HIGHER EDUCATION IN QUEBEC

10 Years of Inclusive Pedagogy: Building a Path for the Future

From June 1 to 3, 2021, CRISPESH and UDL@Dawson invite researchers and higher education stakeholders to look back at 10 years of inclusive pedagogy in Quebec’s colleges and universities.

Program

Visit the Program section to consult the complete schedule.

General Schedule

Tuesday June 1, 2021 (8:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.)

• Welcome and greeting
• Block 1 - Opening session (keynote speaker)
• Break
• Block 2 - Presentation(s), workshop(s) and discussion panel(s)
• Lunch and networking

Wednesday, June 2, 2021 (8:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.)

• Welcome and greeting
• Block 3 - Presentation(s), workshop(s) and discussion panel(s)
• Break
• Block 4 - Presentation(s), workshop(s) and discussion panel(s)
• Lunch and Networking

Thursday, June 3, 2021 (8:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.)

• Welcome and greeting
• Block 5 - Presentation(s), workshop(s) and discussion panel(s)
• Break
• Block 6 - Collaborative reflective workshop
• Lunch break and networking
• Block 7 - Closing session (keynote speaker)

Registration and Fees

Registrations are open until the end of the event.

• Professionals /researchers /other (regular) : 150,00 $
• Employees (Dawson College /Cégep du Vieux Montréal) : 100,00 $
• Students (regular) : 50,00 $
• Students (colleges) : Free

Context

In 2010, the first high school graduates started entering college, then university, officially recognized by Quebec's Ministry of Higher Education as students with invisible disabilities having access to accommodations. This recognition has transformed the reality of teaching in the province's higher education institutions ever since. The yearly increase of students registering for adapted services at these institutions has led to the mobilization of people all over the sector to support the integration, retention and success of college and university students with invisible disabilities. Ten years later, what are the results of this mobilization? Which practices have been implemented? Which challenges still need to be addressed in Quebec, where diversity and cognitive variability are now the norm in the classroom? Furthermore, what has been the impact on students with special needs facing barriers such as pregnancy, lack of diagnosis, divorce, homelessness or death, but who are not eligible for adapted services?

As the different spheres of society are being restructured around diversity, we can no longer afford limiting higher education to traditional teaching methods designed for what Harvard Graduate School of Education Professor Todd Rose calls the "average learner". As stakeholders in the field, we must rethink these methods in order to ensure equal chances to every learner while maintaining the standards expected at this level of education. Widely integrated into the Quebec educational system from kindergarten to secondary school, inclusive pedagogy (or universal pedagogy) falls within this perspective.

In Quebec, inclusive pedagogical practices rely notably on the framework provided by the Universal Design for Learning (UDL). Created in the 1990s, UDL is a student-centred and living model constantly evolving with scientific findings and society’s changing realities. Far from being the only tool solicited in universal pedagogy, UDL has nevertheless played an important role in the province’s attempt to offer equal learning opportunities to everyone. Today, in 2021, where does Quebec stand in terms of higher education inclusive pedagogy? What are the research and practices blind spots? What are the obstacles and preconceptions holding us back from adopting more inclusive teaching methods? Conversely, which innovative practices have brought us closer to this goal? What further actions do we still need to take to be more universal in our pedagogical approaches? These are all questions underlining the spirit of this symposium.

Objectives

By bringing together researchers and relevant players in the higher education sector, faculty members, pedagogical counsellors, administrators or students with disabilities, this event will be an opportunity for its participants to:

• Share their experiences, innovative practices, research results and more;
• Think about student-centred educational approaches;
• Bring a critical and creative look at inclusive pedagogy;
• Extend the existing conversations intended to help Quebec foster an increasingly inclusive pedagogy;
• Create a space for the emergence of new communities of practice that will revive this educational approach throughout the province;
• Compile the conclusions drawn from the event in a special report taking stock of 10 years of inclusive pedagogy at the college and university levels.

• Pauline Claude (coordinator), Research Professional at CRISPESH
• Roch Ducharme, Managing Director at CRISPESH
• Laure Galipeau, Co-founder of UDL@Dawson and Faculty at Dawson College
• Effie Konstantinopoulos, Co-founder of UDL@Dawson and Councellor at Dawson College AccessAbility Centre
• Émilie Robert, Director of Research and Knowledge Translation at CRISPESH
• Catherine Soleil, Co-founder of UDL@Dawson and Faculty at Dawson College
• Paul Turcotte, Researcher at CRISPESH and Faculty at Cégep du Vieux Montréal