OISE Professors awarded Canada Research Chairs
February 10, 2016
OISE scholars Scott Davies and Kang Lee are among the 34 Professors at the University of Toronto who were awarded new Canada Research Chairs.
Professor Kang Lee has been awarded the Canada Canada Research Chair in Moral Development and Developmental Neuroscience.
He uses experimental methods to investigate how children come to grips with the concept and moral implication of lying, whether children are gullible or they are able to detect others' lies, and whether children can tell convincing lies in various social situations. He also examines the cognitive-social-cultural factors that affect children's acquisition of conceptual and moral knowledge about lying and their ability to detect/tell lies successfully. In addition, He explore neuro-physiological correlates of lying in children and adults.
SD: Thanks very much. Naturally, I am fortunate to be surrounded by great colleagues and students.
KL: Good point, Scott. OISE provides a great environment for our work!
CP: So, on a personal level, what does the CRC mean to you?
KL: I feel very honoured to be awarded CRC chair and am motivated more than ever to take my research to the next level.
SD: I agree with Kang. This kind of honour reinforces the importance of the kind of research we do.
CP: Can you describe the focus of your CRC research going forward?
SD: I'm really interested in doing longitudinal research, tracking students' progress through the entirety of their educational journeys. I want measure achievement and wellbeing and what keeps students on track or throws them off the track.
CP: Can you briefly explain why you want to measure "well being"?
SD: While measuring traditional achievement outcomes is important, we need to broaden how we see student progress such as creative thinking, health and resilience.
CP: Excellent! Kang, how about you? What will your CRC focus be?
KL: I will focus on the development of lying in children with severe conduct problems, which is a serious issue that can lead to conduct disorder, criminality, as well as a host of mental health problems in adolescence and adulthood. Lying is one of the two key early markers of severe conduct problem in childhood. However, our work over the last two decades has also showed that lying is a typical part of child development and most young children lie. It is a mystery as to why some children who lie at young ages develop conduct disorders whereas most children who also lie at young ages develop normally. I hope through the support of the CRC, that I will be able to gain in-depth scientific understanding of this important issue.
CP: Interesting! Finally, what kind of educational practices and/or policies can you imagine your research impacting?
SD: I'm hoping it will help educators pinpoint key periods for interventions and their impacts over time. It's important to parse out which impacts are lasting, versus those that quickly fade.
KL: I hope our research in the next decade will help develop tools to assess children with conduct problems and provide early intervention to help children with conduct problems as well as their parents.
CP: Many thanks for this. Best wishes for your ongoing productivity. And have fun.
