Community Update | March 2023

Community Update | March 2023

By briany26

March 2023 | Published once each term

Message from Dr. Jan Hare, Dean pro tem

Aanii—Greetings!

Spring is nearly upon us. It is a time of renewal, growth and rejuvenation, especially now with the longer days of light. I hope you are all taking care of yourselves and those within your circles—students, staff, faculty, instructors, and also family and community members.

It’s also time for our annual alumni award submissions. The Alumni Educator of the Year Award recognizes extraordinary Faculty of Education alumni. And, new this year, The Reconciliation and Decolonization Alumni Award, which recognizes Indigenous and non-Indigenous alumni reconciliation or decolonizing education. I encourage you to nominate a deserving UBC Education alum from among our active and diverse alumni community by March 31 for these two awards.

I am also thrilled to share with you that three members of our Faculty received notable awards.

Dr. Verna Billy-Minnabarriet, Senior Advisor to the Dean on Indigenous Education, was honoured with the Great Trekker Awardat the UBC Alma Mater Society Awards Gala last month for her work in advancing Indigenous education and empowering Indigenous peoples through community-based education and economic development. In her acceptance of this award, Dr. Billy-Minnabarriet spoke about the significance of Indigenous leadership in the Faculty and at UBC for transforming the institution, acknowledging Dr. Verna Kirkness and Dr. Jo-Ann Archibald as mentoring her in to her own leadership.

Dr. Anusha Kassan—associate professor with the Department of Educational and Counselling Psychology, and Special Education—was presented with a Queen Elizabeth II’s Platinum Jubilee Medal at a ceremony in Calgary in January. The Immigrant Education Society (TIES) nominated Dr. Kassan for this prestigious award for her dedication and service to immigration research and education.

And Kinesiology Professor Dr. Tania Lam and her team received a Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) Project Grant for their research project, 0The PELvUS Study – Pelvic floor Exercise to Lessen Urinary incontinence and Sexual dysfunction in people with spinal cord injury. The study explores how to prescribe pelvic floor muscle exercises to support people with spinal cord injury and aims to understand what effect this type of training could have on bladder and sexual health.

In my Moment With The Dean communications, I have invited you to connect with me to share your thoughts and feedback on education matters. I look forward to your continued contributions and sharing ideas. Please also feel welcome to forward this Community Update to colleagues who may be interested.

Miigwech—thank you!

 

Read the Faculty of Education’s announcement on Dr. Hare’s extension as Dean pro tem.
Watch Dr. Jan Hare in Episode 1 of Worldviews in Education, an online video series by the Melbourne Graduate School of Education.

Engaging All Learners in the Secondary Years: Interactive Webinar Series, Part 3 – Disciplinary Literacy | April 3, 2023
Join the Edith Lando Virtual Learning Centre and partners for a shared conversation about literacy learning in the secondary years. The session includes a blend of current thinking, examples from practice and time to process and personalize ideas. See how reading, writing and thinking grow from oral language. The final session of this three-part webinar series is on April 3 and will focus on disciplinary literacy with special guests Heather Brown, Tammy Renyard and Vicki Roberts.
Monday, April 3, 2023 | 3:30pm – 5:00pm PT | Learn more and register

Inclusive Makerspace Conference | May 24 and 25, 2023
The maker movement, including creating physical or digital items using no-tech, low-tech and high-tech tools, is a recent phenomenon in education and corporations. Many educators and industry leaders do not know how to effectively infuse, implement, identify and design curriculum content through Makerspace structures, particularly while ensuring the space and content are culturally relevant, responsive and inclusive. As part of its twentieth anniversary celebration, The Master of Educational Technology (MET) program is hosting an Inclusive Makerspace Conference on the UBC Vancouver campus. If you’re a maker, expert, academic, student, or an industrial actor in education at any level and in any setting, we invite you to submit a proposal. | Learn more and register

Pre-Conference Celebration | Tuesday, May 23, 2023 | 3:00pm – 6:00pm PT
Main Conference | Wednesday, May 24 and Thursday, May 25, 2023 | 9:00am – 4:00pm PT

