UBC Reports | Vol. 48 | No. 6 | Apr. 4, 2002

Kudos

UBC shares $2.5 million SSHRC grant for education study

UBC's Centre for Policy Studies in Higher Education and Training (CHET) is part of a team of research centres receiving $2.5 million from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) to conduct a national study on teaching in Canadian schools.

The first of its kind in Canada, the five-year study will focus on preschool, elementary and secondary school teachers, and examine performance, competence, techniques, daily workloads and interaction with students in order to gauge the impact of change on educators and help shape future education policies.

CHET, led by co-directors Prof. Donald Fisher and Prof. Kjell Rubenson, will be responsible for the national coordination of the policy project, one of four elements of the initiative. The project team, headed by director and principal investigator Maurice Tardif of the Université de Montréal, draws researchers from eight Canadian universities and 11 U.S. and European post-secondary institutions.

Violinist, Poet Win Teaching Awards

Acclaimed violinist Andrew Dawes and poet Carl Leggo are the recipients of this year's Somerset and Black Awards for excellence in teaching performing and visual arts.

Dawes, a School of Music prof., receives the Dorothy Somerset Award for Performance and Development in the Visual and Performing Arts for his contributions to the fields of chamber music and music mentoring and teaching.

UBC's string program has flourished under the direction of Dawes, the founder of Canada's internationally recognized Orford String Quartet, multiple Juno Award winner and Order of Canada recipient.

Leggo, an assoc. prof. in the Education Faculty's Language and Literacy Dept. since 1990, receives the Sam Black Award for Education and Development of the Visual and Performing Arts in recognition of his accomplishments as a poet and his commitment to creative and innovative education scholarship. A prolific writer, Leggo has published numerous works including three collections of poetry.

The two awards pay tribute to legendary UBC figures Sam Black, a well-known artist and educator whose 41-year association with UBC began in 1958 as a professor of Fine Arts and Art Education, and Dorothy Somerset, former director of the UBC Players' Club and the driving force behind the establishment of the Frederic Wood Theatre.