After nearly a 35 year career in education, I retired as the Superintendent of Schools in January 2020. While in the role as superintendent, I sat on two national committees, ERDI and C21 and also was an adjunct professor for Gonzaga University. I now work as a leadership consultant supporting the work of school boards, system and school leaders.
Chris Smeaton
Author's posts
Apr 19
Foundational Knowledge of First Nations, Métis and Inuit
The following article was published in the Lethbridge Herald on April 19, 2017. In the coming months, new standards will be unveiled for teachers, as well as school and system leaders. The current Teaching Quality Standard came into effect in 1997 and, although it has served the education system well, it certainly requires an update. …
Apr 03
From the Desk of the Superintendent- April 2017
I’m writing this message as I’m on my flight to Halifax to attend my biannual Education Development, Research and Innovation (ERDI) Conference. For those unaware of ERDI, the conference brings together 50 superintendents from across Canada to meet with corporate companies and review new innovations. Beyond the obvious advantage of connecting with senior educational leaders …
Mar 25
Let’s Innovate!
Let’s innovate! We need an education system that provides us with students who are innovative and creative. To be successful in the future, students need to be adaptable and flexible. They need to be great communicators, collaborators and let’s throw in that they can get along with everybody they meet! That is exactly what our …
Mar 13
Spiritual Development Day- March 13, 2017
I want to provide you with my opening address from this morning but before I do, I just want to reflect briefly on the day. Maybe I’m a little bias because I’m the superintendent, but I thought today was phenomenal. Fr. Cristino hit it out of the park with his keynote and the simple message …
Mar 10
Adverse Childhood Experiences
The following blog post was printed in the Lethbridge Herald on March 8, 2017 Last week, as part of our ongoing professional learning, school and system leaders watched the documentary, “Paper Tigers.” It is a story about an alternative high school in the state of Washington and its turnaround due to a focus and understanding …
Mar 01
From the Desk of the Superintendent- March 2017
I want to begin my March message by sharing the incredible experience of attending the installation mass of Bishop McGrattan on Monday evening in Calgary. This was the first installation mass that I’ve attended and it was an extremely powerful event. Watching the procession of our deacons and many of our diocesan priests followed by 31 Bishops …
Feb 24
Learning for all staff
Yesterday morning, I addressed our support staff as they began their day of learning. It is an annual event that coincides with Teachers’ Convention and invites ALL of our support staff to come together for an opportunity to learn. You see, learning or being a learner is not owned by only the teaching profession. Learning or being …
Feb 12
Open to learning
Sometimes it is in the simplest of conversations or actions that we learn the most. But that learning can only take place if we are truly open to it. Our opportunity to learn should be constant and not encumbered by our own decision of whether the situation we are in, or person we are talking …
Feb 06
From the Desk of the Superintendent- February 2017
Earlier today we finished our second round of Continuous Improvement Plan reviews. Based on feedback from our school leaders, we structured the reviews where three schools came together to share their successes and challenges around our three priorities. The sharing was incredible but it was the honesty of our leaders on their challenges that made me most …
Jan 25
Connecting the Dots
The following blog was published in the Lethbridge Herald on January 25, 2017. I recently came across a visual from Marzano Research that illustrated the differences between the old factory model of schooling and the new paradigm we are striving for in education in Alberta. The old mentality had us simply collecting dots, placing high …