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Change is the Only Constant
Change is the Only Constant
February 6th & 7th 2023
by Marc Vézina, February 2023
The Leadership Committee for English Education in Québec (LCEEQ) conference gathered education experts and practitioners for two days of reflecting and tinkering. It was held online February 6th & 7th and focused on very varied topics, going from very down to earth organizational issues to questions about the very role of education. For example, the pedagogical consultants for the Riverside School Board Tina Morotti and Stephanie Anna Domes presented the flexible and collaborative system they put in place to support both the early career teachers and the newly designated teacher mentors. For his part, Kevin Lamoureux spoke of how schools, which were used as weapons against the First Peoples, can now become tools of healing in the Truth and Reconciliation process.
The event will be held again next on February 12th & 13th 2024.
The recordings of the conferences and workshops are not shared with the public. However, we found online presentations by some of the guests that will give you a good idea of the spirit of the event.
Dr Jean Clinton, of McMaster University, is a renowned child psychiatrist and knowledge translator. Her conference, “Good at Learning Good at Life”, insisted on the fundamental importance of the quality of relationships in education. “Connect before you correct”, she said. Her presentation (41 min 04) to British Columbia educators explains her approach.
Michael Hernandez is an award-winning cinema and broadcast journalism high school educator. He uses digital storytelling to empower his students while helping them retain more information as they emotionally connect with the topics. He spoke about using Design Thinking as a template for learning and how storytelling impacts the retention of knowledge. Watch this piece about him (2 min 52) by National Geographic.
Gordon L. Porter is the Director of Inclusive Education Canada and President of the Education Training Group. In his conference titled Two Steps to Support School Inclusion he asked: “Can we do better, tomorrow, with the tools and knowledge that we have?” He showed this video (12 min 52) as one of the possible solutions.
“Are we preparing the students for 2030 or 2019?” is the question that asked Dwayne Matthews, Director of Strategic Partnerships & Innovation, Ontario Virtual School. During his presentation, he challenged the ability of traditional education to face this challenge. He summarizes his views in this interview (5 min 11).
Kevin Lamoureux is a faculty member at the University of Winnipeg and a well known public speaker. He closed the LCEEQ conference with an inspirational lecture about the gifts of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. He asked that we took the time to read its 94 calls to action and ask ourselves two questions about each of them:
Why was this Call to Action made?
Would our community/nation benefit from its fulfillment?
This TED Talk (14 min 18) conveys a similar message.
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