Leading Inclusive Education - Professional Learning Conference 2021

LEADING INCLUSIVE EDUCATION

Location:  Online virtual event with hosting services provided by Encore Global (Link and password will be distributed during the week prior to the event)

Date and Time:  Thursday October 22, 2021 - 9:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. 

Registration Fee: $75.00 (payable on-line).  PSAANS or NSTU members should apply for support through Article 60 funding as per their Regional / CSAP funding guidelines.

Follow the link to Register: - REGISTRATION IS NOW CLOSED. PLEASE CONTACT INFO@PSAANS.CA AND WE WILL TRY TO ACCOMMODATE YOUR REQUEST IF POSSIBLE.

Conference Details and Agenda

Morning Keynote: 

The morning keynote at 9:15 a.m. will feature Tanya Talaga, award-winning journalist and author of Seven Fallen Feathers.  An award-winning journalist and author, and the first Ojibwe woman to deliver the CBC Massey Lectures, Tanya Talaga is an acclaimed storyteller. He book Seven Fallen Feathers, a national bestseller that introduced us to seven Indigenous high school students who mysteriously died in Thunder Bay, won the 2018 RBC Taylor Prize.  In her powerful keynotes, Talaga shares Indigenous stories from across Canada and the world, humanizing the legacy of residential schools and colonization and sharing her hope for a more inclusive and equitable future.

Talaga is of Polish and Indigenous descent.  Her great-grandmother was a residential school survivor and her great-grandfather was an Ojibwe trapper and labourer.  For the past 20 years, Talaga has worked as a journalish, most recently as a columnist with the Toronto Star, and has been nominated five times for the Michener Award in public service journalism.  From 201702018, Talaga was the Atkinson Fellow in Public Policy through The Canadian Journalism Foundation.

Morning Concurrent Sessions:

The morning Concurrent Sessions begin at 11:00 a.m.. There are three Concurrent Sessions from which members can choose.  There is no need to preselect a Concurrent Session ahead of time.  Members can attend either of the Sessions being offered. The sessions are as follows:

  • “The Changing Policy Landscape of Inclusive Education: Implications for Educational Leaders” by Dr. Monica Williams of St. Francis Xavier University.
  • “You Can’t Do It Alone: Meeting Students’ Social and Emotional Needs” by Joe Cuddemi of Solution Tree.
  • Session francophone - par Timothy Stuart de Solution Tree

Afternoon Concurrent Sessions:

The afternoon Concurrent Sessions begin at 1:00 p.m.. There are three Concurrent Sessions from which members can choose.  There is no need to preselect a Concurrent Session ahead of time.  Members can attend either of the Sessions being offered.  The sessions are as follows:

  • “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner…All the Trees are Not Maple!” by Wayn Hamilton, Executive Director African Nova Scotian Affairs (ANSA)  
  • “Leading with Intention” by Karen Power of Solution Tree.
  • “La langue française et l’humour en salle de classe“ par Hugie Batherson.

Afternoon Keynote:

Our afternoon keynote at 2:30 p.m. will feature Dr. Andy Hargreaves and Dr. Jess Whitley, both from the University of Ottawa.

Dr. Andy Hargreaves is Director of CHENINE (Change, Engagement and Innovation in Education) at the University of Ottawa and Emeritus Professor at Boston College, USA.  He is the former President of the International Congress of School Effectiveness and Improvement 2018-2020, former Adviser in Education to the Premier of Ontario (2015-2018) and current adviser to the First Minister of Scotland.  He has published more than 30 books and has 8 Outstanding Writing Awards.  He has been honoured in Canada, the US and UK for services to public education and educational research and is ranked by US Education Week among the scholars with most influence on US education policy debate.    Dr. Hargreaves has delivered invited addresses in more than 50 countries, 47 US states and All Australian states and Canadian provinces.  His most recent books are Collaborative Professionalism (with Michael O’Connor), 2018; Moving: a memoir of education and social mobility, 2020; and Five Paths of Student Engagement (with Dennis Shirley), June 2021.

Dr. Jess Whitley is an Associate Professor of Inclusive Education in the Faculty of Education at the University of Ottawa.  Dr. Whitley conducts collaborative research in areas including mental health literacy, social emotional learning and teachers’ inclusive education beliefs and practices.  She teaches courses related to these topics at the B.Ed. and graduate level and supervises graduate students studying a range of related areas. 

All of these efforts have the goal of improving social, emotional and academic outcomes for children and youth.

Conference Schedule:

9:00 a.m.:            Welcome / Greetings

9:15 a.m.:            Keynote – Tanya Talaga

10:30 a.m.:          Nutrition Break

11:00 a.m.:          Concurrent Sessions

12:15 p.m.:          Lunch

1:00 p.m.:            Concurrent Sessions

2:15 p.m.:             Break

2:30 p.m.:            Keynote – Dr. Andy Hargreaves / Dr. Jess Whitley