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Finding Wellness in the Work
Comments Off on Finding Wellness in the WorkThe Generative Listening Experience is the result of a radical question: could we improve the mental health and wellbeing of students by creating professional learning opportunities for principals?
In 2022, Alberta Education announced funding for Mental Health in Schools pilot projects. The goal of the funding was to support the mental health and wellbeing of students through a continuum of supports, including universal, targeted and individualized. With strong community partnerships in place and robust targeted and individualized supports available to their students, Horizon School Division (HSD) and Prairie Rose Public Schools (PRPS) were ready to embrace a more pro-active approach to fostering mental health and wellbeing in our schools.
Recognizing the strong connection between student and staff wellbeing and the important role principals have in shaping the school environment, HSD and PRPS partnered with the EdCan Network to propose a universal approach to promoting mental health in schools. We knew that the project needed to emphasize the being aspect of the “being – knowing – doing” framework. When principals are well, they are better able to foster safe, caring, welcoming and inclusive environments in their schools.
The goals of our project were to design a professional learning program that would:
- Support the personal wellbeing of the participating principals;
- Foster relationships among the participating principals; and
- Give the participating principals the tools and confidence to shape safe, welcoming, caring and inclusive communities in their schools.
Shifting school culture requires school leaders to implement new leadership strategies, therefore our project focused on creating a collaborative learning community for our principals. Cohort-based models of professional learning create opportunities for ongoing practice and reflection and are effective at building community, enhancing collaboration, and improving professional effectiveness.1,2,3 Rather than make assumptions about what would support principals to shape healthy school environments, we involved them in the design of the project. Co-designing the professional learning experience with a small team of principals ensured that it would be relevant to the local context, while helping to build momentum and excitement around the project.
Co-design involves working with the people who are closest to the solutions, prioritizing relationships, being honest, making sure people feel welcome, using creative tools and building capability. Co-designed learning has been shown to foster the development of shared responsibility, respect, and trust; create the conditions for collaborative learning; and enhance individual’s satisfaction and professional development. The Generative Listening Experience
The pilot project was broken into two phases. In the Winter and Spring of 2023, the design team, consisting of three principals and one division lead from each school division, worked with their Well at Work facilitator, Felicia Ochs, to co-design a series of six full-day professional learning modules. These modules would be offered to all principals from HSD and PRPS interested in participating.
The co-design process introduced the design team to new skills (e.g., generative dialogue), new ideas (e.g., building a common agenda) and new mindsets (e.g. letting go of your ego, accepting complexity). It quickly became apparent that the decision to co-design the program was significant. Principals participating in the co-design process shared comments such as, “This is by far the best PD I have attended where you leave inspired” and “I always walk away with a renewed sense of wellbeing and a revived energy for this work and its importance in education.” This positive experience led to the team integrating the principles of co-design and generative listening into the design of the six modules.
The Generative Listening Experience, as it came to be called, launched in October of 2024. The six days were designed to create opportunities for connection and deep learning around the topics identified by the design team:
- Building a Common Agenda
- Creating Compassionate Listening Experiences
- Wellbeing: Root Causes and Ecosystems
- What’s Working? Asset Based Community Development
- Accelerating our Impact: How to Facilitate Culture Change in Schools
- What will Foster Leadership Wellbeing in Our System?
Each of the learning days took place in a different school, celebrating the unique assets of that school community. By showcasing success, principals were inspired with new ideas to bring back to their own schools.
Impact and Benefits
Adopting a new approach to fostering mental health and wellbeing in schools raised questions about how to measure the project’s impact. In a little over a year, would a project aimed at supporting principals have a measurable impact on the school environment or student and staff wellbeing? A review of the staff wellbeing and student assurance data suggests that one year is not long enough for the benefits reported by the principals to be reflected in the student and staff data.
Knowing that indirect impacts are difficult to measure, our project integrated a developmental evaluation approach that included guided reflection, surveys, learning journals (“thought books”), observations, and a three-minute thesis.
Self-report data showed that participating in the Generative Listening Experience increased how strongly principals agreed with the following statements:
- I have a positive sense of personal wellbeing.
- I have a strong sense of community at work and feel connected to my peers in the workplace.
- I am confident in my ability to shape a welcoming, caring, respectful and safe environment at my school.
Throughout the project, principals indicated that the Generative Listening Experience felt different than other professional development opportunities. Qualitative responses on the benefits of the program showed growth in all three elements in the being – knowing – doing framework.
“It is a time to pause, reflect, and reset for the next few weeks.”
“The ability to listen to others with wisdom and experience, connect with other admin, and time to reflect on my current practices.”
“Allows me to focus on how the way I interact with community and make sure I am following the right path.”
Within the sessions principals discussed observable indicators of wellbeing and a safe, welcoming, caring and inclusive school environment. These included:
- Are people flexible and adaptable to changing needs and priorities?
- Do people finish the day with as much energy and excitement as when they started?
- Are people collaborating?
- Are people generous with their time, energy and resources?
- Are we operating at sustainable levels?
Over this past year, we have observed the participating principals embody these ideals. We witnessed nearly 100% attendance across all six days of the Generative Listening Experience, with the principals deeply engaged in each day. The practice of building relationships and expressing vulnerability allowed the principals to show up in admin meetings with more confidence and willingness to engage in challenging discussions. We experienced the generosity being shared in these schools, sharing knowledge among colleagues and delicious treats in the staff room. We noticed an expectation to check-in with each other, follow established norms, a spirit of collegiality and many other positive ways of being increase as the year progressed. Many of these themes were reflected in the three-minute theses shared by the principals on their last day together. In three minutes, each principal shared their insights and learning from the past year.
As we continue to focus on our principal wellness, we know that wellbeing and mental health are human issues, and that wellbeing is something that must be experienced. We know that relationships don’t develop by accident, we must intentionally make space for them. Giving principals the opportunity to choose how they will participate enhances the learning experience and builds momentum for growth. We know that system leaders must continue to learn tools for systems change and that we need human-driven solutions embodied by our school communities. Continuing to use a co-design process builds capacity in our leaders which, in turn, sustains this important work.
Photo: Getty Images Signature
Watch the Stories of Success Webinar
THE GENERATIVE LISTENING EXPERIENCE WITH HORIZON SCHOOL DIVISION AND PRAIRIE ROSE PUBLIC SCHOOLS
Watch the Three-Minute Thesis Videos
Melissa Gartly: Say Yes
Rocheal Howes: Connect
Klaas Hoekstra: Joy
Corey Steeves: Social Capital
Craig Corsie: For the fun of it
Additional links
https://k12wellatwork.ca/resources/generative-listening-experience-webinar
https://k12wellatwork.ca/s/The-Generative-Listening-Experience-EN.pdf
References
- Sperling, J., Carson, M. & Rossi, F. (2020). Maximizing behavioral change in leadership development programs. McKinsey & Company.
