Media Archives | Faculty of Education

Double Vision

devontem — Mon, 14 Apr 2025 13:37:56 +0000

Marnie and Rena Schwartz are leaping beyond the dance floor

Article by Deirdre Kelly ()

Photography by Horst Herget

Marnie and Rena Schwartz are a force to be reckoned with. The identical twins, who both earned double degrees (BA ’01, BEd ’01) from �첥��Ƶ, have spent more than two decades transforming the Greater Toronto Area’s dance scene through their ViBE Dance and Fitness Studio.

Founded in 2002, ViBE is no ordinary dance school. From its inception, the Schwartz sisters envisioned a space where creativity trumped competition – a sprawling 12,000-square-foot studio in Vaughan where students of all ages could focus on self-expression rather than scorecards or trophies. “We wanted to create a place where everyone felt welcome,” says Marnie, who oversees the business side of operations. “It’s about joy, not judgment.”

That vision has resonated with thousands of students over the years. ViBE’s inclusive approach treats every dancer equally – whether they’re three years old, or an adult – and emphasizes fun over pressure. “We believe in building confidence through movement,” adds Rena, who leads the artistic side of their business.

Education has always been central to their lives. Their mother, Susan Schwartz (BA ’80), is an accomplished educator and author of teaching manuals used at York and beyond. Growing up surrounded by her passion for learning and teaching left a lasting impression on Marnie and Rena, who credit their own time at the University for shaping their approach to leadership and innovative thinking. “York taught us how to manage our time and think creatively. It really ignited our passion for lifelong learning.”...

For more, check out the full article in the

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Cultivating Black Joy: Critical Literacy Through Student Voice

mmvs — Wed, 19 Jul 2023 19:20:27 +0000

By Paul Junor

It will be an empowering and elevating Summer 2023 as the Nubian Book Club (NBC) celebrates its 16^th anniversary. It is one of the highlights of the summer as students and staff from school boards in the Greater Toronto Area as well as Ottawa celebrate the power of literacy to energize minds, empower souls, encourage hearts and elevate spirits.

In addition: parents, community individuals, and educational stakeholders have been a vital part of each summer session. These summer sessions will continue the tradition of uplifting and building community through literacy. The NBC is a network of students, parents and community members who are engaged in the academic and social well-being of students. Furthermore, it uses literacy as a tool for advancing student success, leadership skills, and community engagement among youth, particularly those of African-Canadian heritage.

The four stated goals of the Nubian Book Club are:

Motivate students by getting them to engage in what is most important to them
Promote social literacies such as networking, authentic engagement and discussions around high-interest and non-fiction texts
Stimulate discussions, speakers and participants make connections to different texts and share various experiences
Expose students to people they may not otherwise meet and reinforces the value of reading and gaining knowledge and experience. They learn that literacy is something that enriches and creates community

Prior to the pandemic the summer sessions were held at Donna Cardoza’s home in York Region. The theme for 2023 will be “Cultivating Black Joy: Critical Literacy Through Student Voice.” The promotional material for the NBC 2023 mentions that the sessions will delve into the power of cultivating Black Joy and centering student’s voice. Together they will explore literature, engage in critical discussions and uplift the narratives that celebrate Black excellence. They want to create a space where our youth and community can: heal, grow and thrive. Black Joy is an excellent focus to highlight its vital power.

The dates and themes of each session are:

Session 1: Thursday, July 6^th (Virtual): Understanding Black Joy

Guest speaker, Ginelle Skerritt, Chief Executive Officer, York Region Children’s Aid Society

Session 2: Thursday, July 6^th (Virtual): Cultivating Black Joy

Guest speaker, Dr. Andrew Campbell (Dr.ABC), Assistant Professor, Teaching Stream in Leadership for Racial Justice in the Department of Curriculum, Teaching and Learning (CTL) at the University of Toronto-Ontario Institute for Studies in Education

Session 3: Thursday, August 20^th (In-person): Embodying Black Joy

The list of facilitators for Nubian Book Club 2023 includes the following:

Camille Logan – Associate Director of School Engagement & Equity at PDSB
Vidya Shah – Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Education at �첥��Ƶ
Clayton La Touche – Assistant Deputy Minister, Student Support and Field Services
Cecil Roach – Associate Director of Education, Equitable Outcomes and Schools at York Region District School Board (YRDSB)
Jeewan Chanicka – Director of Education at Waterloo Region District School Board
Alison Gaymes – Superintendent at Toronto District School Board
Ramon San Vicente – Principal of Dixon Grove Junior Middle School in the TDSB
Prince Duah – Superintendent of Instruction for Central Schools with the OCDSB
Carl James – Jean Augustine Chair in Education, Community and Diaspora
Deanna Heron – Principal in York Region District School Board (YRDSB)
Phiona Lloyd-Henry – Coordinating Principal for System Transformation & Capacity Building
Pierrette Walker – Educator at YRDSB and Performance Plus Teacher
Bethel Soressa -Technical blogger at bethel soressa
Jacqueline Lawrence – Diversity and Equity Coordinator at Ottawa Carleton District School Board (OCDSB)
Mubarek Baker – Middle School Success Counsellor with Toronto District School Board

Everyone is welcome to attend the NBC. Visitor can make registrations: bit.ly/nubianbc2023. For more information contact Donna Cordoza:(647)-403-5821

Article originally published via Toronto Caribbean on July 12, 2023.

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Teachers draw envy and ire over their two-month ‘vacations.’ But do they really get the summer off?

mmvs — Wed, 12 Jul 2023 19:14:30 +0000

Summer months off may not be the perk you think it is. For many teachers, it’s a time for courses, prepping lesson plans and learning new curriculums.

By Janet Hurley Senior Writer

School’s out for summer, but Kimiko Shibata is already thinking about September.

The Kitchener teacher is trying to get familiar with the that the Ontario government dropped three weeks ago just as teachers were drowning in report cards, year-end ceremonies and feeling “June tired.”

There was little time to wade through the document. But no matter: come Sept. 5 including back-to-basics phonics, grammar, digital media literacy and .

“A curriculum document really is just an outline of the topics and skills that have to be taught and assessed; it doesn’t provide any of the actual lessons or resources that teachers need to do the teaching,” said Shibata, an MLL (multilingual learner) teacher who works with newcomers at eight schools in her public board.

And so the self-described is going to spend her summer figuring out how to meet the new expectations, including making short of stuff teachers are going to need to master — like “what’s a gerund?” (A word ending in -ing that is made from a verb and used like a noun, if you must know.)

“The government is telling me I have to know the curriculum, I have to teach the curriculum,” said Shibata, who is pleased with the new expectations, “but they’re not saying, thou shalt go and write a bunch of videos and make a bunch of content. That’s what I’m choosing to do. That’s going to help me, it’s going to help my students and it’s going to help my colleagues.”

It will be unpaid work.

A teacher’s summer break is not necessarily the unencumbered perk critics would have everyone believe. It’s a time many use to take additional qualification courses, prepare lesson plans, move classrooms, or find the energy they’ll need to face a new cohort of kids eight weeks from now.

A teacher’s salary — which in Ontario and averages about $94,900, according to the Ministry of Education — is usually dispersed over 12 months, but is actually for 194 days (instructional, PA days and scheduled prep time).

Summer is unpaid. So are statutory holidays and the winter and March breaks.

The ministry would not specifically respond to queries about whether teachers will be expected to spend their summer getting resourced and ready to teach the new language curriculum this September, but spokesperson Grace Lee said, “our government has hired over 7,500 net new education staff designed to improve and support the academic success and well-being of Ontario students.”

Of the 132,423 teachers in Ontario, 65,510 are on the provincial sunshine list making $100,000 or more. “Teachers in Ontario are among the best paid education workers in the country... along with comprehensive benefits and a fully indexed pension,” said Lee.

All that especially during (.

We’ve all been students in a classroom, so everyone thinks they understand the profession, say educators. Everyone has an opinion.

And the idea of “summers off” really does seem to rankle.

