Faculty of Education News Bulletin

Top Stories

• York University launches first-of-its-kind initiative to address barriers for Black youth across Canada – The national, pan-university program is backed by $1.2 million from the RBC Foundation as part of RBC Future Launch. The initiative is led by Professor Carl E. James, the Jean Augustine Chair in Education, Community and Diaspora in the Faculty of Education.
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• UNESCO Chair Charles Hopkins recognized with lifetime achievement award – York University’s UNESCO Chair Charles Hopkins is the recipient of the Clean50 Lifetime Achievement Award for his work on a global scale to reorient education towards sustainable development. This prestigious award recognizes Hopkins’ focus on creating a better future for all. Read more
• Voices of Indigenous Educators – Voices of Indigenous Educators is a short 3-minute video that introduces four dynamic Indigenous scholars/educators in the Faculty of Education at York University. Diversity, strength, commitment and community are words that Pamela, Kiera, Marianne and Natasha bring to life. Find out who they are and why Indigenous education is at the heart of their professional and personal practices. Watch video
• Faculty of Education launches ‘Getting to Know YU’ program – Getting to Know YU is a reach-ahead program designed to support high school students who are thinking about a university as a potential pathway after high school. The program gives grade 9 and 10 students from participating schools exposure to a variety of academic and recreational activities at York. Students consider university as a future pathway through remote engagements. The program is being coordinated by course director Tisha Nelson. Learn more
• PhD student Tori Trajanovski wrote an article Children on individual education plans: What parents need to know, and 4 questions they should ask published in the October 4th issue of The Conversation Canada

In the Media

• Mock ‘slave’ auction at N.B. high school left this man with ’emotional scars’ – Professor Carl James was quoted in CBC News Oct. 3. Read full story
• First Nation’s heart remains broken 49 years later – Professor Celia Haig-Brown was quoted in the Winnipeg Free Press Sept. 29. Read full story
• National Day for Truth & Reconciliation: Universities and schools must acknowledge how colonial education has reproduced anti-Indigenous racism – An op-ed co-written by Professor Kiera Brant-Birioukov was published in the Conversation Sept. 22. Read full story
• Parents, students, teachers call for end to ‘hybrid’ classes in Toronto public schools – Postdoctoral researcher Beyhan Farhadi was quoted in CBC News Sept. 21. Read full story

New Publications

• A new book co-edited by Professors Sandra R. Schecter and Carl E. James Critical Approaches Toward a Cosmopolitan Education, aims to reconceptualize teaching and learning in spaces with diverse populations of young people
• An article by Professor Qiang Zha  How should liberal arts education evolve in the twenty first century? An exploration of universities in China and beyond was published in the journal of Educational Philosophy and Theory. Zha explores how the changing context and increasing professionalization in higher education has ushered in challenges for liberal arts education worldwide situated in the context of Chinese universities
• A recent article Reading Achievement of Deaf Students: Challenging the Fourth Grade Ceiling by Professor Connie Mayer and her co-authors Dr. Beverly Trezek (University of Wisconsin-Madison) and Dr. Gregory Hancock (University of Maryland) appeared in the Journal of Deaf Studies and Deaf Education

In Case You Missed It

• This past May, Associate Professor Qiang Zha hosted an episode of the Massey Dialogues on the topic “Canada-China Higher Education Relations,” with discussants Drs. Daniel Bell, Ruth Haydoe and Qian Tang Watch video
• Associate Professors Celia Popovic (York University) and Fiona Smart (Edinburgh Napier University) created a website aimed at educational developers, which may be of interest to anyone who teaches in PSE. Educational Developers Thinking Allowed serves as a primer to the field of Educational Development and has emerged from the collective experience and knowledge of a large number of educational developers in several countries. The virtual book explores teaching and learning in post-secondary education, and aims to provide guidance and resources from experienced educational developers. Readers will be able to gain information, advice and support in their work
• This past August, the Faculty hosted their annual summer institute, FESI 2021 in a three-day synchronous + asynchronous online format. The theme for this year’s institute was Reimagining and Restructuring Educational Pipelines. Participants explored the many ways that social hierarchies are reproduced within educational structures and reflected on the different ways that students are sorted and stratified based on perceptions of their social identities. In addition to two keynote speakers on the first day, the second day presented participants with the option to choose 2 out of 18 workshops facilitated by 65 presenters. The summer institute ended on the third day with a documentary viewing party of Push-Out: The Criminalization of Black Girls in Schools. The documentary was followed by a dynamic panel facilitated by one of the Faculty’s community partners, Success Beyond Limits. Professor Susan Dion delivered the keynote address Residential Schools as the Original Pipeline. Click here to learn more about FESI 2021
• Professor Connie Mayer was awarded a SSHRC Partnership Engage Grant for the project: Cochlear Implants in Deaf and Deafened Adults: A Global Consultation on Lifelong Aftercare. She will be working with her collaborators from the Cochlear Implant International Community of Action (CIICA) 

News from the York Community

• National Day for Truth and Reconciliation panel explores reconciliation in action – More than 700 community members attended York’s National Day for Truth and Reconciliation virtual panel on Sept. 30. Professor Carl James, senior advisor on equity and representation and the Jean Augustine Chair in Education, Community & Diaspora, served as the panel moderator, which was presented by York University President and Vice-Chancellor Rhonda L. Lenton and Vice-President of Equity, People & Culture Sheila Cote-Meek. The panel was part of a full day of events that concluded with the illumination in orange light of buildings on the Keele and Glendon campuses. Learn more about the event
• York announces launch of Centre for Indigenous Knowledges and Languages –  The new organized research unit (ORU) is the first at the University to focus on Indigenous and decolonizing scholarship. Read more
• Code of Student Rights and Responsibilities updated to reflect changing needs – The Office of Student Community Relations (OSCR) has updated the Code of Student Rights and Responsibilities to better support and serve York University community members learning, working, and living on and off campus. Read more
• Try these 30-minute sessions to reduce stress – A few simple practices that take 30 minutes can help to reduce stress and boost energy will be taught during the Fall 2021 Stress Busting Series at York University. Offering “30 minutes of magical practices,” the series runs over 10 weeks beginning Sept. 27 and features Qigong, mindfulness meditation and Capacitar wellness. Learn more

Events