By Nancy Niessen

I had drafted the following blog post but was hesitant to work on refining it for publication. It’s a topic on the minds of many FDK educators but it’s not one that a lot of us discuss publicly for various reasons (e.g. not wanting to be perceived as complaining or negative, not wanting to focus on the problems in our programs, a feeling of helplessness – that speaking up won’t matter).

Today I was at the BECS conference at Charles Sturt University along with many talented educators from across the province. These dedicated people gave up their Saturday because of their commitment to their students and their own learning. I witnessed many acts of bravery throughout the day – presenters talking openly about their new thinking, educators sharing their learning journeys including issues they struggle with in their programs. More than once I heard devoted, cutting edge…