Feb 10

So you’ve had your interview and didn’t get the job…what’s next?

If you ask a person who just had an interview, “How did it go?”, you’ll likely receive one of three answers:

  • I nailed it!
  • I think I did okay.
  • That was brutal!

Regardless of the response, the individual really doesn’t know how the interview went, even if offered the position. That’s a problem if the candidate really wants to improve. So what should be done!

As someone who has conducted a fair share of interviews, I always provided the candidate, whether successful or not the opportunity to book an appointment with me and go over the interview. It didn’t matter whether the candidate was internal or external, the invitation was extended. This might be difficult to fathom given we live in a supposedly “cutthroat world” but I’m a firm believer that when we have a chance to develop better leaders we need to do it! While advice was typically sought, I always tried to make it more of a coaching conversation and allow the individual to become more reflective on his or her answers and the process overall. By no way did this meeting ensure success the next time around but it did provide a space for the individual to be better prepared and more self aware.

I would like to say that every offer of a review was taken up but that was not the case. I remember one gentleman who was adamant that he didn’t need a follow up meeting because he already knew all of the answers. His arrogance has likely prevented him from ever getting into a leadership position. While time and distance may impact the ability to have a face to face meeting, technology options or the old phone can work as well. If you believe in improving from the interview experience, it is essential that you follow up. But I think the first responsibility falls on the employer to offer the opportunity for feedback.

If you believe that you or someone in your organization is too busy to provide feedback to those being interviewed, you are missing a great opportunity. Not only are you developing another person, but you will have the ability to learn a little more about the candidate. She might not have been the right fit for this position but that half hour you spent with her, told you some things that make her a great fit for another position in the company. Spend some time offering to review the interview.

For those who don’t get the invitation, follow up on your own and see if they are available to meet with you to go over your interview. If offered, prepare to listen to learn and not defend your answers or try and suggest the company made the wrong decision if you didn’t get the job. This is a learning moment…take it!

Feb 07

Coaching kids- a message for adults!

This past week I enjoyed some great conversations with friends and colleagues about coaching. I also attended a high school basketball tournament where I watched some coaches in action and listened to the comments of fans/parents.

SPECIAL NOTE FOR PARENTS- In all likelihood your child is not going to make his/her living as a professional athlete. Encourage your own child and his or her own teammates and keep your negative comments about the other players, the other team, the other coach, the referee to yourself. The game is about your child…NOT YOU!

I’ve been around high end sports my entire life and have had some great coaches myself and some not so great. I’ve witnessed the same through our own children. Some of the best coaches were loud cheerleaders on the bench, while others had a quiet demeanor but had a great presence. However, it was not the style that distinguished the great coach from the poor- it always started with the relationship.

Coaches should be mentors and teachers and they can’t be their very best if they don’t care about their players. Relationships, just like in every organization count! Players need to know that they are playing for someone who is looking after their best interests and not solely the interest of the coach. Coaches with big egos…are never a player’s coach. Best interest is not just on the playing surface or the court but it is in general life. You see, coaches should not only develop an individual’s talent but more importantly the whole person. The role of a coach should always be about developing better people not just better players. That is why relationships really count in great coaching.

Too many of us, parent like we were parented, teach like we were taught and coach like we were coached. Often, it is hard for today’s coaches to make the adjustments necessary for today’s athlete especially if the old style of coaching was successful for them. It may be difficult to get the old cliches or habits about coaching out of their own mind. For example, coaches shouldn’t simply demand respect as in the old days but rather earn it just like the rest of us. And yelling…really? Why is it acceptable to yell at a kid when you would never do that another adult? Would you yell at that kid with his/her parent present?

HINT- If you yell at adults more often than not, you’re probably not meant to coach kids… or adults for that matter!

I understand and am fully supportive of the the desire to succeed. But, that can be distinctly different than the desire to win. The pressure to win put on kids (at such a young age) by parents, coaches and other adults is simply irresponsible. Great coaches focus on and celebrate improvement, honor effort and commitment and in most cases, achievement takes care of itself. Something is wrong when young boys or girls cry uncontrollably after a tournament loss. Coaches need to give their heads a shake if this is what they are seeing and instead figure out how to make this a great teaching moment. Your words at this point and time are critical. Choose them carefully!

Coaches, this is not about your success. Coaching should never be about your own ego! Start with the mindset that you are developing better people and your coaching prowess will grow immensely. Kids deserve great coaches so…be one!

