間眅埶AV

Equity Studies in Education

The Equity Studies in Education is designed for students who wish to study and develop expertise in an equity framework for education. The program conceptualizes education broadly as a concept that includes schooling, but also includes other social forces that shape knowledge in society.

MASTERS PROGRAMS

In addition to the conceptual, the pedagogical standpoint of this program is also rooted in an anti-oppression, equity frame. Acknowledging that we do this work on the unceded territories of the Coast Salish peoples, the program instructors operate from a critical pedagogy of care, inclusion, hope, and advocacy for dismantling the ongoing legacy of settler colonialism, racism, hetero/sexism, ableism, classism, linguicism, and other socially-constructed and sustained systems of oppression. While we advocate for and work towards these ideals, we also acknowledge that we are each limited by the experiences and standpoints from which we know and experience the world. It is expected that students in this program will engage in an ongoing critical, self-reflective stance on the processes of equity as we seek to understand and achieve it in school, other social institutions, and society at large, as well as in our own contexts as students, faculty, and citizens working towards a just society.

STUDENT STORIES

Teresa Dettling, MEd - Social Justice Activist.

Vive Wong, MEd - Non-profit organization in the Community Engagement Sector.

Christie Mendes, MEd - Learning and Development.

Sarah Shove, (MEd) - Grade 7 Teacher, Delta School District.

Madeline Brewster, (MEd) - High School Teacher, Vancouver School District.

Mark Touzeau, (MEd) - Primary School Teacher, Langley School Dictrict.

MA, MEd Research Projects

  • "Equity, diversity, and inclusion trainings: A critical examination of professional development for social change"
    (MEd Comps, 2021) 
     
    Committee: Sensoy/ Jordan
  • "Skilled women immigrants in Canada: Challenges faced in entering the labour market and the role of postsecondary education" 
    (MEd Comps, 2021) 
    Committee: Beck/ R. Ilieva
  • "Cripping accommodation and inclusion: A critical discourse analysis of accommodations policies and inclusion discourses at BCs three largest post-secondary institutions" 
    (MA Thesis, 2021)
     
    Committee: Sensoy/ Smythe/ Loutzenheiser (UBC); Examiner: Bathseba Opini, UBC
  • "Implementing equity in student advising in the context of university EDI initiatives" 
    (MEd Comps, 2021) 
    Committee: Beck/ R. Cox
  • "Smothering othering: South Asian students in K-12 Canadian classrooms" 
    (MA Thesis, 2020) 
    Committee: van der Wey/ Lee; Examiner: K. Beck
  • "The unstated power of reading contemporary Indigenous literature in Canada, a White supremacist nation" 
    (MA Thesis, 2020)
     
    Committee: van der Wey/ Lee; Examiner: Daniel Heath Justice, UBC
  • "A critical policy scan of sexual violence policies at 15 major post-secondary institutions in Canada"
    (MEd Comps, 2019)

    Committee: Cassidy/ Beck/ S. Poyntz
  • "Mostly "in" and sometimes "out": Queer teacher experience in British Columbia"
    (MEd Comps, 2019)
    Committee: Beck/ Chinnery
  • Anti-racism policies, antiracism education for school administrators
    (MEd Comps, 2019) 

    Committee: Beck/ Dharamshi
  • Mentorship education in the professional development of nurses
    (MEd Comps, 2019) 
    Committee: Sensoy/ Dharamshi
  • Securitization, surveillance, and policing in schools
    (MEd Comps, 2019) 
    Committee: Chinnery/ Beck
  • Understanding and allyship between Indigenous and migrant communities
    (MEd Comps, 2019)
     
    Committee: Chinnery/ Parent
  • Examining the relationship between First Nations people and early Chinese settlers in BC: Shared experiences and challenges imposed by the state and current implications 
    (MEd Comps, 2019)

    Committee: vanderWey/ Han
  • The challenges of decolonizing education in BC classrooms"
    (MEd Comps, 2018) 

    Committee: Chinnery/ Dharamshi
  • "Employment learning needs of immigrant women"
    (MEd Comps, 2018)

    Committee: Smythe/ Lee
  • "Whose stories? Whose lives? A critical narrative analysis of British Columbia's foster parent training module"
    (MEd Comps, 2018)
    Committee: vanderWey/ Smythe
  • Integrating Indigenous education into secondary classrooms"
    (MEd Comps, 2018)
    Committee: Beck/ Parent
  • Unforgiveness: An alternative space for people who cannot forgive
    (MA Thesis, 2018)