Doctor of Education – Kelowna Blended Cohort
A new graduate degree offered on the Okanagan campus will allow educators and leaders an opportunity to advance their careers while staying in their local community. The Doctor of Education program, offered by the Okanagan School of Education, is a three-year program is designed to address timely, ever-changing and relevant issues in education. The majority of the coursework will be delivered online with opportunities for students to come to campus for summer intensive sessions. The program will begin accepting applications later this year and the first cohort will start in July 2024. More

Rural and Remote Teacher-Candidates share their experiences
The first ever cohort in the UBC Rural and Remote Teacher Education (RRED) program share their experiences as future certified teachers aiming to serve rural and remote communities. The RRED program provides an innovative solution to a longstanding teacher shortage in BC through a flexible and accessible online and in-person hybrid structure. The 2022–2024 cohort is now one quarter through their studies, and teacher candidates continue to observe how critical this program is to meeting their educational needs and the needs of their communities. More

Peer Mentorship in the Bachelor of Education Program
Helping our students find success in the Bachelor of Education (BEd) program is a community effort in the Faculty of Education. Peer mentors, under the supervision of Learning Design Manager Yvonne Dawydiak, work with teacher candidates in all UBC teacher education program options (in person and remote), to help the students set and meet their goals with planning for practicum in K-12 schools in the Lower Mainland and in rural communities throughout the province. More

LLED Antiracist Caucus
The Language & Literacy Education (LLED) Antiracist Caucus has met monthly since November 2019 to collectively learn about antiracism and intersectional justice. Each month students and faculty discuss a new topic. This year, the role of faculty facilitator has rotated monthly with two graduate student leaders actively supporting activities. Since October, the group has discussed systemic racism as seen in sport, UBC’s Anti-Racism and Inclusive Excellence Task Force (ARIE-TF) Final Report, and racism in and through A.I. and other digital tools.

2020–2022 Research Report
The Faculty of Education just released its 2020–2022 Research Report. Learn about our research centres, scholarly awards and grants, chairs and professorships, and the work of select researchers from across our Faculty. The report focuses on strategic research priorities, community engagement, and contributions to knowledge and social justice in relation to four broad themes of Indigenous community-based research, education as a social good, social and physical sustainability, and digital innovations in education and health. Read the report

Dr. Chris Martin Receives Outstanding Book Prize
Dr. Chris Martin has received the Outstanding Book Prize for The Right to Higher Education: A Political Theory from the North American Associate for Philosophy and Education / Theory and Research in Education. The prize honours excellent scholarship at the intersection of philosophy and education. As the recipient of the prize, Dr. Martin will have the contributions to his author-meets-critics session published as a book symposium in Theory and Research in Education. More

Citizenship Survey Launched by Dr. Catherine Broom
Dr. Catherine Broom, Okanagan School of Education, has launched a survey inviting all Canadians to share their views on Canadian citizenship, identity and citizenship education. She is hoping to gather Canadians’ views, hopes and beliefs about what kind of society they would like Canada to become. More

Graduate Student Conference in Language and Literacy Education: Creating Access for All | April 28 and 29, 2023
The LLED Graduate Student Conference is a biannual student-led academic conference that celebrates and showcases the diversity of research in language, literacy and education while strengthening our collaborative links with other UBC departments and local institutions. Keynote speakers include Dr. Angel Lin, Dr. Suhanthie Motha and Dr. Christopher Hammerly. Attendance at the conference is free and everyone is welcome. Learn more and register

Early Childhood Education Presentation Series
The Impact of COVID-19 on the Wellbeing of Early Educators in British Columbia
Presenters: Dr. Laurie Ford, Fatemeh Arian, Abby Delmacio, Ashleigh Janus, Teija Yli-Renko
This presentation series focuses on health and wellness in early childhood education. Join fellow practitioners, researchers, and graduate students to explore a myriad of topics through these free, online sessions.
Wednesday, May 17, 2023 | 3:00pm – 4:00pm PT | Registration now closed.

