Intersection Education

This is a bit of a different episode than normal. Usually, you would hear an interview or a round-table with someone who has something to teach us about education and schools. Today, instead, you will hear a collection of tips from our previous guests.
I am calling this the anti-resolution episode. Why? Because the idea of New Year’s resolutions is not effective. According to US News, 80% of resolutions have failed by the second week of February. I think this is true of any big change that people try to make. My perspective is that if you try to make a big change all at once, you are going to fail whether it be in your personal life or at work.
As an alternative to a big massive change, the people in this episode offer suggestions for  small changes that are a first step towards a better situation. Some suggestions are personal, others professional. Making a series of small shifts over time, in my opinion, will result in better progress over the long term.
As we start the New Year, I’d like to thank everyone who has helped make our first year a success. From our guests, to you the listener, thank you. We hope that you have learned something and that you continue to follow along with us as we learn alongside our guests.

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My conversation today is with Jennifer Waring, Instructional Coach at St. Peter the Apostle High School in Spruce Grove, AB. Instructional coaching has been booming in the past while for good reason, the impact on teacher learning is high. Of the people that I have heard speak on the role, Jen has a clear vision and passion for instructional coaching. In our talk she shares her perspective on the position, some tips on how to increase success and some other insights that I think you are going to find useful. You don’t need to be in a formal coaching role to learn from our conversation, as many of these lessons will be applicable to anyone who works with others.
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In this episode we speak with Ramona Big Head, an educator with over 22 years of experience who is currently in her second year as principal of the ground-breaking Kainai High School, where she and associate principal Charlton Weasel Head are using a combination of brain science and traditional ways of knowing to help Kainai youth find their identity and advance their education through innovative curricula. A prior instructor at the University of Lethbridge for two years (2011-2013) in the Faculty of Education, Ramona currently is also a PhD Candidate out of the University of British Columbia examining the correlation between arts education and identity in Kainai youth.

Ramona's Blackfoot name is translated as "Many Sweat Lodge Woman" (Akaistsiiskaakii). She is a mother of 7 and a grandmother of 21 and recently became a great-grandmother.

If you like what you are hearing, connect with Intersection Education. You can go to our website, intersectioneducation.com, or follow us on Twitter @intersectionEd. We really appreciate it when you rate us on iTunes and leave a review.

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In this episode, we speak with Dr. Phil McRae who is an Executive Staff Officer and Associate Coordinator, Government-Research with the Alberta Teachers’ Association and Adjunct Professor within the Faculty of Education at the University of Alberta where he earned his Ph.D.

He was the Director of the internationally recognized Alberta Initiative for School Improvement (AISI) at the University of Alberta from 2005-2009. Phil has worked in many secondary and post-secondary educational contexts while living and teaching in the Middle East (United Arab Emirates), Asia (Japan), Europe (Spain), and in Alberta with the Lethbridge Public School District and at Red Crow College with the Blood Tribe (Kainai First Nation). The Blackfoot honoured him with the name Áípapomm, which means lightning.

Phil is the past winner of the Alberta Excellence in Teaching Finalist Award, the University of Alberta’s Queen Elizabeth II Doctoral Scholar Award, Minister of Education's Innovation Award, and the ATA Provincial Educational Research Award.

Despite all these accolades and achievements, when I asked Phil what I should say in this introduction, he said simply to say that he was a rancher from Southern Alberta.

We speak about a number of topics in this conversation with a focus on curriculum change, class sizes and dealing with technology. I think everyone will take something away from our discussion.

You can connect with Phil on twitter at @philmcrae or on his website.

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If you like what you are hearing, connect with Intersection Education. You can follow us on Twitter @intersectionEd or on Facebook @intersectioneducation. We also really appreciate it when you rate us on iTunes and leave a review.

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This episode features Dr. David Tranter, Lori Carson, and Tom Boland, the authors of the book The Third Path: A Relationship-Based Approach to Student Well-being and Achievement. They all have different lived experience: David is an Associate Professor at Lakehead University in the department of Social Work, Lori started in social work, but moved to teaching special education, and Tom is Elementary School Teacher and Professional Learning Consultant.

Together they wrote a book and strategy guides for what they call “The Third Path” that examines student well-being and its relationship to achievement and later life success. Although they do get into a lot of the information, what I think sets this resource apart is the focus on practical application of how to make it come alive in classrooms.

Children who have experienced trauma, who have behaviour concerns, and who have difficulty self-regulating are a big concern for teachers. I think you will gain some practical insight into how you might improve your impact with these students in our interview.

You can connect with them on their website, The Third Path.

Visit the Intersection Education website

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If you like what you are hearing, connect with Intersection Education. You can follow us on Twitter @intersectionEd or on Facebook @intersectioneducation. We also really appreciate it when you rate us on iTunes and leave a review.

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This episode features John McGettigan, President of the Saskatoon Teachers Association. John works tirelessly in the service of teachers and of education.

