Status: closed
Issue Date: January 3, 2023
Closing Date: February 3, 2023
Click for a printable PDF version of this Call for Proposal
Summary of Opportunity
The successful applicant will design and implement professional development training for early learning and care professionals who support Deaf/hard of hearing children and families in child care centres across B.C.
Please note: An American Sign Language (ASL) version of this CFP can be found here: https://bccampus.ca/collaborate-with-us/
1. Introduction
Through the Canada-British Columbia Early Learning and Child Care (ELCC) Agreement, funding has been provided to design, develop, and implement professional learning opportunities for early childhood educators and child care professionals in B.C. At the centre of this training are the unique support needs of Deaf/hard of hearing children as they relate to language, social and emotional factors, and physical and cognitive development in the early years.
The role of BCcampus in this Ministry of Education and Child Care–led initiative is to provide a call for proposals process, evaluate the proposals with the ministry, and disburse funds to the successful applicant.
2. Background
The Ministry of Education and Child Care, together with the Government of Canada, has established a shared vision for early learning and child care that
is outlined in the Multilateral Early Learning and Child Care Framework. One of the key items in this framework is the commitment to high-quality care and inclusive teaching and learning practices for all children, regardless of where they live in the province.
The Ministry of Education and Child Care values early care and learning professionals and as such is committed to providing training and development opportunities to support their growth and the growth of a quality system of child care.
To this end, through consultations with provincial Deaf/hard of hearing service partners, an identified area of need is a lack of professional learning opportunities for early learning and care professionals who work with Deaf/hard of hearing children and families. Often generalized into inclusive child care, the unique needs of Deaf/hard of hearing children and families are not always adequately addressed, relevant training can be difficult to access, and communities throughout the province face significant shortages of trained personnel to support young Deaf/hard of hearing learners.
As part of the Canada-British Columbia Early Learning and Child Care Agreement, funding has been allocated to help reduce barriers in this area.
3. BCcampus Values
BCcampus is committed to embracing and making real equity, diversity, and inclusion in everything we do, from the initial call for proposal to the final resources developed for a project and in every document and process. From the workplace to our learning spaces, we value diversity and are actively working to decolonize our organization and the ways in which we collaborate with others. We believe that a more diverse team will help us better support the individuals and communities we work with. Please find the BCcampus definitions of equity, diversity, and inclusion on our website: https://bccampus.ca/about-us.
BCcampus is committed to anti-racism as a practice. We resolve to remove barriers to education and services for Indigenous and racialized people and communities and to do all we can to ensure that no one is further marginalized, nor have this experience exacerbated, through working with us.
Please find the BCcampus Anti-Racism Statement here:
4. Purpose
The Ministry of Education and Child Care recognizes the need to create new ongoing professional development opportunities for early learning and care professionals to better equip them with the knowledge and skills needed to support Deaf/hard of hearing children and families in child care centres across B.C.
This project is an initial step in addressing the support needs of Deaf and hard of hearing learners and the training needs of the early learning and care professionals who provide this support.
5. Guiding Principles
In their proposals, applicants are expected to demonstrate knowledge and reflection of the principles and practices outlined in the following resources:
- B.C. Early Learning Framework (2019) and Play Today: B.C. Handbook (2019)
- First Peoples Principles of Learning from Early Learning Framework
- BC Community Care and Assisted Living Act
- Principles of learning for Deaf/hard of hearing children
- United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
- United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child
- Bill C-81: Accessible Canada Act
- Bill 6: Accessible British Columbia Act
- Child Care BC caring for Kids Lifting up Families: The Pathway to Universal Child Care
- Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada Calls to Action
- Healing Families, Helping Systems: A Trauma-Informed Practice Guide for Working with Children, Youth and Families
- Standards and indicators for early learning programs as outlined in the Conference of Educational Administrators of Schools and Programs for the Deaf
- “Best Practices in Family-Centered Early Intervention for Children Who Are Deaf or Hard of Hearing: An International Consensus Statement” (Journal of Deaf Studies and Deaf Education, 2013)
- “A New Era Document: Deaf Participation and Collaboration” (International Congress of the Deaf, 2010)
6. Scope
The successful applicant will design and implement professional development training for early learning and care professionals based on an understanding of Deaf/hard of hearing culture. This training should apply the principles of inclusive teaching and learning practice to better equip professionals with knowledge and skills to effectively support Deaf/hard of hearing children and families in child care centres throughout B.C.
