DiT Community

Antoinette Gagné is an Associate Professor with the Department of curriculum, Teaching, and Learning at OISE and, from 2005 to 2012 was the director of the Concurrent Teacher Education Program with a very diverse population of teacher candidates at the University of Toronto. As Academic Advisor for the OISE Student Success Centre from 2005 onward, Antoinette has had the opportunity to work closely with a team of 10 to 15 doctoral candidates to meet the academic and cultural needs of undergraduate and graduate students in education. Antoinette is also involved in research with immigrant teachers and learners along with colleagues in a number of immigrant receiving countries including Scotland, England, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Finland and Australia. She has also been a member of the Advisory Board for Teach in Ontario, a bridging program for internationally educated teachers in Ontario.

Antoinette has received a number of internal and external grants including those from SSHRC, Canadian Heritage, and TESOL International Research Foundation. Several of these funding projects have led to video resources embedded in the Projects page of this website. One such example is a research project entitled “Closing the Gap: Exploring Strategies to Build Positive Relationships between Parents from Low-voice Immigrant Communities and Teachers of these Communities,” funded by Canadian Heritage. Another project entitled “The Impact of Infusing ESL Issues and Teaching Strategies in Pre-service Teacher Education Programs” examined how pre-service teacher education programs can prepare teachers for the ever-increasing multilingual and diverse student population in schools in North America.

Antoinette has also written extensively about diversity issues in education and the experiences of immigrant children, teachers and families in the Canadian education system.

Clea Schmidt is an Associate Professor in the Faculty of Education at the University of Manitoba. She researches issues of diversity among teachers, learners, and families, particularly those from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds. Between 2005-2011, she served as Co-ordinator of the Academic and Professional Bridging Program for Internationally Educated Teachers. She has conducted research with school communities impacted by high numbers of immigrant learners, and published widely in on topics related to teacher development, educational equity policies, and the complexities of conducting research with diverse participant groups.

James Cummins is Professor and Canada Research Chair in the Curriculum, Teaching and Learning department at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE) at the University of Toronto. Dr. Cummins’ research focuses on literacy development in multilingual school contexts as well as on the potential roles of technology in promoting language and literacy development.

Dr. Cummins holds a Canada Research Chair (Tier 1) and has been a recipient of the International Reading Association’s Albert J. Harris award (1979). He also received an honorary doctorate in Humane Letters from the Bank Street College of Education in New York City (1997).  In recent years, he has been a co-investigator on a large-scale SSHRC-funded project entitled “From Literacy to Multiliteracies: Designing Learning Environments for Knowledge Generation within the New Economy.” He is currently involved in a project to validate the Ontario Ministry of Education’s Steps to English Proficiency assessment tool. He is also conducting a research review on English Language Learners’ academic trajectories.

Fred Dervin is a Professor of Multicultural Education at the University of Helsinki (Finland) and Director of the Education for Diversities (E4D) research group. He specializes in language and intercultural education, the sociology of multiculturalism and linguistics for intercultural communication and education. Dervin has published extensively on identity, the ‘intercultural’ and mobility/migration. His latest books: Politics of Interculturality(co-edited with Anne Lavanchy and Anahy Gajardo, Newcastle: CSP, 2011) and Impostures Interculturelles (Paris: L’Harmattan, 2012). http://blogs.helsinki.fi/dervin/

Lars Anders Kulbrandstad is professor of Nordic languages in an educational perspective at Hedmark University College in South-Eastern Norway. He has a long career in teacher education with a focus on language awareness and language attitudes in multilingual contexts. Professor Kulbrandstad has conducted several of research projects and published a number of books and articles in these topic areas, most recently “National or general tolerance for variation? Attitudes to dialect and foreign accent in the media” (2011), “If you like dialect, you tolerate accent” [Norwegian title: Liker du dialect, tåler du aksent] (2011) and «Broken language» (2009).

