in education, Vol. 30, Number 2, Spring/Summer 2025

Author Biographies

Annica Andersson is a professor in Mathematics Education at the University of South-Eastern Norway (USN). She is the leader of the Norwegian Research Council’s granted project MIM: Mathematics Education in Indigenous and Migrational Contexts: Storylines, Cultures and Strength-Based Pedagogies. Annica’s research is situated at the intersections of mathematics education, language, cultural responsiveness, and social justice, with a particular focus on equity, authority, discourses, and human relationships in mathematics education, school communities, and research contexts. 

Muhammad Asadullah is an associate professor in the University of Regina’s Department of Justice Studies. A recipient of the 2024 Centre for Teaching and Learning (CTL) Teaching Award, he holds a PhD and a master’s degree in criminology from Simon Fraser University. His research focuses on restorative justice, transitional justice, decolonized teaching, and youth justice. Among his many honours are the Neekaneewak Indigenous Leadership Award, the Contemplative Social Justice Scholar Award, and the Law Foundation Scholarships in Restorative Justice. Dr. Asadullah expresses deep gratitude to the Elders in Treaty 4 territory, who have guided his journey with respect and compassion.

Jo Anne Broders completed her MEd from Mount Saint Vincent University with a literacy focus. Currently, she is a secondary English Language Arts and Social Studies teacher at Smallwood Academy in Gambo, Newfoundland and Labrador and has twenty-nine years of teaching experience. She worked as an assistant principal and as an ELA program specialist for grades 7, 8, and 9 with the Department of Education in NL. Jo Anne received the 2023 Premier’s Award in Newfoundland and Labrador for Teaching and the 2024 Governor General’s History Award for Excellence in Teaching. She continues to focus on civic engagement, critical literacy, and social justice within her teaching and learning.

PhD candidate Kaja Burt-Davies is a research fellow in Mathematics Education at the University of South-Eastern Norway (USN). Building on her experience as a mathematics teacher at the lower secondary school level in Norway, her research focuses on the broader context of societal change and migration, with a particular emphasis on how diverse languages and cultures influence classroom learning environments. Her work aims to support strength-based pedagogies in mathematics education by analyzing positive experiences and narratives shared by individuals and groups to identify strategies that foster inclusion and equity in mathematics education. 

Ellen Carter earned her PhD from St Francis Xavier University in Nova Scotia and is currently an assistant professor at St. F.X. She previously taught for nearly a decade in Nova Scotia public schools, primarily upper elementary, middle school, and secondary mathematics. Ellen has a great interest in mathematics education, particularly in the areas of trauma-informed practices and decolonization. She is committed to advocacy and support for the education of children and youth in care. Outside of her role in the Faculty of Education, Ellen serves as a foster parent trainer with the Federation of Foster Families of Nova Scotia.

Carolyn Clarke is an Assistant Professor of Education at St. Francis Xavier University, Antigonish, Nova Scotia, Canada. Her previous experiences include working as a primary and elementary school teacher, District Leader in Literacy and Elementary Education, Vice Principal, Principal and Director of Schools. She earned a B.Ed. from Memorial University of Newfoundland, an MEd and MAEd from Mount Saint Vincent University, Halifax, NS, and a PhD in Literacy Education from Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Australia. Carolyn’s research interests include homework, the work of female caregivers in supporting their children’s education, critical literacy, social justice, and using children’s literature to teach at all levels of education.

Frank Deer works in the Faculty of Education of the University of Manitoba. Frank is Kanienkeha’ka from Kahnawake, a community that lies just south of Tiotia’ke in the eastern region of the Rotinonshón:ni Confederacy. Frank earned a PhD in Educational Administration from the University of Saskatchewan. Frank studies Indigenous education and Indigenous religious and spiritual orientations. Frank has previously served as a classroom teacher in Northern Manitoba and in the Inner City of Winnipeg.

Adrian M. Downey is an Associate Professor in the Faculty of Education at Mount Saint Vincent University. He has a PhD in educational studies from the University of New Brunswick. His research and teaching are in the areas of educational foundations, curriculum studies, and Indigenous education. 

