December 16, 2020
Congratulations to the new Canada Research Chairs in the Faculty of Education
Canada Research Chairs’ excellence in the pursuit of knowledge elevates Canada’s position as a worldwide leader in research. The Faculty of Education is home to six Canada Research Chairs, including three new chairs whose work will make a global impact in data science, Indigenous wellbeing and education.
Dr. Cash Ahenakew, CIHR Tier II Canada Research Chair in Indigenous People’s Wellbeing
Dr. Ahenakew’s research program focuses on decolonizing health-related research, practice and education, as well as on revitalizing Indigenous health practices and wellbeing. The research program brings together a network of international and trans-disciplinary collaborators consisting of Indigenous and non-indigenous academics and health practitioners from six countries to co-develop a high-quality, culture-centered and trauma-informed approach, practice, and model that will advance community-based participatory research, collaborative inquiry as well as trauma-informed education. New insights will contribute to healing and wellbeing through the expansion of best practices and approaches that integrate Indigenous healing practices and land-based orientations with contemplative practices and trauma-informed bodywork.
Dr. Jan Hare, SSHRC Tier I Canada Research Chair in Indigenous Pedagogy
Post-secondary education classrooms operate as colonized spaces in which Indigenous knowledges, perspectives, and pedagogies are excluded or marginalized. National and international policy directives confer new responsibilities and commitments to teaching and learning in Indigenous education. Dr. Hare’s research examines the complex processes of learning to teach from Indigenous knowledge frameworks by focusing on instructor knowledge, beliefs, and practices from across faculties and different disciplines in higher education. Her research will establish evidence-informed practices for improving the ways in which instructors teach and students learn from Indigenous knowledge traditions.
Dr. Bruno Zumbo, SSHRC Tier I Canada Research Chair in Psychometrics and Measurement
The central theme of Dr. Zumbo’s Canada Research Chair in Psychometrics and Measurement is equity and fairness at the nexus of data science, digital innovation, and social justice. Focusing on the social context of test fairness and data science methods for examining test fairness, he will develop and refine (with survey and test data) new theories and methods situated in an emerging paradigm that leverages advances in multivariate statistics and computational technology to measure practices in education and the social sciences more broadly and embrace the diversity of test-takers in a contemporary multicultural Canadian context.
Renewed Canada Research Chair in the Faculty of Education
Dr. Eli Puterman, CIHR Tier II Canada Research Chair in Physical Activity and Health
In 2018, the Canadian Medical Association Journal devoted a full issue to vulnerable populations, highlighting the health disparities between vulnerable groups and the majority of the Canadian population. Vulnerable children and adults require tailored programs that increase acceptability, uptake and adherence, to effectively sustain health and well-being. Through his research, Dr. Puterman’s aims to develop and test physical activity programs designed in collaboration with members of vulnerable groups and organizations that serve them. It will focus on novel health and well-being outcomes resulting from changes in physical activity levels following participation in such programs.
Canada Research Chairs in the Faculty of Education
Dr. Vanessa Andreotti, SSHRC Tier II Canada Research Chair in Race, Inequalities and Global Change
When inequality and cultural differences come into discussions about higher education or mass media, the associated images and narratives can be misleading. Dr. Andreotti’s work shows that these representations tend to distort our perception of global issues, limiting the possibilities for international relationships, citizen engagement and global change. She focuses her research on building bridges between different streams of contemporary theory and debate on globalization, diversity and teaching practices.
Her research is part of a broader initiative to foster ethical forms of globalization and to enrich developmental fieldwork in Canada and abroad. Dr. Andreotti explores policies and practices in international development education. As part of her research, she examines existing practices in international development education, while looking for new ways to foster the mobilization and integration of knowledge across communities. Dr. Andreotti’s research will ensure that education leads to better-informed citizens, and to more socially accountable forms of representation and engagement on global issues.
Dr. Guofang Li, SSHRC Tier I Canada Research Chair in Transnational/Global Perspectives on Language and Literacy Education of Children and Youth
Immigrant and minority students in both Canada and the United States lag their peers in academic achievement scores. They also experience higher dropout rates. These trends are thought to be the result of several factors, including cultural and language differences between school and home, insufficient teaching resources, poor-quality teaching, and structural barriers within schools and society. Dr. Li hopes to improve the success rates of immigrant and minority students by addressing the cultural, linguistic, instructional and structural barriers to their literacy and academic achievement.
Dr. Li’s research aims to identify the literacy resources and practices that exist in immigrant families, since they are critical to students’ ability to make successful transitions between home and school. Based on these resources and practices, she is establishing innovative ways to bridge the gap between the cultural resources and linguistic knowledge from students’ home lives and teachers’ and schools’ literacy efforts. Her findings will increase educators’ understanding of specific cultural practices, as well as the importance of culturally relevant approaches to educating immigrant and minority students. Her research will also address the need to examine current language and educational policies and practices in today’s increasingly global world.
To learn more about all 16 new and renewed UBC Canada Research Chairs, visit the Office of the Vice-President, Research and Innovation’s appointment page.
