About Dr. Goddard

Dr. Goddard

Dr. Goddard began his career as a teacher in England in 1974. His teaching background is in art and geography, and he has subsequently been a department head, principal, superintendent of education, professor of educational administration, university administrator, and consultant. He has worked in a variety of settings, including emancipatory education initiatives and research with post-conflict, minority culture, and Indigenous populations in Afghanistan, Canada, Kosovo, Lebanon, Papua New Guinea, and Slovenia. He has also been a visiting professor in Sweden, Belgium and the United States.

Dr. Goddard obtained his PhD from the University of Alberta in 1996. His academic discipline is educational administration, a field in which he also holds a masters’ degree from the University of Saskatchewan.

Highlights of his career as an educator include:

  • Recipient of the inaugural UPEI Faculty of Graduate Studies Award for Outstanding Graduate Student Mentorship (2019);
  • founding headmaster (principal) of the Kiriwina Day High School on the Trobriand Islands, Milne Bay Province, Papua New Guinea (1981-1982);
  • responsible for leading the transition from federal to local (Band) control of the Black Lake Dene Nation School in northern Saskatchewan, Canada (1984-1987);
  • worked with the Cree and Inuit peoples of northern Canada (1989-1993);
  • responsible for the leadership development component of the $16 million CIDA funded Kosovo Education Development Project initiative (2001-2007);
  • Team Leader for the $1.2 million World Bank funded Lebanon Education Development Project initiative (2003-2005); and,
  • Project Director for the $10.025 million CIDA funded Teacher Certification and Accreditation of Teacher Training Institutions in Afghanistan initiative (2011-2016).

Goddard is an accomplished photographer and often uses his images to illustrate the many talks and presentations he is invited to deliver. He has spoken to a wide variety of school, community and academic communities, and is often called upon to be a keynote speaker at conferences.