Category: Research and Funding

Dean Tupper Co-Investigator on Successful SSHRC Insight Grant

Dean Jennifer Tupper  Photo credit: Shuana Niessen

Dr. Jennifer Tupper, Dean of the Faculty of Education, is a Co-Investigator on a successful Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) Insight Grant project entitled Aboriginal Perspectives at the Cultural Interface: Researching the Interventions. This five-year research project, involving two other scholars from the University of Manitoba, Dr. Yatta Kanu (Principal Investigator) and Dr. Frank Deer (Co-Investigator), received $229,334 in funding.

Congratulations to Dr. Tupper as she engages in this important and timely study.

Faculty Member Part of Team Researching Teachers’ Roles for Canada’s Creative Economy

Dr. Kathryn Ricketts is one of the co-applicants on a successful SSHRC Insight Grant for the project entitled Reconceptualizing Teachers’ Roles for Canada’s Creative Economy. The four-year research project involves scholars from UPEI, UBC, McGill, Cape Breton University, Royal Roads University and the University of Regina, and received over $300,000 in funding.

Congratulations to Dr. Ricketts on her participation in this exciting research project.

Saskatchewan – Jilin Scholarship

Saskatchewan – Jilin Scholarship 2016/2017

Building on the success of our International Faculty Mobility Program we are pleased to announce the opening for applications for the 2016/2017 cycle of the Saskatchewan – Jilin Scholarship.

The Saskatchewan – Jilin Scholarship was established between the Government of Saskatchewan (Canada) and the People’s Government of Jilin Province (China) to forge stronger relations through collaboration and information sharing on research and development and to facilitate joint educational exchange and cooperation.

The Saskatchewan – Jilin Scholarship should be utilized in accordance with the Saskatchewan Ministry of Advanced Education’s Plan for Growth (in ways deemed appropriate), with the following objectives as priority:

I. Profile Saskatchewan and Saskatchewan’s education advantage
II. Increase research collaboration
III. Increase the study of Chinese language and culture by Saskatchewan students
IV. Encourage more Saskatchewan students to obtain overseas experience in China

We currently have 4 scholarships available at $2,500 each. These scholarships are specifically designated to support faculty members with their international activities and strategies, within the bounds of the Ministry’s Plan for Growth.

The application deadline is April 15, 2016 and successful candidates will be notified by April 30, 2016.

I would appreciate you circulating this announcement to your faculty members and encouraging them to apply for the scholarship and to contact our office to ensure that faculty members receive the support to carry out their faculty mobility initiatives to completion.

The online application information form is available at the following link: http://www.uregina.ca/international/for-faculty-staff/faculty-mobility-program/becoming/form.html

For more information, please contact Mr. Werner Beylefeld at College West 128 or by e-mail at Werner.Beylefeld@uregina.ca or by telephone at (306) 337-2912.

Thank you,

Ms. Martha Mathurin
Manager, UR International Study Abroad

SIDRU Research Fund Recipients

Congratulations to this year’s recipients of the SIDRU Research Fund:

Dr. Xia Ji, Anna Lucero, Julie Machnaik, Dr. Marilyn Miller: $5000.
Title: Exploring a Bridging program for Internationally Educated Teachers in Saskatchewan
Category: Field Experience and Professional Development

Dr. JoLee Sasakamoose, Carrie LaVallie: $5000.
Title: Indigenous and Western based healing approaches that meet spiritual needs to strengthen relapse prevention as identified by elders
Category: General Fund

Dr. Kathleen Nolan: $5000
Title: Being and Becoming a Mathematics Teacher: Using an Integrated Noticing Framework in an Internship Learning Community
Category: Field Experience and Professional Development

The Chair of the Committee, Dr. Carol Schick, commented:

“Thank you for the opportunity to review the applications for the SIDRU Fund Competition. The field was very strong and each application has much to commend it. It is a pleasure to see the creative and solid plans that would each do much to advance high quality, justice-oriented research within our Faculty. …We are very fortunate in our faculty to receive research support from SIDRU that enables our members to advance their research agendas.”

