Author: Sara Kafashan

Sara Kafashan, PhD, has worked in post-secondary education since 2009. With a Master’s in Neuroscience and Cognitive Applied Sciences and a PhD in Applied Social Psychology, she has prior teaching experience within the field of Social Sciences. Sara brings a lens of equity, diversity, and inclusion, and a focus on wellness strategies, to teaching and learning. She has expertise in inclusive and accessible educational practices, including curriculum development, resource creation, and engagement with various campus stakeholders.

February 3, 2025

Celebrating Black History Month

Reading Time: 2 minutesAs we move into Black History Month, it is a time for Canadians to celebrate the immense achievements and valuable contributions of Black Canadians throughout history. Regardless of where you are in your learning journey, Black History Month provides additional opportunities to confront anti-black racism and to work toward black inclusion in higher education. We encourage all Conestoga faculty to commit to learning about anti-black racism to foster black inclusion.

Diverse Identities/Diversity/Equity and Inclusion/Teaching

April 17, 2024

Teaching with Sign Language Interpreters (SLIs) or Interpreters in the Classroom

Reading Time: 4 minutesIntroduction As of 2021, there are approximately 382,700 deaf and 3,827,000 hard of hearing people in Canada (Canadian Association of the Deaf, n.d.; Malkowski, 2021)....

Accessible Learning/Diverse Identities/Diversity/Equity and Inclusion/Teaching/Universal Design for Learning (UDL)

October 6, 2023

The Neurodiverse Classroom and Collaborative Work

Reading Time: 3 minutesWhat? The main purpose of this teaching tip is to assist educators in supporting neurodiverse groups in collaborating. So What? This is important because 1...

Accessible Learning/Diverse Identities/Diversity/Equity and Inclusion/Teaching/Universal Design for Learning (UDL)

September 29, 2023

Why We Wear Orange and Learn on the Land: National Day of Truth and Reconciliation

Reading Time: 4 minutesAuthor’s Acknowledgement This post has been written from the perspective of a first-generation settler, living on the traditional lands of the Attawandaron, Anishinaabek, and Haudenosaunee...

Decolonizing and Indigenizing Education/Diverse Identities/Diversity/Equity and Inclusion/Teaching

September 20, 2023

Responding to Discrimination and Harassment in Teaching

Reading Time: 4 minutesBy: Dr. Sara Kafashan and Dr. Nasreen Sultana In our day-to-day work and teaching at Conestoga, we may come across a rare occurrence of harassment...

Diverse Identities/Diversity/Equity and Inclusion

September 6, 2023

Supports for Diversity across the Conestoga Community

Reading Time: 4 minutesBetween 2017 and 2021, Conestoga College saw a 350% increase in international students enrolled (ApplyBoard, 2022). Today, Conestoga is the most popular College in Canada...

Diverse Identities/Diversity/Equity and Inclusion

September 6, 2023

The Success of International Students at Conestoga College

Reading Time: 4 minutesBy Dr. Sara Kafashan and Dr. Nasreen Sultana Note: This post contains initial thoughts from Sara and Nasreen, Teaching & Learning Consultants who originally came...

Teaching/Teaching International Students

January 4, 2023

Pathway – Preparing For your First Lesson

Reading Time: < 1 minuteThis learning path aims to inform and support you as you prepare to teach your first lesson. What’s Next? Before the first lesson For resources...

New Faculty/Teaching

June 29, 2022

Content Warnings in Teaching

Reading Time: 9 minutesWhat are content warnings? How can I best prepare my class for a difficult topic? This tip provides examples of content warnings and other tips for teaching difficult topics.

Accessible Learning/Diverse Identities/Diversity/Teaching

April 14, 2022

Writing Assignment Descriptions

Reading Time: < 1 minuteEvaluation is a key part of teaching. But, when it comes to assignments, what information should you include? How much information is too much? And...

Assessing Learning/Assessment Quick Guides/Creating Assessments/Teaching

April 6, 2022

Delivering Indigenous Land Acknowledgements

Reading Time: 6 minutesAuthor’s Acknowledgement This post has been written from the perspective of a first-generation settler, living on the traditional lands of the Attawandaron, Anishinaabek, and Haudenosaunee...

Decolonizing and Indigenizing Education/Diversity

January 20, 2022

Learning Cells

Reading Time: 2 minutesWhat is it? With Learning Cells, students develop questions about a learning activity and then take turns asking and answering questions in pairs. Uses Learning...

Active Learning and Engagement/Teaching

December 3, 2021

Managing Unexpected and/or Emotional Incidents in Post-Secondary Teaching

Reading Time: 7 minutesDuring our careers as faculty, we may come across a few unexpected and/or emotional incidents in post-secondary teaching. How do we, for example, navigate a...

Communicating With Students/Teaching

August 31, 2021

Ways To Make Your Teaching More Accessible

Reading Time: 2 minutesBy Sara Kafashan [E]ducation providers have a legal duty to accommodate the needs of students with disabilities. Ontario Human Rights Commission, 2018 How can faculty...

Accessible Learning/Diversity

August 26, 2021

A Foundational Understanding of Accessible Teaching and Learning at Conestoga College

Reading Time: 4 minutesAcross Ontario colleges and universities, there are growing numbers of students with disabilities (Learning Disabilities of Ontario, 2019). At Conestoga, we have seen our numbers...

Accessible Learning/Diversity

June 23, 2021

Best Practices for Faculty to Support Students in Distress or in Crisis

Reading Time: 4 minutesIn this post, you will learn about best practices to support students in distress or in crisis. Some of the information here is based on...

Accessible Learning/Diverse Identities/Diversity

April 30, 2021

Reacting and Responding to Student E-mails, Especially During End-of-Semester Stress

Reading Time: 5 minutesBy Sara Kafashan and Kathryn Brillinger Please email teachingandlearning@conestogac.on.ca with additional scenarios to add. The end of semester can be a particularly stressful and busy time for...

Communicating With Students/Teaching

December 1, 2020

Supporting Privacy Rights of People with Disabilities

Reading Time: 2 minutesInformation and links on protecting the rights of people to disclose or withhold information about theirdisability

Accessible Learning/Diversity

May 6, 2020

Understanding Equity, Inclusion, and Teaching During a Pandemic

Reading Time: 4 minutesTip on promoting equity and inclusion instruction practices for remote learning.

Diverse Identities/Diversity/Equity and Inclusion/Teaching