Name Paula Bourne | Books Canadian Women: A History | |
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Paula Bourne is a Canadian historian and professional educator whose research, writing and teaching focuses on Canadian women’s history, contemporary issues facing Canadian women, and gender issues and education.
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Background
Born Paula Therese O'Neill in Liverpool, UK in 1941, she holds undergraduate degrees in history and education from the University of Leeds, and an M.A. in education from the University of Toronto.
Bourne spent two years as a schoolteacher and lecturer in the UK before taking a one-year teaching position in Chicago, Illinois in 1965. She then spent a year as a research assistant at Chicago's Center for Urban Studies before beginning her long association with the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE) in 1967.
Bourne began there as a research officer at OISE. In 1984 she became a research sssociate, also acting as coordinator of OISE's Centre for Women’s Studies in Education from 1989 to 1999. During that time, OISE became part of the University of Toronto. From 1999 to 2007, she taught as a senior lecturer in OISE's Teacher Education program and its graduate program. She was appointed head of the Centre for Women’s Studies in Education at OISE in 1999, a position which she held until 2006. In 2002 she became a senior research associate. While at OISE Bourne was known for her course, Gender Equity in Schools and Classrooms, She also taught School and Society, a sociological overview of education.
Bourne's opinion is sought when issues of gender and education come to the fore in Canada.
Canadian Women: A History which she co-authored is called "A broad‐ranging scholarly feminist treatment" by the The Oxford Encyclopedia of Women in World History. All three editions of the book, including the most recent 2011 one, have been/are used as texts at the university level. Bourne's early publication Women in Canadian Society was used in schools for many years.
Bourne has lectured and provided educational training on the history of Canadian women and gender equity in education both in Canada and internationally, including Pakistan (Aga Khan University); Japan (Ibaraki University, Kanagawa University); and Costa Rica (University of Costa Rica, San Juan).
Awards
Toronto YWCA Woman of Distinction Special Award] (1991) for co-authoring Canadian Women: A History, 1st edition.