Advisor Profiles (OSSC)
Christina Arayata
Christina Arayata is a PhD candidate in the Higher Education program. Her BA in English and Political Science and MA in Higher Education influence her research and academic practices. As a researcher and academic, Christina is grounded in Critical Race Theory, Centrifugal Intersectionality, and a Phenomenological understanding of whiteness.
Her doctoral work investigates how race has been conceptualized, operationalized, and used over time, with particular attention to institutional data collection within Ontario universities. In addition to her doctoral work, Christina has also conducted research in the following areas: student development/success, racialized 2SLGBTQ+ students, and migrant LGBTQ+ students.
Christos Orfanidis *Summer 2025
Christos Orfanidis is a PhD candidate in the Higher Education program. He studies educational institutions from an organizational perspective, and he is particularly interested in examining how ethical leadership is conceived, developed and practiced at different levels of administration and by diverse stakeholder groups. At the OSSC, he enjoys facilitating various aspects of student success, extending from academic skills to career planning. Christos is equally eager to discuss with students who are working towards becoming impactful educational researchers and are looking for opportunities to enhance their learning experience, as well as more professionally-oriented students, who would like to master applicable skills for the workplace, and also students actively exploring pathways to subsequent graduate-level studies.
Elena Danilina
Elena is a PhD candidate in Language & Literacies Education at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE) and a sessional English instructor at the Graduate Centre for Academic Communication (GCAC) at the University of Toronto. Her research focuses on plurilingualism, learner autonomy, and AI-based technology in language learning. Elena’s teaching experience in higher education spans over fifteen years in the UAE, Morocco, USA, and Canada. She is happy to support students with writing course papers and resume/cover letters, completing grant applications, and preparing oral presentations.
Gabrielle Breton-Carbonneau *Summer 2025
Gabrielle is a Doctoral candidate in the Department of Social Justice Education also affiliated with the Centre de recherches en éducation franco-ontarienne (CREFO) at OISE/UT. She is a past recipient of the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) Joseph Armand Bombardier Canada Graduate Scholarship and the Fonds Québécois de Recherches sur la Société et la Culture du Québec (FQRSC) doctoral fellowship. Rooted in the fields of sociolinguistics and the anthropology of education, her ethnographic research focuses on francophone mobilities, and specifically looks at the making of Québécois citizens and “emergent francophones” in Quebec’s classe d’accueil program for new immigrant students to the province who do not yet speak French. With experience as an ESL and FSL elementary school teacher, she is fully bilingual and can advise students who require support in both English and French. Gabrielle also has a strong qualitative research background and can support graduate students with writing preparation, resume and cover letter editing, thesis writing, conference presentations, manuscript preparation, the French-language proficiency exam preparation, as well as with general graduate-level academic writing.
Harriet Akanmori *Summer 2025
Harriet Akanmori is a final year Doctoral Candidate at OISE, in the Department of Social Justice Education (SJE) and the Comparative International and Development Education (CIDE) collaborative program. With post-graduate experience in a number of disciplines, she has wide multidisciplinary knowledge of graduate level writing and a strong background in qualitative research methodology. Harriet has over two decades of experience teaching ESL to English Language Learners internationally at both the secondary and tertiary levels, as well as to a wide variety of adult learners. Her areas of strength with the OSSC are supporting second language students with academic writing and assisting all students with the organization and writing of course and research papers, as well as reviewing the various stages of thesis writing.
Hoda Gharib
Hoda is an interdisciplinary, mixed-methods researcher completing her doctoral studies in the Department of Social Justice Education. She has a strong passion for research, and loves to help others with writing about and conducting their own research. She has been involved in undergraduate and graduate research for over 11 years, and her current research uses a mixed-methods review and semi-structured interviews to explore the role of emotions, beliefs, and other motivational factors on activists decisions to engage in and maintain their activism.
She has been writing qualitative and quantitative research proposals and literature reviews since her early undergraduate years, and has received the OGS scholarship three times, authored three publications, competed in the finals of the Three-Minute Thesis competition, and given over 20 academic and community presentations and workshops. She is happy to advise her peers on formulating research questions, preparing research proposals, reviews, manuscripts, and scholarships, conducting qualitative analyses, and public speaking (conferences, 3-minute thesis, etc).
Jasmine Pham *Summer 2025
Jasmine is a PhD student in the Department of Leadership, Higher & Adult Education studying Educational Leadership and Policy. She holds a BEd in Secondary Education from the University of Alberta and an MEd in Educational Leadership & Policy with a specialization in Comparative, International and Development Education from OISE. She is currently a member of OISE's Student Experience Committee and a mentor for OISE's mentorship program. She is also the Director of Public Relations for the University of Toronto's Chinese Graduate Student Association. She previously served as the Administrative Officer for the Comparative, International and Development Education Student Association.
Having presented multiple papers at academic conferences such as the AERA and CSSE, Jasmine can support graduate students in academic writing, grant proposals as well as paper submissions for academic conferences. With a book chapter published and two forthcoming articles on the way, she can also help students with research articles and the publication process. Her research interests include English language education, teacher development, native-speakerism, international education policies, culturally responsive teaching, critical race theory, anti-racist education, and gender socialization.
Prior to pursuing her graduate studies, Jasmine taught English as a Foreign language for two years at Miyang Elementary School in Seoul, South Korea. Currently, Jasmine works part-time as an Academic Coach and supports Ontario students with weak executive functioning skills while completing her doctoral studies. As such, Jasmine can offer additional support for teacher candidates with lesson and unit planning.
