Undergraduate Theses

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https://hdl.handle.net/10587/94

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    Actually Autistic at School: Giving Voice to #ActuallyAutistic Perspectives on School Inclusion
    (Mount Saint Vincent University, 2024-04) Lawy, Natalie
    Autistic students are at risk for poor outcomes at school (Adams, 2022; Ashburner et al., 2010; McDougal et al., 2020; Munkhaugen et al., 2019; Totsika et al., 2020), and teachers in Nova Scotia feel they lack the training and tools to adequately support autistic students in their classrooms (Corkum et al., 2014). Autistic students feel the same way, identifying school staff’s poor understanding of autism as a significant barrier to their inclusion and participation (Ducarre, 2023). Very little data has been collected directly from autistic students in Canada about their school experiences and no data has been collected in Nova Scotia to date. The present study, conducted by an autistic researcher, uses semi-structured interviews incorporating novel interview methodology to support inclusion and accessibility for autistic participants. Reflexive thematic analysis is used to identify how autistic students describe their experience of inclusion at school. Key findings signal the significance of interpersonal relationships, the role of personal interests in relationships and academic success, and identification of specific communication gaps between teachers and autistic students. Recommendations for further research include the creation of a professional development workshop for educators to promote improved communication between educators and autistic students. The communication gaps identified in the present study present specific, high-impact targets for teacher training to effect meaningful change in our schools.
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    The Inside of Coming Out: A Critical Autoethnography of Sexual Identity Transformation in Adulthood
    (Mount Saint Vincent University, 2025-04) Wright, Alicia
    This thesis explored the phenomenon of a reidentification of sexual identity, from heterosexual to lesbian, in middle life. As a source of data, the author used first person narratives to recount personal experience, highlighting three pivotal periods over a ten-year experience that conveyed the deconstruction, recognition, and synthesis of a sexual identity shift. Popular theories of identity formation were referenced in relation to this experience. Erikson’s (1959) theory of psychosocial development, where identity is understood to become stable in adolescence, was referenced as a comparison to the author’s identity challenge in her thirties. Additionally, Cass’ (1984) theory of Homosexual Identity Formation, which proposes six sequential stages that culminate in a disclosure of same-sex orientation, was used to contrast the author’s non-linear arrival at a non-heterosexual identity. Finally, queer theory was drawn upon to remove the heteronormative lens from the stories in this study and to critically view these experiences through an acknowledgment of religious, patriarchal, and heterosexist influence that acted to obscure non-heterosexual thoughts, feelings, and behaviours. Throughout this critical analysis, the controversy of whether sexuality is essential or socially constructed was addressed, suggesting an understanding of an interplay between nature and nurture that is mediated by an element of authenticity. The concluding discussion consolidates the findings by addressing three research questions relating to 1) how sexual identity transformation happens in adulthood, 2) whether this change is spontaneous or gradual, and 3) what psychosocial influences affect such a change. The results of this thesis serve to enhance existing psychological understanding of sexuality and identity by offering subjective and intersectional meaning to the current discourse.
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    “Live and Let Learn” Student Perceptions of Educational Stratification: An Arts-informed, Narrative Inquiry
    (Mount Saint Vincent University, 2024-07) Greenough, Jacqueline A.
    This inquiry offers adult students an opportunity to story their childhood experiences within urban public schools in Atlantic Canada (Nova Scotia and New Brunswick) to seek a greater understanding of how student identities are shaped through participation in public education. An ontology of critical pedagogy and an epistemology of anti-oppressive/strengths-based discourse is used to co-construct researcher and participant accounts of school story. Creativity and depth of conversation is invited through usage of arts-informed, narrative methodologies to inform person-centred dialogue; with collage making serving as the introductory method to open researcher and participant exchange. Space is given to enable the participant articulation of their story pictorially, thus unconventionally. The purpose of this inquiry is to glean insight into the personal impact of school-based oppression (named in this study as educational stratification) from the perspective of the student participant. This study likewise serves to facilitate and demonstrate anti-oppressive possibilities to research, learning, and relating in spheres of research, pedagogy, and beyond. Most importantly, student voice is invited to inform and possibly reform education practices.
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    An Evaluation of the Paths Curriculum in the Context of Theories of Social-Emotional Development
    (Mount Saint Vincent University, 2019-10) Foley, Bláthnaid
    Experiencing trauma, particularly within the primary caregiving environment can have a negative effect on the development of social-emotional skills, particularly self-regulation in children. School success is dependent upon social-emotional skills making it important for schools to have programs that teach social-emotional skills. PATHS is a social-emotional learning program widely used in schools in Nova Scotia. The study examined whether PATHS is a good curriculum to use in schools with children who have experienced trauma using a framework based on research about social-emotional learning and the developmental needs of traumatized children identified by the Attachment Regulation Competency (ARC) model. In general, the PATHS curriculum introduces social-emotional skills in a manner that could be beneficial for all students, but additional supports would likely be needed to address the individual areas of competency and difficulty and build the necessary skills of children who have experienced trauma. Recommendations are about implementing PATHS in a real school environment.
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    Evidence Based Best Practices in the Teaching of Written Expression: Implications for the Atlantic Provinces Educational Outcomes
    (Mount Saint Vincent University, 2013) Roberts, Crystal D.
    This thesis examined evidence-based best practices in the teaching of written expression in two phases. The first phase, linked evidence-based research on writing instruction directly to Atlantic Canada Curriculum outcomes (Grades 4-6) in writing. In the second phase, the Teaching in Action document (Nova Scotia Department of Education, 2007) was analyzed to determine the nature of evidence for the components of effective instruction as explained by the Learning Oriented Teaching (LOT) model (Cate, Snell, Mann, & Vermunt, 2004). Effective components in instruction include the development of basic writing skills, metacognitive skills, motivation and the gradual release of responsibility from teacher to student. This thesis can benefit Nova Scotia teachers as it can serve as a clear and simple reference that links empirically supported teaching practices to curriculum outcomes. It also provides recommendations to enrich outcomes within the English language arts curriculum.