- Mauldin, R.L., Barros-Lane, L., Tarbet, Z., Fujimoto, K., & Narendorf, S.C. (2022). Cohort-Based Education and Other Factors Related to Student Peer Relationships: A Mixed Methods Social Network Analysis. Educ. Sci. 12, 205.
- The Energy Factory PL and Deakin University ‘The Flourish Movement – Helping School Principals Flourish Not Just Cope (2022 Report)’, produced by The Energy Factory PL Sydney Australia
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Guarding Minds at Work: A Key Tool in Assessing Wellbeing in K-12 Education
Comments Off on Guarding Minds at Work: A Key Tool in Assessing Wellbeing in K-12 EducationIntroduction
K-12 education staff play an essential role in nurturing students’ wellbeing and academic success, yet they also experience high rates of stress and burnout. Low levels of educator wellbeing lead to decreased morale and staffing-related challenges. It also has negative ripple effects on the wellbeing and success of students.
This article explores the value of the Guarding Minds at Work (“Guarding Minds”) survey tool in facilitating meaningful improvements to workplace wellbeing in Canadian school districts. Guarding Minds assesses psychological health and safety – the workplace factors that affect wellbeing. The survey findings can support meaningful conversations with employees that lead to a more supportive and psychologically safe environment for working and learning.
A Customized “Deep-dive”
Many school districts want to support their staff’s wellbeing- so they provide mindfulness apps, free yoga classes and wellness tips. These can be helpful for some. Other districts develop in-house surveys with self-assessments of wellbeing and feedback on district-led plans.
The first step in making significant and lasting improvements is Identifying the underlying issues affecting employee wellness. Guarding Minds hones in on the workplace issues and conditions affecting wellbeing, providing a window into educators’ feelings and perceptions about how their work environment affects their wellbeing.
The survey’s evidence-based psychological health and safety factors help pinpoint aspects of the workplace that warrant specific attention. Each element includes sub-statements that help make the issues more tangible and provide clues to how to take targeted action. For example, the Involvement and Influence factor includes the statements “My suggestions are considered at work” and “I am informed about important changes at work in a timely manner.” If a survey result comes back with “significant” results for those statements, then the district has a concrete area of action to improve employee wellbeing.
Why choose Guarding Minds over other survey tools?
- Evidenced-based. Developed by leading Canadian researchers. Based on the National Standard of Canada for Psychological Health and Safety in the Workplace and aligned with ISO 45003, the global standard that gives practical advice on managing psychological health in the workplace.
- Free! Guarding Minds at Work is free for all Canadian-based school districts and
- Actionable data. Guarding Minds produces lengthy, detailed reports identifying areas of concern and strengths.
- Links to evidence-based strategies. Guarding Minds reports include links to evidence-based strategies to address identified areas of concern.
- Widely used. Guarding Minds has been successfully used by dozens, if not hundreds, of Canadian school districts.
- Available in English and French.
Employee Group Segmentation
School districts include a wide range of employees. A teacher’s challenges are very different from those of a custodian. While it’s helpful to know that 55% of employees have problems balancing work and personal life, knowing 72% of teachers are struggling allows districts to focus on solutions tailored to teachers rather than more generic ones.
” Segmenting” district data by employee group can provide more nuanced insights into what’s happening on the ground. School districts have found this segmentation extremely valuable. It has helped them tailor strategies to address the needs of specific groups. However, this segmentation multiplies the volume of Guarding Minds reports that must be analyzed. Well at Work‘s advisors’ team has developed specific tools and resources that support districts to make sense of their Guarding Minds data and move to action.
Empowering Leaders with Evidence-Based Strategies
Guarding Minds identifies areas of strength and where action is needed to improve workplace wellbeing. By highlighting crucial issues such as bullying, harassment or discrimination, Guarding Minds helps leaders take swift action and avoid risks to employees and the organization. Guarding Minds considers a comprehensive array of factors that influence workplace wellbeing. It assesses critical issues, including burnout, trauma, stress, and inclusion. By encompassing these vital areas, Guarding Minds helps school districts foster an inclusive work environment that supports employees’ wellbeing and diverse needs.
Guarding Minds reports also link education leaders to evidence-based strategies for specific areas of concern.
The powerful data and evidence-based strategies enable leaders to take informed action and initiate positive changes to enhance workplace wellbeing.
Conclusion
Many Canadian school districts have found Guarding Minds indispensable in enhancing workplace wellbeing. Its alignment with leading standards, focus on actionable areas of improvement, and evidence-based strategies make it essential to understanding an organization’s current state of wellbeing. The first step to making a change is to understand the current state of wellbeing: Guarding Minds is an excellent place to start.
Photo: Getty Images Pro
First published in Education Canada, September 2023
Supported by:
Resources
- Guarding Minds at Work website includes information on using the survey and the survey itself. Reports are instantly available when the survey is closed. Available in English and French. Free to all Canadian organizations.
- Workplace Strategies for Mental Health. A companion website to Guarding Minds at Work, it provides resources, workshops, strategies and materials to support psychological health and safety in the workplace. Available in English and French. All materials are free.
- Contact our Well at Work team to learn how we can support your school district in implementing Guarding Minds. Our Springboard for Workplace Wellbeing package comprehensively assesses workplace wellbeing, including Guarding Minds set-up support, data analysis, and stakeholder interviews. Learn more.
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Why we need to care about teacher self-care
Comments Off on Why we need to care about teacher self-careLast year, I attended a conference and was chatting with another attendee. I told her about my interest and work in the area of teacher self-care. With a puzzled look on her face, she proceeded to ask me, “Is teacher self-care even a thing?” Before I could say “yes,” I realized that her response was something I myself would’ve asked prior to experiencing burnout back when I was teaching in 2015.
During my 20-year teaching career, I had no idea that the term ‘self-care’ or ‘teacher self-care’ ever existed. Like many teachers, I spent most of my weeks and weekends planning lessons, grading assignments (especially while at my son’s basketball practices and games), responding to emails from students, designing rubrics, and searching for the best learning resources that had the most perfect clipart. It was never-ending, but it was a choice I had made thinking that this was what it took to be a “good” teacher.
MY EXPERIENCE OF PROFESSIONAL BURNOUT
I began to show signs of burnout, but at the time I hadn’t realized that this was indeed the term for what I was feeling. My personality had started to change and I was quick to lose my patience with my colleagues and students – I just didn’t care anymore nor did I bother to hide my feelings. My colleagues who had known me for six or seven years didn’t ask if I was alright because they didn’t know the signs of burnout. Burning out for me was a slow burn – like the feeling you get from holding onto a rope in a game of tug-of-war. You know you’re slipping yet you can’t get a grip, it’s painful but you just don’t know what to do in the moment as things unfold. Eventually, the endless cycle of precarious work and the three personal crises I experienced within an 18-month period pushed me over the edge. It was time to walk away from a career that I had loved.
