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Job # 299 R&D

Supervisor

Professor Shelley Stagg Peterson, Department of Curriculum, Teaching and Learning

Job/Project Title

Northern Oral language and Writing through Play (NOW Play): Supporting Young Children’s Indigenous Language and Cultural Learning and Literacy

Job Description

This position will allow you to deepen your knowledge in early childhood education, literacy teaching and learning, and Indigenous and rural education through analysis of video recordings of young children’s land-based and play-based interactions, literature reviews and co-authoring of publications for teachers on young children’s language and cultural learning and writing.

You will develop analysis and language and literacy assessment skills. You will also gain a greater knowledge of research in the fields of Indigenous languages, writing instruction and the role of play in children’s language and literacy learning. Because the research sites are in northern communities, some of which are First Nations communities, you will also develop a deeper understanding of northern rural Indigenous education issues.

Duties

You will work with a team of student and faculty researchers to carry out one or more of the following tasks:

1. Analyze video-recordings of K-8 students’ interactions as they engage in various experiential learning activities, and to analyze the writing/drawing that arises from the activities. These data will be gathered by early childhood educators and teachers in classrooms, daycares and Aboriginal Head Start programs, and uploaded to the project website.
2. Contribute to publications of participating teachers’ action research projects.

Job Location

OISE and remote/online. Secure internet access is required because of the sensitivity of data.

Period of Assignment

September 1, 2024—April 30, 2025

Hours of Assignment

240 hours                                            

Required Skills

• Elementary classroom teaching experience is required
• Background in writing for a non-academic audience would be an asset

Additional Requirements

Not applicable.

Evening or Weekend Work

Meetings with teachers in the Mountain and Central time zones may require early evening work.

Eligibility

• To hold an R&D GA, you must be registered as a full-time student at С»ÆÊéÊÓƵ in an eligible program.
• Masters students (including MA, MEd, MT, and MA-CSE) students are eligible to hold a R&D GA in the first 2 years of their program.
• MA-SCCP students are eligible to hold an R&D GA in the first 3 years of their program.
• Full-time doctoral students (PhD, EdD) are eligible to hold an R&D GA in the first 6 years of their program.
• Flex-time PhD students are eligible to be considered for a GA or R&D GA once during the first 5 years of their program and must be pursuing full-time studies as per the .
• You are ineligible for an R&D GA if you are holding a combination of scholarships, fellowships, С»ÆÊéÊÓƵ-arranged teaching assistantships, С»ÆÊéÊÓƵ-arranged course instructorships and/or research assistantships greater than or equal to the value of a full R&D GA during the academic year (September-August)
• You may not hold a Graduate Assistantship (GA) and an R&D Graduate Assistantship (R&D GA) at the same time
• For Fall/Winter, Fall, and Winter contracts, students who are full-time employees at the University of Toronto or elsewhere, are ineligible to be considered for R&D Graduate Assistantships under the  Full-time employment is defined as 35 hours per week, or where different, the number of hours specified in an employee's contract as full-time employment.
• Appointments are conditional upon a student being legally authorized to work in Canada by virtue of having a Social Insurance Number (SIN) and Canada-issued study permit by the commencement date of the appointment or, at the latest, within 14 days following the commencement date of the appointment.  Students will need a Canadian bank account to receive remuneration.

Application Deadline

June 13, 2024. No late applications will be considered.

Application Instructions

Please email your cover letter and resume as one pdf document to shelleystagg.peterson@utoronto.ca and copy to oise.research@utoronto.ca. Please quote the job number in your subject line and your student number in your covering letter. If applying for more than one R&D GA position, please submit a separate application for each job.

Full-time students may not concurrently hold a Graduate Assistantship and a Research and Development Graduate Assistantship. 

Research Development Graduate Assistantships (RDGA) are remuneration for graduate students who are engaged in research and/or field development-oriented projects contributing to their academic and professional development. The wage rate for a 2024-25 Fall/Winter RDGA is $13,382.84. 

The University of Toronto is strongly committed to diversity within its community and especially welcomes applications from racialized persons / persons of colour, women, Indigenous / Aboriginal People of North America, persons with disabilities, LGBTQ persons, and others who may contribute to the further diversification of ideas. 

The University of Toronto invites all qualified applicants to apply.