Contact Information
Email: catherine.vanner@uwindsor.ca
Phone: (519)-253-3000 ext. 3822
Office: Room 3334, Leonard & Dorothy Neal Education Building
Profile
Assistant Professor of Educational Foundations
VPRI Research Chair
Catherine Vanner uses qualitative and participatory visual methods to study gender and education, with a focus on the ways in which education can transform and/or perpetuate norms and behaviours related to gender-based violence. She has conducted research in North America, in Africa, and transnationally. Her work centers feminist critical theories and perspectives. Prior to joining the Faculty of Education at the University of Windsor, she was a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in the Department of Integrated Studies in Education at McGill University. She previously worked as an Education Advisor or Consultant for organizations including Plan International, UNESCO, and the Canadian International Development Agency (now Global Affairs Canada).
Research Interests
- Gender and education
- School-related gender-based violence
- Feminist pedagogy
- Student voice
- Girls’ activism
- Textbooks and learning materials
Courses Taught
- Philosophical Orientations to Education
- Classroom Practice
- Participatory Research Methodologies
- Communication In Education
- Learning in the Educational Setting
Select Publications
Vanner, C., Goyeau, J., Logan, M., Ryan, K., Weenie, A., & Mitchell, C. (2024). Teaching about missing and murdered Indigenous women, girls, and 2SLGBTQQIA people: Implications for Canadian educators. Canadian Journal of Education, 47(1). https://doi.org/10.53967/cje-rce.5883
Vanner, C., & Almanssori, S. (2024). ‘The whole truth’: Student perspectives on how Canadian teachers should teach about gender-based violence. Pedagogy, Culture & Society, 32(1), 21–40. https://doi.org/10.1080/14681366.2021.2007987
Vanner, C. (2023). What do you want your teacher to know? Intergenerational reflections in education research. International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education. Advanced online publication. https://doi.org/10.1080/09518398.2023.2233916
Vanner, C., Akseer, S., & Kovinthan Levi, T. (Eds.) (2022). Teaching peace and conflict: The multiple roles of school textbooks in peacebuilding. Springer. https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-031-04676-6
Vanner, C., Shahzadeh, Y., Holloway, A., Mitchell, C. & Altenberg, J. (2022). “Round and round the carousel: A visual method for facilitating youth dialogue.” In C. Burkholder, F. Aladejebi & J. Schwab Cartas (Eds.), Leading and listening to community: Facilitating qualitative, arts-based & visual research for social change. Routledge. https://www.routledge.com/Facilitating-Community-Research-for-Social-Change-Case-Studies-in-Qualitative-Arts-Based-and-Visual-Research/Burkholder-Aladejebi-Schwab-Cartas/p/book/9781032058023
Vanner, C. (2022). Education about gender-based violence: Opportunities and obstacles in the Ontario secondary school curriculum. Gender and Education, 34(2), 134–150. https://doi.org/10.1080/09540253.2021.1884193
Kimani, M.N. & Vanner, C. (2021). “When my hands were tied, you were able to continue”: A collaborative ethnography of insider-outsider partnerships when managing child protection in research. Journal of Autoethnography, 2(2): 161-176. https://doi.org/10.1525/joae.2021.2.2.161
Vanner, C. (2019). Toward a definition of transnational girlhood. Girlhood Studies, 12(2), 115-132. https://doi.org/10.3167/ghs.2019.120209
Vanner, C. (2018). “This is a competition”: The relationship between examination pressure and gender violence in primary schools in Kenya. International Journal of Educational Development, 62: 35-46. doi:10.1016/j.ijedudev.2018.02.001
Vanner, C., Akseer, S., & Kovinthan, T. (2016). Learning peace (and conflict): The role of primary learning materials in peacebuilding in post-war Afghanistan, South Sudan and Sri Lanka. Journal of Peace Education, 14(1): 32-53. https://doi.org/10.1080/17400201.2016.1213710
Vanner, C. (2015). Positionality at the centre: Constructing an epistemological and methodological approach for a Western feminist researcher working in the postcolonial. International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 14(4), 1-12. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijedudev.2018.02.001
Education
Ph.D. in Education, University of Ottawa
M.A. in International Affairs, Carleton University
B.A. (Honours) in Political Science, McMaster University
Research Grants
2023. Insight Grant. “Achieving Gender Justice in Canadian Secondary Schools.” Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.
2023. Partnership Engage Grant. “Leading Change: Youth-Led Feminist Activism for Gender Transformative Education.” Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.
2022. Connection Grant. “Empowering Educators for Gender Justice: A Teacher Workshop.” Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.
2019. Evidence for Education in Emergencies Research Grant. “Participatory Research on Education and Agency in Mali.” Dubai Cares.
2019. Insight Development Grant. “Intergenerational Participatory Analysis: A Methodological Approach for Engaging Students and Teachers.” Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.
2018. Innovation Research Grant. “Innovating Gender Monitoring in CIES.” Comparative International Education Society.