Author: Editor Ed News

Campus tour inspires Yorkton elementary school students

Nikolas Gordon, a grade seven student from Yorkton’s M.C. Knoll School, couldn’t help but notice what was happening the moment he stepped on to the campus.

Gordon was one of about 70 students who spent part of the day touring the University of Regina, April 20.

“It feels cool seeing all of these role models walking around the school,” says Gordon of the current U of R students “The students have finals right now so they look pretty stressed out. Their heads are in their books to get their tests done and they’re ready to finish school and have a really good summer.”

Yorkton Students
Looking for clues in the ‘Escape Room,’ set up for visiting students from Yorkton. (l-r) Students Emily Dyker, Kalynn Revet, Jaxon Sperling and Bronwynn Money. U of R Photography

Far from being intimidated at the thought of writing tough finals in university someday, Gordon was inspired by what he saw.

“Seeing everybody working like this makes me want to go to university some day,” he says.

The grade 7 and 8 students were accompanied by Jason Trost, Principal at M.C. Knoll and a U of R graduate. As a student, Trost majored in history and earned a minor in English before moving on to his teaching degree.

“We send so many kids to the U of R from our area,” says Trost. “It (the tour) is about setting goals for the students.”

The U of R has a strong relationship with Yorkton-area students. Following high school, students living in surrounding communities have the option of taking University of Regina accredited classes at Parkland College. It’s an option that allows students to smoothly transition into University life while still staying close to home.

Yorkton Students Tour
Samantha Dech, an Education student about to take visiting students from Yorkton on a campus scavenger hunt. Photo – External Relations


But that option is still a few years away for Nikolas and his classmates as they toured the campus.

Upon arriving at the U of R, the students broke into small groups for a tour led by volunteer student ambassadors from the University’s student recruitment office. They also spent time having fun deciphering clues to solve a puzzle in the ‘Escape Room’ which was set up exclusively for the visiting students, and a scavenger hunt, led by members of the Education Students’ Society.

Free time was also set aside for the kids to play some games in the gym at the University’s Centre for Kinesiology, Health and Sport.

The University visit came near the end of a two-day field trip that included visits to the fish hatchery in Fort Qu’Appelle, the Saskatchewan Legislature, RCMP Heritage Museum, the Royal Saskatchewan Museum, and the Saskatchewan Science Centre.

“I remember the first time I came to the University in grade six or seven and we came to watch a Cougars basketball game,” says Laura Bieber, President of the Education Students’ Society and a third-year education student. “We just thought it was the coolest thing in life and I will still never forget that day. Tours like this promote that you can do so much more than what people tell you that you can do.”

No doubt the young visitors will feel the same way when they enter University. 

“This campus makes me excited for the kids and makes me excited for what’s in store for them,” says Trost. “There are so many opportunities here now. From 25 years ago to today to see the growth and change, it is mind-boggling and it makes me excited for the kids that they get to study for finals here someday.”
By Costa Maragos Posted: April 20, 2018

New appointment to Assessment and Evaluation

The Faculty of Education is pleased to announce that we will be welcoming Dr. Cristyne Hébert to our Faculty as an Assistant Professor on July 1, 2018 in a tenure-track position working in the area of Assessment and Evaluation.

Dr. Hébert earned a PhD in Education from York University in 2015 where she is currently a postdoctoral researcher. She has been the recipient of numerous awards and scholarships (including a SSHRC doctoral fellowship), authored many refereed publications and has extensive university teaching experience stemming from time spent in four Canadian universities. We know that Dr. Hébert will make strong contributions in the areas of teaching, scholarship, and service. We look forward to having her as a member of the Faculty and our community.

Heartfelt thanks to the members of the search committee: Dr. Paul Clarke (Chair), Dr. Christine Massing, Dr. Marc Spooner, Dr. Joël Thibeault and Dr. Kristi Wright (Psychology), and special thanks to Laurie Lindsay for all her organizational work.

Intro to Research students share poster proposals and food

On Tuesday, April 10, graduate students from Dr. Marc Spooner’s ED 800 course, an introduction to educational research, hosted a Poster Fair, sharing their poster research proposals around (new and interesting) food and conversations. Spooner, who invited faculty to attend, says, “This is a perfect opportunity for our graduate students to see what ED 800 and research is all about and for faculty to see and discuss what our students are thinking about researching.” Through experiences such as this, Spooner says, students gain “some conference-like experience in a warm, familiar, and supportive environment.”







