Faculty of Education

Dr. Karen Edge joined Yorkville University in September 2025 from UCL Institute of Education (“IOE”) in London, UK. At IOE, Karen led the MA Leadership and MBA Educational Leadership (International) programs. As UCL’s Pro-Vice Provost (International), Karen co-led and championed the implementation of UCL’s international strategy including co-chairing UCL’s Canadian strategic partnership and the UCL Global Research Forum. 

Awarded over CDN $1.8 million in research funding, Karen’s research spans 35+ countries and explores educational leadership, equality and diversity, international collaborations, generational theory, and system-level change. Karen prioritizes inclusion and partnership, engaging over 100 global research colleagues, and 75 expert academic, policy and practice advisory board members.  

Karen holds a PhD in Educational Administration and Master of Arts (Higher Education) from the Ontario Institute of Studies in Education/University of Toronto. She earned her BSc in Biology and Environmental Science from Western University. She also received the UCL IOE Director’s Prize for Public Engagement (2015) and became a Salzburg Global Fellow (2022). 

Karen has long admired the innovation and strength of the Faculty of Education and is excited to work alongside colleagues and students. She looks forward to collaborating with sector partners for the benefit of students, faculty and educational organizations and systems across the country.  

Dr. Jeeyeon Ryu is the Interim Associate Dean (General Education) and Chair of Curriculum and Pedagogy in the Faculty of Education at Yorkville University. She started teaching at Yorkville in 2021 and joined the Faculty of Education Leadership Team (FELT) in 2023. Jeeyeon brings over 25 years of teaching experience in various educational contexts, and she holds PhD in Curriculum Studies (UBC), as well as bachelor’s (Western) and master’s (UVic) degrees in Music, specializing in piano performance and pedagogy. Currently, Jeeyeon’s research explores themes and variations related to arts-integrated pedagogies, lived/living curriculum, reflexive praxis, and creativity in teaching and learning. Inspired by various artistic practices, she integrates music, poetry, photography, videography, and creative storytelling into her teaching, research, and writing. Her scholarly works have been published by Brill, Guilford Press, Music Education Research, International Journal of Education through Art, Qualitative Inquiry, LEARNing Landscapes, Routledge, Oxford University Press, and Vernon Press. In 2024, she published her first book, THAWZEN Moments which includes a collection of vignettes, digital collages, poems, and narratives about creating more meaningful and creative approaches to teaching, learning, and re/presenting research. 

To learn more about Dr. Ryu’s research, please visit her portfolio here.  

Research Interests: curriculum studies, arts-based research, a/r/tographical living inquiry, evocative autoethnography, reflexive inquiry, poetic inquiry, creative teaching, learning, and research practices. 

Deb Clendinneng is a Professor of Nursing in the University of Ottawa/Algonquin College collaborative BScN Program. She holds a Master’s Degree and a Doctorate in Education (Teaching and Learning) from the University of Ottawa. She has extensive experience in online and blended educational programming. Her research interests focus on praxis in adult education and continuing professional development. Current research focuses on educational strategies to teach non-technical skills to perioperative nurses.

Dr. Sepideh Mahani is the Associate Dean (Education) and Chair of Educational Leadership at Yorkville University. With over 20 years of experience in K–12 and higher education across both national and international contexts, she brings a global and inclusive perspective to educational leadership and curriculum development. Her academic journey began with a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science, followed by a Master’s and PhD in Educational Leadership. 

 
Dr. Mahani is deeply committed to fostering inclusive, innovative, and research-informed teaching practices. She is particularly passionate about advancing curriculum and designing learning environments that are socially responsive, equity-driven, and responsive to the evolving needs of diverse student populations. Her research interests span a wide range of topics, including social justice, diversity in education, humanizing pedagogy, culturally responsive teaching, support for first-generation students, and gender equity in education. Her work has been published in leading academic journals such as Qualitative Inquiry, The Journal of First-Generation Student Success, Cultural and Pedagogical Inquiry, and The Journal of International Education Research. She is also the co-author of Sister Scholars: Untangling Issues of Identity as Women in Academe (DIO Press, 2021). 
 

