Upcoming Laurier EdTalks lecture will focus on inspiring children and youth to be good citizens

March 23, 2022
For Immediate Release

WATERLOO – The next lecture in the Laurier EdTalks: Re-Imagining Education series, presented by Wilfrid Laurier University’s Faculty of Education, in partnership with the Waterloo Public Library, will explore ways to empower children and youth to be actively involved in their communities.

Jennifer Straub, an assistant professor in Laurier’s Faculty of Education, will present “Empowering Children and Youth to be Good Citizens in 2022” via Zoom on March 30 at 7 p.m. This event is open to the public and free to attend; however, registration is required. The lecture will be an interactive experience, with opportunities for audience members to ask questions.

“Adults sometimes underestimate what children and youth can do to make this world a better place,” said Straub. “Children can develop the skills for a deeper, more critical engagement in our society, and they can do this with support from their grown-ups.”

In her lecture, Straub will explore ways parents, teaching and community members can inspire children and youth to think critically about issues and events in their world, make good decisions and contribute to a better tomorrow.

Straub is a bilingual Métis scholar with extensive leadership, research and teaching experience in the areas of social studies education, Indigenous pedagogies and second language education. Her research focuses on pre-service teachers’ sense of civic engagement and citizenship and how those values can improve student achievement. She currently teaches courses in Integrated Instruction and Curriculum Foundations in the Faculty of Education and has previously taught at Laurentian University, the University of New Brunswick and Nipissing University.

The final Laurier EdTalks lecture of the year will be held April 27 and will explore the role of extra-curricular community programs in mitigating opportunity gaps for racialized, low-income communities. Find out more about the Laurier EdTalks series.