Dr. Vandy Britton has been appointed to the role of department head for the Teacher Education department, effective July 2016.
She holds a PhD and a Master of Education from Simon Fraser University, a Bachelor of Education from the University of British Columbia, and a Bachelor of Fine Arts in theatre from the University of Victoria.
Vandy has had a varied and interesting career path. After completing her BFA, she moved to New York to pursue a career in musical theatre. From there she travelled to Japan, where she worked as an actress, commercial print model, and English teacher. It was at this point she realized that she could combine her two passions (theatre and education) into one, returning to Canada to complete her BEd in English/Theatre.
After spending some time teaching high school for the Burnaby school district, Vandy pursued her Master of Education and began working with pre-service teachers as a faculty associate for SFU in their Faculty of Education. From this position, Vandy moved into more of an administrative role within Professional Programs at SFU and began her doctoral studies. Highlights of her work as a program coordinator include spearheading the re-visioning of the program goals for Professional Programs, mentoring new faculty associates, and facilitating the International Teacher Education program in Dharamsala, India where SFU student teachers are paired with Tibetans-in-Exile teachers.
During her tenure as a program coordinator, Vandy finished her dissertation, entitled Appreciating Autism: Stories of my Son. Using auto-ethnography as her primary research methodology, she completed an appreciative inquiry into autism, writing about her experiences of raising a child with high-functioning autism. Vandy continues to be active in her community, sitting on the New Westminster Secondary parent advisory committee, on the gender advisory board for the New Westminster school district, and on the executive board of the New Westminster Minor Hockey Association. Most recently, she and others in her community joined together to sponsor a family of five from Syria.
10/15/2016