Facts in Education Panel of Canadian Experts in Education

Ruth Baumann

Harold Brathwaite, Executive Director, The Retired Teachers of Ontario

Harold Brathwaite retired as Director of Education of the Peel D.S.B. in 2002, and assumed the position of Executive Director at The Retired teachers of Ontario in September 2004. For more than 35 years, Harold has been actively involved with many community groups and institutions, and has served on Boards of not-for-profit organizations. He has received numerous awards for his contributions to education and to community development, including the Order of Ontario in 2006.

Ron Canuel, CEO, Canadian Education Association

Mr. Canuel has over 34 years of experience in the public education sector, most recently as Director General of the Eastern Townships School Board in Quebec, where he was the principal architect of one of the first Canadian district-wide wireless laptop computer program for students and teachers. He has received numerous awards in recognition of this ongoing initiative, and has been a frequent presenter and lecturer at national and international conferences on change management, innovation in education, leadership, and technology in the classroom.

Gerry Connelly, Co Director Education Sustainability Development Academy, York University

Lorna Earl, Director, Aporia Consulting Ltd. and President of the International Congress of School Effectiveness and School Improvement

Lorna Earl Ph.D. is a Director, Aporia Consulting Ltd. and the current President of the International Congress of School Effectiveness and School Improvement. She recently retired from a position as Associate Professor in the Theory and Policy Studies Department and Head of the International Centre for Educational Change at OISE/UT and is currently a part-time Professor at the University of Auckland. 

Lorna has worked for over 30 years in schools, school boards, ministries of education and universities. As a leader in the field of assessment and evaluation, she has been involved in consultation, research, evaluation and staff development with teachers' organizations, ministries of education, school boards and charitable foundations in Canada, England, Australia, New Zealand, Europe and the United States. She is a prolific author and has written books, chapters and articles about assessment, using data for decision making, evaluation methods, knowledge mobilization, educational change and networking for school improvement.  

Throughout her career, she has concentrated her efforts on issues related to evaluation of large-scale reform and assessment (large-scale and classroom) in many venues around the world.

Sue Ferguson, Coordinator, The Learning Consortium, Ontario Institute of Studies in Education

Sue Ferguson currently coordinates educational projects with OISE and GTA Boards of Education. Previous to this position, she was the Central Coordinating Principal with responsibility for Secondary School Program and Instruction in the Toronto District School Board. Sue also works as a consultant to George Brown College, and delivers sessions on instructional leadership for the Ontario Principals' Council to experienced principals across the province.
 

Michael Fullan, Special Policy Adviser in Education to the Premier of Ontario

Michael Fullan is Professor Emeritus of the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education of the University of Toronto. Recognized as a worldwide authority on educational reform, Michael is engaged in training, consulting, and evaluating change projects around the world and his books have been published in many languages. His book, Leading in a Culture of Change was awarded the 2002 Book of the Year Award by the National Staff Development Council and Breakthrough (with Peter Hill and Carmel Crévola) won the 2006 Book of the Year Award from the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education.  Fullan has authored, The Six Secrets of Change (2008), Realization (with Lyn Sharratt, 2009), Turnaround Leadership in Higher Education (with Geoff Scott, 2009 winner of the Bellweather book of the year award), Change wars (edited with Andy Hargreaves, 2009 National Staff Development Council  book of the year award), Motion Leadership (2010),  All Systems Go (2010), Moral Imperative Realized (2011), and Change Leader (2011).

Kathleen Gallagher, Professor and Canada Research Chair, Ontario Institute for Studies in Education

Kathleen Gallagher is a Professor, Canada Research Chair, and the Academic Director of the Centre for Urban Schooling at the University of Toronto.  Dr. Gallagher has published many articles on urban youth, school contexts, theatre, pedagogy, and gender, and travels widely giving international addresses and workshops for practitioners. Her award-winning books include, The Theatre of Urban: Youth and Schooling in Dangerous Times (University of Toronto Press, 2007) Drama Education in the Lives of Girls: Imagining Possibilities (University of Toronto Press, 2000). Her two edited collections are: How Theatre Educates: Convergences and Counterpoints with Artists, Scholars, and Advocates (University of Toronto, 2003) and The Methodological Dilemma: Creative, Critical and Collaborative Approaches to Qualitative Research (Routledge, 2008).

Jane Gaskell, Jane Gaskell, Professor and former dean, Ontario Institute for Studies in Education

Jane Gaskell is a professor in the Department of Theory and Policy Studies at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education at the University of Toronto.  She served as Dean of the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education from 2003 until 2010, and before that as Associate Dean and Department Head in the Faculty of Education at the University of British Columbia (1988-2001). She has also been president of the Canadian Society for Studies in Education, and a member of the board, and chair of several committees, at the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. Her academic work is in the field of sociology of education.  She has written books and articles on secondary schools in Canada, school board politics, the impact of poverty, diversity and gender on school performance, and the links between school and work. 

Avis Glaze, President, Edu-quest International Inc.

Dr. Avis Glaze in an international educator who has worked at all levels of the Ontario educational system - in public and Catholic schools and in rural and urban Ontario. She is known for her many innovations in education in areas such as leadership development, equity, diversity and inclusive education, student engagement, character development, improving student achievement, organisational effectiveness and the teaching of emotional intelligence and interpersonal skills for leadership effectiveness.  She is the Founding CEO of the Literacy and Numeracy Secretariat which continues to play a key role in the Ontario improvement strategy.  Her most recent appointment is Advisor to the Minister of Education in New Zealand.