Sunny Man Chu Lau joined Bishop’s University in 2010, teaching courses on TESL preparation and education foundations. Before working at Bishop’s, she did her PhD study in the Second Language Education Program at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education in the University of Toronto (OISE/UT). She has been actively involved in teacher education as well as research relating to ESL teaching and learning. She has worked with a Toronto school board on a TESL instructor preparation program as well as with OISE/UT in preparing teachers to teach English language learners (ELLs) across the curriculum. Her doctoral research was on practicing critical literacy work with ELLs. Other research interests include multi-literacies and second language learning, immigrant teacher professional preparation and integration, and collaborative critical inquiry as research methodology and as teacher preparation process. The research project she is working on now is preparing native English-speaking volunteer teachers who work with Burmese migrant students in Thailand to teach English from a critical literacy and pedagogy perspective. You may reach Dr. Lau at slau@ubishops.ca

Kirsten Lauritsen is a social anthropologist and an associate professor at the University College of Nord-Trøndelag (HiNT). She has been a researcher and senior researcher at SINTEF and later the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim and HiNT siden 1995. Her main research topics are related to immigration and refugee studies; reception centers for asylum seekers, unaccompanied minors, ethnicity and cultural diversity in kindergartens. She teaches social Science, and has led several research- and development projects on cultural competence. She has published several books and articles in Norwegian and English, Kvinneliv i eksil, Gyldendal 2006 (with Berit Berg og Torunn Fladstad), Eksil og livsløp, Universitetsforlaget 2009 (with Berit Berg),Barnehage, Barndom, Inkludering, Universitetsforlaget 2011 (ed.: Tora Korsvold) and Cultural Complexity in Norwegian Kindergartens (in: Children & Society).

Samuel Currey Lefever is an Assistant professor at the University of Iceland and has taught English and language teaching methodology in the School of Education since the year 2000. He has a MA in Education with emphasis on Teaching English as a Second Language from the University of Kansas, USA. He has done research on the English skills of young children in Iceland and on English teaching at the preschool and primary school levels. He has also worked in the area of second language learning and is currently looking at young immigrants’ language use and participation in Icelandic schools and society.

Darlene Ciuffetelli Parker is an Associate Professor in the Faculty of Education, Brock University. She recently completed two projects over four years on students and families affected by poverty, and educators who work in school communities affected by poverty in Ontario. The projects, funded by the Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario, resulted in a book entitled Poverty and Schools in Ontario: How Seven Elementary Schools are Working to Improve Education (Ciuffetelli Parker & Flessa, 2011). Most recently she has written and presented on a policy brief published by the Niagara Community Observatory. Dr. Ciuffetelli Parker’s research interests include teacher education, marginalized communities, diversity, and literacy education. She engages, teaches, and publishes works on narrative discourse experiences with teachers, administrators, parents, community workers, teacher candidates and graduate students on relevant regional, national and global issues in education. Dr. Ciuffetelli Parker was an administrator, literacy consultant, and elementary teacher in Toronto for over fifteen years before joining the faculty of education at Brock University as a professor. She obtained her PhD from the Department of Curriculum and Teacher Development at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education of the University of Toronto (OISE/UT).

Hanna Ragnarsdóttir is an Associate Professor at the University of Iceland, School of Education. She completed a B.A. degree in anthropology and history from the University of Iceland in 1984, an M.Sc.degree in anthropology from the London School of Economics and Political Science in 1986 and a Dr.philos in education from the University of Oslo in 2007. Her research has mainly focused on immigrants (children, adults and families) in Icelandic society and schools, multicultural and intercultural education and school reform. She is Head of Faculty of Education Studies since 2008 and Head of Research Centre for Multicultural Studies since 2007.

Michael Salvatori was appointed to the position of Registrar and Chief Executive Officer at the Ontario College of Teachers in June of 2009. He has held several positions in education during his 25 year career: elementary and secondary French immersion and core French teacher, vice-principal, principal, Director of the Ontario College of Teachers’ membership services department and assistant professor in the Department of French Studies and the Faculty of Education at York University’s Glendon College.