Google Scholar Publication List 

Dr. Barbara Elliott is Dean of the School of Health Sciences at College of the North Atlantic in Newfoundland and Labrador. Her educational background includes a Doctorate of Philosophy (Adult Education Leadership), Master of Nursing, and Bachelor of Nursing. She has 25 years of teaching experience and has research interests in the areas of online student engagement, faculty mentorship, and outpatient breast cancer surgery. Barbara is a reviewer for the Canadian Association of Schools of Nursing (CASN), an International Registered Nurse Examination Item Writer for The National Council of State Boards of Nursing, and serves as a board member for the Canadian Association of Allied Health Programs (CAAHP).

Research Interests: online teaching, nursing education, faculty mentorship

Publications:

De Carvalho, D., Bussières, A., French, S. D., Wade, D., Brake-Patten, D., O’Keefe, L., Elliott, B., Budgell, K., O’Reilly, S., To, D., & Hall, A. (2022). Exploring factors influencing chiropractors’ adherence to radiographic guidelines for low back pain using the Theoretical Domains Framework. Chiropractic & Manual Therapies, 30(1), 23.

Roopnarinesingh, R., Chowdhury, F., Eisbrenner, J., Saporna, S., Trunkova, J., & Elliott, B. (2021). Improving the health of migrant workers: A community health nursing advocacy project. International Journal of Student Nursing Scholarship, 8(2021).

Elliott. B. (2021). Pandemic teaching: Unveiling opportunities for hope. International Journal of Nursing and Clinical Practices, 8, 342.

Elliott, B. (2021). Discarding my 20-year teaching playbook during COVID-19. Presented at the Speaker Series: 2nd Virtual Conference on Nursing Education and Health Care, March 19-20, 2021.

De Carvalho, D., Bussières, A., French, S. D., Wade, D., Brake-Patten, D., O’Keefe, L., Elliott, B., Budgell, K., O’Reilly, S., To, D., & Hall, A. (2021). Knowledge of and adherence to radiographic guidelines for low back pain: A survey of chiropractors in Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. Chiropractic & Manual Therapies, 29(4). 

Elliott, B. (2017). Clinical teaching: A workshop for instructors. Presented at College of the North Atlantic, February 2017. 

Greenslade, V., Elliott, B., & Mandville-Anstey, S. (2010). Same day breast cancer surgery: An appreciation of women’s experiences and recommendations for success. Oncology Nursing Forum, 37(2).

Elliott, B. (2008). Exploring job satisfaction of nursing faculty in Newfoundland and Labrador. Presented at the 2008 Atlantic Region Canadian Association of Schools of Nursing Conference, Sydney, Nova Scotia, June 2008.

Elliott, B. (2008). Exploring job satisfaction of nursing faculty in Newfoundland and Labrador. Presented at the 2008 Canadian Association of Schools of Nursing Leadership Conference, Toronto, Ontario, May 2008.

Greenslade, V., Elliott, B., & Mandville-Anstey, S. (2008). Same day breast cancer surgery: An appreciation of women’s experiences and recommendations for success. Presented at the 2008 Atlantic Region Canadian Association of Schools of Nursing Conference, Sydney, Nova Scotia, June 2008.

Greenslade, V., Elliott, B., & Mandville-Anstey, S. (2007). Same day breast cancer surgery: An appreciation of women’s experiences and recommendations for success. Presented at the Nursing Education and Research Council Annual Research Symposium – Eastern Health, St. John’s, Newfoundland, May 2007.

Greenslade, V., Elliott, B., & Mandville-Anstey, S. (2007). Same day breast cancer surgery: An appreciation of women’s experiences and recommendations for success. Presented at the CASN Nurse Educator’s Conference, Hamilton, Ontario. November 2007.

Greenslade, V., Elliott, B., & Mandville-Anstey, S. (2007). Same day breast cancer surgery: An appreciation of women’s experiences and recommendations for success. Presented at the Community Health Nurses Association 1st National Conference for Community Health Nurses: Mapping the Future for Better Health, Toronto, Ontario, May 2007. 

Greenslade, V., Elliott, B., & Mandville-Anstey, S. (2007). Same day breast cancer surgery: An appreciation of women’s experiences and recommendations for success. Presented at the University of Western Ontario 20th Annual Research Conference, Toronto, Ontario, April 2007. 

Elliott, B. (2007). Enhancing faculty morale in nursing education. Presented at the Western Regional Canadian Association of Schools of Nursing Conference, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, February 2007.Elliott, B. (2001). The implementation and evaluation of ‘Wise Choices: Adolescents and Nutrition’ Program. Presented at Memorial University of Newfoundland in partial fulfillment of the requirement for the Master of Nursing Degree, April 2001.

