About
Research Interests
Research Supervision Interests
I am not currently able to accept any more graduate students for supervision.
Individual research Interests
Bio
My beliefs about teaching and learning are informed by my own experiences as a student and teacher. As a student, I appreciate teachers who prompt me to critically examine my ideas. The benefits from these learning experiences are not always immediately evident; I think there’s some truth in the saying that “when the student is ready, the teacher will appear.” The more successful teachers are also those who follow their emotional instincts as well as their lesson plans. As a teacher, I believe that students value integrity and respect from instructors. Therefore, although a certain level of expertise and knowledge is critical, a trusting environment is also a necessary precondition for meaningful interaction. I agree with Stephen Brookfield (“The Skillful Teacher”) that learning is emotionally-filled, particularly when students are challenged to question their views. As Elizabeth Ellsworth suggests, teaching is “a messier and more inconclusive affair than the vast majority of our educational theories and practices make it out to be.” In my view, students’ prior learning and knowledge are important, teaching and learning is highly contextual, and classrooms are potential sites for the co-creation of knowledge.
Research and Education
Education
Research Projects
The need to balance work and study is important for Canadian university students who are engaging in term-time work in ever greater numbers. This SSHRC-funded mixed methodology study (2018-2022) examines undergraduates’ work-study patterns and effects over the course of their degrees.
We compare the effects of different kinds of work for different groups of undergraduate students. Our focus on UBC and U of T, two research-intensive universities in high-cost cities in different parts of the country, allows us to also consider the impacts of region and institution.
Taylor, A. (2022). Learning to walk the wire: preparing students for precarious life. British Journal of Sociology of Education.
Taylor, A. (2022) ‘Being there’: rhythmic diversity and working students, Journal of Education and Work, DOI: 10.1080/13639080.2022.2092607
Selected Publications
BOOKS
Taylor, A. (2016). Vocational education in Canada. Oxford University Press.
Sawchuk, P. and Taylor, A. (Eds) (2010). Challenging transitions in learning and work: Reflections on policy and practice. Rotterdam: Sense.
Taylor, A. (2001). The Politics of Educational Reform in Alberta. University of Toronto Press.
BOOK CHAPTERS (since 2010)
Taylor, A. & Taylor-Neu, R. (2023). Post-secondary education’s chronic problem (OR, it’s about time.) (pp. 117-129). Social Justice Education in Canada: Select Perspectives (A. A. Abdi, Ed.). Canadian Scholars Press.
Taylor, A. (2022). Showing Up for the Rat Race: Beyond Human Capital Models of Higher Education (pp. 413-429). The Palgrave Handbook on Critical Theories of Education (A. A. Abdi & G. Misiaszek, Eds.). Springer.
Taylor, A. (2021). Professional education, professional work, and their connections: A conversation. Chapter 26 (pp. 421-434). In Margaret Malloch, Len Cairns, Bridget. N. O’Connor and Karen Evans (Editors), Sage Handbook of Learning and Work. London, Sage.
Taylor, A., Corrigan, J. & Peikazadi, N. (2021). Community service learning and critical vocationalism. In S. Brigham, R. McGray & K. Jubas (Eds), Adult Education and Learning in Canada: Advancing a Critical Legacy (pp. 136-145). Thompson Educational Publishing.
Taylor, A. (2020). Towards a political economy of education 2.0. In A. Abdi (Ed), Critical Theorizations of Education (pp. 17-30). Rotterdam: Brill/Sense. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004447820_002
Taylor, A. & Raykov, M. (2020). Towards critical and dialogical mixed methods research: Reflections on our journey. In F. Finnegan & B. Grummell (Eds.), Doing critical and creative research in adult education. Rotterdam: Sense Publishing. Open access: https://brill.com/view/book/edcoll/9789004420755/BP000015.xml
Taylor, A. (2019). The future of vocational education in Canadian secondary schools. Invited chapter for book: Handbook on Vocational Education (D. Guile and L. Unwin, Eds.) Wiley.
Taylor, A., Glick, S. and Peikazadi, N. (2018). Service-Learning and The Discourse of Social Justice. Handbook of Service-Learning for Social Justice, Darren Lund (Ed) (pp. 29-51). Medford, MA: John Wiley & Sons Inc.
