I was born and have lived most of my life as a guest on the traditional and unceded territory of the Secwepemc people, primarily in T’kemlups. I am keenly aware of both my privilege as a white, cisgender, straight woman, and the challenges of post-secondary education for individuals like me — first-generation university students from rural, lower socioeconomic backgrounds.
First and foremost, I value and care for my family. I have been married to Trent for more than 25 years and appreciate his endless patience and support. He’s the guy you can call whether you can’t get the television to turn on (happens to me more than you’d think), you’ve forgotten a craft supply for a Spark activity, or need to fall apart because you’ve lost your mom. He’s also the guy who will take you four hours down the road to see The Cure (twice) or half way around the world to see Taylor Swift.
And because Trent joined me on this crazy “ride of “thing called life” (He’d appreciate the Prince reference), life I am lucky to be mother to Dulcie (24) and Rory (21), two amazing young women who make us proud every day. Dulcie is a practising paediatric registered nurse, while Rory is entering her final year at St. FX University in Antigonish where she is completing a Bachelor of Arts in Public Policy and Governance. I can’t wait to see where her next adventure takes her. I am also daughter to Larry, turning 85 soon and navigating life as a widower with his puppy Freya. Oh, and speaking of puppies, I have two of my own fur babies – Trixie (15) and my heart dog, 10 year old Ginny bear (pictured above on her birthday). I also have a sister Vanessa, who has a family and a lot of animals – we are kindred spirits as they say 🙂
In my spare time (what now?), I am far too addicted to music and television, but I also practise yoga and barre, am learning to garden, knit and spend far too much time trying to figure out what to do with Sparks (5-7 year old Girl Guides) on Wednesday nights… I once was a baker but I feel like the pandemic broke me. Trent and I discovered cruising just after the pandemic and have become a bit addicted to that form of travel.
As a mother of two women and a Girl Guide leader, I strive to empower girls and provide them with opportunities to grow and reach their full potential. My first career as a teacher of English as an additional language was deeply rooted in the values of caring and helping my students achieve their personal goals. This social justice approach to education led me to become an instructional designer (ID) for Thompson Rivers University’s Open Learning division which is dedicated to removing barriers to education resulting from geography, time, cost, and admission requirements.
An ethic of care is vital to my many leadership roles–chairing my academic department, leading teams of SMEs in course development, managing a Girl Guide unit, mentoring new colleagues and even being a mom. Examples range from as complex as supporting someone experiencing repeated pregnancy loss to a subject matter expert needing an extension because of work demands to a child wanting help with a craft. To learn more, I recently completed the Queen’s Mental Health Leadership Certificate, as well as unconscious bias and equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI) training.
I am now engaging in this formal doctorate program focusing on the learning sciences to expand my expertise through a systematic exploration of some of the ethical and philosophical aspects of ID practice. The learning sciences with their interdisciplinary approach to studying teaching and learning is an appropriate fit for me. As a practitioner, the learning sciences’ focus on “us[ing] this knowledge [of effective learning] to redesign classrooms and other learning environments so that people learn more deeply and more effectively” (Sawyer, 2022, p. 1).
Sawyer, R. K. (2022). An Introduction to the Learning Sciences. In The Cambridge Handbook of the learning sciences (pp. 1-23). Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108888295.012