Debbie McCleary earned a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from the University of Western Ontario with a concentration in childhood and adolescent development which, combined with her commitment to lifelong learning, led her to complete a Master of Science in elementary education. She has a keen interest in social justice and improving equality of access to educational opportunities for all learners which led her to pursue a doctorate degree from Niagara University where her research focused on the perceived lived experiences of adolescent refugees resettling in Ontario, Canada. She has developed, implemented, and evaluated several courses within teacher training programs in North America while mentoring and supervising student research. As a presenter and academic reviewer, she contributes to the community of prominent international associations in the field of educational research. 

Research Interests: qualitative research with a focus on literacies, educational leadership, and student wellness.

Publication Link

Wendy Kraglund-Gauthier is an educator, researcher, and consultant with over 25 years’ experience in K–12, post-secondary, and adult learning contexts. Central to her work is achieving and facilitating sound teaching pedagogy, including ways universal design for learning principles and technologies can be used in face-to-face and online spaces to promote collaborative, safe learning for students of diverse ages, abilities, and backgrounds, all with a lens of social justice. Additional areas of interest include leadership, mentorship, and workplace and personal skills development. Her consultant work focuses on workplace development, including essential skills and employability skills curriculum writing, and training workshops, and community-based capacity-building. Wendy holds a PhD in Education, a Masters in Adult Education, BEd, BA, and a Bachelor of Business Administration (Leadership and Management). Wendy is the Associate Dean (Research) and Chair, Adult Education for Yorkville’s Faculty of Education.

Research interests: workplace learning, program evaluation, and cultural competencies using participatory action research and mixed methods

Google Scholar Publications List

bpotvin@yorkvilleu.ca 

I am an educator and leader of educators, with experiences as a school and university administrator, pastor, university professor, classroom teacher, and educational technical advisor and consultant for government and non-governmental organisations and external evaluator for university programs. I have designed and led in the implementation of two accredited Bachelor of Education degree programs in Alberta and was appointed Associate Dean for both programs-Concordia University of Edmonton and Ambrose University in Calgary. I have been an Executive Director and Principal in two alternative schools in the Palliser School Division in Alberta. In addition, I have 9 years of K-12 teaching experience. 

I have formulated policy at national and provincial levels, most recently a national policy titled Credentialing Framework for Teachers in Afghanistan. I have completed other educational-related contracts with government and nongovernmental organisations, written reports from design phase through to final reports on teacher certification, program development and needs assessment, and designed needs assessment reports for projects in twelve other global settings. I have been a team member for three university self assessments: University of Praetoria, Quest University, and St. Mary’s University (Calgary). I have co-authored three books and authored a fourth. 

I have research interests that include assessment and evaluation, creating hybrid and blended courses based on principles of effective classroom and group dynamics, concept formation, performance anxiety. My current research interest is a descriptive case study with Ugandan school-aged children with disabilities and their experience with technology that supported their academic and inclusion outcomes.

I have either supervised or been an examiner (both internal/external as well as external) for over 60 graduate students. I am co-founder of Old Guys in Action, a humanitarian group that promotes learning, engagement, networking, and fund raising for charities. I am married to Ann (40 years and counting) and am a father of three grown children and ‘Pop’ to four grandchildren.

Website

Diane Burt is an experienced educator and educational leader. She has been involved in teaching and training in the non-profit, for-profit, and public sectors, but spent most of her career in higher education leadership roles including Principal, Director, and Associate Vice President. She won awards for her work as the Director of Applied Research and Innovation at the New Brunswick Community College, where she established and successfully grew the College’s Office of Applied Research. Currently, she consults and facilitates courses and workshops in the areas of adult and vocational education, applied research, leadership and change. Diane holds a BA in English, BEd in Secondary Education, MEd in Adult Education, and EdD in Educational Leadership. She has been teaching part-time at Yorkville University since 2014.

Research Interests: adult education, experiential learning, applied research, community engagement, educational leadership, organizational change.

