Professional Development

On Friday, November 26, the David Cameron Staff got together to explore our personal and professional pre-dispositions towards learning and the learner.  Our session was facilitated by retired Vancouver School District Superintendent, Chris Kelly.  The idea for the day was to discuss and share our personal views of our learners and how those views impact upon the students' ability to learn.  This was a great opportunity for our staff to work together and gain a stronger understanding of individual beliefs  and how they support our greater collective beliefs.

During the day we explored three key questions posed to us by Chris, these were:
1.  How do we actually view children and young people as learners?
2.  How do we define the core purpose that focuses, guides and characterizes our efforts as educators?
3.  How should we continue to engage in, and support our own learning and development as a professional learning community?

These are three very big questions to tackle in a single day.  As we began our work together it quickly became evident that as a collective group we hold the learner in high esteem and believe that we do have a positive impact on them as developing human beings.  Much of what we have done and continue to do in our school around beliefs and values surfaced and were reinforced through our conversations.

A key notion that emerged was the importance of belonging, competence, and self-determination as essential aspects for learning.  Much of our conversation centered on the importance of belonging and ensuring an environment where students, staff, and families feel part of a strong community.  It became abundantly clear that in order for students to be successful as learners they need to be in an environment where they feel a strong sense of belonging and that we as a school community must continue to reinforce and explore new practices that support this concept.

This day was a great starting point for us as a staff.  Our next steps are to explore continued ways to engage in professional inquiry that will support our learners in reaching their potential.  In the end, Chris left us with the notion that it is our job to "enable rather than determine a person's capacity for learning".