The title comes from a mantra we often hear with produce and other food products. Wikipedia describes it:
Local purchasing is a preference to buy locally produced goods and services over those produced more distantly. It is very often abbreviated as a positive goal ‘buy local’ to parallel the phrase think globally, act locally, common in green politics.
I have been thinking about this a lot lately in the context of our work in the digital world. I wrote recently (here) that while I continue to be influenced by many thinkers outside of British Columbia and Canada, more and more I am connecting with local voices.
While I love the learning that is free of borders, I feel it is very important to support B.C. educators who are beginning to put themselves out there in digital space. There seems to have been an edu-blogging boom this fall in British Columbia. I have created a rule for myself that I will try to comment on at least five blog posts for every post I write, and comment more on B.C. educators’ writing.
I am not quite sure why we have a huge increase in local educators writing on the web, but it is great for education in B.C. We are using social media to connect around ideas, at a point in time, when there is so much discussion about learning and schooling and how a high-performing system like ours should move forward.
I listed four local bloggers in a previous post — but I want to list all the local bloggers who are adding to the conversations. I am sure I will miss some (particularly, in the teachers’ category), so please add comments to point me toward others, and I will update the post.
The parameters of my list — blogs by active educators in the K-12 sector in British Columbia who have posted in the last 30 days. I know many teachers have class blogs, but this list is not intended for blogs used with a class of students, or as a news site, but rather to share ideas with other educators and the larger community.
District Staff
Scott Benwell, Assistant Superintendent, Fraser-Cascade
Larry Espe, Superintendent, Peace River North
Rick Fabbro, Assistant Superintendent, Surrey
Tom Grant, Superintendent, Coquitlam
Chris Kennedy, Deputy Superintendent, West Vancouver
Brian Kuhn, Director of IT, Coquitlam
Doug Sheppard, Assistant Superintendent, Delta
Jan Unwin, Superintendent, Maple-Ridge / Pitt Meadows
Principals and Vice-Principals
Terry Ainge, Principal, Delta Secondary, Delta
Aaron Akune, Vice-Principal, Delta Secondary, Delta
Cale Birk, Principal, South Kamloops Secondary, Kamloops
Gino Bondi, Principal, John Oliver Secondary, Vancouver
Joe Campbell, Vice-Principal, Seycove Secondary, North Vancouver (ADDED)
Remi Collins, Principal, Kilmer Elementary, Port Coquitlam
Dean Eichorn, Vice-Princpal, Burnsview Secondary, Delta (ADDED)
Grant Frend, Vice-Princpal, Garibaldi Secondary, Maple Ridge (ADDED)
Cindy Gauthier, Principal, Vancouver Learning Network, Vancouver
Mark Heidebrecht, Principal, Gibsons Elementary, Gibsons (ADDED)
Gary Kern, District Principal, West Vancouver
Chris Wejr – Principal, Kent Elementary, Agassiz
Teachers
Paul Aiken, Coquitlam
Jaki Braidwood, Comox Valley
Jeremy Brown, Port Coquitlam
Moira Ekdahl, Vancouver (ADDED)
Errin Gregory, Lillooet
Starleigh Grass, Lytton (ADDED)
James Gill, Coquitlam
Bryan Jackson, Coquitlam
Phil Macoun, Nanaimo
Jacob Martens, Vancouver
James McConville, Coquitlam
Gordon Powell, Richmond
Al Smith, Kelowna (ADDED)
Zhi Su, Vancouver
David Wees,Vancouver
Jen Whiffin, Coquitlam (ADDED)
Others (ADDED)
I feel like I need to add another category for several blogs related to education in B.C. that are not written by currently active B.C. educators
Christina Campbell, Education Reporter, Vancouver Observer
Lesley Edwards, Retired Teacher-Librarian, North Vancouver
Heidi Hass Gable, DPAC President, Coquitlam
Janet Steffenhagen, Education Reporter, Vancouver Sun
David Truss, Princpal, Currently in China on leave from Coquitlam
Finally, a shameless plug. The Culture of Yes has been nominated for the Best New Edublog 2010. You can click here to vote. This site is also a great place to find other interesting blogs to follow. Thanks for all the ongoing conversations.
cultureofyes.ca 
Hi Chris,
Thank you for including me in your list! I absolutely agree with your connection of ‘buying local’ to the context of BC educators. One of my top criteria for subscribing to a blog or following someone on Twitter is whether or not they are from BC. I think that the shared experience of teaching in the same province is important to relevant communication and shared learning. I love learning from and with educators around the world, but personally, I think it makes sense to build stronger connections with people close to home.
