This June, Dean Rebecca Luce-Kapler marks the end of her 10-year deanship having fostered a thriving research, teaching, and
community-centred Faculty during her tenure. She leaves behind a Faculty of Education positioned to lead inclusive and innovative teaching and learning in Ontario and beyond. We sat down with Dean Luce-Kapler to reflect on her time as Dean and what comes next.
Tell us about your journey to become Dean. What inspired you to take on leadership roles?
As a child, I wanted to be two things: a writer and a teacher. These are intertwined because they are both about learning. When I write I learn more about what I am thinking, what I want to say, or who I am. When I teach, I learn more about what I am teaching, and I have the pleasure of seeing others learn too. When I teach writing, my enjoyment feels doubled. When I became a teacher, I was determined to make a difference in people's lives and in the field of education. What started with teaching K-12 led to graduate work, my appointment as a professor at Queen's and then into administration. First as Associate Dean of Graduate Studies and Research and then as Dean. I didn't aim to be a Dean; I aimed to make a difference and as opportunities to do so presented themselves, I took them. Leadership is like teaching in many ways. I have had the privilege to support and watch people thrive when I have been able to create conditions for that to happen.
What accomplishments, programs, and initiatives are you most proud of?
This has been a year of finishing goals that I set as a Dean and not surprisingly, these were the goals over which I had the least control: 1) the renovation of DMH and 2) funding from the Ministry for our B.Ed. program. When I look back over the ten years, I can say with certainty that I achieved what I had hoped for. Some of my other achievements were renewing and diversifying the faculty; expanding and developing non-degree options through CTE, School of English, and Professional Studies; securing our first Canada Research Chair; creating a Chair in Student Success ; launching the online Professional Masters of Education when I was Associate Dean Graduate Studies; establishing a Centre for Community Engagement and Social Change; restructuring MSTE to a STEAM+ research group; developing our ITEP, FSL, and Technological Education as Multisession programs; and restructuring our staffing model to be an expertise model instead of a generalist model.
Did your life as a poet influence your work as Dean?
Poetry and yoga influenced my work as Dean. They are both centering practices, which I find calming and introspective. They are also both rhythmic practices, which teach you to pay attention to the resonance of any given moment. It attunes you to situations. They were also sources of personal care amidst a busy life.
What do you plan to do next?
I have the data from my last SSHRC research (A Study of Senior Learners’ Engagements with Literary Reading and Memoir Writing Practices). There are wonderful anecdotes and stories from participants that I plan to turn into a book. And, of course, I have poetry to write.