The Teacher Education Office is delighted to congratulate Dr. Karen Ragoonaden, Associate Dean of Teacher Education, on celebrating 20 years at UBC.
Starting as an Assistant Professor in 2005, Dr. Ragoonaden has held several leadership roles, as the Director of Professional Development, the Director of the Centre for Mindful Engagement, and Senior Faculty Advisor to the President at UBC Okanagan. Bridging both campuses, she was a member of the UBC Vancouver Faculty of Education’s Task Force on Race, Indigeneity, and Social Justice. More recently, she was appointed as Associate Dean, Teacher Education, UBC Vancouver. As the recipient of SSHRC-funded research projects, she has contributed to understanding the multiple layers of teacher education. She was awarded the Ted Aoki Award for Best Paper in Curriculum Studies (AJER), the Provost Office’s Teaching Excellence and the UBC Killiam Teaching Prize.
We extend our gratitude to Dr. Ragoonaden on her two decades of leadership and look forward to her continued guidance and mentorship. In the following Q&A, we asked Dr. Ragoonaden to reflect on her leadership journey over the years and the changing factors facing teacher education today.
Q&A with Dr. Karen Ragoonaden
With many years dedicated to K-12 teaching prior to joining the university, how have those early experiences helped shape your approach to work in your current role as Associate Dean of Teacher Education?
I have lived experiences of teaching across this nation from Québec to Manitoba, to BC. I have learnt about the distinctiveness of these lands, acknowledging the diversity of languages, cultures and values of each place. I bring this recognition of land and place to my work as the Associate Dean, Teacher Education.
Having contributed to the Faculty of Education at UBC Okanagan for many years before taking on the Associate Dean role in Vancouver, you possess a unique perspective. How does your experience bridging both campuses influence your vision for the future of teacher education across UBC?
Working on a small campus provided me with many opportunities early on in my career, ones that I may not have had elsewhere. I learnt to consult, to ask for help, to support and to celebrate. These learnings have served me well in bigger contexts providing a solid groundwork for raising my voice and advocating, especially for student voice. I have learned that teacher education is for all, and that together, we have space and time to engage in the onslaught of change.
The way students learn today is so different compared to 20 years ago. What profound evolution have you witnessed in teacher education? And what is the key factor that has kept you dedicated to continuing to mentor and lead future educators over the past two decades?
There have been so many changes, all representative of societal trends. From the TRC (2015), to the pandemic, to the calls for racial reckoning and now the emergence of AI, it is hard to keep track of these transitions. For me, it is truly the movement from print to digital that served as a catalyst leading the path to innovation, creativity and criticality.