Professor of Teaching: The quest for equity and parity

Emerging from the contested site of a new university campus, this article reflects on the transformative process of reconceptualizing and rebuilding a professional and an academic stream in a 21st-century Faculty of Education. In order to maximize her own capital, an assistant professor sought tenure in an innovative new stream introduced to her campus, professor of teaching. The novel rank reflected the commitment of the university to provide educational leadership, outstanding teaching, and curriculum innovation to higher education. However, guidelines for promotion to professor were not directive and exhaustive but more suggestive of being situated in place-based environments. Within the context of a market driven and policy-laden post-secondary institution, this was problematic.Since evidence supporting promotion to full professor is dependent on the discipline and the faculty, a myriad of interpretations of what exactly constituted a professor of teaching emerged. Based on the ambiguity of these policies, the discussion surrounding the experiences of otherness and marginalization which arose as this scholar-practitioner focused on her work as a teacher educator and a researcher in an emerging rank became of singular interest

A Pedagogy of Well-Being: Introducing Mindfulness to First-Year Access Students

This article examines the impact of introducing mindfulness practices to an Access (developmental) course aimed at first-year students. As a pathway to well-being, the cultivation of mindfulness supports the harmonious balance of the physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual dimensions of the self. An ancillary aim of this qualitative study is to examine the similarities between mindfulness practices and traditional teachings of First Nation, Inuit and Métis First Peoples of Canada. Using precepts from the Medicine Wheel of Learning, the content of a developmental course entitled University 101 was adapted to incorporate Indigenous traditions of teaching and learning. Acknowledging this holistic approach, circles of learning were used to introduce and to apply new concepts. Formal and informal mindfulness practices emphasizing breath awareness, movement, and being present were regular components of the course. This article focuses on the analysis of interview questions exploring the impact of mindfulness practices on first-year Aboriginal Access students

Les interactions collaboratives dans des cours à distance sur Internet

Thèse diffusée initialement dans le cadre d'un projet pilote des Presses de l'Université de Montréal/Centre d'édition numérique UdeM (1997-2008) avec l'autorisation de l'auteur

Mindfulness and Indigenous Knowledge: Shared Narratives About Reconciliation and Decolonization in Teacher Education

This article discusses how shared narratives about mindfulness practices and Indigenous knowledge advance the reconciliation and the decolonization of Teacher Education curricula. We, the authors, experienced the beneficial impact of our personal mindfulness practices in nurturing and cultivating the harmonious balance of the physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual dimensions of the self. Within the context of the Truth and Reconciliation’s Calls to Action (2015), we observed the connections between mindfulness practices and local and place-based teachings of First Nation and Métis First Peoples in Northern British Columbia and in the Interior of British Columbia, Canada. Our experiences are informed by our personal mindfulness practices and from traditional and ancestral practices led by Elders and Knowledge Keepers. Our distinct narratives describe our learnings and our unlearnings as we participated in ceremony and listened and learnt from Elders and Knowledge Keepers of Syilx Okanagan Nation, Lheidli T’enneh First Nation, the Māori Nation, and the Métis Nation of Manitoba. By recognizing and respecting ancestral ways of doing and ways of being, we propose that contemplative practices like mindfulness can support a deeper understanding of how reconciliation and decolonizing are brought to the forefront of shared narratives in Teacher Education programs in the Okanagan and in Prince George

Sntrusntm i7 captikwlh: Unravel the Story, the Okanagan Way

This study raises the question of how the Canadian educational system can avoid promoting cultural or ideological racism in a student population that is increasingly Indigenous and immigrant. It responds to this question by pointing to the need to expand knowledge systems in teacher education programs, presenting a multi-thematic discussion that explores how contemporary ways of teaching and learning can be transformed into a diverse, sustainable, and global curriculum. The focus of the article is on school culture, specifically the Aboriginal way of knowing about language-learning, creating multicultural teachers, leadership for a culture of inclusion and diversity, and the idea of resistance to change

Sntrusntm i7 captikwlh: Unravel the Story, the Okanagan Way

This study raises the question of how the Canadian educational system can avoid promoting cultural or ideological racism in a student population that is increasingly Indigenous and immigrant. It responds to this question by pointing to the need to expand knowledge systems in teacher education programs, presenting a multi-thematic discussion that explores how contemporary ways of teaching and learning can be transformed into a diverse, sustainable, and global curriculum. The focus of the article is on school culture, specifically the Aboriginal way of knowing about language-learning, creating multicultural teachers, leadership for a culture of inclusion and diversity, and the idea of resistance to change

