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 |
|---|---|---|
| 2023 | Dr. Sauvé examined the perspectives of national team coaches, National Sport Federation performance directors, and Olympians regarding factors they felt undermined and supported Olympic-level athlete well-being. The findings and recommendations were discussed with influential leaders within the Canadian elite sport environment, with the intention of optimizing athlete well-being in the future. | Doctor of Philosophy in Kinesiology (PhD) |
| 2023 | Dr. Michalovich explored possibilities for language and literacy learning through in-school video production with newcomers from refugee and immigrant backgrounds in Metro Vancouver. He found that students invested in their learning and troubled common deficit narratives beyond what was possible with print-based or language-dominant schoolwork. | Doctor of Philosophy in Language and Literacy Education (PhD) |
| 2023 | Dr. Karangu investigated non-refugee teachers' teaching experiences in a long-term refugee camp, Dadaab, Kenya. His analysis demonstrates that there is little known about these non-refugee teachers. This research brings forward the voices of underrepresented teachers as it mattered to them through an Afrocentric lens. | Doctor of Philosophy in Curriculum Studies (PhD) |
| 2023 | Dr. Parent examined adolescent development and wellbeing in the current socio-technological context. Her findings illustrate the complex ways in which digital devices contribute to adolescents' wellbeing - suggesting that these may have both positive and negative effects. Her work has important implications for research and practice in adolescence. | Doctor of Philosophy in Human Development, Learning, and Culture (PhD) |
| 2023 | Dr. Fagan examined if physical activity prevents substance use among Canadian youth. Overall, there was no evidence that physical activity confers broad, universal benefits in prevention. However, sport participation may provide a contextual experience that enhances school connectedness which in turn is associated with substance use prevention. | Doctor of Philosophy in Kinesiology (PhD) |
| 2023 | Dr. Vergara explored the uptake of Latin American literature in Metro Vancouver classrooms. She found that sometimes teachers and students used stereotypes and misrepresentations when interpreting such texts. This research illuminates the complexity of teaching diverse literature and discusses ways of supporting teachers and students in the process. | Doctor of Philosophy in Language and Literacy Education (PhD) |
| 2023 | Dr. Jones explores the ways apocalyptic poetry can be used to deepen understandings of living within dying systems. Drawing from the hypothetical example of drug coverage in a stage of systems collapse and the effects on persons living with disease, her work provides insight into mourning and relationality as key competencies in death pedagogy. | Doctor of Education in Educational Leadership and Policy (EdD) |
| 2023 | Dr. Yogev examined the reliability and validity of wearable near-infrared spectroscopy during exercise, to better inform practitioners about the utility of measuring muscle oxygenation in field conditions. His work provides valuable guidelines for muscle oxygenation monitoring in real-time during exercise. | Doctor of Philosophy in Kinesiology (PhD) |
| 2023 | Dr. Siedlaczek studied the influences leading to a new quality assurance policy in BC higher education. Her analysis demonstrates the impact of global discourses on local policymaking and the increasing focus on quality assurance as a policy issue. The research provides insight on institutionalizing quality assurance practices in higher education. | Doctor of Education in Educational Leadership and Policy (EdD) |
| 2023 | Dr. Beyer investigated the role of embodiment in young women's experience of sexual satisfaction. Research findings illustrated how young women's experiences of embodiment are intertwined not only with sexual satisfaction, but related aspects of sexuality including sexual desire and pleasure. | Doctor of Philosophy in Counselling Psychology (PhD) |