Wendy McGuire
Assistant Professor
Office: Ross Building, S833
Phone: (416) 736-2100 Ext: 20567
Email: wmcguire@yorku.ca
Wendy McGuire teaches critical social theory, critical social work practice and research methods using innovative arts-based and experiential methods and exploring these pedagogical interventions through her research. Current research projects include Student Perceptions of Arts-based Assignments, the LGBT+ Refugee Digital Storytelling Project, and What Difference Does God Make in LGBT+ Human Rights Movements? Wendy is committed to building linkages between university and community, recently launching a four-part Community Conversations series in a collaboration between the School of Social Work, LA&PS, and a network of community agencies based in the Black Creek Community.
Degrees
PhD, University of Toronto, Dalla Lana School of Public HealthMSW, University of Toronto, Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work
BA, Sociology, University of Guelph
Community Contributions
Black Creek Community Collaborative, Jane-Finch Community Research Partnership, Peace and Justice Strategy Team (Metropolitan Community Church of Toronto)
Research Interests
Current Research Projects
-
Summary:
Action research project will inform the development of a Community Arts Hub on Metrolinx property across from Yorkgate Mall.
Start Date:
- Month: Aug Year: 2017
End Date:
- Month: Dec Year: 2018
Collaborator: David Lidov
Collaborator Institution: Community Action Partnership Group
-
Description:
Critical reflexivity is a core learning goal of critical social work education and is most often taught through the use of abstract theory that students then connect to their own, and to their prospective clients’, lived experiences of privilege and oppression. Fiction engages the reader on multiple levels, intellectually, sensually and emotionally, and may stimulate different kinds of cognitive and affective responses and conversations about power, identity, subjectivity, oppression and intersectionality. This study explores critical emotional reflexivity in MSW student work when students are required to engage with fiction, as both readers and authors. Secondary data analysis of submitted course work will be undertaken, including 1) a case study written about a fictional character in one of the 5 assigned books, 2) a reflective self-evaluation of learning through fiction, and 3) a piece of creative writing that illustrates how power operates through multiple subject positions in a fictional situation. The findings from this study will be shared with Social Work educators and will contribute knowledge to the Scholarship of Teaching field of arts-based education.
Start Date:
- Month: Oct Year: 2017
End Date:
- Month: May Year: 2019
-
Summary:
This Community-Based Participatory Action Research (CB/PAR) project is a long-term study the role of God, religion and spirituality in social movements both for and against LGBT+ human rights. It explores the social justice strategies and priorities of social movement actors within the partnering organization, Metropolitan Community Church of Toronto, and with other local and global LGBTIQ+ social movement actors.
Collaborator Institution: Metropolitan Community Church of Toronto
Collaborator Role: Research partner
-
Summary:
Seven male refugees from West Africa participated in this project. Over two weekends, they worked with Community Story Strategies to create a 3-4 minute digital story about the experiences that led them to Canada. All men came from countries where their LGBT status put them at high risk of prison, torture and possibly death. Digital storytelling was used a research methodology that put control in the hands of the participants to tell their stories in their own way and for their own use.
Description:The LGBTIQ+ Refugee Digital Storytelling Project is a small part of a larger Community-Based Participatory Action Research (CB/PAR) study, "What Difference Does God Make to LGBT+ Human Rights Movements?" The partnering organization is the Metropolitan Community Church of Toronto, the only organization in Canada that is a Sponsorship Agreement Holder, and can support the sponsorship of LGBTIQ+ refugees.
Start Date:
- Month: Nov Year: 2015
End Date:
- Month: Nov Year: 2016
Collaborator: Reverend Kevin Downer
Collaborator Institution: Metropolitan Community Church of Toronto
Collaborator Role: Research partner
-
Summary:
This study explores the use of two tools to help undergraduate social work students identify, express and respond to emotion in relation to critical theory. It is hypothesized that students who become more adept at recognizing and expressing emotion will develop a critical social work habitus that enables them to translate theoretical knowledge into practice across a wide range of situations.
Start Date:
- Month: Sep Year: 2014
End Date:
- Month: Jul Year: 2016
Approach to Teaching
My teaching is based on four principles: relationality, reciprocity, multi-modality and experientiality. 1) Relationality. Relationships matter. Academic knowledge is more likely to be used in policy and practice when it is transmitted through relationships over time. Students also learn best through positive relationships with each another and their professors. 2) Reciprocity. Learning is a two-way street. I learn as much as I teach from my students and how to meet them where they are at. I am challenged with new ways of thinking, knowing, being and doing. 3) Multi-modality. To maximize student success, I use a wide variety of modes of teaching and evaluating. Students may learn kinesthetically, orally, visually, or through traditional reading and writing. 4) Experientiality. Students are impacted when they put knowledge into practice, experientially, using art, community-based research, and through activism.
