A great deal has been written about who is framing the education conversation in B.C. And some suggest, I believe wrongly, nobody is leading these conversations.
As the system evolves, a number of contributing voices have emerged. It is impossible to create an exhaustive list, but in identifying the 25 people who, I think, are currently contributing to the conversation and are influencing the direction of education in B.C., I hope to generate even more conversations. I have tried to look across roles, and balance those from within and outside the province.
Some guidelines I used for the list:
- no elected officials (local, provincial or national)
- no Ministry of Education staff
- nobody I work with in West Vancouver (though I wanted to add a couple)
- it is not about the people I agree with, but those who influence the education system
With that said, here is my list, organized alphabetically, of 25 influencers on the state of public education in British Columbia in 2011. Some of their key areas of influence are bracketed, and you can click on their name for links to bios, blogs and more information:
John Abbott, Director, 21st Century Learning Initiative (personalized learning)
Jameel Aziz, President, BC Principals and Vice-Principals Association (assessment / principal and vice-principal advocacy)
Cale Birk, Principal, South Kamloops Secondary School (secondary school reform / social media)
Steve Cardwell, Superintendent, Vancouver School District / President BCSSA (student engagement)
Damian Cooper, Education Consultant (assessment and evaluation)
Peter Cowley, Director of School Performance Studies, Fraser Institute (school rankings)
Maureen Dockendorf, Assistant Superintendent, Coquitlam School District (early learning / professional learning)
Kieran Egan, Professor of Education Theory Faculty of Education, Simon Fraser University (imaginative education)
Carole Fullerton, Teaching Consultant (numeracy)
Judy Halbert, Network Leader, The Network of Performance Based Schools (networked learning)
Valerie Hannon, Director, Innovation Unit (personalized learning)
Andy Hargreaves, Thomas More Brennan Chair, Lynch School of Education at Boston College (school/district reform)
Clyde Hertzman, Director of the Human Early Learning Partnership (HELP) at UBC (early learning)
Linda Kaiser, Network Leader, The Network of Performance Based Schools (networked learning)
Craig Kielburger, Founder of Free the Children / Co-founder, Me to We (social responsibility/global citizenship)
Susan Lambert, President, BC Teachers Federation (social justice/teacher advocacy)
Barry MacDonald, Canada’s National Advocate for Boys, Educator and Registered Clinical Counsellor, Professional Speaker (boys and learning)
Gordon Neufeld, Developmental and Clinical Psychologist in Vancouver (parenting)
Sir Ken Robinson, Internationally Recognized Leader in the Development of Creativity, Innovation and Human Resources, Author/Speaker, (creativity, future thinking)
Stuart Shanker, Research Professor of Philosophy and Psychology at York University (early learning)
Janet Steffenhagen, Reporter for the Vancouver Sun, (social media/system transparency)
Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafond, BC Representative for Children and Youth (youth advocacy/at-risk learners)
David Wees, Teacher at Stafford Hall in Vancouver (social media)
Chris Wejr, Principal at Kent Elementary School in Agassiz (social media/rewards)
Lorna Williams, Canada Research Chair in Indigenous Knowledge and Learning (Aboriginal education)
I look forward to hearing about who is on your list.
cultureofyes.ca 
It ia a very interesting list, but I have to wonder, if parents are important to the success of children in schools, why are there no parents on this list. You believe a reporter is important to have, but not a parent? Very dissapointing. It appears that the education system still does not embrace the role that parents have in student success.
It is a good comment – I would be interested in which parents you see that are currently influencing the system in BC. It was something I thought about – and did include Gordon Neufeld who speaks about parenting – and many educators who are also parents. For me it was not about who I needed to have on the list – there are definitely some on the list I would prefer to not see influencing the system.
Who would you add?
A very interesting list Chris — I’m familiar with some of the names, but not all of them.
I think you have provided a list of people contributing to the conversation, but I’m not sure I’d use the word framing. Here’s why: we talk about a paradigm shift, we talk about moving towards 21st century learning, and we talk about the insufficiencies of the current model. We talk about better ideas, we talk about exciting new initiatives, we talk about the need to change. But what we don’t seem to be doing is taking all these great ideas, these role models, and to translate them into action on a large-scale, comprehensive basis. That is, who is capturing these ideas and creating a framework for the implementation of policy changes? That’s why I think there’s many of us who say there’s no one steering the ship.
