Spotlight Series

Faculty Research

Faculty Development in Environmental Learning: Focus on Indonesia

This article highlights Dr. David Zandvliet, a UNESCO Chair and professor at the Faculty of Education, who redefines the concept of a field school at Indonesia’s Universitas Sam Ratulangi (UNSRAT). Dr. Zandvliet integrates a hands-on, inquiry-based educational method, immersing students in local culture and environmental issues. His unique vision for the field school emphasizes bio-cultural diversity and collaborative international learning, with the aim of deeply engaging faculty and enhancing global educational practices. Through this initiative, Dr. Zandvliet not only fosters academic and professional development but also champions innovative environmental learning strategies.

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Teacher Recertification: Biases and Challenges Facing Internationally Educated Teachers

Dr. Lilach Marom highlights the biases and challenges faced by internationally educated teachers (IETs) in Western countries during teacher recertification. Her collaborative project, involving researchers from Canada and Europe, delves into how recertification policies may hinder the diversification of the teaching workforce. Highlighting the gap between policy and practice, Dr. Marom examines the intersection of migration, job market demands, and teacher professionalism and explores the potential of IETs to enrich the educational landscape with their diverse backgrounds.

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Investigating Transdisciplinary Pathways in Higher Education: An International Collaboration

Drs. Cary Campbell and Michael Ling are redefining the landscape of higher education through their FIRE-funded project “Transdisciplinary Pathways in Higher Education Research and Education,” which introduces innovative educational frameworks integrating multiple disciplines. Deeply rooted in the challenges and opportunities of digital and environmental shifts, their research seeks to create meaningful educational experiences that transcend traditional boundaries. By focusing not only on enhancing academic inquiry but also on expanding opportunities for graduate students internationally, Drs. Campbell and Ling are committed to developing future scholars equipped to tackle global challenges through a transdisciplinary approach.

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Faculty Research

New Insights into Research: Visualizing Faculty Collaboration

The data visualization (DV) project enables us to comprehend, process, and cultivate relationships and stories about the scholarly work undertaken within our non-departmentalized, interdisciplinary faculty. Such visualization provokes new thinking and sparks insights into our collaborative efforts and the potential for faculty development. This research was driven by an approach known as data feminism, which foregrounds two data principles: “embrace pluralism” and “make labor visible.” These principles foster an inclusive educational research culture while also effectively presenting and valuing greater interdisciplinarity. Through this DV project, we also gained insights into faculty members’ sense of belonging within the faculty, particularly in relation to opportunities for collaborative research.

A Legacy of Impact: Honouring Dr. Phil Winne’s Career Achievement Award for Distinguished Psychological Contributions to Education

We celebrate Dr. Phil Winne's 2023 Career Achievement Award for Distinguished Psychological Contributions to Education by Division 15 – Educational Psychology of the American Psychological Association, which is among the most prestigious awards given to living educational psychologists for their substantial, career-long achievements and contributions to the field. Dr. Winne’s research legacy—embodied in the pioneering nStudy tool for self-regulated learning as well in as his impactful publications—continues to shape the future of education, while his philosophy and mentorship have guided and encouraged new generations of scholars to achieve excellence in their own academic and personal lives.

Celebrating Dr. Jeff Sugarman's Award for Distinguished Theoretical and Philosophical Contributions to Psychology

We are delighted to announce that Dr. Jeff Sugarman has been honoured with the Award for Distinguished Theoretical and Philosophical Contributions to Psychology by the Society for Theoretical and Philosophical Psychology (Division 24 of the American Psychological Association). This is the division's highest award, which recognizes one of its members each year for lifetime scholarly achievement.

A New Pathway for Inclusive Education: Dr. Robert Williamson on Refugee Children with Dis/Abilities

Dr. Robert Williamson is principal investigator for an SSHRC Partnership Development project: Pathways to Education: An International Study to Understand the Educational Experiences of Refugee Children with Dis/Abilities. By placing equal value on individual-level impacts and broader societal impacts, he is actively contributing to positive changes in inclusive education. His commitment not only underscores the potential for efficient collaboration but encourages knowledge dissemination, advancing interdisciplinary research methods and informing future efforts and directions for refugee studies. Dr. Williamson’s work continues to influence educational practices, policies, and societies, fostering a more inclusive and equitable world for all.

