Learning Alongside
Welcome to the Sea to Sky School District Learning Hub!
This blog-style webpage features projects from schools across our district that demonstrate our common goal for educational excellence:
"We will create safe, purposeful and powerful learning environments in order that all students can think critically, create, collaborate, contribute and learn."
At the May 13 Public Board Meeting, Robin Kirk, Principal of Spring Creek Community School, and Heather Androsoff, District Vice-Principal of Early Learning and Child Care, presented Learning Alongside. Their presentation introduced a transformative vision for inclusion, inspired by the Ministry of Education and Child Care’s Changing Results for Young Children initiative, that is shaping K-7 learning through professional inquiry work alongside a wonder child.
Grounding in Indigenous Ways of Knowing and Being
Staff participated in Circle during staff meetings and on professional days to strengthen relationships, connect to land and culture, and build community. Staff were invited to try out circle practice in their classrooms with students.
A New Way of Seeing
Staff were invited to choose a wonder child to learn alongside and wrap-around for the school year. Staff were asked: Who is catching your attention? Who seems to go unnoticed? Who stretches you? The invitation was to use a strength-based lens and a pedagogy of listening to learn about the wonder child’s identity, gifts, and interests. The presentation emphasized a powerful shift in practice from deficit thinking to strength-based approaches.
Changing Possibilities Through Social-Emotional Learning
The presentation identified seven social-emotional learning facets educators could choose to focus on, as it related to their wonder child’s needs:
- Relationships
- Kindness and empathy
- Well-being
- Identity
- Self-regulation
- Belonging
- Agency
Professional Inquiry
Staff meetings and professional days were spent engaging in collaborative dialogue. Staff collected artifacts and documentation to share with colleagues. They asked curious questions about each wonder child and provided feedback to each other on possible next steps to support their wonder child’s learning, growth, and development.
Designing for Belonging
The team also highlighted Universal Design for Learning (UDL) as a foundational part of this work. The focus moving forward will be using the information learned to create the conditions for each wonder child to thrive. This work is already impacting the School Learning Plan, class loading, and class review conversations. Future work will include professional conversations around environmental and instructional design with these wonder children in mind.
Making Learning Visible
The presentation concluded with a celebration of the growth staff witnessed as they learned alongside their wonder child throughout the year, and reflections around teachings educators intend to apply to their work with all children moving forward.