Growing Young Movers

Doctoral Dissertation Award

Dr. Sean Lessard
Dr. Sean Lessard

Congratulations to Dr. Sean Lessard, whose dissertation has been selected for the 2015 Outstanding Teacher Education Doctoral Dissertation Award at the University of Alberta.

The Centre for Research for Teacher Education and Development committee in the Faculty of Education, University of Alberta unanimously agreed that “there are many outstanding aspects of your dissertation, each of which opens enormous possibility for teacher education and for teacher education research. We also saw ways in which your research is significant for professions beyond education and in the lives of Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal youth and families across Canada.”

Dr. Sean Lessard successfully defended his dissertation entitled, “Red Worn Runners: A Narrative Inquiry into the Stories of Aboriginal Youth and Families in Urban Settings”  in 2014.

 

 

Community-Based Researchers and Co-Founders of Growing Young Movers

Community-based research is unique because it is not just research—It’s about developing relationships and transforming lives. Commitments are long-term and indefinite, and the research must be a secondary concern. Such is the case for three researchers, Brian Lewis, Dr. Sean Lessard, and Dr. Lee Schaefer, who are involved in the development of and research with Growing Young Movers (GYM), an after school program dedicated to the social, emotional, and physical development of children and youth from North Central Regina.

Brian Lewis, a doctoral candidate in the Faculty of Education, and a past Physical Education/Health Consultant for Regina Catholic School Division, had a vision for after school programming for youth around movement, wellness, and physical education. When Lewis first met Schaefer and Lessard, professors in the Faculty of Education, he was looking to do further programming. “I was trying to run programs that looked different than the typical sport programs, than the ones I had seen as an educator,” he says. The three began informally discussing the need they saw for after school programming that would reach students who may have less access to competitive sports, and who may not have the opportunity to participate in such a program. “We began talking about the possibility of creating a space where we could connect with a community and research alongside that community,” says Lessard

“There was good symmetry between us,” says Lessard. “I was new to Regina, and had acquired funding that could be directed towards a new program. Brian is unbelievably skilled in terms of working within programming…as soon as Brian started asking, ‘What about all the other kids that don’t get a chance to participate?’, I was 100% in,” says Lessard.

Lessard’s strength is in working with communities and Aboriginal youth as well as advocating for funding, and Schaefer offers his expertise in the research process. “Lee is our methodologist; he keeps us on track, works on data collection and administrating the project,” says Lessard. Schaefer’s interest in movement and physical literacy complements Lewis’s interest. Schaefer also brings to the program his connection to the Faculty of Education’s Health Outdoor Physical Education (HOPE) student association for which he is faculty liaison. Through this connection, GYM has access to university students who are interested in volunteering their time to work with the program. HOPE students have also assisted the GYM program through a variety of fundraisers, which have provided equipment and resources to the program, including the purchase of running shoes for each of the students in the GYM.

“We could also agree on the methodology for the research,” says Lessard. The research methods are a mix of indigenous methodology and narrative inquiry, qualitative methods that allow the research to grow slowly out of relationship with the participants. “We do not study kids; we listen to them tell their stories, sharing experiences about life in this space we’ve created with them,” says Lessard. However, when applying for a grant or ethics approval, researchers are required to plan their research in a prescriptive manner. It is necessary to be specific, to say for instance, “I’m interviewing three students.” In fact, says Lewis, “the students pick the researcher—it’s the reverse.”

Out of these discussions, the Growing Young Movers (GYM) after school program began. GYM has adopted parts of the Teaching Personal and Social Responsibility model for delivering the Saskatchewan physical education curriculum. The program focuses on “movement” rather than sports, not only to reach kids who are not in competitive sports, but also because movement is a concept that extends into all aspects of life. In thinking about movement and wellness, “think healing,” says Lessard. “Wellness is a huge piece for us.” Schaefer adds, “Physical Education (PE) programming at the U of R promotes teaching PE conceptually because it allows for a transfer into a variety of activities, not just a specific sport.”

