Oct 28, 2018 | 1:30 PM - 3:00 PM | Loft 2

Rachel Ewan, MA Wilfrid Laurier

A Document Analysis of "Getting it done: Real change at Toronto Community Housing"

I utilize findings from a document analysis to disclose the ways in which Toronto public housing residents are constructed by way of discourse. The analysis highlights how stereotypical notions of public housing residents are produced, and reinforced, through policy discourse. The document in question is titled “Getting it done: Real change at Toronto Community Housing.” The Toronto Community Housing Corporation (TCHC) created this policy proposal in response to a report written by the Mayor’s Task Force— a group of experts appointed to evaluate the operation performance of TCHC. Firstly, I position myself as a doctoral student and TCHC resident of 20 years. Secondly, I provide background information about TCHC, and the formation of the Mayor’s Task Force. Thirdly, the concepts of Governmentality and “Power and Discourse” are briefly reviewed as analytical frameworks. Finally, I present a summary of findings and themes emanating from this document analysis, including: “Accountability”, “Responsibility Diversion”, “Community”, and “Troublesome Residents”. This document racializes language due to the fact that the majority of TCHC residents are people of colour.

Laura Wyper, PhD Algoma University

The Importance of Space: Translanguaging as Inclusive Space Making in Higher and Adult Education Classrooms

Translanguaging has often historically been thought of as a form of linguistic processing in language acquisition programs (Mazak and Carroll, 2017); yet, recently the concept has been viewed as a valuable teaching strategy, moving classrooms from places where “one story” hegemonic discourse dominates to places of pluralistic and more inclusive educational praxis. This move has been related to the recognition of language as a social construct and identity as something we “perform” (Creese and Blackledge, 2015, p. 21).  This was a qualitative research project involving a current literature and case studies review that also surveyed teaching faculty and students at the local university for their baseline understandings of this term, and their classroom strategies/usage. This research is meant to be used to advance excellence in adult education pedagogical approaches and the local university as it continued to concentrate on issues of equity in education. As such it supported the university’s strategic research plan in that it advanced knowledge related to “…identity, narrative, language, culture, community, and nationality as well as other aspects of the human experience.” (Algoma University, 2015, p. 6) while supporting the varying voices and worldviews in higher and adult education classrooms.

Biographies

Rachel Ewan, MEd

Rachel Ewan is a third year social work doctoral student at Wilfrid Laurier University. She has a B.A. in Early Childhood Studies and an M.Ed. in Adult Education and Community Development. Rachel is a Registered Early Childhood Educator with the City of Toronto, and a Part-time Professor at Seneca College for the Bachelor of Child Development Program. Rachel's research interests are in the areas of gender and social policy. She is presently the tenant representative of her neighbourhood, and has worked with children and families for over 10 years.

Laura Wyper, PhD

Dr. Laura Wyper graduated from the Department of Leadership, Higher and Adult Education in the Adult Education and Community Development Program, with a specialization is Comparative, International and Development Education at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE) at the University of Toronto. Laura Wyper has worked in adult education for 20 years across formal and non-formal settings in healthcare, in community level preventative health, and in education. She has worked within the Literacy and Basic Skills field in Ontario for a decade including as a Program Coordinator for three school-board-based adult non-credit programs for two LBS programs and an English as a Second language (ESL) program. Laura now works full-time as an Assistant Professor at Algoma University in the Community Economic and Social Development Department on issues of equity in adult education, anti-oppressive practice and sustainable development. Publications: Wyper, L. (2018). Neoliberal Conceptual Framing and the ‘Disappearing’ of Marginalized Adults from the Basic Adult Education Learning Landscape in Ontario. (Doctoral dissertation, OISE / University of Toronto, Ontario, Canada). “What is Basic Adult Education?...And Who Gets to Learn? European Society for Research on the Education of Adults: Exploring Learning Contexts: Implications for access, learning careers and identities” Conference book of abstracts. ESREA Access, Learning Careers and Identities Network Conference November 2-4, 2017, University Rennes 2, Rennes, France. Wyper, L. (2016). Neoliberal Conceptual Framing and the ‘Disappearing’ of Marginalized Adults from the Basic Adult Education Learning Landscape in Ontario. CASAE conference proceedings. Research Roundtable, Congress 2016: Calgary. Wyper, L. (2014). Transformative Leadership and Diversity: The Need for Change Agents, Followership, and Tipping Points in Our Educational Institutions. Journal of Global Citizenship & Equity Education. 4 (1) 1-11.