Sharon Friesen

Supporting Pedagogical Leadership in Area III

This case study examined district efforts to strengthen instructional leadership practices in Area III of the Calgary Board of Education during three years. Building on research informed conceptions of teaching, instructional leadership, professional learning, and district leadership our research focused on the development of pedagogical leadership that requires school leaders to be leaders of teacher learning. Data included individual and focus group interviews, provincial achievement tests, student engagement surveys, documents, field notes and participant observations. Our findings indicate that district leaders and consultants have effectively mobilized evidence-based professional learning to strengthen instructional leadership, teaching, and student learning.

CHAPTER 10: The First Thunder Clap of Spring

ABSTRACT In this chapter, we explore some of the affinities that can be developed between new information and communication technologies and what has become known as aboriginal ways of knowing. This work documents some of these affinities via the collaborative development of an online project entitled “Nitsitapiisini—Stories and Spaces: Exploring Kainai Plants and Culture,” conducted with teachers, students, and elders of the Blood Tribe in southern Alberta. The pedagogy of this collaboration is then linked to rethinking the disciplines ofknowledge entrusted to teachers and students in schools as living disciplines that make demands on the possibilities inherent in new technologies. This particular orientation tubs against instructionist practices found in many classrooms yet, once awakened, spawns curiosity and creativity.