    Committee: Sensoy/ Chinnery/ G. McCarron; Examiner: Masahiro Minami
  • Challenging racial privilege in international experiential learning programs with Canadian university students
    (MA Thesis, 2018)
    Committee: Beck/ Marshall; Examiner: Roumi Ilieva
  • Reading queerly: Queer critical pedagogy in schools"
    (MEd Comps, 2018)

    Committee: Marshall/ Beck
  • Creating Space for Transgender Two-Spirit and Non-Binary Individuals in Gender-Segregated Shelter and Housing Programs" (MEd Comps, 2017)
    Committee: Jordan/ Smythe/ CJ Rowe
  • Normative Masculinities in Childrens Fiction (MEd Comps, 2017)
    Committee: Marshall/ T. Rogers, UBC
  • Teaching Unions in Social Justice Movements
    (MEd Comps, 2017)

    Committee: Smythe/ Marshall
  • The Invisibility of Injustice in Social Justice 12 (MEd Comps, 2017)
    Committee: Sensoy/ Han
  • White teacher identity development"
    (MEd Comps, 2017)

    Committee: Beck/ Marshall 
  • Me and the Media: Being Muslim in Canada (MEd Comps, 2016)
    Committee: Sensoy/ Beck 

ACADEMIC COORDINATORS

NEWS & EVENTS

The latest Equity Studies student and faculty news, informational updates, past and upcoming events, and more.

News

  • Carolyn Tinglin, ESE PhD student and a member of 間眅埶AV's EDI advisory council, was among those featured at the workshop EDI in Action: Best Practices and Future Directions, organized by , sponsored by 間眅埶AV and . "As a PhD student in the Faculty of Education, Tinglins research explores the social identities of Indigenous and Black youth, particularly those with learning "dis/ability" labels (Tinglin explains that she chooses to use this spelling to contest the colonial, racist and supremacist roots of the term)." Read the rest of the story via 間眅埶AV News.
  • ESE alum Rowan Burdge (MA, 2021) who is the Provincial Director for the , appears on Global News to discuss the impact of the BC Provincial Vaccination program on homeless people in the province. 
  •  Lozano, Hollman (2020) "A case for unforgiveness as a legitimate moral response to historical wrongs," Journal of Educational Controversy: Vol. 14 : No. 1 , Article 4. Available at: 
  • . CBC has recently completed a 3 part series on Nerlap Sidhu's (ESE MEd, 2020) classroom. Over the past several months she has developed an "equity backpack."
  •  Read the remainder of the article via .
  •  "Media plays a critical role in how we make sense of ourselves, others, and the world around us. On the episode, I reconnect with one of my favorite professors to unpack the concept of social justice education before we look at ways that we can disrupt privilege by incorporating media into the classroom." 
  •  "間眅埶AV assistant professors Pooja Dharamshi and Hannah McGregor speak with Stephen Quinn about the stress they are feeling as instructors without being able to interact with students." 
  • A Conversation on Cyberconsent Dr. Wanda Cassidy was among the panelists featured at A Conversation on Cyberconsent, a webinar to discuss the impacts of online gender-based violence, and caring solutions for it. View the recording of this event hosted by 間眅埶AV's Sexual Violence Support and Prevention Office.
  •  Halimah's thesis title: The unstated power of reading contemporary Indigenous literature in Canada, a White supremacist nation (MA Thesis, 2020). (Committee: van der Wey/ Lee; Examiner: Daniel Heath Justice, UBC) Watch video .
  • Statement on Recent Events Related to Systematic Anti-Black Racism from the Equity Studies in Education program, Faculty of Education 間眅埶AV.
  • Congratulations to our PhD equity stream students Sonja Van Der Putten (Senior Supervisor Dr. Wanda Cassidy) and Ki Wight (Senior Supervisor Dr. zlem Sensoy) for their SSHRC doctoral awards.
  • . In the  podcast, Dr. zlem Sensoy (ESE faculty and co-coordinator) talks powerfully about how we need to reflect deeply on how our actions are molded by the system, ways in which we can turn our classrooms and cultures into more equitable and more just environments, and how to work with colleagues and students to develop a greater sensitivity to the power of the system and ways to act to change it. 
  • . If elected, Ohana has a lot to bring on the table in these depressing times of growing racism and bigotry. Being Jewish herself, she understands what it means to be a minority and how to deal with the threat of white supremacy. Read the remainder of the article via .
  • Two students from the Equity Studies in Education (ESE) program have been recognized with a 2019 British Columbia Multiculturalism and Anti-Racism Award:
    • ESE Alumna Annie Ohana '18 (supervised by Dr. Kumari Beck and Dr. Ann Chinery) is the founder of Mustang Justice, a youth social justice leadership program, which focuses on support for cultural revitalization projects, interfaith dialogue and the protection of cultures facing oppression in their home countries.
    • Nada El Masry, a Libyan-born Palestinian and ESE student (supervised by Dr. Ena Lee) is the co-creator of RADIUS 間眅埶AV, and a team member for the Beyond Borders project, which is focused on addressing themes of civic engagement, inclusion and systemic barriers to thriving livelihoods for refugees in Surrey.
      Read the full list of recipients .
  • . February 2019: Dr. Wanda Cassidy gives 2019 間眅埶AV Presidents Faculty Lecture, titled Cyberbullying in our Schools and Universities: Extent, Impacts, and Solutions. Her full lecture can be viewed at this link: 
  •  The Simpsons and the Savior Teacher/Deficit Parent in Popular Culture. Rowan Shafer, 間眅埶AV.
  • Feds extend funding to 間眅埶AV-professor-led LGBTQ2+ refugee assistance program. Rainbow Refugee has received funding extension from the Canadian Federal government. Dr. Jordan serves as the board chair for  and is involved in LGBTQ2+ resettlement work across Canada. 
  • . Dr. Amy Parent who was selected for the 2018 Distinguished Alumni Award from Douglas College. Parent was chosen for her contributions to reducing barriers to education for aboriginal youth after overcoming her own struggles in college.
  • . Ashley Bentley is originally from England and is a settler working, living and learning on the traditional, unceded and occupied lands of the Musqueam, Squamish, Tsleil-Watuth and Kwikwetlem peoples.
  • Wanda Cassidy Excellence in Teaching Award 2017. Dr. Wanda Cassidy, Director of CELS and Associate Professor at 間眅埶AV, was recently honoured with 間眅埶AV's 2017 Excellence in Teaching Award.
  • . 間眅埶AV Professor Ann Chinnery explores empathy, ethics & education in her President's Faculty Lecture "Rendered Responsible by the Fragile." Ann's talk is available here: 

