Faculty of Education Graduate Studies

Congratulations to Dr. Jaime Mantesso, one of two recipients of the spring 2023 Faculty of Education Associate Dean’s Graduate Student Thesis Award.

The Faculty of Education Associate Dean’s Graduate Student Thesis Award was established in 2021 to recognize outstanding academic performance of thesis-based graduate students (Masters and PhD) in Education. This $2,000 award is granted to a student in a graduate program in the Faculty of Education who has exemplified academic excellence and research ability, demonstrated leadership ability and/or university/community involvement, and whose thesis/dissertation was deemed meritorious by the Examining Committee.

Read more at https://www2.uregina.ca/education/news/associate-deans-graduate-student-thesis-award/

Congratulations to Dr. Uwakwe Kalu, one of two recipients of the spring 2023 Faculty of Education Associate Dean’s Graduate Student Thesis Award.

The Faculty of Education Associate Dean’s Graduate Student Thesis Award was established in 2021 to recognize outstanding academic performance of thesis-based graduate students (Masters and PhD) in Education. This $2,000 award is granted to a student in a graduate program in the Faculty of Education who has exemplified academic excellence and research ability, demonstrated leadership ability and/or university/community involvement, and whose thesis/dissertation was deemed meritorious by the Examining Committee.

Read more at https://www2.uregina.ca/education/news/spring-2023-faculty-of-education-associate-deans-graduate-student-thesis-award/

We're rolling out the red carpet for our new grads! 🎓

Day one of the 2023 Spring Convocation is set to begin!

For those who are unable to attend in person, don't worry! We will be livestreaming the ceremonies right here on Facebook, all three days.

Join us this afternoon at 2 p.m. (MT) as we celebrate our grads from these faculties:
Paul J. Hill School of Business
University of Regina Faculty of Education
Johnson Shoyama Graduate School of Public Policy
Faculty of Education Graduate Studies
Levene Gsb

For more: https://bit.ly/3Pd2xHn

Congratulations Class of 2023. You can

Congratulations to everyone who received CERCD funding!

Looking for that perfect late-night study spot during finals? 📚

The main floor of Dr. John Archer Library is open until 2 a.m. every night, from now until April 26!

Congratulations to Dr. Aida Abushagur on the successful defense of "The role of intercultural communicative competence in the acquisition of English as an Additional Language for Arab Learners: A hermeneutic phenomenological study," defended March 16, 2023.

Supervisor: Dr. Fatmakhanu (fatima) Pirbhai-Illich

Committee: Dr. Fadila Boutouchent, Dr. Christine Massing, and Dr. Anna Mudde (Faculty of Arts)

External Examiner: Dr. Douglas Fleming, (University of Ottawa)

Chair of the Defense: Dr. Chris Oriet

Congratulations to Dr. José Wellington Sousa on his successful defense of "Forged within power relations: A narrative study about non-academics becoming community-based research facilitators," defended March 22, 2023.

Co-Supervisors: Dr. Cindy Hanson and Dr. Sara Schroeter
Committee: Dr. Abu Bockarie, Dr. Michael Cappello and Dr. Patricia Elliot
External Examiner: Dr. Budd Hall (University of Victoria)
Chair of the Defense: Dr. Chris Oriet

In December, our Faculty received news that six of our graduate students have been chosen for the SSHRC Doctoral Fellowships/Canada Graduate Scholarships (CGS) Competition. We saw this news as an opportunity to highlight some of our extraordinary graduate students and their research.

Our spotlight today is shining on PhD student Heather Carter, one of the six competitors from our Faculty.

Heather (B.Ed.’08 SUNTEP-PA, M.Ed.’19 UofR) is a Métis woman from Prince Albert, SK, and is now living and working on Treaty 4 territory, the territories of the nêhiyawak, Anihšināpēk, Dakota, Lakota, and Nakoda, and the homeland of the Métis/Michif Nation. Before moving to Regina, Heather worked as a middle years teacher for 8 years and then in adult education at Dumont Technical Institute for 2 years. She also earned her M.Ed. (C&I with a focus on Indigenous Leadership and Pedagogy) in our community-based master’s of education program offered in partnership with Gabriel Dumont Institute in Prince Albert. Currently, Heather works as an Indigenous Student Success Facilitator and runs the nitôncipâmin omâ Student Success Program at the University of Regina.

While Heather is working toward a Ph.D. in Educational Administration and Leadership, her research focus is anti-oppressive leadership in higher education. She chose this topic because she is interested in "understanding the impact that ubiquitous racism and oppression has on the identity of Indigenous and racialized learners in post-secondary institutions,” says Heather.

