Dr. Genevieve Dobson, DBA on LinkedIn: #gobulls (2024)

Teacher LeadershipLast weekend while discussing a couple of topics with one of my students, our conversation shifted towards the concept of disagreement. Since it was the first time my student was experiencing a disagreement situation in a professional setup (by being part of a cohort of a learning program), the equation was challenging for her. To sum up concisely, my student followed the instructions shared by the program coordinator and delivered a genuine submission. The submission was a ‘feedback’ the program coordinator asked for. In my opinion, the feedback was direct and hence sounded realistic and not rosy (that was expected). While discussing this, my student asked me a genuine question that ‘When feedback is taken for further improvement, why do people defend them’. To my surprise, she hit the right nerve. The intent of feedback is to work on further improvement wherever possible and it is requested for that purpose only. But here, the program coordinator guided my student to mellow down the feedback. Strange right?Why the student’s feedback was sounded direct – because as a learning approach identifying the right problem is the key and that is what she has been learning. The takeaway from this incident – When we assume the position of a teacher in any capacity, it is our duty to push the learning beyond the horizons for students. A classic and revered example on this is ‘the learning imparted by Shri Krishna to Arjun in the battlefield of Mahabharat’. In this information age where we all are flooded with multiple perspectives – Teacher Leadership is losing its shine in the absence of the concept of duty. #teacherleadership #learning #feedback #perspective #beyondlimits

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NEW POST: "Establishing Professional Practice: Developing Graduate Attributes through Active Feedback in Experiential Settings – A Summary" Dr Nick Quinn & Alison GibbRecording and slides of the talk now available on our website.https://lnkd.in/dtqmfS5a#education #teaching #learning #feedback

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I call it the "one day approach"And here's how it works.There are 12 different categories that a principal must tackle:CurriculumTeaching PerformanceAdministrator SupervisionBudgetingTechnology and SoftwareSustainabilityTeacher RecruitmentTeacher RetentionSalaries and BenefitsPublic SupportCommunity EnrichmentStudent OutcomesIf you try and cover more than one category in the same day - you end up spreading yourself too thin and you never really accomplish anything meaningful.But what if - instead of doing multiple categories, you did a deep dive into one category. And strung together 12 straight days, where you focused on only ONE category per day.Here's the difference. Because you are hyper focused on one category, you can put all of your attention into that category. That means, you really can "get under the hood" and make real change happen. If you do this for 12 straight days, then you've accomplished more than if you try and run from category to category in the same time frame.Trust me, other people will bother you. Other people will distract you from your focus. Ignore them - they don't have your job. You do!! When I was a principal, I had a lot of ppl telling me a lot of things. None of them helped ME! Tune out the noise and focus on your job. You can do this. And I created 12 self-assessment checklists to help you do that!! They are free and you can access them here:https://lnkd.in/gJZU7-M3Remember, only do one checklist per day for the next 12 days. #education #educationalleadership #schoolprincipal #leadership #motivation #organization

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Empowering Teachers, Enhancing Education: How to Promote Continuous Professional Development in Your School.As educators, we know that teaching is a continuous learning process. To provide the best education for our learners, we must prioritize our own professional growth and development. But how can we promote continuous professional development for teachers in our schools?1. Provide Opportunities for Training and WorkshopsOffer regular training sessions, workshops, and conferences that cater to diverse teaching needs and interests. 2. Encourage Collaboration and MentorshipFoster a culture of peer support, mentoring, and coaching to share best practices and expertise amongst teaching staff. 4. Offer Flexible Professional Development OptionsProvide access to online courses, webinars, and self-paced learning opportunities to accommodate different learning styles and schedules.5. Recognize and Reward Professional GrowthAcknowledge and celebrate teachers' professional achievements and milestones.6. Lead by ExampleSchool leaders, model continuous learning behavior and prioritize your own professional development.7. Make Time for Professional DevelopmentSchedule regular time for teachers to engage in professional development activities.By prioritizing continuous professional development, we can enhance our teaching practices, improve student outcomes, and create a culture of excellence in our schools. Let's empower our teachers to grow and thrive! #TeacherProfessionalDevelopment #ContinuousLearning #EducationFirst #SchoolLeadership #ProfessionalGrowth #EduQuality

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Check out these excellent tips written by one of the awesome principals I have the privilege of coaching through the SLOCC program.

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Nothing feels worse as a school leader than sitting at the table with the team in June and wondering what happened to the big priority. Here are 5 tips that will give your annual strategy a chance to work. 1. One priority is best, but no more than three. Each priority requires people to do new things and there are only so many new things people can take on in a school year.2. Each priority should closely relate to a word in the mission. If you're going to use a year of people's focus on something, it must be essential. Anything called a priority should pass this test. Any initiatives that fall short should be delegated and led somewhere else in the school.3. Priorities should be simple enough to describe in a "from-to" sentence (e.g. going from ________ to __________). If the change implied by the priority isn't clear, you can't measure it and people won't understand it.4. The success of a priority must be measured by counting something throughout the school year. It should be easy to count and make it obvious when the priority is working and not working. 5. If your priority has to do with achievement or student culture, it must be translated into classrooms. Ideas don't change results; teachers do. Priorities are translated with skills, systems, and materials that anchor the summer training.

