91��ɫ Centre for Education and Community Archives | Research & Innovation

Summer education institute looks at art and environmental knowledge

fmaquito — Mon, 15 Aug 2011 08:00:00 +0000

A summer institute organized by the Faculty of Education in collaboration with the Faculty of Environmental Studies (FES) will bring together teachers, educators, community members and local artists to explore new ways of teaching and learning with a specific focus on the inter-relationships of art, environmental knowing and social justice.

Organized by the 91��ɫ Centre for Education & Community (YCEC) directed by Faculty of Education Professor Carl James, the School & Community Engaged Summer Education Institute, taking place Aug. 16 to 18 at 91��ɫ’s Keele campus, will feature a program focused on participatory pedagogical practices for inclusive and sustainable education in communities and schools.

Tomorrow morning, Aug. 16, the institute’s first keynote address will feature author and storyteller Itah Sadu who will speak about the role of storytelling and the oral tradition in community building. In the afternoon keynote, Joanna Brown and Maria Trejo of the Chicago-based Logan Square Neighbourhood Association, will talk about building strong immigrant community schools.

On Aug.17, Amos Key Jr. of the First Nations Languages Woodland Centre in Brantford, Ont., will lead an Elder Prayer Invocation to open up the day. Immediately following the Elder Prayer Invocation, 91��ɫ education Professor Susan Dion, will deliver a presentation about research she conducted in collaboration with the Toronto District School Board (TDSB) Aboriginal Education Staff. Dion will discuss decolonizing and indigenizing school communities.

The summer institute wraps on Thursday with a presentation by Professor Beverly Naidus, of the University of Washington, Tacoma. Naidus will speak about the need for socially-engaged art practices.The rest of the day's activities are being presented by FES students under the direction of 91��ɫ environmental studies Professor Deborah Barndt, who is helping coordinate the summer institute.

For further information and to register, visit the ��ɱ��ٱ�.

Republished courtesy of YFile – 91��ɫ’s daily e-bulletin.

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November is Research Month: 91��ɫ celebrates with a series of events

fmaquito — Thu, 28 Oct 2010 08:00:00 +0000

Research Month celebrates the achievements and diversity of 91��ɫ’s research community.

Throughout November, the Vari Hall Rotunda will play host to displays and demonstrations featuring our faculty and graduate researchers. Drop by between 10 am and 2 pm each Wednesday to learn what 91��ɫ's researchers are doing.

The Research Month index on 91��ɫ's Research website contains complete information about the researchers, research centres and research support groups participating in the event.

Social sciences and humanities research – Nov. 3

Confirmed participants include:

Institute for Science & Technology Studies
91��ɫ Centre for Education & Community

Science and engineering research – Nov. 10

Confirmed participants include:

Health research – Nov.17

Confirmed participants include:

Professor Joseph DeSouza, Faculty of Health, Department of Psychology
Professor , Faculty of Health, School of Nursing
Professor Jennifer Kuk, Faculty of Health, School of Kinesiology & Health Science
Professor Gail Mitchell, Faculty of Health, School of Nursing
Professor Jennine Rawana, Faculty of Health, Department of Psychology
Professor Rose Steele, Faculty of Health, School of Nursing
LaMarsh Centre for Research on Violence & Conflict Resolution
91��ɫ Institute for Health Research

Fine and performing arts research — Nov. 24

Confirmed participants include:

Want to participate?

Do you have completed works, prototypes, technology, or works in progress that you could demonstrate? Do you have graduate/undergraduate students working with you who could assist and help talk about the work? If you have other ideas, we would love to hear about them.

Interested faculty members or research centres should contact Elizabeth Monier-Williams in the Office of the Vice-President Research & Innovation at ext. 21069 or eamw@yorku.ca. Please note that space is limited and allocated on a first-come, first-serve basis.

Other research-related events

These research-related events will also be running in November:

Nov. 6 – , featuring Professor Poonam Puri from Osgoode Hall Law School and Professor Steven Gaetz from the Faculty of Education among other speakers.
Nov. 10 – Toward a Behavioral Neuroscience of Parenting, sponsored by the Department of Psychology in the Faculty of Health.
Nov. 24 & 25 – at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre (by invitation only).
Nov. 26 – Campus visit from Suzanne Fortier, president of the .
Nov. 30 – Campus visit from David Malone, president of .

By Elizabeth Monier-Williams, research communications officer

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91��ɫ Centre for Education & Community's 2010 Summer Institute to explore engaged education

fmaquito — Thu, 12 Aug 2010 08:00:00 +0000

How can schools and communities work together to create innovative avenues to engage students in their education? That is the central theme of this year’s Summer Institute offered by the 91��ɫ Centre for Education & Community (YCEC) in the .

Presented Aug. 17, 18 and 19 at 91��ɫ’s Keele campus, this year’s program builds on the success of summer institutes held in 2008 and 2009 and draws on contemporary research and innovative approaches to education.

