< Previous20 ED ❚ Fall 2023 Inspir joined Sea to Sky School District in August of 2022 in a new role designed to build capacity in early learning and child care. What does it mean to build capacity? From my perspective, building capacity and fostering a culture of curiosity are interrelated. This is how we engage educators in reflection, dialogue, research, and collaboration. Inquiry is “a lived daily practice and mindset.” 1 Curiosity, “the fuel of transformative leadership and value creation,” 2 drives learning and growth forward. How can system leaders foster a culture of curiosity and inquiry? In From Teaching to Thinking: A Pedagogy for Reimaging our Work, authors Ann Pelo and Margie Carter recommend organizational leaders practice pedagogical leadership, “supporting educators’ thinking rather than their teaching, and their embrace of inquiry rather than instruction.” 3 This reframing helped me envision my work and form my inquiry question as a pedagogical leader: how do I create a culture of trust, innovation, and curiosity to build capacity in early learning and child care? Experience has taught me that this work is relational. Thus, last year I spent much of September and October visiting school and community sites to learn the context and build rapport. I met a primary teacher during one of these visits and she invited me to accompany her class to a nearby forested area. We stood beside each other, “rooted in the immediacy” 4 as the students explored. Children climbed boulders, collected sticks, and searched for bugs. A few became engrossed with two giant perpendicular logs. The children sat on opposite ends of the top log as it teetered back and forth and they jumped on and off as it moved up and down. More children gathered and curiosity grew. The children expressed a desire to balance the log. Some children focused on how many bodies should be on each end. Others pushed and pulled. A child placed a large rock on one end and the resulting movement prompted a search for weighted props. The teacher and I turned to each other, pleased to be witnessing such magic together. While she was observing School District 48’s Medicine Wheel helps guide educators as they work to create safe, purposeful, and powerful learning environments. By Heather Androsoff, SD48 (Sea to Sky) Living InquiryBritish Columbia School Superintendents Association 21 her students at work, I was observing her as a developing educator. This shared experience offered me a window into her early learning pedagogy and practice. From my observations, I could see that she had an appreciation for and interest in nature and wanted to share this with her students. She understood that children experience joy during play, and that play is how children learn. She afforded her students opportunities to take risks and learn through exploration. She saw children as capable and provided students with autonomy and agency. After a while, she turned to me and asked, “how do I assess learning outdoors?” I paused for a moment, recognizing this as a potential opportunity for reflection and inquiry. Her question was worth investigating. I thought she might be wondering how to authentically embed reflective and assessment practices that honour children’s playful curiosity. I figured she would benefit from a deeper understanding of how her work aligned with B.C.’s Early Learning Framework, our district’s Education Plan, and the B.C. Curriculum. For the time being, I suggested she take photos of the children as they explored. In November, I approached the teacher about working collaboratively on an inquiry question. She was enrolled in Simon Fraser University’s Field Study Program and wanted to focus on that. I told her I understood and wished her luck in completing her program. A few months later, the seed that was planted emerged. The teacher emailed me expressing a desire to validate her work and grow her confidence. She wanted to discuss the possibility of us working together. I thought she might be seeking a critical friend, someone who “acts as a provocateur, offering challenge alongside support.” 5 I wanted to connect her to an inquiry network, since “pedagogical practice is born in dialogue.” 6 She accepted the invitation Students at Garibaldi Highlands Elementary school explore possibilities on a log during an outdoor investigation. The B.C. Early Learning Framework establishes a vision for respectfully living and learning together. Learn more here: www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/education-training/early-learning/teach/early-learning-framework to join Changing Possibilities for Young Children (B.C. Ministry of Education) and learned four key practices: Collaborative Dialogue, Pedagogy of Listening, Pedagogical Narration, and Critical Reflection. 7 She also participated in an inquiry group focused specifically on pedagogical narration, “the process of noticing and collecting moments from daily practice and sharing these with colleagues, children, and families.” 