Dr. Taunya Wideman-Johnston
SOCIAL SCIENTIST | SPEAKER | ADVOCATE
Taunya has been reimagining advocacy for over 20 years! She is an educator, social scientist, speaker, and person with a disability. Her interdisciplinary research expertise promotes authenticity in learning. Taunya is known to foster authenticity in your life! Her work is grounded in learning about: reframing disability with a strength-based perspective, supporting child and youth learning and growth in education and sports, leading with wellness, and critical friendship in leadership. Taunya thrives when sharing evidence-based experiences through innovative and interactive presentations, workshops, leadership series, and writing.
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Taunya is the Global Development Lead at Learning Allowed, an organisation dedicated to finding the learner within you to bring positive changes in your life and the community.
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Taunya is the author of The Extraordinary Gifts: My Life with a Chronic Illness, Families Start With Love: A Celebration Of How Families Can Grow and is co-author of The Critical Friendship Revolution: Leading Ethical Practice Through Authentic Relationships. Taunya has a philosophy doctorate in educational sustainability. Her graduate research focused on reframing disability with a strength-based perspective. Her research has been published in several academic journals and presented at national and international conferences.
Taunya's colourful journey as a person with a disability leads her to advocate for people with chronic health conditions and disabilities. Her commitment to self-advocacy as a person with a disability has been featured on recurring national news segments related to chronic health conditions, disabilities, ostomy awareness, and infertility. Taunya lives in Ontario, Canada with her husband and their children.
Selected Publications
Books
Wideman-Johnston, T. (2023). The Extraordinary Gifts: My life with a chronic illness. CF Press.
Brewer, C. A., & Wideman-Johnston, T. (2023). Critical Friendship: Leading ethical practice through authentic relationships.
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Chapters in books
Wideman-Johnston, T. (2025). The willed curriculum and ungrading. In C. Ricci & G. Riley (eds.), The ungraded classroom, and authentic learning.
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Wideman-Johnston, T. (2014). Immigrant students’ health: An overview of the need to improve our awareness and response to the health of immigrant children and their families within the educational context. In C.A. Brewer & M. McCabe (eds.), Working with immigrant and refugee families in Canadian schools. Brush Education, Inc. 20–30.
Papers in refereed Journals
Wideman-Johnston, T., Brewer, C. A., & McCabe, M. (Fall 2023, in press). Learning from and preserving stories: How a secondary school Oral History Project (OHP) contributed to transformative engagement in UNESCO's Global Citizenship Education. Oral History: The Journal of the Oral History Society.
Brewer, C. A., & Wideman-Johnston, T, McCabe, M. (2021). Better together: The role of critical friendship in empowering early career academics. in education, 26(2), 75-91.
Wideman-Johnston, T. (2015). A self-study of my life with a chronic illness. Journal of Unschooling and Alternative Learning, 9(17).
McCabe, M. Brewer, C. A., Wideman-Johnson, T., and Archbell, K. (2015). Running with Partici-Patrick: Integrating HIV/AIDS education with DPA and character education in Ontario Schools. Physical and Health Education Canada Journal, 80(4).
Andrews, A., McCabe, M. and Wideman-Johnston, T. (2014). Mental Health Issues in the Schools: Are educators prepared? Journal of Mental Health Training, Education and Practice: Special Edition on Mental Health in Youth, 9(4).
Wideman-Johnston, T. (2014). The academic journeys of students with chronic gastrointestinal illness: Narratives from daughters and their mothers. Canadian Journal of New Scholars in Education, 5(1).
Brewer, C. A., & Wideman-Johnston, T. (2014). Developing and maintaining a critical friendship in academia. Journal of Authentic Leadership in Education, 3(2).
Vitale, J., McCabe, M, Tedesco, S, & Wideman-Johnston, T. (2012). Cache me if you can: Reflections on geocaching from junior/intermediate teacher candidates. International Journal of Technology and Inclusive Education, 1(1).
Wideman-Johnston, T. (2011). Resilience and Students with Chronic Illness: A literature review of fostering resilience into the lives of students with chronic illness. Journal of Educational and Developmental Psychology, 1(1).
Wideman-Johnston, T. (2011). A narrative: Meditation in the lives of children with chronic illness. The Journal of Unschooling and Alternative Learning, 6(11).
Grierson, A., Cantalini-Williams, M., & Wideman-Johnston, T. (2011). Building scaffolds in the field: The benefits and challenges of teacher candidate peer mentorship. Brock Education, 20(2), 85-103.