Message from Dr. Jan Hare, Dean pro tem

Message from Dr. Jan Hare, Dean pro tem

By Paula Sabti

September 7, 2021

Aanii – Greetings,

I am delighted to welcome you to a new academic year. I look forward, as no doubt you are, as well, to walking through the hallways and across campus to greet colleagues after the long hiatus from in-person interactions. I am particularly excited to see new and returning students in our Faculty of Education.

As glad as I feel about the resumption of our on-campus life, I also recognize that we have some uncertain times ahead of us. Along with UBC senior leadership and provincial health authorities, we are navigating mask mandates, vaccine cards, and rapidly changing circumstances arising from variants of concern and more. The safety and well-being of every member of our Faculty of Education community is important to me. I ask that you remain patient with the guidelines and restrictions, and continue to hold each other up as we find our way forward.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank the many people, most especially the staff and WorkLearn students, who came to campus regularly over the past 18 months to ensure that essential matters were looked after. I would also like to recognize that all of us have worked extraordinarily hard throughout the remote work and learning period, whether it was putting courses online, attending to administrative matters, taking classes, or meeting with graduate students and research colleagues through seemingly endless Zoom meetings.

Though it seemed to be a life lived almost fully online, together we have made significant accomplishments in our education community. Key markers from the past 18 months include the highly successful rollout of Workday, a number of very well attended online public lectures and events across departments and programs, several significant donations and endowments, completion of the work of the Task Force on Race, Indigeneity, and Social Justice, and increased interest in our programs across the board. We have thrived and this is a tribute to the extraordinary people who make up our community.

This month, I draw your attention to the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation on Thursday, September 30th, which will be observed as a statutory day to commemorate the legacy of residential schools and to honour residential school survivors and those who did not return to their families, communities, or territories. We will share some of our upcoming events related to this important day with you soon.

In Coast Salish tradition, I raise my hands up to all of you in respect and gratitude for the patience, care, and kindness that you have shown to your friends, families, and colleagues. This has made for stronger communities to support our return to campus.

Miigwech – thank you and stay well!
Jan

Supporting and Representing Black Educators in BC… Where Are We Today?

By avin saririan

When: February 17th, 5:00 PM – 6:30 PM PST

Where: Virtually

As part of the United Nations commitment to the 2015 – 2024 International Decade for People of African Descent, Faculties of Education and School Districts should endeavor to support Black educators and Black student excellence. This commitment is key to the holistic academic success of students. As educators we need to strive to provide conducive working environments, learning experiences, and advancing opportunities. Recruiting, supporting, and retaining Black educators in the teaching profession in BC is also critical. Join us in learning about approaches that will help underscore your commitment to equity and addressing anti-Black racism in education.

Moderator:

Kenneth Headley

Kenneth Headley is a Caribbean/Black school administrator. He has been an educator for over 12 years and an advocate for marginalized students, their families and their communities. Through his long-standing relationship with Beth Applewhite and James Morton, Kenneth has been a part of a team that focuses on providing meaningful opportunities to discuss issues of racial discrimination with students and educators. Since 2016, he has played an integral role in the success of annual Anti-Racism Youth Symposiums and Black History Month Student Conferences. Kenneth completed his Bachelor of General Studies in Canadian studies and sociology at SFU. He completed his B.Ed at SFU as well as his Master’s Degree in Educational Practice, looking at integrating cultural narratives in the classroom. Kenneth has been a moderator on #bcedchat for 5 years moderating conversations on race and curriculum goals for BC Students. Kenneth taught in Surrey for 9 years before becoming a Vice-Principal with the Maple Ridge School District in 2018.

 

Panelists:

Ramona Cruickshank

Ramona Cruickshank is currently a teacher and coordinator of a District Program in Maple Ridge for students with complex learning needs.  She manages a team of 9 Educational Assistants and works collaboratively with them to support students in developing their voice to better self-advocate and communicate.  Ramona is a UBC alumni with a Bachelor of Arts Degree and a Bachelor of Education degree.  This is her 15th year of teaching, four of which were spent in First Nations Schools in BC in the roles of a Special Education Teacher, Vice-Principal, Student Services Coordinator & Spoken Language 12 classroom teacher.  In 2016, she completed her Special Education Diploma from Queen’s University. Ramona is biracial, Grenadian, Black, Canadian, phenomenal, leader, founder and former President of the Caribbean & African Association of UBC, Carnival Sensations Caribbean Society and the Vancouver Caribbean Carnival Association.  She is soca – the beat and rhythm of the African drum runs through her veins and she is proud of every attempt to feel free both physically and mentally.

