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What are the experiences of beginning queer educators? We followed four LGBTQ-identified teachers as they began their teaching careers. As pre-service teachers, they took on leadership roles advocating for LGBTQ-inclusive education. Their stories were diverse: from feeling empowered and accepted, to being conflicted about coming out, to being the sole advocate for LGBTQ-inclusive education, to experiencing school leadership and climates that ranged from supportive to hostile. We are encouraged by their resilience and agency, yet deeply concerned by some of their negative experiences. Systemic work remains to be done not only for LGBTQ youth but also for LGBTQ educators in schools.

Our study provides examples of how critical curricula and social justice education can be brought together to inform teacher education. Building upon our ongoing longitudinal study, which investigates the impact of an integrated LGBTQ awareness program, we focus in this article on five pre-service teachers who identified critical incidents in schools related to transphobia and gender construction, and who were concerned about the enduring gender binary that presents itself in schools. Their experiences highlight the ways in which gender surveillance, both overtly and covertly, reinscribes heteronormativity, and that homophobia, transphobia, and gender stereotypes need to be continuously challenged.

Anti-oppressive pedagogical practices that counter the marginalization of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, two-spirit, queer, and/or questioning youth continue to foster new understanding in teacher education. Researchers note that many pre-service teachers are not prepared to address classroom concerns regarding homophobia, heterosexism, and cisnormativity, fail to identify biases in curricular materials, and resist ideas related to the intersectionality of race, class, ethnicity, gender, ability, and sexuality. While Canadian teacher education programs generally espouse a commitment to equity education, there continues to be a need to provide explicit education on how to create safe and inclusive classrooms and schools for LGBTQ+ learners. The voices of LGBTQ+ pre-service teacher educators are particularly important in terms of understanding what challenges are reduced or remain in teacher education programs adopting an anti-homophobic and anti-transphobic stance. Results from our ongoing work suggests that when faculties of education advocate for safe and positive climates, LGBTQ+ pre-service teachers can bring their full selves into the program. In this article, we explore how the anti-oppressive training related to LGBTQ+ learners and inclusive curricula impacted the experiences of pre-service LGBTQ+ teachers in our program, as presented through their perceptions of who they were in the program, their concerns about who they might be in schools, and their suggestions for acknowledging and implementing antioppressive education in formal and informal educational spaces.

This case study explores the impact of an English language Arts Secondary methods class that focused on learning with and from Indigenous people. By participating in a number of in-class activities, taking a field trip, and engaging in a critical service-learning project that helped decentre the learner/teacher relationship, many non-Indigenous pre-service teachers were able to transform their understandings. Quantitative and qualitative data illustrate that most pre-service teachers challenged stereotypes, deficit thinking, and expanded their awareness; however, a minority experienced some levels of cognitive dissonance as their own privileged worldviews were challenged. This study explores the hope and challenges of decolonizing education, and a continuing need to imagine otherwise.

The modern Learning City concept emerged from the work of OECD on lifelong learning with streams of Learning Cities and Educating Cities having much in common but having little contact with each other. While the early development of Learning Cities in the West has not been sustained, the present situation is marked by the dynamic development of Learning Cities in East Asia--especially in China, the Republic of Korea, and Taiwan. In this context, the paper discusses the evolution of three generations of Learning Cities since 1992 and speculates on the future. The experience of the first generation is discussed in terms of development in the UK, Germany, Canada, and Australia where initiatives, with some exceptions, have not been sustained. Beijing and Shanghai are discussed as examples of the innovative second generation in East Asia, which is seen as a community relations model in response to the socio-economic transformation of these countries. International interest in Learning Cities has now been enhanced following a major UNESCO International Conference on Learning Cities in Beijing in October 2013, which is to be followed by a Second International Conference in Mexico City. The Beijing Conference adopted the Beijing Declaration on Learning Cities supported by a Key Features document. The paper speculates on possible future development post Mexico City, including the situation in Australia, which is seen as opening opportunities for innovative initiatives.

