Artifact 3: Curriculum Vitae (CV)
Personal curriculum vitae
Relevant Files
During the development of the Master-level thesis, I was advised by my thesis advisor and mentor to work towards building an appropriate curriculum vitae (CV), especially where I was planning on pursuing a PhD. Looking back at my early days, my CV was sparse. Other than my teacher affiliation with the Halifax Regional Centre for Education (HRCE) and my graduate-level pursuits, there was minimal components that made me stand out compared to my other peers. As I began to investigate other professors’ online CV, I was astonished with the multiple pages certain professors had. This included numerous research grants, teaching and research positions, submitted journal papers and participation at conferences. Therefore, through this realization, it provoked a sense of urgency in me to start developing myself so that I can work towards building a suitable CV that is worthy for PhD candidacy.
One of the realizations I made through this process was my lack of public speaking engagements. While I maintained the role of a classroom teacher, it was simply not enough. Consequently, starting in 2021, I began to participate in St. Francis Xavier University’s online Education Research Forum (ERF) (see Theme 2 Artifact 3). Attendance at the ERF served several goals. The first had to do with articulating my research and obtaining feedback from others. Secondly, it was to participate in the scholarly community. I knew early on that the ERF would be the springboard to future expansive venues. The experiences in all the ERFs allowed me to gain the necessary confidence to speak at the 2024 Canadian Society for the Study of Education (CSSE) national conference (see Theme 1 Artifact 3). Finally, on a provincial level, I also participated in knowledge mobilization activities through public speaking opportunities with the Nova Scotia Teachers Union’s (NSTU) Association of Science Teachers (AST) (see Theme 4 Artifact 2). These activities help support my position as an emerging educational scholar.
As an emerging scholar, I knew I only had the Master-level thesis under my belt. However, I felt an urgency to submit a publication to a reputable journal repository. Therefore, by the Summer of 2023, I submitted my first journal to In Education (see Theme 2 Artifact 2). By June of 2024, I received notice from the editors to complete a ‘revise and re-submit.’ At the present moment, I am working through the necessary revisions for the resubmission. As I become more confident in the publication process, I will continue to do submit future work as I believe this is an important facet for any scholarly professional.
Finally, during the summer of 2024, I applied and was given an opportunity to teach a Master-level course called ‘Social Media Technology in Education.’ While this course was a relatively new elective course offering, I applied my affinity for utilizing digital in-person and online technologies so that I could create a course which not only promotes, cultivates, facilitates and enhances education through digital learning environments but, I also instilled my learners with the possible problematizations, which included legal, health, socioeconomic, digital citizenship, to name a few. This opportunity supported my instructional competency within graduate school programming which went beyond teaching within the secondary school system.The future continues to be bright. As I move from the portfolio examination to the PhD proposal defence, my mindset and spirit for evolving growth continues to fuel my development. In a relatively short period of time, my CV blossomed from a mere three pages to nearly seven. Therefore, chronicling my experiences using a CV has been helpful in reflecting not only how lucky and blessed I am but, to articulate why I should be a PhD candidate.
Artifact 1: St.Francis Xavier University Strategic Plan
Strategic Action Plan for the Faculty of Education at St. Francis Xavier University.
Demonstrate a range of professional competencies that will enhance active professional engagement..
During the Inter-University Doctoral Program’s Summer Institute, I was approached by Dr. Brogden (Dean of Education, StFX) to take on a short-term Research Assistant role. This project was a major undertaking because earlier in the year, the faculty members and staff gathered in order to provide feedback on the faculty’s areas of focus.
During the gathering, Dr. Brogden provided broad statements that members could provide feedback on. Such feedback was written on chart paper. Additionally, once all members had an opportunity to provide written feedback, each member had yellow and red sticky dots. If members wanted to emphasize certain feedback, they would place a yellow dot on the statement. If members felt that the feedback should not be prioritized, they placed a red dot on the statement.
