Fubuki Daiko Entertainment Inc.
Japanese drummers

We want to begin by thanking everyone connected with the WestCAST 2007 Conference sponsored by the Faculty of Education at the University of Manitoba and held at the Delta Winnipeg from February 14-17, 2007. Whether you were a participating staff member, faculty member, student presenter, student volunteer or partner from the field, THANK YOU for making this year’s conference a success.

Delegates attended the conference from across the country, the United States and as far away as Hungary! In total, there were 187 presenters, 90 of which were teacher candidates. We also had 50 of our own students who volunteered their time to make sure that the conference went smoothly. What an impressive showing by those of you who will be the next generation of teachers!

As you will recall, this year’s theme was “Learning to Teach, Teaching for Learning” - its intention was to encourage us to examine the multi-dimensional and collaborative nature of becoming a teacher in a diverse and increasingly complex world. Our hope was that conference delegates would question, debate, and explore the intellectual traditions and innovations that inform teaching and the various ways that teaching and learning are inextricably linked. We believe that this is exactly what happened during our few days together.

Delegates also found time to enjoy the social events, and even though our fair city can be cold in February, we trust that the hospitality of our citizens was warm and friendly.

Click on the image
above to view the
submitted papers.

Melvin Starr
Hoop dancer

We would also like to thank F.A.C.E.S. for putting together the Mini-Folklorama for our opening ceremonies, the Brunet Family - official Voyageurs for being on hand to greet our delegates at the welcome address, and the Pembina Trails Voices for providing entertainment for the closing address.

Many of you contributed to the Conference Proceedings – we hope that by reading the papers that were submitted, you will be reminded of the engaging conversations that you had while at the conference and will be encouraged to continue the conversation about teaching and learning with your colleagues in 2008 in Regina! For more information about WestCAST 2008, please visit their website: http://www.education.uregina.ca/westcast2008

Once again, thank you for attending the 2007 conference. It was our great pleasure to host this event.

David Mandzuk, PhD
Pat Sadowy, PhD
WestCAST 2007 Conference Co-Chairs