Moving well together is what the team hopes youth will learn from the program. For example, whenever the youth have an excursion, they ask themselves, “How are we doing?” Moving well on an excursion means, for example, moving well as they line up for and board the bus. GYM meets every Wednesday after school from September to June, usually in the gymnasium of Kitchener Community School. The youth participate in wellness and physical activities, which promote the idea of moving well together. “One of the games we do not play is dodge ball,” says Lewis. “Our activities are thought through,” says Lessard; “they promote personal and social responsibility.” Lewis adds, “I know when new youth come to the program and ask to play dodge ball and the other kids respond, ‘We don’t play dodge ball,’ that’s when we know we are doing things differently.” Lessard highlights one of Lewis’s points regarding gymnasiums as “spaces where some of the best things happen and some of the worst…” Lessard continues, “In this program, through the space of a gymnasium, we learn to move in healthy ways—it’s a metaphor—learning to move in a different way in the community…moving well with one another.”

Mentors are an important part of GYM programming, especially as the researchers consider the future of the program. Schaefer says, “The intergenerational piece is part of the program; we involve Grade 8 and high school students who participate in the program, but are also responsible for mentoring the younger students and facilitating activities. We also include university student mentors, many of whom are a part of the Faculty of Education.” Developing junior high, high school, and university student mentors, “is the capacity building piece,” says Lessard. Because of their involvement, mentors have become fully capable of running the program. “We now have five high school mentors that once attended Kitchener School and our program; we also have Grades 3 and 4 students coming back to us a junior high mentors…they are dynamic in working with each other,” says Lewis. In the spirit of moving well, mentors are paid well through funding, and for some of them, it is their first job experience.

Community-based research is not for the faint of heart. “It’s messy,” says Lessard. “It is much more than research; it means a long-term, indefinite commitment.” Lewis agrees, “This was not going to be a fly in, drop in, leave research model…We wanted to take the time to get to know the needs of the community…You can’t build relationships with a one-day-a-week-for-six-weeks type model.” Lessard adds, “We are letting the needs define the research.” Schaefer explains, “It is not about us identifying needs of the community as researchers, but about building relationships with community so that they have autonomy over identifying what they think is needed. So it’s not that the researchers have the answers; it’s much more about gaining an understanding together.” This can make the formal research process complicated. Lessard points out that ethics approval for research and grant proposals for funding are incongruent with community-based research, “They have a prescriptive approach that narrows down the research,” he says. But when working with the program they make research a secondary concern, and because the youth are shaping the research, it is emerging and growing organically.

Now in Year 3 of the project, the researchers are seeing the results of their efforts blossoming, with some mentors ready to take on programming, research conversations ongoing, charts of articles and topics for research developing, and attendance in the GYM program growing. “We know there is this magic happening,” says Lessard. One of the aspects the researchers are interested in is the liminal space within which GYM operates. “This space is not a school institution or home…We are asking how does this in-between space shape both worlds: home and school,” says Lessard.

There are connections and partnerships developing out of this program. Lessard says, “We try to surround ourselves with good people.. such as the File Hills Qu’Appelle Tribal Council and Treaty 4 Urban Aboriginal Youth who have taken care of us. The program just keeps evolving.”

“We are being asked by places across Western Canada to talk about [the program]. We are invited to different places to demonstrate healing through movement with their students. New relationships have started to grow, such as with Changemakers and Indspire Institute,” says Lessard.

With new connections developing, the researchers are aware that new opportunities are also taking shape. Still, with all of these interesting developments, what matters most is the work with the Growing Young Movers, and the transformations that they are seeing as the youth learn to move well together.

