Estaiteyeh elected to lead national graduate student association
Building connections and creating collaborative relationships between students across Canadian universities are keys to establishing a vibrant education graduate community.
These goals are from the newly elected co-president of the Canadian Committee of Graduate Students in Education (CCGSE), Mohammed Estaiteyeh.
The PhD candidate in curriculum studies believes the CCGSE has an important role in helping graduate students recover from COVID-19 implications and thrive in a post-pandemic world. As part of this recovery, the CCGSE will empower graduate students to positively impact their careers and grow their network.
“Graduate studies can be isolating for many students. However, a community like this would be beneficial and would enhance our experiences as a diverse group,” Estaiteyeh said. “I want to provide graduate students with more academic, career-related, mentorship, and professional development opportunities.”
As co-president, Estaiteyeh will represent Western Education at the CCGSE executive, allowing him to introduce the CCGSE to graduate students at the Faculty while promoting Western Education and Western University to his colleagues across the nation.
“Having a member from Western Education at the CCGSE table will help our own graduate community attend and benefit from various events and initiatives that are planned nationally,” Estaiteyeh said. “Western Education students will also have more chances to be active members and volunteer in similar associations if they are willing to be engaged in leadership positions.”
What’s more, the CCGSE is the graduate student caucus within Canada’s national network of education researchers, the Canadian Society for the Study of Education (CSSE). This means Estaiteyeh also sits on the CSSE board of directors. As part of the board, he hopes to raise graduate students’ concerns about the challenges they face in education. He’s also encouraging students to express their ideas and to increase collaboration between the CCGSE and other associations within CSSE.
He added collaborating with other national associations gives opportunities for graduate students in specific research areas, such as Indigenous education, teacher education, curriculum studies and educational administration.
“We may plan joint initiatives with those associations and we will make sure that graduate students know about their offerings and resources,” said Estaiteyeh.
CSSE aims to promote the advancement of Canadian research and scholarship in education and Estaiteyeh believes that graduate students have a huge and indispensable role in this mission.
Founded in 1972, CSSE is an umbrella organization consisting of 11 national constituent associations, including the CCGSE. The Canadian Committee of Graduate Students in Education encourages and supports graduate students to play active roles in CSSE and its constituent associations through student-oriented social events, conference workshops and other sessions, as well as a national communication network. The president of the graduate student committee participates as a voting member of the Society’s Board of Directors.
