Social Justice and Equity Studies MRPhttp://hdl.handle.net/10464/145812024-03-29T11:51:41Z2024-03-29T11:51:41ZBias, Barriers, and Discrimination: Treatment of Indigenous Peoples in Wellness CourtsGuiho, Mariahttp://hdl.handle.net/10464/182122023-12-20T16:11:28ZBias, Barriers, and Discrimination: Treatment of Indigenous Peoples in Wellness Courts
Guiho, Maria
Major Research Paper (MRP) focused on Indigenous knowledge systems compared to Wellness Courts, engaging a critical literature review that integrates insights from professional practice experiences as a Registered Social Worker. As a result, reflexivity was used as a key method in the research and facilitated an in-depth analysis of current literature. This MRP is positioned to contribute to understanding the impact of Wellness Courts concerning the needs and goals of Indigenous communities.
Education as Reconciliation?: Unpacking the Relationship between Non-Indigenous Canadian/Indigenous Reconciliation and Ontario Secondary School Canadian History TextbooksKiers-Vander Veen, Sierrahttp://hdl.handle.net/10464/165652022-09-20T01:26:27ZEducation as Reconciliation?: Unpacking the Relationship between Non-Indigenous Canadian/Indigenous Reconciliation and Ontario Secondary School Canadian History Textbooks
Kiers-Vander Veen, Sierra
At the present moment, Canada is at a crossroads. Canada claims to be promoting the restoration of non-Indigenous Canadian/Indigenous relations in an effort to heal from the trauma of its settler colonial past (while limiting recognition of the present consequences of this history). This project, guided by a decolonizing framework, conducts a content analysis of four Canadian history textbooks published for Ontario high schools from 2000-2014 and the associated Canadian history curriculum guidelines for grades nine/ten and eleven/twelve students from 2000-2018. I ask if these history textbooks supported by the Ontario Ministry of Education facilitate students to be interested in reconciliation efforts, particularly looking the attitudes towards Indigenous peoples and the ways various settler colonial events are explained. This research has shown that the Canadian history textbooks used in conjunction with these curricula act as both an encouragement and discouragement to reconciliation through both the content that is taught (or not) and the language used surroundings the subjects covered. As these textbooks and curricula evolve and reflect more of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada’s Calls to Action, particularly Calls 62-65, there appears to be greater opportunities for students to discuss Indigenous issues, their roles in these issues, and ultimately, their roles and responsibilities in reconciliation.
Raising the Bar and Closing the Gap? Investigating Learning for All’s Capacity to Support Marginalized Students in OntarioCarlsson, Rebekahhttp://hdl.handle.net/10464/157672022-05-31T01:49:58ZRaising the Bar and Closing the Gap? Investigating Learning for All’s Capacity to Support Marginalized Students in Ontario
Carlsson, Rebekah
Learning for All (2013) is a resource guide, published by Ontario’s Ministry of Education, that aims to “raise the bar and close the gap in achievement for all students” (p. 3). It is intended to be used by school boards to support system-level planning and informs professional development and local policy directives (Ontario Ministry of Education, 2013). Learning for All does acknowledge that outcome disparities are more prevalent between certain demographic groups, but it avoids any discussion of the complex factors that cause this inequity. This paper explores the research on economically and racially marginalized students in Canada, to reveal the institutional, pedagogical, and ideological factors that produce this education inequity. From this research informed position, I offer a critical policy analysis of Learning for All guided by Paul Gorksi & Katy Swalwell’s Equity Literacy Framework (2015), which demonstrates that the strategies prescribed in Learning for All will not only fail to ‘close the gap’ but may also rein-force deficit thinking amongst educators, thereby exacerbating the problem. Finally, this paper concludes with recommended structural and pedagogical changes, as well as opportunities for future research to better address the barriers that marginalized students face and the shortcomings of Learning for All.
Working Conditions of Front-Line Poverty-Reduction Staff at Non-profit AgenciesMorningstar, Sarahhttp://hdl.handle.net/10464/157502022-05-15T01:24:20ZWorking Conditions of Front-Line Poverty-Reduction Staff at Non-profit Agencies
Morningstar, Sarah
Over the past three to four decades in Ontario, neoliberalization and new public management
have restructured the non-profit social services (NPSS) sector by reducing core funding and
introducing a competitive proposal system with increased managerial accountability. These
changes have generated immense workplace pressures for frontline staff. Frontline staff in the
NPSS have seen an increase in standardization accompanied by the degradation of their skills.
Through in-depth interviews with five frontline staff at two similar non-profit agencies serving
people experiencing poverty in the Niagara Region, this paper explores the question: How do
frontline staff in the non-profit social services sector describe their working conditions? And
how resonant are the narratives of compassion fatigue and burnout. In contrast to the narrative of
"compassion fatigue" that often describes the experiences of professional frontline workers, I
found that burnout among frontline poverty-reduction staff stems primarily from encountering
structural barriers, such as a lack of affordable housing, that limit what they can do to help their
service users. Furthermore, I found a general lack of organizational supports for frontline staff as
workers, including supports to prevent or lessen burnout. This research brings to light new
perspectives regarding poverty-reduction work and ultimately points to needed supports for
frontline staff that may improve their work lives, well-being and poverty-reduction effectiveness.