Jan 24

What is your weakness?

Last week over lunch at home with my wife (I can do that now that I’m retired), the discussion of weaknesses came up. She had been watching a talk show and one of the panelist stated that every interview should ask the following question:

What are your weaknesses?

I’m not convinced that asking that question is necessary in an interview, but I do believe it is essential for leaders to know their own weaknesses and strengths. This becomes critical when you are in the process of building a team.

Let’s begin with strengths. Most leaders (unless they are really arrogant) have a difficult time expressing their strengths. They find it to be almost bragging. I can accept that, especially if the individual is humble in nature. However, while the leader may not want to highlight her own strengths, there is no excuse for not knowing them or at the very least seeking them out from others. A leader needs to be very clear at what she does exceptionally well or better than most.

Equally important is for leaders to know their own weaknesses and limits. This is not always easy, because it requires a very honest review of self and sometimes constructive reflection from others. In my life, I’ve been around many individuals who had an inflated version of themselves and have missed a great opportunity to fully disclose their weaknesses. Without that honest reflection around weaknesses, many people miss a golden opportunity to improve.

Let’s be clear about being honest about your weaknesses. This is not a time to flog yourself but rather demonstrate a willingness to learn and improve. Not only is this a positive step in any leadership journey but it sets a great example for team members. Your team members need to be fully aware that you acknowledge your own weaknesses and are willing to work on them. When I think about knowing and ultimately working on one’s weaknesses, I’m reminded of something one of my colleagues always says, “When you know better, you do better!”

“KNOW THY SELF”

So let’s return to the conversation with my wife which resulted in me having to answer the question around weaknesses.

One of my known strengths has always been around relationships. Whether it was as a classroom teacher, professor or chief learning leader, I’ve always been able to foster effective relationships. But every strength has a corresponding weakness and given my attention to relationships, I sometimes would shy away from conflict and not address poor behaviour as quickly as I should. I always enjoyed robust discussions with team members but became uncomfortable when conflict among team members presented itself. My relational slant tended to want to fix rather than allow the process to organically evolve or simply address as required.

This was more prevalent early in my leadership career but it was something that I needed to work on up until my retirement. Don’t get me wrong, I developed the ability to have some tough conversations around poor behaviour (always in private, never in public) but it was and still is difficult to confront. I also made sure that I had people in the organization who could role model for me the ability to move a little quicker when required just as I role modeled some extended patience when needed.

Leadership, or maybe I should say good/great leadership is not an easy task. But, without a solid understanding of your own strengths and weaknesses and more importantly a dedication to improve upon both, leaders can never achieve the level that organizations require to truly move forward. So, take some time to self reflect and talk to those critical friends to ensure you understand your own strengths and weaknesses and then set goals for improvement. It will definitely be worth it for you and your team!

Jan 06

Letting others lead!

Late last week, I tweeted the following quote:

Good leaders lead well. Great leaders allow others to lead well!

While the above statement seems to be fairly simple, the impact is essential, both from an organizational perspective and for succession planning. I’m amazed at how many times I meet good leaders who somehow fear allowing others to lead fully. Maybe it is a security issue or a lack of confidence but great leaders (1) Hire better than themselves and then (2) Get the hell out of the way!

In the perfect world, the leader has the ability to hire her own people and build the team from the ground up. If you trust you own judgment, you typically hire well and then you just need to let go, without the proverbial abdicating the throne! Letting go doesn’t mean that you don’t stay connected or in the know but rather it means oversight, not micro-management.

Sometimes the “letting go” is a process since you want to ensure that the person you’ve hired is successful. Sometimes it takes more mentoring or coaching but the transition needs to occur or (1) You’re not that great of a leader, (2) You didn’t hire well, or (3) You didn’t put enough time or energy into the transition.

Most leaders like to default when the transition doesn’t occur to the notion that they didn’t hire well or didn’t provide enough time or support. It is far more humbling for leaders to consider the possibility that they’re not quite as great as their own mind believes. You might get the hint here that great leaders also have an intense understanding of their own abilities because they constantly engage in regular honest self /peer reflection.

In this complex world we live in, we need more great leaders and less blind and narrow minded followers! We need to develop leaders who can lead on and take us beyond where we would have been able to go on a solo mission. It is not rocket science but it is not common sense either. It requires confidence in oneself and a vulnerability that is clear and evident!

