Faculty of Education News Bulletin

Top Stories

New online CV tool, Discover York Academics, spotlights faculty scholarly work – The new tool provides a searchable database that will allow York University faculty to promote their expertise and help showcase the school’s academic leadership to the world. Learn more

Shaping the future of public education through collaboration and dialogue – Sue Winton, the York Research Chair in Policy Analysis for Democracy and a professor in York University’s Faculty of Education, leads the Public Education Exchange (PEX), which advocates for public schools that are equitable, accessible, publicly funded, democratically governed, and in pursuit of the common good. Read more

New seminar series to advance homelessness prevention – The York University Canadian Observatory on Homelessness (COH) has launched a monthly expert panel series aiming to host engaging community discussions to advance homelessness prevention initiatives in Canada and abroad. Read more

Building pathways to education: a Q&A with professor Carl James – Studies have shown that Black students are significantly under-represented on Canadian post-secondary campuses, due in large part to systemic barriers. The Jean Augustine Chair in Education, Community & Diaspora, now fully endowed and housed within York University’s Faculty of Education, aims to address this disparity and others by advancing access, equity, and inclusivity to education through community engagement and collaborative action. Read more

Project to create transitional housing for homeless Black youth – The Black Youth Housing Project, associated with the Homeless Hub at York University’s Canadian Observatory on Homelessness, will explore what housing models best support Black youth who are experiencing homelessness in York region. Read more

NEW International Opportunities web page now live! – The new page went live this past December on the Faculty of Education website and features all of the international opportunities available to education students. Visit website

A recording of the November 2023 Public Lecture, ‘Making Research Matter: Mobilizing research to impact on homelessness policy’ presented by professor Stephen Gaetz is now available on our website. In his talk, Gaetz explored the role social innovation can have in inspiring change in the response to youth homelessness in Canada. View video

Anti-racist, culturally responsive French immersion: Listening to racialized students is an important step towards equitable education – PhD candidate Marika Kunnas writes about the successes and challenges with French immersion programs across English-speaking parts of Canada in a recent article in The Conversation Canada. Read more

A Journey of International Education Excellence – Victoria Ennis (BEd ’17, MEd ’19), a passionate education professional, shares her transformative time participating in York University’s International Exchange program during her time as a student in the Faculty of Education. Read more

Alumni Spotlight: Kate Haiyun Mossop (MLCE ’21) – Kate Haiyun Mossop (MLCE ’21) is a community builder with a lifelong passion for strengthening communities and helping people overcome barriers. It was this passion that guided her to York University. Read more

QS ImpACT Awards select York members as judges – York University UNESCO Chair Charles Hopkins and Adjunct Professor Mark Terry, represented the University by joining the international team of judges evaluating applications for the annual QS ImpACT Awards, which honour the sustainability efforts of young changemakers from across the globe. Read more

Academic Programs Office

Upcoming visit by Norwegian students – In partnership with York University’s Faculty of Education, teacher candidates from Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), Department of Teacher Education will be joining us February 5^th-March 8^th, 2024. NTNU teacher candidates will participate in school placements, professional development and some weekend and evening social-cultural activities with York students. Nancy Bell will be coordinating the program, supporting the students’ experiences, and learning

Congratulations to BEd student Ana Kraljvecic on being selected as one of the recipients of a 2023 Ontario College of Teachers Scholarship in the amount of $1500. Read more

2024 Las Nubes Study Abroad Program & Funding – The Faculty of Education will be offering the following course: EDST/EDUC 3700, EDUC 5445 “Educating for a Sustainable Future”, taught by professor Steve Alsop at Las Nubes campus in summer 2024 (July 15 – 24)

• Deadline to enroll: March 1, 2024
• Deadline to apply for funding: February 10, 2024
• For more information: https://lasnubes.euc.yorku.ca/education/programs

Research Office

Upcoming Funding Opportunities: 

• The Spencer Foundation: Vision Grants  – March 7, 2024 (Agency)
• Partnership Engage Grants  – March 15, 2024 (Agency)
• SSHRC Explore Grants – March 31, 2024 (VPRI)
• SSHRC Exchange KMb Grants – March 31, 2024 (VPRI) 
• SSHRC Impact Awards – April 1, 2024 (Agency)
• Funding for Black Scholars and Black Scholarship: Event and Outreach Activities – April 1, 2024 (VPRI)
• Funding for Indigenous Scholarly Events and Outreach Activities – April 1, 2024 (VPRI)
• Funding for Scholarly Events and Outreach Activities – April 1, 2024 (VPRI)

Upcoming Award Competitions: 

• Faculty of Education Dean’s Research Impact Awards – Deadline: March 1, 2024
• Faculty of Education Undergraduate Teaching Award – Deadlines:
  • Preliminary Nominations – February 15, 2024
  • Final nomination packages – March 22, 2024

Successful grants: 

Max Bell Foundation
Robert Savage 
Title: Turning the aspiration of universal literacy into a reality in Canadian schools

Connection Grants 
Lisa Farley
Title: Psychosocial Transformations: The School, The Clinic, and The Archive          