Okanagan School of Education: Summer Institute
The Okanagan School of Education located in Kelowna, BC has posted their upcoming Summer Institute in Education courses. The Institute offers excellent learning opportunities for those seeking professional development or are pursuing a certificate, diploma or master’s degree. Courses are offered online, hybrid and in-person. This year, topics include digital literacy, food and environmental sustainability, healing the roots of trauma and building resilience, and using Indigenous assessment practices in the STEAM setting. More

Equity, Diversity, Inclusivity and Decolonization (EDID) Cohort in Secondary Education
In September 2022, the Faculty of Education in collaboration with the Richmond School District launched an Equity, Diversity, Inclusivity and Decolonization (EDID) cohort for secondary education students in the 2022/23 Bachelor of Education program. The cohort is made up of 22 teacher candidates from different curricular areas that focus on approaching pedagogy, planning and learning with an EDID lens. The cohort includes a unique demographic mix of students, including members of the IBPOC and LGBTQIA2S+ communities and year-four students in the Indigenous Teacher Education Program (NITEP). More

 

Indigenous youth: Nurturing the next generation | March 30, 2023

By virginia tung

Community can be a cornerstone of identity and social connections can provide individuals with a sense of belonging, support, and guidance. That guidance may be influential, or even crucial, in making life decisions. These experiences, connections, and relationships can motivate community members to ensure the future growth, health, and success of the next generation. Attend this webinar to hear from three Indigenous speakers who mentor Indigenous youth to share knowledge in their communities and beyond, and to help youth strengthen connections to their culture —and to each other.

Moderator

Angela Sterritt, BA’09 – Host, CBC’s Land Back Podcast

Speakers

Dr. Andrea Reid (she/her) — Assistant Professor, Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries; Principal Investigator, Centre for Indigenous Fisheries, UBC

Dave Robinson, BEd’18 (Elementary) — PhD candidate, Experimental Medicine, UBC Faculty of Medicine

Dr. Amber Shilling, BA’06, PhD’20 (she/her/hers) — Sessional Instructor, UBC Faculty of Education

Moderator Biography

Angela Sterritt (BA'09)

Angela Sterritt

Award-winning investigative journalist Angela Sterritt is host of Land Back, a six-part CBC British Columbia original podcast that uncovers land theft in Canada and looks at how Indigenous people are taking it back. As a multi-platform reporter, host, and producer of more than a decade, Sterritt is known for her impactful journalism on the tensions between Indigenous people and institutions in Canada. Sterritt’s work has received many accolades including a Canadian Screen Award for Best Local Reporter of the Year in Canada for her coverage of an Indigenous man and his then-12-year-old granddaughter who were arrested while trying to open a bank account at BMO. In 2017, Sterritt accepted the Investigative Award of the Year from Canadian Journalists for Free Expression for coverage of missing and murdered Indigenous women. In 2020, Sterritt was named in Vancouver Magazine’s Power 50 list of the city’s most influential people. Sterritt is also an educator, having taught journalism at the UBC Graduate School of Journalism, and Western University’s Master of Media in Journalism and Communication program. She is the author of Unbroken: My Fight for Survival, Hope, and Justice for Indigenous Women and Girls.In 2015, Sterritt was awarded a Southam Fellowship at Massey College/University of Toronto. Before becoming a journalist, Sterritt graduated with a political science degree at UBC. Sterritt is Gitxsan, a member of the Gitanmaax First Nation in northwestern British Columbia, on her paternal side. Her mother was from Newfoundland with Irish and English ancestry. She is the proud mother of a son.

Speaker Biographies

Dr. Andrea Reid

Andrea Reid

Dr. Andrea Reid is a citizen of the Nisga’a Nation, a descendant of the Gisk’aast (Killerwhale) clan, with her paternal family coming from Gingolx. She was raised, however, on Epekwitk (Prince Edward Island) by her mother and brothers, and now lives in the Nass River Valley, home of her Nation, in Gitlaxt’aamiks. As an Indigenous fisheries scientist, Dr. Reid joined the Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries at UBC in 2021. She has launched and now leads the Centre for Indigenous Fisheries, committed to research and teaching approaches that are intergenerational, land-based, and profoundly relational.