"We have more than 100 people signed up to attend this year’s symposium," says 91��ɫ education Professor Carl James, director of the YCEC. "They are coming to 91��ɫ from Toronto as well as the 905 area public and separate school boards and community organizations to engage with us about student engagement and how to make community a vital part of education."

Left: Carl James

As families move to suburban communities in the 905-area from urban centres, says James, they bring with them a rich diversity of experience and unique expectations. James says it is important for schools and communities to understand and engage with these collective experiences that students and families bring to their new communities and classrooms.

Education faces constant challenges due to the rapidly changing world, says James. The migration and residential patterns, technological advances, as well as economic, political and social conditions, create an environment for education that demands ongoing assessment. This year's Summer Institute continues on a history pioneered by the YCEC that focuses on building on the relationships between learning institutions and communities to ensure that education is current, relevant and a cornerstone of academic success.

"Many schools in communities in the Greater Toronto Area are interested in the research that 91��ɫ has been doing with urban schools in the areas of engagement and inclusion," says James. "Participants will hear about our findings and they will explore the idea of diversity inside the classroom, how to be inclusive of students’ backgrounds and experiences and how to work with families and build commitment and support."

Presenters and workshops in this year’s institute will articulate effective curriculum and pedagogical practices around inclusion and models of student engagement. Student achievement is directly affected by engagement, explains James. Participants in this year’s institute will participate in workshops, theory to practice seminars and panel discussions that directly address student engagement and building inclusive classrooms. Key thinkers in these areas will present keynotes each day of the institute in order to guide thinking.

On Tuesday, Aug. 17, the Summer Institute begins with a keynote presentation by Harvard University education Professor Mark Warren. Warren is a sociologist concerned with the revitalization of American democratic and community life. He studies efforts to strengthen institutions that anchor inner-city communities – churches, schools and other community-based organizations – and to build broad-based alliances among these institutions and across race and social class. Warren is interested in fostering community development, social justice, and school transformation; and uses the results of scholarly research to advance democratic practice.

Right: Mark Warren

Wednesday's sessions will kick off with a keynote from Dr. Llewellyn Joseph, a medical doctor and director of the outpatient Disruptive Behaviours Program at in Newmarket, Ont.

Dr. Joseph provides clinical services to children and teens with disruptive behaviours and was previously the physician leader in the Child & Adolescent Program in the Department of Psychiatry at Humber River Regional Hospital. He is an associate professor at the University of Toronto in child and adolescent psychiatry and co-editor of The Mental Hospital in the 21st Century (1992). Dr. Joseph is a frequent contributor to journals and conferences on the subject of mental health and disruptive behaviours among young people. He is also a member of the YCEC Advisory Council.

Following the keynote, the first series of workshops of the Summer Institute will offer interactive sessions in technology and its role in engaging parents and the community; the complexities and possibilities inherent in an inclusive approach to education; the search for cultural and economic biases in the mathematics curriculum in Ontario; and how to construct an inclusive curriculum by using autobiographical narratives by African Canadians. Information on each of these sessions can be found on the workshop descriptions that are available .

Wednesday afternoon will feature a panel discussion with 91��ɫ education faculty, school and community representatives who will discuss the implementation of equity and inclusive programs in schools.

After the panel, there will be a second series of workshops. The first will focus on fostering intergenerational learning within community responsive schools by involving linguistic and cultural minority students and their families. There will be sessions on what teachers think about student engagement; equity in the classroom through arts and literacy; and an exploration of girls, gender equity and social justice. Details on each workshop are available .

On day three of the Summer Institute, Ryerson University education Professor Althea Prince will deliver the day's keynote address. Prince is a sociologist and teaches at the G. Raymond Chang School of Continuing Education at Ryerson.

Right: Althea Prince

Prince's teaching area includes explorations of race, racism, and African Caribbean peoples in metropolitan communities. She is also an essayist, novelist, storyteller and author of children’s books. As a community educator, Prince teaches writing workshops that concentrate on accessing voice and building confidence.

Information about the Summer Institute can be found on the Web site. A PDF of the program is available .

More about the 91��ɫ Centre for Education & Community

YCEC is a faculty-based Organized Research Unit located within 91��ɫ’s Faculty of Education. YCEC seeks to strengthen links among the University, colleges, schools and communities.

The centre works with faculty members both within and outside the Faculty of Education, education researchers and administrators, teachers, parents, government agencies and representatives of community organizations to both initiate and facilitate research.

Republished courtesy of YFile– 91��ɫ’s daily e-bulletin.

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Professor Carl James on breaking the cycle of violence in Toronto's Flemingdon Park neighbourhood

fmaquito — Thu, 05 Aug 2010 08:00:00 +0000

The slayings in Flemingdon Park this summer have brought a shadow of violence back to a community where, on the surface, it appeared to have lifted, :

Flemingdon Park is one of Toronto’s “priority” areas. Census data from 2001 showed that 71 per cent of the 22,000 residents were immigrants, and 34 per cent lived below the poverty line. The average family lived on less than $45,000 a year.

