Alyson E. King
PhD

A Community College with Ivory Tower Pretensions: Creating a University Identity

The ways in which a new university, Ontario Tech University, was represented in local, regional, and national newspapers highlight the difficulties of identity creation for organizations. Drawing on theories of organizational identity and supplemented by interviews with Ontario Tech University's founding members, a qualitative analysis of newspaper articles about Ontario Tech University published between 2001 and 2004 demonstrates that the words and phrases used in these articles played an important role in establishing an image of UOIT that continues to impact its identity. These news reports also illustrate the complex relationships that existed between Ontario Tech University and its geographical, educational, and political contexts. Although Ontario Tech University was founded as a four-year baccalaureate degree-granting university, it was linked with its well-established neighbour, Durham College, with which it shared land and services. As a result, Ontario Tech University was viewed by some as no more than a “community college with ivory tower pretensions.”

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Adventurous Children: Creating a Canadian Identity in Kayak: Canada’s History Magazine for Kids™

There has been much written on what constitutes a Canadian identity, with no consensus or conclusion. I take a social constructivist perspective that what it means to be Canadian is something that is continuously evolving, and changes depending on geographic place, historical era, and personal background. In the case of Kayak magazine, adults, mainly men, are interpreting what it means to be Canadian and communicating that idea in ways that those adults believe will appeal to children. What is not known is how the child readers are interpreting and responding to that portrayal of Canada and Canadian identity. With a target audience of children aged 7 to 12 years, Deborah Morrison, President of Canada’s National History Society and publisher of The Beaver: Canada’s History Magazine, argues that Kayak is intended to speak “with the voice of the next generation and [be] unabashedly Canadian” (28); however, what constitutes being Canadian is not elaborated upon.

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Exploring Identity and Multiliteracies Through Graphic Narratives

In a first-year, university-level communication course that examined issues of race, ethnicity, postcolonialism, diaspora, and coming-of-age using different points of view and modes of communication, students created graphic novel-style auto-ethnographies to reflect on their experiences with diaspora and identity creation. The assignment was an experiment in the use of a different pedagogical tool that pushed participants to move beyond the parameters of the traditional academic literacy afforded by a research essay. The themes of diaspora and coming-of-age were intended to speak to as many of the students as possible. For some, the two themes coincided, since several students were forced to grow up quickly when they immigrated to Canada as children or teens alone or with family. For instructors, these diverse experiences form the often invisible backdrop to any classroom.

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From the “Damsel in Distress” to Girls' Games and Beyond: Gender and Children's Gaming

In this chapter of the book Gender Considerations and Influence in the Digital Media and Gaming Industry, the authors critically assess the gendered nature of the products developed by the computer gaming industry. The chapter takes a historiographical approach to examining the nature of children's video and computer games as a type of toy that immerses children into current gender stereotypes even as they hold the potential for social change. New ways of bridging the gap between stereotypes and change are explored through a virtual world for children.

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Helping Them Help Themselves: Supported Adult Education for Persons Living With Mental Illness

This case study of the Ontario Shores Supported Education Program (OSSEP) illustrates the importance of a hospital-based education program for adult learners living with mental illness, and its impact on participants’ quality of life and hopes for the future. The findings demonstrate that supported education programs catering to the needs of adults living with mental illness have the potential to not simply provide skills for future employment, but to more broadly improve participants’ ability to manage daily life, increase self-confidence, and improve rehabilitation efforts. With ongoing cuts to community-based adult education programs, this research indicates the importance of ensuring specialized supported education programs are introduced and maintained for persons living with mental illness.

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Winners and Losers: Literacy and Enduring Labour Market Inequality in Historical Perspective

In Ontario, job growth and economic prosperity have been linked to the knowledge-based economy (KBE), which is looked to as a panacea that will ultimately benefit the majority of the population. We argue, however, that there are a select few who are KBE “winners” and far more KBE “losers.” Literacy (or multiliteracies), defined broadly to include print, digital and visual literacies, and numeracy, is a major factor in the ability of individuals to access the labour market and the KBE in a truly meaningful way. The need for labour market-relevant literacy training policies, and the connection of literacy to the history of systemic privilege, power and labour market accessibility has been well identified by research but are not part of accepted policy practice. This research, along with the policy disconnect, is the focus of this paper.

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Cartooning History: Canada's Stories in Graphic Novels

In recent years, historical events, issues, and characters have been portrayed in an increasing number of non-fiction graphic texts. Similar to comics and graphic novels, graphic texts are defined here as fully developed, non-fiction narratives told through panels of sequential art. Such non-fiction graphic texts are being used to teach history in Canada and the U.S. following a trend in using images to allow students to see history in pictures.

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Diversities of Resilience: Understanding the Strategies for Success Used by Underrepresented Students in Canadian Universities ($135,794)

As principal investigator of this collaborative two-year project with researchers from Ontario Tech University, Mount Saint Vincent University, the University of Winnipeg, and the University of the Fraser Valley, Dr. King's team will examine how underrepresented post-secondary students from across Canada are able to be successful in persisting to graduation.

Increasing Literacies Through Supported Education and Policies of Inclusion ($169,389)

Dr. King is a co-investigator on this five-year research project with Ontario Tech University faculty to examine supported education programs for adults at psychiatric hospitals across Canada.

Participation and Persistence: An Analysis of Immigrant Visible-Minority Students at UOIT ($2908)

Dr. King is the principal investigator on this collaborative research project with Ontario Tech University faculty which strives to understand the prevailing facilitative factors (both structural and individual) that help immigrant visible minority university students to succeed.

Academic Integrity Project ($17,222)

This applied research project aims to develop new resources and tools for Ontario Tech University's academic integrity website; to create learning modules, quizzes, teaching assignments and activities, and case studies to assist in teaching the fundamentals of academic integrity at Ontario Tech University.

Supported Literacy Education for Persons Living with Mental Illness: Exploring Economic and Social Implications ($50,926)

Dr. King is co-investigator of this two-year research project with Ontario Tech University faculty involving a case study of the Ontario Shores Centre for Mental Health Sciences, in Whitby, Ontario. The aim is to understand the social, economic and political implications of low literacy skills for people living with mental illness.

Canadian Society for Studies in Higher Education

Canadian Historical Association

Ontario Women's History Network

Canadian History of Education Association