While she has a passion for social justice education, driven in part by her experiences as a racialized woman, it has taken time to learn how to navigate students\u2019 resistance to anti-oppression work.<\/p>\n
Over the past decade at Brock, Taylor has found that building community and nurturing meaningful conversations help students to challenge biases and move out of their comfort zones.<\/p>\n
\u201cI learned that I can make a bigger impact by bringing people along rather than calling them out,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Students are encouraged to start where they are, regardless of their knowledge or experience, and Taylor nurtures a critical but open environment for all students to challenge their thinking around inequity while learning from systemically disadvantaged communities.<\/p>\n
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Neivin Shalabi received the 2020 Faculty of Education Award for Excellence in Sessional Teaching.<\/p><\/div>\n
Grounding her courses in real-world events is an essential part of Taylor\u2019s approach to teaching. She edits her courses every year to reflect societal changes and popular culture, looking for new ways to connect with students and help them understand how discourses of race, gender, sexuality, class and colonialism shape identities, opportunities, policy and actions.<\/p>\n
Taylor has noticed that students are better informed about many social justice topics than when she started teaching, but many remain uncertain how to take meaningful action inside and outside the classroom.<\/p>\n
As well as helping her students understand themselves and their world, Taylor is also preparing them to see their role as \u201ceducational change agents\u201d \u2014 no matter what subject they teach.<\/p>\n
\u201cI want my students to ask questions about the world around them, to see contradictions and advocate for change,\u201d Taylor said. \u201cA key part of this is making sure their students learn to do the same.\u201d<\/p>\n
She wants her students to feel empowered to take risks and make a difference in their future students\u2019 lives, even if they sometimes feel powerless to change larger social or educational structures.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere’s always space to make change in the cracks,\u201d said Taylor, who models this approach for her own students by looking for space to be more equitable in her teaching and interactions inside and outside the classroom at Brock.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis work is not always easy, but I am inspired by the actions students are taking in their teaching and lives,\u201d she said. \u201cI hope they keep pushing boundaries.\u201d<\/p>\n
Along with Taylor, Susan Makkreel De Silva Piques and Neivin Shalabi were also recently recognized for their teaching and impact on Brock. De Silva Piques and Shalabi are the recipients of the 2020 Faculty of Education Award for Excellence in Sessional Teaching.<\/p>\n
Encouraging her students to make positive change in their communities is built into the learning environments Shalabi designs for her Faculty of Education students. She hopes they will become becoming caring professionals who champion justice.<\/p>\n
As a member of several visible minority groups, Shalabi repeatedly hears from under-represented student groups that they are able to relate to her.<\/p>\n
\u201cKnowing that I provide hope for individuals from diverse backgrounds who perceive me as a role model strengthens my commitment to hard work and excellence so that I can better support them,\u201d Shalabi said.<\/p>\n
She provides opportunities for her students to take ownership of their learning and get out of their comfort zones so they can realize their full potential. Service-learning, for example, is a core characteristic of her teaching. Through this form of experiential education, her students apply their learning by making a difference in the community.<\/p>\n
Like Shalabi, De Silva Piques, an instructor for Brock\u2019s Teacher Education programs, is motivated by the impact she makes on her students and aims to empower them as learners.<\/p>\n
She became an educator to make a difference in the lives of those she teaches and to inspire students to want to learn on their own. She describes her teaching style as constantly evolving and student centred, guiding students to become involved in their own learning.<\/p>\n
Her advice to students as future educators is that they need to remain lifelong learners who engage students through authentic and innovative instruction.<\/p>\n
\u201cI feel honoured, humbled and proud,\u201d De Silva Piques said of receiving the award.<\/p>\n