If you are a leader, whether new or well established, make sure you are creating opportunities for those around you to take on challenges so they can develop their own capacity. Remember, “great leaders allow others to lead well!”

Dec 09

My Retirement Speech!

On Friday, December 6th, I was honored by the Holy Spirit community at my retirement function. Below is the retirement speech that I gave that night. Enjoy!

I want to begin by thanking all of you here today on behalf of my entire family. It is most humbling to be recognized by so many. And a special thanks to all those who were part of organizing this event although during the secret planning I wasn’t sure whether this was going to be a toast or a roast.

There really are so many people to thank and I want to begin with the Board of Trustees, both past and present. When my employment came to a rather screeching halt in Medicine Hat, I was able to return home to Holy Spirit. That board could have seen me as damaged goods and not hired me, but instead they took a chance. I’ll be forever grateful for not only being able to come back to Holy Spirit but also to remain in Catholic Education. I’m not sure where we would have ended up if this opportunity had not come to fruition.
I’ve told my colleagues throughout the province and the nation, how fortunate I’ve been to work with our trustees past and present. It seems so simple but when you have a good understanding of roles, things go much smoother. The Board of Trustees have always held to a high standard, which they should, but have also allowed me to do my job without interfering in it. I can tell you how many superintendents out there would literally do anything for a board that understood the difference between governance and administration. They trusted me to lead and that is so very important. This board has allowed me to take on new challenges, to develop my own leadership skills, to lead innovation and most importantly to lead change. I cannot say how satisfying that is to be given the opportunity to challenge oneself and move forward a system within an extremely trusting environment. Thank you for that gift!

I mentioned Catholic education, because one of my highlights will be that I’ve been able to work in the Catholic system for my entire career. I didn’t necessarily “get it” when I first started as a teacher and often thought many of the things“we do as Catholics” were simply compliance activities. But I’ve come to realize how important the gift of faith is in our schools and how our uniqueness, doesn’t make us better or worse but rather a valued difference, especially in times of crisis, in times of sorrow and in even in times of joy! We always talk about being lifelong learners in education but being in the Catholic system has allowed me to be a lifelong faith learner, something that I could never have envisioned when I started back in 1985.

Success is never about one. During my almost 35 year career, I have been blessed to work with some of the very best. Some told me I was wrong (especially early in my career) and some said I was right. They took time to mentor me, guide me, encourage me and inspire me. Sometimes it was in a big action but more often than not, it was through a kind word. Regardless, I share my success here this afternoon to the many who have helped me and been a part of my educational journey.

While I can appreciate how it may be intimidating for a superintendent to visit a school, the opposite is also true because you really don’t know whether you are going to be welcomed or shunned. I’d be lying if I said that every school or staff member welcomed me with open arms but I can say as I retire, I feel so very welcome walking into all of our schools today. There will be some who will still not like my presence; some may have good reasons and others, well, quite honestly, even if Jesus walked in the door himself, they still wouldn’t be too friendly. But…what a gift I’ve received from the staff of our school system, to feel that welcome…for people to continue talking when you walk into a staff room, to be part of the laughter, to hear the stories and share news about new babies, new milestones, upcoming marriages or sadly, tough times too! While I know that my position always had authority attached, I am most appreciative to be recognized as simply a colleague, with just a different title.

That atmosphere comes first and foremost from the leaders in the school because they are the ones who set the tone. When I first came to Holy Spirit, we had a division of schools and today, I’m proud to call us a school division. That doesn’t happen without excellent leaders in the schools. And while I know that I push them hard to ensure a commitment to our faith and that high quality teaching and learning is occurring in their buildings, they respond because of the professionals that they are. When I look back at the differences in our schools today compared to when I started as a principal here in 1996, those improvements, those innovations have come as a result of our leaders, leading change and creating a culture of continuous improvement! Holy Spirit is well positioned to continue on the path, because of our principals and associate principals.

Last week, I was able to thank the closest working members of my team, SALT- Senior Administration Leadership Team. This is the group who I’ve come to trust the most and I so value their high quality of work. When you hire better than yourself and surround yourself with excellence whether at the system or school level and then let people do their jobs, great things happen. While I am truly humbled by the accolades here this afternoon, none of those accolades would ever occur without the excellence that I have here in this office and in our schools. You all are amazing!

