Closing Ceremonies and "Activist Pedagogy and the Two Other R-Words"

MC: Dr. Rhonda Koster

Speaker: Dr. Gerald Walton, Distinguished Instructor Award Winner

Activist pedagogy and the two other r-words

Reflecting his own experiences and what he has learned from others, Gerald Walton argues that despite gains for social justice, campus spaces continue to be pervaded by unacknowledged privilege and social inequities. He describes himself as someone who “lives and works in privilege” in some ways but not in other ways. With examples from his own teaching, Gerald makes an argument for how privilege remains a mostly-untapped source of social equity, both on campus and elsewhere.

Gerald Walton’s experiences in life, including as a student and professor, reflect the contradictions of being both insider and outsider, and fitting in and not fitting in. As a Professor in the Faculty of Education at Lakehead University, he brings his experiences with identity and social inclusion and exclusion to his teaching. Winner of the 2018 Advising and Mentoring Award from the Canadian Association of Foundations of Education, Gerald earned a PhD from Queen’s University in 2006 and joined Lakehead University in 2008. Gender, social difference, and skill development at the graduate level are the main areas of his teaching. He had no idea that, despite challenges, his appointment at Lakehead University would be the most satisfying work experience of his life.