Dr. Vanessa de Oliveira Andreotti will present Alter-Globalism in Higher Education in speaker series

Title: Alter-Globalism in Higher Education: paradoxes of ethics, justice and internationalization

When: March 14, 2014, 1-2 pm

Where: EME 2202

Andreotti’s presentation will examine shifting perceptions of the public role of (higher) education, with particular emphasis on questions of ethics, justice and internationalization that arise at the inter-sections of current economic, cultural, political and social forces. Dr. Andreotti puts forward a call to protect the role of the university as a critic and conscience of society, and as a space where critically informed, multi-voiced, globally accountable and independent academic discussions of consequence about alternative futures can and should take place.

About the Speaker: Vanessa de Oliveira Andreotti’s research examines political economies of knowledge production; ethics of international development concerning ideals of globalism and internationalization in education and in activism; and, historically marginalized communities. Dr. Andreotti is a research fellow at the University of Oulu, where she was chair of global education from 2010 to 2013. She is also a research fellow at the Centre for Global Citizenship Education at the University of Alberta.

About Stirring Minds Speaker Series: Hosted by the Faculty of Education at UBC’s Okanagan campus, the speaker series is open and free for all to attend.The series features visiting and local academics, intellectuals, policy-makers and professionals addressing provocative and challenging issues in educational theory, policy and practice. Since the series launched in 2011, the sessions have led to several collaborative projects involving keynote speakers and Faculty members from UBC’s Okanagan campus.

Modelling Research as a Habit for All Educators will be presented by the faculty.

The faculty invites you to learn and celebrate the varied paths of research within the Faculty of Education.

When: Thurs. March 6, 2014, 4:30-6:30pm
Where: ADMIN 115 Okanagan Room
What:  Research celebration with wine and cheese

The research evening will bring the community and campus together to envision the future of education.

The event will feature short presentations from the following  faculty members:

Leyton Schnellert: Case Study Research on Teacher Collaboration in Support of Struggling Adolescent Readers

• Dr. Schnellert is the 2013 recipient of the Canadian Education Association Pat Clifford Award for Early Career Research in Education for work in improving literacy among adolescent learners and teachers’ practices to support them. He will provide some insights into the significances of his powerful research focus on literacy, inclusion, and teacher collaboration.

Scott Roy Douglas: Research in Practice–Fostering Inquiry as an Additional Language

• Dr. Douglas honors a learner-centered approach that is all about empowering individuals to invest in their own inquiries, fostering student success and confidence through his research practices. His new book, Academic Inquiry: Writing for Post-Secondary Success, brings these commitments together and reflects his passion for teaching grounded in ongoing research efforts.

Christopher Martin: Robust Questions—Research as Entry into Fundamental Educational Concerns

• Dr. Christopher Martin raises questions such as: What does it mean to say that someone is an educated person? How do we know what’s worth including in a school curriculum? In Dr. Martin’s new book, R. S. Peters (Bloomsbury Library of Educational Thought), he researches the values, aims and purposes of education. In doing so, he puts readers in conversation with the understandings of the influential philosopher of education, R.S. Peters, alongside positioning readers to raise questions and pursue understandings of their own.

Karen Ragoonaden: Contested Sites in Education–The Quest for the Public Intellectual, Identity and Service

• Dr. Ragoonaden brings authors together in an upcoming edited volume reflecting upon the transformative process of reconceptualizing and rebuilding a Faculty of Education in the 21st century.  The concept of scholarly culture is researched and illuminated from multiple perspectives by participating authors including Dr. Lynn Bosetti, Dr. Catherine Broom, Dr. Sabre Cherkowski, Dr. Susan Crichton, Dr. Barry Kanpol, Dr. Christopher Martin, & Dr. Pamela Richardson.

John Tyler Binfet and Amy Gaertner: Exploring Kindness in Primary Students–What Drawings Reveal 

• Dr. John Tyler Binfet and Graduate Student, Amy Gaertner, research kindness in the classroom—from the perspectives of children. The kindness study importantly contributes to a knowledge base that helps educators, parents, and researchers better understand early primary students’ perceptions of being kind to one another and builds intentional pro-social activities into classrooms.

