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 Ph.D. 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. In 2011, she was awarded a doctoral fellowship from the Social Sciences and Humanities Council of Canada for her study of Black student experiences in U.S. and Canadian higher education. From 2015-2016, she was a research collaborator on a SSHRC funded study entitled ‘Can We Talk About Race?’ Confronting Colour-blindness in Early Childhood Education’ at Ryerson University. Her current research agenda focuses on at-risk children and their families in elementary and secondary school settings.
Research Interests
- Equity, diversity, and inclusion policies and practices from k-12 to higher education
- At-risk children/youth and their educational attainment
- ‘Race’, culture, and gender studies in education
- Immigration and settlement studies
- Multicultural education
- Qualitative research methodology
Research Funding
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: Moving to the big school: An exploration of the kindergarten transition process for underserved parents of children with autism, Principal investigator(s): Dr. Jordan Schurr, Dr. Kristy Timmons, Queen’s University.
Role: Co-investigator
Amount: $15,000
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
SEED Grant
Funder: Queen’s University Faculty of Education
Project title: : Voices of ‘At-Risk’ Canadian Youth: Resisting Stereotypes and Fostering Resilience
Role: Principal Investigator
Amount: $5,000
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
Black Youth Action Plan (Innovative Supports for Black Parents) Program Evaluation
Funder: Ministry of Children and Youth Services
Role: Co-Principal Investigator with Tana Turner (private consultant, owner of Tana Turning Consulting Ltd.)
Amount: $298,000
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., Teasley Severino, C., and Sánchez Blanco, C. (forthcoming, 2020). 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. Singapore: Springer International Publishing.
Teasley Severino, C. and Butler, A. (forthcoming, 2020). Intersecting Critical Pedagogies to Counter Coloniality. In S. Steinberg (Ed.) The SAGE Handbook of Critical Pedagogies. London: Sage Publications Ltd.
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.
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 (pp 91-111). Toronto: Canadian Scholars’ Press.
Butler, A. (2019). Quiltmaking Among African American Women as a Pedagogy of Care, Empowerment, and Sisterhood. Gender and Education, Vol. 31(5): 590-603.
Guicciardi, E., Nagel, R., Szwiega, S., Chow, B., Nezon, J., Bian, H. and Butler, A.(2019) Evaluation of a Sensory-based, Food-Education Program on Fruit and Vegetable Consumption among Kindergarten Children. The Journal of Child Nutrition and Management. 43(1): 1-13.
Escayg, K., Butler, A., Webb, D., Murray, T., Henderson, S. (2019). Narratives of Resistance: The Experiences of Black Women as Teachers, Leaders, Mothers and Academics. In R. Jeffries (Ed) Queen Mothers: Articulating the Spirit of Black Women Teacher-Leaders. Charlotte, NC: Information Age Publishing.
Butler, A. (2018). Socioeconomic Inequality and Student Outcomes in Canadian Schools. The Knowledge Forum, vol.1, issue 1, pp. 10-12.
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.
Mirchandani, K. and Butler, A. (2013). “Beyond Inclusion and Equity.” In A. Konrad, P. Prasad, & J. Pringle (Eds.) Handbook of Workplace Diversity (pp.475-488). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
Butler, A. (2013). Moving Beyond Borders: A History of Black Canadian and Caribbean Women. Canadian Ethnic Studies, 45 (3): 159-161.
Butler, A. (2010). Inclusive Schooling and Minority Education: Reflecting on Challenges and Opportunities. In G. Dei (Ed.) Learning to Succeed: The Challenges and Possibilities of Educational Achievement for All (pp.217-248). Youngstown, New York: Teneo Press.
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., 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