I recently read an article published in the ATA News suggesting that teacher’s autonomy and choice for pursuing growth plan goals had slipped. The article, “Teachers want a balanced approach to PD” is based on longitudinal data from the Alberta Teachers’ Association. In the ATA 2010 PD Survey only 44.4% of respondents reported a high …
Category: Educational Updates
Feb 02
Beyond the Classroom: The Importance of Culture
Over the last couple of weeks I presented to a group of aspiring leaders and our own administrators about what governs education. The first part of the presentation is fairly straightforward. In education, we are primarily governed by legislation, collective agreements, board policy, administrative procedures and, for Catholic school divisions, Canon Law or diocesan rules. …
Jan 22
Transforming curriculum
“Transformative change refers to changing the education system by re-examining student needs, how we teach students, what we teach them, how to better engage communities in educating students and how research can be harnessed to inform change.” This quote is taken from the Alberta Education Action Agenda 2011-14. This document was followed up with Framework …
Jan 13
Accountability in Education
Earlier this year, the Minister of Education, Thomas Lukaszuk, communicated that the provincial government spends 33 million dollars daily to fund education in Alberta. For the average Albertan, that number is staggering and in all likelihood elicits questions like, “Where are they spending that type of money?” or “Why are they spending that amount of money?” These questions …
Jan 08
Forwarding the conversation
One of the commitments that I made to my staff in August was to visit every classroom and meet with every staff before the Christmas break. I finished these visits in mid-December. Part of my goal for these visits was to engage staff on why I believe that schools and education as a whole need to be transformed. …
Dec 11
What’s really important in education?
Like most parents, I remember very clearly the day that our son and our daughter were born. Holding them in my arms that first time, I can guarantee you my first thoughts were not, “I sure hope they do well on their Provincial Achievement and Diploma Exams!” In fact, when I think back to their …
Nov 27
Changing our teaching habits!
At the conclusion of next week, I will have completed meeting with all of our school staffs and visiting virtually every classroom in the division. My conversations with school staffs have revolved around the transformation agenda both as a division and a province. One of my central messages has been that we have to start …
Nov 14
Transformation begins with a conversation.
On November 2nd, we hosted our first transformation conversation. It was a small crowd involving school council chairs, ATA site representatives, school and system leaders, post-secondary faculty, Alberta Education personnel and trustees. The format of the evening was set up as a world cafe in order to mix and match as many viewpoints as possible. …
Nov 13
Reducing failure
Last week, we hosted our first transformation conversation with parents, teachers, leaders, post-secondary faculty, Alberta Education personnel and trustees. It was a gathering of approximately 50 participants who by in large have had successful experiences in either their own schooling or their children’s schooling. Later this week, I will provide the feedback from the evening …
Nov 03
Catholic Education Sunday- November 6, 2011
This coming weekend, we celebrate Catholic Education Sunday. Each year we set aside this special day to celebrate the gift of Catholic Education here in the province of Alberta. This year’s theme, as proclaimed by the Bishops of Alberta, is, “Open Wide the Doors”What a wonderful theme our Bishops have proclaimed this year. Open wide …