Dave Robinson, BEd'18 (Elementary)

Dave Robinson

Dave Robinson is an Algonquin artist from the Timiskaming First Nation. Robinson is a UBC NITEP (UBC’s Indigenous Teacher Education Program) graduate, a certified teacher, and a UBC Experimental Medicine PhD candidate under the supervision of Dr. Darren Warburton. Currently he works as an Indigenous Enhancement teacher for the Vancouver School Board (VSB). In 2021, he mentored students in an Indigenous-directed studies course at Britannia Secondary School in Vancouver, as part of the VSB’s Treasure Boxes Project. The enrolled students earn high school credits towards social studies, math, and science by learning carving practices on sculptured logs. Robinson’s sculpture style can be understood by the way he considers time, space, and ways in which the sculpture form is created. Although Robinson’s contemporary sculptures bring to mind visionary sculptors Constantin Brancusi, Henry Moore, and traditional First Nations carvers, Robinson’s work is not fashioned directly after their works. However, Robinson’s sculptures share a way of exemplifying the simple forms that reflect archetypal representations of their subject matter.

Dr. Amber Shilling, BA'06, PhD'20

Dr. Amber Shilling

Dr. Amber Shilling is Anishinaabekwe from Mnjikaning First Nation. She completed her PhD at UBC, in which she explored how urban Indigenous youth utilize technology to engage with culture, language, and identity. Her research demonstrates that youth are incredibly skilled, knowledgeable of risks in the digital age, and are enthusiastic contributors to the development of cultural resources. Dr. Shilling is highly skilled in the areas of Indigenizing, decolonizing, and grappling with the complexities of truth and reconciling.

Date

Thursday, March 30, 2023

Time

12:00 – 1:15 PM PT

Location

Online

Learn more about the event here

Register Now

Roundtable on Climate, Sustainability, and Education | April 25, 2023

By abby blinch

 

Event Description

Addressing the climate emergency is a strategic priority for the Faculty of Education at UBC. Research, teaching, scholarship and community engagement on a range of areas that concern climate and sustainability is occurring across the Faculty. To better understand the work in this area undertaken by faculty colleagues, to create vibrant networks, and to explore issues and questions concerning future directions for work in these areas, Education faculty are invited to participate in the Faculty of Education Roundtable on Climate, Sustainability and Education.

The event will include guest speakers, as well an opportunity for participants to break into thematic roundtables for discussion. Lunch will be provided.

Possible discussion topics include:

  • – climate justice
  • – environmental education, health, and wellbeing
  • – sustainable and equitable futures
  • – place-based education
  • – climate and migration
  • – related interdisciplinary topics
  • – implications for policy, research, community engagement, curriculum and instruction, action

Date

April 25, 2023

Time

11:00 AM to 2:00 PM

Location

C.K. Choi Building/Institute for Asian Research
1855 West Mall

RSVP

Please complete the RSVP form >>

DaeYoung Goh receives the 2022 Curriculum Journal Editors’ Choice Award from the British Educational Research Association

By avril hwang

March 16, 2023

We are delighted to share that PhD candidate Daeyoung Goh from UBC Faculty of Education’s Department of Curriculum and Pedagogy has received a 2022 Curriculum Journal Editors’ Choice Award from the British Educational Research Association (BERA).

The British Educational Research Association is the leading authority on educational research in the UK, supporting and representing the community of scholars, practitioners and everyone engaged in and with educational research both nationally and internationally.

The annual Curriculum Journal Editors’ Choice Award, which recognizes the best paper published in the journal in 2022, was awarded to Daeyoung Goh for his paper Rethinking textbooks as active social agents in interpretivist research.

The paper challenges traditional approaches of analyzing textbooks as context-bound media for teaching and learning. The paper explores experiential interpretivist methodologies that may allow researchers to see the textbooks’ interactive performance and impacts on others and researchers themselves, opening up new possibilities for researchers to look at textbooks in a participatory way rather than as detached observers.

