College of Education

Research Area(s)

  • teacher education; secondary school English language arts; Aboriginal education; decolonization; transformative education; curriculum; reciprocity; and service learning

About

Dr. Geraldine Balzer is an Associate Professor of Curriculum Studies in the College of Education at the University of Saskatchewan. Her early experience teaching Inuit students sparked her dedication to decolonizing pedagogies and transformative education. Dr. Balzer’s teaching emphasizes challenging the dominance of standard English and embracing the global diversity of Englishes, integrating Indigenous and postcolonial literature in secondary classrooms, and preparing future teachers as advocates for social justice. Her research centers on decolonization and social justice, working closely with educators to explore diverse literary texts and theories that foster critical thinking about societal issues. Dr. Balzer also examines the impact of International Experiential Education/Service Learning on both Canadian participants and host communities in Central America, with a focus on ensuring that Indigenous voices from the Global South are integral to program development and implementation. A guiding principle of her research is reciprocity, aiming to create research partnerships that are co-owned by both researchers and communities, rather than exploitative or extractive.

Education

  • Ph.D. University of Saskatchewan, Interdisciplinary Studies (Curriculum Studies and English), 2007
  • M.Ed. University of Saskatchewan, 1987
  • M.A. University of Waterloo, English, 1983 
  • B.A. University of British Columbia,Theatre Arts and English, 1980

Teaching

  • ECUR 898: Dialogical Education
  • ECUR 898: Adolescent Learning
  • ECUR 834: Community Engaged Research
  • ECUR 833: Emancipatory Education
  • ECUR 815: Decolonizing Education
  • ECUR 811: Decolonizing Curriculum

Service and Outreach

Building Reciprocity in International Experiential Education

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dUw7gKpvV80

For decades, students and volunteers from the Global North have engaged in service learning and experiential education in the Global South. Members of host communities have shared both the joys and frustrations of participating in these programs, noting that their cultural protocols and daily challenges are often overlooked or inadequately respected.

Participants from Nicaragua and Guatemala recently gathered in Managua, Nicaragua, to share their experiences with Canadian researchers. Their stories underscore the significance of visits from the Global North while also revealing the often-one-way flow of knowledge. In this video, they challenge Global North participants to explore ways to co-develop programs that honor local protocols, uphold community governance, and promote reciprocity.

Individuals and institutions partnering with communities and agencies in the Global South are called upon to build equitable relationships with their hosts and collaborators.

Selected Publications

  • Balzer, G., Strong-Wilson, T., & Burke, A. (Eds) (2023) Encountering pedagogies of discomfort in practice: Teaching to social justice using post-colonial texts. Springer.
  • Balzer, G., Epp, D., Guenther, B., Hall, C., & McKinnon, K. (2023) Challenging the taken for granted. In Balzer, G., Strong-Wilson, T., & Burke, A. (Eds) Encountering pedagogies of discomfort in practice: Teaching to social justice using post-colonial texts. Springer.
  • Shin, H. & Balzer, G. (2022) Socratic circles, critical literacy and culturally responsive teacher education. In F. Carra-Salsberg, M. Figueredo & M. Jeon (Eds.). Globally informed design and praxis in languages, literatures and linguistics curricula. University of Toronto Press.
  • Kornelson, L., Balzer, G., & Magro, K. (Eds.) (2020) Teaching global citizenship: A Canadian perspective. Canadian Scholars’ Press.

Selected Presentations

  • Balzer, G. (2024) Reading the World in Times of Conflict. European Literacy Congress, Platanias, Greece (June 24-26).
  • Balzer, G., Jackson, N., Heidebrecht, L., & O’Sullivan, M. (2024) Reciprocity: What Does It Mean and What Does It Matter in Global South/Global North Research Relationships. Canadian Society for Studies in Education, Montreal, (June 16, 2024).
  • Balzer, G. (April 2024) Reading the Word and the World: Teaching for Social Justice in Turbulent Times. Institut für Anglistik und Amerikanistik, Fachdidaktik Englisch. Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Germany (keynote)
  • Balzer, G. (February 2024) Becoming Social Justice Teachers: Reading the Postcolonial World. Untericht_Kultur_Theorie II, Universität Bielefeld, Germany. (keynote)
  • Balzer, G. (January 2023) Reading the Postcolonial World: Developing a Pedagogy of Social Justice Teaching, Faculty of Education, Universität Bielefeld, Germany.
  • Balzer, G., Jackson, N., Heidebrecht, L., & O’Sullivan, M. (2023) Research plans and research realities: What happens when researchers from the Global North enter into research relationships with partners in the Global South. Canadian Society for Studies in Education, Toronto, (May 28, 2023).
  • Balzer, G., & Louloudi, E. (Re-)Envisioning Picturebooks for Equity and Social Justice in Teacher Education: Pursuing the Light through a Pedagogy of Discomfort. National Council of Teachers of English, Anaheim, (November 18, 2022).