The last group I want to thank is the staff here at St. Basil Catholic Education Centre. I can’t imagine getting up every morning and going to your place of work without at least a little bit of laughter. And my goodness, is there some great laughter here! It seems that whether I wanted to be a part of the topic being discussed or not, somehow I got drawn into it. It was always in good fun and given the seriousness of my job, I always appreciated the laughter, even if I was sometimes the target!

Holy Spirit has been a wonderful community to spend almost 17 years of my career. I’ve been fortunate not only to work with incredible staff, but get to know many students and parents and become part of the overall community. I’ve built some strong relationships with our First Nations people and have learned so much from our elders. It is the relationships that I have established and the people I’ve worked with that will miss the most.

But I look at my family here, my parents who provided me with such a great start in life, something that unfortunately is not as common as we would like in our society. I thank you mom and dad for your unfailing support! My wife, Donna, who I met on my first day of training camp in Yorkton, Saskatchewan, when I was 19. We married at 21, and she put me through my last 2 years of university. When I decided to go back to university to get my graduate degree, when Jordan was only 3 years old, she went back to work part time to pay for it. And every time I applied for a job out of town, she’s said, “You know you’re going to get it!” and then when I did, simply supported my career, packed up everything and started a new life wherever we went. The success I’ve achieved comes directly from her support.

She is always the constant, not only in my life but also in the lives of our two children Jordan and Jamieson who we hauled from Medicine Hat to High Prairie to Taber, to Medicine Hat and finally to Lethbridge. But even though some of those moves were pretty tough, and sometimes this dad wasn’t around, especially when either of you were in trouble, Jordan and Jamieson, you’ve grown to be such wonderful adults and I couldn’t be more proud. Then Jamie, you fell in love, finally no more “dummins” coming to the house and we welcomed Darren into our family and what a wonderful addition he is! And finally, your brought little one’s laughter back into our homes with the addition of Carter and Emerson. You see when I look at my family, I know it it is their time to have me. They’ve always known they were number one in my heart but now it is time to be number one with my time.

So I again say thank you to all of you who have been part of this journey. I thank God for the many blessings he has bestowed upon me in life and work and I wish each of you good health, much hope and eternal happiness in your future. God Bless!

Dec 01

From the Desk of the Superintendent- December 2019

Good morning! You will note that this came to you early Monday morning rather than on the weekend when the month of December started. This is part of an email/texting protocol that I would like to begin implementing given the strong support received by both the Teacher Board Advisory Committee (TBAC) and the Learning Leadership Team. I’ve asked that a “soft” policy be established to limit the time that work related emails and texts are sent by division staff. My direction to senior leadership is to not send any emails or texts to staff (barring emergencies) from 6:00 PM on Friday evening until 6:00 AM on Monday morning and from 6:00 PM to 6:00 AM on weekdays. I’ve requested school leaders to have conversations with their school staffs and see what would work best from their context during weekdays and the weekend, but I’m hopeful that at least a 12 hour time free from work related email/texting will be established for their schools. This is not about mandating when you do your work but simply not pressing send on your email or text between those hours. It is not going to be easy as most of us have become so technology dependent that we just send without ever looking at the time. This is also going to be a difficult transition for our parents as they’ve become accustomed to getting an almost instantaneous response from the school or individual staff member. That is why I’ve said a soft policy to allow everyone to get used to the fact that it is alright to disconnect for a period of time each and every day…and not just when you are sleeping. While we will get to this destination, remember, this is a journey right now!

Due to the inclement weather on Wednesday last week, the regular board meeting was postponed until December 4th. There is a recommendation on the table to use approximately $1.3 million dollars in operating reserves to cover off most of the shortfall in funding from the provincial budget. As I’ve previously indicated, the Board of Trustees were adamant that no reductions to front line staff would occur mid year when provincial funding was announced. They will also be looking at some other alternatives to potentially add to our operating reserves in order to ride out (but not totally eliminate) the shortfalls in funding expected in the next three years. Stay tune for some key messages coming out later this week.

I think it is really tough being in education today and I know that staff morale is waning as this was a topic of discussion at our most recent TBAC meeting. I want to go back to something that Dr. Jody Carrington said, “You do holy work!”. It may be difficult…okay it is difficult to not listen to the messages out there and some of the decisions being made but I need everyone to focus on that statement, “You do holy work!”. And I’m asking, especially our most veteran staff, to assist in reminding everyone about the work we do and the value you provide. There are a number of things we cannot control but we can control our own responses and in this time, we need those, whose influence is most trusted, to carry that message loud and clear.