. . .

Since 2009, the city has spent $1.5-million to create parks and playgrounds in the neighbourhood. But right now, Flemingdon doesn’t have a bank and its only grocery store is scheduled to open in the fall.

. . .

To help with safety concerns, Toronto Community Housing installed 120 security cameras in Flemingdon Park in 2006, at a cost of close to $1 million. Many cameras have been vandalized, rendering 22 inoperable.

None of these initiatives are likely to break the cycle of violence, according to , a sociology professor in 91��ɫ’s and director of the 91��ɫ Centre for Education & Community. The way to get through to Flemingdon’s most vulnerable – its youth – is to provide them with opportunities and hope, including better access to education and jobs.

The complete article is .

Republished courtesy of YFile– 91��ɫ’s daily e-bulletin.

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New research unit for education and community opens it doors

fmaquito — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 10:00:00 +0000

More than 200 people, many of them senior educators, members of the community and representatives of government agencies, joined with 91��ɫ faculty and students in celebrating the launch of the Faculty of Education’s first Organized Research Unit (ORU), the 91��ɫ Centre for Education & Community (YCEC), on Oct. 22. The successful event was held at the Sandra Faire and Ivan Fecan Theatre in the Accolade East building.

Left: Mary Anne Chambers, Ontario's former minister of children and youth services, with Carl James, director of the 91��ɫ Centre for Education & Community

As an ORU, the centre will be involved in research activities on the appropriate and efficient delivery of educational programs in both formal and informal educational settings.

In their remarks at the event, Alice Pitt, dean of the Faculty of Education, and Carl James, the Centre’s director, noted that the YCEC builds on the Faculty of Education’s more than 17 years of experience working in Jane-Finch schools and the community, as well as in the outer suburban schools. James also noted that the centre continues 91��ɫ’s history of being socially responsible, community-minded and accessible to members of communities, giving attention to interdisciplinarity, diversity, social justice and equality of opportunity.

The evening’s entertainment was provided by the talented stage band from Emery Collegiate Institute, a school in the 91��ɫ-Westview Partnership. As host of the event, James welcomed Amos Key, executive director of the Woodland Cultural Centre, who gave the invocation in recognition of the Aboriginal peoples of this territory. Key, who is also a faithkeeper from the Mohawk Turtle Clan of Six Nations of the Grand River, is one of 10 members of the Centre’s advisory council who were in attendance.

Left: Amos Key

Speakers for the evening included Rhonda Lenton, associate vice-president, academic, who brought greetings from the Office of the President and 91��ɫ’s senior administration, Pitt and Stephen Gaetz, associate dean of research & field development. Pitt also recognized special guests, including former MP Jean Augustine, Ontario’s fairness commissioner and sponsor of the new Jean Augustine Chair in Education in the New Urban Environment in the Faculty of Education.

Mary Anne Chambers, Ontario’s former minister of children and youth services and former minister of training, colleges and universities, gave the keynote address, titled “Access to Opportunity – an imperative not to be ignored”. Chambers spoke about the gap between young people’s dreams and their achievements, and of the need for healthy communities that will lead to productive, inclusive and effective educational programs and practices.

Chambers complimented the Faculty of Education for taking the crucial step of inaugurating the 91��ɫ Centre for Education & Community. She also expressed her hope that all involved in the centre will demonstrate a commitment to building stronger communities by conducting and disseminating widely research that engages communities in exploring all possibilities for helping young people achieve their full potential. Chambers ended by challenging educators and researchers to be passionate and committed community builders.

The 91��ɫ Centre for Education & Community was established to enable, support and encourage opportunities for collaborative inquiry and innovative programs among faculty members, education researchers, educational administrators, teachers and learners, community and government agencies, and graduate students. Through collaborative research and initiatives, the centre will also contribute to the development of policies, programs and practices in education that strengthen the intricate links that exist between education and community.

For example, the YCEC, in partnership with the Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario through the Equity and Women’s Services Department, will host a one-day workshop on Nov. 17 to encourage Grade 7 & 8 students from under-represented groups to consider a career in teaching. Students will learn about the teaching profession and how to become a teacher in Ontario. Participating teachers will have the opportunity to find out about programs in their areas that support such initiatives.

The YCEC together with the Toronto District School Board is conducting a three-year project titled School and Community Engaged Education (SCEE), initiated in 2008. The SCEE project team works with teachers in five schools to develop more inclusive curriculum and programs that are responsive to students’ cultural, social and economic needs, interests and circumstances, thereby improving students’ participation and achievement in schools. The idea is that an inclusive approach to curriculum and pedagogy correlates with an understanding of community life and the experiences of students.

To find out more, visit the YCEC Web site, where a 33-minute audio file of is also available.

From YFile - 91��ɫ's daily e-bulletin

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