Upcoming Events

No Events scheduled at this time.

Archived Events

Tuesday, May 31, 2022 | 間眅埶AV | Burnaby

The Polarization of Privilege

Decades of research and scholarship have explored social privilege in its many dimensions. Yet, privilege remains a thorny topic and difficult to talk about, inciting eye-rolling, confusion, denial, resentment, and perhaps even rage, among other responses. Walton argues that building understanding of equity relies on reshaping educational approaches to teaching about privilege. Recognizing the risks of polarization in spaces of learning, Walton insists that it is up to social justice scholars and educators to find ways to mitigate it. In his view, the work is especially incumbent upon those who, like himself, benefit from social privilege. His presentation for Equity Studies in Education focuses on how scholars and educators can teach about social privilege in ways that engage all students, even the most resentful ones. The question is: How?

About Dr. Gerald Walton: Dr. Gerald Walton is Professor in the Faculty of Education at Lakehead University. Raised in the Canadian military without having been taught anything about colonialism in school, he grew up in several places in Canada and oversees, never enjoying the constant uprooting but always doing well in his studies. He graduated with his BA and MA from the University of Victoria and his PhD from Queens University, focusing his scholarship on privilege and exclusion to understand his own experience. Focusing on the topic of bullying, he argued in his dissertation, as he still does, that bullying persists because of a fundamental misunderstanding of what it is in the first place. An award-winning educator and student mentor, Walton draws from his own experiences of social privilege on one hand, and social oppression on the other, in his approach to education. In addition to many academic and general articles, he is also co-author of Being boys: Shaping gender norms to weaken rape culture (2021) and editor of The gay agenda: Claiming space, identity, and justice (2014).

from CELS on .

 

Wednesday, February 24, 2021 | ESE Black History Month Lecture | Dr. Annette Henry | University of British Columbia

Why Black History Month Isn't Enough: What Else Educators Must Know and Do

How do researchers build relationships with cultural communities? How do we, especially where we are cultural outsiders, bridge issues of power and build trusting and mutually beneficial research and advocacy relationships? And in turn, how do cultural insiders build trust as university workers representing institutional contexts that have often amplified the marginalization experienced by Black communities, Indigenous communities, communities of Colour, and otherwise marginalized peoples? In this talk, Dr. Henry will draw on her decades of experience and scholarship working with Black students, teachers, activists, and community-based organizations to share her insights on how researchers can better navigate circumstances working across race and culture.

