As the school leaders of Peel Elementary Virtual School, Raquel Cariati-Cardoso and Sumeeta Merwar, have comprehensive understanding of virtual learning's role in the educational landscape. Their insights are backed by practical experience that focus on ensuring that students' diverse needs are met effectively in an innovative virtual space. Having been at the forefront of implementing virtual learning methods that cater to individual student, Raquel and Sumeeta have many success stories and examples that demonstrate how virtual learning has positively impacted the students that attend virtual school. There is flexibility to provide comprehensive support, specialized resources and an inclusive learning environment for all students. This is not the same virtual learning that happened during the pandemic.

OUR GUESTS

• Raquel Cariati-Cardoso, Peel District School Board
• Sumeeta Merwar, Peel District School Board

HOSTS

• Lawrence DeMaeyer – Professional Learning Consultant, Ontario Principals’ Council
• Susie Lee-Fernandes – Director of Professional Learning and Engagement, Ontario Principals’ Council

Episode 14 Transcript PDF

For this episode of Leadership Talks, we welcome Anjali Bajaj, a secondary vice-principal with the Toronto District School Board.

Anjali shares how leading for equity impacts the mental health of school administrators, a topic which she presented in the spring of 2023 OPC Vice-principal Symposium. While acknowledging post-pandemic realities, there is a greater need to support student & staff mental health due to tensions faced by school leaders. The impact of trauma / stress on our health and practice, include compassion fatigue and racial battle fatigue. What then are the tangible practices that are available for aligning both self & community care. How do we to hold colleagues/staff accountable to equity practices, while also maintaining personal wellness? This is where strategies such as mentoring/coaching of equity conversations, the SMHO cultural humility tool and the importance of partnerships can be used to widen the circle of care around a school community.

OUR GUEST

• Anjali Bajaj, Toronto District School Board

HOSTS

• Lawrence DeMaeyer – Professional Learning Consultant, Ontario Principals’ Council
• Susie Lee-Fernandes – Director of Professional Learning and Engagement, Ontario Principals’ Council

Episode 13 Transcript PDF

In this episode, Lisa Cole shares how inclusive design approaches may provide an opportunity to co-design and co-implement programs that make system impact in STEM education. She plays a pivotal role at York University’s Lassonde School of Engineering, which launched k2i (kindergarten to industry) academy in June 2020 with a mission to create an ecosystem of diverse partners, committed to dismantling systemic barriers to opportunities for underrepresented students in STEM. The k2i academy engages with youth by bringing STEM to life – connecting directly to school boards and their classrooms, offering innovative work-integrated learning programs, and partnering with community organizations to provide unique, hands-on STEM learning opportunities. Today, they have grown to reach 27,000+ students, teachers, families, and community members, spending 230,000+ hours in virtual and face-to-face engagements, generating almost $6M in funding.  

The k2i academy works with system leaders in publicly funded school boards. They are committed to working with diverse partners to question current systems, create opportunities for collaboration, investigate challenges, and design approaches to implement in partnership.  

• About k2i: https://lassonde.yorku.ca/about/our-values/kindergarten-to-industry-k2i-academy
• About Lisa Cole: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lisa-limcole

OUR GUEST

• Lisa Cole – Director of Programming, k2i academy | Lassonde School of Engineering | York University

HOSTS

• Lawrence DeMaeyer – Professional Learning Consultant, Ontario Principals’ Council
• Susie Lee-Fernandes – Director of Professional Learning and Engagement, Ontario Principals’ Council

Episode 12 Transcript PDF

School leaders are tasked with ensuring the health and safety of the students and staff in school buildings. Many would wonder how to manage when a challenging situation elevates to a level that is out-of-the ordinary.

Steve Oliver joins the Leadership Talks team for a conversation to share his journey and what he learned from handling a high profile situation so that colleagues can recognize the resources that are at their disposal to navigate challenging circumstances, while leading in a way that prioritizes and supports the wellness and resiliency of the students and staff in their school community.

OUR GUEST

• Steve Oliver, Halton District School Board

HOSTS

• Lawrence DeMaeyer – Professional Learning Consultant, Ontario Principals’ Council
• Susie Lee-Fernandes – Director of Professional Learning and Engagement, Ontario Principals’ Council

Episode 11 Transcript PDF

Diane Merhi's story is a testament to the fact that there is no one set pathway to leadership. In this Leadership Talks, Diane shares her personal journey, beginning as an office administrator, transitioning to educational assistant, and eventually taking on teaching and leadership roles. Her lived experiences as a first-generation immigrant navigating the school system, combined with her experiences as an educator, have deeply informed her approach to leadership.  

Diane also discusses the importance of representation, including different perspectives when building your staff team and actively cultivating inclusive spaces for students and the school community so that they feel they belong. She points out that there is no “easy button” to leadership and encourages colleagues to believe in their self-determination, hard work and resilience. She invites everyone to continue to question current practices and processes to create positive change.  
Listen now for more valuable takeaways shared by Diane Merhi.

OUR GUEST

• Diane Merhi,  Ottawa-Carlton District School Board

HOSTS

• Lawrence DeMaeyer – Professional Learning Consultant, Ontario Principals’ Council
• Susie Lee-Fernandes – Director of Professional Learning and Engagement, Ontario Principals’ Council

Episode 10 Transcript PDF

Our conversation with Karen Timm spotlights her passion and expertise in neurodiversity.

