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The Kontakt Conferences

The Kontakt conferences were regional conferences for teachers of German in the Prairie Provinces. They were organized by the Prairie Council on the Teaching of German (PCTG) which was founded in 1981. Originally the PCTG had representation from Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta on its Board. Its mandate was to organize professional development conferences every two years on various university campuses.

At the last conference in Regina (1995), British Columbia joined the PCTG, and the name was changed to Western Canadian Council on the Teaching of German (WCCTG)

The representatives from British Columbia, under the leadership of the BCCTG president, Ortrud Newton, offered to stage a follow-up seminar to Kontakt '95 (Vertiefungsseminar '96) in Vancouver in June 1996. This conference took place from June 27 to June 30, 1996 at the Canadian International College in North Vancouver.

The Vancouver Vertiefungsseminar '96

The Vertiefungsseminar '96 was supported by the WCCTG, CCTG and the BCCTG and received funding from StADaF and the Secretary of State. The participants in this event were invited guests. They had been nominated by the regional teachers' organisations in Canada and were invited on the strength of their active involvement with Basisgruppen (small grass-roots groups involved in professional development projects). Thus 26 participants from all over Canada gathered in Vancouver.

The conference was organized by Esther Enns (Calgary), Ken Hegler (Vancouver), Ortrud Newton (Vancouver), André Oberlé (Winnipeg). and Hans Rudolf Lanker (Bern, Switzerland), the Project Consultant.

During this professional development event, participants discussed the Basisgruppen projects that had been initiated since Kontakt '95 and planned strategies and defined new mandates for the future.

Three projects, to be undertaken at the national level, were initiated at the Vancouver seminar:

1. Development of a kit for political lobbying and advertising for German
2. The establishment of a national communication network for Basisgruppen
3. The production of a manual on Basisgruppen mangagement
Further details on these projects may be found on the Home Page of the Canadian Network for Basisgruppen.

Participants in the Vertiefungsseminar '96 in Vancouver:

Rupert Barensteiner (Winnipeg, MB)
Bernd Desinger (Toronto, ON)
Esther Enns (Calgary, AB)
Harold Epp (Winkler, MB)
Susan Evans (Scarborough, ON)
Ken Hegler (Vancouver, BC)
Annemarie Heinze (Scarborough, ON)
Juergen Jahn (Calgary, AB)
Michael Kage (Toronto, ON)
Gwyneth Kingham (Cobble Hill, BC)
Hans Rudolf Lanker (Bern, Switzerland)
Karl Langelotz (Winnipeg, MB)
Chris Lorey (Fredericton, NB)
Karin Mollinger (Québec City, PQ)
Doris Muhs (Sherwood Park, AB)
Gareth Neufeld (Winnipeg, MB)
Ortrud Newton (Vancouver, BC)
Hannah Noerenberg (Edmonton, AB)
André Oberlé (Winnipeg, MB)
Uwe Rau (Montréal, PQ)
Helga Sacher (Duvernay-Laval, PQ)
Edna Schuerhaus (Vancouver, BC)
Thomas Schulze (Vancouver, BC)
Joanne Van Donzel (Calgary, AB)
Edith Wiebe (Winnipeg, MB)
Valerie Witham (Vernon, BC)

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