The mandate for school boards to develop self-identification policies for First Nation, Métis, and Inuit students is part of the 2007 Ministry of Education's "Ontario First Nation, Métis and Inuit Education Policy Framework." In this paper, we share findings from a larger study on the Framework that examines Métis student self-identification processes and assesses barriers, challenges, opportunities, and best practices. We draw on themes from a literature review concerning Métis education and we examine data from an online survey and key interviews with school administrators responsible for initiatives to support Métis students' self-identification. The survey and interviews took place in the winter of 2011. We find that, for the self-identification policy to be effective, teachers, administrators, and support staff (clerks, receptionists, secretaries, and teaching/educational assistants) must build a school climate that welcomes Métis learners and parents, families, and communities and affirms their historical and contemporary values in practice. This way, students and their families may feel comfortable to identify as Métis.

This research describes the impact of an integrated training program (Positive Space I and Positive Space II) on pre-service teachers' understandings of and abilities to create safe spaces for lesbian, gay, bi-sexual, transgendered, two-spirited, queering and/or questioning (LGBTQ) youth and allies in schools. Our Bachelor of Education program incorporates these workshops as part of sociology of education and inclusion classes that are mandatory courses for all pre-service teachers. Our findings suggest that for the pre-service teachers we teach, the Positive Space program is needed if they are to be allies and to interrupt heteronormativity.

In this article we share the impact of a training program (Positive Space I and Positive Space II) on pre-service teachers' understandings of and abilities to create safe spaces for Lesbian, Gay, Bi-sexual, Transgendered and Queering/Questioning (LGBTQ) youth and allies in our teacher-education program and in schools. Research has demonstrated LGBTQ youth are more likely to feel unsafe, alienated and more vulnerable than their heterosexual counterparts in schools and society. Our discussion focuses upon the impact of this training program, and considers challenges and best practices to build awareness and allies in our own highereducation context, as well as to help create better learning communities for LGBTQ youth and allies in schools. We suggest this particular program is an example of how to work towards the development of a pedagogy that does not oppress; one that truly embraces, celebrates, and honours all learners.

Although numerous universities offer graduate students opportunities to develop their teaching, few studies probe the credit-bearing graduate course in college teaching. A survey of 105 instructors of graduate pedagogy courses in the US and Canada explored their preparation, professional appointments, students, and assignments. Results showed diverse institutional units offer college pedagogy courses, which are taught by instructors with substantial preparation, most frequently to multidisciplinary groups from diverse majors. Many instructors assign teaching statements, though specifics differ. Comparison to the authors' earlier case study reveals an emerging, recognizable, and international course type that coheres in structure, timing, and at least one key assignment. The ubiquity of college pedagogy courses recommends substantial institutional investment, scholarly analysis, and professorial discussion to align them with the contemporary goals and standards of graduate education.

In 2007, the Ontario Government implemented the "Ontario First Nation, Métis, and Inuit Education Policy Framework." Some schools and school boards have been active in piloting and supporting these initiatives. Because this is a newly implemented policy direction, I wanted to begin to assess best practices and challenges, so I asked participants at one school board and one high school what impact their participation in the Aboriginal education program initiatives had on them professionally, academically, and personally. The Aboriginal programming initiatives, like the ones in which I have participated and studied, have been found to be personally and academically/professionally transformative for administrators, teachers, and youth. As Indigenous-focused curriculum is brought into the mainstream, and as a space is created to consider and include Indigenous perspectives, there is potential for Indigenous and non-Indigenous participants to experience powerful learning opportunities, some of which may transform their perceptions of Canadian history and for contemporary Indigenous people to be valued, though many challenges remain systemically to decolonize the educational realm.

This study examines the impact of high-stakes, large-scale, standardized literacy testing on youth who have failed the Ontario Secondary School Literacy Test. Interviews with youth indicate that the unintended impact of high-stakes testing is more problematic than policy makers and educators may realize. In contrast to literacy policy's aims to help promote the "well-being" of all learners, and "equity" within the educational system; youth attest to feeling "shame" and show further marginalization due to this testing mechanism. These findings suggest that it is necessary to broaden the dialogue about the impact of high-stakes standardized literacy testing and its effects. (Contains 2 footnotes.)

