Dr. Xavier Fazio

Professor (EdD, MEd, BEd, BSc), Department of Educational Studies

Please contact regarding availability for graduate advisement

Dr. Xavier Fazio, Faculty of Education, Brock University

St. Catharines, ON
905 688 5550 x5209
[email protected]

SELC Website

Dr. Xavier Fazio is a Professor of Education at Brock University and an affiliate member of the Environmental Sustainability Research Centre (ESRC) at Brock University.  

Professor Fazio’s research broadly focuses on science and environmental sustainability education, teacher education and development, curricular innovation, instruction and assessment in science/STEM education, and complexity and systems thinking and science education. His research in Canada also connects to partnerships with researchers in the USA, European Union, Brazil, and Australia. Dr. Fazio’s research has been supported with funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSRHC), and various government agencies, industry, and educational associations. He has recently led a multi-year Insight Grant from SSHRC examining how to connect school science to local communities using place-based perspectives to better promote meaningful engagement for science students and has served as Associate Editor for Journal of Science Teacher Education. He is also a recent Faculty of Education Distinguished Excellence in Research Award winner. 

Professor Fazio’s has taught courses in science teacher education and environmental education for pre–service teachers, and graduate education courses in learning, cognition, environmental sustainability education, and science/STEM curriculum.  

Research Interests and Activities

  • Science education and STEM education 
  • Environmental sustainability education  
  • Interdisciplinary curriculum, instruction and assessment in Science/STEM education  
  • Systems thinking and complexity theory in education  

Professional Affiliations and Accreditation/Certification

  • American Education Research Association (AERA)  
  • Association for Science Teacher Education (ASTE)  
  • Canadian Society for the Study of Education (CSSE)  
  • Environmental Education and Communication (EECOM)  
  • European Science Education Research Association (ESERA)  
  • National Association for Research in Science Teaching (NARST)  
  • National Science Teachers’ Association (NSTA)  
  • North American Association for Research in Environmental Education (NAAEE)  
  • Science Teachers’ Association of Ontario (STAO)  

Selected Recent Publications

Books and chapters

Gisewhite, R. & Fazio, X. (2026). Exploring intellectual virtues’ development in adolescent students within formal and informal environmental science education settings. Chapter in Science Education in/for a world in crisis: Values and Ethics for Socioenvironmental Transformations. Springer Publication. 

Borowczak, A. Campbell, L., Bicer, A., Fazio, X., & Borowczak, M. (2026s). Systemic change in STEM teacher preparation: Transformative reformation and partnerships. Chapter in Handbook of Research on STEM Education, Volume 2. 

Fazio, X. (2024). STEM Education: Global Competencies and Citizenship. In Global Perspectives on STEM Education: Theory and Practice (pp. 73-91). Springer International Publishing. 

Fazio, X. (2024). STEM Education: International Perspectives in STEM Education. In Global Perspectives on STEM Education: Theory and Practice, pp. 93-108. Springer International Publishing, 2024. 

DeCoito, I., Fazio, X. & Gichuru, J. (2024). Global Perspectives on STEM Education. Springer. (E) 

Fazio, X. (Editor) (2023). Science Curricula for The Anthropocene: Curriculum Models for our Collective Future, Volume 2. Palgrave MacMillan/Springer Nature Publication. 

Fazio, X. (2022). Introduction: Science Curriculum for the Anthropocene: Curriculum Models for Our Collective Future—Volume 2. In: Fazio, X. (eds) Science Curriculum for the Anthropocene, Volume 2. Palgrave Macmillan/Springer Nature Publication, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-37391-6_1 

Fazio, X. (2022). Science Curriculum for the Anthropocene: Complexity, Systems, and Sustainability Perspectives – Volume I. Palgrave MacMillan/Springer Nature Publication 

Fazio, X. (2022). Schools and communities: Interdisciplinary learning and the ecological crises of the Anthropocene. In Teaching in the Anthropocene (pp. 16-27). Canadian Scholars and Women’s Press. 

Campbell, D.T., Gray, R., Fazio, X. & van Driel, J. (2022). Research on secondary science teacher preparation. In Luft, J. A., & Jones, M. G. (Eds.). Handbook of Research on Science Teacher Education. Routledge. 

Karrow, D.D., Fazio, X., & Zandvliet, D. (2022). Nomenclature and discourse of environmental and sustainability education in teacher education. In M. Peters (Ed.), Encyclopedia of teacher education. Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-1179-6_460-1 

Papers in peer-refereed journals:

Fuchs, T. & Fazio, X. (under review). Teachers’ characterisation and processing of emotions during a year-long climate change professional development program. Journal of Environmental Education. 

Melville, W. & Fazio, X. (2026). Constituting an identity as a new science department chair. Journal of Science Teacher Education.  