Nikitha Fester

Nikitha Fester is a secondary French immersion teacher and Head of Department in Vancouver School district. She completed her Bachelor of Education degree at the University of British Columbia in 2015. Nikitha also holds a post graduate diploma in special education, is Orton-Gillingham trained and will be starting her Masters in Equity Education at Western University in the fall of 2021. Nikitha has designed and facilitated several district wide professional development sessions on a variety of topics and played an active role in planning the VSB’s first Youth Anti-Racism summit, What’s the move? in February 2020. In addition to working with the Vancouver School Board, Nikitha is the Director of Resource development with I Dream Library. Her work there includes the creation of French and English programming and K-12 lesson and units that are embedded and in line with the new BC curriculum.

Monica Noakes

Monica Noakes is an elementary teacher with the Surrey School District. Monica did her undergraduate studies at SFU and completed it in 2004. Since then she has also completed her MEd at SFU. Over the years Monica has focused her learning and classroom teaching on environmental education, which includes working with the Pembina Foundation to create an environmental education curriculum for elementary students. More recently she has been involved with the Classroom Champions program, partnering with Olympians to work on building students’ character and social and emotional learning.

Register for the event

Dr. Vanessa Andreotti appointed Interim Director of the Peter Wall Institute for Advanced Studies

By Ayla Collins

August 23, 2021

Congratulations to Dr. Vanessa Andreotti, Canada Research Chair in Race, Inequalities and Global Change and Professor in the Faculty of Education’s Department of Educational Studies, for her appointment as Interim Director of the Peter Wall Institute for Advanced Studies (PWIAS) at UBC beginning September 1st, 2021.

The PWIAS provides scholars from UBC and around the world with the opportunity to engage in innovative research in an interdisciplinary environment. The PWIAS aims to facilitate collaboration among a diverse range of scholars. The theme for the 2021 cohort of Wall Scholars is Complex Systems.

Please join us in wishing Dr. Andreotti every success with this appointment!

Ayaz Mahmood appointed Assistant Dean, Finance

By Ayla Collins

August 16, 2021

The Faculty of Education is pleased to announce that Ayaz Mahmood, who has served as Acting Director of Finance since July, 2020, has accepted the role of Assistant Dean, Finance in the Faculty of Education. The role of Assistant Dean, Finance, is a senior leadership role responsible for providing comprehensive financial leadership, expertise and direction for the Faculty of Education. The position has a Faculty-wide impact, contributing to strategic direction, plans and objectives by identifying issues and opportunities, evaluating organizational impact and introducing innovative initiatives to move the strategic plans forward.

Please join us in congratulating Ayaz on his new position!

Carleen Thomas is Appointed Chancellor of Emily Carr University

By Ayla Collins

August 3, 2021

The Faculty of Education congratulates Carleen Thomas, BEd’03, who will serve as the next Chancellor of Emily Carr University of Art + Design (ECU). She will be the first Indigenous person to hold this position at ECU. Ms. Thomas is currently the Special Projects Manager for the Treaty, Lands and Resources department at the Tsleil-Waututh Nation. Prior to this position, she served eight two-year terms as an elected council member for the Tsleil-Waututh Nation, in which she held the Community Development portfolio covering health and education.

Ms. Thomas, a UBC Bachelor of Education (secondary) alumna, previously worked for the North Vancouver and Burnaby school districts as a district resource teacher in Indigenous education. She has also sat on the Burnaby School District’s Aboriginal Advisory Committee and served as the Aboriginal Representative Chair in the Capilano University Senate. She currently sits on the Indigenous Advisory and Monitoring Committee, a federal advisory committee made up of 13 Indigenous and six senior federal representatives that provides advice to regulators and monitors the Trans Mountain Expansion project and existing pipeline.

Dr. Derek Gladwin appointed as Senior Editor for Environmental and Sustainability Education in the Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Education

By Paula Sabti

July 30, 2021

Dr. Derek Gladwin was recently appointed as Senior Editor for Environmental and Sustainability Education in the Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Education, published with the Oxford University Press. Peer-reviewed and regularly updated, the Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Education is part of the larger online Oxford Research Encyclopedia, a dynamic digital encyclopedia continuously updated by the world’s leading scholars and researchers.

Dr. Gladwin recently published an op-ed in the Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Education, Why climate change education needs more empathy, which discusses dismantling knowledge deficit models of education, activating empathy, finding consensus and more.

Visit Dr. Gladwin’s profile to learn more about his work, research and publications.

Dr. Lee Gunderson is elected to the Reading Hall of Fame

By Ayla Collins

July 28, 2021

Please join us in congratulating Dr. Lee Gunderson, Professor in the Faculty of Education, who has been recognized for his lifelong achievements in the field of reading through election to the Reading Hall of Fame. The Reading Hall of Fame aims to contribute, from the collective experiences of its members, to further improvement in reading instruction.

