InspirEDFall 2020 The official journal of the British Columbia School Superintendents Association British Columbia School Superintendents Association Supporting Supporting Through the Through the PandemicPandemic Inside: Equity Through Land-Based Learning Could COVID be the Disruption we Need? Supporting Mental Health And much more! Canada Post Publications Agreement Number: 40609661Canada Post Publications Agreement Number: 40609661British Columbia School Superintendents Association 5 CONTENTS Published For: The British Columbia School Superintendents Association #208 - 1118 Homer Street, Vancouver, B.C. V6B 6L5 Phone: (604) 687-0590 / Fax: (604) 687-8118 cguy@bcssa.org www.bcssa.org Published By: Matrix Group Publishing Inc. 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Printed in Canada. 6 A Message from the BCSSA President 7 A Message from the Assistant Deputy Minister, Governance and Analytics Division 8 A Message from the BCSSA Executive Director 9 Equity Through Land-Based Learning in 2020 11 Leading in a Pandemic: One District’s Story 15 Health and Wellness: Could COVID-19 be the Disruption we Need? 17 Supporting Student Health and Wellness in Uncertain Times 19 Empowering Connections: Silver Linings During COVID-19 21 Transformation through Co-Construction: Student Voice and an SEL-Informed Educational Experience 22 Index to Advertisers For advertising information, please email sales@matrixgroupinc.net. GREETINGS FEATURES6 ED ❚ Fall 2020 Inspir W hat a summer this has been. As I near the end of my term as President of the British Columbia School Superintendents Association (BCSSA), I want to take this opportunity to thank you all on behalf of the BCSSA Board of Directors. Our BCSSA Pro-D Committee and Member Services continue their amazing efforts pulling together events and supporting members under some remarkable circumstances. It has been quite the year, and amidst their other duties, they have found the time and teamwork to create opportunities for us to share, learn, and laugh. Thank you! It is hard to sum up the year we have all had. But we can all be uplifted by the teamwork and collaborative efforts across all of our organizations. You and your teams have not stopped since March. Our secondary administration and counsellors have stepped up and found new solutions. It has been remarkable. This year has had it all. COVID-19, the Australian wildfires, an epic return of locusts in Africa, murder hornets, and I’m pretty sure I saw four dudes on horseback yesterday at the top of the hill. Now, I am in Williams Lake, so that also could have been anybody. Joking aside, I do see significant reason for optimism. We are going to chart a path through this, and we will be stronger for it. I’ve had the opportunity to refer to our critical role as a constant guide for the education sector, and while other special interest groups pursue unique interests, we keep our eye on improving outcomes for students. It is not always easy, but we chart the path. I’d like to briefly reference the re-visioning of our strategic plan, built upon the pillars of leadership, voice, equity, and support. Our leadership will be essential to building public confidence as we continue to move through this pandemic. Our voice, though not always the loudest, must resonate clearly to be heard distinctly from the constant noise to ensure we continue to build a more equitable society through education. Critically, we will need to support each other as we work toward the same goals across vastly different regions and districts. We are stronger together. It is not easy, but if it were easy, our role would not be as critical. With that, I would just like to add one key ingredient for you to take with you into the new school year, that I am confident will help us find the path. That ingredient is YOU. All of you are the key. You have worked tirelessly in April to create something different, you did it again in June, and you will continue to do the work that gives the system calm in the midst of chaos. You don’t always get thanked enough…so THANK YOU! Your efforts are critical and appreciated. On that note, I’d also like to extend a special thank you to our Executive Director, Claire Guy, whose work and service to the organization has been invaluable. Her work makes this role doable. On behalf of the BCSSA Board, I wish you a happy and healthy return to the work you all love. Chris van der Mark President, British Columbia School Superintendents Association Superintendent, Cariboo-Chilcotin School District 27 A Message from the BCSSA President You and your teams have not stopped since March. Our secondary administration and counsellors have stepped up and found new solutions. It has been remarkable. President Chris van der Mark SD27 Cariboo-Chilcotin Vice-President Kevin Kaardal SD23 Central Okanagan Director Gino Bondi SD34 Abbotsford Director Mike Bowden SD73 Kamloops-Thompson Director Lisa McCullough SD48 Sea to Sky Membership Services Committee Chair Reno Ciolfi SD43 Coquitlam Professional Development Committee Chair Wanda Mitchell SD41 Burnaby CHAPTER DIRECTORS Fraser Valley Chapter Director Gord Stewart SD35 Langley Kootenay Boundary Chapter Director Christine Perkins SD8 Kootenay Lake Metro Chapter Director Jordan Tinney SD36 Surrey Northern Chapter Director Manu Madhok SD91 Nechako Lakes Thompson Okanagan Chapter Director Teresa Downs SD74 Thompson Okanagan Vancouver Island Chapter Director Sheryl Koers SD79 Cowichan Valley EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR Claire Guy BCSSA cguy@bcssa.org THE BCSSA BOARD OF DIRECTORS Chris van der Mark