Winter Newsletter | February 2025

In this newsletter...

  • UBCO study looks at how high school students recognize and perform acts of kindness
  • Alumni Builder Award
  • Outstanding Instructors Awards
  • Recent publications from our EdD students
  • A Journey Across Borders to the Classroom
  • Summer Institute in Education upcoming courses

UBCO study looks at how high school students recognize and perform acts of kindness

Ahead of Pink Shirt Day (February 26), a study from Dr. John-Tyler Binfet, professor, is shedding light on how high school students show kindness, revealing key insights that could help foster more positive school environments.

Dr. Binfet, along with Freya Green, BARK coordinator, and student researchers Rebecca Godard and Amelia Willcox, explored how students aged 14–18 conceptualize kindness and how they express it in their everyday interactions.

“High school is the last training ground for many students before they head off into the workforce or further advance their studies,” says Dr. Binfet. “As we look to create a kinder world, positive school environments become increasingly important. By modelling these behaviours, and providing opportunities for students to express them, we can help reinforce and expand those actions.”

Read more

Alumni Builder Award

Please join us in congratulating Rob Bennett on receiving the UBC Alumni Builder Award!

Rob Bennett has cultivated an impressive record of accomplishments as a compassionate and exemplary educator with the Central Okanagan School District. Deeply committed to justice, inclusivity, and equity, he continually strives to ensure all students can find belonging, acceptance, and opportunities for growth at the academy. 

Learn more

Outstanding Instructor Awards

We are pleased to share that this year’s recipients of the UBC Okanagan 2024/2025 Outstanding Instructor award are Dr. Peter Arthur, and Dr. Michael Landry.

The Outstanding Instructor Award recognizes exemplary instructors within each Faculty for their teaching over the past three years, with emphasis on the most recent academic year, based on an assessment of their teaching conducted by the Faculty in which they are appointed.

Learn more

Recent Publications

Strengthening the circle: empowering success for Indigenous learners through community-based assessments and reciprocal relationships in University Affairs

by Tessa Quewezance & Amanda Street, EdD students

Read the article

Service Learning, Cultural Humility, and Language Instruction: Being in Community in BC TEAL Journal

co-authored by Jason Andrews, EdD student

Read the article

A Journey Across Borders to the Classroom

After teaching in Thailand for two years, Luke Roblesky decided to come back to Canada to further his education and pursue another field – Computer Science.

“When I came back to Canada I was torn between teaching and working in the technology field. I had friends pursuing their Computer Science major at UBCO and decided to apply as well," he says. 

He was two years into his degree, and in the thick of a heavy class load as well as an internship position, when he began to reflect on what would be next.

“I couldn’t see myself sitting in front of a computer for the rest of my life as my full-time career. The internship was a great experience, but I realized I missed the interactions that teaching had provided.”

Read more

Upcoming Summer Institute in Education Courses

The Summer Institute in Education offers excellent summer learning opportunities for teachers, early childhood educators, adult educators, and other professions that work primarily with children and youth seeking professional development opportunities. Courses are offered online, hybrid and in-person, and are relevant to current trends and needs in education.

Exploring Hands-On Classroom Gardening as STEAM Curriculum

Delivery: hybrid
Dates: July 2 to 17, 9 a.m. to 12 p.m.

From learning basic plant biology, to stewardship, or seed banks, classroom gardening can be a way to explore science in socio cultural contexts and social justice issues.

Learn more

Gaming and Educational Values

Delivery: in-person
Dates: July 21 to August 6, 9 a.m. to 12 p.m.

Explore the relationship between educational values and the social practice of games/gaming with a focus on in-person hobbies as a paradigm case (e.g., board games; sports, card games; table-top/role-playing games).

Learn more

Institut de français, UBC à Québec

The Institut de français, UBC à Québec is designed to respond to the needs of French language teachers for whom French is an additional language, both experienced teachers and those just entering the profession. The institute welcomes all levels of French speakers, from emerging French language users to advanced.

Final Registration Deadline: March 1, 2025

Learn more

Okanagan School of Education
Okanagan Campus
Syilx Okanagan Nation Territory
EME 3115 - 1137 Alumni Ave
Kelowna, BC Canada V1V 1V7

education.ok.ubc.ca

 

You are receiving this e-newsletter because you’ve subscribed to this email from Okanagan School of Education.

© Copyright The University of British Columbia