Dr. Christopher Martin, Associate Professor, is hosting a Canadian Philosophy of Education Society seminar. 

Dr. Lana Parker, Assistant Professor, Faculty of Education, University of Windsor will present on The Skin as Seen: Thinking Through Racialised Subjectivities with Levinas. It would be impossible, witnessing the flat affect of the police kneeling on his body, not to ask: Was George Floyd seen as human? From a Levinasian perspective, the interaction between two people is an ethical encounter, a face-to-face interaction that calls the subject into question and renders them vulnerable to the ritual of rupture. But what if your embodiment renders you, in the moment of encounter, less than human? How can we bring the imperative of pre-ontological responsibility to bear on the present moment, fractured as we are in our understandings of embodiment and the hauntings of history? In this talk, Dr. Parker hopes to respond to the previous question by articulating the problems and possibilities of Levinas’s thought in conversation with urgent considerations of racially-bodied Others. To begin, she will briefly explore critiques of Levinas’s Eurocentrism. Then, drawing on the concept of incarnate historiography, she examines the difficulties of skin as “seen.” Next, she will elaborate on the prospect of how diachronous time affords a second register that takes seriously the historical experience of pain and oppression as responsibility. Finally, she will argue that the recognition of responsibility is essential to education, proposing pedagogy that preserves alterity and makes space for the new.

Thursday, November 19
9:00 a.m. to 10:15 a.m. (pacific time)
Via Zoom

The event is open for all to attend. While attendance is free, you still need to register to receive the Zoom link.

Register 

About the Speaker

Dr. Lana Parker is an Assistant Professor of Education at the Faculty of Education at the University of Windsor. Her research explores the intersection of education, ethics, and democracy, with a particular focus on language and meaning-making. She is currently working on a SSHRC-funded project investigating the responsibilities and potential of literacy education in the post-truth era.

About the Canadian Philosophy of Education Society Seminar Series

The Canadian Philosophy of Education Seminar Series aims to create a space to support in-progress work in the philosophy of education, provide opportunities for pre-tenure/early career and graduate students, and contribute to the cultivation of scholarly community. Anyone working at the intersections of philosophy and education are welcome to contribute to the series.

If you are interested in presenting a paper in future events, contact Dr. Christopher Martin at christopher.martin@ubc.ca.

This is a call for nominations for a Student Representative of a Faculty to the UBC Okanagan Senate for the Faculty of Education for a one-year term from October 1, 2020 to September 30, 2021. There is one (1) position.

Download nomination form

Nominations are due no later than 4:00 p.m. on Friday, October 9, 2020. Instructions for completing and submitting the form are on the form itself.

If you have any questions about how to complete or submit a nomination package, please contact elections.information@ubc.ca.

While this school year has had an unusual beginning, it did have an extra positive start for one Bachelor of Education teacher candidate.

Brittany Spankie is this year’s recipient of the Kelowna Kiwanis Legacy Major Entrance Award in Education – an award accompanied by $11,000.  Established by the Central Okanagan Kiwanis Community Service Society, the award is presented to a student pursuing the Teaching Children (Kindergarten to Grade 5+) pathway.

Growing up in the small town of Lillooet, B.C., Brittany had immersed herself in volunteering at a young age. During her high-school years, she was an art leader for the local Nature Society, a peer tutor for special needs students, and a tutor for grade 8 and 9 students.

“Volunteering gave me so much enjoyment,” says Brittany. “When I was volunteering in high school, I hadn’t thought about being able to put these experiences on a resume. It was just seeing the enjoyment in other people that really meant something to me.”

It seems volunteering runs in the family as Brittany’s grandparents were both members of the Kelowna Kiwanis Club. Her grandmother, Elizabeth Shiels, was the president for two years and her grandfather, Gordon, was the vice president during that time. She has fond memories of spending her summers in Kelowna going to the Fat Cat Children’s Festival and other Kiwanis Club led events.