Events: 

Session title: Webinar on Best Practices for Enhancing Research Visibility & University Rankings
Date: February 1, 2024
Time: 12:00 p.m. – 1:30 p.m. 
Location: Online 

Session title: Apprenticeship and Mentorship in Research Assistantships: Best Practices, Challenges and Opportunities
Date: Last week of February (specific date TBD)
Time: 12:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m.
Location: Online

Session title: Your Questions Answered: Support for Research in the Faculty of Education
Date: March 28, 2024
Time: 12:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m.
Location: Online 

Session title: Spotlight on New Faculty Research
Date: April 5, 2024
Time: TBD
Location: In person, TBA  

Session title: Research & Teaching Celebration
Date: May 2024 (specific date TBD)
Time: TBD
Location: In person, TBA  

Graduate Program Office

Assistant professor Molade Osibodu is running a reading group with graduate students as part of the Baobab Decolonial Collective – This semester, the group will be reading Robyn Maynard and Leanne Betasamosake Simpson’s Rehearsals for Living. The group will be meeting bi-weekly on Wednesdays from 3:00 -4:30 p.m. starting on January 24, 2024. Anyone interested can reach out to professor Osibodu at mosibodu@yorku.ca for more information

Apply now for Graduate Program internal bursaries, prizes, scholarships and awards by the February 1 deadline. View a listing of the available awards and access the application form here

Professional Learning Office

Plan your professional learning for 2024 – The Office of Professional Learning in the Faculty of Education at York University can help you reach your goals and find the Additional Qualification (AQ) courses you’re looking for. Learn more

Information Technology (IT) Services Office

Education technology enhanced spaces web page – Education’s technology enhanced spaces (screens, audio, computing) are listed on a single page for easy review: https://www.yorku.ca/edu/students/it-services/techspaces. These pages include a description of the technology available, instructions on their use, and status updates should there be any known malfunctions. Please email edhelp@yorku.ca if you discover any new problems in these rooms

Deaf and Hard of Hearing Office

Thank you to the 34 participants who attended our online Information Night on Monday, November 6, 2023. Our 2024 – 25 application package is now available on our website at https://www.yorku.ca/edu/students/deaf-and-hard-of-hearing/how-to-apply/.
Applications are due March 21, 2024.

Practicum Placements
Students completed their first four-week practicum block on Friday, December
15, 2023. Sixteen full-time and part-time students participated in practicum
placements starting on November 20 within 9 school boards across the country. Students attended placements from pre-school through secondary across a range of
communication modalities

Winter Term
Students returned to classes on January 8, 2024, and have enrolled in courses
that focus on specialized areas such as itinerant teaching, bilingual education, and
classroom amplification

New Publications

Associate professor Qiang Zha’s book chapter “Newly Founded Local Universities: ‘Land-grant Colleges’ on Chinese Soil?” (published in Handbook on Local Governance in China: Structures, Variations, and Innovations, and mentioned in the September 2023 issue of the ED News Bulletin) is now significantly cited in the 2023 Annual Report to Congress by the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission, in the Report’s “Chapter 3, Section 1 – China Educating and Training Its Next Generation Workforce” (p. 309), which is accessible at: https://www.uscc.gov/annual-report/2023-annual-report-congress

Associate professor Qiang Zha has a new article titled “Higher Education Research and Reality: They Need to Be Better Aligned.” In  International Higher Education

Assistant professor Rachel Silver and Alyssa Morley have an article titled“Undoing Aid: UK Aid Cuts, Development Relationships and Resourcing Futures in Malawi” Development and Change:  https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/dech.12810

In the Media

Renewing campus civility in illiberal times
An op-ed by Paul Axelrod, York University professor emeritus and former dean of the Faculty of Education, was published in the Globe and Mail, Jan. 13

Ontario school boards grapple with the use of the N-word in books
Professor and Jean Augustine Chair in Education, Community & Diaspora, Carl James weighs in on books that contain the N-word no longer being allowed in a number of Ontario classrooms or school library shelves – unless they are written by Black authors – as school boards work to ensure students aren’t being exposed to offensive slurs while learning. Toronto Star, Jan. 11

Photos tell a thousand stories of youth homelessness and aging out of foster care
A discussion on the exhibit “Making the Shift” which features photographs taken by young people who formerly were in foster care and became homeless when they aged out of that care.  The project is a collaboration between the Resilience Research Centre at Dalhousie University and York University. Halifax Examiner, Jan. 11

Events

Get ready to immerse yourself in the ultimate celebration of Black artistry, where words, sounds, and power collide in a night to remember!

Come join the Jean Augustine Chair in Education, Community & Diaspora for an unforgettable evening at the Tributes Communities Recital Hall as we celebrate the rich, and diverse world of Black artistic expression. This annual event promises to be a vibrant showcase of talent, creativity, and cultural pride

Anderson Coward
Communications & Marketing Specialist

Adam Riley
Web Designer & Developer

Mariana Michaelis
Communications & Marketing Assistant

Barb Rodezno
Director – Strategic Communications, Marketing & Outreach