{"id":1792,"date":"2025-10-02T21:50:11","date_gmt":"2025-10-02T21:50:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.ufv.ca\/arts\/?p=1792"},"modified":"2025-10-02T21:50:11","modified_gmt":"2025-10-02T21:50:11","slug":"a-passion-for-teaching-and-storytelling-a-conversation-with-dr-chris-hyland","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.ufv.ca\/arts\/2025\/10\/02\/a-passion-for-teaching-and-storytelling-a-conversation-with-dr-chris-hyland\/","title":{"rendered":"A passion for teaching and storytelling: a conversation with Dr. Chris Hyland"},"content":{"rendered":"

A passion for teaching and storytelling: a conversation with Dr. Chris Hyland<\/strong><\/h1>\n

\"ChrisDr. Chris Hyland<\/strong> has been part of UFV\u2019s teaching community since 2021. With years of experience in classrooms around the world, Chris brings a wealth of knowledge and a passion for making history come alive for his students.<\/p>\n

From high school classrooms in Abbotsford to ESL instruction in South Korea, and eventually to completing a doctorate in Canadian history at the University of Calgary, Chris\u2019s journey reflects a lifelong commitment to teaching and storytelling. In this Q&A, Chris shares his inspirations, teaching philosophy, and hopes for the students he will continue to guide through the fascinating stories of Canada\u2019s past.<\/p>\n

In this conversation, Dr. Hyland shares his academic journey with us. Check it out!<\/p>\n

College of Arts: Could you start by sharing a bit about your journey as an educator?<\/strong>
\nChris: <\/strong>I have always known that I am a teacher, ever since high school. Most of my life has been about figuring out what I want to teach and to whom. I got started in this business as a high school history teacher in Langley and Abbotsford. I taught at Robert Bateman Secondary School amongst others. However, my timing wasn\u2019t great because in the early 2000s Gordon Campbell was premier and full-time teaching jobs were scarce. With few prospects at hand, I left Abbotsford to teach ESL in South Korea, where I spent the next ten years. It was an amazing experience and learned a lot about teaching and international students. After 10 years, I got a little tired\/bored with the routine of ESL instruction and so decided to pursue graduate studies in Canada. I got my doctorate in Canadian history from the University of Calgary in 2016. I have spent the last seven years teaching Canadian history at the undergraduate level in the Lower Mainland.<\/p>\n

College of Arts: What inspired you to specialize in your field?<\/strong>
\nChris: <\/strong> I love stories and storytelling. As a child I was always reading epic fantasy like Tolkien, Martin, and Jordan. History and the backstory have always fascinated me as these complex fantasy worlds had amazing histories (Silmarillion for example). For me, a large part of history is the story telling aspect: I share with my students the story of Canada and the Canadian peoples, their lives, their hopes, their dreams. History says a lot about who we are as a people and what we value and there have been some amazing Canadians over the years.<\/p>\n

College of Arts: What do you hope your students take away from your classes?<\/strong>
\nChris: <\/strong>I hope that they connect past and present and really begin to understand how we got here, to this current place and time. I hope that my students have context and greater understanding for the multiple and complex issues that the nation currently faces. I remind my students that at one time Canada had a tariff rate of 20% on all US goods.<\/p>\n

College of Arts: Reflecting on your career so far, what has been the most rewarding aspect of being an educator?<\/strong>
\nChris: <\/strong> Being in class and working with students is the best part of my job. I like mentoring; I like teaching; I like interacting and talking with students. I hope that I can help my students move a little further on their own journeys, helping them get where they want to go. Students at UFV are the best!<\/p>\n

College of Arts: If you could leave a lasting message or piece of advice for your students and community, what would it be?<\/strong>
\nChris: <\/strong> Two pieces of advice. Advice 1 \u2013 slow down and take time to think things through. Advice 2 \u2013 question everyone and everything; do your own thinking and find your own answers. Our current society is based around instant gratification and the rush to judgement. They are so many voices and AI chatbots out there that students can lose a sense of who they are and where they want to go.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Dr. Chris Hyland\u2019s journey shows the power of teaching, curiosity, and storytelling in shaping both students and educators. As he continues his work with UFV\u2019s History Department, Chris looks forward to guiding students through Canada\u2019s complex past, while inspiring them to think critically, ask questions, and carve their own paths forward.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A passion for teaching and storytelling: a conversation with Dr. Chris Hyland Dr. Chris Hyland has been part of UFV\u2019s teaching community since 2021. With years of experience in classrooms around the world, Chris brings a wealth of knowledge and a passion for making history come alive for his students. From high school classrooms in … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":275,"featured_media":1793,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"generate_page_header":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[236,188],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1792","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-faculty-impact","category-teaching-and-research"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ufv.ca\/arts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1792","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ufv.ca\/arts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ufv.ca\/arts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ufv.ca\/arts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/275"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ufv.ca\/arts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1792"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ufv.ca\/arts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1792\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1795,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ufv.ca\/arts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1792\/revisions\/1795"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ufv.ca\/arts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1793"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ufv.ca\/arts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1792"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ufv.ca\/arts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1792"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ufv.ca\/arts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1792"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}