“My grandmother introduced the Kiwanis’ bike helmet safety program with the RCMP,” says Brittany, “I was very young at the time but I do remember receiving and keeping one of the special helmets they handed out.”

With most of her summer and winter breaks spent in the Okanagan visiting family, Britany had fallen in love with all that Kelowna had to offer. When it came time to apply to post-secondary schools there was only one place she wanted to go.

“I only applied to UBC Okanagan,” she says with a laugh. “It’s a good thing I got in!”

Brittany was accepted to the Faculty of Creative and Critical Studies, Bachelor of Visual Arts program, where she majored in sculpture and photography.

Her altruistic spirit continued while attending UBC Okanagan. She volunteered as a peer mentor for mature and diverse ability students, coordinated Art-on-the-Line and was a Create team orientation leader for three years.

“Growing up in such a small community, and knowing every single person there, coming to Kelowna I really wanted to make connections,” says Brittany. “I wanted people to know that there was someone there for them and for them to not feel alone. It’s part of the reason why I choose UBC Okanagan as well. It was a small close-knit community.”

Like many of us, Brittany’s career choices evolved and changed over the years.

“I had thought about being a professor, a marine biologist and many other careers,” says Brittany. “But I always enjoyed working with elementary school-aged children. Working with that age group, you’re helping to build their foundations and inspiring them to think freely and openly.”

It was a heartfelt note left in a book that cemented her decision to pursue the path towards becoming an educator.

“I graduated a year early by combining my grade 11 and 12 courses, and I had a Home Economics teacher who was so supportive. She gave me this notebook at my graduation and she had written a message that said ‘One day you’ll make a great teacher’,” says Brittany. “I was surprised because I hadn’t talked to her about becoming a teacher. I thought ‘wow, she really thinks I could be a teacher’ and having that support really made an impact.”

Congratulations Brittany!

The Okanagan School of Education is pleased to welcome Dr. Quentin Wheeler-Bell, Assistant Professor, Indiana University as a keynote lecturer on Thursday, Oct. 22. In this talk, Dr. Wheeler-Bell will reframe recent attempts to establish core principles of critical pedagogy. He argues that these attempts have been unsuccessful because they reproduce a deeper problem — specifically, an identity crisis — within critical pedagogy. The source of this problem, he will argue, is that those working in this tradition have become more distant from its intellectual roots in critical theory. Critical pedagogy is now in a state fragmentation in which critical pedagogues are unable to organize their approach around a set of shared principles.

Thursday, October 22
4:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Via Zoom

The event is open to the public, UBCO staff, faculty and students. While attendance is free, you still need to register to receive the Zoom link.

REGISTER FOR THE EVENT

About the speaker

Quentin Wheeler-Bell is an Assistant Professor of Philosophy of Education in the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies at Indiana University. His research interests include critical theory, critical pedagogy, and radical democratic theory.

Dr. Christopher Martin, Associate Professor, is hosting a Canadian Philosophy of Education Society seminar. 

Dr. Dianne Gereluk, Dean & Professor, Werklund School of Education, University of Calgary will present on Ethical and Legal Distinctions regarding ‘care.’ A long-standing ethical expectation in the teaching profession is the notion of in loco parentis (Latin for ‘in the place of a parent’) and the overarching notion of duty of care. Historically in loco parentis gave authority to teachers for the ability to use force (e.g. corporal punishment) to ensure students were obedient. In today’s times, school authorities acting in loco parentis owe a common duty of care to students on or off school premises during school hours and at times when they voluntarily assume responsibility for students. There is now a more demanding legal notion of a “standard of care” – to protect students from foreseeable harm and determine if there are negligence allegations. In this seminar, Canadian cases will be used to illustrate the distinction between these notions of care, and when there may be tensions in determining how a teacher responds.

Thursday, October 15
9:00 a.m. to 10:15 a.m.
Via Zoom

The event is open for all to attend. While attendance is free, you still need to register to receive the Zoom link.

Register 

About the Speaker

Dianne Gereluk’s research examines normative aspects of educational policy and practice particularly related to controversial issues in education, professional ethics, and civics education.

