Bonnie Stelmach, PhD, MA, BEd

Area of Study / Keywords

K-12 Education Rural Education Parent Involvement School Leadership Qualitative Research

---

About

I am proud to be a Professor in the Studies in Educational Leadership program in the Faculty of Education. I completed my doctorate in Educational Administration and Leadership in Educational Policy Studies at the University of Alberta, and a Master of Arts in Educational Philosophy at Simon Fraser University. My undergraduate degree is in Secondary Education, also from the U of A. I have taught in rural and northern Alberta, as well as at an international school in Chiang Mai, Thailand. Previous to joining the academic community, I served as district coordinator of the Alberta Initiative for School Improvement (AISI). That three-year project directly influenced my decision to study secondary parents’ conceptualizations of their role in school improvement to earn a doctorate. My research has evolved to explore parents' sense of community with their children's schools, and I am particularly interested in rural schools. My current research interest is in rural school innovation, and issues unique to rural schools. I live in rural Alberta, and I love it there.

I supervise doctoral students pursuing varying interests in school leadership (e.g. hope, well-being, moral distress, gender issues, and school leaders' professional identity).

At this point, I am only considering expressions of interest from individuals who have identified a specific rural education topic, and intend to pursue doctoral studies full time.  

---

Research

I am a qualitative researcher.

My signature on the research landscape is on parents' roles in K-12 schooling, but I’ve examined parents’ roles in education at the post-secondary level as well. My research has evolved toward an examination of school “community”—a logical extension of my research about parents’ roles. In particular, In light of diversification of families, trends toward radical individualism, and boundary shifting, I have explored what makes parents feel in community in their children's schools, especially at the secondary school level where traditional parent involvement shifts. Owing to my rural Alberta roots, I am committed to a rural research agenda in this regard as K-12 schooling assumptions tend to metrocentric, and rural is either stereotyped and idealized or positioned in deficit mode. I am currently developing a research program that aims to shift the prevailing deficit discourse about rural schools and rural communities. In particular, I want to contribute to appreciative perspectives about rural education and rural living, something that I have been thinking about ever since Michael Corbett released the first edition of his book Learning to Leave (revised and published in 2020). Corbett argued that rural schools ultimately convey a mobility imperative, the idea that 'success' for rural students is defined in terms of getting out of their small, rural communities.

In keeping with the University of Alberta's mandate, "for the public" good, working with practitioners and policymakers is my priority. In this regard, I have also been honored to collaborate with colleagues from the Universities of Calgary and Lethbridge, and Concordia University of Edmonton on research focusing on the implementation of Alberta's Professional Practice Standards as well as policy review of Alberta's Teacher Growth, Supervision and Evaluation Policy. Additionally, I have completed research for the Alberta Teachers' Association on moral distress among school leaders, and the Alberta School Councils' Association on a project (It Takes a Virus) that examined how emergency remote teaching during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic impacted parent-teacher relations.

I dabble in research regarding academic life.

Current Research

My current research focuses on rural school innovation.  Using a community-based research philosophy, I have partnered with New Humble Community School, a K-9 publicly funded charter school with an experiential learning and land stewardship philosophy, and an agricultural literacy pedagogical approach. Our partnership has been developing since January 2022, starting with a community dinner called Growing Together. The dinner was sponsored by a KIAS Dialogue Grant and afforded us an evening in which we engaged parents, teachers, and community members in a discussion to determine research interests and needs for New Humble Community School.  

Based on the community's feedback, our partnership was successful in securing a research grant through Alberta Education's Research Partnership Program. Our project, School is Such a Chore! Agriculture as a Lens for Enhancing Learning and Life Skills is an intrinsic case study but we have committed to building research capacity, in keeping with a community-based approach. Our funded study explores how an agricultural literacy lens can support students' curricular learning and life skills (e.g. responsibility, empathy) development. We completed a pilot, Pepper & Triscuit Go to School: Elementary School Students' Learning With and From Animals, in March 2023 to refine the design.

Data collection for "School is Such a Chore!" was completed in October 2024. We are in the analysis, interpretation, and knowledge mobilization phase. Please see the website for more information: https://www.schoolbasedag.com/.

Rural education is my passion.  I am a proud graduate of Andrew School in Andrew Alberta, which, sadly, closed in June 2023. Rural schools are persistently marginalized because of metrocentric and urbanormative assumptions, and what rural educational scholar, Michael Corbett, calls the "mobility imperative" - the assumption that "success" means moving away from a rural community to pursue a professional, urban life.  I know rural schools are incredibly innovative and resourceful, but the dominant narrative is one of deficit.  I am committed to interrogating that and changing the narrative.

---

Teaching

As a qualitative researcher, I enjoy teaching research methodology/methods courses. But I have created and taught graduate courses in organizational behavior, rural education, qualitative research, working with parents, and school leadership. At the undergraduate level, my teaching focus has been on legal and ethical issues for teacher candidates.

