Public Good

Episode Abstract:  This episode explores the re-emergence of the “reading wars,” beginning with a warning about the way the framing of this discussion through the language of war and militaristic terms is first, insulting to people who are experiencing war, and second, creates divisive and polarizing camps that get in the way of generative conversation about helping students in public schools lear...

Episode Abstract:  Today’s episode focuses on the role the mainstream media plays in re-presenting the parental rights movement to the populace. More specifically, the way that “parental rights” are legitimized and mobilized by the way it is covered in mainstream media.  Guest Bio: Matthew McCorquodale-Bauer is an English and Humanities educator at Jameswood Alternative School. He recently complet...

Episode Abstract:  This episode interrogates the ways that the “parental rights” movement employs the facade of parenthood to alibi homophobic and transphobic views, and to erase the views of parents and families who want public schools that uphold children’s rights and human rights--inclusive of the rights of 2SLGBTIQIA+ students, parents, and citizens. The episode focuses on the province of Albe...

Episode Abstract:  This is the first of three consecutive episodes about the “parental rights” movement in the Prairies. The episode focuses on the “parental rights” groups that are operating in Alberta, their tactics, and the ways these groups have impacted legislation in the province. We consider the motivations of these groups and the broader impact they are having on public education and the p...

Episode Abstract  With trustee elections happening at the end of October 2026 in Manitoba, we decided to speak to someone who has served as a trustee in Winnipeg for the last four years. Our guest reflects on what motivated them to run to become a trustee, what the role actually entails, and how trustees balance the needs and interests of students, families, educators, and the broader community. W...

Episode Abstract:  In this episode we explore why locally elected school boards matter. Although this is a podcast focused on the prairie provinces, we consider how recent actions by the Ontario government--to assert control over school boards, eliminate local voice, and move toward centralization--serve as a warning about what is lost when we surrender local democracy. Bill 33, Ontario’s Supporti...

Episode Abstract:   This episode explores teacher competency discourses. Teacher competencies are frameworks that define the knowledge, skills, practices, and behaviours expected of teachers, often translating the complex work of teaching into observable and measurable standards, suggesting a uniform and best way to teach, and ignoring the varied contexts in which teachers work. These discourses m...

Episode Abstract: This episode considers the weaponization of neutrality in education. Neutrality has the air of common sense, gaining power through repetition, yet it does not withstand deeper questioning: What does it mean to be neutral? Can you describe a neutral classroom? Is the provincial curriculum neutral? Are school policies neutral? Are there not topics that require teachers to take an e...

In this trailer, we introduce a new "franchise" of the Public Good podcast, Public Good on the Prairies. In this trailer, Stephen Hurley passes his co-host chair to Justin Fraser. Stephen explains what he has been up to since recording the last season of Public Good, Justin introduces himself, and we offer an outline of what listeners can expect in this Prairie focused season.  The show's producer...

Episode Description In the fourth and final episode of a four part mini series about "parental rights", Stephen and Shannon speak with Heather Ganshorn from SOS Alberta. Heather Ganshorn is the Research Director for Support Our Students Alberta, a volunteer organization that advocates for an equitable and accessible public education system. SOS believes that privatization threatens public educatio...

Episode Description In the third episode of a four part mini series about "parental rights", Stephen and Shannon speak to Dr. Wayne Journell. Dr. Journell is Professor of Social Studies Education and Associate Chair of the Department of Teacher Education and Higher Education at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG). A former high school social studies teacher, Dr. Journell received...

Episode Description In this first episode in a four part mini series about "parental rights", Stephen and Shannon speak to Dr. Jen Gilbert. Dr. Gilbert is Professor and Chair of the Department of Curriculum, Teaching and Learning (CTL). Dr. Gilbert’s scholarship and teaching explores the experiences of LGBTQ+ students, teachers, and families in schools and the history of controversies over sex edu...

Episode Description In this second episode in a four part mini series about "parental rights", Stephen and Shannon speak to Dr. Lauren Bialystok. Professor Lauren Bialystok is an Associate Professor at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education in the Department of Social Justice Education. Her areas of expertise are ethics and education, identity, feminist philosophy, social and political phi...

