2025-26 CGS, SSHRC, and OGS Funding Recipients

Visa Stories of Nigerian Immigrants in Canada and the Implications on Identities

Paul Akpomuje 
Supervisor: Claire Ahn

My research explores the migration stories of Nigerian doctoral students in Canada, adopting multimodal approaches and different genres, such as poetry. Precisely, I am interested in how visa stories inform and are informed by identities. The research also examines how participants’ experiences of inequality, exclusion, and other racial and social justice issues in educational and social contexts impact their migration experiences.

Switching Gears: Exploring The Ripple Effect of At-Home Learning on Parental Advocacy for Children with Disabilities

Adrianna Arsenault 

Supervisor: Jordan Shurr

My research explores how home-based learning experiences influence the advocacy efforts of parents of children with disabilities. My research examines the ways these experiences shape parents' understanding of their child's needs and consequently what they advocate for within educational and support systems. My broad research interests include critical disability studies, parent involvement and advocacy, online learning and transition planning for students with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

Bringing Neurodiversity to the Classroom

Caelan Carriere

Supervisor: Patty Douglas

Caelan’s research will focus on making teacher education more inclusive of neurodiversity—she wants to make sure teacher education walks the talk—embedding the same neurodiversity-inclusive practices in training programs that we expect in K-12 classrooms.

Exploring Pedagogical Practices and Interdisciplinary Learning for Police Officers: De-Escalation and Mental Health Training 

Lisa Deveau 

Supervisor: Ben Kutsyuruba

Building Bridges: Uniting Perspectives of Essential Knowledge and Skills for Educators Supporting Students with FASD

Tanya Joseph

Supervisor: Lindsay Morcom

Although several studies have analyzed pre-service and in-service teachers’ knowledge and perceptions of FASD, research that conceptualizes the knowledge teachers should possess to support students with FASD is limited. Studies have indicated that teachers lack both substantial knowledge of FASD and awareness of strategies to support these students. Despite previous literature having described the FASD-related knowledge of various professionals in a range of sectors (health, education, and justice), to date, no study has integrated these perspectives to determine what teachers should know about FASD. My research will focus on conceptualizing the knowledge, and skills teachers should possess to effectively support students with FASD in elementary classrooms. This study will provide insight into the challenges children with FASD face within the Ontario education system, and determine the knowledge teachers should possess to effectively support students with FASD from the perspectives of caregivers, medical professionals, and teachers.

From Policy to Practice: Evaluating the Canada-Wide Early Learning & Child Care System

Cheryl Lee-Yow

Supervisor: Kristy Timmons

This study aims to examine how the childcare workforce is being newly or differently supported through the CWELCC funding system since implementation in 2022, and to explore whether and how the system’s objectives (accessibility, affordability, inclusivity, and quality) are being met in early childhood education and care classrooms across Ontario.

Mind the Gaps: Exploring Pre-service French as a Second Language Programs, Lived Experiences, and Professional Intermediaries

François-Daniel Levasseur-Portelance 

Supervisor: Michelle Searle

Capturing Perspectives: Understanding Educator Roles in Supporting Language Development for Autistic Children in Ontario Kindergarten Classrooms

Jianing Lv 

Supervisor: Kristy Timmons

Despite the promotion of inclusion and evidence-based language interventions, their successful translation into practice in early childhood education environments remains limited. This doctoral research investigates how language development for children on the autism spectrum is supported in play-based kindergarten classrooms. Specifically, it examines the roles of teachers, early childhood educators (ECEs), and educational assistants (EAs), and describes the strategies they use to foster language growth. Through focus groups, interviews and classroom observations, this study will provide timely evidence to inform Ontario’s forthcoming 2026 kindergarten curriculum and contribute to policy, professional development, and inclusive early learning practices.

Stories of Resistance & Teacher Leader Activism: Decolonizing Educational Leadership Praxis in K-12 Ontario Schools

Laura Pugliese-Muir 

Supervisors: Alana Butler, Thashika Pillay

Decolonizing school leadership frameworks is a complex political undertaking that represents a paradigm shift in the power and structure of schools which have traditionally supported school administrators, or the principalship, to the exclusion of teacher leadership development. The cultivation of courageous and alternate teacher leadership imaginings and possibilities require imbedded professional learning beginning in pre-service education.  Activist teacher leader stories of resistance, as discursive and agentic, model and inspire stratagems, mechanisms, and solidarities to confront systemic oppressions in Ontario K-12 schools.

