Bio
Malayna Bernstein directs the Faculty of Information’s Learning Hub. In this role, she coordinates programs that support student and faculty learning and well-being across the Faculty of Information. She earned her Ph.D. and M.A. in the Learning Sciences at Northwestern University, where she studied literacies, resource pedagogies, and teacher identity. She holds a B.A. in English from Wesleyan University in Connecticut, where she studied literature and nonfiction writing. Malayna taught at Northwestern University, the University of Maryland, and West Virginia University, before coming to the University of Toronto.
Professor Bernstein’s research examines the cognitive and cultural dimensions of learning in diverse settings. She has served as a qualitative methodologist on a wide range of empirical projects, including examinations of teacher identity development during the West Virginia school strikes, women battling the opioid epidemic, fire fighters’ health, and student athlete’s experiences with racism. Much of this work builds from a participatory action research framework, in which she fosters collaborative research efforts among research participants and investigators.