Chasing Encounters

We had an interesting conversation with Dr. Balyasnikova, working at York University. In this special summer edition, we got together at Queen’s Park in Toronto to have a chat about educational gerontology and community-engaged research. From Russia to the USA and now Canada Dr. Balyasnikova describes educational gerontology as a subset of adult education and health science that tries to understand learning experiences at a later life. For example, how certain learning experiences affect ageing or how ageist stereotyping impacts learning in older adult learners. She is also interested in community-engaged research which is embedded in the idea of working together to inform research and we see participants as collaborators rather than subjects of study while we build relationships. She invites us to question whether participants need research or not and what form research needs to take. Additionally, Dr. Balyasnikova enjoys using various art and narrative methodologies to understand participants’ lived experie

In this episode, I embark on a monologue discussing what solidarity means and how it connects to ideas of community building. I answer questions from fellow colleagues who argue that solidarity goes beyond empathy and support but to acts of love and understanding others. In these unprecedented times, we have found the need to be in touch with others and show our acts of solidarity in order to survive. * Bio Yecid is a Ph.D. candidate in the language and literacies (LLE) educations & comparative, international, development education (CIDE) programs at OISE. His main research focuses on social justice and peacebuilding pedagogical approaches to language education in international contexts from ethnocritical and decolonial methodologies vantage points. * Cite this podcast (APA): Ortega, Y. (Producer). (2020, April 27). CES3E8 – Solidarity in Uncertain Times. https://soundcloud.com/chasingencounters/ces3e8-solidarity-in-uncertain-times * Sources Freire, Paulo. (1970). Pedagogy of the oppressed. Seabury Pr

Phoebe Kang came to our Chasing Encounters studios to help us uncover how English as the language of “respect, status, power, and reputation” has become a cultural capital in non-English speaking countries, but when it comes to Canada, the ESL industry is relegated to the margins and lacks regulation - somehow ESL is perceived as not real education. When she decided to come to Canada and extend her professional endeavors, she encountered cultural, professional and economic stumbling blocks which made her question what is considered to be a good and decent job. Phoebe discusses her future research about the lack of internationalization strategies regarding international students’ equity issues what it is meant by student success for policy leadership initiatives. She argues that international students face challenges to enter higher education as international students in Canadian higher education as they bring invaluable experience to local students. * Bio Phoebe Kang is an experienced academic coordinator w

As an Afro Peruvian person living in the Canadian diaspora, Roxana Escobar Ñañes explains the concepts of human geography as a point of entry to understand how our lives are shaped by spaces and how our social interactions are produced. She explores Afro Peruvian communities as domestic spaces for healing and connection. She argues that “these spaces become places because we give them meanings and emotional attachments and we transform them.” Also, Roxana posits that although being black became an archetype of negativity that haunts people’s lives, blackness becomes the center of human geographies - Blackness becomes healing. She finishes her talk by encouraging us to celebrate black identities and Afrolatinidad in which we enjoy the company of others in relation to our communities as we support each other when it comes to challenging racism, machismo and patriarchal mindsets in Latinamerica as a revolutionary act. * Bio: Roxana Escobar Ñañes is an Afro-Peruvian Ph.D. student in the geography department at t

Mike Mena spent some time with us to discuss his cultural and linguistic background. He helped us understand the intricacies of being Latino or Latinx in North America and other sometimes confusing identity markers such as Hispanic, Chicano or Mexican American. In our conversation, we challenged the identity labels that have been imposed when we navigate the different academic and non-academic spaces. Now, as a graduate student in New York, he problematizes what it means to be a diverse scholar in elite institutions when academic linguistic registers promote hierarchies and question our intelligence. Also, he recommends people of color to surround themselves and support each other as he suggests that the academic world can become difficult and prevent marginalized peoples to have access to certain funds of knowledge. Finally, he promotes his academic YouTube channel to provide resources to scholars of color so they do not feel intimidated by academic discourses. Bio: Mike Mena (@MikeMenaNYC) studies how ide

From a marketing career to social justice education, Meng Xiao helps us to understand the different experiences among international students who travel from China to Canada. In her research, she examines Chinese students’ engagement in higher education. She highlights that multiple intersecting identities are defined by the students themselves, their communities and their experiences when it comes to how they engage in graduate studies. She explains that factors affecting this engagement are field-related, whether they come from the hard sciences or humanities. For example, English as a second language poses linguistic challenges when students are faced with communicating their ideas via academic writing or oral engagements. Also, she argues that mental health also affects community engagement as some students feel isolated and vulnerable. To minimize these challenges, Meng created a handbook to support both administrators from institutions and graduate students to better navigate the Canadian system and enga

Today we have Shirin, Norin and Lepin who are graduate students at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education at the University of Toronto. They are the co-chairs for this year’s graduate student conferences. We discussed research engagement, knowledge mobilization and the importance of disseminating research, especially when it comes to graduate studies. As co-chairs, they came to Chasing Encounters not only to promote the conference but to have an in-depth conversation about asking intrinsic questions that help us transform our societies and explore the opportunities we find while doing research. In the end, knowledge mobilization is about connecting, learning and connecting with others who share similar interests. Norin Taj is a PhD candidate in Educational Leadership and Policy (ELP) at OISE. She received her master’s degree in ELP with a specialization in Comparative, International and Development Education. Her research interests are in gender and education. She is looking at the global policy disc

