Summer 2010

EDUCATION IN FOCUS

Third Annual Research in Education ConferenceResearchers in the NewsKudos in the CommunityRecent, New and Upcoming PublicationsConvocation and Retirement EventsFaculty of Education in the Media

In this edition:

Focus On...Research

For two days in May, more than 70 faculty members, staff, and students of all programs within the Faculty of Education gathered in the Education Classroom Block and engaged in discussions on a variety of topics in sessions at the third annual research confer-ence, hosted by the Faculty’s Associate Dean of Research, Don Saklofske.

The workshop sessions, held on May 6 in the Education Classroom Block, focused on topics ranging from copyright issues and cross-cultural research to developments and trends in quantitative and qualitative research software, and a session that provided an update on the Tri-Council guidelines.

On May 7, papers were presented by more than a dozen faculty members and graduate students, and symposia were conducted on integral theory, digital game-based learning, the transition from academic thought and research to front-line health practi-tioners, and a ses- sion was held on the Alberta Initiative for School Improvement (AISI) and its work with the Faculty of Education in sup- porting research.

Other highlights of the conference in-cluded an important luncheon session on the needs of the researchers in the Faculty of Educa- tion, and provided constructive sugges- tions for improving and streamlining all areas of research; the Distinguished Lecture by Jo Towers, who spoke on “Understanding Mathematical Understanding”; and the launch of a new book co-authored by professor Tom Strong entitled “Social Constructionism: Sources and stirrings in theory and practice”, which included a live video link to Andy Lock, Tom’s co-author based at Massey University in Palmerston North, New Zealand.

There were also dozens of posters and publications presentations showcased throughout the third floor (see the list of publica-tions back cover of this newsletter).

A message from the Associate Dean, Research

Why research in Education mattersThe research productivity of our faculty continues to grow and contribute to all areas of educational theory, knowledge creation, and practice. Our faculty members are publishing important papers, books and chapters and present-ing their work at conferences around the world, making an impact locally and internationally.

The Faculty of Education is known for its research expertise and development of practice applications on topics ranging from teaching and learning, to lead-ership and lifelong education. The diversity of research methods that our fac-ulty bring to this inquiry provides a rich and dynamic foundation that ensures the breadth and depth of analysis necessary to inform the present and guide the future of education.

Education is multidisciplinary in every sense and the collaborations that are now being forged with other research and practice areas will serve to yield answers to the question posed by Stephen Hawking.... “in a world that is in chaos politically, socially, and environmentally, how can the human race sus-tain another 100 years”?

Don Saklofske, PhD Associate Dean Research, Faculty of EducationUniversity of Calgary

Third Annual Education Research Conference Shines Spotlight onInnovation, Expertise

Research In The News...There are an estimated 21,000 school age children in and around Calgary who are designated English Language Learners (ELLs). They speak more than 100 languages other than English, and they strug-gle each day to improve their ability to communicate and be educated in an English-speaking society. But is English-only or English monolingualism in schools the best policy if the ultimate goal is to provide equal access to quality education for all Calgarians?

Tom Ricento believes the way to promote positive social integration of immigrants and others who are Canadian-born but for whom English is not their first or dominant language is to consider the linguistic and cultural diversity of the students in the learning process. Research suggests that policies of enforced English monolingualism in class-rooms hinders students’ access to the curriculum and that social in-tegration is more likely when differences in language and culture are positively valued in schools.

Ricento, professor and Chair of English as an Additional Language in the U of C’s Faculty of Education, argues that instructional approach-es and assessment instruments taking into account the background of the student are more likely to benefit the educational attainment of ELL, and, at the same time, advance the goals of Official Multicultur-alism and the metaphor of the Canadian ‘mosaic’. Ricento presented his ideas at the final lecture of the Engaging News Ideas in Educa-tion Speaker series, hosted by the Faculty of Education, in his talk “Measuring Success when English isn’t your Native Language. The successful series was attended by more than 400 people.

To read more about these stories, and more about the Faculty of Education at the University of Calgary, visit: www.educ.ucalgary.ca

Tapping Into Experience One Language Fits All...Or Does It?

WestCAST 2010 Highlights Student, Faculty Research

Colleen Kawalilak is researching how informal knowledge is shared between older and newer faculty to better un-

derstand the impediments and ben-efits of these interactions.

“The university provides lots of opportunities for academics to present the formal knowledge they’ve gathered through con-

ferences, papers and published work,” says Kawalilak, as assistant professor in the Faculty of Education. “But what I’m really interested in is the informal knowledge gathered by elder faculty along the way as they have navigated the university landscape for 20 plus years.”

She believes there is potential for ‘elder’ faculty (who she defines as 55 years of age or older who have been in a university setting for 20 or more years) to use this informal knowledge and experience to mentor newer faculty.

“I look at elders as an environmental resource, a natu-ral resource like water, like wood, like air quality. I think they really are natural resources of our academic com-munity.”

Kawalilak has received a three-year grant from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council for $77,800 for her research.

This year’s WestCAST (Western Canadian Association for Student Teaching) Conference was held in Lethbridge, Alberta. From February 17-20, hundreds of faculty and students from across western Canada gathered to present papers and to hear speakers on this year’s theme, “Bridging Hearts and Minds through Inspired Teaching”. More than 30 representatives of the U of C’s Fac-ulty of Education attended. The 2011 conference will be held in Brandon Manitoba, from Feb 23-26; the theme is “To Teach is To Learn”...and be sure to mark your calendars for the February 2012 conference as WestCAST returns to Calgary!

