PSBAA University |
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PSBAA University Year III
October 22 – 23, 2009
Nearly 150 Trustees, Senior Executives, and guests gathered in Edmonton for the final session of the three‐year Trustee development program.
The focus of the third year of the program is “looking to the future.”
With the School Act Review and Inspiring Education on the forefront of the provincial government’s agenda, the future of public school education is on everyone’s mind.
It is an opportune time for trustees to engage in deep, meaningful discussions with their public. Change is on the horizon.
Through the guidance of Susan Elliot and Jason Hatcher of Spotlight Strategies Inc., U‐3 participants were actively involved in developing key themes and messages that could be taken into the local community as dialogue stimulus.
The future of public school education is on the public’s agenda, as much as it is on the provincial government’s agenda. Members of the public within a local school jurisdiction can influence the future of public school education. Through the training provided at U3 – trustees learned effective techniques to evoke the necessary local dialogue that will be needed to move citizens to action. Citizens (the voting public) will have the most influence on M.L.A.s.
U‐1, 2, & 3 attendees understand that education is a community responsibility, that it is also much more than schooling alone. Public education is a shared mission and obligation of the public and the collective wisdom of the community will create the best possible education for all our children.
Presentation on Communication 
Program Overview
PSBAA UNIVERSITY is convened annually as the Association's signature leadership development program that is specifically for public school trustees.
Ad hoc Committee to Review Trustee, Board and Leadership Development Programs
Executive Summary: This Ad Hoc Committee was established in February 2006 by the Public School Boards Council (PSBC). The committee’s mandate was to to review trustee, board, and leadership development programs offered by the Public School Boards’ Association of Alberta and to recommend changes and/or complementary developments which would meet member needs.
The Committee met five times during the year. It reviewed the existing programs of the Association — PSBAA-University (for trustees and boards), INSPIRATIONS (for principals and school-based leaders) and Ready…Set…Run! (election preparation) — to clarify the purposes for each program and to suggest possible developments for the next three years. It also reviewed a proposal for the incorporation of a non-for-profit society to administer the trustee, board and leadership programs.
In its final report given at the November 2006 AGM, the Committee proposed a new complementary framework for the existing structures of PSBAA-University and INSPIRATIONS. The new framework strengthens the link between PSBAA University and INSPIRATIONS. It also expands and blends the individual scope and choice for each of the programs to better fit the needs of local communities.
Look for a revamped PSBAA University Year I in early November 2007 in Calgary.
VIEW Ad Hoc Committee Full Report [354 KB]
ABOUT PSBAA UNIVERSITY – Leadership Development for Public Schooling
PSBAA–University for Trustees and Senior Administrators or (PSBAA-U) follows a
three-year cycle, beginning in election years, developing the themes of:
*PSBAA-U Year I: Trusteeship
–An Orientation to the Unique Role of Trustees in Local Government
–View 2004
*PSBAA-U Year II: Connecting With the Community
–The Politics of Trusteeship
–View 2005
*PSBAA-U Year III: The Future of Public School Education
–Looking Ahead; Planning for Change
–View 2006
2008
October 16 – 17, 2008
UNIVERSITY — U2
PSBAA TRUSTEE DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM
ROYAL EXECUTIVE INN, LEDUC
The Public School Boards’ Association of Alberta welcomed over 150 participants to our Trustee Development Program for 2008, U2.
Through the leadership of Dr. John Wiens, (University of Manitoba) and Dr. David Coulter, (University of British Columbia) participants were asked to:
- identify the characteristics of an Educated Person;
- reflect upon the values within those characteristics; and
- identify the key concepts that could be the foundation for a plan to move discussions about education into the local community
How private and public related to the education of children was also central to the discussions. Participants were asked:
- Is the goal of education one of piloting children from the private world of family into the public world of adults?
- How or should practical wisdom be developed? and
- Assuming education is a political problem, how does one determine who is responsible for what?
It was determined that common definitions of the meanings of education and schooling would be key to any meaningful dialogue. There was consensus that both were often misunderstood and confused by ambiguous definitions.
Through exercises and round table discussions, members were introduced to the practical applications of a broader more inquiring methodology. This approach is one that enables the engagement of others in conversations and enhances the gathering of information and ideas, rather than the dissemination of information to elicit buy-in.