Fluent in four languages, Michael holds MEd and BEd degrees from the University of Western Ontario and a BA from the University of Toronto. He earned a PhD in 2007 in Curriculum, Teaching and Learning from the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, University of Toronto specializing in second language education.

Michael is an avid reader and a prolific writer. He’s the author and co-author of numerous textbooks and teacher resources. His passion is teaching French as a second language and he has focused on second-language learning opportunities throughout his career. Michael believes in giving back to the education community and serves as the president of the board of directors of the Canadian Association of Second Language Teachers and is the co-chair of the Ontario Education Research Panel.

Geri Smyth is Professor of Education at the University of Strathclyde, Scotland where she is Director of Research in the School of Education.   Geri’s research interests include bilingual education, diversity in the teaching profession and refugee integration.   Recent research projects include Refugees Into Teaching in Scotland (RITeS) and Masculinities in Primary Teaching.   Geri is course leader for the Post Graduate Certificate in Supporting Bilingual Learners at the University of Strathclyde and is co-Editor of the European Journal of Teacher Education.

Stephanie Soto Gordon completed her PhD at OISE, UofT in Second Language Eduation in 2010. Since 2003, she has been an ESL Department Head and teacher in the TDSB, a project field partner and co-investigator in the Growing New Roots project with OISE, UofT, and ESL communication consultant in the banking industry. Her research interests include identity, motivation, second language education, and teacher education. She is currently involved in a new research project entitled: Learning about the self and the world beyond: Cultural, religious, and social justice clubs in high schools. You may contact Stephanie at stephanie.sotogordon@utoronto.ca

 (Joy) Kangxian Zhao completed her doctorate in Second Language Education the Ontario Institute of Second Language Education at the University of Toronto. She taught English in China for eight years before immigrating to Canada. She has worked on a few research projects of internationally educated teachers and the mental health of immigrants in Canada. Currently, she is completed her dissertation research under the guidance of Dr. Gagné.

Marlon Valencia is a PhD Candidate in Second Language Education, as well as Comparative International and Developing Education at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education of the University of Toronto. His research interests include second language teacher education, language policy and planning, multiliteracies, and language in social identities. He has taught English and Spanish as additional languages (second/foreign) in Canada, Colombia, and the United States. His work also involves pre-service language teacher proficiency assessment, and curriculum design for the teaching of both languages in colleges and universities in North America. You can reach Marlon at: marlonval24@yahoo.com

Ariel Quinio is a Ph.D. candidate in Curriculum Studies and Teacher Development at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE) of the University of Toronto. He is currently conducting research on sociolinguistic factors and employment trajectory among Internationally Educated Professionals (IEPs) under the supervision Dr. Antoinette Gagne. He obtained a Master of Arts (M.A.) degree in Measurement and Evaluation at OISE/UT and presently holds an Ontario teaching certificate in several disciplines including English as a Second Language (ESL). His research interest includes cultural diversity, systemic barriers on workplace integration of immigrants, employment equity, and multicultural education using both quantitative and qualitative methodology. You can email him at ariel.quinio@utoronto.ca.

Diane Dekker is a PhD student in Second Language Education and Comparative International Education and Development at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education at the University of Toronto. Diane has been working in Asia with teachers for many years on language, education and diversity issues. Her research focuses on mother tongue based multilingual education for developing critical thinking skills as well as for supporting and strengthening the learning of other languages particularly among minority language groups. You can reach Diane at: Diane_Dekker@sil.org

Sama Hamid is in her final year of the Master of Teaching program at the Ontario Institute of Studies in Education at University of Toronto. She is a primary/junior teacher with a strong passion and educational interest in incorporating diversity in her teaching. She is interested in multicultural/anti-discriminatory education, social justice education, critical literacy, media literacy and inquiry-based learning. Her research investigates how teachers can use media literacy to develop students’ critical thinking skills and bring about social justice issues in the classroom. You can reach Sama at: s.hamid@mail.utoronto.ca