It is a paper which sheds new or different light on how textbooks may be viewed in curriculum research, namely “as interactive subjects in the social world rather than simply as content carriers”; it further exemplifies, through two interpretivist research methodologies (symbolic interactionism and autoethnography), how “rethinking textbooks as active social agents in human life instead of repositories of information and ideologies” opens up possibilities of researching them, including how textbooks themselves may shape research. — Curriculum Journal editorial team

To learn more about the full list of nominations, visit the BERA’s 2022 Editors’ Choice Awards page.

AERA Reception | April 15, 2023

By udit sharma

Dr. Jan Hare, Dean pro tem, is pleased to host the annual UBC Faculty of Education Reception for faculty, graduate students, alumni and friends at the American Educational Research Association’s (AERA) 2023 Conference. If you are interested in attending, please fill out the form below. We look forward to seeing you there!

When

Saturday, April 15, 2023 | 6:30 – 8:00 pm CDT

Where

Fairmont Chicago Millennium Park – 2nd floor – Ambassador Room

Registration

Questions? Please contact Michael Murphy, Associate Director, Alumni Engagement at education.alumni@ubc.ca.

 

Doctor of Education (EdD) – Kelowna Blended Cohort

By helen mclaughlin

The Doctor of Education (EdD) is designed to inform, empower, and engage current and aspiring leaders. You will have the opportunity to create meaningful changes in your local community as you apply newly learned knowledges, contextualize practical insights, and analyze and address problems of practice in your local contexts. The flexible delivery format allows you to stay in your community and continue working full-time. The majority of the coursework will be delivered online with opportunities to come to campus for summer intensive sessions.

Interdisciplinary cohorts of 15 to 20 doctoral students will journey together, alongside their supervisors and instructors to foster life-long professional networks and invest in scholar-practitioner communities world-wide.

Through your Practice-Based Dissertation, you will have the opportunity to carry out an independent research project inquiring into a problem of practice in your professional context.

Congratulations to 2022 UBC Partnership Recognition and Exploration Fund recipients

By avril hwang

Congratulations to UBC Education graduate student Sarah Panofsky and faculty members Drs. Anusha Kassan and Jasmin Ma who received funding from the UBC Partnership Recognition and Exploration (PRE) Fund for their projects that are empowering community–university collaboration and relationship building.

Receiving up to $1,500 each, this year’s projects are exceptional examples of how communities and UBC are working together to advance equity, diversity and inclusion; Indigenous engagement and reconciliation; health innovation and community wellbeing; sustainability and climate action; and teaching, learning and research excellence.

Learn more about these inspiring partnerships between communities and the university:

Quick Facts

  • $70,237 awarded to 47 projects
  • 8 Indigenous community partners funded
  • 16 faculties represented across Vancouver and Okanagan campuses
  • 12 projects with student co-applicants

2022 UBC Education Projects

Community-Based Mentoring and Tutoring Initiative for Newcomer Learners with Interrupted Schooling

  • Community Partner | Jennifer Reddy, EdMeCo (Education, Mentorship & Connection)
  • UBC Partner | Faculty: Dr. Anusha Kassan, Education, UBC Vancouver

Mobilizing Wet’suwet’en Wellness

Strength Training in Rheumatoid Arthritis: Educational Videos from the Lived Experience Perspective

To learn more about all 47 community partners, visit the UBC Community Engagement’s 2022 Partnership Recognition and Exploration fund page.

Dean’s Awards for Staff Excellence 2022–23

By avril hwang

March 8, 2023

The Dean’s Awards for Staff Excellence were created in 2001 as an annual celebration of the Faculty’s appreciation for the valuable contributions of our staff. These awards are bestowed in recognition of excellence in personal and professional achievements and contributions to the vision, mission, and goals of the Faculty, and of the University as a whole. There is one winner for each category listed.

Eligibility

Nominees must:

  • Be a Faculty of Education staff members with a full-time or part-time appointment of 50% or more;
  • Be a member of AAPS, CUPE 2950, CUPE 116, or members of the non-union/excluded category (members of CUPE 2278 are not eligible to be nominated); and
  • Have held an appointment for two consecutive years or more.

