Dr. Connie Russell (Professor, Faculty of Education) recently co-edited—with Annette Gough (RMIT University, Australia), Yi Chien Jade Ho (University of Victoria, Canada), Teresa Lloro (California State Polytechnic University, USA), Shirley Walters (University of the Western Cape, South Africa) and Hilary Whitehouse (James Cook University, Australia)—a Special Issue of the highly ranked journal, Gender and Education. The issue focuses on how ecofeminist thought has informed, or could inform, educational theory and practice.

Ecofeminism emerged 50 years ago as both an activist and scholarly movement interested in the relationship between gender and environment, with numerous branches sprouting from diverse contexts. The popularity of ecofeminist ideas has ebbed and flowed in academic and activist circles over the years. In the past decade, there has been a resurgence of interest in ecofeminism. The articles included in this Special Issue are grounded in different geographical and cultural contexts, theoretical and disciplinary traditions, and teaching and learning environments, and discuss a variety of ways ecofeminist ideas could be taken up in education.

The full issue is available here.

The Lakehead Leader Recognition Program was established to acknowledge exceptional students who have made valuable contributions within the university and beyond. Sidney Howlett (MEd student with a specialization in Environmental and Sustainability Education) has been named a Lakehead Leader for her contributions in the areas of Academic Excellence and Sustainability.

Nominated by her supervisor, Dr. Ellen Field (Assistant Professor, Orillia), Sidney’s nomination letter indicated that she has “maintained an A+ average in her MEd program. She is an active member of clubs and committees, [and] contributes to research on climate change education at Lakehead” with co-authored reports and journal papers, while also presenting at events and conferences.

The nomination letter also notes that Sidney “is on the inaugural Mental Health and Climate Change Alliance’s Youth Advisory Board. She is a contributor and program advisor for the Climate Action Accelerator Program and has started a consulting business for school boards (Sidney Howlett Consulting). Sidney has advanced climate action in Canada’s education sector through her valuable contributions to research ... classroom guest speaking engagements, public lectures and volunteer work relating to sustainability issues, such as supporting youth eco-anxiety or addressing plastic waste. Through her personal and professional endeavours, she is creating a more beautiful, resilient world.”

Below: Sidney (left) with Linda Rodenburg (Interim Principal, Orillia campus)

The Lakehead Leader Recognition Program was established to acknowledge exceptional students who have made valuable contributions within the university and beyond. Mohit Dudeja (PhD student and Contract Lecturer) has received an award for their demonstrated leadership in the Program categories of Academic Excellence, Innovation, and Community Engagement. As a result of receiving recognition as a Lakehead Leader in these three categories, Mohit was also named a ‘Lakehead Luminary’ for their work.

Mohit was nominated by their doctoral supervisor, Dr. Gerald Walton (Professor, Faculty of Education) and selected by a review committee. Their nomination letter outlined details of how Mohit met the criteria for the Program awards, and included the following paragraph:

“Since beginning the doctoral program in 2021, [Mohit has] consistently demonstrated academic excellence, completing their PhD coursework a term earlier than their peers with an outstanding score, demonstrating a strong work ethic and time management. They received prestigious, competitive awards in 2023 such as the doctoral fellowship of the Ontario Confederation of University Faculty Associations (OCUFA) and the Ontario Graduate Scholarship. Their research on the experiences of queer international students in small Canadian cities is both important and timely, addressing current issues in social justice education. They actively engage in community service and leadership, fostering inclusivity through initiatives such as peer support groups at Lakehead and founding the Mendlife Foundation in India, among others. Their innovative thinking is evident in such initiatives as the Queer Graduate Studies Circle and their creative response to the housing crisis in Thunder Bay.”

Below: Mohit (left), pictured with Dr. Rhonda Koster (Deputy Provost and Vice-Provost (Teaching and Learning).

Sidney Howlett, a graduate student pursuing a Master of Education in Environmental and Sustainability Education (Orillia campus), has launched Sidney Howlett Consulting, a new business aimed at aiding institutions in navigating the complexities of climate action.

Sidney’s consulting firm offers a comprehensive array of services tailored to support school boards in their efforts towards climate action. These services include climate action planning (e.g., developing sustainability plans and policies), professional development workshops, public speaking engagements, and research assistance.

She explains that her motivation to start the business stemmed from recognizing that a significant gap exists in the educational sector’s response to the climate crisis.