“From the outside looking in, that’s kind of what people see, right?” said , a Grade 8 teacher with the Toronto public school board who hears it all the time. “They always say, ‘Oh, don’t complain. You’ve got summers off.’

“But we put a hell of a lot of work in throughout the year, a lot of emotional work,” said Morris, who was back at Tecumseh Senior Public School in Scarborough this past week packing up a few things he had no time to consider in the June rush. “We’re dealing with children every single day in a way that, if you want to do your job properly, requires you to be alert, focused and prepared to be flexible. No day is the same, no year is the same. It’s draining.”

Teachers say that, at any one time, in addition to teaching the curriculum, they need to be therapists, navigate mental health crises and make sure kids are fed, all the while meeting individual learning needs. One teacher likened their job to hosting a birthday party for 30 kids — all day, every day.

The pandemic brought further challenges, The stress of which caused

“Teaching is hard work, and it is heart work,” said Shibata. “And it’s not for the weak of heart, for sure.”

So it comes as no surprise that some educators feel “chiseled out” by the time June rolls around and need the summer to rejuvenate. As one teacher noted, “you can’t pour from an empty cup.”

The origin of the summer break is oft explained away as an accommodation to the demands of an agrarian economy, but the standardized school calendar was actually born out of education reforms in the 19th century. There were a number of reasons why the academic year ended up being like it is, including that summer temperatures made schools unbearable. One only has to spend a little time in an un-airconditioned classroom in June to understand why lessons don’t extend into July.

But there was also a notion among education leaders at the time that “a summer of ‘quietude’ would counteract the strain that they believed teaching put on teachers’ — especially women teachers’ — physical and mental health,” , a professor at the University of Iowa who is writing a book on the history of teachers’ summer off. Administrators also began to encourage teachers to attend summer institutes for professional development.

It’s a tradition that continues today, with a whole industry built up around teacher education, from conferences and workshops to immersive travel-study opportunities.

“During the summer,” said Ogren, most teachers are “thinking about their work. Even if they’re travelling, they might be thinking about, well, how can I use this in my classroom? (Summer) doesn’t mean they just shut off.”

For a July 1st weekend camping trip marked the beginning of her break, but she is also more than a third of the way through a book she purchased to help her prepare for a new challenge come September. The Grade 3 teacher at Peel District School Board is moving to a kindergarten classroom, for the first time.

It will require a whole different program, and she needs to cram for it. She has a stack of reference material she’ll be making her way through this summer: “I will be reading beach reads and professional reads.”

She will have to reorganize her classroom, some 300 picture books and novels as well as STEM building materials. And so she, like many teachers, will return to school in August to set things up.

In the meantime, she is taking a course with the International Dyslexia Association on decoding and spelling after having just finished an additional qualifications (AQ) math course this past spring.

In Ontario, AQ courses are accredited by the Ontario College of Teachers, and offered by teachers’ unions, universities and school boards. According to the Elementary Teachers Federation of Ontario (ETFO) — which wouldn’t share actual enrollment figures for their AQ courses — registration this summer is higher than last year.

“Summer is honestly my favourite time to take them because I can actually focus more on the learning,” said Shibata. “I’m not juggling as much. And I know most my colleagues are in the same boat.”

Teachers pay out of pocket, with ETFO AQ courses, for example, costing

Some teachers choose to enrol in them for financial reasons. Those starting out in the profession, for example, might take AQ courses to move faster up the salary grid. It takes about 12 years plus extra qualifications to reach top pay.

Others are keen to improve their practice or just want to keep learning. ETFO reports 43 per cent of its candidates have taken more than 15 courses.

“Folks that take AQ courses — they spend July in the classroom, go to school Monday to Friday or online. They don’t start holiday until August,” said Hilary Brown, an associate professor at Brock University’s faculty of education.

But there are also teachers who need the full two months to recover and repair, whether it be sitting in a hammock or gardening, said Brown. They’re chiseled away. They have nothing left in the tank. “My hat goes off to them, too, because sometimes that’s what you need in order to be the best practitioner you can be.”

