Women in Positions of Leadership in Education

I want to side track from my questions for this post and address my curiosity about some articles and conversations I had this week.

After reading a classmate’s response to The Contradiction and the Challenge of the Educated Woman, I found a question that really baffled me.

Why in a profession dominated by women are the majority of positions of “power” (i.e. principal) dominated by men?

I remember when I was a child all of my principals being men. I remember in high school we had a female vice principal and I remember thinking that was pretty cool. At my past teaching job over the 7 years I was there, there were 2 male principals, 3 male vice principals, and 1 female vice principal (me).

So, I decided to ask a few teacher friends what they though about this and do a little research myself.

“I think that the traditionally feminine professions... have been immensely devalued because women have been devalued for many of years” -WNA (school counselor)

Another friend (JL-primary educator) said that she thinks there is a hesitancy in females towards roles of leadership because, “although teaching is a very feminized, gendered role, (in a patriarchal kind of sense), when it comes to leadership, the qualities from a post-modern, patriarchal perspective, those traits for leadership are counter to what the traits are for educators”

I did a little digging trying to find statistic on this. I found a lot of statistics from the United States but didn’t find many from Canada. From the Canadian Teacher’s Federation I found a statistic from 2002-2003 that stated that the average percentage of women across Canada that were in the role of principal was 39.5%, and in some provinces was as high as 48% and 51%. This is still surprising considering the ration of men to women in our profession in 2020/21 was roughly 100 females to every 32 males (Statistics Canada, 2022).

(Alberta Teacher Association, 2018)

The most recent stats I could find related specifically to BC was a newsletter from 2020 for the BC Principals and Vice Principals Association. In the newsletter it showed that 59.2% of their members were female and 39.9% were male. Now this is just membership, there are probably many principals and vice principals that are not members. Regardless, when I saw this  number in made me realize that women are making moves in positions of power and being leaders for educators.

(BCPVPA, 2020)

So, have we made changes in regards to women and women’s rights? Yes. Do we still need to make more? Probably. Are women happy with their positions in the world? I’m not sure. I guess it just depends who you ask.

Thanks for coming with me on this side track journey, I hope it was as interesting for you as it was for me.

References:

Alberta Teachers Association. (2018). Gender and leadership. https://legacy.teachers.ab.ca/News%20Room/ata%20magazine/Volume%2085/Number%203/Articles/Pages/Gender%20and%20Leadership.aspx

BC Principals' & vice-principals' association. (2020.). BCPVP June 2020 Newsletter. https://www.bcpvpa.org/

Martin, J. R. (1991). The contradiction and the challenge of the educated woman. Women’s Studies Quarterly [Special Issue on Women, Girls, and the Culture of Education], 19(1/2), 6–27.

Maryville University. (n.d.). MVU-DEHEL-2020-Q4-Skyscraper-Empowering-Women-in-Higher-Education-Leadership-Header [image]. Maryville Educational Blog. https://online.maryville.edu/blog/women-in-higher-ed-leadership/

Statistics Canada. (2022). Educators in public elementary and secondary schools, by work status, age group and sex. https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=3710015301&pickMembers%5B0%5D=2.2&pickMembers%5B1%5D=3.1&pickMembers%5B2%5D=4.3&cubeTimeFrame.startYear=2020%2B%2F%2B2021&cubeTimeFrame.endYear=2020%2B%2F%2B2021&referencePeriods=20200101%2C20200101

Indigenous Perspectives at Q'SHINTUL Mill Bay Nature School

(Mill Bay Nature School, 2018)

After reading about Indigenous perspectives, I decided to dig a little deeper into the Q’shintul Mill Bay Nature School. I was really hoping to visit the school before making this post but unfortunately have not had the opportunity yet, so all the information I will share with you is based off their official website and field guide.

“Aboriginal students require a learning environment that honours who they are and where they have come from. These strategies nurture the self-esteem – the positive interconnection between the physical, emotional-mental, intellectual and spiritual realms – of Aboriginal students” (Toulouse, 2018, p. 1). It is very evident that Q’shintul Mill Bay Nature School has innovated it’s approach to meet the needs of their aboriginal students. In their Field Guide (2018) they say that their school represents a culture where “the Cowichan and Malahat cultures are deeply respected, will be a focus supported by Elders-in Residence and aboriginal educators. Mill Bay Nature School seeks to practice these principles as they are natural to the life found in this place” (p. 10).

In addition to working with elders in the community, having a holistic approach to teaching, connecting students to the land and teaching through indigenous tratdions and culture, Mill Bay Nature school also uses the First’s People’s Principles of Learning. Most schools in BC u
se these principles as a guide to teaching and learning in their schools.

The First People’s Principles of learning are a set of principles created by “Indigenous Elders, scholars and knowledge keepers” (First Nations Education Steering Committee, 2006) to guide teachers with some Indigenous approaches to teaching and learning common to most First People’s in BC. ** “It must be recognized that they do not capture the full reality of the approach used in any single First Peoples’ society” (First Nations Education Steering Committee, n.d.).

