OISE/UT Bulletin 2000/2001 -- University of Toronto Graduate Studies in Education
Interdepartmental Graduate Specializations
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INTERDEPARTMENTAL GRADUATE SPECIALIZATIONS

Faculty in several departments are collaborating in the development of interdepartmental specializations to facilitate program selection and planning for students who wish to pursue studies in an area of specialization which involves two or more OISE/UT departments. Participating faculty and departments are working toward establishing common courses and comprehensive requirements for these specializations. At this time the five interdepartmental specializations described in this section have been formally established.

Students must still apply to a specific department, but those interested in enroling in an interdepartmental specialization should so indicate on the Application for Admission Form A(1), Section 17.

Aboriginal Education (pending approval)

The Aboriginal Education specialization at OISE/UT is a collaborative initiative coordinated through the Aboriginal Interdepartmental Initiatives Group linking students and faculty in Departments of Adult Education, Community Development and Counselling Psychology (AECDCP); Curriculum, Teaching, and Learning (CTL); Sociology and Equity Studies in Education (SESE); and Theory and Policy Studies (TPS) (see relevant departmental information pages 50, 161 and 163) as well as involving the Indigenous Education Network (IEN - a collaborative network of students and faculty engaged in Aboriginal Education and Research), the Aboriginal Student Caucus (a collaborative network of Aboriginal students), the OISE/UT Midnorthern Native Focus Centre, Sudbury, and the proposed Aboriginal Education and Research Centre. Faculty supervise master's research projects, qualifying research papers, and both master's and doctoral theses within the focus. Courses are offered at B.Ed., M.Ed., M.A., Ed.D. and Ph.D. levels with anticipation of developing and implementing a community-based Aboriginal Teacher Education program.

This focus addresses current issues, trends, perspectives, and models of Aboriginal education through historical, cultural, spiritual, social and political philosophies and themes. Important in this specialization are roles of schools, media, institutions, organizations, governments and historical and contemporary policy in producing and maintaining conditions of constraint, images of "nativeness", social and class differences, dominance, control politics, and social inequalities in regard to Aboriginal peoples. This specialization is concerned with countering myths about Aboriginal peoples, as well as drawing upon cultural and spiritual philosophies and practices, Elders, and oral traditions, and exploring policies that help protect cultural and linguistic rights. Issues of identities, languages, and stories, and historic and current realities of Aboriginal peoples are taken up in this specialization. Areas of international, national, and local, research, teaching, and practice include Aboriginal perspectives/strategies for self-government, Aboriginal languages, healing and wellness, traditions and peacekeeping, culturally based education, and designing of curriculum as well as Aboriginal educators' lived experiences, structures of formal education for Aboriginal students, tuition agreement issues, Aboriginal self-determination in public education systems, Aboriginal participation and involvement in education councils/committees, assertion of Aboriginal world views and pedagogy in education, and Aboriginal inclusiveness in Native/Aboriginal Studies. Other areas of interest in Aboriginal education are also taken up according to the research interests of faculty and students. This specialization aims to develop and deepen student's capacity to take an Aboriginal oriented perspective to analysis of a variety of pedagogic and theoretical approaches.

Admission Requirements

Applicants must meet the admission requirements of a participating OISE/UT department. (It is possible to apply to more than one department, rank ordering department preference on the application form). Applicants must indicate the program code for Aboriginal Education on the Application for Admission Form A(1), Section 17. Students applying to the SESE department who are interested in this specialization should select the Aboriginal and Indigenous Studies in Education focus. Students applying to the AECDCP department should select the Learning and Teaching specialization.

Program Requirements

Individual student programs must meet the requirements of both the home department and the Aboriginal Education specialization. At least three courses must be taken from the Aboriginal focused courses listed below. Students who choose to work in this specialization and who are required by the home department to complete a comprehensive examination and Major Research Paper or a thesis may be supervised by faculty involved in the specialization.

Faculty Advisors

Students will be advised by faculty from their home department who are also participants in the Aboriginal Education specialization: E. Antone, B. Hall, L. Fitznor, P. Gamlin, and E. O'Sullivan (AECDCP); B. Burnaby and S. Stiegelbauer (CTL); G. Burns, G. Sefa Dei, J. Iseke-Barnes, P. Olson, and N. Wane (SESE); D. Corson and J. Magnusson (TPS).

Courses

Aboriginal focused courses that may be counted toward the specialization in Aboriginal Education include: AEC1171, AEC1180; CTL1018, CTL3022 and SES courses listed in the 2970-2980 range. Additional courses of interest to students in this specialization include: AEC1104, AEC1160, AEC1177, AEC3126, AEC3134, AEC3174, AEC3175; CTL3031; SES1902, SES1923, SES1925, SES1950, SES1951, SES1958; TPS1019, TPS1045 and TPS3042. Students may be approved for additional special topics courses with Aboriginal content under AEC3131, CTL1799, CTL1999, SES2999, SES3998, and TPS1852.

