Coming to Toronto live from The Canadian Museum for Human Rights in Winnipeg, a virtual streaming presentation of Dr. Jan Stewart's presentation, Addressing the needs of refugee students: Building trauma-sensitive schools and supportive classrooms is brought to you by Ontario ASCD through the generous support of CERIC and Manitoba ASCD.

We welcome local educators, social and community workers, and settlement support workers to join us in this opportunity to learn from Dr. Jan Stewart and better support the needs of their students who are experiencing trauma.

Included in your $30.00 registration is a light dinner as well as a copy of Dr. Stewart’s new book, Bridging Two Worlds: Supporting Newcomer and Refugee Youth.

Over 65.6 million people are displaced from their homes because of conflict, persecution, and human rights violations—more than half of these are children (UNHCR, 2017). The experiences of refugees are often punctuated with trauma, violence, loss, and personal stress which can have an impact on the settlement trajectory and the overall sense of well-being and belonging that newcomers in Canada experience. This presentation draws on findings from a three-year research program that examined best practices for supporting refugee student integration in schools and communities. A model for creating trauma-sensitive schools and recommendations for providing culturally responsive pedagogies and inclusive strategies to meet the needs of vulnerable youth will be shared.

Jan Stewart, Ph.D is Deputy Provost and Associate Vice President, Academic at The University of Winnipeg and a Professor in the Faculty of Education. Jan is the lead investigator of a three-year national research program to examine best practices for supporting refugee and newcomer youth. She is the lead investigator of a provincially-funded research program exploring the mental health needs and challenges for refugee youth as well as a study on the settlement, education and psychosocial needs of Syrian refugees in Canada. Jan recently completed the Harvard Medical School Certificate in Global Mental Health: Trauma and Recovery.

With over 30 years of teaching, research, and field experience, Jan has achieved expertise working with children and youth affected by conflict, trauma, violence, abuse, mental health issues, neglect, and human rights violations. She has led international research and teacher development programs in Zimbabwe, South Sudan and Uganda and has conducted national and international seminars and conferences around the world. Jan is the author of The Anger Workout Book for Teens, The Tough Stuff Series, The STARS Program and Supporting Refugee Children: Strategies for Educators. Her new book, Bridging Two Worlds: Supporting Newcomer and Refugee Youth was released in January 2018 and available for digital download here: www.ceric.ca/twoworlds

CERIC is a charitable organization that advances education and research in career counselling and career development, in order to increase the economic and social well-being of Canadians. It funds projects to develop innovative resources that build the knowledge and skills of diverse career professionals. CERIC also annually hosts Cannexus, Canada’s largest bilingual career development conference, publishes the country’s only peer-reviewed journal, Canadian Journal of Career Development, and runs the CareerWise / OrientAction websites, providing the top career development news and views. CERIC published Bridging Two Worlds: Supporting Newcomer and Refugee Youth to empower educators to deliver more culturally responsive career guidance and better integrate the growing number of newcomer and refugee students into our schools. The book is available for purchase or free download. www.ceric.ca

Ontario ASCD is the only voice in Ontario that includes all schools and all educators, speaking on behalf of all students. Members come from public and separate school boards as well as independent and private schools. It is an affiliate of ASCD, a global organisation that has been supporting progressive education in more than 127 countries with 114,000 members for 75 years. Join the dialogue. Join the effort. Join Ontario ASCD so you can make the difference you joined the profession to make. Join us in helping Ontario education achieve its potential for generations to come.