Leadership program allows Werklund alumnae to strengthen university ties

The individual paths teachers take during their careers are varied. Many continue to work with students daily basis their entire careers, while others move into leadership roles that often pull them out of the classroom. 

Though each journey is unique to the individual, what most educators have in common is their desire to find a way to continue to teach in some capacity.

This was the case for Lori Pamplin, Carol Murray, and Lori Cooper, who are all teachers who have assumed administrative positions with the Calgary Board of Education (CBE). 

“All I ever wanted to be was a teacher,” says Lori Pamplin, director of Leadership and Learning at the CBE. “The part of my roles that I most enjoy relate directly to the people with whom I engage. Engaging around work and study that matters develops all involved and furthers our profession.”

Carol Murray, a CBE education co-ordinator, says, “I have always felt it is truly important to give back and to share personal learnings and experiences. I think that teaching opens up so many possibilities to transform an individual both in their thinking and in their actions.” 

For her part, Lori Cooper, a consultant with the CBE’s Leadership and Learning department, finds teaching to be a mutually beneficial relationship.

“What my students may not have realized, is that in the course of our robust inquiry together, in which we strove to foster intellectual habits of thought, meaning making and discourse, I learned possibly more from them than they from me,” says Cooper.

Program embodies open partnership between Werklund and CBE

Several years ago, CBE system leaders partnered with the Werklund School of Education’s Jim Brandon and Michele Jacobsen to create theCBE Leading for Learning Master of Education program.

When the opportunity to further develop the program and teach in it arose, the trio did not hesitate to participate. 

“We worked with Jim and Michele to structure the program to emphasize a leadership focus compatible with the goals and vision for leadership within the Calgary Board of Education while honouring the needs of the Werklund School of Education,” says Pamplin.

Murray agrees and says, “There has been a very open partnership and relationship between CBE and the Werklund School.

"The course material is responsive to the current educational context and students are able to apply their learning in their settings and truly embody research informed leadership practice.”

CBE team helps masters' program adapt to district and provincial priorities  

Brandon, director of professional programs for the Werklund School, explains that students in the cohort cultivate the educational leadership competencies that are required in rapidly changing, technologically rich schools. He says that it would not have been possible to develop a responsive program without input from the teaching community.

“The CBE Leading for Learning MEd Program is the third Werklund has offered in partnership with Alberta’s largest school district," says Brandon. "Based on what we have learned together with the CBE team, the masters’ program has been adapted to better match district and provincial priorities.”

In addition to sharing a passion for teaching, Pamplin, Murray and Cooper are linked as Education alumnae. Each of them earned a Doctorate of Education and were all eager to add a new dimension to their association with the school. 

“Having benefited from close interactions with faculty from the Werklund School of Education throughout my academic career, I wished to give back as a mentor to other educators,” says Cooper. In addition to her EdD’14, she has also received a BEd’96, BA’96 and MEd’04 from the University of Calgary.

Alumni trio are educators who bring practical and theoretical expertise to campus  

Brandon says bringing these three members of the alumni family back to campus was an easy decision.

“We look for educators whose academic work, research and teaching are outstanding. Our three CBE colleagues are research-active senior educational leaders, excellent scholars in the field of educational leadership and very strong teachers," he says. "It is difficult to beat their upbeat combination of practical, theoretical and pedagogical expertise.”                                                                                      

If Brandon has his way, this trio will assuredly satisfy their desire to teach at the Werklund School for years to come.