From Theory to Action: Dr. Ching-Chiu Lin's Visionary Approach to Community Arts Education

As principal investigator for Re-storying Community: Arts-Based Digital Storytelling for Community Inquiry (awarded $493,608 by the Tri-agency Institutional Programs Secretariat (TIPS)—New Frontiers in Research Fund – Special Call: Research for Post-Pandemic Recovery), Dr. Lin is positioned as a high-ranking researcher, recognized for her scholarly work of connecting art education knowledge with community practices. Her scholarship enhances our comprehension of the critical role social interaction plays in arts education, amplifies awareness of inequalities in global challenges, and offers arts-based solutions grounded in research theories and outcomes. Her research transforms theoretical ideals into tangible impacts that reverberate across global landscapes.

Prioritizing Multilingualism Through the (Un) “Official Languages Act”

Dr. Huamei Han’s publication Making Second Generation explores how linguistic nationalism contributes to linguistic injuries and differentiation between first and second-generation members of a Mainland Chinese Church in Canada. Framed by Canada’s model of “multiculturalism within a bilingual framework”, she posits that Canadian identities are entrenched in the linguistic and cultural hierarchy of the “two founding nations” of Canada. As such, sociopolitical structures maintain a sociolinguistic hierarchy where dominant language ideologies contribute to linguistic subordination and inequalities for racialized minorities. Dr. Han’s research aims to raise awareness of linguistic injuries and their impact on relationships between intergenerational racialized minorities.

Finding Flow: The Essence of Moving with the Environment

For Simon Fraser University Faculty of Education professor, Stephen Smith, becoming educated physically is more than just being well exercised and proficient in health-enhancing activities. Exploring movement sensations during the activity of swimming, Smith shows how being aware of flow motion—in this case, the passage of a swimmer through water – potentially brings an ecological dimension to bear upon individualistic preoccupations with health and wellness.

A Daily Walk: Linguistic Landscaping During a Pandemic
A walk on the trails during lockdown becomes a research opportunity for SFU Education professor, Dr. Steve Marshall. Using his daily walk to connect and engage with his neighbourhood helped Steve map the linguistic landscape, revealing how ‘bottom-up’ grassroots literacy artifacts merged with official ‘top-down’ signage in support and education for local people during the pandemic.

Learning from the Pandemic: Interconnectedness and Healing
Faculty of Education Professor, Dr. Heesoon Bai (she, her, hers), explores the theme of dis/connection and interdependence in the context of the current COVID-19 pandemic. Drawing inspiration from processual philosophy, trauma studies, and Zen practice, Bai proposes holism as a way forward and suggests appling the principle of interconnectedness and ethics of healing to all aspects of education and leadership. Holism heals.

Pivot and Flex: Faculty of Education Researchers Highlight the Impacts and Inequities of the Pandemic
Faculty of Education researchers pivot their ongoing research to highlight inequities exaggerated by the pandemic on vulnerable populations, gaining valuable insight into the impact of public health measures on teachers, students and their families. For the past year, people have been forced to deal with public health measures and restrictions brought about by the global SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. The effect on education is highly visible, with school closures, remote learning, and social distancing. However, impact hits further than empty classrooms and busy computer screens. Faculty of Education researchers dig deeper, pivoting their ongoing research to draw attention to these hidden impacts.

Connecting with Nature: Learning to be a Part of the Dance
What is education? What is the purpose of education? Can the current education system help sustainable co-living with nature? These are some of the questions that have been floating around in the academic discourse of educational philosophy for some time. Dr. Mark Fettes and Dr. Sean Blenkinsop address these issues in their research and envision the education system to be inclusive of nature, community, people, and to be guided by the principles of imagination, inquiry, and justice.

Learning Sciences, Self-regulated Learning and the Necessity of Doing Research
Dr. Phil Winne (PhD, Stanford) is a Distinguished SFU Professor of Education and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, the American Educational Research Association, the American Psychological Association, the Association for Psychological Science, and the Canadian Psychological Association. Formerly a 2-term Tier I Canada Research Chair, he researches self-regulated learning, metacognition and learning analytics; and develops software technologies to support learners and gather big data for learning science.

