Teachers and leaders throughout Alberta have voiced their disillusionment with traditional ways in which school and system initiatives have been implemented (Brandon et al, 2019).
The implementation process is often seen as lacking coherence between site leadership, teaching practice, and student learning; as overlooking lynchpin documents such as the provincial Standards; as neglecting critical and sustained collaborative discussions between system and site leaders and teachers; as not providing measured and purposeful time for professional learning prior to and during implementation; and as using metrics and evidence of success that is externally mandated and only tangentially related to the initiative.
These sessions will explore seven researched effective practices in initiative implementation based on a model of Generative Leadership.
Session #1
Building a Professional Learning Culture that Supports Implementation: Assumptions and Theory
What assumptions underpin conventional models of school improvement and initiative implementation? Which can be easily shifted to enhance the effectiveness of the implementation process?
Session #2
Leading Learning of Implementation: Generative Leadership
What are the elements of Generative Leadership? How do these elements contribute to a culture of professional learning that accommodates successful initiative implementation?
Session #3: Creating Shared Responsibility for a Culture of Learning: Inquiry as the Work
What does an inquiry model of implementation look like? How can professional collaborative inquiry be used to sustain initiative implementation?
The reality is that school and system leaders are facing ongoing (sometimes daily) disruptions and pending large scale changes in our province. Whether you need to develop greater skills and understanding related to supporting change as a leader, or simply need a refresher -- this session series is a great place to be.
Each big idea shared by the presenters will be complemented by a follow-up coffee hour where we can unpack the content and apply it to our contexts, in an effort to learn from and with one another.
Sessions with Drs. Adams and Mombourquette - April 28, May 11 & 24; 1:00-3:00 PM
(Recordings shared with all registered participants.)
Coffee Hour Conversation and Collaborative Debrief - May 3 ,17 and 31; 9:00-10:00 AM