The B.C. Literacy Council of the International Literacy Association
Carrie Froese
President
Carrie joined the International Literacy Association in her first year as a teacher. She has served on the executive committee of her local association (LOMCIRA), provincial association and presented at ILA events in New Orleans, Los Angeles, and St. Louis. She also served on the International Literacy Association Nomination Committee in 2023 and 2024.
She is currently the Executive Director of the Wild About Outdoor Learning Society and a Consultant with her company, Inquire2Empower Educational Consulting. She is a prolific reader, aspiring writer, and is passionate about supporting literacy learners. She has experience as a school principal, Faculty Associate (teaching preservice teachers) and Reading Instructor at Simon Fraser University, English Teacher/ teacher of teachers at The Fuyang Bureau of Education and Teacher of Kindergarten to grade 12 students; English as an Additional Language; Special Education in Vancouver, Coquitlam, and Abbotsford Schools.
bcliteracyila@gmail.com
Michael Bowden
Past-President
Mike is a currently the Director of Instruction of Aboriginal Education in Kamloops SD 73. He holds a Curriculum and Instruction graduate degree from the University of Calgary. He is also serving as a Director on the BC School Superintendent’s Board. He is a past Principal in the Nechako School District. Mike is a storyteller and published children’s author of fictional Secwépemc tales that reflect Indigenous ways of knowing. He is a long-time member of the ILA and has been actively involved in giving presentations and organizing professional development in literacy. He is a past president of the Canadian Special Interest Group on Literacy and founding chair of the Indigenous Peoples Special Interest Group. He has been actively involved with the Canadian Network of ILA Councils for many years and remains committed to Literacy and education.
mbowden@sd73.bc.ca
Courtney Jones
Secretary
jones_courtney@surreyschools.ca
Linda Klassen
Treasurer
Fostering the love of literacy has always been Linda’s calling. She has served as a classroom teacher, reading lecturer, elementary school principal and teacher-educator. Presently Linda shares her enthusiasm for literacy learning with students and teachers in BC’s lower mainland. As an educator for the past 30 years, Linda has taught students from kindergarten to university. Literacy learning is central to school life and helping teachers and students find the joy in reading is key to lifelong learning.
bcliteracyila@gmail.comGuofang Li
Membership
Guofang Li is a Professor and Tier 1 Canada Research Chair in Transnational and Global Perspectives of Language and Literacy Education at UBC. Her research focuses on language and literacy development among multilingual and immigrant children, particularly in diverse and global contexts. Recently, she has explored topics like superdiversity in education and multilingual literacy, as highlighted in works such as Superdiversity and Teacher Education (2021) and her new book, International Handbook of Literacies in Families and Communities (forthcoming 2025), which examines the critical role of family and community contexts in shaping literacy practices worldwide. Her three children have helped to fine tune my perspective and ideas in this area.
guofang.li@ubc.ca
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Larkyn Fitzgerald
Member at Large
Larkyn is a Grade 2/3 teacher at Brentwood Park Elementary School in the Burnaby School District. She completed her first degree in Philosophy at Queen’s University. Her interest in literacy and young children was piqued while teaching English to children in Vietnam and Taiwan. She graduated from Simon Fraser University with a Bachelor of Education degree with a minor in Curriculum and Instruction. She is an avid reader and fascinated with how she can support young literacy learners to answer their questions in a joyful context.
larkyn.froese@burnabyschools.ca
Gloria Rafael
Member at Large
Gloria enjoys reading, learning about different cultures, languages and people, listening to music and the radio, performing outdoor activities, travelling, and dancing. She is fascinated with languages and have an insatiable curiosity for finding out how they work and how they facilitate reading and writing.
She is an educator in the quest for knowledge through research and practice. She is interested in understanding children’s biliteracy and bilingual development and the mechanisms that facilitate the transfer of skills across languages. She is also interested in identifying reliable reading assessment tools and effective language and literacy teaching strategies for minority groups and diverse populations such as English language learners, First Nations students, and children and youth from disadvantaged backgrounds. Lately, she has been examining innovative (e.g., digital technology) and culturally sensitive approaches (e.g., working with Aboriginal Elders) to revitalize Aboriginal languages.
gramirez@tru.caJoanie Crandall
Member at Large
Joanie is an assistant professor at the University of Northern British Columbia, where she teaches undergraduates and graduates. Prior to joining the School of Education, she worked across Canada, including in Nehiyawewak, Inuit, Gwich’in, and Inuvialuit communities, as a Grades 6-12 teacher, K-6 principal, college director, multi-disciplinary research centre coordinator, university lecturer, consultant, online graduate studies educator and supervisor, and has worked in educational media, instructional design, law firms, and non-profits. She has always been an avid reader and is passionate about supporting literacy and a love of reading in others. As an interdisciplinary scholar, she believes that literacy is important across subject areas.
In her travels, she has learned a little Nêhiyawêwin, Inuktut, Inuvialuktun, and Gwich’in in person; and a little Wəlastəqey, Anishininiimowin, Anishinaabemowin, Saulteaux, Dënesųłiné, Tłı̨chǫ, Mi’kmaq, Kanyen’kéha, and Michif online. She is currently enjoying learning Dakelh, Onöndowa’ga:’, On’yota’a:ka, and Skarò˙rə̨ˀ. To honor and explore her own ancestry, she is learning Gaelic and Welsh. It is her wish to be able to read picture books in as many languages as possible.
joanie.crandall@unbc.caStacey Joyce
Member at Large
joyce_s@surreyschools.ca