Faculty & staff

Jas has a wealth of teaching experience, having taught diverse curriculum in a number of cultural contexts, as well as different grade levels and subjects. Her journey reflects her commitment to take risks, while simultaneously challenging her identity as a teacher.

Her experience mirrors the lifecycle often associated with the profession: K-12 teaching of science and math, mentoring pre-service teachers at the school level, teaching and mentoring re-certifying teachers and pre-service teachers in international teacher education. She has also taught and led in-service teachers at the school district and graduate-level, locally and internationally. She has mentored and built teacher capacity through programs in the U.K, study abroad program in India, and Surrey School district’s mentoring program for 300+ teachers.  She has also written curricular resources and developed curriculum for an inquiry-based interdisciplinary STEAM program. For the last 5 years, she has co-developed graduate-level diploma programs, - including themes of mentoring and leading - trauma-sensitive practices, equity and social justice and curriculum and inquiry. Her greatest joy is collaborating with colleagues, supporting teacher-learners and teacher-mentors in pre-service and in-service teaching programs.

In order to deepen her understanding of her practical experience, Jas pursued graduate work.  Her Masters degree at the Institute of Education in London, focused on educational change, including assessment for learning in science, and teacher identity. During her doctoral studies at SFU, she researched the inequitable power relations in (inter)cultural learning found within pedagogical dynamics. This illuminated the inherent complexity that emerges through nuances in behaviour, attitudes, and ways of being. All of this highlighted the power and privilege which emerges through the discomfort experienced in intercultural encounters. Jas’ research reflects her passion for exploring the possibilities that exist beyond the surface of given phenomena. In other words, she she lays bare new possibilities that emerge through dwelling in the (dis)comfort of (inter)cultural learning. Jas is grateful that with the range of practical and scholarly experiences.  Jas is excited to deepen her experience engaging in curriculum, decolonizing, mentoring and leading as praxis.