I agree with you re: Twitter. I think it is important for the more experienced BC educators on Twitter to connect with and support the new local users. Great to connect with you!
Chris,
Congratulations on the Edublog nomination and for sharing so much through your blog to help make us all better!
BC is fortunate to have you!
Hi Chris,
I’m glad to hear you’re making an attempt to encourage and assist the new bloggers. I’m in Alberta, and I just started tweeting and blogging (still working on the first draft for posting). I know the ATLE conference in Red Deer really encouraged a large number of teachers here in Alberta to starting networking and we’re also experiencing a boom.
Right now, I am worried that I’ll start this blog and get no comments all year. So, I’m thinking very carefully on my posts before publishing.
Hi Scott,
While getting comments and having a dialogue is great – I find the act of blogging to be really helpful for me. It is an ongoing journal of my work. I found the advice helpeful that we should blog for ourselves not for our audience. I am also fiding that I am reading and writing more than ever – which is a real bonus. I look forward to your posts.
Chris
Hi Chris, great post and it is an honour to be included on your list. While I am a recent addition to this connected community, I am quickly realizing the power and potential of it as a daily professional development journey. Through a connected community of learners (local and otherwise)we have the opportunity to become conscious of what others are thinking and doing. This awareness enables us to examine our own practices with greater efficiency and frequency than the yearly conference.
What is even more impressive is how recent many of our leaders have updated their blogs. Great to see how much they are sharing. Shows a real committment.
I agree James. As I am learning – it is hard work to make sure one’s blog remians a priority. Hopefully sharing them more widely may also encourage others to join. Thanks for all your encouragement – you are one of the people that got me into this!
[…] response to Chris Kennedy’s recent post of British Columbian edu-bloggers, and in the spirit of referring my fellow bloggers (and blog-readers) to the people that I read, I […]
Hi Chris, I think it’s something in the water 🙂 BC has the best water on earth! Coquitlam seems to be a bit of a “breeding” ground for social media educators hey…
Seriously though, I find blogging to be a great way to write about what I care about. Although it’s rewarding to get comments and be able to engage in a bit of dialogue, just the act of expressing one’s thinking is stimulating. It helps me clarify my thoughts.
For those that haven’t put a toe in the blogging waters yet, my advice is to “just do it”. Don’t worry about crafting the perfect post or whether you’ll get comments. If you like to think outloud, blogging is for you!
Thanks Chris for including me in your list!
Cheers.
The truth is that you deserve a lot of credit. There was that magical turning point about five years ago when Alan November spoke at Terry Fox. I remember that Dave Matheson called it the “November Awakening.” At the time it was David Oborne who gave us permission, Alan who planted the seed and you who took our excitement and gave it shape. So, thanks Brian. When you see all the Coquitlam and former Coquitlam educators blogging, you can share in the credit!
Yes, the “awakening”. I was asked to find a speaker to talk to the architects working on designs for three new schools. I found Alan. We opened up the day to all teachers and administrators and had approximately 250 people come. It was a new beginning for us in Coquitlam for sure.
Thanks for your kind words Chris.
Great leadership Chris! Build up those around you – thank you for modeling this in BC.
We have a great and growing network in B.C. Even in the last couple months there has been a real change in the way BC educators embrace social media as a well to connect. Congrats to you – you have done a great job getting other leaders in your district involved and engaged. While I am in the same association as them, through Twitter and blogging is the first time we have really connected – and I am better and smarter for it.
Hi Chris – I have been following you for a number of months and although we’ve never formally met, I appreciate your voice! Your post today resonates with me. I like where you said, “I have created a rule for myself that I will try to comment on at least five blog posts for every post I write, and comment more on B.C. educators’ writing.”
This is an important piece that I’m beginning to appreciate. It’s one thing to send out your own posts on a regular basis, but I’m finding that my learning increases when I join in on the conversations of others. As one who is fairly new to the profession and just about to jump into a Masters program, it will be the conversations with other teachers that will make me a better educator.
