2017 AASSA Governance Conference for School Heads and Board Members
September 14-16, 2017 Marriott Dadeland Hotel Miami, Florida
Transformational Governance: From Principles to Practice
We are taking the learning which was launched at last year’s conference to the next level! Our 2017 conference will again feature two of our presenters from last year (Teresa Arpin and Kevin Bartlett), and a presenter new to our region, Myron Dueck. This is NOT a repeat of last year but rather taking the next step from a systemic approach to transformational governance!
Transformational Boards work with their leadership and community to co-create key Principles that shape and guide the school’s learning culture. This year’s AASSA Conference will focus on key Principles of great Governance and support participants in mastering the practices that matter in the drive to improve the quality of learning and life in our schools.
The conference format will also include interactive whole group sessions that will both frame this unique learning experience and provide opportunities for authentic application of what you are learning to real-life situations in your school.
Pre-Conference: Thursday, September 14, 2017
Designed for new Board Members, but experienced trustees will gain new perspectives. We will focus on:
The Purpose Principle: The ways in which we set and sustain the key purposes for our school. We’ll look at how we engage our communities in setting the school’s long-term mission and vision and how we use smart planning to turn these guiding ideas into understandings that drive decision-making and practice.
The Focus Principle: The ways in which we concentrate our time, energy, and talent to achieve our high impact goals. We’ll look at how we organize for success, design our working structures and sustain our systems for maintaining consistent alignment with the school’s guiding ideas.
Main Conference: September 15 & 16, 2017
The Transformational Board: Optimizing Our Impact Great schools have a transformational impact on the lives of their students. Great Boards and leaders have a transformational impact on their schools. Throughout this two-day learning conversation, we will explore what it means to move from basic transactional work to transformative work. Together we’ll define ‘transformational’. Then we’ll take deep dives into key principles and practices that take our work to a higher level. These will include the opportunity to transform our approaches to advancement, to explore our willingness to abandon ineffective practices that are holding us back, and to take the journey from mission to measurement, taking a hard look at the evidence that we, our leaders and our schools are having the impacts we really want. As always, the working style will be interactive and engaging, as we learn from experience and each other.
Deep Dive Sessions We will offer three deep dives, of which participants will choose two over the two days. Deep Dives will begin in the morning and continue after lunch. Before and after deep dives, we will work together as one conference community–in interactive sessions–to integrate and apply what you are learning in the deep dives. We will also use the “Open Space” methodology to identify topics and groups that will construct their own deep dive while learning with and from each other.
Transforming Learning…By Doing Less–Kevin Bartlett Our schools are invaded by Energy Vampires, enemies of learning that suck the life out of us with minimal payback in terms of learning impact. From the mire of meaningless meetings to atrophy by accreditation, from the pestilence of professional evaluation to the ridiculous routines of report writing, we are plagued by practices that have no place in modern, learning focused schools. This session will offer a practical toolkit to replace outmoded practices with new systems that convert lower energy output into higher learning impact. You will leave with a to-don’t list longer than your to-do list.
Transforming Governance–Teresa Arpin Trustees’ roles are continuing to expand, bringing a stronger focus on their strategic and generative roles. We will explore the skills and processes that help trustees engage in “generative governance.” Additionally, we will take a deeper dive on some challenging topics that will take your board’s practice to the next level. These will include strategic planning as an integrated process and measuring what matters.
Transforming the Student Experience – Myron Dueck Contemporary classrooms are transforming and trustees and school leaders need to be able to engage in the challenging conversations that come with change. We will look at non-traditional grading, assessment and reporting methods that appropriately require the student to truly engage in each facet of the process. With each topic we will examine what is being done in some of the most cutting edge schools, as we endeavour to build systems that assess with the student in order to nurture competent, critical thinkers who can communicate and explore.
The conference target participants are Board Members, Heads of School and any staff members involved in governance Registration and hotel reservations are now open!
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