While I’ll still provide a final message to staff before my official retirement, this will be my last “From the Desk of the Superintendent” monthly message. I began using my blog in 2011 to send out messages to staff and have written over 350 blog posts to date. When I began the process, it was my intent that my blogs would be informational. However, as I continued, I found that in many ways writing my blogs was an opportunity to journal publicly. It allowed me to share my thoughts on mostly educational topics and sometimes about life in general. I hope you found them to be both interesting and informational. Regardless it will be a practice I want to continue into my retirement.

And finally, as we enter into this season of Advent, I share with you this prayer from Sarah Martin from “The Awe & Wonder of Advent: Day 18”

Father, just as You sent John the Baptist to prepare the way for Jesus, help me to clear the path in my heart, too. Show me the distractions in my life that block me from all-out worship of You this Advent. Lord, I await Your coming! As I celebrate the first Advent––the first coming––I look toward the day where I will see You face to face. I imagine what it will be like. Give me a heart, Lord, that looks for Your coming on a daily basis. Help me to live my life where I’m constantly seeking Your presence. My offering to You today is my righteous life for I know I am only clean because of Jesus. Show me today how I need to be refined, purified, forgiven. Give me the strength to ask for forgiveness and to then change my ways.”

Nov 29

Saying goodbye to my CASSIX colleagues

Last night, I was recognized at our annual CASSIX/ASBOA Christmas Dinner and Retirement Evening. Other than my own senior administrative team, these individuals (senior leaders from across zone 6) have been my closest colleagues. My relationship with this esteemed group goes back to 2001 when I entered senior leadership. During what I call my “retirement parade” (last one next Friday), I’ve been able to extend my gratitude to the many who have been instrumental in my career. This group deserves many accolades for helping me transform into the leader I am today.

I was very fortunate that Medicine Hat Catholic gave me an opportunity to work in the role of Deputy Superintendent back in 2001 and was blessed to be mentored by Superintendent Dr. Guy Tetrault. Guy, or “top shelf” which was a phrase he used often, (even though he could rarely ever reach the “top shelf”) proved to be one of the most innovative leaders I have ever known. Since he had ideas for everything, trying to follow him was extremely difficult, and so I often thought I should just nail one of his feet to the floor so he only went around in circles. I thought arrogantly in my younger days that I was a pretty good idea man but Guy taught so much more. I’ll always be grateful that I was able to work with the Medicine Hat Catholic team of Guy Tetrault, Bernie Girardin and Sherri Fedor and the vision of the “Men in Black” as they certainly had a positive influence on my leadership.

CASSIX is like a family in many ways because there is always someone around who can help and guide you and offer support in your lowest moments. I remember the support I received from many of my colleagues when my employment came to an end with Medicine Hat Catholic and will be forever touched by the first contact made by my colleagues in Westwind School Division. In my early years, I was able to learn from some wonderful mentors like Eric Johnson, Mal Clewes, John Bolton and John Darroch. Each of these individuals paved the way for me in my career; sometimes with their words but more often with their actions. And while I was never as eloquent as any of the four, they taught me about the importance of standing up for what was right in education, which I think our Alberta Education Zone Managers can attest to. And I’ve always appreciated the close working relationship that I have with my fellow superintendents in zone 6, especially in the south-west. Our monthly breakfast meetings, that started with former Lethbridge School Division superintendent Barry Litun, have always allowed me to learn from my colleagues and sometimes just given me an opportunity to share frustrations.

My greatest learning however, has always come from those whom I worked with most closely, at the senior leadership level. I was always taught to hire better than yourself and surround yourself with excellence. Over the past 10½ years I’ve worked alongside people who are the best of the best. They made me a better leader by challenging my own thoughts, questioning my actions and making me ask better questions. Even though they knew that when I would come to work rubbing my hands together, which meant I had an idea, they listened to see how we might implement it or massage it to make it even better. But most importantly, they were extremely loyal not just to me but to the mission of the division. I will be forever grateful for them sharing their talents with this “dumb old hockey player.”

There is something very special here in zone 6. While we work in 10 different school divisions all with different bosses, we find ways to work together, to collaborate. With some tough financial times ahead, these relationships must be maintained and I would suggest even strengthened. Even as good as you are as an individual school division, you cannot do it alone and so I ask that you continue to treat each other as professional colleagues and maximize the collaborative networks that have been established by those who have come before.