I’m certainly not alone when it comes to experiencing stress as a teacher. The high levels of stress and burnout in the teaching profession are widely documented. It’s the chronic use of empathy and emotional resources in our profession that’s strongly associated with exhaustion and/or professional burnout. There are numerous factors that can contribute to teacher stress including precarious work (especially in higher education), multiple workloads, students’ demands, increased legislative regulations, changing educational standards, few professional development opportunities, and a lack of planning time, support, and resources. As I researched to learn more about the warning signs of burnout, I began to understand more and more about the importance of having a self-care practice.
WHAT SELF-CARE ACTUALLY MEANS
Self-care is not an indulgence, but rather it’s necessary in the work we do as caring teaching professionals. Self-care is the skills and strategies used to maintain personal, familial, emotional, and spiritual needs while attending to the needs and demands of others. Without self-care, teachers are at risk of emotional exhaustion and/or professional burnout.
Teachers have often told me that they feel self-care is just one more responsibility or one more item to add to their to-do list. However, recent research has shown us that self-care isn’t only an individual responsibility, but it’s also an organizational responsibility. Workplace well-being should be embedded within the K-12 education system and reflected in a school’s culture. Ultimately, working conditions should create an atmosphere where teachers feel supported in their role, feel less stressed, and are equipped with the skills to look after their own well-being.
MY SELF-CARE JOURNEY
Last year, I had decided that it was time to share my story of burnout, and so I wrote a book entitled The Teacher Self-care Manual: Simple Strategies for Stressed Teachers. I’ve been fortunate to present at conferences in Canada and the USA and have met teachers from all over the world who have shared their own stories and wisdom about teacher self-care practices. Many of the teachers I’ve spoken with all seem to have a similar definition of what it takes to be a “good” teacher and how this standard is not only unrealistic, but is what prevents or impacts a self-care practice. As one teacher suggested, it’s often a mindset of “self-sacrifice” versus “self-care.”
Upon returning to teaching in 2017, I realized that I needed to adopt self-care strategies if I wanted to prevent professional burnout again. I strongly believe that self-care should be easy to follow, at no cost, and shouldn’t add time to our already busy career. To achieve this, I find incorporating “new tiny habits” such as walking daily, setting reasonable marking expectations, setting boundaries (e.g. no emails at night or weekends), spending time doing things I enjoy, connecting with people important to me, and setting Sunday as a no-work day are self-care practices that are easy to follow. While these practices work for me, self-care practices are unique – there’s no one-size fits all plan and it’s important to find practices that work best for you.
The well-being of everyone within the school community including, students, teachers, and principals/vice-principals is important. Research suggests that learning happens best when both students and teachers are well. What’s more, when teachers are well, their relationships with students, colleagues, and the overall school community become more positive.
THE TAKEAWAY
In the past year, I’ve noticed an increase in conferences that focus on teacher well-being as well as many excellent resources. There’s a rise in school-level initiatives, too. In Canada, we see examples in Saskatchewan, New Brunswick, and elsewhere where teachers have formed Staff Wellness Committees in their schools or at the district level. While this is positive news, work still needs to be done to address school cultures that prevent teachers from participating in well-being initiatives. For example, teachers are often reluctant to participate in well-being initiatives for fear of judgement and being seen as not coping well.
I believe that in the near future, we will say with astonishment “Remember when we didn’t care about teacher self-care?”
Listen to this podcast episode with Patrice Palmer about Teacher Self-Care.
First published in June 2020
Photos: Adobe Stock
References
Acton, R., & Glasgow, P. (2015). Teacher wellbeing in neoliberal contexts: A review of the literature. Australian Journal of Teacher Education, 40(8)
Cherkowski, S., & Walker, K. (2018). Teacher Wellbeing. Noticing, Nurturing, Sustaining and Flourishing in Schools. Word & Deed Publishing, ON
Maslach, C., Schaufeli, W. B., & Leiter, M. P. (2001). Job burnout. Annual Review of Psychology, 52, 397-422. http://dx.doi.org/10.1146/annurev.psych.52.1.397
Newell, J., & MacNeil, G. (2010). Professional Burnout, Vicarious Trauma, Secondary Traumatic Stress, and Compassion Fatigue: A Review of Theoretical Terms, Risk Factors, and Preventive Methods for Clinicians and Researchers. Best Practices in Mental Health, Vol. 6 (2) Lyccum Books
Skovholt, T. M., & Trotter-Mathison, M. (2011). The resilient practitioner: Burnout prevention and self-care strategies for counselors, therapists, teachers, and health professionals. (2nd Edition ed.) New York, NY: Taylor and Francis.
Spilt, J.L., Koomen, H.M. & Thijs, J.T. (2011). Teacher well-being: The importance of teacher-student relationships. Educational Psychology Review, 23(4)
Stoeber, J., & Rennert, D. (2008). Perfectionism in school teachers: Relations with stress appraisals, coping styles, and burnout. Anxiety, Stress, & Coping, 21, 37-53.
Spurgeon, J., & Thompson, L. (2018). Rooted in Resilience: A Framework for the Integration of Well-Being in Teacher Education Programs. University of Pennsylvania
Wellahead. (n.d.). Research Brief: Promoting the Wellbeing of Teachers and School Staff What are the most effective approaches in promoting the wellbeing of teachers and school staff? Retrieved fro https://static1.squarespace.com/static/586814ae2e69cfb1676a5c0b/t/5b281bb170a6ad31c89ab315/1529355185939/TSWB_ResearchBrief.pdf
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Educator Well-Being: Self-Compassion as the Ultimate Act of Self-Care
Comments Off on Educator Well-Being: Self-Compassion as the Ultimate Act of Self-CareLISA BAYLIS WILL BE DELIVERING THE PRE-CONFERENCE SESSION, “CULTIVATING COURAGEOUS COMPASSION FOR LEADERS “, DURING EDCAN’S UPCOMING 2022 PAN-CANADIAN SUMMIT ON K-12 WORKPLACE WELLBEING.
Teaching in our current school system is hard work. There has never before been a time when educators were expected to take on so many roles, with more expectations and less support.
Teachers are exhausted and regularly facing burnout. Why? Because teachers care, and they are seeing more students struggle with academics due to lack of mental, emotional, and physical health resiliency.
Support staff are tired and don’t get paid nearly enough to support the educators and the students they work with one-on-one. Why? Because support staff care and they are seeing students and teachers struggle.
Administrators are weary. They are expected to be “on” at all times with no chance to recharge and to rest, and so they continue to push themselves and deliver. Why? Because administrators care about the school cultures they are leading.