Conversations about Roads to ReconciliACTION

On March 26, Education students from Audrey Aamodt’s Treaties in the Classroom (ECCU 400) section overcame their own discomfort to engage in conversations with peers and profs in the hallways at the University of Regina about the many ways of taking action towards reconciliation. Aamodt says, “Students decided to host these conversations in the halls of the University to remind themselves/us that they not only belong, and have a responsibility, to the more intimate Faculty of Education, but are also part of this larger learning community and beyond.”

Bert Fox High School students and their teacher Sheena Koops, as regular facilitators of the Blanket Exercise, travelled from Fort Qu’Appelle to join the conversations, to raise awareness about the Blanket Exercise, which is an activity in which “participants take on the roles of Indigenous peoples in Canada. Standing on blankets that represent the land, they walk through pre-contact, treaty-making, colonization and resistance ” (Source).

SUNTEP students and their instructors Brenna Pacholko and Russell Fayant visited the stations, and offered, in instructor Aamodt’s words, “critical and courageous conversations with students and myself.” Aamodt adds, “We extend gratitude for their generosity, wisdom, and patience with us.”

Regarding what the students learned, Aamodt says, “I think the most important overall learning that could potentially come out of this experience for us was that listening to and reflecting on critiques takes practice and is necessary. Treaty Education, along with potentially associated reconciliation, decolonization, indigenization, and social justice efforts should always be submitted to critical reflection and none are without tension. So, we ask who benefited from this event and if it was truly ‘action.’ Perhaps it didn’t amount to anything of significance, except to make us feel good. Then, we reminded one another about Pam Palmater’s claim that “if it feels good, it’s not reconciliation.”

As for her own learning, Aamodt adds, ” I have learned how I might better invite students to consider who might be the right people to talk about particular issues, some of the problems with being perceived as positioning ourselves (settler-Canadians) as experts about MMIW, residential school legacies & intergenerational trauma, FNMI identities-histories-cultures-communities, FNMI languages, reconciliation, decolonization, indigenization, and even treaties.”

Below are student comments about what they were doing, and what they thought about its importance.

