TEAL - Breaking Down Barriers: Supporting Inclusion and Engagement for EAL Learners

Event is FULL - Currently not accepting registrations

FULL - AM Keynote: Dismantling systemic racism in and through education

This presentation will highlight how a commitment to and the development of a deeper sense of critical, intercultural awareness of teaching and learning at a global-level, allows teachers to be better able to develop relationships with students and families who come from quite different life experiences than many of them have.

Presenter:Dr. Jerome Cranston

Jerome Cranston is a spouse to one, father to three, brother to two surviving siblings and son. His maternal grandparents originated from tribal communities in what are now Nepal and Burma/Myanmar and they were anglicized and evangelized as part of the imperialist, colonial contagion. His paternal grandfather who was of Scottish descent was a travelling book-keeper with the East Indian Rail Company and was killed in 1941 during a Japanese bombing of Chittagong railway station in what is now Bangladesh. His paternal grandmother became a widow with five children. In 1942 she would die of malnutrition; an outcome of the British manufactured famine in West Bengal. He accepts a distant yet unvarying connection to the trauma that echoes through their and his colonized histories.

Dr. Cranston holds a Ph.D. (University of Manitoba), M. Ed. (University of Lethbridge), B.Ed After-Degree and B.Sc. (University of Alberta). Prior to becoming an academic he spent 16 years in the K-12 education system as a teacher, principal and director of education/superintendent of schools in a career that spanned Canada’s “prairie” provinces. He spent ten years as a member of the Faculty of Education at the University of Manitoba during which he served on the Advisory Committee for Centre for Human Rights Research for six years. Currently, he is a Professor and the Dean in the Faculty of Education at the University of Regina, which is located on Treaty 4 territory and on the traditional homeland of the Métis. He serves on the University of Regina’s Equity, Diversity & Inclusion Advisory Committee, and Santa Clara University’s (California) Global Advisory Committee tUrn Initiative that is focused climate crisis awareness and action.

Using transdisciplinary approaches, his work interrogates policies and practices to uncover the overt and covert ways that colonial, racist ideologies, structures, and institutions create and maintain racial inequality and injustice in the education system and beyond it. He uses race-conscious approaches to understand educational inequalities and systemic racism to find solutions that lead to greater racial justice for those who are denied it.

9:00 am - 10:15 am

Platform: Virtual

FULL - AM1 - Developing a critical, intercultural awareness of teaching and learning

This presentation will highlight how a commitment to and the development of a deeper sense of critical, intercultural awareness of teaching and learning at a global-level, allows teachers to be better able to develop relationships with students and families who come from quite different life experiences than many of them have.

Presenter: Dr. Jerome Cranston

Jerome Cranston is a spouse to one, father to three, brother to two surviving siblings and son. His maternal grandparents originated from tribal communities in what are now Nepal and Burma/Myanmar and they were anglicized and evangelized as part of the imperialist, colonial contagion. His paternal grandfather who was of Scottish descent was a travelling book-keeper with the East Indian Rail Company and was killed in 1941 during a Japanese bombing of Chittagong railway station in what is now Bangladesh. His paternal grandmother became a widow with five children. In 1942 she would die of malnutrition; an outcome of the British manufactured famine in West Bengal. He accepts a distant yet unvarying connection to the trauma that echoes through their and his colonized histories.

Dr. Cranston holds a Ph.D. (University of Manitoba), M. Ed. (University of Lethbridge), B.Ed After-Degree and B.Sc. (University of Alberta). Prior to becoming an academic he spent 16 years in the K-12 education system as a teacher, principal and director of education/superintendent of schools in a career that spanned Canada’s “prairie” provinces. He spent ten years as a member of the Faculty of Education at the University of Manitoba during which he served on the Advisory Committee for Centre for Human Rights Research for six years. Currently, he is a Professor and the Dean in the Faculty of Education at the University of Regina, which is located on Treaty 4 territory and on the traditional homeland of the Métis. He serves on the University of Regina’s Equity, Diversity & Inclusion Advisory Committee, and Santa Clara University’s (California) Global Advisory Committee tUrn Initiative that is focused climate crisis awareness and action.