We continue to push on, fake it, and survive. Educators are working with our most precious commodity – our children. Over the last few years, we’ve learned that if want to enable our kids to flourish then we need to take care of the adults that care for them.
Brain science tells us that children’s brains aren’t fully developed until they are 25 years-old. Until that age, children, teenagers, and young adults look to the developed brain of an adult for attunement and regulation. This helps their brains understand how and when to stay calm under stress. They use their mirror neurons to “mirror” the behaviour of others.
Have you ever walked into a room where everyone is frowning and instantly your stomach drops and your shoulders tense? Do you immediately, instinctively inhabit the same feelings? This is called ‘emotional contagion,’ and this is exactly what’s happening in schools. Kids are facing tough challenges and stress at home, at school, in their communities and – let’s face it – in our whole world right now, and they bring this stress with them to school.
Educators feel it and absorb this stress.
Many educators hold onto this stress and too often don’t have adequate self-care and self-compassion strategies to release the build-up. Therefore they burnout. Burnout rates for educators continue to skyrocket, while personal leaves, medical leaves, and sick days are going up. As our educators burnout, our students feel it — and the cycle of unwellness continues.
However, emotional contagion works with positive emotions as much as it does with the negative. When we focus on happiness, hope, gratitude, compassion, and joy we see a greater shift towards resiliency. By supporting the resiliency of our educators, we may simultaneously see this positive shift grow within our schools.
As a high school counsellor and teacher in the Greater Victoria School District in B.C. for the last 15 years, I have seen my own well-being teeter-totter along with the highs and lows of both my personal and professional life. I have become a mom, and have also seen youth in my schools die of overdose and suicide. I have engaged with colleagues in amazing learning opportunities, and have also been overwhelmed by the expectations placed on myself and my colleagues in the workplace. I have laughed out loud with students and seen them experience great joy in their learning, and I have also watched them struggle with tears in both our eyes.
I have ridden these ups and downs at times with ease and grace, and at other times while feeling like I was falling apart. There is no easy way to be an educator and a human being without sensing the suffering in our own lives and in that of our students. Through it all, I have learned some very important strategies that have helped me retain my composure, my resiliency, and my well-being.
As a practicing educator and counsellor in a challenging school of diverse learners, I know first-hand what burnout feels like. I have also repeatedly seen colleagues suffer from burnout and compassion fatigue. I believe we need to create space for educators to practice self-compassion, self-awareness, and well-being habits. In essence, educators need to be encouraged and supported to have a self-care practice to avoid burning out.
The ultimate act of self-care is a self-compassion practice. ‘Self-compassion’ means meeting ourselves during difficult and stressful times with the kindness and tenderness that you might offer to a dear friend or a small child. Kristin Neff suggests, “Instead of mercilessly judging and criticizing yourself for various inadequacies or shortcomings, self-compassion means you are kind and understanding when confronted with personal failings – after all, whoever said you were supposed to be perfect?”
There are three elements of mindful self-compassion to better care for ourselves and to calm the inner critic:
1. Mindfulness vs. Over-Identification
‘Mindfulness’ is a non-judgemental, receptive state of mind in which one observes their thoughts, feelings, and body as they are, without trying to suppress or deny them. Meeting these thoughts, feelings, and body sensations with kindness allow us to be present instead of over-identifying and being swept away by negative reactivity. By paying attention with kindness, we stay more present.
2. Common Humanity vs. IsolatioN
Often when we are suffering we tend to think we are alone. We believe that we are the only ones who may have felt this pain. So we hide away and keep our struggles to ourselves. With self-compassion, we are aware that all humans suffer and that we are never alone, and instead are part of a shared human experience. The very definition of being “human” means that one is mortal, vulnerable, and imperfect.
3. Self-Kindness vs. Self-Judgement
We are often quick to judge and criticize ourselves when we suffer, fail, or feel inadequate. However, self-compassion entails expressing warmth and understanding towards ourselves in these moments of suffering. Self-compassionate people recognize that being imperfect, failing, and experiencing life’s difficulties are inevitable, so they tend to be gentle with themselves when confronted with painful experiences rather than getting angry when life falls short of set ideals.
As I practiced and taught mindful self-compassion during the past few years, I have come to see it as an essential strategy in improving my own well-being. I often find myself slowing down and actually seeing what I need in any given moment to truly care for myself. I am also more conscious of my inner voice, and if it’s ever being unkind (as is so often the case for many of us), I ask myself if I would say what I’m saying to myself to my daughter – and if I wouldn’t, then I change the tone.
Mindful self-compassion is a practice that has changed my wellbeing and is the key component of my self-care practice. Self-care can’t just be indulgent acts like bubble baths and pedicures (although lovely and wonderful things). Rather, self-care is actually a discipline in how we treat our bodies and our minds. It’s boundary setting, saying no, discovering your values and living within them, and finding many ways to be kinder to ourselves.
Only when we have strongly focused on making our own well-being a priority will we see a shift in well-being in schools.
When we as educators feel emotionally regulated, physically strong, self-aware and socially connected we create a strong sense of well-being in our lives. Together, let’s find ways to rebuild our resiliency. Let’s focus on self-care AND self-compassion. Let’s reignite our passion for teaching. Let’s awaken educator well-being so that together we can get back to making a difference in our schools again.
First published in September 2019
LEARN MORE ABOUT the pan-Canadian summit, an EXCLUSIVE PROFESSIONAL LEARNING EXPERIENCE FOR DISTRICT TEAMS OF STAFF WELLBEING CHAMPIONS SEEKING CONCRETE WAYS TO EMBED AND SUSTAIN A HAPPIER AND HEALTHIER WORKPLACE CULTURE.
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WEBINAR: How can we improve K-12 school wellbeing?
Comments Off on WEBINAR: How can we improve K-12 school wellbeing?Watch the full webinar below:
This webinar is primarily for school district leaders, principals, and vice-principals, and school or district wellbeing leads as well as anyone interested in K-12 staff wellbeing.
We know that wellbeing – especially cases of burnout – are issues in Canadian schools. We know a lot of this is systemic – involving organizational culture, structures, priorities, and policies at various levels of the education system. However, research is still evolving about how approaches taken at the school level or the individual level could help educators cope with their daily stress. In a 12-month research project, The Behavioural Insights Team (BIT) set out to develop two simple approaches that could be scaled district-wide.
This webinar broadcasted on June 16, 2021 discussed findings from this research project outlining what worked, what didn’t work, and lessons learned that can be used to support education leaders in ensuring their staff’s wellbeing.
