Faculty & staff

My career as an educator was born from a love of languages.  And it all started at the University of the Fraser Valley!! After graduating from Mission Senior Secondary, I completed a year of general arts studies at UFV, which included a study abroad opportunity in France – a turning point in my life!  A year later, I transferred to UBC, where I studied French, Spanish and Italian.  I completed the 3^rd year of my undergraduate studies in Chicoutimi, Quebec in order to fully immerse myself in French Canadian language and culture.  During that year, I combined my French studies at UQAC with part time work as a substitute secondary languages teacher.  I returned to UBC to complete my BA in 1986.  After working at Expo ‘86, I returned to Quebec and settled into life in Montreal where I entered the field of sales and marketing.  But the business world was not in the cards for me. Interesting opportunities to teach kept coming my way.  I could no longer ignore my passion for languages and my calling to become an educator. 

In 1987, I enrolled in the teacher education program at McGill University, and one year later, I moved back home to BC, where I began my career as a French Immersion teacher in the North Vancouver School District.  During my career, I worked in a variety of roles, including classroom teacher, District French Facilitator, Vice Principal, District Principal and Director of Instruction. Over the years, my leadership portfolios have included languages and literacy, curriculum design and implementation, inquiry-based teaching, early learning, place-based pedagogies, inclusive education, educational leadership, and (most recently) online/blended learning models.

I pursued graduate studies at SFU, where I completed an MA in Curriculum and Instruction in 1996 and an EdD in Transformation Change in 2013.  Over the years, I have also had many opportunities to teach in post-secondary teacher education programs.  I worked as a Faculty Associate and Sessional Instructor in the PDP program at SFU in the 1990s.  At UBC, I worked as a Faculty Advisor in the Teacher Education program (2013-14) and as a Lecturer in the Languages and Literacy Department (2019).  I have also enjoyed teaching part-time as an Adjunct Professor in graduate education programs at UBC, SFU, VIU, the Hong Kong Polytechnic University, and the New York Institute of Technology, where I have taught courses in curriculum, instruction, technology integration and educational leadership. 

I am very excited to be moving into the next chapter of my career as new faculty member in the Teacher Education Department at UFV and returning to my roots in the Fraser Valley. 

I am a Director on the Board of the Canadian Association of Second Language Teachers (CASLT). 

Language Arts and Literacy, Second Languages, Development and Special Learning Needs, Teaching to Diversity, Information Technology and Online Instruction, Educational Leadership. 

My research interests include educational leadership development, language and literacy education, inquiry-based instruction, and online/blended learning.