8 She soon developed the following inquiry questions: How can exploring the process of pedagogical narration guide my outdoor learning continued on page 2222 ED ❚ Fall 2023 Inspir SPECIALTY SECTION: SCHOOL DESTINATIONS experiences with my students? How do I invite others to engage in dialogue and reflection to consider multiple perspectives and grow as a professional? Who are the pedagogical matches that will support me in my learning? She found parallels between her work and her Field Study Program and captured this learning in her working portfolio. One day, her students uncovered some wood bugs outside. Having gained some knowledge about documenting children’s thinking and learning, she listened closely and wrote down comments and questions that emerged from the students as they interacted with the bugs and each other. She also took photos and videos. When I returned for a visit, “living inquiries” 9 containing documentation of children’s learning filled her classroom walls. I witnessed her students participating in project-based, multimodal learning. I circulated as one group made a wood bug habitat out of paper mache, a second group created a wood bug model using cardboard, a third group researched facts about wood bugs on iPads to publish non-fiction resources, and a fourth group developed a story drama and designed wood bug costumes for the characters. I stayed attuned to her development and worked to support her along her journey. When she questioned her intuition, we found grounding in the Big Idea, “curiosity and wonder lead us to new discoveries about ourselves and the world around us” 10 As her confidence grew, we looked at the student competencies on our district’s Education Plan and she thought about what skills her students were already demonstrating and what skills they were ready to learn and develop. We brainstormed ways to move students’ learning forward and then we shifted our focus to student self-reflection. We looked at our competency goals once again and considered which area most authentically related to the work she was doing with her students. The goal collaborate, which is also a pedagogical pathway in our Education Plan, spoke to her as an important component of her work. She chose a statement within that competency and formulated a question to pose to her students to support them in thinking about their learning. A few weeks later, she proudly showed me some student self-reflections from the wood bug inquiry Having gained some knowledge about documenting children’s thinking and learning, she listened closely and wrote down comments and questions that emerged from the students as they interacted with the bugs and each other. continued from page 21British Columbia School Superintendents Association 23 SPECIALTY SECTION: SCHOOL DESTINATIONS project in response to her question, how do I use the ideas of others to get new ideas and to solve problems? We discussed the next steps. As time progressed, I considered ways to contribute to our district in my current role. I realized that visiting multiple sites afforded me the chance to build capacity by creating opportunities for educators to share their thinking and learning district wide. Stories connect us to ourselves and each other. They humanize professional development creating the conditions necessary for learning, change, and growth. When Changing Possibilities for Young Children came to a close, it seemed the perfect opportunity for the teacher who I had been working with to share her learning. We engaged in storytelling together because after all, inquiry is “a shared construction of knowledge and understanding.” 11 Her learning story about one of her students brought some of us to tears because it was so impactful. There are days I wonder, how am I contributing? Am I achieving what I set out to do? Am I making an impact? The other day I received a text message from an administrator in our district who attached a photo she took at the beach with the caption, “thought of you when I took this. What a great what do you think could be happening here? photo!” Examples such as this help me see how I am making an impact in our district. This grass roots approach to pedagogical leadership takes patience to grow, but what a joy it is living inquiry. Heather Androsoff is District Vice Principal of Early Learning and Child Care in School District 48 (Sea to Sky). She is also a member of the Instructional Leadership Team. Heather previously worked in Burnaby School District and the University of British Columbia’s Teacher Education Program. She is the author of Scout and Kit Become Friends and Social Stories 4 Kids. 1. British Columbia School Superintendents’ Association. The Spirit of Leadership, 2022. (p.6). 2. Goldenberg, S. (2022). Radical Curiosity: Questioning Commonly Held Beliefs to Imagine Flourishing Futures. New York. (p.3). 3. Pelo, A. & Carter, M. (2019). From Teaching to Thinking: A Pedagogy for Reimaging our Work. Lincoln: NE. (p.60). 4. Ibid. (p.53). 5. Ibid. (p.78). 6. Ibid. (p.86). 7. B.C. Ministry of Education. (2019). British Columbia Early Learning Framework. Victoria, B.C. 8. Ibid. (p.47). 9. Ibid. (p.63). 10. B.C. Ministry of Education. (2015). English Language Arts Big Ideas: K-9. (p.1). Retrieved from: www.curriculum.gov.bc.ca/sites/curriculum. gov.bc.ca/files/curriculum/continuous-views/ en_ela_k-9_big_ideas.pdf 11. Pelo, A. & Carter, M. (2019). (p.52).26 ED ❚ Fall 2023 Inspir fter the racial reckoning of 2020, several senior management teams in British Columbia have felt compelled to actively demonstrate that they are diverse, inclusive, and supportive of racial equity. With the increased awareness of systemic racism within B.C. education, many school districts have begun the difficult work of breaking down systemic and attitudinal barriers to inclusion. However, unless districts begin to innovate and remain curious about solving issues impacting racialized people in their organizations, the current anti-racism movement in B.C. education will become stagnant. We have heard the call of racialized and other marginalized staff demanding more equitable treatment. Most want to work for districts that are not just paying lip service to racial equity progress or rushing to showcase their care for