OISE/UT Bulletin 2000/2001 -- University of Toronto Graduate Studies in Education
Graduate Interdisciplinary Research Foci
Search the Bulletin for a word or phrase:

GRADUATE INTERDISCIPLINARY RESEARCH FOCI

The term focus has been chosen as a relatively informal term to refer to interdisciplinary emphases in graduate studies at OISE/UT which may help individual students orient their studies toward a specific problem area.

It must be emphasized that a focus does not constitute a program, and hence a student cannot enrol in a focus or obtain a degree in a focus. A student who participates in a focus must be enrolled in a departmental program, and must be receiving basic training in an educational discipline (or disciplines). However, applicants interested in one of these areas are encouraged to specify so at the time of application within their Statement of Intent

The foci described here vary in breadth, detail, and availability of courses from year to year. It must be emphasized that they are intended to serve as guides to students' program planning at OISE/UT in relation to their professional roles, interests, and long-term goals.

CRITICAL PEDAGOGY AND CULTURAL STUDIES

This focus is concerned with how education (broadly construed) has fostered symbolic dominance (often in conjunction with physical and material oppression), and how such injustice might be transcended by a critical pedagogy. Substantive research interests include: the relevance and social construction of sexuality, gender, disability, ethnicity, race, language and class to social, educational, and communicative competencies and capacities; critical ethnography; analysis of cultural forms and practices of representation in writing, text, music, film, television, and youth styles; the culture of the school and its communities; global peace and education; critical multiculturalism and anti-racism in education; Aboriginal education; comparative and Third World education; education and the labour market; the political economy of education; teachers as workers; studies of state formation and moral regulation; ideologies; issues of history, memory and pedagogies of space and time; critical reformulations of humanities curricula; and development of critical and reflexive teaching materials and strategies.

Faculty actively working in this focus are:

L. Fitznor, A. Miles, S. Mojab, R. Ng, E. O'Sullivan, J. Quarter and D. Schugurensky (AECDCP);

K. Bickmore, C. Conle, D. Corson, J. Cummins, J-A. Dillabough, D. Gérin-Lajoie, T. Goldstein, D. Hodson, M. Kooy, R. Morgan, E. Pedretti, D. Selby, R.I. Simon and P. Trifonas (CTL);

G. Burns, K. Dehli, G. Sefa Dei, M. Heller, J. Iseke-Barnes, H. Lenskyj, D.W. Livingstone, C.P. Olson, S.H. Razack and K. Rockhill (SESE);

D. Bogdan and C. Morgan (TPS).

Interested students may consult Roxana Ng (AECDCP).

ÉTUDES EN FRANÇAIS

Le Département de curriculum, d'enseignement et d'apprentissage, en collaboration avec le centre de recherches en éducation franco-ontarienne, offre un programme multidisciplaire de M.Ed. qui s'intitule «Études franco-ontariennes en éducation» et qui se donne entièrement en français par le biais de l'éducation à distance. Trois cours sont obligatoires. Il s'agit des cours CTL1000 Fondements des programmes scolaires, SES1900 Introduction à la sociologie de l'éducation et un cours de méthodes de recherche (quantitative, CTL2007 ou qualitative, CTL1306). Quelques cours sont aussi offerts sur place à Toronto. Il est à noter que le programme à distance est ouvert également à la clientèle étudiante de Toronto.

Pour de plus amples détails sur les cours de ce programme, veuillez consulter les sections «Department of Curriculum, Teaching and Learning» et «Department of Sociology and Equity Studies in Education». Les étudiants et les étudiantes doivent tenir compte des conditions d'admission en vigueur au Département de curriculum, d'enseignement et d'apprentissage. Pour tout renseignement, veuillez contacter le Bureau de la coordonnatrice de la programmation en français au poste 2290, ou le Bureau du registraire de l'IEPO/UT, au poste 2608.

FOUNDATIONS OF EDUCATION AND SOCIETY

This planned focus will offer mature professionals an opportunity to pursue an interdisciplinary master's level degree together with an intellectual peer community. As currently envisioned, course offerings will combine a broadly-based portfolio of courses in social sciences and humanities, examining major issues in contemporary education and society. The heart of this focus will be a unique opportunity for the student cohort to consider these issues in a special seminar setting.

Interested students are encouraged to contact:

Prof. David Levine, Department of
Theory & Policy Studies in Education
Telephone: (416) 923-6641 ext. 2509
E-mail: dlevine@oise.utoronto.ca

GLOBAL EDUCATION

Global education is an holistic paradigm of education predicated upon the interconnectedness of communities, lands and peoples, the interrelatedness of all social, cultural and natural phenomena, the interlocking nature of past, present and future and the complementary nature of the cognitive, affective, physical and spiritual dimensions of the human being. It addresses issues of citizenship, development, equity, health, peace, social justice, and environmental sustainability. Its scope encompasses the personal, the local, the regional and bioregional, the national and planetary. Congruent with its precepts and principles, its methodology is experiential, interactive, learner-centred, democratic, convivial, participatory and change-oriented.

