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York professors, alumni lead discussions in speaker series on Canadian education

A new lecture series that examines the past, present and future of Canadian education will feature the expertise of York Professors Kathleen Gould Lundy and Steve Alsop, York Professor Emeritus Paul Axelrod and several York alumni.

The four-part “Values and Visions in Public Schooling” series, sponsored by the Enoch Turner Schoolhouse Foundations, will present provocative talks on the state of schools. It kicks off on Nov. 14 and follows with events on Nov. 28, Jan. 16 and Jan. 30.

What is schooling for, and how have its goals changed over time? Do Egerton Ryerson’s views of public education in the 19th century have any relevance today?

Are contemporary schools vehicles for creativity or conformity, emancipation or repression, diversity or division, equality or inequity?

How have school design and architecture affected teaching and learning? Why do the arts matter in the classroom?

The sessions feature presentations and panel discussions on these questions and a range of educational subjects. The series is free of charge, and is designed for a broad audience interested in Canadian education.

Speakers include a wide range of educators, academics and community leaders whose work, writing and community engagement have enhanced our understanding of the schooling world. Through informed and critical discussions, the series probes the possibilities and challenges of public schooling.

The series features the following lectures:

• Nov. 14 – What Are Schools For?
Presented by Annie Kidder, executive director of the advocacy organization People for Education; Jonathan Kakegamic, principal of First Nations Junior and Senior School of Toronto; and Steve Alsop, an environmental science educator at York University, this session will kick off with an interactive discussion of the aims of public education. The session will be chaired by historian and York University Professor Emeritus Paul Axelrod, who will set the context by recalling the origins of public schooling in Canada.

• Nov. 28 – Designs for Learning: If the Walls Could Speak…
This session asks how educational design, architecture and the construction of schooling spaces reflect social values, community life and the interests of neighbourhoods. Panellists are Brenda Webster, manager of planning at Waterfront Toronto; architectural historian Shannon Kyles; educational historian and commentator Josh Cole; and Martin Kohn, partner at Kohn Shnier Architects.

• Jan. 16 – From Segregation to Integration? 
Public schools, ideally, encourage cultural diversity, social cohesion and equality of opportunity. Panellists in session three ask how fully these goals are being realized. Willa Black, vice-president corporate affairs and social responsibility at Cisco Canada, will chair the discussion, which includes: Jane Griffith, a historian of First Nations residential schooling; Funke Aladejebi, a York University course director who has written on the experience of African Canadians; and Julia Palm, a doctoral student exploring the lives of LGBTQ students and teachers.

• Jan. 28 – Why the Arts Matter
The final session demonstrates the value and dynamism of arts education. York University Professor Kathleen Gould Lundy, an arts educator, leads a group of teachers who, through dramatic performances, illustrate innovative teaching techniques that inspire and engage students.

All sessions will be held at the Enoch Turner Schoolhouse, 106 Trinity St., Toronto, and will begin at 7pm. Everyone is welcome.

Visit the Enoch Turner Schoolhouse Foundation website for information on how to obtain free tickets.

Community Conversations launches new series on girls and identity

Community Conversations kick starts its 2017-18 season with a new series titled Girls, Identity, Tweens and Teens.

“The series is designed to engage the local community on topics of tween and teen girls’ identity, including race and ethnicity, stereotypes, labels, media influences and much more, and I’m delighted with the breadth, depth and varied locations of the events,” said Narda Razack, associate dean, Global & Community Engagement in the Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies, where the series originates. “We’re striving to make the institution an integral part of our community, and these events are just one example of that commitment.”

Natalie Coulter

The launch of the first conversation in the series titled “What does it mean to be a Tween Girl?” took place at the Regent Park Aquatic Center on Oct. 26.   The host and moderator, Communication Studies Professor Natalie Coulter, addressed what it means to be a tween girl in today’s media culture; the messages companies and clothing stores promote to tween girls about identity, societal expectations and friendships; who these companies are attempting to represent and to whom they are trying to appeal; and how tween girls respond to and engage with these messages and influences.

Part two of the series continues with the topic “Black girls and identity,” with hosts Karlene Davis, MEd, who serves as the GCE Experiential Education Program Coordinator, and Education PhD student Rowena Linton on Thursday, Nov. 2 at 6pm at the York Woods Public Library. The conversation on race and gender will focus on what it means to be a black and a girl in Canada, highlighting factors that influence identity, role models and self-esteem. The hosts and community members will discuss some of the stereotypes and share strategies to promote positive self image and identity.