CASSIX and our parent organization CASS has provided me with some of the best support imaginable. While we don’t hold professional status, we are professional and always committed to system excellence. It has been an honour to be associated with these men and women since 2001 and I wish them all the very best in their educational journey.

Nov 23

Supporting Principals as Instructional Leaders

In my work as a senior leader, I’ve long-held the belief, that the most influential person in a school division is the principal. Their ability to “lead from the middle” as explained by Andy Hargreaves is certainly influential but it also comes with some significant pressures from top and bottom. That simple fact should be enough for senior leaders to constantly focus on supporting these school leaders.

One of my priorities during my years as a superintendent was to visit schools. Early in my tenure, these visits focused on fostering relationships and building trust. The art of just being visible without any pre-conceived judgments is essential. But continuous improvement, whether at the classroom, school or system level stalls if those strong trusting relationships don’t lead to hard work. And that hard work needs to be supported by any and all members of senior leadership but especially from the seat of the superintendent.

In the last number of years, my visits still focus on relationship building by getting into staff rooms, having coffee with staff and informal chats but they’ve become far more intentional in assisting school leaders as instructional leaders. When I visit classrooms with one of the school leaders, teachers are pretty aware that my work is to support the leader’s development and not about the evaluation of the teacher’s practice. After visiting a classroom for about 10 minutes, I utilize cognitive coaching skills to begin the conversation with the leader. I might pose questions like:

  • What might be something you would like to affirm?
  • In a short statement, what might you say to affirm that teacher in what you saw?
  • What might be 2-3 questions you would like to ask in order for the teacher to be reflective of her practice?

You’ll note that the above always comes from a positive frame. The questions are based on what the school leader observed and are not about passing judgment but rather more intentional reflection on the part of the teacher.

That is all fine, but leaving it there is not enough to assist in instructional leadership. Now, I must either role model the conversation with the teacher or coach the leader through a conversation with the teacher. When demonstrating these conversations, I either work face to face with the teacher or elbow to elbow.  To be honest, I’m favoring the elbow to elbow conversations because they seem to be less intimidating for the teacher and with the Teaching Quality Standard  in front of us, we are seeing the same thing. It is always amazing when I hear a teacher say through her own reflection, “I never thought about that” and then, “I need to think about this more!” Reflective practice, no matter what you do, it an essential component of continuous improvement.

Being a role model, doing the work, asking the right questions and framing the affirming statements are all part of what I believe are important in supporting principals (and other school leaders) in their role as instructional leaders.  Senior leaders, need to get out of their office and practice their own skills to assist their school leaders. You should never ask your leaders to do something that you won’t do yourself and what I’ve found is by doing it intentionally, it is becoming more of a standard practice in our schools. By supporting your principals as instructional leaders, you are supporting your teachers, who are at the front line of offering optimum learning opportunities for ALL students.

Nov 13

Final Musings

Over the past number of years, the local paper, the Lethbridge Herald has provided superintendents in the area a chance to submit articles on a rotational basis. Although I’m not set to retire until January, the following article published on November 13th, will be my last.  Enjoy!

With my impending retirement in January, this will be my last submission to the weekly superintendent columns. Given that, I thought I would provide a bit of a reflection on, not only my last 10 plus years as lead learner in Holy Spirit, but also on my near 35-year career in education.

My first reflection point is about how much education has changed and yet, how much it has also stayed the same. Teaching mathematics all those years ago, I was the knowledge keeper and the textbook was more often than not the curriculum. The stand and deliver lecture style was the most appropriate teaching strategy and it worked because we valued compliant students and quiet classrooms. Today, educators and schools focus on engaging student activities to develop committed learners and classrooms are (or should be) a beehive of collaboration, which back in the day we called cheating! Yet, we still organize schools in grades based on a student’s age instead of on a continuum of learning that is unique to students because, quite frankly, the industrial model of education (select and sort) is what we know best.

Class sizes were large even back when I started, but we often had space to “stretch out!” However, the burgeoning population growth in Alberta and the lack of space has increased class sizes now to some epic numbers. But the biggest change is in the composition of our classrooms with more diverse learners than ever before. Educational assistants were far more rare, especially at the high school level, and now, they are essential in supporting student learning. Many students with diverse needs were often shut out of meaningful learning opportunities, or worse, just not allowed to attend school. The shift to a more inclusive education system, even though we are not fully there yet, it just morally the right thing to do. Teaching to the middle in my early years hit most students, while teaching to the middle now is very far from the extremes seen in classrooms today. The desire of educators to provide more personalized learning and meeting individual needs of students becomes more difficult as classroom sizes grow and complexity increases. 

