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Archive for November, 2016

I Am Now More Open-Minded About Football

Posted in Change, Health, tagged , , , on November 23, 2016| 4 Comments »

football

Sports are a huge part of my family life. My wife owns a sports business for young people, my kids are very involved in numerous sports and I try to find time to coach and volunteer whenever I can.

And we participate in a lot of sports – soccer, basketball, volleyball, swimming, cheer, cross country, track and many more.  We have never been a football family.  Like others, anxiety over safety issues in football have raised concerns for me.  And when I learned that former BC Lion Angus Reid was going to be speaking about high school football at TEDxWestVancouverEd I was preparing to not agree with him.  A former football star touting the importance of high school football at a time when the sport is facing trouble with participation; I was ready to be reminded that schools need to be like they used to be, when football was king.

TED Conferences can be overwhelming.  One speaker after another, mostly confirming your view of the world.  Many of the talks, no matter how powerful or passionate, can run together.  Well, we are a couple of months after the event now, and one talk has really stuck with me – it is Angus Reid’s Why We Need High School Football.

It is hard to change one’s thinking in 12 minutes – but Angus Reid made me see high school football differently.  His set-up was important.  He was clearly focused on high school football, differentiating it from community and professional football.  He also dealt with the concussion and safety issue in a very upfront way – taking the approach if high school football is important enough we ca figure out the safety issues.

There were a number of strong points Angus made.  His emphasis on the structure that football can give young people is important.  In a world of uncertainty, football is very routine – one game a week, usually on Fridays, and a series of after-school practices each day with a specific purpose as they build up to the game.  As I wrote in my most recent post, people are often seeking routine in an ever-changing world.

Then there is the entire issue of participation.  Reid notes that there are 88 chances in a game to get kids to play.  So you can find a way to get everyone in the game on a team of 40 or on a team of 80.  Football is a sport that is open to everyone – different positions require different shapes and sizes and very different skills.  The issue of participation in school sports is one I have been thinking a lot about recently.  Maybe because my kids are now at the young high school age, I am seeing kids (and their parents) crushed as they are cut from basketball and volleyball teams.  As much as I love both of those sports – they are ones where sometimes only 12 of 60 or 70 interested kids “make” the team.  We need more sports like football, and rugby, ultimate, cross-country track, among others that find a way to include most if not all of their interested kids.  This point has been further emphasized this past week with the announcement that young people in Canada are some of the least active in the world.

Finally Reid makes the case for the empowerment that can come from football.  Reid mentioned Nolan Bellerose, who was the subject of a wonderful recent story from Howard Tsumura at the Province Newspaper.  It is true that sports can be a vehicle for so much more.  It is true that we see these possibilities through many school sports, and similarly through music, art, robotics and a range of other co-curricular and extra-curricular programs it is true that football can often tap into a population of our young men who often struggle to connect in our schools.

So, Angus Reid, you changed my thinking.  I will look at high school football differently from now on.

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I Love Chain Restaurants

Posted in Change, tagged , , on November 15, 2016| 4 Comments »

photo_boosterjuice_smoothiewithfruit1

My friends know I am not much for fancy restaurants. I know what I like.

I love chain restaurants.  Knowing what I am going to order when I walk in, appreciating, for the most part, how the food will taste and how it will be presented, is very reassuring.

I have it all planned out:

Milestones – California Salad, no goat cheese with salmon

White Spot – Veggie Burger with Yam Fries

Tim Hortons – Grilled cheese sandwich with Medium Ice Capp (shot of hazelnut)

Subway – 12 Inch Veggie on Flatbread – no olives or cucumbers with honey mustard

Booster Juice -Ripped Berry

I could go on.

So just what does my somewhat curious eating habits have to do an education blog?

I find the world to be quite chaotic.  We live in constant change and the speed of the change seems to be ever-increasing.  I often write about how exciting it is to be teaching and learning now.  Teaching in schools today is very different from just 10 years ago.  I spend my days talking about inquiry, coding, self-regulation and other terms I didn’t ever use just a few years ago.  We are preparing our students for an ever-changing world, and one where most will have many more jobs than the generation before them – some that do not exist today.

It is in this world of changing politics, economics and technology that I have comfort in the fact that at least I can have certainty when I go out for a meal.  So maybe Blockbuster Video no longer exists, and I cannot take my film in for developing but at least when I go to Starbucks, pretty much anywhere in the world, and order my Caramel Frappuccino Light – it will taste the same – the same in Denver or Helsinki and the same today as 10 years ago.

