Faculty of Education | Faculty of Graduate Studies (FGS)

91��ɫ scholar honoured for equitable education

qings — Fri, 09 Oct 2026 13:55:21 +0000

Throughout his academic journey, Wahid Khan, 91��ɫ course director and PhD student has worked to ensure students from diverse backgrounds see themselves reflected in physical and health education. His commitment to equitable and culturally responsive teaching and learning – a defining focus of his work as course director and instructor at the Faculty of Education – has earned him national honour as a recipient of the 2026 PHE Canada Impact Award. "It's deeply humbling," says Khan, who is pursuing a PhD at the Faculty of Health. "I see this award as a recognition of the students, families, teacher candidates and communities who have shaped my thinking, and as an affirmation that equity and diversity belong at the centre of physical and health education, not at its margins."

As AI enters classrooms, 91��ɫ researchers examine disability representation

qings — Thu, 24 Sep 2026 13:44:17 +0000

With generative AI becoming more common in classrooms, four 91��ɫ disability-in-education scholars explored whether ChatGPT-generated stories about children with disabilities contained bias. What they found was not the overt discrimination some might expect. This raised a question that Katherine Barron, Ryan B. Collis, Aaron J. Richmond and Ellouise Van Berkel, former and current 91��ɫ PhD students, sought to explore. “We wondered how this new technology, which we are told will change the world, accounted for disability,” says Collis. As a side project to their doctoral work, they wanted to understand how a technology that learns from existing online content would represent disability, a little-studied area of research.

91��ɫ researchers help drive close to $15M in SSHRC partnership funding

qings — Thu, 23 Jul 2026 13:43:25 +0000

91��ɫ researchers are at the forefront of six major Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC)-funded partnership grants worth close to $15 million, including a 91��ɫ-led international network examining how AI is transforming refugee decision making and access to justice worldwide. The Partnership Grants funding, announced by SSHRC on July 21, supports large-scale partnerships that bring together universities, governments, community organizations and international collaborators to address complex social, environmental and policy challenges.

How mud play helps children connect with nature

qings — Fri, 10 Jul 2026 14:03:11 +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. 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.

91��ɫ recognizes excellence in teaching, research at Spring Convocation

qings — Fri, 26 Jun 2026 15:11:47 +0000

Five members of the 91��ɫ community were honoured during Spring Convocation with the University's most prestigious awards in teaching and research: President’s University-Wide Teaching Awards and Distinguished Research Professor. Wahid Khan, a course director in the Faculty of Education and a doctoral student in Kinesiology and Health Sciences, was selected for his commitment to creating inclusive learning environments where every voice, identity and experience is valued. Prilly Bicknell‑Hersco, a PhD candidate in the Faculty of Education, was selected for recognition for her work as a teaching assistant supporting courses in Black studies focused on the experiences of Black communities.

Study of global aid reductions awarded more than $500,000

qings — Mon, 30 Mar 2026 15:23:23 +0000

Rachel Silver, associate professor in Faculty of Education, has received a $500,000 grant to study how Malawian schools and educational organizations are adapting to international aid cuts, with insights that could inform education policy and development strategies around the world. Silver, is also a faculty affiliate in the Faculty of Graduate Studies Development Studies program and examines power dynamics in international development and humanitarian aid structures. She had the opportunity to observe how funding reductions ripple through relationships in schools and programs, which inspired a larger project: investigating how Malawians working in the education sector navigate shifts in austerity.

91��ɫ research challenges how healthy aging is defined

qings — Fri, 20 Mar 2026 13:10:10 +0000

A new study led by Natalia Balyasnikova, associate professor in the Faculty of Education at 91��ɫ, is calling for a shift in how healthy aging is understood globally. Published in the Journal of Global Ageing, the study responds to the United Nations Decade of Healthy Ageing, an international framework aimed at improving the lives of older adults through age-friendly environments, better care systems and efforts to combat ageism. While these priorities are important, Balyasnikova and her co-authors – all co-conveners of the Educational Gerontology Special Interest Group at the British Society of Gerontology – felt it reflected a recurring gap.

Following 50 years of Canadian life: 91��ɫ study chronicles education, work, family life of baby boomers

vinish — Fri, 16 Jan 2026 16:00:56 +0000

91��ɫ researchers have captured half a century of Canadian life in a landmark study that began in Ontario classrooms and now spans generations. Culminating in a new book titled The Story of a Generation, the research marks the longest-running Canadian generational study of its kind, following nearly 50 years in the lives of a cohort of high school students who graduated in 1973. The project originated with Paul Anisef, professor emeritus at 91��ɫ’s Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies who began with a survey of high school students to help the Ontario Ministry of Colleges and Universities understand and project post-secondary enrolment.

Graduate studies award strengthens support for underrepresented scholars

vinish — Wed, 10 Dec 2025 11:44:49 +0000

A new Faculty of Graduate Studies (FGS) award will help underrepresented scholars balance research with caregiving and community responsibilities, providing financial relief and supporting equity, inclusion and access. Students who identify as Black, Indigenous and people of colour (BIPOC) often face inequities in access to funding – particularly those with caregiving responsibilities, community obligations or who pursue graduate studies later in life, notes Alice MacLachlan, vice-provost and dean of FGS. These barriers can limit scholars’ ability to participate fully in research and pursue advanced study at the highest level.

Doctoral student earns recognition for social justice research, advocacy

vinish — Fri, 07 Nov 2025 16:23:27 +0000

Prilly Bicknell-Hersco, a 91��ɫ PhD student in the Faculty of Graduate Studies, is one of this year’s Rising Graduate Scholars selected by The EDU Ledger, a leading higher education magazine, for making a meaningful impact in academia and beyond. The Rising Graduate Scholars recognition, presented annually by The EDU Ledger, honours a select group of minority graduate students in North America whose research, leadership and community engagement demonstrate emerging promise in higher education. Bicknell-Hersco's work centres on her doctoral research, which examines how Black students with non-visible, undiagnosed, or undisclosed disabilities experience barriers in post-secondary education.