Research

Current Projects

Canada-China University Linkages in a New Era of Global Geo-Politics

Stimulated by celebrations around the 40^th Anniversary of Canada-China Relations in 2010, a project team under the leadership of Ruth Hayhoe designed a project that would look specifically at large scale national level efforts at collaboration between Canadian and Chinese universities from 1983 to 2001.

The project intends to reflect on the historical contribution made by the universities and other social institutions on both sides that were involved in these linkages. What kind of long-term impact can be traced, and what lessons have been learned? How did the projects specifically address areas of knowledge that were crucial to China’s rapid transition towards the position of economic and geo-political leadership it holds today in the world community? What new synergies are now emerging between universities in the two countries that might be built upon in new forms of collaboration?

Canadian Global Campaign for Education

CIDEC has been an active supporter and sponsor of the Canadian Global Campaign for Education (CGCE), serving as a centre for advocacy and research. The CGCE is a coalition of Canadian non-governmental organizations, teachers' organizations and faculties of education that works together to promote Canada's efforts to support universal access to education.

Civil Society

In the fall of 2005, CIDA funded an eight-country desk study to help inform its efforts to support civil society participation in education sector-wide programs. The study was carried out by a research team lead by Professor Karen Mundy - Director of CIDEC at OISE/UT - and supported by a smaller team under Professor Richard Maclure at the University of Ottawa. Building on this initial desk research, field-based studies were then conducted in Burkina Faso, Kenya, Mali and Tanzania through the funding of CIDA and the IDRC. In this study, we were interested in providing a baseline assessment of those civil society organizations (CSOs) involved in education sector processes, with a focus on better understanding the nature and extent of CSO activities and capacities in the area of education governance.

Chinese Higher Education

The Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) funded a three-year project from 2006-2009 under the leadership of Ruth Hayhoe. The project studied the decision-making process in China's recent rapid move to mass higher education and surveyed 2400 undergraduate students in 12 universities in different parts of the country. Several publications have resulted from the study, including a forthcoming book Portraits of 21st Century Chinese Universities: In the Move to Mass Higher Education by Ruth Hayhoe, Jun Li, Jing Lin and Qiang Zha, published by the Comparative Education Research Society in Hong Kong.

Global Citizenship Education

This project produced a resource for teachers and other educational stakeholders with a range of ideas and practices for teaching and learning about citizenship within today's global context. It is intended to help those who are critically considering ways in which global perspectives might be infused into our classes and school-wide programs.

Global Governance

Under a grant from SSHRC, three areas of research were pursued: 1) the changing shape of Canada's international relations, including its foreign aid program, the work of foreign affairs and trade departments, and Council of Ministers of Education, Canada; 2) the politics of international aid for education, particularly efforts towards reaching the Millennium Development Goals in education; and 3) the role of new transnational private sector actors in education.

Issues for Teachers Anthology

The "Issues for Teachers" textbook was initiated as a project among CIDE faculty to introduce teacher candidates to the field of comparative and international education. At the same time, we aimed to produce a book that would be worthy of graduate study and present a pcitures of the overall field. The textbook was piloted in a related studies course in OISE's ITE program in the fall of 2006, which as now run for five consecutive years.

Less than two years after its publication in 2008 by Canadian Scholars Press, Inc. and Teachers College Press, we have excellent reports of the use of the textbook. Over 1100 copies of the textbook have been sold in Canada and the US. the textbook has also been translated into Chinese and publised under the title Bijiao yu Guoji jiaoyu daolun: Jiaoshi Mianlin de wenti by Education Science Press in Beijing.

Women, War, and Diaspora

Under the leadership of Shahrzad Mojab, this website aims to support academics and activities in the area of women's studies, Middle East studies, as well as social services and immigration policy studies. It offers articles, resources, and links to websites on refugee and asylum issues, and Women's Human Rights organizations.

UNICEF Study

UNICEF asked Dr. Mundy and her research team to develop a study that would provide a snapshot of how global citizenship was being taught in the Canadian classroom. The report covers all 13 provinces and territories in Canada, focusing on grades four through six.