Heather Bourrie
Assistant Professor
heatherbourrie@trentu.ca
705-748-1011 ext 7712
OCA 152
Hi! I’m Heather Bourrie, and I joined the School of Education at Trent in 2021 after 20 years as a teacher in public education. Before coming to Trent, I also had the privilege of teaching in the Faculty of Education at York University for five years. My primary role at Trent is teaching mathematics pedagogy to Primary/Junior teacher candidates. In addition, I teach the French as a Second Language curriculum course for Intermediate/Senior teacher candidates, and I’ve taught a range of other courses across both the Bachelor of Education and Master of Education programs.
As a math educator, I am deeply interested in the teaching and learning of mathematics through problem solving. Anybody can be a math person, it all depends on the experiences we have had with mathematics. I look at teaching and learning as a way of being with people, drawing on many theoretical approaches that see teaching and learning as a complex human endeavour.
My research focuses on responsive and inclusive pedagogies in mathematics education, with a particular interest in problem solving as a means to support equitable access to mathematical learning. I am especially drawn to classroom-based inquiry with practicing teachers and collaborative investigations with teacher candidates. Across my work, I aim to foreground student thinking, challenge deficit narratives, and explore how educators can create meaningful, participatory spaces for learning mathematics.