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The Big Dip I have gone down a rabbit hole of research into the big dip of engagement educators see between Years 7-8 and then again, and even more, between 8-9. Term 2 is an excellent place to give those years some extra TLC. Years 7, 11 and 12 have started to settle in, and no doubt pulled focus in Term 1. During this term, it may be time to reflect on what we can do to support our middle learners. Some simple ideas include:- Linking learning back to the real-world application to ensure students see the relevance- Reaffirming our expectations and holding students accountable- Providing leadership opportunities for students in class. Need an equipment manager or a homework completion inspector? - Carve out some time for genuine rapport building, and remember that sometimes this needs to happen outside the classroom! It might give your lunch duty a much-needed new purpose! Just some reflection for your much needed downtime! #learning #teachers #education #professionaldevelopment

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I claim the title of teacher proudly. It isn't one I intend to abandon, even though I teach in higher education now. I understand--very well--the nuances between teacher, lecturer, instructor, and professor.And I'm a teacher. Teachers like me run their eyes down rosters beside their colleagues. We talk about the learners we serve together, and each of us "claims" connections to those we've been able to build 1:1 relationships with beyond the academics. We get a sense of which learners are connected to teachers. More importantly, we realize who isn't, and we work together to close that distance. We make it our business to build relationships with the students who have not yet connected to one of us. I did this when I taught in different areas of K-12, and I lead that work now, when I'm hired to work with other K-12 teachers. Because relationships matter. This is rarely the approach that professional learning facilitators take when designing new programs or invitations, though. Typically, we survey the landscape, get a sense of who we're serving and what we need to convey, and then, we divide people into groups by shared interests: track, department, office, grade level, expertise, and so on. This is often important and necessary. At least initially.But when do we get to a place where we run our eyes down the roster of participants in any professional learning endeavor and talk with co-facilitators about who we have close 1:1 relationships with? And when do we begin talking about the fact that some of the colleagues we'd like to serve well are not closely connected to any of the people who are facilitating the learning? How do we close that gap?And does that matter?When do we begin situating facilitators with the people they know and enjoy working with, so they can lead in a truly informed and caring way? I like to move this way as a leader when I'm able to. It's rarely easy, and the results are never perfect. Unicorns don't arrive on scene to sprinkle all of us with magical love and learning dust. This doesn't solve all of our systemic or personal issues. It helps, though. I also realize that approaches like these emerge from idealistic notions about collaboration, capacity building, and care. Where are my fellow idealists out there?I'd love to hear your stories.#Leadership #LeadershipDevelopment #ProfessionalLearning #HigherEducation #TraumaInformedPractice

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Earlier this week, I received the Fall 2023 course feedback survey reports for the section of BUSM12058 - Business Learning Foundations that I taught last semester. I just took a moment to thoroughly review the feedback, and I am very grateful to see that the students in my class had a positive experience.Students who chose to leave comments had many kind things to say, but there is one comment in particular that made me pause and reflect:"He is dedicated and kind and is considerate of his students."Dedicated, kind, considerate.In all of the different positions that I have held at Sheridan College, especially in my current role as the Senior Student Advisor for our three campuses, these three words have been at the forefront of my leadership approach. Over the last five years while working at Sheridan, I have made every effort to dedicate myself to supporting students through kindness and compassion. I often say that students are the only ones who can truly measure our performance as practitioners and educators, because they directly receive support and education from us. Seeing that a student took the time to anonymously share that they feel I am dedicated, kind, and considerate is the most rewarding performance review that I have received as an educator and practitioner.This course section mostly consisted of international students, and I was able to see firsthand how various stressors can have a direct impact on academics. In this current climate where stress levels are escalating for international students due to the uncertainty of new government regulations, we as educators and practitioners need to ensure that we dedicate ourselves to supporting and educating all students through kindness and compassion. We may not be able to move barriers for students, but we can try our best to help students overcome barriers while also ensuring that we aren't creating additional ones.While I am not teaching this semester due to other commitments, I look forward to pursuing future teaching opportunities that will allow me to positively impact the lives of students in the classroom, especially for those who already face challenges and barriers in their lives.#StudentSuccess #StudentDevelopment #HigherEducation #InternationalStudents #EducationalLeadership

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Have you considered the impact of building emotionally resilient teams?Even when we talk about teacher excellence, it tends to be in isolation because we don’t spend enough time in schools building strong teams with a firm foundation of courage, compassion, and curiosity and connection.So when it is time to implement new instructional plans, or bring out a new curriculum or implement, culturally responsive teaching, or social emotional learning, we fall short, because the foundation of the team has not been a focal point for the year But that changes for those who have signed up for our master class this Sunday on breaking through teacher resistance, because we will be focusing a lot of our time on the importance of the team, and how that is one of our methodologies and evidence based practices for successful rollouts with new initiatives If you have not already, go to the link in our bio and register for the master class this Sunday at 6 PM central standard time. There will be a guidebook that you will have as a resource tool to build a strategic plan so that you can be successful when you return back to work with tools, you can take to your team that includes both leadership and teachers.Share this video with some colleagues, so they can get in on the gyms that will be dropped, and we can impact education in a bigger and better way!Click https://lnkd.in/damECEuv to learn more and save your spot! See ya Sunday! #culturallyresponsiveteaching #culturallyresponsiveleadership #socialemotionallearning #socialemotionaldevelopment #emotionalresilience #teams #teambuildingideas #edequity #leadershipineducation #equityineducation #schoolleaders #schoolleadership #edadmin #teacherresistance #changemanagement #eduleaders #leadershipskills #leadershipcoaching #instructionalleadership #instructionalcoach #instructionalcoaching #edleadership #inclusiveeducation #educationalleadership #educationreform #equitymatters

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