STUDENTS AT WESTCAST
By Pamela Osmond-Johnson
The Faculty of Education was wellrepresented at WestCAST 2020 , held at UBC in Vancouver this past February break . Bringing together over 600 Education faculty and teacher education students annually , WestCAST is hosted by Faculties of Education in one of the four western provinces . Under the conference theme of Vision 2020 : Ignite the Future , seven U of R students , were accepted to deliver four presentations :
Talia Fawcett & Trista Kennett ( Elem / Middle Years ): Are we preparing our students for success ? Teaching 21st Century competencies through outdoor education .
Kalen Senecal ( Joint BEd / BKin , Phys . Ed major ): Moving students towards leadership : Using Physical Education to inspire change .
Heather Witherspoon , Dani LaValley & Chantelle Love ( SUNTEP ): Igniting the future by reclaiming our language
Anthea Holczer ( Elem PreK-5 ): What is reader ’ s theatre ? Why is it important ? How can it ‘ ignite the future ’ of our students ?
Funding for students was provided as part of the Undergraduate Professional Development Fund , which provides support for teacher candidates to purse self-selected professional learning opportunities . Students worked throughout the Fall term to develop their proposal submissions and were supported through two mini workshops , facilitated by Dr . Christine Massing and Dr . Cristyne Hébert . Students also received support from a number of their professors in developing their final presentations , which were very well received by those who attended their sessions . As a whole , students were confident , well spoken , knowledgeable , and chose interesting topics , which strongly connected with other attendees .
Students also had the opportunity to attend iCast , an Indigenous focused preconference hosted by NITEP , UBC ’ s Indigenous Education program . Treated to storytelling , Indigenous dance lessons , and roundtable discussions with Indigenous and non-Indigenous teacher education students , iCast was a highlight for U of R students and an incredible opportunity to see how schools and other Faculties of Education are incorporating Indigenous ways of knowing and being into their curricula and programming .
Overall , the conference was a great success and a wonderful learning experience ! WestCAST 2021 is scheduled for February 2021 and will be hosted at the University of Saskatchewan . The Faculty hopes that student participation in next year ’ s event will be even stronger . Interested students should watch for more information from the Student Services office this Fall .
ESS HOLDS TOWN HALL MEETING WITH DEAN CRANSTON
On February 24 , the Education Student Society ( ESS ) under the leadership of the ESS President Talia Fawcett hosted a Town Hall Meeting with Dean Jerome Cranston . Students brought their tough questions and were given honest answers about program , policy , and other aspects of their Education Programs . Associate Dean Pamela Osmond Johnson also answered questions about program .
( L-R ) Back Row : Dr . Pamela Osmond Johnson , Heather Witherspoon , Trista Kennett , Talia Fawcett , and Anthea Holczer . Front Row : Kalen Senecal , Chantelle Love , Dani LaValley , Dr . Barbara McNeil . Photo provided by Pamela Osmond-Johnson
Kalen Senecal ( pictured above ) says , " iCast 2020 was a fantastic opportunity to connect with , and learn from , Indigenous educators ." Photo provided by Kalen Senecal
Dani LaValley , Chantelle Love , and Heather Witherspoon presenting . Photo by Pamela Osmond-Johnson .
Talia Fawcett and Krista Kennett at WestCast / iCast . Photo by Kalen Senecal
The idea to host a Town Hall developed from the ESS ' s meeting with the Dean in which they considered that in the past there has been little communication to students from the Faculty of Education administrators .
Dean Jerome Cranston ESS President Talia Fawcett
Fawcett says the discussion helped " to gain more trust in the administrators and the fact they are willing to explain their thought processes with us and to hear us , I think that is really good . I ’ m really happy and proud that our Faculty will do that .”
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