Co-President (Outgoing) – Zian (Kelly) Zhang

Zian (Kelly) Zhang is a Full-time Ph.D. student in the curriculum and pedagogy program at OISE. She completed her OISE master’s degree in the Curriculum Studies and Teacher Development program in 2016. Kelly’s research interests focus on education policy and leadership. Currently, she is a Research Assistant for the SSHRC Creating Equitable Structures in Early Secondary School Mathematics project. She also worked as GA for SSHRC Reciprocal Learning in Teacher Education and School Education between Canada and China project. She serves as Co-President at the Canadian Committee of Graduate Students in Education (CCGSE), which is the graduate student caucus within Canada’s national network of educational researchers, the Canadian Society for the Study of Education (CSSE).

Co-President (Incoming) – Henry Ssali

Henry Ssali is a doctoral candidate focusing on Educational Leadership and Policy at the University of Toronto.. His core research interests examine whether policy is loosely managed and how institutional policies affect street-level bureaucrats in higher education. He holds an MA  from the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE) and a BA  in International Relations from the University of Toronto. Having served in several volunteer and leadership positions at OISE, U of T and beyond, Henry was recognized in 2021 as an emerging leader by the Civic Action Leadership Foundation. He has also been awarded several accolades for his social justice work including the Arbor Award (U of T’s most prestigious volunteer award). Henry is currently serving as Vice-President Internal for the OISE Alumni Association, President of the Leadership, Higher, and Adult Education (LHAE) Departmental Students’ Association (DSA), Member of the U of T Graduate Education Council (GEC) and has previously served as Vice-President Communications, and Vice-President Academic for LHAE DSA as well as an elected student representative of the OISE Council (the highest decision making body at OISE).

Director of Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, Indigeneity, and Accessibility (EDIIA) – Sasha V. Nandlal

Sasha V. Nandlal is a PhD student in Educational Studies from the University of Prince Edward Island (UPEI) and is supervised by Dr. Tess Miller has been a secondary teacher for the past nine years in her home country of Trinidad and Tobago. Her areas of research interest are Physical Education, Inclusive Education, Technology in Assessment, Leadership and Curriculum Development. A lifelong learner, she views the education system as a microcosm of society offering opportunities to test, learn, and improve proficiency.

Program Co-Chair – Amanda Battistuzzi

Amanda is a doctoral student at the University of Ottawa. She holds a Master of Education, Bachelor of Arts in English Literature and French as a Second Language, as well as a Bachelor of Education. Her teaching experience includes middle to upper level core French courses. Her research interests include core French teacher education and language learning experiences.

Program Co-Chair – Thu Le

Thu Le is a full-time PhD Candidate in Educational Studies at the University of Windsor. Her field of specialization is Social, Cultural, and Political Contexts in Education. She earned a master’s degree in TESOL. Before commencing her doctoral program in Canada, Thu was a tenured ESL lecturer at Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology and Education, Vietnam, for ten years. Her research interests lie in technology-enhanced teaching and learning, learner autonomy, online learning, and internationalization in higher education. She is currently doing research regarding the international student acculturation process.

Mentorship Award Co-Chair – Nabila Kazmi

Nabila Kazmi is a 3rd year PhD candidate at the University of Victoria. She holds an undergraduate degree in Computer Engineering and a Masters in Education. Her research interests are in social justice, intersectional feminism, feminist geography and adult education.

Mentorship Award Co-Chair – Robert Grant

Rob Grant (he/him) is a PhD Candidate at the University of Ottawa. He holds a BA in second language teaching, an MEd in education, as well as a Master of Teaching. He has been teaching FSL in the elementary and secondary boards since 2019. His research interests focus on the experiences of queer French as a second language (FSL) teachers as they navigate heteronormative teaching.

Secretary – Ariadne Jevnikar

Ariadne is a PhD student at Lakehead University in the Educational Leadership and Policy Studies stream. She is a certified member of the Ontario College of Teachers and has taught K3 – Grade 12. Ariadne’s research explores how high school principals influence the school culture for sexual and gender minority youth.

Communications – Rakha Zabin

Rakha Zabin is a PhD candidate currently enrolled in the Joint Ph.D. Program as a full-time student at Brock University. Her field of specialization is Leadership and Policy Studies. Her doctoral dissertation explores international graduate student experiences in Ontario in alignment with the policy pieces based on the framework of transformational leadership. Earlier, she pursued her Master of Education in the field of Administration and Educational Leadership and her Master of Arts specializing in TESOL.

Ryan Collis is a PhD student in the Faculty of Education at York University, working in the intersection of autism, expertise, and Science Fiction to discover future imaginaries where autistic students are truly supported. He holds degrees in English (BA, Queen’s ‘99), Computer Science (BScH, Queen’s ‘00), Education (BEd, OISE ‘05), and Science and Technology Studies (BScH, York ’19; MA, York ‘20). Ryan has been a high school teacher in the York Region District School Board since 2006, serves as the Graduate Student Officer of the Canadian Educational Researchers’ Association (CERA), and is a founding editor of the Canadian Journal of Autism Equity.

Noah Khan is a PhD student in Social Justice Education at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education. His research is situated in phenomenology of technology, seeking to philosophically explore the experiential elements of digital encounters. Noah is a CGS-D Scholar, Massey College Junior Fellow, Evasion Lab Fellow, and Reach Alliance Researcher.

Sheetal Prasad is a Ph.D. candidate in the Faculty of Education at York University. Her current research examines representation within Canadian history classrooms for secondary schooling and how the typical colonial narrative presented in classrooms can be intervened through multimodal learning and engagement. She combines archival and art research methods to create augmented reality works that inform viewers of multiple perspectives in Canadian history.

Justin is a PhD candidate in Educational Leadership & Policy at University of Toronto – OISE. His research focuses on student government and student leadership. He holds a master’s degree in political science from the University of Toronto and a bachelor’s degree in political science and history from the University of Ottawa. He serves as the President of the Global Student Government, President of the OISE Graduate Students Association, and has served in executive roles in the International Association for Political Science Students and the University of Toronto Graduate Students’ Union, among others.

Charlotte Moore (she/her) is a neurodivergent Ph.D. candidate in the Faculty of Education at the University of Manitoba. She previously attended Eastern Michigan University, where she received a bachelor’s degree in secondary education with focuses in English and psychology, as well as a master’s degree in creative writing. Her current research explores the experiences of neurodivergent graduate students, specifically looking at the ways these students excel and struggle in graduate school, the unique strengths they bring to the academy, and the systems in place that help and hinder their academic success and well-being.

Amanda Dunbar (Concordia). Amanda Light Dunbar (she/her) is a PhD student in the Department of Education at Concordia University. Her work explores the cultural values that inform ELA research and pedagogy, particularly in terms of widely used but generally unsanctioned tools like SparkNotes, Grammarly, and ChatGPT. Amanda’s research is funded by the Fonds de recherche du Quebec – Societe et culture. She will be returning from leave in January 2024.

Jihan Jones (Windsor)

Omotoyosi Ogunbanwo (Western)

Linh Hoang (Ottawa)

Thank you to all those who attended! A copy of the PowerPoint from the event can be found: CCGSE – 2021 Fall Event

Many thanks again to all those who were able to join us for the CCGSE workshop “All About The Literature Review” in March. The Zoom report says 75 folks attended, which is fantastic!

The Zoom recording and slides have been uploaded to our Google Drive, and should be accessible via the following link: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1axuP7yHZKWEUIZa38aEcIzDbpu9N_ApX?usp=sharing