Alana Butler
BSc, B.Ed., MA (Toronto), PhD (Cornell University, Ithaca, New York)
Assistant Professor of At-Risk Learners and Student Success
Alana Butler is an Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Education at Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario. In 2015, she completed a PhD in Education from Cornell University in Ithaca, New York with a specialization in Learning, Teaching, and Social Policy. She has 15 years of teaching experience in a range of settings that includes preschool, ESL, secondary school, adult literacy, and university. She is the Principal Investigator on an Insight Development Grant from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council for a study about post-secondary access for low-income youth. Her scholarly work has been published in the Canadian Journal of Education, Gender and Education, and Review of Education.
Research Interests
- Socio-economic inequality and educational achievement
- Equity, diversity, and inclusion policies and practices from k-12 to higher education
- At-risk children/youth and their educational attainment
- Anti-racism education and Black feminist theory
- Qualitative research methodology
Research Funding
2021
SSHRC Connections Grant
Funder: Social Sciences and Humanities Council of Canada
Project title: Give Race its Place: An Anti-Racist Knowledge Sharing Initiative for Early Childhood Educators
Role: Co-applicant
Principal Investigator: Dr. Rachel Berman, Ryerson University
Amount: $9,240
2019
SSHRC Insight Development Grant
Funder: Social Sciences and Humanities Council of Canada
Project title: Beating the Odds: An intergenerational examination of cultural barriers to postsecondary education for low-income Ontario youth
Role: Principal Investigator
Co-applicant: Dr. Liying Cheng, Queen’s University
Amount: $57,304
Dean’s Collaborative Grant
Funder: Queen’s Faculty of Education
Project title: Sistema‐Inspired Music Education: Student Experiences of Social and Emotional Development, Identity and Inclusion
Role: Co-investigator
Principal investigator(s): Dr. Benjamin Bolden, Queen’s University
Amount: $12,500
SHHRC Institutional (Explore) Grant
Funder: Queen’s Faculty of Education
Project title: Sistema Music Education: Low-income Student Experiences of Learning and Social Inclusion in Kingston
Role: Principal Investigator
Co-applicant: Dr. Benjamin Bolden
Amount: $5,000
2018
RFS # 3312 A Process and Outcomes Evaluation of Youth Job Connection
Funder: Ministry of Training, Colleges, and Universities (MTCU)
Principal Investigators: Dr. Benjamin Kutsyuruba and Dr. Christopher De Luca, Queen’s University
Role: Co-investigator
Amount: $293,072
2017
Parents Reaching Out
Funder: Ministry of Education, Parent Engagement Office
Role: Principal Investigator
Project: Mentoring Circles for Diverse Parents and Families in ‘At-Risk’ Communities to Support Student Success.
Amount: $8,600
2014 - 2016
SSHRC Insight Development Grant
Funder: Social Sciences and Humanities Council of Canada
Project title: Collaborator: Can we talk about race? Confronting colour-blindness in early childhood education settings
Principal Investigator: Dr. Rachel Berman, Ryerson University
Co-Principal Investigator: Dr. Beverly-Jean Daniel, Ryerson University
Role: Collaborator
Amount: $33,553
Butler, A. (2021). Low-income Black parents Supporting their Children’s Success Through Mentoring Circles. Canadian Journal of Education, Vol. 44, Issue 1, pp. 93-117. https://journals.sfu.ca/cje/index.php/cje-rce/article/view/4979
Butler, A. (2021). Low-income, racialized children and access to quality ECE in Ontario. In Z. Abawi, R. Berman, and A. Eizadirad (Eds.) Equity as Praxis in Early Childhood Education and Care (pp.36-51). Toronto: Canadian Scholars Press.
Butler, A. and Abawi, Z. (2021). Deconstructing Citizenship and Belonging: Refugee Student Integration and Microaggressions in Ontario Schools. In J. Corkett, C. Cho, and A. Steele (Eds.).The Manifestation of Microaggressions and Lateral Violence in Education: A Global Perspective. (pp. 78-93). New York: Routledge.
Bolden, B., Corcoran, C. & Butler, A. (accepted, 2021). A scoping review of research that addresses El Sistema music education programs. Review of Education.
Butler, A. & Campbell, A. (forthcoming 2021). Black School Leaders in Urban Ontario Schools: Striving for Social Justice. In C. McGregor and S. Bedi (Eds.) Diverse Leadership Landscapes: Exploring the Terrain. McGill-Queen’s University Press.
