Editorial for in education Spring 2022

Patrick Lewis

University of Regina

At this writing we are well past the spring equinox and hurtling through space toward summer solstice. However, observations out my window suggest it is still spring, albeit late spring but seasonal change persists. Something else that seems to be changing as I look out my window is how people and governments are navigating the ongoing pandemic; folks seem to have decided it is over, or at least over as far as getting to live and work as they think they did prepandemic. A great deal (and also not much) has happened in the 6 months since writing the last editorial for our journal in December 2021. Yet the world and humans spin on through our celestial path, “to everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven.” (Ecclesiastes 3:1)

This will be the last editorial I pen for in education as I am set to resign at the end of June 2022. I have spent the last many years steering our journal with the assistance of a great board of associate editors, consulting editors, exceptional authors and reviewers, and of course readers. I must also thank our tireless and dedicated managing editor who has kept me on task and focused all these years through regular issues and many special issues; without her assistance I am sure I would be endlessly floundering.

With my stepping down the Editorship of in education is moving into the Faculty of Education research centre at the University of Regina: the Centre for Educational Research, Collaboration, and Development (CERCD). Dr. Andrea Sterzuk, the Director of CERCD will be taking on the role of Editor-in-Chief of in education. I believe this is a sound move in that the resources of the journal and CERCD will enhance and benefit both endeavours. So, congratulations and welcome to Dr. Sterzuk into the role of Editor-in-Chief of in education.

This issue of in education is a slim volume but packed with very interesting and innovative works. Martha Moon and Paul Berger share important and timely work they did with teachers and in-service learning on the importance of relationality when teachers are working with Indigenous students. Working across two provinces the work has Indigenous and non-Indigenous teachers share their stories and practices with each other in how they support the learning of Indigenous students. They point to the many existing and ongoing collegial collaborations amongst Indigenous and non-Indigenous educators and the need to support and augment that work.

Kate Bucca’s article delineates the myriad challenges that university students must navigate in order to utilize universities’ disability services systems noting that when accommodations are provided for students it is invariably a one-size-fits-all approach that does not consider individual student needs. This is particularly difficult for students with “pronounced psychiatric disabilities—disorders that frequently do not follow a predictable pattern and are cyclical in nature” as the standard list of accommodations often are misaligned to their needs. Through story as research, she interrogates the structures and practices of the university and faculty with how they often fall short of supporting students who live with mental health issues.

Candy Skyhar and Alysha Farrell’s piece travels through the world of professional women teachers who are moving into new academic positions in faculties of education in a university setting. Using collaborative authoethnography, they share their experiences of the journey with all its ups and downs and the many lessons they learned along the way; working hard to make the invisible visible within the highly biased and entrenched systems and structures of universities and faculties.

Enjoy the works within this volume and the concurrent special issue. In closing, I just want to thank everyone who has supported the journal as authors, reviewers, readers, or board members. It has been a real pleasure working with all of you; take care and keep well!

Patrick Lewis