Advisory Board

Antoinette Gagné is an Associate Professor and the Associate Chair for Student Experience in the Department of Curriculum, Teaching, and Learning at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education of the University of Toronto. Her research has focused on teacher education for diversity and inclusion in various contexts. She has explored the experiences of young English language learners and their families as well as internationally educated teachers in Canadian schools and universities. Antoinette is also the convenor of the Network of Critical Action Researchers in Education (NCARE) which brings together university educators from a dozen countries. As part of her contribution to NCARE, she is exploring auto, duo and multi-ethnographic writing in graduate education as it is growing in popularity in coursework as well as theses. In a separate study, she is researching the editing practices of faculty at OISE as they interact with graduate students who are writing about their own research. 

More recently and with SSHRC funding, she has been investigating the educational integration of Syrian refugee children and youth in Canadian schools and how best to support pre-service and in-service teachers to meet the diverse needs of this population with the support of a SSHRC Insight Grant. In addition, Antoinette is part of a SSHRC-funded research team along with Dr. Jeff Bale and Dr. Julie Kerekes at OISE, working to identify how teacher candidates, teacher educators, practicing teachers, and subject consultants in local boards interpret and enact Ontario’s 2015 teacher education curriculum policy which mandates that teacher education programs include a course where teacher candidates learn to work with English learners and other diverse students across the curriculum.

Limin Jao is in the Department of Integrated Studies in Education at McGill University. Her research focuses on issues of exemplary teaching practice and teacher education (pre-service and in-service), particularly in STEM education contexts. In addition to teaching undergraduate and graduate level mathematics education courses, Dr. Jao is involved in various teacher professional development initiatives. A former secondary school mathematics and science teacher, Dr. Jao was also a museum educator for many years.

Gillian Parekh is an Assistant Professor and Canada Research Chair in Inclusion, Disability and Education (Tier 2) within the Faculty of Education at York. As a previous teacher in special education and research coordinator with the Toronto District School Board (TDSB), Gillian has conducted extensive system and school-based research in Toronto in the areas of structural equity, special education, and academic streaming. In particular, her work explores how schools construct and respond to disability as well as how students are organized across programs and systems.

Melanie-Anne Atkins is the Associate Director, TA Programs at the University of Western Ontario’s Centre for Teaching and Learning and a proud Branksome alumna. She has partnered with every faculty and university college at Western to develop a diverse set of educational resources and assessment tools in the areas of mental health and wellness, financial literacy,
anti-oppressive practices in education, academic literacy and research skill development, intercultural communications, and eLearning.
 
Dr. Atkins is a certified CliftonStrengths® coach with a special interest in engaging students with traditionally marginalized identities in the academy, peer mentorship and education, holistic student development, anti-oppressive practices in. education, and students as partners in teaching and learning. In 2016, she led the creation of a student-driven wellness education innovation hub teaching evidence-based mental health and wellness strategies to university students, staff, and faculty. Drawing on her PhD research in anti-stigma education, Dr. Atkins has become a key contact for leaders seeking mutually beneficial, enriching, and sustainable strategies to support students with mental illness in the classroom and to promote mentally healthy learning environments for all.

Eunice Eunhee Jang is a Professor in the Department of Applied Psychology and Human Development at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE) at the University of Toronto. Her research focuses on the intersection of language and literacy education, formative and diagnostic assessment, and advanced technology, with a particular emphasis on using artificial intelligence (AI) to develop new methods of assessment and support students' self-regulated learning. Her work examines the opportunities and challenges of using AI for educational assessment and learning. She investigates how technology can be designed to enhance student achievement, motivation, and well-being.

Elizabeth Campbell is a Professor in the Department of Curriculum, Teaching and Learning at The Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, University of Toronto. She teaches ethics, professionalism, and law in the Master of Teaching pre-service teacher education program and in the Curriculum Studies and Teacher Development graduate program. Professor Campbell’s scholarship and research focus on the areas of professional ethics in education and the moral and ethical dimensions of teaching. Her book, The Ethical Teacher, was published by the Open University Press, McGraw-Hill, U. K., in 2003, and translated into Chinese in 2010. Her most recent research project, “The Ethical Curriculum,” which was funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC), investigated the ethical dimensions of curriculum and its interpretation and implementation by secondary school Arts, English, History, and Science teachers in Ontario. She is a former Editor of the internationally refereed journal, Curriculum Inquiry, and a member of the Journal of Moral Education’s Editorial Board.

Jane Gaskell is the former Dean of the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education at the University of Toronto (OISE/UT). She is also a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada and a senior fellow at Massey College. Her research has focused on many areas of educational policy, including gender, vocationalism, secondary education and school board politics.

Monique Herbert is an award-winning Assistant Lecturer in the Department of Psychology at York University. She brings quantitative research expertise in youth development, equity in education, as well as girls and leadership.

Dennis Thiessen is a Professor Emeritus at the University of Toronto. His research interests are in the areas of student lives and careers, teacher development, school improvement, and educational change. His publications include the following books/monographs: International Handbook of Student Experience in Elementary and Secondary School, co-edited with Alison Cook-Sather (2007); Getting into the Habit of Change in Ohio Schools: The Cross-case Study of Twelve Transforming Learning Communities, with Stephen Anderson (1999); Agents, Provocateurs: Reform-minded Leaders for Schools of Education, co-edited with Ken Howey and Nancy Zimpher (1998); Children and their Curriculum: The Perspectives of Primary and Elementary School Children, co-edited with Andrew Pollard and Ann Filer (1997); and Making a Difference about Difference: The Lives and Careers of Racial Minority Immigrant Teachers, co-edited with Nina Bascia and Ivor Goodson (1996). Previously, he was the Chair (2003–07) of the Department of Curriculum, Teaching and Learning at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education of the University of Toronto. From 2006 to 2014, he was also the Editor-in-Chief of the journal, Curriculum Inquiry.