NEWS & EVENTS

TEACHER EDUCATION: The New Schooling Method
"Much is familiar from my own school days on the warm June morning I visit Brother André Catholic School, nestled in the green hills of suburban Ajax, Ont.: the yellow buses delivering students, the friendly crossing guard, the palpable feeling of summer vacation just around the corner. But after standing for a jazzed-up version of O Canada and sitting through a number of announcements, I immediately notice something very different about Jaime Wilkinson’s Grade 4 class." -Tim Johnson, The New Schooling Method, Canadian Family Magazine, September 2008.

Carol Rolheiser and Steven Katz discuss the advantages of "differentiated instruction", a method of learning based on learners' individual strengths, weaknesses and needs and using diagnostic tools to assess for learning, that is quickly displacing old models of lesson planning, in this informative article by Tim Johnson.

RESEARCH: The 2008 R.W.B. Jackson Lecture
On Wednesday, November 12, 2008 at 7pm, Professor Jim Cummins  will deliver: Brave New Schools: Identity and Power in Canadian Education. The lecture will present classroom examples that highlight the ways diversity can be constructed as a resource for learning and will articulate some fundamental principles for developing a framework focused on equity and opportunity in Canadian schools. More information and RSVP...

GRADUATE STUDIES: SESE grad receives Newcomer Champion Award
Peter Ashward Sealy, who convocated on June 5 with a doctorate in Sociology and Equity Studies in Education, has received a Newcomer Champion Award. The Honourable Michael Chan, Minister of Citizenship and Immigration, presented the award to Peter in June. Peter received this provincial government award based on his many years of volunteer community service working with newcomers from all over the world making Canada their home.

DAVID BOOTH RECEIVES HONORARY DEGREE
David Booth received the honorary degree, Doctor of Education from Nipissing University on Monday, June 9. For over 40 years David has been involved in education, as a classroom teacher, consultant, professor, researcher, speaker and author. Currently, he is Professor Emeritus and Scholar in Residence in OISE's Curriculum, Teaching and Learning Department.

ORBIT MAGAZINE: The Best of Our History
Guest edited by Heather Berkeley and Hugh Oliver, this issue celebrates the best of Orbit and highlights some of the discussion of issues that have mattered in education over the past 40 years. It includes some of Orbit’s most memorable contributions in four sections: The Interviews, Critical Views, Classroom Practice and

HONORS FOR BEST PRACTICES IN DISTANCE LEARNING-TEACHING
Diane Zorn, Philosophy of Education PhD candidate, was honoured along with York University where she teaches, with a silver Best Practices Award for Excellence in Distance Learning-Teaching from the United States Distance Learning Association (USLDA)Her unique approach to online education allows students to customize their learning environment to fit both their learning style and life style...More

CRESSY AWARDS RECOGNIZE OUTSTANDING STUDENTS
Julie Byrd Clark's volunteer and leadership activities at OISE provided her with remarkable learning experiences that have impacted her thinking about the importance of community and extra-curricular involvement as an educator and as a student...More

RESEARCH SPOTLIGHT: MODERN LANGUAGE CENTRE (MLC)
The MLC addresses a broad spectrum of theoretical and practical issues related to second and minority language teaching and learning. Its work focuses on curriculum, instruction, and policies for education in second, foreign, and minority languages. Learn more in the MLC Annual Activity Report 2008.

Modern Language Centre faculty member Eunice Jang specializes in the areas of fairness and validity in second language assessment, mixed method research, reading skills diagnosis, multidimensionality and differential item functioning. Find out more about Eunice Jang's research and the impact of her work.

STUDENT BLENDS RESEARCH & PRACTICE TO SERVE COMMUNITY
Patsy Sutherland's Caribbean backgournd is foundational to her work promoting collaboration and integrating traditional healing practices into counselling and psychotherapy, and her involvement in the Traditional Healing Project lets her blend research with practice to improve mental health services to diverse communities... More 

RESEARCH: OISE Research Centres event attracts scholar-activists
Wahu Kaara, a Kenyan champion for women's rights and social justice, is this year's Dame Nita Barrow fellow. She gave a public lecture, Women, Power and Politics on November 5 at the Ignatieff Theatre. Ms Kaara is a long-time political activist and leader who brings a range of feminist analysis and women-and-justice centered perspectives to her work. Ms Kaara is pictured here at the OISE Research Centres Information Session on October 6 with Angela Miles of the Centre for Women's Studies in Education. Over 100 new and returning students came to meet some of OISE's leading innovators in research and check out the centres in more depth...More

TEACHING EXCELLENCE: 2 OISE faculty make the grade in TVO Best Lecturer contest
Holistic. Empowering. Passionate. Engaging. OISE students say these qualities and more are what matter in excellent teaching. See what it takes to get nominated for TVOntario's Big Ideas Best Lecturer Competition and how OISE faculty Suzanne Stewart and Njoki Wane measure up.

Suzanne Stewart
What the students say: "Dr Stewart values equanimity between students and professors, encourages open debate & discussion, values diversity in thought and learning style among her students, and teaches using a holistic framework, engaging students cognitively, emotionally, spiritually and kinaesthetically."

 

Njoki Wane
What the students say: "Dr Wane has proven herself to be an outstanding professor who organizes her classes and lectures from a holistic perspective. Her lectures have empowered and inspired many students. She is passionate and immerses herself in her work. Prof Wane motivates students to critically engage with her lectures and to see how her lectures are directly related to our lives."
 

GRADUATE STUDIES: OISE student wins 2008 William E Taylor Fellowship
 Second-year doctoral student Katherine Madjidi has more than a decade of practical experience to inform her award-winning research into how indigenous groups are influencing programs and policies at international development organizations like the World Bank and UNESCO...More from SSHRC. Read also U of T in Spotlight at SSHRC awards

Katherine Madjidi
"There is a worldwide search right now for different and more sustainable approaches to development, education and global governance. My research aims to identify how indigenous groups are influencing and redefining the way in which we pursue global development." -Katherine Madjidi, 2008 William E Taylor Fellowship award winner