Doris MacKinnon earned a BA (English), MA (Canadian History), PhD (Canadian Indigenous History), and an MEd (Adult Indigenous Education). Relying on mixed methods, archival and oral history research, her primary areas of focus are Indigenous history, culture ,and education. As an interdisciplinary scholar, she has expertise in decolonizing curriculum and has instructed in the areas of post-colonial Canada, settler–Indigenous relations, Indigenous history, and Indigenization of education. She has held leadership positions at post-secondary institutions and national non-profit associations and is passionate about diversity initiatives, blended learning, ethical leadership and the scholarship of teaching and learning. Dr. MacKinnon has served in a professional capacity as a member of the Women’s and Gender Studies et Recherches Feminists, The Western Association of Women Historians, the Canadian Association of Instructional Designers, The Canadian Association of Continuing Care Educators, and as an Associate Editor of The Canadian Journal of Scholarship and Teaching. Her publications include numerous full-length studies and articles exploring the lives of Indigenous women as well as inclusive education.

Media interviews and reviews of her publications can be found on her website.

Gabrielle Hughes holds a DPhil in Archaeology from the University of Oxford, specializing in the protection of traditional knowledge in digital environments through the lens of Indigenous video games. She is a member of the Cape Sable Island Wampanoag and grew up in Mi’kma’ki in Newfoundland, where she has close ties to the Mi’kmaw community, for whom she is a drum carrier. Over the years, she has been fortunate to work with and learn from Indigenous communities, artists, and innovators on the importance of self-determined Indigenous representation, pedagogies, and research methodologies across communities and disciplines. Gabrielle is a Rhodes Scholar and holds master’s degrees in both Archaeology and Art History from the University of Oxford, as well as a BFA in Visual Arts from her alma mater, Memorial University of Newfoundland. She is passionate about the protection of traditional knowledge in both ‘real’ and virtual worlds; Indigenous art and innovation; museology and collaborative heritage management; Indigenous pedagogies and research methodologies; and Indigenous sovereignty and self-determination.

Georgann Cope Watson is a faculty member and researcher invested in Reconciliation, the praxis of critical and feminist pedagogy, the pedagogy of adult education, and the pedagogy of online teaching. Current research projects include a collaborative project on how Indigenous and non-Indigenous educators can hold space for each other’s worldviews while working towards Reconciliation. Recent publications include journal articles and book chapters on Reconciliaction: A response to the TRC Calls to Action. Georgann lives, works, studies, teaches, and plays on the traditional territory of the Ktunaxa First Nation, and is grateful for the peace and harmony she finds in this land of mountains and lakes.

Research Interests: Reconciliation, adult education, online learning, critical pedagogy

Publications

Janet Groen, EdD,  has been an adult educator in multiple contexts: as an English as an Additional Language Instructor in Canada and overseas, as a Staff Development Consultant for a school board in Ontario, and as free-lance trainer and consultant in profit and non-profit settings   All of these roles contributed significantly to her role as a Professor of Adult Learning at the Werklund School of Education with the University of Calgary, as well as her administrative positions as Associate Dean of Graduate Studies in Education, Chair of Adult Learning and Graduate Program Director.  A constant across all these positions has been her passion for creating safe, vibrant, and deeply connected spaces where the experiences and wisdom of adult learners are central to the process of learning. 

Her research explores the link between spirituality and adult learning within various contexts such as the workplace, the university and in adult environmental education.  She has also focused on transformational learning and learning opportunities for marginalized non-traditional adult learners. She has received over $300,000.00 in national and university grants to support her research and has co-authored/authored 4 books, as well as several book chapters and over forty scholarly articles.  

She is a recipient of the University of Calgary Teaching Award for Full-Time Faculty. Having supervised 24 doctoral and masters students, and served as internal and external examiner for multiple graduate students, she has also received a Great Supervisor Award from the Faculty of Graduate Studies at the University of Calgary. 

Research Interests:  

Adult Learning Processes, Spirituality of Adult Learning, Spirituality in Workplace Settings, Contemplative Pedagogy, Environmental Education, and Transformational Learning 

Jennifer Long is a cultural and applied anthropologist who graduated from the University of Western Ontario (2012) with a specialization in migration and ethnic relations. She is currently an Assistant Professor at MacEwan University in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada and sessional instructor at Yorkville University. 