Dr. Amir Kalan talks about his upcoming book “Sociocultural and Power Relational Dimensions of Multilingual Writing”. Here, Dr. Kalan explains how Western academic writing follows a process of capitalist industrialization of levelling and separating the languages skills as if this were a mechanical system. He suggested several solutions to these mentalities such as restructuring writing classes and some pedagogical practices from creative narrative formation to collaborative and identity writing while paying attention to multimodal forms of assessment. This podcast is also available as a video podcast through Roots Media here: https://youtu.be/BD3bH7Pj03g Bio: Dr. Amir Kalan is a Lecturer at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education of the University of Toronto. He teaches educational research methods and research writing to Canadian pre-service teachers in the Master of Teaching program. His research interests include critical writing studies, multilingual writing, multiliteracies, digital humanities,

From New York city in the United States, Justin Gerald, the host of Unstandardized English Podcast, joined us in this crossover episode to share his thoughts and ideas about starting a podcast. He went to South Korea to teach English where he got motivated to continue his research work. Growing up in white spaces, as a black person, he started questioning what it means to be educated and have economic resources. Inspired by his wife, he took this questioning to his podcast in order to engage in conversations about language and race. Although technologically difficult in the beginning, he explains all the advantages of doing a podcast. From reaching out to broader audiences and diverse guests, Justin hopes Unstandardized English Podcast becomes an accessible space for more critical conversations. You can have access to his part of this crossover episode here: https://anchor.fm/unstandardized/episodes/Chasing-Encounters-Crossover-e9vug8 Bio: JPB Gerald is a doctoral student in Instructional Leadership at H

Cristina has international experience teaching in formal and informal spaces in Japan and in Canada. She was born in Trinidad and is the first woman in the family pursuing a Ph.D. We discussed how the English language has been used for domination and control but also shaped the way we think in a capitalist society. Mainly, these mentalities stem from colonization. To this, Cristina explains how colonialism is very different depending on the contexts, however, there are some patterns that help us understand what happens to the local languages, cultures and knowledges and what counts and what is being valued or not. We engaged in conversations around questioning why some people denigrate local languages and cultures in order to behave and speak properly to fit in this society and be perceived as more intelligent so they can move socially. While mastering English may be practical and gives us power, multilingualism helps us understanding other human beings and other modes of understating the world, and it allows

Born in Yemen with Portuguese Indian ancestry, Dr. Lynn Mario de Souza joined us in this new episode to discuss his long-standing work in linguistics and language research. He describes how the social aspect of language involves understanding that many languages are spoken across time and spaces while involving language variations that have changed throughout history. He questions the nature of language education and warns us of its consumerism, he asks what languages are being taught and for what purposes. We engaged in conversations about knowledge production and dissemination and problematize why English keeps being considered as the language of scientific knowledge as there are other knowledges that are available, including Indigenous knowledges. Sources: Guilherme, M., & Souza, L. M. T. M. de. (2019). Glocal Languages and Critical Intercultural Awareness: The South Answers Back. Routledge. Cite this podcast (APA): Ortega, Y. (Producer). (2019, November 27). CES2E7 – Ideologies of Language And Litera

For the very first time we have two guests, Michael Karas and Patrick Huang who are quite knowledgeable with the CELTA (Certificate in English Language Teaching to Adults) programs. Michael, falling in love with languages while travelling to France and Patrick being quite musical, today, they describe their engagement in a duo-ethnographic approach to do research. First, they describe the bolts and nuts of what it means to teach and learn to get the CELTA certificate. Then, they both critically discussed their experiences teaching English in Canada and abroad as they use their conversations as data for their research. Finally, they encourage our audience towards a more reflective approach to teaching and to do research as a fertile ground to explore introspection and criticality in teacher education programs. * Bio Patrick has been an ESL teacher and teacher trainer for 15 years, working on CELTA (Certificate for English Language Teaching to Adults) - a pre-service qualification from Cambridge English - as w

Farrah, a former fashion enthusiast, teaches us about her work in central Asia. She worked with local, foreign teachers and counsellors as part of academic (English, maths and science) upgrading programs for students in the region. The goal of these programs was to help students get stronger grades in language so they can perform better in the local labour market. Farrah explains how she supported students by involving them in cultural activities with music, dance, food, film and poetry, in this way anxiety is reduced and trust is built therefore sending the message that this was not only about the English language. We problematized why and how international organizations bring English language skills training programs to different places in international contexts and who these programs are for ultimately. * Bio Having served at consulting Program Manager for Aga Khan Education Services Tajikistan and Director of Academic Upgrading Programs for the University of Central Asia, I was privileged with the abilit

