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.  

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.

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. 

David Istance, Centre for Educational Research and Innovation (CERI), OECD - SOME OECD WORK ON EDUCATION, LEARNING AND ICT , from Framtidens Lärande

NOII Symposium Featured Speaker: Chris Kennedy

We’re gearing up for the annual NOII Symposium on May 2^nd and 3^rd at the Hilton Airport Hotel in Richmond. Have you registered yet? Space is limited so please register online as soon as possible.  

We are fortunate to have a number of thoughtful, engaging featured speakers sharing their time and ideas with us at the Symposium this year. One of these individuals is Chris Kennedy, the Superintendent of Schools in the West Vancouver School District and board member for the Canadian Education Association (CEA). Chris is a leading voice in education in British Columbia and beyond, regularly sharing ideas around personalized learning, professional development, social media, technology in the classroom, and more through his blog and twitter @chrkennedy. In 2012 he was named Canada’s Top Education Blogger. 

His passion for education is evident in his writing and through his presentations. Check out a few of his recent articles, including how SD 45 is monitoring the impact of self-regulation instructional methods, suggestions and tools for educators to engage with social media as part of their professional practice, or his thought-provoking Top 3 Lists. We’ve also included below his recent talk at Tedx West Vancouver ED.

We’ll share more about other featured speakers in coming weeks. 

Register for the NOII Symposium - May 2 & 3, 2014

We hope you will join us for the upcoming NOII Symposium on May 2 & 3, 2014. The theme for this year's event is Stories of Change: Pictures of Possibility, featuring innovative leadership in education in BC and beyond.  The featured speakers include:

·         David Istance, Director of the Innovative Learning Environment Research Study, OECD

·         Chris Kennedy, Superintendent of Schools, West Vancouver

·         Anthony Mackay, CEO of the Centre for Strategic Education Melbourne, Australia

·         Laura Tait, Director of Instruction, Nanaimo Ladysmith School District

·         Diane Turner, Superintendent of Schools, Delta School District

·         Richard Wagamese, Author of Indian Horse and Ragged Company

Space is limited so please REGISTER ONLINE NOW.  Looking forward to seeing you there!

Spirals of Inquiry: for equity and quality

Do you have a friend or colleague who is new to the inquiry-based learning approach and looking to learn more?  Or perhaps someone looking to re-invigorate their teaching and learning practice with new evidence-based strategies? Spirals of Inquiry: for equity and quality is into the sixth printing and is available to order now. This handbook offers specific inquiry tools, research evidence and examples from practice in BC schools that will assist in conceptualizing inquiry-based learning and developing strategies for shifting thinking and practice. It presents an approachable and yet innovative framework for inquiry that is now influencing schools and districts across BC and in other parts of the world. Proceeds from book sales will go directly to inquiring schools.  For information on how to order, click here

Feedback on learning

Carol Dweck's work on the growth and fixed mindset has had a profound influence on Linda's and my thinking. The connection between the kind of feedback we provide to learners and the impact on mindsets is clearly and succinctly explained in this  clip from Dylan Wiliam. We think this short video could be very useful in helping parents understand the reasons why teachers are changing the ways in which feedback is provided. See what you think and let us know.