"...my hope was to put forward the idea of a graduate 'department' which allowed an inter-disciplinary approach to educational research and teaching..."

Dr. Ted Aoki taught in Alberta public schools for nineteen years, receiving both his bachelor's degree in social studies education and his Masters degree from the University of Alberta. Following this, he completed his doctoral degree in curriculum studies at the University of Oregon. In addition to achieving assistant, associate, full and emeritus professorships at the U of A, he holds honorary degrees from UBC, the University of Lethbridge and the University of Western Ontario. He has been honoured by the Canadian Education Association as well as the American Educational Research Association. In 1994 he was named a Kappa Delta Pi Laureate.

Dr. Aoki has been an ever-present influence at the Centre since its creation 25 years ago. His initial vision for an interdisciplinary space for graduate students to conduct research outside the traditional boundaries has been challenged, but also rewarded. As Dr. Aoki reminds us, the Chinese character for "crisis" also represents "opportunity." The Centre continues to prosper as a community of inquiry, discovery and sharing which Dr. Aoki hoped would find a legitimate seat within the university institution. His devotion to the lived dimensions of curriculum and his modeling of a truly human pedagogy have not only encouraged many students to pursue hermeneutic and phenomenological studies, but have garnered great respect for the daily challenges of teaching "in the middle"....

Dr. Aoki recalls that "upon returning to BC in the mid-1970s, my hope was to put forward the idea of a graduate 'department' which allowed an inter-disciplinary approach to educational research and teaching. I joined the Department of Educational Administration, one of (believe it or not) twenty-three separate departments in the Faculty at that time.

My opportunity to become director of the Centre came about in 1976, shortly after its inception. For the next two years, before returning to Alberta, I was convinced of the viability and need for such a graduate community within the structure of a larger institution. I have been very pleased to see the Centre continue to provide an atmosphere of study that fosters new fields of research pertinent to education, realising that it has always been a challenge to maintain autonomy within the faculty."

Acknowledgements:
CSCI students and administration extend their thanks to Dr. Aoki, both for his tremendous initiative as Director of the Centre, and for his continuing commitment since then.