Our Network includes researchers in the Learning Sciences who seek to advance equity-oriented relationships and collaborations that enhance scholarship in, on, and for learning. Learning Sciences is an interdisciplinary field that advances research of learning in all of its forms and is represented by the International Society of the Learning Sciences (https://www.isls.org/).

As a Network, we are aligned with the vision set out by the International Society of the Learning Sciences, while also amplifying voices and context-specific, place-based scholarship from the geopolitical margins. While we embrace transnational scholarship reflecting the histories of immigration and refuge in Canadian society, and we use "Canada" in our Network to reflect our organizing efforts to foster equity-oriented scholarship of the learning sciences to include non-American contexts, we also acknowledge the colonial histories that the national marker, “Canada," carries. We know that the place we share was first called Turtle Island and as a collective, we commit to reflect on Canada’s colonial past, learn from emerging truths, and act toward reconciliation with and the resurgence of Indigenous communities.

Our Network is dynamic and porous; our membership is not restricted by geographical borders. 

We welcome anyone who is interested in learning with us and working for collective learning and action.

Miwa A. Takeuchi & Jennifer A. Vadeboncoeur

Leadership Team, Network of the Learning Sciences in Canada

Building a “Network”: porous, dynamic, and connected to other “nodes” for shared visions

Foregrounding Porous: not bounded by national boundaries, intentional about:

• Engaging with transnational and transdisciplinary scholarship, and

• Centering voices from the geopolitical margins.

Foregrounding Dynamic:

• Learning from and working against histories of colonization, and

• Advancing concerns and interests of diaspora.

Foregrounding Connection:

• Facilitating distributed community building across institutions, and

•  Fostering intergenerational relationships and opportunities between students, postdoctoral scholars, and faculty.

We are proud to announce the creation of a Canadian Learning Sciences Newsletter! Check out our issues for community news, scholar spotlights, discussions and questions, and more.

October 2022 Issue 

December 2021 Issue 

January 2021 Issue

Statement Issued on June 15, 2021

• Our Network started as a SIG of the Canadian Society for the Studies of Education (CSSE), a sub-organization of the Congress in 2019. However, we decided not to participate in CSSE and, instead, are exploring alternative models of conference. During the COVID-19 pandemic, we have learned many things, including the value of holding online conferences. With an online conference, we may be able to meet some of our shared goals; for example, we can reduce barriers for participation and our collective environmental “footprint." In addition, we are also aware of the ongoing negotiations between the Congress and the Black Canadian Studies Association on histories of systemic racism.

• With Un-Conferencing, we will host free, open virtual symposia throughout the year of 2021-22/2022-23 that are focused around building relationships, supportive intergenerational collaborations, and emergent research synergies. We embrace your ideas for these symposia and encourage you to engage with our unconventional organization.

• Imagining our social futures, we hope that such symposia will generate future opportunities for collaboration that centre our focus on learning together.