UQO and the Centre de services scolaires Marguerite-Bourgeoys create a research chair on innovation and best practices in education

Press release - The Université du Québec en Outaouais (UQO) and the Centre de services scolaires Marguerite-Bourgeoys (CSSMB) are establishing a partnership to create a research chair on innovation and best practices in education.

This pragmatic scientific entity will be dedicated to the study and promotion of evidence-based pedagogical practices in education. Under the responsibility of Jérôme St-Amand, associate professor in psychopedagogy in the Department of Education Sciences at UQO, this chair aims to analyze educational contexts and practices. This initiative is a major advance in the field of education in Quebec.

UQO is proud to have been awarded this new research chair, which confirms Professor St-Amand's great expertise in excellent educational practices and the need to advance research and knowledge in this field," said Rector Murielle Laberge. I am convinced that this chair will allow UQO and the Centre de services scolaires Marguerite-Bourgeoys to stand out in this niche of expertise and to increase our capacity for collective innovation leading to improved educational practices and better educational success for young people in Quebec.

"This chair is an opportunity to reaffirm the importance of research and evidence in teaching and intervention strategies, as well as in school management. As a leader in graduation, the CSSMB is proud to participate in the creation of this group of scientists whose research will contribute not only to the success of our students, but also to the success of all students in the education network," says Dominic Bertrand, director general of the CSSMB.

Scientific data in education

For Jérôme St-Amand, this Chair offers an opportunity to develop a field of study that is currently in full expansion: the improvement of educational practices through new knowledge, derived from research results, shared and disseminated in order to inspire decisions and practices in the field of education.

Through his research, Professor St-Amand's main goal is to promote informed decision-making based on evidence for the province's various competent authorities. The Chair intends to conduct research with a strong regional, national and international impact while preparing the next generation of scientists in education.

Developed in collaboration with Professor Jonathan Smith of the Université Sherbrooke, the main research areas of the new Chair are

• Analysis of contexts (availability and organization of services, characteristics of schools, classes, etc.) and practices (teaching, evaluation, classroom management, etc.) in education.
• Evaluation of the effects of educational contexts and practices on different facets of functioning (attention, motivation, self-regulation, relationships, behaviors, etc.) and student learning (in different disciplines).
• The implementation, use and improvement of research-based practices.

The five-year agreement will generate significant spin-offs that will benefit the CSSMB educational community as well as the entire Quebec school network.

This innovative initiative of the CSSMB is in addition to the establishment, in 2012, of its applied research center: the Center for Educational Intervention in the Context of Diversity (CIPCD), which provides tools for teachers and practitioners in its institutions and services. Affiliated with university partners and other partner organizations, the CIPCD has six working groups whose activities are related to migration and ethnocultural and linguistic diversity in the school context.

The UQO and the CSSMB congratulate Jérôme St-Amand for obtaining the Research Chair on Innovation and Excellence Practices in Education.

SOURCE: Centre de services scolaires Marguerite-Bourgeoys