Education Week: Learning is a Journey

The Werklund School of Education Shapes Alberta’s Future Through Collaborative Research on Learning

The education of Alberta teachers has come a long way since our days in Normal School! Today’s school teachers, school principals and school jurisdiction leaders increasingly return to Faculties of Education in order to learn how to study, design and lead exceptional learning experiences for students in Alberta classrooms. In the past few decades, there has been a steady increase in our collective understanding of knowledge building, engaged learning, design-based teaching and instructional leadership arising from collaborative educational research in Alberta classrooms done by practicing educators alongside academic faculty while earning their masters or doctoral degree. Werklund School of Education brings the learning to learners by enabling educators to engage in graduate study through blended and online professional programs that combine full-time teaching and school leadership with active research on learning. Alberta educators and academic faculty collaborate closely on research-informed innovations and curriculum redesign to ensure that contemporary programs of study are enacted by teachers for students in every grade and in every subject. The shared commitment between educators and leaders in Alberta schools and academic faculty in Alberta Universities for studying and leading change and innovation in education today, and for creating bold solutions for improvements in practice, process and policy for tomorrow, continues to shape the future of Alberta.

-Michele Jacobsen, PhD Professor and Associate Dean, Graduate Programs in Education

Personalized Intellectual Engagement

This year’s Education Week theme: Learning is a Journey, acknowledges the role education plays in providing students innovative learning opportunities, while also preparing them for careers in a diversified economy.

In reflecting on this theme, as a current leader in the K-12 education system and alumni from the University of Calgary (EdD’14, MEd’04, BEd’96, and BA’96), I suggest we consider the role of personalization of learning in our conversations about how education shapes the future of this province.

By one popular estimate, 65% of children entering school today will ultimately end up working in completely new jobs that do not yet exist (McLeod & Fisch, “Shift Happens”). What does this mean for education? I believe we are already on the path to ensure our students are ready for this unknown future. The teachers and leaders I work with intentionally design instruction and leadership strategies for students with a focus on personalized intellectual engagement.

Students now have the opportunity to experience differentiated, tailored instruction, offered within diverse places and at different times. Our students can learn from experts in the field and work on projects requiring collaborative skills in an environment designed to foster a variety of interdependent relationships. Students today, more than ever, know what they need and know what they need next, thus ensuring they are positioned for ambiguities of the future.

In Alberta, our educators are responsive to the needs of current students, while also actively supporting and designing opportunities for our future citizens.

-Lori Cooper, Principal, Calgary Board of Education