The series wraps up on Thursday, Nov. 23 at 7pm at York U – TD Community Engagement Centre with Professor Coulter and York PhD student Kisha McPherson. This conversation will screen the documentary titled Radical Brownies, a social justice-oriented version of the Girl Scouts, designed to “empower young girls of color to step into their collective power, brilliance and leadership to make the world a more radical place.” A discussion on tween and teen girls’ responsibilities, engagement and involvement in social justice will follow.

The conversations are free and open to the public. Conversations typically run for two hours and do not require participants to prepare in advance. If members of the public are interested in attending a Community Conversation, all they need to do is show up and participate by sharing their experiences, thoughts and ideas.

The Girls, Identity, Tweens and Teens series was developed by the Office of Global & Community Engagement (GCE), which is run from the Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies. GCE funds Community Conversations, connecting the Faculty and York University with a variety of community groups and members within the Greater Toronto Area.

For more information on GCE, contact Rowena Linton at gce@yorku.ca.

For more information on Community Conversations, visit http://laps.yorku.ca/laps-in-the-community/community-conversations/

York helps build partnerships to promote quality education for Indigenous people

The launch of the global research initiative hosted by the City of Greater Sudbury and the UNESCO Chair at York University titled ‘Reorienting Education and Training Systems to Improve the Lives of Indigenous Youth’ took place during a three-day conference at Laurentian University’s Indigenous Sharing and Learning Centre.

UNESCO Chair in Reorienting Teacher Education to Address Sustainability, York University Charles Hopkins pictured third from right

The event, which ran Oct. 16 to 18, was the kick-off for the Central and North American regions to engage in research that will examine how schools and education systems can use Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) contexts to better meet the educational needs of Indigenous and marginalized youth to improve their lives.

Representatives from participating countries including Canada, Malaysia, South Africa, Kazakhstan, Mexico, Germany and the U.S. gathered to discuss the design of the global academic research that will include perspectives from traditional communities from approximately 35 countries on five continents. The intent is to gain knowledge on how quality education is defined by Indigenous people, their various government ministries, education structures and stakeholders.

The further objective of the project is to collect examples of good practice about positive effects of addressing relevant social, environmental and economic issues along with local/traditional knowledge from elders and other community members. This will inform researchers on how to deliver a local construct of a quality education, said Charles Hopkins, UNESCO Chair in Reorienting Teacher Education to Address Sustainability, York University.

This first research linked directly to the UN Sustainable Development Goals, in particular SDG target 4.5, is unique in that it is collaboratively undertaken by universities in partnership with Indigenous communities.

The findings that are expected for 2020 will be widely shared with all stakeholders involved, through the global Indigenous networks and with UNESCO member states to inform the newly pledged efforts aimed at improving education outcomes that are in concert with community wishes. Beyond 2020, it is hoped that the research network will continue to collaborate to contribute in meeting the expectations of Agenda 2030.

Visit the UNESCO Chair in Reorienting Teacher Education to Address Sustainability, York University website for more information on the activities of the Chair.

Faculty of Education wraps up Life in the University series with ‘Thinking Together: Identity Studies in the University’

The third and final event of the Faculty of Education’s Life in the University series in recognition of Canada 150 will take place on Friday, Oct. 27.

Titled “Thinking Together: Identity Studies in the University“, the event will bring together faculty and students for a thought-provoking day of conversation about the status of identity in the University.

“In the midst of debates about ‘free speech’ and student protests, we need – more than ever – to think together about the university as an institution as well as a set of practices, feelings, myths, and relations,” said event organizer Professor Jen Gilbert. “We’ll explore some of these questions, and talk about the role of the University in these matters with our guests Robyn Wiegman (Duke Univeristy), Marnina Gonick (Mount St. Vincent University), and Roderick Ferguson (University of Minnesota).”

About the speakers

Robyn Wiegman is professor of literature and women’s studies and formerly the Margaret Taylor Smith Director of Women’s Studies at Duke University. She is the author of Object Lessons (2012), which examines disciplinary fields including gender studies, American studies, and queer studies to explore how identity categories are crystallized in the academy. Her works-in-progress include two book projects: Racial Sensations, on affect and anti-racist aesthetics; and Arguments Worth Having, about key debates in feminist and queer theory.

