OISE announces six new, renewed faculty appointments
The OISE community is pleased to welcome six exceptional individuals, Dr. Qui Alexander, Dr. Andrew B. Campbell, Dr. Zachary Hawes, Dr. Eric Lavigne, Dr. Michelle Lui, and Ms. Shawna-Kaye Tucker in their new or returning faculty positions at OISE for the 2021-2022 academic year.
Gender, Sexuality and Trans Studies in Curriculum and Pedagogy
Dr. Qui Alexander begins a tenure stream appointment at the rank of Assistant Professor in the Department of Curriculum, Teaching and Learning, effective July 1, 2022. Dr. Alexander recently completed a PhD in Education, Curriculum and Instruction (Culture and Teaching focus) at the University of Minnesota—Twin Cities. Dr. Alexander’s dissertation explores pedagogies of abolitionist praxis in the lived experience of Black trans folks. Their research and teaching interests include Black trans studies, transformative justice, Black feminist thought, Black radical tradition, queer Black feminist praxis, critical pedagogies, and queer/trans youth of colour. Dr. Alexander is the recipient of the 2020 Howard Liebhaber Human Rights Award from the Pfund Foundation, and the 2020 Scholarly Excellence in Equity and Diversity award from the University of Minnesota. Their academic work is complemented by extensive community organizing experience, building advocacy, programming, health education and community for LGBTQ2S+ individuals through service roles at the University of Minnesota, Haverford College, and the Mazzoni Center in Philadelphia.
Leadership for Racial Justice in Teacher Education
Dr. Andrew B. Campbell begins a continuing teaching stream appointment at the rank of Assistant Professor, Teaching Stream in the Department of Curriculum, Teaching and Learning, effective July 1, 2022. Dr. Campbell received a PhD in Educational Leadership and Policy from the department of Leadership, Higher and Adult Education in 2014. His scholarship and teaching focus on anti-racist pedagogy and diversity in educational leadership. “Dr. ABC” is well known to the OISE community for his leadership on advancing anti-discrimination work in teacher education, and recently received OISE’s 2022 award for Excellence in Initial Teacher Education. He has been a sessional lecturer at OISE since 2017, offering courses in anti-discrimination education, leadership and diversity, educational change, urban education, and Black educators. Since 2021 he has also served as Academic Coordinator for the Junior/Intermediate teacher education cohorts in the MT program. Dr. ABC previously taught at Queens University, the University of the West Indies, Niagara University, Seneca College, and Durham College, in addition to past experience as a classroom teacher and administrator in Jamaica and the Bahamas.
Elementary Mathematics Education and Child Study
Dr. Zachary Hawes begins a tenure stream appointment at the rank of Assistant Professor in the Department of Applied Psychology and Human Development (APHD), effective July 1, 2022. Dr. Hawes received a PhD in Cognitive, Development and Brain Science from Western University in 2019, and since then has been a research-focused CLTA faculty member in APHD’s MA in Child Study and Education (MA-CSE) program. His research program lies at the intersection of education, psychology, and neuroscience with a particular focus on the role of spatial thinking in mathematics. Dr. Hawes’ publication record includes more than 25 refereed journal articles and book chapters, and he has collaborated on technology and research grants from Ontario, the UK, Singapore, and Chile. A graduate of the MA-CSE program himself, Dr. Hawes served from 2011 to 2014 as Research Officer for the Robertson Program for Inquiry-Based Teaching in Mathematics and Science at the Dr. Eric Jackman Institute of Child Study. In addition to his graduate teaching in the MA-CSE, Dr. Hawes has designed and facilitated in-service teacher professional development courses in numerical thinking and worked as an elementary school teacher in South Korea.
Higher Education Leadership and Administration
Dr. Eric Lavigne begins a tenure stream appointment at the rank of Assistant Professor in the Department of Leadership, Higher and Adult Education, effective July 1, 2022. Dr. Lavigne received a PhD in Higher Education from LHAE in 2018, and has since made research and teaching contributions to the program as a postdoctoral fellow and sessional lecturer. His research focuses on the areas of higher education, administration and leadership, organizational studies, and performance management. Dr. Lavigne’s publications include several peer reviewed articles in major journals in Higher Education, in addition to a number of collaborative research reports. Dr. Lavigne has guest-edited special editions of the Canadian Journal of Higher Education and currently serves as the editor of the journal’s French section. His expertise on higher education leadership is augmented by his professional experience, having served as Associate Dean, Programs at Marianopolis College, Associate Dean, Teaching at Collège Gérald-Godin, and Chair of Physics at Collège André-Grasset.
Educational Technology with a Focus on Online Learning
Dr. Michelle Lui begins a tenure stream appointment at the rank of Assistant Professor in the Department of Curriculum, Teaching and Learning, effective July 1, 2022. Dr. Lui received a PhD in Curriculum Studies and Teacher Development from CTL in 2015. Since that time, she has held two postdoctoral fellowships, first at the University of Illinois at Chicago (2015-17), and then at UTM’s Institute of Communication, Culture and Information Technology (2018-2022). Her research centers on designing and evaluating digital learning technologies for developing deep understandings and collaborative scientific practices, with a focus on immersive technologies such as VR. Her interdisciplinary design and research work draws from over 12 years of industry and academic experience in digital media design, education, computing, and media studies. Dr. Lui’s published academic work appears in numerous refereed journal articles and refereed conference proceedings, and she has received awards or contributed to research projects funded by SSHRC, NSF, and CIHR. Dr. Lui also has considerable university teaching experience in areas of immersive learning, immersive media design, and human-computer interaction.
Applied Linguistics/Language Education with a Focus on Equity and Inclusion
Ms. Shawna-Kaye Tucker begins a tenure stream appointment at the rank of Assistant Professor (Conditional) in the Department of Curriculum, Teaching and Learning, effective August 1, 2022. Ms. Tucker is a final year PhD Candidate and teaching fellow in Applied Linguistics at the University of Oxford’s Department of Education. Her research concerns language and literacy development among language minority learners in multilingual contexts, drawing on research, consulting, and teaching experience in the Caribbean, Canada and the United Kingdom. Her dissertation, Writing development in creole contexts: A study of Jamaican primary school students and teachers, takes an ecological approach to understanding the nature of writing challenges experienced by learners with Jamaican Creole as a home language and the pedagogical approaches and experiences of their teachers, with the aim of improving equity in policy and curriculum. Ms. Tucker has served as a research consultant for Penguin Books, Eduphase, and the Jamaica Language Unit/U.S. Peace Corps Project. In addition to her graduate teaching at Oxford, she has past experience as a language teacher in Jamaica.
“To all of our new faculty, welcome to OISE. For all of our returning faculty, welcome back,” said Professor Normand Labrie, Interim Dean of OISE. “All of you are devoted to teaching and research excellence and you will contribute greatly to OISE’s lasting mission to prepare our students and community members to pursue public good.”
Professor Labrie also thanked the numerous faculty search committees for their determination and principled approach to find great academic fits for the Institute.
“My gratitude goes out to the numerous departmental chairs, committee members, and support staff for their important work in recruiting and vetting candidates for what became a broad, international search for faculty representatives of our diverse society,” he said.