Category: New Appointments

New Associate Dean, Research and Graduate Programs

Dr. Twyla Salm

Dr. Twyla Salm has been appointed the Associate Dean, Research & Graduate Programs in Education. Dr. Salm was the Director, Professional Development and Field Experiences Office for several years.

The Office of Research and Graduate Programs in Education has the largest graduate program at the University of Regina. We offer Master’s and Doctoral Programs in Educational Administration, Educational Psychology, Curriculum and Instruction, Adult Education, Human Resource Development, as well as a Master of Education degree in French. We also offer a range of routes to complete Master’s degrees designed to match the needs of our students.

New Appointment to Physical Education, Physical Literacy, and Educational Core Studies

The Faculty of Education is pleased to announce that we will be welcoming Dr. Alexandra Stoddart to our Faculty as the new tenure-track, assistant professor in physical education, physical literacy, and educational core studies.

Dr. Stoddart’s dissertation focused on her research in physical literacy and its effective implementation into elementary physical education classes.

During this research program, Alexandra administered physical literacy assessments tools in a Physical Education setting. She now has experience in both the Physical Literacy Assessment (PLAY) tools as well as PHE Canada’s Passport for Life assessment tool.

Alexandra received a Master’s of Arts in Kinesiology (motor learning) from the University of Western Ontario and a Bachelor of Science (physical education, teaching and coaching) from Eastern Michigan University. Dr. Stoddard has worked as a substitute teacher for Saskatoon Public Schools and as a sessional instructor at the University of Saskatchewan. Alexandra will be a very welcome addition the Faculty and the University.

New Appointment for Inclusive Education

mathesonian1 The Faculty of Education is pleased to announce that on July 1st, we will be welcoming Ian Matheson to our Faculty.

Ian is currently completing his PhD from the Faculty of Education, Department of Cognitive Studies at Queen’s University, with an anticipated defence in late spring 2017. During his doctoral studies, Mr. Matheson has been the recipient of numerous grants and fellowships, including a SSHRC Doctoral Award, an Ontario Graduate Scholarship, and a Frank W. MacLean Fellowship. His Masters and Bachelors of Education were also obtained from Queen’s University, with a Bachelor of Science, Honours Psychology, from the University of Trent. Mr. Matheson has worked for school divisions in Ontario and has also taught undergraduate education classes at Queen’s.

Ian’s research in inclusive education explores the cognitive and neuropsychological underpinnings for a wide range of exceptional populations. His doctoral dissertation describes the common maladaptive beliefs that students with high incidence and hidden exceptionalities hold, and how educators can promote more adaptive alternative beliefs to support their students. In addition to his doctoral research, Mr. Matheson has been involved in a qualitative research analysis of a social skills intervention for individuals with Autism Spectrum disorder. The study examined and analyzed the behaviour of participants in relation to experiences of intervention. He also worked on a SSHRC project to understand cognitive underpinnings of children’s mathematical reasoning and arithmetic proficiency. These research projects align with the Faculty of Education’s commitment to inclusive education and will undoubtedly provide important learning for all students in the teacher education program as they seek to meet the needs of exceptional learners in classrooms. Ian will be a very welcome addition to the EPSY area, the Faculty and the University.

Interview with new director of le Bac program

Dr. Laurie Carlson Berg, new Director, le Bac program

While the home of the Baccalauréat en éducation (le Bac) is the Faculty of Education, the program spaces are uniquely located in the Language Institute Building. Since 2010, the program has flourished under the direction of Dr. Lace Brodgen, who has now moved on to be the founding Dean of Laurentian University’s Faculty of Education. The following is an interview with the new Bac program Director, Dr. Laurie Carlson Berg.

Please provide a short description of le Bac program.

Le Bac (pronounced like back as in “Give yourself a pat on the back”) is the Baccalauréat en éducation française. There is a variety of different programs students can choose to pursue within Le Bac, as we prepare students to teach at the elementary or secondary level in both Francophone and French Immersion schools as well as in Core French classrooms. Students can either begin the 4-year program after completing their high school studies or do an after degree (BEAD) program. It is important to note that le Bac is not a French-language version of programs offered in English by the Faculty of Education. Our program has an important focus on what it means to be a teacher of one of Canada’s official languages in a minority context, be it Core French, French Immersion, or Francophone.

Why is it important to offer the Bac program?

There are a number of reasons, but two that come immediately to mind are linguistic diversity and responding to community needs. First, there is a significant need, not only in Saskatchewan but also in other provinces that actively recruit our students, for more French-speaking teachers. Le Bac provides a welcoming environment for high school students from Core French, French Immersion, and Francophone schools, including Fransaskois schools, to enhance their proficiency in French and to learn how to inspire their future students to learn about French language and the multiple Francophone cultures in the world. In the second year of the 4-year program, students spend 10 months at the Université Laval in Québec City. There, they are fully immersed in a Francophone majority context. We are also building ties with the Wandake First Nation in Québec City so that indigenization can be more fully integrated into each year of le Bac.