Questioning the Iranian Education System After the Iranian revolution, there was an education revolution trying to modernize it and thus threatening the traditional values. From Teheran to Toronto, Hooman delves into his critiques of the current Iranian system of education as he asserts that school became an ideological and revolutionary space that is currently empty to give priority to nation-building. He argues that Iran has a segregated system that affects psychologically and socially certain students. Although the system favors science and mathematics, education still revolves around some religious ideologies. He invites us to engage in questions such as: Who is the system for? who are the universities for? What is the quality of education for the current Iranian population? What are the concepts of development in a country in tension with the rest of the world? Bio Hooman Razavi was born in Iran and moved to Canada in 2002. He holds a B.Ed degree and has experience with teaching in Toronto and China for

Yojana from the Andes in Peru teaches us how foreign names clash Indigenous ways of naming children and how people are accepting modernity in contemporary Peru. She describes how the Quechua language has been forbidden in some schools and the society bringing discrimination and exploitation of Indigenous women while living in the city. She shares her stories of struggle and survival with her family and the community as being an important conduit for resilience in times of scarcity. She finally helps us question who education is for and how the system streams the most marginalized peoples to trade education putting them at the margins of society. Her research is related to how indigenous communities are organized to counter mining companies that rapidly change the Andean ecosystem and how this is affecting the new generations of children who reject their own Indigenous cultures and languages by dropping out of high school because they want to work for the corporations as they are motivated to earn money. Bio

From a journey through different places, east to west Canada and the USA, Jacqueline Beaulieu helps us understand the connection between family, community and student collective decisions. In the first part of the podcast, we discussed how universities manage the ancillary fees and the policies that oversee the decision-making process. Jacqueline describes how opting out of services fees may or not affect vulnerable student population at universities. In the second part of the podcast, she describes how her experiences as a graduate student have inspired her to help students by providing guidance throughout her Instagram and YouTube accounts and also giving inspiration and uplifting suggestions to folks as graduate school is challenging. Jacqueline Beaulieu is a Ph.D. Candidate in the Higher Education Program at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education of the University of Toronto. Her research examines the outcomes and implications of a provincial policy (Ontario, Canada) that requires universities to

In this new season of Chasing Encounters, we have Dr. Jonathan Rosa from Stanford University who inspired us with his vast knowledge at the intersections of race and language. From his connections to Canada and Chicago, Dr. Rosa enlightens us with ideas of how the way race plays into perceptions of domesticity and foreignness and how his experiences have shaped his interest in broader sociopolitical questions about language, identity, history and colonialism. We also discussed what a theory of raciolinguistic ideologies means internationally and how different contexts can be used to interrogate the legacy of colonial relations as we imagine of the possible sociopolitical futures. Sources: Bauman, R., & Briggs, C. L. (2003). Voices of Modernity: Language Ideologies and the Politics of Inequality. Cambridge University Press. Rosa, J. (2019). Looking Like a Language, Sounding Like a Race. Oxford University Press. Silverstein, M. (2017). The Fieldwork Encounter and the Colonized Voice of Indigeneity. Repres

Chasing Encounters Special Summer Episode “ I thought I was getting a Canadian teacher,” Vijay Ramjattan says when an English student thought he was a white English teacher. In this special Summer episode of Chasing Encounters, Vijay delights us with a provocative conversation about how race, whiteness and accent intersect. It is not only in Canada, but a global issue that white native speakers are preferred in the English language teaching market, especially if they speak the American variation. We discussed how a raciolinguistic narrative permeates in society through our bodies - people judge based on the relation of body/accent. White people = perfect English, People of Color = low-rated English, thus less knowledgeable. Race is the floating signifier and accent becomes the tool to whiten a person. We problematize how we read bodies and use that to determine what type of language to use in what context. Vijay urges us to unravel the ideologies representing good accent and he warns us of the so call acce

From London, Ontario (Canada) and background roots in Greece, Maria help us understand how not only education has been a doorway for opportunities and experiences in life but can be a site for oppression. While attempting to challenge patriarchy and hyper-capitalism, she warns us of dangerous conceptions of freedom of expression that further invisibilize marginalized people’s voices. Maria invites us to connect back to our communities to counter notions of competition, progress and development. She questions our role in society in relation to healing and spirituality as acts of resistance by being able to have real conversations with each other that address issues such as climate change and a sustainable future for our planet earth. Bio: Maria is an educator, facilitator, curriculum designer and researcher whose work centers on how to best create engaging and visionary learning and leading experiences that inspire creative, equitable, and regenerative change. She has significant experience working with trans

Dr. Nancy Carvajal, a human being under construction, helps us to understand our purpose in life as academics and as people in the making. We discussed how social justice looks from Western USA house-less peoples to displaced youth and children in rural Colombia. Interconnectedness is paramount in responding to the needs of the community and as good listeners without judging others, our roles become center to education. Decolonization not only means as a rhetorical concept but resisting Western education in which human beings are not put into boxes. Latinx, Chicanx and Indigenous epistemologies have allowed Nancy to question what has been imposed by society in terms of relationships and knowledge production. We are very diverse and our stories are important as part of a decolonial project in which teacher education is coupled with social justice lens to design courses that address struggles from our communities and that ultimately transforms students’ perceptions of life. Bio: With a B.A. and M.A. in langua