Vancouver and Okanagan Faculties of Education Merge and Okanagan School of Education Opens July 1st

Vancouver and Okanagan Faculties of Education Merge and Okanagan School of Education Opens July 1st

By admin

June 18, 2018

Today is a great day for the Faculty of Education at UBC. After extensive consultations over a four-year period with UBC faculty, staff, students and partners of the Vancouver and Okanagan Faculties of Education, a decision has been made by the UBC Board of Governors to merge the university’s two Faculties of Education, and to create a new Okanagan School of Education, effective July 1, 2018.

This merger not only creates new ways for our faculties to interact and collaborate with each other, but also introduces the new UBC Okanagan School of Education.

This new opportunity aims to optimize resources and to create stronger connections between faculties across both campuses, building on our proven excellence in educational research and program delivery.

As well, our ability to serve the educational and professional development of both the students and alumni will be strengthened, with more resources to help provide greater access for teaching candidate practicum locations province-wide, and an even wider pool of faculty to consult on programs and thesis committee membership.

The Faculty of Education would like to take this opportunity to say thank you to everyone who was involved in this collaboration and welcome the new Okanagan School of Education.

Questions and Answers


Will the B.Ed. degrees offered at each campus be combined?

The B.Ed. degree offered by Faculty of Education, UBC-V and the Faculty of Education, UBC-O are entirely different degrees in terms of length of program and degree requirements. This difference in the B.Ed. degrees is an asset and there is no plan to streamline the two B.Eds. into one B.Ed. degree program.

What benefits will this reorganization offer to students?

It is possible that the merger may provide greater access for teacher candidates in UBC-V to rural practicum locations and likewise, greater access for teacher candidates in UBC-O to urban and suburban practicum locations.Graduate programs at UBC-O will remain administratively unchanged. Masters and doctoral students on both campuses will have access to a larger pool of faculty to consult about possible program and/or thesis committee membership.

Will the merger of the Faculty of Education affect me and the program I have chosen?

No. The programs will not change. Every program will proceed as unique offerings to prospective and current students. The merger of the UBC Faculty of Education Vancouver and UBC Faculty of Education Okanagan will not change the number, size, requirements or tuition fees of the programs offered either in Vancouver or in the Okanagan.

Will the degree I receive be different?

No. The degree-granting institution nor program you from which you will graduate will not change.

I'm a student at the Okanagan campus. Will I have to visit Vancouver for classes, or will my practicum be based out of Vancouver?

No. Each program will continue to operate in its current state, providing the same opportunities to students for practicum placement.

Graduate Defences – Catherine Macala

By alex smiciklas

Catherine Macala, MASTER OF ARTS, HIGHER EDUCATION

BRIDGING THE RURAL DIVIDE: AN EXPLORATORY STUDY OF A MEDICAL SCHOOL’S RURAL APPLICANTS
Supervisor(s): Dr. Lesley Andres, Professor, Department of Educational Studies, UBC; Dr. Kevin Eva, Professor and Director of Educational Research and Scholarship, Department of Medicine, UBC; Dr. Pam Ratner, Vice-Provost and Associate Vice-President, Enrolment and Academic Facilities, Office of the Vice-President Academic, UBC
June 18, 2018 | 1PM | Ponderosa Commons Oak House, Room 1001

ABSTRACT

It is widely recognized that rural students are underrepresented in medical schools in Canada and many other countries. Some have argued that this underrepresentation stems from admissions selection biases. This study explores the relationship between the location of high school of graduation and applicant demographics, performance on several admissions measures, and incorporates a comparison of rural and non-rural applicant autobiographical submissions. For this study I allocated 1963 UBC medical school applicants from the 2014-15 application cycle into three categories (rural, regional and urban). Three primarily analyses were conducted: a comparison of demographic characteristics (age, gender, highest level of education earned at time of application, Aboriginal identity, and BC residency) across the applicant subgroups, a univariate and multivariate statistical analysis reviewing the relationship between location of high school of graduation and measures of performance in the admissions process, and a quantitative content analysis that compared rural, regional, and urban applicant non-academic and employment history experiences. Results suggest that subtle differences existed across the applicant subgroups. Primarily, rural applicants were more likely to be female, to identify as an Aboriginal person, to perform more poorly on the Medical College Admissions Test (MCAT), to work, and to mention employment in trades and forestry related professions than their non-rural peers. These differences, however, were unrelated to the rate at which applicants from the different subgroups advanced through the various stages of the admissions process. Because medical schools struggle to balance the goals and values of their programs with the metrics used to evaluate these traits and characteristics, results reinforce the importance of admissions policies designed to evaluate candidates in a background-appropriate manner so that a diversity of applicants, including those from rural areas, can adequately demonstrate their readiness for a career in medicine.

