Join us for an interactive conversation about the place of environmental education (EE) in the BC curriculum. We will begin by outlining a brief history of EE in BC schools, including the Environmental Learning and Experience (ELE) Guide that has inspired many teachers and students. Then we will look at the current curriculum and explore some of the following connections: Where and how can we integrate Indigenous and place-based education practices? How can we infuse climate change education, with an emphasis on equity and diversity, across the curriculum? Bring your ideas, successes and questions, and help us shape the future of EE in BC!
Jonathan Dyck is the president of the Environmental Educators' Provincial Specialist Association (EEPSA). He lives in Powell River, where he teaches at the secondary school.
Patrick Robertson leads an educational consulting firm, Syncollab Strategies, and works as a teacher educator in the Faculty of Education at The University of British Columbia (UBC) in Vancouver. He is also the current chair of the C2C Education Network.
Selina began her career in summer camps in the Howe Sound, teaching backcountry leadership skills to street-affected youth for the Boys and Girls Club. As a secondary English and Social Studies teacher in the Surrey School District for over 20 years, she has had a passion for connecting students to the places that inform them, and aspires to use the curriculum to help students understand their relationship to the land. Selina has recently been a Faculty Associate for the SEEDs (Sustainability Education in an Environment of Diversity) module of PDP at SFU. As president of EEPSA for ten years, she worked to establish Local Chapters across the province, and currently acts as the coordinator of those groups. She has delivered professional development to teachers and student teachers on a wide range of topics related to outdoor, place-based and environmental learning. Selina and her family currently live in Burnaby and Rossland.
Dr. David Zandvliet is an Associate Professor in the Faculty of Education at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver, Canada, and the founding Director for the Institute for Environmental Learning.
Devon recently joined the Ministry of Education as the Provincial Curriculum Coordinator to support curriculum and classroom assessment projects—one of which involves collaborating with the Climate Action Secretariat to explore how to enhance and support climate education in B.C. schools. Prior to this role, Devon spent 4 years at Emergency Management BC where he developed emergency preparedness education programs, including the Master of Disaster classroom program for Grades 4-8. He's passionate about cross-government and community collaboration, public education, environmental stewardship, and youth engagement. Devon holds a MA in Communications (Waterloo) and an MEd in Educational Psychology (Victoria).