Education crosses every other faculty and department at the University of Calgary; in fact, it’s one of the few areas that is truly multidisciplinary in its scope and nature. To that end, it’s not a surprise that one individual, who, serving as a cross-appointment from the Faculty of Arts, has set his sights on creative theory, research and practice. Robert Kelly, an associate professor in the Faculty of Arts and an adjunct professor in the Faculty of Education, recently instructed a graduate level course on pedagogy and Professional Practice, which focused on issues in professional practice and post-secondary teaching in the visual arts.

“The course I have developed in the B Ed and Expanding Horizons programs is entitled Creativ-ity and Educational Practice”, explains Kelly. “Understanding the vocabulary and dynamics of creative process is an educational imperative as it enables the application and relatedness of disciplinary acumen in a truly transdisciplinary manner and ultimately the creation of original work across the discipline spectrum. Creativity, with focus on invention through idea genera-tion and development, should be a primary rationale for education.”

Fine Arts and Education: An Important Connection

Kudos…

Faculty of EducationOffice of Media & Communications

Betty Rice: bwrice@ucalgary.ca; 403.220.2619

Clayton MacGillivray: clmacgil@ucalgary.ca; 403.220.7310

Contact usFaculty of EducationUniversity of Calgary

2500 University Drive, NWCalgary, Alberta T2N 1N4

403.220.5627www.educ.ucalgary.ca

To the English for Academic Purposes program on its anniversary and for 10 years of student success;To Grad Student Bruce Dobbin as the recipient of a 2010 Mayor’s Excellence Award for his work on the Siksika Storefront School;To Jackie Ottmann for being selected as the Distinguished Visiting Research Fellow at Australian Catholic University; To the Faculty’s Umake a Difference winners: Tammy Flanders, Martha Loeman and Don Saklofske;To B Ed Student Patrick Tomcyzk for his $6000 award from the Program for Undergraduate Research Experience (PURE) for Sum-mer 2010;To Shelley Russell-Mayhew for her award from the CIHR Institute of Population and Public Health-Catalyst Grant in Health Equity;To Nancy Arthur for her successful application for two SSHRC grants—”Critical Incidents in Counsellor Education for Multicultural Counselling and Social Justice”, and “International student transitions to working and living in Canada”;To Emma Climie & Sarah Mastoras for winning the Best Presented Poster Award at the Graduate Student Research Conference;To Duffie Vanbalkom for his grant through the SSHRC International Opportunities Fund to support a one year project titled “Schools and inter-ethnic peace making: Multiple case studies in the former Yugoslavia.”

Education Faculty in the MediaColleen Kawalilak on elder faculty as mentors, in the spring edition of the U of C’s Research in Action

Anuradha Sengupta on the 10th anniversary of the English for Academic Purposes program, on OMNI TV, Radio Canada International and mul-tiple CanWest newspapers across Canada

Tanya Berens, on bullying, in the Calgary Herald

Michele Jacobsen, on laptops in the classroom, in the Calgary Herald

Sylvie Roy, on French immersion, on the Govern-ment of Canada Language Portal website

Yvonne Hebert, on ethnocultural couples, on CBC Radio (Montreal)

Pam Bishop, on year-round schooling, on Shaw TV

Brent Davis, on new Alberta math curriculum, in the Calgary Herald

Charles Webber, on provincial achievement exams, on Breakfast Television

UOFC ● THIS IS NOW

Select Publications featured at theFaculty Research Conference HsingChi von Bergmann, guest editor, Science and Education, Volume 18

Rahat Naqvi, series editor, Living Together: Muslims in a Changing World (Curriculum Series)

Jo-Aanne Willment, editor, Learners in Midlife: Graduate Education and Workplaces in Canada

Darren Lund, co-editor (with Paul R. Carr), Doing Democracy: Striving for Political Literacy and Social Justice

Sylvie Roy, Editor, Emerging Social and Language Issues in Canada: Identity, Diversity, and Teaching Practices

Nancy Arthur, co-editor, (with Paul Pedersen), Case Incidents in Counselling for International Transitions

Nancy Arthur, co-editor, (with Sandra Collins), Culture-Infused Counselling

Shelley Russell-Mayhew, contributing co-author, (with Gina Wong-Wylie), No “Body” to Blame? Socio-Cultural Influences on Girls and Women, in Femi-nist Counselling

J. E. Ormrod, D.H. Saklofske, V.L. Schwean et al. (2010) Principles of Educa-tional Psychology (2nd ed). Toronto: Pearson Prentice Hall

C. Stough, D.H. Saklofske, & J. Parker (Eds)(2009). Assessing Emotional Intelligence: Theory, Research and Applications. New York: Springer

Book launches Tom Strong (with Andy Lock), Social Constructionism: Sources and stirrings in theory and practice, Cambridge University Press

Fernando Davalos (M Ed 2006), Eagle’s Country, The Way of the New Ol-mecs, self- published

Forthcoming PublicationsPam Bishop and Helen Mahoney, Improving the Social Capital of Students in High-Poverty Schools: What Will It Take?, in Transformative Leadership and Education Excellence

Helen Mahoney (volume 1) and Pam Bishop (volume 2) and , contributing authors in Encyclopedia of case Study Research

Don Saklofske et al, WAIS-IV Clinical Use and Interpretation: Scientist-Prac-titioner Perspectives