Vision, Values & Feedback: A Master Class in Transforming School Culture | Schedule

In the kickoff session, participants will embark on a comprehensive journey to understand and cultivate a championship culture within their schools. We begin by exploring types of school cultures and connection between culture and school success. Participants will then learn a framework for a championship culture and begin laying the foundation for cultural change by articulating core values and developing a vision to anchor their strategic culture plan.

A core element of a championship culture is a healthy feedback ecosystem. This session will equip leaders with the tools to provide and receive feedback effectively. With an emphasis on both reflective practice and on practical skills, participants will expand and sharpen their personal toolkit around feedback before expanding application to their teams and schools.

Speaker: Jennifer Bryan, Psychologist/Consultant, Re-Set School

For the past four years administrators, educators, and school communities have contended with a long list of challenges. The list itself (pandemic, structural racism, climate volatility, political upheaval) never feels complete nor does it fully capture the extremity and unpredictability of these many stressors. While the 2023 – 2024 school year brought some measure of relief and predictability, many students and adults continue to search for equilibrium and seek a sense of proportion and purpose. In our current quasi-unsettled condition––and with plenty of questions about all that lies ahead––centering well-being is both a practical and profound strategy for providing care, promoting learning, and fostering resilience in our educational communities. This interactive keynote will offer a holistic view of well-being and highlight the critical components for determining direction and meaning in your school.

As leaders build healthy cultures characterized by the effective flow of feedback through the system and productive conflict towards shared goals, they must help others to build muscles around engaging in direct conversations and conflict. In this session, participants will develop understandings and plans to leverage relationships and systems to cultivate a feedback culture in their communities. They will also understand how to encourage productive conflict and equip team members to initiate conflict resolution.

Speaker: Pascal Losambe, Chief Content Officer, Synergy Consulting Company

In an era where our schools face profound uncertainty, particularly with the 2024 election looming, educational institutions are seeking pathways to support students through transitions and empower them to thrive in the face of uncertainty. This session aims to equip educational leaders with strategies to guide young minds and become embodiments of anti-fragility. Through this lens, we will address how to navigate the uncertainties of the current socio-political climate, ensuring that our organizations not only adapt but also seize opportunities for growth and innovation.

Strategic planning is sometimes seen as a school-wide exercise undertaken every few years. However, leaders can and should engage in strategic planning for their teams and divisions. After reflecting on day 1, leaders will begin to explore practices for effective strategic planning and change management. As they continue to develop their personal action plans, leaders will lean on their personal experiences and insights as they build an understanding of how to plan and implement change within the context of a championship culture.

Participants will continue their strategic planning work, focusing on cultural alignment. We will explore values-based leadership; participants will identify core values, integrating these into leadership practices and using values to guide strategic decision-making. Participants will continue to build a values-based action plan for their leadership and school culture. In addition, we’ll ensure leaders build mechanisms for measuring and celebrating success as school culture is built.

Speaker: Bradley James Davies, Founder, Falkor

Within a complex context where school communities are comprised of constituents from across all spectrums of thought, belief, and background, to be successful, leaders need to be the best listeners in the room. Moreover, when navigating the current, nuanced political environment, engaging with upset parents, and seeking to model civil discourse across the campus, leaders need to be tremendous listeners, next-level listeners. In this hands-on, interactive keynote, participants will learn and practice listening strategies and approaches. As a result, participants will emerge equipped with an understanding of a skill set strong enough to transform any school, organization, home, or relationship, and prepared to better honor challenging conversations, model civil discourse for child and adult alike, and navigate the multitude of competing priorities presented each day.

In the closing session of the seminar, each leader will have the opportunity to present their strategic plans and values-based leadership actions to peers for feedback and discussion. Participants will also reflect on the two-day journey, highlighting personal growth, plans for implementation, and ongoing community support from this cohort of peers.