1. Literacies Today and Tomorrow
The Literacies Today and Tomorrow project is a qualitative research study exploring how virtual professional learning can support K-4 educators in strengthening literacy instruction for complex classrooms. Through five online sessions, educators engage in focused provocations, video/case deconstruction, small-group discussion, expert presentations, and applied planning. The study examines educator needs, professional learning experiences, and approaches to reading, writing, oral language, assessment, multiliteracies, differentiated instruction, collaborative support systems, and AI-related literacies in an age of prescriptive reading programs that are not meeting the literacies and learning needs of all students. Data will include questionnaires, field notes, de-identified session transcripts, and optional educator interviews. This cross-provincial project builds on a successful collaboration between the University of British Columbia and the West Vancouver School Board, where the initiative engaged more than 1,400 literacy educators, coaches, consultants, and administrators across British Columbia. In partnership with Wilfrid Laurier University, the project will now be replicated and extended in Ontario with literacy educators, consultants, coaches, and administrators from school boards across the province. This Ontario iteration will incorporate enhancements and revisions informed by feedback from the British Columbia implementation.
Research area, student roles & skills
Research area: My specialized research area focuses on contemporary literacy education, multiliteracies, and professional learning for K-4 educators. Through the Literacies Today and Tomorrow project, I examine how virtual professional learning can support educators in designing responsive, inclusive, and evidence-informed literacy environments for complex classrooms. This work explores reading, writing, oral language, viewing and representing, formative assessment, differentiated instruction, collaborative support systems, culturally responsive pedagogy, and emerging AI-related literacies. The purpose of this project is to better understand educator needs, strengthen literacy pedagogy, and build cross-provincial communities of practice that support meaningful literacy learning.
Student roles:
The student will support the Literacies Today and Tomorrow project by assisting with research coordination, literature review, data organization, and qualitative analysis. Responsibilities may also include reviewing peer-reviewed academic journal articles and other scholarship on K-4 literacy, multiliteracies, professional learning, culturally responsive pedagogy, and AI-related literacies. The student will also be required to help organize questionnaires, field notes, transcripts, and interview data; supporting coding and thematic analysis; preparing summaries of emerging findings; and assisting with knowledge mobilization materials such as reports, presentations, and educator-supported resources. The student will also contribute to the cross-provincial collaboration between British Columbia and Ontario by helping document how educator needs, literacy practices, and professional learning insights emerge across contexts.
Skills required:
The student should have a background or strong interest in education, literacy, teacher education, professional learning, or qualitative research. The need to have strong academic writing, organization, communication, attention to detail, and the ability to work with confidential research data are required. The student should be comfortable using digital collaboration tools, reviewing research literature, supporting data organization, and assisting with qualitative analysis such as coding field notes, questionnaires, transcripts, and interview data. Experience with multiliteracies, culturally responsive pedagogy, K-4 literacy instruction, the 2023 Ontario Language curriculum, educator professional learning, or AI-related literacies would be an asset.