Contributing to My Communities: Making it All Matter
I try to be as active as I can within the Manitoba educational landscape. I would like to highlight four current service initiatives that bring me great joy.
Manitoba First Nations Education Research Centre and University of Manitoba Inclusive Language and Literacy M.Ed. Cohort
As the academic and cohort program advisor, I have been fortunate to be involved with this dynamic cohort of 22 students who teach and provide literacy leadership in Manitoba's First Nations schools and communities. I meet monthly with the Advisory Committee and I have taught three times in the program. The photograph is from our opening feast for the cohort in September, 2017.
Manitoba Writing Project
I am one of the co-directors of the MBWP https://manitobawritingproject.weebly.com, which is a professional network for educators and educational partners to explore the power of writing and to discover multiple ways of making meaning with young people. In particular, we focus on the use of writing as, and for, social justice and human rights in our multicultural context. As we go forward, our interests will include the expansion of our inquiry community so we can further our understanding of these topics and to reach more communities, schools, and students. In late Spring 2018, the Manitoba Writing Project received exciting news that we have become an Associated International Site of the National Writing Project. There are currently only five other Associated International Sites of the NWP: Hong Kong; Malta; Trondheim, Norway; Singapore; and the Dominican Republic. We are delighted to be the first Canadian Associated International Site and look forward to the rich, reciprocal relationship we will continue to build with the National Writing Project. The photo here comes from our 2018 Summer Writing Institute.
Well-being and Well-becoming in Schools Project
Along with a team of other researchers, I am helping provide support to schools in twelve school divisions as they initiate projects aimed at improving well-being and well-becoming in Manitoba's school. This initiative is a partnership between MASS (Manitoba Association of School Superintendents), Manitoba Education, and the University of Manitoba. I recently co-chaired (along with Heather Krepski) the organizational committee for a symposium "Envisioning Flourishing in Schools: Voices from Students, Educators, and Researchers", which was held at the Faculty of Education on November 23, 2018.
Faculty of Education, University of Manitoba
I also try to contribute to the flourishing within the Faculty of Education. I am currently a member of the Faculty's Strategic Planning Committee, Undergraduate Program Committee, Alumni Committee. A recent highlight in my service to the Faculty of Education was my involvement in the organization of the 2018 Joan Irvine Lecture. Please check out the video of the lecture: Teacher Well-being Matters: Noticing, Nurturing and Sustaining Teacher Well-being by Dr. Sabre Cherkowski.