Recent news stories

QS World University Rankings has placed OISE as the 4th best educational institution in the world. Read more.

Professor Ann Lopez is recognized as an influential leader who has consistently made positive and lasting contributions in the areas of scholarship, service to others, and action against discrimination. Read more.

OISE alum Dr. Douglas Gosse (PhD '15) has been appointed to the Council of the Ontario College of Teachers (OCT) as Vice-Chair of the Selection and Nomination Committee. Dr. Gosse, an Associate Dean at the Faculty of Education and Professional Studies at Nipissing University will bring his leadership and expertise to help govern the College. The University of Toronto is proud of Dr. Gosse's contributions. Read more.

An award-winning scholar and leader, Professor Jones creates spaces for conversations and exchange of diverse perspectives and ideas by bringing together other leaders and community members in highly participatory and engaging ways. Read more.

Erica Walker, an award-winning researcher, educator and professor of mathematics education has been appointed Dean of OISE for a five-year term starting January 1, 2023. Committed to building on OISE's many strengths, her first priority is to get to know the community. Welcome to the University of Toronto, Professor Walker! Read more.

Vincent De Freitas (MT '17), the son of two teachers with a combined 80 years of classroom experience, always thought he would work his way through the public education system. But a future relationship - with his wife - who worked at tech startups, inspired Vince to merge his love of education with a passion for technology. With more than a decade of experience teaching, coaching, consulting and learning, Vince likes to say he turns coffee into education. Read more.

Meet our faculty winners of this year's awards of excellence, who have gone above and beyond to ensure that students are ready to tackle the world's crises head on. Their selfless leadership, expertise and advocacy have been crucial to the success of others. Read more.

The University of Toronto has announced the winners of the 2022 Awards of Excellence, a prestigious program presented annually in collaboration with the U of T Alumni Association. The Vivek Goel Faculty Citizenship Award has been awarded to OISE Prof. Glen A. Jones, and Dr. Ann Lopez received the Ludwik and Estelle Jus Memorial Human Rights Prize - Influential Leader. Congratulations! Read more.

Every staff member at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education deeply supports our academic mission in many ways - whether it be through their leadership, their caring, their administrative abilities and technical expertise, or their boisterous support of faculty and students. This year, we're recognizing 12 individuals and teams with an OISE Staff Excellence Award. Meet our winners. Read more.

Last week, Ontario announced that it signed the Canada Wide Early Learning and Child Care Agreement, which promises to bring parent fees down to an average of $10 a day while increasing child care access, explains Kerry McCuaig, Fellow in Early Childhood Policy at OISE. She compares Ontario's agreement against other provinces and outlines "necessary improvements" to attract more child care providers and keep fees low for parents. Read more.

Dr. Kang Lee, based in OISE's Department of Applied Psychology and Human Development and Dr. Eric Jackman Institute of Child Study, has been named one of this year's laureates of the President's Impact Award. The award celebrates and honours faculty members whose research has led to significant impact beyond academia. Kang Lee is a Tier 1 Canada Research Chair and the world's foremost authority on childhood dishonesty. Read more.

During the pandemic, alum Dr. Dean Barnes created a hockey card collection, featuring about 100 Black hockey players. Those cards are currently on tour with the NHL Black Hockey History Tour - aiming to raise awareness of the League's ongoing history of pioneering Black hockey stars. On March 31, Dean is looking forward to seeing his cards and meeting a few former Black NHL alumni. Read more.

'From assessment to intervention': In school-age children, a cognitive weakness that affects the ability to form letters and numbers accurately and efficiently can cause them to lose ground over time. In the Globe and Mail, OISE's Dr. Todd Cunningham discusses the importance of addressing students struggling with reading and writing - which are considered foundational for life success - and two OISE initiatives that have risen to the challenge. Read more.

The theme of this year's International Women's Day - #BreakTheBias - encouraged people to imagine a world free of bias, stereotypes and discrimination. For early years teacher Usha Shanmugathasan, an OISE alum, breaking the bias is about centring justice. Read more.

Universities dedicate significant resources to recruiting international students, developing outbound programs, and forming degree and research partnerships. But how does internationalization impact students, programs, and institutions? OISE Professor Elizabeth Buckner explored this question at the latest Focus on Research lunchtime lecture series - one hosted by OISE's Office of the Associate Dean, Research International & Innovation. Learn more about the talk. Read more.

This International Women's Day, meet a Toronto innovator breaking barriers and being honoured as a "Barbie Role Model" by Barbie Canada. OISE alum Melissa Sariffodeen is the CEO and co-founder of Canada Learning Code, helping inspire young girls to overcome the "dream gap." She joins Global News to unveil her one-of-a-kind doll. Watch here.