Marnina Gonick is the Canada Research Chair in Gender at Mount Saint Vincent University. She is the author of Between Femininities: Ambivalence, Identity and the Education of Girls (2003) and the co-editor of Becoming Girl: Collective Biography and the Production of Girlhood (2014). She is also the co-creator (with Noam Gonick) of Voices in Longitude and Latitude (2014), a video installation about girlhood in Canada. Integrating imagery from urban and rural Canada with interviews with teenage girls from four different communities, the video installation explores the possibilities of audio-visual media in social science research.

Roderick Ferguson is a professor in gender and women’s studies, and African American studies at the University of Illinois at Chicago. He is also the co-director of the Racialized Body research cluster at UIC. Ferguson’s most recent work focuses on the conditions that gave rise to interdisciplinarity and minority studies in American universities in the 1960s and 1970s, and the ways that these fields are now being co-opted, appropriated and regulated. His books include The Reorder of Things: The University and its Pedagogies of Difference (2010) and We Demand: The University and Student Protest (2017). ​

The Life in the University series opened conversations about the challenges, past and present, faced by people inside and outside of the University, including the status of identity studies, debates over purposes of higher education, and changing work conditions.

For the past 58 years, York University and Canada have shared a rich history. York’s faculty, programs and students have helped shape the University to become Canada’s third largest and leading university. The series is generously supported by the Canada 150 @ York Fund.

York University ensures access to teacher education for college tech graduates

image shows a class in the Curtis Lecture hall

York University has signed agreements with seven Ontario colleges to enable college graduates trained in technology-related fields to earn teaching degrees at York.

The pathway agreements allow college students with work experience and three-year advanced diplomas in programs ranging from animation to industrial design to enter York’s Consecutive Bachelor of Education (BEd) in Technological Education program. They must complete 60 credits over four terms to earn a professional teaching degree, which makes them eligible to be certified as a Teacher of Technological Education in an Ontario secondary school.

Rhonda Lenton
York President and Vice-Chancellor Rhonda Lenton

“Ensuring access to post-secondary education is one of our cornerstone commitments,” said Rhonda Lenton, president and vice-chancellor of York University. “York University is deeply committed to creating pathways from colleges to university degree studies to improve access and mobility for students.”

York has finalized agreements with seven colleges ─ Algonquin, Cambrian, Fleming, George Brown, Humber, Loyalist and Seneca ─ and has reached out to even more. Each agreement is tailored to the college programs York has identified as aligning with Ontario’s Technological Education Curriculum for high school students, which includes sectors such as Communications Technology and Green Industries.

“We are proud to partner with the colleges to ensure that students are able to achieve their dreams and to help meet the demand for teachers of technology-related subjects that align with Ontario’s curriculum,” said Lisa Philipps, interim vice-president academic and provost at York.

The university has had informal arrangements in place with a few colleges in the past. However, the new formal agreements with seven colleges have greatly expanded access to York’s BEd in Technological Education program, which is the only one of its kind in the Greater Toronto Area and one of only a few in Ontario.

With significant financial support from the Ontario government, the Faculty of Education at York reached out to stakeholders in education and industry, including the Ontario College of Teachers and Ontario College of Trades, to discuss how to improve teacher education for those who want to teach technology-related subjects in high school.

York’s BEd program includes school and community practicum placements, and a modern curriculum with a broad-based approach to technological education, said Chloë Brushwood Rose, associate dean, academic programs, in the Faculty of Education.

“We recognize the value of an advanced college diploma in computer engineering technology or graphic design in providing these teacher candidates with a high level of technological competence” said Brushwood Rose. “These pathway agreements will prepare highly-qualified teachers, to meet the growing demand for technological education teachers in high schools across Ontario.”

Las Nubes Semester Abroad course offerings expand beyond FES

Las Nubes York U EcoCampus

Building on the success of its decade-long summer field courses in Costa Rica, the Faculty of Environmental Studies (FES) launched a full Semester Abroad program open to all York University students in May.

Las Nubes York U EcoCampus
The goal of the Semester Abroad is to immerse students in the cloud forest of Costa Rica and surrounding local and indigenous communities

The first Las Nubes Semester Abroad attracted 53 students from six York Faculties (FES, Glendon, Health, LA&PS, Science and Education) to York’s EcoCampus, situated in the heart of the Las Nubes Forest Reserve in the Alexander Skutch Corridor. The program offered students six environmental studies courses that touched upon a wide range of topics, including food sovereignty, indigenous issues, conservation, sustainable development, environmental health and tropical ecology.

