Crystena Parker-Shandal, Ph.D.

Crystena Parker-Shandal is an associate professor in Social Development Studies at Renison University College at the University of Waterloo. She holds a PhD and a master’s in teaching from the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE) at the University of Toronto and is an Ontario Certified Teacher, with a specialization in teaching history and English. Parker-Shandal’s research on peacebuilding education in diverse multicultural classrooms with immigrant and refugee children shows how dialogic pedagogies facilitate inclusive spaces where all students have the opportunity to participate and have their voices heard. She is the author of Peacebuilding, Citizenship, and Identity: Empowering Conflict and Dialogue in Multicultural Elementary Classrooms. More information about Crystena could be found at www.drparkershandal.com

Crystena is the co-editor of Finding Refuge in Canada and the co-creator and site moderator for the Refugee Story Bank of Canada.