Premier’s Awards for Excellence in Education

By admin

Deadline: June 30, 2018
Nomination Form

Do you know someone who has made a positive, long-lasting impact on your school community.  Then nominate them for one of the Premier’s Awards for Excellence in Education.

The Premier’s Awards for Excellence in Education were created to recognize the enormous contributions of B.C.’s exceptional teachers, administrators and support staff that are vital to the cultural, economic and social well-being of the province. The Premier’s Awards provide students, parents, teachers and other members of the community with an opportunity to celebrate those who make a real difference in B.C. schools.

The Awards are presented annually to exceptional education professionals in British Columbia’s school system working within either the public, independent, First Nations, or offshore school systems.

 

Learn more about the nomination categories or the nomination process.

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Graduate Defence – Ernesto Jose Pena Alonso

By domansky

Ernesto Jose Pena Alonso, PhD in Language and Literacy Education

Visualizing Visual Literacy
Supervisor(s): Dr. Teresa Dobson
Wednesday, June 27, 2018 | 9:00 AM | Graduate Student Centre, 6371 Crescent Road, Room 200

Ernesto Jose Pena Alonso will have his dissertation defence at 9:00 AM on Wednesday, June 27, 2018 in Room 200 of the Graduate Student Centre (6371 Crescent Road).

All are welcome to attend.

Supervisory Committee:
Dr. Teresa Dobson (LLED),
Dr. Kedrick James (LLED),
Dr. Dónal O’Donoghue (EDCP)

Examiners:
External examiner: Dr. George Buck (University of Alberta)
University examiners: Dr. Mary Bryson (LLED) and Dr. Jennifer Vadeboncoeur (Grad Program)

Title: “Visualizing Visual Literacy”

Abstract:
In recent times, the declaration of the prominence of the visual over other channels of communication has been persistent across several disciplines, including film studies, design, sociology, and literacy education (e.g. Bolter, 1991; Fransecky & Debes, 1972; Kress, 2005; Sartori, 1998; Messaris, 2012). It is within this loom of visuality that the concept visual literacy has been woven together throughout the twentieth century and beyond. This dissertation explores the mobilization of this concept through the last century and addresses the implications of its interdisciplinary and polysemic nature. By tracing the evolution of this term, as well as some of its correlates in English, I map the concept of “the visual as a literacy.” In order to do this, I first completed a comprehensive search of available databases for all uses of “visual literacy” in English, in the process compiling a working bibliography of 2400 documents. Subsequently, I created a full-text database of 330 representative documents I deemed most central to the mobilization of visual literacy. I employed text visualization approaches combined with close reading to understand trends and patterns in my datasets. Beyond using available tools for text visualization, I also worked with a team to design and program a tool specifically for analysis of my full-text corpus: The Glass Cast (Peña, Juárez, Dobson, & INKE Research Group, 2016). This tool is a plug-in for the open- source reference management software Zotero. It allows researchers to visualize relationships between documents in a bibliography over time. In itself this tool is a unique contribution to scholarship and a key outcome of this study.
Findings of this research included the revelation of a rich history of visual literacy dating to 1939, the identification of three virtually independent historical avenues, or waves, of mobilization of visual literacy, and the coexistence of at least two confounding understandings of the concept. Ultimately, I address these two different understandings in an attempt to inform the work of educators invested in the topic.

The Globe’s interview with Dr. Annette Henry

By domansky

The Globe and Mail

By: ANYA ZOLEDZIOWSKI
JUNE 3, 2018

Dr. Annette Henry was interviewed by the Globe recently on the topic of race:

The extra load that professors of colour have to bear.
University of British Columbia professor Annette Henry’s role as a mentor isn’t always limited to the students in her classes. Dr. Henry, who has written about the experience of black female professors in Canada, and is black herself, has also had students she has never taught seek her out.

Read the whole article here.

Congratulations to Dr. Guofang Li on her successful SSHRC Insight Grant application

By domansky

June 6, 2018

Please join us in congratulating Dr. Guofang Li for her success with her project, “Behind the model minority mask: Identifying early factors in Cantonese- and Mandarin-speaking children’s divergent literacy and academic trajectories in Canadian schools“, in the 2017 SSHRC Insight Grants competition!

Congratulations, Guofan

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Graduate Defence – Yaying Zhong

By domansky

YAYING ZHONG, MASTER OF ARTS, Educational Studies

IS FREIRE’S CRITICAL PEDAGOGY APPLICABLE TO CHINA’S HIGHER EDUCATION? A PHILOSOPHICAL EXAMINATION
Supervisor(s): Dr. P. TAYLOR WEBB, Associate Professor, Educational Studies, UBC; Dr. SAM ROCHA, Assistant Professor, Educational Studies, UBC

Date: Thursday, June 14, 2018
Time:  1:00 PM
Location: Ponderosa Commons Oak House 1011

ABSTRACT
The purpose of this study is to identify the assumptions of China’s civiceducation and compare these assumptions to the key concepts involved in PauloFreire’s critical pedagogy, particularly his ideas of (1) critical consciousness, (2)humanization, and (3) dialogue. Based on the specific social and political contexts inwhich each of these pedagogies arose, the thesis will explore the limitations andpotential of applying Freire’s critical pedagogy to enhance university students’critical and civic consciousness in China.

