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Professional Development

I am a work in progress. There is no perfection.

Praxis is ever-present in my approach to professional development. I spend time reflecting, journalling, and asking questions. I reach out to colleagues and I go for long walking meetings. Nature and exercise, combined with another perspective and a shared goal, does wonders. 

Over Summer 2024, I had the privilege of engaging with people all over the world in a small cohort of the course called Facing Human Wrongs 2.0: Climate Complexity and Social Accountability, at the University of Victoria. This course deepened my relationship with complexity and entanglement, and my connections to the more-than-human world. Aside from the content, which opened my eyes and heart, I learned alternative ways of learning and unlearning that will continue to push me as an academic, teacher-educator, and learner.

Since 2015, I have attended the annual Congress of the Humanities and Social Sciences Conference. I have presented each year, and I learn from the process of preparing for the event, but also from the feedback and questions that I receive from my generous colleagues. 

At Congress, I attend as many presentations and round tables as I can fit in. Congress is always inspiring to me, and I walk away with motivation and new ideas, but also new connections. 

I belong to the Canadian Society for the Study of Education, Canadian Association of Foundations in Education, the Canadian Association for Teacher Education, the Canadian Association for Curriculum Studies (and it's special interest group, the Canadian Critical Pedagogy Association), the Canadian Association for Social Justice Education, and the Comparative and International Education Society of Canada. 

Through the above associations, I participate in events, symposiums, and meetings. 

I regularly attend department meetings in Curriculum & Instruction and Teacher Education , as well as Faculty of Education monthly meetings and Faculty Futures events. In these meetings, there are often collaborative discussions and opportunities to share our learning. I am currently on a committee for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion for our department.

At Camosun, I attended meetings to support the work of my colleagues as they share their pedagogical narrations, research, and work as pedagogists. 

My main source of professional development is the world around me. My own children, my friends who are teachers and parents, the books and articles I read, the podcasts I hear, and the daily interactions that are the stuff of democracy and opportunities for practicing nonviolent communication. It is in these moments of everydayness that my mind moves to question and I experience further shift in my professional mindset. 

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My partner, Tyler, and I talk about my research and our parenting and teaching constantly. My kids are a source of motivation and also teach me so much about being human.

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