Using transdisciplinary approaches, his work interrogates policies and practices to uncover the overt and covert ways that colonial, racist ideologies, structures, and institutions create and maintain racial inequality and injustice in the education system and beyond it. He uses race-conscious approaches to understand educational inequalities and systemic racism to find solutions that lead to greater racial justice for those who are denied it.

10:30 am - 11:30 am

Platform: Virtual

Participant Max: 30

FULL - AM2 - Seven Oaks BridgES Program

Sustaining our resilience as educators can be a challenge during times of change. Based on Dr. Ungar’s research around the world and his clinical practice, this presentation uses examples from his new book Change Your World: The Science of Resilience and the True Path to Success to explore how those who help others can avoid burnout and maintain their own career and life resilience when stressors pile up at home and on the job. Twelve factors that make us more resilient as adults will be discussed, along with practical tools participants can use to find the resources they need to cope successfully in culturally and contextually relevant ways. Using the concepts of navigation and negotiation that are key to understanding resilience in complex, changing environments, audience members will have an opportunity to reflect on their own resilience in life, as well as times at work and at home where they had the resources they needed to succeed. Be prepared for a fast-paced, story-filled presentation that will help you build new personal and social resources.

Presenters: Slavo Federkevic, B.A., M.Ed. and Jana McKee

Slavo has taught at various levels ranging from early years to adults in Manitoba and B.C., as well as abroad in the Dominican Republic, Japan and Thailand. He spent 12 years with the Intensive English Program at the U. of M. where he helped establish the CTESL program through the Continuing Education Division. More recently, he served as a Faculty Advisor with the Faculty of Ed. at the U. of M. and he is currently an EAL Support Teacher/ESL Coordinator with Seven Oaks School Division.

Jana McKee is the Program Director of Seven Oaks Immigration Services (SOIS) and has been involved in MB Immigration sector for over 10 years. She is the President of the board of directors for MANSO. She possesses a master’s degree and her strengths include policy and program development, research and evaluation, and community and organizational building. SOIS provides services in all streams; Language, NAARS, I&O, Community Connections, SWIS and Zone designation of North West Winnipeg; as well as offering Care for Newcomer Children, interpretation and crisis counselling working with parents, children, youth, adults and seniors. This scope gives her a wide and diverse perspective into the settlement sector and the education system.

10:30 am - 11:30 am

Platform: Virtual

Participant Max: 30

FULL - AM4 - Early Years strategies to support EAL learners in the classroom

This session explores strategies and ideas that support EAL learners in the classroom. These strategies can be incorporated into everyday classroom routines and activities and support all learners, especially EAL learners.

Presenter:Lianne Titchkosky

Lianne Titchkosky is an early years teacher in River East Transcona. She is currently teaching grade 1 and team-taught with her Divisional EAL Inclusion Teacher during the 2020/21 school year. She has 23 years of teaching experience, from elementary schools in Saudi Arabia to cooking classes in junior high, and she is now using her international teaching experience in an early years classroom.

10:30 am - 11:30 am

Platform: Virtual

Participant Max: 30

FULL - AM5 - Using a Collaborative Approach to Include and Engage EAL and Newcomer Students in K to 8 Class

This session will provide an overview of the collaborative approach taken by a rural school division to include and engage EAL and Newcomer students in the classroom and school community, from initial intake, orientation, and assessment process to ongoing educational programming in inclusive classrooms. The presenters will describe the approach taken within Border Land School Division, share stories and examples to illustrate what we have learned from our experiences, and share specific examples of how students and their families are supported.

Presenters: Shauna Hamm and Val Klassen

The presenters for the session are Barb Rempel, a Teaching Principal from Rosenfeld Elementary School, Val Klassen, a Settlement Worker in Schools from Regional Connections, and Shauna Hamm, the Student Services Manager for Border Land School Division. Barb has experience at the classroom level as a teacher, Resource Teacher, and Principal, working with many students and families from an EAL background. Val has been supporting newcomer children and families with their adjustment to school and life in the community. Shauna has worked closely with Val, and now with the SWIS program, to provide strong collaborative programming that responds to the needs of students and their families.