For the 2018 Semester Abroad program, FES continues to foster the integration of all parts of the University into the Las Nubes EcoCampus. This year’s programming will once again include six courses, four of which are offered by environmental studies. New this year, course offerings will expand to include one course offered by the Faculty of Education and one course offered by Glendon.

Student information sessions for on the Semester Abroad will be held on Oct. 10 and Nov. 16.

All York University students are encouraged to attend this once-in-a-lifetime experience.

The goal of the Semester Abroad is to immerse students in the cloud forest of Costa Rica and surrounding local and indigenous communities. The courses provide students with experiential learning opportunities to explore the historical and contemporary, environmental and social dynamics of this extraordinary environment. In addition, students contribute to lasting community engagement activities (such as the annual Alexander Skutch Festival), explore neotropical conservation methods, learn about agriculture and sustainable business practices, contribute to citizen science projects, apply citizen science to their species identification walks and learn to consider the influence of global perspectives that influence health, politics and economic life in Costa Rica.

Las Nubes York U EcoCampus
This year’s programming will include four courses offered by FES, one by the Faculty of Education and one by Glendon

The experience of the Semester Abroad is far more than just course-based learning; while attending the program, students are completely engaged in the local communities that are just outside the EcoCampus in their home stay accommodations.

In 2017, the Semester Abroad contributed nearly $50,000 to the local economy, out of which almost half went to 31 home stay families. The program also supports local knowledge and expertise, with all of the courses including invited guests or local guides.

Students returning from the EcoCampus recognize the home stay as one of the many invaluable experiences of the Semester Abroad program.

Students say they return to Toronto with new perspectives on global challenges to environmental well-being, global sustainability and social equity. Not only do they utilize their new knowledge when they return to their studies at York’s Keele or Glendon campuses, but it also proves useful in their future academic and career pursuits, having established a lifelong connection to the EcoCampus and the Las Nubes Project.

Interested faculty members and researchers are welcome to contact the Las Nubes Project (lasnubes@yorku.ca) to discuss potential future course offerings or projects at Las Nubes.

Inaugural Don Levy Lecture at York U celebrates Jamaica 55

Inaugural Don Levy lecture

A new public lecture, presented by the Jean Augustine Chair in Education, Community and Diaspora at York University in association with the Jamaica 55 Canada Committee, will run at York University on Oct. 6.

Inaugural Don Levy lectureThe inaugural Don Levy Lecture, in celebration of Jamaica 55, will examine “The Role of the Diaspora in National Development” through a series of panel discussions.

It runs from 7:30 to 9:30pm at the Tribute Communities Recital Hall, Accolade East Building, York University. A reception will begin at 6pm.

Panellists include:

• Juliet Holness, MP, Jamaica
• Howard Shearer, Hitachi Canada
• Beverley Mullings, Queen’s University
• Ameil Joseph, McMaster University

The lecture will be chaired by Andrea Davis, chair of the Department of Humanities in the Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies (LA&PS) at York University. The MC for the event will be Dwight Drummond of the CBC.

About Don Levy

Don Levy owns and manages Manulife’s Oakville Wealth Management office and is also the managing director of Confido Wealth Management Group. He has been in the financial service industry for more than 27 years.

He is graduate of York University, and earned a BA (’86) in economics and political science.

Levy is of the belief that wealth creation also involves investing in community. He currently serves on the advisory board of PFSG, a non-profit that provides creative funding for the building of churches across Canada, as well as supporting emergency relief and development overseas. He also participates in the P.A.C.E. (Canada) Adopt-A-School program.

He has previously acted in various leadership roles, including member of the Joseph Brant Memorial Hospital board finance committee and the United Way of Oakville Board of Directors. Levy is past co-chair of the Toronto Volunteer Committee of ORBIS Canada, the Toronto-based development office of ORBIS International, a global charity aimed at eliminating preventable blindness.

Talk to explore how relationships are fundamental to learning

York University’s Institute for Research on Digital Learning (IRDL) presents an event on Oct. 2 featuring Professor Emeritus Russell Bishop, foundation Professor for Maori Education in the School of Education at the University of Waikato.

“Relationships are Fundamental to Learning” is an event in the IRDL Speaker Series, and will explore how the creation of a ‘family-like’ learning context within the classroom improves attendance, retention, engagement, and achievement.

