InspirEDSpring 2020 The official journal of the British Columbia School Superintendents Association Canada Post Publications Agreement Number: 40609661 Mission Possible: The Importance of Career Education Also Inside: Connecting with the Indigenous Community Mentoring Teachers And more! British Columbia School Superintendents AssociationBritish 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 of Education 8 A Message from the BCSSA Executive Director 9 Lheidli T’enneh Nation 2019 ‘Balhats’ with School District No. 57 11 Capstone: A Bridge Connecting Schools with Communities 13 Heavy Metal Rocks: Where Education Meets Industry 15 Careers: Changing Lives in Cowichan Valley 19 B.C. Students Preparing for Careers in Cybersecurity 23 A K-12 Priority: Careers and Transitions Opportunities for Students 27 New Teacher Mentorship: Beyond Skill Mastery to Building Learning Capacity 30 Index to Advertisers For advertising information, please email sales@matrixgroupinc.net. GREETINGS FEATURES A Message to our Readers When all of the articles for this edition of InspirED were written and submitted, the COVID-19 crisis was not first and foremost on the minds of us all, and we were not in the crisis that we have all experienced during the past several weeks. By the time you receive this, you will have already been working to support your communities through what truly will be a transformation in education. If there was ever a time and need for inspiring stories, it is now! We wish to thank you all for the amazing work you are doing to continue to provide learning opportunities for students among very challenging circumstances. We wish you all health and wellness as you take care of each other and those around you. Chris van der Mark and Claire Guy6 ED ❚ Spring 2020 Inspir I t is serendipitous, that in the year 2020, we should think a bit about our vision in education. I mean, we think about it all the time, but it would be nice to have, dare I say, 20/20 vision. Many districts and organizations are embarking upon strategic planning and visioning activities. This focus resonates for me in our work, possibly more than ever. We are constantly reminded of the rapidly changing world our students are moving through and some of the inherent challenges they face. One of the emerging themes requiring attention and vision is the increasingly polarized world we live in. We appear to be in a moment of time where issues are viewed as black or white, partly because that seems clear. It’s not. A lot of it is fuzzy, maybe blurred around the edges… much is (or should be) nuanced. We need to use 20/20 vision to find the clarity and navigate the nuance so that as we explore Educational Voice for Student Learning, Leadership for Learning, Equity for Learning, and Member Support, we can make sense of some of the blurry difficult bits, rather than simply magnify the clear lines of polarized black/white thinking we are seeing. Given the complexity and context of the world we exist in, it is hard to have 20/20 vision, at the best of times. However, by working together, we can all collectively see a little bit clearer. I’ve used the North Star metaphor before, and I believe that collectively, we all shine brighter, and together we can find the clarity that makes the world a bit better for our students and their futures. With that, let’s all look forward to working together to enhance students’ lives across our province. Thank you all for bringing passion, joy and clarity to the wonderful world or education! I look forward to seeing you all in the near future! Chris van der Mark President, British Columbia School Superintendents Association Superintendent, Cariboo-Chilcotin School District 27 A Message from the BCSSA President Given the complexity and context of the world we exist in, it is hard to have 20/20 vision, at the best of times. However, by working together, we can all collectively see a little bit clearer. President Chris van der Mark Vice-President Kevin Kaardal Director Gino Bondi Director Christine Perkins Director Lisa McCullough Membership Services Chair Reno Ciolfi Professional Development Chair Wanda Mitchell Executive Director Claire Guy THE BCSSA BOARD OF DIRECTORS Fraser Valley Gord Stewart Kootenay-Boundary Paul Carriere Metro Jordan Tinney Northern Manu Madhok Thompson-Okanagan Teresa Downs Vancouver Island Sheryl Koers CHAPTER DIRECTORS Summer 2020 August 19-21, 2020 Fairmont Chateau Whistler Fall 2020 November 5-6, 2020 Westin Bayshore Vancouver Spring 2021 April 13, 2021 Westin Bayshore Vancouver Summer 2021 August 18-20, 2021 Fairmont Chateau Whistler Fall 2021 November 18-19, 2020 Westin Bayshore Vancouver Event dates for the next several years are already available online. Visit www.bcssa.org for details. JOIN BCSSA AT THESE UPCOMING EVENTS Chris van der MarkBritish Columbia School Superintendents Association 7 A Message from the Assistant Deputy Minister of Education I am delighted to be given this opportunity to provide an update on the work that is happening around students’ career development. It is an area that I am passionate about because