She adds, "I was fortunate to have been given the opportunity to learn, to teach, and to lead while cocooned in my culture. I am called now to do this research and join those whose aim is to make change in post-secondary institutions and move toward equity in education for those Indigenous and racialized students yet to come."

Dr. Jerome Cranston (Education) is Heather's supervisor. Her committee members will be Dr. Amanda Gebhard (Social Work), Dr. Emily Grafton (Politics and International Studies), and Dr. Donna Swapp (Education).

Read Heather's published research:
Gebhard, A., Novotna, G., Carter, H., & Oba, F. (2022). Racism plays a disappearing act: Discourses of denial in one anti-discrimination campaign in higher education. Whiteness and Education. https://doi.org/10.1080/23793406.2022.2072760

Carter, H. (2022) Permission to escape. In A. Gebhard, S. McLean, & V. St. Denis, (Eds.), White benevolence: Racism and colonial violence in the helping professions. Fernwood Publishing.

Carter, H., & Cranston, J. (2023, in press). Freedom with relational responsibility: Exposing the culture of Whiteness of academic freedom from a critical pedagogy of place. In M. Popovic, Q. Dang., & L. Matei, (Eds.), Global observatory on academic freedom. https://elkana.ceu.edu/goaf-blog

In December, our Faculty received news that six of our graduate students have been chosen for the SSHRC Doctoral Fellowships/Canada Graduate Scholarships (CGS) Competition. We saw this news as an opportunity to highlight some of our extraordinary graduate students and their research.

Our spotlight today is shining on PhD student Whitney Blaisdell (BA-Visual Arts/BEd-Arts Education'14; MEd'21) one of the six competitors. On top of her work as a sessional instructor and research assistant with the Faculty of Education, Whitney works with Project Play YQR, a community-based organization founded out of her master’s thesis research. Her thesis, (Re)Claiming Play: An Individual and Community Movement Towards Playfulness, was deemed meritorious for nomination for the President’s Distinguished Graduate Student Award and her presentation in the University of Regina Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research 2021 Three Minute Thesis competition won first place.

For her PhD research, Whitney is picking up a thread from her undergraduate studies in the arts. Her arts-based, action research project focuses on "children’s involvement in outdoor play reclamation and responsible urban planning that re-centres children and non-human beings. I hope to invite children, teachers, urban planners, city councillors, and other community members in relevant roles to reimagine and participate in creating more vibrant, natural, and playful communities," she says.

One experience that highlighted the need for her research was work Whitney did with a development company, informing the design of parks and playspaces. Whitney says, "it was an amazing opportunity that first and foremost increased my desire to see more natural spaces and native flora and fauna centred in design. Furthermore, the experience made me appreciate the unique challenges that Canadian prairie cities face in attempting to increase outdoor play and centre children or even humans (instead of cars) in communities." Still, Whitney has big hopes for Regina. She says, "I imagine Regina as a leading prairie city in connectivity, nature-centred design, playfulness, and community nature-based offerings”.

Whitney says: "I appreciate the faculty, fellow students, and community I am surrounded by. I’m looking forward to doing some arts-based research, especially alongside children. I am eager to see what may be co-imagined and co-created as visions and pathways for a more desirable, vibrant, joyful, playful, and just urban community that centres and fosters relationships with children and the natural world." As the University tagline goes, let's "Go Far, Together."

Whitney's supervisor is Dr. Marc Spooner, and her committee members are Dr. Emily Ashton, Dr. Valerie Triggs, and Dr. Vanessa Mathews (Arts-Geography).

Whitney's published works:

Blaisdell, W. (2014). Reimagine education in Regina. Education Matters: The Journal of Teaching and Learning, 2(2). pp. 10-14.

Blaisdell, W. (2022). Untangling the benefits of play from play advocacy. Play, Policy, and Practice Connections, 2(1), 13-15.

Lewis, P., & Blaisdell, W. (2020, December 23). Make room for play as we stumble through this pandemic holiday and new year. The Conversation. https://theconversation.com/make-room-for-play-as-we-stumble-through-this-pandemic-holiday-and-new-year-151351

Congratulations to Dr. April Chiefcalf on successfully defending “'Who Did I Get to Be?' Racialized and Gendered Discourses and the Shaping of Indigenous Girls’ Subjectivities in a Northern Saskatchewan High School."

Defended:
December 5, 2022

Supervisor: Dr. Michael Cappello

Committee: Dr. Twyla Salm, Dr. Melanie Griffith, and Dr. Amanda Gebhard

External Examiner: Dr. Susanne Gannon (University of Western Sydney)

Chair of the defense: Dr. James Daschuk