Graduate Theses

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https://hdl.handle.net/10587/95

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    Voices of Child Marriage Survivors: Understanding the experiences of child marriage through the first voice perspectives
    (Mount Saint Vincent University, 2022) Kazungu, Jeanine
    This qualitative thesis explored and interpreted the experiences of child marriage survivors through their first voice perspectives (former child brides) and examined the exit strategies that they used to escape their unions. The study examined five video data recordings published on the YouTube platform in the form of recorded testimonies voiced and narrated by child marriage survivors. Video recordings were transcribed verbatim, and an inductive approach was used for coding and organizing themes that emerged from the data. Simone de Beauvoir's feminist theory, plus a child's right-based approach, along with other feminists' perspectives, were utilized as the theoretical framework to interpret the findings. The findings indicated that child marriage is a gendered problem that undermines the rights of girls and has detrimental outcomes on the young bride's health. Four themes emerged: The coercion of parents and these women’s lack of agency in decisions to marry; experiences of interrupted education, childhoods and health consequences; and society's failure in preventing their marriages, or in supporting them while in the union. The analysis also found that – apart from acquiring an education and police involvement - there were no common elements, or a direct path, in the ways in which the child brides escaped. The routes used varied according to the severity of their experiences and the influences of the environment in which they lived. Listening to the voices of former, current and potential child brides was deemed to be central in the movement against the practice of child marriage and in their protection.
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    Exploring Food Insecurity, Gender, and Familial Foodways of Female Spouses of Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) Personnel
    (Mount Saint Vincent University, 2022) Littler, Catherine
    CAF families are composed of ~68,000 regular members and 27,000 reservist members (Department of National Defence, 2021). Military life can be particularly difficult for military spouses who adapt routines, living situations, employment, and parental responsibilities, while managing deployment stress of their military-member spouse (Norris & Smith-Evans, 2018; Norris et al., 2018). Military family research has focused on family members’ physical and mental health in relation to operational and/or post-traumatic stress (Cramm et al., 2019; Norris et al., 2018; Ostler, 2018; Skomorovsky et al., 2019). Little is known about how military life impacts family foodways.
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    A Multi-Tiered System of Support for Teacher Professional Development in Social-Emotional Learning in Nova Scotia
    (Mount Saint Vincent University, 2022) Lewis, Sarah
    This thesis will propose a Multi-Tiered System of Support (MTSS) for sustainable and embedded teacher professional development in social-emotional learning in the province of Nova Scotia. Since teachers in Nova Scotia are now responsible for supporting the well-being of their students after the implementation of the Inclusive Education Policy in Nova Scotia in 2020, there exists a gap in available teacher professional development for social-emotional learning. This thesis will provide an overview of MTSS models, including critical components like being data-driven and using evidence-based practices. After explaining the importance of evidencebased practices, it will provide an overview of the literature on effective professional development and social-emotional learning. The proposed model will consider the resources and structures already in place in Nova Scotia, including the specialization of school psychologists.
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    The Roles and Responsibilities of Nova Scotia School Psychologists in Inclusive Education
    (Mount Saint Vincent University, 2022) Mahoney, Andrea
    Inclusive education is a contemporary health issue and has become a central goal of education systems and policies, influencing the roles and responsibilities of education systems and educators. Currently, in Nova Scotia, there is a lack of direction and information on school psychologists' possible roles and responsibilities in inclusion/inclusive education. In addition, there is little information in terms of research and literature that indicate the role(s) school psychologists have in inclusive education. This study aimed to understand and outline Nova Scotia school psychologists' possible roles and responsibilities. In order to outline the possible and potential roles, all Nova Scotia inclusive education documents were collected and analyzed with several factors of analysis. By examining recommendations from seven inclusion documents, several recommendations could be satisfied by the competencies of school psychologists. The frequently appearing competencies outline Nova Scotia school psychologists' possible roles and responsibilities in inclusive education.
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    ISANS Content Analysis: Through the Lens of an Immigrant Woman of Colour
    (Mount Saint Vincent University, 2022) Kolhatkar, Shruti
    The current study is a content analysis following an inductive approach, whereby the literature has laid out criteria for objective analysis. Along with the objective criteria, the current study includes a subjective criterion of cultural congruency and incongruency to collectively determine the holistic quality of the ‘ISANS’ website (Immigrant Services Association of Nova Scotia). ISANS is an organization that supports and assists the migrants and refugee communities in Nova Scotia. The current study aims to analyze the quality content of the website that was available to support and assist migrant and refugee families, whilst emphasizing the importance of the availability of support services in various dimensions along with its cultural appropriateness. The qualitative study further determines and outlines the key principles and areas where improvements were required to attain a better quality of the content present on the ISANS website. The current study advocates promoting the availability of good quality information and support resources on virtual/digital platforms to assist migrant and refugee communities to help them reach a culturally balanced integration into Canadian society.