Statistics Canada Award for Foundations of Education

$500 for the best foundations paper by a Pre-service education student

In conjunction with the Canadian Association for Foundations of Education (CAFE), the Statistics Canada Award for Foundations of Education is presented to a pre-service student who completes a project or paper involving the application of material from the Statistics Canada website or other Statistics Canada education resources. The award will be presented at the annual conference of the Canadian Society for Studies in Education (CSSE).

This award was established to:

• recognize and promote excellence in research using the various disciplines of the foundations of education;
• encourage the application of Statistics Canada information to the field of education.

All students who have used Statistics Canada information and/or resource materials in developing a foundation project or paper may apply for this award. Students may want to use Community Profiles or E-STAT to study a community or region of interest. Quick Guides are available to provide instruction in the use of E-STAT, especially creating a demographic profile for an urban school neighbourhood using census tract data. The website of Professor John Lundy also provides useful tips and materials for professors in their teaching and for education students in preparing their foundations papers.

Winners

• 2004 – Joseph Silva, York University, Faculty of Education, for Prof. George Frempong, "Understanding the School and its Community to Inform an Effective and Inclusive Teaching" (PDF, 69 Kb). (The paper focuses on "efforts to make sense of what it takes to teach successfully in a society that is multicultural and pluralistic".)
• 2004 – Tim King, Nipissing University, Faculty of Education, for Prof. John Lundy, "Experiencing the Inner City" (PDF, 628 Kb). (This study of diversity in a school in Brampton makes extensive use of E-STAT, census and EQAO data.)
• 2003 – Miguelle Légère, University of Ottawa, Faculty of Education, for Prof. Jim Covert, "Study of Elementary Student Performance in the Rockcliffe and Vanier Districts" (PDF,  140 Kb)
• 2002 – Jennifer Romanowski, Nipissing University, Faculty of Education, for Prof. John Lundy, "Exploring my Practicum Community - A Critical Analysis of Multicultural Education Initiatives" (PDF, 87 Kb)
• 2001 – Renée Bruneau, Nipissing University, Faculty of Education, for Prof. John Lundy, "The Importance of Multiculturalism in My Practicum School" (PDF, 74 Kb)

The Statistics Canada Award includes:

• a $500 cash prize, which may be shared between two winners;
• an opportunity to present a paper based on the project in a special CAFE session at the CAFE annual conference;
• nation-wide publication of the paper or its abstract on the CSSE website, on the CAFE website, on the Statistics Canada website, (www.statcan.gc.ca),
• a complimentary one-year subscription to Canadian Social Trends (a Statistics Canada quarterly journal);
• a certificate of achievement for the student;
• a letter of recognition written to the appropriate Dean of Education commending the supervising professor for innovation in teaching.

To meet the award guidelines the student must:

• submit a project or paper making significant use of Statistics Canada data
• include either a statement relating the project or paper to a relevant educational theory, or provide a brief review of literature pertaining to pertinent educational research information
• state the relevance of the project or paper to educational practice.

To meet the award guidelines the faculty member must:

• include the foundations course title and code number (history, sociology or philosophy of education)
• provide his or her name, address, telephone number, and email address

The project must be completed during the academic year in which the award is to be given. Each Education Faculty committee will select no more than three projects or papers from their education faculty to submit for this award.

Selection criteria include: significance of the problem; conceptualisation, design and execution of the study; quality and suitability of the use of the Statistics Canada data; quality of analysis and presentation of the information; potential for informing classroom practice; general clarity, insight and originality of the work.

The award may not be given every year, based on the judgement of the awards committee.

Applications should be sent by e-mail no later than March 31 to:

For further information, please contact:

• Rod Clifton, University of Manitoba, Faculty of Education
  St. John's College, Winnipeg, Manitoba, R3T 2N2
  Phone: (204) 474-9625
• Lynn Lemisko, University of Saskatchewan
  College of Education, History curriculum
  Saskatoon, Saskatchewan S7N 0X1
• John Lundy, Laurentian University, Director, School of Education
  Phone: (705) 675-1151 ext. 4287
• Jim Ryan, University of Toronto, OISE/ UT
  252 Bloor Street West, Toronto, Ontario, M5S 2R7
  Phone: (416) 923-6641, ext. 2438
• Dr. Nathalie Piquemal, Faculty of Education, University of Manitoba
  Winnipeg, Manitoba, R3T 2N2
  Phone: (204) 474-7032
• Yves Saint-Pierre, Manager, University Liaison Programme
  Statistics Canada
  Phone: (613) 951-2858
  (ulp@statcan.gc.ca)