Susan Crichton: Imagining the Future of Education Together–Enacting the Balance of a Three Legged Stool

• Dr. Susan Crichton is the Director of The Innovative Learning Centre (ILC), which draws strength from rich research partnerships among academia, education, and industry.  Through reciprocally beneficial initiatives, the ILC informs educational practice locally and globally through meaningful knowledge exchanges with its partners.

The faulty looks forward to welcoming you to this exciting event. No RSVP is required.

Dr. Christopher Martin, assistant professor in the Faculty of Education, collaborates with Dr. Stefaan E. Cuypers in release of their new book R. S. Peters. 

R. S. Peters undertakes the first systematic account of the major themes of the late Richard Stanley Peters —described as an indisputable major thinker in the philosophy of education and educational theory. Peters’ philosophical work was globally influential in the development of teacher education and state educational policy in post-war UK, Canada, and the United States.

In the first book-length study of Peter’s work and its impact, Dr. Stefaan E. Cuypers, Professor of Philosophy at the Catholic University of Leuven, Belgium, and Dr. Christopher Martin reconstruct Peters’ work and demonstrate its continuing relevance.

Andrea R. English, Assistant Professor of Philosophy of Education at Mount Saint Vincent University says, “Cuypers and Martin reveal the richness of Peters’ thinking about education, including his concern for the human condition and the predicaments of life, and his emphasis on the moral value of the work done by those engaged in the educational enterprise.”

“Erudite, yet written with ease and clarity, their book shows both the overarching trajectories and nuanced details of Peters’ thought. This book is a great companion for readers already familiar with Peters’ work, as well as for those looking for an entry point into the complexity of his central ideas.”

Created both for educational researchers and for teachers seeking to better understand the nature and scope of their work, R. S. Peters demonstrates how the philosophy of education, through Peter’s work, is applicable to contemporary discussions on educational practice and policies.

Robin Barrow, Professor of Philosophy of Education at Simon Fraser University says R.S. Peters is, “An essential and long overdue critical guide to the work of the most significant educational philosopher of the 20th century.”

Martin is author of numerous publications including Education in a Post-Metaphysical World: Rethinking Educational Policy and Practice Through Jürgen Habermas’ Discourse Morality. Martin is described by Memorial University  Associate Professor, Walter Okshevsky, as, “one of the most interesting and promising young philosophers in the field of educational philosophy.”

Martin’s book is available in hardback and will be released shortly in paperback.

Learn more about R. S. Peters at Bloomsbury Publishing.

R. S. Peters on Amazon.

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Dr. John Tyler Binfet receives funding from the Central Okanagan Foundation

UBC researches how schoolchildren learn the language of kindness

The quality of being friendly and considerate with concern for others is the basis for a new study of Grades 1-8 to determine how Canadian kids perceive acts of kindness.

John Tyler Binfet, a professor in The University of British Columbia’s Faculty of Education, is exploring kindness in the classroom—from the perspective of children.

This year, more than 1,700 Okanagan students in Grades 4-8 participated in Binfet’s study, “Examining Kindness in Elementary Schools: Exploring Students’ Perspectives.”

In partnership with School District #23, Binfet and his team of graduate and undergraduate students visited 73 classrooms throughout the Central Okanagan during the Spring 2013 term. The students were asked to provide instances of their own kindness; to identify agents and locations of kindness in schools; and to generate examples of kindness they could do in their classrooms.

A former classroom teacher and school principal, Binfet knows firsthand the importance of positive learning environments and their impact on students.

“Schools emphasize pro-social behaviour, but not a lot is known about kindness from the students’ perspectives,” he says.

The kindness study contributes to a knowledge base that helps educators, parents, and researchers better understand early primary students’ perception of being kind to one another and build intentional pro-social activities into classrooms.

A drawing of an act of kindness by a grade one student.

“The study seeks to understand what a positive learning environment is from the most important perspective: the child’s,” Binfet says. “The research identifies the mechanisms within schools that best contribute to creating conditions that promote kind behaviour in students and create healthy learning environments.”

In his office at UBC’s Okanagan campus, Binfet holds up a child’s drawing of a man with giant ears: “The Grade 1 student said, ‘I’m helping by listening.’ ”

And that is just what Binfet plans to do, pointing out that listening involves mixed methods—including drawing—to elicit experiences from children.

Initial analyses of Grades 4-8 reveal that students noted unlikely locations for kindness, which included the principal’s office and even the washroom. As for agents of kindness, while teachers and administrators were largely seen as school personnel who most promoted kindness, many students identified custodians as one of the kinder adults within their school.