I believe it’s critical that all students leave high school excited about the opportunities that await them. We are all bombarded with the message that the world is changing more and more rapidly. Our young people are told that a large percentage of future jobs don’t yet exist today, that many existing jobs have a high chance of being affected by automation or artificial intelligence, that the gig economy will make permanent full-time jobs an historical artifact, and that students will change careers umpteen times during their lifetime. It is no wonder that too many of our Grade 10 and 12 students tell us they don’t feel well prepared for the life after graduation! Since 1989, following the visionary work from the Royal Commission on Education, the mandate of the British Columbia public school system has been to foster “the educated citizen” through three goals – intellectual development, human and social development, and career development. Although these three goals were set out over thirty years ago, they are still very relevant in today’s society and are reflected throughout the curriculum. The curriculum Nicola Lemmer Assistant Deputy Minister Education Programs Division is learner-centred and flexible, and maintains a focus on literacy and numeracy, while supporting deeper learning. The core competencies (thinking, communication, and personal and social) align with the skills and competencies that employers state are needed to succeed in the workplace. The new career education curricula that span K-12 are a strong signal that we honour career development as one of our key goals. CLE and CLC courses for high school students provide the flexibility for students to pursue their own passions and connect their learning to the world. Under BC’s graduation program, all students must complete a capstone – a final project that celebrates what they have learned and helps them explore their preferred future. Other career programs offer students additional opportunities to develop work- related skills. As well, career competencies are not isolated to career curriculum and programs; they are woven throughout the curriculum and all educators have an opportunity to help students explore and understand their skills, interests and abilities. The evidence shows our education system is preparing students well for the future and we must do more. Over the past year, my team has been engaging with K-12, post-secondary and business community partners to discuss how we can all contribute to greater career development of our students. We hosted a Careers Summit on May 31, 2019 to kick off the discussion and have subsequently met with numerous partners to get a sense of what is working well, what the barriers are and what we could be doing better. We have heard that schools and teachers are taking advantage of the new curriculum to provide students with more experiential learning. The capstone project is allowing students to pursue a passion and plan their next steps. Innovative partnerships with local employers lead to mentoring and meaningful work experience opportunities. Priority students are being supported to transition to post-secondary through dual credit programs. But we also have heard that, when faced with many other priorities, career development can fall to the bottom of the pile. Students and parents don’t have the supports they need to make informed choices. Employers want to connect with their local schools but don’t know how to go about it. Not all students have equitable access to opportunities for meaningful career exploration. Through these conversations, we have received a great deal of advice and recommendations on how to tackle these challenges. The Ministry has taken this input and developed a draft response document for feedback. We want to know whether we’ve captured the challenges and opportunities accurately, and whether our proposed actions are going to make a difference for students. I would like to thank all of you who have already contributed to this process, and I look forward to hearing from more of you in the coming months as we turn a draft document into something real. By turning our collective attention to how we can better prepare our students, I want the story to change from one of anxiety about the future to one of excitement about the possibilities that await our youth. Our students should have confidence that they will leave the K-12 system with the essential skills and competencies that will enable them to achieve their potential, regardless of what the world looks like. They will be adaptable, flexible and resilient. They will be prepared for a lifetime of learning and exploration. They will thrive – which will enable British Columbia to thrive. Nicola Lemmer Assistant Deputy Minister Education Programs Division8 ED ❚ Spring 2020 Inspir A s someone who is passionate about career education, I am excited that several of the articles in this third edition of BCSSA’s InspirED journal focus on the importance of and innovative work happening in our province regarding career development. Several years ago, I was