On November 2, more than 600 people filled the corridors, classrooms, library and auditorium of John Oliver Secondary. K–12 classroom educators, school-based staff, administrators, and support personnel spent the day deepening their understanding, sharing best practices, and building capacity around inclusion, diversity, equity and accessibility.

Dr. Carly Christensen (she/her), a disabled educator and scholar, began the day with an empowering talk entitled Reimagining Inclusion Through Disability Justice. She talked about the history of Institutional discrimination and reminded school staff that everyone plays an integral part in the movement towards inclusive education. “Anyone who works schools is part of the disability justice movement”, said Christensen.

Agnes, a student support worker from Jamieson Elementary, really enjoyed the session, “I love the way that she articulated her ideas in a story format. It is hard work, and I like that she said that inclusive education is the responsibility of all staff,” said Agnes.

After the Keynote address, attendees each chose two workshops from over 20 topics.  Workshop topics included technology-based classroom strategies, math teaching tools, physical education, gifted learners and much more. Adrian, a student support worker, who attended a behavior modelling workshop appreciated the opportunity to learn about everyday classroom strategies. “It’s just fantastic seeing inclusive education being focused on and reinforced and coming from above — that this is a fantastic system. Here are ways to make it work, some actual strategies on how to implement.”

A popular place to hang out between workshops was a sensory tools display booth set up by the Canucks Autism Network. From the noise cancelling headphones to the fidget toys, nothing was left untouched.

Attendees are excited to see more professional development on this important topic.