In the spirit of our motto "Transforming Education. Transforming Lives", the Faculty of Education became a leader as we embraced our combined strengths to provide leadership and assistance during the pandemic. We also began to research and plan for what outcomes will be needed as the world adapts to these changes. How will this impact the future of education and how do we ensure equity for all? Join our panel of presenters as we share our research and recommendations, and how together we can continue to transform education, and lives, beyond COVID-19. The panel will be moderated by Dean Donna Kotsopoulos.

 

Join four Faculty of Education researchers who have been focused on educational needs as we recover from the pandemic. Learn how this work will help teachers, students, and families alike. Will the pandemic forever change the future of education?

How did the pandemic affect equity in education in Ontario schools?
Dr. Prachi Srivastava, Associate Professor, Faculty of Education
Dr. Prachi Srivastava is a tenured Associate Professor, at Western University specializing in education and global development. She is also a Member of the World Bank Expert Advisory Council on Citizen Engagement. Previously, she served with the United Nations Mission in Kosovo and the International Rescue Committee. She holds a doctorate from the University of Oxford. Currently, Dr. Srivastava is working on the global education emergency caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. She has led high-level policy briefs on education policy and planning and equity implications of the pandemic for the Think 20 (T20), the official global engagement group of the G20, for the 2020 and 2021 G20 Summits. Domestically, Dr. Srivastava is part of the author team for the brief on education for the Ontario COVID-19 Science Table. She also led the creation of the COVID-19 School Dashboard, an open-access data visualization portal that maps school-level cases in Ontario with school-level demographic data to provide a clearer indication on the impact on local school communities. The dashboard has been widely covered in local and international media. Dr. Srivastava has been invited to provide expertise and commentary on COVID-19 education disruptions by the UNICEF Office of Global Insight and Policy, UNESCO, the BE2 education donor working group, and a range of global and Canadian civil society and non-governmental organizations. She has frequently appeared in The Globe and Mail, CBC, Global News TV, radio, and online media outlets, amongst a range of scholarly and other media, for this work and analysis. Dr. Srivastava's long-term research interests are: non-state private sector engagement in education; global philanthropy and impact investment; private schooling and education privatization; and global education policy and the right to education in the Global South.

After the pandemic: How to help young readers and writers catch up
Dr. Perry Klein, Associate Dean, Research, Faculty of Education
Dr. Klein began his career as a teacher in North York, Ontario after completing a PhD in Applied Educational Psychology at the Centre for Applied Cognitive Science at the University of Toronto. Prior to serving as Associate Dean (Research) in the Faculty of Education, Dr. Klein taught courses on educational psychology, and on teaching struggling readers and writers in the elementary grades. He leads a team investigating “Early Intervention in Writing.” This project, funded by a SSHRC Insight Grant, takes an evidence-based approach to four questions: How can we teach writing strategies and self-regulation to beginning writers? How can we make writing education more effective for struggling writers, including students with learning disabilities? How can writing instruction be organized to make it inclusive and effective? How should instruction in composition and mechanics be sequenced, balanced and integrated?

Dr. Katreena Scott, Director, Centre for Research and Education on Violence Against Women and Children, Faculty of Education
Katreena Scott is a Psychologist and and Professor, and a CRC Tier I. She leads an applied research program aimed at ending violence in family relationships, with specific expertise on addressing violence perpetration in men. She is internationally known for her research on empirically and ethically sound policies and practices for intervening with men who have used violence against their partners and/or children. The Caring Dads program that she developed (http://www.caringdads.org) is currently running in many sites across Canada, as well as in the US, UK, Ireland, Wales, Germany, Australia and Sweden. She is currently leading work that brings together professionals from across Canada to identify and better recognize the expertise of specialists who provide services to address intimate partner violence. She is a contributor to international networks including the DV@Work Network and the Safer Families Centre of Excellence.

Focusing on relationships as an evidence-based approach to promoting post-pandemic wellbeing and achievement
Dr. Claire Crooks, Director, Centre for School Mental Health, Faculty of Education
Dr. Crooks is a Professor at the Faculty of Education at Western University and the Director of the Centre for School Mental Health. Dr. Crooks is one of the lead developers and researchers of the Fourth R, the relationship-based program aimed at preventing violence and related risk behaviors among adolescents. She is particularly interested in adaptation and implementation issues related to evidence-based practices. Her work in this area includes collaborating with partners to develop and evaluate strategies that meet the unique needs of Indigenous youth and other priority groups. Dr. Crooks provides continuing education to judges, lawyers, and other court professionals as a Faculty member for the U.S. National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges. She is co-author of more than 100 articles, chapters, and books on topics, including school mental health, children’s exposure to domestic violence, child custody and access, adolescent dating violence and risk behavior, and trauma. Dr. Crooks is a clinical psychologist, and is registered in the areas of clinical, school, and forensic psychology.