This site is part of a research project on the professional learning of post-secondary educators in Canada. The project is funded with an SSHRC Insight Development Grant.

The main investigator on the project is Dr. Annemarieke Hoekstra, educational researcher at the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology. Co-investigator is Dr. Paul Newton, associate professor at the College of Education at the University of Saskatchewan.

Dr. Annemarieke Hoekstra’s previous work has focused on the professional learning of secondary school teachers in the workplace (see selected publications below). She has studied teachers’ learning activities as they occurred through engaging in daily activities. In her studies she combines insights from socio-cultural learning theory, cognitive learning theory, and positive psychology. Her experience as a post-secondary educator informs her understanding of the context of post-secondary teaching practice.

Dr. Paul Newton currently conducts several projects in the area of school leadership. In addition, he is Coordinator of Educational Administration and Leadership and Director of the Educational Leadership Network. He has experience as a teacher and principal in rural and urban settings in Saskatchewan. Dr. Newton recently completed two funded studies: a pilot study on the teaching principal and a study of teacher leadership in technology and its impact on leadership development in Alberta school systems.

Disclaimer

Unless otherwise specified, the views and opinions expressed in this blog are the individual views of Drs. Hoekstra and Newton. None of the views expressed in this blog should be understood as representing the opinions of the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology, the University of Saskatchewan, or the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.

Selected publications

• Hoekstra, A. & Newton, P. (2016). Leading teaching excellence in vocational and professional education. Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association in Washington DC, 2016.
• Hoekstra, A., Kuntz, J., Chaudoir, S., Chahal, M. & Newton, P. (2015). Vocational educators’ professional learning activities and workplace affordances. Paper presented to the network on Vocational Education and Training (VETNET) at the ECER Conference, Budapest, 2015
• Hoekstra, A. & Crocker, J. R. (2015). ePortfolios: Enhancing professional learning of vocational educators. Vocations and Learning, 8(3), 353-372.
• Hoekstra, A. & Crocker J.R. (2015). Design, implementation, and evaluation of an ePortfolio approach to support faculty development in vocational education. Studies in Educational Evaluation, 46, 61-73.
• Hoekstra, A. & Crocker, J. & Ye, D. (2013). Supporting Professional Learning of Teachers in Post-Secondary Vocational Education. Presented at the annual conference of the Canadian Society for the Study of Higher Education, Victoria, British Columbia.