President British Columbia School Superintendents AssociationA Message from the Assistant Deputy Minister, Governance and Analytics Division D ata have the power to drive enhancements, insights, and even corrections to support student learning and equity. Trends in demography, technology, and socio-economic factors, along with reconciliation with Indigenous peoples – and, more recently, global pandemics – effect what and how students need to learn. In an information-driven world, evidence is an increasingly important element of decision making and essential to improving student outcomes. The B.C. Ministry of Education has a wealth of data about students that date back to the early 1990s. The scope for applying evidence in education settings is broad. For example, the Ministry has expanded its capacity to use newly developed evidence, analytics tools, and Keith Godin Assistant Deputy Minister Governance and Analytics Division data visualization to have a better understanding of students, to inform policies, and to solve problems. Ministry analyses help to articulate the factors that support and hinder student success to enable efficient action on improving outcomes and accountability. To understand the students’ “whole world,” the Ministry has started to link student characteristics and development information with data in other Ministries as well as major national data systems that enable understanding of labour market outcomes, post-secondary entry and performance, and detailed census characteristics. At a practical level, when data are working for us, students understand their strengths and opportunities for development. Parents and caregivers know how to best support their child with their learning journey. Teachers are continuously responding to each child’s needs. And you, as education leaders, understand the successes in classrooms across your district and are engaging in a manner that provides the greatest impact for your community. It is essential to supplement empirical observation on student characteristics and achievement with qualitative observations coming from students, teachers, parents and administrators. The Ministry collects these data through mechanisms including the annual Student Learning Survey, data sessions with district and school teams, and COVID-19 related surveys. Many school districts are increasing the use of data analyses, dashboards, and detailed research provided by the Education Analytics Office (EAO). Districts access ministry generated dashboards with current trends in their respective enrolment, assessment results, achievement and student mental health. Working in conjunction with the MyEDBC platform, and classroom level analyses such as the Foundation Skills Assessment Item Level Analysis, teachers have greater capability to use data to improve student outcomes. The EAO offers Ministry facilitated data room sessions. During a session, you and your team can explore a range of indicators to build insights to support student success and develop evidence-based strategies for continuous improvement. To set up a data room, please contact Jeremy Higgs, Executive Director, Education Analytics Office (Jeremy. Higgs@gov.bc.ca). Data and analytics are one of the most powerful tools in education. Making use of available information enhances relationships and understanding across the education system to achieve the common goal of providing the best education to B.C. students. Keith Godin Assistant Deputy Minister Governance and Analytics Division8 ED ❚ Fall 2020 Inspir B y the time you read this, we will be well into our “new normal” school year, settling into the daily work of running British Columbia’s public–school districts and supporting all learners during the COVID-19 pandemic. As I reflect on the past several months, I am impressed at how our education sector has collaborated to pivot at a moment’s notice to address the constantly changing landscape while always keeping students at the center of our efforts. Further to this, it is also impressive that we are still able to maintain some degree of normalcy, as we continue to support our members and work as a professional association. While we are now putting the final pieces in place for our Fall Conference, I would be remiss if I didn’t acknowledge the outstanding teamwork that allowed our BCSSA Summer Leadership Academy to happen. It was our first ever largescale virtual conference, and while we were disappointed to not be together in Whistler as originally planned, we managed to carve out opportunity for connection and professional learning, all while focusing on how we would show up as leaders this fall to welcome our students back to school with a sense of purpose and calm. My gratitude goes to our Professional Development Committee, Membership Committee, Membership Consultant, Bev Rundell, and small staff who pulled this all together for a meaningful experience. We especially wanted to connect with all of our new members and newly appointed superintendents, and we look forward to ongoing and inspiring group sessions throughout the year. A Message from the BCSSA Executive Director Claire Guy Executive Director British Columbia School Superintendents Association BCSSA Retirees Please join us in recognizing the retirements of these esteemed colleagues. SD6 – Superintendent Paul Carriere SD23 – Assistant Superintendent Vianne Kitzinger SD27 – Assistant Superintendent Harjinder Manhas SD27 – Director of Instruction Silvia Dubray SD27 – Director of Instruction Jerome Beauchamp SD33 – Assistant Superintendent Janet Hall SD41 – Assistant Superintendent Heather