Call for Proposals

Call – closed

2020 Festival of Learning: Disruption & Transformation in Higher Education

The Festival of Learning is B.C.’s largest celebration of teaching and learning in higher education. Held every two years and welcoming about 500 attendees from all over B.C. and beyond, the Festival is a great opportunity for faculty, students, leaders, librarians, learning designers, educational technologists and accessibility/ disability educators and professionals to network and learn together.

This year, we explore disruption and transformation in post-secondary education. We ask: How are we intentionally disrupting our work at an individual, institutional, or societal level? What prompts us to transform practices, policies, or processes?

We welcome your proposals from all areas of higher education as we grapple with key questions, such as:

  • How are you “disrupting” teaching and learning practices, policies, and processes? What disruptions call for creative adaptation and change?
  • How are you engaging in reconciliation, Indigenous pedagogy, decolonization, or Indigenization in your teaching and learning practices?
  • Technology is often seen as a disruptor and catalyst for transformation. How can we effectively and creatively use educational technologies to support learning?
  • What transformations are needed to make post-secondary institutions and learning environments inclusive and accessible to support every student?
  • How are open educational practices (OEP) transforming teaching and learning? How do OEP disrupt traditional power structures and narratives in education? How are the open education and open access movements challenging the status quo? Where are they falling short?
  • As educators, how do we respond skillfully to the global climate crisis? What is our role and responsibility to the planet at this critical time?

Universal Accessibility

This year, the 2020 Festival of Learning program committee is pleased to partner with the Disability Resource Network of B.C. for Post-secondary Education to provide a safe and compassionate space that is universally accessible. We welcome presenters and participants of all backgrounds, races, ethnicities, abilities, cultures, sexual orientations, genders, languages, ages, and religions, as well as those identifying as neurodivergent.

Session Length & Type

Please choose one of the following for your proposal (note that the program committee may request that you change your session length):

  • 10-minute lightning session
  • 30-minute presentation session
  • 75-minute session (e.g., panel, a roundtable discussion or activity-based)
  • Half-day session (3 hours) for a hands-on, skills-training, activity-based workshop

Criteria for Selection

Each proposal will be blind reviewed by multiple members of the program committee based on the following criteria (4 points each):

  1. The session is relevant to the overall theme of the conference.
  2. The description contains clearly defined purpose and outcomes.
  3. The session is informed by relevant literature, theory, and/or research in the area.
  4. The session topic will be of interest to conference attendees from a variety of perspectives (e.g., diverse disciplinary backgrounds, diverse roles).
  5. The session is likely to help others improve their practices and processes.

This call is now closed. 

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