The Central Okanagan Foundation (COF) recently awarded Binfet a grant to continue the study into kindness in the classroom.

“It is an important grant,” says Binfet, “as it represents continued community partnerships between UBC Okanagan and School District #23, between myself as a researcher and the individual school sites, and a new partnership: the Faculty of Education and the Central Okanagan Foundation.”

Cheryl Miller, COF Grants Manager, says the Foundation “recognized that there was little research done in this area and liked how the study’s intention is to capture positive school-based behaviour.”

The Central Okanagan Foundation contributes to the quality of life in the community through building endowments, grant making and community leadership. The grant for Binfet’s study is part of $311,655 that the COF invests annually into the Okanagan community, in addition to $6,000 for local youth-led projects.

One student describes kindness as ‘hope’

Binfet continues the study this winter by visiting Grade 1-3 classrooms, addressing the notion of kindness, and listening.

Donation helps Okanagan campus Faculty of Education launch new program

A Colorado educator and philanthropist has donated $1.2 million to the Faculty of Education to create a program of mindfulness at UBC’s Okanagan campus.

SMARTinEducation (SMART) is a program in mindfulness—the intentional cultivation of moment-by-moment focused attention and awareness—for educators. Research into the neurobiology of mindfulness suggests that sustained mindfulness practice can provide significant potential benefits for both teachers and students.

“Educators today face many challenges every day in managing the dynamics of life in the classroom,” says Faculty of Education Dean Lynn Bosetti.

“Healthy and happy teachers create learning opportunities for students to flourish,” says Bosetti. “The Faculty of Education is honoured to receive this gift, and that affords the opportunity to have a positive impact on the well-being of educators in Canada.”

Based on components of the behavioural medicine program, Mindfulness-based Stress Reduction (MBSR), SMART is designed specifically for educators to optimize their performance and increase well-being to make them more effective in the classroom.

“Ensuring the well-being of an educator is the immediate effect of the program; the long-term effects are on students and ultimately society,” says Ulco Visser, president of the Colorado-based Impact Foundation and creator of SMART.

Visser decided SMART required an exceptional post-secondary institution to increase the capacity of the program, in terms of infrastructure and research excellence. Visser says he was amazed at the innovative attitudes towards education expressed by UBC’s Faculty of Education and Dean. Visser says he found something that “you can’t find in education, here—in the U.S.—or, in other parts of the world.”

Educators support the SMART program and are eager to incorporate its lessons and values into their research.

“The faculty is fully committed to the long-term success of SMART,” says Bonnie Thorne, director of Mindfulness Programs and Outreach. “We have created a perfect storm with the current demand for an evidence-based mindfulness program.”

Visit the SMART website

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MEDIA CONTACT:

Paul Marck | Manager, Media Relations
University Relations | University of British Columbia
Okanagan campus
Tel: 250-807-9278 | Mobile: 250-863-9745
Email: paul.marck@ubc.ca

Faculty of Education launches event in UBC’s Innovative Learning Centre

What: Maker Day 2013
When: Saturday, November 2, 2013 (all day)
Where:  Innovative Learning Centre (ILC) in the Engineering, Management and Education Building at UBC’s Okanagan Campus, 1137 Alumni Ave., Kelowna, BC
Who: Maker Day 2013 is an invitation-only event for educators. Media is invited to cover the event.

The Faculty of Education‘s Innovative Learning Centre (ILC) and the Industry Training Authority (ITA) are collaborating to host Maker Day 2013 on Saturday, Nov. 2 at UBC’s Okanagan campus.

The first of its kind in the Okanagan, Maker Day is part of the contemporary “Maker Movement” that encourages invention and prototyping—shifting learning focus to innovation and exploration. This grassroots movement features experimentation and innovation across engineering, science, art, performance, craft, and education.

Maker Day 2013 invites students and teachers to put their design-thinking and problem-finding skills to good use, from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at the ILC in the Engineering, Management and Education Building.

“The Maker Movement is a natural fit for education. It integrates the disciplines and maximizes the potential of constructivist and inquiry-based learning, which is central to the BC plan,” says Dr. Susan Crichton, director of the ILC and an associate professor in the Faculty of Education.

“The Maker Movement helps educators introduce trades and technology, and the professions inherit in them, to students as young as five, helping them add skills and abilities to their toolkits without making career limiting decision at an early age.”

