community Archives | Faculty of Education

Meet, connect, and collaborate with the newest members of our faculty community

acoward — Tue, 13 Oct 2026 19:48:41 +0000

This engaging event features a series of short panel presentations where new faculty members will share their academic journeys, introduce their research interests, and discuss their goals for future scholarship and impact. Following the presentations, join interactive breakout sessions designed to spark conversation, answer questions, and explore opportunities for networking, collaboration, and partnership in a relaxed and welcoming setting.

PANELLISTS:

�� Salsabel Almanssori, Assistant Professor of Health Education, 91��ɫ

Salsabel joins 91��ɫ following her time as a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) postdoctoral fellow and course instructor at the University of Windsor.

Research Focus: Sexual violence, technology-facilitated violence, and community-engaged health education.

Impact: Through partnerships with schools, educators, and communities, her work examines how educational systems can better prevent and respond to violence. She utilizes trauma-informed, equity-oriented approaches that prioritize harm reduction and meaningful collaboration.

____________________________________________________________

Kara Dymond, Assistant Professor of Educational Psychology, 91��ɫ

Kara joins 91��ɫ after earning her PHD from the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE) at the University of Toronto. While there, she taught and developed graduate courses focused on accessibility and neurodiversity-affirming pedagogy.

Research Focus: Disability and well-being, normalcy, and possibilities for post-normalcy in education and broader societal discourse.

Impact: Dymond serves on Strategic Priority Committee 5 advising on Canada's Autism Strategy and on the Learning Disabilities Association of 91��ɫ-Simcoe Board of Directors. In 2025, she received the King Charles III Coronation Medal in recognition of her dedication to improving the lives of autistic people and their communities across Canada.

________________________________________________________

Jesse Staats, Assistant Professor, 91��ɫ

Jesse joins 91��ɫ with deep community roots; his father is Mohawk from Six Nations of the Grand River and his mother is of Irish and English descent from Mississauga.

Research Focus: His doctoral research examined Indigenous university governance, specifically looking at how Ontario universities engage Indigenous communities and organizations through Indigenous Education Councils in governance processes (including boards of governors, senates, and presidents offices.

Impact: His research agenda plans to explore Indigenous experiences on university boards, Indigenous faculty experiences through senate and committee work, and approaches to transforming governance relationships between universities and Indigenous Peoples to align with Indigenous visions for self-determination.

__________________________________________________________

FACILITATOR

Stephanie Fearon, Assistant Professor of Black Thriving and Education, 91��ɫ

Research Focus: Fearon's scholarship centers on "Black motherwork," exploring how Black matriarchal storytelling traditions–encompassing oration, folk tles, music, dance and culinary arts––can be meaningfully integrated into educational systems. Her research leverages these traditions to support Black student well-being and cultivate critical literacy skills.

Impact: Grounded in respect and co-creation her approach intentionally positions Black mothers as equal partners to counter historically extractive academic research methods. She utilizes collaborative, arts-informed, ancdcreative media (such as graphic narratives and short stories) to communicate her findings accessibly beyond the academy.

Please RSVP your attendance by Monday, October 19, 2026

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How mud play helps children connect with nature

rawilson — Mon, 13 Jul 2026 19:03:06 +0000

What if one of childhood’s messiest experiences could deepen a child’s connection to the natural world?

That question is at the heart of 91��ɫ PhD student Ayesha Menezes’ doctoral research. Through her work, Menezes explores how mud play helps children see themselves as part of the natural world, fostering care, responsibility and belonging.

^{Children participating in Mud Day 2026}

Her research comes as many children have fewer opportunities for unstructured outdoor play and engagement with nature. Risk-averse settings and busy urban lifestyles have reduced interaction with the natural world, prompting Menezes to understand how learning might look different if it emerged through children’s relationships with the land, water, weather and natural materials around them.

To explore this idea, Menezes took her research outside the University for Mud Day 2026, an event developed as part of her doctoral work. Held at Evergreen Brick Works children’s garden, the Mud Day invited children and caregivers to explore and create with mud.

Instead of planning structured activities with predetermined outcomes, the event invited children to engage in open-ended play experiences that included a mud kitchen, construction site, gardening, seed bomb making, beading and a collaborative mural. An interactive performance also encouraged participants to explore relationships between the sun, wind, rain and mud.

Read the full article on the July 13, 2026 issue of YFile

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PhD student brings Indigenous food to Ontario hospital menus

acoward — Wed, 10 Jun 2026 19:33:43 +0000

National indigenous history Month feature

When Rick Powless learned that Health Sciences North in Sudbury launched its first Indigenous hospital menu, he felt a shift happen.

The third-year doctoral student at 91��ɫ's Faculty of Education is a Red Seal-certified Indigenous chef, an Ontario College of Teachers-certified educator and a member of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy, Oneida Nation of the Thames, Bear Clan.

