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York U report suggests race-related data collection could enhance student success

(Image: Wikimedia Commons)

Student demographic data collected by the Ontario Ministry of Education should be leveraged to enhance student success through equity measures, a new report out of York University suggests.

Carl James

The report, commissioned by the Ontario Ministry of Education and co-authored by York University Faculty of Education Professor Carl James, recommends that race-related data be collected and used to identify and address equity barriers.

The study, “Unlocking Student Potential Through Data,” is the outcome of a joint project that explores new ways to support “Achieving Excellence,” Ontario’s vision for publicly funded education.

“The Ministry of Education has always been committed to evidence-based, informed decisions. ‘Unlocking Student Potential Through Data’ is another study that will help inform our path forward,” said Bruce Rodrigues, deputy minister, Ministry of Education.

Together, the Ministry of Education, Ontario’s Anti-Racism Directorate, the Ministry of Children & Youth Services, and the Toronto District School Board worked with York’s Faculty of Education to produce the report.

The report indicates that the ministry could better utilize the existing web-based Ontario School Information System (OnSIS) and other sources, and additionally makes 47 recommendations which could be implemented with the collection of additional data and analyses to allow for more informed decision-making.

“The Faculty of Education is pleased to have collaborated with the Ministry of Education in this important work,” said Lyndon Martin, dean, Faculty of Education at York University. “The Faculty has a long-standing commitment to social justice and the final report contributes to this and to the enhancement of public education in Ontario for all students.”

According to the report, the Ministry and school boards can create more relevant processes and programs to ensure children arrive at school ready to learn; have access to teaching and learning opportunities in elementary and secondary school that are inclusive and provide them with strong skills in literacy, numeracy and science; and increase the quality and accessibility of postsecondary education and adult learning and skills development.

James, who is also the Jean Augustine Chair in Education, Community and Diaspora, said that gathering more of the relevant demographic and perceptual data from various sources of both students and educators will be important to analyze and address equity issues in the education system.

“For example, issues like student streaming and systemic racism can be addressed more efficiently, and new programs for professional development and pre-service training for teachers and education staff can be created based on analyzing such data,” he said, adding that the data must be separated and analyzed as individual racial groups, to identify and address issues unique to each group.

The report cites several other key concerns facing the education system, such as social inequality; gaps in addressing educational programming for students with special education needs; providing inclusive space for Indigenous students; relationships across the sector; school climate; and student discipline.

“We hope this report will serve as a tool to guide the ministry’s data directions to create and implement initiatives that enable greater collaboration between ministries, the public sector and school boards,” said Donna Quan, lead auther of the study and senior advisor, Student and Education Data, Ministry of Education. “This will ensure improved success for all Ontario students, from early years to postsecondary.”

Professor Qiang Zha delivers keynote at conference in China

From late May to mid-June, York University Professor Qiang Zha, Faculty of Education, travelled to Mainland China, where he visited Tianjin University, Peking University, Anhui University, Anhui Normal University, and Fudan University, giving talks during several of his stops.

In Tianjin University, China’s first modern institution of higher learning (founded in 1895), Zha was engaged as a Distinguished Research Fellow in its Institute of University Culture and History Research. While at the other universities, he gave talks on topics pertaining to the internationalization of higher education, the discourse of an emerging Chinese model of the university, egalitarian aspects of Canadian higher education and liberal arts education in the 21st century.

Professor Zha speaking at the DKU conference, pictured with John Robertson

The highlight of Zha’s trip was at an international conference, Liberal Arts Innovation in China, held June 13 to 15 at Duke Kunshan University (DKU), an offshore campus of Duke University. While at the conference, Zha, together with Professors William Kirby of Harvard University (former dean of the Harvard Faculty of Arts and Sciences), Gerry Postiglione of the University of Hong Kong (associate dean of the Faculty of Education), and Yong Zhao of University of Kansas (foundation distinguished professor, School of Education) were invited as keynote speakers.

