Dawn Zinga

Biography

My research interests are focused primarily in the following three areas: cultural diversity within educational contexts; Indigenous education; digital and e-learning contexts. In the area of cultural diversity, I examine how newcomer, Indigenous, and mainstream youth navigate educational contexts. Specifically, I am interested in how students navigate and negotiate the following: creating community/social bonds; experiencing and resisting educational policy; multiculturalism and racism; educational pathways. I combine my teaching and research to examine effective ways of teaching university students about racism and multiculturalism. I am also an active non-Indigenous scholar working within the field of Indigenous education where my work focuses on: decolonizing approaches to education within various modalities; Indigenous distance education; Indigenous and non-Indigenous research collaborations; negotiating Indigenous community and university collaborations; ethical considerations in Indigenous research; Indigenous pedagogy and practice; infusing Indigenous ways of knowing into the classroom; integration of Indigenous teaching and learning in higher education with both Indigenous and mainstream students; Aboriginal education within Canadian contexts. My work in digital and e-learning contexts has largely focused on distance education, e-learning contexts and techniques, and cyber-bullying. In addition, I also do some research on teaching and learning that intersects with my other primary areas of research.

Research Interest

"My research interests are focused primarily in the following three areas: cultural diversity within educational contexts; Indigenous education; digital and e-learning contexts. Cultural diversity in educational contexts; Children and youth’s conceptual understandings of multiculturalism and race; Experiences of racism; Preparing educators for diverse classrooms; Educational policy; Educational pathways; Indigenous education; Indigenous and non-Indigenous research collaborations; Indigenous methodologies Decolonizing approaches; Indigenous pedagogy and practice; Distance education; E-learning contexts and techniques; E-learning pedagogy and practice; Cyber-bullying; Discourses on child and youth rights"