Community Speaker Series in Education - Nov 2025
Community partners, alumni, scholars and practitioners visit campus to discuss ideas, trends and professional journeys in Education.
Open to all Education students. Light snacks served at each event.
All events held in-person at the Learning Commons in the Faculty of Education (Rm 120)
EVENTS: No One Told Me That… Conversation on the First Five Years of Teaching | Emotional Labor: Strategies for Awareness and Resilience as Teachers | Sustainability in and beyond the curriculum
Thursday, November 13 – 5 - 7pm
No One Told Me That… Conversation on the First Five Years of Teaching
(panel conversation, Q&A)
Click here for in-person registration
Click here for online (Zoom) registration
Panel of four current teachers discussing their first five years of professional practice working in various educational settings and what they wish they could tell their younger selves. The conversation and Q&A will explore various themes related to wellness, relationships with students and the school ecosystem, managing expectations and how to make the most of those first five years where 20-30% of teachers in Canada leave this essential vocation.
Read article: Why Canadian Teachers Are Working Like No One Else by Heidi Yetman - Canadian Teachers Federation, May 2025
Guests:
Karina Capano – Secondary ESL, École secondaire Antoine-de-Saint-Exupéry
After teaching elementary for two years and completing a Master’s in Educational Psychology, Karina made the switch to high school ESL where she teaches Secondary 3 Enriched and Regular, and recently finished a Master’s in Educational Leadership.
Haneefa Corbie - Secondary Science (grades 7,8), Selwyn House School (private)
Haneefa has taught Grade 7–8 Science at Selwyn House since 2017. Previously, she taught at Queen of Angels Academy, where she served two years as Head of Indigenous Resources. She has also taught English in Japan and Science in the UAE. Haneefa holds a BSc and BEd from UOttawa and an MEdTech from UBC.
Yilin Guo - Elementary, Arts Plastiques (currently English Montreal School Board)
With experience in Indigenous community classrooms, resource teaching, and art, I build supportive, culturally aware, and creativity-driven learning environments.
Gary Purcell - English Language Arts (currently PACC Adult Education Centre and Vocational Training); Executive Director, Suspicious Fish Storytelling Hub
Gary has been a teacher at the Lester B Pearson Schoolboard in both the youth and adult sector for the past twenty years. He founded the Suspicious Fish Creative Literacy program in 2008.
Moderator:
Sabi Hinkson – Math & Science Educator, Founder of STEM with Miss Sabi, 3rd Year PhD Student at McGill University (in DISE)
Sabi’s teaching journey began while working as a scientific laboratory technician for the Lester B. Pearson School Board. She only worked with students during lab periods; however, they consistently fed off her enthusiasm for Math and Science and expressed how much they loved her teaching style: this led her to realize she could have a greater impact as a classroom teacher.
Friday, November 21 – 12:30-2:00 *SESSION FULL*
Emotional Labor: Strategies for Awareness and Resilience as Teachers
(interactive workshop)
This interactive workshop invites teachers to explore the emotional dimensions of teaching through mindfulness, reflection, and arts-based methods.
Participants will examine emotional labour, engage in scenario-based discussions, and create personalized self-care toolkits. The session fosters emotional awareness, professional identity development, resilience, and sustainable engagement in teaching practice.
Facilitator:
Laura Taylor is a full-time secondary-level teacher for an alternative program for at-risk students aged 16-20 and a third-year PhD student in the Department of Integrated Studies in Education. Her research explores teacher emotional labour and disengagement through arts-based and affective frameworks.
Tuesday, November 25 – 12:00-1:30
Sustainability in and beyond the curriculum
(panel & group dialogue)
Learning in the 21st Century inevitably means confronting complex sustainability challenges like the climate crisis. Critics have increasingly called for schools and universities to do more to help learners understand and act on these challenges, but we also know how important it is to support action beyond the classroom. In this panel we'll hear from educators and change-makers working to confront sustainability challenges in Montreal and beyond. We’ll learn about the challenges and the opportunities for pursuing sustainability inside our schools, universities and beyond.
Read article: Creating a space for sustainability in the curriculum by Patrick McDonagh - McGill News, May 2025
Guests:
Co-Coordinators at ECOLE Project:
Brooklyn Frizzle
Not an educator themselves, Brooklyn is a long-time advocate, recently turned administrator, passionate about enabling teachers and community educators with the support and infrastructure necessary to succeed in their fields. Brooklyn recently joined the ECOLE, where they support the Project as its Internal Coordinator.
Georgina Kouwenhoven
Georgina began their journey as an educator at Evans Lake Forest Education Society, where they led hikes and ecology lessons. This experience led to their next position as an educator and volunteer coordinator for Fusion Urban Nature, which provides free nature education in urban parks to camps across Montreal.
Julia Wright
Julia co-founded MycoNurseries, a nonprofit promoting climate action and changing food systems through urban oyster mushroom farming on McGill campus. The group involves youth in their growing process to help them explore what local and regenerative food systems can look like. Julia is currently pursuing a B.Sc. in Mathematics
Dr. Mitchell McLarnon - Assistant Professor, Education, Concordia University
Mitchell McLarnon is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Education at Concordia University. His forthcoming book, Rethinking Urban Gardens, is under contract with the University of Toronto Press. His more recent work explores the social relations of community gardening at harm reduction organization in Montreal that's situated near an elementary school.
Kristen Perry - Urban Agriculture Manager - The Depot (NDG), Consultant, Facilitator, Farmer
Kristen has worked in community urban agriculture and food justice for over a decade, and is currently the Urban Agriculture Manager at The Depot, the owner of Ecogardens by Kiki, and an agronomy candidate at McGill. In her community work, she prioritizes nurturing spaces for connection, healing, and exchange.
Justus Wachs, PhD Candidate and Facilitator, Faculty of Education, McGill University
Justus Wachs is a facilitator, activist, and researcher whose work bridges non-formal education, creative activism, and contemplative practice. Over the past decade, he has facilitated spaces for reflection, regeneration, playfulness, and healing within social movements. His research explores how such inner-directed practices catalyze systemic transformation.
Moderator:
Dr. Blane Harvey – Associate Professor, Integrated Studies in Education, McGill University
Blane Harvey is a DISE graduate (both Master’s and PhD) and has worked in a wide range of settings including the United Nations, policy think-tanks, a research funding agency and academic institutions in Canada and the UK. Across all of these experiences his work has focused on supporting learning that helps us better address climate and sustainability crises, in Canada and globally.