Democracy, Education and The Public Space: When Do Students Become Citizens? A Teacher’s Reflections on a Political Protest at School

This article describes a funding announcement by the prime minister of Canada at a high school in Winnipeg in February of 1998. The announcement was interrupted by a student protest, one that invoked harsh public criticism. Written from the perspective of a high school social studies teacher of 24 years, and drawing on eminent philosophers of politics and education, the paper discusses several implications for the practice of democracy and the involvement of youth in the public arena. The author concludes that youth involvement in public protest should be seen as an act that preserves democracy and one that serves as citizenship pedagogy. If so, teachers must navigate a pedagogic dilemma at the heart of citizenship education. Given the recent passage of Bill C 55 by the Canadian Parliament and the questions it raised over the role of public dissent, this discussion may be as relevant and necessary today as it was in 1998

An Apple A Day: Exploring Food and Agricultural Knowledge and Skill Among Children in Southern Ontario

While the literature on food has somewhat addressed rudimentary food skills and their importance in the creation and maintenance of a healthy population, there remains a serious lack of research into the importance of food and agricultural skills and knowledge transference to children, especially given the rise in diet-related illnesses. This study focuses on the perceived importance of food and agricultural education initiatives, as well as the opportunities and barriers that exist within the elementary school classroom to incorporate food and agricultural topics, in the context of southern Ontario, specifically Wellington County. Drawing on Wilkin\u27s concept of ‘food citizenship’ as a desirable end goal of alternative food movements, food and agricultural education presence in the curriculum is researched for its potential contribution to healthy, active communities. This study highlights experiences and insights through key informant interviews with teachers, parents, Upper Grand District School Board employees, nutritionists, and people involved in relevant community organizations, to determine the current role that formal secondary-level public educational institutions, and the educators within them, play in the dissemination of food and agricultural knowledge and skill. More specifically, the questions asked focus on what opportunities exist for teachers to enable and assist their students in becoming food citizens, and specifically: in what ways does the provincial curriculum as it currently exists, lend support to teachers, who can then enable students to become food citizens? And perhaps most importantly, do food skills and knowledge contribute to the holistic development of young people? This study uses a qualitative approach, through the use of key informant interviews and curriculum analysis. Research findings indicate that food and agricultural education is seen as important to respondents, and that there are a number of complex opportunities for and barriers to including these topics in classrooms and encouraging greater food citizenship in young people

The role of storytelling at the intersection of transformative conflict resolution and peace education

This article explores the intersections of transformative conflict resolution and peace education through storytelling. By recalling stories from practice, I find that both peace education and transformative conflict resolution happen when people are fr ee to “look and see” and that “looking and seeing”—as well as positive, I-Thou relationships that exhibit mutual subjectivity—are facilitated by storytelling, which is predicated on both imagining hopeful perspectives and engaging in dialogue. My concluding story demonstrates that educating for peace and facilitating conflict transformation may be fluid and perpetual. That is to say, there is not always a “happily ever after.”https://digitalcommons.wayne.edu/storytelling/vol9/iss2/5

The closure of rural and remote maternity services: Where are the midwives?

Decisions to close small maternity units in rural and remote communities have often precipitated a community response as women and families rally to save local services. But where are the midwives? We argue here that professional bodies such as colleges of midwives have a responsibility to advocate more strongly at a political level for evidence-based decisionmaking regarding the allocation of rural services. We suggest that adopting a comprehensive definition of maternity services risk that considers both social and health services risks and their impact on clinical risk, could provide a solid basis for effective advocacy by professional bodies

The experiences of rural British Columbians accessing surgical and obstetrical care

The attrition of small volume surgical and maternity services in rural Canada over the past three decades has made access to these services especially challenging for rural citizens. While many of these closures have occurred as consequences of regionalization, a strategy to regionally centralize healthcare services, many studies investigating outcomes of regionalization have focused on costs and medical endpoints rather than the direct experiences of the rural patients affected. In this study, we aimed to understand and document the experiences of rural residents accessing procedural and maternity care both locally and away from home. This study is part of a larger evaluation framework which prioritizes the insight of rural residents regarding healthcare issues. We conducted focus groups and interviews with 54 participants in six communities across British Columbia’s southeastern and northern regions. Thematic analysis showed that rural residents experienced unique challenges when leaving their communities to access care. This included logistics of travel, poor coordination of care between multiple providers, and financial and psychosocial issues. Despite being mostly content with the medical care received, participants expressed needing more attention to their unique needs and preferences as patients leaving their home communities for care. Understanding these challenges facilitates the planning of healthcare services in a more equitable manner. Our findings suggest that we need increased patient-centered healthcare planning that aims to alleviate the financial and psychosocial strain on rural residents. Experience Framework This article is associated with the Policy & Measurement lens of The Beryl Institute Experience Framework. (https://www.theberylinstitute.org/ExperienceFramework). Access other PXJ articles related to this lens. Access other resources related to this lens