Dr. Elina Birmingham’s Research Aims to Support Students with ASD to Develop Autism Awareness
Dr. Elina Birmingham's research examines how children, adolescents, and adults attend to and interpret social information. In addition, she examines how mechanisms of social attention and perception operate differently in individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD). Her recent work is examining how atypical sensory processing associated with ASD, like hypersensitivity to sound, interferes with social and learning opportunities for children with ASD, and to find new technological solutions to address sound sensitivity. 

In a New Book, Professors Chart a History of Life Writing as a Means to Address Gender and Racial Injustice
Dr. Elizabeth Marshall’s research interests include children’s and young adult literature, life writing, picture books, comics, and popular culture. Marshall’s interdisciplinary scholarship has appeared in numerous academic journals. Her current book project focuses on representations of alcohol and childhood in American visual culture.

Dr. Lynn Fels on Performative Inquiry, Arts for Social Change, and Mentorship
Dr. Lynn Fels’ research addresses arts for social change, performative inquiry, arts across the curriculum, and inquiry through performative writing. She is passionate about enabling communities of learners to collaboratively address social issues by engaging in creative, arts-based processes. She has recently received a SSHRC Insight Development grant for her research in Performing Mentorship: Investigating Mentorship in 4 Arts for Social Change Contexts (2019 – 2021).

Dr. John Nesbit and Professor Joan Sharp on Critical Thinking and Dialectical Map
Dr. John Nesbit and Professor Joan Sharp speak about the origins of Dialectical Map (DMap), an intuitive, online argumentation tool that aims to raise students' level of critical thinking skills. They also share the collaborative spirit behind the project and the tool’s success across disciplines.

Dr. Margaret MacDonald on Philosophical Inquiry & Development of Early Childhood Views on Sustainability
Dr. Margaret MacDonald is an Associate Professor in the Faculty of Education specializing in Early Childhood Education. She teaches a number of undergraduate and graduate courses in Early Childhood Education and is an active mentor and co-inquirer at UniverCity Childcare Centre. Her most recent research looks at children’s understanding around stewardship and sustainability through the lens of philosophical inquiry and new materiality.

Dr. Mark Fettes on Building Sustainable Educational Ecologies
Dr. Mark Fettes is an Associate Professor in the Faculty of Education, the Academic Director of the Centre for Imagination, Research, and Culture in Education (CIRCE), and president of the Universal Esperanto Association (UEA) also known as World Esperanto Association. From the foothills of northern Italy to Gabriola Island, the work of Dr. Mark Fettes continues to connect the world.

Q&A with Dr. Wanda Cassidy on Cyberbullying and the Promotion of Positive Online Behaviour
Dr. Cassidy is an Associate Professor in the Faculty of Education and Director of the Centre for Education, Law and Society (CELS). She is also the Faculty's leading expert on cyberbullying.

Q&A with Dr. David Kaufman on AGE-WELL
As one of the co-leaders in the AGE-WELL NCE project, Kaufman tells us more about the project and his collaboration with other researchers.

Dr. Lucy Le Mare Discusses The Romanian Adoption Project – A 25-year Longitudal Study
Dr. Le Mare reveals the importance of her Romanian Adoption Project's impact on research, education and adoption communities.

New Faculty Research

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Dr. Cristiano B. Moura on Justice-Centred Pedagogies in Science Education

Dr. Cristiano B. Moura joined the Faculty of Education in 2023. His research focuses on examining the history and nature of science research in science education, as well as fostering justice-centered pedagogies for science education, working mainly with public schools in Brazil. Currently involved in two State of Rio de Janeiro-funded projects, he also received a two-year SFU New Faculty Start-Up grant for “Advancing Socio-political Aspects in History and Nature of Science Research in Science Education,” for which he is principal investigator.

Dr. Ana Maria Navas Iannini on Interrelationships Among Science Museums, Education, and the Public

Dr. Ana Maria Navas Iannini joined the Faculty of Education in Fall 2022 from the University of Los Andes in Colombia. Specializing in informal science education (ISE), she brings an extensive array of graduate and undergraduate teaching and graduate mentorship experiences as well as a portfolio of research projects in collaboration with Simon Fraser University, the University of São Paulo (Brazil) and the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education - University of Toronto, where she received her PhD in 2017.