In his presentation, titled ‘Toward Humanist, Cognitive and Global Education in China’, Zha argued that, while rooted in cultivation of humanism, an effective/ideal liberal arts education curriculum in the 21st century must take into account those significant changes in contemporary and future society. He further stated that such changes arguably include higher education massification, the increasingly knowledge-based economy, and globalization.

“As such, the liberal arts education curriculum for the 21st century university in China and elsewhere should ideally comprise such essential units: humanist education, cognitive education, and global education,” he said.

This liberal arts education curriculum would move beyond a type of “elite education” and help address equity issues in higher education and society at large. It will foster students’ abilities/competencies for purpose learning, scientific learning and global confidence, which in turn help overcome the constraints or even crisis of liberal arts education in China and elsewhere.

Further findings of this study will be presented at 2017 conferences of the Association for the Study of Higher Education (ASHE) in November in Houston, Texas.

York Postdoctoral Fellowship program welcomes five researchers

York University’s Faculty of Graduate Studies will welcome five researchers through the York Postdoctoral Fellowship (YPDF) program this fall to support research excellence in a variety of disciplines.

The program is open to both Canadian and international students who have recently completed their doctoral degree at York.

Fellows receive a funded, one-year postdoctoral research position to conduct their proposed research project under the guidance of a faculty supervisor.

More information on the program is available at gradstudies.yorku.ca/postdoctoral-fellows/ypdf-program.

Leah Keating – Department of Psychology
Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) individuals experience elevated rates of trauma. LGBT-based discrimination is a barrier to accessing mental health care. Keating’s proposed study examines the proportion of LGBT individuals who have experienced trauma who access psychotherapy, barriers to attending therapy, and helpful and unhelpful aspects of therapy.

Melanie McBride – Faculty of Education
McBride’s study investigates the challenges and opportunities of physically embodied and multimodal approaches to teaching and learning involving taste in the largely text-bound paradigm of wine education. The proposed research not only addresses itself to established gaps in our understanding of taste as a “mode” of learning and communication, but also how practices of taste might be critically situated as a common literacy beyond wine. The proposed research also contributes new “inter-sensory” methodological interventions on research of the senses and sensory culture using a combination of pedagogical, technological and intersectional perspectives.

Emily McGiffin – Faculty of Environmental Studies
McGiffin’s interdisciplinary postdoctoral research works at the intersection of ecopoetics, Indigenous resurgence, climate justice and extractives resistance, examining how Indigenous poetics engage with the politics of climate change, social equality, decolonization, land and place. Looking at the rich cultures of Indigenous resurgence, colonial resistance and associated poetics that have emerged in British Columbia in recent years, particularly surrounding energy infrastructure and associated land rights, McGiffin asks how poetic works that have emerged from this milieu function not only as acts of resistance and activism, but also as a means of imagining and enacting an equitable and sustainable future.

Rehan Siddiqui – Department of Earth & Space Science & Engineering
The purpose of Siddiqui’s research is to investigate, validate and improve the atmospheric radiative budget and its correlation with high Arctic atmospheric information. The remote sensing data analysis of greenhouse gases, atmospheric pollutants, ozone layer and cloud radiative effects are a major focus for the proposed research. The ability to predict changes in our environment depends on an in-depth understanding of the atmospheric absorption features as well as the interrelated processes controlling climate, and on observations of the climate system. All the predictions require a validation process with radiative transfer model simulation results in contrast with real observations.

Hyekyoung Sung – Department of Biology
Sung’s proposed research is focused on examining direct effects of lipocalin-2 on cardiac remodelling and the functional consequences. Obesity and the associated metabolic syndrome, a cluster of chronic symptoms including insulin resistance, hypertension and inflammation, predispose individuals to developing cardiovascular dysfunctions. Heart failure is one potential cardiovascular outcome and the consequences in the obese and aging population can be devastating, owing to the higher risk of mortality or loss of quality of life. However, the mechanisms of obesity- and diabetes-induced heart disease are multifaceted and remain to be fully defined. Various hormones released from adipose tissue have also been suggested as potentially useful biomarkers for various aspects of cardiovascular disease.

