U of S to establish new school to study teaching and learning

SASKATOON A $1 million donation from philanthropists Jane and Ron Graham to the University of Saskatchewan’s College of Education will be used to establish a school focused on studying teaching and learning.

The proposed Jane and Ron Graham School for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning will study, develop and apply new teaching approaches. In a media release issued Friday, the university said it will be the first centre with programming of its type established within a college or faculty of education in the country.

“We are incredibly thankful to Jane and Ron Graham for their vision and deep commitment to supporting the practice of teaching and learning as serious intellectual work,” Michelle Prytula, dean of the College of Education, said in a statement.

“Their passion and dedication to the University of Saskatchewan is helping us improve teaching and learning here on campus and beyond in such a prioritized and intensive way.”

The Grahams are graduates of the University of Saskatchewan; Jane Graham earned her Bachelor of Education before going on to teach in Moose Jaw.

The couple has donated more than $24 million to the university and are the largest donors in its history. The donation to the College of Education is also the largest in its 92-year history.

“We wanted to support this initiative for the same reasons we support Huskie student athletes, student scholarships and the Ron and Jane Graham School of Professional Development in Engineering: we want to build a support system around students both while they are at university and when they graduate,” Jane Graham said in a statement.