100 Years of Loss Exhibit: Jalyssa Woloshyn says, “We are making people aware of the past and what has happened — and making sure we understand the past and are not turning a blind eye to it. At some points it is uncomfortable to be learning this, but if you are uncomfortable you’re learning more because you are embracing the stuff that you don’t know. … I came into university knowing none of this. It’s not taught much, so getting this out here now for other people that aren’t in the Education Faculty is important.” Megan Dobson says, “The class itself is helping us search for our limits; so many of us that don’t know, or have a lot of ignorance, don’t understand the intergenerational trauma…make assumptions because we don’t know.”  Kerri Aikman says, “Today we’re trying to start the conversation with people outside of our Faculty.”
Taking Action Cookies (and selfies): This group of students offered cookies labelled with one of the 150 Acts of Reconciliation intended to suggest reconciliatory actions, even small ones, such as learning the land acknowledgement. For all the stations, those who took selfies and posted them to social media with #ReconciliAction were eligible to win a Roads to ReconciliAction t-shirt. Donations made were going to Justice for our Stolen Children. Zach Renwick said, “It may just be one small thing you can do, but it builds towards having an understanding of where you stand in society. One person may look at this list and say, ‘you know, I can do a couple of these things.'” Allison Entem adds, “It is important to recognize your position in society and learn what your biases are because you can reflect on what it is you know and what you are wanting to learn, especially for us, and what we want to pass on to the kids we will be teaching.” Zach says, “We need to face these controversial topics, different ideologies, and I need to step out of my own comfort zone to talk about it.” https://activehistory.ca/2017/08/150-acts-of-reconciliation-for-the-last-150-days-of-canadas-150/
Red Dress Exhibit: No more Stolen Sisters in Regina. Cassidy Hanna explains, “This is an installation of the REDress Project started by Jamie Black. The red dresses symbolize each of the women from Regina that are missing or murdered. We have 16 missing or murdered women from Regina exhibited here, and only two have been resolved. We are trying to bring awareness to the fact that Aboriginal women are more likely to be victims of violence, and if murdered, are three times more likely than non-Aboriginal women to be murdered by a stranger. The solve rate for the murders of Indigenous women is around 53% and the national rate is 84% so there is a huge disparity in the solving of the cases. So we are trying to bring awareness of this and also to the the MMIWG inquiry.” The significance of the class for Logan Schmidt was “huge!” She says, “I started four years ago at the University, and I had no First Nations classes and no idea about any of this. My four-year degree has really opened my eyes to how many inequalities there are between First Nations and us settlers. It’s disturbing to say the least. As we did this project, and as we went through Saskatchewan, the number of missing people…there are hundreds and hundreds, and you just look at the cases and the rulings, like they may be investigated for two days and ruled a suicide. You read more about the background of it, and you think about how do you come to the justification of it all. Our biggest goal today is to open this information up to more people. Being first, second or third year and still not knowing about this, it’s not okay.” Tristan Badger responded to the question about the helpfulness of this class saying, “Being First Nation, I’ve always been afraid to use my voice. So, this class has made me feel more empowered to use it, and not be afraid of being put down because of my colour. This class has made me be more activist for First Nations and Indigenous people.” Karlee Gordon adds, “This class has covered many different topics; it’s pretty eye-opening! Audrey took this topic of being White, which I felt uncomfortable discussing because I didn’t feel I had the right to teach about it–Audrey opened us up and we talked about them, so now I can feel comfortable standing here and educating other people who are the same age or older than I am, about a topic that so many people still feel uncomfortable talking about.” http://www.theredressproject.org/
Linking relationships: Chastity Peigan and Erin Schmidt were located in the busy Riddell Centre, so they chose an activity that would be quick and not hold people up. Passersby were invited to write something on a piece of construction paper that was then added as a link in the chain, a visual about ” building relationships or connecting with one another…just something simple. You might simply go to the other stations as your action.” Chastity and Erin were hoping to influence people to become interested in bettering relations between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples.
Road to Métis Identities: Kendell Porter says, “We wanted to focus our exhibit on Métis people, on the four main communities in Treaty 4 (Lebret, Lestock, Willow Bunch, and Fort Qu’Appelle). Métis people are often left out of the conversation, and we also wanted to address some of the myths and stereotypes people believe about the Métis.” Payton Kuster says, “I’ve learned a lot over the past four years. Doing this event emphasizes to us and to others how important it is to break down stereotypes, such as ones about what it is to be Métis. … We want to be allies and work alongside in addressing misconceptions.”
Being a Treaty Person (Kelsey Hintze, Daicy Vance, and Kaitlin Corbin):  Kaitlin Corbin says, “We mapped out the prairie provinces and then the Treaty areas. We have a game to see if you can put the treaty numbers down on the map.”  Kelsey Hintze says, “The biggest thing is just for people to understand that everyone who lives in these provinces is a treaty person: everyone lives within numbered treaties, and its interesting knowing where you are within the provincial boundaries. People will …have trouble seeing the provinces when the string is outlining the treaties. We are taking away that generalized view that everyone is used to, and making them think a little bit harder about where they actually are.” Kaitlin Corbin says, “I’m still anxious about teaching about treaty, but I am a lot more ready than I used to be. This wasn’t part of my education growing up, so coming here…it’s a lot more useful.” What does it mean to be a treaty person? Kelsey Hintze replies, “It’s complicated and everyone has a different perspective on it as well.”
Telling the Truth about Residential Schools: Hailie Logan and Kate Paidel wanted to raise awareness about Indian residential schools, and the importance of adding resources, such as I am not a Number, which can be used with Grade 3 students, into the curriculum throughout the grades and subject areas. Kate says, ” I have learned way more that I thought I ever could. I know taking this into the classroom is still going to be uncomfortable for me, but I know I am not going to stop…It’s important to me.” Hailie says, “For me it is important for my students to feel represented. I want all of my students to feel that they matter, and that they have a place on this earth and in my classroom.”
Road to connecting languages (photo includes Instructor Audrey Aamodt). Zakk Tylor and Amy Arnal set up a guessing game to promote languages. Amy says “Our table is about making relationships between Settler Canadians and Indigenous people through languages. On our campus, we have three towers named Kīšik (Saulteaux word for sky) Paskwāw (Cree word for prairie) Wakpá (Dakota word for river). Zakk explains, “We see people taking these names for granted and they don’t know what they mean. The three names reflect the three aspects on the Treaty 4 flag that remind that the Treaty lasts as long as the grass grows, the sun shines, and the rivers flow.” In terms of their education with the Faculty of Education, Amy says she is “keeping the growth mindset and always learning. We’re not pretending to be experts, but we do feel equipped to teach about reconciliation.” Zakk says, “The biggest thing is the relationship aspect. Relationships in First Nations culture is the prime thing. They have a relationship with everything and that is what we need to strive for.”
It was Shelby Vandewoestyne’s job to hand out maps to the Roads to ReconciliACTION and “entice people” to visit the booths. From her experience, Shelby says, “I was able to see different perspectives at the University: people who are really interested and people who aren’t. This shows me that there is going to be resistance going into schools in the future. In the spaces we will be working, we will need to create inclusivity and work to break down those barriers.”
Getting coffee and Timbits, setting up stations, and handing out maps: this crew of organizers, Ashlyn Paidel, Keigan Duczek, and Jessica Weber, were holding this event together while promoting conversations about reconciliation. Jessica says, “We are trying to spark conversations.” Keigan says, “So by doing this we are coming out of our box and making ourselves uncomfortable.” Ashlyn says, “The hope is for the discussion to at least be started about reconciliation and what our aim, reconciliAction is all about.” Keigan adds, “We’ve been promoting the hashtag #reconciliAction just to keep the conversation going after today.”
Blanket Exercise. Sheena Koops and several students from Bert Fox High School came to talk about the Blanket Exercise. Sheena Koops says, “We’ve been invited here today as people who facilitate the Blanket Exercise regularly, to have conversations about the Blanket Exercise. Our booth is called Complicating the Canadian Story: Conversations with the Oski-pimohatahtamawak, a name given to us by Elder Alma Poitras.”

