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Lorna Ruth McLean
In Memoriam: Lorna Ruth McLean
1951–2024
Dr. Lorna McLean died on March 19, 2024 in Ottawa surrounded by the love of her family: her sisters, Joan and Janice McLean, her husband of 52 years, Gord Robertson, and her daughters, Heather and Andrea Robertson. She also leaves her two young grandsons, Douglas and Bradley. Lorna chose MAID to end her struggle against Parkinson’s disease.
Lorna began her career as an elementary school teacher, having attended Stratford Teachers’ College and thereafter teaching at Cedarbrae Public School in Waterloo, Ontario. This early professional preparation not only equipped her with outstanding pedagogical skills but also with insights into school culture that sustained her when she was hired in 1999 by the University of Ottawa to teach in the Faculty of Education’s preservice and graduate programs. By that time too, she had completed MA and PhD degrees in History at the University of Ottawa. Her PhD dissertation contained “a stunningly brilliant set of new ideas,” in the words of her external examiner.
Lorna was a long-term member of CSSE and CAFE. With Sharon Cook, she was the recipient of the 2002 CAFE National Book Award for Framing Our Past: Canadian Women’s History in the Twentieth Century Montreal and Kingston, McGill/Queen’s University Press. (495 pp.).[i] The book featured different distinguished women’s historians who wrote introductory essays, all of which are based on archival documents, for each of the book’s six parts, on women’s cultural history, to labour history, and all topics in between. These introductions were matched with longer chapters by other equally prominent women’s historians and with engaging short vignettes to illustrate the archival themes in the book. The book successfully appealed to a wide audience of scholarly and popular readers.[ii] Until very close to her death, Lorna worked with a team of young scholars and graduate students to develop lesson plans for the book’s use at the secondary-school level.
Lorna’s early work concentrated on women and the law in the nineteenth century.[iii] She charted the contours of domestic violence as it appeared in court records along with evidence of widows’ contributions to the family economy. In addition to refereed articles she published on the topic, she was also co-editor of a book on the law in historical perspective.
In addition to her scholarship in women’s history, Lorna developed an extensive research program in citizenship education. This work was historical and contemporary, taking on such topics as women’s peace activism and “global” education.[iv] She published as well on historical thinking skills.
Lorna always generously gave her time and expertise. She was a member of the History Education Network (THEN/HiER) and was a co-applicant on the landmark Thinking Historically for Canada’s Future Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) Partnership Grant whose mandate is to assess and improve history education in Canada. Her dedication to building bridges between historians and educators was particularly striking as a founding member (2009-2012), and then as director (2012-2020), of the Educational Research Unit Faire de l’histoire/Making History at the University of Ottawa. She further upheld educational and women’s history through contributions to such groups as the Ontario Women’s History Network and the Citizenship Educational Research Network. Lorna also served as Director of Graduate Studies in the Faculty of Education.
A good citizen herself, Lorna tirelessly promoted Democracy Studies and Global Education. For a decade she co-coordinated a far-reaching program in Global Education for pre-service teacher candidates funded by the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) that involved two yearly conferences, workshops, film festivals, lesson-writing projects and working retreats.
Her strong mentoring skills were a further reflection of the quality and span of her work. Graduate students leapt to work with Lorna and she attracted a number over the years who produced an impressive and diverse range of theses. Lorna organized writing workshops and co-authored at least one published article with most of her students. In 2017, she was the recipient of the Excellence in Thesis Supervision Award by the Faculty of Education, a prize only awarded every three years. Lorna hosted many visiting graduate doctoral students and post-doctoral fellows, and mentored novice professors.
Over the years, her work garnered numerous awards. She won the Carol Crealock Memorial Award from CSSE for her dedication to social justice education and the University of Ottawa’s Excellence in Education Prize for her leadership, to name just two. She was also a visiting scholar at the University of Edinburgh, Scotland (2015) and at the University of Sydney, Australia (2005-2006).
Lorna McLean was a talented scholar, valued mentor and treasured colleague. No list of her accomplishments, no matter how long that list would be, can speak to her personal qualities, including her quiet, calm and considered support for others around her, human and animal. Lorna and Gord lived in a gracious home with a succession of well trained and adored dogs and cats, most of them rescued, and all with huge personalities. To all, she was devoted. She is much missed.
Sharon Anne Cook & Marie-Hélène Brunet
University of Ottawa
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[i] Tina Loo and Lorna McLean, eds., Historical Perspectives on Law and Society in Canada (Toronto: New Canadian Readings Series, Copp Clark Longman Ltd. 1994).
[ii] Sharon Cook, Lorna McLean and Kate O’Rourke, eds., Framing Our Past: Canadian Women’s History in the Twentieth Century (Montreal & Kingston: McGill/Queen’s University Press; 2001, Reprinted, 2006).