James Gacek is an Associate Professor in the Department of Justice Studies at the University of Regina. He continues to extensively publish in reviews, journals and international fora, particularly in areas of (1) corrections and community justice; (2) green criminology; and (3) the broader socio-politics of judicial reasoning. His recent publications include his solo-authored book, Portable Prisons: Electronic Monitoring and the Creation of Carceral Territory (McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2022) and Justice in the Age of Agnosis (Palgrave Macmillan, 2024, co-edited with Richard Jochelson). 

Rebeca Heringer, PhD, is a freelance researcher at the University of Manitoba. Her main academic teaching and research expertise revolves around (forced) migrations and subsequent exclusions, oppressions, and inequities in education; anti-racism and inclusive education; culturally responsive teaching; education as/for/through well-being; philosophical foundations of education; and research ethics/anti-oppressive research methodologies. 

Ashwani Kumar is Professor of Education at Mount Saint Vincent University (Halifax, Canada). He is the author of two scholarly books: Curriculum as Meditative Inquiry (Palgrave Macmillan, 2013) and Curriculum in International Contexts: Understanding Colonial, Ideological, and Neoliberal Influences (Palgrave Macmillan, 2019). He is the editor of Engaging with Meditative Inquiry in Teaching, Learning, and Research: Realizing Transformative Potentials in Diverse Contexts (Routledge, 2022). He is the recipient of the Mount Saint Vincent University President and Vice President’s Advanced Career Teaching Award 2022 and the University of British Columbia Faculty of Education’s Alumni Educator of the Year Award 2022. 

Website: https://meditativeinquiry.wixsite.com/ashwanikumar.
YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC_YbqEFu5kCJQg9RS9g9QOw

Susan Legge is currently pursuing a PhD in Curriculum Studies in the Nova Scotia Inter-University Doctoral Program in Educational Studies. She received her Master of Arts in Education at Mount Saint Vincent University, where her research explored the lived experiences of Nova Scotia teachers of Mi’kmaw Studies 11 as they worked to create anticolonial pedagogies of reconciliation for and with their students. Susan’s current research is focused on the effects of working conditions in Nova Scotia for teachers, particularly as those conditions increase the emotional labour expected from teachers.

Tara Poole is a fourth-year doctoral student in the Department of Educational Psychology at the University of Victoria. Her dissertation explores school belonging in early elementary contexts, addressing a gap in current research and highlighting its critical role in long-term educational, mental health, and life outcomes. Tara works as an inclusive learning teacher in elementary schools and as a clinical counsellor, primarily supporting students with disabilities and their families. Outside of her professional life, she is an avid outdoor recreation enthusiast who enjoys climbing, hiking, surfing, and biking.

Twyla Salm, PhD, is a full professor in the Health, Outdoor and Physical Education subject area in the Faculty of Education at the University of Regina. Her research focuses on curriculum studies and teaching and learning in higher education, with specific interests in developing the professional educator and health curriculum change.

Shane Theunissen was born and socialized in the apartheid era South Africa. He believes that knowledge creation and dissemination are often used as political tools that facilitate exploitation, appropriation, and marginalization. Research methodologies have traditionally represented the imposition of a hegemonic normative epistemology and ontology on one’s understanding and being in the world. He believes that destabilizing this hegemony is an essential step toward ecological, social, spiritual, and intellectual peace.

Evan Throop-Robinson earned his PhD in 2016 from the University of South Australia. He is a former elementary teacher, instructional leader, and instructor for teacher education with experience in schools and universities in BC, ON and NS. As a curriculum consultant, he supports teacher training and curriculum revisioning in mathematics education outreach activities across the Caribbean. Evan continues to work in classrooms through research activities with children and support for preservice teachers. He collaborates on the Moving Achievement Together Holistically (MATH) project to provide culturally relevant and sustaining learning experiences for children from historically excluded communities.