Accessing the Curricular Play of Critical and Creative Thinking

A three-year collaborative research project in a K–6 elementary school is underway. The collaboration entails participating educators and their students exploring curricular enactment that embraces critical and creative thinking within its conduct. This article reveals whole-school efforts over Year One to build educators’ and students’ confidence to do so, sustaining such curricular practices. Chronicled as a case study, narrative inquiry fittingly unfolds the particularities encountered within the specifics of the case during Year One. Educators’ belief in the worthiness of curricular play, as well as concretely negotiating critical and creative thinking with their students, arises as a necessary issue to address in order to invest in the research intents over three years. The integral role of participants’ commitments to professional growth through curricular play and experimentation, actively seeking resources, entering wholly into curricular-making efforts, conversing sincerely with colleagues through inquiry conversations, and seeking organizational structures that support and strengthen curricular-making efforts, are found to be key to fostering the pedagogically oriented context needed to grow and sustain project intents

Culturally Responsive Pedagogy: Indigenizing Curriculum

This article examines the impact of culturally responsive pedagogy in an introduction to university course developed in collaboration with local and place-based First Nations communities, Aboriginal Access Studies and the Faculty of Education of the University of British Columbia’s Okanagan Campus. In keeping with requests that Indigenous worldviews be incorporated into curriculum, the content of EDUC 104, modelled on the University of South Carolina’s University 101 Programs, was adapted to incorporate Indigenous traditions of teaching and learning. The introductory course included a holistic approach aimed at supporting the social and emotional well-being of students. Facilitated by peer mentoring, collaborative circles of learning introduced seminal concepts and facilitated the progressive use of newly learned skills. As part of a longitudinal research, the following presents the content of interviews conducted at the conclusion of the courses. Analysis indicated that three themes emerged emphasizing the importance of the circles of learning, peer mentoring, and the relationship with the instructor. In particular, the results demonstrated the perceived value of the course from the students’ perspectives.  Cette recherche souligne l’effet d’une pédagogie culturellement adaptée en contexte d’un cours universitaire de première année. La conception et l’élaboration du cours ont été informées par une collaboration entre les communautés autochtones environnantes , Aboriginal Programs and Services et la Faculté d’éducation de la University of British Columbia, Okanagan campus. Par opposition aux discours magistraux, des cercles d’apprentissage ont appuyé l’enseignement de nouveaux concepts et ont facilité l’utilisation progressive des compétences nouvellement acquises. Dans le cadre d’une recherche longitudinale, trois thèmes identifiant l’importance des cercles d’apprentissage, le mentorat par paire et le rapport entre étudiant-professeur ont été identifiés. L’article présente également le contenu d’entrevues effectuées à la fin des cours

La compétence interculturelle et la formation initiale : le point sur le CECR et l’IDI

Ce projet pilote traite principalement de la compétence interculturelle des étudiants en formation initiale du français langue seconde. Douze étudiants ont répondu au questionnaire de l’IDI (inventaire de développement interculturel), un outil méthodologique qui mesure les orientations concernant la différence culturelle. Les profils interculturels, calculés d’après les résultats de l’IDI, servent de toile de fond pour proposer la mise en œuvre des interventions interculturelles selon les paramètres établis par les compétences générales du Cadre européen commun de référence pour les langues (CECR). Les travaux menés pourraient contribuer à l’élaboration des cours/ateliers en compétence interculturelle, à l’intégration des savoirs socioculturels et à la prise de conscience interculturelle identifiés dans les compétences générales du Cadre européen commun de référence pour les langues dans les cours de formation initiale.   Resume This pilot study focuses on the intercultural competence of preservice French as a second language (FSL) teachers. The Intercultural Development Index (IDI), a statistically valid tool used to measure intercultural competence, was administered to twelve preservice candidates. These results serve as a basis to discuss the integration of intercultural competencies along the parameters established in the general competencies of the CEFR. This study has the potential to contribute to a growing area of research in the field of intercultural competence in preservice teacher education and explores how sociocultural saviors and intercultural awareness, identified by the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages, can be integrated into Teacher Education

La compétence interculturelle et la formation initiale : le point sur le CECR et l’IDI

Abstract Ce projet pilote traite principalement de la compétence interculturelle des étudiants en formation initiale du français langue seconde. Douze étudiants ont répondu au questionnaire de l’IDI (inventaire de développement interculturel), un outil méthodologique qui mesure les orientations concernant la différence culturelle. Les profils interculturels, calculés d’après les résultats de l’IDI, servent de toile de fond pour proposer la mise en œuvre des interventions interculturelles selon les paramètres établis par les compétences générales du Cadre européen commun de référence pour les langues (CECR). Les travaux menés pourraient contribuer à l’élaboration des cours/ateliers en compétence interculturelle, à l’intégration des savoirs socioculturels et à la prise de conscience interculturelle identifiés dans les compétences générales du Cadre européen commun de référence pour les langues dans les cours de formation initiale. Resume This pilot study focuses on the intercultural competence of preservice French as a second language (FSL) teachers. The Intercultural Development Index (IDI), a statistically valid tool used to measure intercultural competence, was administered to twelve preservice candidates. These results serve as a basis to discuss the integration of intercultural competencies along the parameters established in the general competencies of the CEFR. This study has the potential to contribute to a growing area of research in the field of intercultural competence in preservice teacher education and explores how sociocultural saviors and intercultural awareness, identified by the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages, can be integrated into Teacher Education