Our Team

Faculty
Graduate Students
Grad Students Research
Evan Charles, Western University

Petra Owusu, Western University
Petra A. Owusu is a 3rd-year PhD Candidate in the School and Applied Child Psychology program at Western University. She is passionate about raising awareness of the complex needs of Black youth and their mental health. Petra aspires to become a School and Clinical Child Psychologist who works in community settings/outpatient clinics. She aims to support Black & racialized youth, children in care, and youth from lower socioeconomic backgrounds and who struggle with complex trauma. Petra’s interest in inclusive education began when she observed the systemic challenges that her brother (with multiple exceptionalities) faced in the school and community settings. From there, she became an advocate, inclusion counsellor and respite worker in local community organizations to aid in dismantling barriers for children with disabilities. Joining the CRC lab has helped in her mission of combating systemic institutions that oppress marginalized groups.
In 2020 and 2023, Petra was a recipient of the Inclusive Education Research Award. Her master's dissertation entailed developing and evaluating a peer social skills program in inclusive schools. Her doctoral work aims to amplify Black youth voices on mental health service utilization. Her research supervisors are Dr. Jacqueline Specht and Dr. Gabrielle Lee.
Jessica Delorey, Western University
Jessica Delorey is a 3rd-year PhD Candidate in the School and Applied Child Psychology program at Western University. She is passionate about celebrating the things that make people unique and believes that including students with disabilities in regular classrooms adds so much value to schools, communities, and society. Jessica’s interest in inclusive education began when she was a child and noticed differences in the way her brother with Down syndrome experienced school. Joining the Canadian Research Centre on Inclusive Education was a natural choice and has allowed Jessica to use her personal experiences to guide her research. Jessica has published her honours and master’s theses and has contributed to additional publications with members from the Centre. In 2022, she was a recipient of the Inclusive Education Research Award.
Jessica is currently working on her doctoral research with Dr. Jacqueline Specht. This work aims to contribute to our understanding of how beginning teachers develop beliefs that are related to being effective teachers in inclusive classrooms.
Sara J. Spence, Western University
Sara J. Spence is a 1st -year PhD student in the School and Applied Child Psychology program at Western University. Her passions include learning which stems from her grandparents and spending time in the land and her First Nation Community of Peguis, Manitoba. Sara hopes to provide support to others in their education, encourage their resilience, and empower their brilliance in their learning journey like her family did for her. Also, she hopes to research ways to connect the strengths of Indigenous epistemology with the strengths of psychology. She aspires to be a helper to Indigenous children, youth, and families in connecting to the land and their culture on their mental health and educational journey.
Her master's work entailed an autoethnography project that captured the experiences of Indigenous School Psychologists trainees. This experience led her to seek connection and explore research on the topic of Indigenous psychology. She is currently working on Indigenous research publications and a textbook that features the inclusion of Indigenous perspectives within inclusive education.
Sara is a member of the First Nations Research Circle, which consists of Indigenous scholarship (exploring Indigenous methodology within the context of education). Her research supervisors are Dr. Jacqueline Specht and Dr. Brent Debassige.
Paige Walker, Western University

Paige Walker is in the 1st year of her doctoral degree in the School and Applied Child Psychology program at Western University. She is a strong advocate for inclusive education and is passionate about supporting students and their families. Paige is an active member of the Educational and School Psychology section of the Canadian Psychological Association and aims to increase awareness about the field.
Her master’s research examined the accessibility of Ontario University Accessibility Services webpages. Paige would like to continue exploring the accessibility of services for students with disabilities. Her research supervisor is Dr. Jacqueline Specht.
Annie Beatty, Western University

Annie Beatty is currently a 1st -year Masters student in the School and Applied Child Psychology Program at Western University. Her previous work at McMaster University and the Offord Centre for Child Studies has helped shape her research interests in promoting resilience in educational contexts by taking a systems approach to students' academic achievement. Annie’s experience working with at-risk families across Ontario strengthened her interest in inclusive education and intersectionality. At the forefront, is her belief that every child has the right to accessible and equitable education.
Annie’s current research focuses on teacher-related factors associated with beliefs in inclusive education. Her research work is funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Council of Canada. Annie hopes to use research to inform her practice as a school psychologist to continue to support families with children of all abilities. Her research supervisor is Dr. Jacqueline Specht.
Research Awards
Graduate Student Research Awards
Inclusive Education Research Award
The Inclusive Education Research Award is funded by Foundation Western and administered by the Canadian Research Centre on Inclusive Education. Each year, up to three awards of $750 each will be granted to graduate students in education.
Each recipient must be a graduate student in the Faculty of Education at Western who is conducting a research project that is part of the thesis/dissertation requirement for completion of their program of study. The applicant’s research proposal must address an issue that is related to the inclusion of students who represent a diversity of backgrounds or learning needs.
2023 Recipients
Kailee Liesemer: S3: An afterschool STEM and social skills program for adolescents with autism
Petra Owusu: Amplifying Black Canadian Youth Voices on Mental Health Service Utilization
Emily Villani: Encouraging diversity and fostering friendship: An inclusive summer day camp
2022 Recipients
Shamiga Arumuhathas: Is there adversity in diversity? Racialized international students’ experiences at Ontario universities
Jessica Delorey: An Exploration of How Experiences Influence the Development of Beliefs Related to Inclusive Education
Julia Ranieri: An exploration of the facilitators and barriers of inclusion and participation for children with intellectual and developmental disabilities in informal educational settings
2021 Recipients
Candace Brunette-Debassige: The trickiness of policy practices: Indigenous women administrators' experiences in Canadian universities
Evan Charles: Predicting teachers' long-term self-efficacy for teaching in inclusive classrooms: A five-year longitudinal analysis
2020 Recipients
Mohammed Estaiteyeh: Biology Teachers' Understandings and Implementation of Differentiated Instruction (DI) in High Schools in Ontario
Petra Owusu: Evaluating the Effectiveness of the Statewide Autism Resources and Training (START) Peer-to-peer Program
Kate Patterson: Using Home Language as a Resource: Working Collaboratively with Ontario Educators to Support English language Learners in the Classroom
2019 Recipients
Courtney Cadieux: Parents in Partnership with Educators (PIPE) Program: An exploratory pilot Evaluation
Steven Floyd: A Comparative Analysis of K to 12 Coding Curricula
McKenzie Vanderloon: A Longitudinal Perspective on the Development of Teacher Efficacy for Inclusive Practices among Canadian Teachers.
Jessica Jean Campbell Coulson Award
Established through Foundation Western by the late Mr. David Campbell (BA ’38), this award is presented in memory of his daughter, Jessica Jean Campbell Coulson, a teacher who inspired students with learning disabilities to succeed by focusing on their strengths. Each year, one award of approximately $2,000 is given.
The recipient must be a full-time graduate student in the Faculty of Education, having an average of 78% or better, and conducting research on a topic that is relevant to the inclusion and education of students with exceptionalities.
2023 Recipient
Coming soon!
2022 Recipient
Kailee Liesemer: S3: An afterschool STEM and social skills program for adolescents with autism
2021 Recipient
Tsz-Wing Zita Lau: Beginning teachers' development of inclusive practices: A longitudinal multiple case-study approach
2020 Recipient
Mohammed Estaiteyeh: Biology teachers' understandings and implementation of Differentiated Instruction (DI) in high schools in Ontario
2019 Recipient
McKenzie Vanderloon: A Longitudinal perspective of the development of teacher efficacy for the use of inclusive practices among Canadian teachers