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Inclusive Education Symposium
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Connections Over Compliance: Rewiring Our Understanding of Complex Behaviour
Mount Royal University’s Department of Education is pleased to partner with the Calgary City Teachers’ Convention (CCTC) to offer this year’s Inclusive Education Symposium with a focus on leveraging teaching strategies to respond to student complexity.
There is no doubt that school complexity requires thoughtful and courageous teachers who can build classrooms that promote students’ emotional and academic growth. Dr. Desautels focuses on teaching students how to apply social and relational neurosciences to education. This session will focus on how to regulate our nervous systems to support the complex behaviuors in the classroom.
Schedule
Friday, February 13, 2026
Registration
- Mentor teachers and administrators from the Calgary Board of Education and Calgary Catholic School District can register through the Calgary City Teachers' Convention (CCTCA).
- All fourth-year teacher candidates are expected to attend as a component of their Inclusive Education course.
- Teachers not affiliated with the CCTCA can register as guest delegates per their collective agreement and division policy.
Teacher Candidates Register Here: CCTCA website registration
Dr. Lori Desautels
Dr. Lori Desautels began teaching undergraduate and graduate programs in the College of Education at Butler University in 2016. She was previously an Assistant Professor at Marian University in Indianapolis for eight years, where she started the Educational Neuroscience Symposium, which is now in its 15th year and has reached thousands of educators. Dr. Desautels focuses on teaching her students how to apply social and relational neurosciences to education. She does this by incorporating the tier one trauma accommodating Applied Educational Neuroscience framework, along with its learning principles and practices, into her Butler coursework.The Applied Educational Neuroscience Certification, developed by Lori in 2016, serves educators, counselors, clinicians, and administrators working with children and adolescents who have experienced adversity and trauma. This certification has reached thousands of educators globally. As a course partner at the Polyvagal Institute, Lori collaborates with Dr. Stephen Porges to teach courses integrating polyvagal theory into schools, organizations, and communities for educators and mental health professionals.
Lori’s articles are published in Edutopia, Brain Bulletin, and Mind Body Spirit international magazine. She was also published in the Brain Research Journal for her work in the fifth-grade classrooms during a course release position with Washington Township Schools. Lori continues her work co-teaching in the K-12 schools integrating her applied research into classroom procedures and transition, preparing the nervous system for learning and felt safety. Her third book, Connections over Compliance: Rewiring our Perceptions of Discipline, was released in late 2020, and Intentional Neuroplasticity: Moving Our Nervous Systems and Educational System Toward Post-Traumatic Growth, her fourth book, was released in January 2023. Her new book/manual titled Body and Brain Brilliance: A Manual to cultivate awareness and Practices for our Nervous System was published in 2024. Lori’s work, presentation videos and latest research can also be found on her website www.revelationsineducation.com.
Lori lives in Indianapolis, Indiana, with her husband, Michael, and two rescue pets. They have three adult children, Andrew, Sarah, and Regan, and a new grandchild, Miles Desautels Dorsey.
Lori has met with well over 200 school districts across the country, in Canada, Costa Rica, Australia, Scotland, England and Dubai equating to more than 150,000 educators with much more work to be done!
Keynote: Our Journey Through the Developing Nervous System and the Impact on Behaviours
9 – 10:15 a.m.
Hyatt Imperial Ballroom 4-6
We are introducing a new framework for adults working with children and youth—a multi-tiered approach designed to support and nourish the adult nervous system. This framework offers practices and insights to deepen our awareness of our own nervous systems, enhance decision-making, and empower personal agency.
By addressing the needs of the adult nervous system in schools, districts, and organizations, we aim to foster a sustainable mindset for emotional and mental health. This, in turn, can reduce burnout, build resilience, and create a sense of safety within our learning communities.
The framework is flexible, offering different ways to support staff, individuals, or smaller groups. Think of the tiers as a menu, offering options that best meet the unique needs and preferences of adults. Whether you choose to engage with all the tiers or focus on just one or two, we welcome differentiation to ensure a personalized and effective approach.
Session II: Applied Educational Neuroscience Partners with Multi- tiered Systems of Support (MTSS) for Adults
10:45 a.m. – noon
Hyatt Imperial Ballroom 4-6
By addressing the needs of the adult nervous system in schools, districts, and organizations, we aim to foster a sustainable mindset for emotional and mental health. This, in turn, can reduce burnout, build resilience, and create a sense of safety within our learning communities.The framework is flexible, offering different ways to support staff, individuals, or smaller groups. Think of the tiers as a menu, offering options that best meet the unique needs and preferences of adults. Whether you choose to engage with all the tiers or focus on just one or two, we welcome differentiation to ensure a personalized and effective approach.
Session III: Connections over Compliance- Rewiring our Perceptions of Discipline through an Educator and Therapeutic Lens
10:45 a.m. – noon
Hyatt Imperial Ballroom 4-6
This presentation will focus on a variety of ways co-regulation helps our children and youth to feel seen heard and felt , accessing the regions of the brain and nervous system that can lead to repair, model empathy, and help us to think clearly, problem solve and find tap into emotional awareness and pauses through our conflicts. We will share the critical understanding of how our nonverbal communication leads the way. The 90 second Pause is a time for slowing down and integrating breath, movement, and sensory practices for ourselves and our children. These practices are part of our procedures, routines and rituals.
Contact Information
Content, presenters and accessibility
Email: Joy Chadwick
For other inquiries
Email: Jessica Lee Wah