To this end, the thesis will present a comparative study of Freirean criticalpedagogy and the Chinese culture of pedagogy in order to explore the followingquestions: What are the key concepts that support Freire’s conception oftransformative education? What are the key concepts of China’s civic education?How do Freire’s and China’s concepts relate or compare to each other? How mightFreirean ideas of critical consciousness and social transformation be informed orextended in relation to the challenges posed by China’s conception of civiceducation? What challenges or implications arise when attempting to use orimplement Freire’s ideas of critical pedagogy within China’s higher education system(e.g., to teach for transformation)?
These questions will be answered by exploring the points of commonality anddifference between the worldviews framing the civic education in China’s highereducation institutions and Freire’s critical pedagogy.

Congratulations to the Recent Faculty of Education Grant Recipients!

By Ayla Collins

 

Congratulations to the following faculty members on winning numerous prestigious research grant awards! These successes speak to the excellence and capacity of our scholars.

SSHRC Insight Grants

Applicant: Dr. Lesley Andres (EDST)
Collaborator: Dr. Wolfgang Lauterback (U Potsdam)
Education work and income inequality across the life course: A Canadian and German longitudinal analysis
$70,820 | 3 years

Applicant: Dr. Mona Gleason (EDST)
Talking back to Victoria: Parental advocacy for rural education in British Columbia, 1920 to the present
$76,805 | 3 years

Applicant: Dr. Jennifer Katz (ECPS)
Collaborators: Mr. Kevin Lamoureux (U Manitoba), Dr. Laurence Katz (U Manitoba)
Supporting mental health in our schools: Building resiliency with DBT
$177,703 | 3 years

Applicant: Dr. Guofang Li (LLED)
Co-Investigator: Dr. Lee Gunderson (LLED)
Behind the model minority mask: Identifying early factors in Cantonese- and Mandarin-speaking children’s divergent literacy and academic trajectories in Canadian schools
$275,737 | 5 years

Applicant: Dr. Moss Norman (KIN)
Co-Investigators: Dr. LeAnne Petherick (EDCP), Dr. Heather McRae (U Manitoba), Dr. Michael A. Hart (U Manitoba)
Collaborators: Dr. Andrea Bundon (KIN), Mr. Edward M. Albert (U Manitoba), Mr. Gerald Mason (Fisher River Cree Nation)
Restor(y)ing place-based Indigenous physical cultural identities: Examining the relationships between movement, land, language, and masculinities
$192,982 | 5 years

Applicant: Dr. William Pinar (EDCP)
Curriculum studies in Canada: Intellectual histories, present circumstances, and future prospects
$187,609 | 4 years

Applicant: Dr. Alison Taylor (EDST)
Co-Investigators: Dr. Hongxia Shan (EDST), Dr. Robert Sweet (Lakehead U),  Dr. Wolfgang Lehmann (U Western Ontario), Dr. Kiran Mirchandani (U of T)
Collaborator: Dr. Milosh M. Raykov (U Malta)
The hard working student: A Canadian study
$243,621 | 4 years

Applicant: Dr. Taylor Web (EDST)
Co-Investigators: Dr. Kalervo Gulson (U New South Wales), Dr. Sam Sellar (Manchester Metropolitan U)
The education of and by machines: The impact of artificial intelligence on education policy
$129,686 | 3 years

Applicant: Dr. Brian Wilson (KIN)
Collaborator: Mr. Bradley J. Millington (U Bath)
Real Utopian experiments in environmentalist sport: a focus on golf
$112,566 | 5 years

Applicant: Dr. Meghan McDonough (U Calgary)
Co-Investigators: Dr. Peter Crocker (KIN); Dr. Jennifer Hewson (U Calgary)
Social support for social participation and physical literacy for older adults
$84,000 | 2 years

Applicant: Dr. Brenda Poon (UBC HELP)
Co-Investigators: Dr. Janet Jamieson (ECPS), Dr. Magdalena Janus (McMaster U), Dr. Anat Zaidman-Zait (Tel Aviv University)
Adoption of a response to intervention model across different educational contexts
$188,656 | 4 years

 

SSHRC Partnership Development Grants

Applicant: Dr. Stephen R.J. Sheppard (UBC Forestry)
Co-Investigators: Dr. Stephen Petrina (EDCP), Dr. Frank Fracchia (SFU), Dr. Ian Mauro (U Winnipeg), Dr. Jiaying Zhao (UBC)
Scaling up social mobilization on climate change with digital tools
$199,981 | 2 years

