The Making of a Generation (book launch)

On Friday, February 25, Professor Lesley Andres will present her new book, The Making of a Generation, as part of the Public Culture series of Educational Studies. The book launch will be held at 4:30pm in Ponderson G, Lounge, UBC Vancouver campus.

Secondary school graduates of the late 1980s and early 1990s have found themselves coping with economic insecurity, social change, and workplace restructuring. Drawing on studies that have recorded the lives of young people in two countries for over fifteen years, The Making of a Generation offers unique insight into the hopes, dreams, and trajectories of a generation.
Although children born in the 1970s were more educated than ever before, as adults they entered new labour markets that were de-regulated and precarious. Lesley Andres and Johanna Wyn discuss the consequences of education and labour policies in Canada and Australia, emphasizing their long-term impacts on health, well-being, and family formation. They conclude that these young adults bore the brunt of policies designed to bring about rapid changes in the nature of work. Despite their modest hopes and aspirations for security, those born in the 1970s became a vanguard generation as they negotiated the significant social and economic transformations of the 1990s.

Professor Lesley Andres

Visit the EDST Website for details on upcoming speakers in the series.

First Nations Education Policy in Canada

Dr. Fallon

Dr. Gerald Fallon, EDST professor, and coauthor Dr. Jerry Paquette of the University of Western Ontario, introduced their new book, “First Nations Education Policy in Canada”, at a book launch event hosted by EDST on February 10th.
From the publisher:

How can First Nations schools in Canada offer a curriculum that is at once authentically and deeply Aboriginal while comparable in content, quality, and standards to provincial and territorial education? First Nations Education Policy in Canada is a critical analysis of policy developments affecting First Nations education since 1986 and a series of recommendations for future policy changes.
Jerry Paquette and Gérald Fallon challenge the fundamental assumptions about Aboriginal education that have led to a Balkanized and ineffective educational system able to serve few of the needs of students. To move forward, the authors have developed a conceptual framework with which to re-envision the social, political, and educational goals of a self-governing First Nations education system. Offering a sorely needed fresh perspective on an issue vital to the community, First Nations Education Policy in Canada is grounds for critical reflection not only on education but on the future of Aboriginal self-determination.

Dr. Paquette participated in the launch through Internet video conference call. Congratulations to the authors on this achievement.

Carrie Hunter, student profile

After years teaching chemistry and more years working as a trainer in the pharmaceutical industry, I left Ontario to pursue a PhD in EDST. I am interested in the intersection between The Knowledge Based Economy and Lifelong Learning. I am the GAA for CHET (Centre for Policy Studies in Higher Education and Training), a Research Assistant for the School of Medicine and I invigilate exams for Access and Diversity. I am active on the EDST Student Council, the PhD Management Committee and the Public Culture Committee, as coordinator of Wonderful Wednesdays’ Student Speaker Series. I have 2 teen sons, 2 cats and an unhealthy relationship with licorice candy. *grin*
I am posting a daily blog at LLLandtheKBA@blogspot.com in which I ruminate about readings I have been doing into Lifelong Learning and the Knowledge Based Economy. I encourage anyone interested in these issues to join me in dialogue there.

Methodologies: Truth, Lies and Indeterminacies (and Everything Else)

On February 10th, EDST faculty member Taylor Webb will participate on a panel discussion about methodologies, in UBC Faculty of Education’s Scarfe building, Room 310, from noon to 2:00pm. Please see the attached poster image for the complete list of panelists.

First Nations Education Policy in Canada: Progress or Gridlock? (2010)

2011 Public Culture Series presents a Book Launch. Feb 10, Professors Gerald Fallon, UBC & Jerry Paquette, University of Western Ontario: First Nations Education Policy in Canada: Progress or Gridlock? (2010). Toronto: University of Toronto Press.

Time: 4:30 pm, light refreshments provided. Location: EDST, 2044 Lower Mall, Ponderosa G, Lounge. Via Skype, meet Jerry Paquette and join the conversation in person with Prof. Gerald Fallon.

Abstract: How can First Nations schools in Canada offer quality education that is authentically and deeply Aboriginal yet meets the curriculum content requirements and standards of the provincial and territorial systems? This book addresses this question through and in-depth critical analysis of the major policy issues affecting First Nations education, with particular focus on developments that occurred since the mid-1980s. The authors challenge fundamental assumptions about Aboriginal education that have led to a balkanized and ineffective educational system, thus failing to meet the needs of its students. In response to this gridlock, the authors have formulated a conceptual framework that re-envisions the social, political, and educational goals of a self-governing First Nations educational system. Based on the underlying principles and vision within this framework, that author presents a series of recommendations for future policy changes. First Nations Education Policy in Canada lays the groundwork for a new conception not only in Aboriginal education but also of the future of Aboriginal self-determination.

See the EDST website for scheduling details and the lineup of future speakers.