Category: Announcements

New pathway for Saskatchewan Polytechnic Educational Assistant Certificate holders

Did you complete Saskatchewan Polytechnic’s Educational Assistant Certificate (EAC) Program on or after June 30, 2021 (with a minimum PGPA of 65%)? 

If so, have you been dreaming about having your own classroom … about becoming a teacher?

This news is for you! A new pathway has opened up for you to become a teacher at the U of R — with a maximum of 30 credit hours transferred toward a Bachelor of Education (Elementary) 4-year degree!

On Friday, February 3, 2023, the University of Regina’s Faculty of Education and Saskatchewan Polytechnic signed an agreement which allows qualifying EAs to enter the University of Regina’s Bachelor of Education (BEd) Elementary program, with up to 30 credit hours (1 year) transferred towards the 4-year BEd degree.

Find out more about our Elementary Education degree at https://www.uregina.ca/education/Programs1/Undergraduate_Programs/elementary.html

Talk to an advisor to develop a plan for your transition to our BEd program: https://www.uregina.ca/education/advisingMeeting.html

 

Dean announcement

Dr. James Nahachewski
Dr. James Nahachewski
Dean, Dr. Jerome Cranston
Dean, Dr. Jerome Cranston

Announcements: “Following a national search conducted according to the provisions of University policy on out-of-scope academic appointments, Dr. James Nahachewsky will be appointed to a 5-year appointment as Dean, Faculty of Education effective July 1, 2023.” Read more about our incoming Dean at https://www.uregina.ca/president/searches-reviews/appointments-renewals.html

Our current Dean, Dr. Jerome Cranston, will complete his term, and will then be joining the University of Saskatchewan campus community as the Vice-Provost: Student and Learning effective August 1, 2023.

Project that exposes and interrogates racial disparities in the lived experiences of Black principals awarded $75K

Congratulations to Dr. Donna Swapp and team who have been awarded $75,000 (USD) from the Spencer Foundation’s Racial Equity Special Grants Program for their research project: “Decolonizing School Leadership across Transnational Spaces: Exposing, Disrupting, and Transforming Inequitable Colonial Regimes in the Work and Wellbeing of Black School Principals in Canada, Grenada, and Jamaica.” Dr. Swapp is the Lead Principal Investigator. Co-Principal Investigators are Dr. Katina Pollock (Western University), Dr. Fei Wang (University of British Columbia), and Dr. Annette Walker (Health and Wellness Coach and Educational Leadership Consultant).

The $75,000 represents the maximum amount dispersed under this highly competitive grant. Projects selected for this funding must reach beyond documenting conditions and paradigms of persistent racial inequalities to disrupting the reproduction and deepening of inequality in education. Dr. Swapp and her team will apply a decolonizing, transnational lens to expose and interrogate racial disparities in the lived experiences of Black school principals across the different sites and co-construct with research participants anti-racist and equity-focused understandings, strategies, and recommendations for fostering more equitable arrangements of work and ameliorating wellbeing for racialized school leaders.

This project aligns well with the Faculty of Education’s 2021-2026 Strategic Plan, Transformative Education Transformed, which documents our strategic commitment to “work collectively to identify and change the causes of inequitable systems of power and privilege” and our commitment to “develop and engage in a diversity of research and scholarly output that has local, national, and global impact” as well as the broader University of Regina’s Strategic Plan, All our Relations, and the attendant five areas of focus.

Honoured by alumni award | Dr. Jerome Cranston

Our Faculty shows its commitment to equity, diversity and inclusion by ensuring that the work we do protects Indigenous rights and the rights of minority groups, and by expanding our programming to support and serve the needs of rural and remote communities. One example of how our commitment is demonstrated is through the community-based programs we offer in partnership with local Indigenous teacher education programs, which help to address the needs of remote Saskatchewan communities for more Indigenous teachers and more access to education programs.

We are thrilled to announce that this commitment has recently been recognized by the University of Alberta, which has honoured our Dean, Dr. Jerome Cranston, with an Alumni Honour Award. The award recognizes his advocacy for racial justice and equity in the various roles he has served in throughout his career as an educator, teacher educator, and dean of our Faculty. “With imagination and innovation, Cranston is challenging the systems, values and behaviours that perpetuate discriminatory behaviour in education.” Congratulations to our dean!

Read more at https://www.ualberta.ca/alumni/recognition/alumni-awards/2022-recipients.html

CERCD research funding – July 2022

General Research Fund:

Audrey Aamodt
Curating hopeful responses to climate trauma
JoLee Sasakamoose
Incorporating the Nato’ we ho win (healing through culture) Recovery Model to reduce overdoses and harms among unsheltered, Pregnant Indigenous Women who use Drugs (PWUD)

Community-engaged Research Fund:

Ehsan Akbari and Cristyne Hébert
Robots for Inclusivity: Engaging underrepresented groups in STEM education.

