UBC Faculty of Education

A look back through time

One of the leading faculties of education in the world, the Faculty of Education prepares professionals for practice in a wide range of education-related fields, from preschool through adulthood.

  • New Dean Appointed

    Dr. Jan Hare appointed as Dean of the Faculty of Education, July 1, 2024.

  • Dean pro tem Appointed

    Dr. Jan Hare appointed as Dean pro tem of the Faculty of Education, July 1, 2021.

  • Merger of Two Education Faculties

    On July 1, 2018, following the votes of UBC’s two senates, the Faculty of Education at UBC Okanagan was formally merged with the Faculty of Education on the Vancouver campus. The former Okanagan unit is now known as the Okanagan School of Education.

  • Re-Appointment of Dr. Blye Frank

    Dr. Blye Frank’s extension of appointment as Dean of the Faculty of Education is approved for another five-year term beginning July 1, 2016.

  • New Live-Work-Learn Community for The Faculty of Education

    Phase 1 and 2 of Ponderosa Commons’ 2-phase construction project is complete. The Live-Work-Learn community includes student living spaces, Harvest Café and Faculty of Education academic and research spaces.

  • New Building for The Faculty of Education

    Groundbreaking for the new Ponderosa Commons building slated to open in 2015. The new building, together with the Scarfe Building, promises a home for the Faculty of Education that technologically supports today’s way of learning and is physically designed to foster working collaboratively.

  • New Dean Appointed

    Blye Frank appointed Dean.

  • New Dean pro tem Appointed

    Robert Tierney steps down as Dean. Jon Shapiro appointed Dean pro tem.

  • 50th Anniversary Celebration

    The Faculty of Education at the University of British Columbia celebrates its 50th anniversary. The Faculty of Education commissioned Musqueam carvers, Direction 7, to create a yellow cedar panel of a Thunderbird as a 50th anniversary legacy art project, which is located in the foyer of the Neville Scarfe Building.

  • New Dean Appointed

    Robert J. Tierney becomes Dean.

  • Two Chairs and One Professorship Established

    During University of British Columbia’s World of Opportunity fundraising campaign, two chairs and one professorship are established in the Faculty.

  • Research in the Faculty comes of age

    …with several major collaborative, interdisciplinary projects. Many involve partnerships with other faculties and schools on local, provincial, national, and international scales.

  • Programs Established in Castlegar and Kamloops

    Off-campus teacher education programs are established in Castlegar and Kamloops.

  • New Dean Appointed and The College of Teachers is Established

    Nancy M. Sheehan becomes Dean.
    The College of Teachers is established with the authority to issue and cancel certificates and to approve the Faculty’s teacher education programs.

  • Creation of Office of Graduate Programs and Research

    Increased focus on graduate programs and research occurs with the creation of the Office of Graduate Programs and Research.

  • Inaugural Enrollment in Ts’‘Kel Graduate Program

    In September, the first students enroll in the Ts’‘Kel graduate program for First Nations students.

  • Elementary & Secondary Programs Under Revision

    The Committee on Undergraduate Program Revisions recommends a complete revision of both the elementary and secondary programs.

  • New Dean Appointed

    Daniel R. Birch becomes Dean.

  • New Dean Appointed

    Roy Bently appointed as Dean.

  • New Centre Established

    The Faculty establishes the Centre for the Study of Curriculum and Instruction.

  • New Dean Appointed. New Name.

    John H.M. Andrews becomes Dean.
    The Education Building is renamed Neville Scarfe in honour of the Faculty’s first Dean.

  • Beginning of a New Series

    The Faculty begins a series of alternative models for the professional year with the Sentinel Secondary School Project and the Elementary Open Area Teaching Project.

  • Indian Education Resource Centre Established

    In September, the Indian Education Resource Centre, a forerunner of the Native Indian Teacher Education Program, is established.

  • School of Physical Education Joins Faculty

    The School of Physical Education, now the School of Kinesiology, becomes part of the Faculty.

  • Inaugural Program Begins for Doctoral Students

    In September, the first doctoral students in education begin their programs.

  • Education Building Opens

    On October 4, Premier W.A.C. Bennett opens the Education (later the Neville Scarfe) Building.

  • Aim to have all teachers to have completed a degree course

    Report of the Royal Commission on Education (The Chant Commission) urges “the aim of having all teachers complete a degree course to be implemented as soon as possible.”

  • The University of British Columbia Board of Governors approves Neville Scarfe as Dean of the new Faculty of Education.

    Over the summer the faculty increases from five to forty-two members, replacing the Provincial Normal School, a publicly funded post-secondary institute run by the Department of Education for teacher training. Registration at the new Faculty of Education for the 1956/57 school year is 905, made up of 537 elementary teacher candidates and their 332 secondary counterparts.

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