It started with a crisis that made international news.

In 2016, forest fires ravaged Fort McMurray. Almost 100,000 people were evacuated and 2,400 homes were destroyed. In the aftermath, Nathalie Reid’s research into trauma-sensitive pedagogy found many student-focused resources, but there were few resources for educators also experiencing trauma.

Reid, who crosses the virtual convocation stage to receive her PhD in Elementary Education on June 12, realized that the significant research gap might present an opportunity to better support teachers in schools.

I want to start by expressing my hope that everyone in our community is safe, healthy and finding time for self-care in our current circumstances. I also want to thank our incredible educators, administrators and staff across the education spectrum—including those here in the Faculty of Education—who have continued to support learners through the uncertainty and constraints imposed by this public health emergency.

If you’d like to spend time improving your professional skills this summer, the Faculty of Education has devised online learning experiences for school leaders committed to resilience, innovation and ensuring high-quality educational experiences for all students.

We saw it looming on the horizon for weeks in North America, as it shut down entire cities in China and proliferated rapidly through Europe. Then, suddenly, it was here. The global coronavirus pandemic became, seemingly overnight, a very local public health emergency across Alberta. We’re all still living through what came next: a major disruption in social functioning as schools, businesses, entire economic sectors shuttered in an effort to prevent a spike of infections that might overwhelm the healthcare system.

UAlberta Education faculty and alumni have been affected by the global coronavirus pandemic just like everyone else. Some have taken time while adapting to the new realities of remote education, self-isolation and social distancing to offer expert advice on coping with these abrupt changes to how we live, learn and work. Here’s a round-up of their recent appearances on various UAlberta media.

Congratulations to the following Education faculty members and students who have achieved distinction and have recently been acknowledged for their impactful work, both within and beyond the academic community.

Faculty of Education Teaching Awards and Grants

The Teaching and Research Awards ceremony scheduled for March 26 had to be postponed. And though a global pandemic might have kept us from gathering, nothing can keep us from celebrating the faculty, sessionals and graduate students honoured with teaching and research awards in the Faculty of Education this year.

The University of Alberta Faculty of Education has been a springboard for all kinds of amazing career trajectories and lifelong learning opportunities. We asked alumni to share stories of the varied paths their lives have taken after graduation.

“Identity is relational, always evolving, always political, and shaped by colonial relations of power,” says Brooke Madden, a Secondary Education and Aboriginal Teacher Education Program professor.

Marilyn Shaw had already been teaching Cree to K-12 students in her home community of Cadotte Lake, Alberta for more than a decade when her principal encouraged her to pursue her Community Linguist Certificate (CLC) through the Canadian Indigenous Languages

The Teaching and Research Awards ceremony scheduled for March 26 has been postponed. And though a global pandemic might have kept us from gathering, nothing can keep us from celebrating the faculty, sessionals and graduate students honoured with teaching and research awards in the Faculty of Education this year.

Congratulations to the following award and grant recipients, who are exemplary of the teaching and research excellence that have made the UAlberta Faculty of Education one of the top faculties of education in Canada and the world.