Neuroaffirmative practice is an essential skill for school leaders, though many may not yet feel equipped to lead in this area. As the growing body of authentically informed research shows, embracing neurodifferences through human rights informed practice is not just beneficial for neurodivergent students and staff, but it fosters anti-oppressive thinking and helps to create habits of mind which are anti-colonial, anti-racist and anti-ableist. When activated through an intersectional approach, our efforts to embrace communication differences, normalise stimming and foster acceptance of authentic ways of being, can have a lasting impact across all dimensions of equity. By challenging ourselves to reframe outdated notions of “normal”, we can become better equipped to lead change that benefits all. By unlearning with intentionality alongside our school communities, we can build safe, inclusive and accessible learning and working environments.

Neuroaffirmative practice is pivotal on this journey. As an Autistic school leader and founder of the Neurodivergent Infinity Network of Educators and the NeuroRealMe affinity network for school leaders, Karen is uniquely positioned to support critical reflection, unlearning and neuroaffirmative school improvement planning. Join as a co-learner on this journey to reframing normal!  

To continue this work in community with NINE or NeuroRealMe, or access resources aligned to neuroaffirmative practice, refer to the NINE website: https://sites.google.com/ddsb.ca/nine/home

Or find us on X: @NINE_On_Can and @KarenAnnTimm

OUR GUEST

• Karen Timm - Durham District School Board

HOSTS

• Lawrence DeMaeyer – Professional Learning Advisor, Ontario Principals’ Council
• Susie Lee-Fernandes – Director of Professional Learning, Ontario Principals’ Council

Episode 9 Transcript PDF

At Andrea Carnegie’s school, they work on leveraging student voices, especially the voices of Black, Indigenous and students who have been historically marginalized. This empowers students to have more ownership and agency over their learning.

For this episode of Leadership Talks, Andrea shares with us the importance of grounding teaching and learning through a variety of pedagogical practices, such as, Culturally Relevant and Responsive Pedagogy (CRRP) and the emphasis on students' intersecting identities. She touches upon how student voices are leveraged, the tools and resources that are necessary for student voices to be amplified, how amplifying student voices can have the ability to re-culturize learning spaces, and the impact that centering student voices has on student learning and well-being.

OUR GUEST

• Andrea Carnegie - Peel District School Board

HOSTS

• Lawrence DeMaeyer – Professional Learning Advisor, Ontario Principals’ Council
• Susie Lee-Fernandes – Director of Professional Learning, Ontario Principals’ Council

Episode 8 Transcript PDF

With the current demand for Technological Education for K – 12, Brent Coakwell joins us on Leadership Talks to share his passion for the trades. He’ll discuss how it’s possible to empower and enhance the experience for students, while supporting principals in an area many are looking to develop a deeper understanding. There are ways principals can help each other through the deep work needed to build capacity in Technological Education. Brent also talks about considerations for planning, timetabling, budgeting, and safety, as well as supporting and mentoring new Tech staff as they enter the field of education. Don’t miss this episode!

OUR GUEST

• Brent Coakwell - Halton District School Board

HOSTS

• Lawrence DeMaeyer – Professional Learning Advisor, Ontario Principals’ Council
• Susie Lee-Fernandes – Director of Professional Learning, Ontario Principals’ Council

Episode 7 Transcript PDF

Update - Shortly after the release of this episode, we received feedback that the term “walks” is not inclusive as not all individuals walk. We should have included terminology that is universal and does not stem from ableism. We decided to keep this episode available as it does highlight ideas and strategies to support instructional leadership. As we re-evaluate resources, strategies, etc. to support leadership, we are committed to intentional learning about ableism in schooling and society, including our language, that perpetuate bias, barriers and oppression. We encourage our Members to learn more about ableism in education and to reflect on how that shows up in their practice as they find other learnings within this podcast.

In this conversation, we chat with Bev Freedman about how COVID disrupted the ways we, as leaders, engage in schools and classrooms. She reminds us of the importance of intentional monitoring of teaching/learning in classrooms.

Teaching Learning Walks and Rolls (TLWR) provides a framework to capture observations not only individual classrooms, but rather a broader analysis across classrooms creating a tapestry of learning. There isn't an emphasis on a single data point, instead TLWR uses the data across multiple visits to classrooms, across all grades and subjects, as assessment for learning. When combined with other information, observational data can be used to develop trends and patterns to inform system/school planning. Providing collegial feedback using observational data becomes a form of pedagogical documentation providing the basis for collaborative inquiry, which can increase collective efficacy.

Presence in classrooms also increases principal credibility, because feedback is job-embedded, based on on-going, evidence-based teacher practice. TLWRs moves the practice from automatic to intentional using a framework to focus on various forms of evidence in teacher practice. Effective leaders are present and collaborative. TLWRs are evidence-based. Engaging and collaborating – purposeful presence is good for your health and your mind.

Let us engage, be purposefully present and learn together!

If you are interested in a copy of the monograph that is referenced in this episode, visit here.

OUR GUEST

• Dr. Beverly Freedman, Educational Services Consultant

HOSTS

• Lawrence DeMaeyer – Professional Learning Advisor, Ontario Principals’ Council
• Susie Lee-Fernandes – Director of Professional Learning, Ontario Principals’ Council

Episode 6 Transcript PDF

Gurmeet Gill, our guest in this episode of Leadership Talks, has been using school wide and community read alouds to bring the community together. The intentional selection of books support school success goals around equity, including celebrating Black Excellence, learning about Canadian history with the lens of Truth and Reconciliation, and celebrates our students and community. Gurmeet’s support of read alouds, engaged community members, students and staff as her schools’ special guests and as readers. She invites you to embrace your passion, be intentional and take risks as a leader. For herself, she has found exciting work in this area that continues to flourish in many ways.

OUR GUEST

• Gurmeet Gill - Peel District School Board

HOSTS

• Lawrence DeMaeyer – Professional Learning Advisor, Ontario Principals’ Council
• Susie Lee-Fernandes – Director of Professional Learning, Ontario Principals’ Council

Episode 5 Transcript PDF