[iii] Lorna McLean, “‘Deserving’ Wives and ‘Drunken’ Husbands: Wife Beating, Marital Conduct, and the Law Ontario, 1850-1910”, Histoire sociale/Social History 35, no. 69 (2002): 50-81. See also Lorna McLean, “The Legal and Political status of Women from 1850 to the Present”, in Canadian History in Multimedia, 1867 to the Present, eds. Chris Hackett and Bob Hesketh (Edmonton: Chinook Multimedia CDROM, 2001), 45 pages and Lorna McLean, “Single Again: Widows’ Work in the Urban Family Economy, 1871”, Ontario History LXXXIII, no. 2 (1991), 127-150.
[iv] Lorna McLean, “‘The Good Citizen’: Masculinity and Citizenship at Frontier College, 1899-1933,” in Constructing Canadian Citizenship: Historical Readings, eds. Robert Adamoski, Dorothy Chunn and Robert Menzies (Vancouver: Broadview Press, 2002), 225-245; Lorna McLean and Jamilee Baroud, “Democracy Needs Education: Performance, Peace and Pedagogy, Julia Grace Wales,” Paedagogica Historica 56, no. 4 (2019): 503-519. DOI:1080/00309230.2019.1616783; Jennifer Bergen, Sharon Cook and Lorna McLean, “Global citizenship Education and Teacher Education,” in Global Citizenship Education and Teacher Education: International Perspectives and Practices, eds., Daniel Schugurensky and Charl Wolhuter (New York: Routledge, 2020), 40-59; Lorna McLean and Nicholas Ng-A-Fook, eds., Developing a Global Perspective for Educators, Special Issue: Revue d’éducation/Education Review (Ottawa: Faculty of Education, University of Ottawa, 2013); Lorna McLean, “‘The Necessity of Going’: Julia Grace Wales’s Transnational Life as a Peace Activist and a Scholar” in Writing Feminist History: Productive Pasts and New Directions, eds. Catherine Carstairs and Nancy Janovicek (Vancouver: University of British Columbia Press, 2013), 77-95; and, Sharon Cook and Lorna McLean, “Historically Invisible: The Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom, 1914-29,” in Breaking Barriers, Shaping Worlds: Canadian Women and the Search for Global Order, eds., Jill Campbell-Miller, Stacey Barker and Greg Donaghy (Vancouver: University of British Columbia Press, 2021), 93-115.
Lynn Thomas
Lynn Thomas
13 June 2022
The CSSE Executive are deeply saddened to learn of the passing of Dr. Lynn Thomas, professeure titulaire à Université de Sherbrooke and longstanding member of CSSE. Lynn is a deeply respected member of CSSE and a champion of research, pedagogy, and teaching in Canada. She has served in many roles within our scholarly community, including as CSSE President from 2018 to 2020, as President of both the Canadian Association for Teacher Education (CATE) and Canadian Association for the Study of Women and Education (CASWE), as well as innumerable roles on various CSSE committees.
In 2021, Lynn received the Herbert T. Coutts Distinguished Service Award, in recognition of her outstanding contributions to CSSE and the Canadian educational research community. Lynn’s nominators highlighted her leadership, expertise, and genuine care for the people she worked with. Beyond her substantial formal contributions, Lynn also provided steadfast friendship, mentorship to graduate students, and much-needed insights across multiple fields of educational research. Our thoughts are with Lynn’s family and friends during this difficult time.
Todd Rogers
Todd Rogers
It is with great sadness and sorrow that we share the news that W. Todd Rogers passed away on December 30, 2020. He was diagnosed with dementia in March of 2020 and was in full-time care when he suffered a fatal heart attack at the age of 79. After completing his Ph.D with Gene V Glass in 1971, Todd’s academic career took him from the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), to the University to California Riverside, to the University of British Columbia (Associate Professor), and to the University of Alberta (Professor) where he retired in 2006 (not that this slowed him down). Todd was a renowned and dedicated academic scholar in the field of educational measurement and research. This dedication included his long term association and work with the Canadian Educational Researchers’ Association, serving as the president from 1980-1982, and the Canadian Society for the Study of Education (CSSE) / Société canadienne pour l´étude de l´éducation (SCÉÉ), serving as its president in 1985-1986. Todd’s work as the chair for the Working Group of the Joint Advisory Committee that developed the Principles for Fair Student Assessment Practices for Education in Canada and his directorship of the Centre for Research in Applied Measurement and Evaluation (CRAME) are lasting legacies of his impact. For the many who were blessed to know and work with Todd, he will be remembered for so much more, including his long time support for educational research in Canada and beyond, and his dedication to supporting students and colleagues. His mentorship skills were recognised with the Canadian Committee of Graduate Students in Education (CCGSE) Mentorship Award in 2000. A celebration of Todd’s life will occur at a future date when people are able to safely gather to remember his accomplishments and contributions, and his impact on so many of our lives. In lieu of flowers please consider a donation to charities dealing with Alzheimer’s and dementia and/or heart disease.