Blanket Exercise: Ask me something that is on your heart. Michael Starr-Desmonie (L) has been leading the Blanket Exercise for almost a year. “I love doing this. I love doing the Blanket Exercise, so people can understand what my people actually went through…I do this for my elders. Last year someone said, ‘Your people are invisible these days.’ I said, “I’m going to prove you wrong.” People went through a rough time at residential schools, sexual abuse, physical abuse…they didn’t eat normal food; they ate leftovers. They were tired, starving…My family went through that same stuff. [Residential school] put impacts on our history, as kids growing up…what we went through as children made us stronger, made us who we are today. I’m very proud and honoured to do [the Blanket Exercise] each and every time, and speak my heart out to people. These are gifts one of my ancestors told me through ceremony. I’ve done the Blanket Exercise about 20 times; it’s emotional. Each exercise, we have a talking circle. The circle means a lot to us. It’s a comfort zone. All around you, the circle of life, a big family that supports you. It takes lots of guts and strength, and lots of heart as well. I gain a lot of respect these days. I’m also a writer and blog the most in my class.”  Shandan Peigan (R) says, “We want to share our history, get it out there because no one really learns about it in highschool. I think we should get it in our education system by Grade 9 or end of Grade 8, so people know where they come from and know what happened in the past. We can’t do anything about it, but we can talk about it and learn from it. It feels good leading it, but it’s not just me leading: we are a team. We all have something to do. A lot of people say good things about what we are doing. We’ve been told that that they are proud of us because we are young and we are making an impact on people.”
There were three sections of ECCU 400 this semester and all three hosted events: Evelyn Poitras’ class held a Talking Circle on April 5, and that night, Vivian Gauvin’s class held a “Treaty Walk in the Village” off-campus. Also, Ed student Brandy Burns has posted a blog reflection about the Treaty Walk in the Village posted at https://brandyjburns.wordpress.com/2018/04/06/respectful-relationships/

 

 

Associate Dean Renewal

It is with pleasure that we announce the renewal of Dr. Valerie Mulholland to her role as Associate Dean, Student Services and Undergraduate Programs for an additional two year term (ending June 30, 2020). The Review Committee commented that Dr. Mulholland is an integral part of the success of the faculty.

 

Q & A with recipient of the 2017 Pat Clifford Award

Dr. Pamela Osmond-Johnson presented with the 2017 Pat Clifford Award by Associate Dean Paul Clarke. Photo credit: Shuana Niessen

Q & A with Dr. Pamela Osmond-Johnson, Assistant Professor of Educational Leadership, Faculty of Education, University of Regina

Recipient of the 2017 Pat Clifford Award

1. As an emerging researcher, how did you feel when you heard you were the recipient of the Pat Clifford Award?

It was great to have my work around teacher professionalism recognized. Broadening understandings of the work of teachers and the valuing of teacher voice in educational policy is critically important to the future of the teaching profession and I was pleased that the awards committee placed value on that area of scholarship.

