McDowell Foundation Award Recipients

Linda Wason-Ellam
2006 McDowell Foundation Award for Contributions to Educational Research

It is fitting that the McDowell Foundation Award should be presented to Linda Wason-Ellam in a year when our annual Learning from Practice Exchange is focused on literacy. Linda is recognized throughout Canada and around the world for her work in the areas of reading, children’s literature, community literacy and cross-cultural literacy. As a professor-researcher in the College of Education at the University of Saskatchewan, she has contributed extensively to both our understanding of literacy practices and the development of teachers who provide literacy instruction in our schools.

Linda’s connection to the cause of literacy was forged in the Boston area of Massachusetts, where she was born and educated. She discovered early in life that “books contain worlds between their covers”* and she has been exploring those worlds ever since. She earned a B.A. in Art and Art History from Chatham College in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, a Master of Education degree in reading from the University of Pittsburgh, and a doctorate in language education, specializing in reading and children’s literature from Montana State University. In 1964, she began her primary school teaching career in Pittsburgh, and she then taught in other American and Canadian cities before becoming an administrator and later a consultant with the United States Office of Education. She joined the education faculty at the University of Calgary in 1980. In 1986, she became part of the Department of Curriculum Studies at the University of Saskatchewan, where she gradually rose from Assistant Professor to Associate Professor, becoming a full Professor in 1995.

Linda has studied school classrooms in the United States, England, Northern Ireland, Finland, the Arab Gulf States and Canada. Her ethnographic research has explored the social worlds of children within inner-city, immigrant, Aboriginal and global contexts. Her insights into the differing pathways that children take to literacy have been published extensively in books, book chapters, scholarly journals and community publications. She is always interested in a research opportunity, always ready to learn from those with a different perspective and always eager to share with others willing to join her on the research journey. Her research has been supported by numerous grants from such bodies as the Social Sciences Humanities Research Council, the provincial government, the Prairie Centre of Excellence on Immigration and Integration, the federal government agency for the Status of Women and the McDowell Foundation.

When the McDowell Foundation was formed in 1991, it seemed to provide a natural avenue for Linda to pursue her interest in collaborative research with teachers. Together with her university colleague, Angela Ward, and others, she quickly brought together a group of Saskatoon teachers in a McDowell research project called Supporting Literacy in Cross-Cultural Classrooms. Two years later she was instrumental in another McDowell project called Teacher Mentors, Teachers in Conversation, and another two years after that she was involved in Giving Voice to Intercultural Teachers: Finding Common Ground through Action Research. All three projects demonstrated the value of collaborative relationships and the importance of the teaching-research connection fostered by the McDowell Foundation.

Linda is in constant demand as a conference presenter, and she has served on numerous boards and committees related to a wide variety of educational and research interests. To give just two diverse examples, she is currently vice-chair of the Behavioural Research Ethics Board at the University of Saskatchewan and chair of the Women’s Studies Research Unit. In addition, she is currently engaged in memorable work with the Prince Albert Grand Council to provide professional development in the Revitalization of Reading to teachers in remote northern communities.  

In spite of the many demands on her time, however, Linda has made a point of consistently supporting the work of the McDowell Foundation. She has presented several times at Learning from Practice, providing the keynote address in 2002. She has been generous in sharing her insights and experience with teacher-researchers, and currently represents the College of Education on the McDowell Foundation Project Review Committee. She is also working with the Foundation and SPDU to develop a province-wide research partnership to identify effective practices in early and family literacy. 

Linda Wason-Ellam has been a friend of the McDowell Foundation and a friend to teacher-research. She has conducted exemplary research into literacy over a period spanning 28 years, influencing countless teachers and agencies to examine and improve their literacy practices. Her contribution to educational research has been outstanding by any measure, and in recognition of her dedication and many achievements, we are proud to present her with the 2006 McDowell Foundation Award.

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