For further information, contact:

Laara Fitznor, Assistant Professor, Conditional, Coordinator, Aboriginal Interdepartmental

Initiatives Group (AIIG)
Telephone: (416) 923-6641, ext. 2345
Fax: (416) 926-4749
E-mail: lfitznor@oise.utoronto.ca
Web site: fcis.oise.utoronto.ca/~Aboriginal-Ed

Dr. Barbara Burnaby, Professor
Telephone: (416) 923-6641, ext. 2341
Fax: (416) 926-4744
E-mail: bburnaby@oise.utoronto.ca

Dr. Judy Iseke-Barnes, Assistant Professor
Telephone: (416) 923-6641 ext. 2726
Fax: (416) 926-4751
E-mail: jisekebarnes@oise.utoronto.ca

Dr. George Burns, Associate Professor
Head, Midnorthern Native Focus Centre

31 Tuddenham Ave.
Sudbury, Ontario P3C 3E9
Telephone: (705) 674-8442
Fax: (705) 671-1582
E-mail: gburns@oise.utoronto.ca

ADAPTIVE INSTRUCTION

The Departments of Curriculum, Teaching and Learning; and Human Development and Applied Psychology offer an interdepartmental specialization in Adaptive Instruction. This program examines issues related to the learning characteristics and education of students with diverse needs in the regular classroom. Candidates selecting this specialization develop an understanding of developmental diversity and instructional strategies that make learning accessible to children and adults with special needs. The impact of heterogeneous classrooms on teachers and teaching is considered.

For details, see the Adaptive Instruction section under each of the above participating department's listings, pages 81 - 82 and 135.

Admission Requirements

Applicants are admitted to one of the departments and must meet the admission requirements of that department. They should indicate "Adaptive Instruction" as their area of specialization on their application form.

Faculty Advisors

Students will be advised by faculty from their home departments who are also participants in the Adaptive Instruction interdepartmental specialization:

A. Jordan, P. Stanovich (CTL)

E. Geva, T. Humphries, D. Keating, P. Lindsay, C.R. Musselman, U. Shafrir, K. Stanovich

J. Wiener and D. Willows (HDAP).

GENDER EQUITY IN EDUCATION

The M.Ed. in Gender Equity in Education is designed as a specialization for educators who are interested in the professional applications of women's studies in schools. Though it is coordinated by the Centre for Women's Studies

in Education (CWSE), it involves faculty and students in a number of OISE/UT programs. Students may take the M.Ed. specialization in Gender Equity in Education in combination with the listed programs offered by the following departments:

Curriculum, Teaching and Learning

Sociology and Equity Studies in Education

Theory & Policy Studies in Education

The basis for this specialization includes the large number of feminist scholars on the OISE/UT faculty, the availability of extensive resources on women and schooling as well as curriculum materials in the OISE/UT Education Commons (Library) and in the Women's Educational Resources Collection. The CWSE provides support and facilities to students taking this specialization.

Admission Requirements

Applicants are admitted to one of the departmental programs listed above. They must indicate the program code for Gender Equity in Education on the Application for Admission Form A(1), Section 17. The specialization is especially appropriate for students who are working teachers or otherwise professionally active as educators.

Program Requirements

At least three courses must be taken in the Gender Equity in Education specialization. One of these, "Gender Equity in the Classroom" (taught in the Department of Sociology and Equity Studies in Education), is required. The remaining two may be selected from the list of courses below. Individual student programs must otherwise meet the requirements of the department in which they are registered.

Faculty Advisors

Students will be advised by faculty advisors from their home Department. Staff at CWSE will also be available. In M.Ed. programs which include a Major Research Paper, the Head of the Centre for Women's Studies in Education will be available to supervise. Students are advised to contact staff at the CWSE early in their program to learn more about the specialization and about the support and facilities available to them through the Centre.

For further information, contact:

•Caralee Price at CWSE
Telephone: 923-6641 ext. 2204
E-mail: cprice@oise.utoronto.ca
Website: www.oise.utoronto.ca/projects/inclusive

•Paula Bourne, Coordinator of CWSE
Telephone: 923-6641 ext. 2368
E-mail: pbourne@oise.utoronto.ca

Courses

Courses that may be counted toward the specialization in Gender Equity in Education include: AEC1156, AEC1253 and AEC3120; CTL1011, CTL1347, CTL1799, CTL1840, CTL4803; SES1920, SES1951, SES1953, SES1982, SES1987, SES2912 and SES2914; TPS1403, TPS1415, TPS1416, TPS1418, TPS1421, TPS1426, TPS1439, TPS3418 and TPS3029.

TRANSFORMATIVE LEARNING

The Transformative Learning interdepartmental specialization involves faculty and students from several OISE/UT departments who are taking an interdisciplinary approach to global ecological and social issues as they relate to education. In both master's and doctoral programs students can specialize in global issues while also registered in one of the following departments: Adult Education, Community Development and Counselling Psychology; Curriculum, Teaching and Learning; Theory & Policy Studies in Education; and Sociology and Equity Studies in Education.

The specialization is grounded in the assumption that the pressing global concerns of today cannot be understood through a conventional paradigm or through a single disciplinary approach. It integrates such areas as ecology, peace studies, anti-racist education, social justice issues, development studies, indigenous knowledge, native studies, religious studies, world-views and ways of life, social economy, theory of democracy, adult education and social change, participatory research, popular education, feminism, reproductive technologies, alternative futures, international migration, multiculturalism, popular culture, and family change.

