Ongoing EEPSA Professional Development Opportunities:
Classrooms to Communities Annual Conference
EEPSA, in partnership with our C2C partners, hosts an annual two day conference on the October PSA day. The first day of the conference is workshops on place-based learning, and the second day is experiential field studies in the community. This conference is open to classroom teachers, community educators and academics.
Upcoming conference locations are October 2020 in Prince George, October 2021 on Vancouver Island, October 2022 in the Kootenays and October 2023 in Metro Vancouver.
For most information, visit the Classrooms to Communities conference page.
Get Outdoors! (90-120 minutes)
Get Outdoors is a hands-on, interactive introduction to practical techniques and strategies for taking your kids out to learn in their school yards, parks and local spaces. This workshop explores an educator’s guide with activities that include hands-on mapping, cultural explorations of special places, values exploration and secondary level projects.This guide includes “baby steps” for taking students outdoors – easy and powerful sensory awareness activities that help develop personal connections to nature. It also contains Teacher Tip Sheets and checklists covering group management, materials, field trip planners and the importance of the “100-Metre Field Trip”. Each workshop participant receives a copy of the guide.
Workshops booked in the Metro Vancouver region have the cost of the guide subsidized by Metro Vancouver. Workshops outside of Metro Vancouver must pay $25 for each participant to pay for the guide. Get Outdoors can be 90 or 150 minutes and is held outside in your schoolyard or a local park.
Take Me Outside for Learning with a focus on: (90-120 minutes)
- Language Arts
- Science
- Visual Arts
- Social Studies
- Primary
- Math
An interactive outdoor workshop that deepens teachers’ consideration of learning opportunities in a targeted curricular area outside of the classroom. This session will give a brief introduction to environmental/experiential/place-based learning and First People’s Principles of Learning in the renewed curriculum, and will also share resources and strategies to connect students and teachers to their local communities.
An Introduction to Place-Based Education in the Renewed Curriculum (90 minutes)
An introduction to the role of experiential and place-based learning in the renewed curriculum, including a connection to the First People’s Principles of Learning. This session will give a brief overview of what some innovative districts across the province are doing to support integrating environmental/experiential/place-based learning into their teachers’ practice. We will also explore rich, classroom-ready resources from across BC and Canada.
School Wide Bio Blitz (90-120 minutes)
A Bio Blitz, in the traditional sense, is an attempt to observe and record all the living species within a designated area. This workshop will demonstrate how to get your entire school involved in a Bio Blitz that exposes children to their local plants and animals with a species inventory of the school grounds and surrounding area. When children know the names of their local plants and animals, they are more likely to act and protect them in the future. It will also show participants the value of making connections with community educators and different experts in the field of ecology. These community educators can provide a wealth of knowledge that works to both pique the interests of the students and provide background knowledge for the teachers. A school wide Bio Blitz is a celebration of environmental education and it is essentially an opportunity for students and teachers to attend a large professional development session together, where they can all take their learning and begin inquiry as a classroom community. In this workshop, participants will see an example of a school wide Bio Blitz that is entering its third annual event. They will receive a guide that contains a possible layout for the day, resources, materials, and suggestions for extension activities.
Solstice Events
Our biannual Solstice Celebrations in June and December bring together educators, collaborators, and champions for change in regional networking events. These celebratory gatherings focus on highlighting local sustainability education success stories, from lesson ideas to resources to field trip locations. The primary purpose of these events is to bring our diverse communities together to inspire, re-connect and foster collaboration between educators. These well-attended events take place in the evening and include light hors d’oeuvres, beverages and music. We host these events in collaboration with local community education partners at their site to inform teachers of learning opportunities for their students. Recent events have taken place at the Stanley Park Ecology Society, the Fraser River Discovery Centre, and at the Telus World of Science.
EEPSA’s Partners Professional Development
BCTF Provincial Specialist Associations
BCTF PSAs
EEPSA is one of 32 PSA’s in BC. Information about all PSAs, including conferences, workshops, publications, and email lists.
These workshops can be booked through the BCTF for delivery across the province by local facilitators.
Habitat Conservation Trust Foundation
HCTF Education Programs
HCTF offers a variety of environmental education programs, grants to support classes in outdoor learning, a comprehensive list of conservation organizations, and other educational resources.
Metro Vancouver
Metro Vancouver Events
Metro Vancouver hosts a diversity of environmental events for teachers, students, and the community at large. Discover curriculum based teacher workshops, youth leadership programs, school programs, dialogue series, and more.
Columbia Basin Environmental Education Network
CBEEN Programs
A large and vibrant group of educators in the Columbia Basin region who offer programs for classes, frequent teacher events and resources, as well as resources for fellow educators.
