Suzanne Majhanovich

Dr. Suzanne Majhanovich, PhD

Emerita/Adjunct Research Professor

Dr. Suzanne Majhanovich, PhD

Emerita/Adjunct Research Professor

I am a Professor Emerita/Adjunct Research Professor at the Faculty of Education, UWO, whose initial research area involved first and second language acquisition, and issues of teaching and learning second/foreign languages. I was the senior author of the French text series En français s’il vous plait and also worked at times on contract for the Ministry of Education developing curriculum guidelines for French as a Second Language and International Languages. I have been active in the Ontario Modern Language Teachers’ Association and was awarded a Life Membership in 2000. Before joining a faculty of education, I taught secondary school French as a Second Language and German.

I have a long-standing interest in comparative and international education, especially with regard to how globalization has affected education systems in Canada and elsewhere. I have made numerous presentations and published several articles in the area and have co-edited one volume of a twelve-volume book series: Globalisation, Comparative Education and Policy Research, to be published by Springer Publications; namely, volume 2, Comparative and Global Pedagogies: Equity, Access and Democracy in Education, (2008). 

Currently I am working with Dr. Joseph Zajda as co-editor of several volumes in the 30-volume series "Globalisation, Comparative Education and Policy Research" published by Springer. I have also co-edited with Drs. Joseph Zajda and Val Rust a special issue on Education and Social Justice of the International Review of Education 52(1-2) (2006) which also appeared as in book form, published by Springer. Education and Social Justice and included selected articles developed from papers presented at the 12 th World Congress of Comparative Education Societies which took place in Havana, Cuba, October, 2004.

After the 13 th World Congress, held in Sarajevo, Bosnia, I co-edited with Christine Fox and Adila Pašalić Kreso a special issue of the International Review of Education, Volume 54 (1-2) (2008) entitled Living Together: Education and Intercultural Dialogue,which was also reprinted by Springer as a stand-alone volume in 2009. The issue featured selected papers from the 13 th World Congress. After the 14 th World Congress, held in Istanbul Turkey, June 2010, I co-edited with Christine Fox and Fatma Gök a special issue for the International Review of Education,Volume 57 (3-4) (2011) entitled Bordering, Re-Bordering and new Possibilities in Education and Society based on selected presentations from the Congress. The issue was reprinted by Springer as a stand-alone volume in 2012. The special issue of the International Review of Education: Journal of Lifelong Learning that I co-edited with Diane Napier and Norberto Fernández Lamarra, “New Times, New Voices” based on selected papers from the thematic group on Higher/adult Education of the 2013 WCCES in Buenos Aires appeared as Volume 60(4) 2014.

My most recent special issue of the International Review of Education is Volume 63:4 2017, co-edited with Marie-Christine Deyrich, entitled "Language Learning to support Active Social Inclusion: Issues and Challenges for Lifelong Learning". I have also co-edited several volumes on Comparative Education for Sense Publishers. In June, 2013 I was honoured to receive the David N. Wilson Award for contributions to Comparative and International Education from the Comparative and International Education Society Canada (CIESC) at the annual meeting in Victoria BC..

From 2000-2003, I was involved in a large SSHRC project on the History of Women Teachers in Ontario (Principal Investigator, Dr. Rebecca Coulter). My area of the study, francophone women teachers in Ontario resulted in a number of conference presentations and several articles and chapters. More recently I have worked with colleagues in the Faculty on a large Ministry of Education project to investigate the feasibility of using the Common European Framework of Reference as an organizing principle for Ontario FSL programs. This project, completed June 2010 resulted in two major research reports and numerous conference presentations.

I edited the journal Canadian and International Education Volumes 34-40, until December, 2011.