News & Events

Making a Maker Community: Teaching and Learning in the 21st Century

Researchers: Cristyne Hébert, Amy Singh, Trevor Hlushko and Aaron Warner This project centers on updating pedagogical practices around making, recognizing the need for students to be prepared for success in the 21st century, within the ever changing landscape of our technologically dependent society. In this project, teachers will develop and implement a unit around and making, reflect upon their practice and student learning, and support other educators in the process. The project specifically evaluates how teachers develop an understanding of making and maker pedagogy as they carry out a unit around making in their classrooms; the challenges and limitations teachers face in using making and fostering maker pedagogy in their classroom practice; in what ways teaching through a school-based make community of practice impacts how making is taken up in classrooms, and how teachers consider their maker pedagogies; and how student learning supported by incorporation making into the classroom. The Read more

By Nicole Tainsh, ago

Using Community-Based Participatory Action Research to Foreground Local Wisdom Traditions in the Creation of a Holistic and Culturally Sensitive Transition to Kindergarten

Researcher: Jacquelene Gibbs The Truth and Reconciliation Commission (2015) calls upon the education sector to take action to eliminate educational achievement gaps between Indigenous and non-Indigenous students within one generation, to enable parents to fully participate in the education of their children, and to respect and honour Treaty relationships. But in what ways do assessment practices, that we currently use to monitor achievement, guide planning and allocate resources, also serve to perpetuate achievement gaps?  Kindergarten transition begins long before the first day of school and continues through the Kindergarten year as the school and family discover and create an understanding of the child as a learner. The Early Years Evaluation (EYE) contributes to this understanding in terms of predicting Grade Three reading outcomes – but what skills and understandings possessed by the child are left unidentified by the EYE?  This research project aims to develop, implement, and reflect upon a Read more

By Nicole Tainsh, ago

miyo ācimo: S/He Tells Good Stories for Jumping Fences and Crossing Barriers

Researchers: Sheena Koops, Celeste Tootoosis and Lisa Ewack While watching her mother transcribe nehiyawewin stories for the Saskatchewan Federation of Saskatchewan Indigenous Nations, Celeste Tootoosis learned the importance of listening and working as a language technician. Celeste began her own journey of language revitalization as she secured access to Elders, storytellers, and language keepers for her own students. The title of this research proposal comes from one of these stories. She heard an Elder speak of the language storage as vaults, making the metaphor that the vaults are like borders, and like the deer, we must learn to cross boundaries. In Treaty teachings, the word pim is like the birds, living a natural way of being, travelling here and there, jumping fences with ease. After the lockdowns and isolation experience on reserve from the early years of the COVID pandemic, the reality on many First Nations is that Elders and Read more

By Nicole Tainsh, ago

Supporting Anxious Students Through the High School to University Transition

Researchers: Dr. Jenn de Lugt and M. Jolene Smith Anxiety is the most common mental health disorder in the world (Dattani, 2021) and in Canada (Dozois et al., 2021). According to the Public Health Agency of Canada (2016), approximately 75% of Canadians who use mental health services annually do so for mood or anxiety disorders. The authors report that this statistic is likely underestimated. Anxiety rates were already high in Canada prior to the Covid-19 pandemic and were worsening worldwide (Jones-Rincon & Howard, 2018). Preliminary research provides evidence that the Covid-19 pandemic has contributed to an increase in anxiety in general (Nochaiwong et al., 2021), and particularly for women, young people, and those with pre-existing anxiety (Abbott, 2021; Asmundson et al., 2020; Pungapong et al., 2021). Transitions, by their nature, are challenging, and transitioning from high school to post­secondary institutions is likely daunting for many students, but would be even Read more

By Nicole Tainsh, ago

2023-24 Funding Announcement

McDowell Foundation Funded Projects – 2023-24 The McDowell Foundation is pleased to announce the following projects have been approved for 2023-24. Congratulations to all the recipients and we look forward to sharing the results of this work next year! #333 Leading Reconciliation in Rural Schools Jade Ballek, Stacy Becker, Kim Fick, Jason Low and Angela Sparks – Researchers  #334 Supporting Anxious Students through the High School to University Transition Dr. Jenn de Lugt and M. Jolene Smith – Researchers  #335 miyo ācimo: S/He Tells Good Stories for Jumping Fences and Crossing BarriersSheena Koops, Celeste Tootoosis and Lisa Ewack – Researchers #336 Using Community-Based Participatory Action Research to Foreground Local Wisdom Traditions in the Creation of a Holistic and Culturally Sensitive Transition to Kindergarten Jacquelene Gibbs – Researcher #337 Making a Maker Community: Teaching and Learning in the 21st Century Cristyne Hébert, Amy Singh, Trevor Hlushko and Aaron Warner – Researchers #338 Innovation in the Classroom: An Read more

By Nicole Tainsh, ago

Leading Reconciliation in Rural Schools

Researchers: Jade Ballek, Donna Locke, Stacy Becker, Kim Fick, Angela Sparks, & Brie Phillips. Increasingly, there are calls from multiple voices across the Canadian landscape to (re)build and renew relationships between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people to engage in positive dialogue. Senator Murray Sinclair, Chief Commissioner of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, believes that schools hold the key to reconciliation and as such, the Calls to Action place emphasis on teachers and education as a place of importance in building relationships. Historically, schools were responsible for much of the hurt experienced by Indian Residential School Survivors and now play a critical role in healing through relearning, through gentle disruption and social action. Additional research is necessary to uncover the first-hand experiences of those who are responsible for implementation of reconciliation in K-12 schools (Wotherspoon & Milne, 2020). This study hopes to address this research gap by providing insights into reconciliation leadership as Read more

By Nicole Tainsh, ago

Retired Teachers and their Ongoing Contribution to Teaching and Learning in Saskatchewan

Researcher: Janet Lowndes Superannuated Teachers of Saskatchewan 50th Anniversary Special Directed Call. The purpose of this study is to raise awareness within the profession of the extraordinary resource that is represented by retired teachers. Those teachers who chose to return to teaching, whether as substitute teachers or contract instructors, have benefited from years of in-school and provincial professional development courses and have experienced teaching a range of students and subjects, providing them with materials and insights they can pass onto their less experienced colleagues. Other retired teachers developed a passion for educational research as a result of their teaching experiences and training and they choose to more deeply engage in educational research to improve the teaching and learning environment. Others use their experience to serve as consultants or lead school in-services. There are also those who chose to continue to serve their profession outside of the school, working with Saskatchewan Read more

By Nicole Tainsh, ago

Towards an Understanding of Teachers’ Retirement Identity Transition in Saskatchewan

Researchers: Jane Macleod, Sue Amundrud, Anna Wehrkamp and Sunil Pnadila Superannuated Teachers of Saskatchewan 50th Anniversary Special Directed Call. The purpose of this study is to explore significant factors or influences on teachers as they transition or adapt from their identity as a teacher, staff member, colleague, school leader etc. to a new and different phase of life. This study assumes that a teacher’s successful transition to retirement is a dynamic process influenced by the interplay of the individual’s identity and his/her/their retirement context. Using a qualitative case study research approach, the study hopes to uncover salient factors that facilitate or interfere with a teacher’s successful transition to a meaningful retirement. Saskatchewan teachers deserve a rewarding retirement and results of this study will help to inform their retirement and life planning decision making. Findings from this study will contribute to pre, current and post retirement teachers’ awareness of the impact Read more

By Nicole Tainsh, ago