“The crux of the matter was when I co-authored a report with Dr. Ellen Field (Assistant Professor, Faculty of Education), benchmarking climate leadership practices across Canadian school boards. We found that among 380 school boards, only 4 had developed climate action plans. I realized then that the education system is not adequately responding to this crisis, and I wanted to help at a systems level, to move toward the transformation we desperately need.”

Her venture was spurred by the assistance of the Ascend Accelerator program, a ten-week initiative hosted by Lakehead University’s Ingenuity incubator space. This program is tailored for young entrepreneurs, who are also Lakehead students, by offering a blend of workshops, mentorship, and financial support to kickstart their businesses.

“From access to a lawyer to review my service contracts to guidance in developing my website, the mentorship, funding, and workshops provided were instrumental in establishing my business,” Sidney says. “I have already had my first successful climate action consultation with a school board, and can’t wait to see the impact my services will have.”

Described by one reviewer as “[setting] the table for a rich dialogue on how post-secondary education can play a responsive role in these post-digital, neoliberal and neocolonial times,” the newly published Transformative Practice in Critical Media Literacy: Radical Democracy and Decolonized Pedagogy in Higher Education brings together a diverse selection of essays that examine contemporary challenges and opportunities in higher education.

The book’s editors are Dr. Steve Gennaro (York University), Dr. Nolan Higdon (Merrill College and University of California, Santa Cruz), and Dr. Michael Hoechsmann (Lakehead University, Orillia). It includes 18 powerful essays, including one by Lakehead Education Contract Lecturer Dr. Helen DeWaard, which melds Latin American traditions of Edu-communication with the exigencies of teaching digital literacies in Canadian Faculties of Education.

As noted on the Routledge website, “using a global and social justice lens, [this book] explores the transformative potential of critical media literacy in higher education. It also provides real examples of current critical media literacy practices around the globe and of successful experiences inside classrooms.”

Transformative Practice in Critical Media Literacy helps us rethink pedagogies and literacies in evolving post-secondary contexts and changing times. It will be of interest to scholars, students, policymakers, community members, and activists.

Dr. Ruth Beatty (Associate Professor, Orillia) has been awarded the Ontario Association for Mathematics Education (OAME) 2024 award for Exceptional and Creative Teaching in Post-Secondary Mathematics. This award recognizes “a post-secondary educator who demonstrates excellence in mathematics education, contributes to the overall development of students, and demonstrates leadership in the mathematics education community” (OAME).

Ruth was nominated for the award by one of her longstanding research partners. The award nomination letter indicated that many of the projects that Ruth has collaboratively facilitated (including the Connecting Indigenous Knowledge and Western Mathematical Ways of Knowing research and resulting First Nations and Métis Math Voices Project, as well as the Wiidookaadying Gikinoomaagewin: Gindaaswin Kendaaswin - Relationships & Reciprocity: Indigenous Mathematics Education Conference) have been deeply influential and transformative on the practices of mathematics educators, schools, and boards of education:

“Ruth’s work has influenced shifts in research methods and practices, as well as the teaching and learning of Mathematics in countless classrooms across Ontario, by emphasizing ethical relationality and centering instruction and the learning of mathematics through Indigenous culture.… She is a leader who leads from beside or behind, by recognizing and nurturing the strength, talents and knowledge of those around her.”

It was further noted that “Ruth has a unique gift for engaging others in the wonder and rigor of mathematics. She inspires all to embrace their inner mathematician and to connect meaningfully and deeply with mathematics through their lived experience, community and culture. Relationships are at the heart of all that Ruth does and are the means through which she serves as a catalyst for change in an ongoing pursuit for excellence, respect and dignity in mathematics, research, teaching and learning.”

Ruth will be formally recognized at the annual Ontario Association for Mathematics Education Conference, held in Kingston in May 2024. She will be further honoured in an article in the September Gazette (a publication of OAME), and on the OAME website.

Congratulations, Ruth!

Congratulations to BEd teacher candidate Georgia Tocheri (Intermediate/Senior division), winner of the Ontario Modern Language Teachers’ Association “Helen G. Mitchell Award.”

This award honours one graduating student from each Faculty of Education in the province who best demonstrates the attributes of a potentially outstanding Classical/French as a Second Language/International language teacher.