He was also the primary consultant on an initiative led by Compass Group Canada to bring Indigenous meals into Ontario hospitals – a project that recognizes the role of traditional and cultural food in healing.

His contributions also serve as a testament to his work to advance meaningful cross-cultural engagement.

_{Rick Powless}

"It was emotional for me," he says of the menu’s launch in Sudbury. At 91��ɫ, his PhD research draws on Indigenous food sovereignty, food insecurity in urban centres and strategies to integrate traditional foods and land-based knowledge into Kindergarten to Grade 12 education.

Much of Powless's work focuses on how traditional foods and land-based knowledge support well-being, identity and learning for Indigenous people living in urban communities. His research explores the impact of food and cultural disconnection on mental health while also examining how Indigenous knowledge is taught – or overlooked – in Ontario’s Kindergarten to Grade 12 classrooms. For Powless, that means pushing beyond superficial, checkbox-driven approaches and creating space for stories, reciprocity and food-based learning rooted in Indigenous ways of knowing.

“If you give somebody a recipe to cook Indigenous food but don't have the stories or the history behind those recipes then the students aren't getting anything out of it,” he says. “Beyond mere sustenance, our food is also a form of cultural transmission.”

Part of what makes his work distinct is its attention to access. Indigenous ingredients – such as sun chokes, wild rice, butternut squash – have been more commercialized, driving up prices and making them less accessible.

Read the full story in the June 3, 2026 issue of Yfile

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Study led by 91��ɫ U tracks decade-long rise in high school absenteeism

acoward — Mon, 08 Jun 2026 17:01:34 +0000

As Ontario moves to make attendance and participation part of high school students' final marks, 91��ɫ research offers context for what rising absenteeism may signal and why there may be no simple fix.

_{Gillian Parekh and Robert Brown}

The study, co-authored by Faculty of Education's Robert Brown, adjunct professor, and Gillian Parekh, associate professor and Canada Research Chair in Inclusion, Disability and Education, along with collaborators from the Toronto District School Board (TDSB) and Wilfrid Laurier University, uses the 2011-12 academic year as a baseline to track absenteeism trends in TDSB schools through 2023-24.

One of the study's key findings complicates the common assumption that rising absenteeism is mainly a post-COVID issue. While student absence rates surged dramatically during and after the pandemic, the researchers found that roughly one-third of this increase was already underway before the pandemic.

"COVID took existing trends and put them on steroids," says Brown. "This isn't something just caused by COVID."

The study finds that absenteeism roughly doubled over the 12-year period, with increases evident across grades. Brown says attendance tends to be relatively high in kindergarten, stable through much of elementary school, then rises in senior elementary grades before accelerating in high school. More recent 2023-24 data show some decline in absence rates among early and mid-elementary students, but rates continued to climb across all secondary grades.

Read the full article in the June 3, 2026 issue of Yfile

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Research aims to close literacy gap

acoward — Wed, 27 May 2026 13:29:05 +0000

Robert Savage, dean of the Faculty of Education at 91��ɫ, is leading research that asks a deceptively simple question: What actually helps children learn to read – and how early can schools intervene to make a lasting difference?

Years of experience as a school teacher and psychologist have framed his thinking about research, which since 2023 has focused on how children learn to read, both typically and atypically.

_{Robert Savage}

His research has also informed literacy policy and classroom practice in Ontario.

For instance, Savage served as a consultant to the Ontario government on its reading curriculum following a 2022 Ontario Human Rights Commission report on human rights issues affecting children with reading disabilities. Drawing on his research expertise and experience in schools, he contributed to the revised curriculum and helped develop supporting videos and scripts to make the changes easier for teachers to understand and incorporate into the classroom.

“I’m always interested in a mix of theory and practice and in how to use theory to develop better programs for developing reading,” he says. “I also like to collaborate.”

During another project, while working with colleagues at Concordia University, he co-created the web-based literacy program that offers activities for learners and is free to the public.

More recently, with funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada and the Max Bell Foundation, Savage and a colleague at the University of Alberta have partnered with school boards in five provinces, including Ontario, to develop new screening tools, assess existing ones and share literacy resources. School boards in Alberta, Ontario, Quebec, B.C. and Saskatchewan have used the tools to screen incoming Grade 2 students, assess reading skills, identify areas of concern and implement targeted reading programs to help prevent reading difficulties.

Read the full article in the May 22, 2026 issue of Yfile

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Building and Sustaining Research Relationships with School Boards

acoward — Wed, 01 Apr 2026 13:32:59 +0000

Interested in conducting research with schools/boards but unsure where to start or what they might expect of you? Your search is over! Come meet our expert researchers representing four Ontario school boards. They will discuss important aspects of building university/public education research relationships and strategies on how to sustain them. Lots of time for discussion so please bring your questions!