Consult our report for practical templates
you can use in your school -
Webinar: Learning our Way out of the Pandemic: Beyond “back to normal” for students
Comments Off on Webinar: Learning our Way out of the Pandemic: Beyond “back to normal” for students
Wednesday, May 19 at 1pm ET on Zoom | One-hour webinar
Presented by Karen Mundy and Kelly Gallagher-Mackay
Like so many families and children around the world, Canadians are looking with relief to a more open, carefree summer and normal return to school later this year. But after 18 months of profound disruption – will ‘normal’ be good enough? Are we on track to set all children up for success in a world that often seems more uncertain – and unequal – than ever before?
This webinar, sponsored by online learning toolmaker IPEVO, will examine how Canadian schools have fared during COVID19 compared to those in other jurisdictions. We then turn to evidence-based ways that educators can ensure a better, stronger, and more equitable start in September 2021.
don’t miss our SPECIAL GIVEAWAY!
If you sign up to receive special offers by email from both the EdCan Network and IPEVO, your name will be added into a draw at the end of this webinar to get one of two IPEVO Document Cameras!
Biographies
Karen Mundy is a Professor of Education Leadership and Policy at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, University of Toronto (OISE/UT). An expert on educational reform in lower-income countries, she is also an advocate and parent committed to improving educational equity in Canadian schools. She recently launched an academic support program that partners OISE volunteers with underserved students in the Toronto District School Board.
Kelly Gallagher-Mackay is an Assistant Professor at Wilfrid Laurier University. Past roles include Research Director at the Future Skills Centre and at People for Education, and Northern Director of Akitsiraq Law school in Nunavut. She has two kids in public school.
IPEVO is a design-driven company dedicated to creating teaching, learning, presentation, and communication tools for the connected world, with a focus on Document Cameras. IPEVO has been leading the communication and visual transmission industry for more than 10 years and it is the number one choice for educators across the globe.
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Education Canada, March 2021 – Flipbook Edition
Comments Off on Education Canada, March 2021 – Flipbook EditionTeaching with the UN Sustainable Development Goals
Published by the EdCan Network in partnership with
On a global scale, we’re faced with complex societal and environmental challenges such as climate change, poverty, inequality and environmental degradation that we must address in order to achieve a more sustainable future for all. The United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) lay out 17 action areas aimed at sustaining life (both human and non-human), ending poverty, and achieving social justice. These are the building blocks of global well-being.
For educators, the SDGs have enormous educational importance and potential. They offer cross-curricular relevancy and invaluable learning opportunities for students to discover their crucial role in solving local, regional, and global problems, starting in their own community. Simultaneously, education ministries, school districts and school communities will discover that engaging with the SDGs can support students in the important goal of acquiring the six pan-Canadian Global Competencies identified by the Council of Ministers of Education, Canada (CMEC), to equip them to thrive in and shape their world.
In this issue, we explore how educators can engage students to become active global citizens and authentically address global issues in empowering and hopeful ways.
Cover photo: courtesy MCIC
WEB EXCLUSIVES
- Much More Than a Bilingual Country
- Active citizenship education to empower young people
- Appreciating biodiversity to better protect it
- Providing a Quality Education in a Multicultural Environment
- Design Thinking
RELATED EDCAN FACT SHEETS
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Real-Life Learning
Comments Off on Real-Life LearningWhew. We made it through the winter. For many of you it has been, professionally and/or personally, the hardest winter ever. But with vaccination underway and warm weather ahead, we think we see light at the end of the COVID-19 tunnel.
After a year that forced educators to teach, or lead, reactively in response to a mountain of new challenges, we thought it might be a welcome change to look forward to a more aspirational approach to teaching and learning. Yes, there are ongoing and critical COVID issues. But we can also start thinking about how to re-engage students, build school community and make education the best training ground possible for our future leaders and citizens.
Taking on the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), whether as a school or as a class, is an exciting way to address all three of these goals. I like to think of this issue as a seed catalogue. The catalogue arrives when it’s still too cold to plant, but it conjures up big dreams for gardening season. We hope this issue will sow lots of ideas, and also lead you to the resources to develop them into a real plan. How great would it be to cover the curriculum in a way that engages students in real-world problems, encourages them to claim a stake in making the world a better place, and develops essential competencies in the process?
The authors in this issue are in the vanguard of integrating the SDGs into Canadian schooling, and part of an international network of educators who are helping to achieve these ambitious Agenda 2030 goals while providing their students with a positive, empowering opportunity to learn about and take action on global issues that are also urgent problems here at home, such as clean drinking water for Indigenous communities, homelessness, climate change, food insecurity, and racial inequities. See how other schools have taken on one or more of the goals in our article on UNESCO Schools, from our partners at CCUNESCO (p. 11). Or dive right into the features to learn about what the UN SDGs are, why they present such a great opportunity for educators, and how to integrate the SDGs into your classroom and school.
I hope this issue inspires educators, schools, and school boards to start planning how they might get involved in this world-changing initiative – and sow the seeds for a sustainable future.
Photo: courtesy MCIC
First published in Education Canada, March 2021
Read other articles from this issue
Write to us!
We want to know what you think. Send your comments and article proposals to editor@edcan.ca – or join the conversation by using #EdCan on Twitter and Facebook.
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The Escalating Crisis of Violence Against Educators (Part 1)
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Workplace wellness while busy doing other things
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Amplifying the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals to engage and empower Canadian K-12 students to lead societal change
Comments Off on Amplifying the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals to engage and empower Canadian K-12 students to lead societal changeToronto, February 11, 2021 —The EdCan Network is pleased to launch – in partnership with the Canadian Commission for UNESCO (CCUNESCO), – an awareness campaign highlighting how educators can engage students in meaningful learning using the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). More teachers and students will discover their role in solving local, regional, and global problems such as poverty, access to quality healthcare, gender equality, and access to inclusive, equitable quality education, to name a few. This extensive focus on how the SDGs can transform learning will include the release of a special issue of Education Canada Magazine dedicated to showcasing the educational importance and transformative impacts the SDGs can have on teaching practice and student learning.
“There’s no more opportune moment than now to showcase a movement of Canadian and international educators and organizations devoted to inspiring students to define their futures and make a difference in our world,” says Denise Andre, EdCan Network Chair, “Our network is delighted with this opportunity to collaborate with CCUNESCO to amplify the SDGs to spark deep learning across the country.”
‘’To build a better future for all, we need to mobilize the education sector, especially teachers and students, in order to achieve the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030. This sector has the unmatched possibility to raise awareness, develop the critical thinking skills of young people and serve as a powerful lever for changing behaviours and lifestyle habits. We are happy to partner with EdCan on this important campaign,’’ says Sébastien Goupil, Secretary-General, Canadian Commission for UNESCO.
From now until April, this campaign will deliver infographics, fact sheets, a professional learning discussion kit, and an online professional learning course that will be available to EdCan members. For educators, schools, and school districts looking to learn more about the SDGs or to share how they’ve successfully integrated the SDGs into their school communities, please visit: https://www.edcan.ca/magazine/spring-2021/ and follow @EdCanNet and @CCUNESCO for latest campaign updates.