About Dr. Henry: holds the David Lam Chair in Multicultural Education in the Faculty of Education at the University of British Columbia. She is a Professor in the Department of Language and Literacy Education and cross-appointed to the Institute for Race, Gender, Sexuality and Social Justice. Her scholarship examines race, class, language, gender and culture in socio-cultural contexts of teaching and learning in the lives of Black students, Black oral histories, and Black women teachers practice in Canada, the U.S. and the Caribbean. She has written extensively about equity in the academy, diverse feminisms and conceptual and methodological research issues especially in culture-specific contexts. She is the 2018 recipient of the Canadian Association of University Teachers Equity Award.

(間眅埶AV ID required).

 

Tuesday, March 10, 2020 |

Dr. Gwendolyn Point | BCAFN Elder Representative

Shoysqwelwhet () is from the St籀:l Nation. She is a distinguished educator, scholar, mentor, visionary, cultural advisor, and leader. At various points in her career, Shoysqwelwhet has taught at the elementary, secondary, and post-secondary levels, and held positions in leadership and administration with the St籀:l Nation and the provincial government. She is former Chancellor for the University of the Fraser Valley and is currently serving as the Elder for the B.C. Assembly of First Nations Chiefs.

Dr. Point holds a Doctorate in Education from 間眅埶AV and is a board member for PAVCOand the Provincial First Nations Education Steering Committee. Her work in Indigenous education and St籀:l language revitalization, as well as her contributions to Indigenous sovereignty, healing and self-determining community-based research have been recognized with numerous distinctions and awards. Among them are an honourary Doctorate in Education from the University of Victoria, a University of British Columbia Alumni Volunteer Leadership award, the Order of Chilliwack, and the Rotary Harris Fellow Award.

(間眅埶AV ID required).

 

Monday, November 18, 2019

| Shirley R. Steinberg, PhD

How do we become critical allies and supporters of youth, without becoming their critics? Our futures are determined by our desire to understand and work authentically with youth as educators, community workers, and activists. In order to become facilitators and supporters of our youth, it is essential to discuss the history and culture of youth and to contextualize the worth of an empowered youth population.

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Wednesday, March 13, 2019 | Intersections and Interventions: Making Visible the Invisible Violence of Power

Yasmin Jiwani, PhD

This presentation focuses on the role of the mainstream media in making visible, hyper-visible and invisible the violence of power. Through intersectional frames of analysis of specific spectacular cases of violence, Dr. Jiwani interrogates how frames make certain bodies legible by situating them in a matrix of meaning that rationalizes certain kinds of responses and valuations of worthiness and grievability. Dr. Jiwani ends with an examination of various tactical interventions as pedagogies of hope in countering and talking back to the violence(s) of power.

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Tuesday, November 20, 2018

White Fragility: Why It's So Hard For White People To Talk About Racism | Robin DiAngelo, PhD

White people in the U.S. and Canada live in a society that is deeply separate and unequal by race, and white people are the beneficiaries of that separation and inequality. As a result, we are insulated from racial stress, at the same time that we come to feel entitled to and deserving of our advantage. Given how seldom we experience racial discomfort, we havent had to build our racial stamina. We consider a challenge to our racial worldviews as a challenge to our very identities as good, moral people. Thus, we perceive any attempt to connect us to the system of racism as an unsettling and unfair moral offense. The smallest amount of racial stress is intolerablethe mere suggestion that being white has meaning often triggers a range of defensive responses. These include emotions such as anger, fear, and guilt and behaviors such as argumentation, silence, and withdrawal from the stress-inducing situation. These responses work to reinstate white equilibrium as they repel the challenge, return our racial comfort, and maintain our dominance within the racial hierarchy. I conceptualize this process as white fragility. This talk will provide an overview of the socialization that inculcates white fragility and the perspectives and skills needed for white people to build their racial stamina and engage more constructively across race.

 

Tuesday, March 13, 2018

Awareness and Prevention of Sexualized Violence Against Indigenous Women and Girls: Dismantling and Deconstructing Colonial Constructs | Lisa Monchalin, PhD

Indigenous women in Canada are hypersexualized through all facets of western media and culture stemming from imperial colonial legacies. These ideas and misrepresentations have permeated institutions, infused todays value systems, and have become embedded in western media and culture. It is argued that this sexualization is tied to extreme levels of violence and victimization affecting Indigenous women today. In this presentation, the dominant western narratives are deconstructed, challenged, and re-evaluated in an effort to raise awareness, examine solutions, and explore possibilities for next steps forward. It is argued that Indigenous women are a driving force for change. Many are raising awareness and empowering communities through cultural reclamation, acts of resurgence, and self-expression through art, music, and dance.

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