Courses Taught

EDTE 531: Social Justice in Education, Vancouver Island University. 

Overview

In this course, we will explore a variety of social justice issues that affect our local community and reflect on how these issues cross over into educational contexts.  Students will explore and reflect on their emerging philosophy as educators, especially as it relates to social justice issues and anti-oppressive pedagogies. Furthermore, we will have opportunities to engage with both community organizations and with local schools and to reflect on the intersections between the two.  Finally, we will work toward developing anti-oppressive teaching strategies and social justice-related learning sequences and teaching resources.

Learning outcomes

Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to:

• Identify a variety of social justice issues present in the local community and schools, and communicate thoughtfully and reflectively about those issues in relation to their emerging identity as professional educator

• Research, develop and facilitate learning experiences related to social justice issues in education

• Develop strategies to address and prevent social justice issues in consultation/collaboration with community organizations

• Develop a learning sequence with activities, resources and assessment strategies for teaching social justice

• Contribute to positive and purposeful change in the area of social justice and inclusive classrooms 

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EDCI 452:Cultural Studies in Education

University of Victoria, Faculty of Education (Sessional Instructor)

Course Description

What is Cultural Studies in Education?  According to Hytten (1999), cultural studies in education asks about what schools currently do to children and for what purposes, and they explore what schools might do differently and why.  Cultural studies in education suggests that there is an integral relationship between education and the broader society, and that schools and teachers play critical social and political roles. Within a more critically oriented tradition in education, cultural studies also provides a vision for the ultimate purposes of education in society; a vision that involves challenging inequity and injustice and building a more humane society. In practice, cultural studies practitioners explore the links between culture, knowledge, and power, and they aim to uncover disempowering educational and social practices. They challenge the ways in which schools currently function so that those groups with power retain power, and those that are marginalized or powerless remain so (Hytten, 1999, p.528).

In this course, we will fuse the theory of cultural studies in education with our emerging understandings of pedagogical practice.  The course is structured around a number of pedagogical strategies that reconceptualise traditional understandings of teaching and learning and that can be used to encourage more equitable and empowering methods of instruction.  Units will be divided into theory--readings, discussions, critical reflections, etc., and practice—interactive and dynamic activities, often student-driven, that facilitate practical engagement and conceptualization of the theoretical principles.  By pairing the theory with the practice, this course aims to provide students with a deeper, practical understanding of issues of critical pedagogy.  Through critical reflection and practice-based application, students are encouraged to reflect upon how they might integrate non-traditional teaching practices (e.g., community-based learning) into their emerging understanding of pedagogy.