Canada Post Publications Agreement Number: 40609661 InspirEDSpring 2026, Issue #15 The official journal of the British Columbia School Superintendents Association British Columbia School Superintendents AssociationBritish Columbia School Superintendents Association 5 7 A Message from the BCSSA President 9 A Message from the BCSSA CEO 11 A Message from the Minister of Education and Child Care 12 Education as Stewardship: The Work of Teaching and Leadership 15 Leading Beyond Boundaries: System-Level Practices for Transformative Collaboration 18 Collectively Understanding Our “Why”: How the Langley School Board is Implementing Change 21 Inclusion Plays Here: Transforming Playgrounds into Hubs of Communication and Belonging 23 Let’s Play: Collective Action Can Transform Early Learning 27 A Systems Approach: Surrey Schools are Cultivating New Ways of Teacher Mentorship 30 Index to Advertisers For advertising information, please email sales@matrixgroupinc.net or call 866-999-1299. If you would like to adjust the number of copies you are receiving, please email distribution@matrixgroupinc.net or call (204) 953-3497 – please be sure to mention the name of this magazine and your name and / or organization. FEATURES On the cover: This issue’s cover features a photo from Westview Elementary School. Several staff members dressed up for some Halloween fun. Photo courtesy of North Vancouver School District. CONTENTSGREETINGSBritish Columbia School Superintendents Association 7 A Message from the BCSSA President A s we reflect upon and reimagine learning leadership, we do so against the backdrop of a massive technological transformation. In this moment, we must set our eyes upon the children entering the system as kindergartners, while anticipating the kind of world they will inherit. Beyond preparing them for it, our aspiration must be to ensure they can find their purpose, lead, grow, and thrive. Artificial intelligence (AI) and automation are no longer distant possibilities. Instead, they are already reshaping the world of work, higher education, and even our daily lives. Students are now growing up in a world filled with tools designed to make life efficient and productive in all these areas. However, these same advances threaten to become new distractions for our students in the near future, and potentially, a detriment to their career aspirations. Reimagining learning leadership then, is not simply about refining our current practices in anticipation of technological change but instead redefining them. We must begin by actively investigating and understanding a world that is increasingly shaped by AI, automation, and other accelerating technologies. True leadership will come from anticipating the opportunities and pressures that are a result of these changes, and positioning our students to navigate them with resilience, positivity, and creativity. We can redefine current practices by applying our collective wisdom and experience to teach critical thinking, culturally responsive practices, and social emotional learning to further strengthen our students’ foundational skills. In this context, our focus on social emotional learning (SEL) will continue to grow. It is the process through which individuals British Columbia School Superintendents Association Reimagining Leadership through Transformation Mark Pearmain acquire and apply the knowledge, skills, and dispositions to develop healthy identities, manage emotions, achieve personal and collective goals, feel and show empathy, establish supportive relationships, and make responsible decisions. In a world shaped by AI, these human skills are even more critical. Machines can automate tasks, but they cannot replace human connection. In an AI-driven world, leadership can be grounded in culturally responsive practices that reinforce a commitment to lifelong learning when it comes to understanding the experiences of others. In an increasingly connected world, where misinformation and disinformation can travel far and wide, and quickly cross borders, we will need to show our students how to navigate a world with competing worldviews and political perspectives. We have already seen that algorithms can amplify bias, and disparate access to tools and technologies may drive further inequity. It will be imperative for education leaders to be vigilant – centring equity and belonging and considering how learning experiences can incorporate cultural belonging. Recently, I joined Stephen Quinn on CBC’s Early Edition, along with Pedro da Silva of the Vancouver School Board, to discuss how teaching critical thinking will continue to be a priority for education leaders. Districts across British Columbia have been focused on digital literacy for many years now as part of their curriculum. Our educators have the wisdom and expertise to embed critical thinking into a variety of subjects, disciplines, and natural conversations emerging in the classroom. By strengthening these skills in our students, we prepare them to navigate a world rife with misinformation and disinformation while using technology safely, ethically, and with purpose. As we do this work, there is another simple yet crucial consideration for us – there are many experiences that technology will never be able to replicate. Teaching students to connect with nature and ground themselves through natural play and outdoor experiences at any