Dr. Kristiina Montero
Dean of Education
kmontero@trentu.ca
705-748-1011 x6661
OCA 214
Kristiina Montero is the Dean of Education at Trent University. An award-winning university educator, praxis-oriented scholar, and experienced academic leader, she brings more than 20 years of experience in teacher education. Prior to joining Trent University in 2026, she held academic and leadership positions at Renison University College (affiliated with the University of Waterloo), Wilfrid Laurier University, and Syracuse University. Earlier in her career, she taught French as a Second Language and English as a Second Language in Ontario and Québec. Driven by a deep commitment to pedagogy, Kristiina's research is grounded in community-engaged scholarship that addresses practical challenges identified by community partners. Her work focuses on the impact of culturally sustaining early literacy practices on the language and literacy development of adolescent refugee newcomers with limited prior schooling, as well as the use of decolonizing pedagogies in postsecondary education. Kristiina holds a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Waterloo, a Bachelor of Education from Brock University and Ontario teaching certification, a Master of Education from Northern Illinois University, and a PhD in Reading Education from the University of Georgia. She is proud to be part of Trent University's progressive, inclusive, and student-centered community and she looks forward to working alongside students, faculty, staff, alumni, and community partners to advance excellence in education and professional learning.
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Dr. Sarah Twomey
(currently on leave)
I am passionate about how teaching and learning can contribute to the larger purpose of belonging, sustainability, and healing through educational experiences and research.
I have been an educator for over 30 years. Throughout this time, I would define my approach to teaching and learning as innovative and transformative. From using theatre as a tool for social change while a high school teacher, to developing educational leadership programs that enhanced learning for teachers and community partners through collaborative research, I thrive when others can actualize their gifts and talents.
The co-edited book, Living Teacher Education in Hawaii (Twomey & Johnson, 2018), reflects my development as an academic in Hawaii from 2007-2018. I became interested in understanding the structural origins of interracial relations in the local cultures I saw around me. I began to ask how a deeper understanding of race relations might help us move forward on what Peggy Phelan (2003) calls the “rackety bridge” between self and other in order to understand the role of social justice pedagogies in our classrooms. My research strives to conceptualize the connection between post-colonial theory and current curricular practices as a useful analytic lens to deepen understanding of the how we might move towards a more ethical framework for human relations within a colonial history of language and literacy education. I am excited about how I might extend this work to my new home in Peterborough, here at Trent.