Broadening understandings of the work of teachers and the valuing of teacher voice in educational policy is critically important to the future of the teaching profession

2. What commonly held assumptions do you attempt to disrupt in your research?

The idea that teachers simply deliver curriculum, that a teacher stands in front of students and teaches all day. Teaching is surely the most important work they do but it’s their involvements during the regular school day in extra-classroom work that will really serve them in the work they do with students: their involvement in high quality professional learning, in mentoring other teachers, in curriculum development, and in collaborative work with their colleagues. Those experiences build professional capital and capacity to not only be better teachers themselves, but also to aid others in being better teachers.

3. What is the state of educators’ professional learning in Canada?

Teacher professional learning is certainly a hot button topic in Canada, particularly in tough economic times. It’s often the first item cut from budgets since it “doesn’t directly impact the classroom” (which is so far from the truth). That being said, we have some very strong teacher federations in this country who are advocating for access to relevant and practical professional learning. Across the country, there are many innovative and exciting learning opportunities for teachers but they are not always equitable in terms of ease of access. Teachers working in the north, in rural areas, and French educators seem to have more difficulty identifying quality PL, either because of the high travel cost or the lack of qualified facilitators.

4. What is your definition of the teacher role? What practical differences will result from redefining the teacher role?

For me, the work of teachers extends beyond the work they do directly with students. Teachers should also be engaged with the broader context of schooling – as leaders, as learners, as innovators, as mentors, and as collaborators. Their voices should matter in the creation of our policies and how we go about defining what is important in education. Practically, reconceptualising the work of teachers in this manner means rethinking the daily schedule for teachers. In Canada, we place the most emphasis on teaching time, which constitutes anywhere from 100% to 80% of teachers work during regular school time. This leaves little time for any of the extra-classroom work that I mentioned. In other countries, teachers spend much less time actually teaching (less than half their day in Singapore, for instance) and spend much more time working with their colleagues and participating in governance. This would be a huge paradigm shift but one that could potentially really improve education in terms of honing the skills of individual teachers while simultaneously developing the capacity of the profession to contribute to educational decision making more broadly.

5. In your own experience as an educator, what was a defining moment, when you knew that the way educational policies and the system defined your role as a teacher was inadequate for the practical realities of your role?

I had just finished my Master’s and was asked by the University to come to a conference and present a paper I wrote. The school division wouldn’t grant my request for leave. It sent a clear message to me that my research and my voice didn’t matter. I decided then and there that I would spend the rest of my professional career advocating that these things did matter.

6. Was it due to your efforts that the recent name change from Educational Administration to Educational Leadership in your department came to be? Why is this an important change for our Faculty?

This was an idea that had been discussed long before I came to the Faculty. I put the idea out there again and my colleagues were totally on board. Our programming has certainly evolved in response to the needs of our partners, and now conceptualizes school leadership as including, but not limited to, formal administrative roles. Informal leadership from teachers is equally important, and in many cases, is often the driving force behind educational change. We wanted to make sure the program name was inclusive of the content with which students are engaging and reflective of our belief that leadership isn’t just for school principals.

7. What has surprised you most about the findings in your research?

The resiliency of teachers to continue to exert their voices and to continue to strive to be heard in the face of a mountain of challenges. Participants in my research tell me they do what they do because they know it helps them better their practice and improve teaching and learning, not only in their own classrooms, but beyond to the classrooms and schools of others. They give up their weekends and evenings, and they drive hundreds of kilometers, just to continue their learning and extend their professional networks because they consider it a professional responsibility to always be learning from and with other teachers. And yet, they also tell me they feel guilty for doing so because they are missing class time. That’s the saddest part for me: hearing the stories of guilt. If these experiences were embedded in their daily work and accepted as part of the role of teachers, perhaps they wouldn’t feel so bad? This is an area the profession certainly needs to continue to work on.

8. Has the focus of your research changed since you began your study? If so, how and why?

Somewhat. In the beginning, I was specifically focused on teacher involvement in action research. Now my work is much broader and focuses on teacher engagement in a host of extra-classroom work – I see the boundaries of the work of teachers in a much bigger way than I did 10 years ago when I started this journey.

