Ontario Institute for
Studies in education of
the University of Toronto
252 Bloor Street West
Toronto, Ontario
Canada m5s 1v6
July 29, 2011
Dear Dean Julia O’Sullivan,
Warm greetings! I am writing to invite you to “Educating for Peace and Justice: Action for Safe and Equitable Classrooms, Schools and Communities,” a major teacher professional development event on Saturday September 24, 2011 at OISE/UT.Your participation last year meant a great deal to the organizers, the workshop presenters and the participants. I received many positive comments on your inspiring words!
This one-day FREE conference (8:30am - 4:30pm) is a co-curricular professional learning event sponsored by OISE/U of T Student Services — primarily for initial teacher education candidates, with graduate students, school-based associate teachers, and other educators also welcome.
Would you be available and willing to open our conference at 8:45 AM with a few opening and welcoming remarks (maximum 5 minutes)? As well would you be able to join us for the luncheon for our dedicated group of workshop presenters which will happen between12:30 – 2:00 pm? Your presence and opening remarks would be a valuable addition to this important conference whose themes resonate with the mission and goals of OISE/UT.
The goal of the conference is to enable participants to share, learn, and try out ideas, strategies, and best practices related to actively building safe and equitable classrooms, schools and communities. To meet the needs of educators new to peacemaking and social justice activism in education, we haveinvited highly interactive workshops to help bridge the gap between theory and practice, focused especially on school settings and on facilitating their own diverse students’ learning/ participation in building nonviolent and equitable communities. Concurrent workshops (approximately 20-30 participants) will involve hands-on skill-building activities, sample teaching/learning resources, teaching guidelines, and participatory critical discussions on various approaches to safer schools, conflict resolution, peacemaking, equity, diversity, and social justice in education.
We are fortunate once again this year to have an amazing group of workshop facilitators and resource fair participants who will be offering nearly 60 different workshops and sharing valuable resources and information with the OISE community.
The conference will begin with a short plenary session at 8:45. There will be THREE sets of workshops: Session 1 will be from 9:30 to 11:00, Session 2 from 11:15 to 12:45, and Session 3 from 1:45 to 3:00. There will also be a Peace and Justice Education Resource Fair during the day, focusing on the lunch break, 12:45 to 1:45. Between 12:30 and 2:00, presenters are invited to a buffet luncheon together, as a token of our thanks and to provide an opportunity to meet other presenters and reconnect with good friends. We are still finalizing our keynote (possibly Minister Kathleen Wynne) at 3:15 pm.
Thank you so much for considering this invitation!Would you be so kind as to RSVP to garding your welcome address and invitation to lunch?
Thanks!
Best regards,
Jill Goodreau, Initial Teacher Education Instructor
Educating for Peace & Justice Conference Chair
Department of Curriculum, Teaching & Learning
OISE, University of Toronto