Faculty of Education News Bulletin

Top Stories

• Assistant Professor Natalia Balyasnikova was one of two York professors to receive awards from the Government of Canada’s New Frontiers in Research Fund – Balyasnikova is the principal investor on the “PhoneMe app: An innovative research approach to community literacy” project. She will work with co-principal investigator Claire Ahn, assistant professor of education at Queen’s University and co-applicant Kedrick James, associate professor of teaching at the University of British Columbia. They will advance the PhoneMe project, a public digital platform featuring place-based poetry recorded on mobile phones Read more

• Reading program helps young learners bounce back from COVID disruptions – Research by Dean Robert Savage contributed to a targeted reading program developed by University of Alberta educational psychology professor George Georgiou. The reading program helps Alberta students in grades 2 and 3 overcome reading difficulties and learning disruptions brought on by the pandemic Read more

• Assistant Professor Cristina Delgado Vintimilla wrote an article for the Conversation Canada titled “Weaving is helping strengthen ancestral knowledge among women and children in Ingapirca, Ecuador” Read the article

• Tune in to hear Assistant Professor Vidya Shah discuss leadership competencies and the realities faced by Indigenous, Black and racialized leaders in the non-profit sector on the Digging in with ONN podcast Listen to podcast

• Practicum Facilitator Anne Schlarp and her BEd students put together care packages to send to local schools in the Ukraine affected by the ongoing war. Several of her students rose to the challenge and took the initiative in providing the children with items in their care packages that they hope will bring joy into their lives Read more

• Ron Owston Award will provide support for education students – A new award named after Ron Owston, who served as Dean of the Faculty of Education from 2012 to 2016, will provide financial support to students enrolled in the Faculty of Education’s Bachelor of Arts Educational Studies and Master of Leadership and Community Engagement programs Learn more

• Faculty and graduate student presentations at CSSE 2022 – A number of our faculty and graduate student will be giving presentations at CSSE 2022 taking place May 14-20 View schedule of presentations

New Publications

• Assistant Professor Molade Osibodu recently published a chapter titled “Researcher don’t teach me nonsense: Engaging African decolonial practices in a critical mathematics education project” in the book Facilitating community research for social change: Case studies in qualitative, arts-based, and visual research
  
  
• Associate Professor Qiang Zha published a paper titled “Issues and Challenges Facing University Collaboration between China and North America: An Academic Culture & Academic Freedom Perspective” in a special issue of the American Journal of Chinese Studies that he organized
  
  
• Associate Professor Qiang Zha published a paper titled “Revisiting the discourse of a Chinese model of the university: A Confucian-Legalist legacy impact perspective” in James Côté and Sarah Pickard (eds.), Routledge Handbook of the Sociology of Higher Education

• A new study by Assistant Professor Vidya Shah and graduate student Diana Grimaldos (MLCE) titled “Lies, Denials, and Cover-Ups: The Pervasiveness of Whiteness in School Districts Relations with Black and Racialized Parents” was published in Urban Education. The study explores whiteness as property in parent engagement as experienced by Black and racialized parents in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area in Ontario, Canada

• A new study by Assistant Professor Vidya Shah, Joseph Flessa (OISE) and graduate students Nada Aoudeh (York U) and Gisele Cuglievan-Mindreau (OISE) titled “Subverting Whiteness and Amplifying Anti-Racisms: Mid-Level District Leadership for Racial Justice” was published in the Journal of School Leadership. This counternarrative study positions two distinct bodies of literature in conversation: mid-level district leadership in the literature on educational change and anti-racist approaches to leadership framed through Critical Race Theory and Critical Whiteness Studies

In the Media

• Black alienation in academic life begins in high school: study – Research by professor and Jean Augustine Chair in Education, Community and Diaspora, Carl James, is referenced in a discussion on a database that tracks the experiences and challenges of Black youth in university in The Toronto Star May 9

In Case You Missed It…

• Faculty launches Public Lecture Series – This past April, the Faculty launched a new public lecture series featuring leading scholars speaking about their research and scholarship on key publicly relevant issues in education and society. The first talk of the series, titled “Making sense of the great reading debate: A guide to the science and practice of helping all children read” took place on April 27 via Zoom and was delivered by Faculty of Education Dean Rob Savage View recording
  
  
• The Winter 2022 issue of the York U Magazine featured a number of Faculty of Education alumni who are making an impact in their communities
  • Renewed Optimism – Colleen Russell-Rawlins (BA/BEd ’91, MEd ’00) on reshaping education at Canada’s largest school board Read story
  • Kicking into High Gear – How Farkhunda Muhtaj (BEd ’21) scored an evacuation of Afghanistan’s women athletes Read story
  • Big Shot – Jonathan Clodman (BEd ’19, MEd ’20) and the app that helped millions secure a vaccine Read story

News from the York Community

• Temporary closure of hourly/daily parking in the York Lanes Parking Garage – The York Lanes parking garage will be closed to hourly/daily parking while significant repair and maintenance work is undertaken, including repaving the roof top. Work will begin on Monday, May 9. It is anticipated that the garage will reopen in early August 2022 Learn more
  
  
• Asian Heritage Month at York University – May is Asian Heritage Month, an important opportunity to reflect on the history, achievements and contributions of Asian students, staff, faculty and course instructors at York, and acknowledge the many ways our local and global communities are enriched by their insights, experiences and innovations in programming, curriculum, teaching, research, scholarship and activism Learn more
  
  
• Reminder: Community invited to provide feedback on Draft EDI Strategy – The President’s Advisory Council on Equity, Diversity and Inclusion released its Draft Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Strategy (EDI) on March 21 and is seeking input from community members through open feedback sessions and a survey Read more

Events

Scholar’s Hub @ Home: Ukranian sovereignty and identity: A critical discussion on the war in Ukraine

May 18 | 12pm ET
Presented by: Professor Karen Krasny

The world is witnessing Russia’s unprovoked attack on Ukraine in what is the largest conventional, nation-state to nation-state military attack on a European democracy since the second world war. This presentation will provide attendees with critical insights into the events leading up to the present invasion and what is at stake geo-politically and within the context of escalating global humanitarian crises Register now

Faculty of Education Summer Institute (FESI) 2022

Collective Dreaming: Co-Constructing Conditions for Liberatory Education

August 15 & 16, 2022
Online – Asynchronous/Synchronous

Please join us for our annual conference for educators, school board and ministry representatives, community members, faculty, teacher candidates and youth. Check yorku.ca/edu/fesi at the end of May for more details and to register