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UBC’s Faculty of Education, one of the world’s leading education faculties, has served the local, national, and international education community through leadership in research, teaching, service and advocacy for more than 60 years. As the largest Faculty of Education in British Columbia, it plays a critical and influential role in the advancement of education in the province, shaping and participating in education’s possibilities and potential as a social good.
Today, the Faculty of Education creates conditions for transformative teaching, innovative learning, and leading-edge research guided by the highest standards of scholarship and the principles of collaboration, social justice, inclusion and equity. Offering undergraduate and graduate programs, as well as professional development opportunities, the Faculty of Education enrolls thousands of students each year on two campuses and ranks 10th in the world, according to QS World University Rankings (2021).
UBC’s Faculty of Education prepares more than 45% of the elementary and the majority of secondary educators in British Columbia, and a significant proportion of British Columbia’s school counsellors, administrators, special education professionals, and school psychologists. With more than 57,000 alum located in 100 countries, the UBC Faculty of Education truly is a global entity.
The Faculty of Education is home to four departments (Curriculum and Pedagogy, Educational and Counselling Psychology, and Special Education, Educational Studies, and Language and Literacy Education) and two schools (the School of Kinesiology and the Okanagan School of Education).
We provide outstanding research facilities for faculty and graduate students that promote leading-edge research. Our Education Library is a specialized resource with access to all of UBC’s research and special collections, including the X̱wi7x̱wa Library with materials produced by Indigenous organizations, tribal councils, schools, researchers and publishers.
The Faculty’s Education Research and Learning Commons at Ponderosa Commons features technology-enhanced teaching and learning spaces and also informal learning spaces. A number of faculty manage their own research labs, situated throughout campus.
Many of our PhD students have been selected as UBC Public Scholars and have received other honours.
https://ivet.educ.ubc.ca/Notable strengths are in literacy education and multilingualism; struggling and marginalized youth; Indigenous education, decolonization, and research; transformational program and curriculum design and inclusive pedagogies for schools, community organizations and higher education; sexual orientation and gender-identity inclusive education; social-emotional learning and well-being; autism; exercise physiology, socio-cultural aspects of health; neuromechanical studies; and multidisciplinary research in diversity, health, early childhood education, and digital media. The School of Kinesiology ranks 1st in Canada and 4th in the world by QS World University Rankings (2021).
UBC’s Faculty of Education is the national leader in the number of education graduate student fellowships received from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC). Additionally, the Faculty of Education is home to six Canada Research Chairs, one CIHR chair and nine donor-funded research chairs and professorships.
This is an incomplete sample of recent publications in chronological order by UBC faculty members with a primary appointment in the Faculty of Education.
| Year | Citation | Program |
|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Dr. Davidson combined Indigenous and non-Indigenous methodologies to explore how art and narrative writing can strengthen adolescents' writing and support their emerging identities. Her research helps educators to better support Indigenous students in school and proposes a framework for enhancing ethical conduct in research practices. | Doctor of Philosophy in Language and Literacy Education (PhD) |
| 2016 | Dr. Kang examined the lives of undergraduate exchange students between Canada and Korea through the lens of globalization, imagination, and space. She found that current exchange programs have reinforced contemporary social inequality. This study recommends creating more inclusive exchange programs by offering shared spaces between exchange and local students. | Doctor of Philosophy in Educational Studies (PhD) |
| 2016 | Dr. McCullough explored the psycho-social experience of mandated addiction treatment across different referral contexts. She developed a theory of engagement outlining how mandated clients actively choose, prepare for, and evaluate treatment. Her work highlights personal histories and quality supports and will have implications on treatment protocols. | Doctor of Philosophy in Counselling Psychology (PhD) |
| 2016 | Dr. Madden studied teacher identity in relation to the emergent field of Indigenous education. She focused on teachers' processes, priorities, and preparedness as they navigated Faculties of Education and schools. Her work enhances our understanding of knowledge-practice across institutions, and has widespread and immediate applications for practice. | Doctor of Philosophy in Curriculum Studies (PhD) |
| 2016 | Dr. Friedrich described the contextualized literacy practices of families within a community of resettled Karen refugees as they participated in a bilingual family literacy program. Her study generates insights that will assist family literacy educators in delivering culturally and linguistically diverse programming within this community. | Doctor of Philosophy in Language and Literacy Education (PhD) |
| 2016 | Dr. Hobenshield explored the Indigenous practice of gift giving. Her research identified specific Indigenous principles embedded within this tradition that inform a particular way of knowing. This information can be used to support the work of Indigenization in post-secondary education. | Doctor of Education in Educational Leadership and Policy (EdD) |
| 2016 | Dr. Norman studied the unique teacher-student relationship between itinerant teachers of the deaf and hard of hearing and their students. Her research identifies the role these teachers play in supporting the social and emotional development of deaf and hard of hearing students, and highlights itinerant teachers as key facilitators of inclusive practices in schools. | Doctor of Philosophy in Special Education (PhD) |
| 2016 | Dr. Kim explored the possibilities and challenges of English as a second language pedagogy with educational drama for adult learners. His research highlights the importance of cultivating and empowering identities of language learners as creative, competent, and confident story-tellers and meaning-makers. | Doctor of Philosophy in Language and Literacy Education (PhD) |
| 2016 | Dr. Elfert examined the origins, features and shifts of UNESCO's approach to education and lifelong learning between 1945-2015. Her study contributes not only to the understanding of the conceptual and intellectual history of lifelong learning, but more broadly to the changes in global educational cooperation over the past 70 years. | Doctor of Philosophy in Educational Studies (PhD) |
| 2016 | Little is known about what makes for effective alternative education programs, or AEPs. From the perspective of former students, Dr. Hofer identified effective aspects of AEPs, including caring teachers and life skills learning. Her study revealed AEPs to be positive contexts to support some youth-at-risk, refuting current negative views of AEPs. | Doctor of Philosophy in Human Development, Learning, and Culture (PhD) |