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UPCOMING WEBINARS |
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| INCLUSIVE EDUCATION: Rediscovering Our Right to Belong In a fast paced and challenging presentation, Norman Kunc maintains that inclusive education is not simply something we "do" to students with disabilities, but involves a school making an intentional commitment to build and maintain a sense of belonging for all students and adults in the school. He maintains that our current emphasis on achievement, tracking, and segregation leads most, if not all students to see their membership in school and their "sense of belonging" as something which must be earned. A central tenet of inclusive education is that belonging is an inherent need of all people and must not be reserved solely for the "best of us." Learning to value and work with a diversity of people is the first step in building an education system which fosters a sense of belonging among students and staff. Inclusive education may prove to be a vital catalyst in this process (Pre-recorded/interactive format) |
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| THE RIGHT TO BE DISABLED Most people view individuals with disabilities as being "deficient" in some way and believe that by minimizing their disability the person will increase their quality of life. Norman Kunc challenges this perception, claiming that people with physical and mental disabilities reflect the diversity of the human community. He contends that we need to place far less of an emphasis on "fixing" people and instead focus on the inherent assets and gifts that each person brings to the community and strive to find ways of welcoming ALL people into our midst. (Pre-recorded/interactive format) |
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| NEW STUDENTS; NEW QUESTIONS: Supporting the Classroom Teacher in an Inclusive School As an increasing number of students with disabilities are being included into regular classes, there is growing consensus among teachers about what supports need to be in place for inclusion to be manageable and successful. Based on personal experience and the input of classroom teachers throughout North America, Norman Kunc and Emma Van der Klift examine five areas of support which need to be present if teachers are to welcome students with disabilities into their classrooms: - Information - Collaborative Planning - Shared Agreement on Goals and Expectations - Classroom and School Based Supports - Classroom Assistants This session also addresses the question of fair and appropriate evaluation and briefly describes some ideas for supporting students with atypical or disruptive behaviour. (Pre-recorded/interactive format) |
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| INTERPERSONAL ALCHEMY: Turning Resistance Into Co-operation
Learning to work with people is relatively easy; the real challenge is learning how to work with people who won’t work with you. Faced with resistance or refusal, most of us become increasing coercive and find ourselves attempting to "work on" people rather than work with them. Emma Van der Klift , a professional mediator, will help participants expand their repertoire of responses to opposition, obstruction, and defensiveness so that they can sidestep many of the power struggles which often arise around inclusive education and personal support. Participants will learn ways of negotiating contentious issues so that they are better able maintain a respectful relationships without compromising their own views. Follow-up conflict coaching will be available to participants after this session. (Pre-recorded/interactive format) |
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