That reality is reflected in your list which does not include any elected officials nor Ministry of Education staff. If the objective is to engineer a change and to change policy, these are the individuals — theoretically — who should be helping to lead the charge. They are not on your list because this amalgamative effort — this drawing together of all the threads of conversations into an implementable action plan — is not happening.
For that reason, although it’s disregarding one of your criteria, I’d be tempted to add Mike Farnworth simply because he has called for a commission on education. I’m not going to get into whether or not he is doing this for political expediency as part of his leadership run, but I’ll take it at face value.
Let’s get all these thinkers and visionaries and reporters and social activists and parents and so on involved in a forum to talk about which changes need to be made and how to make them. Let’s distill an action plan and make sure that these ideas aren’t left as just so much talk or that change is implemented in small hubs of creativity here and there, but are put together in a structure to benefit children on a much larger scale.
Thanks Reema – excellent comment. You are right, framing is probably not the best word. These individuals are influencing but are not pulling the pieces together. As I posted to Twitter – it would be quite the dinner party with these twenty-five. You outline the challenge that we need to take the student engagement that the Kielburgers bring, combine it with the assessment practices of Damion Cooper, and the commitment to creativity of Sir Ken Robinson into a cohesive system.
Like you – I want us to move beyond islands of innovation.
I agree with Reema’s comments. It appears that since the Fall of 2010 there has been a concerted effort by the Ministry of Education via various stakeholders, such as the Superintendents Association, to promote the concept of 21st Century Learning and Personalized Learning, but this initial effort appears to now be in a holding pattern. We continue to talk about these two concepts, but there is no unified voice or organizational body striking a leadership role in implementing changes. I wonder if the current limbo the province is in resulting from the leadership changes in the Liberal and NDP parties has anything to do with the lack of direction. I also wonder if lack of funding is an issue. Without properly funded technology programs, it will be difficult to achieve many of the ideals of 21st CL and PL.
Hi Rhonda – it doess feela bit like it has beena hurry up and wait scenario in BC. With Minister Abbott in place it will be interesting what the next few months bring. During his stint as education minister last fall there was clearly some momentum with the personalized learning agenda.
Thanks for the comment.
It is very sad that your list specifically excludes elected officials, anyone in politics in fact, and no one on the Ministy of Education. I am confused; how can no one be leading the education coversations? This is like getting on a train that is speeding, but has no destination. Is it possible for those you specifically have excluded to “zoom out” a bit and see where we are going? This is particularly eerie that this is BC’s education, and I live in BC. I am quite startled by your list and how it excludes others I feel positively influence education. I agree with a previous commentor about the ommission of parents. You have a wonderful long list of 25 people who are shaping education, but when are those who are supposed to be leading this train be more concerned on the journey instead of the daily pressures? This whole discussion makes me shake my head.
Hi Jennifer – thanks again for taking the time to respond to one of my posts.
In looking at your comment and a couple of the others – I probably should have framed my post a little differently. I should have framed it around those who are having the greatest influence on those making decisions. In putting the list together – my reaction was different that yours. I am optimistic that all our governments are being influenced by some of the brightest minds in assessment (Cooper, Halbert, Kaiser etc.), some of those at the leading edge of learning Internationally (Robinson, Hargreaves, Abbott etc.) and those pushing the boundaries of learning locally (Birk, Wejr, Wees etc.).
I agree when we move from influence to decisions – the group changes and grows. Whether they are changes at the school, district or provincial level – it needs to be a process inclusive of students, staff and parents.
Thanks again for participating.
Thanks for this question! Thinking about the 25 people that influence our thinking is a great exercise. Making the question a ‘provincial inquiry’ helps us to think together about what we are striving to achieve for our students in BC. I have had the chance to learn from or with many of the people you have listed and agree that they are making contributions to our ongoing work to increase learning for students. I think the best thing about the way the dialogue about learning is unfolding in BC is that we are not being ‘told’ what the right answer might be…instead we are involved in a dialogue and learning process…I guess it could be called continuous improvement or learning. And there is no limit on the number of people who can be involved.
Good for you for putting your list out there as a way to provoke the dialogue.
I’m Hurt!
LOL
Keith – I said I wanted to include some of my West Vancouver colleagues but decided not to. I will leave it to you to decide if you would have made the list beside Sir Ken.