EDUCATORS AS RESEARCHERS
Educators in the Central Okanagan are continually working with others to seek new learning that will help them to foster student agency and create the conditions for students to drive the learning.
Some of these educators have created overarching questions to guide the learning they are exploring with their students and colleagues, and then they are responsive to the inquiry questions that emerge from the voices of their learners.
As teacher researchers, storytellers, and learners alongside their students, these educators have been trying to document this learning to make it visible for themselves and their students. The main purpose of this documentation was to amplify the learning in the classroom. We have also asked them to use this documentation to share what is popping up for them this year and what they are finding interesting as they play with their ideas. We would like to thank them for being kind and brave enough to make their thinking and learning visible to others.
Collectively, these educators would like you to know that they are on a learning journey, and do not see themselves as experts. Just like they would expect of their students, these educators continue to be curious as they seek, explore, and collectively build knowledge and understandings with a network of educators who are investigating similar questions.
As a part of a network, all of these educators continue to deepen their learning as they connect with their colleagues and see and experience learning in each others' classrooms. We hope that their learning stories might similarly inspire you.
LEARNING STORIES
Part one gives some background to our district, tells about the beginning of our story of change, and sets the context for parts 2 and 3.
Part two is a detailed story of how one of our schools took up the invitation for change and became a catalyst for change in our district.
Part three shows how far the impact of change has reached, and the impact this has had on professional learning.
AN INVITATION
TO INNOVATE
As a team, we were contemplating the question: What might it look like if we approached teaching and learning differently? What are all of the different ways that educators in our district might create innovative learning environments in their own context? How might we support those innovations?
This story was originally created to help us tell our story of innovation at an International Composium with the Opal School Museum of Play. It was built in three parts, with the intention of it being presented in order; however, feel free to explore any or all of our story.
April 8, 2020
A Frame For Being Kind To Ourselves... (Oh, and Learning. It's Also a Frame For Learning)
These are strange times. I don’t think any of us fully comprehended that as we left our schools and workplaces on March 13th that we would be where we are right now.
April 19, 2020
You Matter To Me: A Story of Connection and Belonging by Tess Perry & Kelly Shin
Tess and Kelly teach Grade 3 at Quigley Elementary. They work closely together so they can bounce ideas off each other, lean into their own strengths, help each other find solutions, and learn a lot from each other.
May 25, 2020
Designing our way into an unknown future by leading with our beliefs
Seeing possibility. It wasn’t what the conversation was initially about, but it navigated there because it mattered to both of them.
May 19, 2020
Indigenous Art Lesson Project
Growing up on B.C.'s west coast, Indigenous artwork was always very visible. Whether it was a traditional pole or a mural on a building, I always connected to that west coast style.
April 24, 2020
DRE Students (and their families) at the Centre
This learning story is about our team’s desire to meet a family where they are at in hopes of helping them to know that they are a meaningful part of our school community.
June 23, 2020
The Silver Lining: Voices from Middle School
Recently, we were able to sit down and talk with some members of the Learning Leadership Academy. We asked them, "What silver linings can you take forward with you from this time?"
May 8, 2020
I’m Listening: A Story of Making Learning Manageable for Both Students and Educators
Michelle teaches English Studies 12 and New Media 11 at George Elliot Secondary School in Lake Country. Her classroom learning environment at GESS is reflective of her pedagogical belief sets around the OECD 7 Principles of Learning.
May 4, 2020
Making Learning Manageable in French Immersion
Educators across the district have been seeking out ways to make learning meaningful, intentional and sustainable. At times this has seemed like an overwhelming undertaking.
June 22, 2020
Equity Through Land Based Learning
After the landscape of learning changed this spring, members of the Indigenous Education Department began working alongside Indigenous grade 12 students at secondary schools throughout the Central Okanagan.
May 8, 2020
Communauté Affinité
We are a part of a Grade 8 French Immersion Learning Community at École Dr Knox that is made up of 56 students and 2 educators. We try not to take ourselves too seriously. We are very real with our students - showing them that it’s OK to make mistakes and to laugh at ourselves!
April 27, 2020
Elevations Community: A Story about Assessment for Learning
Sarah Stephenson and Kevin Dent co-teach 45 Grade 8 students at Dr Knox Middle School. The students chose to name the learning community “Elevations,” and they continue to learn together remotely during these unprecedented times.