June 19, 2008
Media contact: Anne Russell
Cell: 604-798-3709
Office: 604-795-2826
or 604-504-7441, local 2826
anne.russell@ucfv.ca
UFV Social Work educator Adrienne Chan 2008 Teaching Excellence winner
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| Adrienne Chan on Convocation day with some of her many admirers. |
Teaching isn’t just lecturing to a classroom of students for Adrienne Chan.
It’s sharing her years of in-the-field experience, mentoring them as they launch their professional careers, and learning almost as much from them as they learn from her.
Chan, this year’s winner of the Teaching Excellence award at the University of the Fraser Valley, has been at UFV since 2004, and had extensive teaching experience at the post-secondary level before that.
She received her award at UFV’s June 13 Convocation ceremony.
Chan teaches in the School of Social Work and Human Services at UFV, leading classes in research methods, cross-cultural and anti-racism studies, child welfare, and theory and ethics. She also supervises
students completing their practica. She resides in Vancouver.
The programs Chan teaches in tend to attract mature learners who are focused on gaining a specific skill set for their career in the social work field. While she respects their need for practical skills, she also
makes sure they’re equipped with the critical thinking abilities and the knowledge needed to reflect on their role as a social work professional.
“There is an applied focus at UFV in that our programs are very geared for employment, but learning is a lifelong process - we want to prepare our students to keep on learning after they earn their diploma
or degree,” Chan says. “For example, we want them to take what they learn in our anti-racism or cross-cultural courses and carry those principles with them as they move through their careers.”
Chan came to teaching after being a practising social worker for several years. She started by teaching continuing studies classes in stress management to people with chronic pain, and then taught in social
services certificate and diploma programs at Camosun and Douglas colleges. She came to UFV in 2004, after completing her doctorate in adult/continuing education at England’s University of Kent at
Canterbury, and then post-doctoral studies at the University of British Columbia.
“I was attracted to teaching because I enjoy the interaction with learners and the energy and ideas they bring with them,” she says. “Adult learners come with experience, expertise, and ideas that
they want to explore. They are generally very motivated and a pleasure to teach.”
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| Adrienne Chan in the UFV Shakespeare garden. |
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| Adrienne Chan with Acting Dean Ian McAskill. |
Teaching in such an applied discipline, Chan also finds herself constantly sharing stories of from her years in the field.
“The students really rely on us to provide examples. When teaching the child welfare course I can refer back to experiences I had, and when teaching about the health system I can give examples of how my clients have overcome challenges,” she notes.
When supervising students on their practicum placements, Chan does more than just visit them in the field. She also has them keep journals so they can reflect on what they’re learning, and on how their fieldwork relates to their own lives and what they’ve learned in the classroom.
“I find that our students have a lot of ‘a ha’ moments through the journal keeping, and that is very gratifying for me,” she notes, adding that the Social Work program encourages “reflective
practice”.
Adrienne also strongly believes in being a role model for and advisor for her students.
“Our students are always multi-tasking, juggling families and other commitments, and I try to have an open door for them and encourage them to come and talk if they need advice. We aren’t counsellors to
students, but we can discuss life-work balance, and self care. The small class sizes here afford us the luxury of lots of time for office hours and email consultation.”
Through a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council grant she’s received for her research on social justice in university settings, Chan has also secured funding to hire student researchers. She mentors them in research methods, giving them the chance to assist with document review, analysis, and interviewing.
Overall, Chan is happy with her decision to teach at the university level because of the development she sees in her students.
“Teaching is a growth process for both my students and myself,” she says “Over the three or four years that the students are with us I really see growth in their ability to critically analyze things, and an
increasingly dynamic level of engagement. They’re concerned about their grades, but they’re also very interested in making their learning applicable to the world in which they live.”
Many of her current and former students enthusiastically supported her nomination for the Teaching Excellence award.
“I felt compelled to nominate Dr. Adrienne Chan for the Teaching Excellence award due to her outstanding qualities … including her ability to stimulate and awaken critical thinking within her students and her contribution towards mentoring future social workers, who will undoubtedly carry their learning with them into practice,” noted student Nancy Larson.
“Dr. Chan is an extremely well respected professor academically speaking. She is also known amongst the student population for demonstrating a genuine respect for her students both inside and outside
the classroom,” noted Social Work alumna Jodi Archer in a letter of support. “Dr. Chan takes the time to make sure that her students understand the material being presented, and appears to recognize that
people learn at different intervals and in different ways. She takes her job seriously, and strives to create a learning environment that is fair, positive, and respectful for all.”
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