About the Canadian Philosophy of Education Society Seminar Series

The Canadian Philosophy of Education Seminar Series aims to create a space to support in-progress work in the philosophy of education, provide opportunities for pre-tenure/early career and graduate students, and contribute to the cultivation of scholarly community. Anyone working at the intersections of philosophy and education are welcome to contribute to the series.

If you are interested in presenting a paper in future events, contact Dr. Christopher Martin at christopher.martin@ubc.ca.

Join Okanagan School of Education students, faculty and staff as we hop on our bikes in support of Kelowna Pride’s Pedal Parade. The parade takes place on Tuesday, Sept. 22 starting at Prospera Place.  We will meet at the Rotary Centre for the Arts Courtyard at 421 Cawston Ave. The courtyard is the green space between the Rotary Centre for the Arts and the Art Gallery.  We will meet there starting at 5:45 p.m. The official Pedal Parade starts at 6 p.m.

To participate you must register.
Please note: participants must wear a mask while waiting for the parade to start. Anyone not registered will not be permitted to participate.
Many of our faculty and staff have already registered for Zone 3. You may also walk or use another method of human-powered transportation along the parade route!

Learn more about the event and the COVID protocols.

View the full Pride event schedule at www.kelownapride.com

If you’re unable to attend, you can still watch the live stream.

UPDATE: September 23

Thank you to everyone who attended the Kelowna Pride Pedal Parade! We had a great (and safely spaced out) turnout!

Centre for Mindful Engagement, the Equity and Inclusion Office and Karen Ragoonaden, Faculty Senior Advisor to the President’s Office present Systemic Racism and Anti-Racism in Teacher Education with Dr. Cranston

The Okanagan School of Education is pleased to announce that Dr. Jerome Cranston, Professor and Dean, Faculty of Education, University of Regina will be providing an online keynote lecture on Monday, September 21. His presentation will focus on Systemic Racism and Anti-Racism in Teacher Education. In this keynote lecture, Dr. Cranston will address how amid the current period of racial reckoning, those involved in teacher preparation, pre-service and in-service education, need to confront and (re)consider how higher education has conceptualized systemic racism.

Monday, September 21
9:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m.
Via Zoom

The event is open to the public, UBCO staff, faculty and students. While attendance is free, you still need to register to receive the Zoom link. Current Bachelor of Education candidates do not need to register as the presentation takes place during class time and they will be emailed the link.

REGISTER FOR THE EVENT

About the speaker

Cranston holds a Ph.D. (Manitoba), M. Ed. (Lethbridge), B.Ed After-Degree and B.Sc. (Alberta). Prior to becoming an academic he spent 16 years in the K-12 education system as a teacher, principal and superintendent in a career that spanned Canada’s “prairie” provinces. He researches and teaches as part of an interdisciplinary, international “community of inquiry” on topics that explore formal and non-formal teacher preparation and the ethical dimensions of school leadership with a particular focus on how capacity building in the education system can transform a set of seemingly random acts – like teacher hiring – into a just enterprise.

His maternal grandparents originated from tribal communities in what are now Nepal and Burma/Myanmar and who were anglicized and evangelized as part of the colonial contagion. His paternal grandfather, a travelling book-keeper with the East Indian Rail Company was killed in 1941 during a Japanese bombing of a railway station. His then widowed grandmother, a mother of five, died in 1942 of malnutrition; an outcome of the British manufactured famine in West Bengal. He accepts a distant yet unvarying connection to the trauma that echoes through their colonized histories.

New faculty member, Dr. Cohen is from the Okanagan Nation and specializes in the areas of Indigenous knowledge, research, education, and transforming pedagogy.

This upcoming winter semester Dr. Cohen will be teaching a graduate course, EDUC 562B “Coyote Stories: Pedagogy and Praxis.”

In the course, students will critically examine how respective Indigenous traditional knowledge stories and storytelling practices inform organic theoretical frameworks, teaching methods and practice in place-based schooling, community, and peoples’ transforming projects.

