Interactive Webinar Series
Educators in BC are invited to a webinar series exploring the engagement of middle years learners in multi-age and multi-grade classrooms.
Our multi-part webinar series is hosted by Dr. Leyton Schnellert and Tammy Renyard, featuring special guests every session.
| Date | Topic | Lead Speaker(s) | Featured Educators | Video Recordings |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| October 29 3:30 – 5 pm |
Inclusion: Creating Access for All | Shelley Moore | Belinda Chi MJ Medenwaldt |
Watch Recording |
| December 3 3:30 – 5 pm |
Welcoming Indigenous ways of Knowing into the Classroom | Brad Baker and Leona Prince | Katie Marren Sarah Elson-Haugan |
Watch Recording |
| February 20 3:30 – 5 pm |
Pedagogy of Voice | Shane Safir | Ashley Watson / Leyton Schnellert Kendra Jacobs |
Watch Recording |
| April 29 3:30 – 5 pm |
Trauma-Informed Practice | Denise Augustine | Nikki Lineham Christi Livingstone |
The four webinars will be recorded
Leyton Schnellert, PhD
Leyton is an associate professor in UBC’s Department of Curriculum & Pedagogy and Eleanor Rix Professor in Rural Teacher Education. He focuses on how teachers and teaching and learners and learning can mindfully embrace student diversity and inclusive education. Dr. Schnellert is the Pedagogy and Participation research cluster lead in the UBC Institute for Community Engaged Research and co-chair of BC’s Rural Education Advisory Committee. He has been a middle- and secondary-school classroom teacher and a learning-resource teacher for grades K–12. His books, films, and research articles are widely referenced locally, nationally, and globally.
For more information about Leyton visit: leytonschnellert.com or on twitter as @LeytonSchnell
Tammy Renyard, District Principal SD79
Tammy Renyard is a District Principal in the Cowichan Valley School District. Tammy was seconded to the Ministry of Education prior to this role to support the implementation of the re-designed curriculum focusing on professional learning opportunities for the province. She is passionate about culturally responsive instructional design and assessment to support deep learning for all learners. Literacy has always been both a passion and a teaching focus. Tammy has led professional development and classroom-based learning rounds for middle and secondary educators in BC, Alberta, the YK and NT. Tammy also works as a mentor-coach with Vancouver Island University’s Master of Education in Educational Leadership.
Special Guests
Denise Augustine
Denise Augustine carries the ancestral name Swee’alt. She is a hul’q’umi’num’ woman of mixed ancestry and lives on the unceded lands of Cowichan Tribes on Vancouver Island. With over 25 years as an educator, she has spent the last three years serving as the Superintendent of Indigenous Education for the Ministry of Education and Child Care. An award winning educational leader, Denise invites us to nurture our curiosity, creativity, collaboration and professional reflection so that each and every child benefits from our collective expertise.
Brad Baker
Superintendent of Indigenous for ECC. Brad is a strong believer in truth before reconciliation and for all of us to go forward with courage. Besides being passionate about education, Brad is advocating for Indigenous engagement in the world of sport in his Board positions with ViaSport BC, Canadian Olympic Committee, and Canada Soccer.
Belinda Chi
Belinda Chi is an elementary school teacher in the Burnaby School District and has worked in teacher education at Simon Fraser University. She is currently a PhD Candidate in the Faculty of Education: Department of Curriculum and Pedagogy at the University of British Columbia. She is an SSHRC CGS-D award recipient and is working towards her research on exploring employment with youth with disabilities in rural areas in British Columbia.
Sarah Elson-Haugan
Sarah grew up on the traditional lands of the Dane-zaa people in Treaty 8 and currently lives in Snuneymuxw. As District Indigenous Support for the Qualicum School District, Sarah’s work focuses on the integration of Indigenous Ways of Knowing in all learning settings and the belief that building relationships is the cornerstone to the development of deep knowing. Sarah’s work has included: co-designing localized Indigenous courses, teaching English First Peoples and BC First Peoples, and supporting numerous Indigenous curriculum initiatives.
Kendra Jacobs
Kendra Jacobs is an adjunct professor at the University of British Columbia Okanagan, facilitating ‘Teaching Children Numeracy’ and ‘Numeracy for Diverse Learners’. She is the founder of Mathematizing 247, where her mission is to inspire and empower elementary teachers to create engaging, joyful and equitable math opportunities. She works as a part-time classroom support teacher, alongside educators to support instruction that nurtures the development of independent and self-regulated learners.
