Summer Institute #1 - August 16-17, 2023
Delta Hotel Dartmouth
ALP Summer Institute #1 consists of two components – Insights Discovery and Leadership Conference: Leading for Equity: Creating a Community of Care
The Insights Discovery WORKSHOP (1 day) August 16, 2023
Participants will be immersed in the Insights Discovery workshop, which overviews personality types, communication patterns, and implications for collaboration and conflict resolution.
The Insights Discovery Workshop will help participants gain deep insight into their personality traits, behaviours, and preferences, as well as those of their colleagues. Participants will learn to adapt and connect with others to create strong and effective relationships by helping participants
- learn more about their unique personalities
- strengthen their interpersonal skills
- improve communication skills
- create better personal and professional relationships
Leadership Conference (evening session and 1 day) August 16-17, 2023
Accelerating Student Learning through Collaborative Leadership
The Educational Leadership Consortium of Nova Scotia (ELCNS), the Nova Scotia Department of Education and Early Childhood Development (NSDEECD) and the Public School Administrators Association of Nova Scotia (PSAANS) is pleased to announce that they are co-hosting a pre-conference networking session and professional conference for all partners in education in Nova Scotia. The conference keynote and concurrent sessions will strengthen professional practice in educational leadership.
Seminar 1: School Culture and Building Relationships - September
In this seminar participants will learn about school culture, how to impact change in school culture, and how values, expectations and beliefs play a significant role. Seminar content will help participants understand emotional intelligence in schools and be able to identify and respond to different personality types. They will also learn about the impact of personality types and emotional intelligence on school culture. It will also include learning about current motivation theories and how this knowledge can be used to develop adult learners and teams.
Facilitators will focus on teaching skills related to developing a learning community culture, communicating high expectations, motivational practices, and managing difficult people.
- Fundamentals of school culture, underlying assumptions and expectations, and ways to create change
- Current motivation theories and practices
- How school vision and values influence school culture
- How to develop individuals and teams, stages of adult development, and the value of shared experiences
- How to create and maintain a work/life balance
- The impact of different personality types on school culture, and emotional intelligence in the workplace
- How to assess your school’s culture from different perspectives (staff, students, parents, community)
Seminar 2: Communication Skills - October
The content of the Communication seminar will increase participants’ understanding of the interpersonal dynamics involved in communications activities, how personal biases can impact our ability to communicate, the role of trust in communications, and the importance of effectively managing power dynamics.
Facilitators will focus on teaching fundamental communication skills, including how to manage conflict, how to skillfully have difficult conversations, impact of social-media, and how to communicate effectively with different audiences.
- Varied cultural factors that influence communication
- Power dynamics related to communication in an organization
- How to present themselves so that their verbal and nonverbal messages are aligned
- The lenses and biases that impact their observations
- How school culture influences our communication
- Basic fundamentals of interpersonal communication
- Ways to develop trust
- Conflict resolution processes and strategies
How to lead and engage in difficult conversations
*Seminar 3: School Management - November *Online
This seminar will help participants understand existing school management policies that need to guide practices. This includes legislation and regulations, student services guidelines, policies related to school safety, hiring practices, and other procedures governing human resources management, staffing processes, and associated legal obligations.
Facilitators will focus on teaching skills related to setting priorities with management tasks, utilizing regional office staff to achieve success, delegating management tasks, and creating formal and informal support networks.
- Existing policies and how to access them; policies such as the new provincial school code of conduct, policy and supporting procedures for student assessment, evaluation and reporting; Ministerial Policy regarding student promotion, retention and acceleration; new homework standards
- Associated regulations and how to access them
- Safety guidelines
- Organizational structures
- Hiring and HR procedures
- Staffing and scheduling
- Legal obligations
*Seminar 4: Instructional Leadership - January *Online
The Instructional Leadership seminar will focus on increasing participants’ understanding of best practices in teaching, learning, and assessment. Participants will explore brain development, coaching for instructional improvement, and the fundamentals in leading school improvement, and individual professional growth planning.
Facilitators will focus on teaching skills such as managing time, facilitating conversations about teaching and learning, recognizing teachers’ talents, and identifying effective classroom-based teaching practices.
- Best practices in teaching, learning and assessment
- How to coach and provide helpful feedback
- How equity is related to instruction
- Brain development and learning theories
- Technology that enhances and supports learning
- The range of teacher talents
- How to lead continuous school improvement and growth planning
- Identify essential learning outcomes
- Assessment for Learning
- The framework for teaching standards for Nova Scotia
*Seminar 5: Leading Change - February *Online
The content of the “Leading Change” seminar will focus on increasing participants’ understanding of current change processes with special attention given to transitions. Participants will come to understand why creating a sense of urgency is important, and the impact of context on how leaders implement change.
Facilitators will focus on teaching skills related to creating a school’s vision, empowering individuals and teams, building consensus, and using data to guide school decision-making practices.
- Change processes and their impact on individuals
- Factors inhibiting change
- Ways to inspire innovation
- Adult learning principles and practices
- Different personality styles and types
- Implementation planning and process
- How to create urgency and buy-in
- Context: local, provincial and national policies and direction
- Different organizational structures and organizational development
Seminar 6: Diversity and Social Justice - April
The content the Diversity and Social Justice seminar will help the participants understand what diversity means in schools, and what policies and practices create authentic learning experiences and success for all learners. Participants will examine systemic barriers to social justice in schools and the responsibilities of school leaders to facilitate change for social justice and diversity.
Facilitators will focus on teaching skills related to identifying appropriate classroom practices, fostering openness and fairness, responding to systemic barriers and how to be a proactive socially just leader.
- What diversity means in our schools, the principles of social justice within a school context, and the policies and practices that create authentic diversity
- Systemic barriers (such as mental health issues, lack of cultural proficiency, multiple intelligences, social and emotional learning, poverty and differentiation)
- Themselves as a leader and their social justice responsibilities for staff and students
- Processes for assessing students and their needs to identify programing options
- What accessibility means in relation to physical support and student learning
- Educational implications related to race, transgender and sexual orientation; provincial guidelines for supporting transgender and gender non-conforming students
Seminar 7: Leading Professional Learning - May
The content of this seminar will be organized to develop participants’ understanding of the fundamental components of collaborative learning teams, the key differences between groups and teams, expectations for collaborative learning teams, and effective ways the school-based leaders can empower them.
Facilitators will focus on teaching skills and strategies for creating horizontal teams (across subjects within one grade) and vertical teams (across grade levels). They will help participants learn how to create conditions that stimulate the growth of a school learning community. Instructors will also teach concrete practices that collaborative learning teams employ, such as developing common assessments, examining student work, engaging in lesson study, and using data to improve teaching.
- The fundamentals of successful group work
- How to empower groups
- The differences between groups and teams
- How school culture can impact team development
- The characteristics of collaborative learning teams
Summer Institute #2 – Student Services - August
During the second summer institute, participants will be immersed in a range of learning activities to help them understand the complexities of Student Services and the role of the school-based leader.
- The inclusion continuum of support
- Special education policies & documents
- The program planning process
- The role of administrators
- The need to work with student services staff and outside agencies
- Different models of service delivery
- Transitioning students
- Behaviour interventions
- The role of guidance services
- The cultural proficiency lens