Okanagan teachers and students have been invited to the all-day “make” session. More than 70 Makers will join ITA and the ILC to solve and build design challenges. Attendees receive a Maker Kit and will be faced with the challenge to imagine and create; facilitators will be available to guide and help make connections to careers reflected in the work.

Participants will have the opportunity to kick-start their own maker skills and joins the increasing momentum of the DIY movement, which stresses new and unique application of technologies and more traditional activities such as metalworking, wood working, and traditional arts and crafts.

They will also be introduced to Design Thinking, Inquiry, and Experiential Learning by doing. Participants can draw from a bank of materials and resources to creatively imagine, tinker, and share their group’s solution to a design challenge.

“As part of our youth initiatives to get more young people interested in careers in the trades, we are excited to be a part of the Maker Movement and additional hands-on learning for K-12 students,” said Gary Herman, Interim CEO, Industry Training Authority (ITA).

Participants of Maker Day 2013 will have the opportunity to see their ideas in action at school-district-led trades Maker Days supported by the ITA.

Maker Day 2013 itinerary:

8:30 a.m. — Registration
9:00 a.m.  — Welcome – Dean of the Faculty of Education, Ministry of Education and ITA Representative
9:30 a.m.  — Introduction to Design Thinking – Shane Austin
9:45 a.m.  — Design Thinking, Maker Movement, and Education – Susan Crichton
10:00 a.m. — Project Work (includes working lunch)
3:00 p.m. — Preparation of Group Presentation
3:30 p.m.  — Closing Comments and Introduction to Gallery Tour Process
3:45 p.m.  — Gallery Tour and Wine and Cheese
4:15 p.m.  — Feedback and Closing Remarks

For more information about the ILC, visit: http://blogs.ubc.ca/centre/

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Dr. John Tyler Binfet will present an overview of B.A.R.K.— the faculty’s dog therapy program.

Dr. Binfet will share with the UBC Vancouver campus an overview of the B.A.R.K. Program. Standing for “Building Academic Retention Through K9’s”, B.A.R.K.  is a dog therapy program that brings together UBC Okanagan students, trained therapy dogs and handlers, and faculty in an effort to reduce stress, foster interpersonal connections and institution affinity, and to promote students’ social-emotional well-being.

“I’m looking forward to showcasing some of the great connections that have been established by bringing dogs to UBC Okanagan and highlighting some of the initial findings from our first intervention study,” Binfet says.

Dr. Binfet will share how intervention studies and drop-in sessions are run, initial results from his innovative research, and a demonstration of techniques used to facilitate interactions between students and therapy dogs. But, not without his faithful companion Frances— “B.A.R.K.’s K9 ambassador Frances will be on hand to share strategies for interacting with clients.”

This presentation is sponsored by the UBC Mental Health Awareness Club as part of their ongoing commitment to raising awareness about student mental health. The club aims to eliminate stigma towards mental illness and create an environment where students, staff and faculty members can discuss and learn about mental health together. This year the club will include organizing pet visits on the Vancouver campus.

What: Supporting Students’ Social -Emotional Well-Being Through Animal-Assisted Therapy: An Overview of UBC Okanagan’s B.A.R.K. Program
When: November 12, 12:30-1:30pm
Where: 201 Westbrook Building (6174 University Blvd)

Learn more about the B.A.R.K. program

Visit the UBC Mental Awareness Club site

Dr. Sharon McCoubrey celebrated for her impact to the field of art education and her dedication to Okanagan community initiatives

In her 41st year as an educator, Dr. Sharon McCoubrey happily accepts the honour of being named one of “50 People Who Made a Difference” at Okanagan College (OC).

On its website, OC lauds her dedication to the field of art education: “Sharon McCoubrey is a tremendous booster of the arts in the Central Okanagan through her various community initiatives, including the Lake Country’s ArtWalk, which is the largest art show in B.C.’s interior.”

Accolades aside, McCoubrey’s focus has been and still remains to “pass on the love of learning to children.”

When she decided to study education, McCoubrey didn’t have the choice to study in the Okanagan. Having grown up in Kelowna and Lake Country, she was required to move to undertake her education studies.

Describing the growth of Okanagan College as a “logical evolution,” McCoubrey says OC brought the post-secondary to the students in the Okanagan. In the first year of offering education, “we had numerous mature students who hadn’t had the flexibility to go away.”

