About the Research Initiative

The purpose of the Research Initiative is to deepen our understanding of well-being and well-becoming in the context of school education and of ways in which such understanding can be reflected and enacted in practice and policy. Through its work, the Research Initiative wants to contribute to a productive public discourse on the role of well-being and well-becoming in school education.

Our Team

To contact the Research Initiative, please send an email to contact@wellbeinginschools.ca

Lesley Eblie Trudel

Lesley Eblie Trudel has been successfully involved in public education for over thirty years. She has held positions ranging from instructional to administrative, working with diverse populations in both urban and rural settings. Lesley was most recently an Assistant Superintendent of Schools in Manitoba, Canada. In January 2019, she joined the Faculty of Education at the University of Winnipeg as an Assistant Professor of Inclusive Education. Lesley is a collaborative leader and interdisciplinary researcher, with a keen interest in organizational learning and systemic change as it pertains to diverse educational communities.

She can be reached at: l.eblietrudel@uwinnipeg.ca

Thomas Falkenberg

Thomas Falkenberg is a Professor in the Faculty of Education at the University of Manitoba. His current research focuses on sustainable well-being more generally and well-being and well-becoming in schools in particular. He is the editor or co-editor of a number of books, including Indigenous Perspectives on Education for Well-Being in Canada, the Handbook of Canadian Research in Initial Teacher Education and Well-Being and Well-Becoming in Schools.

More details about his research and academic background can be gleaned from: http://ThomasFalkenberg.ca

He can be reached at: Thomas.Falkenberg@umanitoba.ca

Roza Gray

Roza Gray is a PhD student and a sessional lecturer at the University of Manitoba. As a certified teacher, she also serves as a presenter and researcher for EdCan’s Well at Work initiative, which helps education leaders develop and implement sustainable strategies to enhance workplace wellbeing in K-12 settings. With more than 20 years of experience in system leadership, Roza has worked across various portfolios, including student services, curriculum, human resources, operations and governance. Her research and advocacy focus on system leadership and organizational approaches to wellbeing and mental health in schools.

She can be reached at roza.gray@umanitoba.ca

Cameron Hauseman

Cameron is an Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Education at the University of Manitoba. Prior to coming to the University of Manitoba, Cameron served as an adjunct professor at Niagara University’s Ontario Campus. His academic and research interests are situated in K-12 school leadership and program evaluation, with a specific focus on the work and wellbeing of school principals. Cameron’s work can be found in both academic and practitioner-focused publications.​

More details about his research and academic background can be gleaned from: http://umanitoba.ca/faculties/education/directory/Cameron-Hauseman.html

He can be reached at: Cameron.Hauseman@umanitoba.ca

Rebeca Heringer

Rebeca Heringer (PhD) is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Child and Youth Study at Mount Saint Vincent University. Her main academic teaching and research expertise revolves around (forced) migrations and subsequent exclusions, oppressions, and inequities in education; anti-racism and inclusive education; culturally responsive teaching; education as/for/through well-being; philosophical foundations of education and; research ethics/anti-oppressive research methodologies.

She can be reached at: rebeca.heringer@msvu.ca

Jeannie Kerr

Jeannie Kerr is an educational theorist and qualitative researcher of Irish maternal and Settler identity. She is an Associate Professor in the Faculty of Education at Simon Fraser University. Jeannie’s scholarship examines the reproduction of societal inequalities in preK-12, teacher education, and higher education settings, and is directed towards collaboratively repairing and renewing relations in educational settings, urban landscapes, and Canadian society. Drawing on her significant experience in culturally enriched urban K-12 classrooms, her theorizing and research projects centre the complications and complicities in educational activities, and works to disrupt the centring of Euro-Western approaches and knowledges in the broader interest of systemic change and collective well-being.​

She can be reached at: jkerr@sfu.ca

Heather Krepski

Heather Krepski is a certified teacher and an Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Education at the University of Winnipeg on Treaty 1 territory. She grew up in London Ontario on the traditional lands of the Anishinaabek, Haudenosaunee, Lūnaapéewak and Attawandaron, and has also lived in Ottawa on the un-ceded Anishinabe Algonquin territory, and Toronto which is covered by Treaty 13. Her scholarship focuses on educational equity and opportunities for well-being in K-12 public school education as well as in early childhood education. Heather is interested in understanding principles of distributive justice and how our understandings of equity impact opportunities for students to access educational goods for well-being in schools. Heather has a particular curiosity about the ways adults paternalize children in schools and how we understand and promote student autonomy. Through a philosophical-sociological lens, Heather argues that students are entitled to greater participation in the decisions about their own well-being.​

She can be reached at: h.krepski@uwinnipeg.ca

Jordan Laidlaw

Jordan Laidlaw (he/him) is a Manitoba teacher, union activist, and Ph.D. candidate at the University of Manitoba. He serves on the Executive of his Local teachers’ association, chairing both the Wellness and Member Benefits Committees. Jordan is a frequent facilitator of teacher workshops, contributor to local media, and presenter at local and international conferences. His research and advocacy interests relate to teacher (de)professionalization, teacher wellbeing and burnout, and pedagogical practices to support positive school wellbeing.

He can be reached at: jboydlaw@gmail.com

Michael Link

Michael Link is an Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Education at the University of Winnipeg. His research explores nature-based approaches that support student well-being and the transition to a just and sustainable future.

He can be reached at: m.link@uwinnipeg.ca

Trang Pham

Trang Pham is currently a doctoral student and research assistant in the Faculty of Education at the University of Manitoba. Her research is concerned with well-being and well-becoming for immigrants in the Canadian multicultural context, especially immigrant children and families, students, and teachers. She explores well-being and well-becoming both at the foundational level (the socio-political, psychological, and philosophical realms) and at the individual level (unique individual experiences). She spent more than 15 years working as an instructor in pre-service teacher education, academic writing, advanced English language skills for academic purposes, research methods, and interpretation skills in many universities in Vietnam.

She can be reached at: phamt8@myumanitoba.ca

Jennifer Watt

Jennifer Watt is an Assistant Professor at the University of Manitoba who focused on language and literacy, teacher education, and wellbeing and well becoming. Graduating with her PhD from the University of Manitoba in 2017, Jennifer was the recipient of a Distinguished Dissertation Award for her work on developing life writing practices for teachers in all stages of their careers to engage with vulnerability, discomfort, mindfulness, and compassion. Jen brings to this research initiative a passion for exploring how flourishing literacy in and out of schools can contribute to a sense of students’ well-being and well-becoming.

She can be reached at: jennifer.watt@umanitoba.ca