fortunate to be part of an amazing team of educators who created the K-12 Career Education Curriculum document as part of the curriculum re-design. At the time, all of us at the table repeatedly said, “if we get this right, this could be the game changer for curriculum transformation and student learning in our province.” It felt as though we were among a lone group of educators championing this work, and while there were pockets of brilliance and support, the career education dialogue was not universal, and Capstone was an unknown reality. But the interest in this area has exploded and we are seeing every district put its own local stamp of ownership, innovation, creativity, and partnership to truly personalize and tailor the career education experience for each student. In the past, career education had been one of the three goals of the BC education system that somehow managed to fall to the side of peoples’ desks as they occupied themselves with what they believed were the more tangible and accessible goals – the intellectual and social/ emotional development of students. But now, with the acknowledgement that this is indeed an important and valued area in BC education, districts are devoting outstanding energy, time, dedication, and funding into supporting students’ personal interests and passions. The articles in this magazine are just a small sample of the many inspiring examples of how districts are capitalizing on the knowledge from Indigenous Elders, community partnerships, staff expertise, and local resources to expand the learning outside of the traditional classroom to provide students with relevant and meaningful opportunities to explore possible career pathways. I applaud the Ministry of Education and our many education and industry partners for putting this curricular area on the educational map and for highlighting its proper place among the many important and sometimes competing interests in BC education. As this issue of InspirEd goes to press, you will be hearing more about a provincial career education strategy that will be launched by the Ministry of Education and this will provide further direction and ideas to support the career development journey for our students. Finally, I want to thank YOU, our passionate and dedicated leaders who have contributed to this edition of InspirED. As we work collectively as an association to revise our BCSSA Strategic Plan for the coming years, it is clear that the need to be the leading provincial educational voice for student learning is emerging as a major theme of our work as system leaders. This journal is one way we can positively share our voice and contribute to the well-being of the entire system. And hopefully, with the sharing of these stories, you are inspired to reach out and connect with colleagues across the regions to expand your professional learning. So please, keep these amazing articles and stories coming! Thank you. Claire Guy Executive Director British Columbia School Superintendents Association A Message from the BCSSA Executive Director The articles in this magazine are just a small sample of the many inspiring examples of how districts are capitalizing on the knowledge from Indigenous Elders, community partnerships, staff expertise, and local resources to expand the learning outside of the traditional classroom to provide students with relevant and meaningful opportunities to explore possible career pathways. Claire Guy Executive Director British Columbia School Superintendents AssociationBritish Columbia School Superintendents Association 9 By Pamela Spooner, School District No. 57 (Prince George) with School District No. 57 Lheidli T’enneh Nation 2019 “Balhats” he first Balhats hosted by the Lheidli T’enneh in 70 years, an All Clans Balhats was held on November 29, 2019, to celebrate the vital and growing partnership between the Lheidli T’enneh and School District No. 57 (Prince George). SD 57 operates over 40 schools on the unceded and ancestral lands of the Lheidli T’enneh. Approximately 30 per cent of students in the district self-identify as Indigenous. “Today is the day Lheidli regained the Balhats, regained their history and turned the corner toward a vibrant and sustainable future,” said Chief Clay Pountney. The Balhats was an historic event as it signified the reclaiming of traditional governance by Lheidli T’enneh. The main purpose of this Balhats was not just to recognize and solidify the existing partnership, but to highlight that the School District is willing to be increasingly accountable for the success of our Indigenous students and understands how this will positively impact the entire community. In addition, several other community partnerships were strengthened. Elders from surrounding Indigenous communities who have maintained and revitalized their Balhats were invited to help Lheidli Elders and community members regain Lheidli T’enneh Dayi (Chief) Clay Pountney presented Pamela Spooner, Director of Aboriginal Education for School District No. 57, with a plaque and flag at the Balhats, held at Uda Dune Baiyoh (House of Ancestors). Next >