Dr. Jodi Nickel

Professor

Excellence in Scholarly Teaching, Service and Scholarship Award 

Described by colleagues and collaborators as “relentlessly dedicated,” someone who “exemplifies excellence,” and “an open and caring instructor,” Dr. Jodi Nickel, PhD, has had a genuinely transformative impact on teacher education. These heartfelt endorsements, drawn from nomination letters of support, speak to the deep respect and admiration she has earned within the academic community.

Jodi, who arrived at Mount Royal in 2005 as an instructor in the Department of Child and Youth Studies, joined the Department of Education in 2009 as an assistant professor and was instrumental in the Bachelor of Education launch in 2011. She was the department chair from 2013 to 2018, and among many examples of service leadership at Mount Royal is currently the department’s Year 1-3 Field Coordinator supporting teacher candidates.

Jodi has spearheaded the advancement of structured literacy instruction at Mount Royal, ensuring that pre-service teachers are equipped with the most current, research-based strategies. She is emphatic that learning to read is a human right, and effective teachers are a key lever in supporting students who struggle.

Jodi was instrumental in developing MRUReads, a professionally designed open-access website that guides teacher candidates’ work in schools. In tandem with a showcase event, MRUReads has evolved into a vibrant reputational asset for Mount Royal.

Nickel's service contribution is most evident with the Dandelion Seed partners, a group emerging as the Kids Literacy Collective. When Calgary Reads disbanded in 2022,Nickel and the Department of Education became stewards of some of its assets to continue advancing literacy initiatives supporting young readers.

“Jodi always models ‘service before self’ and says ‘yes’ to many changemaker conversations,” says Steacy Pinney, Mount Royal’s 2022-24 Changemaker-in-Residence and the former CEO of Calgary Reads. “She sees strategic connections between big, wicked problems and she quietly and humbly works to have meaningful social impact.”

Jodi's scholarship focuses on teacher education, including reflective practice, professional identity, teacher leadership, and literacy. 

Dr. Gabrielle Weasel Head

Associate Professor

Excellence in Scholarly Teaching, Service and Scholarship Award

A rigorous scholar who has earned national and international recognition, Dr. Gabrielle Weasel Head — or Dr. Gabrielle Tsa’piinaki (Slanted-Eye Woman), PhD, integrates Blackfoot ways of knowing, being and doing to inspire change and propel decolonization efforts at Mount Royal and in the community.

Gabrielle joined Mount Royal as an assistant professor in 2017. As a member of the Blackfoot Confederacy’s Kainaiwa Nation, Gabrielle’s work is centred in a philosophy of being in-service to community and shaped by her identity as Niitsitapi, which she describes as “being born into a web of responsibilities that inspire me to elevate Indigenous ways of knowing, being and doing within . . . academic and societal spaces wherein Indigenous peoples have historically and contemporarily been excluded.”

Among Gabrielle’s contributions is her resolve to strengthen the relevance of Indigenous knowledges within Mount Royal’s culture. Her teaching centres on relationality and interconnectedness, apparent in INST 2270: A Virtual Exploration of the Treaty 7 Region where students engage in a detailed and critical exploration of the history and current contexts of the Treaty 7 region.

Gabrielle secured multi-million-dollar research grants with the aim of legitimizing Blackfoot research methodologies in higher education and building research capacity to ensure that non-Indigenous peers feel supported in undertaking research with Indigenous communities.

Additionally, Gabrielle is involved with the National Alliance to End Homelessness, the Calgary John Howard Society, and Mount Royal’s Human Research and Ethics Board review committee. Since 2023, she has also been a member of SSHRC’s Indigenous Advisory Circle, which works to ensure that a First Nation’s perspective shapes how Indigenous research is assessed and mobilized.

Dr. Marie Battiste, a senior Mi’kmaw scholar, Indigenous Advisory Circle peer and professor emerita at the University of Saskatchewan, says, “[Gabrielle’s] contributions demonstrate confidence and clarity of Indigenous knowledges and their proper and appropriate place in education and research, while continuing to advance national priorities in research.”

Dr. Gülberk Koç Maclean

Senior Lecturer

Excellence in Scholarly Teaching Award

Dr. Gülberk Koç Maclean, PhD, goes to impressive lengths to ensure a student-centred approach for her philosophy scholars in the Department of Humanities.

Gülberk employs multiple methods to convey course content, such as slides for read/write learners who prefer the written word, images and maps for visual learners, and detailed discussions of new concepts, ideas or theories for auditory learners. She also uses students and classroom objects to illustrate abstract concepts for kinaesthetic learners.

Because Gülberk believes students are more likely to be engaged learners if they make emotional connections, she takes the time to share her personality, background, and research interests, then invites students to reciprocate with their own experiences, knowledge and cultural practices. Students recognize these efforts by consistently awarding Gülberk 5.8 and 5.9 median SPoT scores for “feedback on learning environment”.

A Bertrand Russell scholar, Gülberk initially joined MRU in 2011 for a limited-term assistant professorship and became a Senior Lecturer in 2019. Curious about any aspect of life that poses philosophical questions, she volunteers to teach courses beyond her comfort zone.

“While I was Chair, [Gülberk] applied to teach a section on Existentialism, something light years from her original work on Russell,” recalls Dr. Mark Gardiner, PhD, a professor of philosophy. “When I asked her why she wanted to do that... she told me that she didn’t know much about Existentialist thinkers, and this would give her a great opportunity to expand her horizons.”

“No answer could better represent why she deserves this award.”

Known for her reflective teaching methods, Gülberk’s philosophy is guided by several objectives: to teach critical thinking and argumentative writing skills; to stimulate students to examine their beliefs, their lives and help them develop their own life philosophy; and to inspire them to read widely: philosophical works, novels and political and scientific news.

Gülberk is a 2018 recipient of an MRFA Teaching Excellence Award and is also a co-editor of Russell: The Journal of Bertrand Russell Studies and editor of the forthcoming Portraits of Bertrand Russell.