UFV has partnered with six Fraser Valley school districts to find ways to support successful student transition from high school to post-secondary. A 2023 BC Student Transition Report by the provincial government highlights a declining transition rate in secondary-to-post-secondary transitions of approximately 50 per cent across BC, despite a recent labour market report finding that 75 per cent of all new jobs require a post-secondary credential.

A series of Micro Learning Exchange webinars in partnership with public school districts across the Fraser Valley coming up in February-April represent the next step in a process that started last fall.

On November 20, 2023, then-Acting President James Mandigo and 16 others from UFV gathered with representatives from the Abbotsford, Chilliwack, Mission, Langley, Maple Ridge/Pitt Meadows, and Fraser-Cascade school districts and Ministry representatives. The Education Leadership Summit challenged attendees to address the issues facing high school students as they make the leap to post-secondary; issues that include socio-economic, equity and diversity, accessibility, first-generation student, and transportation issues, among others.

Five key topics were identified through conversations as priority areas for discussion:

• Support for Indigenization and Indigenous youth and education.
• Support for historically marginalized learners from equity-deserving groups
• Learner-centred pedagogies (method/practice of teaching)
• Assessment practices and dispelling myths
• Cohort based/dual credit offerings.

During the summit, attendees discussed these key topics in a series of workshops and committed to work together to address the challenges. The discussion now continues through five Learning Exchange webinars scheduled between February 13 and April 23. The webinars, open to everyone, will bring together practitioners and educators from across K-12 and UFV.

The topic for the first webinar on February 13 is Innovative pedagogies to support student success.  Future topics include Facilitating math and science readiness (Feb 27), K-16 Assessment: School Districts and UFV Listening to Each Other (Mar 12), Indigenization: Moving forward in a good way (Apr 9), and Tools for Learning: Trades partnerships with school districts (Apr 23).

Get involved in the discussions by attending the webinars and learning how we can improve student transition. Register for the webinars here.

For more info, email Bourget at nicolle.bourget@ufv.ca.