Recent technological advancements, demographical changes, and international migrations have compounded the social, political, and economic challenges confronting most nations. These global changes demand the education and formation of youths with specific skill sets who can work and adapt to the challenges of the 21st-century workplace. Technical and vocational education and training (TVET) is recognized for its pivotal role in addressing the concerns emanating from these 21st-century developments. Research has suggested that TVET contributes to sustained economic growth and development, reduces societal inequalities, and enables a sustainable future. Within the context of the United Nations’ (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), TVET occupies an increasingly prominent place. This review of the scholarly and grey literature explored the rationale behind the resurgence of TVET globally and examined the present state of, and issues and concerns with, the expansion of TVET within the global and Canadian contexts. Findings show that economic, social justice and sustainability rationales account for the renaissance of TVET. Also, both the Canadian and global literature suggest a continued stratification of access to and participation in TVET for students from different sociodemographic groups (e.g., socioeconomic status, race and ethnicity, geography). The study found that cultural, religious, institutional, and historical factors affect the participation of students from diverse social backgrounds to TVET. My research also identified attractiveness (status) and funding as the primary issues hindering the utilization of TVET potential in addressing societal challenges from a global as well as the Canadian context.

Strategic planning is a contentious term that is used by many but understood by few. The words ‘strategic planning’ can mean a variety of differing purposes, processes, and outcomes. This study will draw upon literature in the field of educational strategic planning to propose a framework that can be used to analyze and sort strategic plans based on the underlying purposes, processes, and outcomes. The preliminary Mitchell Educational Strategic Planning Framework identifies educational strategic plans as either a rational plan or a futures plan, while accounting for the political climate in which the plan is created and carried out. This research study focuses on the creation and use of School Improvement Plans (SIPs) by one non-practicing elementary school principal in a southern-Ontario school board. The data is collected through a semi-structured interview, where the participant discusses his philosophy of education, how he uses SIPs to achieve his goals, and how his beliefs about student success and strategic planning differ from those of his supervisory officer. The data reveals a gap in the preliminary Framework. The participant was able to successfully use elements of both rational and futures planning when creating his SIPs. He identified that doing so was difficult, and requires a skill that few principals have. This ‘skill’, informed by data from this research and supplementary literature, has been defined as “the skill of alignment of school and non- school factors”. To incorporate this new information, the Mitchell Educational Strategic Planning Framework has been modified and updated. Future research will apply the Mitchell Educational Strategic Planning Framework to existing educational strategic plans. The skill of alignment will also be further investigated.

This project presents a literature review of pediatric anxiety including the prevalence, etiology, and treatment of anxiety disorders in children, presented along with evidence indicating the short- and long-term effects of anxiety in young children, and the important role of the school in first response regarding the early identification and intervention for these children. A needs assessment was conducted using primary elementary school teachers to identify their level of confidence in their ability to identify and support children suffering with anxiety disorders in their classrooms. Results of the assessment indicated a strong need for a resource that provides both information and support for teachers in their interactions with children with anxiety disorders. The assessment results were used to guide the development of a handbook for elementary educators providing current empirical research detailing information about various forms of anxiety disorders commonly affecting young children in primary grades, as well as a list of available resources, and a series of six sequential lesson plans to be implemented for the entire class. Lesson plans are designed to facilitate increased levels of understanding toward the issues confronted by children suffering from anxiety, and fostering strong peer relations and character-building opportunities. Participants were provided with the handbook for evaluation, which indicated a strong support for the effectiveness and usefulness of the resource.

Communities located in the coastal zone are increasingly vulnerable to climate change. The effects of climate change may push coastal ecosystems to undergo irreversible changes. This is especially true for shorebirds as it results in the loss of biodiversity and resource-rich areas to rest, refuel and breed. To protect these species, it is critical to conduct more research related to nature-based solutions. Through a scoping review of scientific literature, this paper evaluated 85 articles and included a summary of various sustainable ecosystem-based adaptation strategies, including living shorelines and beach nourishment. These strategies were evaluated under the eight core principles of nature-based solutions in order to determine the efficiency of protecting shorebird biodiversity in the Greater Niagara Region. All adaptation strategies were examined through a social, economic and environmental lens and future improvements were suggested to increase the efficiency of these strategies. This research also highlights its contribution to sustainability science.