Through the specialization its members have links with the International Institute for Global Education, the Faculty of Environmental Studies at York University, the Nicaraguan Institute of Popular Education and Research (INIES), the Global Education Project of the Ontario Teachers' Federation, and a variety of community-based organizations.

Admission Requirements

Applicants must meet the admission requirements of a participating OISE/UT department. (It is possible to apply to more than one department, rank ordering department preferences on the application form.) Applicants must indicate the program code for the Transformative Learning specialization on the Application for Admission Form A(1), Section 17. Students applying to the Department of Curriculum, Teaching and Learning who are interested in this interdepartmental specialization should select the Social Justice and Cultural Studies in Education specialization under the Curriculum programs (see page 83).

Program Requirements

Normally, half of a student's courses must be taken in the home department and half in the Transformative Learning specialization. Usually, because of overlap between departmental and specialization course offerings, it is possible to meet this requirement and still take courses elsewhere. Students can take more than the minimum required number of courses in their home department and in the specialization. In cases where the home department requires a comprehensive examination and Major Research Paper or a thesis, these will as far as possible be conducted or supervised by faculty involved in the specialization.

Faculty Advisors

Students will be advised by faculty from their home department who are also participants in the Transformative Learning specialization:

B.L. Hall, A.R. Miles, S. Mojab, J. Quarter, and E.V. O'Sullivan (AECDCP); K. Bickmore, J. Miller, and R.I. Simon (CTL);

G. Sefa Dei, M. Eichler, D. Livingstone, and D. Misgeld (TPS).

A student's thesis supervisor need not be from the home department. However, at least one thesis committee member must be.

Courses

Courses that may be counted toward the specialization in Transformative Learning include: AEC1105, AEC1111, AEC1131, AEC1136, AEC1143, AEC1144, AEC1146, AEC1148, AEC3116, and AEC3119; CTL1110, CTL1207, CTL1301; SES1900, SES1903, SES1909, SES1920, SES1921, SES1922, SES1924, and SES2914; TPS1405, TPS1420, TPS1422, TPS1428, TPS1429, TPS1434, TPS1444, TPS1481, TPS1489, TPS4323, and TPS3428.

WOMEN'S STUDIES/FEMINIST STUDIES

Women's Studies/Feminist Studies at OISE/UT involves faculty and students from a number of departments who share interests in this large and growing field of scholarship, activism, and research. Students can specialize in Women's Studies/Feminist Studies through master's and doctoral programs in most of OISE/UT's departments. Women's Studies/Feminist

Studies faculty in these departments may be consulted in the design of individualized programs of study.

Programs include courses at OISE/UT and at other departments of the university in the areas of women's/feminist studies, gender relations, and sex differences and similarities. The bases for this specialization include the large number of feminist scholars on the OISE/UT faculty, a variety of research projects, the many students working in the area, the Women's Educational Resource Collection, and the Centre for Women's Studies in Education (CWSE), which has a strong and active research program.

NOTE: There is also an interdepartmental specialization - the M.Ed. in Gender Equity in Education - which is coordinated by the Centre for Women's Studies in Education (CWSE). (See page 221.)

Admission Requirements

Applicants must meet the admission requirements of a participating department. They must also indicate the program code for Women's Studies/Feminist Studies on the Application for Admission Form A(1), Section 17. Students with undergraduate degrees or course-work in women's studies are especially strong applicants for this specialization.

Program Requirements

Individual student programs must meet the requirements of the home department. There are no specific required courses at either the master's or doctoral level. However, it is expected that the majority of the required departmental and extra-departmental courses will be in Women's Studies/Feminist Studies. Courses outside the department will be determined in consultation with the faculty advisor. Where required, doctoral students take comprehensive examinations planned by Women's Studies/Feminist Studies representatives of the home department so as to meet the degree requirements of the department and of the specialization.

Faculty Advisors

Students will be advised by faculty from their home department who are also participants in the Women's Studies/Feminist Studies interdepartmental specialization: M. Laiken,

A.R. Miles, S. Mojab, R. Ng, N. Piran, L. Stermac and M.A. Schneider (AECDCP);

J. Aitken, K. Bickmore, D. Gérin-Lajoie and E. Smyth (CTL);

S. Acker, K. Dehli, M. Eichler, H. Lenskyj, R.R. Pierson, S. Razack, K. Rockhill and D.E. Smith (SESE);

N. Bascia, D. Bogdan, J.L. Magnusson, C. Morgan and L. Muzzin (TPS).

In selecting a thesis supervisor, students are not restricted to faculty from their home departments. Students are advised to contact the Centre for Women's Studies in Education (CWSE), early in their program.

Courses

A complete listing of courses taught by feminist faculty and courses taught with a pro-feminist perspective is provided in a handbook available from the Centre for Women's Studies in Education (CWSE).

OISE/UT Bulletin 2000/2001 -- University of Toronto Graduate Studies in Education
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