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
Feb 05
Ambition vs. Leadership
I love reading nuggets from Simon Sinek. His quotes and books on leadership have certainly been influential in my life as a leader and on my ongoing development of leaders. Recently, I came across the quote below from his Linkedin account causing me to be reflective on not only my own career but on those …
Jan 28
Supporting wellness through instructional leadership
In all three Alberta quality standards, Teaching, Leadership and Superintendent, the first competency focuses on relationships. That should not come as a surprise, since education is a people business. Indicators highlight fairness, respect, integrity and a genuine concern for staff and students. The Leadership Quality Standard has a specific indicator that speaks directly to the …
Jan 12
If leadership was easy, we’d all do it!
It is hard to not find articles, editorials or social media posts on leadership abilities in our world today. Everybody seems to have an opinion and most often, “they” seem to articulate a negative perspective of the job being done. We have witnessed some of the worst leadership internationally, nationally and provincially during this pandemic, …
Jan 03
My Retirement Year in Review
Today, January 3, 2021 marks the first anniversary of my retirement as Superintendent of Schools of Holy Spirit Catholic School Division. I must admit, I’ve done retirement pretty well, much to the surprise of many, including our two children who thought I would be back working within three months. While there have been some offers …
Dec 29
Leadership is a responsibility
This morning during a crisp winter walk, I reflected on the importance of leadership, especially during this most troubling time. Leadership has been front and center throughout this pandemic and the influence of leaders has been essential in the education world. System and school leadership has been remarkable over this time and has demonstrated the …
Dec 18
Unsung heroes through the pandemic
It should be very evident that our front line workers are some of the biggest heroes during this pandemic. They’ve been incredibly strong in supporting and ultimately keeping our health care system going as well as it is during this time. It is hard to imagine the additional stress they have felt and the mounting …
Dec 12
The window is open!
Last week I wrote a blog post entitled, “There are no curriculum police!” which addressed the very real need of shrinking the number of outcomes taught to ensure essential learning for all students. With the general loss of teaching time from the pandemic, it is imperative that teachers, using their professional judgment both individually and …
Dec 06
There are no curriculum police!
Back in 2014, I had the pleasure of sitting on a panel at the Curriculum Prototyping Symposium in Calgary and followed it up with a blog post entitled, “Why curriculum needs to change.” The panel brought together a wide array of stakeholders debating the “big why” of curriculum redesign. The process of prototyping in itself was revolutionary …
Nov 08
Searching for wellness
If I was able to wave a magic wand to establish a priority in all organizations, it would be for wellness! Most might assume that it is due to this ongoing pandemic and while the need for wellness may be more pressing today, it was a growing need long before COVID-19 hit. The importance of …
Oct 27
The Diploma Exam Debate
Recently, the Minister of Education in Alberta announced that Diploma Exams for students written in November would be optional due to COVID-19. In the Red Deer Advocate on October 20th, editor Dave Marsden wrote, “Rather than having less testing, if anything, the school system needs more.” His premise, because there may be gaps in the …