U2 challenged attendees to:
- re-visit their values;
- assess current practices;
- re-evaluate the effectiveness (participation) of their communities; and
- think about re-designing local engagement processes so that the practice reflects a more deliberative approach
Pre-reading Material — Renewing the Conversation [209 KB]
by David Coulter and John R. Wiens
Chapter 21 — Epilogue: Democratic Eruptions [79 KB]
by John R. Wiens and David Coulter
Faxback Registration Form and Program [104 KB]
2007
Trusteeship in Alberta: the History, the Role, and the Elephant in the Room
Remarks by David King, Executive Director
Public Schools — Alberta's First Choice
Remarks by David King, Executive Director
John Wiens' Presentation "Trust Me — I'm a Trustee"
John Wiens' Presentation Slides
View brochure
Book Review Summaries
2006
Sept. 20–22, 2006
Year III Program, Accountable to Whom? [13 KB]
SUMMARY OF EVALUATIONS [186 KB]
2005 Year II
June 3–5, 2005
Agenda from Year II Program, Connecting with the Community [13 KB]
KEYNOTE Address by The Hon. PRESTON MANNING
Living the Promise – Trustees as Agents of the Community [145 KB]
Report in June 13 FIRSTchoice [182 KB]
SUMMARY OF EVALUATIONS [263 KB]
2004 Year I
November 6 & 7, 2004
Leading Local Learning Communities — University Year I
About 120 trustees, administrators, and special guests gathered together from Nov. 6 & 7, 2004 to investigate the evolving roles of school boards, their public an how one might engage the other more effectively.
Through the leadership of John Wiens, (Dean of Education at the University of Manitoba) delegates were asked to identify:
- what public meant
- who the public might be and
- what might be the relationship between those responsible for the public, education, and civil democracy.
It was a weekend of discussion and dialogue that stretched one’s thinking and opened the mind to a new understanding of public education’s contribution to the well-being of our communities and how trustees might re-engage the public to take ownership for this fundamental social institution ….. public education.
Our thanks to those who participated and we look forward to working with you as you undertake your work of re-engaging our public.
View Year I Program, Principles of Trusteeship [72 KB]
View KEYNOTE BY DAVID KING, Understanding Trusteeship from a Political Perspective [29 KB]
View The Good Politician, Chapter 7 of The Good City and the Good Life by Keynote Speaker DANIEL KEMMIS [3.25 MB]
Report in November 15, 2004 FASTreport [33 KB]
View SUMMARY OF EVALUATIONS [12 KB]
DANIEL KEMMIS KEYNOTES PSBAA-U I
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| Daniel Kemmis |
Daniel Kemmis, Director of the Center for the Rocky Mountain West, is the former Mayor of Missoula, and a former Speaker and Minority Leader of the Montana House of Representatives.
Mr. Kemmis serves on the Boards of Directors of the Northwest Area and Kettering Foundations, the Missoula Redevelopment Agency, the Institute for Environment and Natural Resources, and the Bolle Center for People and Forests. He serves on the Advisory Boards of the Western Governors' Association's Enlibra Project and of the Brookings Institution's Center on Urban and Metropolitan Policy.
Mr. Kemmis is the author of Community and The Politics of Place and The Good City and the Good Life. His newest book, This Sovereign Land: A New Vision for Governing the West, was published by Island Press in June of 2001. He has had articles published in national and regional magazines and journals on public policy in the West, democratic theory and practice, community and community building, and bioregionalism, and he is frequently invited to speak on these and related topics at regional and national conferences.
He was recognized by the Utne Reader in 1995 as one of its "100 Visionaries." In 1997, President Clinton awarded Mr. Kemmis the Charles Frankel Prize for outstanding contribution to the field of the humanities. Also in 1997, he was the recipient of the Society for Conservation Biology's Distinguished Achievement Award for Social, Economic and Political work. In 1998, the Center of the American West awarded him the Wallace Stegner Prize for sustained contribution to the cultural identity of the West. In the fall of 1998 he was awarded a fellowship at the Harvard Kennedy School's Institute of Politics. In February 2000 he was invited to Washington, D.C., to deliver the Pinchot Distinguished Lecture. In 2002, his book This Sovereign Land was the top choice for the Interior Department's Executive Forum Speaker Series.
Mr. Kemmis is a graduate of Harvard University and The University of Montana School of Law.
NEW in 2004: A JOINT SESSION
PSBAA University For Trustees
November 7, 2004
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Dr. Thomas J. Sergiovanni
Keynote Speaker
for Joint PSBAA
University Sessions
Nov. 7, 2004 |
PSBAA was pleased to offer a first-ever JOINT SESSION of PSBAA-U I and INSPIRATIONS on Sunday November 7, 2004. It features a Keynote Address by Dr. Thomas Sergiovanni, the noted teacher, writer, author and lecturer who headlined PSBAAU I in 2001. Dr. Sergiovanni led the morning joint workshops that followed his address and joined us for a Special Gala Luncheon with the combined groups.
Thomas J. Sergiovanni is the Lillian Radford Professor of Education and Administration and Senior Fellow at the Center for Educational Leadership at Trinity University, San Antonio, Texas. He is a popular lecturer and author of several books including Moral Leadership, Building Community in Schools, The Principalship; A Reflective Practice Perspective and What's In It for Schools?
He is best known for his contention that public schools are unique among public institutions, and for his approach to school leadership. In addressing the Joint Session of PSBAA University this fall Dr. Sergiovanni helped participants continue to identify what is Unique, Valuable and Attractive about public school education in Alberta, and developed his thesis about the character of schools.
"Character depends on schools being able to maintain their identities and achieve a unique focus that provides a source of meaning and significance. Schools with character, for example, know who they are, what they need to accomplish to maintain that identity, and are able to craft unique locally driven pathways to get there."
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