About the EdCan Network
The EdCan Network has maintained its 129-year tradition as the only national, nonpartisan, bilingual organization representing 110,000 educators across Canada. Our role as an intermediary connects K-12 education systems across the country by producing and disseminating authoritative and evidence-based, yet accessible content that is trusted by educators, parents, and policymakers alike. EdCan aims to improve education policies that heighten equity and support deeper learning (i.e. a combination of the fundamental knowledge and practical basic skills all students need to succeed), and expanding the reach of educational resources in an effort to bridge the research-implementation gap. Learn more at www.edcan.ca or @EdCanNet.
About the Canadian Commission for UNESCO
The Canadian Commission for UNESCO (CCUNESCO) serves as a bridge between Canadians and the vital work of UNESCO—the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. Through its networks and partners, the Commission promotes UNESCO values, priorities and programs in Canada and brings the voices of Canadian experts to the international stage. The Commission facilitates cooperation and knowledge mobilization in the fields of education, sciences, culture, communication and information to address some of the most complex challenges facing humanity. Its activities are guided by the United Nations’ 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and other UNESCO priorities. CCUNESCO operates under the authority of the Canada Council for the Arts.
For more information contact:
Sarah Ranby
Research Analyst
EdCan Network
sranby@edcan.caIsabelle LeVert-Chiasson
Program Officer, Education and ASPnet National Coordinator
CCUENSCO
isabelle.levert-chiasson@ccunesco.ca -
Education Canada, January 2021 – Flipbook Edition
Comments Off on Education Canada, January 2021 – Flipbook EditionEducational Equity in the COVID-19 Era
Extraordinary times call for creative, resourceful solutions. The COVID-19 pandemic has challenged educators, students and parents alike. It has also shone a spotlight on the inequities that made school closures and distance learning especially hard on some students and families, and raised new equity issues that must be addressed as we move forward. Researchers and innovative educators share their evolving knowledge, learnings and insights to create an ongoing conversation about how we can deliver equitable, high-quality education for all students through this pandemic and into the future.
Web Exclusives:
- Threads of Continuity
- School Shutdowns
- Teacher Expertise Is Key
- “Does It Have to Be That Hard?”
- Centring Equity in the COVID-19 Era
- Opportunity Solving
- Lessons Learned
- Back to School: The First 30 Days
- Redoing Gym Class
Related EdCan Fact Sheets:
- How can parents and teachers support elementary students as they learn from home during COVID-19?
- How can Compassionate Systems Leadership embed SEL and well-being across an entire school district?
- How can parents promote student well-being?
Photo : Adobe Stock
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EdCan’s New Theory of Change
Comments Off on EdCan’s New Theory of ChangeWhen the beginning of the pandemic closed schools and left district leaders like me in a constant state of disruption, I joined a small working group of EdCan Network staff and colleagues from our Advisory Council for an important virtual planning process. We engaged in a series of sessions to get to the heart of the impact that our Network can achieve to support K-12 educators across Canada. After many iterations, our creative team wholeheartedly endorsed the following three priorities to respond to the rapidly evolving opportunities and challenges that our education systems are currently facing:
- Increasing workplace well-being for K-12 staff, to make it a top policy and investment priority via our Well at Work initiative.
- Engaging and empowering students to lead societal change through meaningful learning and discovering their crucial role in solving local, regional, national, and global problems. Our upcoming awareness campaign on the potential for educating with the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals will help to kickstart this focus.
- Equipping K-12 staff by informing them on emerging issues and actionable strategies to support the shift from knowledge to action. This magazine provides relevant and timely ways to support all our stakeholders as we rethink how we can “do education” in a better way for all students.
These priorities were the focus of our virtual December 2020 EdCan Advisory Council Meeting. (The first ever gathering of the CEA was in 1891 in Montreal.) We will continue to explore how we can align our focus with supporting Ministries of Education, faculty, and school district leaders, principals, teachers, and staff throughout 2021 as we strive to increase the capacity, self-efficacy, and well-being of our 110,000 members, and through them, to heighten every student’s well-being and opportunities for meaningful learning to help them discover their purpose and path in life.
For more information about EdCan’s Theory of Change, Intended Impacts and Strategic Priorities, please visit: www.edcan.ca/aboutus
For a list of the education and philanthropic leaders who serve on EdCan’s Advisory Council, please visit: www.edcan.ca/council
First published in Education Canada, January 2021
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THE POWER OF US: How we connect, act, and innovate together
Comments Off on THE POWER OF US: How we connect, act, and innovate togetherThe Power of Us enters the pandemic publishing parade with a compelling message that is both challenging and hopeful. Change consultant and author David Price makes a strong case for unseating traditional hierarchical ways of organizing our businesses, schools, and community organizations. That’s the challenge. But the hope lies in Price’s illustrative efforts to show us where in the world it is already happening.
The result of nearly three years of deep inquiry, The Power of Us draws us into a story of mass ingenuity, or what he refers to as people-powered innovation. Much more than just the sharing of ideas or organizing ourselves into cooperative clusters, it is the innovation that happens when groundswells of public activity, including inspiring examples of youth activism, meet up with organizations that understand and acknowledge that the traditional divisions between producer and consumer, artist and audience are quickly melting away. It’s what happens when companies start to see their users as co-creators, when the health-care sector starts to value highly invested patients as highly invested innovators, when schools begin to see their educators, parents, and students as co-learners, imbued with a sense of agency to make a difference outside the walls of the schoolhouse.
Price examines many of the familiar themes of change literature – ethos, structure, mindset, and leadership – through the lens of people power, supported by some very robust and compelling case studies written from the author’s own commitment (pre-pandemic) to travelling the world to find the organizations, companies, and schools that were actually showing up to their work differently. The generous summary of key points and take-aways at the end of each section invites the reader to look at their own practice and their own organizations through the lens of people powered innovation.
The COVID-19 pandemic forced David Price into rewrite mode, not because he was wrong, but because his ideas were so very right. COVID-19 is cast here, not as part of the scenery but as a main character, allowing The Power of Us to make a strong contribution to our rethinking of how we want to be in a post-pandemic world.
Photo: Dave Donald
First published in Education Canada, January 2021
Thread, 2020. ISBN: 9781800191181
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A New Year, a New Vision
Comments Off on A New Year, a New Vision“Ring out the old, ring in the new,” goes Tennyson’s poem, “Ring Out Wild Bells.”
Many of us were only too happy to ring out 2020, or maybe give it a firm boot out the door. With COVID-19 vaccines rolling out, we hope for a better year ahead.