There will be a focus on Coyote Stories from Syilx Okanagan contexts which will extend to include Indigenous peoples’ stories and understanding from the Americas, Australia, Aoteroa/ New Zealand and other sites.

By the end of the course, students will have developed their understanding of reciprocal relationships between humans and their local ecologies; and understand indigenous concepts, ways and methods from Indigenous languages and practices, and the relational webs described metaphorically through traditional stories.

Register for the course today at courses.students.ubc.ca.

Whether you’re interested in applying for the Bachelor of Education program this year, or in the future, here are a few tips to guide you along the way.

1. Admission requirements

The most often asked question is ‘what courses do I need to get into the program?’ While we have the admission requirements listed for each pathway on our Bachelor of Education page, we have also developed self-assessment worksheets to assist you in reviewing (and checking off) the academic admission requirements for your chosen pathway: Teaching Children and Teaching Adolescents.

For students interested in teaching French, you will also need to:

• Successfully complete the Diplôme d’études en langue française (DELF) OR
• Demonstrate completion of all of your education in the French language OR
• Provide a letter from a Francophone Education Authority indicating your proficiency OR
• Provide a written assessment by Faculty of the French Department of a Canadian university, acceptable to the Teacher Regulation Branch, attesting that you have demonstrated knowledge of the French language to indicate you are capable of conducting all French language teaching

TIP: We recommend completing the DELF by your third or fourth year of your undergraduate degree as there are limited seats and dates available for the exam.

2. Experience

A minimum of 75 hours of practical experience (volunteer or paid) working with children or youth is required. We recommend you work/volunteer with the age group that you wish to teach. You will be asked about your experience when you submit your Supplemental Application Form. On this form, you will also be asked to write a personal essay on what your goals as an educator are, and examples of the qualities and experience you bring.

TIP: We understand you might change your mind about what you’ve written. We do allow you to re-submit a Supplemental Application Form. However, you must resubmit as a fully completed application. We recommend you save copies of your written answers in a word document, so if you wish to modify your answers, you don’t have to re-type everything.   

A range and variety of instructional experiences is encouraged to better prepare for the program. Typical experiences for applicants include but are not limited to working in school classrooms as a volunteer or assistant, teaching dance, coaching team sports or working as a summer camp counselor.

TIP: Not sure where to go for experience? You can contact your local school district, recreation/community centre, youth group, art gallery or museum to see if they have any opportunities.

Recently, two UBC alumni have created a free online tutoring service designed to pair tutors with K to 12 students in B.C. The organization is called Mentoring the Stars Foundation and is always seeking volunteer tutors.

3. References

You will need two professional references from individuals who have personally observed you working with children and/or youth in a face-to-face instructional capacity, either in a group or with an individual.

References must be credible authorities who can speak to your abilities, experiences and interests relevant to the teaching profession. They cannot be a family member or a personal friend.

Examples of appropriate references:

• An individual who has personally observed you in a face-to-face (as opposed to an online) context where your primary role was to instruct or interact with children and/or youth
• School administrator (e.g., principal, vice-principal)
• Teacher at an elementary, middle or secondary school
• Camp director
• Daycare program coordinator
• TA-supervising professor

You will send each of your references the link to the Reference Form, your student number, name and email as provided in your BEd application, and the pathway you are pursuing.

This form is confidential and is only used for admission purposes. As the applicant, you should not see the completed form. You will receive an automatic email when your reference has submitted the form.

4. Status

You can check the status of your application through the Student Service Centre. Prospective students will be notified of admission between March and May.

5. Need help?

Let our Student Recruitment & Advising experts guide you: call 1.877.807.8521 or email advising.ubco@ubc.ca.

You can also book an appointment by calling 250.807.9100.

It’s Pride Week in Vancouver!

Check out the Faculty of Education’s Pride Wall full of videos, podcasts, expert interviews and more.

See our SOGI related events and resources.

Okanagan Pride Week is scheduled for Sept. 19 to 27, 2020. Learn more.