Professional development training audience may include the following:
- Early childhood educators
- Early childhood educator assistants
- Responsible adults
- Related early learning professionals, including but not limited to
- Speech language pathologists
- Occupational therapists
- Physical therapists
- Behaviour interventionists
- Supported child development consultants
- Other related professionals
The successful applicant will provide:
- A 40-hour professional development training. Twenty hours of this training must include direct instruction in ASL designed to meet the language and communication needs of early learning and care professionals.
- Professional development training delivery should be
- For early learning professionals in all regions of B.C.
- Via in-person and/or online options, which may include synchronous and/or asynchronous components
- Inclusive of English and ASL as the languages of instruction
- Accessible to hearing, Deaf/hard of hearing or Deaf-Blind early learning professionals in the language and mode of their preference, including but not limited to
- Registered visual language Interpreter
- CART captioning or other means of closed/open captioning
- Deaf interpreter
- Deaf-Blind intervenor
- Accessible handouts and PowerPoint slides
7. Service Requirements and Deliverables
The contractor’s operational capacity to provide the deliverables outlined in this contract must include a minimum Deaf/hard of hearing staffing representation of 60 percent. At least half this representation must include culturally Deaf persons with fluency in ASL Proficiency Interview level 3. Where applicants are unable to meet staffing requirements, partnerships and/or contracts with other persons/organizations is encouraged.
Personnel may include the following:
- Teacher of the Deaf/hard of hearing or Deaf-Blind
- Master’s degree with a focus in Deaf or Deaf-Blind education
- Active membership in good standing of the Canadian Association of Educators of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing
- Minimum ASL Proficiency Interview level 3 (level 4 preferred)
- Experience with Deaf/hard of hearing children birth to age five
- Speech language pathologist
- Master’s degree in speech language pathology or equivalent
- Active member in good standing of the College of Speech and Hearing Health Professionals of BC
- Demonstrated experience with Deaf/hard of hearing children birth to age five
- Demonstrated experience with children with cochlear implants and hearing aid technologies
- Early childhood educator
- Early childhood education with a preference for a diploma in early childhood education from a recognized B.C. post-secondary institute
- Active membership in or eligibility for Early Childhood Educators of B.C.
- Demonstrated minimum two years’ experience in early learning environments
- Minimum ASL Proficiency Interview level 3 (level 4 preferred)
- Sign language specialist/instructor
- Identified background in ASL instruction
- Demonstrated experience with Deaf/hard of hearing children in early learning environments
- Minimum ASL Proficiency Interview level 3 (level 4 preferred)
The Contractor is responsible for ensuring access to appropriate and required technology to deliver the full array of service requirements.