Students with disabilities who wish to pursue education at the postsecondary level are impacted by various factors, including: differences between practices and policies at the secondary and postsecondary level, transition supports, and available accommodations. A comprehensive literature review was conducted in order to determine current barriers and effective supports in place for students with disabilities transitioning to postsecondary education. It was found that, in Ontario, students with a disability are nearly 24% less likely to attend university when compared to students without a disability, and those who do attend are more likely to attend college (Brown & Parekh, 2010; Finnie et al., 2011). Students with learning disabilities and ADHD report being unprepared and overwhelmed by the increase in responsibility and the workload, miss academic support from their parents, and experience more problems academically (Arscott, 2013; Tsagris & Muirhead, 2012). Currently, there are transition programs which have been identified as supportive by students with disabilities; however, these programs are not consistently delivered across the province. This study compared Ontario Ministry of Education (OME) documents and policies around supporting students with disabilities, the funding available, and the supports available between elementary/secondary and postsecondary education. The study focused on the transition supports for students with disabilities as well as the effectiveness of the programs available. Students with disabilities need support to develop academic coping strategies in order to meet the academic demands of postsecondary education, and, as stated by the OME (2013a), it is crucial for schools in Ontario to provide opportunities and support for all students to make a successful transition to postsecondary education.

Using a narrative inquiry approach from the perspective of the researcher’s own experiences, this paper explores the connections that developed with several teachers that facilitated and impacted his own academic and cognitive, affective, and behavioural personal development. Viewed through the analytical lens of Erikson’s theory of psychosocial development, this narrative investigates the potential effectiveness of this model in understanding the lasting and life- altering changes that may be experienced by a student through his or her interactions with memorable teachers. Last, in educational environments today, character and value based curricula are experiencing a resurgence in popularity due to their theoretical applicability for helping students to optimally develop academically, socially, and culturally. With this in mind, a student-based perspective of memorable student–teacher connections may provide a framework for developing more effective means of effectively implementing a character development curriculum.

This study aimed at determining the contribution of farmer networks (FNs) structure to resilience of agroecosystems. A total of 23 actors were surveyed using a census sampling method. Quantitative and qualitative data were collected using a mixed methods approach. Data were analyzed using social network analysis and a deductive codebook. Findings revealed a cohesive group with high density (0.67), good arc reciprocity (54%), high transitivity (0.75). The network is cohesive and centralized, but periphery actors were more connected externally. There was positive correlation between frequency of communication and decision to change production system. Network is specifically for diffusion, but 90% of actors also adopted BMPs through social interactions. This study concludes that FNs can help in scaling up adoption of BMPs. FNs contributes to a resilient agriculture based on resilience principles of connectivity, encourage learning and experimentation and broadening participation. This is encouraging for policy to invest in FNs for BMPs adoption.

Theory of Mind (ToM) is the ability to attribute mental states, such as beliefs and desires, of oneself and others, and plays an important role in our everyday social behaviour (Astington, 1993, Wellman, 1990). Past research suggests that children’s perceptions of their peer relations, such as being accepted or rejected by fellow peers have significant associations with ToM abilities (Slaughter, Dennis, & Pritchard, 2002; Slaughter, Imuta, Peterson, & Henry, 2015). To date, few studies have explored how ToM affects children’s perceptions of peer relations (peer acceptance and rejection) during middle childhood (ages of 8-13 years). To address this gap in research, the current study investigated Canadian children’s (70, g=39, b-31, 9-12 years old) perceptions of peer relations and ToM abilities. Results focused on individual differences and correlations among children’s peer perceptions, self-perceptions, coping skills, and ToM abilities. Educational implications of the present findings will be discussed.

Parent–school relationships contribute significantly to the quality of students’ education. The Internet, in turn, has started to influence individuals’ way social communication and most school boards in Ontario now use the Internet to communicate with parents, which helps build parent–school relationships. This project comprised a conceptual analysis of how the Internet enhances parent–school relationships to support Ontario school board administrators seeking to implement such technology. The study’s literature review identified the links between Web 2.0 technology, parent–school relationships, and effective parent engagement. A conceptual framework of the features of Web 2.0 tools that promote social interaction was developed and used to analyze websites of three Ontario school boards. The analysis revealed that school board websites used static features such as email, newsletters, and announcements for communication and did not provide access to parents for providing feedback through Web 2.0 features such as instant messaging. General recommendations were made so that school board administrators have the opportunity to implement changes in their school community with feasible modifications. Overall, Web 2.0-based technologies such as interactive communication tools and social media hold the most promise for enhancing parent–school relationships because they can help not only overcome barriers of time and distance, but also improve the parents’ desire to be engaged in children’s education experiences.

Despite digital environments’ proven effectiveness in supporting additional language acquisition, there is a gap in knowledge about how technology is integrated in Kindergarten–Grade 12 (K–12) additional language classrooms. This study examined situations in which additional language learning classes integrated digital environments in elementary and secondary language classrooms and sought to highlight how young learners interact with such environments for additional language learning purposes. A review of the literature revealed that digital learning environments offer corrective feedback for additional language learners who have traditionally been a focus of computer-assisted language learning (CALL); however, more recently computermeditated communication (CMC) has taken hold. Importantly, digital environments that offer multimodality provide comprehensible input that supports the language learning process. The utilization of digital environments with traditional additional language resources is discussed. This study has significant implications for additional language learning and teaching strategies while applying digital learning theories into the additional language classroom.