On social media, Toronto teacher Morris has been doling out advice on how to decompress — words he hopes to live by, despite knowing his back-to-school anxiety usually kicks in by August. He’s starting his summer with small goals — like filling up his bike tires and going for weekly rides — but he also knows he wants to choose a new novel for his students this fall, so he figures he’ll soon begin researching a new book and then thinking about how he’ll teach it.

“You don’t want to be the teacher that just comes back to a school year without any growth.”

But as in any profession, there are always a few bad apples who do the bare minimum. “We can all name one or two exceptions that don’t mind being bad at it, but it’s such a difficult job that they don’t last very long,” said Sarah Barrett, an associate professor with faculty of education at �첥��Ƶ.

Peel teacher Lyons agrees. “Summers off are great. I am not going to deny that, it’s a lovely benefit,” but if people go into the profession in order to have “summers off,” she said, “they probably won’t last more than five years.”

According to 2021 data from the Ontario College of Teachers, In the U.S. where salaries are generally lower, .

�첥��Ƶ’s Barrett notes that because the best and brightest still want to do the job.

“It is indicative of how important we think education is that we pay teachers as well as we do. Given how smart they are and how hard it is to get into (university) programs, they could do other things if they wanted to and get paid better.”

For Shibata, there are no “other things.” She says teaching is “the best job in the world,” and brings her great joy.

She believes public criticism over benefits, like the summer break, are fuelled by poor work conditions elsewhere.

“People wish they could have better. And honestly, I wish everyone could have better,” she said. “But instead of cutting down people who have good working conditions, who make a living wage, who have a pension, who have holidays, instead of ragging on them, what we need to be doing is ragging on institutions that are not providing that for their workers.”

Before Shibata dives deeply into the new language curriculum, she intends to spend time with her daughter, as well as catch up on dental and eye appointments she couldn’t fit in during the academic year. And she will rest.

It’s all self-care she describes as “trickle-down wellness.”

“When we take care of the people who are taking care of our kids, then our kids do better,” she said.

“I don’t want my child’s teacher next year to be feeling burnt out and horrible and June-tired in September. I want that teacher to be refreshed and happy and so excited to meet my kid and to understand and meet her needs.”

Clarification — July 10, 2023: A previous verion of this article did not make clear that Ontario teacher pensions have been indexed at inflation since 2018. As well, in Ontario, AQ courses are accredited by the Ontario College of Teachers (OCT), and offered by teachers’ unions, universities and school boards. They are not offered by OCT.

Article originally published via The Standard on July 9th, 2023.

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First Education Alumni Network Mixer

mmvs — Thu, 29 Jun 2023 13:44:10 +0000

This past spring, �첥��Ƶ's Faculty of Education (ED) and Division of Advancement hosted their first Education Alumni Network Mixer! This casual and fun event provided an opportunity for education alumni, professors, and staff to reconnect on campus, forge new connections, and expand their professional networks.

The mixer also opened up doors for more alumni to join the network, helping to foster meaningful relationships and ongoing community & alumni connections. To become involved and a part of the ED Alumni Network, please contact Alyson Gampel at agampel@yorku.ca.

Check out our throwback Thursday video which captures the evening!

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IN THE MEDIA: $25K in 25 Days for Black History Month

Angelina Gardner — Thu, 04 Feb 2021 19:25:03 +0000

Jean Augustine, the first Black woman to be elected to the parliament of Canada, is calling on the community to match a donation of $25,000 in support of the Jean Augustine Chair in Education, Community and Diaspora at �첥��Ƶ's Faculty of Education.

"It is so important for us to see the work of the Chair as being important in our community," says Augustine. "We want to address marginalization. We want to talk about the barriers to an individual's achievements, and where best can we do this than in a teaching environment, a learning environment, a university setting."

The Jean Augustine Chair in Education, Community and Diaspora aims to advance access, equity and inclusivity to education and engages in community responsive research and programs that promote equity and social justice.