While I have looked for certainty in an uncertain world through some somewhat odd restaurant choices, I find many people looking for reassurance in an ever-changing world through schooling.

Let me explain  . . .

Many of us romanticize our school experiences.  The details have faded over time, but we remember schooling as a largely positive experience and we credit who we are today in part to our experiences in schools.  So, as we become parents in this world that looks so different from when we were students there is something reassuring about schooling looking largely the same.  If only our children can have the same experiences that we had in school, they will be OK – like us.  Parents like that learning is generally organized the same as it was 30 years ago.  Students go to their classes daily from September to June from 9 AM – 3 PM attending subjects that rotate every hour from Math to PE to Art.  And this is reassuring.  As our communities change at least schools stay the same.

We need to continue to challenge this.  While it is odd and quirky that I find assurances through my choice of restaurants, it is far more dangerous for our children if we do not continue to challenge the notions of learning and schooling.  We need to continue to think about how we organize subjects, we need to continue to give students greater control over what, when, and how they learn and we need to embrace the possibilities of modern learning and new technologies in our schools.

I get how it would be far easier to slow down the pace of change in our schools and allow our students to complete the same worksheets we did in school, read the same Shakespeare plays and do the same science experiments.  There is definitely something appealing about trying to return to a simpler time.

I find it a daily challenge as I watch my children learn differently than I learned in school – I worry they are missing out. In an uncertain world, we need schools to ensure they stay relevant and engaging and embrace this uncertainty.

I will be at the Food Court if you want to discuss this further.

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An Invitation is not a Subpoena

Posted in Professional Development, tagged , on November 7, 2016| 2 Comments »

invitationsI was struck seeing this quote recently.

It is so true.  But sometimes it sure does not feel true in our business.

This challenge is one I see with my school and district administrator colleagues.  Administrators are invited to an incredible number of events.  It is easy to be a school principal and be out each night, and at least one day on the weekend at school and community events.  And all the events are good and worthwhile events, but given all the professional demands, and the importance of balancing these with a life outside of work, it is a challenge.

I know, particularly when I was new into roles, as vice-principal, principal, district staff or superintendent I would often treat invitations as subpoenas.  If someone took the time to invite me to attend an event, I had to figure out how to make it work.  If I was asked to speak out-of-province, I would fly on a red-eye flight and fly back immediately to be home for an evening event the next day.  I have also sat at a meeting, or a dinner and wondered, why am I here?  Is my presence adding to the event or am I getting something of value personally or professionally for our organization by attending.  It is hard to swallow the response – it is just one of those things it is important to show-your-face at.

Figuring out which invitations to accept is one of the tricky jobs of a school or district administrator.  One piece of advice I would give to new people to their roles, is to think about your priorities and drivers when it comes to attending events.  Do you prioritize school events in your district? What about community events?  Or professional development events?  I too often have said yes to events well into the future, because a particular date was free on my calendar, only for that date to get closer and me to be wishing I had not agreed to attend.

I know one strategy I have is keeping track of which schools I have visited for special events.  So if I go to some schools for Remembrance Day Ceremonies, I will try to visit other ones for Christmas Concerts.  And as an executive team, we try to always talk about which events we will attend.  It is often not necessary for all of us to be at the same events.  I also do try to prioritize my own professional growth  – with a few opportunities that I block into the calendar and work other events around them.  It is hard, and I sometimes regret committing to conferences as the time approaches, but it is important for all of us in the system to be taking time to focus on our growth.

And with the numerous community events, I try to place priority on those organizations we work most closely with in the School District, asking the question, Does me attending this event add value to our district?  It is interesting – roles like school principal or superintendent are a bit what you make of them.  You can do the jobs very differently and be successful, and community expectations around accepting invitations can vary widely.

It is exceptionally hard when you get an email that says, “we would be honoured if you could find time to attend our event”, and then say no.  Initially you want to attend absolutely EVERYTHING.  It is easier now, having worked in the community for almost 11 years, and entering my seventh year as Superintendent, but the push and pull between thinking of an invitation as just that and not as a subpoena is still a challenge that I do think about almost every day.

I have written before that I think how superintendents (or principals) spend their time is key.  It sends a message of what they value and what they think is important.  Something to consider the next time you get an invitation.

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