Staff Spotlight: Rennais Gayle

My name is Rennais Gayle and I was born in Jamaica and immigrated to Canada with my family when I was six-years old. I grew up in Calgary. I am currently the Chairperson of Early Learning and Education at Assiniboine and have been with the college since August 2019.

I attended the University of Calgary and achieved Bachelors of Education and Bachelor of Arts Degrees. I also possess certificates in Curriculum Development and Instructional Design and Human Resource Management from Mount Royal University and the University of Manitoba, respectively. I guess I loved school so much that I decided get my Master of Education at the University of Calgary and I am now currently working on my doctorate in Educational Leadership at Western University.

After my doctorate, I will finally be done with school (laughs). I have a six-year-old son, so I just do not have the same energy as I used to. He keeps me on my toes and keeps me focused, so that is it for me when it comes to school.

Growing up, I was originally considering law school. One reason was that I was working on a research project on the impact of racism and violence on the health of black Canadians. I remember speaking with one of my mentors at the time and telling him, I wanted to work in providing pathways for African-Black-Caribbean Canadians to access adequate education, healthcare, and basic services. In my mind, I thought that meant I would need law school.

But it was my mom who kept telling me that I was an educator. I did not believe her at the time. I ended up moving to Mexico for two and a half years and getting a job teaching then became a coordinator. I also taught at a K-12 English-Korean School. It was then that I realized my mom was right—I loved to teach, so, it was that work experience, mixed with a little bit of imposter syndrome from being around the other educators, which prompted my return to obtain my Bachelor of Education. From there on, I worked in a variety of roles as an Instructor at Bow Valley College, Manager in Settlement and Immigration, and other roles.

The most influential person in my life has been my mom who was a nurse for over 40 years in the USA, Jamaica, Canada, and the UK. She chose to immigrate to Canada, but her credential was not recognized. She became a nanny. My mom continued to pursue her career in nursing. She actually attended Mount Royal College while I was getting my degree, so we were studying at the same time at one point. Like many newcomers that come to Canada to pursue their dreams, my mom instilled hard work and the value of education in my life and it is because of her that I was able to pursue higher education.

My favourite part of my job is talking and interacting with students. I miss this right now because students are currently in remote delivery. I’m really looking forward to them returning to campus. Learning of my past students becoming successful and hearing their stories of going out into the world and doing awesome things is very exciting and makes me happy and thankful to be an educator. The other part I really enjoy is the creativity shown by our faculty who bring their lessons to life in the classroom.

Assiniboine, like many other educational institutions, has so many moving parts all working towards a common goal of teaching and learning. Assiniboine has small class sizes and with that comes great opportunities to offer more experiential and case-based learning. I think that sets Assiniboine apart from other institutes that have larger class sizes. It is easy to get lost in a larger crowd, but here students get more one-on-one time with our instructors and course materials, which they might not have at other colleges or universities.

With Black History Month wrapping up, I feel it is important to discuss the topic of racial discrimination and impact on quality of life. Over the years, I have had this conversation with many other colleagues who are of black or African descent and it is always a challenge when you feel like you need to go over and beyond to prove yourself whether in the workplace, academically, child rearing, or other areas of life. What I have had to learn is not about proving oneself to others, but rather setting goals for yourself alone. This is a challenge and pressure many people of colour experience and is brought on by stereotypes that play out in media, society, and history. It is important to remember that we are all a part of history and to understand that no one person or group owns your story or holds your value in his or her hand.

I really admire my parents and many black Canadians who have paved a way before me. It is because of their hard work and sacrifices that I am where I am today.