Author: julia

Volume Four of “The Interpreter”, our graduate student newsletter prepared by the peer advising team, is ready for your reading (and viewing – the artwork and layout are amazing) pleasure.

 

This issue includes:

• Two student profiles: Yifei & Elizabeth
• Sarah Meli’s incredible art, Buttons for eyes
• Hearty congratulations to our graduates
• And more!

The newsletter can be downloaded on our blog at: https://blogs.ubc.ca/edcp/the-interpreter/edcp_interpreter_vol4/, for back issues, see https://blogs.ubc.ca/edcp/the-interpreter

Government identifies teachers’ rights and working conditions as “impediments to progress”
At the provincial bargaining table in June, BCPSEA chief negotiator Jacquie Griffiths demanded key concessions from teachers: eliminate post and fill, transfer, evaluation, dismissal, professional development, and hours-of-work provisions.
Following that, on November 7, government representative Claire Avison made a presentation at the provincial bargaining table titled “BC’s Education Plan in the Collective Bargaining Context.”
The presentation was intended to “demonstrate current collective agreement articles which are an impediment to implementing government’s Education Plan,” justify the concessions trustees and government are demanding during this round of bargaining, and restate government’s implied threat to legislate any proposed concessions that teachers won’t agree to in bargaining.
Here’s what was said, and what was meant.
“Post and Fill—qualified and suitable teachers need to be placed in the right positions.”
A teacher’s right to a position on the basis of qualifications and seniority will be replaced by administrative officers’ authority to assign or transfer any teacher to any position at any time for any reason.
“Evaluation/Feedback—teachers need to understand what’s expected in terms of performance and what is required to improve their teaching skills.”
Current thorough, and fair evaluation procedures will be replaced by quick and subjective performance review checklists completed by administrative officers. Administrative officers will be able to terminate a teacher’s employment based on a single performance review.
“Professional Growth and Development—professional development needs to be aligned with teacher performance evaluations and school district policy requirements. Teachers need to remain current, principals need to play a key role in promoting and participating in teacher learning and development, and investments need to be strategic.”
Administrative officers will determine and dictate teacher professional development and use of non-instructional days, and will require compulsory professional development related to the teacher’s annual performance review.
“Calendar and hours of work—personalized learning and learning empowered by technology, all require calendar and hours of work that are sufficiently flexible.”
Teachers’ work hours will accommodate students’ personalized learning plans, without limits. Once the government’s plan is in place, you won’t recognize public education as anything like what we have now.
BCTF members can find the government document on the MyBCTF website at https://www.bctf.ca/mybctf/e64-proposal.aspx. Please note, you must first login to the member portal at http://members.bctf.ca/login.aspx in order to access the document link.
Susan Lambert
President

Please forward the below information to your students.  All sessions are free of charge and take place at the Graduate Student Centre, 6371 Crescent Rd and registration opens the week prior to the event.

 

Space is still available for this week’s sessions:

IBM Centennial Lecture: How does a business or individual continue evolving with technology to achieve success?

Wednesday, November 2^nd, 11:00 AM – 12:00 PM

Register at: https://www.surveyfeedback.ca/surveys/wsb.dll/s/1g1393 (although this session is geared to graduate students, post-doctoral fellows, staff and faculty are welcome)

 

Setting and Maintaining Boundaries (help manage the stress of multiple demands)

Thursday, November 3^rd, 1:00 PM – 4:00PM

Register at: https://www.surveyfeedback.ca/surveys/wsb.dll/s/1g11de

 

Saturday, November 5^th: Graduate Game Plan –Strategy Session 2,  Do you have a plan for completing graduate school?  Have you set goals for yourself to ensure success?  If you answered no, you may wish to attend the Graduate Game Plan Workshops which are designed to assist students with strategic planning for a successful graduate journey.

Register at: https://www.surveyfeedback.ca/surveys/wsb.dll/s/1g12b4

 

Registration is now open for:

Tuesday, November 8^th, Graduate Student Resume Clinic, 12:30 PM – 1:30 PM

Register at: www.surveyfeedback.ca/surveys/wsb.dll/s/1g13f7

 

Wednesday, November 9^th, Mentoring, 10:00 AM to 12:00 PM

Register at: www.surveyfeedback.ca/surveys/wsb.dll/s/1g13f8

 

Thursday, November 10^th, Breaking Patterns of Procrastination, 1:00 PM to 4:00 PM

Register at:  www.surveyfeedback.ca/surveys/wsb.dll/s/1g135b

 

For full details, please see attached posters.  Information on all upcoming fall sessions may be found at:

http://www.grad.ubc.ca/current-students/gps-graduate-pathways-success/gps-workshops-events

 

Please let me know if you have questions.

Jacqui.