Wendy McGuire teaches critical social theory, critical social work practice and research methods using innovative arts-based and experiential methods and exploring these pedagogical interventions through her research. Current research projects include Student Perceptions of Arts-based Assignments, the LGBT+ Refugee Digital Storytelling Project, and What Difference Does God Make in LGBT+ Human Rights Movements? Wendy is committed to building linkages between university and community, recently launching a four-part Community Conversations series in a collaboration between the School of Social Work, LA&PS, and a network of community agencies based in the Black Creek Community.
Degrees
PhD, University of Toronto, Dalla Lana School of Public HealthMSW, University of Toronto, Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work
BA, Sociology, University of Guelph
Community Contributions
Black Creek Community Collaborative, Jane-Finch Community Research Partnership, Peace and Justice Strategy Team (Metropolitan Community Church of Toronto)
Research Interests
Current Research Projects
-
Summary:
Action research project will inform the development of a Community Arts Hub on Metrolinx property across from Yorkgate Mall.
Role: Principal InvestigatorStart Date:
- Month: Aug Year: 2017
End Date:
- Month: Dec Year: 2018
Collaborator: David Lidov
Collaborator Institution: Community Action Partnership Group
-
Description:
Critical reflexivity is a core learning goal of critical social work education and is most often taught through the use of abstract theory that students then connect to their own, and to their prospective clients’, lived experiences of privilege and oppression. Fiction engages the reader on multiple levels, intellectually, sensually and emotionally, and may stimulate different kinds of cognitive and affective responses and conversations about power, identity, subjectivity, oppression and intersectionality. This study explores critical emotional reflexivity in MSW student work when students are required to engage with fiction, as both readers and authors. Secondary data analysis of submitted course work will be undertaken, including 1) a case study written about a fictional character in one of the 5 assigned books, 2) a reflective self-evaluation of learning through fiction, and 3) a piece of creative writing that illustrates how power operates through multiple subject positions in a fictional situation. The findings from this study will be shared with Social Work educators and will contribute knowledge to the Scholarship of Teaching field of arts-based education.
Project Type: Self-FundedRole: Principal Investigator
Start Date:
- Month: Oct Year: 2017
End Date:
- Month: May Year: 2019
-
Summary:
This Community-Based Participatory Action Research (CB/PAR) project is a long-term study the role of God, religion and spirituality in social movements both for and against LGBT+ human rights. It explores the social justice strategies and priorities of social movement actors within the partnering organization, Metropolitan Community Church of Toronto, and with other local and global LGBTIQ+ social movement actors.
Project Type: Self-FundedRole: Principal Investigator
Collaborator Institution: Metropolitan Community Church of Toronto
Collaborator Role: Research partner
-
Summary:
Seven male refugees from West Africa participated in this project. Over two weekends, they worked with Community Story Strategies to create a 3-4 minute digital story about the experiences that led them to Canada. All men came from countries where their LGBT status put them at high risk of prison, torture and possibly death. Digital storytelling was used a research methodology that put control in the hands of the participants to tell their stories in their own way and for their own use.
Description:The LGBTIQ+ Refugee Digital Storytelling Project is a small part of a larger Community-Based Participatory Action Research (CB/PAR) study, "What Difference Does God Make to LGBT+ Human Rights Movements?" The partnering organization is the Metropolitan Community Church of Toronto, the only organization in Canada that is a Sponsorship Agreement Holder, and can support the sponsorship of LGBTIQ+ refugees.
Project Type: FundedRole: Principal Investigator
Start Date:
- Month: Nov Year: 2015
End Date:
- Month: Nov Year: 2016
Collaborator: Reverend Kevin Downer
Collaborator Institution: Metropolitan Community Church of Toronto
Collaborator Role: Research partner
-
Summary:
This study explores the use of two tools to help undergraduate social work students identify, express and respond to emotion in relation to critical theory. It is hypothesized that students who become more adept at recognizing and expressing emotion will develop a critical social work habitus that enables them to translate theoretical knowledge into practice across a wide range of situations.
Project Type: Self-FundedRole: Principal Investigator
Start Date:
- Month: Sep Year: 2014
End Date:
- Month: Jul Year: 2016
All Publications
Approach to Teaching
My teaching is based on four principles: relationality, reciprocity, multi-modality and experientiality. 1) Relationality. Relationships matter. Academic knowledge is more likely to be used in policy and practice when it is transmitted through relationships over time. Students also learn best through positive relationships with each another and their professors. 2) Reciprocity. Learning is a two-way street. I learn as much as I teach from my students and how to meet them where they are at. I am challenged with new ways of thinking, knowing, being and doing. 3) Multi-modality. To maximize student success, I use a wide variety of modes of teaching and evaluating. Students may learn kinesthetically, orally, visually, or through traditional reading and writing. 4) Experientiality. Students are impacted when they put knowledge into practice, experientially, using art, community-based research, and through activism.