IMG_2626 IMG_2631 IMG_2636

Tune in at 8:15 am Wednesday, October 7 to meet some of the great kids involved in the G.Y.M. program. 102.5FM CBC Radio

GYM: Growing Young Movers (White Bear member) from Wikiupedia on Vimeo.

GYM: Growing Young Movers from Wikiupedia on Vimeo.

New Mural Brightens Up a Corner of the Campus

By Costa Maragos (Reposted from U of R Feature Stories)

Each time Keith Adolph looks out of his office, he sees a work of art that brightens his day.

It’s a new mural that graces a wall at the Teaching Preparation Centre, a library and work space for education students located on the second floor of the education Building.

“It’s great. It draws me in and invites me to look at it longer,” says Adolph who is the Centre’s coordinator. “It feels like I’ve helped make this space a little more organic. It feels more like a learning space and a place for people to be in.”

The mural, called Spiritual Journey, is the work of Cliff Dubois, an artist from the Pasqua First Nation. Central to the theme are four buffalo, walking on sage, shown to signify various stages of life.

“The buffalo that are walking begin in the physical form and slowly fade, eventually making the journey to the spirit world,” says Dubois whose spiritual name is Strong Wind and is indicated by his trademark tiny tornado sketch in the lower right corner of his works. “At the end of the buffalo is a smudge with smouldering smoke that crosses the sky which represents the universe. The smudge offers purification for the soul.”

The mural became a reality thanks to the enthusiastic support of the Faculty of Education and other members of the campus community. The project was funded by the U of R’s Indigenous Advisory Circle.

Dr. Shauneen Pete, Executive Lead on Indigenization, recommended funding for the project.

“For me this project is very much in support of the Strategic Plan. Indigenizing spaces is about changing the physical spaces and by adding the signage and images,” says Dr. Pete. “This is a good way of realigning Indigenous imagery and making them prominent and normal. I can’t wait to see how our students respond to this image and the discussions it will provoke. I’m really happy with it.”

From the beginning, Adolph envisioned a mural with a First Nations theme.

“We’re on Treaty 4 land and with the Indigenization movement we see on campus, I want to be a part of that,” says Adolph. “I want the students coming into this space to feel they’re being represented.”

The mural is located in Room 228 of the Education Building. Adolph encourages you to drop by for a look.

The Faculty of Education prides itself on being one of the best in Canada and offers exciting opportunities. Please visit us here for more information.

Faculty recipient of Stirling MacDowell Foundation research grant

Jenn de Lugt

Congratulations to Jenn de Lugt, Lecturer in Inclusive Education and Core Studies with the Faculty of Education, who is the successful recipient of a Stirling MacDowell Foundation Research Grant ($7000) for the project:  Their Voices: What High School Students are Saying about School-Related Anxiety has been selected for a grant award.

Jenn will be working alongside a classroom teacher throughout the research product to gain deeper understanding of and insight into students’ experiences with anxiety. Dean Jennifer Tupper says, “This is a timely and important focus given the increasing prevalence of anxiety-related issues in young people. The research will no doubt make a very important contribution to understandings of school related anxiety and corresponding supports critical for affected students.”

Mural by Artist Cliff Dubois in Teaching Preparation Centre

Artist Cliff Dubois with his mural “Spiritual Journey” in the background. Photo credit: Shuana Niessen

Make sure you stop by to see the newly painted mural entitled “Spiritual Journey” by Artist Cliff Dubois in the Teaching Preparation Centre (Ed 228). This new artwork is the result of Keith Adolph’s (Teaching Preparation Centre Coordinator) successful application for an Indigenization grant from the Indigenization Advisory Circle (IAC). Stay tuned for a story to be featured on the University of Regina Front Page. Keith will be posting an artist biography plaque on the wall as well.

Artist Cliff Dubois with Teaching Preparation Centre Coordinator, Keith Adolph. Photo credit: Shuana Niessen