Jason Andrews
Before Jason Andrews, EdD student, discovered his passion for language, he was training in theatre in Toronto, and building towards a career in acting, stand-up and improv. Along the way, the pull toward telling his own stories won out over performing other people’s, which led him into creative writing at Capilano University in Vancouver, producing plays and staying active in the city’s comedy scene. It was while studying linguistics and English at UBC that a new interest emerged — language itself, and how people learn it.
A family need brought Jason back home to Calgary, where a chance job posting at Bow Valley College turned into a decade as a language educator.
“It was a really beautiful teaching community,” he said. “I learned a lot about what it is to be a teacher.”
That decade sparked a deeper interest in educational leadership, that inspired Jason to pursue a master’s degree at Thompson Rivers University. Knowing that Jason was interested in continuing into a doctoral program, his supervisor pointed him towards UBC Okanagan’s Doctor of Education, and specifically towards Dr. Scott Douglas as a supervisor.
“It was a very community-based path,” he says with a laugh. “I hadn’t met Scott, but a lot of people in my department did and knew I would love working with him. It was serendipitous that he was part of the first cohort of supervisors for the new program.”
For his elective last summer, Jason chose to take Indigenizing leadership taught by Dr. Bill Cohen — a course he refers to as being one of the most profound learning experiences of his academic life.
“I had wanted to learn other theories of leadership and other approaches and things I hadn’t ever heard before,” he said. “I find a lot of the work that Indigenous scholars do in leadership and education very humanizing and grounding.”
As part of an assignment in the course, working alongside classmates, Jason helped build a leadership framework grounded in Syilx Okanagan teachings. After the class had ended, Jason learned about the City University of Seattle’s Global Nexus conference, and thought the event would be an excellent opportunity to share the framework.
“I thought it would be a good opportunity to share the work on a global stage, and I sent out a request to the group, and Leona Prince and Jody Billingsley were interested and able to participate.”
The strong reception led conference organizers to invite the group to turn the presentation into a full article, Weaving our Truths: Community Building for Creative Transformation–Lessons from Spic’n, for the university’s newly launched journal, published in April 2026.
Jason hopes readers come away with a broader view of what leadership can look like.
“In the course, we explored matriarchal forms of leadership, which is not the norm,” he said. “I resonated with that because I don’t actually have a lot of male or patriarchal role models in my life. I grew up with a single mom, and I was looking to a lot of women in my life as role models.”
In recognition of their outstanding efforts on the publication, Jason and his coauthors Jody and Leona received the Outstanding Doctoral Publication Award. Jason was quick to credit Drs. Bill Cohen, Scott Douglas, Karen Densky, Katie Crossman, Natalie Cohen, Lynn Bosetti, Sabre Cherkowski and Chris Martin, for their mentorship and inspiration.
“I feel very humbled and honoured,” says Jason. “I feel the award doesn’t just belong to us. There is a deep acknowledgement that needs to be made toward that entire community of that class. It’s that community and moment that led to everything. And I’d like to thank my classmates, Leona Prince and Jody Billingsley, for their collaboration, inspiration and hard work.”
When asked what advice he’d give future graduate students, Jason shared that students should hold on to whatever “little flame” first drew you to education. Grad school combined with working bring long nights and moments of doubt, he said, and that underlying sense of purpose is what carries you through.
Jason also pointed to a talk by education researcher Ron Berger, who described educators as a kind of rebel alliance — schools as small outposts working, in ways large and small, to make things better for their students and communities. It’s a metaphor he returns to often.
“I have no idea what the impact of my work will be,” says Jason. “It’s like throwing a pebble in the ocean. But as Bill McKibben once said, just because you’re up against something so big doesn’t mean it’s not worth trying. Because if no one tries, then nothing will happen, we’ll never change. I’m trying my best to create change. And if you get enough people trying their best, that’s what matters.”
Jason’s doctoral work examines the closure of federally funded language instruction programs for newcomers and immigrants across Canadian community colleges and what disappears along with them. The research looks closely at community colleges as a distinct kind of learning space, one that offers newcomers pathways and connections other service providers often can’t match, and considers the policy environment driving these closures.