Celebrating its 50-year anniversary this year, Okanagan College is an institutional body that has grown deep roots in the valley and hearts of the Okanagan—and beyond. McCoubrey began her journey with the college in 1989 when the Okanagan University College (OUC) became a degree-granting institution.

For the next 15 years, McCoubrey, in a team of talented professionals, began laying the groundwork for the college’s Faculty of Education. McCoubrey witnessed each stage of the faculty’s growth, including the transfer of OC’s second Kelowna campus to The University of British Columbia.

McCoubrey’s first position—as a teacher at Oyama Elementary School—soon became intertwined with the OUC. Her passion for post-secondary education began as a curriculum consultant, assisting the district office with fine arts.

“During those years, I thought if I could work at the pre-service stage it would give me a chance to prepare teachers,” she says.

Now in her 24th year at the post-secondary level, McCoubrey says her desire to continually prepare pre-service teachers and learn has influenced her journey as an educator.

“There is no question that the trends in education and curriculum changes through the decades,” she says. “The importance of flexibility and an open mind allows teachers the ability to change.”

“The study of education has evolved in the Okanagan valley—with the Okanagan College and The University of British Columbia at its centre. There are now multiple programs and multiple degrees offered.”

This year, UBC’s Okanagan campus celebrates the 25th anniversary of education in the Okanagan.

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Dr. Sharon McCoubrey is the Coordinator of Community Engagement for the Faculty of Education at UBC’s Okanagan campus. She obtained her Bachelor of Education and Master of Education degrees from the University of Victoria and her doctorate degree from UBC, all in art education.

She’s received several Excellence in Art Education Awards, and has been presented with the Order of Lake Country for her work in Public Art, a BC Achievement Award, and the UBC Outstanding Faculty Award for excellence in professional and community work. McCoubrey is the recipient of the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Medal.

McCoubrey’s areas of research include many aspects of art education and public art, teacher education, intergenerational learning, early learning, arts and environmental sustainability.

She is Past-President of the Canadian Society for Education through Art and has been on the British Columbia Art Teachers’ Association Executive for more than 20 years. She is currently President of the Arts Council of the Central Okanagan, serves on the UBC Okanagan Senate, Chairs the Lake Country Public Art Commission, is President of the Lake Country Art Gallery Society, and is in her 13th year as Chairperson of Lake Country ArtWalk Festival.

When possible, Sharon spends treasured time inher painting studio and in the peaceful gardens of her organic orchard in Lake Country, BC.

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The Canadian Education Association awards Dr. Leyton Schnellert the Pat Clifford Award for Early Career Research in Education.

Faculty of Education Assistant Professor and Coordinator of Professional Development Leyton Schnellert was recently awarded the distinguished Canadian Education Association (CEA) Pat Clifford Award for Early Career Research in Education.

The award recognizes Schnellert’s work in improving literacy among adolescent learners—particularly those with learning disabilities—and teachers’ practices to support them.

The CEA describes Schnellert’s case study research as changing the learning landscape: “Schnellert’s work in improving literacy among adolescent learners has contributed important insights into how inquiry-based collaborative, situated models of professional development can work to advance learning for both teachers and students.”

“So much is going on for adolescents in school—brain development, their identities are shaping, they’re so self-aware and aware of others, and we all just assume that they can read,” says Dr. Schnellert. “I was seeing students struggling every day, so I gradually developed supportive classroom climates and approaches and watched their confidence soar.”

Dean Lynn Bosetti of the Faculty of Education commends the impact of Schnellert’s work, and describes him as a rare researcher.

“He can work with cross-curricular groups of secondary teachers and offer examples of how leading-edge practices might be taken up in their content areas,” she says.

In 2012, Schnellert’s was the recipient of a Recognition Award for Theses and Dissertations on Teacher Education from the Canadian Association for Teacher Education (CATE). His theoretical contributions and expertise in inclusive education has been sought by the school districts and the Ministry of Education.

Schnellert led the BC English Langauge Arts 8012 Curriculum revision team and has been invited to partake in the elite group of BC educators to create a framework for the transformation of BC’s curriculum and assessment.

Dr. Schnellert’s bibliography can be viewed here

Dr. Schnellert’s online resources

Read the Canadian Education press release

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