Jennifer has conducted research in the fields of immigration and national belonging in the Netherlands and Canada. Most recently, she conducted ethnography to explore whiteness and white racial identity in Edmonton and Alberta. Dr. Long conducts ethnography (and has conducted auto-ethnography in the past), conducts interviews and focus groups, and integrates social design research methods into her research. She has also been a part of multiple, interdisciplinary teams conducting mixed research methods.  

Research Interests: whiteness, national belonging, newcomer, immigrant integration, ethnography

Joanie Crandall earned her PhD in Interdisciplinary Studies (Education-English-Indigenous Studies) through the University of Saskatchewan. She brings extensive experience from urban and remote educational contexts, supporting learners from Kindergarten through to graduate level. She brings a background in instructional design, educational media, teaching, instructional coaching, and administration. Her research interests are, broadly, social justice education, Indigenous education, and interdisciplinary education.

Jordan is a cisgender male who identifies as queer and neurodivergent, and he has Métis ancestry. His unique perspective enriches his work as an anti-racist and anti-oppressive educator. He completed his PhD in Education in 2022, focusing his research on anti-racist education and arts education. His extensive research in these fields has highlighted the importance of fostering diverse awareness and understanding in both educational and public settings.

Aside from his academic work, Jordan has also served for several organizations, including the Saskatchewan Advocate for Children and Youth, the Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations, and Greater Catholic School Division. He currently serves as a Senior Consultant in the Early Years Branch of the Ministry of Education for the Government of Saskatchewan and is a Lecturer at the University of Saskatchewan. His publications and teaching interests focus on anti-racist education, anti-oppressive education, reconciliation, intersectionality, early years education, arts education, a/r/tography, action research, educational policy, diversity in leadership, educational leadership.

Research Interests:

Interests: Anti-racist education, anti-oppressive education, reconciliation, intersectionality, early years education, arts education, a/r/tography, action research, educational policy, diversity in leadership, educational leadership.

Joy Kcenia O’Neil holds a PhD in Sustainability Education from Prescott College, Arizona, USA where she studied socio-ecological sustainability, intra-active pedagogies, sustainable leadership, and adult and transformative learning in higher education. In her research, she took a reflexive inquiry and narrative living story approach to her own teaching practice and the learning of others as she examined how and in what ways relationality contributes to learning. She has been an educator and practitioner in formal and non-formal higher education for 18 years in the Southwest and Midwest USA and abroad and in Japan for 5 years. Much of her recent teaching and student mentoring focuses on social and ecological justice in education. She has designed and administratively led undergraduate and graduate academic programs for state and private institutions of higher education and has consulted in curriculum and program development in higher education. She thrives on fostering transformative change-agency learning and leading experiences by exposing students to diverse ways of thinking and designing projects to solve the most complex pressing issues we face in society. As a first-generation college graduate and first-generation Mexican-Polish-Russian American, she brings her whole self and a culturally responsive and relevant lens that contributes to her interconnected and inclusive thinking. She also holds a BS and Master’s in environmental /ecological sciences and contributes her ecological knowledge to her design process of educational systems. She lives in the Pacific Northwest, USA with her family and enjoys being outside in the natural world as much as possible. She also loves the kitchen as placemaking meaningful food experiences laughing, eating, and learning with others.

You can connect with her at her professional website and find her academic writing here.

Kathryn Lawson holds an EdD in Curriculum and Learning from the University of Calgary in Alberta, Canada where she studied organizational storytelling of preservice teacher field experiences through the living stories of school-based administrators. Dr. Lawson is interested in troubling the taken-for-granted socialization and evaluation of preservice teachers, identity development of preservice and early-career teachers, the role of communication in the authorization of the idealized teacher through field experience, as well as preservice teacher identity journeys through relational engagement with Indigenous communities and introduction to traditional Indigenous knowledge. Her experiences as an educator with students in First Nation communities, special education programs, inclusive classrooms, and with preservice teacher/partner teacher partnerships continues to affirm the importance of first-person stories in education and vulnerability in teachers and teacher educators. When designing courses, Dr. Lawson centres ethical inclusion and two-eyed seeing through critical reflection of self and place, collaboration, and flexible design for student agency. Current research includes co-investigation of preservice teacher critical engagement with notions of “classroom management”/student engagement; the continuity of collaborative behaviour in early career teachers; and teacher practices in the implementation of Alberta’s Teaching Quality Standard 5 “Foundational Knowledge of First Nations, Inuit, and Métis”.