Knowledge Mobilization Fund:

Pamela Osmond-Johnson
Decolonizing Educational Leadership: Knowledge Mobilization as an Avenue for Equity, Diversity, and Belonging
Melanie Brice and Russell Fayant
World Indigenous Peoples Conference on Education 2022

New faculty – Minority language education (Francophone & immersion schools)

Mr. Stephen Davis accepted the full-time, tenure-track position in Minority Language Education (Francophone & Immersion Schools) (July 1, 2022). Mr. Davis will be nearing completion of his Ph.D. at the University of Regina with an anticipated defense in 2023. Mr. Davis holds a Master’s of Arts in Second Language Education from McGill University, a Baccalauréat en éducation (Distinction) from the University of Regina, and a Bachelor of Arts (Distinction) from the University of Saskatchewan. Mr. Davis’ research contributions broadly explore the perspectives and ideologies of educators with respect to refugee-background students in French immersion programs across the Canadian Prairies. His research examines the experiences of students with learning disabilities in French education, integrating inquiry and advocacy, focusing on equitable and inclusive French education, including newcomer learners and advocating for the inclusion of all learners.

Mr. Davis has also agreed to serve as the Interim Coordinateur of the Comité du Programme de la maîtrise en éducation française for a 1-year term while Dr. Heather Phipps is on sabbatical from September 1, 2022 to August 31, 2023.
Stephen joined the Faculty of Education in January 2020 as a term Lecturer and has been a valuable team member in le Bac.

New faculty – Queer studies in education


Dr. j wallace skelton accepted the full-time, tenure-track position in Queer Studies in Education (July 1, 2022). Dr. skelton holds a Ph.D. and Master’s of Education from the University of Toronto and a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) from York University. Dr. skelton’s research contributions broadly explore trans theory, queer theory, child agency, co-research with children, community engaged research, research with an ethics of care, trans parents, arts-based research and asset-based research. Dr. skelton has been working in a post-doctorate position at Concordia University and involved in two research projects: a SSHRC-funded post-doctoral project that investigates ways parents are involved in advocacy on behalf of their trans and non-binary children, the needs of parent advocates, and how parent advocate roles shift overtime and an NSERC-funded partnership between Centennial College and Dr. skelton’s publishing company (Flamingo Rampant) entitled “Gender-Affirming, Life-Affirming: Centering Gender Independent, Trans, Non-binary and Intersex Youth in Puberty Education with Adaptive Interactive Media.”

New faculty – Physical education and outdoor/land-based education

Ms. Jennifer MacDonald accepted the full-time, tenure-track position in Physical Education and Outdoor/Land-Based Education (July 1, 2022). Ms. MacDonald is nearing completion of her Ph.D. at the University of Calgary with an anticipated defense in the autumn. She holds a Master’s of Education from the University of Ottawa; a Bachelor of Education from the University of Otago, New Zealand; and a Bachelor of Physical Education (Honours) from Brock University. Ms. MacDonald’s research contributions broadly explore social change, ecological healing, and truth and reconciliation. As a researcher and teacher educator she is committed to collaborating with communities, generating new knowledge for planning and teaching in ways that approach place, teaching, learning, relations, wellness, narrative, and curriculum differently. At a time of ecological crisis, her research program provides increased consideration, discussion, and education to help renew co-existence between humans and the natural world while simultaneously contribute to restoring right relations between Indigenous and settler people on this shared land.

Associate Dean of Research and Graduate Programs appointed

Dr. Xia Ji has been appointed the Associate Dean of Research and Graduate Programs for a five year term, beginning July 1, 2022.

Dr. Ji joined the Faculty of Education in 2008 and teaches in the Science and Environmental Education subject area. From 2015 – 2020, she was the Director, Professional Development and Field Experiences in Education. Over the years, she has also served as the Chair of the Science & Environmental Education subject area and Chair of the Undergraduate Admissions, Studies & Scholarship Committee. She has also served on a number of other committees including: Executive of Council; Dean’s Advisory Committee on Sabbatical, Tenure, and Promotion; Dean’s Group; FGSR Scholarship Review Committee; Research & Graduate Program Development Committee in Education; and as a reviewer for the U of R Sustainability & Community Engagement Fund (SCEF). Recently she has been invited and joined the Delta Kappa Gamma Society (DKG) – Regina Chapter, which is an international coalition of women leaders in education, and the U of R’s Working Group on China Planning with the goal to strengthen partnership and collaboration with universities in China.

Dr. Ji’s work with and commitment to graduate students and programs, her administrative experience, her ability to think creatively and strategically, and the leadership she has provided to the Faculty of Education over the last several years position her well for her new role as Associate Dean.

Dr. Jerome Cranston
Dean/Professor
Faculty of Education