9. What are your plans for overcoming systemic obstacles to redefining the role of teachers? (How do we empower educators in Canada?)

I think the teacher federations’ professional agendas are an important piece of this puzzle. They have a legal mandate to advocate for the profession and so I see their work in supporting this reconceptualization as incredibly important. This doesn’t mean strikes and traditional labour action typically associated with unions. Rather, I see advocacy as being a little more outspoken and proactive on policy issues, particularly around professional learning and other issues of professionalism, than has been the case for some federations. However, the onus also falls on current teachers to become involved in their federations, to add to that collective capacity. “Individually, we are one drop. Together, we are an ocean” (Ryunosuke Satoro).

Globe Theatre artists and playwright perform and discuss Us for Arts Ed students

A make-shift Theatre in the Round set the stage for Globe Theatre actors to perform short excerpts of Us for Arts Ed students and faculty.
Playwright and alumna Kelley Jo Burke talked about her experience at Camp fYrefly, where approximately 30 LGBTQ+ youth and counsellors accepted her invitation to listen to them talk about their experiences of coming together at summer camp, research she drew on in writing the script for this fictional play.

On Friday, March 2, a make-shift Theatre in the Round in the Faculty of Education drama room set the stage for Globe Theatre Actors Daniel Fong, Angela Kemp, David Light, and Kaitlyn Semple as well as Craig Salkeld, the Performance Pianist, to perform two short excerpts from Us, which is currently being performed at the Globe Theatre Main Stage.

Us is a heartwarming, brand new musical that explores what happens when LGBTQ+ youth come together in a group of peers at a summer camp. Created by award-winning playwright and radio producer Kelley Jo Burke and internationally renowned singer-songwriter-pianist Jeffery Straker, Us is an uplifting play about “coming in”—finding acceptance within yourself and in your community.” (Globe Theatre)

Arts Ed students were privileged to be part of this up-close performance and discussion as part of their PLACE experience. Playwright and alumna Kelley Jo Burke talked about her experience at Camp fYrefly, where she listened to LGBTQ+ youth and counsellors talk about their experiences of coming together at summer camp, the research she drew on in writing the script for this fictional play. Other members of the creative team, such as Director and Musical Director Valerie Ann Pearson and Set and Costume Designer Wes D. Pearce, discussed the thought behind their areas of development for the musical.

Participants in the panel discussion included Professor Emeritus James McNinch (director of Camp fYrefly), members of the creative team, and educators.

A panel presentation followed the performance moderated by Dr. Kathryn Ricketts. Panel participants discussed the importance of the play (and summer camp) for youth who have identified as LGBTQ+,  who are needing to find an Us to which they belong, and addressed current issues around diversity and inclusion.

 

 

Successful Defence

On February 28, 2018, Dr. Ian Matheson successfully defended his dissertation Unpacking Reading Comprehension by Text Type: An Examination of Reading Strategy Use and Cognitive Functioning in Poor and Typically-Achieving Comprehenders at Queen’s University, Faculty of Education.

Dr. Derek Berg (Queen’s University) served as Ian’s Supervisor and the following were his committee members: Dr. Nancy Hutchinson (Queen’s University) and Dr. Don Klinger (Queen’s University). External to Faculty was Dr. Valerie Kuhlmeier (Queen’s University), Head/Delegate was Dr. Kristy Timmons (Queen’s University), External to University was Dr. Dawn Buzza (Wilfrid Laurier) and the Chair was Dr. Anthony Goerzen (Queen’s University).

In his study, Dr. Matheson  examined how students build comprehension with different types of text. Poor comprehenders and typically achieving comprehenders, as determined by a standardized measure for general reading comprehension, were compared in their reading comprehension and reading strategy use across narrative, expository, and graphic text. Ian also examined the influence of cognitive functioning on reading comprehension, and to what extent cognitive functions can explain the difference in reading comprehension between poor and typically achieving comprehenders. This research was partially exploratory, where he aimed to validate existing research on cognitive functions, reading strategies, and reading comprehension of text, as well as to contribute new research that distinguishes between text types. Past research has shown that cognitive functions predict reading comprehension and that poor comprehenders have poorer cognitive functioning and use fewer reading strategies than their peers. However, no research to date has made distinctions between different types of text, specifically graphic text, and how cognitive functioning and reading strategy use relate to comprehension.