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�첥��Ƶ puts itself at the forefront of society’s issues

Angelina Gardner — Wed, 27 Jan 2021 16:50:58 +0000

“Right the Future” shows how different societal challenges look today and imagines how they could look in the future, thanks to the work of students and researchers working in its different departments. Examples include an all-male engineering robotics team being replaced by a more gender-balanced team, a homeless person getting easy access to affordable shelter or ocean plastics being replaced by a thriving jellyfish. Each outcome is zeroed in on with a red rectangle, a longtime hallmark of the school’s branding.

“This is a time for �첥��Ƶ to be bold and clarify what we stand for,” says Susan Webb, the university’s chief communications and marketing officer.

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IN THE MEDIA: Professor Sarah Barrett on the impact of online learning

Angelina Gardner — Tue, 19 Jan 2021 20:57:52 +0000

Sarah Barrett, Associate Professor at �첥��Ƶ's Faculty of Education was recently interviewed by 105.9 The Region on the impact of online learning and the results of Barrett's survey conducted in 2020.

Through surveying teachers Barrett found that last year's sudden change to online learning affected the majority of teacher's as they did not have a chance to prepare for the pivot from face to face to online learning. "That was a major source of difficulty for both the students and the teachers," says Barrett.

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IN THE MEDIA: Mandatory online learning leaves single parents with impossible choice

Angelina Gardner — Tue, 12 Jan 2021 20:34:04 +0000

Every day, Jessy Duncombe has to figure out how to put food on the table, help her two school-aged kids navigate the complexities of online learning, and keep her three-year-old daughter occupied and out of trouble.

But the current system is putting single parents — predominantly women such as Duncombe — in precarious situations, said Beyhan Farhadi, a postdoctoral visitor at �첥��Ƶ’s Faculty of Education.
“The impact on women is something I think about a lot,” she said. “A lot of the labor that’s taking place right now and over the next two weeks and beyond is going to be disproportionately borne by women.”
Farhadi said the current model of online learning places too much emphasis on synchronous learning, during which a teacher delivers a live lesson to students over video chat.

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Students thank professors in Zoom classes for 'keeping our spirits high' during pandemic

Angelina Gardner — Wed, 23 Dec 2020 15:54:13 +0000

i’m crying and you are. high key gonna miss him so much, he was so nice

Students at �첥��Ƶ surprised their professors during Zoom classes to thank them for their work during a challenging year.

Professor Mario Di Paolantonio of �첥��Ƶ in Toronto, where he's been an educator for over 20 years, spent time reworking his in-person coursework for online learning due to the pandemic and found this surprise by his Educational Studies students to be "a real gift.

"I think there was this feeling of thanks, not just to me, but for the whole thing that we managed to do, that we we did something educational, in spite of it all," Di Paolantonio, 55, told NBC News. "Very difficult conditions, you know, with people being in their own homes, with some having childcare issues as well, and other things...but they committed they got through it, we got through it."

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Why it matters to show diversity in children's books, especially at Christmas

Angelina Gardner — Tue, 22 Dec 2020 17:53:33 +0000

Plenty of families this December will be flipping through “T’was the Night Before Christmas," or “A Christmas Carol.” They’re often considered required seasonal entertainment, like “Home Alone” or “Die Hard.”

But two authors of colour are urging parents and children to remember to snuggle up and also read books where the main characters aren’t just white, but also Black, such as in “Grace at Christmas;” Latinx, such as in “Too Many Tamales” and “N is for Navidad;” Asian, such as in “Yoon and the Christmas Mitten;” or South Asian, such as in “The Night the Reindeer Saved Christmas” written by British South Asian author Raj Kaur Khaira.

At the height of protests against anti-Black racism this summer, there was a surge in interest of literature touching on Blackness, race and diverse perspectives. And, at the time, Carl James, professor and Jean Augustine Chair in Education, Community and Diaspora at �첥��Ƶ’s Faculty of Education, told CTVNews.ca, it was vital for parents of all races to openly discuss these issues with younger generations and to start while they were constructing ideas about race.

“All of us have different histories and those histories are rooted in the stories that we tell and our relationship to the state so, therefore, it’s not one blank all-racialized group,” he said. “We have to pay attention to some of these differences because those differences inform how we see the different groups.”

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