Through this four episode special series of Public Good, Stephen and Shannon speak to presenters from a SSHRC funded symposium, Public Conversations About Privatization: Rejecting the Marketization of Public School Systems in Canada. The symposium, held on May 26 & 27th, 2023, at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE), brought together academics, educators, activists and communi...

Through this four episode special series of Public Good, Stephen and Shannon speak to presenters from a SSHRC funded symposium, Public Conversations About Privatization: Rejecting the Marketization of Public School Systems in Canada. The symposium, held on May 26 & 27th, 2023, at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE), brought together academics, educators, activists and communi...

Through this four episode special series of Public Good, Stephen and Shannon speak to presenters from a SSHRC funded symposium, Public Conversations About Privatization: Rejecting the Marketization of Public School Systems in Canada. The symposium, held on May 26 & 27th, 2023, at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE), brought together academics, educators, activists and communi...

Through this four episode special series of Public Good, Stephen and Shannon speak to presenters from a SSHRC funded symposium, Public Conversations About Privatization: Rejecting the Marketization of Public School Systems in Canada. The symposium, held on May 26 & 27th, 2023, at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE), brought together academics, educators, activists and communi...

In our eighteenth episode, Stephen and Shannon are joined by Dr. Gillian Parekh. Dr. Parekh is an Associate Professor and Canada Research Chair in Disability Studies in Education (Tier 2) within the Faculty of Education at York. Gillian is cross-appointed with York's graduate program in Critical Disability studies. As a previous teacher in special education and research coordinator with the Toront...

In our seventeenth episode, Stephen and Shannon are joined by Dr. Tiffany Prete. Dr. Apooyak’ii, Tiffany Prete (nee Hind Bull) is a member of the Kainai (Blood Tribe) of the Siksikasitapi (Blackfoot Confederacy), located in the Treaty 7 area. She is an assistant professor in the Department of Sociology at the University of Lethbridge. Her program of work is comprised of implementing the Truth and...

In the sixteenth episode of Public Good, Shannon and Stephen are joined by Dr. Benjamin Justice. Benjamin Justice is Professor in the Department of Educational Theory, Policy, and Administration at the Rutgers Graduate School of Education. He is also an associate member of the History Department at Rutgers—New Brunswick and is a Senior Research Scholar and member of the Justice Collaboratory at Ya...

In our fifteenth episode of Public Good, Shannon and Stephen are joined by Dr. Sean Carleton Dr. Sean Carleton is a settler scholar and an Assistant Professor in the Departments of History and Indigenous Studies at the University of Manitoba in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Treaty 1 territory and the homeland of the Métis Nation. Dr. Carleton’s research examines the history and political economy of colonial...

In our fourteenth episode of Public Good, Shannon and Stephen are joined by Charline Grant from Parents of Black Children. Charline Grant led the fight to take on the York Region District School Board to defend and advocate for her children and others against systematic racism. Her efforts led to: provincial changes in education; increased accountability and transparency around finances; and equit...

In our thirteenth episode of Public Good, Shannon and Stephen are joined by Stéphane Vigneault of L’école Ensemble After studying political science (University of Ottawa, IEP Strasbourg, Stockholms Universitet), Stéphane Vigneault worked at home and abroad in the field of public policy and communications. He is one of the co-founders of École ensemble and is its coordinator. https://www.ecoleensem...

In our twelfth episode of Public Good, Shannon and Stephen are joined by Dr. Annie Kidder from People for Education Annie Kidder is the Executive Director and a founder of People for Education. Formerly a theatre director, Kidder became involved in public education in Ontario in the late 1990’s and since then has become an expert on education policy and funding. She regularly provides advice to po...

In our eleventh episode of Public Good, Shannon and Stephen are joined by Dr. Joelle Rodway Dr. Joelle Rodway is an assistant professor in Educational Leadership at the Memorial University of Newfoundland. Her primary research interests focus on the role of social capital in educational change in K-12 contexts. Specifically, she examines the ways educators’ social networks mediate the ways in whic...