Saturday, August 25, 2018

Team Courage



This summer I had the privilege of learning with a group of inspiring educators from around BC.  These committed principals and vice-principals gave up a week of their summer to take part in the BCPVPA's Short Course II Summit, held at UBCO.

Leading parts of our learning:  Dr. David Istance (retired from OECD), Amelia Peterson from Harvard, Dr. Sabre Cherkowski (UBCO) and Dr. David Weiss (author of Innovative Intelligence).

Facilitating our conversations and organizing us all:  Jessica Antosh, Liz Bell from the BCPVPA, Terry-Lee Beaudry and Jamie Robinson (SD#23).  Kevin Reimer (Executive Director) and David DeRose (President) of the BCPVPA were also in attendance.

We also heard from the Ministry of Education through Scott MacDonald (Deputy Minister) and Pat Duncan (Superintendent of Learning).

In the course of the week, we had many rich discussions about innovation in schools and how we can empower our students to be thriving, contributing global citizens.  We were excited to meet with local business leaders who are creating their own occupations by recognizing needs and filling gaps.  They spoke passionately about the growing need for employees who are hard-working, committed, loyal, flexible, inventive, creative, able to take risks, create prototypes, and pivot when necessary.  In essence, they want people who know how to fail well and rebound with vigour.

The small group of leaders with whom I worked amazed me with their courage and dedication to public education in BC.  Each member of our group was able to articulate a gap in their own practice and commit to working together to support one another in the coming year, using a spiral of inquiry framework.

I am proud to be an educational leader with such smart and caring colleagues and excited about the learning journey ahead.

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