Katherine Anderson
Katherine is a PhD student in Language & Literacies Education in the Department of Curriculum, Teaching & Learning. She holds an MA in Teaching English for Academic Purposes from the University of Nottingham. Katherine has 20 years of experience in Canada and overseas as a communications instructor specializing in post-secondary EAL writing. She also has extensive experience in academic administration, teacher recruitment, and pre-service teacher training. Her research focuses on changes in English language use in EAL engineering students over the course of their degrees. Katherine can provide support during your writing process or feedback on your finished work. She is also happy to work with you on oral presentations, proposals, résumés, personal statements and practice interviews, and lesson plans, and to help you gain confidence in speaking and teamwork.
Michael Koslowski
Michael is a PhD graduate at OISE in the Languages & Literacies Education (LLE) program. He holds an MA in Applied Linguistics, and his research focuses on plurilingualism, the connections between languages, and the benefits of multilingual classrooms. With around 14 years of experience teaching English language learners in Canada, Japan, South Korea, Turkey, and the Czech Republic, Michael can assist international students with their reading, writing, listening, and speaking skills. Having also taught English for Academic Purposes (EAP) for a number of years at York University, Michael has a lot of experience helping students with researching, planning, outlining, drafting, editing, and formatting academic writing. Other areas of expertise include coaching students in oral presentations, interviews, and how to adjust to new educational cultures.
Noah Khan
Noah Khan (he/him) is a PhD student in the Social Justice Education program. He has previously completed a thesis-based MEd, a BEd, and an honours BA in Law and Society. He is also an Intermediate/Senior Ontario Certified Teacher. Noah's research examines the emotional dynamics of artificial intelligence development, inquiring into how experiences such as grief, love, fear, etc., influence which features get prioritized and which get discarded. Noah is also presently a Junior Fellow at Massey College and Victoria College.
Sarah Lu
Sarah is a PhD student in the Curriculum and Pedagogy program. She is an OCT-qualified teacher with math and science as her qualified teaching subjects in the intermediate/senior division. She has taught math in both secondary and post-secondary education settings as a teacher and as a TA for the Mathplus program respectively. Sarah is excited to help develop and strengthen both math and science concepts and can also help support teacher candidates with unit and lesson planning.
As a researcher, she is currently interested in Asian STEM teacher identity and grounds her work in Critical Race Theory and Intersectionality. Sarah has also conducted research in math education and equity issues in STEM/science education.
Stacy Alexandra Costa *Summer 2025
Stacy is a PhD holder in the Department of Curriculum, Teaching & Learning with a Collaboration with Engineering education. In this role, she researches advancing online Knowledge Work within Education innovation to understand students' misconceptions, idea trajectories, and students' use of Collaborative Annotation within online communities. Her Master's degree work focused on mathematics education and elementary students and can assist OISE students whose focus relates to these areas. Expertise in STEM-related questions and instructional planning. She is a past recipient of the Ontario Graduate Scholarship (OGS).
As a professional public speaker, she has presented to various groups (Menza, Toronto Public Library, University of Toronto, Ted Talk Speaker). She has presented to a wide range of audiences - young children to senior administrative staff for a wide range of presentation experience needs. She has extensive experience producing manuscripts, has published extensively in journals and has edited for several publications and conferences. She can help assist students in various writing stages and for a wide variety of assignment expectations.
Stephanie Chartrand
Stephanie is a PhD student in the Department of Leadership, Higher & Adult Education studying Adult Education and Community Development (LHAE AECD). She holds a BA in Political Science from Lakehead University and an Honours Bachelor of Community Development from Humber College. She was previously an Infinite Reach Facilitator; a position that supports Métis students attending post-secondary while also hosting cultural workshops for the broader university community.
In a previous role, Steph was a Peer Tutor and Workshop Facilitator at Humber College. She has been trained in Peer Assisted Learning Strategies and workshop facilitation on a variety of topics such as writing cover letters and resumes, time management, and presentation skills. They welcome students looking for these types of support. They learned important skills for working with people of diverse backgrounds. Steph worked in tandem with the Indigenous Education and Engagement Office at Humber to provide student support that weaved cultural knowledge and peer advice for student life. She hopes to continue this work for Indigenous students at OISE and those looking to work with Indigenous students at OISE.
She is a previous recipient of the Canada Graduate Scholarship – Master’s (CGS M) Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) award and currently a recipient of the Ontario Graduate Scholarship (OGS). Steph can support academic writing and takes a keen interest in helping others with reflective and reflexive writing methods.
Ty Walkland *Summer 2025
Ty is a Doctoral candidate in the Department of Curriculum, Teaching & Learning (CTL) whose SSHRC-funded dissertation research explores critical and care-centred approaches to school-based drug education, as well as collaborative, participatory, and arts-shaped inquiries among youth and educators more broadly. Before pursuing full-time graduate studies, Ty taught secondary English, Social Science, and Special Education north of Toronto. He's also a writing instructor working alongside undergraduates at the New College Writing Centre. As a lead research assistant for Addressing Injustices, a critical practitioner research project that involves students and teachers co-creating social justice curriculum, Ty has presented numerous papers at international conferences, co-authored academic journal articles and book chapters, and developed curriculum for youth and teachers. He can offer feedback and guidance as folks prepare academic presentations and publications, comprehensive exams and theses, course projects, and professional portfolios for teaching and academic job markets.