Making Connections, People for Education’s annual conference, will take place on Saturday, November 2 at York University. The focus of this year’s conference will be “the future of public education.”

Conference sessions must address at least one of the following issues, and include both evidence and practical applications or examples:

• What should the key goals of a public education system be? What is its purpose? Possible topics include:
  • Examples/evidence of the changes and/or evolution required in public education over the next ten years.
  • Strategies/approaches to include different voices and sectors in the conversation about public education.
• How can public education prepare students for the complex world of their future? Possible topics include:
  • Strategies to integrate global competencies (citizenship, creativity, social-emotional learning, health, etc.) across the curriculum into teaching, learning, and assessment.
  • The challenges and opportunities of teaching and assessing global competencies and/or transferable skills.
  • Preparing students to deal with the big issues of the day, such as climate change or the “post-truth era”, or for jobs that don’t exist yet.
• How can we ensure our public education system provides equitable learning opportunities for all students? Possible topics include:
  • Approaches to closing the achievement gap and removing systemic barriers in the education system.
  • Building a school environment that supports learning opportunities for all students.
  • De-colonizing our schools and curriculum – embedding Indigenous ways of knowing, teaching, and learning.
• How can we use and share data across sectors to address equity and other education issues? Possible topics include:
  • Types of data and information that should be collected.
  • Examples/applications for sharing data across sectors and among stakeholders – how can data from outside the education sector (eg. health, employment, early childhood, family income, etc.) have an impact on the education system and on students’ chances for success?
  • Including diverse voices in data gathering and analysis.

Here are some other things you should know before submitting a proposal:

• Sessions are 75 minutes long.
• Presentations should be backed by evidence, include practical examples (where possible), and provide ideas and resources that participants can adapt/apply in their communities.
• Sales and product/program promotion are strictly prohibited in the sessions.
• Conference presenters will get a complimentary registration for the conference.

To apply as a presenter, please complete this form and submit it by May 31, 2019.

If you have any questions or require further information, please contact Jacqui Strachan.