Jason Wallin, PhD, MA, BEd

Email

jjwallin@ualberta.ca

Phone

(780) 492-5613

Address

450 Education Centre - South

11210 - 87 Ave NW

Edmonton AB

T6G 2G5

Jason J. Wallin is a Professor of Media and Youth Culture in Curriculum in the Faculty of Education at the University of Alberta, Canada, where he teaches courses in visual art, media studies, and cultural curriculum theory. He is the author of “A Deleuzian Approach to Curriculum: Essays on a Pedagogical Life” (Palgrave Macmillan), co-author of “Arts-Based Research: A Critique and Proposal” (with jan jagodzinski, Sense Publishers), co-editor of “Deleuze, Guattari, Politics and Education” (with Matt Carlin, Bloomsbury), and co-producer of the 2016 extreme music documentary entitled “Blekkmetal” (with David Hall, Vivek Venkatesh and Owen Chapman). Jason was raised by wolves in the hinterlands of British Columbia. 

Academic Credentials

2009 Ph.D., Department of Secondary Education, University of Alberta 

Dissertation Title: Curriculum in a Deleuzian Key: Essays on a Pedagogical Life. 

Supervisor: Dr. jan jagodzinski

2005 M.A., Department of Curriculum Studies, University of Calgary 

Thesis Title: A is A: Curriculum in the Age of the Clone. 

Supervisor: Dr. David Jardine

1997 B. Ed. (with Distinction), Department of Early Childhood Education, University of Calgary

My scholarship and research interests currently include curriculum theory, youth studies, art and media education, post-structuralism, post-humanism (particularly from the vantage of the anthropocene), the post-psychoanalysis of Guattari, and the interface of Deleuzian philosophy, visual art, film (specifically horror film studies), music (specifically metal studies) and pedagogy.

Research Summary

Books

jagodzinski, j. & Wallin, J. (2013). Art based inquiry: A critique and proposal. New York, NY: Sense Publishers.

Wallin, J. (2011). A Deleuzian approach to curriculum: Essays on a pedagogical life. New York, NY: Palgrave McMillan.

Edited Books

Venkatesh, V., Wallin, J., Castro, J. C., Lewis, J., Thomas, T. (2014). Online niche communities. Hershey, PA: IGI Global Press.

Carlin, M. & Wallin, J. (Eds.). (2014). Deleuze, Guattari, Education, and Politics. New York: Continuum.

Fidyk, A., Wallin, J., & den Heyer, K (Eds.). (2008). Democratizing educational experience: Envisioning, embodying, enacting. Troy, NY: Educator’s International Press Inc.

Edited Special Journal Issues

Wallin, J. (Ed.). (2013). The anthropocentric academy: One trillion anomals take the stand. Special Issue of The Journal of Curriculum and Pedagogy, 10 (1), 11-34. 

jagodzinski, j., Wallin, J., & Hetrick, L (Eds.). (2013). Deleuze, Guattari, and Art Education. Special Issue of Visual Arts Research, 39 (1).

My pedagogy aspires to affirm the productive relationship between teachers, curriculum, and society for the purpose of maximizing the agency of prospective teachers and their future students. Drawing from my experience as a professional teaching mentor with the Calgary Board of Education, my work with pre-service teachers employs an inquiry-based approach oriented to the identification of robust questions germane to both the lives of youth and society in general. By linking social issues to the life of the classroom, my approach insists upon the idea that students are already active cultural commentators and producers. Utilizing diverse artistic, technological, and empirical modes of research and production, I aim to develop critical creative capacity and a pedagogical predisposition that privileges the production of original knowledge and modes of enunciation over rote learning and reproduction. My teaching takes seriously the idea that the school is not simply a preparatory institution but a unique collective space whose production has significant social import and therapeutic potential for teachers and students. This pedagogical approach has been highly effective with pre-service teachers, disalienating them from the curriculum by resituating the task of teaching upon a commitment to critical collective inquiry and the creation of original challenges for which no ‘absolute’ answer preexists. As one course evaluation read “[Jason’s] class inspired me to think about teaching in a way where the lives of teachers and students matter in the day-to-day work of the classroom”. Throughout my work with students, I insist that the curriculum is not something to be done, it must first be made. While challenging students’ preconceived notions and biases, my work with pre-service teachers concomitantly utilizes a strengths-based approach connecting their personal lives, interests, and skills to the work of the classroom. This commitment to the involvement of students is cultivated through one-on-one meetings, the design of assignments inviting personal introjections, and the production of extensive critical yet supportive feedback on their work.