Katie Maxwell earned her EdD in Educational Leadership through Western University (2019) and a Master of International Education (School Leadership) from Charles Sturt University (2015). Katie brings an international perspective to education in her role as a K–12 classroom teacher for 18 years, while working with students in a variety of schools in Australia, Japan, and Canada. More recently, she has dedicated the last ten years of her career to being a school principal in both urban and rural K–8 schools in Ontario. Katie is committed to developing the leadership and scholarship of adult learners in education. She has led additional qualification courses and graduate programs for teachers and principals with the Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario (ETFO), the Ontario Principal’s Council, Queen’s University, and Western University. 

Research interests: global perspectives in education, teaching and learning of pre-service teachers, collective efficacy, principals as lead learners, equity-centered leadership, change culture in schools.

Dr. Kayla Murphy holds a Master’s and Doctor of Education in Educational Leadership, where her research examined how post-secondary institutions can more effectively advance reconciliation by embedding Indigenous epistemologies, strengthening cultural connections, and adopting a Two-Eyed Seeing approach to professional learning. Her work critically analyzes the impacts of colonized educational structures on Indigenous students’ sense of culture, identity, and belonging, and proposes organizational change strategies that foster inclusive, culturally responsive learning environments in which Indigenous voices are recognized and valued alongside Western perspectives. As an Eagle Feather Recipient, a distinction recognized in many Indigenous Nations as one of the highest honours for contributions to community and education, Dr. Murphy brings a longstanding commitment to ethical pedagogy, academic excellence, and relational accountability. At Yorkville University, Dr. Murphy advances equity-focused, decolonizing, and transformative pedagogies that engage students in understanding how culturally grounded approaches can improve educational experiences and outcomes for diverse communities.

Research Interests: Decolonizing Education, Indigenous Leadership, Indigenous Research Methods, Indigenous Epistemologies, Two-Eyed Seeing

Dr. Holmes has been in various educational environments since convocation with a Bachelor of Education in 1990. In 2000, she completed her MA (Honors) in Organizational Learning and Leadership at Royal Roads University and in 2015 her PhD in Curriculum, Teaching and Learning at the University of Calgary. From 1997 to the present, Dr. Holmes served as an English educator, Curriculum Leader and Alberta Initiative for School Improvement Learning Leader with the Calgary Board of Education. From 1991-1997 she worked in private education at Rundle College teaching English and Drama. In 2020, Dr. Holmes joined the Werklund School of Education at the University of Calgary as an adjunct assistant professor.
Dr. Holmes is interested in educational neuroscience, specifically the link between mindful pedagogical practice and neurocognitive development. Of specific interest is the nexus between mindfulness and literacy development. She is also interested in neurodiversity and the implications for effective teaching and learning as it connects to learner profiles and curriculum design. She developed a model for teacher education exploring the interconnections between mindfulness, neuroscience, story work and system direction while writing her doctoral thesis. She was the recipient of the CATE award (2015) for her dissertation’s contribution to teacher education.

Linda Rappel is a bilingual educator (French/English) who holds degrees in adult learning (EdD), cultural studies (MA), and bilingual education (BEd). Linda has taught and supervised research in post-secondary programs as Adjunct Faculty in Adult Learning and Educational Leadership in addition to working as an Associate Lecturer in French language teacher education programs. Linda’s research interests include second language methodology, intercultural education, reflective practice, community and online learning, reflexive inquiry, narrative, and ethnographic research.

Lois Edge holds a PhD in Educational Policy Studies with a specialization in Indigenous Peoples Education and a Master of Arts in Anthropology from the University of Alberta. She has taught face-to-face, online, and blended learning courses in Indigenous education, Indigenous studies, and Indigenous health at the university level since 2008. A member of the Gwich’in Nation of the Northwest Territories, her interests include Indigenous education, pedagogy and research methodology; Indigenous self-determination, governance, and social health policy; Indigenous women, ancestral knowledge and Indigenous arts; autoethnography; Indigenous identity, cultural resurgence, strengths-based practice, and health and wellness.