Taylor, A., Mehrabi, S. and Pillay, T. (2016). ‘You have to get that degree’: Influences on the educational and career aspirations of racialized immigrant youth. In W. Lehmann (Ed.), Sociology of Education in Canada: Contemporary debates and perspectives. Toronto: Oxford University Press.
Taylor, A., Raykov, M. and Hamm, Z. (2014). Exploring outcomes of youth apprenticeship in Canada. In A. Mann, J. Stanley, and L. Archer (Eds.), Understanding employer engagement in education: Theories and evidence. Routledge.
Dorow, S., Wolfe, R., Taylor, A., Trueblood, L. and Goebel, G. (2013). “The stranger” in CSL pedagogy and research: Learning in, through and for CSL as anti-foundational practice. In L. Shultz and T. Kajner (eds), Engaged Scholarship: The Politics of Engagement and Disengagement (pp. 69-88). Rotterdam: Sense Publishers.
Taylor, A., Watt-Malcolm, B. & Wimmer, R. (2013). Hybridity in two Canadian provinces: Blurring institutional boundaries. In T. Deissinger, J. Aff, A. Fuller and C. Jorgensen (Eds), Hybrid qualifications: Structures and problems in the context of European VET policy (pp. 165-179). Bern: Peter Lang
Taylor, A. and Steinhauer, E. (2010). Evolving constraints and life “choices”: Understanding the pathways of students in First Nations communities. In P. Sawchuk and A. Taylor (Eds), Challenging transitions in learning and work (pp. 65-84). Rotterdam, Sense.
REPORTS
Raykov, M., Taylor, A., Jamal, S. & Wu, S (2020, December). Student Volunteer Work and Learning: Undergraduates’ Experiences and Self-Reported Outcomes (37 pp.). Access on cIRcle:
http://hdl.handle.net/2429/76610
Taylor, A., Raykov, M. & Sweet, R. (2020, January). Hard Working Students: Report of 2018 and 2019 Survey Findings (46 pp). Available on cIRcle: http://hdl.handle.net/2429/73374
Raykov, M. and Taylor, A. (2018). Beyond Learning for Earning: The Long-term Outcomes of Course-based and Immersion Service Learning (84 pp). Report for St. Francis Xavier University, Antigonish. Available on cIRcle: http://hdl.handle.net/2429/66995
Taylor, A., Glick, S., Peikazadi, N., Chow, A. and Allen, B. (2018, May). Creating Reciprocal and Ethical Learning Partnerships in the Downtown Eastside: Messages from participants on the development of partnership planning tools. Available on cIRcle: http://hdl.handle.net/2429/66110
Taylor, A., Butterwick, S., Raykov, M., Glick, S., Peikazadki, N. and Mehrabi, S. (2015, October). Community service learning in Canadian higher education. SSHRC Knowledge synthesis report.
URL: https://open.library.ubc.ca/cIRcle/collections/facultyresearchandpublications/52383/items/1.0226035
Taylor, A. and Raykov, M. (2014). The long-term outcomes of community service-learning. Edmonton, AB: University of Alberta.
URL: https://uofa.ualberta.ca/community-service-learning/-/media/arts/departments-institutes-and-centres/community-service-learning/documents/reports/csl-tlef-report-mar31.pdf
Taylor, A., Lehmann, W., Raykov, M. & Hamm, Z. (2013, December). High school apprenticeship: Experiences and outcomes. Report prepared for Ontario Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities and CAREERS the Next Generation. Edmonton, Alberta.
REFEREED JOURNAL ARTICLES (since 2010)
Taylor, A., Bobadilla Sandoval, C. & Karim Jamal, S. (2023). Dreaming the life? International students and the temporal complexity of employability. Journal of Youth Studies, DOI: 10.1080/13676261.2023.2271869
Taylor, A. & Bobadilla Sandoval, C. (2023). Fitting work? Students speak about campus employment. Vocations and Learning, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12186-023-09333-y
Taylor, A. (2022) Learning to walk the wire: preparing students for precarious life, British Journal of Sociology of Education, DOI: 10.1080/01425692.2022.2060798
Taylor, A. (2022) ‘Being there’: rhythmic diversity and working students, Journal of Education and Work, DOI: 10.1080/13639080.2022.2092607
Raykov, M. and Taylor, A. (2021). Seeing the “big picture”: Exploring the impact of the duration of community service volunteer work and learning on university students. Malta Review of Educational Research, 15(2), 241-268.
