Educational Studies Blog

Dissertation Writing Workshops with Dr. Autumn Knowlton: 10-Part Special Blog Series

This 10-part blog series shares key insights from two dissertation writing workshops led by EDST alum Dr. Autumn Knowlton, offering practical guidance on how to plan, write, and complete your dissertation with clarity and confidence.
EDST Blog: Call for Papers (and Introduction to Editorial Board)

The EDST blog editorial board is pleased to invite EDST students, staff, and faculty to submit contributions to the EDST blog. Department head André Mazawi described EDST as our “common home,” “in the sense of a space we all share in the pursuit of our work, studies, and contributions.” The EDST blog serves as…
“On Public Facing Scholarship” by Itamar Manoff

Have you written a paper you are proud of? Are there aspects of your research you are excited to share with others? Do you want to learn how to communicate your work to a broader audience? This blog post will offer some tips and ideas on how to get your work out there and how…
On Academic Blogging (and an Invitation for the New Year)

Part 1 of the EDST Blog Writing Series: “On Academic Blogging” If you were to go back even a short time in history, the term “blogging” would elicit strange looks and confusion from those you talked to. Early models of the blog, dating back to 1994, emphasized the personal, encouraging users to document their lives…
Introduction to Blog Editor and Call for Editorial Board

Hi there, My name is Jessica Lussier, and I am EDST’s first blog editor. I joined the EDST community back in 2018 when I began my PhD. Since the pandemic began, I’ve missed being involved in the EDST community. As the blog editor I envision the blog as a forum where EDST students and faculty can…
Reflections on UBC’s Masters of Education, Adult Learning & Education

Samantha Robinson As I approach graduation from the Masters of Education, Adult Learning & Education program at the University of British Columbia (UBC), I find myself in a moment of pause as I intentionally take time for reflection. What have I learned over the last two years in this program? What made sense and was…
Remembrance, Solidarity, and Community: Commemorating Professor Michael Marker (1951-2021)

André Elias Mazawi[*] “My work in the history of education has been like a Coast Salish canoe journey through time and space.” Michael Marker On December 23, 2020, around three weeks before Professor Michael Marker’s untimely passing on January 15, 2021, I emailed him to convey my good sentiments for the winter break and my…
A River of Resilience

By Yao Xiao (EDST alumnus and sessional)
The Courage to Step into Comic Vulnerability

Gabriella Maestrini Stepping into any kind of comic relationship as teacher, researcher or artist is an act of vulnerability, death and courage. Vulnerability in letting oneself be open to the comic teachings and possibilities which come with a piece of death of oneself to meet an ‘other’ and an act of courage to speak up…
A ‘Hidden’ Crisis: The Cost of Power

Jed Anderson “Technique has penetrated the deepest recesses of the human being. The machine tends not only to create a new human environment, but also to modify man’s very essence.” -Jacques Ellul[1] The Technological Society On a starless night in August, I drove with a clergyman friend through a lightning storm into what seemed like…
Call for Submissions – Deadline Oct 5th

PDF: Call for Submission – September 2020
Laziness, Racism, and Systemic Change

Laziness, racism, and systemic change Jude Walker I’m lazy. In saying this it may seem that I’ve embraced yet another identity marker: woman, white, educated…lazy. I say this not as a point of pride nor of shame but as an offering. I think we’re all lazy when we have the opportunity to be. The history…
Why I Can’t Hold Space for You Anymore, a Self-Examination Exercise

Why I Can’t Hold Space for You Anymore, a self-examination exercise Vanessa Andreotti, Sharon Stein, Elwood Jimmy and the GTDF collective Photo by: Vanessa de Oliveira Andreotti Systemic violence is complex and multi-layered. One thing that cuts across layers is the disproportionate amount of labour that Black, Indigenous and people of color (BIPOC) bear when they…
Academic Indian Job Description, a Poem

Academic Indian job description, a poem By Cash Ahenakew Photo by: Vanessa de Oliveira Andreotti have to know western knowledge and education plus the critique of western knowledge and education have to know indigenous ‘culture’ and education plus the critique and the critique of the critique of indigenous ‘culture’ and education have to know how…
No One Matters Until Black Lives Matter

No One Matters Until Black Lives Matter June 4, 2020 By Sam Rocha Original Post: https://medium.com/@SamRocha/no-one-matters-until-black-lives-matter-68822af9e49f I don’t know where to begin so I guess I’ll just jump right in. I want to talk about race. Better yet, I want to talk about racism. When I talk about racism, I am talking more specifically about…
The Durable Archaeology of Anti-Black Racism in North America

Ali A. Abdi Few minutes before I started writing this short blogpost, the results from two independent autopsies on the death of George Floyd were announced. He did not die from so-called underlying conditions, but directly from asphyxiation due to physical pressures applied on his neck during close to nine minutes, complemented by extra force…
Part 4: Working Students

By Alison Taylor In these posts so far, I’ve addressed issues I’m aware of from my personal life, teaching, and thoughts as a citizen. In this post, I turn to our current research[1] on working undergraduate students at UBC and U of T. I find it troubling that although we (instructors) engage with students in…
Part 3: A Climate of Change?

By Alison Taylor April 22, 2020 marked the 50th anniversary of the first Earth Day, although it was eclipsed by pandemic news. When the environment has been in the media of late, it seems that stories have been lauding improvements in air quality in India and New York and water quality in Venice; the takeaway…
Part 2: People living in poverty

By Alison Taylor Moving to Vancouver from Edmonton, one of my first impressions was about the obvious divide between rich and poor. One only has to walk from Yaletown to the downtown eastside to register this disparity. Researchers who have studied rising neighbourhood inequality over time in Canada find there has been a significant rise…
Part 1: Our Elders

By Alison Taylor As we enter the second month of social-distancing and self-isolation, and as curves ‘flatten’ in some parts of Canada, there’s speculation about how our communities will ‘get back to normal.’ It’s a good time, therefore, to reflect on what parts of ‘normal’ life are not worth reviving post-COVID 19 and what issues…
Against Normalcy

By Alison Taylor I write this series of blog posts as the Covid-19 pandemic moves into its third month and in response to media stories about “when things get back to normal.” It strikes me that the pandemic has shown us some of the cracks in systems; if taken seriously, it could spark fruitful discussion…