Nikki Lineham
Nikki Lineham is a math teacher, math education consultant, co-founder of Educating Now, and a PhD candidate. Nikki is passionate about making mathematics accessible for all people and strives to support teachers, students and parents in developing numeracy skills. She created Educating Now, an online resource for teachers, as a way to support teachers in learning to use manipulatives, visuals and language to help their students develop deeper math understanding. Nikki completed a postgraduate certificate in ethnomathematics at the University of Hawaii in 2019, which inspired her to study culturally responsive mathematics education and spatial reasoning through her PhD studies at the University of Victoria.
Christi Livingstone
Christi Livingstone is a middle school teacher in the Coquitlam School District, currently seconded to the University of British Columbia, where she coordinates the Middle Years/Self-Regulated Learning Cohort in Teacher Education. With experience teaching students from kindergarten to grade 8, Christi has a background in Montessori education, Restorative Practices, and integrated curriculum. She is dedicated to community building and supporting students in seeing their strengths, using trauma-informed and inclusive practices to help them grow.
Katie Marren
‘uy’ skweyul/good day! Katie Marren is a Cree Metis educator living in Xwkwa’luxwum/ Qualicum on Coast Salish territory. Katie is the District Principal of Indigenous Education in Qualicum School District and has spent 23 years in various roles in education at both the classroom and district levels with a focus on Inclusive Education and Indigenous Education. Supporting ALL students in schools cannot be done without the partnership of Local First Nations who provide excellent guidance in what is best for kids and learning.
MJ Medenwaldt
MJ has worked as a classroom and ELL/Resource teacher for the past 25 years. She is currently teaching grade 6/7 in Richmond City Center at the largest Elementary School in Richmond. MJ works alongside a collaborative team of transformative educators who engage in cycles of inquiry as they work together to position themselves deeply with the children, in the work.
Shelly Moore
Originally from Edmonton, and now based in Vancouver, British Columbia, Shelly Moore is a highly sought-after teacher, researcher, speaker and storyteller and has worked with school districts and community organizations throughout both Canada and the United States. Shelley’s presentations are constructed based on contexts of schools and communities and integrate theory and effective practices of inclusion, special education, curriculum and teacher professional development. Her first book entitled, “One Without the Other” was released in July 2016 to follow up her TEDx talk. Shelley completed an undergraduate degree in Special Education at the University of Alberta, her masters at Simon Fraser University, and completed her PhD at the University of British Columbia.
For more information about Shelley visit blogsomemoore.com or on Twitter as @tweetsomemoore.
Leona Prince
Assistant Superintendent of Indigenous Education for ECC. Leona’s work as an educator and learner in BC public education has centred on Indigenous Student Achievement. She has a firm commitment to serving in our work in both equity and reconciliation. She is also a best-selling First Nations Author, and her books are an extension of the work that she does in education. Each work uplifts and upholds Dakelh knowledges, languages and history and shares the beauty, resilience, and brilliance of her people.
Shane Safir
Shane Safir has worked at every level of the education system, from the classroom to the boardroom, for over 25 years. After teaching in San Francisco and Oakland, she became the founding principal of June Jordan School for Equity (JJSE), an innovative national model identified by leading scholar Linda Darling-Hammond as having “beaten the odds in supporting the success of low-income students of color.” For the last 15 years, Shane has provided equity-centered coaching, strategic design, and professional learning support for schools, districts, and organizations across the U.S., Canada, and beyond. She facilitates workshops on creating brave spaces for equity, listening leadership, becoming a warm demander, and using Street Data to transform our schools into radically inclusive spaces. She is the author of The Listening Leader: Creating the Conditions for Equitable School Transformation (Jossey-Bass: 2017) and co-author with Dr. Jamila Dugan of the best-selling Street Data: A Next-Generation Model for Equity, Pedagogy, and School Transformation (Corwin, 2021). Her next book, Pedagogies of Voice: Street Data and the Path to Student Agency will be published in May 2025 by Corwin Press.
Ashley Watson
Ashley Watson is a teacher in School District No. 23 (Central Okanagan). She is passionate about literacy, interdisciplinary learning, and student voice and thrives when collaborating with colleagues and children. She is part of a professional book club where she read Shane Safir’s Street Data and is thrilled to contribute to her new book Pedagogies of Voice: Street Data and the Path to Student Agency.