Teasley Severino, C. and Butler, A. (2020). Intersecting Critical Pedagogies to Counter Coloniality. In S. Steinberg (Ed.) The SAGE Handbook of Critical Pedagogies. pp. 186-204. London: Sage Publications Ltd.
Butler, A. (2020). The What, the So What, and the Now What of Social Justice Education. Teachers College Record. https://www.tcrecord.org/books/abstract.asp?ContentId=23445
Butler, A., Teasley Severino, C., and Sánchez Blanco, C. (2019). A Decolonial Approach to Disrupting Whiteness, Neoliberalism, and Capitalist Pedagogy in Western Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC). In Trifonas, P. (Ed.) Handbook of Theory and Research in Cultural Studies and Education. (pp.1-18). Singapore: Springer International Publishing.
Luzius-Vanin, C. and Butler, A. (2019). Closing the Gaps: A Compassionate View of Mental Health Beyond the Medical Model. In A. Jule (Ed.). The Compassionate Educator: Understanding Social Issues and the Ethics of Care in Canadian Schools. (pp. 91-111). Toronto: Canadian Scholars’ Press.
Butler, A. (2019). Socioeconomic Inequality and Student Outcomes in Canadian Schools. In L.Volante, S. Schnepf, Jerrim, J., and D. Klinger (Eds). Socioeconomic Inequality and Student Outcomes: National Trends, Policies, and Practices. (pp. 169-187). Singapore: Springer Ltd.
Butler, A. (2019). Quiltmaking Among African American Women as a Pedagogy of Care, Empowerment, and Sisterhood. Gender and Education, Vol. 31(5): 590-603.
Berman, R., Daniel, B., Butler, A., McNevin, M., and Royer, N. (2017). Nothing, or Almost Nothing, to Report: Early Childhood Educators and Discursive Constructions of Colorblindness. The International Critical Childhood Policy Studies Journal, Vol. 6 (1): 52-65.
Kutsyuruba, B., Deluca, C., Butler, A., Youmans, A. Godden, L., Hussain, A., Merchant, S., & Bosica, J. J. (2020). Impact Evaluation of Youth Job Connection Program (Prepared for the Ministry of Labour, Training, and Skills Development). Kingston, ON: Social Program Evaluation Group, Queen’s University.
Kutsyuruba, B., Deluca, C., Butler, A., Godden, L., Youmans, A., Hussain, A., Stroud Stasel, R., Nesbitt, H., LaPointe-McEwan, D., Merchant, S., McGregor, S., & Bosica, J. J. (2020). Process and Early Outcomes Evaluation of Youth Job Connection/Youth Job Connection-Summer Program (Prepared for the Ministry of Labour, Training, and Skills Development). Kingston, ON: Social Program Evaluation Group, Queen’s University.
Kutsyuruba, B., Deluca, C., Butler, A., Godden, L., Hussain, A., Youmans, A., Stroud Stasel, R., Nesbitt, H., Shewchuk, S., Bozek, E., & McGregor, S. (2019). Second Interim Report: Process and Early Outcomes Evaluation of Youth Job Connection/Youth Job Connection-Summer Program (Prepared for the Ministry of Training, Colleges, and Universities). Kingston, ON: Social Program Evaluation Group, Queen’s University
Turner, T., Boyce, T., & Butler, A. (2019). Assessment of the Needs of Black Parents in Ontario. Toronto, ON: Turner Consulting Group Inc.
Turner, T., Campbell, P., Debrah, M., Boyce, T., & Butler, A. (2019). Jurisdictional Scan: Programs and Services for Black Parents in Ontario. Toronto: ON: Turner Consulting Group Inc.
Kutsyuruba, B., Deluca, C., Butler, A., Godden, L., Hussain, A., Youmans, A., Stroud Stasel, R., Shewchuk, S., & Nesbitt, H. (2018). First Interim Report: Process and Early Outcomes Evaluation of Youth Job Connection/Youth Job Connection-Summer Program (Prepared for the Ministry of Training, Colleges, and Universities). Kingston, ON: Social Program Evaluation Group, Queen’s University.
Kutsyuruba, B., De Luca, C., Butler, A., Godden, L., Hussain, A., Youmans, A., Stroud Stasel, R., Shewchuck, S., & Nesbitt, H. (2018). Needs of NEET youth: Pathways to positive outcomes. Kingston, ON: Social Program Evaluation Group, Queen’s University