In Alberta, Inspiring Education is asking school systems to graduate students who are “Engaged Thinkers,” “Ethical Citizens” with an “Entrepreneurial Spirit.” For most of the public, including educators, graduating students who are ‘engaged’ and ‘ethical’ is easily accepted. However, the term ‘entrepreneurial’ causes alarm bells to sound in the education field, mostly because of its …
Category: Educational Updates
Mar 01
From the Desk of the Superintendent- March 2015
Here is a photo that caught my attention as it made its way through the “Twittersphere.” I’m hoping that our month of March will look more like Victoria then Moncton here in southern Alberta. Every March, the fine arts comes alive in two of our Lethbridge schools with the annual staging of their musical productions. …
Feb 16
Communication 24/7
I’m a strong proponent for effective and ongoing communication between teacher and parent. That communication, properly conducted, should enhance the relationship between the two parties, resulting in a strong bond that positively impacts student learning. Communication should flow easily from both directions in an effort to better inform, eliminate the potential for misunderstanding and build …
Jan 28
Tracking Progress With Data
The following blog post was published in the Lethbridge Herald on January 28, 2015. Next week, senior administration will be travelling to each of our fourteen (14) schools to review their continuous improvement plans. These one-hour meetings occur on a regular basis every 4-6 weeks. Continuous improvement plans set the direction at each school. They …
Jan 11
Play is serious learning!
During the month of January, our division hosts elementary grade level meetings. As a superintendent, I always try to attend parts of these meetings. It allows me to interact with our front-line staff and provides me with a great learning opportunity. Although I typically have something to contribute, I always come away from these meetings …
Jan 04
Failing is okay!
I’ve spoken about failure before and how we are instilling an almost risk aversive society of students because failing or anything that resembles adversity is being squashed because of self-esteem! Nothing could be farther from the truth! Let’s be frank, “Failure as a permanent condition is unacceptable but failure as part of the learning cycle and developmental …
Dec 31
The Benefits of the Education System in Alberta
The following article was written for and published in the Lethbridge Journal on August 31, 2012. In Alberta, Catholic Education is publicly funded. This has been a constitutional right in Alberta since 1905. This same right is also provided in Ontario and Saskatchewan. For parents and families coming from locations where Catholic Education is not fully …
Dec 29
Why curriculum needs to change!
This will likely be my last post for 2014 so, I might as well go out with the proverbial bang and talk about the need to update, modernize, enhance or simply “slash: the current curriculum. It has served us relatively well in a knowledge economy but knowledge is easily attained and we now live in an innovation economy. In …
Dec 06
The gift of giving
Once a week, the Lethbridge Herald publishes a column written by a superintendent of one of five school jurisdictions in the Lethbridge area. This week’s column is authored by Chris Smeaton, Superintendent for Holy Spirit Roman Catholic Separate Regional Division No. 4 and was published on December 3, 2014. Now that we’ve hit December, experienced …
Nov 22
Leadership is more than pleasing people!
There is a plethora of research on what characteristics define the truly great leader. Integrity, honesty, vulnerability, vision are all descriptors of the outstanding leader. There is also a prevailing belief (in which I concur), that you cannot ascend to the highest level of leadership without being relational. Relationships matter! Gifted leaders, ones who are well-respected, …