But what are we ringing in – the new and better, or the same old? After a year of disruption, the longing to return to the status quo is completely understandable. But if that’s all we do in our schools, it’s an opportunity lost. This year brought us many lessons, including wider awareness of the pervasiveness of systemic racism. We saw both the drawbacks and the potential of online learning, and we also saw how less privileged and higher-needs students suffered disproportionately from the loss of in-person classes. Some students became frustrated and disengaged – but others thrived as they became free to follow their own interests without the social stresses of a classroom. All these experiences and more should lead us to question just what school could and should be as we move beyond the COVID-19 Era.
Through fall/winter 2020, and culminating in this magazine, we tracked the learning that was emerging from the struggle to adapt an education system to pandemic conditions and still provide quality, equitable education (read the whole series on our website). One standout for me was Vidya Shah’s article (p. 15) showing how we can (and why we must) work towards greater equity in education during and beyond the pandemic.
It’s important to acknowledge the huge effort and serious stress that educators at every level of the system have shouldered during this crisis. But now we have a chance to look forward, to ring in the new. In our spring issue, EdCan will explore how the UN Sustainable Development Goals can be used to engage students with global and local issues and help them acquire essential competencies. And in June, we invite contributors to share their vision for the (near) future of education. How can we create a schooling experience that truly prepares today’s students to build tomorrow’s world?
Photo: Adobe Stock
First published in Education Canada, January 2021
Write to us!
We want to know what you think. Send your comments and article proposals to editor@edcan.ca – or join the conversation by using #EdCan on Twitter and Facebook.
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Pan-Canadian Supports for K-12 Workplace Wellbeing
Comments Off on Pan-Canadian Supports for K-12 Workplace WellbeingCanadian K-12 education stakeholders are increasingly concerned about the mental health and wellbeing of education staff. Rising rates of staff stress and burnout threaten to undermine student wellbeing and educational outcomes, while the legal, financial, and human resource costs continue to escalate.
The McConnell Foundation has been supporting workplace wellbeing in K-12 education through its WellAhead initiative since 2017. In early 2020, it brought together relevant thought-leaders to consider how to make measurable improvements in the wellbeing of K-12 education staff across Canada. A Design Team was formed to develop a preliminary concept based on that initial thinking.¹ The Design Team then engaged with education stakeholders to get their feedback on the concept, and learn from their experience.
The stakeholders who participated generously shared their time, expertise, and encouragement, including pitfalls to avoid, opportunities to strengthen the approaches, and perspectives that had not previously been considered. Their feedback contributes to developing approaches that fit their environments, and accurately reflect their needs and preferences — which will ultimately lead to a greater impact.
Based on the insights generated in this consultation report, EdCan plans to implement a revised set of approaches over the next three years with a wide variety of partners and stakeholders. Stay tuned for more details!
¹Charlie Naylor (Independent Consultant), Felicia Ochs (Wellness Coordinator, Parkland School Division), André Rebeiz (Research Manager, EdCan), Tammy Shubat (Director of Programs, Ophea), and Kim Weatherby (School Health Promotion Consultant).
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Professional Well-Being Through Coaching
Comments Off on Professional Well-Being Through CoachingHow can we support our school leaders to do their best work?
In a pandemic year, many of our traditional structures for professional development are changing radically. People aren’t permitted to gather in person, to share and to collaborate as we normally do. In this context, how do we maintain that personal connection to each other? How do we collaborate on the complex work that leaders do? And how can we support the growth and development of our principals, vice-principals, and other leaders when our traditional structures are disrupted?
In response to these questions, in the spring of 2020, Surrey Schools in B.C. began implementing an online one-to-one virtual coaching model to support the growth and development of principals and vice-principals. Mirroring hybrid models in our schools, this model focuses on leadership in times of complexity. Each participant received dedicated one-to-one support from a trained and experienced coach, who served as a confidante and learning partner to support their unique and individual learning needs. The model and the support it provides have been extremely well received, and we now have extended this work and coaching from the summer into the fall, with more than 90 district principals, principals, and vice-principals participating. This article explains the rationale for our model, how it works in practice, the feedback we have received, and our hopes for the future.
Coaching offers personalized support
While we were designing new learning experiences for our students, we also began to consider how to best design hybrid models of professional development for our school leaders. We had an opportunity to engage in an online coaching program tailored specifically to address the pressures of leadership during a pandemic. This was a unique opportunity at a unique time.
Years ago, I (Jordan) changed my own professional development strategy to include personal coaching. Rather than travelling to conferences, watching presentations or speakers, I found someone to coach me, to hold my feet to the fire about my own strategic plans, initiatives, and goals. To me, the change was transformational. It wasn’t transformational because I learned new things; it was transformational because I had someone at my side, a confidante, to hold me personally accountable for the work I committed to do.
Coaching is a strategic partnership. Everyone should have a safe space in which to discuss any aspect of their work. The ability to have someone external to your organization who can reflect, clarify, and challenge your beliefs and work can be enormously rewarding. In a COVID world, leaders are under intense pressure. We need to find ways to support our leaders, and this opportunity to provide safe, external, and confidential coaching was timely.
Strategies for personal resilience
We decided to partner with BTS Spark, a non-profit education group that matches school leaders with professional leadership coaches. In our collaboration together, it became clear that our first priority was to offer a summer program for school leaders focusing on personal resilience and well-being. We knew leaders were experiencing higher levels of stress in facing not only the challenges caused by the disruption of the pandemic to the previous school year, but also the uncertainty of what the upcoming school year might look like. We co-created a program to meet those needs, as well as our timescale and budget.
The Surviving to Thriving program was offered as an optional program to principals, vice-principals, and district principals. As a completely voluntary offering during the summer vacation, we were unsure how many school leaders would be interested in the opportunity. We hoped that 10–12 people might sign up. We were pleasantly surprised and delighted that 85 school leaders signed up to take part in the summer program.
FIGURE 1: Surviving to Thriving Coaching Journey
The virtual program was designed to combine one-to-one coaching sessions (providing personalized support to match each individual’s needs and context) with group coaching sessions (offering much-needed connection between school leaders during a time of stress and isolation). (See Figure 1). Over a period of a month, small groups of six people met weekly via Zoom for 90 minutes with a professional leadership coach. The goal was to hone and develop their skills to build personal resilience and resourcefulness. The work included reflecting on their well-being and balance, learning how to manage their state of mind, understanding what motivates them, exploring how to bring their “spark” into their work, and learning practical tools to help them deal with difficult interpersonal interactions, whether with parents, colleagues, or students. In between group sessions, participants could access one-to-one coaching sessions to process individually with their coach how to recover from the challenges of the spring and prepare themselves for the unknowns of the fall.
Feedback from the program – both formal evaluation and anecdotal feedback – was extremely strong. Participants were surveyed both before and after the program, and their responses consistently showed positive experiences. As a result of the program, our principals reported being more able to manage their state, stay resilient, achieve a work-life balance, deal with energy-sapping relationships, tackle difficult conversations, and go into the new school year with a clear vision (see Figure 2). All those surveyed said that they would recommend coaching to colleagues.
