Get InspirED

Hear from some of our top rated contributors to this year's convention: Erik Ellefsen and Sahira Kodra share valuable insights about relationships and using AI in the classroom; Amy Wilson gives a sneak peek to her highly anticipated art workshop, Alcohol and Fire; John Byl shares about using different strategies to incorporate movement to improve wellness in schools; and Fiona Meagher shares about her journey to creating an effect...

Join us as we interview Gordon T. Smith, the executive director for Christian Higher Education, as he shares about the topics of helping discern vocation and calling, a topic he has a great deal of expertise in. We also speak with Dave Loewe, the executive direction of the Society of Christian Schools BC and professor of Leadership at Trinity Western University, as he shares about the ways in which teachers are already leading in s...

Have you wondered how to implement the First Peoples Principles of Learning? You will be surprised at how many teachers are already implementing them and just haven't noticed. We, as Christians have such a great opportunity because scripture and the FPPL are so closely related. Story connects us. Story allows us to connect to one another, to shared experiences and opens the path for meaningful conversation. Toni shows how story can...

Speakers: Lynn Swaner and Andy Wolfe

The Zulu word ubuntu—meaning “I am, because you are”—provides powerful inspiration for teachers and leaders as we work together to build flourishing school cultures and communities. This final keynote will consider a “whole school approach” for creating flourishing ecologies in Christian schools, where students, educators, and leaders can truly flourish together.

This episode is a sess...

Speaker: Dan Fennell

Culture is shaped by core beliefs and assumptions, shared virtues and behaviours; and symbols of significance. In Christian schools, culture is founded and framed by the biblical story and a commitment to flourishing through Kingdom Education with Christ central, holding all things together. Working from the “beginnings” text of Genesis 1-2, we will link flourishing to the idea of fruitfulne...

Speaker: Darren Spyskma

Not all assessment brings value to the learning process. Using a play on the multiple meanings of the word appreciate, participants will look at a number of simple approaches to assessment that help students see the classroom as a learning classroom rather than an achievement classroom. Participants will be invited to look at their own practices through the lens of appreciative assessment, how do my practice...

Speaker: Darren Spyksma

Teachers and school leaders will be invited to look at their patterns, schedules, and routines through the lens of Sabbath-keeping with the goal of deepening a culture of trust in God through a closer look at the role of Sabbath in the life of the school. Drawing on the works of Rowan Williams and Walter Brueggemann, participants will be invited to see how small decisions in the life of the school can lead t...

Speaker: Ray Aldred

I propose that under the Canadian colonial enterprise, salvation for Indigenous people was defined as becoming Western and civilized. Conversion for Indigenous people meant repenting of Indigenous identity, putting it off and becoming Western, or enfranchised into Canadian society. Conversely, contextual Cree theology would reinterpret

embracing of the Creator's fulfillment of all that our traditional spirituali...

Speaker: Sandra Paetkau from The Total Techover

Sandra has eighteen years classroom experience and began experimenting with instructional technology in 1997, when she was responsible for rolling out a 1:1 laptop program at the Australian International School in Jakarta, Indonesia. Since then, technology has evolved significantly and so has Sandra’s enthusiasm for leveraging technology in the classroom to empower learners. She spent...

Speaker: Vanessa Neufeld

This workshop will review the A-B-C chain and Positive Behavior Support. The focus of the  presentation will be on the importance of including antecedent interventions in a behavior plan.  The three main categories of antecedent interventions will be discussed. Strategies such as  including student preferences, increasing predictability, allowing for student choice, and adapting  curricu...

Speaker: Lynn Swaner

This session, geared for teachers and academic leaders, will focus on what makes for flourishing classrooms—including research insights around engaged learning, collaboration, feedback, best practice orientation, and professional development. The synergy between student and teacher learning, as well as the importance of encouraging questions, will be highlighted as we explore ways to develop a schoolwide c...

Speaker: Andy Wolfe

A view toward flourishing has significant implications for how leaders shape learning in Christian schools, as well as the ways we steward our resources. This session will focus on a Christian vision for leadership in both of these domains of flourishing, with an emphasis on moving schools toward greater interdependence, abundance, and generosity that better reflects the Gospel to our schools and our communities...

Speaker: Andy Wolfe

In John’s gospel, the word meno—meaning “to abide”—is used repeatedly and can exemplify the kind of enduring relationships we are called to pursue, and Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians provides insight for how we can flourish in the midst of intense challenge. School leaders will consider the importance of both relationships and well-being in building a school community characterized by shalom—defined by N...

Speaker: Andy Wolfe

In Jesus’s personal ‘mission statement’ in John 10:10, he declares, “I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” Jesus’s use of the word zoe for “life” has implications for Christian school leaders’ own sense of purpose. Through dynamic discussion and interaction, this session will unpack the concept of “life in its fullness” for leading Christian schools and developing ecologies of flourishin...

Speaker: Joy Kelly

Are you overwhelmed by the troubled kids in your classroom? In this session, we will explore the psychobiological, emotional, social, and spiritual impact of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) and toxic stress (TS). We will re-consider the K-12 (BC and USA-CASEL) core competency priorities through this innovative wellness lens that will encourage relationship, reduce stress, and improve life skills

This episode ...