Current PhD Students

**Olivia Coscarelli**
Olivia is a PhD student in Curriculum and Pedagogy PhD student at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE). She completed a diploma in Early Childhood Education and a Bachelor’s degree in Early Childhood Studies before pursuing her Master of Teaching degree at OISE. Olivia also completed her Master of Education degree at York University before beginning doctoral studies. She is an Ontario Certified Teacher with experience as an occasional teacher and a long-term occasional teacher. Her research interests include social studies education, civic engagement, and teacher education.

**Heeba Malik**
Heeba Malik is a PhD student in Curriculum and Pedagogy at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE), University of Toronto. She holds a Master of Teaching from OISE and an Honours Bachelor of Applied Science in Early Childhood Studies from the University of Guelph-Humber. Her experience spans early childhood, elementary, and post-secondary education, as well as educational research. Her research interests focus on equity, diversity, inclusion, educational technology, and innovative teaching practices that foster accessible and inclusive learning environments.

Past MA & PhD Students

Sonder Edworthy

Sonder Edworthy is a full-time PhD student in the Curriculum and Pedagogy program at the University of Toronto. With an MA in Human Geography and a background in community arts, Sonder has over 10 years experience teaching humanities in public schools in Calgary and Toronto. Sonder is interested in how curriculum and pedagogy is mobilized to help students and future generations adapt to our changing world. Their research interests include climate literacy, climate justice and climate resilience education in ECE and youth contexts.

**Riah Werner**
Riah Werner is a Ph.D. candidate in Language and Literacies Education at the University of Toronto, where her research focuses on collaboratively developing arts-based language teaching pedagogies with Ivorian English teachers. She has taught and trained teachers in Cote d’Ivoire, Tanzania, Ecuador, Thailand, and South Korea and has developed curricula for community action theatre and multimodal storytelling projects. She founded TESOL’s International’s Arts and Creativity Professional Learning Network.

Leah Duncan

Leah Duncan is a part-time MA student in the Language and Literacies Education program at the University of Toronto. As an English and experiential education teacher with more than 10 years of experience, she is interested in elevating student voices in the classroom and fostering a learning environment in which her students' unique identities and multiliteracies are valued and enhanced. Her research interests include critical literacy, deficit discourse, and multimodal learning in academic secondary classrooms.