Taylor, A. (online 2020). Community-university engagement: From chasm to chiasm. Educational Studies, 56(4): 389-404. DOI: 10.1080/00131946.2020.1757449
Taylor, A., Yochim, L. & Raykov, M. (2019).Service-learning and first-generation university students: A conceptual exploration of the literature. Journal of Experiential Education, 42(4): 349-363.
Wright, L., Lehmann, W. & Taylor, A. (2019). ‘If you want a future and get a life, do an apprenticeship’: The expectations and realities of tradesmen’s transition to adulthood. Journal of Youth Studies.
https://doi.org/10.1080/13676261.2019.163694
Taylor, Neu, R., Friedel, T., Taylor, A. & Kemble, T. (2018). (De)constructing the ‘lazy Indian’: An historical analysis of welfare reform in Canada. Aboriginal Policy Journal, 7(2): 65-87. https://journals.library.ualberta.ca/aps/index.php/aps/article/view/29340
Taylor, A., Taylor-Neu, R., and Butterwick, S. (2018). “Trying to square the circle”: Research ethics and Canadian higher education. European Educational Research Journal. DOI: 10.1177/1474904118785542
Kahlke, R. & Taylor, A. (2018). Community service-learning in Canada: One size does not fit all. Engaged Scholars Journal, 4(1), 1-18.
Taylor, A. and Kahlke, R. (2017). Institutional logics and community service-learning in higher education. Canadian Journal of Higher Education, 47(1) (137-152).
Lehmann, W. and Taylor, A. (2015). On the role of habitus and field in apprenticeships. Work, Employment and Society, 29(4): 607-623.
Taylor, A. and Foster, J. (2015). Migrant workers and the problem of social cohesion in Canada. Journal of International Migration and Integration, 16(1): 153-172.
Taylor, A., Raykov, M. and Hamm, Z. (2015). The experiences of female youth apprentices in Canada: Just passing through? Journal of Vocational Education and Training, 67(1): 93-108.
Foster, J., Taylor, A. and Khan, C. (2015). The Dynamics of Union Responses to Migrant Workers in Canada. Work, Employment and Society, 29(3): 409-426.
Taylor, A., Lehmann, W. and Raykov, M. (2015). “Should I stay or should I go?” Exploring high school apprentices’ pathways. Journal of Education and Work, 28(6): 652-676.
Lehmann, W., Taylor, A. and Hamm, Z. (2015). “Go west young man!” Youth apprenticeship and opportunity structures in two Canadian provinces. Journal of Education and Work. 28(1): 44-65.
Taylor, A., Hamm, Z. and Servage, L. (2014). Trades and Aides: The Gendering of Vocational Education in Alberta. Journal of Research in Rural Education, 29(8): 1-15.
Lehmann, W., Taylor, A., and Wright, L. (2014). Youth apprenticeships in Canada: On their inferior status despite skilled labour shortages. Journal of Vocational Education and Training, 66(4): 572-589.
Raykov, M. and Taylor, A. (2014). Gendered attitudes and outcomes of community service-learning. Malta Review of Educational Research, 8(1): 80-108.
Taylor, A. (2014). Community service-learning and cultural-historical activity theory. Canadian Journal of Higher Education, 44(1): 95-107.
Foster, J. and Taylor, A. (2013). In the Shadows: Exploring the Notion of “Community” for Temporary Foreign Workers in a Boom Town. Canadian Journal of Sociology, 38(2): 167-190.
