York University | Faculty of Education

Guided by our mission to reinvent education for a diverse, complex world, the last four years have seen the Faculty of Education advance in a wide range of ways. We have launched new and important academic programs; undertaken ground-breaking research that matters; and engaged with our communities. From our work in the Dadaab refugee camps in Kenya, to our growing partnership with the Urban Indigenous Education Centre in Toronto, we have continued to make a difference in, and have a real impact on, the world. This report provides a snapshot of our accomplishments, and I invite you to share and celebrate with us.

Lyndon Martin

Dean, Faculty of Education

Research Funding

$19.7 million – Tri-Council funding
$12.5 million – Funding from all other sources
--------------------------------
Total: $32.2 million

New Research Chairs

Two new Canada Research Chairs (CRCs)
The Government of Canada announced two new CRCs in the Faculty of Education.

Kate Tilleczek - Canada Research Chair in Young Lives, Education and Global Good
Gillian Parekh - Canada Research Chair in Disability, Inclusion and Education

Two new York Research Chair (YRCs) 
York’s internal counterpart to the CRCs program, the YRCs  added two new Research Chair in the Faculty of Education.

Deborah Britzman - York Research Chair in Pedagogy and Psycho-Social Transformations
Steve Gaetz - York Research Chair in Homelessness and Research Impact

Networks of Centres of Excellence

The Network of Centres of Excellence Canada committed $17.9 million to The Making the Shift – Youth Homelessness Social Innovation Lab to combine academic research and community expertise to inform solutions and prevention strategies for youth homelessness.

New Postdoctoral Fellow Program

The Faculty initiated a new pilot program that sponsored two postdoctoral fellowships as part of the strategy to enrich the research culture of the Faculty and extend the reach of faculty research initiatives.

Faculty of Education Summer Institute Expansion

The annual community-focused summer institute now includes over 300 people a year, bringing together participants to explore school-community relationships and how they play a role in the successful schooling of students.

Jean Augustine Chair in Education, Community and Diaspora

Carl James announced as the new Chair in 2016 after a successful relaunch and renaming of the Chair. Under the auspices of the Chair, the Faculty:

Launched the Network for the Advancement of Black Communities as a catalyst for addressing long-standing systemic disparities in Black communities across Canada
Brought UNIFOR on board as the main sponsor of its annual Black History Month celebration
Co-sponsored the Black Business and Professional Association’s annual Student Awards

Programs

Waaban Indigenous Teacher Education - Waaban educates a new generation of teachers, preparing them to address the needs of First Nations, Métis and Inuit students, families and communities.

New Faculty

Eleven new full-time professors.

Students

First graduating cohort of students in Dadaab, Kenya, received their Master of Education degree
First graduating cohort of the 2-year Bachelor of Education degree program

International Partnerships

Borderless Higher Education for Refugees Project

The Faculty partnered with Kenyatta University and Windle International Kenya to offer on-site and online academic programs to students in refugee camps in Dadaab.

Memorandum of Understanding with the University of East Anglia

The memorandum focused on exploring collaborative opportunities such as student and faculty exchanges, joint degree programs and working together on research and other projects.

Partnerships with School Boards

Wüléelham courses, cohorts and programs

Rooted in Indigenous knowledge and pedagogies, Wüléelham engages participants in learning from Indigenous peoples’ experiences and perspectives.

Collaboration with School Boards

Ongoing collaboration on research, custom professional learning course offerings for educators, space in schools and teacher secondments.

Bringing Education to the World’s Largest Refugee Camp

Under the direction of professor Don Dippo, students in the Dadaab Refugee Camp in Kenya participating in the Borderless Higher Education for Refugees (BHER) project, were the first to officially be awarded Bachelor of Arts, Educational Studies degrees from York through on-site, camp-based university education. Close to $1,500,000 in additional funding was provided by the Open Society Foundations in support of BHER.

Tech Ed Pathway Agreements with Colleges

Agreements were signed with seven Ontario colleges to enable college graduates trained in technology-related fields to earn teaching degrees through York’s Consecutive Bachelor of Education, Technological Education program.

Equity in Education Hub Launched

The Hub is a collection of research reports that utilize identity-based data to educate about the realities and experiences of students in the GTA. It also serves as a tool for members of Ontario’s education system to learn from and contribute to.

Academic Pathways

The Faculty received $105,000 in increased support from the Peter Gilgan Foundation for its Advanced Credit Experience (ACE) and Readers to Leaders (R2L) programs. ACE enhances university access for Grade 12 students from the local Jane-Finch community and R2L helps grades 9 and 10 students from local high schools prepare for the compulsory Grade 10 Ontario Secondary School English Literacy Test.

Faculty members have been increasingly sought out by news media from across Canada and internationally to lend their expertise to discussions of education.

Carl James

Professor, Jean Augustine Chair in Education, Community and Diaspora

A road map for black parents navigating bias in the school system - CBC News

Heather Lotherington

Professor, Associate Dean Research

Why emojis and #hashtags should be part of language learning - The Conversation Canada

Susan Dion

Associate Professor

Education in the Reconciliation Era - The Agenda, TVO

Vidya Shah

Assistant Professor

How to talk to kids about coronavirus - CBC News