uLead2025 - The Summit of Educational Leadership

How do we make sense of the current political context in which we find ourselves? What is happening and how is this descending upon schools? Where did this come from? What can we expect and how can we put it in context, and remain prepared to hear from all, yet survive in amongst what can sometimes feel like divisive chaos.

In this session, Chris and Jeannie will articulate the value of layering collaborative structures and processes within a school to support all students and staff. The session will demonstrate how when structured appropriately, the fundamental components of Collaborative Response and Collaborative Problem Solving can work synergistically to respond to the needs and lagging skills of all students, while increasing the instructional capacity of all staff involved. Chris and Jeannie are both lead learners who teach daily and understand complex classrooms. Come learn what nine years of fine tuning has done to improve these purposeful collaborative structures and processes to ensure every student and staff is supported by a team. Participants will leave with new ideas and resources to help them with their next step.

This session will provoke attending delegates to deeply consider the role of school leadership, not as administrators or managers, but as "lead learners"—principals who embody the essence of teaching while leading. Grounded in the concept of pedagogical leadership, our session will explore how school leaders can align their actions with the core belief that they are "teachers first," driving leadership for learning at both the school and system levels. Our presentation will draw heavily on FranklinCovey's 4 Essential Roles of Leadership and Speed of Trust content to support and expand the idea that effective school leaders are those who cultivate trust, inspire a shared vision, execute strategies effectively, and coach their teams towards continuous growth.

Join us as we uncover how we can collaborate, engage and improve literacy practices to meet the needs of students in upper grades (4+) who have not fully developed foundational skills, primarily word reading/decoding. We will examine how a school can use their education assurance plan process to refine instructional practices.

 in our evolving landscape (which I could update people very briefly if they did not do session A or my pre-conference), how is this descending upon schools? As we adapt, we find our schools taking on a much higher profile role as a supporter of social services. Many principals (or others) may feel like “I didn’t sign up for this.”  

In many cases we come out of a Collaborative Team Meeting in which effective teacher generated strategies are shared, however those strategies may be shared within a grade group or maybe a division. In this session we will take you through a journey whereby collectively the staff of Joan Carr Catholic Elementary/Junior High school are creating an Instructional Playbook that takes the many effective instructional strategies teachers are already using in the building and through a simple, common framework, we are creating a site specific Instructional Playbook that meets the learning needs of the students in our school community. Our staff work from a mindset and culture of Collective and Self-Efficacy and we are ready to take our Collaborative Team Meetings to the next level.

As servant leaders, the needs of our students and our staff are paramount. Nice words…what do they mean? What are the characteristics, techniques, inter- and intra-personal skills that successful teacher leaders utilize to create a school culture where collective efficacy is high, and collaboration is a best practice? This session is designed to address these questions and to embrace an interrelated model of leadership that allows the needs of the students, staff, and community to guide our work in schools. Many of the strategies had their genesis in the principalship yet are easily adapted to leadership opportunities and challenges at all levels of our professional work.

Becoming a school leader is a major career milestone, but it also comes with unique challenges and responsibilities that extend beyond the classroom. As the instructional leader and administrative head of your school, you are now responsible for fostering a positive learning environment, supporting teachers and staff, managing day-to-day operations, and ensuring academic success for all students. This session focuses on the five critical areas new leaders need to master to lead with confidence and drive success.

Given the growing complexity of education today, principals must support the development of strong leaders throughout their building. Often leadership is only thought of as a position rather than on the impact of influence. Developing leadership capacity is often an underutilized competency in the Leadership Quality Standard. This session will focus on the importance of developing future leaders (formally and informally) and practical tips for school and system leaders to do this by valuing professionalism and autonomy.

We know that schools consist of neurodiverse students, and with that knowledge we think about how we plan, teach and work with our students to ensure that they thrive. We also know that schools are taught and led by neurodiverse teachers, paraprofessionals and administrators, and with that knowledge we can reimagine a leadership approach that contributes to a school culture that helps everyone thrive and lead with competence and efficacy. What we know determines what we see (Kirschner & Hendrick, 2020). Knowing more about the neurodiverse profiles and characteristics of teachers, paraprofessionals and leaders in our schools helps us understand how individuals think, contribute and engage with the whole school culture. Leaders holding this knowledge about their teams are better equipped to see and plan a strengths-based way forward that helps the entire community thrive and feel part of the school.