Nominees may be nominated in one of the following categories:

1. Outstanding Service Award Criteria

The nominee must demonstrate some or all of the following criteria:

  • Displays a commitment to serving people in the Faculty or in the broader University community, above and beyond the requirements of their position;
  • Establishes and maintains exemplary and inclusive people practices;
  • Engages in consistent, high-quality and welcoming interactions;
  • Creates new, cost-effective or innovative methods for performing day-to-day activities; or,
  • Encourages others to build consensus and action around unit-level or Faculty objectives.

2. Emerging Leader Award Criteria

The nominee must demonstrate some or all of the following criteria:

  • Manages and leads change initiatives effectively;
  • Provides a sense of purpose, vision and mission for their co-workers or staff;
  • Contributes to making UBC and Faculty of Education a better workplace in their own unit or more broadly;
  • Is passionate about the role and clearly understands the impact of their role in the Faculty;
  • Seeks professional growth and enriches the work experiences through collaboration with team members and other units in the Faculty;
  • Serves as a role model to others through openness to new ways of doing things and engages in consistent, high-quality and welcoming interactions; or
  • Invests time and effort in coaching or mentoring students or colleagues.

Nomination Process

The nominator is responsible for preparing and submitting the nomination package, which must include:

  • One completed nomination form, signed by the direct supervisor in consultation with the unit head or director.
  • A minimum of two and maximum of five support letters from colleagues, faculty members or students.

Please return your completed award nomination package on or before April 14, 2023 to info.educ@ubc.ca (Accepting electronic nomination packages only.)

Download nomination package

Selection Committee

The Committee for the Dean’s Award for Staff Excellence is made up of the Dean (or designate), two prior award winners and one of the following members of the Office of the Dean: Assistant Dean, Finance, Director, HR, or Director, Administration & Communications. This committee will administer, receive, evaluate and recommend the winner.

Announcement of Recipients

All nomination packages will be acknowledged. All information submitted will be kept strictly confidential. Winners will be announced and presented with their award at the Staff Appreciation lunch.

Up to two awards, one award per category, may be given in one year. Each recipient receives a personal plaque and an honorarium of $1000. Award recipients will also have their names engraved on the Staff Excellence Award plaque located in the Neville Scarfe Office Block foyer on the Vancouver campus.

Rethinking Wellness and How to Thrive as a School Leader | April 25, 2023

By abby blinch

Join Dr. Jan Hare, UBC’s Dean of Education, pro tem, for the second annual Dean’s Community Engagement Series, highlighting key questions and significant priorities engaging educators today.

This virtual session will feature Dr. Sabre Cherkowski of UBC Okanagan’s School of Education, followed by a panel discussion featuring school and school district leaders Jody Billingsley, Principal in the Delta School District; Nicole Davey, Director of Instruction, Learning & Innovation in the Nanaimo Ladysmith School District; Alice Jungclaus, Vice Principal in the Vancouver School Board; and Annie Varghese, Principal in the Richmond School District.

Explore strategies to support the wellbeing of teachers and school leaders and rethink answers to questions such as:

  1. What are the conditions that contribute to schools and people in schools flourishing?
  2. How do we increase the resilience, vitality and happiness in school settings in order for educators and learners to thrive in these settings?
  3. How can educational leaders encourage and sustain cultures of flourishing for all members of the learning community?

Event Details

Date: April 25, 2023
Time: 4:30-6:00pm PT
Format: Online via Zoom

Learn more about the 2022-2023 Dean’s Community Engagement Series

Watch the Recording

About Dr. Sabre Cherkowski


Dr. Sabre Cherkowski (BA’92, BEd’94) is Professor and Director of Graduate Programs in the Okanagan School of Education at the University of British Columbia. She holds a Tier 1 Principal’s Research Chair in Leadership, Learning and Wellbeing. She has been researching flourishing in schools for several years, and was recently awarded UBC Okanagan’s Researcher of the Year award. Sabre brings her experiences as a teacher, coach, and parent to her passion for exploring what it means to flourish in work and life.

