Professor Emeritus Michael Connelly conferred honorary doctorate

Professor Emeritus Michael Connelly, a leading authority in the field of curriculum and instruction, is being conferred an honorary doctorate from the Education University of Hong Kong.

EdUHK, a public university based in Hong Kong, conferred the honour “in recognition of the significant contributions they have made in their respective fields in advancing education and inspiring the next generation,” says a recent statement.

Connelly is one of OISE’s foundational faculty. Since he joined the OISE in 1968, Connelly has received numerous research grants for his research projects on curriculum studies, science education, school reform, teacher education and development, and multiculturalism.

He is the founding Director of the OISE Centre for Teacher Development, now called Continuing and Professional Learning, and has written hundreds of publications, including The Sage Handbook of Curriculum and Instruction and Narrative Inquiry for School-based Research. Connelly, who was also a director of a Hong Kong Institute of Education/OISE Doctoral Program, and a founder and editor of Curriculum Inquiry.

Connelly was “honored, humbled and surprised,” to be conferred. To that, he gives credance to his time at OISE.

“I am struck on reflection at the impact on my career trajectory by OISE’s educational vision and professional support since joining the faculty in the late 1960s,” Connelly said, “First in the building on Bloor east of Avenue Road and then, in 1970, the move to the current building, OISE’s intellectual environment focused on practice, teacher education, and innovative theory and research initiatives ­– with a dynamic proactive research office.

“Societal value and social commitment ran through everything.”

Professor Connelly has previously received many accolades, including the Outstanding Canadian Curriculum Scholar Award from the Canadian Society for the Study of Education, the Whitworth Award for Educational Research from the Canadian Education Association, and the American Educational Research Association (AERA) Outstanding Publication Award.