#AdvoCon2020 – Call for Presenter Proposals
The BCEdAccess Society is an organization of parents, guardians and allies who work together to advocate and support the rights of children and youth with disabilities and who are complex learners to help them achieve equitable access to a quality education.
Our 6th annual conference will take place from September 17th- 23rd, and will be a virtual, online event due to the Covid-19 pandemic. We’re excited about the opportunity to bring together families and allies of students with disabilities from all over the province to further our conversations, and to learn strategies that can help us seek solutions to achieving equitable access to education in British Columbia.
We’re making all efforts to ensure this virtual conference is as accessible as possible.
CALL FOR PROPOSALS:
Submit your proposal to speak by July 17th by filling out this form:
AdvoCon2020 Presenter Proposal Form
This conference is an opportunity to inspire and educate parents and guardians as leaders in their communities. We aim to help drive progress by sharing resources and practical information, and connecting with advocates and activists striving for equity and inclusion within the educational system. This conference also invites the larger community seeking to advance rights for children and youth.
The conference will be a live event that will take place virtually, using an online conference hosting system, and in some cases the online platform Zoom. We will be recording the content to ensure that your message reaches maximum viewing and lives on into the future. We invite proposals for presentations from self advocates, parents and guardians and other experts around some of the themes identified by our membership. We would also welcome other ideas fitting to current issues in inclusive education, or our mission as a whole. Priority will be given to speakers who are Indigenous, Black, or other POC, and/or disabled.
Options for types of presentations:
- 1 hour workshops with Q&A following
- Panels (organize a panel or be a panelist)
- Facilitated open conversations between attendees
- Collaborative activities with attendees
Presentations should:
- Be on the topic of education and students with disabilities
- Recognize the rights-based focus of our organization
- Not be specific to any individual disability
- Use inclusive language
- Make every attempt possible to address students with disabilities and complex learners within an intersectional context (Indigenous, Black and other POC communities, LGBTQ2S+, etc.)
- Not engage in promotion of self, products or services within the presentation itself
Some topics of interest to attendees past and future include, but are not limited to:
- Advocacy skills and tools for families
- Anti-racism
- Decolonization
- Future of education
- Human Rights
- Inclusion
- Leadership
- Mental Health
- Self-Advocacy
- Successful ways of including and supporting students
- Systemic change
We will be asking workshop presenters and possibly other types of presenters to pre-record their session and then come to share it live and participate in Q&A. If you have someone who can assist you to facilitate that’s great, and if not we’ll assign a volunteer to work with you. We can help you put together a panel. We’ll also provide tips, instructions and support on how to record your session, and how to present online. If you need support to do any of this, we will do our best to help you find it.
It will be important that you have a strong internet connection for your live participation.
Proposal submissions are due by July 17th, 2020.
We’re excited to see what you come up with and look forward to working with you at #AdvoCon2020!