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
Mar 24
Board Development
One of my most interesting consulting roles that I’ve fallen into after retiring from the superintendent position has been working with local school boards. My initial work has been board orientations, focusing much of the time on defining their “why” and providing a deep understanding of their role and that of the superintendent. Later this …
Feb 21
Curriculum Development Requires Teachers
Early in my senior education career, I remember then Deputy Minister Maria David-Evans, speaking about how Alberta was a world class education system. One of her key points was the importance of a strong centralized curriculum. While not always perfect, no curriculum is, Alberta has always been recognized as having a strong curriculum that jurisdictions …
Feb 09
System leaders need affirmation too!
Most of my blog posts have typically focused on leadership however, with this pandemic and especially lately, I have tried to write about the impact of the pandemic on teachers. While many still believe in the myth of the 9-3 teacher, teaching has never been easy, and it is even more difficult and complex today! …
Jan 21
Being selfish
I try and stay socially connected to the education world through my Twitter account and what I’ve been seeing is pretty disheartening. Educators are feeling exhausted, disrespected, frustrated and little angry too! I know that most social media platforms allow a person to “sound off” without much care on the impact of their words…but what …
Jan 09
Start with your best and then get better!
Depending on where you are in North America, educators are either preparing for students to return to in school learning or preparing to offer online education in the coming days. Regardless of the decision made by governments, a high degree of stress is present. This newest variant, which is by far the most transmissible, is …
Jan 04
Some early reflections!
It is almost two years to the day that I retired from the role of Superintendent of Schools. That means, that I retired pre-pandemic. There was certainly a time when education was easier, but I cannot imagine a time when education was more difficult than during these past two years. It does not matter where …
Dec 04
Teachers aren’t miracle workers but they can sure make a difference!!!
One of the advantages of consulting for Nelson on a part time basis, is that I am able to access the wide array of professional learning that is offered. Most recently, I’ve been involved in the webinar series Relationships First: Rethinking the Post-Pandemic Classroom that is led by Dr. David Tranter. I’m currently in the …
Oct 12
Choosing your municipal candidates
We just came through a federal election here in Canada and a fairly useless and expensive endeavour to boot! Most people would have voted along party lines and that would likely be similar in provincial elections too! Obviously there are exceptions, but in general, the person is far less important than the political party. However, …
Jun 05
Being a superhero!
Last week, I completed a follow up presentation to a school staff, that I’ve worked with this past year. In my first presentation, the staff was introduced to Miss Patty in the video The Calling. It is a video from a father who expresses his gratitude for his little girl receiving the gift of learning …