Lorraine Godden’s (PhD, Queen’s University) research examined how teachers and school leaders undertake complex and differentiated activity in the processes of interpretation and implementation of policy in educational organizations. Dr. Godden’s research is rooted in understanding how policy actors interpret policy documents to make sense of education and career/life planning, cooperative education, experiential learning, and other educational multidisciplinary policies, and enact them into programing. Dr. Godden is particularly interested in how all stakeholders, including vulnerable populations, can be supported, and policy implementation facilitated, through these complex interpretive processes. She has successfully completed many collaborative, empirical, and community-based research projects that have informed theory, policy, and practice-based initiatives for at-risk youth populations. Her research has been published in national and international journals, and she has presented at numerous national and international conferences. Further, her research has received funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.  Dr. Godden currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Asia Pacific Career Development Association and is an Associate Researcher at the International Centre for Guidance Studies at the University of Derby (UK). Dr. Godden teaches leadership and policy-related courses, and she holds a teaching Fellowship with Advance HE (UK). 

Research interests: Policy implementation, phenomenology, document analysis, hermeneutics

I am a former classroom teacher at the elementary, middle, and high school levels, who returned to graduate studies compelled by John Dewey’s (1938) assertion that within aesthetic experience is a learning approach and direction. Throughout my career, scholarly and professional activities have been primarily concerned with how the aesthetics of human understanding (understood as attention to meaning-making processes) merit serious consideration as pragmatic and philosophical necessities within teaching/learning situations of all kinds. The impacts of my scholarship are found within the documented relationships across the aesthetic with co-curricular-making—attending to qualities and differences in understandings, formative assessment, student thought processes, teacher planning processes, contextual and physical space considerations, ethics that connect thinking and doing, and implications for teacher education and professional development. My recent research has explored curricular kinships found within long-held beliefs and modes of being that Indigenous wisdom traditions embody, offering the needed learning conditions, supports and participation towards (un)decolonizing curricular efforts. Thus, curricular enactment invested within the aesthetics of human understandings offers an (un)decolonizing philosophical and pragmatic approach to teaching and learning of all kinds, striving for connections across disciplines, demanding continuous engagement in reflection and deliberation, and honoring teaching and learning as complex, relational, and developmental in nature.  

Beyond my K-12 teaching years, I was a Professor of Curriculum Studies at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln 2000-2012, holding an Endowed Chair in mentorship.  And, from 2013-2026, a Professor of Curriculum Studies at the University of British Columbia, Okanagan.  At UBC Okanagan, I also held leadership roles as the Director of the Okanagan School of Education (2018-24), Director of Graduate Studies in Education (2013-2018), and Director of Centre for Mindful Engagement (2014-16).  Throughout my life-long career as an educator, I enlarged and deepened personal/professional commitment to the primacy of teachers in the lives of their students and the long-term impact on the future, contributing to the scholarship regarding school curriculum, teacher education, and professional development reform initiatives.  

Research Interests

Fostering Pedagogical Relationships, Seeing and Acting on Innovation’s Renewing Potential—The Fecundity of Genuine Learning Contexts, Curriculum as Lived in Classrooms, Teacher Education and Professional Development Reform Efforts, (Un)Decolonizing Curricular and Programmatic Efforts

Mary Drinkwater holds a PhD in Education from the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE) at the University of Toronto, Canada with a focus on educational policy and educational leadership, and a collaborative specialization in Comparative, International and Development Education. Combining 29 years of secondary school teaching and administrative experience, and teaching in the departments of Curriculum, Teaching and Learning, Mary has extensive experience in many facets of curriculum development, pedagogy, and assessment, including the integration of technology and pedagogy to create critical, creative, collaborative, and engaging learning for higher education, nationally and globally. She is a past member of the executive of the Africa Special Interest Group (SIG) for the Comparative International Education Society. Her most recent publication is a 4-volume international handbook: The Bloomsbury Handbooks of Crises and Transformative Leadership in Higher Education (Bloomsbury, 2024). The 4-volumes focus on: values and ethical change; context; diversity; and ethics of care.

Research Interests: critical and decolonial theory and praxis in education, arts and cultural praxis, transformative education, critical leadership, and cross-sectoral policy development.

mdrinkwater@yorkvilleu.ca

Nakita Savant, EdD holds degrees in Higher Education Leadership (EdD), Special Studies: Women’s Studies, English (MS), and Applied Psychology (BS), is a Master Practitioner of Neurolinguistics, and holds a certification in Holistic Health. Before joining Yorkville University, Nakita was an Assistant Program professor in the Doctor of Education Leadership program at Saint Mary’s University of MN, a Curriculum Specialist at Capella University, and served as an Associate Dean of Faculty. Her teaching and research focus on transformative educational praxis, culture and health, and feminist theory.