Special announcement forthcoming on Helen Carswell Chair in Community Engaged Research in the Arts

Members of the York University community are invited to a special announcement on Thursday, Aug. 24 regarding the Helen Carswell Chair in Community Engaged Research in the Arts.

The announcement will take place in the Victor Phillip Dahdaleh Building, Room 0001. Lunch will be served from 11:45am to 12:30pm, with the announcement to follow and will feature special musical performances.

Please RSVP to Alasdair Hooper at ahooper@yorku.ca or 416-736-2100, ext. 33118 by Friday, Aug. 18, 2017 to reserve a seat.

The Helen Carswell Chair in Community Engaged Research in the Arts is permanent endowed chair position within the School of the Arts, Media, Performance & Design, The Chair facilitates and directs interdisciplinary projects that enhance community music and art programs. The project also supports an important partnership between York University and the Regent Park School of Music to strengthen community music programming and research, increase reach and impact on students, and enhance community music education initiatives in Toronto.

The Chair and related activities are made possible through a generous $2-million gift from the Carswell Family Foundation. York Professor Emeritus Allan Carswell announced the donation at an event held at York University on Nov. 16, 2016.

This event is part of the Faculty of Education Summer Institute 2017.

Faculty of Education Summer Institute explores relationships to Canada 150

A two-day conference designed by York University’s Faculty of Education to bring together educators, teacher candidates, parents and community members will focus on the theme “Relationships to Canada 150: Paradoxes, Contradictions and Questions.”

The Faculty of Education Summer Institute (FESI) 2017 will run Aug. 23 and 24 at the Keele campus, and invites various stakeholders to learn from and with one another to engage in relevant and critical conversations involving the achievement and well-being of youth. The annual event works to mobilize for individual and collective action in education by offering a variety of workshops.

The stakeholders include community partners, youth, teacher candidates, parents/guardians, and educators in various capacities and from various schools boards/organizations who will exchange ideas about how they have been working with and meeting the educational needs, interests and aspirations of young people.

This year’s keynote speaker is Mahlikah Awe:ri Enml’ga’t Saqama’sgw

With this year’s theme in mind, the conversations will focus on Canada 150, and participants will be invited to engage in critical discussions about the purpose, impact and quality of education and social outcomes.

Keynote presentations and workshops will consider questions such as:

  • What perspectives and ways of knowing have constituted spaces in which young people engage in educational, social and recreational activities in Canada over the past 150 years?
  • What has been silenced?
  • How might these perspectives and ways of knowing have impacted youth differently over the past 150 years?
  • In considering education more than 150 years ago, and in considering education for the next 150 years, what possibilities exist for resurgence, reconciliation and justice?

Day one, which runs from 9am to 4pm, will focus on “Problematizing Canada’s Relationship with Indigenous Peoples.” This portion of the conference will explore historical and contemporary relationships between Indigenous people and colonial settlers, as well as Canada’s history of cultural genocide.

Participants will have an opportunity to engage in deep learning, unlearning and relearning in workshops such as: The History of Colonization, Treaties and Land, Residential Schools, Inuit Education, Métis Education, Murdered and Missing Indigenous Women, and much more.

Day two, which runs from 9am to 4:15pm, will focus on “Problematizing Canada’s Relationships with various Communities and Considerations for Beyond 150.” On the second day, participants will have an opportunity to further problematize the historical and contemporary relationships of various diverse communities of Canada that have settled in this country for various reasons

As well, participants will engage in current and relevant research that impacts student achievement and well-being. Workshops will focus on promising initiatives and programs working to address systemic barriers.

This year’s keynote speaker is Mahlikah Awe:ri Enml’ga’t Saqama’sgw (The Woman Who Walks In The Light), a Haudenosaunee Mohawk/Mi’kmaw drum talk poetic rapologist, poet, musician, hip-hop MC, arts educator, social change workshop facilitator, performance artist, artist mentor, radio host, festival curator and more.