Dr. Jeannie Kerr on Diversities, Inequalities, and Social (In)justices in Education

Joining the Faculty of Education in fall 2022, Dr. Jeannie Kerr describes herself as “an educational philosopher, theorist, and qualitative researcher” of Irish and settler identity. Appointed as an associate professor in Curriculum Studies: Educational Theory and Pedagogy, she brings to bear significant experience as a teacher in culturally enriched urban K–12 classrooms, which deeply informs her scholarship focused on examining societal inequalities in K-12, teacher education, and higher education settings. Her work seeks to disrupt the centring of Euro-Western approaches and knowledges in research, theory, and practice.

Dr. Ching-Chiu Lin on Recognizing and Promoting the Social Value of Community Arts Education

Dr. Ching-Chiu Lin joined the Faculty of Education in July 2022 as an assistant professor in Arts Education. Ching has been actively engaged in scholarship since 2011, much of it funded by SSHRC. Her focus is community art education and new modes of learning and practice, particularly involving digital media. She highlights visual methods such as graphic novels, participatory videos, and video case studies, all within the framework of arts-based educational research.

Dr. Lilach Marom on Diversity, Inclusion, Anti-racism, and Social Justice in Teacher Education

Appointed to the Faculty of Education as an assistant professor in summer 2022, Dr. Lilach Marom is interested in questions related to diversity, inclusion, anti-racism, and social justice in teacher education. Having worked as an educator in multiple locations and countries (Israel, the United States, and Canada) with culturally, linguistically, and ethnically diverse populations, Lilach is particularly concerned with the barriers facing internationally educated teachers, racialized, and Indigenous teachers. Her work focuses on efforts toward diversifying teacher education and the teaching force. A starting point of her academic inquiry is grounded in her positionality as an immigrant, Jewish, settler educator.

Indigenous Ways of Learning and Developing Ethical and Collaborative Approaches to Research
Dr. Sara Florence Davidson is a Haida/Settler educator and scholar who has a PhD in Literacy Education. One of the main areas of focus in her research is seeking ways to merge the strengths of Indigenous and non-Indigenous perspectives and pedagogical practices in the K-12 school system. Dr. Davidson is also the project lead on Indigenous Storybooks, where she is learning about how traditional Indigenous stories can be used to strengthen text-based and Indigenous literacy practices.

New Materiality, Practitioner Inquiry and the Importance of Research to Serve Communities
Dr. Cher Hill’s primary areas of expertise include teacher education, qualitative research methods, and practitioner-inquiry, as well as reflective and diffractive practice. Her current scholarship utilizes new materialist theories to make visible the complex entanglements between humans and more-than-humans within educational contexts. Dr. Hill’s recent work involves collaborating with community partners to educate citizens about the impact of colonialism on the Fraser watershed and mobilizing them to restore local creeks.

Critical Journalism and Media Production as a Means for Children’s Moral and Social Development, Understanding Social Issues and Transgressing Boundaries
Dr. Robyn Ilten-Gee’s research is interdisciplinary and focuses on three areas: children’s moral and social development with applications to education, critical pedagogy and social justice education, digital media production and journalism education. She is interested in taking a critical approach to moral development and moral education, critical digital literacy and ways in which multimedia production and journalism can grow critical consciousness and critical moral reasoning.

Imagination in Learning, Teaching Practices and Leadership
Dr. Gillian Judson’s current research looks at the role of imagination in leadership. Her previous scholarship examines imagination’s role in learning (K-post-secondary), imaginative and ecological teaching practices (PreK through post-secondary), and imaginative assessment in the post-secondary context. She plans to research the nature of the leadership (involving both formal administrators and instructional leaders) in schools implementing Imagination in Ecological Education practices such as the Walking Curriculum.