About Jody Billingsley


Jody Billingsley (MEd’11, TELP’20) has been a teacher and educational leader for the past 21 years. He taught in Vancouver, West Vancouver, and the Bronx, New York. He currently leads as a Principal in the Delta School District. Jody Billingsley is an educational advocate for equity, inclusion, and for doing what is in the best interest of children. He believes all children should be able to access the curriculum and find success, and that relationships and networking are key within education systems. Jody Billingsley received his Master of Education in Administration and Educational Leadership from UBC and is a graduate of UBC’s Transformative Education Leadership Program (TELP).

About Nicole Davey


Nicole Davey (TELP’17) is currently the Director of Instruction, Learning and Innovation in Nanaimo Ladysmith School District. She is a doctoral candidate with the University of Western Ontario and a graduate of the Transformative Educational Leadership Program with the University of British Columbia. Nicole believes that transformation in education is possible through human connection, supportive learning networks, and an unrelenting moral purpose grounded in equity. She is curious about how to support the learning of all those within the system, connecting to both the head and the heart.

About Alice Jungclaus


Alice Jungclaus (BA’94, BEd’95, MEd’06, TELP’22) is an educational leader who enables learners to develop their individual potential. She holds a Master of Educational Administration and Leadership from the University of British Columbia. As a teacher and coach, Alice’s career spanned from British Columbia in Canada to China, Japan, and Switzerland before returning to Vancouver to assume her current role as a Vice Principal with the Vancouver School Board. Alice is a member of Little Pine First Nation and brings her experiences and perspectives as a Canadian of Plains Cree and Igbo descent.

About Annie Varghese


Annie Varghese (TELP’22) has been an educator for over 21 years as part of the Surrey and Richmond School Districts. She is currently a Principal in the Richmond School District. Annie received her Master of Education in Educational Administration from the University of Toronto and is a graduate of the Transformative Educational Leadership program at UBC. As a learning leader, her recent focus is on the work of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion and creating belonging for all learners in her school community. She is a passionate believer that all students can find success given a foundation of trusting relationships with a focus on the whole child. Annie values mentorship and ongoing professional learning in her journey as an educational leader.

UBC Okanagan launches Doctor of Education program

By helen mclaughlin

March, 8, 2023

New degree provides flexible learning opportunities for aspiring educational leaders

UBCO will soon be offering a Doctorate of Education program with the majority of the coursework delivered online.

UBC Okanagan has a new graduate degree that will provide educators and leaders an opportunity to advance their careers while staying in their local community.

A new Doctor of Education (EdD) program, offered by the Okanagan School of Education, will fill a niche for those seeking an advanced degree and flexible professional development, says Dr. Rehan Sadiq, UBCO Provost and Vice-President, Academic.

“At UBC, we are committed to providing innovative and inclusive education,” says Dr. Sadiq. “The launch of our flexible EdD program is a testament to that commitment, as it offers a unique opportunity for educators and leaders to pursue their doctorate while balancing work and family obligations. It also makes it possible for students from across Canada and beyond to participate, bringing together a diverse community of learners.”

The three-year program is designed to inform, empower and engage current and aspiring educational leaders, explains Dr. Sabre Cherkowski, Director of Graduate Programs at the Okanagan School of Education. The majority of the coursework will be delivered online with opportunities for students to come to campus for summer intensive sessions.

“Our focus on a collaborative and interdisciplinary approach to learning will bring together students from diverse educational backgrounds to share their experiences and perspectives—creating a rich and dynamic learning experience,” adds Dr. Cherkowski.

The course design will allow the degree to address timely, ever-changing and relevant issues in education, as well as meet emerging needs of professional learners, explains Dr. Jan Hare, Dean pro tem with the Faculty of Education.

“Unique to the program is the scholar-practitioner emphasis woven throughout,” she says. “We are excited to offer a program that provides professional learners with the knowledge, skills and practical experience needed to make meaningful contributions and changes in their local communities.”

The EdD offers credentialing that may provide career options for those seeking senior-level leadership or consulting positions, roles within government sectors, as well as community organizations.

The program will start accepting applications this summer and the first cohort will start in July 2024. Interested applicants can register to receive an email for updates on the program, including when the intake begins.

For more information about the EdD program, visit education.ok.ubc.ca/EdD.

A version of this story appeared on the UBC Okanagan News website.

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