2:00 pm - 3:00 pm

Platform: Virtual

Participant Max: 30

FULL - AM7 - Breathlines

Breathlines mindfulness painting originated in Sri Lanka at the Butterfly Peace Garden. It was used by displaced children to communicate with each other across languages, and to overcome trauma and loss. This mindful painting has been shared in schools across the country with educators and learners of all ages. The process is reflective and allows us to see the possibilities in uncertainty, give up control, and share with others.

Required materials:
• If you wish to paint: heavy white paper (11x17 or larger if possible, 8.5x11 minimum), acrylic black, white, and colour paint, brushes, a water glass, and paper towel.
• If you wish to use pencil or markers: white paper (11x17 or larger if possible, 8.5x11 minimum), pencil, good eraser, pencil crayons, crayons, markers or other to colour.

Presenter: Jocelyn MacLeod

Jocelyn has been teaching for 18 years in Winnipeg, Toronto, and France. She will be completing her Masters in Counselling this fall with a research focus on youth well-being during pandemic isolation. Before becoming a teacher, Jocelyn worked with youth at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health in Toronto. She collaborates with international educators and clinicians to develop cultural-specific mental health curricula, manuals, and online courses. Jocelyn often works in student services with EAL learners and has a passion for following research on refugee education. She would like to have a better understanding of trauma and language learning.

10:30 am - 11:30 am

Platform: Virtual

Participant Max: 30

FULL - PM Keynote: Engaging in Linguistically and Culturally Responsive Trans’lingual’ Pedagogies to Suppor

Cultural and linguistic diversity has increased considerably around the world. These changing demographics challenge schools in urban and rural communities to take proactive educational approaches that support linguistically and culturally diverse students in K-12 mainstream and EAL classrooms. Using key findings from a longitudinal collaborative study with students, their teachers and their parents in one school division in Manitoba, this presentation will highlight key considerations and pedagogical practices that support EAL students from immigrant and refugee backgrounds in K-12 classrooms. The participants will be introduced to multiple K-12 ‘trans’lingual’ classroom practices that help teachers to recognize the strengths and knowledge base that these students bring to the classroom and help students succeed linguistically, socially and academically. In addition to the description of pedagogical practices and sharing of resources, voices from students, teachers, and parents will be provided to portray their experiences and showcase what happens when educators use ‘trans’ lingual approaches in the classroom and build on students’ funds of knowledge, multiple linguistic repertoires, and multiple modes of meaning making and self-expression.

Presenters: Dr. Burcu Yaman Ntelioglou

Dr. Burcu Yaman Ntelioglou is a professor in the Faculty of Education, Department of Curriculum and Pedagogy at Brandon University (BU), Canada. She completed a postdoctoral fellowship and a PhD at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, University of Toronto and
and holds a Master’s in Education from York University, Canada. She teaches in both the teacher education and graduate education programs in the Faculty of Education at BU. Her teaching and research focus on the education of linguistically and culturally diverse EAL students in contexts of migration, multiculturalism and multilingualism; literacy education; second language acquisition; culturally-responsive curriculum development; language maintenance and revitalization; and the use of transcultural, multimodal, drama-based, digital, and community-based approaches in teaching and learning.

12:30 pm - 1:45 pm

Platform: Virtual

FULL - PM3 - Using Nearpod in the EAL/LAL Classroom

This presentation will introduce educators on how to use Nearpod for both online and in-class environments. The presenters will show how teachers can use Nearpod as a tool in the classroom to support literacy or numeracy lessons. Registrants will also have an opportunity to participate in a live lesson demonstration during the session.

Presenters: Melanie Davlut and Dennis Nguyen

Melanie Davlut is an EAL/LAL teacher in the Louis Riel School Division. She has more than 25 years' experience in teaching English Language learners in a variety of contexts.

Dennis Nguyen is an EAL/LAL teacher in the Louis Riel School Division. He has taught K-12 EAL with newcomers primarily in the Manitoba public school system and previously with Altered Minds Inc.

2:00 pm - 3:00 pm

Platform: Virtual

Participant Max: 30

FULL - PM4 - Early Years strategies to support EAL learners in the classroom

This session explores strategies and ideas that support EAL learners in the classroom. These strategies can be incorporated into everyday classroom routines and activities and support all learners, especially EAL learners.