This study traces the learning journey of primarily non-Indigenous educators who challenged the legacy of colonization in schools, and worked to decolonize their practice, through their participation in a specialized graduate cohort. Drawing upon sharing circle conversations, we highlight themes that emerged from our research. Educators reported their sense of agency to transform and change their practice increased with the support of a critical and caring learning community. In nourishing their learning spirits, educators were able to begin to decolonize education, an ongoing challenge that requires valuing Indigenous people, languages, and land, and building inter-cultural understanding. This study is an example of how graduate programming can begin to address the Calls to Action of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

Copyright of Journal of Field Ornithology is the property of Resilience Alliance and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Critical challenges facing teacher educators at faculties of education is how to prepare teacher candidates to see schools situated in larger social contexts and support their ongoing learning as social justice advocates. Anti-oppressive work that challenges the marginalization of Lesbian, Gay, Bi-sexual, Transgender, Two-Spirited, Queering and/or Questioning (LGBTQ) youth is critical to this work. The purpose of this paper is twofold, first to understand the impact of the Positive Space program on teacher candidates' reasons and abilities to act as allies and social justice advocates. Second, we explore the process of teacher candidates becoming knowledgeable, empowered, and action-oriented for, with, and as LGBTQ community members and the ways they challenge heteronormativity and the gender binary through the formal and informal curriculum.

High-stakes standardized literacy testing is not neutral and continues to build upon the legacy of dominant power relations in the state in its ability to sort, select and rank students and ultimately produce and name some youth as illiterate in contrast to an ideal white, male, literate citizen. I trace the effects of high-stakes standardized testing by using the voices of 16 youth who failed the Ontario Secondary School Literacy Test (OSSLT) to illustrate how the "illiterate youth" revealed to students, schools, and communities by this test is culturally and socially constructed. In an age where multiple literacies are more and more valued, standardized literacy testing acts as a form of social control projected upon the "adolescent" body that has historically been deemed "other" or "deficient." Just as colonized subjects needed to be "civilized," so youth now need to acquire a state defined literacy in a competitive and fast paced learning environment. This article helps to demonstrate how power operates on marginalized youth through standardized literacy testing that is being used transnationally.

There are increasing calls for pre-service educators to be responsive and responsible for anti-homophobic education. This research builds on the ongoing efforts to integrate Positive Space training in our two-year Bachelor of Education programme. We found through a series of focus group and individual interviews that pre-service teachers were aware of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgendered, and Queering/Questioning (LGBTQ) oppression, witnessed it in schools, employed a range of strategies, but also experienced challenges due to power dynamics in schools, and may not have recognised the power of their interruptions. Our findings suggest that Positive Space training is valuable and necessary and needs to continue to be explicitly embedded in core courses so that all pre-service teachers, regardless of their discipline, develop the skills and attitudes necessary to be advocates for LGBTQ individuals.

The PASCAL International Exchanges (PIE) project was developed to facilitate online exchanges of information and experience between learning cities around the world and, in doing this, to test the potential of the internet to enable such low-cost exchanges. The author provides a personal assessment of the PIE experience over the three years 2011 to 2013, and comments on selected significant themes emerging from PIE during these years.

