07/15/2025
✨ Milestone moment in teacher education! We proudly celebrate the first graduates of our BEd – Indigenous Post-Degree Professional program, a bold new teacher education pathway that redefines the way we train teachers in BC.
Developed in direct response to the needs of communities and school districts, this program equips teachers—both Indigenous and non-Indigenous—to build their practice with an increased understanding of Indigenous worldviews, especially as they relate to teaching and learning.
💬 “We’re not just tweaking what exists, we’re building something new, something necessary.” - Dr. Jean-Paul Restoule, Chair, Department of Indigenous Education
🔗 Hear from the students at the link in bio.
06/18/2025
🎓Congratulations to Yiman Zhao on completing her MEd in Leadership Studies!
Working under the supervision of Dr. Darlene Clover, Yiman completed a thoughtful and impactful final project titled: “Two Creative Non-Fiction Stories of Asian Women in Western Workplaces.”
Grounded in her own experiences, Yiman used creative non-fiction storytelling to explore the systemic biases and gendered challenges faced by Asian women in predominantly Western, often patriarchal, professional settings.
Her work blends personal narrative, arts-based research, and social justice frameworks to bring visibility to these experiences—offering space for both critical reflection and solidarity.
Her project is a valuable contribution to ongoing conversations around equity, representation, and leadership in global workplaces.
Join us in celebrating Yiman’s achievement and the important conversations her work continues to inspire! 👏🏼⭐️
06/16/2025
🍏🎓 Statia Burchart just completed her BEd in Elementary teaching (with distinction)! Here’s how she reflected on the experience:
💬 “What an honour it has been to complete my teaching degree at UVic! Entering the program straight out of high school, I never expected to find such a strong sense of community. From incredible professors—many of whom I still keep in touch with, shoutout to Phil Duchene & Dr. Sylvia Pantaleo—to the most supportive cohort I could have asked for, my time at UVic has been life-changing.
I especially loved my practicums and appreciated how they were thoughtfully placed between semesters. This structure allowed me to apply what I was learning in theory directly to practice—and vice versa.
Now, in my first few weeks of TTOCing and teaching drama at a local middle school, I feel incredibly grateful for all of my experiences at UVic!”
Congratulations, Statia! ✨
06/13/2025
🌸 Convocation Q&A ✨
Helena Wahl finished her undergraduate and masters degrees in Ontario before coming to UVic for the Bachelor of Education - Secondary Post-Degree Professional Program. Now, she’s working as an English Language Arts (ELA) teacher in Japan!
What moment stands out most from your time at UVic?
💬 Some of my favourite memories are with my colleagues between classes or getting to know them off campus. I loved the collaboration and comradery that evolved. We made friends for life.
What was your favourite way to unwind on campus?
💬 Several of us would go and play a round of golf in between our classes; many times we would even play spikeball in the quad.
What are your plans now after graduating?
💬 After completing my teaching practicum in Japan, I was offered a job here. I’ve always cared about sustainability and cultural consciousness in the classroom and I’ve been exploring this in new contexts here.
Congratulations, Helena! 🎓⭐️
06/10/2025
Dr. Christine Webster is a Nuu-chah-nulth scholar who recently completed a PhD in Leadership Studies at the University of Victoria. Her dissertation centered around the question: How do the protocols of the Drying of Tears ceremony enhance the understanding of Nuu-chah-nulth leadership practices?
Working with fifteen Nuu-chah-nulth contributors, she explored how leadership, embedded in ceremony, could offer guidance for daily life and inform both Indigenous and non-Indigenous leadership models.
“It was really important for me to let people know that this study was not a ‘how-to-do’ Nuu-chah-nulth ceremony,” Christine explained. “Nuu-chah-nulth knowledge was more of a framework to get our hearts and our minds in Nuu-chah-nulth thought before discussing leadership.”
🔗 Read more: https://news.uvic.ca/2025/leading-with-ancestral-knowledge/
Congratulations, Christine! 🎓 ✨
