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Doug McDougall, nowadays, often thinks about legacy.

McDougall, a Professor of Mathematics Education at the 91ֱ��, has been a mentor and guide for many who have gone on to be education leaders in their communities. As a founder of OISE’s Master of Teaching program, McDougall has long had a vision for mathematics education that is engaging, inclusive, and transformative.

“I have supervised over 65 doctoral students to completion, and over 25 masters of arts students to completion,” said McDougall, who was recognized with the JJ Berry Smith Doctoral Supervision Award in 2020. “There is a legacy of supporting people that I have worked with, and they have gone on to do the things that are important to them.”

He understands how important their accomplishments are – it reminds him of his time with faculty like Professor Emeriti Lynn Davie and Dr. John Ross, and especially his doctoral supervisor Professor Emerita Gila Hanna.

Hanna, now retired, taught him how to edit, research and support students. “She taught me the importance of analyzing data, to support students and to help with using research funds for students,” he says. “I think my legacy really is being able to take what she was able to teach me and to pass it on to other people.”

Today, McDougall remains committed to supporting the students yet to come. Announced this fall, pledges to support the next generation of math educators. The annual award will provide support for the highest-achieving incoming Master of Teaching student specializing in intermediate or senior mathematics education.

“It is our tremendous honour to establish a scholarship that could be the greatest factor in jumpstarting a teacher educator’s journey,” says Sim Kapoor, director of OISE’s Office of Advancement, Communications, and External Relations. “The future of recipients of this honour will be the realization of Dr. McDougall’s vision.

“We need math educators as much now as ever and this fund will ensure their trajectory is high.”

For McDougall, he does want to continue building a legacy of excellence, and a future of possibility.

“As a professor, as a chair, as associate dean and my work in university governance, all of those things were really about finding ways to help others learn, just the same way that I had many opportunities to lead and to learn.”

Leaps in math education

For McDougall, the new scholarship brings to mind how math has been taught in Ontario and beyond. When he began his career, as a math teacher, a lot of the learning was very straightforward.

“The way I was taught was that, as a math teacher, I would put three examples on the board, give some homework to the students,” he recalls. “The students would work, and I would walk around and I would assign homework that was due the next class. The next day, I would take up the homework and I would repeat this pattern the next day. That was the way we were taught to teach. And of course, that is the way we were taught when I was a child.”

The math, and the education, requires a special understanding of spatial relationships. For McDougall, that relationship didn’t start the way you’d imagine.

In elementary school, “I wasn't very good at math,” he said.

After lower marks to start out high school math, Grade 12 math had a different destiny. He had a teacher, who graduated from the University of Waterloo (his future alma mater), and he taught him in a completely different way than he had ever seen before. “It was an opportunity to talk about things, go up to the blackboard and write things on the board, and talk to your classmates about math and share some ideas that he had learned from being a teacher.”

It inspired him to go further. At first, he had aspirations for accounting and but eventually he had a different calling. “I realized, maybe, I want to be a teacher.”

Eventually, after a long stint as a math teacher became an opportunity to take his math teaching bona fides further – degrees at the University of Waterloo, co-op placements, and rewarding doctoral journey at OISE.

Jim Hewitt, a Professor with the Department of Curriculum, Teaching, and Learning, has known McDougall since the early 1990’s when they were both completing their doctoral degrees at OISE.  “From the beginning, Doug struck me as one of the most positive, generous, and supportive colleagues I’ve ever known.

“He’s always been warm and friendly,” says Hewitt, “never rushed, always present.”

“Throughout his entire career, he's had a deep passion for the teaching and learning of mathematics and helping teachers improve their practice through clear conceptual frameworks, collaboration, and thoughtful professional development,” he added.

Hewitt had the pleasure of sitting in on a few of McDougall’s lessons on mathematics education. “I remember one of his lessons in which he taught the class how to use the Geometer’s Sketchpad software to teach students the circle angle theorem,” he remembers. “It was great lesson: very hands-on, clear, and an impressive use of technology. �ٴdzܲ�’s lessons were always well-presented and his passion for the subject matter was contagious.

“You could feel his love of the subject-matter and his commitment when he taught.”

For Hewitt, one of McDougall’s real strengths is that he bridged that gap between the academic and professional worlds. “He had a strong understanding and appreciation for the mathematics education research literature. Because he had experience in both worlds, he could explain academic ideas using plain language that teachers could understand.”

We have come a long way in recognizing the importance of inquiry and students exploring mathematics and being able to concretely understand math and build an understanding abstractly, says McDougall. “Teachers don't work on their own, and we can't just close the doors in each class – we need to build learning communities within schools.”

“What can I leave behind?”

For Hewitt, to see a scholarship launched in McDougall’s name couldn’t be more appropriate.

“Doug has spent his career supporting others: teachers, students, administrators, international partners, colleagues, and especially graduate students,” he says. “A scholarship carries on �ٴdzܲ�’s legacy of supporting others and creating new opportunities for them. New generations of educators will continue to benefit from �ٴdzܲ�’s many contributions, even if they never meet him.

For Hewitt, it is a recognition not just of what Doug accomplished, but of how he accomplished it: through mentorship, collaboration, and warmth. “Through my friendship with Doug, I learned the value of quiet, steady leadership,” he says.

Among other things, McDougall also showed Hewitt that you can build a career rooted in collegiality rather than competition. “He reminded me that optimism is a powerful scholarly stance,” Hewitt says. “Whether he was building the Master of Teaching program, leading national organizations, or conducting large-scale mathematics studies, he never lost sight of the belief that improvement is possible, and that people thrive when they feel supported.”

So, as the scholarship garners support, McDougall’s focus is clear – and it’s built around one question.

“When I started thinking about what can I leave behind?” he says. “I could leave trees behind. I can leave a bench behind. I could donate money to things.

“Or, I could find ways to look at the students that I started with 45 years ago and leave something for them to have a financial way to get themselves into a Master of Teaching program,” he added.