Lois Keller and Jacqueline Helman
The McDowell Foundation remains important to supporting creativity, collaboration, and rich professional learning experiences that move beyond momentary workshops and division initiatives and it offers a unique opportunity to contribute to educational research. It empowers teachers in delving into the daily inquiry of practice with both their colleagues and students.
When I meet with the teachers who were involved in this work, they comment that it was the richest professional learning experience they engaged with during their careers and led to a significant changes in their teaching practices and beliefs in their leadership skills. At the time I was working as a consultant responsible for professional learning sessions and I found the role of engaging in action research was instrumental in fuelling our professional creativity and the funded resources enabled us to collaborate deeply. This work continues today and is found in our professional websites, remote classrooms, and lib-guides. It was further recognized with the demands of remote classroom learning during this past year.
Here is a small video highlighting our experiences assembled by Jacqueline Helman, our talented curator.