Joan M. Green, Former Director of Education, Founding CEO of EQAO, International Consultant on Public Policy and Performance

Joan Green has had a distinguished career as an educator and leader in the public sector. She was the Director of Education for the Toronto Board of Education, and, prior to that, served as a teacher, principal, and superintendent for the City of Toronto. In 1995, Joan became the CEO of the Ontario Education Quality and Accountability Office (EQAO). In 2002 she was appointed a Commissioner on Education for the Province of Alberta. Joan is a published author on curriculum, assessment, leadership, and equity issues.  She has received many honours and awards, including the distinguished Educator Award from the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education at the University of Toronto, and the Leadership Award for Women in Educational Administration in Ontario. She is currently Chair of the Board of Goodwill Toronto, Central and Eastern Ontario; serves on the Board of ParticipACTION; and acts as a Director of Learning Through Literacy.

Sue Herbert, former Ontario Deputy Minister of Education

Suzanne Herbert has had a long career in public service, and was a Deputy Minister in the Ontario Government for over a dozen years, serving as the Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Northern Development and Mines, the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Community and Social Services. She served on Queen’s School of Policy Studies Advisory Committee and represented Canada on the OECD’s Education Directorate for several years. Suzanne has an abiding interest in social and economic policy development and the interface between research, politics, policy formulation and program implementation. Now retired, Suzanne lectures, offers consultancy services on a part time basis and serves on the Board of several organizations.

Bill Hogarth, Retired Director of Education, Education Consultant

Ken Leithwood, Professor, Ontario Institute for Studies in Education

Dr. Leithwood is Professor Emeritus at OISE/University of Toronto. His research and writing are about school leadership, educational policy and organizational change and he has published many dozens of articles and books on these topics. His most recent books, with colleagues, include Leading School Turnaround (Jossey Bass, 2010), Distributed leadership: The state of the evidence (Routledge Publishers, 2009) and Leading with Teacher Emotions in Mind (Corwin Press, 2008). Professor Leithwood is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, and the recent recipient of the University of Toronto’s Impact on Public Policy award, as well as AERA’s Outstanding Researcher (2011) in the area of leadership and administration. He currently serves as an advisor to the Leadership Development Branch of the Ontario Ministry of Education.

Ben Levin, Professor and Canada Research Chair, Ontario Institute for Studies in Education

Dr. Levin is a Professor and Canada Research Chair in Education Leadership and Policy. In addition to his academic work as a researcher, author and teacher, he has served as Deputy Minister of Education in Manitoba (1999-2002) and in Ontario (2004-07 and again in 2009).  More about Ben's work is on his website at http://webspace.oise.utoronto.ca/~levinben/index.htm

Penny Milton, former CEO, Canadian Education Association

Penny Milton was the Chief Executive Officer of the Canadian Education Association from 1996 - 2010. She was Chair of the Toronto Board of Education, Executive Assistant for the Federation of Women Teachers’ Association of Ontario, Executive Director of the Ontario Public School Board Association and served as Deputy Minister of the Ontario Premier’s Council of Health, Well-being and Social Justice. Before joining CEA, Ms. Milton was Vice President, Human Resources and Corporate Affairs for ORTECH Corp. She has held several public appointments including current membership on The Minister’s Curriculum Council and Governance Review Committee for Ontario.

Karen Mundy, Professor and Canada Research Chair, Ontario Institute for Studies in Education

Charles E. Pascal, Professor, University of Toronto, Former Ontario Deputy Minister of Education

Charles E. Pascal is Professor of Human Development and Applied Psychology at OISE/University of Toronto, and as the Special Advisor on Early Learning to Premier McGuinty, he authored With Our Best Future in Mind: Implementing Early Learning in Ontario. He was the first full time Executive Director of the Atkinson Charitable Foundation for fifteen years.  Pascal has a strong background in education, leadership and organizational development. He has been President of Sir Sandford Fleming College, Chair of the Council of Regents for Ontario’s colleges, and has also held deputy ministerial posts with the Government of Ontario, including the Premier’s Council on Health, Community and Social Services, and Education and Training.  Pascal has also held professorial and administrative positions at the University of Toronto and OISE since 1977. Prior to this he was a faculty member with the Department of Psychology at McGill University.

Jim Slotta, Professor and Canada Research Chair, Ontario Institute for Studies in Education

Jim Slotta is an associate level professor of education in the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE) at The University of Toronto. He holds the Canada Research Chair in education and technology and co-directs the NSF-funded center called Technology-Enhanced Learning in Science (TELS). His research employs technology-enhanced learning environments to investigate cognitive models of learning and instruction. He also promotes the development of open source materials for the learning sciences, and led the development of the Scalable Architecture for Interactive Learning (SAIL). Slotta and his team are currently developing an open source technology framework for smart classroom research called SAIL Smart Space, which will support investigations of a new pedagogical model for knowledge communities and inquiry.

Charles Ungerleider, Professor Sociology of Education (The University of British Columbia) and Director Research (Directions Evidence and Policy Research Group, LLP.)

Charles Ungerleider divides his time between The University of British Columbia, where he is a Professor of the Sociology of Education in the Faculty of Education, and Directions Evidence and Policy Research Group, where he is Managing Partner and Director of Research. Ungerleider has written about a range of topics in education from assessment to xenophobia.  He is author of Failing Our Kids: How we are ruining our public schools, a critical examination of the state of public schooling in Canada, and numerous publications in scholarly, professional and popular media.  From November 1998 until June 2001, Ungerleider served as Deputy Minister of Education for the Province of British Columbia, and, prior to assuming responsibility as Deputy Minister, was Associate Dean for teacher education (1993-1998) in the Faculty of Education at The University of British Columbia.