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Caitlyn James
Year Graduated: 2007
Program/Degree: C&I Imaginative Education MEd
"Take a degree in Imaginative Education - it will revolutionize you, validate you, and ignite or stoke the fires of passion for teaching in your very core."
I teach full time at an Alternate School for grades 8 to 10 and use Imaginative Education everyday! I also have an MA in Counselling Psychology and a private practice with special focus on issues relating to family relationships, LGBTQ+ concerns, porn addiction, and self-regulation. With almost 20 years of experience I am humbled by the positive response I get from those I have helped to move closer to their best selves. My website http://ImaginingBetter.com can tell you more about me.
Please tell us how you first discovered your program.
Through a friend.
Please tell us why you chose the Faculty of Education at SFU for your studies.
Specifically for Imaginative Education and Dr. Kieran Egan.
Who is a faculty member you have enjoyed working with and why?
Dr. Kieran Egan (but there were many exceptional faculty: Dr. Jean Warburton and Dr. Sean Blenkinsop come to mind.) I heard about Dr. Kieran Egan 10 years before I knew an Imaginative Education degree would exist some time in the future. A professor of mine from my Bachelor's in Education program quoted Egan as asking the question, "Which would a grade 5 student be more interested in: the history of the neighbourhood or medieval torture implements?" I was in love! And, still am. His ideas are revolutionary. They are non-prescriptive but work in every instance (so far - and we are almost 10 years into my personal Imaginative Education "experiment")!
What do you miss most about your graduate studies in the Faculty of Education?
The collaborativeness modelled by the faculty. While we students, certainly, sit at their feet to learn, everyone one of them included our knowledge and contributions, considering them as though they might contain something worthwhile. Combined with the philosophically exciting ideas, the inclusivity and approachability of our professors, made for heady times.
What would you say to prospective students who are considering graduate school in the Faculty of Education?
Take a degree in Imaginative Education - it will revolutionize you, validate you, and ignite or stoke the fires of passion for teaching in your very core.
Is there anything else you wish to share?
My M.A. was done online. I also have a B.F.A. from U.B.C. and my B.Ed. from U.Victoria. Don't do online schooling! Show up in person - there is something qualitatively important about being there. Yes, for the faculty. Yes, for the camaraderie with your peers. And at SFU, yes, for the stunning architecture and natural setting. It really did create a backdrop to my scholastic endeavours, one I will never forget.