Highlights of Graduate Courses Taught/Designed, University of Alberta:

• Rural Education Issues and Advantages (EDU 550)
• Foundations of School Leadership (EDU 520)
• Evolving Concepts in Educational Administration and Leadership (EDPS 511)
• Working with Parents/Caregivers in Schools (EDPS 501)
• Research Frameworks and Qualitative Methodologies (EDPS 681)
• The Principalship (EDPS 595)
• Introduction to School Improvement (EDU 511)
• Leadership in Educational Settings (EDU 512)
• Philosophy of Teaching (EDPY 597)
• Introduction to Evaluating Educational Research (EDPS 581)
• Educational Learning and Change (EDPS 541)

Graduate Courses Taught, University of Saskatchewan:

• Parents and Educational Theory and Practice
• Introduction to Research Methods
• Qualitative Data Analysis
• Introduction to Qualitative Research Methods
• Trends and Issues: Parents and Education
• Organizational Behaviour
• History and Development of Organizational Theory
• Education in Rural and Sparsely Populated Areas
• Trends and Issues: Gender Roles in Educational Administration
• Organizational Theory
• Critical Perspectives on Policy Making in Education

As Professor, mentoring graduate students is an area of teaching that gives me energy and inspiration. I have had the pleasure of working with masters and doctoral students. 

In 2024 Dr. Lee Smith, my former doctoral student, received the Thomas Barr Greenfield Dissertation Award for outstanding research in Canada in the area of educational administration and leadership, sponsored by the Canadian Association for the Study of Educational Administration.  Dr. Smith's study was called, "Tears at the Heart of Things: Moral Distress Among Principals of Canadian-Accredited Schools in China."  

My current doctoral mentees are studying:

• school leaders' wellbeing 
• social media and its micropolitical impact on school leaders' professional identity
• the meaning of living perpetually between

I am currently interested in working with students who have a particular interest in rural education matters. Please contact me if your graduate studies are going to take you down that path, and you intend to pursue doctoral studies as a full-time student.

I am also involved in creating master's and graduate certificate programs because I want to support practicing educators in their lifelong learning goals.  Two new certificates are currently seeking applications from international and local teachers:

Teacher Leadership in School-Based Agriculture (4-course graduate certificate)

Leadership in International Schools (master's program)

EDPS 681 - Research Frameworks and Qualitative Methodologies

This course explores the philosophical/epistemological underpinnings of selected research frameworks as well as relevant qualitative methodologies within the specializations of the Department of Educational Policy Studies. Students may receive credit for only one of EDAL 611, EDPS 611 and EDPS 681.

---

Browse more courses taught by Bonnie Stelmach

Stelmach, B., Smith, L., & O'Connor, B.

International Journal of Leadership in Education. 2021 September; Advance online publication

---

School Community Journal. 2021 August; 31 (1):9-40

---

Stelmach, B.

Alberta Journal of Educational Research. 2021 January; 67 (1):100-104

---

Pelkey, S., Stelmach, B., & Hunter, D.

Canadian Journal of Educational Administration and Policy. 2021 January; 196

---

Stelmach, B.

Alberta School Councils' Association. 2020 December;

---

Stelmach, B.

Canadian Journal of Educational Administration and Policy. 2020 January; 193

---

Stelmach, B.

Rural teacher education: Connecting land and pedagogy (Editors: M. Corbett & D. Gereluk). 2020 January;

---

Kovach, M./Stelmach, B.

Women negotiating life in the academy (Editors: S. E. Eaton & A. Burns). 2020 January;

---

Michaud, C., & Stelmach, B.

Canadian Journal of Educational Administration and Policy. 2019 January;

---

Bowen, M., & Stelmach, B.

Canadian Journal of Science, Mathematics and Technology Education. 2019 January; 20

---

Stelmach, B., & O'Connor, B.

Canadian Association of Principals Journal. 2019 January;

---

Adams, P., Mombourquette, C., Brandon, J., Hunter, D., Freisen, S., Koh, K....Stelmach, B.

Journal of Educational Supervision. 2018 January; 1 (2):1-16

---

Stelmach, B.

International Studies in Educational Administration. 2018 January; 46 (3):24-46

---

Stelmach, B., Kovach, M., & Steeves, L.

Alberta Journal of Educational Research. 2017 January; 63 (1):1-20

---

Stelmach, B.

The best available evidence: Wise decision-making for educational improvement (Editors: P. Newton & D. Burgess). 2016 June;

---

Stelmach, B.

School Leadership & Management. 2016 January; 36 (3):271-291

---

Stelmach, B.

International Journal of Social Sciences. 2012 January; 1 (2):48-70

---

Stelmach, B.

Rural Educator. 2011 January; 32 (2):32-42

---

Stelmach, B.

Including families and communities in urban education (Editors: C. Hands & L. Hubbard). 2011 January;

---

Stelmach, B., & von Wolff, S.

European Educational Research Journal. 2011 January; 10 (1):64-83

---

Stelmach, B., & von Wolff, S.

The Journal of Educational Administration & Foundations (now Canadian Journal of Educational Administration and Policy). 2010 October; 21 (1):60-83

---

Stelmach, B.

The leadership compendium: Emerging scholars of Canadian educational leadership (Editor: K. Anderson). 2010 January;

---

Stelmach, B., Parsons, J., & Frick, W. C.

Academic Matters. 2010 January;

---

Brien, K., & Stelmach, B.

International Journal About Parents in Education. 2009 January; 3 (1):1-14

---

Stelmach, B.

First Nations Perspectives. 2009 January; 2 (1):35-56

---

Stelmach, B.

The Journal of Educational Administration & Foundations (now Canadian Journal of Educational Administration and Policy). 2008 January; 19 (2):1-18

---

Stelmach, B.

Journal of School Public Relations. 2006 January; 27 (1):50-83

---

Stelmach, B.

International Journal of Leadership in Education. 2005 January; 8 (2):167-185

---

Stelmach, B.

Canadian Journal of Educational Administration and Policy. 2004 January; 31