How Professional Learning Can Recharge our Batteries
Greetings colleagues,
While summer is no longer in the rearview mirror, and remains a warm and hazy memory, October has roared in like a lion! At the office, we try to leave our members to their work during the busy start-up period. More recently, however, it has been all-hands-on-deck as we get ready for meetings with several of our Standing Advisory Committees, and the Board of Directors, while also preparing for our Association’s flagship event, the Connecting Leaders Conference this weekend at Canyon Falls Middle School in Kelowna.
The annual Conference is an important way for our members to get involved with the BCPVPA, as it is held in a different part of the province each year. The Conference relies on a committee of local members to help drive the theme, focus, and content of the event.
The 2023 Conference is the vision of Co-Chairs, Angela Stott (SD74, Gold Trail) and Jim Laird (SD23, Central Okanagan), and the operational committee Shelley Cull (SD83, North Okanagan-Shuswap), Brenda Kirsch (SD23, Central Okanagan), Crystal Larsen (SD58, Nicola-Similkameen), and Peter Scott (SD51, Boundary), and reflects their passion for learning and desire for immersive facilitated fun. Through the months leading up to the Conference, they have worked with the BCPVPA PLD Directors and staff, Andrea McComb, Peter Johnston, and Nick Faulkner.
The 2023 theme – Cultivating Learning: Interact, Connect, Reflect – speaks to the principles for the time spent together, with active learning, movement, discussion, networking, intentional psychological safety and community building, and embedded time for reflection. The hope is that learners can consider how they might apply their new learning, even before they begin their journey home.
We recognize that this October weekend offers a myriad of professional learning opportunities to school leaders, networking and learning with colleagues that will help you to recharge and revitalize your professional batteries. Whatever learning and connection you undertake in the coming days, I hope that you can enjoy applying some newly-acquired knowledge in your school next week!
Keeping current with educational research, knowledge, and leadership skills supports our professional practices, and helps to make our schools great places to learn.
Have a great weekend,
Brian
Bleonard@bcpvpa.bc.ca