Recent Publications

How we embraced methodological and ethical challenges in our community–academic partnered research about equity in organizational leadership

Community–academic research partnerships, particularly those including social care partners, face unique challenges. Although community partners contribute valuable contextual knowledge that strengthens the impact of research findings and orients the work towards action, research partnerships can be complicated by methodological and ethical barriers, such as power imbalances, unclear roles and communication concerns (Drahota et al, 2016). Planning for and attending to potential challenges is therefore essential to support equitable knowledge co-creation practices and proactively co-develop solutions (Nkimbeng et al, 2022). In this article, we describe the development and implementation of our partnerships’ guiding principles for conducting equity, diversity, inclusion, decolonization and justice (EDIDJ) research and reflect on the methodological and ethical challenges of our approach.

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Teacher education in the arts in Ontario: An environmental scan of current dance, drama, music, and visual arts courses for generalist and specialist teacher candidates.

This study is an environmental scan of teacher education in the arts (dance, drama, music, and visual arts) in Ontario for generalist and specialist teacher candidates in the current four-term (i.e., two-year) degree. Data reveal high variability across institutions. The arts may be taught to generalists as standalone subjects, combined with other arts subjects, or integrated with non-arts subjects, in courses ranging from 18 to 72 hours total. Several institutions offer no or only one teachable subject option in the arts for specialists. This research holds significance as teacher education programs in Ontario imminently reconfigure to a 12-month program as mandated by the Ontario Ministry of Education.

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Ecointerculturality: Communing with the More-than-Human World (1st ed.)

Ecointerculturality introduces an original approach that brings the more-than-human world—nature, living beings, and Earth itself—into intercultural communication, education, and research (ICER), expanding the field with planetary consciousness and relational care. At a time of ecological crisis and widespread disconnection, this transformative book invites readers into ecotranslanguaging, a relational and embodied practice of ecointerculturality. By communing with the more-than-human world through encounters with forests and fungi, grief and ceremony, buffalo and crow, ecotranslanguaging moves us beyond human-centered frameworks. It reimagines language, culture, and meaning as living, ecological practices. Grounded in Indigenous epistemologies and sacred feminine wisdom, this urgently needed work underscores the voices and knowledges of historically marginalized groups in ICER. It asks how we might learn to engage more responsibly in a shared world of interdependent relationships. Through an eclectic blend of theory, contemplative practice, autoethnography, and reflective exercises, Byrd humbly offers ways to remember language as an invitation to participate differently—to unlearn, return, and renew within a deeply interconnected world, not as a prescriptive method to implement. Essential for scholars, educators, students, and practitioners of intercultural communication and education, this timely work illuminates pathways toward more mindful, reciprocal, and compassionate ways of relating to one another and to all life.

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Teacher Education in the arts: A Case study of constraint, standardization, and resistance

In this case study, we explore one course in one Ontario initial teacher education program to examine the intersecting institutional documents and practices that regulate teaching in the arts (dance, drama, music, and visual arts). Using the feminist sociological research approach of institutional ethnography, we identify and trace institutional mechanisms that regulate teaching in the arts and how four women instructors activated or resisted those regulatory practices. Our analysis illuminated tensions between institutional policies and practices, and instructors’ efforts to maintain creativity, ambiguity, and discipline-specific experiential learning in the course. While instructors varied in their pedagogical approaches, over a seven-year period they increasingly adopted standardized templates and less risky pedagogy in their course design. This research provides insights into the social and institutional factors that influence teaching in the arts in initial teacher education and highlights how instructors teaching in the arts may simultaneously reinscribe and resist institutional norms.

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Reflexivity in Language Education in International Encyclopedia of Language and Linguistics (Third Edition) Volume 9, 2026, Pages 94-100

In this chapter, I highlight some of the multiple facets of reflexivity (positioning, criticality, awareness, and reciprocity). In doing so, I firstly acknowledge as well as disclose some of my own ideological and epistemological positionings in relation to reflexivity. Then, I next briefly provide some of the ways reflexivity has historically evolved and been conceptualized as both a concept and as a practice. Finally I conclude this chapter by (re)emphasizing how and why reflexivity will remain ever more important as we move forward and look to the future.

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Community Insights on Autistic Self-Advocates’ Perspectives and Experiences Regarding ABA

We examined attendee perspectives following an online panel featuring Autistic self-advocates discussing their perspectives of and experiences with applied behavior analysis. We analyzed survey responses from 227 attendees. Our sample included 213 professionals (including BCBAs and non-behavioral professionals), 22 caregivers of Autistic people (some of whom were also professionals and/or Autistic), and four Autistic people (some of whom were also caregivers and/or professionals). Participants indicated positive perceptions of the event: most respondents rated the panel format (89%), content quality (85%), and value to practice (87%) as “excellent” or “very good,” while 83% indicated that behavior analysts should apply the information shared “a great deal” in their practice. A thematic analysis of the qualitative data from open-ended responses yielded three key themes: (1) listening to diverse perspectives and lived experiences of autistic people, (2) emphasizing person-centered collaborative approaches, and (3) working toward continued improvement and reparation. These findings highlight the value of engaging Autistic voices in behavior-analytic discourse to foster individualized, collaborative, and responsive practices that respect neurodiversity.