Presenter:Lianne Titchkosky

Lianne Titchkosky is an early years teacher in River East Transcona. She is currently teaching grade 1 and team-taught with her Divisional EAL Inclusion Teacher during the 2020/21 school year. She has 23 years of teaching experience, from elementary schools in Saudi Arabia to cooking classes in junior high, and she is now using her international teaching experience in an early years classroom.

2:00 pm - 3:00 pm

Platform: Virtual

Participant Max: 30

FULL - PM5 - Using a Collaborative Approach to Include and Engage EAL and Newcomer Students in K to 8 Class

This session will provide an overview of the collaborative approach taken by a rural school division to include and engage EAL and Newcomer students in the classroom and school community, from initial intake, orientation, and assessment process to ongoing educational programming in inclusive classrooms. The presenters will describe the approach taken within Border Land School Division, share stories and examples to illustrate what we have learned from our experiences, and share specific examples of how students and their families are supported.

Presenters: Shauna Hamm and Val Klassen

The presenters for the session are Barb Rempel, a Teaching Principal from Rosenfeld Elementary School, Val Klassen, a Settlement Worker in Schools from Regional Connections, and Shauna Hamm, the Student Services Manager for Border Land School Division. Barb has experience at the classroom level as a teacher, Resource Teacher, and Principal, working with many students and families from an EAL background. Val has been supporting newcomer children and families with their adjustment to school and life in the community. Shauna has worked closely with Val, and now with the SWIS program, to provide strong collaborative programming that responds to the needs of students and their families.

2:00 pm - 3:00 pm

Platform: Virtual

Participant Max: 30

FULL - PM6 - Supporting Bi/Plurilingual EAL students in Mainstream Classrooms

In this breakout session the participants will be engaging in imagination work and application of linguistically and culturally-responsive approaches that support bi/plurilingual EAL students from immigrant and refugee backgrounds in Early Years, Middle Years and Senior Years mainstream classrooms.

Presenter: Dr. Burcu Yaman Ntelioglou

Dr. Burcu Yaman Ntelioglou is a professor in the Faculty of Education, Department of Curriculum and Pedagogy at Brandon University (BU), Canada. She completed a postdoctoral fellowship and a PhD at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, University of Toronto and
and holds a Master’s in Education from York University, Canada. She teaches in both the teacher education and graduate education programs in the Faculty of Education at BU. Her teaching and research focus on the education of linguistically and culturally diverse EAL students in contexts of migration, multiculturalism and multilingualism; literacy education; second language acquisition; culturally-responsive curriculum development; language maintenance and revitalization; and the use of transcultural, multimodal, drama-based, digital, and community-based approaches in teaching and learning.

2:00 pm - 3:00 pm

Platform: Virtual

Participant Max: 30

FULL - PM7 - Breathlines

Breathlines mindfulness painting originated in Sri Lanka at the Butterfly Peace Garden. It was used by displaced children to communicate with each other across languages, and to overcome trauma and loss. This mindful painting has been shared in schools across the country with educators and learners of all ages. The process is reflective and allows us to see the possibilities in uncertainty, give up control, and share with others.

Required materials:
• If you wish to paint: heavy white paper (11x17 or larger if possible, 8.5x11 minimum), acrylic black, white, and colour paint, brushes, a water glass, and paper towel.
• If you wish to use pencil or markers: white paper (11x17 or larger if possible, 8.5x11 minimum), pencil, good eraser, pencil crayons, crayons, markers or other to colour.

Presenter: Jocelyn MacLeod

Jocelyn has been teaching for 18 years in Winnipeg, Toronto, and France. She will be completing her Masters in Counselling this fall with a research focus on youth well-being during pandemic isolation. Before becoming a teacher, Jocelyn worked with youth at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health in Toronto. She collaborates with international educators and clinicians to develop cultural-specific mental health curricula, manuals, and online courses. Jocelyn often works in student services with EAL learners and has a passion for following research on refugee education. She would like to have a better understanding of trauma and language learning.

2:00 pm - 3:00 pm

Platform: Virtual

Participant Max: 30