Applicant: Dr. Rita Irwin (EDCP)

Co-Investigators: Dr. Alexandra J. Lasczik (Southern Cross U), Dr. Anita E. Sinner (Concordia U), Dr. Joaquin Roldan (Universidad de Granada), Dr. Jun Hu (Hangzhou Normal U), Dr. Koichi C.T. Kasahara (Tokyo Gakugei U), Dr. Ricardo Marin Viadel (Universidad de Granada), Dr. Valerie J. Triggs (U Regina)

Collaborators: Dr. Adrienne R. Boulton (Kwantlen Polytechnic U), Dr. Amy Cutter-Mackenzie (Southern Cross University), Dr. Belidson Dias (Universidade de Brasília), Dr. Carleton D. Leggo (LLED), Dr. Lidia Suyapa S.D. Cálix Vallecillo (Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Honduras), Dr. Paloma Palau-Pellicer (Universitat Jaume I), Dr. Takashi Takao (Tokyo Gakugei U), Madame Li Tang, Mrs. Maria del Rosario Tatiana Fernández Méndez (Universidade de Brasília), Ms. Michele D. Sorensen (U Regina), Professor Darlene St. Georges (U Lethbridge)

Mapping a/r/tography:  transnational storytelling across historical and cultural routes of significance

$200,000 | 3 years

Applicant:Dr. Sterett Mercer (ECPS)

Co-Investigators: Dr. Joanna Cannon (ECPS), Ms. Kate Raven (Learning Disabilities Association of Canada)

Collaborators: Ms. Thealzel Lee

Assessment for effective intervention in written expression for students with learning disabilities.

$199,633 | 3 years

 

NSERC Discovery Grants

Applicant: Dr. Gunter Sigmund (KIN)
Engineering approaches to preventing or mitigating whiplash injuries
$45,800 per year | 5 years

Applicant: Dr. Darren Warburton (KIN)
Cardiovascular physiology in the extremes: mechanisms of adaptation
$67,500 | 1 year

 

CIHR Catalyst Grant: Personalized Health

Applicant: Dr. JoAnne Arcand (University of Ontario Institute of Technology)
Co-Investigators: Dr. Jillianne Code (EDCP), Dr. Justin Ezekowicz (U of A), Dr. Manon Lemonde (University of Ontario Institute of Technology), Dr. Susanna Mak (U of T), Dr. Jeff Sommers (Heart & Stroke Foundation), Dr. David Blackburn (U Saskatchewan), Dr. Anna Farmer (U of A)
Title of Project: Improving heart failure outcomes through apps that support self-management and adherence
$141,708 | 2 years

 

National Indian Brotherhood Trust Fund 

Applicant: Dr. Darren Warburton (KIN)
Co-Investigators: Dr. Shannon Bredin (KIN), Dr. Jan Hare (LLED), Dr. Moss Norman (KIN)
Collaborators: Dr. Rosalin Miles, Gail Sparrow
Strengthening Indigenous Education in Health and Well-being
$100,000 | 1 year

 

International Study Association on Teachers and Teaching Collaborative Research Grant

Applicant: Dr. G. Zhu (Texas A & M)
Co-Investigator: Dr. Guofang Li (LLED)
Examining the relationship between student teachers’ emotional labor strategy, teaching achievement goal, and self-efficacy
£1000

 

Rossy Family Foundation

Applicant: Dr. Guy Faulkner (KIN)
Development of the Canadian Campus Wellbeing Surveillance System
$193,000

 

Rahela Nayebzadah successfully defended her dissertation. Congratulations!

By domansky

June 5, 2018

On Monday, June 4, Rahela Nayebzadah successfully defended her dissertation titled “Red Tears of Pearl: Making Space for Afghan-Canadian Muslim Diasporas in Postcolonial Literature“.

The supervisory committee comprised: Dr. Carl Leggo, Dr. Theresa Rogers, and Dr. Paul Matthew St. Pierre (SFU, English Department).
University examiners were Dr. Margot Filipenko and Dr. Peter Gouzouasis.
The external examiner was Dr. Aparna Mishra Tarc (York University).

Congratulations, Rahela!

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UBC Sustainability Initiative – Interdisciplinary Education Grant Program

By admin

The UBC Sustainability Initiative is excited to launch a new Interdisciplinary Education Grant program. Applications are now open for curriculum grants up to $20,000 over two years.  We encourage faculty members who wish to develop or revise interdisciplinary sustainability courses and programs to explore the program details at https://sustain.ubc.ca/interdisciplinary-education-grants.

 

Apply by July 9 to begin work on your sustainability curriculum project in September 2018.

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