Leveraging Artificial Intelligence to Understand the Lived Experiences of Low Socioeconomic Status Post-Secondary Education Students

Hussain Raza 

Supervisor: Alana Butler

My research is an attempt to highlight the lived experiences of low socioeconomic status (SES) post-secondary education (PSE) students, and how these students utilize their sense of belonging, identity, and perseverance to navigate their way through the complex structures of higher education. These students remain an understudied cohort within PSE in Ontario, and my research will hopefully shed some light on empowering their voices and experiences alongside contemporary quantitative methods. With the use of artificial intelligence (AI) to complement traditional manual methods of qualitative work, I attempt to uncover subtle nuances and patterns that may present themselves in qualitative analyses and may help forge more inclusive and representative policies that help to better the outcomes for these students. The ultimate goal is to amalgamate all of these qualitative methods to assist in the creation of a novel theoretical model that can shed light on the coping strategies these students employ to circumvent their low-SES circumstances. With the findings of this study, I aim to further inform policies and practices that promote equity, diversity, and access to higher education for vulnerable student populations.

Transformative Trends: Investigating the Impact of Artificial Intelligence Writing Tools on Higher Education Instruction

Lydia Scholle-Cotton 

Supervisors: Saad Chahine, Chris DeLuca

Generative AI tools like ChatGPT are changing how university instructors teach and assess students. This shift challenges instructors, who must decide whether to adopt or limit these tools. There are concerns about academic integrity, but there is also a recognition that future employers may prefer graduates skilled at using AI. My research aims to understand how university instructors in Canada view and use AI in their teaching. I will use both quantitative and qualitative methods to understand the complex dynamics in this context better. I will explore their familiarity with AI, how it affects their teaching methods, and how their perceptions and practices evolve over time. The results will help identify ways universities can adapt to this new technology while ensuring fairness and academic honesty.

Impact of Community-engaged Research in Education

Jennifer Thompson

Supervisor: Michelle Searle

Disabled Teachers Need Not Apply? Accommodating Pre-Service Teacher Candidates with Disabilities in Ontario Teacher Education Programs

Aleksandra Vojnov

Supervisor: Ben Kutsyuruba

The project investigates how practicum policies, supervisory practices, and institutional frameworks shape the experiences of pre-service teachers with disabilities in Ontario. While practicum placements are meant to bridge theory and practice in teacher education, they often create systemic barriers for candidates with disabilities. Despite the legal right to accommodations, many associate teachers and practicum supervisors report feeling unprepared to provide effective support. At the same time, accreditation standards and institutional policies can reinforce deficit-based perspectives, privileging narrow technical competencies over broader pedagogical strengths and redirecting candidates toward alternative career outcomes. By critically examining these dynamics, this research asks: Who is considered “fit” to teach—and under what conditions?

From personal knowledge to practice: Queered and cripped critical pedagogies in music education

Renn Challacombe 

Supervisor: Ben Bolden

All educators are shaped by their lived experiences and bring knowledge from those experiences into the classroom. Building on the works of critical pedagogues in music education, Ren's research examines how 2SLGBTQ+, disabled, and neurodivergent music educators might use their lived knowledge from the margins in their teaching. Their aim is to explore liberatory pedagogical possibilities that serve teachers and learners alike in music education.

Understanding the Impacts of ADHD Stigma on Student Self-Determination and Well-Being

Haley Clark

Supervisor: Jordan Shurr

The literature makes it clear that self-determination is essential, as it directly supports students’ motivation, engagement, personal growth, and identity development. The literature also underscores the importance of student well-being and identifies the aspects that promote student well-being (assets, appraisals, and actions). Student well-being and self-determination are closely linked and have been examined in relation to ADHD. But the gap in the research is on how ADHD-related stigma impacts students’ self-determination and related well-being. Therefore, the objective of this study is to deepen the understanding of how students with ADHD experience stigma as a potential factor impacting their self-determination and overall well-being.

Haley was also awarded the Data to Policy Fellowship (Autism).

Investigating English Student and Faculty Perspectives on Generative AI (and One Another)

Jessie Hendriks 

Supervisor: Pamela Beach

This research explores how generative AI has, is, and will impact the academic lives of higher education students and faculty engaged in the study of English. Through close readings of student and faculty publications on generative AI, qualitative interviews, and a mixed-methods multi-institutional survey, my research will contribute to understandings of how English students and faculty perceive generative AI, interpret one another's engagement with this technology, and imagine the future of their discipline in its wake. A primary goal of my work is to collect discipline-specific data to help inform sustainable AI policy design and implementation for English departments across Canada.

Strengthening Indigenous Education in Ontario: A Study of the New First Nations, Métis, and Inuit Studies Curriculum Implementation

Niki Boytchuk-Hale

Supervisor: Tiina Kukkonen

My research is investigating the implementation of the 2019 FNMI Studies curriculum, specifically looking at experiences of teachers in relation to the grade 9 arts course, NAC1O. Using Indigenous research methodologies to collect qualitative data on the strengths, weaknesses, and opportunities for improvement, I will develop recommendations to guide teachers’ future practice, understand Indigenous students' particular learning needs, inform post-secondary Bachelor of Education programs, and document Indigenous Education leaders' insights through their new and unique roles at school boards.