OISE celebrates the retirement of esteemed Professors Clare Brett and Antoinette Gagné

^{Associate Professor Emerita Clare Brett (left) and Associate Professor Emerita Antoinette Gagné are celebrating decades of service at OISE upon their retirement.}
 

The Ontario Institute for Studies in Education honours two distinguished alumni today, OISE Professors Clare Brett and Antoinette Gagné, who are retiring from our institute at the University of Toronto. The OISE community extends its heartfelt congratulations to both Prof. Brett and Prof. Gagné on their impactful careers in education. Below, learn more about the outstanding educators and view photos from a recent retirement party held by Dean Erica Walker.
 

46 years of cultivating the OISE community 

Associate Professor Emerita Clare Brett has served for 46 years at OISE, where she taught courses on integrating technology into the classroom to aspiring teachers in the Master of Teaching program. In this time, she received several grants and accolades including a 5-year SSHRC grant entitled “What does interaction really contribute to the online learning experience?”. The grant led to research findings that enhanced OISE's proprietary online learning and research platform, PeppeR. Together with Professor Jim Hewitt, Prof. Brett was the project's Principal Investigator. Under their leadership, the PeppeR team successfully created spaces—including a mobile app in 2023—for OISE students to engage with their course materials, instructors, and classmates, and to build community online.
 

^{Dean Erica Walker (left) with Professor Clare Brett (second from left) at a recent retirement party held in the OISE Nexus Lounge. Also pictured is Chief Administrative Officer Helen Huang (second from right) and our new Chair of CTL Professor Jen Gilbert (right).}
 

From 2016 to 2022, Prof. Brett served as the Chair of the department of Curriculum, Teaching and Learning (CTL), one of the Institute's largest graduate units. She also served as the department's Associate Chair of Graduate Studies for over 14 years. A student of OISE, she earned her MA in educational psychology and her PhD in education and applied cognitive science. 

The OISE community gives our sincere thanks to Prof. Brett for her dedication to teaching and to advancing educational technology and learning. We wish her the very best in her future.
 

A passion for diversity, inclusion and language and literacies education 

Associate Professor Emerita Antoinette Gagné celebrates her retirement having served as the Associate Chair, Student Experience in the department of curriculum, teaching and learning, where she taught language and literacies education. Her research explored issues in diversity in education and sought to understand and improve the experiences of immigrant children, teachers and families in Canadian education systems. With a keen interest in enhancing student experience, she helped guide U of T’s strategic Student Mental Health Initiative. Professor Gagné, who holds a PhD in curriculum from OISE, continues to advocate for improved learning opportunities for teachers. 
 

^{Professor Antoinette Gagné (second from left) pictured with students and staff at her OISE retirement celebration, complete with U of T-blue-coloured cake, good company, and cherished moments in the Institute she calls home.}

Professor Gagné's research focused on teacher education for diversity and inclusion in various contexts. Specifically, her work explored the experiences of newcomers and their families in Canadian schools as well as plurilingual students in post-secondary education. Much of her research involved collaboration with teachers and English language learners, culminating in multimedia products. Prof. Gagné has said she has always known the key role of teachers in the lives of English language learners. Her work has been funded by the Social Sciences Research Council, Canadian Heritage, and TESOL International Research Foundation.

OISE is extremely grateful for Prof. Gagné's passion for teaching and her many years of service and research contributions.
 

^{Professors Brett and Gagné cut the cake to celebrate their successes as OISE leadership, staff, faculty and students look on.}