In terms of linguistic diversity, Canada is a bilingual nation and having le Bac in the Faculty of Education is part of acknowledging the linguistic plurality in Saskatchewan schools. In my view, having a French presence within the Faculty of Education fosters a greater understanding of, and provides a space for dialoguing about, linguistic and cultural diversity here on the Prairies.

What is your vision as the new Directrice du Bac?

I have three principal priorities as I take on this new role with gratitude namely continuing to focus on indigenizing our program, maintaining and building upon our solid reputation, and continuing our efforts to recruit more students.

Le Bac was the first program to make the Indigenous Education course mandatory. We appreciate the relationships we are building with elders, and how each member of our team has taken on responsibility for indigenizing courses and our annual Bac student professional development event.

Having been part of le Bac team for 17 years, I appreciate the solid reputation le Bac and our faculty have in the community. I strive to lead my energetic team and students to continue to collaborate with our multiple partners throughout the province. As budgets permit, our team endeavors to increasingly model how technology can enhance teaching and learning.

This year, we have the largest enrollment ever and are offering two sections of the first year Educational Foundations course. My goal is to continue to increase the Bac cohort. So far, our only challenge at this level has been finding large enough classrooms.

Any final comments for now?

A warm welcome to new faculty members Heather and Joël and a big shout out to all members of le Bac team for the many ways, big and small, they inspire our students and serve our community with heart!

Bac Programme Position Appointment

heather phippsHeather Phipps joins us from the Department of Educational Studies at McGill University, where she is nearing the completion of her Ph.D. She holds a Masters of Arts in Second Language Education from McGill University, a TESL certificate from Lethbridge College, and a B.A./B.Ed. from the University of Lethbridge. While a doctoral student at McGill, Ms. Phipps has been the recipient of numerous graduate scholarships, including the prestigious Doctoral Fellowship award and the Provost doctoral fellowship.

Phipp’s dissertation, Children Speaking to Children: Multimodal Engagements with Contemporary Canadian Picture Books in French Classrooms, is an ethnographic study situated in a public primary school in urban Montreal. It documents young children’s responses to Canadian children’s literature in Grades 1 & 2 French classrooms. Her study highlights the ways in which children engage and respond to both the words and images in diverse Canadian literature, and how they reflect on their own lived experiences in relation to the picture books. Her future research interests include inquiry related to issues of belonging, identity, and community for children and teachers in the context of minority language education in francophone and French immersion schools in the Saskatchewan context and in diverse multilingual contexts across Canada.

Phipps is a published scholar who has presented her work at numerous national and international conferences, serves as a reviewer for several scholarly journals and for the Language and Literacy SIG of CSSE. She has extensive experience as a classroom teacher in a French immersion context, and has also taught education classes at the post-secondary level. She is past president of the McGill University Education Graduate Students’ Society.

Bac Programme Position Appointment

Jöel Thibeault is currently a doctoral candidate in the Faculty of Education at the University of Ottawa. He holds a Masters of Arts in Education from the University of Ottawa, and an undergraduate degree in French language and literature from McGill University. Mr. Thibeault is the 2015 recipient of the Michael Smith Award for research abroad from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC), and is a holder of the prestigious SSHRC Joseph-Bombardier scholarship, 2014-2017. He received a Graduate Studies Scholarship from the University of Ottawa, and the Ontario Graduate Scholarship.

Thibeault’s doctoral research focuses on the teaching and learning of French grammar in socio-linguistic minority contexts. His dissertation aims to understand the development of grammatical competence among elementary students in southwestern Ontario, a population of significant Anglophone dominance. Mr. Thibeault’s work lies at the crossroads the didactics of French first language and second language research and will undoubtedly make many contributions to the body of scholarship in French minority language education. In addition, he has been involved in several research teams at the University of Ottawa and the University of Quebec at Montreal that have required significant and sustained work in educational and school contexts.

Thibeault is a published scholar and has presented his scholarly work at numerous national and international conferences. He has several professional publications, and is involved in a number of important local, national, and international associations.

Faculty of Education to have a Tier II Canada Research Chair for Reconciliation Education

cercA special committee to the Provost has recommended a Canada Research Chair for Reconciliation Education for the the Faculty of Education, University of Regina. The Canada Research Chairs (CRCs) are established by the Canadian Government to foster research excellence (http://www.chairs-chaires.gc.ca/). Tier 2 Chairs are intended for exceptional emerging scholars with less than 10 years of active research in their field. Please consult the Canada Research Chairs website (https://www.chairs-chaires.gc.ca/about_us-a_notre_sujet/index-eng.aspx) for full program information, including further details on eligibility criteria.

Canada Research Chairs Program is a tri-agency initiative of the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC), the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research. It is administered by the Tri-agency Institutional Programs Secretariat, which is housed within SSHRC.

