Welcome
My name is Phil McRae and I am a Canadian educator, scholar, and interdisciplinary explorer in the field of education. I am regularly engaged in keynote addresses, public lectures or on expert panels, across Alberta, throughout Canada and internationally. This site provides a biography and some samples of my research, writing, scholarship and presentations.
Biography
Dr. Phil McRae
Dr. Phil McRae is an Executive Staff Officer with the Alberta Teachers’ Association and Adjunct Professor within the Faculty of Education at the University of Alberta where he earned his Ph.D. He was the Director of the internationally recognized Alberta Initiative for School Improvement (AISI) at the University of Alberta from 2005-2009, and taught several graduate courses in the Master of Education in Educational Studies program. Phil has worked in many secondary and post-secondary educational contexts while living and teaching in the Middle East (United Arab Emirates), Asia (Japan), Europe (Spain), and in Alberta, Canada with the Lethbridge Public School District and on the Blood (Kainai) Reservation.
Phil is the past winner of the Alberta Excellence in Teaching Finalist Award, the University of Alberta’s Queen Elizabeth II Doctoral Scholar Award, Minister of Education's Innovation Award, and the ATA Provincial Educational Research Award. He represents the teaching profession and field of education on several provincial and national committees and boards including MediaSmarts (formerly the Media Awareness Network of Canada), University of Alberta Research Ethics Board (REB 1), the Critical Thinking Consortium (TC2), Alberta Education's School Technology Advisory Committee (STAC), Parkland Institute, and the Research Advisory Committee of the Alberta Centre for Child, Family and Community Research (ACCFCR).
Phil is the past winner of the Alberta Excellence in Teaching Finalist Award, the University of Alberta’s Queen Elizabeth II Doctoral Scholar Award, Minister of Education's Innovation Award, and the ATA Provincial Educational Research Award. He represents the teaching profession and field of education on several provincial and national committees and boards including MediaSmarts (formerly the Media Awareness Network of Canada), University of Alberta Research Ethics Board (REB 1), the Critical Thinking Consortium (TC2), Alberta Education's School Technology Advisory Committee (STAC), Parkland Institute, and the Research Advisory Committee of the Alberta Centre for Child, Family and Community Research (ACCFCR).
Recent Publications and Projects
In my presentations and writing I often ask audiences to engage with different perspectives on emerging technologies, dimensions of educational leadership, changing landscapes of education systems, and/or the informed transformation of teaching and learning around the world. Below are some links to recent publications.
Research Colloquium Chair: Webcast of Harvard Pediatrician and Professor of Public Health
- Rebirth of the Teaching Machine through the Seduction of Data Analytics: This Time It's Personal
Blog Post turned Magazine Article becomes National OpEd - Reading Between the Lines of Lower Test Scores
Calgary Herald and Edmonton Journal OpEd (January 2013)
Research Colloquium Chair: Webcast of Harvard Pediatrician and Professor of Public Health
- The Politics of Personalization in the 21st Century
ATA Magazine October 2010 (Volume 91 No. 1) - Impact of Digital Technologies on Teachers Working in Flexible Environments
Large Scale Provincial Research Study May 2011
- Essential Practices that Sustain School Improvement
ATA Magazine June 2011 (Volume 91 No. 4) - The Future of Teaching in Alberta
Research Manuscript 2011 - Argumentum Ad Infinitum: The Complex Nature of Echoing Voices on the Internet
Father ~ Scholar ~ Teacher ~ Explorer