Aboriginal Doctoral Students Graduate

Eleven Aboriginal doctoral students will graduate from the University of British Columbia’s Faculty of Education this year – the largest number to graduate from an education faculty in any Canadian university in one year.

“A doctoral degree is always a significant accomplishment, but the success of these eleven students is particularly meaningful because of the impact they will have in the community,” says Jo-Ann Archibald, associate dean of Indigenous Education. “We have made it a priority to provide students with the opportunity to learn about and do research using aboriginal knowledge perspectives to address pressing issues and now we are seeing the results.”

The graduates pursued research in areas where there has been very little or no research: indigenous language learning, leadership in postsecondary education, intergenerational learning, Aboriginal children in care, prison education, and Aboriginal family violence, intervention and healing.

“My graduate work has given me a sense of belonging and an understanding of the role I can play as a leader, mentor and representative of my community,” says Donna Lester-Smith, whose PhD research was about healing the wounds of family violence with indigenous traditional holistic practices. “The support and encouragement I got through this program allowed me to move forward as an academic and contributor to this field.”

Lester-Smith and her peers developed ground-breaking culturally responsive research methodologies that will be used in future investigations.

Congratulations to the following graduates:

    Shelly Johnson, EdD, Educational Studies
    Marie Anderson, EdD, Educational Studies
    Verna Billy Minnabarriet, EdD, Educational Studies
    Deborah Canada, EdD, Educational Studies
    Kathy Michel, EdD, Educational Studies
    Onowa McIvor, PhD, Language and Literacy Education
    Aruna Gore, EdD, Educational Studies
    Todd Ormiston, EdD, Educational Studies
    Patricia Rosborough, EdD, Educational Studies
    Madeleine MacIvor, EdD, Educational Studies
    Donna Lester-Smith, PhD, Centre for Cross Faculty Inquiry

The Faculty of Education aims to increase the number of undergraduate and graduate educational opportunities through new programs and mentorship of both Indigenous and non-Indigenous faculty members. Including this year’s graduating class, 43 Aboriginal doctoral students have gradated from the Faculty of Education in the past 20 years.

The Faculty of Education is a leader in Canada in the field of Indigenous Education. It works with Aboriginal communities and organizations to develop its strategy on Aboriginal education and engagement. All students learn about Aboriginal perspectives, issues, and culturally responsive learning approaches. UBC’s Teacher Education program includes a mandatory course on Aboriginal perspectives. With 11 tenured or tenure-track faculty members, the Faculty of Education also has the highest number of Aboriginal faculty in Canada. The 38 year-old Native Indian Teacher Education Program (NITEP) has graduated 358 Aboriginal educators who now work in Aboriginal communities throughout B.C. and elsewhere.

To celebrate its success and knowledge in this field, the Faculty of Education has made 2012-2013 the Year of Indigenous Education. The year is an initiative to create dialogue, share insights, and develop individual and cooperative actions to accelerate the success of Indigenous education. For more information, visit: yie.educ.ubc.ca

In the Globe and Mail, Vancouver Sun

Imogene Okes 2012 Award

Congratulations are in order to Drs. John Collins and Dan Pratt, recipients of the AAACE (American Association for Adult and Continuing Education) 2012 Imogene Okes award for Outstanding Research in Adult Education for their article “The Teaching Perspectives Inventory at 10 years and 100,000 Respondents: Reliability and Validity of a Teacher Self-Report Inventory,” published in Adult Education Quarterly, November 2011 (pp. 1–18). The award will be presented at the November 8 annual conference of AAACE.

Dan Pratt, PhD, Professor and Senior Scholar, The University of British Columbia

Dan Pratt is Professor of Adult & Higher Education in the Department of Educational Studies and holds a cross-appointment to the Faculty of Medicine where he is a Senior Scholar in the Centre for Health Education Scholarship (CHES). He is a faculty member for the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons Educators’ Course and the Macy Institute for the Health Professions in the Harvard Medical School. He has been a visiting professor at universities across North America, Europe, Asia, and Australia.

In 1992 Professor Pratt received the Killam Teaching Prize at UBC. In 1999 his book Five Perspectives on Teaching in Adult and Higher Education won the Cyril O. Houle Award for most outstanding literature in adult education. In 2008 he received Canada’s most prestigious university teaching award—the 3M National Teaching Fellowship. In 2011, Dan was inducted into the Adult and Continuing Education International Hall of Fame.

John B. Collins, PhD, Adjunct Professor, The University of British Columbia

John Collins is Adjunct Professor in the Department of Educational Studies at the University of British Columbia and collaborates with several schools and departments in the Health Sciences. He specializes in program evaluations of educational training and initiatives, especially for mid-career adults in medicine, nursing, pharmacy, law, education, and other social and health services. He maintains a particular focus in developing and validating surveys, scales, and custom-designed indices for large-scale information gathering and analysis.

During 2007–2008, he was invited as contracted researcher at Republic Polytechnic, the newest of Singapore’s five polytechnics and its only completely problem-based instructional institution. Currently, he evades retirement by collaborating on several research projects, writing, publishing, and advising students on thesis and dissertation committees across-campus and at other universities.

IOP 2013 – Call for Proposals

Investigating Our Practices 2013, 16th annual conference. Saturday, May 11, 2013. Co-sponsored by the Faculty of Education and the BCTF.  Neville Scarfe Building.  Practicing teachers, graduate students, undergraduate students, and university educators from different educational contexts convene at UBC to share their investigations, understandings and questions. Registration fee: $25 ($15 for students).  Breakfast, refreshments and lunch included. Proposals for presentations can be submitted online at http://pdce.educ.ubc.ca/iop-cfp. Submission deadline:  February 26.  For more information or to register for the conference, visit http://pdce.educ.ubc.ca/iop2013 or contact Judy Paley at 604.822.2733 judy.paley@ubc.ca.