• Cycling mentorship programs were effective in increasing cycling for transportation. • Cycling increased for shopping, work and school trips. • Participants increased cycling in suburban as well as more central areas. • Participants increased their willingness to spend on a bicycle and accessories. Policy statements and planning documents of many North American municipalities recognize the benefits of increased cycling, however, rates of bicycling for transport remain low and programming interventions have been limited and rarely rigorously evaluated. We investigate the impact of four cycling mentorship interventions based in non-cycling partner organizations on: cycling behaviour, attitudes towards cycling, and willingness to spend on bicycles and accessories. Residents, mostly newcomers to Canada, participated in 12–16 week cycling mentorship programs, involving personal support from an experienced cyclist. They were provided with safety training, bicycles, locks and helmets and publicly committed to participate in the program. 146 of the 197 participants completed entry and exit surveys. At program exit each participant cycled on average an additional 1.8 days per week to shopping (p ≤ 0.001) and an additional 1.35 days per week to work and school (p ≤ 0.001) compared to program entry. At program exit, participants were willing to spend 23% more on a bicycle and 32% more (p < 0.01) on accessories like carriers, helmets and locks. They were more confident about the rules of the road and were aware of safe streets for riding in their neighbourhood. They were less confident of finding a safe route and more aware of the relative rarity of women cyclists. The programs were effective in increasing cycling for transport regardless of the distance people lived from their respective central business district. These results are promising and suggest that with sufficient support people will bicycle in neighbourhoods throughout the region. Increased availability of cycling infrastructure would likely increase confidence in finding a safe route and improve these results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article extends recent scholarship on women’s rhetorical education and practices, which has focused primarily on the experiences of American women, by analyzing the career of Canadian elocutionist Edna Sutherland (1869–1956). Despite the tendency in Canada’s postsecondary institutions to marginalize public speaking instruction as a merely “practical” concern, Sutherland pursued a 35-year academic career, teaching voice culture and becoming Dean of Women successively at the University of Manitoba and Manitoba College. The article examines her negotiation of local circumstances to achieve this success as an instance of rhetorical resilience. Ultimately, Sutherland’s performative abilities complemented her private and college teaching, while the cultural authority she gained as a result supported her contributions to public life, many focused on opportunities for women. The article considers as well how American and British influences on her advocacy for speech training may reflect broader national trends. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The article discusses the challenges and possibilities of educational policy for Métis in Canada and for the Inuit in Ontario. Topics include the Ontario First Nation, Métis and Inuit Education Policy Framework in 2007, a survey which aims to understand the implications of Indigenous education policy on Métis learners, and the Métis Holistic Lifelong Learning Model.

Copyright of Journal of Otolaryngology -- Head & Neck Surgery is the property of Sage Publications Inc. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

A personal narrative is presented which explores the author's experience as a baseball player of Nelson Juniors team as well as participating a tournament at Victoria Day in Canada.

This article reports on the 1999 symposium on information systems assurance panel discussion on SysTrust. The panelists' presentations were coordinated to elicit their views on information technology risks, systems reliability principles, and the role of assurance (e.g., SysTrust) from the perspective of the roles they represented. Section 5900 is the existing audit standard in Canada for reporting on design, existence and/or effectiveness of control procedures to achieve stated internal control objectives. It was designed to be undertaken by auditors at service organizations. However, unlike SysTrust, there is no uniform framework, no principles, and no criteria for such reports. Unlike SAS No. 70, there is no requirement under Section 5900 to assess the completeness of the stated internal control objectives. Despite inconsistencies in Section 5900 reporting, overall it does seem to have been a reasonably successful product. While the Section 5900 reporting may be inconsistent. There is a need for a recognized assurance standard that minimizes as much as possible any management bias. It seems that internal auditors would do well to consider recommending SysTrust for external assurance, and using it.

Taken together, the ascendancy of community care and the dominant role of the state as a funder of services have meant that private sector residential care for people with mental health problems is now a rarity in most countries. Yet private asylums have persisted in some places. The authors propose an analytical framework for understanding such ′institutional survivals′. This frame- work problematises the public - private and community - asylum boundaries that have hitherto been taken for granted. The framework is applied to case studies in Canada and New Zealand. Survival of these institutions is found to be centrally associated with accommodations with legislative environments, proactive innovation, and the availability of markets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Presents research which conducted elemental mapping on specimens found in the Burgess Shale. Evolutionary importance of the Burgess Shale; Varying anatomical features of specimens; Varying compositions of minerals that replicated the decaying organism; Contrasts in tissue chemistry; Role of authigenic mineralization in fossil preservation.