Doris McWhorter is the former Director of the Education Research and Evaluation Strategy Branch of the Ontario Ministry of Education where she was responsible for leading the ministry’s research and evaluation strategy, the Brian Fleming Research Library and Records Management for the Learning Ministries. Doris has a longstanding commitment to research partnerships and the mobilization of quality evidence to improve school and system effectiveness.
As an educator, school district Research Officer and MISA (Managing Information for Student Achievement) Leader, Doris was instrumental in building capacity for data management and evidence use among classroom teachers, school and system leaders. She has championed research capacity building, knowledge mobilization and collaborative partnerships between education researchers and practitioners across Ontario as past Co-Chair of the Ontario Education Research Panel (OERP), Past President of the Association of Educational Researchers of Ontario (AERO) and Co-Chair of the 2017 International Congress for School Effectiveness and Improvement. Doris has extensive experience as an organizer, facilitator and presenter at provincial, national and international education research conferences. In addition to her work with ARC, she also serves as Executive Director of the International Congress of School Effectiveness and Improvement (ICSEI).
Has a MSc in business from Norwegian Business School, majoring in strategy, and works with education technology in Norway. Oda contributes to the ARC Education Project team as technical support. She is the editor for the ARC web page as well as the ARC design and strategy consultant.
Erlend Kobro is a certified teacher working full time as an advisor, consultant and public speaker within the edtech-scene in Norway. His background is one of teaching history, English and social science at the high school level and being a local radio host. For the last four years Erlend has helped schools and municipalities in Norway to increase student engagement and wellbeing by pushing teachers and school leaders to get the most out of digital technology and at the same time changing their pedagogical and didactic practices to better align with the demands of the 21. Century.
Peter is an international consultant and has worked with all levels of school development- system, municipality, school and classroom. He is a board member of IMTEC (International Movement Towards Educational Change), which operates internationally and across Scandinavia, and consulting director for LearnLab, which develops digital tools to enhance the student´s well-being, deeper learning and democratic involvement. Peter is a former teacher and researcher at the Danish University of Education. He was head of school development in one of the largest municipalities in Denmark and director at University College of Copenhagen, where he was one of the pioneers in shaping a formal education of school leaders in Denmark. Peter holds a chair as external lecturer at Copenhagen Business School (CBS), where he teaches the subject educational change and development. Peter’s new book on ways to succeed with school development at the system level will be published in January 2021. He is the proud grandfather of four children.
Mariana Domínguez González is a Mexican doctoral student at the University of Ottawa’s Faculty of Education. Her current research focuses on plurilingualism in the Mexican Indigenous context. She lives to learn about ways of knowing and being in the world.
Sarah is a PhD candidate in the Faculty of Education at the University of Ottawa. Her research focus is on assessment and accountability. She has worked in Montessori schools in Australia and New Zealand and public schools in the United States – this has given her different perspectives on how assessment and school in general can be run. She is very interested in learning more about the Canadian system and ultimately wants to become an expert in testing and assessment to reclaim the focus of education to be about teaching and learning instead of test prep. Outside of education she enjoys travelling, running and reading.
Min Jung Kim supported ARC hosting its third summit in California as a senior project manager and research assistant to Dr. Hargreaves. Min Jung began her career in education as a middle school mathematics teacher in Baltimore and in Seoul, South Korea. As a doctoral student at Boston College, she participated in research projects around teachers’ professional networks, mathematics argument curriculum development, and distance learning. Min Jung is also a graduate student representative of Educational Change special interest group at AERA. Min Jung earned her Bachelor of Science in International Politics from Georgetown University, and a Master’s of Education in Secondary Education from the Johns Hopkins University. Her dissertation focuses on rural elementary students’ mathematical identity building as they participate in virtual small groups discussing mathematical arguments.
Caitlin Long is thrilled to have been involved with the ARC team. Caitlin began her work in public education as an elementary and middle school teacher in Massachusetts and in Guayaquil, Ecuador. She has also worked as a developer of professional learning experiences for an organization that provides systems of student support in urban public schools and has facilitated workshops for educators on teaching bilingual students and engaging families. Currently, she is the proud assistant principal of a two-way bilingual elementary school in the greater Boston area. Caitlin earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in History and Classics from Boston College, a Master’s of Education in Secondary Education in History from Boston College, and a Ph.D. in Curriculum & Instruction with a concentration in Leadership, Policy, and Educational Change, also at BC. Her dissertation was an exploration of the topic most of interest to her as a practitioner: educators’ interpretation of and responses to policy. She is happiest when working on the ground in schools and is grateful for opportunities that allow her to reflect on and improve her practice.
Joelle Pedersen was the first project manager for ARC. She has an extensive teaching resume and currently works as the literacy/English Language Arts coordinator for the Newton Public School district. Joelle also teachers in the Educational Leadership program at Boston College’s Lynch School of Education where she received her undergraduate degree, Master’s degree and PhD. Joelle’s research interests focus on educational leadership and policy, English education, and she has published work on pre-service and in-service writing teacher preparation, critical writing pedagogy, and high-stakes writing assessment.