OISE alum Dr. Emmanuel Tabi, an educator, artist and scholar, sits down with the McGill University community to discuss his perspectives on fighting oppression, honouring diverse voices and fostering a courageous classroom. Dr. Tabi was recently appointed assistant professor at McGill in the Department of Integrated Studies in Education. Read more.

Kitchener MPP Laura Mae Lindo's bill aimed at countering racism in schools received nearly unanimous support in Queen's Park this week. The bill aims to formally review and develop anti-racism accountability programming for students and staff and to establish protocols for recognizing, acknowledging, tracking, measuring, investigating and responding to incidents of racism. OISE Professor Lance McCready weighed in on this with CBC News. Read more.

The 2022 Black Faculty in Conversation, a webinar featuring numerous Black faculty from OISE, convened to discuss a new Centre for Black Studies in Education, which was officially announced by the Dean's office on Feb. 8. Watch here.

Faculty and researchers from OISE and the Dr. Eric Jackman Institute of Child Study Lab School have launched Laidlaw Forum: Emerging Ideas in Child Study and Education, a new peer-reviewed journal. The Forum will promote the latest child study research, find meaning in it, and mobilize it towards people who can use it - from frontline educators to students and parents. Read more.

In Mexico, anti-Black racism has been historically perpetuated by the legacies of slavery and the existence of a racist colonial-era racial caste system, and a modern nationalist myth that has associated true "Mexicanness" with being "mestizaje." (That means "mixed race," a racial and cultural mix of Indigenous and Spaniard.) In The Conversation Canada, doctoral student Marycarmen Lara Villanueva casts a historical light and explains how the legacy of racism against Blackness and dark skin continues today. Read more.

Jean Lowe was among the most decorated amateur athletes of her day, and yet few Canadians have ever heard of her. What can we learn from her story - and from the fact it was lost for so long? OISE communications officer Perry King tells the story of the lone Black track and field champion whose story offers a window into how we talk about, treat and nurture Black athletes in Canada and elsewhere. Read more.

At a recent event, OISE Prof. Mary Reid and Dr. Kien Nam Luu discussed their research findings on the impacts of anti-Asian hate on Canadian educators during COVID-19 - and gave recommendations in the areas of curriculum, representation, professional learning and community support. "Asian identities are viewed as adjacent to whiteness, and for this reason, anti-Asian racism goes unacknowledged," explained Reid and Luu. Their study, which asked Asian educators and leaders about their experiences with racism during the pandemic, was, for some, the first time their identities and experiences were affirmed in a professional setting. Read more.

Trigger warning and content warning. Last week, OISE community members were subject to anti-Asian racist threats and video of a man holding a machine gun during a virtual meeting. OISE stands in solidarity with our community and we are appalled that such incidents continue to occur in our community spaces. We emphatically condemn anti-Asian discrimination and racism and all forms of hate and racial violence. Professor Mary Reid spoke to Global News about the incident. Watch here.

As U of T Hart House's inaugural Hip Hop Education Community Connector, Marcus Singleton, a 2020 OISE grad, is doing what he loves most: engaging with students through hip hop; helping them explore who they are and who they aspire to be; fostering a sense of belonging; and striving for meaningful change. Read more.

A young girl has a heartwarming reaction to seeing herself being represented in a new book series that celebrates Black identity. The author, OISE alum Stephanie Duff, sits down with Global News Toronto to talk about her inspirational project. Watch now.

OISE alum Rich Baxter, Principal of Innovation in Education, and his team have won bronze at the Reimagine Education Awards for his program The Bootstrapping Checklist - a pedagogical initiative that is equipping K-12 students with skills to succeed in the 21st century. The Reimagine Education Awards - considered the "Oscars" of Education - are open to edtech companies, universities, schools, and educational non-profits worldwide. Contested by applicants from 84 nations, they offer a global higher education platform to identify and reward outstanding pedagogical innovation. Read more.

How did OISE alum Rosemary Sadlier convince Canada to recognize Black History Month? She pushed province to province all while building up a community by doing hundreds of presentations. Ultimately, fellow alumna, the Honourable Jean Augustine and the first Black woman elected to parliament in Canada, took it to the House. Read more about Rosemary's hard-earned impact and how she continues to champion Black history. Read more.

Dr. Amal Madibbo, who joined OISE in 2021 and has been appointed Founding Director of the Centre for Black Studies in Education, researches at the intersection of Black studies and Francophone studies - focusing on Black Francophone immigration, race and anti-racism, and ethnic relations in sub-Saharan Africa among other topics. Meet Dr. Madibbo. Read more.