Indigenous, Black, and People of Colour (IBPOC) members of their community. They want legitimate inclusion that sustains a culture of compassionate understanding and acceptance. They require a hopeful and encouraging culture that will endure and continue to feed and protect their spirits. Educational leaders often seek swift solutions as we do not want to perpetuate harm. But in our earnest determination to heal, we must resist the temptation to create a quick “fix.” Some districts have done the challenging, often painful work of uncovering the harm caused by discrimination and unchecked biases. The trauma and suffering of staff, students, and families provoke us to take immediate action. This has included increasing diverse hires to help our racialized members see themselves within faculty and district leadership. However, we must first accurately understand the harmful underlying conditions within our organizations that make racialized people feel unwelcome and unable to stay. From Inquiry to Action: By Beth Applewhite and Barbara White, British Columbia Black Educational Leaders Association Courageously Building the Inclusive World We Seek Some may suggest that it is impossible to create spaces “free of racism and discrimination” because human beings are self-focused, flawed, unpredictable, struggle to change, and will make mistakes. However, we also know that it is possible for human beings to change, engage in deep inquiry, and take risks. British Columbia School Superintendents Association 27 To effectively address racism in school districts and create a culture that will retain racialized hires, it is important to first build consensus around there being a problem and where it comes from. If there is a lack of understanding of systemic racism and how it causes oppressive inequities and upholds barriers to opportunities, then equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) initiatives will be perceived as the problem, not the solution. To be effective, districts need to move beyond raising awareness and increasing understanding to developing genuine concern and focusing on sustainable corrective measures. We must also envision moving from “problem-fixing to possibility-creating.” 1 “Embed opportunities for innovation across the organization which demonstrate and foster trust and transparency.” 2 How will we create leadership capacity opportunities that attract and empower racialized candidates? How will we measure the impact with transparency? How will we support affinity spaces at all levels of our system? What will we create to empower racialized district and school staff to better navigate the “invisible currents” of systemic racism that we all swim in? How will we listen to gain understanding and build trust? How will we invite racialized and other marginalized people to district tables? How will we ensure their experiences at the table are encouraging and empowering? How will we know? District leaders may not be able to change the world, but they can certainly change their world. We are hopeful that this continued movement for change will encourage school district leaders to come up with innovative solutions that will make meaningful improvements that will truly make a difference for racialized people. Such improvements will make schools and district offices more diverse, inclusive, and safe, and will support the mental health and well-being of all staff and students. District leaders need to challenge themselves to remain curious about how to best create legitimate inclusion within their organization. To do so requires much humility and risk taking. This also requires the courage to model supportive, thoughtful risk taking as school and district leaders will need to see their colleagues and supervisors venturing into action before they, themselves, will feel safe and supported enough to be vulnerable and ask truly transformative questions. The most crucial question we must ask ourselves is not “what can we do?” but rather “do we truly have the will to do it consistently?” This requires ample time to thoughtfully unpack. If we subjectively pick and choose when to do the challenging work of equity and anti-racism, and if we have not unpacked ourselves to determine whether we personally have the will to remain fully committed, we will cause harm. Being curious is not simply a matter of becoming more aware, more enlightened about our own biases and prejudice; we need to also attend to the hard, sometimes painful, question of when and how do our own daily lived experiences as leaders help reproduce the status quo? As author, theorist, educator, and social critic, bell hooks teaches us, “The heart of justice is truth telling, seeing ourselves and the world the way it is rather than the way we want it to be.” 3 Note, bell hooks was born Gloria Jean Watkins. She chose her great- grandmother’s name as her pseudonym, spelling it in lower case to focus the attention on her message rather than herself. 4 Can cultural safety provide a pathway for curiosity, transparency, questioning, and action to create “better life chances” for all staff across school districts? Irihapeti Ramsden, a Ma¯ori nurse from New Zealand, proposed a cultural safety model for the nursing education curriculum to improve healthcare outcomes for Ma¯ori people. 