Hart SD59 – Superintendent Candace Clouthier SD60 – Superintendent David L. Sloan SD61 – Associate Superintendent Greg Kitchen SD63 – Assistant Superintendent Mark Fraser SD64 – Assistant Superintendent Linda Underwood SD67 – Superintendent Wendy Hyer SD67 – Director of Instruction Susan Thomson SD73 – Superintendent Alison Sidow SD73 – Assistant Superintendent Rob Schoen SD78 – Superintendent Karen Nelson SD83 – Assistant Superintendent Carl Cooper SD87 – Superintendent Mike Gordon SD92 – Superintendent Joe Rhodes Part of our Summer Leadership Academy included the announcement of our newly revised 2020-24 BCSSA Strategic Plan through a video created by some well-respected BCSSA colleagues and friends. We have selected to focus upon four key goal areas: leadership, voice, equity, and support. These four themes will guide us and serve to ground us in our work as a professional educational association, as well as individual leaders within our districts. Our hope is that through each issue of InspirED, you will see one or more of these themes reflected in each article contributed. It is serendipitous that this year’s professional learning (planned over 18 months ago!) focuses on compassionate system leadership. It is a very fitting topic and if there was ever a time or need for this, it is now. We look forward to continuing our exploration with Peter Senge and Mette Boell, both experts on compassionate systems, as we dive deeper into this work and focus on the well–being of our entire system. I hope that as you read through the inspiring and innovative stories shared by our colleagues for this issue, you will reflect on your own district successes as to how you are attending to the needs of your learning community, while also taking care of your own well-being. As we have heard many times, it appears that we ARE in this for the long term. So, perhaps, this will be the spark to ignite our collective creativity, while we are given permission and opportunity to do things differently in transforming the first-class education system in our province. Finally, I would like to express my sincere thanks to Chris van der Mark and the entire Board of Directors for their tremendous dedication and support of our association in such challenging times. To those who have now finished their terms as Directors, a heartfelt thank you on behalf of all of us. To those who will continue or have joined to serve in a new role – thank you and welcome. Your commitment to serve us all is appreciated. Until our next issue in April, stay safe! Claire Guy Executive Director British Columbia School Superintendents AssociationBritish Columbia School Superintendents Association 9 fter the landscape of learning changed in the spring of 2020, members of the Central Okanagan Public Schools’ Indigenous Education Department began to reimagine how to re-engage small cohorts of Indigenous Grade 12 students through land-based learning. Traditionally, Indigenous people across British Columbia have gathered and worked in groups that represent the community with Elders, youth, knowledge keepers, and skilled teachers. The focus is on the community before individuals. These sessions were purposefully set up this way with an Elder, a knowledge keeper, and a teacher who worked with small groups of five students. A real community was created, and several small families were the result of these gatherings. The purpose of this work was to create equitable opportunities for Grade 12 learners. Students who had been experiencing challenges in a traditional classroom environment and those struggling with online learning during the initial stages of COVID-19 were invited to participate in learning from the tmx w ulax w (land-based learning). Lessons were created and embedded with Indigenous worldviews and perspectives, each having a specific focus on both skills and story. You can think of it as the original cross curricular classroom, where students were able to receive credits while representing their learning in multiple ways. Collaboration between classroom teachers and principals/vice-principals at George Elliot Secondary, Rutland Secondary, and Central Schools enhanced the learning environment and the outdoors became the classroom. All activities during the land- based learning were designed to provide students with skills specific to their course (science, social studies, English). Within each three-hour block of time, we could see how strong relationships were being built and a sense of community was developing between students, families, and staff. Indigenous cultures have long passed down knowledge from generation to generation through oral traditions. Storytelling is a traditional method used to teach about cultural beliefs, values, customs, rituals, history, practices, relationships and ways of life. It is a foundation for holistic learning, relationship building and experiential learning. In the Okanagan, sen’k’lip (Coyote) travels are a record of the natural laws necessary for survival, and we learn from sen’k’lip in every aspect of captikwł (story). We found ourselves wrapped up in stories that were shared not only by fellow educators, but by the students themselves. Learning alongside students provided the time and space needed for authentic connection and conversation to unfold. Each conversation was Equity Through Land-Based Learning in 2020in 2020 By Kevin Kaiser, School District No. 23 (Central Okanagan) Elder Maureen Ziprick making a traditional medicine wheel. A George Elliot student making an arrow from Rosehips. Students harvesting medicine in Gallagher’s Canyon.Next >