by Chris Kennedy,
Superintendent of the West Vancouver School District
While we can all come up with shopping lists of what is important to be covered in school, and the skills, attributes and activities that are crucial in the modern classroom, we have been intentional in West Vancouver to talk about a limited number of ideas.
We continue to come back to our focus on inquiry, self-regulation and digital access. Of course, this is not all we do, but these three ideals are unifying – ensuring we are more than just a group of independent contractors that share a school parking lot. We like these three areas of focus because they connect to a K teacher and a grade 12 teacher and then are as applicable in art as they are in science. Of course, they look different at different levels, in different schools and in different classes – and this is good – we celebrate this diversity.
One approach is trying to do the same thing in every class in every school – hoping to standardize a 21st century education. Our approach is to hold to some key principles and then network students, teachers and schools together as we go down the innovation path together. I regularly try to celebrate this journey on my blog at www.cultureofyes.ca .