 (First Nations Education Steering Committee, 2006)

 

References:

First Nations Education Steering Committee. (n.d.). Quality first nations education in BC. First Nations Education Steering Committee FNESC. http://www.fnesc.ca/

First Nations Education Steering Committee. (2006) First People’s Principals of Learning. http://www.fnesc.ca/wp/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/PUB-LFP-POSTER-Principles-of-Learning-First-Peoples-poster-11x17.pdf

Mill Bay Nature School. (2018). Mill Bay Nature School Field Guide. https://natureschool.sd79.bc.ca/wp-content/uploads/sites/143/2018/08/Mill-Bay-Nature-School-Field-Guide-best.pdf

Toulouse, P. R. (2008). Integrating Aboriginal teaching and values into the classroom. What Works? Research into Practice(Research monograph #11).

Application of Knowledge and Solving Problems

To continue working on my second question and keeping myself fresh, I wanted to focus on some of my beliefs as an educator this week. One of my classmates drew my attention to this article, There are Nowadays Professors of Philosophy, but not Philosophers, and it just so happens to lean perfectly into some of my ideas about teaching and learning.

"To be a philosopher is not merely to have subtle thoughts, [...] but so to love wisdom as to live according to its dictates, a life of simplicity, independence, magnanimity, and trust. It is to solve some of the problems of life, not only theoretically, but practically." (Thoreau, 1971 as cited in Hadot, Simmons & Marshall, 2005, p. 229)

I want to draw your attention to the last two parts of this quote.

“Not only theoretically, but practically”

I am a very strong believer that learning and understanding only truly occur when I student is able to apply or connect the knowledge they have learnt in a different context. The things students are learning in class should have some sort of practical application or connections that can be made. Checking in with what you’re teaching and recognizing the connections and allowing students opportunities to apply it helps answer the question “Why are we learning this?”.

“Solve some of the problems of life”. For this one I am actually going to borrow a quote from an assignment in one of my other classes.

"Conflict is the primary engine of creativity and innovation" -Ronald Heifetz

I think recognizing simple problems and trying to solve them is a very important aspect of teaching and learning. When you allow students to solve problems as they come up or give them problems to solve you are not only allowing, they to be innovative but also to use their critical and creative thinking skills. I know I have probably already bored you all with talking about the BC curriculum but I am just so strongly invested in the idea of teaching and learning 21^st century skills through the Core Competencies.

(http://nvsd44curriculumhub.ca/core-competencies/posters/)

For more info on the Core Competencies: https://curriculum.gov.bc.ca/competencies

References:

Hadot, P., Simmons, J. A., & Marshall, M. (2005). There Are Nowadays Professors of Philosophy, but not Philosophers. The Journal of Speculative Philosophy, 19(3), 229–237. https://doi.org/10.1353/jsp.2005.0021

Quotefancy. (n.d.). Ronald A. Heifetz quotes. Quotefancy. https://quotefancy.com/ronald-a heifetz-quotes 

Mindfulness

 

My last few posts have focused on my first question, so I would like to write this post on my second question “What can I do to "stay fresh" while taking a short break from teaching?” As I read one of my colleagues responses this week I was drawn to an article they read called Teaching as Contemplative Professional Practice. In this article Falkenberg (2012) teaches us how to become more mindful and describes the benefits to doing this, especially as an educator.

According to Falkenberg (2012), teaching as a contemplative professional Practice requires 3 elements, an ethical element, a noticing element and a mindfulness element.

The ethical element breaks down the idea that teaching is “moral endeavour for the betterment of all living beings embedded within a holistic view of human living” (p. 30).

The noticing element consists of recognizing teaching situations that may trigger you, develop an alternative way to react, notice the warning signs when these reactions are present and changing how we react.

The mindfulness element is when the educator is “in a state of non-judgmental, pre-conceptual conscious awareness of the inner-life experiences in the moment while being engaged in her teaching” (p.30). Mindfulness helps you become more aware of the person you are while you are teaching.

For me the conclusion I’ve drawn from this article is that in order to be truly reflective and a contemplative educator you must get in touch with your inner life. One way to do this is to practice mindfulness on a regular basis.

Seated meditation “is a tool to develop better attentional capacity” (Falkenberg, 2012, p. 27). Bringing awareness to everything around you and inside you during a meditation helps you become aware of these same things in your everyday life. For my own professional and personal development, I am committing to 1 month of 5-minute mindfulness practice per day (seated meditation, mindful eating or walking). Anyone want to join me?

 

Reference:

Thomas Falkenberg. (2012). Teaching as Contemplative Professional Practice. Philosophical Inquiry in Education, 20(2), 25–35. https://journals.sfu.ca/pie/index.php/pie/article/view/283

Innovation in Alternative Learning Environments

Head in the celling by Liv French

As I worked through creating definitions for teaching, learning, innovation and creativity this past week I stumbled upon an alternative school in my area that has taken an innovative approach to the curriculum. The school is called Pacific School of Innovation and Inquiry (PSII-https://learningstorm.org/) .

 

“Learning is not something that comes from the outside, it’s something that is inside of us and needs to be nurtured” (Hopkins,2014, 0:33).