 

Jacqui Brinkman, MSc

Manager, Graduate Pathways to Success Program

Faculty of Graduate Studies

University of British Columbia

 

6371 Crescent Road

Vancouver, BC Canada V6T 1Z2

(t): 604-827-4578

(f): 604-822-5802

www.grad.ubc.ca

James & I were discussing the issues surrounding BC’s teachers working only “essential services” since October 7th, and realized how little we understood the topic. In case you’re interested, James found 2 helpful articles on The Tyee that help provide some historical perspective. We thought others might appreciate following some current issues, after being steeped in theoretical papers for so much of the day!

At our recent peer advising meeting we started chatting about electronic books, and thought we’d open up the discussion to all the e-geeks out there. What’s your favourite way to read articles and e-books: Kindle, ipad, Kobos…? Do you know about Project Gutenberg (http://www.gutenberg.org/)? What about: http://calibre-ebook.com/ (open source e-book software for Mac, PC, Linux)?
This is an exciting world as we move beyond paper-based books and print journals. But what are the costs (social, environmental, economic) of these technologies? The benefits?
Please share your thoughts here. If there’s enough interest, we may even organize a little seminar to take a look at these technologies in more depth.
Cheers,
The NEW grad advising team: James, Anita, Sarah, Jung, and (not so new) Julia

The American Education Research Association (AERA) Annual Meeting is coming to Vancouver in April 2012. As you know, deadline for submission is July 22nd, 2011.

If you are thinking of submitting and need a bit of help, here are some helpful resources.

1) AERA Graduate Student Council (AERA GSC) tutorial:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MDeBZZwqMI0 –the most helpful 5 min.!
We also encourage you to “Friend” the AERA GSC on Facebook and/or check the AERA website (http://www.aera.net) and look under the Gradate Student Council Tab for additional information, to stay informed and/or volunteer opportunities for the upcoming meeting.

2) Five tips for submission from successful graduate students:

(Based on the AERA Preparation workshop, June 8^th, 2011, hosted by EDCP)

1.       Stick to the guidelines! Reviewers are looking for ways to reject your paper, so watch out for every detail.

2.       Register as an AERA member, then join a Division and as many Special Interest Groups (SIGs) as you’d like, and submit through a division or SIG. Your chances of being accepted vary depending on the size of the division or SIG that you decide to apply to.

3.       Remember AERA is a research organization. Give your proposal a strong research sense, including practical implications of your research.

4.       Graduate students have better chances of being accepted if they apply for a poster, round table, or panel presentation. Not sure what’s the difference? Ask us!

5.       Ask your supervisor, other professors, or successful former applicants to review your proposal before you submit it. You will find their prior experience helpful.

Have a productive (but restful) summer!

Thanks to the Grad Student Council of the Faculty of Education 2011-2012 for compiling these resources!

EDCP – Guopeng Fu

EDST – Jeannie Kerr

LLED – Dennis Murphy-Odo

Int’l Students – Renira Vellos

Coordinator – Christine Klerian

CCFI, ECPS, KIN – pending

Following up from Marc Higgins’ well-received workshop on Atlas.ti, a qualitative research methods software tool, here are a few resources you may find helpful:

Marc made his fancy presentation using prezi. If you want to see Marc’s presentation or learn how to use prezi for making your own presentations, visi: http://prezi.com/-zgybzvhrrcd/atlasti-may-17th-2011/

From Marc: Here’s a bit of additional info for people who are interested in accessing the software:

If you are interested in using Atlas.ti, as a UBC education student, here are a few options for you:

1. CMS has 5 licenses available in the Neville Scarfe computing labs
2. Atlas.ti has an almost fully functional trial version (http://www.atlasti.com/demo.html)
3. A full (student) version runs at 99$ (http://www.atlasti.com/students.html)

Thanks again, Marc, for a superb presentation!

Hello,

Thank you to the grad students who submitted their successful proposals from previous AERA conference to share with us. If you would like to post your proposal here or co-present with us at the workshop, please contact Julia julia_ostertag@yahoo.ca

Reminder: Only 25 spots available for this workshop. Please RSVP (julia_ostertag@yahoo.ca) as soon as possible to reserve a spot.

Click on the following link for sample proposals & reviewer comments:

Student 1 Proposal Reviewer comments_AERA 2011

Student 2 Proposal Reviewer comments

Student 2 Proposal Reviewer comments_AERA_2010

Student 2 Proposal_AERA 2010

Student 2 Proposal_AERA_2011

Student 3 AERA 2011 paper summary

Student 3 AERA 2011 proposal

Student 3_AERA2010 Proposal

‘Hope Builders’ is a video about a new teaching method that is being tested in an elementary school in Québec to prepare the next generation of students to take up environmental challenges. Under the supervision of their teacher, students are learning to identify, analyze and resolve a problem that exists in their world. They are also learning about the uncertainty faced by those who want to change things. Hope Builders is a unique and invaluable witness to this educational experimental project.

The  video documents the true incorporation of self-directed and project-based learning in a real-life scenario in which learners share the responsibility to collectively create their own learning (under the guidance of a teacher), the end result of which is demonstrable in the community.

Check it out here: http://films.nfb.ca/hope-builders