Her published works explore critical pedagogy, educational transformation, neurolinguistics, and the intersectionality within factors in diversity, equity, and inclusion and their impact on the lived human experience. Nakita is also a worship assistant at the Unitarian Universalist Church and brings to the Faculty of Education a heightened awareness of the connection between mind, body, and spirit.

Nagwa Megahed obtained her PhD from the University of Pittsburgh. She has gained rich experience in teaching courses, conducting research and supporting education reform projects through her work with the American University in Cairo, Ain Shams University, the University of Southern Mississippi, Michigan State University and the University of Pittsburgh. Nagwa also served as a Specialist and Senior Technical Advisor for Policy and Action Research, School Quality Assurance and Accreditation, and Monitoring and Evaluation in the USAID-Funded Egypt Education Reform Program. Nagwa is a Professor of Comparative Education and Educational Administration, teaches and conducts research on educational reform (policy and practice) at Ain Shams University. Her record of publications and teaching interests focus on educational policy, administration, and reform; teachers and teacher education; international organizations and education development; educational quality; gender and education equality. 

Natalie Davey spent 20 years as a secondary school English teacher with the Toronto District School Board. Her transition to the world of higher education included years spent supporting student success and “Learning to 18” initiatives on college campuses. Her early research focused on educational place-making for youth in detention, as well as the gap in care for alternative educators. Her book Finding Joy (2023, Brill Press) focuses on critical pedagogies of care in education, while her writing on relational teaching and narrative reframing is shared through a variety of platforms, including a weekly newsletter and monthly podcasts.

Website

Having facilitated and supervised graduate adult education for over 15 years including online courses, Paul draws upon 35 years of experience in the K-12 and postsecondary education sectors as well as community and industry. Since completion of an EdD at the University of British Columbia in 2006, he brings to his teaching and research a longstanding interest in organizational and community-based learning and leadership, as well as sustainability education, Indigenous studies, post-structural inquiry, and action research. Current research is focused upon the development of communities of inquiry in online teaching and learning.

Research methodology and research interests: Communities of inquiry, metacognition, cognitive learning theory, self-study of teacher education practices (S-STEP)

Contact: pkolenick@yorkvilleu.ca

Academia

Rita Kop is currently an adjunct in the Faculty of Education at Yorkville University. She has a PhD in Adult Continuing Education. After a career in teaching, research, and development activities related to education and technology in Canada, the UK, and the Netherlands, she currently researches advanced educational technologies and online learning. She worked as a researcher for the National Research Council of Canada and as Professor in Adult Education and Higher Education in the UK and is an advocate for open learning and widening access. 

Research interests: adult education, teaching, and learning, online learning, widening access, the design of learning experiences.

Google Scholar

Rupert Collister has worked in the post-compulsory education sector for over 22 years and his experience reflects the diversity of the sector in its broadest sense. His PhD. research from the University of New England, New South Wales, Australia explored the interconnections between holistic and transformative learning, Indigenous ways of knowing, and Eastern philosophy. His professional interests include pre-service teacher education and continuing teacher professional development, curriculum theory, praxis (the ongoing cycle of practice and reflection), holistic and transformative learning, meaningful work, wholeness, and contemplative pedagogy. Recent publications explore holistic education and embodied learning, mindfulness, and the influences of globalization and diversity on teacher education. Current solo projects involve searching for holistic approaches to the teacher education curriculum, exploring precarity in higher education, and exploring virtues and identity in teacher candidates’ construction of self.

Steven E. Noble has an interdisciplinary doctorate (UBC), an MA, (UBC), in adult education and counseling psychology, a Business BAA (Ryerson), a CHRP (U of Toronto), a TESOL certificate, and other credentials. Steven has been engaged within adult education in diverse environments and populations over the past 30 years. Steven’s teaching foci are in the areas of capstone supervision, adult learning and curriculum theory, diversity, the teaching/learning relationship, qualitative research, notably theatre-based and performance (broadly defined) research. Research interests include interdisciplinary research supervision, arts/performance-based/qualitative research methodologies, critical theories, relationships of power in teaching/learning, liminal identities/diverse spaces, and rural community development/integration, second/additional language acquisition.