Session will be facilitated by professors Carl James and Gillian Parekh.

Panelists:

��ǲԱ��is the Manager of Research and Strategic Analytics with the Durham District School Board and has a focus on making research meaningful, enlightening, and timely.

�ٲ��Ա��is the Executive Manager of Research and Organizational Transformation at the Waterloo Region District School Board where his primary responsibilities include board improvement and equity planning and research-informed decision-making.

��ʰ�� is a senior researcher and co-chair of the external research review committee at the Toronto District School Board.

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.

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91��ɫ research results in guide to support children’s museum educators

acoward — Mon, 30 Mar 2026 14:06:47 +0000

Edited by: Ashley Goodfellow Craig | March 27, 2026

91��ɫ Faculty of Education Professor Lisa Farley and her research colleagues have developed a reflection guide for museum educators to support their efforts to discuss challenging topics and ideas with children.

The guide builds on the team’s 2025 study of programming and practices at children’s museums in Canada and the United States.

^{Lisa Farley}

Farley says museum educators are navigating increasingly constrained environments when addressing equity, diversity, accessibility and inclusion with young audiences. Often, the idea of “childhood innocence” is cited as a reason to censor or downplay controversial and challenging ideas.

At the same time, Farley says, "children live within the social and political world, and are themselves subjects of and/or witnesses to injustices, violences and inequities."

She adds that the question then becomes "not how to protect them from difficult knowledge, but what it can mean to facilitate meaningful engagements.”

Farley and her colleagues, including 91��ɫ’s Gillian Parekh, associate professor of education and doctoral candidate Suad Ahmed, conducted the original study in partnership with the Association of Children’s Museums (ACM). Their research found that while many children’s museums focus on exploration, play or self-expression, addressing social and historical issues with young audiences were secondary.

Read the full article in the Friday, March 27, 2026 issue of Yfile

Article written by Elaine Smith, special contributing writer

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From BEd to Beyond: Insights from alumna Katrina Cain-Griffin

devontem — Tue, 17 Mar 2026 15:11:09 +0000

We sat down with 91��ɫ Faculty of Education alumna and current Master’s student Katrina Cain-Griffin to talk about her journey—from navigating the BEd program to stepping into the classroom as an occasional teacher, and continuing her studies at the graduate level.

In this short interview, Katrina shares her experiences, insights, and advice for current teacher candidates who are preparing for what comes next.

If you’re wondering what the transition into teaching actually feels like, or thinking about pursuing further studies, this is one you don’t want to miss.

Watch the full interview now and hear directly from someone who was in your shoes not too long ago.

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Powwow as Pedagogy: Educator Panel

acoward — Tue, 10 Mar 2026 13:59:30 +0000

Powwow remains a site of important cultural resurgence for First Nations across Canada, with countless gatherings occurring across the Great Lakes region. However, the role movement and dance play as a form of knowledge creation and can operate as a pedagogical framework continues to be underrepresented and marginalized within educational studies. Panelists will share their stories and experiences in challenging these narratives and offer insights into how Indigenous movements and pedagogies can foster critical consciousness for First Nations dancers, families and communities alike.

Featuring:

Karen Pheasant-Neganigwane PhD (c), Anishinaabe, Wikwemikoong, Mount Royal University, Calgary
Neegawnee Oshkawbaywis, Raymond Deleary, Anishinabe
John Hupfield, Assistant Professor, Anishinaabe, Wasauksing First Nation, 91��ɫ Faculty of Education

Miigwech to the Centre for Indigenous Knowledges and Languages (CIKL) for their gracious support and the Faculty of Education @ 91��ɫ for financial support

Co-presented by Miikaans: Mobile Movement Lab and ISAY – Indigenous Students Association at 91��ɫ as part of the Indigenous Week @ 91��ɫ Series

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Engaging Communities: Lessons and Insights from Research Partnerships

acoward — Tue, 10 Mar 2026 13:45:23 +0000

This roundtable brings together researchers working in and with communities to reflect on experiences and lessons from university-community research partnerships. Panelists will discuss how well we understand communities’ needs, concerns, and expectations; how researchers can be more responsive to these needs and expectations; and how research findings are shared with communities, especially those whose members participated in the research. They will also discuss how universities and researchers can build and sustain strong partnerships with communities; and the extent to which communities feel well served and satisfied with these partnerships.

Panelists:

Angele Alook, Associate Professor, School of Gender, Sexuality, and Women’s Studies & Director, Centre for Indigenous Knowledges and Languages
Rebecca Beaulne-Stuebing, Assistant Professor, Faculty of Education
Jennifer Foster, Associate Professor, Faculty of Environmental and Urban Change
Carl James, Professor & Jean Augustine Chair in Education, Community & Diaspora, Faculty of Education
Byron Gray, Manager, TD Community Engagement Centre