VCC Teaching, Learning and Research Symposium

VCC Teaching, Learning, and Research Symposium 2025:
Teaching and Learning with Heads, Hands, and Hearts

March 3 & 4, 2025 9:00am-3:30pm (PST)

Register here!

Join us at the VCC Teaching, Learning, and Research Symposium, a dynamic space designed to inspire, connect, celebrate, and deepen learning among educators, staff, students, researchers, administrators, and others in post-secondary education. Free to attend. Several VCC colleagues are presenting this year, and the student research presentations are always engaging and inspiring.

Theme: Teaching and Learning with Heads, Hands, and Hearts

Indigenous pedagogy practiced since time immemorial centers holistic learning through attending to the mind, body, spirit and heart, and fosters learning in relationship with connection to community and to land (First Peoples Principles of Learning). Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi, a Swiss educator (1746-1827), advocated for a pedagogy of holistic, integrated and experiential learning through heads, hands and hearts. Universal design for learning emphasizes providing multiple means of engagement, representation, and action and expression to accommodate diverse learners’ needs. All these approaches share a common goal of creating inclusive, holistic, and student-centered learning environments.

Keynote Speakers:

We are honored and excited to announce your keynote speakers this year: Dr. Awneet Sivia and Carey Newman. See the full schedule of the symposium here:

March 3:  Dr. Awneet Sivia 

Dr. Sivia is the Associate Vice President, Teaching and Learning, University of the Fraser Valley. Dr. Sivia's research and scholarship spans the areas of science teacher education, diversity leadership, social justice education, humanizing pedagogies and leadership in online education. Her latest research studies focus on Indigenizing self-study research, humanizing approaches to curriculum, practices of online school leaders and equity in university program admissions.

March 4:  Carey Newman 

Carey, whose traditional name is Hayalthkin’geme, is a multi-disciplinary Indigenous artist, master carver, filmmaker, author and public speaker. He holds the position of Impact Chair in Indigenous Art Practices at the University of Victoria. Through his father he is Kwakwak’awakw from the Kukwekum, Giiksam, and WaWalaby’ie clans of northern Vancouver Island, and Coast Salish from Cheam of the Sto:lo Nation along the upper Fraser Valley. Through his mother he is a Settler of English, Irish, and Scottish heritage. In his artistic practice he strives to highlight Indigenous, social, and environmental issues as he examines the impacts of colonialism and capitalism, harnessing the power of material truth to unearth memory and trigger the necessary emotion to drive positive change. He is also interested in engaging with community and incorporating innovative methods derived from traditional teachings and Indigenous worldviews into his process. His most influential work, The Witness Blanket, is made of items collected from residential schools, government buildings and churches across Canada and deals with the subject of Truth and Reconciliation. It is now part of the collection at the Canadian Museum for Human Rights.