BCSSA Conference 2012

The Vancouver Conference Centre

On November 15th and 16th, I attended my first BC School Superintendents Association (BCSSA) educational leadership conference as school trustee.  What an event! “Partnerships in Personalization” was a collaborative professional development conference in partnership with other educational partners: BCASBO, BCSTA, BCPVPA, BCCPAC, FNESC, and Ministry of Education.  1200 superintendents, board office staff, school trustees, principals and vice-principals, parents, etc. were represented.  Teachers from the BCTF and Susan Lampert were also present.  Attendees came from different advocacy groups, but we all have one vested interest: our students.  My ‘academic boyfriend’ Ben Levin emphasized in the first plenary that 70% of professional learning occur in informal settings.  This was cited by conference attendees over and over again.  I do not disagree with it.  Seems ironic when we all gathered at the Vancouver Conference Centre to learn in a formal setting.  Some may have criticized the quality of the workshops and plenaries.  But, truthfully?  This traditional way of learning brought us together to learn formally and informally from each other.  We were not passive learners.  Twitter was a flurry.  A tonne of conversations were occurring online as we were in session.  I am guilty of this social media pleasure.  And, I cherished the many conversations I had with colleagues, familiar faces, and new to me folks at the breakfast table, food line up, and workshop setting.  Furthermore, I would not have met my ‘academic boyfriend’ Ben Levin and other plenaries who shared their passion for education with us.  This conference was an excellent way for school districts to celebrate what they do.  I saw workshops facilitated by SD47, SD8, and SD61.  They were all exceptional.  Twitter, blogging, or Facebook cannot express the kind of love and enthusiasm these educators had for student learning.  As you can see, this blog entry itself is trying to express those feelings and doing little justice.  So yes, I can gather information from the internet about new edu-initiatives, but I would not bother.  Personalized learning is the theme.  For me, a conference such as this one allowed me to actively share, collaborate, and provoke my professional learning, formally and informally.  Thank you BCSSA Educational Leadership Conference organizers.  I would do it again… Looking forward.