Prior to the PhD program, my graduate-level research practices were steeped in qualitative, autoethnographic approaches. Therefore, as Dr. Brogden identified, this endeavour would require the use of grounded theory, which was a methodology I was unfamiliar with. As I described within the Kitchen Stories and African Oral Traditional Storytelling (AOTS) artifacts (see Theme 3 Artifact 2), I was in this methodological mire (Clarke & Visser, 2019). I had a decent comprehension of positivism, mixed-methods and autoethnography. Therefore, taking on any other methodological approaches was scary for me. While I was initially apprehensive, I dug deep and looked inward. At the beginning of my qualitative methods journey, I was also anxious. But now, I am developing competency. I will also strive to develop the necessary abilities within grounded theory as well. I encouraged myself by placing my faith into the process.
Previous research experiences required me to process personalized journal entries, photographs and gifts. Therefore, this handling did not require a meticulous amount of care. When I first obtained the raw data, there was a mountain of information to sort through. All the chart paper and its sticky dots bonded with other sheets of paper. Therefore, to ensure the originality of the raw data, each poster was carefully separated to ensure nothing would fall apart. Also, I placed tagged markers on each page so I could create a tracking system. I digitized each chart and then transferred the images into a PDF so that I could work off these duplicates. Thus, as I have described in the ‘Problem Identification Literature Review’ artifact (see Theme 2 Artifact 1), I utilized past experiences involving model development to process this sizable amount of data.
The second stage required me to initially characterize the data. This process started by examining the yellow and red dots. In addition to these dots other visual cues were present. These cues included things like smiley faces, underlines, exclamation points, bolded texts and stars. As Savin-Baden and Major (2013) identify, sentences may carry tone and while the transferring of texts into certain themes may be transcribed verbatim, the term is a slippery one because each string will require interpretation and analysis. Consequently, I had to include my interpretation of these other visual cues to appropriately sort the data.
The interpretation of data is not a simple process because, as Savin-Baden and Major (2013) articulated, such interpretations are filtered through a researcher’s positionality, philosophical and methodological assumptions. I had the positionality of being a graduate student within StFX’s Faculty of Education. Therefore, while I had the insider culture of being a member of the university, I did not have the insider culture of a faculty or staff member. While this identity was beneficial and problematic at the same time, not being an insider resulted in me not having any particular clues of the daily ‘going-on’ with faculty and staff. This would mean that I would not be prejudiced by potential workplace biases or interpersonal dynamics. But it would also mean that interpretations may be incorrect as I do not have the full insider identity. Fortunately, my positionality as a graduate student within the Faculty of Education for over a decade also provided me with clues, language and insights that other research assistants from other faculties may not have. Overall, there were pros and cons in choosing me as the research assistant.
The interpretation of each string eventually led me to assign codes to the data. “Codes tend to be based upon themes, topics, ideas, terms, phrases, and keywords” (Savin-Baden & Major, 2013, p. 422). There was a rationale as to why I assigned codes to each string. What coding supported was a way for me to sort clues and connections between each string of text, which would later allow me to compare and contrast during future interpretations and analysis. These authors use the analogy of bones and a skeleton to describe the coding and sorting process. The process of coding each text generates the bones whereas, the later integration of these segmented bones will form the entirety of the skeleton.
After I coded the entirety of the data set, I began the process of cutting, which Savin-Baden and Major (2013) refers to snipping texts into small and meaningful segments. I looked at cues between strings of texts. Often times, it was certain keywords that stood out. Having read the five Strategic Plan themes several times, placing those strings into appropriate areas made the process a lot easier because future interpretations and analysis can be examined based on a group of texts. Once I sorted the strings into each of the categories within the Strategic Plan, I began to re-interpret each string to determine whether sub-themes would emerge.
In Merriam (2009), the scholar identifies a list of criterions that scholars should note when categorizing information and codes. The first has to do with ensuring the sub-categories answers the main research questions. In developing sub-themes that addressed the five Strategic Plan goals, certain threads arose. Therefore, through this development process, I also addressed Merriam’s (2009) second criterion which emphasizes sub-categories “should be exhaustive, such that a researcher is able to place all the data that was decided as important or relevant into a category or sub-category” (p. 185). There were moments where I believed several strings should be in two categories. When this occurred, I ended up redefining certain sub-themes and fortunately, through this action, I addressed Merriam’s third criterion regarding components of sorted data being mutually exclusive to a particular category. Finally, in developing a nearly completed model for presentation, I addressed Merriam’s fourth criterion which ensured that outsiders, who are not part of the faculty, should be able to read the sorted information to “gain some sense of their nature” (p. 186). To do this, I developed visual displays to help not only support my conclusions but also help other readers make sense of the information I arrived to.