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A function-based examination of social media demand

This study examined the reinforcing value of social media based on its putative function using a hypothetical social media purchase task (SMPT). Mixed-effects modeling (R2 = .91) evaluated behavioral patterns among 328 university students. We found that function significantly affected consumption at minimal cost (log10 Q0) but not price sensitivity (log10 α). Social media accessed for escape, information, or automatic positive reinforcement generated greater demand than seeking likes/engagements. Individual Q0 values showed moderate cross-condition correlations (rs = .31–.49), while α values correlated strongly (rs = .81–.95). The Social Media Use Disorder Scale interacted with function to predict Q0, whereas the Bergen Social Media Addiction Scale predicted α independently of function. These findings reveal how different functional contexts affect demand parameters and suggest attention-seeking motivation may confer vulnerability to problematic use, while individual differences in addiction severity modulate price sensitivity across functional domains.

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AI in the Action-Oriented FSL Classroom: Supporting Differentiated Language Learning for L+ Students

The use of artificial intelligence (AI) to support the teaching of French as a second language (FSL) or other additional languages (L+) opens up innovative ways to implement provincial curriculum expectations, the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR), and differentiated instruction to develop student language skills. While still relevant in Core French, this is especially true in Extended French and French Immersion (FI), where teachers struggle to find resources aligned with student proficiency levels and age-level content in other subjects taught in French. AI, therefore, offers rich opportunities to help bridge this gap. This article highlights concrete ways that FSL and L+ teachers can strategically and mindfully integrate AI tools in the service of student learning without compromising pedagogical integrity.

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Transforming Teacher Education: The Case for Going Gradeless

In teacher education, grading practices not only evaluate learning but also shape emerging professional identities. Traditional numerical systems tend to constrain reflection, collaboration, and ethical judgement; the very qualities professional programs aim to cultivate. This study examines a teacher education program’s transition to a pass/fail (gradeless) model designed to align assessment with formative, dialogic approaches to learning that align with assessment in professional practice. Using critical narrative research informed by Ricoeur’s threefold mimesis, we analyzed interview data from teacher candidates to explore how they experienced assessment without grades. Findings show that ungrading reduced performance anxiety, encouraged openness to feedback, and supported a release of control that enabled candidates to take up more exploratory, risk-tolerant stances toward learning. Candidates described feeling “like explorers,” navigating unfamiliar terrain where feedback, not ranking, guided their progress. At the same time, the shift surfaced tensions around consistency, fairness, and institutional accountability. The study contributes empirical evidence to limited research on ungrading in professional programs and provides insight into how assessment reform can support reflective judgement and professional becoming within Canadian teacher education.

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Book Review: Baskatawang, L. (2023). Reclaiming Annishinaabe Law: Kinamaadiwin Innamaadiwin and the Treaty Right to Education

Baskatawang, an Anishinaabe scholar in Treaty 3 territory, writes about reclaiming Anishinaabe Law (Morcom & Freeman, 2018). He begins with a deep dive into how education can be used to reestablish Indigenous culture, specifically in Treaty 3 territory.

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Maybe that’s the landscape that’s coming?” The emergence of writing pedagogies in AI-mediated learning environments

The rise of generative artificial intelligence (genAI) has provoked critical questions about what it means to write and how to teach it. Research exploring writing pedagogy post-genAI reflects tensions between deep concerns and hopeful visions. This qualitative study explored the experiences of language and literacy educators (n=39) teaching writing in secondary and post-secondary contexts in Canada. These educators offered insights into the values and strategies underpinning their writing pedagogies and highlighted roles genAI could play as a coach or collaborator depending on instructional goals for learning to write or writing to learn. They also shared how their emerging approaches to teaching writing were influenced by other constituents in their pedagogical landscapes such as student needs, curriculum and assessment frameworks, and institutional policies on student use of AI. Understanding purposes for writing and the ecologies of different education environments opens space to consider the place of genAI in writing as a learning process. This study contributes a framework of instructional goals and a reflective ‘landscapes’ tool to support the agency of language and literacy educators to enact writing pedagogies that empower learners in different AI-mediated learning environments.

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Declining enrollments and socio-economic divide in urban schools: The fragile link between school utilization, housing, and educational opportunity

Due to recent demographic shifts in urban neighborhoods, many public school boards have experienced fluctuations in their enrollment levels. This reconfiguration of school populations is particularly problematic for schools with declining enrollment, as low facility utilization is a commonly used rationale for school closures. This study utilizes census, enrollment, and school achievement data from a large urban school district to explore the academic and socioeconomic characteristics of schools experiencing under-enrollment and under-utilization. The analysis revealed that schools with low utilization rates serve a higher number of marginalized students, are located in areas with higher housing instability, and experience lower achievement rates. We note that underutilization is symptomatic of neighborhood decline, and when combined with the potential for school closures, it reveals compounding challenges for marginalized communities. We argue that greater integration between education and urban development policies is essential to help communities with underutilized schools enhance and balance their educational opportunities.

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When the doctor doesn’t know: Exploring the liminal space occupied by patients with cyclic vomiting syndrome

Narrative Inquiry in Bioethics: A Journal of Qualitative Research (NIB) provides a forum for exploring current issues in bioethics through the publication and analysis of personal stories, qualitative and mixed-methods research articles, and case studies.

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