Due to severe flooding in July, Barnett House will remain closed until early 2027.
The ATA Library is still open and providing resources to members.
Staff are working from home and continue to serve members online and by phone.
The Southern Alberta Regional Office (SARO) in Calgary is unaffected and conducts business per usual.
This fall, school leaders gathered at sessions around the province to explore a familiar challenge: how to turn professional learning into lasting changes in the classroom.
The latest iteration of the ATA’s School Leaders Speaker Series featured Ryan Dunn, who brought practical learning and conversation to Sturgeon Valley, Wainwright, Red Deer and Medicine Hat.
A senior lecturer at the University of Melbourne, Dunn specializes in teacher professional learning, educational leadership and evidence-based instruction. His work with schools across Australia, the United States, Canada and Singapore informed the sessions, which focused on helping school leaders support teachers’ growth.
Participants explored how to break broad instructional goals into specific techniques. Dunn’s Define, Model, Rehearse framework emphasized making a practice clear, showing what it looks like and giving teachers opportunities to rehearse it.
Attendees welcomed the combination of research, concrete examples and discussion with colleagues.
“He was very effective at presenting research-based practices that help bridge the gap between theory and practice,” wrote one Sturgeon Valley participant, who also praised Dunn’s down-to-earth approach and humour.
For some, the learning was already finding its way into school planning. One attendee reported having collaborated with a colleague to break their school’s priority-of-practice strategies into one or two specific techniques for staff to practise during the year.
In Medicine Hat, a participant appreciated that the presentation was “concrete and ready to implement,” while also recognizing teachers’ workloads. The opportunity to connect mattered, too, with a Red Deer attendee describing the session as an “opportunity to interact with like-minded professionals.”
Across the feedback, participants valued leaving with practical ways to support teachers and bringing new approaches into their schools.
Keep an eye on the ATA website and member communications for future leadership and professional development opportunities, including more chances to learn alongside colleagues.