For more information, visit fesi.blog.yorku.ca.

 

Prestigious York-Massey honours awarded to three York University professors

In June, 2017, York University’s Lily Cho was awarded a York-Massey Fellowship 2017-2018. Professors Karen Krasny and David McNally, also at York, were awarded York-Massey Visiting Scholarships 2017-2018.

“We are very pleased that Lily Cho, David McNally and Karen Krasny were awarded these honours,” says Robert Haché, Vice-President Research & Innovation. “The York-Massey Fellowships and Visiting Scholarships represent an important opportunity for York researchers and academics to expand their areas of scholarship and contribution to their various disciplines in a broader context  ̶  the rich and stimulating community at Massey College,” he adds.

“We are delighted to once again welcome three superb academics from York University to the Massey community. Our Junior Fellows, all graduate students from different disciplines, will get an opportunity to learn about their research through informal conversations or invitations to participate in some of the college events,” says Amela Marin, Dean, Fellowships, Programs & Liaisons, Massey College. “It is the unique role of Massey College to be a meeting place of bright minds from different generations, disciplines, universities and countries,” she adds.

All three awards are part of an on-going agreement between York and the University of Toronto, with which Massey College is affiliated.  The agreement was renewed last year.

Massey College. Photo credit: Tina Park
Massey College. Photo credit: Tina Park

Massey College is an independent college situated in the University of Toronto campus. It consists of Junior Fellows, made up of graduate students; Senior Fellows, consisting primarily of faculty; Journalism Fellows; members of the Quadrangle Society –  leaders in  business, the legal profession and philanthropy; as well as Visiting Scholars and Alumni, of whom an increasing number come from York.  The college offers an extraordinary experience by providing a community that allows all members to expand their horizons academically, socially and culturally.

The York-Massey Fellowship and York-Massey Visiting Scholarships were open to full-time faculty members planning to go on sabbatical or other leave during 2017-2018. The Fellowship will provide the selected faculty member with prime office space in the College for the academic year and the status of a full Senior Resident of the College, with all privileges enjoyed by Senior Fellows. The title “York Fellow of Massey College” remains for life or while mutually agreeable.

The Visiting Scholars will have a study space in the College and access to all the same privileges as the Massey College Senior Fellows. Membership in the Massey Alumni Association is granted to Visiting Scholars at the completion of their program.

Professor Naomi Adelson, 2016/17 York-Massey Fellow, described her experience: “I found my year as York-Massey Fellow to be exceptionally stimulating and a wonderfully enriching intellectual environment. I have no doubt that this year’s Fellow and Visiting Scholars will have an equally positive experience given all that Massey College and its community has to offer.”

Lily Cho, Department of English, Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies

Lily Cho
Lily Cho

Professor Lily Cho’s research focuses on diaspora within the fields of cultural studies, postcolonial literature and theory, and Asian North American and Canadian literature. She explores the relationship between citizenship, photography and anticipation. For this Scholarship, she will work on two things:

First, the Family Camera Network, a research partnership that explores the relationship between family photography and the idea of family (Principal Investigator is Prof. Thy Phu, Western University).

Second, and related to the Family Camera Network, she will present a paper at a major international conference on family photography: “Reframing Family Photography” will be hosted by the Munk School of Global Affairs in September 2017.

Cho believes there is a growing recognition of the scholarly potential and cultural importance of family photography and this conference is beautifully poised to significantly shape the direction of the conversation on this exciting area of cultural scholarship.

Karen Krasny, Faculty of Education

Karen Krasny
Karen Krasny

As a Visiting Scholar to Massey College, Professor Karen Krasny, is engaged in a special project dedicated to the advancement of book history titled The autonomy of the child reader: The impact of 18th and 19th century developments in illustration and typography that makes use of the collections in Massey College’s Robertson Davies Library and Toronto Public Libraries’ Osborne Collection of Early Children’s Books.

