About the School of Education

Our mission

The mission of UFV’s School of Education is to prepare graduates who are recognized for their ability to integrate educational theory and knowledge into a reflective teaching practice that is critically minded, pedagogically sensitive, and socially just.

School of Education values

The School of Education is informed by five values.

Pedagogical sensitivity

The School of Education supports a childcentered view of education. Educators must develop an understanding of the primacy of the child-teacher relationship and its ethical underpinning while honouring and respecting the needs of each child. Educators must have the knowledge, skill, and confidence to adapt and develop curriculum to meet the specific needs of the child.

Reflective practice

The School of Education believes that educators must engage in reflective practice, the ability to reflect in a thoughtful way on the significance of different teaching situations and on their role in creating a learning environment. Educators must demonstrate self-knowledge by openly identifying personal biases and projections. Reflective practice, guided by the principles of self-evaluation and self-directed learning, is considered the foundation of continuous professional growth.

Critical mindedness

The School of Education believes that educators must understand the complexity, subtlety, and difficulty of contemporary educational questions and issues. In an attempt to solve problems, educators must show a high degree of flexibility in comparing various perspectives and alternative solutions.

Social justice

The School of Education believes that educators must be open to and respectful of diversity and difference. Educators require the ability to see beyond their own ways of defining the world and to be advocates of social justice and the inclusive classroom. A high value is placed on the ethical responsibilities of educators.

Integration of knowledge and practice

The School of Education supports the seamless connection between knowledge (academic disciplines), educational theory, and practice (methods for achieving educational ends). Educators must constantly engage in the recursive interplay of knowledge, educational theory, and practice throughout their professional lives.

Commitment: decolonization & Indigenization

We, the faculty and staff of UFV’s School of Education, are fortunate to do our work on the land of the Stó:lō peoples (people of the river) who have lived in this area since time immemorial. In particular, we acknowledge the Leq'á:mel, Semá:th, Máthxwi, and Kwantlen First Nations whose peoples are the original stewards of the land on which the Mission, Abbotsford, and Chilliwack campuses of UFV are situated.    

The School of Education has made a strong commitment to decolonizing practices, and Indigenizing curriculum and pedagogy. We warmly welcome Indigenous students into our programs and actively seek to incorporate Indigenous Ways of Knowing and pedagogies into our classes.

Terrible things have been done in the name of education in Canada – not the least of which were the attempts by the Canadian government to assimilate thousands of Indigenous children into White Settler society through Indian Residential Schools. The primary goal of these schools was to “kill the Indian in the child”. Senator Murray Sinclair (the Chief Commissioner for the Truth and Reconciliation Report), when speaking about the harm perpetrated in the name of education in these schools, stated, “Education is what got us into this mess; and education is what will get us out.”

Armed with the new understandings we have come to because of the stories of truth shared by IRS Survivors through the Truth and Reconciliation Commission Report, the School of Education at UFV seeks to mitigate some of this damage and work to create a society where Indigenous children and adolescents are valued for who they are.

Social justice & anti-racism

Social Justice, as one of the five School Values, is a tenet that all faculty, staff, students, and teacher candidates are expected to uphold. This value will be demonstrated through the ways in which we work together, and the ways in which we work with children. We will create inclusive learning environments that are ethical and safe by using individualized and equitable approaches that engage learners and include their voices, and by exposing gaps in education and curriculum that serve to minimize or marginalize children, students, and teachers.

However, social justice also requires us to become knowledgeable about racism and discrimination, challenging status quo, power, and privilege within education and childcare. We all hold prejudice and discriminate against others -- this is built into the way that we are hardwired as human beings. Our job as educators is to acknowledge and push against this within all aspects of our daily lives -- to become antiracist educators. This means interrogating ourselves, our experiences, and our practices, and wrestling with the discomfort that will emerge. It also means engaging in critical discourse, acknowledging and examining our own biases, and having courageous conversations about injustice and our own experiences with it.