As you’ll hear, John is passionate about ensuring teachers are leaders of learning not only with their students but also amongst themselves. This learning is not limited to the traditional school subjects. He is also a leader in developing citizenship and what it means to be Canadian. He has been part of a team that developed Concentus, a program to teach citizenship based on the Canadian Charter of Rights. He has also been a forerunner in using Learning Sprints as a way to improve teacher practice.

You can connect with John on Twitter @johnmcgettigan.

Visit the Intersection Education website

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If you like what you are hearing, connect with Intersection Education. You can follow us on Twitter @intersectionEd or on Facebook @intersectioneducation. We also really appreciate it when you rate us on iTunes and leave a review.

Here are some links and highlights mentioned in our conversation:

• Concentus (http://concentus.ca/): Citizenship resources that directly align with Saskatchewan Social Sciences curricula.
• Learning Sprints (https://www.learningsprints.org/):Engagement in Learning Sprints supports the adoption of evidence-informed practices and enables educators to collectively plan, act and evaluate their impact. The approach is aligned with the existing research evidence into the features of effective teacher professional learning and the science of behaviour change.

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In this episode, I have a round-table discussion with Bryn Spence about current issues for school leaders. Some feedback that we have received about the show is that people appreciate more dialogue between practising administrators. In the episode, Bryn and I try to speak about problems and solutions in our schools and hope that our conversation might help you to find solutions for issues you face as well.

Bryn Spence is the principal of High Park School in Stony Plain, Alberta. He has an extensive background in behaviour programs and inclusion for students with special needs. He has a Masters in Education from the University of Calgary.

You can follow Bryn on Twitter @brynspence 

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My conversation in this episode is with Gordon Campbell. Gordon has worked in French Immersion for over 30 years. He taught at almost every level from the second grade to university. In 2011, he was the recipient of the Canadian Association of Immersion Professional’s or Association canadienne des professionnels en immersion’s (also know as ACPI) prestigious André Obadia Award recognizing excellence in the French Immersion practice. He also received the Manitoba’s Excellence in Education Award in 2012 in the Outstanding School Leader Award category.

Gordon is now retired from the teaching practice but continues to contribute to French Immersion Research. As you will hear in our interview, he recently wrote a book for Educational Leaders who work in French Immersion.

To order his book, please go to the ACPI website.

If you like what you are hearing, connect with Intersection Education. You can go to our website, intersectioneducation.com, or follow us on Twitter @intersectionEd or on Facebook @intersectioneducation. We really appreciate it when you rate us on iTunes and leave a review.

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The conversation today is not with one outstanding educator but with two, Jesse McLean and Travis McNaughton.  Jesse currently works with Alberta Education in the Research research on a secondment. He has been a teacher and administrator at multiple schools. Travis is currently principal at 3 schools, Forest Green Elementary School, Connections for Learning and Brightbank Academy with Parkland School Division in Alberta, Canada. He has experience at all levels of schooling and with multiple delivery methods.

In this podcast, I feel it is important to be speaking with people who work in many different venues that affect education. Both Travis and Jesse represent administrators who have led change initiatives with innovative programs in schools. I think their perspective and the lessons they have learned along the way will help you lead change in you school.

You can connect with our guests on Twitter, Jesse is @jmclean77 and Travis is @travdmc.

If you like what you are hearing, connect with Intersection Education. You can go to our website, intersectioneducation.com, or follow us on Twitter @intersectionEd or on Facebook @intersectioneducation. We really appreciate it when you rate us on iTunes and leave a review.

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This episode features Dr. Jason Jay, Senior Lecturer at the MIT Sloan School of Management and Director of the Sustainability Initiative at MIT Sloan. Jason’s research focuses on how people navigate the tensions inherent in the quest for sustainability, as they simultaneously pursue their own self-interest and the flourishing of human and other life. With Gabriel Grant, he is the author of Breaking Through Gridlock: The Power of Conversation in a Polarized World. In addition to all of this, he is a former school teacher.

If you have ever had a difficult conversation or tried to find a solution to a polarized debate, I think you are going to gain some tools from our conversation.

For more information on Dr. Jay's book, Breaking Through Gridlock, go to breakingthroughgridlock.com. It has quite a few free resources that can be used with students to bring to life the strategies that are discussed in the book and in our interview. You can also connect with the book's hashtag on Twitter #breakinggridlock for examples of when people use these strategies effectively.

You can connect with Dr. Jay personally on twitter @jasonjjay.

If you like what you are hearing, connect with Intersection Education. You can go to our website, intersectioneducation.com, or follow us on Twitter @intersectionEd or on Facebook @intersectioneducation. We really appreciate it when you rate us on iTunes and leave a review.

Music Information:
Scandinavianz- Vacation (Vlog) D-L by Scandinavianz https://soundcloud.com/scandinavianz
Creative Commons — Attribution 3.0 Unported — CC BY 3.0
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Music promoted by Audio Library https://youtu.be/7dswC8QFiwU

Additional Editing by Mike Brazeau (http://www.reelaudio.ca/)