We (Marg and Hugh and I) are at the Village at Pigeon Lake hosting a conversation with Alberta educators around leadership in education. Here is the harvest from yesterday’s discussion:
What brought us here
An off road learning experience
In a complex web of challenge
Energized by possibility
In communities of learning
We collect expertise
Everywhere
And ask
What does leadership look like as a practice
For me
For us
Leading new projects
With no road map
Messy moving forward
Seeking confidence
Feeling stretched
Effectively handling hats
It’s about kids
What they learn and
How they learn
There is something about
Atmospheric reflection
Positive permeation
Sharing, reflecting, learning
I left what I knew in and out
From theory to practice
With lots to talk about
Professional development
Is also cultivating
The expertise in the room
The stories where we see transformation
In learning
With transformative questions
My gifts
The kids’ smiles every day
Energize me and in return
I energize them
I make places for trust
Selfless and safe spaces
For the all of everyone
For people no matter what
They have to say
I provide unconditional love
Nurturing no matter what
With warm and inviting dedication
Deeply
I am in the right place at the right time
Knowing it will come
Generating dedication, faith
Everyone celebrating
The challenge and the learning
I accept myself as I am
I no longer trade these in for weakness
What I do not have someone else will
What I have no one else will have
Patterns in learning
We all have roadblocks
And leaders who support us
Look out for us
The struggle is something to work through
And we move through
Learning through
Continuously
With necessary tension
With others we meet
Forks in the road
To find extraordinary in the ordinary
When the child comes first
When learning comes first
With questions…
What will I be when I grow up?
Where are the open doors?