I’m a great supporter of parents being advocates for their children but sometimes their expectations are unrealistic. A simple example of this is communication. I recently asked my own parents if they had ever called one of my teachers at home or communicated with them outside of the typical parent teacher interviews or meet the teacher nights. They were quite perplexed by the question until I explained that many teachers and principals are in contact with parents almost 24/7. Not only do parents receive more information about their child’s learning today than ever before, there is often an expectation to respond immediately when a phone call is made or an email or text is sent. While it may not be apparent, teachers and administrators do have lives beyond their jobs. I don’t believe teaching or leadership has ever been an easy job, but now it is far more fatiguing, especially mentally, than ever before. 

Which brings me to my last point, schools can’t do it alone and schools can’t do it all. The mandate creep for schools continues to grow and, quite honestly, we can only play a part in curing the ailments of society. We cannot cure them all on our own and some of the issues schools are being asked to fix require more attention on the homefront. I’ve written about building resilient kids before and parents who jump in and constantly remove all barriers that face their children do nothing to support a problem solving mindset and instead only enables. The general public and all governments, no matter who is in power, need to start recognizing that schools and the education system as a whole aren’t going to get “better” by slapping them across the proverbial head and constantly bad mouthing them. We still have one of the best public education systems in the world with a most diverse population. Rather than being berated for seemingly falling short on measures that often don’t tell the whole story, educators need to be celebrated and encouraged, as they continuously strive to improve the learning of ALL students. 

I chose to return to university in 1983 to obtain an education degree and, to this day, I’ve not second guessed that decision. It has been a great ride and I couldn’t imagine having done anything different!

Nov 03

Catholic Education Sunday 2019

Alberta, Saskatchewan and Ontario are the only three provinces remaining in Canada that still offer publicly funded Catholic education. If you are a new Canadian, or maybe just new to Alberta, your experience of Catholic education has probably been that it is not very accessible to the general Catholic population because it is private and involves high tuition costs. So, I’m sure you can appreciate what a gift we have here; a gift that often is either not known about or simply taken for granted.

In last year’s message, we asked all parishioners and all those connected to our Catholic schools to be aware of the modern Catholic school and to be more vigilant in their support of publicly funded Catholic education. In the bulletin, you will read the Alberta Bishops’ commitment to Catholic education and the work of GrACE, Grateful Advocates for Catholic Education, a provincial grassroots initiative that calls for proactive advocacy and engagement. Please speak to any of our trustees to learn more about our own GrACE group here in Holy Spirit.

 This year, staff and students have begun the implementation of our new 3-Year faith plan entitled, “Making Our Mark: Journey of an Intentional Disciple.” Intentionality is a lost skill in today’s world but we are called, not to be passive people, but rather intentional disciples. We have been asked to make our mark, not through superficial means, but to truly live the life God imagined for us. Catholic education is not about a series of activities or events, but rather is about a way of life that transforms us to intentional discipleship.

Year 1, Beginning the Journey, has a faith focus on seeing God’s presence and being in relationship with Him. Our calls to action are to be mindful of God’s presence and to be prayerful. In this secular world that we live in, it is important for our students to always be recognizing the presence of God in their own lives. We want to help our students learn to trust God, be mindful of the gifts God has provided to each of us and create holy moments in our lives.

We also want to develop a prayerful sense in our students, where they feel welcome to talk to God, listen to God and sometimes just rest in His presence. Time for prayer, personal or communal, cannot be lost in our fast paced world, but without that experience in our Catholic schools, many students will grow up and not ever know the power of being prayerful.

This is Catholic education and specifically Catholic education in Holy Spirit. It is hard work to be counter cultural, but it is the right work. Our youth, the students in our schools, deserve an education that speaks not only to the head but the heart and soul too!

 On this Catholic Education Sunday, we ask that you help our staff, students and schools as they become more intentional disciples through your prayers and petitions. Much strength will be felt by our schools in knowing that you, our parishioners, will be praying for our staff and students each and every day.  May God bless you and have a wonderful Catholic Education Sunday!