Her investigation explores a range of printing technologies leading up to the golden age of children’s book illustration dating from the mid-19th century to early 20th century to make reading an engaging and independent enterprise for children.

David McNally, Department of Political Science, Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies

David McNally
David McNally

As Visiting Scholar to Massey College, David McNally will pursue several research projects. The major one involves the completion of a book project entitled, Blood and Money: on the Bonds of Modern Power. This is an interdisciplinary exploration based in political economy, social history, philosophy and literary studies.

McNally will also continue to work on two articles related to social reproduction theory, an innovative approach within feminist and critical political economy. He will also develop a research grant application meant to explore the meanings of modernity in distinctive ‘Old’ and ‘New’ world contexts, where issues of colonialism and racialization loom large.

By Megan Mueller, manager, research communications, Office of the Vice-President Research & Innovation, muellerm@yorku.ca

Professor Karen Krasny appointed 2017/18 visiting scholar to Massey College

Faculty of Education

York University Faculty of Education Professor Karen A. Krasny has been appointed 2017-18 York Visiting Scholar to Massey College at the University of Toronto.

Karen Krasny

While at Massey, Krasny will be engaged in a special project dedicated to the advancement of book history titled “The autonomy of the child reader: The impact of 18th and 19th century developments in illustration and typography” that will make use of the collections in the College’s Robertson Davies Library and Toronto Public Libraries’ Osborne Collection of Early Children’s Books.

Her work also draws on her research in theoretical models and processes of reading with Mark Sadoski (Texas A&M) that extends the structure and function of imagery and affect in Paivio’s Dual Coding Theory to account for the comprehension of multimodal texts.

Her investigation explores a range of printing technologies leading up to the golden age of children’s book illustration dating from the mid-19th century to early 20th century to make reading an engaging and independent enterprise for children.

Krasny is looking forward to an exciting and productive year and to contributing to the Massey College community.

Governor General David Johnston tells grads ‘education is a sacred trust’

Graduands of the Faculty of Education were reminded of the importance that inclusiveness will play in order to restore, reinforce and build trust in Canadian society by the 28th and present Governor General of Canada David Johnston during convocation ceremonies on June 22.

Governor General David Johnston

Johnston, who received an honorary doctorate of laws degree during York University’s tenth convocation ceremony, told graduates that “education is a sacred trust” and that as future educators, they need to make trust building a central part of what they do in order to make society a better place.

The motto on Johnston’s coat of arms reads Contemplare Meliora, meaning “to envision better things” − a sentiment clearly evidenced by his dedicated service as Canada’s current Governor General and as a professor and university administrator. After teaching law at Queen’s and the University of Toronto, he became dean of Western University’s law faculty in 1974. From 1979 to 1994, he served as principal and vice-chancellor of McGill University.

In 1999 he became president and vice-chancellor of the University of Waterloo, a position he held until 2010 when he was appointed as the country’s 28th governor general. In that role, he has focused on strengthening the pillars of philanthropy and volunteerism, learning and innovation and families and children and launched new initiatives, including the Governor General’s Innovation Awards and My Giving Moment, a national initiative to encourage Canadians to give back to their communities. He is also a Companion of the Order of Canada.

During his remarks, Johnston shared the recent findings of the Adelman Trust Barometer – a global study that looks at public opinion on the subject matter of trust. Results of the study indicate that ‘trust’ in governments, institutions, leaders, and businesses was at an all-time low not only around the globe, but also here in Canada. He told graduands that “trust is the glue that holds us together as a society”, and encouraged and challenged them to not become complacent and to take the path of inclusiveness in order to restore trust in society.

“How do we reinforce professionalism in education and through education in order to re-establish trust?,” Johnston posed. “This is a defining challenge for educators, and the well-being of the many and not the few must be at the heart of our re-definition. Greater inclusiveness is the path that we must take to renewal because in times of change, it is our values that will lead us towards the smart and caring country that we desire.”