age, cultivates creativity, deep thinking, problem solving, and well-being. Building meaningful human relationships strengthens their capacity for collaboration and empathy. These may seem like practices from the past, but they are an effective way to counter the constant presence of technology. In a future influenced by rapid technological advancement, true education leadership will be defined by how adaptive, responsive, and creative we are, while remaining committed to practices that work. These include literacy, numeracy, scientific exploration, social emotional learning, and critical thinking. Ultimately, our responsibility as leaders is not to simply prepare our students for a transformed world, but to empower them to shape it with wisdom, empathy and purpose. Mark Pearmain President British Columbia School Superintendents AssociationBritish Columbia School Superintendents Association 9 P ublic education in British Columbia is, at its core, a living system that is complex, adaptive, and deeply human. It is shaped not only by structures and policies, but by relationships, shared purpose, and the daily leadership decisions made in service of learners and communities. The Spring edition of InspirED invites us to listen closely to the voices within that system and to reflect on how learning leadership is being reimagined across districts in thoughtful, intentional, and courageous ways. Across the articles in this issue, a common thread emerges: meaningful change does not occur through isolated initiatives or top-down directives alone. Rather, it is cultivated through systems thinking: an understanding that improvement depends on coherence, trust, shared learning, and responsiveness to local context. The leaders featured here demonstrate how attending to the conditions that allow people and ideas to connect can lead to sustained impact for students and educators alike. This systems perspective is particularly evident in Surrey’s approach to teacher mentorship. By recognizing mentorship as a dynamic network rather than a linear program, leaders have intentionally designed conditions that honour diversity, distributed leadership, and peer interaction. Serving more than 1,000 educators, this work illustrates how thoughtful attention to system design can strengthen professional learning at scale while remaining responsive to individual needs. It is a powerful reminder that mentorship is not simply a support structure but also a leadership practice that shapes culture. Several contributions also highlight how learning itself is being redefined. In Comox Valley, the pedagogy of play has evolved from a small community of practice into a district-wide movement. By positioning play as essential, rather than supplemental, leaders are deepening teacher intentionality and strengthening student agency and engagement. This work challenges long-held assumptions about where rigour resides and underscores the role of leadership in creating permission for innovation grounded in sound pedagogy. Collaboration beyond traditional boundaries is another hallmark of this issue. The partnership between Alvin A. McKay Elementary School and the Nisga’a School District illustrates how system- level leadership can dismantle silos and foster equity-driven collaboration across communities. Through shared visioning and co-designed professional learning, leaders are building A Message from the BCSSA CEO Voices in the System: Reimagining Learning Leadership capacity not just within schools, but across the system, ensuring that leadership development and student success are mutually reinforcing. A shared sense of purpose – our collective “why” – is also central to sustaining change. In Langley, the belief that every child matters is embedded not only in classrooms, but across operational and administrative structures. Aligning resources, services, and decision-making with this commitment demonstrates how leadership coherence can support Indigenous and priority learners while strengthening the entire system. The importance of language, story, and meaning-making comes into focus through North Vancouver’s Curriculum Implementation Day. Centered on literacy as a foundation for learning and identity, this work reminds us that in times of rapid technological and social change, schools remain anchors of continuity and care. Leadership that foregrounds literacy and shared narrative helps stabilize practice and nurture a sense of belonging. Finally, Revelstoke’s work to transform playgrounds into inclusive spaces of communication and connection reinforces that leadership for equity is often expressed through design, both physical and relational. By centering the needs of neurodiverse and non-verbal learners, district leaders demonstrate how inclusion becomes real when it is intentional, collaborative, and system-wide. Collectively, these stories affirm the strength and vision of BCSSA members. They reflect leadership that is grounded in values, attentive to complexity, and unwavering in its commitment to learners. As an association, BCSSA is proud to amplify these voices and to support superintendents and senior leaders as they continue to reimagine what is possible within our public education system. Together, we are shaping learning environments where every learner and every leader can thrive. Gino Bondi CEO British Columbia School Superintendents Association Gino BondiNext >