FIGURE 2: What impact did this coaching have?
Principals/VPs participating were asked to self-rate… Before After I have strategies to stay resilient and effective in stressful situations… 64% 100% I am able to create a balance in my life… 44% 90% I have a clear vision for the new school year… 43% 100% I feel that I have the tools to manage energy-sapping relationships… 30% 100% I feel confident having difficult conversations… 39% 90% As one participant commented, “I appreciated the opportunity to connect with my colleagues and to sort through the areas of my personal and professional life that are diminishing my spark. I feel I have tools to go forward this year with more positivity and resilience.” Another principal added, “I am looking forward to putting the strategies in place when I get back to work. I know that certain issues that I had at the end of the last school year are now put in a better perspective for me. If I didn’t have this program, I believe I would have opened this new school year with these issues holding me back.”
Personal coaching through the fall
I know we were not alone in facing the dilemma of how to provide support to our school leaders through a school year full of unknowns. What we did know was that the school year was likely to be a challenging one, that leaders would need to find new ways of leading in uncertainty, and that the usual face-to-face professional development and conferences were not on the horizon. We felt that leaders would want to draw on support that was responsive to what they were facing in their own context.
Our school leaders can build their capacity by tackling the very real challenges they are facing in their schools, all with professional guidance and support.
On the strength and feedback of the summer coaching program, we invited coaches to support our principals, vice-principals, and district principals through the fall. Participants were offered six hours of one-to-one time with a professional leadership coach, connecting virtually via Zoom at times to suit them. The coaching is responsive, focusing on their most pressing priorities and the challenges they are facing in their schools.
Again, this coaching was an optional offer and we saw relatively strong take-up, with 40 percent of all school-based administrators selecting to access the support. At the start of their coaching program, principals were guided through a self-reflection on their leadership capabilities, to identify both their natural strengths and the areas they wanted to develop in their current school context. As you can imagine, there was no shortage of needs identified!
It was interesting to see where principals wanted to focus. Our principals’ coaching objectives were analyzed and mapped to their curriculum of 33 leadership mindsets (see Figure 3). This revealed that our principals asked for help with:
- Engaging others, honing their listening skills to support others, e.g. “I’m aiming to become an active listener, to understand and engage those around me.”
- Skills and confidence to hold difficult conversations where needed and to stretch others, e.g. “I would like to be more courageous in giving feedback and having challenging conversations.”
- Bringing their core values to life in their work and creating a sense of shared purpose with their teams, e.g. “My current challenge is establishing purpose and creating a common goal as a staff.”
- Building personal resilience and gaining confidence, e.g. “I would like to have more self-assurance to bounce back from setbacks and find my power when I get nervous.”
As Superintendent, seeing the selected areas of focus gave me a window into the uppermost needs of our principals as they headed into the new school year.
FIGURE 3
An equitable and differentiated approach
We talk a lot about equity of access for students, but less about equity of access for our school leaders to quality professional development. This coaching model is delivered virtually, via Zoom, and is thus accessible to all schools at times that suit them. With this model, principals in the most remote schools in our country can still access top-quality leadership coaching, and they are also able to access French coaches.
While virtual coaching has provided support throughout the COVID-19 pandemic when face-to-face professional development is not a viable option, we feel that we may have tapped a valuable new method of personalized support. Coaching is offering our school leaders something new and vital. They have a thought partner, a critical friend outside our school district, and a leadership expert with access to a wide-ranging curriculum of practical strategies to enhance their leadership. This professional development is differentiated and is not a one-size-fits-all approach to leadership development. Our school leaders can build their capability by tackling the very real challenges they are facing in their schools, all with professional guidance and support. The potential to extend this offer to teacher leaders is enticing, and we are considering next steps.
We continue to look at how coaching can be one powerful mechanism to help support the development of leaders at all levels. We are also asking what it looks like to be more coach-like across the organization. We are excited to offer professional coaching to leaders in our education system, and I look forward to seeing the difference this will make as we move through this unsettled year and beyond.
Photo: Adobe Stock
First published in Education Canada, January 2021
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School Wellness Partnership Program
Comments Off on School Wellness Partnership Program
YOUR NEW WELLNESS JOURNEY STARTS RIGHT NOW, RIGHT WHERE YOU ARE.
EdCan and TeacherFit are proud to present you the ONLY program designed specifically to meet the needs of educators through affordable, efficient, and effective mindfulness, fitness, and yoga classes. Plus nutrition challenges and programs for students!
TeacherFit provides educators with the tools they need to take care of themselves mentally, physically, and emotionally for the long term.
Click here for more details
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WEBINAR: Leading Schools in the COVID19 Era: What have we learned so far?
Comments Off on WEBINAR: Leading Schools in the COVID19 Era: What have we learned so far?Watch the full webinar below:
This webinar is primarily for governments, education professional organizations, school and school district leaders, teachers and education support workers, and anyone interested in understanding current issues for changes to K-12 schooling for the education sector across Canada in the COVID-19 era.
This webinar broadcasted on October 7th, 2020 explores what has been learned so far about leading schools through COVID-19 as we prepare to enter into our second month of school reopening across the country.
Topics explored include:
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how our understandings of the work of school leaders is evolving;
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the ways in which educators and their professional organizations are navigating ever-changing expectations of schooling during the present time; and
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how schools can maintain a focus on the social justice and equity issues that have been laid bare as a result of COVID-19 and its impact on marginalized and racialized communities.
Note: EdCan is a neutral third-party intermediary organization. Live presentations do not constitute an endorsement by the EdCan Network/CEA of information or opinions expressed.
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WEBINAR PANEL DISCUSSION: October 7, 2020
Comments Off on WEBINAR PANEL DISCUSSION: October 7, 2020WHEN: wednesday, OCTOBER 7 at 1:00-2:00 pm (EST)
This webinar is primarily for governments, education professional organizations, school and school district leaders, teachers and education support workers, and anyone interested in understanding current issues for changes to K-12 schooling for the education sector across Canada in the COVID-19 era.
This webinar explores what has been learned so far about leading schools through COVID-19 as we prepare to enter into our second month of school reopening across the country.
Topics to be explored include:
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how our understandings of the work of school leaders is evolving;
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the ways in which educators and their professional organizations are navigating ever-changing expectations of schooling during the present time; and
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how schools can maintain a focus on the social justice and equity issues that have been laid bare as a result of COVID-19 and its impact on marginalized and racialized communities.
Register Here
Note: EdCan is a neutral third-party intermediary organization. Live presentations do not constitute an endorsement by the EdCan Network/CEA of information or opinions expressed.
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