Given the time to come together in honour of Todd is unknown, the family is creating a “book” of memories to be shared in memory and celebration of Todd’s life and contributions. If you have a memory of W. Todd Rogers you would like to share, please forward this to Professor Don A. Klinger (don.klinger@waikato.ac.nz). Don will compile your “academic” memories and “Todd stories” on behalf of Todd’s family.
Carl Leggo
Carl Leggo
The CSSE community mourns the loss of Dr. Carl Leggo (1953-2019). Carl was a member of CSSE for almost two decades. He was particularly active in the Canadian Association for Curriculum Studies (CACS), Language and Literacy Researchers of Canada (LLRC), and the Arts Researchers and Teachers Society (ARTS). He was a celebrated professor in the Department of Language and Literacy Education at UBC and in 2012, he received the prestigious Killam Award for Excellence in Mentoring for his outstanding supervision, inspiration, care and support of graduate students. Carl’s scholarly, teaching, and mentorship achievements were renown–he received the Ted Aoki Award in 2013 for his distinguished service within the field of Canadian Curriculum Studies.
Carl was well known for acknowledging the sacredness of being human. He had the warmth and wisdom to provide the specific type of solace that each person needed at the right time. He was not afraid of playing with words and narratives, and, above all, valued love and family, setting out to learn more about love in his research and his life. He leaves behind a legacy in Poetic Inquiry, leading by example, The International Symposium on Poetic Inquiry community (www.poeticinquiry.ca). He will be greatly missed by many. A blog of poems for Carl are at https://poemaday4carl.home.blog. The poem below, contributed to the blog by Sean Wiebe, remembers Carl for his legacy of poetry, love of family, and joy of living.
Leggo’s O’s
(Written in the style of Peter Van Toorne’s Mountain Boogie)
O the too loud tick-tock knick knock
O perpendicular man growing hillside up
O homemade balsamic vinaigrette
O silver surfer slicing ice sing song
O E, O H, O English method man
O happy hair hoping lemon sunshine
O the poetic license of Freudian cloud penises
O baleful howl of a coyote’s cello
O moan of moon, mother’s house, the view of Lynch’s Lane
O the peer review of Jacques Cousteau
O Skipper muscle squat deadlift
O turbine churning tangerine sunsets
O cherry tomatoes cucumbers and peas
O Heloise’s fist full of Abelard
O Antonio’s big mouth apple bite
O double pike somersault with a twist
O Tigger tip toeing T-T-F-N
O bicep flex dapper black red seas
O golden sip of hand crafted beer
O fathers and sons sailing National Geographic
O the way home
O Augustine’s heart hole in a concrete boat
O Cec Frazer Macky my brother and me
O ping pong balls gnip gnap the nog frog leaps
O Jesus calls
O Gros Morne Polaroid snap
O the cosmos in a spider’s web
O ding dong, ding a ling, leg loose diaper sliding
O Pooh wisdom babbling in morse code
O doodle, poodle, puddle, cuddle
O spice of stippled salamander palimpsest
O man of letters, long-vowels, tangled lines
O S-O-S, O E-S-S-O, O Leggo love calls
O highways, ferryways, His ways, always
O pink pink hibiscus rose hips fluttering butterfly fear
O yogun fruz chairlift holler
O sock removed at the toll booth window
O jiggly jello sploosh refracting summer’s light
O top down under Newfoundland sky
O Chilliwack manure tandem truck trailer
O coin flip call in a windstorm
O friggin cold February sucking icicles
O Saint at the threshold calls Leggo home
O gulps of water echoing down your throat in stereo
O father’s arms open whiskered cheeks
O dog dazzle at the doorway of life
O tao of Glad Tidings Tabernacle
O vocāre vision velvet valentines
O too few the mornings be
O Seuss sass says sing faithfulness
O brook breeze lazy days reading round corners
O salsa beats deep well heart whole
O Father untangling Caleb’s line twisted in knots
O wormwork wormwood library shush
O Oscars spark red carpet tango
O pots and pans and grandchildren bands
O Lana, Anna, and movies Tuesdays
O Fred Astaire at the Papermaker’s Ball
O loon call lingers lakeside cafe
O cotton dress hugging wet skin
O lost boy loves father in found poem
O found brother in lost pen in coat
O grandmother I love you
O the ways to build a boat, plank by plank, rib by rib
Marion Porath
Marion Porath
Dr. Marion Porath, Professor Emerita (UBC), passed away on June 13, 2018, in Victoria, BC. Marion was an award-winning teacher, scholar, and researcher, and had a lifetime of accomplishments. Marion was a Past President of the Canadian Association for Educational Psychology (CAEP) and an active CSSE member for 18 years.
She travelled the world and was a long-time friend, colleague, and mentor to so many. Marion was very proud of her Scottish heritage. Those wishing may consider a donation to Plan International Canada, Inc. “Because I Am A Girl Project” (https://plancanada.ca/because-i-am-a-girl). To express condolences to Merv Porath, her devoted husband of almost 50 years, please contact janet.jamieson@ubc.ca.