Collective Correlations of Brodmann Areas fMRI Study with RMT-Denoising

We study collective behavior of Brodmann regions of human cerebral cortex using functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) and Random Matrix Theory (RMT). The raw fMRI data is mapped onto the cortex regions corresponding to the Brodmann areas with the aid of the Talairach coordinates. Principal Component Analysis (PCA) of the Pearson correlation matrix for 41 different Brodmann regions is carried out to determine their collective activity in the idle state and in the active state stimulated by tapping. The collective brain activity is identified through the statistical analysis of the eigenvectors to the largest eigenvalues of the Pearson correlation matrix. The leading eigenvectors have a large participation ratio. This indicates that several Broadmann regions collectively give rise to the brain activity associated with these eigenvectors. We apply random matrix theory to interpret the underlying multivariate data

Stories of Transformation: Memories of a Global Citizenship Practicum

Eleven years ago the author took 13 high school students from the University of Winnipeg (Canada) on a practicum trip to Costa Rica. Eight and a half years later he revisited the experience with many of those people. Stories of Transformation: Memories of a Global Citizenship Practicum is an account of what they remembered and what it means for global citizenship education. Kornelsen contextualizes his account by examining contested notions of world citizenship and exploring the ethical and pedagogical challenges of international practicums. Therewith, Kornelsen also introduces readers to contributions that leading philosophers and educators have made to our understanding of what it is to prepare young people for citizenship in a globalizing world. Stories of Transformation: Memories of a Global Citizenship Practicum is based on research for which Kornelsen was awarded the Manitoba Education Research Network prize for outstanding achievement in education research – research that examined the intersection of experiential learning, international practicums and cosmopolitanism. This book will be of special interest to global educators: high school teachers and administrators, facilitators of study abroad and service learning courses (at high school and university levels), members of faculties of education, and policy consultants for state and provincial departments of education

Helping students learn beyond the bounds of their imagination: Lessons from a global citizenship practicum

The author revisits a global citizenship practicum he co-facilitated in 2003. His interviews with former participants show differences in what he and his teaching colleague remember and what students remember, revealing three critical teaching functions for facilitators of global citizenship practicums: fostering autonomy and independence, encouraging critical engagement, and being trusted elders. Implications for student learning and teaching practice extend to any situation where teachers want to cultivate a sense agency, independence, and critical outlook; for when teachers want students to learn beyond the bounds of their imagination

Learners’ experiences of an enhanced surgical skills training program for family physicians

Background: Family Physicians with Enhanced Surgical Skills (FPESS) have sustained rural operative care, including local access to caesarean section, in many communities across rural Canada and internationally. The contemporary role of FPESS within the health system, however, has not been without challenges. The 12-month Prince Albert Enhanced Surgical Skills (ESS) program intakes two learners a year and is one of only two accredited programs in Canada offering a scope of surgical practice beyond operative delivery.Methods: This paper highlights the results of an evaluation of graduates’ experiences of training and the post-training environment. Graduates were practicing in Western and Northern Canada after completing the ESS training program, specifically in British Columbia, Alberta, Manitoba, and the Northwest Territories.Results: Findings suggest the overall success of the program in meeting learners’ needs. There was a close match between the training curriculum and post-training practice. Conclusion: The findings from the post training experience suggest that sustainability of ESS is linked to 1) creating pathways to privileges between the ESS community and the Health Authorities, 2) building functional and trusting relationships with surgical specialists, and 3) creating a web of accessible effective rurally appropriate surgical Continuing Professional Development (CDP). Ongoing CPD is identified as essential in increasing the comfort of FPESS

GP Surgeons’ Experiences of Training in British Columbia and Alberta: A Case Study of Enhanced Skills for Rural Primary Care Providers

Background: There has been a steady erosion of family physicians with enhanced surgical skills providing care for rural residents. This has been largely due to the lack of formal training avenues and continuing medical education (CME) opportunities afforded to those interested and attrition of those currently practicing.. Methods: A qualitative study was undertaken using an exploratory policy framework to guide the collection of in-depth interview data on GP surgeons’ training experiences. A purposive sample of GP surgeons currently practicing in rural BC and Alberta communities yielded interviews with 62 participants in person and an additional 8 by telephone. Interviews were audio recorded and transcribed then subjected to a process analysis. Results: Participants thematically identified motivations for acquiring advanced skills training, resources required (primarily in the area of solid mentorship), the most efficacious context for a training program (structured) and differences in mentorship between obstetricians and general surgeons. Conclusions: Mentors and role models were the most salient influencing factor in the trajectory of training for the participants in this study. Mentorship between specialists and generalists was constrained at times by inter-professional tensions and was accomplished more successfully within a cirriculum-based, structured environment as opposed to a learner-responsive training environment