Chancellor Greg Sorbara, Governor General David Johnston and President and Vice-Chancellor Mamdouh Shoukri

Johnston referred to York as a prime example of inclusiveness and highlighted the University’s work in the area of Indigenous education in response to the Truth and Reconciliation Report. His comments were timely, as the second graduating cohort of the Faculty’s unique MEd in Urban Indigenous Education program – a collaboration with the TDSB Indigenous Education Centre in response to the need for knowledge and understanding of First Nations, Métis, and Inuit cultures, histories and perspectives – were also being celebrated for their accomplishment.

In closing, Johnston told the graduating class that trust building means that they are being called to an era of civic engagement and need to play their part.

“As educators, think about the glue that holds us together and make trust building a central part of what you do,” he said. “This is a challenge but also an opportunity because those that lead in establishing trust will help Canadian society to thrive in the years to come.”

York PhD student receives fellowship from Freie University in Berlin

York University PhD candidate Mario Guerrero is the recipient of a fellowship of $15,000 from Freie University in Berlin in collaboration with York International.

His fellowship will support data collection for his doctoral study on “The Discursive Construction of Hate: A Comparative Analysis of The Marginalization and Dehumanization of Homosexuals in Nazi Germany and in Pre-Stonewall United States”.

His supervisor Professor Sandra Schecter said “this important critical study, positioned at the nexus of sociolinguistic theory, sexual studies, and social justice and equity advocacy, illuminates how institutions of the state and discursive devices may be enlisted to embed pernicious identity representations within a perspective that renders masses of people complicit to dehumanizing and genocidal practices.”

Kenneth and Sylvia Marantz Fellowship for Picturebook Research awarded to York PhD candidate

Faculty of Education

Stacey Bliss, a second-year PhD candidate at York University in the Faculty of Education, has earned the 2017 Kenneth and Sylvia Marantz Fellowship for Picturebook Research, which encourages and engages scholars from around the world with the resources of the Marantz Picturebook Collection.

The research fellowship is offered through the Kent State University School of Library and Information Science and is possible due to a donation supported by the late Dr. Kenneth A. Marantz and Sylvia Marantz.

Bliss was at Kent State University, Ohio from June 4 to 9 with Lauren Christie, a fellowship recipient from The University of Dundee in Scotland. Over the week, Bliss researched the library’s collection for her project titled “Welcomed and Unwelcomed Guests in Picture Books: Querying Uncertainty and Unpredictability of the Environment, Self, and Others”.

She drew from her initial inspiration and analysis from Kyo Maclear (Faculty of Education PhD candidate) and Katty Maurey’s (2015) contemporary picture book The Specific Ocean. Within The Specific Ocean, readers experience the interwoven nature of external and internal environments where welcomed and hospitable guests, including the ocean, the creatures in it, as well as nature within – the breath. Bliss queries: What then of unwelcomed others such as unexpected guests, monsters, silence, or death?

Her study casts a fresh look at picture books through the lenses of Derridian and Levinasian ethics, calling into question the responsibility to and for the other, whether the other presents itself as real, imaginary, scary, or benevolent. The project rethinks Marah Gubar’s (2011) notion of not defining children’s literature and similarly does not define the illustrations as particular to children; rather extends the query “Is there such a thing as children’s picture books? Is there such a thing as the unwelcomed in the illustrations and what or who is unwelcomed?”.

Bliss is utilizing the Marantz extensive collection to look at Maurice Sendak’s artwork and contemporary titles such as Duck, Death and the Tulip, and Du Iz Tak?. She will present her research at the upcoming International Research Society for Children’s Literature (IRSCL Congress) on July 31. The IRSCL Congress will be held at York University from July 29 – Aug. 2 with the theme ‘Possible & Impossible Children: Intersections of Children’s Literature & Childhood Studies’.

For more on the congress visit www.irscl.com/conferences.html.