Children’s Digital Literacies, Agency and Creativity, and Learning Practices for Equitable, Inclusive, and Culturally-Responsive Educational Advancement
Dr. Kristiina Kumpulainen’s research focuses on children’s digital literacies, agency and creativity, and learning and teaching practices with evolving technologies in formal education and informal learning environments, including early childhood education centers, schools, homes, museums, science centres, libraries, outdoors, and in digital and immersive worlds. She has researched and developed pedagogies, learning environments and tools for children’s science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics (STEAM) learning, multiliteracies, and for children’s environmental and climate change education.

Inclusive and Equitable Learning to Ensure Social Justice
Anchored in critical disability studies, decolonial theory, and sociocultural, constructivist approaches to learning and teaching, Dr. Inna Stepaniuk’s research and teaching (a) expose the politics of dehumanization embedded in educational systems and (b) support schools and educators to become social justice-oriented educational leaders. Two inquiries that have guided her academic and professional journeys are how to transform schools into inclusive and equitable communities and how to support educators to become social justice-oriented educational leaders.

Dr. Yumiko Murai on Creative Learning, Re-envisioning Pedagogy and Assessment
Dr. Yumiko Murai’s research focuses on designing and studying technological tools, programs, and environments that support learner motivation and confidence through online and in-person creative activities. She shared her journey from a music educator to a researcher and how her experiences from her music classes inspired her to pursue an Ed.D and to explore creative learning approaches in education.

Dr. Geneviève Brisson on Plurilingualism, Transnational Identity and Scribjab
Geneviève Brisson is an assistant professor in Language and Literacy and Francophone Education at SFU. Since joining the Faculty of Education in the Fall of 2017, she has been busy working on a variety of research projects, teaching in the French module of the PDP (Professional Development Program) and contributing to the next generation of researchers by sitting on master and doctoral committees. She has recently come back from participating in the AAAL (American Association of Applied Linguistics) conference in Atlanta, Georgia.

Dr. Angel Lin on Classroom Language Education
Dr. Angel Lin is a Professor in the Faculty of Education and Canada Research Chair in Plurilingual and Intercultural Education. Dr. Lin's current research focus is language use in the classroom. She is exploring new theoretical horizons in classroom language education, beginning with the ways that formal teaching and the use of standardized national languages are in tension with ordinary language use.

Dr. Alanaise Goodwill Shares Her Experiences as an Indigenous Psychologist and Educator
Dr. Goodwill, Registered Psychologist in British Columbia (BC), joined the Faculty of Education in September 2017 as an Assistant Professor in the Counselling Psychology program. She is an Indigenous scientist-practitioner and educator who uses decolonization lenses to mental health practices by addressing serious manifestations of colonial violence.

Implementing Indigenous Perspectives in Courses in the Professional Development Program with Dr. Pooja Dharamshi
Dr. Dharamshi talks with us after recently concluding the data collection phase for her project funded by a grant from the Institute for the Study of Teaching and Learning in the Disciplines (ISTLD).

Dr. Masahiro Minami Discusses Japanese Morita Therapy
Dr. Minami, Assistant Professor, joined the Faculty of Education in May 2016. Currently, he serves as the Assistant Secretary General for the International Committee for Morita Therapy.

Student Research

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Learning in Dancing – What the Body Can Teach Us

Originally from Italy, Dr. Carolina Bergonzoni holds a Ph.D. in Education, a BA and MA in Philosophy, and an MA in Comparative Media Arts. Carolina’s practice spans dancing, writing, philosophizing, and teaching from the body. She is challenging the labels of “professional” and “community-engaged” artmaking and facilitating. Her work has been published, performed, and presented internationally. Carolina is also Artistic Associate of All Bodies Dance Project and a proud board member of Vines Arts Festival and The Biting School. When she is not making things happen, she can be found hiking or competing in dog sports with her goofy golden retriever, Avon Barksdale.

Joining School and Community: Supporting Place-based Educators

Sarah Anderson is an educator and author specializing in place-based education and curriculum design. Previously a middle school humanities teacher, Sarah is the fieldwork and place-based education coordinator at the Cottonwood School of Civics and Science in Portland, Oregon and the author of the book Bringing School to Life: Place-based Education across the Curriculum. In this interview, Sarah provides an overview of her experience with place-based education and outlines research interests for her doctoral work at SFU.

