Ministry of Education "News"

The new Minister of Education is Don McRae, MLA for the Comox Valley Riding.

He was born and raised in the Comox Valley. For the past 14 years he has taught at GP Vanier Secondary School. Aside from teaching Social Studies, Military History, and Psychology, he has also served as a rugby coach, athletic director, department chair and Staff Leadership Committee Chair.

Two new positions have been added, Marc Dalton, a former Maple Ridge teacher,

has been appointed parliamentary secretary for independent schools and Jane

Thornthwaite, former North Vancouver school board chairwoman, is parliamentary secretary for student support and parent engagement.

Maureen Dockendorf is BC's first Superintendent of Reading. She's been teaching

since 1972 and is currently an assistant superintendent in Coquitlam.

Dede DeRose is the first Superintendent of Aboriginal achievement. She's been an educator and education advocate for 30 years. She's been a teacher, a principal and most recently a councilor with the former college of teachers.

 

 

TEDxTC - Sparks: How Youth Thrive

"Peter L. Benson, president and CEO of Minneapolis-based Search Institute, is one of the world's leading authorities on positive human development. Dr. Benson is the author or editor of more than a dozen books on child and adolescent development and social change, including, most recently, Sparks: How Parents Can Help Ignite the Hidden Strengths of Teenagers..."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TqzUHcW58Us

"Only Works For A While"

"Original song written and performed by Jenna Spowart.
Poem written and performed by Shane Koyczan.
Video by students and staff of Georges P. Vanier Secondary School..."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aqmnY5IveJU

Education for Tomorrow - 2012/2013 Transformation + Technology Update

Vision;

As a government, we want all learners to achieve their potential. As a province,

we need them to succeed.

We are entering a world of accelerating change, a time of thinking globally and

acting quick, when it’s not what you know but how you use that knowledge that

matters. Tomorrow’s citizens will need knowledge but, even more, they’ll need

passion and drive. They’ll need to be creators, not just consumers, of new and

innovative ways to learn...

http://www.bced.gov.bc.ca/pubs/tt-plan/2012_bced_tt_plan.pdf

BC's Education Plan

"... at the fall meeting of BC Student Voice, Education Minister George Abbott addressed student leaders and launched BC’s Education Plan to build on the system’s strengths and put students at the centre of their own learning."

View the plan here,

http://www.bcedplan.ca/

Personalized Learning in BC

The Ministry of Education has released a new interactive discussion guide on personalized learning.  The guide is intended to provide information and give an overview of personalized learning and an opportunity to submit your feedback and questions to the Ministry of Education.


Follow the link to view the interactive guide:
http://www.personalizedlearningbc.ca/#/1

Instructions for using the interactive guide:

 ·Viewing and navigating the document
     Use the navigation pane at the bottom of the page (grey bar)
     “view full screen” command is on the right corner
      Advance to next page is in the middle
      and the zoom and home buttons are on the far left
      you may also click and drag on the corners of the pages to turn
      them.

· Feedback may be typed into the appropriate text boxes, click on the “submit” button for each completed response when done.

Dr Paul Kershaw - "Smart and Green Family Policy"

"Dr Paul Kershaw is a farmer morning and night. By day, he is an academic, public speaker, media contributor and volunteer. "Armed with a laptop and a raft of statistics," The Vancouver Province describes him as "a one-man road show trying to change BC one talk at a time."
Change is necessary, he argues, because BC's generation of 25-44 year olds struggle, which is having harmful consequences for the next generation of children. 30% of BC children arrive at kindergarten developmentally vulnerable, and most are not poor.
Among the general public, he argues that 'Being Canadian' may be making us sick, because the medical system in which we take national pride shows more of a disease fetish than an aspiration to promote health by investing in families with young kids."
His five part presentation "Smart and Green Family Policy" can be found on his blog....

http://blogs.ubc.ca/paulkershaw/