Krstovic's Thoughts on Education

I graduated from the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education at the University of Toronto (OISE/UT) in 2005 with a B.Ed.  Currently I am completing my Masters in Education in the field of Curriculum, Teaching and Learning at OISE/UT.  I also studied Molecular Biology as an undergrad at University of Toronto in Mississauga (UTM). After graduating from UTM in 2002 I worked in a research laboratory under the supervision of Prof Tim Westwood on a project involving DNA microarrays.

I have been teaching  Science/Chemistry for the last 7 years -  it has been my passion ever since! I am interested in modernizing instruction and becoming more instructionally intelligent ever since I was introduced to Prof Barrie Bennett of OISE/UT. I am also interested in improving my practice through action research. My class is my laboratory where I learn how students learn. I completed several action research projects, with student activism in science being the current project that I am involved in. I am collaborating with Prof Larry Bencze from OISE on a project that involves study-informed activism within Prof Bencze’s STEPWISE framework.

I am learning how education is changing to fit the changing world and I am excited to be one of the agents of this change as a 21st century educator. I also believe that the faith of this world rests in the hands of educators and for this reason, we are one of the most important professions. Having said that, I am also deeply interested in how teachers learn and grow as professionals in their own professional learning communities.

Global education is another of my interests. I held summer teaching positions in Cairo, Egypt and Guangzhou, China. These international experiences opened my eyes to a whole new world of teaching. The students of Huamei-Bond International school in China have forever touched my heart and changed the way I see classroom community and teaching as a profession. These students put UNITY into the word “community” and they helped me realize that teaching is, indeed, an act of love!

I am a deeply reflective educator and I love to write about my experiences and thoughts.  Hopefully you will find my posts interesting. Please feel free to leave a comment to any of my blogs.

You can also follow me on Twitter: www.twitter.com/MKrstovic

PUBLICATIONS AND PRESENTATIONS

Krstovic, M. Brown, L., Chacko, M. and Trinh, B. (2008).  Grade 9 Astronomy Study: Interests of Boys and Girls Studying Astronomy at Fletcher’s Meadow Secondary School. Astronomy Education Review, Vol. 7 (2).  (retrievable from http://aer.noao.edu/figures/v07i02/07-02-01-02.pdf)

Krstovic, M. (2003, April 8). Eleven years after cities burned: Some reflections on war and hope. The Varsity News, Opinions and Analysis, p.6.

Krstovic, M. (2002, February 4). New science education program offers fun to kids. The Medium News, p.5.

Krstovic, M. (2002). Let’s Talk Science: Adapting Hands-on Science to ESL students and Special Needs students: Nature and Experiences of Hands-on Science. Retrieved November 15, 2009 from http://intermix.ca/lts/images/stories/Research/esl%20adaptations%20of%20hands-on.pdf

Percy, J. R, Krstovic, M. (2001). Later Life Learners: A Significant and Receptive Audience for Introductory Astronomy. Journal of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada, Vol. 95, p.205– 207 (retrievable from http://adsabs.harvard.edu/full/2001JRASC..95..205P)