Visiting Doctoral Student Program Report: Ian Alexander, PhD Candidate

Thinking Historically For Canada’s Future – Visiting Doctoral Student Program Report  

Doctoral Student: Ian Alexander, PhD Candidate in the Department of Curriculum and  Pedagogy at The University of British Columbia. Supervised by Dr. Penney Clark with Dr.  Lindsay Gibson as committee member.  

Faculty Host: Dr. Heather McGregor, Faculty of Education, Queen’s University

Dates of Visit: October 20th to November 1st, 2024 

When I began thinking about the Visiting Doctoral Student Award, I considered who would be a  knowledgeable and familiar host professor, if the university had a thriving and collegial  community of graduate students, and if the region and community was renowned for a place based learning retreat from my usual location on the West coast. With these in mind, I asked Dr.  Heather McGregor if she would host me at Queen’s University for a ten-day visit in the Autumn  of 2024. Together, we developed a plan for some scholarly work and community activities for my  potential visit. 

As a graduate research assistant and member of the Graduate Student Committee, I  had become familiar with Dr. McGregor’s work over the past few years. We were both involved  in two studies in the Curriculum and Resources Cluster as well as the portraits of professional  practice study in the Teaching and Learning Cluster. Since she was previously supervised by Dr.  Penney Clark, I had read some of her articles and dissertation while doing my PhD over the  past four years. 

During my stay at Queen’s, Dr. McGregor listened to how I designed my dissertation  research and offered suggestions for my forthcoming data analysis. She also discussed  possibilities for organizing my findings chapters. These meetings have been immensely helpful  and I will take up her advice for increasing my use of reflexive thematic analysis and considering  which findings are worthy for my dissertation. We also discussed which portions of my data  corpus are best suited for my research questions and theoretical frameworks, and which could  be useful for articles or presentations I write in the future. 

Three large events and multiple smaller meetings shaped my daily routines in Kingston.  On the first full day of my visit, I was fortunate to attend The Art of Hosting leadership workshop  which brought together scholars and practitioners from across departments at Queen’s. I  learned about ways to facilitate institutional change and took up the opportunity in the  professional discussion hubs to share my dissertation research with three small groups of  rotating community members. I ended up receiving helpful advice and ideas to craft the analysis  and findings sections of my study. 

To start the second week, I presented in Dr. McGregor’s graduate level class  Understanding Curriculum. In this presentation, I described the purpose and scope of THFCF’s  analysis of provincial and territorial curriculum documents. Then I discussed some  methodological considerations that graduate students often encounter as they craft research  questions and appraise methods for their upcoming data collection. Through this presentation, I  shared how THFCF provides high quality work experiences and funding support for many  graduate students rising in the field of History and Social Studies Education in Canada.  

Near the end of my visit, I presented to members of the Assessment and Evaluation  Group, a long-standing research group housed in the Faculty of Education at Queen’s  University. I shared my understanding of recent assessment and reporting changes in British  Columbia to a group of graduate students who were interested in the new BC Proficiency Scale.  This opportunity was facilitated by Dr. McGregor and Dr. Chris DeLuca and I am grateful for the  invitation to speak on classroom assessment and my experience as a TA at UBC. At the  session, I was pleased to see my THFCF colleagues Becca Evans, Kristen Fontaine, and Kyle  Raymond among the other attendees. I have known Becca since the early days of THFCF and it  has been most enjoyable to have her as another great host in Kingston.  

In addition to these presentations, I had both structured and informal conversations both  on campus and at locations in and around Kingston. Dr. McGregor was generous enough to  show me around downtown Kingston, natural areas around the Cataraqui River, and historic  Fort Henry with stunning views of the city and the watery passage between Lake Ontario and  the St. Lawrence River. During this walk, she told me about her rationale and development of  Social Studies and History Education in the Anthropocene. I asked about some of the projects in  this network and possibilities for the future.

In addition, I participated in activities to soak in life on campus, such as watching a semi final lacrosse game between Queen’s and Carleton, reading in the comfortable Queen’s  Education Library, strolling through the unique University District, and subbing in on the Faculty  of Education’s soccer team with Becca and other Education grad students. This was my first trip  to Kingston in over a decade and I was thrilled to return to this unique Canadian city. Every  retuning visit to a place brings an entanglement of familiarity and strangeness as both a place  and oneself grows up and passes through time. 

Finally, I’d like to thank THFCF for this opportunity and to thank Dr. McGregor for taking  up her hosting commitments with enthusiasm. I’d also like to offer my gratitude to all the people  I met in the Faculty of Education at Queen’s with hopes to keep in touch. I have returned to The  University of British Columbia revitalized and able to complete my data analysis, findings  chapters, and further develop my theoretical framework. I also hope to assist other students in  the Graduate Student Committee in applying for the Visiting Doctoral Student Award.