The University Strategic Plan, peyak aski kikawinanw (together we are stronger), makes central indigenization and anti-colonial initiatives, which are further supported by the over 50 faculty members across campus who participate in the social justice and the health equity research clusters. The Faculty of Education is committed to strengthening and enhancing its efforts in reconciliation education and is already emerging as a national leader in this respect. Both the University and the Faculty of Education have expertise in several areas of anti-Colonial and Indigenous scholarship.

This position is now advertised at https://urcareers.uregina.ca/applicants/jsp/shared/position/JobDetails_css.jsp?postingId=195867

New Appointment to Indigenous Education/Core Studies

We are pleased to announce that Dr. Anna-Leah King will be joining us, July 1, 2016 to take up the tenure-track position in Indigenous Education/Core Studies.

Dr. King successfully defended her dissertation at the University of Alberta on March 22, 2016. She holds a Masters of Education (Curriculum Studies) and a Bachelor of Education degree, both from the University of Saskatchewan. Additionally, she holds a Bilingual Certificate from L’Université de Québec, and a Certificate in Cree Oral Language from the University of Saskatchewan. While a doctoral student at U of A, Dr. King was the recipient of numerous graduate scholarships, including the NEAHR Student Scholarship and the Indspire Award. In 2013, she received the U of A Human Rights Education Recognition Award for her work with the inaugural EDU211 mandatory Aboriginal Education course. She has served as the Aboriginal Education consultant with Saskatoon Catholic Schools, 2002-2006, as a classroom teacher in Saskatoon, 1989-2000 and as the Co-Director of the Aboriginal Teacher Education Program (ATEP) at the University of Alberta, 2008-2010.

Dr. King’s dissertation focuses on Anishnaabe song and drum in education using traditional story, experiences, archives, and Elder’s teachings as a focus to move forward in Indigenizing education stemming from Anishnaabe world view. Further research interests lie in Indigenous Education in light of current principles recommended by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Both her doctoral and master’s research align with the Faculty of Education’s commitment to indigenous education and indigenizing teaching and learning as articulated in our strategic plan. Dr. King will undoubtedly make important contributions to the Core Studies subject area and the Language and Literacy subject area.

We extend a heartfelt welcome to Anna-Leah!

New Appointment to Drama Education

cropped-schroeterWe are pleased to announce that Sara Schroeter will take up the tenure-track position in drama education beginning July 1, 2016.  Schroeter is close to the completion of her PhD from the Department of Language and Literacy at the University of British Columbia, with an anticipated defence date in spring 2016. She holds a Master’s of Arts in Interdisciplinary Studies (Education, Social Anthropology and Theatre) from York University and a Bachelor’s of Arts in English Literature from McGill. While a doctoral student at UBC, Schroeter has been the recipient of numerous graduate scholarships, including the Graduate Entrance Award and the Faculty of Education Graduate Award. In 2014, she also held the prestigious Killam Graduate Assistant Teaching Award.

Schroeter’s dissertation, Difference at Play: An Ethnography of Discourses and Drama in a French Minority Language School, documents her partnership with a Grade 9 social studies teacher to integrate drama as an aesthetic and kinesthetic meaning-making practice and teaching method. The research draws on both postcolonial theories of difference and feminist approaches to pedagogy to examine the discourses of difference that are embedded in the curriculum and how students understand them. Schroeter’s doctoral work follows her Master’s degree at York University where she studied the use of Theatre of the Oppressed to explore notions of identity, culture, and belonging with refugee students. Both her doctoral and masters research align with the anti-oppressive teacher education focus of the Faculty articulated in our strategic plan, and will undoubtedly make important contributions to the Drama Education subject area and the Arts Education Program area.

We offer a very warm prairie welcome to Sara! We are thrilled to have her join us in the Faculty of Education.

New Appointment for Mathematics Education

We are thrilled to welcome Dr. Alayne Armstrongs200_alayne.armstrong to the Faculty of Education. Dr. Armstrong completed her PhD in 2013 from the Department of Curriculum and Pedagogy at the University of British Columbia, where she was a SSHRC Doctoral Scholar. Her Masters and Bachelors of Education were also obtained from UBC. Dr. Armstrong has additional degrees from the University of Manitoba and the Queen’s University along wtih 18 years of teaching experience in the K-12 public school system and extensive experience in post-secondary teacher education. Dr. Armstrong has disseminated her research in mathematics education through journal publications, book chapters, and at national and international conferences. Her doctoral dissertation described the discourse of small groups of grade 8 students and used the concept of authority to posit these groups being the ‘authors’ of their own mathematical storylines as they participated in mathematical tasks. More recently, Dr. Armstrong is researching how learning disabled students have been able to independently adapt in mathematics contexts through the use of technology. The research advocates moving beyond a traditional approach to technology use which privileges abstract and formalized thinking. Her work will undoubtedly make important contributions to the Mathematics Education subject area and the Faculty as a whole.

Her appointment begins July 1, and we look forward to welcoming her to the Faculty, the University, the city and the province.