5 This model has been modified around the world and here in B.C. the First Nations Health Authority describes cultural safety as “an outcome based on respectful engagement that recognizes and strives to address power imbalances inherent in the health care system. It results in an environment free of racism and discrimination, where people feel safe when receiving health care.” 6 Is cultural safety possible in education and if it is, how would it change the lives of staff and students who identify as members of the IBPOC community? What would it take for superintendents to collaboratively create school environments where all staff and students feel safe? Some may suggest that it is impossible to create spaces “free of racism and discrimination” because human beings are self-focused, flawed, unpredictable, struggle to change, and will continued on page 2828 ED ❚ Fall 2023 Inspir SPECIALTY SECTION: SCHOOL DESTINATIONS make mistakes. However, we also know that it is possible for human beings to change, engage in deep inquiry, and take risks. We suggest that one approach to creating “better life chances” for racialized staff and students is to advocate for vulnerability in our leadership. What signals are present in district offices and schools to let IBPOC staff and students know that they are welcomed, they belong, and that they are accepted as whole persons and not just as their stereotyped tropes? How do administrators lead their schools in courageous conversations about bias, racism, privilege, and respecting the voices of racialized youth? Researcher and storyteller Brené Brown observes in her book Dare to Lead that, “The true underlying obstacle to brave leadership is how we respond to our fear. The real barrier to daring leadership is our armour – the thoughts, emotions, and behaviours that we use to protect ourselves when we aren’t willing and able to rumble with vulnerability.” 7 It is possible to enter into high-level decision-making spaces with openness, empathy, and courage, to listen unguarded and hold our feelings of discomfort gently with kindness and curiosity. District and school leaders have a great deal of power to change our learning environments. What are some of the personal fears that arise when working to increase equity and accountability across districts? I can’t take on the risk of engaging teachers and staff in examining privilege; I am not even sure that I know the answers for myself. I may have to admit that I fear giving up privilege. What does that say about me and my values? I could be seen as inauthentic, someone who cannot live their values, and that would be too much exposure, too much pressure. I don’t know how to do any of this. The chances of being wrong, rejected as racist, and losing respect and collegial connections are too great. All these concerns are real and valid, and we argue that the “Spirit of Leadership” invites leaders to act courageously while being with their fears and leaning into discomfort. Brown reminds us that, “Courage is contagious. To scale daring leadership and build courage in teams and organizations, we have to cultivate a culture in which brave work, tough conversations, and whole hearts are the expectation, and armor is not necessary or rewarded.” 8 Racialized leaders, staff, and students navigate the world everyday trying to bare up under the prodigious weight of society’s racist constructs in their lives, wondering if they can find respite in the awakened continued from page 27British Columbia School Superintendents Association 29 heart of a colleague, mentor, teacher, or administrator. The British Columbia Black Educational Leaders Association (BCBELA) emerged from courageous and vulnerable curiosity. A number of Black educators in B.C. began to ask, what if we created a new space where we could find community, see ourselves and feel seen, and share experiences and be believed, validated, and supported. We innovated and took the risk of creating a space where Black educational leaders can be our authentic professional selves and advocate for more inclusion, representation, and opportunities. Our purpose is to empower and inspire educators who self-identify as Black or of Black African descent to build thriving learning communities by uplifting Black voices and dismantling anti-Black racism and all forms of oppression. Our goal is to provide meaningful professional development that focuses on sustaining the use of equity and anti-racism lenses. We are committed to supporting and walking alongside educational partners to create a more equitable, inclusive, and anti-racist education system in British Columbia. Being together in community has brought us closer to the values of our ancestors and grounds us in hope. Because we hold space for each other, we feel a strong sense of belonging, and we feel safe enough to be our true selves. Additionally, we bring much love, joy, and compassion to our work together and remain curious about the possibilities of further innovating anti-racism and inclusion work. What if districts became places where IBPOC leaders, staff, and students could take the risk of “truly being seen” instead of being just another space where their identity, ideas, stories, lived experiences, and voices are minimized or discarded altogether? What questions would need to change, what new connections made, what ideas challenged, relationships built, and actions taken for us to provide such a life-changing refuge for our district and school staff? Can we open ourselves to defenseless listening without interruption, judgment, or reframing in the boardroom, district meeting spaces, staffrooms, professional development events, classrooms, hallways, and playgrounds across the District leaders need to challenge themselves to remain curious about how to best create legitimate inclusion within their organization. To do so requires much humility and risk taking. continued on page 31 SPECIALTY SECTION: SCHOOL DESTINATIONSNext >