Making a Difference
At the Faculty of Education, our research matters. Through an array of ongoing and constantly evolving projects, our research into education is relevant, applicable, important and comprehensible, and transcending. It informs the kind of programs we offer, as well as their curriculum and structure, while maintaining a focus on making a difference in the lives and to the wellbeing of children, their families and society as a whole.
Research Stories & Successes
Our faculty have produced a range of research outputs from an impressive diversity of funded and unfunded scholarly initiatives and research projects. These outputs include traditional academic publications such as journal articles and books, conference proceedings and invited talks, policy briefs as well as a variety of non-traditional dissemination activities, media, and events that reflect the Faculty’s commitment to community outreach and engagement.
Faculty of Education
Public Lecture Series
Join us as we introduce leading scholars from the Faculty to share their research and scholarship on key publicly relevant issues in education and society.
The Faculty of Education Public Lecture Series is open to everyone!
Conversations with Visiting Scholars
November 6, 2026 - Anti-Racist Scholar-Activism: Challenges, Contradictions and Possibilities
Against a backdrop of multiple social, political and economic crises, this talk is concerned with the responsibilities of academics. It explores key themes from a research project exploring ‘antiracist scholar-activism’ in British universities in order to offer some broad guiding principles that might help define antiracist scholar-activist praxis. In doing so, it considers the challenges and contradictions that arise from working in neoliberal-imperial-institutionally-racist universities, whilst also tentatively suggesting that there remain pockets of possibility to subvert the institution and work in service to communities of resistance.
Faculty Research Chairs
York Research Chair in Policy Analysis for Democracy
Sue Winton’s York Research Chair research program will collaborate with multiple public sector organizations to understand the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on education privatization in Canada. Winton’s research will compare policy development, enactment, and effects during and after the pandemic across multiple scales. The research results will create knowledge about local, regional, national and international influences on education privatization and how this process impacts socially disadvantaged groups, teachers’ work and democracy. At York, Winton will establish and lead a cross-disciplinary Community of Practice for new and established researchers with an interest in critical policy research.
Canada Research Chair in Young Lives, Education and Global Good
Kate Tilleczek is the Tier 1 Canada Research Chair (CRC) in Young Lives, Education and Global Good and a full professor in the Faculty of Education at York University. She is founder and scientific director of Young Lives Research Laboratory (Canada), which is international in scope and investigates how complex modern societies are shifting to support and/or negate the lives and well-being of young people.
Jean Augustine Chair in Education, Community and Diaspora
Carl E. James is the current Jean Augustine Chair in Education, Community and Diaspora in the Faculty of Education at York University. The Chair aims to advance access, equity and inclusivity to education through community engagement and collaborative action. First launched in 2008, the chair holder initiates, facilitates, directs and engages in research, educational programs, and community partnerships which are culturally responsive and relevant to the educational and social needs, interests and aspirations of Black and other racialized community members – both those inside and outside of the university for whom marginalization and racialization act as barriers to the achievement of their educational and career ambitions.
Canada Research Chair in Disability Studies in Education
Gillian Parekh is the Tier 2 Canada Research Chair in Disability Studies in Education at York University and an assistant professor in the Faculty of Education. She explores institutional and structural barriers related to equitable access to education, particularly for students with disabilities. She conducts both quantitative and qualitative research investigating demographic, programmatic and experiential trends between public and post-secondary education. With a focus on special education and academic streaming, her work explores how schools construct and respond to disability. Her research addresses current issues in education and will make a difference in the lives of young people in the GTA and beyond.
UNESCO Chair in Reorienting Education Towards Sustainability
Charles A. Hopkins holds the UNESCO Chair at York University in Toronto, Canada. He has been an advisor to several ministries of education in Asia and Europe as well as universities and colleges in the Americas. The UNESCO Chair in Reorienting Education towards Sustainability at York University in Toronto Canada, works both singularly and in association with various other entities to address education in the context of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD). Collaboration with its associated International Network of Teacher Education Institutions (INTEI) and the #IndigenousESD network dedicated primarily to achieving the targets of the Global Education 2030 Agenda (SDG 4) within the 2030 Agenda are two examples of international partner initiatives.
Koschitzky Chair in Jewish Teacher Education
Laura Wiseman holds the Koschitzky Chair in Jewish Teacher Education at the Isreal and Golda Koschitzky Centre for Jewish Studies at York University and is a professor in the Faculty of Education.
Research at a Glance
32.2
$32.2 million in Research Funding
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Two Canada Research Chairs (CRCs) - Kate Tilleczek & Gillian Parekh
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One York Research Chair (YRCs) - Sue Winton
17.9
$17.9 million committed to The Making the Shift – Youth Homelessness Social Innovation Lab