Work in curriculum and professional development is undertaken with K-12 teachers and in non-formal and adult/community educational settings. Teaching, research and development work are undertaken across Canada and in partnership with universities, non-governmental organizations and ministries of education in the developing world (often under the auspices of United Nations bodies).

Faculty involved include: K. Bickmore, M. Evans, T. Goldstein, J. Myers and D. Selby.

Information on courses is available from:

Sonia Hopwood
252 Bloor Street West, Room 10-110
Telephone: (416) 923-6641 ext. 2863

LANGUAGE AND CRITICAL PEDAGOGY

Linguistic and cultural diversity has always characterized human societies and has played a central role in mediating power relations between dominant and subordinated groups. In the subordinated Canadian context, the suppression of the languages and cultures of First Nations and Inuit peoples, of francophone and immigrant minorities, and of the deaf has contributed substantially to social inequality. Linguistic factors also intersect in complex ways with unequal relations of gender and class.

Students who are interested in exploring how language use and language learning interact with dimensions such as class, race, ethnicity, and gender in mediating power relations within education are encouraged to consult with the following faculty members: J. Cummins, D. Gérin-Lajoie, N. Labrie and R. Morgan (CTL); D. Corson (TPS); M. Heller (SESE).

Learning and work

This focus is devoted to pursuing critical investigations of all aspects of learning that may be relevant to work. Learning includes formal schooling and continuing education courses, but also informal self-directed and collective learning in workplace, household and community spheres. Work includes various forms of paid employment, domestic labour and community volunteer activities. Many aspects of learning-work relations are addressed: connections between early family socialization and career choices, learning and the creation of socially responsible work, economic restructuring and technological education, as well as the treatment of work in school curricula, the relevance of vocational schooling and informal learning for getting a job, the array of continuing and informal learning activities in work organizations, comparisons of the learning practices involved in housework and paid employment, systemic underemployment of learning capacities in relation to class, gender, racial, generational and other social differences, learning practices of unemployed people, and the democratization of learning and work.

Most faculty teaching in this focus are associated with either the Learning, Work and Change focus in the Department of Sociology and Equity Studies in Education or the Workplace Learning and Change focus in the Department of Adult Education, Community Development and Counselling Psychology. Much of the relevant research is conducted through the Centre for Study of Education and Work, and the Research Network for New Approaches to Lifelong Learning, which bring together researchers and practitioners from across Canada.

OISE/UT faculty associated with this focus include:

B. Hall, M. Laiken, S. Mojab, R. Ng, J. Quarter, D. Schugurensky, A. Thomas and A. Tough (AECDCP);

S. Acker, G. Burns,K. Dehli, G. Sefa Dei, E. Harvey, D. Livingstone and P. Olson (SESE); D. Corson (TPS)

For information about focus activities, contact:

David Livingstone, Department of Sociology and Equity Studies in Education, OISE/UT
Telephone: (416) 923-6641 ext. 2703
Fax: (416) 926-4751
E-mail: dlivingston@oise.utoronto.ca

OR

Jack Quarter, Department of Adult Education, Community Development and Counselling Psychology, OISE/UT
Telephone: (416) 923-6641 ext. 2576
E-mail: jquarter@oise.utoronto.ca

THE NATURE AND DEVELOPMENT OF LITERACY

Literacy is a term that denotes forms of competence and sociocultural relations important in understanding and participating in the notational systems of modern society. This focus is concerned with the forms of thinking and the forms of social action that literacy makes possible, and that make literacy possible, in school and societal settings.

Research interests pursued within this focus include: literacy, language and learning; literacy and the structure of competence; literacy and knowledge-building; literacy and political formations; assessment of literacy; the social contexts of adult literacy; culture, context, and second-language learning; literature and literacy; literate computer environments; literacy and gender; social literacies; the sociocultural organization of literacy events; and critical literacy.

Faculty involved in teaching and research on literacy include:

J.A. Draper and B.L. Hall(AECDCP);

J. Aitken, D. Booth, B.J. Burnaby, A. Cumming, L.D. McLean, R. Morgan,

M. Scardamalia, and C.G. Wells (CTL);

C. Bereiter, A. Biemiller, E. Geva, K.E. Stanovich, and D.M. Willows (HDAP);

M. Heller and K. Rockhill (SESE);

D. Bogdan and D. Corson (TPS).

Students are encouraged to refer to program requirements in their home department.

Courses of possible interest include: CTL1003, CTL1004, CTL1005, CTL1006, CTL1008, CTL1009, CTL1301, CTL1803, CTL1805, CTL1860, CTL1921, CTL3015, CTL3017 and CTL3020; HDP1285, HDP1286, HDP1290, HDP1299, HDP3209, HDP3286, HDP3292, HDP4271, HDP4275, HDP4280, HDP4292, HDP4924, HDP5281, and HDP5284; SES1910, SES1952, and SES1956; TPS1045, TPS1462, TPS1484, TPS1485, and TPS3436.

For information about focus activities, contact

C.G. Wells (CTL) or E. Geva (HDAP).

OISE/UT Bulletin 2000/2001 -- University of Toronto Graduate Studies in Education
Search the Bulletin for a word or phrase: