Amanda began working at the Okanagan School of Education, UBC, in 2019. Previously she worked at the City of Kelowna where she was responsible for developing strategic communications plan and delivering tactics for the Active Living and Culture Division as their Communications Advisor. Prior to that she was the Digital Communications Consultant where she was one of the project managers for the City of Kelowna website redesign launched in 2016.
She has an Advanced Social Media Strategy Certificate from Hootsuite Academy.
She was a volunteer English Teacher in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam from August 2013 to January 2014.
Responsibilities
Corporate Communications, Media Relations, Social Media, Student Engagement, Student Recruitment and Marketing.
Congratulations to Dr. Sabre Cherkowski for receiving the 2020 Researcher of the Year Award, Social Sciences and Humanities.
Associate Professor Sabre Cherkowski is a catalyst for sustainable improvement in schools and leadership transformation within educational systems. She is recognized internationally for her innovative research examining the impact of positive learning environments on creating a flourishing effect in schools. Her work is aimed at nurturing the next generation to have a transformative impact on society.
Congratulations to Dr. Peter Arthur for receiving a UBCO 2020 Golden Apple Award. The Award recognizes Dr. Arthur’s dedication to fostering instructor-student relationships.
The Golden Apple Awards are a student-led initiative to acknowledge teachers who support the wellbeing of their students in the academic environment.
Here is what a student had to say about how he supports student wellbeing:
“While I could nominate Peter Arthur for all of the categories, the area where he truly excels is in fostering student-instructor relationships. His commitment to developing student-instructor relationships begins on the first day of class when he invites every student to book a time with him for a one-on-one, low-stakes, casual conversation. During your conversation he makes a point of getting to know you as a person and not just a student. He also makes a point of introducing himself and removing the barrier between himself as a professor and you as a student. For many students, especially first year students, this is the first time and maybe only time during their university experience where a professor initiates a relationship with them. When you meet Peter you quickly realize that he kind, genuine and empathetic.
In class, Peter makes a point to learn every single student’s name without using name tags. Peter treats every student as a colleague, not as a student. He starts every class email with some variation of “dear colleagues” which serves to establish and develop this relationship. He further fosters a student-instructor relationship by encouraging all students to address him by his first name. Peter also makes himself accessible to all students and makes a point of continually affirming his commitment to supporting students.
Above all, Peter display passion for his teaching and demonstrates a genuine interest in his students. Peter makes it a priority to foster student-instructor relationships because he cares about his students and their success and he wants to be a true student advocate and student supporter. I have yet to meet a professor whose commitment to developing student-instructor relationships even compares to Peter’s and I truly believe Peter deserves recognition for improving student wellbeing at UBC.”
Associate Professor, Greg Wetterstrand, shares a few at-home learning tips for parents and guardians.
Check with your child’s school website for learning resources, activities and ideas. Professional educators can provide resources approved by the Ministry to help nurture learning.
Talk to your child to understand what they are interested in. Use these interests as a core around which you can create activities.
Structure learning. We all need structure to help us feel safe and grounded. Have ‘school’ and learning at a regular time each day.
Praise effort – reward achievement.
When possible, try to work on learning activities together.
Pose questions. Asking your child questions about their thoughts encourages thinking.
Find online resources.
Keep activities short – shorter for younger ones – longer for those older.
Take breaks for physical activity – dance to a video, kick a soccer ball.
Help your child to focus with kind encouragement.
Be creative and challenge your child. Make musical instruments from objects in the house; build a rocket; make something out of wood or found objects.
Read to your child and have your child read to you.
Write about what you’re doing by keeping a journal. Or encourage them to do video journals.
Do calculations – find ways to measure, add, subtract, count, divide, and multiply.
Draw, paint or sculpt every day.
Create a puppet show or theatre play.
Devise an experiment, this could include cooking or baking.
Share responsibilities for keeping the house running to help teach life skills.
Hug your child frequently. Talk to them and listen.
Manage your own anxiety. We are all in this together, but this too shall pass.
The Okanagan School of Education will be offering all Summer Institute in Education (SIE) courses online.
As the COVID-19 (coronavirus) situation is rapidly evolving, we have decided to take a proactive measure in changing course delivery. We took into consideration that many of our instructors are teachers in our local school districts, and may not have spare time to alter their course plans should a delivery change become mandatory later on.
By implementing a change in course delivery now, we’re able to provide our SIE instructors with additional time and resources to help ensure a smoother transition.
Instructors will post their updated course syllabus, format and assignments on Canvas (canvas.ok.ubc.ca) once they’re available.
Please note: Students must be available during the currently posted course dates and times as courses may be synchronous, asynchronous or a combination of both.
View the complete list of Summer Institute in Education courses at education.ok.ubc.ca/sie. Registration details are listed on each course page.
If students have concerns regarding their courses, please check canvas, contact your course instructor or email us at sie.education@ubc.ca.
If you still have concerns or academic issues, email Margaret Macintyre Latta, Director of the Okanagan School of Education at margaret.macintyre.latta@ubc.ca
Coronavirus (COVID-19) Update
The Public Health Agency of Canada continues to assess the public health risk associated with the virus. For information on UBC’s response and frequently asked questions, visit covid19.ubc.ca.
The Okanagan campus is still open; however, some services and operations have modified hours or are closed. For the most up to date campus-specific information, visit ok.ubc.ca/covid19.
If you have concerns or questions about UBC’s response to the coronavirus, please contact vicepresident.students@ubc.ca
Recent UBC Broadcasts
We would like to draw your attention to the most recent UBC Broadcasts, as there is some critical information for students, faculty and staff:
We’re having a pre-celebration for Pi Day at the Okanagan School of Education, with a guest feature from one of our graduate students, Leslie Shayer! Shayer is a Professor of Mathematics and Statistics at Okanagan College, and a Master of Arts in Education student. She is currently working on finishing her thesis where her research focuses on the impact of contemplative practices on math anxiety.
March 14 is Pi Day, since 3.14 are the first three digits of pi (π). Pi is defined to be the circumference (or perimeter) of a circle divided by its diameter, where the diameter is a straight line from one point on the circle to another point on the circle, going through the center. I know, I know, you were hoping to read about pie…
If math makes you cringe, for one day I challenge you to try to have a more positive attitude and an open mind towards mathematics. After all, how you feel about math can affect those around you.
Here are a few of my favourite math activities to help celebrate Pi Day:
Go for a walk with a friend (pets included). Count the number of birds that you see on your trip. Compare with the next walk you take. Were there more or less birds on the next walk? Can you think of a reason for the difference? Great data collecting!
When grocery shopping, try to strategically place the contents of your cart on the belt in a way to minimize wasted space. Can you do better next time? Celebrate your spatial skills – the person in-line behind you is probably in awe of your spatial awareness!
Bake with a youngster. Take your favourite recipe (maybe pie?) and double it. Ask them to double all the ingredients for you. Make sure that you take care of putting things in and taking things out of the oven. Congratulations for working with fractions – see that wasn’t so bad!
Mix drinks with another adult. Take your favourite drink recipe and double it to share with another adult. Toast to proportions – you couldn’t mix drinks without them!
Wrap a present – yes, it can be for yourself. Can you find a way to use just enough paper without wasting? Great surface area work!
Relax with some colouring. Try colouring a mandala (a geometric shape, generally made of sand, used for relaxation). Some free ones may be found online.
Did you know that Geometry could be so fun?
If you’ve tried one of two of these activities, pat yourself in the back. Or better yet, have a piece of pie (including pizza-pie)!
Or check out this book from your closest library: Paulos, J. (1988). Innumeracy: Mathematical illiteracy and its consequences. New York, NY: Hill and Wang.
Do you have any math tips or activities to share? Leave them in the comments!
Date: Friday, March 6 Time: 3 to 4:30 p.m. Location: EME 4116
Dr. Jenna Woodrow will be talking about the Thompson Rivers University Canadian High School Ethics Bowl, held February 29, 2020. The Ethics Bowl is both a collaborative and competitive event where teams of high school students, grades 9-12, teach and learn from one another as they compare bold strategies and take part in courageous conversations about ethical dilemmas such ethical topics as automated moral decision-making, sexting, and climate change refugees. Participants imagine, criticize, compare bold strategies, and amend their original positions when faced with convincing arguments. The unique collegial dynamic of the ethics bowl, where students pose and respond to probing questions emphasizes the skills of communication and collaboration: critical thinking, active listening, articulation and expression, open-mindedness, and respectful dialogue and disagreement.
Join Jenna Woodrow as she outlines the theoretical and practical virtues of this high impact learning activity. The ethics bowl meets all six core competencies of the BC Curriculum, and helps foster an engaged, dynamic, and resilient intellectual community among students, teachers, and professors.
On March 5, Professor Ragoonaden will be part of the panel discussion with the Honourable Janet Austin. She will be bringing her unique insights and experience to Her Honour’s area of focus: Equity, Diversity and Inclusion. Learn more about the panel on the Festival of Ideas website.
What are a few of the initiatives UBC Okanagan is doing to be more equitable and inclusive?
UBC has developed an Action Plan on Inclusive Excellence, and part of our work here in the Okanagan is leading campus and community action-orientated initiatives. Our aim is to bring a community of people together to share, connect and move forward in fostering and building relationships that are respectful, reciprocal and responsible.
The Equity and Inclusion Office (EIO) is one unit that is very involved in leading not only student-based initiatives but also faculty and community-based initiatives across the Okanagan and Vancouver campuses. Specifically, at the Okanagan School of Education, we work closely with the EIO. Our more recent community-based initiative was inviting Shelby McPhee to both campuses to talk about his experience being racial profiled, followed by an open and honest discussion about discrimination and marginalization.
We also brought a panel of students together from the African-Caribbean Student Association who addressed the same issues in the context of the Okanagan.
Another initiative we have coming up is a book and podcast discussion on How to Be An Anti-Racist by Ibram X.Kendi. We have three discussion dates (Mar. 4 LIB 106), March 11(UBC Innovation Library, downtown) and March 20, Innovation Theatre) planned. For more information on how to get involved, visit cme.ok.ubc.ca.
What can someone do to help advance equity and inclusive?
I think we need to come to an understanding of ourselves first. So look into and think about our own backgrounds – family, social, political, and economic influences. Recognize that some values or orientations are normalized. Reflect on and question how these ways of being and ways of doing impact not just the individual but society at large.
How can educators and parents can teach children and adolescents about equity and inclusion?
Attitudes and mindsets develop at a very early age.
I would encourage parents and educators to expose children and adolescents to multiple ways of teaching and learning. For example, using multiple resources, not just textbooks that belong to a very euro-centric paradigm. We often learn mathematics from a western science point of view, but there are other perspectives; such as Indigenous or Eastern approaches to teaching and learning.
Do you have any book recommendations on the topic of equity and inclusive?
Aside from our upcoming book and podcast discussion book, How to Be An Anti-Racist by Kendi. I would recommend The Skin We’re In by Desmond Cole for a sense of what’s happening right now in Canada.
On March 1, the Kelowna Kiwanis Festival begins its annual showcase of artist performances in dance, music and voice. This year the Festival has a tie to the Okanagan School of Education with Professor Stephen Berg as the Executive Director.
“All of my children have been involved with the festival for a number of years in dance and singing,” says Dr. Berg. “I have always enjoyed watching various performances throughout the festival and when an opportunity arose to become the Executive Director of the festival I took a chance and was successful!”
Dr. Berg isn’t a stranger to the arts and culture scene. Aside from being a supportive parent during his children’s participation and performances, Berg himself has performed in the Canadian School of Ballet’s Nutcracker – and even twice as Madame Gigone. He also introduces dance into the classroom to demonstrate to teacher candidates the many benefits and use of dance.
“There are parallels between physical education and health, and the arts,” says Dr. Berg. “Emotional well-being, enhanced cognitive functioning, and increased self-esteem are just a few of the positives that performers take away. We also know that events such as the festival help bring the community closer, providing opportunities to watch people young and old perform.”
This year, there will be more than 3,000 participants in numerous disciplines and Dr. Berg is excited about the upcoming line-up.
“I have loved seeing everything come together,” says Dr. Berg. “I also enjoy the fact that our performers get an opportunity to receive feedback from some very esteemed adjudicators. For example, this year in some of our voice disciplines, we have an adjudicator who has worked with music superstar Shawn Mendes, Ellen DeGeneres, and Andrew Lloyd Webber. To see someone like that work with our performers will be incredible!”
Events take place throughout March, April, and May and the Festival wraps up with a Gala event May 29th.
Learn more about the Kelowna Kiwanis Festival and view the schedule at kelownakiwanisfestival.com.
UBC Okanagan’s canine-assisted therapy program brings extra love to retirement resort
While some may greet February 14 with a groan, others wag their tails at the opportunity to show their love. To celebrate Valentine’s Day this year, UBC Okanagan’s Building Academic Retention through K9s (BARK) program’s student volunteers, six dogs and their handlers spent part of Friday afternoon visiting with the Missionwood Retirement Resort’s residents.
“We’re a pet-friendly resort and our residents find joy in watching the dogs,” says John Eakins, general manager of Missionwood Retirement Resort. Eakins is also a BARK volunteer with his dog, Doogle. “We knew when we invited BARK and connected the dogs, students and residents that it would be a special event. The residents love connecting with the younger generation.”
The occasional “good dog” could be heard above the chatter as behind the ear scratches and belly rubs were doled out. Volunteers and residents shared stories about their life experiences and loved ones.
“It wasn’t a great day until I came here,” smiles Diane, a resort resident. “I love dogs.”
That comment became BARK student volunteer, Romina Amirsardari’s most memorable moment from the event.
“It was really nice to witness that BARK brought happiness to people, and I was lucky to be a part of it,” says Amirsardari. “As a student, I am mostly in contact with people of my age; however the event gave me the opportunity to break the generation gap and bring joy and happiness to not just students but also to the community, especially the elderly.”
This is the first time the BARK program has visited a retirement resort. BARK sessions are typically held on campus to bring together university students and trained therapy dogs and handlers in an effort to reduce stress, combat homesickness, foster interpersonal connections and promote the overall social-emotional well-being of students.
“Community is integral to the BARK program,” says John-Tyler Binfet, Okanagan School of Education, Associate Professor and BARK Director. “Our volunteer community handlers enrich the learning environment for our students, the Boys and Girls Club, and the Kelowna RCMP. Community engagement truly enhances every aspect of what I do as a researcher at UBC.”
Student volunteer, Lucas Spielman echoed the community sentiment. Spielman is a Physics major and has been volunteering with BARK for four years.
“In my first year I started coming to BARK and I enjoyed the people and dogs,” says Spielman. “Everyone was so friendly.” He added that the event at the resort was no different from a regular BARK session with friendly people wanting to chat – and a lot of fun!
Slobbery kisses from new furry friends certainly made this Valentine’s Day a little bit brighter for some students and resort residents.
Learn more about program and ways to support BARK at barkubc.ca.
On Feb. 3, 2020, the Okanagan School of Education hosted a panel discussion on reconciling pedagogies.
Panel presenters are committed to supporting Canadian educators’ responses to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission calls to action (TRC, 2015), and especially to calls 62–65, which emphasize that Indigenous histories, perspectives, and approaches to learning must inform multi-disciplinary learning experiences. To respond adequately, educators and their students participate in co-curricular-making: that is, navigating curricula not as a predetermined guide to follow, but rather as meaning-making learning/unlearning paths that ask educators and their students to adapt, change, and build understandings. These understandings acknowledge that the particulars of place provide an essential context for decolonized and Indigenized co-curricular pathways.
Panel presenters shared what calls each of them to this work, revealing accounts of place and what reconciling pedagogies look and feel like in practice, alongside lessons learned, provoking further conversations.
About the Speakers
Dr. Bill Cohen (Okanagan College) | Dr. Cohen is from the Okanagan Nation with extensive kinship ties throughout BC and Washington. He specializes in the areas of Indigenous knowledge, research, education, and transforming pedagogy. For more than twenty-five years, he has engaged in community-driven, transforming projects, as parent, volunteer, advisor, facilitator, and director. He is an educator, artist, story-teller and author. The focus of Bill’s continuing research is to identify, understand and theorize the transforming potential of Indigenous and Okanagan knowledge and pedagogy through organic language and cultural knowledge revitalization.
Dr. Dwayne Donald (University of Alberta) | Dr. Donald is Papaschase Cree and Professor of Curriculum Studies and Indigenous Philosophies at the University of Alberta. He is Vice President (English) of the Canadian Society for the Study of Education. His research commitments are guided by Plains Cree and Blackfoot wisdom insights and the ways in which those can meaningfully influence understandings of teaching and learning today. Dr. Donald is particularly interested in representations of Canadian national narratives and citizenship that typically inform curriculum documents and perpetuate the general misrecognition and incomprehensibility of Indigenous experience and memory
Dr. Jan Hare (UBC) | Dr. Hare is a Professor and Associate Dean for Indigenous Education and Director, NITEP, UBC (Indigenous Teacher Education Program) and serves as a member of the UBC Okanagan School of Education Indigenous Education Council. As an Anishinaabe scholar and educator from the M’Chigeeng First Nation, her research is concerned with improving educational outcomes for Indigenous learners by centering Indigenous knowledge systems within educational reform from early childhood education to post-secondary.
Dr. Margaret Macintyre Latta (UBCO) | Macintyre Latta’s scholarship and teaching are at the intersections of the arts, curriculum, and teacher education. Macintyre Latta is Professor of Curriculum Studies and Director of the Okanagan School of Education in the Faculty of Education at UBC. Her published scholarship reflects a kinship with curricular Indigenization, and this body of work can be found in refereed national and international journals and in academic presses.
Dr. Nicholas Ng-A-Fook (University of Ottawa) | Dr. Ng-A-Fook is a Professor and Director of the Teacher Education Program at the U of Ottawa. He is the President of the Canadian Society for the Study of Education, the largest professional educational research association in Canada. In these administrative, educational, and research capacities, he is committed toward addressing the 94 Calls to Action put forth by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in partnership with the local Indigenous and school board communities. His research specializes in curriculum studies, and he draws on life writing research to develop culturally responsive and relational curriculum with Indigenous and first-generation immigrant communities.
Dr. Sandra Styres (OISE/University of Toronto) | Dr. Styres is a Tier II Canada Research Chair in Iethi’nihsténha Ohwentsia’kékha (Land), Resurgence, Reconciliation and the Politics of Education, and Assistant Professor with the Department of Curriculum, Teaching and Learning at OISE. Dr. Styres’ research interests include, but are not limited to, the politics of decolonizing reconciliation in education, the integration of Indigenous perspectives into teacher education programming, Indigenous philosophies and knowledges, culturally aligned methodologies and theoretical approaches to Indigenous research, ethics and protocols that guide the work in Indigenous and non-Indigenous research collaborations, and community engagement.
