2015 Keynotes

Charles E. Pascal – Friday Keynote Speaker

December 19, 2014    ·    cirr    ·    2015 Keynotes, 2015 Sessions, Friday

Charlessm

Keynote Presentation (Friday)

At the 2015 CIRR Reading Recovery & Early Literacy Conference, Charles will provide both evidence and stories that illustrate the critical importance of adapting to the individual differences of learner while noting the remarkable value of reflective practice of educators. His keynote will build on his work as early learning advisor and co-author of the recent book he wrote with his teenaged daughter.

2nd Friday Presentation

Based on his upcoming book, Charles will provide a lively interactive opportunity to explore and apply leadership lessons from his career in the public sector.  Charles will provide examples relevant to anyone in a position to support the development of others and provide leadership for the improvement of individual or organization improvement.

About our Keynote

Charles E. Pascal is an internationally recognized educator with expertise in early and higher education, public policy, leadership/organizational development and strategic philanthropy. He has published extensively in the fields of psychology and education.

His 2009 seminal report to the Premier of Ontario– With Our Best Future in Mind–is informing policy and practice in early child education within and outside of Canada.

A former Ontario deputy minister, including stints in education, social services and the Premier’s Council on Health, Charles became the head of the Ontario Council of Regents for the province’s colleges. He is currently Professor of Applied Psychology and Human Development at OISE/University of Toronto where he is coordinator of the PhD. Program in Early Learning.

Charles and his teenage daughter, Tai Pascal Notar, have recently published their book, Too Far from Perfect: A Father-Daughter Conversation about Public Education. www.toofarfromperfect.com. He is currently working on a book on leadership to be published in 2015.

Charles has also received recognition from many organizations to date, including five honorary diplomas and doctorates.

Mary Fried – Thursday Keynote Speaker

December 19, 2014    ·    cirr    ·    2015 Keynotes, 2015 Sessions, Friday, Thursday

MaryFriedsm

Keynote Presentation (Thursday)

Flexibility in Problem Solving:  A Literacy Processing Perspective

What is ‘Flexibility ‘ from the perspective of Clay’s literacy processing theory?  Why do beginning readers need to learn to be flexible problem solvers as they read and write continuous texts?  What is the teacher’s role in fostering flexibility in problem solving?   These are question to be explored as we learn together and apply principles of teaching to promote accelerated learning.

Friday Presentation

Learning from Our Teaching

In 30 years of research and 30 years of teaching children, Reading Recovery educators have learned a great deal about effective teaching in early literacy. At this year’s milestone celebration it is important to review and build understandings of the research foundations of Reading Recovery while also focusing on what we have learned about teaching. We are continuing to refine our teaching effectiveness both in Reading Recovery and primary classrooms based on understandings of Clay’s theory of literacy processing and the knowledge we have gained from our personal teaching experiences.

About our Keynote

Mary Fried is an author and a trainer of teacher leaders in the Reading Recovery Center at The Ohio State University. Trained by Marie Clay and Barbara Watson during the original 1984-1985 pilot study of Reading Recovery in the U.S., Mary has been actively engaged in teaching, presenting, conducting research, and writing about Reading Recovery for more than 25 years. Mary is also a trainer for Literacy Collaborative and the Principal’s Academy for Leadership. Her teaching of children in Reading Recovery for the last 10 years has been immersed with teaching English language learners.