More than just interacting with phenomenal (and local!) teacher voices, I’m excited by the fact that it is the students who will ultimately benefit from a strengthened education community. Thanks for being one who inspires the rest of us!
Hi Brad – It is great to connect with you. Based on your comment I “discovered” your blog – another great blog for me to follow. I think the next great challenge for us is how we broaden the conversation to others in the community. One gets the sense of urgency for change in much of what is being written by BC’s edu-bloggers but I don’t get that same sense with the “average” teacher, student or parent. If we can bring a wider range of the population into the conversation we are having on our blogs this can help guide the change we are all hoping comes to the system for our chidlren, and for all kids.
Also – as we get our kids to write blogs – it is important we share the message with them that the real power is not in the post, but the conversation. We want them to comment on others to extend their thinking and also extend the thinking of the author.
Chris-saw you as a guest speaker at LTT Surrey-since then followed you on Twitter a while and have looked at others you “re-tweeted”-most of which I have no idea are but as one of them said Twitter is the best Pro-d tool I have come across. Get at least one solid idea a day and often many.
Hi Brad – great to reconnect. I remember that session in Surrey – it was great to connect with others who shared a passion for infusing technology into the classroom.
You are right – Twitter has changed everything I used to think about what pro-d is.
Hey Chris, I have a couple more edu blogs to tell you about.
I am a former public school educator who has a blog called “School View” on the Vancouver Observer website. I get contributors, including Noel Herron, to write for me from time to time.
And while she’s not a local-local, Starleigh Grass has an amazing blog having to do with First Nations education in BC:
http://twinkleshappyplace.blogspot.com/
Best,
Kristina
Thanks Kristina – I have added them both to the list – I am amazed and impressed with how many people in BC are blogging about education
Hi Chris,
Thanks for creating (and updating) this list. It is very useful to have.
I’m going to add a colleague of mine, Kirsten Morozov to the list of BC bloggers. She just started recently, and is blogging at http://tlkirsten.wordpress.com It’s for a course of hers, but I hope she continues now that the course is done because I love reading her (very verbose) writing.
David
By the way, I’ve noticed that the links to Cale Birk’s and Chris Wejr’s blogs seem to be broken (although easily fixable when you examine the URL).
David
Thanks David – I have made the corrections
Oh. Just thought I’d share. I put all of these educators into a Google reader folder, and then made the folder public, which means you can view it here:
http://is.gd/iDOtP
You’ll probably need to be logged into a Google account to view it, but it will give you a 1 click subscription option.
Hey Chris,
Thanks for the add. And thanks for the mention, Kristina!
It’s cool to see all the BC educators sharing their work through blogs. The blogosphere is like our second staffroom where we can talk shop, share resources, and celebrate our profession!
[…] to Chris Kennedy ( @chrkennedy on Twitter), who is blogging at his Culture of Yes blog, I have a list of BC educators who […]
Just found your list of BC-ed bloggers and thought I’d toss my name in the hat too. I’m an Employee on Call with the VSB and MA student at UBC. I’m studying cultural studies and discourse analysis in order to analyze the processes of subjection articulated by educational policies, in particular insofar as they relate to technology. I blog at ‘Sophrosyne Radical’: (http://sophrosyne.radical.r30.net/wordpress/) and tweet at ‘Khephir’ (http://twitter.com/khephir).
Katie Hyslop at the Tyee is one of reporters to watch. Her commentary is precise and detailed, her pieces are extremely well researched.
http://thetyee.ca/Bios/Katie_Hyslop/
Thanks for the addition. I also realize I accidentally left you off the list. I always enjoy reading your thoughts on the state of education.
Great to connect with you online – I am sure we will have more opportunities to connect in the face-to-face world in 2011.
[…] #7: Seek out prophets in your own land (thanks to Chris Kennedy at ‘The Culture of Yes’ […]
[…] response to Chris Kennedy‘s recent post of British Columbian edu-bloggers, and in the spirit of referring my fellow bloggers (and blog-readers) to the people that I read, I […]
[…] two years ago, I was able to make a list of all the BC educators who were blogging. Since then, the numbers have grown exponentially with numbers well into the hundreds of […]