Georgia was nominated by James Steele, Contract Lecturer (Faculty of Education) for her demonstrated excellence in the BEd program courses and practicums, and for applying effective second language methodologies that lead to success in the classroom.

Georgia, who graduates in June and is currently teaching in a Grade 3 French class, notes that “this award is very meaningful to me … my mom and my previous French teachers used to attend the Ontario Modern Language Teachers’ Association conferences. I am so excited to start my career as a French Teacher.”

Congratulations, Georgia!

Dr. Helen DeWaard (Contract Lecturer, teaching Critical Digital Literacy courses in the Faculty of Education) has successfully defended her PhD dissertation, Media and digital literacies in Canadian teacher educators' open educational practices: A post-intentional phenomenology. Helen was supervised by Dr. Michael Hoechsmann.

Helen explains that her research “delved into the lived experiences of fourteen teacher educators from across Canada in their endeavours to infuse media and digital literacies into their open educational practices. Through the use of a post-intentional phenomenological framework and methodology, with a crystallization approach to data analysis, the research revealed the complex navigations teacher educators make to support student learning with open web resources for communication, creative production, collaboration, and criticality. Using a navigational gyroscope as a metaphor, the research suggests that teacher educators stabilized their view of the horizon while locating a view of the end goal for themselves and their students, and grounded themselves in order to provide foundations for student learning, as they navigated the multiple, complex, contextual, and rapidly moving elements swirled around them.”

Helen produced her dissertation in two formats, reflecting her open educational practice as a researcher and a scholar. Her dissertation can be accessed as a public document created with Scalar software that was shared “live” as it was being written, and as a PDF manuscript archived in the university library.

Congratulations, Helen!

Dr. Seth Agbo (Associate Professor, Orillia) has published a new book that is described as a “comprehensive guide for instructors and graduate students on preparing scholarly manuscripts for peer-reviewed journals, theses, or dissertations in the humanities and social sciences” (Routledge, 2024).

The Scholars’ Publication Sourcebook Preparing Academic Manuscripts for Journals in the Humanities and Social Sciences is a 160-page practical guide that outlines each stage of a manuscript preparation, from identification of a topic to final publication. It draws on expertise from journal editors, editorial board members, peer reviewers, and research methods instructors. Case studies from various fields, including sociology, psychology, political science, business studies, policy research, and public health help to illustrate and understand the complex world of academic publishing.

The book will be of wide interest to scholars, graduate students and instructors alike, who are seeking insight into the publishing process in high-impact journals, theses, and dissertations.

Congratulations to Bonnie McDonald (Administrative Assistant, Graduate Studies and Research Office, Faculty of Education and Contract Lecturer, Gender and Women’s Studies Department) and Mohit Dudeja (PhD student, Faculty of Education and Contract Lecturer, Gender and Women’s Studies Department) for being recognized as “WellU Champions for Mental Health.”

Lakehead’s “WellU Champions for Mental Health” initiative highlights Lakehead staff and faculty members who go above and beyond to support student mental health. Champions are nominated by students for showing compassion, encouraging a sense of belonging, inspiring health-promoting behaviours, and promoting student well-being.

Bonnie shares that “mental health is acknowledging and recognizing that life can be rewarding while also challenging. Mental health can change from day to day and can be affected by different situations and environments. It is acknowledging that we do not always think the same or experience life the same as the person next us, and therefore we have to exhibit forgiveness and grace. Although I have a large class, I encourage students to reach out to me if they are experiencing difficulties. I attempt to touch base with students who have indicated they are struggling. I offer alternative deadlines, reach out to student services and am willing to advocate on their behalf (if and when it is appropriate). As an instructor, it is not only my job to ensure success in my course, but to promote the love of learning in a supportive environment.”

Mohit says “I see mental health as a state of equilibrium where individuals can navigate the complexities of life with a sense of self-awareness, emotional intelligence, and the ability to form meaningful connections with others. I am dedicated to staying attuned to the well-being of my students, which involves being receptive to their concerns, promoting self-care practices, and facilitating discussions about mental health in a manner that respects cultural sensitivities. The goal is to create an atmosphere in which students feel at ease seeking support, both within and beyond the academic realm. Ultimately, mental health is a collective journey, and as an educator, I am committed to fostering a community that recognizes its significance.”

Pictured below: Bonnie McDonald (left) and Mohit Dudeja (right).