, prenatal stress did reduce LTP only
in females following PNEE. Conclusions: These results indicate that hippocampal function in males and
females is differentially affected by PNEE. Furthermore, females, but not males, are sensitive to the
deleterious effects of prenatal stress on LTP.
Bio: Andrea Titterness is currently a Doctoral candidate in the Neuroscience program through the
University of British Columbia. Her supervisor Brian Christie, an Associate Professor and Michael Smith
Senior Scholar, has joint appointments through UBC and the University of Victoria. With UBC, he is
associated with the department of Cellular and Physiological Sciences and the Brain Research Centre. At
the University of Victoria, Brian is associated with the Division of Medical Sciences.
B. DENISE HODGINS (SCYC)
Exploring Children’s Perspectives of Father Involvement: An exploration of children’s
understanding of the construction of gender
This presentation will introduce the beginning stages of a research project that seeks to better understand
children’s perspectives of father involvement. Mounting evidence demonstrates that father involvement
has a positive impact on children, mothers, fathers, families and society in general. Due in part to this
recognition, father involvement has received increased attention in Canada in recent years. To date,
however, little research has explored father involvement from the perspective of young children. This
anticipated research project will use pedagogical narration as a methodology to research with children
and explore their understanding of father involvement through a gender construction lens. Positioning
fathers as gendered subjects and including children’s perspectives has enormous potential to add to
current father involvement theories. This study also has the potential to add to the field of applied practice
by exploring the area of fatherhood within early childhood education and care settings using pedagogical
narration as a method to generate knowledge with children.
Bio: Since 1989, Denise Hodgins has worked with children, youth, parents and educators in a variety of
capacities: a school age child care provider, a preschool teacher, a workshop facilitator, and a director of
a non-profit organization providing prevention and support programs to children, youth and families. She
holds a Masters of Education degree in Early Childhood Education from the University of Victoria.
Denise’s current work as a Doctoral student in the School of Child & Youth Care at the University of
Victoria focuses on supporting positive father involvement in parenting young children. She is particularly
interested in children’s perspectives of father involvement and the role that gender plays in the
(re)construction of parenting practices. As a co-parent of two young children, Denise engages in the
evolving, changing, joyful and challenging dance of parenting on a daily basis.
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KATHLEEN KUMMEN (SCYC)
The Ethics of Disruption: Supporting Pre-service Early Childhood Teachers in Developing and
Engaging in Reflexive Practice
The purpose of this presentation is to highlight aspects of Kathleen’s Doctoral research which explores
how to support pre-service teachers in reflecting on their own image, and how that image connects to
their understanding of theory and practice in early childhood education. The critical role of reflexivity as a
pedagogical practice in early childhood education is well documented (for example, Curtis and Carter,
2008, and Rinaldi, 2005), yet there is very little research that has explored how early childhood education
training programs can support pre-service teachers in developing and engaging in reflexive practice to
disrupt dominant discourses that act as barriers to the implementation of quality care and education for
young children. By inviting her students to explore practices such as critical reflection, reflexivity and
deconstruction, she hopes to create ethical encounters that will disrupt the dominant discourses that
students hold, so that they can be open to other perspectives or ways of understanding teaching.
Kathleen hopes to create the conditions with her students that support them to “attend to the politics of
what we do and do not do at a practical level” (Lather, 1991 p. 13) as they connect discourses to practice.
Bio: Kathleen Kummen has worked in the field of early years for over 25 years. She has held a variety of
positions including working as an early childhood educator, child life therapist and child care licensing
officer. She is presently a faculty member in the Department of Early Childhood Care and Education,
Faculty of Health and Education, Capilano University, and is a sessional instructor for the School of Child
and Youth, University of Victoria. Kathleen is also a PhD student at the School of Child and Youth Care,
University of Victoria. As a graduate student, she is part of Research in Early Childhood Care, Education
and Health (REACH), a consortium of early childhood researchers at the University of Victoria. Kathleen’s
research interests focus on in exploring theory and practice in the pre-service training and ongoing
professional development of early childhood educators.
ALEXANDRA BOMPHRAY (EDUC)
Considering English language learners’ peripherality and legitimacy in small group discussions
about graphic novels
This qualitative, descriptive case study examines the role literacy practices play in relation to the degree
of English language learners’ (ELLs’) community acceptance. One specific literacy practice—the use of a
multimodal literacy approach anchored in graphic novels—will serve as a focusing lens to investigate the
larger complexities of ELLs’ membership and acceptance. This study will provide insight into how a
multimodal teaching approach anchored in graphic novels can be used as an instructional tool to enhance
ELLs’ peripherality and legitimacy in small-group literacy discussions.
Bio: Alexandra Bomphray is a PhD candidate in Educational Studies at the University of Victoria. Her
research interests include the use of multimodal teaching strategies, English language learners’
instruction and learning, and classroom community membership and acceptance. After teaching
elementary school for several years, Alexandra received her master’s degree in Literacy, Language, and
Culture from the University of Michigan. She currently is a sessional instructor in the Elementary
Education Program at the University of Victoria.
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November 28, 2009
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