Assistant Professor
PhD, Adult Education and Community Development, OISE , University of Toronto
MA, Adult Education and Community Development, OISE, University of Toronto, 2017
Certificate in Anti-Racist Research and Practice, Department of Equity Studies, York University, 2012
[email protected]
905 688 5550 x3715
Dr. Paula Elias is a researcher in adult education who studies the everyday experiences of adult learners in formal and non-formal adult learning. Her past research examined younger adults engaged in adult basic literacy education; transitions, pathways, and access to postsecondary education; and youth participatory action research. Her approach to qualitative research includes the use of anti-racist, feminist, and critical adult education theories to address educational struggles faced by poor, working-class, racialized, and immigrant adults. Paula previously worked as an instructor across community development, adult literacy, and higher education sites in the Greater Toronto Area. She is also a co-organizer for CASAE’s Adult Literacy Special Interest Group.
- Pathways, transitions, and access to further education and postsecondary education
- Critical adult education and critical pedagogy
- Anti-racist, feminist, and Marxist theories of education and learning
- Community-based and youth participatory action research
- Adult basic literacy education
- Member of the Canadian Association for the Study of Adult Education (CASAE) and co-organizer for CASAE’s Adult Literacy SIG
- Canadian Society for the Study of Higher Education (CSSHE)
- Canadian Sociological Association (CSA)
- Ontario College of Teachers (OCT)
- Crooks, S., Elias, P.V., and Luk, A. (Forthcoming). Practitioner identity and practitioner networks in the field of adult literacy in Canada: A dialogue. In N. James, K. Orr, and S. Clancy (Eds.), Research Handbook on Adult Learning and Education (pp. 202-210). Edward Elgar Publishing.
- Walker, J., Crooks, S., Elias, P., & Luk, A. (2024). Adult literacy in Canada: From 2015 to 2024. In E. Dobrich (Ed.), Conference Proceedings, CASAE 2024 Annual Conference.
- Elias, P.V. (2023). Race, ethnicity, and literacy and Essential Skills in Canada. Journal of Vocational Education & Training, 75 (1), 43-62.
- Crooks, S., Elias, P., & Luk, A. (2022). Examining the fragmentation and possible rejuvenation of adult literacy practitioner networks: A methodological discussion. In R. Hawa (Ed.), Conference Proceedings, CASAE 2022 Annual Conference.
- Crooks, S., Elias, P., & Luk, A. (2021). A decade of ‘literacy’ in the CJSAE: Conceptions of adult literacy. Canadian Journal for Studies in Adult Education, 33(2), 19-32.
- Elias, P. (2020). Conceptions of access in adult education. In B. Merrill, A. Nizinska, & A. Galimberti (Eds.), Adult Education as a Resource for Resistance and Transformation: Voices, Learning Experiences, Identities of Student and Adult Educators. European Society for Studies in Adult Education: University of Coimbra, Portugal.
- Elias, P., Luk, A., Perry, J., Qureshi, N, & Wyper, L. (2020). Adult literacy policy and practitioners. In S.M. Brigham, R. McGray, & K. Jubas (Eds.), Adult Education and Learning in Canada: Advancing a Critical Legacy (pp. 190-199). Thompson Books.
- Carpenter, S., Elias, P., Hassan, Z., & McCready, L. (2020). Walls built upon walls: Understanding intersectional barriers to post-secondary education. In J. P. Egan (Ed.), Proceedings of Adult Education in Global Times: An International Research Conference. National Library of Canada Cataloguing in Publication.
- Elias, P. (2017). Critical Youth Participatory Action Research: Ideology, Consciousness, and Praxis. In S. Carpenter & S. Mojab (Eds.), Youth in/as Crisis: Young People, Public Policy, and the Politics of Learning(pp. 27-44). Rotterdam, Netherlands: Sense Publishers.
- EDUC 1P90 Public Pedagogy in Practice
- EDUC 1P91 Teaching Adult Learners
- ADED 2F90 Foundations of Adult Education
- ADED 2P41 History of Adult Learning
- ADED 1P31 Learning for Success