Gender Role and Employment Practices of Refugee Newcomers in Canada

Fatima Jalali-Tehrani is a PhD candidate in the Languages, Cultures and Literacies program in SFU’s Faculty of Education. Fatima recently won the Faculty of Education first-place award for her 3MT presentation about challenges newcomers face during the current wave of globalization. Her interest in mass migration has led her to research how gender, identity, and agency play key roles in resettlement of newcomers to Canada. She is exploring how gender, religion, and social class (re)form both immigrant identity and perpetuate systematic (in)equities in discourse.

Sense of Belonging and Well-Being: Voices of Doctoral Students
Christina is a PhD candidate in Educational Technology and Learning Design. As an educator, Christina is greatly interested in and dedicated to education, empowerment, and equalizing power and privilege for historically excluded, and oppressed peoples of all backgrounds and identities, and the lifelong learning that requires. Her research interests include sense of belonging and inclusion in online learning environments, particularly the possibilities of the learning management system as a third space for students to engage and develop in academic socialization and scholarship. Christina is thankful for the identity development, empowerment, and opportunities higher education has brought her, and will continue to work to pay it forward to others.

Critical Pedagogy for Socially Just Media Production Education and Media Work Futures
As a PhD candidate in the Equity Studies program, Ki Wight's research relationships between media production education, media work cultures, and systems of oppression. Her work engages critical and decolonial pedagogy, social justice education practices, critical whiteness studies, feminist and queer theory, and media and cultural studies. She works as an instructor in the Communication Studies, Motion Picture Arts, and Women’s and Gender Studies departments at Capilano University. Previously, she was a film and television producer and executive for Canadian and international productions.

Resilience, Support, and Empowerment: Experience from Community-based Research
Akiko Ohta is a PhD student in Languages, Cultures and Literacies and a member of the SFU Mental Health Services Research Lab. She was recently an Evaluation Lead for a pilot project supporting Government-Assisted-Refugee mothers in Canada and has also worked on rural community development in several Islamic countries. Akiko is particularly interested in approaches that support refugee mothers’ individual challenges and complexities, enabling them to feel a sense of belonging in their new home and empowering them to pursue a future.

Service as a Way of Being: Understanding the Experiences of Service Providers toward Building an Equitable Environment
Elizabeth Bishop is pursuing her PhD with the Philosophy of Education program in the Faculty of Education. She has recently won a Develop Grant with Vancouver Foundation. Her research with the foundation focuses on understanding the lived experiences of healthcare and social service providers to build a productive, equitable, and safe work environment.

Impact of Early Intervention Programs on the Social-Emotional Development of Educationally Disadvantaged Children
Camilla Enns is a master’s student in the Counselling Psychology program in the Faculty of Education at Simon Fraser University. She was recently awarded a graduate scholarship from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC). With the support of this scholarship, her research will focus on the Home Instruction for Parents of Preschool Youngsters (HIPPY) program, an early intervention program that supports vulnerable and socially isolated mothers with young children.

Exploring Kinship in Children’s Literature through a Queer Ecologies Framework
Kathleen Forrester is a PhD candidate in Simon Fraser University’s Faculty of Education Educational Theory and Practice (eTAP): Curriculum, Theory and Implementation program. Studying under the supervision of Dr. Elizabeth Marshall, she researches kinship in children’s literature through a queer ecologies framework. In 2017, her manuscript, Jaida Wood, was longlisted for the international Times/Chicken House Children’s Fiction Competition. Kathleen has published peer-reviewed papers on topics related to children’s literature in the International IBBY journal, Bookbird, in the Canadian journal, Jeunesse, and most recently, in the open-access journal, Barnboken.

Mass Conflicts, Lived Experiences of Youth Born of Wartime Sexual Violence, Stigma and Sexual Health
Jessamyn Hung is a Master’s candidate in the Counselling Psychology program in the Faculty of Education at Simon Fraser University. Their research explores the experiences of youth conceived through wartime sexual violence in order to evaluate and address barriers to sexual and reproductive wellness. Jessamyn is a passionate advocate for mental and sexual health justice and aims to contribute to service accessibility through their research.

