Steve Jordan
Associate Professor
Steve Jordan trained as a teacher and taught in inner London (UK) for several years in the 1980s. He completed an M.Sc (Sociology of Education, 1985) at the Institute of Education (University College London) and then went on to a PhD in administration and policy studies in education at McGill (1996). After graduating he left for a position as a Senior Lecturer at the University of Canterbury in New Zealand. At the University of Canterbury, he taught and researched in the areas of sociology of education, adult education, workplace learning/education, educational policy studies, and research methodologies. He also served as the general secretary for the New Zealand Association of Research in Education (NZARE).
He returned to McGill in 2001 as an Associate Professor where he has been a member of the Department of Integrated Studies in Education (DISE) and an Associate member of the Department Oncology where he collaborates with colleagues exploring approaches to whole person care. Since joining DISE, Steve has continued to teach in the areas of sociology of education, workplace learning, research methodologies and whole person care. He has published in several fields, including critiques of qualitative research, Indigenous program evaluation, workplace learning/education, participatory action research and whole person care. He serves on the editorial boards of the Canadian Journal of Action Research (CJAR), Education Action Research (EAR) and was the founding Editor of the International Journal of Whole Person Care. His administrative positions have included graduate program director (2001-2004) and Chair (2004-2021). He currently serves as Vice President (Communications) for the McGill Association of University Teachers (MAUT).
- Qualitative research methods
- Participatory action research (PAR)
- Workplace learning
- Education and Labour
- Adult education
- Sociology of education
My research interests focus on exploring how forms of action and participatory research can be used to enhance the learning of adults and aboriginal peoples in Canada.
Edited books
Kapoor, D., & Jordan, S. (Eds). (2019). Research, Political Engagement & Dispossession: Indigenous, Peasant & Urban Poor Activisms in the Americas and Asia. Zed.
Kapoor, D., & Jordan, S. (Eds.). (2009). Education, PAR and Social Change: International Perspectives. New York: Palgrave/Macmillan
Choudry, A., Hanley, J., Jordan, S., Shragge, E., & Steigman, M. (2009). Fight Back: Workplace Justice for Immigrants. Toronto: Fernwood.
Book chapters
Jordan, S. (2018). PAR at the crossroads: Prospects and possibilities. The Future of Action Research in Education: A Canadian Perspective. K. Clausen, McGill-Queens Press.
Jordan, S., & Trimble, L. (2012). Gender, masculinities and migrants’ learning experiences. In M. Bowl & R. Tobias (Eds.), Gender, masculinities and lifelong learning. London: Routleadge.
Journal Articles
Zafran, H., et al. (2018). "The Phenomenology of Early Psychosis Elicited in an Occupational Therapy Expressive Evaluation." Occupational Therapy in Mental Health: 1-29.
Jordan, S. and D. Kapoor (2016). "Re-politicizing participatory action research: unmasking neoliberalism and the illusions of participation." Educational Action Research 24(1): 134-149.
Hovey, R., et al. (2016). "Synergistic Research in Medical Education: Some Philosophical Reflections." Journal of Applied Hermeneutics, 1-10
Jordan, S. and E. Wood (2015). "The qualitative imagination: neoliberalism, ‘blind drift’ and alternative pathways." Globalisation, Societies and Education: 1-14.
Jordan, S. (2014). Indigenous Research Methods. Encyclopedia of Action Research, Sage.
Jordan, S. (2013). New approaches to governance and decision-making: Quebec’s Plan Nord and integrating indigenous knowledge into social science research. The World Social Science Report 2013: Changing Global Environments. H. Hackmann. Paris, UNESCO/OECD: 454-457.
Jordan, S., Stocek, C., Mark, R., & Matches, S. (2009). Doing participatory evaluation: from “jagged world views” to indigenous methodology. Australian Journal of Indigenous Education.
Jordan, S. (2007). PAR. In L. Given, M. (Ed.), Sage Encylopaedia of Qualitative Research. Thousand Oaks: Sage.
- Associate Member, Institute for Human Development and Well-Being (IHDW)
- Faculty Member, Programs in Whole Person Care, Faculty of Medicine