Taylor, A. and Krahn, H. (2013): Living through our children: exploring the education and career ‘choices of racialized immigrant youth in Canada, Journal of Youth Studies,
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13676261.2013.772575
Raykov, M. and Taylor, A. (2013). Health and safety for Canadian youth in trades. Just Labour, 20: 33-50. http://www.justlabour.yorku.ca/index.php?page=toc&volume=20
Taylor, A., Foster, J. and Cambre, C. (2012). Training ‘expendable’ workers: Temporary foreign workers in nursing. Globalisation, Societies, and Education, 10(1): 81-100.
Friedel, T. and Taylor, A. (2011). Digging beneath the surface of Aboriginal labour market development: Analyzing policy discourse in the context of Northern Alberta’s oil sands. Aboriginal Policy Studies Journal, 1 (3): http://ejournals.library.ualberta.ca/index.php/aps/issue/view/763
Taylor, A. and Friedel, T. (2011). Enduring neoliberalism in Alberta’s oil sands: the troubling effects of private-public partnerships for First Nation and Métis communities. Citizenship Studies, 15(6-7): 815-835.
Taylor, A. and Servage, L. (2011). Perpetuating education-jobs mismatch in a high school internship program: An ecological model. Journal of Education and Work.
Taylor, A. and Freeman, S. (2011). “Made in the trade”: youth attitudes toward apprenticeship certification. Journal of Vocational Education and Training, 63(3): 345-362. Link: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/13636820.2011.570455
Taylor, A. (2010). The contradictory location of high school apprenticeship in Canada. Journal of Education Policy, 25(4): 503-517.
Taylor, A., Friedel, T., & Edge, L. (2010). First Nation and Métis youth in Northern Alberta: Toward a more expansive view of transitions. In J. Bruhn (Ed.), Aboriginal Policy Research Initiative, Policy Research Paper Series. Ottawa, Ontario: Institute on Governance. (9,490 words) URL: http://iog.ca/en/knowledge-areas/aboriginal-governance/aboriginal-policy-research-initiative
Spencer, B. and Taylor. A. (2010). Mobilizing knowledge through partnerships. Journal of Curriculum Theorizing, 26(3): 47-60.
EDST Activity
Students Supervised
Kathy Siedlaczek, EdD, 2022 (Supervisor), UBC
Catalina Bobadilla Sandoval, MA, 2022 (Supervisor), UBC
Karina Younk, EdD, 2019 (Supervisor), UBC
Nancy Vered, EdD, 2019 (Supervisor), UBC
Trina Richmann-Monar, PhD, 2016 (Co-supervisor), University of Saskatchewan
Joe Corrigan, PhD, 2016 (Supervisor), University of Alberta
Patricia Lirette, PhD, 2012 (Supervisor), University of Alberta
Tracy Friedel, PhD, 2008 (Co-supervisor), University of Alberta
Elaine Soetart, PhD, 2007 (Co-supervisor), University of Alberta
Lynette Shultz, PhD, 2006 (Co-supervisor), University of Alberta
Diane Wishart, PhD, 2006 (Supervisor), University of Alberta
Fay Fletcher, PhD, 2004 (Supervisor), University of Alberta
Karen Barnes, Phd, 2003 (Supervisor), University of Alberta
Courses taught
EDST 601 (EdD Program)
EDST 602 (EdD Program)
EDST 526 Advanced Study of Educational Organizations
EDST 577 (EdD Program) The Social Context of Educational Policy
ADHE 330 The Community Practice of Adult EducationEDST 575 (Adult Learning and Global Change Program) Work and Learning See my video intro
Additional
Community Work
2017-2019:
Teaching and Learning Enhancement Fund, Principal Applicant
Title: The Learning Exchange as a Hub of Experiential Learning
See Blogsite (Roots to Partnership) with Podcasts, Resources, and Stories of Partnership at:
http://blogs.ubc.ca/experience
Community-engaged learning is growing rapidly in Canadian universities, but is more complex and logistically challenging than traditional forms of learning. Students’ experiences of learning are impacted by the quality of relationships between partners and how learning opportunities are conceived and structured. This project aims to enhance teaching and learning by working with the UBC Learning Exchange, and organization that has played a significant role in experiential learning, to develop tools for use by partners (community organizations, university instructors, and students) engaged in Vancouver’s downtown eastside (DTES).