Bishop will share the key features of a ‘family-like’ learning environment and discuss the four key aspects that have been developed and integrated in “Culture Counts: Relationship-based Learning”, a professional learning and evaluation program for system leaders, school leaders and teachers.

Bishop has long been involved in the study and development of professional training for teachers and school leaders. His work is centred on the Te Kotahitanga Research and Professional Development Project, which supports teachers to improve Naori students’ learning and achievement and to provide a culturally responsive context for learning.

Ruth Koleszar-Green, chair of the Indigenous Council and assistant professor in the School of Social Work, will offer the official welcome.

The IRDL Speaker Series runs in collaboration with the Faculty of Education and the Office of the Vice-President of Research and Innovation.

The event takes place 5:30 to 7pm in Room 519, Kaneff. To RSVP, email irdl@yorku.ca.

New Faces: Faculty of Education welcomes one new professor for fall term

Faculty of Education

This fall, the Faculty of Education at York University will welcome one new faculty member.

“We are thrilled to have Gillian join us,” said Faculty of Education Dean Lyndon Martin. “Her research addresses current issues in education and will add to the ways in which the Faculty is making a difference in the lives of young people in the GTA and beyond.”

Professor Gillian Parekh
Gillian Parekh

Gillian Parekh is an assistant professor joining the Faculty of Education. She has an upcoming nomination for a Tier 2 Canada Research Chair in the area of disability, inclusion and education.

Parekh’s primary research focus explores structural barriers in accessing quality education, particularly for students with disabilities. Previous to her appointment to York University, ​she held a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) Postdoctoral Fellowship with the Centre for Urban Schooling at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, University of Toronto. While at U of T, she conducted both quantitative and qualitative research on students’ experiences of belonging and exclusion​ in school, exploring trends around access to programming and pedagogical approaches employed in the classroom.

Throughout her PhD in critical disability studies and work as a research coordinator with the Toronto District School Board (TDSB), Parekh investigated trends and consequences associated with academic streaming and special education. In light of the disparate opportunities afforded to diverse racial, class, ability, and gender identities, and the significant implications regarding academic success, she is now launching two research projects that will track and measure distinct de-streaming initiatives taking place within the TDSB. One project focuses on the inclusion of students in special education across approximately 50 elementary schools, and the other is an initiative aiming to de-stream Grade 9 courses at the secondary level.

Her work has been published in the Canadian Journal of Education, Canadian Review of Sociology, Disability and Society, Canadian Diversity, and Association for Childhood Education International as well as has been taken up by many local and national media news outlets.

Parekh lives in Toronto with her two daughters, Isla and Kaia, and her partner, Neil.

Charles Hopkins to speak at UNESCO’s 25th anniversary celebration

York University’s UNESCO/UNITWIN Chair will have the distinct honour of speaking during the UNESCO 25th anniversary celebration in Paris, France on Oct. 31.

Charles Hopkins
Charles Hopkins

Charles Hopkins, York’s UNESCO Chair in Reorienting Teacher Education in the Faculty of Education, is a long-standing UNESCO Chair. He will speak to an audience including ministers of education and ambassadors of higher education from around the world.

In 1999, The United Nations Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and York University established a UNESCO Chair to provide advice to UNESCO and teacher training institutions on reorienting teacher training to address sustainable development. Hopkins, a former superintendent of curriculum with the Toronto Board of Education and international leader in the evolution of education towards sustainable development, was appointed to the Chair.

Hopkins is recognized by UNESCO as a Chair that has “successfully navigated and adapted to the evolution of its field of focus so as to continue being relevant.” He has been asked to discuss his experience as chairholder, and his assessment of the contribution of the position in an area that brings together teacher education and sustainable development, and what is has meant for York University to host a UNESCO Chair.

“I have been asked to speak on behalf of the more than 600 UNESCO Chairs worldwide at the 25th Anniversary Celebration in Paris,” said Hopkins. “Quietly, most of the time, we do operate one of the oldest, largest and most diverse UNESCO Chairs in the world here at York.”

This event takes place during the 39th session of the General Conference of UNESCO, which also celebrate the 25th anniversary of UNITWIN (University Twinning and Networking Programme).

This celebration will provide an opportunity to review the achievements of the program over 25 years of action and to look forward to the contribution of UNESCO Chairs and UNITWIN networks to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

Hopkins will speak during the first part of the program.