In early December 2023, FISA attended an event hosted by Vancouver Coastal Health which brought public health professionals and educators together to review over 100 mental health and substance use programs and resources. Independent school educators may find many of Read More …
Category: Blog
‘Thoughtful, caring and community-oriented people of deep faith’
Ed Noot, Executive Director, Society of Christian Schools in BC ‘Thoughtful, caring and community-oriented people of deep faith’ Western society is almost entirely secular, but if there’s one core value it shares with those who hold religious beliefs, Read More …
A Lot of Good Can Happen From Working Together
What do a Christian school, a Jewish school and a Waldorf school have in common? In fact, this is not a joke. They are all participants in FISA’s Associate Members Society (AMS). President of the AMS and FISA board Read More …
‘You hear them come to consensus, peacefully and politely with caring’
Just about anyone who calls FISA speaks with Magda Hogewoning, first. Some people might say that she is “just” an executive assistant — and one who will be retiring soon, at that. But FISA executive director Shawn Chisholm doesn’t hold Read More …
A Common Desire for a Diverse System and Parental Choice
If government funding of independent schools were to stop, the impact on Christian schools would be immediate, according to Philip Hills, Executive Director for Western Canada of the Association of Christian Schools International (ACSI). Although there is currently no suggestion Read More …
Teachers are no longer the sage on the stage
The complexities of Canadian history are illustrated by this country’s educational system. For example, Catholic schools — led by the Sisters of St. Ann — existed in British Columbia for several decades in the nineteenth century before any public schools Read More …
The Value of Educating the Whole Person
The value of educating the whole person The new Executive Director of the International Education and Independent Schools Branch at the Ministry of Education has a valuable quality that most parents of children in the independent school system will totally Read More …
Learning How to Teach the New Curriculum
Anyone who went to school in the last half of the 20th century, learned how to absorb content. What’s the square root of 968? Who was the 15th prime minster of Canada? What’s the capital of Azerbaijan? But knowing Read More …
Critical thinking is the secret sauce for today’s education
When Darren Spyksma and Greg Gerber toured the province this Fall as part of FISA’s provincial outreach team, they had an important message to deliver: Critical thinking is a core skill for every teacher in British Columbia. Perhaps even THE Read More …
Shawn Chisholm New FISA BC Executive Director
‘I want to continue to reinforce the value that independent schools bring to B.C.’ As the new Executive Director of the Federation of Independent schools, Shawn Chisholm sees education as, “a liberating force for people around the world.” While that Read More …