New Blog Editor – Jarin Akther
With great pleasure, please join us in welcoming Jarin Akther as the new EDST Blog Editor. The EDST Blog has grown into a vibrant hub of insights, exchanges and contributions by EDST Members.
We are also grateful to Ella Wright, the outgoing Editor, for her dedication and hard work in promoting the Blog as a community venue and diversifying and amplifying its many sections.
Jarin Akther is a PhD student in the Department of Educational Studies at the University of British Columbia (UBC), specializing in adult education and learning. Her research focuses on social justice in education, particularly community development and emancipation through learning. Previously, she held a faculty position at a public university in Bangladesh and served as a consultant for the National Curriculum and Textbook Board of Bangladesh. Jarin has also worked as a reviewer and article editor for journals published by Sage, Routledge, Elsevier, and Springer. She has contributed to several educational projects in Bangladesh and has published her findings in peer-reviewed journals and at conferences.
Jarin earned her master’s degree through the Erasmus Mundus Scholarship, studying at the University of Glasgow, the University of Malta, the Open University of Cyprus, and Tallinn University. She is interested in digital editing and online content development. Her academic and project experience includes creating interactive online learning materials and managing web content on platforms such as WordPress, Wix, and Blogger. She has developed written and audiovisual learning resources and contributed blog posts on academic events, research, and professional development.
Outside her research, Jarin maintains a personal website and academic blog, where she shares insights from her academic journey, professional activities, and international learning experiences.
Congratulations to Addyson Frattura on a Successful Oral Defence
Please join us in congratulating Addyson Frattura who successfully defended her PhD Dissertation on March 13 of 2026.
Title:
Expulsion and a Problem of Freedom
Abstract:
School expulsion, social segregation, and capital punishment are three forms of expulsion that I describe to show how freedom is impacted by expulsion. A person can be harmed by an expulsion which can create a problem of freedom. A person may be denied the agency to pursue one’s desires, to think and act for oneself, or to critically think and engage within the world.
Expulsion may limit freedom when a person is forced to leave school, a particular part of society, or life itself. In the dissertation, I describe and analyze expulsion to show how it is not just about punishment but how it is also about life and freedom (an existential problem). If this is the case, then education should take up an abolitionary ethic of love. An abolitionary ethic of love is an ethical response to life-denying punitive models and toward life-affirming education and societies.
Supervisory Committee:
Dr. Sam Rocha
Dr. Claudia Ruitenberg
Dr. Dónal O’Donoghue
We are thankful for the Examining Committee’s contribution and expertise.
Dr. Rene Arcilla, New York University, External Examiner
Dr. William Pinar, EDCP, University Examiner
Dr. Anne Phelan, EDCP, University Examiner
Dr. Kiran Soma, Chair of Examination Committee
Congratulations Addyson!
Congratulations on the Faculty of Education Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, Decolonization (EDID) Funding
Project
Cultivating and Nurturing Black Excellence in K–12 Education: A Symposium and Mentorship Gathering for Black Teacher Candidates
Team members:
Queen Alexis, Dr. Glory Ovie, Beth Applewhite, Jessica Eguia, Nafisa Mohamed, Miya Horii, Sarah Aza-Manjiri
Project
Sustaining the Soul: Afrocentric A
Team members:
Dr. Arig al Shaibah, Olaitan Ogunnote, Amaka Aliyah Awolesi, Leticia Pamela Garcia
Re-reading Chinese Canadian Cultures and Identities Through Sinophone Perspectives
Starting this month, Richmond Public Library and community friends will be hosting a series of free public talks/dialogues on Chinese Canadian cultures, media, histories, identities, and voices, presented in languages of Mandarin as well as Cantonese.
Dr. Yao Xiao – EDST Alumni & Sessional Instructor – is part of the series. The first presentation will take place on Saturday, March 28, 2026. The registration link is here: https://yourlibrary.bibliocommons.com/events/69559c248b29ea2800c6def4
A Class by Themselves? is now available as an audiobook
A Class by Themselves?, Jason Ellis’s book on the origins of special education, is now available as an audiobook! The audiobook is voiced by Vancouver writer, performer, and theatre-maker Adam Grant Warren. (Visit Adam at http://glitchtheatre.ca/).
The A Class by Themselves? audiobook is available to stream and download on Audible.ca and Amazon.ca.
Print and electronic editions of the book remain available from University of Toronto Press.