The Contractor is responsible for delivering training that will
- Address the full spectrum of linguistic-based developmental approaches, including ASL, English, bilingual-bicultural programming, and auditory-oral methods
- Reflect the values and vision represented in the B.C. Early Learning Framework
- Reflect best practices in teaching and learning for Deaf/hard of hearing children based on relevant and recent research and proven methodologies
- Recognize and reflect Black Indigenous Deaf Persons of Colour (BIDPOC) rights and ways of being
- Reflect trauma-informed practices and attachment theory
- Reflect a strengths-based approach in addressing the support needs of Deaf/hard of hearing learners
- Address the unique needs of Deaf/hard of hearing children in both urban and rural areas
- Provide social-emotional teaching and learning as it relates to the unique needs of Deaf/hard of hearing learners birth to age five, including but not limited to
- Play-based learning
- Social pragmatics
- Accessibility
- Identity and culture
- Building community
- Technology and assistive listening devices
- Teaching and learning in individual, small-group, and large-group learning environments
- Environmental considerations (e.g., Deaf space and auditory considerations)
- Classroom management strategies, methodologies, and resources to support the unique needs of Deaf and hard of hearing early learners based on a Universal Design for Learning model
- Address the unique gifts of Deaf and hard of hearing children with additional support needs
- Address the role of and describe how to work with various support personnel, including
- Registered visual language interpreter
- Teacher of the Deaf
- Speech language pathologist
- Sign language instructor/ASL specialist
- Listening and spoken language specialist
- Audiologist
- Supported child development consultant
- Explore advocacy and allyship
- Introduce provincial organizations, supports, and resources
- Include participant satisfaction survey and results
- Contain a minimum of 20 hours of direct ASL instruction designed to meet the language needs of early learning and care professionals
- Provide training opportunities that offer flexible times for delivery, including days, evenings, and weekends
- Provide a signed certificate of participation for all registered participants that includes
- Name of participant
- Number of professional development hours
- Name of organization/persons delivering training
- Dates of training
- Title of training
- Learning outcomes
8. Requirements for Proposal
Proposals must include the following required information.
| Component | Required information |
| Cover letter |
|
| Business description |
|
| Key staffing | Provides a list of key personnel, described individually, who will manage, develop, and implement the required services:
|
| Budget | Provides detailed financial breakdown of anticipated costs, including
|
| Technology | Describes the applicant’s experience with technology required to conduct proposed service deliverables:
|
| References | Provides a minimum of two professional letters of reference that include the author’s contact information |
9. Proposal Format
Applicants should ensure they fully respond to all requirements in the call for proposal to receive full consideration during evaluation.
Proposals must be submitted in one of the following formats:
- Written English
- Video submission in ASL
- Video submission in spoken English
Note: Proposals will not be evaluated based on format of submission.
Proposals must be submitted by 4:00 p.m. on Friday February 3, 2023 via email to projects@bccampus.ca, with the subject line RESPONSE TO: CFP TITLE
Proposals must include all items described in Section 7 of this document.
10. Call For Proposal Time Lines
| Date | What is scheduled |
| January 3, 2023 | Notice of call for proposals |
| January 9, 2023 | CFP open house |
| January 11, 2023 | Fully accessible applicants CFP workshop |
| February 3, 2023 4:00 p.m. | Deadline for receipt of proposals |
| February 17, 2023 | Contract award announcement |
| March 1, 2023 | Anticipated contract start date |
Please consider attending a fully accessible open house with live ASL translation to ask questions about submitting your proposal.
A virtual call for proposal workshop will be available to Deaf/hard of hearing applicants. This workshop is designed to guide applicants to submit a successful proposal.
Please email jorr@bccampus.ca to register for these events.
11. Evaluation Committee
A committee of representatives from the Ministry of Education and Child Care, BCcampus, and the Deaf/hard of hearing education community will be responsible for evaluating the proposals. The committee will include a minimum of 50 percent representation of Deaf/hard of hearing community members. Proposals will be evaluated on how well they meet the deliverables outlined in Section 7, specifically the cover letter, business description, key staffing, financial plan, technology used, and references.
12. Payment Schedule
| When it is paid out | How much is paid out |
| Total amount of funds available for this work (including GST) | $70,000 |
| Amount to be awarded on signature of service agreement and approval of workflow plan | 50 percent |
| Amount to be awarded on submission and approval of mid-project progress report | 30 percent |
| Amount to be awarded on delivery and approval of final training and all associated materials | 20 percent |
13. Contact Information
Proposals must be submitted by 4:00 p.m. on Friday February 3, 2023 via email to projects@bccampus.ca, with the subject line RESPONSE TO: CFP TITLE
Questions about this call for proposals can be addressed to Jonathan Orr at jorr@bcccampus.ca.
To learn about other supports for submitting a proposal, please visit https://bccampus.ca/collaborate-with-us.