Criteria for nomination to the Reading Hall of Fame include 25 years or more of active involvement in literacy work, with contributions in the following areas:

  • authorship of publications on literacy, including reports of significant research;
  • performance in positions of responsibility in the field of literacy; and
  • preparation of leaders in the literacy field through their teaching.

Dr. Gunderson’s induction to the Reading Hall of Fame will occur during the Literacy Research Association conference in Atlanta, Georgia in December, 2021.

Congratulations, Dr. Gunderson!

UBC Faculty of Education members help lead the City of Vancouver’s unanimously approved Equity Framework

By Paula Sabti

July 28, 2021


 

” It was very important, for example, for us to name and work with the distinction between Indigenous Rights and the struggles of racialized groups in Vancouver, in an accurate and responsible way.”
— Dr. Handel Kashope Wright

Equity Framework: City of Vancouver

The City of Vancouver has taken a significant step forward in acknowledging and upholding the rights and dignity of all people, addressing historic and current systemic injustice, and reducing harm by adopting its first-ever Equity Framework. The Equity Framework will help the City of Vancouver approach every aspect of its operations with a sharper and more nuanced equity lens.

Equity Framework: UBC Faculty of Education

Over the past two years, several people closely collaborated in the development of the Equity Framework, including Dr. Mumbi Maina, who helped lead the City of Vancouver’s unanimously approved Equity Framework, and Dr. Handel Kashope Wright, who provided sustained, extensive advice on the Equity Framework.

Dr. Mumbi Maina
Postdoctoral Fellow, UBC Faculty of Education
Social Planner, Social Policy and Projects Division, City of Vancouver

Dr. Maina is part of a research team working to imagine how Canadian cities can catalyze transformative innovation in tackling colonialism, inequities and the climate crisis. Her doctoral research examined the roles of various groups, including historically marginalized groups, in the enactment of sustainability in higher education policy and practice. She was the first Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Fellow in the Sustainability Group in the City of Vancouver and, in her current role as a Social Planner at the City of Vancouver, Dr. Mumbi has collaboratively worked towards organizational transformation through the development of the Equity Framework. Her previous work focused on grassroots social and environmental justice organizing, anti-racist education, and cross-cultural collaboration with immigrant and other communities across North America.

Dr. Handel Kashope Wright
Professor, UBC Faculty of Education
Director, Centre for Culture, Identity and Education, UBC Faculty of Education
Senior Advisor to the President on Anti-Racism and Inclusive Excellence, UBC
Senior Research Associate, School of Communication, University of Johannesburg
Co-Editor, African and Diasporic Cultural Studies Book Series, University of Toronto Press
Associate Editor, Critical Arts

Dr. Wright’s work focuses on continental and diasporic African cultural studies, critical multiculturalism, anti-racist education, qualitative research, and cultural studies of education. His current research examines post multiculturalism, youth identity, and belonging in the Canadian context. Dr. Wright serves on the City of Vancouver’s Black History Month Event Planning Committee. He also serves as an advisor to the Executive of the community group, Sierra Leoneans in British Columbia and the UBC student group, Africa Awareness.

To learn more, visit the City of Vancouver’s Equity Framework page.

Welcome and Orientation to the Faculty of Education

By Faustina Cheung

Format

The Office of the Dean invites staff and instructors in the English Language Institute to a Zoom-based, virtual orientation to the Faulty of Education. We will present an overview of the organizational structure of the Faculty of Education, along with focused sessions with our Finance, HR, Marketing and Educational Technology Support (ETS) units, during which you are encouraged to ask questions. We are excited to meet you!

Hosts

Anna Bin and Katy Ellsworth, Office of the Dean, Faculty of Education

Featuring

Ayaz Mahmood | Acting Director, Finance
Anna Bin | Director, Human Resources
Abby Blinch | Manager, Marketing and Communications
Natasha Boškić | Director, Learning Design

Date

Monday, August 16th, 2021

Time

1:00 pm to 2:00 pm PDT

Registration

Closed

Return to Campus COVID-19 Safety Tips

By Ayla Collins

July 14, 2021

 
As we look towards our return to campus, here are some tips to ensure we keep our community safe:

  • – Complete a daily health assessment. If you are feeling sick, stay at home and seek medical guidance.
  • – Wash your hands often with soap and water for 20 seconds. If soap and water are not available, use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer.
  • – Cough or sneeze into your upper sleeve, not your hands, or cover your mouth and nose with a tissue.
  • – Respect everyone’s personal choices.

Learn more by visiting srs.ubc.ca/covid-19

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