This is a quote from Jeff Hopkins, an educator and founder of PSII. Jeff believes that adolescents need inquiry and emergent learning opportunities to be successful. He says that in education now, we are not giving students the opportunity to learn in this way and that we must change the way we are teaching (Hopkins, 2014). Jeff has taken the steps needed to innovate his teaching and in doing so he has opened an alternative learning school, here on Vancouver Island.

In the article Enhancing Creativity and Innovation in Engineering Education it states “In entrepreneurship and technopreneurship..., innovation and creativity are highly associated with ‘the process of uncovering and developing an opportunity to create value through innovation” (Badran, 2007, p. 575). I think this can be said for education as well. I believe what Jeff has done is innovated his practice thus creating a valuable learning opportunity for students.

With the world constantly changing, as teacher’s, we “are expected to innovate the theory and practice of teaching and learning, as well as all other aspects of this complex organization to ensure quality preparation of all students to life and work” (Serdykov, 2017). No pressure! Haha. But seriously, how are we suppose to keep up? There are many reasons that there are teacher shortages in Canada, one of them being teacher burn out. I wouldn’t be surprised if one of the contributing factors leading to burn out is the sheer amount of professional development and extra learning, we are all doing to try and keep up with the pace of the world.

So, with all that being said, is there a way to innovate your own practice without overwhelming yourself? I think the answer is yes. Don’t stress about making some crazy changes in your class, make a small change that hold value to you and/or your class, and let it grow. Here is a great resource I discovered if you’d like to learn more: https://www.innovationunit.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/10-Ideas-for-21st-Century-Education.pdf

 References:

Badran, I (2007), "Enhancing creativity and innovation in engineering education", European Journal of Engineering Education, 32:5, 573-585, DOI: 10.1080/03043790701433061

Hopkins, J. (2014) Education as if people mattered. TEDxVictoria. [video] https://youtu.be/5O5PK6LsymM

Serdyukov, P. (2017), "Innovation in education: what works, what doesn’t, and what to do about it?", Journal of Research in Innovative Teaching & Learning, Vol. 10 No. 1, pp. 4-33. https://doi.org/10.1108/JRIT-10-2016-0007

Creativity in an alternative learning environment

 

In the article Social influences on creativity: Evaluation, coaction, and surveillance by Amabile & Brackfield (1990) they mention that creativity seems to be withdrawn when there is the presence of others or an expectation/evaluation from others. This makes me wonder about the benefits of play-based learning in alternative learning environments.

One of the alternative learning schools I have learned about are “forest schools”. Forest schools vary in the way they are run. The one in my local area is a full outdoor education school. It is a BC independent school so they use the BC curriculum, however all classes are conducted outside. According to the research mentioned in Amabile, & Brackfield(1990) “There is evidence that evaluation expectation can by itself undermine intrinsic motivation and creativity.” (p. 10). I wonder with a more open style of learning if the evaluations are less obvious to the students and therefore create an environment more favorable to creativity. On the Cowichan Valley School District’s website(2022), it says “At Mill Bay Nature School, learning is intentionally embedded in everything we do” (para 3). This statement makes me think of an ideal learning environment where students are constantly being observed and evaluated but they are not aware of it, which makes them feel more comfortable and generally allows them to be more creative and learn authentically and naturally.

In my own practice I have seen evidence of this. Last year in June my K/1 teacher and I took her class on several walking field trips into the forest behind our school. Myself being the music teacher took this opportunity to ask the students prompting questions about sounds in our environment in a low-pressure environment. I was 100% evaluating their creative abilities to use their surroundings to create sounds or musical instruments but the questions flowed naturally, were not forced and the students seem to respond more authentically and naturally. For example, one of my students got really excited and started making sounds with everything he could find around him. He snapped a twig and said “Ms. Lucas, listen!” and he snapped another. He grabbed a pinecone and a stick and started replicating the sound we make with the rhythm sticks in class. He even crumbled some leaves and had me listen. This particular student had a really hard time learning in the classroom. I personally believe that inside the four walls he felt pressure and once he was out of them, he felt freedom. It was a really magical day for me and I am glad to have the opportunity to relive it and share it with you all.

 

Showing his friend the sound he can make by snapping twigs 

Reference:
Amabile, & Brackfield, S. (1990). Social influences on creativity: Evaluation, coaction, and       surveillance. Creativity Research Journal, 3(1), 6–21.                                   https://resolver   scholarsportal-  info.proxy.queensu.ca/resolve/10400419/v03i0001/6_siocecas.xml

School District 79. (2022). Mill Bay Nature School. Cowichan Valley School District. https://sd79.bc.ca/programs/mbns/

Questions to consider this term

 Well reflecting over the past week on some burning questions, I found it difficult to choose just one. I am curious about so many things and have a thirst to learn more. I have decided to target 2 questions, one personal and one more surrounding some educational ideas.

1. What type of alternative learning schools are available in my local area? What curriculum do they follow and how do they integrate their curriculum into the alternative environment?

2. What can I do to "stay fresh" while taking a short break from teaching? What should I do to prepare myself before returning to a teaching position?