WFATE 2023 – Poster Presentation with UNBC Alumni Melanie Bellwood

Week 9 – July 17, 2023 – Centering Myself

I just got back home from an amazing conference in Victoria, BC. It was WFATE – The World Federation of Associations of Teacher Education Conference at UVic. I drove to Victoria with one of my writing partners, Melanie, who thank goodness drove more than half her share and was there to support me in many ways. I feel very lucky to collaborating and working with Melanie. She is a former teacher candidate (now teacher) and we are writing a program evaluation about our experience presenting at BCTEN (BC Teacher Education Network) in 2021.

We presented this work at a Round Table session at Congress 2023 in May at York University and presented our work as a Poster Presentation at WFATE. We have been working collaboratively for the last couple of years (as the “check”) in this reflective process and we are making excellent progress. We hope to submit a proposal for a Paper Presentation at AERA (American Education Research Association) for the 2024 conference in Philadelphia. I am appreciating the progression of this learning/research process and what we are learning together.

Melanie and I are exploring our ethnic identities in this poster presentation at WFATE.

I also had the chance to present with two of my colleagues, Dr. David Litz and Glen Thielmann (PhD Candidate) on work that is led by Dr. Hart Banack with adjunct professor Dr. Alex Lautensach. We work with a GRA (graduate research assistant) and have been working actively on a project called “Climate Education in Teacher Education” (CETE) over the last year and have established some seed funding to support this work. We presented a Workshop Presentation at WFATE using the Selma Wasserman’s “Play, Debrief, Replay” framework for small group discussion.

The three of us co-presented well by taking parts of the presentation to introduce the project and engage small groups to talk about climate action, climate change education, and what they could do in their current work to implement change. The engagement was very good and interest from those who participated in the workshop. It was also good to work with David and Glen in person. Most times we are meeting on Zoom for our project so it was nice to work together at WFATE.

David Litz, Glen Thielmann, and I presenting Climate Education in Teacher Education at WFATE.

I was invited by Dr. Kathy Sanford to participate in the “fishbowl” activity called “COLLABORATE: Exploring Teacher Education Through Collaborations.” It was an honour to be one of seven people from the conference and BC Education to be in the “inner circle” of the activity. I also had the opportunity to reconnect with my good friend Brad Baker, the Associate Superintendent of Indigenous Education. I love talking to him and the straight-talk we have about BC Education. He was also very affirming of my findings in the program evaluation Poster Presentation.

In the fish bowl activity, I followed him. Speaking to the “outer circle” was optional and voluntary in terms of speaking order. I spoke about the collaborations with “in situ” learning at Harwin Elementary for EDUC 391 (Experiential Practicum) and EDUC 421 (Assessment and Motivation). I also mentioned EDUC 405 (Reflective Practice and Inquiry Through Portfolios) as part of this work and serendipitous collaboration with the teaching staff, administration, IEWs (Indigenous Education Workers), CUPE members, and the students. We were all teaching and learning together to achieve a common goal. Harwin this year is a highlight of my career.

Sharing my COLLABORATION story about In Situ Learning at Harwin Elementary at WFATE.

My fourth presentation at WFATE was a Paper Presentation talking about the program’s signature pedagogy People, Place, and Land. Susan Johnston was unable to join us due to illness, but Glen and I presented this program evaluation. We spoke about how the signature pedagogy was developed during the redesign of the B.Ed. Program and how each of us as faculty members have interpreted the signature pedagogy into our practice. We provided three vignettes to represent each emphasis of People, Place, and Land and suggested that we are still figuring it out, with the disclaimer that the signature pedagogy can have depth and breadth.

During our presentation, I spoke about LAND and our learning experience at West Lake Provincial Park. I described the significance of this place and learning with and from each other in small groups, but emphasized learning from the land and about the land. I even provided an example of one student’s experience. I could feel the audience pause for a moment, but the next presenter took that example and used it in context to their paper presentation. I thought it was so amazing. I loved the person’s work, but also loved that they were able to make connections to our presentation to her presentation. I am going to follow up with her, for sure.

Paper presentation with Glen Thielmann on our program’s signature pedagogy at WFATE.

WFATE was a four day conference for me. I attended the pre-conference and met some amazing people from around the world and across the country. I attended 5 sessions on the first day of WFATE and loved every session. I was so engaged and found the content relevant and inspiring. And then four presentations in last two-days with some learning on the last day. My cup is full. It’s so wonderful to reunite with many wonderful people who are in teacher education, but also meet people who have similar mindsets. I feel humbled and happy to make these connections.

After each day of the conference, I was able to socialize and make connections outside of the conference. One day I met up with a childhood friend from elementary school who is also a BC Educator in teacher education. I met up with another childhood friend from high school. Talking with her was like no time had passed even though it was about a decade since we last chatted. Another night I went out with folks from BCTEN and their friends, and the last night with a colleague and friend who lives in Victoria. I could not meet everybody and I did not expect new connections to ask me to go out (and they did). It was too much fun.

WFATE Pre-Conference Activity – Plant Bingo – Team-Based, Indigenous Informed.

I had an excellent time at WFATE 2023. I am so grateful for all of the kind words and complements on my work and I loved learning from others. I have met new people to make future collaborations and I have made some new friends (one of which walked around downtown Victoria with me after dinner). It was a good feeling to connect with everyone at WFATE. It felt familiar and I appreciated the wholehearted and authentic relationships I had encountered. This was my place. Favourite memories are those folks who approached me and Melanie about our poster and giving compliments for the framework, findings, and conclusion.

I loved laughing with folks from UNB (University of New Brunswick) and folks from international programs. I learned a lot from these connections and I was so grateful as to how friendly and kind everyone was. Thank you to the volunteers and conference organizers. I am anticipating WFATE 2025. Thank you for this wonderful learning experience. My eyes are open and ready for more. 🙂

World Federation of Associations of Teacher Education (WFATE) – Conference 2023 – Victoria, BC