Investigating the Nature of Radicalization of Fundamental Belief Structures and Implications for Education
Steven Zhao is currently a 3rd year PhD student at Simon Fraser University, who is studying and thinking about the philosophy of education. Specifically, he is in the midst of thinking and writing about ideas such as, belief polarization, dialogical ethics, spirituality, Buddhist modernism, philosophy of mind, and ethics of communicative/educational technologies.

Dr. Jing Li on Transformative Pedagogy: Public Places as Educational Sites and Community Building
Dr. Jing Li recently completed her PhD from the Faculty of Education from SFU. Her research interests include sociolinguistics, critical pedagogies, critical multiliteracies in (non)formal educative contexts, and community research in art, culture, and education. She shared her doctoral journey, her research interests and the projects she is currently involved in.

Dr. Poh Tan on How Different Epistemologies Have Converged in Her Research and Why It Is Important
With a PhD in Experimental Medicine, Dr. Tan is completing her second PhD in Educational Theory and Practice at SFU. Her research focuses on the development of scientific literacy through Indigenous Hawaiian epistemology. She was editor-in-chief of SFU Educational Review Journal, and is the inaugural recipient of the Dean of Education Kris Magnusson’s Emerging Leaders Graduate Award for leadership and advocacy for positive change in education. In this interview, Dr. Tan shares valuable insights with us about her research, and experiences in academia

Jacqueline Barreiro on Storytelling, Pedagogy, and Post Humanism
Jacqueline Barreiro, doctoral candidate in SFU’s Curriculum Theory and Implementation program, Sessional Instructor for the Faculty of Education, and Associate Editor of SFU’s graduate-run Educational Review Journal. Her doctoral inquiry focuses specifically on the educational implications of posthumanist theories as pedagogical tools of critique. Informing her scholarship is over twenty years of experience as teacher and principal in the K-12 system and at the University level in the United States, Ecuador, and Canada. Jacqueline was particularly transformed by her experience working as a teacher, and then principal, at a school in the rural Ecuadorian Andes. The culmination of Jacqueline’s experiences orients her towards engaging in research and pedagogical practices that improve conditions for students.

Bronwen McCann on Collaborative Program Evaluation and Community-Engagement
Bronwen McCann is a Master’s student in the Arts Education program. She is passionate about early childhood education, particularly curriculum development that bridges the divide between arts and outdoor education.

Jovita Vytasek on Writing Analytics Software
Jovita Vytasek is a doctoral student in the Faculty of Education and works in the Educational Psychology Laboratory. She presents us with a new topic modelling software application designed to help writers with revision.

Dominic Trevisan, PhD student, Co-authors Most Read Education Research Article in 2017
After completing his master’s here at SFU, Dominic decided to pursue his PhD in Educational Psychology. “I wanted to study in a heavily research-focused program, but with opportunities to conduct practical research in educational and other applied settings.”

Current PhD Student Dr. Poh Tan Focuses Her Research on Developing Scientific Literacy in Young Children
Born in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Poh Tan did not have an easy childhood. Domestic violence was a reality in her family. Yet, with a strong passion for science, she was determined to overcome her home problems and through perseverance and motivation she became a stem cell specialist.

Annette Rouleau's Inspirational PhD Journey
Ms. Annette Rouleau started her PhD in Mathematics Education in September 2014. She admits having conflicted feelings when Prof. Peter Liljedahl first asked her to be his PhD student. However, she has since met the challenge head-on.

Postdoctoral Fellow Research

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Dr. Gloria Lin on Justice, Equity, and Inclusion for Indigenous and Marginalized Communities

Gloria (Yu-ting) Lin, PhD, is a first-generation Taiwanese scholar. Recognizing the privilege of growing up on the traditional, ancestral, and unceded homelands of the xʷməθkwəy̓əm, Sḵwx̱wú7mesh, kʷikʷəƛ̓əm, qiqéyt and səl̓ilwətaɁɬ təməxʷ peoples (also known as Burnaby), Gloria is committed to carrying out her responsibilities as a racialized settler. Her research and teaching focus on unpacking the legacies of racism, colonialism, and imperialism in the public school and higher education systems and advocating for justice, equity, and inclusion for Indigenous and marginalized communities.