Friday, April 25, 2014

Scholarships for First Nations, Inuit and Métis Students - Deadlines Approaching!

Indspire's Building Brighter Futures: Bursaries and Scholarship Awards program serves First Nations, Inuit, and Métis students across Canada with over $54 million awards granted since 1985. The deadlines for these awards are coming up.

Spring 2014 Deadlines - Applications must be postmarked on or before the deadline date. A few upcoming opportunities are outlined below.

Bursary or Scholarship Award Name                                                            Deadline
Oil and Gas Trades & Technology                                                                 April 30
Fine Arts Undergraduate and Graduate Programs                                         May 1
Ontario Federation of Indian Friendship Centers (OFIFC)                              May 1
Legal Studies for Aboriginal People Pre-Law Bursary (LSAP)                          May 15
Health Careers                                                                                             June 1
Post-Secondary Education                                                                            June 1
Foundation for the Advancement of Aboriginal Youth (FAAY) -
Canadian Council for Aboriginal Business                                                     June 1

For more information, visit the Indspire website.  Or contact education@indspire.ca or 1.855.INDSPIRE (463.7747) x223 with questions. 


Wednesday, April 23, 2014

Summer Institute on Self-Regulated Learning and Inquiry

On July 2, 3 & 4, Dr. Deborah Butler and Dr. Nancy Perry are hosting a Summer Institute at UBC supporting educators in fostering self-regulated learning (SRL) in their classrooms and schools.  Through this transformative learning and networking experience, participants will consider why SRL is important, what educators can do to support SRL in schools (including goal setting), and how a focus on SRL can fit with other initiatives currently underway in BC (i.e. assessment for learning, teaching for diversity, etc.).  

A priority within the Collaborating to Foster Self-Regulation in Schools Summer Institute will be to enable educators, facilitators, and/or leaders to build from this summer event to take up “self-regulation” as a focus within on-going, inquiry-based initiatives. In an inquiry-based approach, educators work together in learning communities (e.g., learning teams) to advance their learning and practice around particular issues. As part of the Summer Institute, participants will not only develop foundational knowledge about SRL with potential to inform their practice, but they will also consider how individuals in varying roles or positions (e.g., teachers, facilitators, leaders) might work in concert to take up SRL as a focus of inquiry within their particular contexts.

Finally, while participants can take this Summer Institute as a stand-alone activity, it is also one key component of an “SRL Inquiry Hub” designed to provide on-going support to inquiring educators across an entire year. For more information on the SRL Inquiry Hub, and possible pathways for participating, please see the SRL Inquiry Hub webpage.

The registration deadline for the Institute is May 28, 2014.  Please visit the program website for more information, or contact Alejandro ahuerta.rodas@ubc.ca.



Wednesday, April 16, 2014

Dianne Turner: NOII Symposium Featured Speaker

We’re very lucky in BC to have dedicated and passionate educational leaders working hard to positively impact teaching and learning for both students and educators across the province.  One of those passionate leaders is Dianne Turner, Superintendent of Schools with the Delta School District, and featured speaker at the upcoming NOII Symposium.

Before joining the Delta School District in 2008, Dianne taught secondary Science, Math, environmental education and gifted school programs, and was an administrator at several schools in Coquitlam and Vancouver.  She contributes to the educational community through committee work, including the BC Superintendents Association, Education Research & Development and the UBC/BCTF New Teacher Mentoring Advisory Committee. With Delta, she has led an innovative, collaborative visioning process, helping to shape objectives and goals for learning and teaching over the next several years. 

You can check out the many inspiring projects that school communities in Delta are undertaking this year at the districts 180 Days of Learning website. In addition to hearing Dianne speak at the Symposium, you can also follow her on Follow Dianne on Twitter: @diannemturner. 

If you haven’t already, register for the NOII Symposium here, or please spread the word by sharing this link with a colleague.  

Sunday, April 13, 2014

UBC Historical Thinking Summer Institute at Museum of Vancouver

There are many opportunities to engage in professional development this summer through institutes and courses offered by the University of British Columbia.  Some happen on campus in Vancouver, while others - like the Historical Thinking Institute, described below - are hosted off-campus. You can also check out a variety of other opportunities here
 
Stunning vistas from the Museum of Vancouver meet with critical perspectives at the UBC Historical Thinking Summer Institute, from July 7-12.

Bursaries are available to help participants join this unforgettable experience.


Historical Thinking
Historical thinking is now included as a foundation of the Ontario history curriculum. It plays a key role in the new draft social studies curriculum in British Columbia. Other Canadian 
provinces are moving in the same direction.

The summer institute is designed for teachers, graduate students, curriculum developers, professional development leaders and museum educators who want to enhance their expertise at designing and teaching history courses and programs with explicit attention to historical thinking.

These concepts will shape our exploration of two substantive themes: Aboriginal-settler relations, and human-nature relations over time. We will use local cases, resources and expertise available in Vancouver, but the work will be applicable to other locations across Canada and internationally.

Registration Deadline
May 15

pdce.educ.ub.ca/htsi2014
Please visit the program website for more information, or contact summer.educ@ubc.ca.

Study with a friend. Download and share the 
flyer.

Tuesday, April 8, 2014

NOII Symposium Featured Speaker: David Istance

We are lucky to have David Istance, senior member of the OECD’s Centre for Educational Research and Innovation (CERI), joining us for the NOII Symposium this year as a featured speaker. 

David has published and presented extensively on such topics as lifelong learning and equity. With the OECD, two very recent publications include Education Today: The OECD Perspective (2009) and (with Henno Theisens) Trends Shaping Education (2008).  David has also worked at the Universities of Cardiff and Swansea and he remains an Honorary Research Fellow in the School of Social Sciences at the University of Cardiff.

David heads the long running OECD Schooling for Tomorrow program as well as the new Innovative Learning Environments (ILE) project, which is interested in analyzing how young people learn and what conditions and dynamics contribute to better learning environments.  As many of you know, BC has been identified as one of the five international learning labs in this project, partly as a result of the sustained focus on networked inquiry and leadership development connected to the NOII. If you are new to this project or want to learn more, this Practitioners Guide to The Nature of Learning, Using Research to Inspire Practice includes a good summary of the seven key learning principles that some NOII schools are using to inform their inquiries this school year.

We’re excited for David to share more with us in May. We’ve included one of his recent presentations below, via slideshare.