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by Zian Zhang(Anne)
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Max Antony-Newman and I were chosen as Curriculum Studies and Teacher Development (CSTD) program representatives at CTL Open House 2015. During the event, he answered many questions related to doctoral experience at OISE, which was the first time when I learned about the PhD program in detail. Last week, we met again to further talk about it. Now I want to share Max’s journey with you and hope that this could help those who plan to pursue PhD at OISE.
Max is a second year PhD student majoring in CSTD program under the supervision of Dr. Diane Gerin-Lajoie. He told me that PhD students in his program are required to complete six courses and one Doctoral Proseminar. Then students have to write a thesis proposal and pass comprehensive examination. OISE gives full-time funding for the four-year PhD program. Therefore, Max plans to finish his PhD in 2018.
I asked Max what he had learned from the PhD program. He said, “It helps me to understand complex educational and social phenomena, improve advanced research skills, and design my own study, which would hopefully benefit research, practice, and policy.” He also suggested, “It helps if you know what you want to study and how to go about it. If you are not sure, you will have some time to make your choice once in the program.”
During Max’s PhD journey, he walks as much as he can to release pressure. Walking helps him to clear his mind. Max’s family also helps him a lot. He plays with his younger son in free time. With family’s support, Max never feels lonely.
Max also did his Master’s at OISE. He joined the Master of Education (MEd) program in 2011 and transferred to Master of Arts (MA) program in the second year. He took eight courses when completing Master’s degree. Max’s favorite course was on Pierre Bourdieu and Inequality in Education taught by his eventual Master’s supervisor Dr. Diane Farmer. When taking this course, Max found his topic for Master’s thesis and theoretical framework for his PhD study.
Max came to Canada in 2010 as a skilled immigrant. Before that, he taught for ten years as an English teacher in his homeland country of Ukraine. Max spent seven years teaching in a university and three years in a language school. When he first came to Toronto, he taught IELTS in a private language school from 2010 to 2013.Then he became a teacher in the English Language Program of School of Continuing Studies at the University of Toronto from 2013 to 2014. Currently, Max is working as a Research Assistant with his supervisor Dr. Diane Gerin-Lajoie, whose scholarship is in the area of minority education and qualitative research. He also has a part-time job at YMCA of Greater Toronto as CLBA Language Assessor, administering CLBA test to newcomers to Canada and referring them to LINC and ESL classes. Meanwhile, he is served as CTLSA student representative and research volunteer for Social Justice and Elite Education conference, which took place at OISE in the summer of 2015.
This year, Max was awarded the Ontario Graduate Scholarship. In future, Max hopes to become a university professor in the field of education research. He said, “This is not easy in the current job market, but I will try my best, so I can help solve educational issues facing our schools.”