After several back-and-forth meetings and the re-jigging of work, eventually, by November of 2023, this process was completed. This work was very important to me because I wanted to have a deeper understanding of how the university and its people coexisted. I was also thrilled to be involved in this undertaking because it provided me with an opportunity to give back to an institution that supported me (and continues to) for so long. I was most proud of the fact that, in a short period of time, I developed competency in utilizing another methodology. In a short period of time, I had more methodologies in my toolkit. This included positivism, mixed-methods, interpretivism, autoethnography and now, grounded theory. While I thank the many people who provided me with opportunities to explore different approaches to research, I believe it was my mindset that carried me forward. Never one moment did I believe I was going to develop mastery right away. However, I carried a sense of momentum for learning new things. I accepted my vulnerability but also believed that I will continue to improve. This is the one quality I realized upon the completion of this project. Ultimately, this project was one of the most significant highlights within my scholarly career. I remained mostly independent and kept detailed journals related to my work. I was also trusted with independently managing hours and finances. Because of this opportunity, I am confident in taking on future research positions.
Professional & Collegial Competencies
Artifact 2: Nova Scotia Teachers Union (NSTU)
Facilitating Science Educational Workshops with the Association of Science Teachers (AST) & Knowledge Mobilization Efforts with the NSTU
My most recent contributions to the Nova Scotia Teachers Union (NSTU) have been through my involvement with the Association of Science Teachers (AST). Every year, during the provincial professional development day in October, I use the opportunity to collaborate with my colleagues on many pedagogical practices that are intended to cultivate and enhance student engagement. Because I am cognizant of the audience and venue I am situated in, I avoid employing technical scholarly language which tends to be present at university-led conferences. As a result, I use the professional development session as the context to facilitate and embed some of my research findings to the overall theme of the session.
At the AST conference, I offered attendees my research findings from my Master-level thesis. This included the circumstances which cultivated individual students’ grit and their pathways towards success. I also acknowledge and share my recent findings from my dissertation literature review around systemic structures and how this also factors into achievement outcomes. Therefore, the intentions of the last three AST venues were to provide educators with actionable strategies to foster and sustain achievement. In addition to my research findings, I drew upon my experiences of using online and in-class digital technologies to support both student and parental engagement. Since AST caters to all grade levels and is not necessarily focused on academia, the materials, voice and strategies I employed were contextualized to ensure maximum engagement.
As I will address in my professional teaching artifact (see Theme 5 Artifact 1), I was fortunate to teach the course, Social Media Technology in Education for the Master of Education program. With the advent of social media and its affiliated technologies, students in today’s schools are connected more than ever. Consequently, from the ground up, I developed a course which embraced the utilization of digital learning environments while developing a mindful understanding of the harms associated to its use (e.g., legal, health, socioeconomic, digital citizenry, to name a few). Therefore, with prior experience speaking at AST, my intention for the forthcoming conference is to not only offer similar content to past sessions but to also distribute knowledge that we (i.e., my graduate students and I) have collectively assembled. It is my wish that by combining my teacher-educator lens with that of my graduate-instructor lens, this identity will be useful for the teaching profession.
From the start of my career, I desired to positively contribute to the local, national and global education context. While I have maintained a spirit of generosity in all facets of my life, I realize that much of the gifts I have received (e.g., mentorship, acceptance to the PhD program, being able to speak at conferences, receiving opportunities) must be paid forward. As a result, not only have I attempted to give back through AST, but I have also been involved with knowledge mobilization efforts with the NSTU’s Research Repository. According to the NSTU project leader, they wanted to develop a database to showcase scholarly theses and dissertations conducted by its members. Through this involvement, I learned that I would be the first contributor to this effort.Finally, even before starting the PhD program, I recognized the importance of sharing knowledge and information with others in such a way that it becomes accessible to others. I have always embraced the spirit of giving and sharing. One does not gain experience in the absence of others. Therefore, I have been imbued with this spirit from a young age and therefore, educational scholars such as I must have a duty to actively support and engage others with our research, not only to distribute information but to also advance the profession.
PhD Candidate (ABD) | MEd, BEd, BSc (Physics & Mathematics)