Education Advisor

JOB PROFILE

Position #: 127448

TITLE: EDUCATION ADVISOR

CLASSIFICATION: BAND 2

JOB OVERVIEW

BC’s Office of the Human Rights Commissioner (BCOHRC) exists to address the root causes of inequality, discrimination and injustice in B.C. by shifting laws, policies, practices and cultures. We do this work through education, research, advocacy, inquiry and monitoring.

Reporting to the Manager, Education, the Education Advisor applies their passion for learning to ensure the effective design and development of forward-thinking, human rights-based educational materials, initiatives and training programs. Working collaboratively across BCOHRC departments and in cooperation with communities and stakeholders in the public, private and civil-society sectors, the Education Advisor develops educational resources for a range of audiences of different ages and backgrounds. These resources are aimed at the promotion of human rights and the prevention of discrimination across B.C.

ACCOUNTABILITIES

In accordance with the Education strategy, the Advisor plans, designs and updates a range of learning products and initiatives on human rights issues for diverse audiences. Specifically, the role:

• Develops and designs adaptable, iterative learning opportunities for a range of audiences including people with disabilities Indigenous people, racialized people, people with English as an additional language, people with diverse gender identities and sexual orientations, faith communities, youth and older adults and considers additional perspectives such as region (including urban/rural), economic condition and role (someone who holds rights or has a duty to protect the rights of others).
• Collaborates with other BCOHRC staff to ensure education materials are developed appropriately and ready for dissemination based on approved timelines.
• Develops and implements education and project plans, sets learning objectives and designs activities and supporting materials (processes, webinars, workshops, conversation guides, handouts, infographics, facilitation guides, simulations, role plays, games etc.) to meet them.
• Seeks out, builds and maintains relationships with relevant communities, individuals and networks in order to support and expand human rights learning in the province.
• Works collaboratively with subject matter experts, internal and external to BCOHRC, to identify target audience training needs and ensure content accuracy.
• Ensures BCOHRC’s learning products are fully accessible in terms of leading standards, software and practices for a range of learner audiences and user experience needs.
• Participates in the evaluation and assessment of learning materials, projects, and curricula and reports on BCOHRC activities.
• Monitors currency and accuracy of learning products and recommends and implements improvements.
• Researches current learning trends, best practices and technology and makes recommendations to improve the presentation and management of learning products.
• Facilitates and delivers meaningful and respectful education experiences on human rights several times a year in collaboration with the Engagement team.
• Maintains project documentation.

JOB REQUIREMENTS

EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE

• Undergraduate degree and/ or post-graduate training related to adult learning, education, instructional design, educational technology, learning & development, training, knowledge translation, or another relevant field.
• A minimum* of three years’ recent**, progressively responsible, experience developing and designing education materials, experiences, or trainings and developing learning projects and resources.
• Experience designing and delivering education to a wide range of groups and audiences through in-person and virtual methods.
• Experience working or volunteering in an environment or with educational content that supports or promotes human rights, equality and/or justice.
• An equivalent combination of education and relevant experience may be considered.
• Successful completion of security screening requirements of the BC Public Service, which may include a criminal records check, and/or Criminal Records Review Act (CRRA) check, and/or enhanced security screening checks as required.

* Preference may be given to applicants with additional years of experience

** Recent experience would ideally be within the last five years in order to be current and fluent with existing and emerging technology, approaches, theories and trends.

WILLINGNESS STATEMENT: FREQUENT TRAVEL MAY BE REQUIRED.

Preference may be given to applicants with the following:

• Applicants who are Indigenous, Black or racialized, people with diverse gender identities or expressions, sexual orientation and/or, people with disabilities.
• Applicants with personal experiences related to human rights.
• Experience in human rights education.
• Experience in design and development of visual learning materials (such as simple video editing, layout, infographics) and relevant software.
• Experience in community public education outside formal classroom settings.
• Experience making complex, technical and/or legal information easy to understand.
• Experience working with Indigenous, Black or racialized communities including around translation and cultural adaptation.
• Fluency in two or more languages.

KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS, AND ABILITIES

• Commitment to and passion for human rights and education
• Knowledge of accessibility and inclusive design applied to learning materials and activities, including plain-language principles.
• Ability to design and co-facilitate learning experiences specifically for marginalized groups and general public audiences.
• Ability to independently learn and use new/emerging learning technologies.
• Ability to manage multiple projects and to organize and prioritize high volumes of timesensitive and confidential work to meet operational deadlines and report on status including in times of ambiguity and high workload.
• Ability to consult, to advise on appropriate educational resources for a project, to develop and maintain strong working relationships with team members, community partners, and the public.
• Excellent written and visual communication skills.
• Strong verbal communication skills, including in-person and virtual facilitation and presentation skills.
• Proven commitment to ongoing research and personal development in the area of learning, instructional design, and learning technologies.

INDIGENOUS RELATIONS BEHAVIOURAL COMPETENCIES

• Cultural Agility is the ability to work respectfully, knowledgeably and effectively with Indigenous people. It is noticing and readily adapting to cultural uniqueness in order to create a sense of safety for all. It is openness to unfamiliar experiences, transforming feelings of nervousness or anxiety into curiosity and appreciation. It is examining one's own culture and worldview and the culture of the BC Public Service, and to notice their commonalities and distinctions with Indigenous cultures and worldviews. It is recognition of the ways that personal and professional values may conflict or align with those of Indigenous people. It is the capacity to relate to or allow for differing cultural perspectives and being willing to experience a personal shift in perspective.
• Sustained Learning and Development means continually increasing your ability to build and maintain respectful and effective relationships with Indigenous people. Central to this competency is appreciating that there are many other cultural understandings of knowledge and ways of working that have legitimacy and deserve respect – and therefore require our continual learning and development, including direct exposure to cultural and community ways.
• Process orientation places a priority on how things are done. It is a willingness to remain open and follow in new directions. It means setting aside mainstream ways of achieving results and instead following culturally respectful processes that also produce results. It is letting go of agendas or the need to control and trusting that the appropriate outcome will emerge from a good journey together. It means accepting that both the use of process orientation and a good relationship are concrete results.

BEHAVIOURAL COMPETENCIES

• Planning, Organizing and Co-ordinating involves proactively planning, establishing priorities and allocating resources. It is expressed by developing and implementing increasingly complex plans. It also involves monitoring and adjusting work to accomplish goals and deliver to the organization’s mandate.
• Customer/client development involves the genuine intent to foster the learning or development of a diverse clientele. 'Customers/clients' include the public, internal clients, colleagues, partners, coworkers, peers, branches, ministries/agencies and other government organizations.
• Listening, understanding and responding is the desire and ability to understand and respond effectively to other people from diverse backgrounds. It includes the ability to understand accurately and respond effectively to both spoken and unspoken or partly expressed thoughts, feelings and concerns of others. People who demonstrate high levels of this competency show a deep and complex understanding of others, including cross-cultural sensitivity.
• Concern for Image Impact is an awareness of how one’s self, one’s role and the organization are seen by others. The highest level of this competency involves an awareness of, and preference for, respect for the organization by the community.
• Flexibility is the ability and willingness to adapt to and work effectively within a variety of diverse situations, and with diverse individuals or groups. Flexibility entails understanding and appreciating different and opposing perspectives on an issue, adapting one’s approach as situations change and accepting changes within one’s own job or organization.
• Innovation indicates an effort to improve performance by doing or promoting new things, such as introducing a previously unknown or untried solution or procedure to the specific area or organization.
• Problem solving and judgement is the ability to analyze problems systematically, organize information, identify key factors, identify underlying causes and generate solutions.

For more information on competencies, see:

Competencies in the BC Public Service

BC Public Service competencies list

Indigenous relations behavioural competencies