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In This Month's Edition
- New Beginnings
- From the Field
- Leadership Development
New Beginnings
Welcome to 2024! Just as we have transitioned from being system leaders to consultants, the new year brings opportunities for you to create new beginnings in your work as school and system leaders. Our new beginning has been an opportunity to reflect on all of our past work and determine how we could share our experiences, learnings and success to support others to be their best for those they serve. New beginnings don't mean throwing away and starting fresh, new beginnings begin with reflection. When we want to start something new or make a change we need to take a step back and look at what is working for us and things that need to be tweaked or overhauled.
New beginnings need to be thought through. When we work with others we need to ensure that they understand the reasons for doing the work. In our past efforts, we were very intentional about explaining the "WHY" behind our actions and support. We also learned that we had to explain how these new supports fit/enhanced the work we were currently doing. With all of the "initiatives" educators have seen it is important for people to understand how this work will be of value to what is already in place. As Simon Sinek contends "People don't buy what you sell, they buy why you sell it." The work that happens prior to a new beginning is as important as the new beginning itself. What data do you have that supports the need for this new beginning? What is the research behind it? How will you measure its impact? How does it fit with your current work? All of these questions need to be answered in your preparation for your new beginning.
If this segment resonates with you we'd love to hear your thoughts and/or support you in your new beginnings!
From the Field
“Coaching sessions very conducive to growth and reflection.”
In the 2023-2024 school year I began a process of working with JAM consulting to refine my leadership practice and fine tune some of the strategies our school was working towards. Both Rita and Shan have a relaxed approach which made these coaching sessions very conducive to growth and reflection. JAM consulting first made sure they had a good lay of the land and our current situation before digging into thought-provoking questions related to the strategies we identified on our three-year plan for improvement. As result of their three visits to date, we have reworked some of our specific goal performance measurement plans. This change has resulted in teachers' self-reflecting on their current practice, students providing instructional baseline data for feedback, and the schools' admin team refocusing our instructional walkthroughs.
Mark Crozier
Principal, Jasper Junior Senior High School
Leadership Development
We are passionate about developing school and system leaders to become effective leaders who, in turn, build the skills of their teaching staff. A huge focus of our system work was, and continues to be, working with school administrators and central office staff to ensure that their continued growth impacts those that they serve. Research shows us that after classroom teachers, the principal has the next largest influence on the success of students.
In Alberta, we have professional standards for teachers, school and system leaders, as well as for superintendents. Our consulting work allows us to work with school and system administration in building their skills and capacity in meeting the standards. Our mentorship approach challenges leaders to reflect on their practice and affords us the opportunity to coach them about next steps that will enhance their ability to have an effective, positive impact on their students and staff.
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