2025 Vancouver Community College Teaching, Learning and Research Symposium

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

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. As a community college dedicated to inclusivity and accessibility, our symposium is free of cost to participants and fully online.

Registration is open here.

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.

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.

Engaging the Head, Hands, and Heart: Teaching through “First Touch” Pedagogy
In today’s dynamic world, the questions of how we educate and what we teach future generations are paramount. Higher education plays a crucial role in these processes, and as instructors, we are compelled to look deeply at our pedagogies, curricula, and assessment practices and respond innovatively. How can we cultivate a generation of learners who can transform, engage, and be present in ways that decolonize and reconcile with Indigenous peoples? What pedagogies call on their hearts as learners? How do instructors create connections between the content and competencies in ways that make learning meaningful, relevant, and practical? These questions drive my passion for a pedagogy of “First Touch”. We will explore what the barriers are to this kind of pedagogy, how to reframe them, and examples of how this kind of pedagogy can inspire truly innovative and heart/mind/hands-centered teaching.

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.

Keynote synopsis: From the community engaged and collaborative process of making the Witness Blanket to the Oakland’s Totem, an art project carried out with students at an elementary school, and other art projects along the way, Carey will share how his head, heart, hands, and culture affect his work as an artist, teacher and scholar.

Key topics for the Symposium will include:

• Indigenous pedagogies
• Inclusive learning, accessibility, and universal design for learning
• Student and educator well-being
• Experiential learning
• Land-based and place-based learning
• Authentic assessment
• Preparing students for emerging needs and opportunities
• Students as partners in teaching and learning
• Ethics of technology; educational technology in teaching and learning (including but not limited to generative AI)

Session Schedule:

Day 1 - March 3, 2025

Day 2 - March 4, 2025

Registration is open here.

We hope that you will join us March 3-4, 2025, for this exciting virtual symposium. We look forward to seeing you there!  

If you have any questions or require further information, contact IASupport@vcc.ca

You can review past symposium contents here.