Crystena A. H. Parker-Shandal* (OCT, B.A., M.T., Ph.D., University of Toronto), pronouns: she/her
Crystena Parker-Shandal is an Associate Professor in Social Development Studies at Renison University College at the University of Waterloo.
Dr. Parker-Shandal’s research expertise is in curriculum and pedagogy, restorative justice in education, conflict resolution, inclusion, antiracism, peacebuilding, and dialogue in diverse global communities. She examines issues such as how peacebuilding education and conflict dialogue processes could work to foster a sense of inclusion for marginalized children and youth and how such practices, in their successful implementation, can challenge young people to engage in authentic dialogue and conflict learning. Dr. Parker-Shandal’s research on peacebuilding for democracy and social justice in diverse classrooms shows how dialogic and anti-oppressive pedagogies facilitate inclusive spaces where all students have the opportunity to participate and have their voices heard. She is the author of Restorative justice in the classroom: Liberating students’ voices through relational pedagogy, Peacebuilding, citizenship, and identity: Empowering conflict and dialogue in multicultural classrooms, and co-Editor of Finding Refuge in Canada: Narratives of Dislocation.
Dr. Parker-Shandal has a Ph.D. from the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE) at the University of Toronto. She also has a Masters in Teaching and is an Ontario Certified Teacher, with specializations in teaching History, English, and Visual Arts, and an honours B.A. from the University of Toronto. Additionally, Dr. Parker-Shandal has training and experience in restorative justice, peacemaking circles, transformative mediation, nonviolent communication, and conflict resolution, and is currently a mediator for Community Justice Initiatives in Kitchener.
She is the co-creator and moderator for the Refugee Story Bank of Canada and the Book Reviews Editor for the Comparative and International Education Journal.
*In 2022, Crystena (pronounced as [kri]+[stee]+[nuh]) changed her legal name to Crystena Parker-Shandal (formerly christina parker).
Book Publications
First-Gen Docs: Personal, Political and intellectual perspectives from the first-generation doctoral experience
Parker-Shandal, C. A. H. (2024). First-Gen Docs: Personal, political, and intellectual perspectives from the first-generation doctoral experience. In the Doctoral Journey in Education Book Series, (Editor: B. Bradford). Brill.
Restorative Justice in the Classroom: Liberating Students' Voices Through Relational Pedagogy (Order now)
Parker-Shandal, C. A. H. (2022). Restorative Justice in the Classroom: Liberating Students' Voices Through Relational Pedagogy. New York, NY: Palgrave Macmillan.
Finding Refuge In Canada
Melnyk, G., and Parker, C. (Eds.) (2021). Finding Refuge in Canada: Narratives of Dislocation. Edmonton: Athabasca University Press.
Peacebuilding, Citizenship, and Idenity
Parker, C. (2016). Peacebuilding, citizenship, and identity: Empowering conflict and dialogue in multicultural classrooms. Rotterdam/Boston/Taipei: Sense | Brill Publishers.
Colorizing Restorative Justice
Parker, C. (2020). Who’s in and Who’s out? Problematizing the Peacemaking Circle in Diverse Classrooms. In E. C. Valandra, W. W. Hoksila, A. Goffe (Eds.). Colorizing Restorative Justice: Voicing Our Realities. St. Paul, MN: Living Justice Press.
The Doctoral Journey
Parker, C. (2021). Exploring place and identity through research: How my doctoral journey shaped my subjective positionality. In B. Bradford (Ed.). The Doctoral Journey: International Educationalist Perspectives. Brill Publishers.
