I’ve sat on this blog post for weeks now, but figured it was probably time to get my viewpoint out on curriculum. I would never consider myself an expert, but I’ve been well involved over the years in working with Alberta Education, as part of numerous teams overseeing the development and/or implementation of new curriculum. …
Category: Educational Updates
Apr 11
High School Programming Now and into the Future
Last week, I had the pleasure of moderating a C21 Canada webinar entitled, “The A, B, Cs of High School Programming.” The webinar featured five Superintendents/Directors from across Canada. The two main questions that framed the discussion were: What pandemic opportunities have occurred in high school/secondary program models that encourage a deeper look at pedagogy? …
Mar 21
The future of professional development
I was most interested following my social media feeds during virtual Teachers’ Conventions this year. The pandemic has certainly changed the way that professional development has been offered. There will be an end to the pandemic but with that end, what will become of professional development as we know it? I remember one of the …
Feb 18
Schedule the important
A number of years ago I was introduced to a daily blog entitled “Leadership Freak.” The author, Dan Rockwell’s tag line is, “Empowering leaders 300 words at a time.” I’ve shared the link to many of my colleagues, as well as to former students of graduate classes who I taught. When time is tight, which …
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 …