Fazio, X., Kemmis, S., & Zugic, J. (2025). Viewing science teacher learning and curriculum enactment through the lens of theory of practice architectures. Science Education, 109(1), 305–334. https://doi.org/10.1002/sce.21901  

Fazio, X., & Campbell, T. (2024). Science curriculum-making for the Anthropocene: Perspectives and possibilities. International Journal of Science Education, pp. 1-21. https://doi.org/10.1080/09500693.2024.2351598   

Garcia, P. S., & Fazio, X. (2023). Avaliação de elementos da educação em biodiversidade: um quadro inconveniente e desafiador. Temas & Matizes, 17(31), 955-976.  

Garcia, P. S., & Fazio, X. (2023). The teaching of biodiversity: Focusing on pedagogical and assessment practices. Revista de Ensino de Ciências e Matemática, 14(4), 1-22.  

Fazio, X., Gallagher, T.L., & DeKlerk, C. (2022). Exploring adolescents’ critical reading of socioscientific topics using multimodal texts.  International Journal of Science and Mathematics Education DOI: 10.1007/s10763-022-10280-8 

Karrow, D., Fazio, X., Zandvleit, D. (2022). What’s in a name? The signifiers and empty signifiers of environmental sustainability education: implications for teacher education. Brock Education Journal, 31(2). https://doi.org/10.26522/brocked.v31i2.917 

Buajitti E, Fazio X., Lewis J.A., & Rosella L.C (2020). Association between lead in school drinking water systems and educational outcomes in Ontario, Canada, Annals of Epidemiology, 55, 50-56. e1 (March). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.annepidem.2020.09.011 

Pickering, G. J., Schoen, K., Botta, M., & Fazio, X. (2020). Exploration of youth knowledge and perceptions of individual-level climate mitigation action. Environmental Research Letters, 15(10), 104080. https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/abb492/pdf 

Fazio, X., & Gallagher, T. L. (2019). Science and language integration in elementary classrooms: Instructional enactments and student learning outcomes. Research in Science Education, 49(4), 959–976 

Other contributions:

Fazio, X. (18 September 2020). Reorienting curriculum for the Anthropocene. UNESCO Futures of Education Ideas.  https://www.unesco.org/en/articles/reorienting-curriculum-anthropocene  

Fazio, X. & Volante, L. (September 2020). STEM learning should engage students’ minds, hands and hearts. The Conversation Canada. https://theconversation.com/stem-learning-should-engage-students-minds-hands-and-hearts-140008 

Gallagher, T., & Fazio, X. (2017). All students can read to learn science! Resources, Learning Disabilities Association of Ontario. Online: https://www.ldatschool.ca/literacy/learn-science/ 

Research and Project Funding

  • MITACS Accelerate Program (2026- )with Post Doctoral Researcher Dr. Travis Fuchs: Building schools’ institutional capacity for educators’ engagement in and with environmental sustainability education research and practice ($150000) 
  • (2018-2025) Social Science and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) Insight Grant. Promoting meaningful engagement in school science: Connecting school science to local communities ($90000) – Principal investigator.  
  • (2014-2015) Ministry of Training, Colleges, and University (MTCU) Ontario Human Capital Research and Innovation Fund (OHCRIF). An Interpretive Review of Innovation Skills and Science Learning Environments: Implications for our Knowledge Economy ($16000)- Principal Investigator.  
  • (2015-2018) Science Teachers’ Association of Ontario (STAO) program evaluation of Project Innovation professional development program – Principal investigator with Dr. Kamini Jaipal-Jamani (contract).  
  • (2013-2016) Social Science and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) Insight Development Grant. Digital Texts to Enhance Science Vocabulary and Comprehension ($60000)- Co-investigator with Dr. Tiffany Gallagher.  (2010-2012) Social Science and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) Standard Research Grant. Researching environmental literacy practices in schools: Implications for educational practice and policy ($21000)- Principal investigator with Dr. Doug Karrow. 

Courses Taught

  • EDBE 8F79: Science-Biology, Intermediate/Senior (Part I)  
  • EDBE 8F80: Science-General Science, Intermediate/Senior (Part 1)  
  • EDBE 8P88: Science-Biology, Intermediate/Senior (Part II)  
  • EDBE 8Y06: Environmental Education in Secondary Schools  
  • EDUC 8L09: Professional Practices for Certification  
  • EDUC 5P48: Science and STEM in the Curriculum (graduate)  
  • EDUC 5P32: Learning and the Mind (graduate)  
  • SSAS 5V57: Environmental Sustainability Education: Principles, Processes, and Contexts (graduate)  
  • EDUC 5P92: Introduction to Educational Research 
  • EDUC 7P41 Joint PhD course – Cognition and Learning