The Alberta Teachers’ Association

A sampling of ATA services for school leaders

Since the Alberta Teachers’ Association was founded in 1918 by a dedicated group of teachers and principals, it has been committed to representing both teachers and principal–teachers. This collegiality is a foundational belief of the ATA.

Today the Association offers a wide range of programs and services to teachers who are already in formal leadership roles at the school or division level, as well as those who are aspiring school leaders in informal leadership roles. These programs and services are offered across all of the ATA’s program areas and also through the work of the Council for School Leadership (CSL), the ATA’s specialist council for aspiring and practising school and division leaders in Alberta.

The ATA has just published a new 24-page booklet entitled Leadership Services for School Leaders that outlines the various seminars, workshops, conferences and resources that are available.

The following offerings are among the dozens of titles:

• School Leaders Need to Know the Law
• Common and Emerging Issues for Administrators
• Investigate or Not: Why and How
  Dealing with Harassment
• Dealing with Difficult People and Difficult Issues
• Potential Liabilities of Dealing with Students with Medical Issues
• Leading a Learning Community: Creating Inclusive Learning Environments

This booklet is now available on the ATA website: www.teachers.ab.ca > News and Info > Publications.

Council for School Leadership
The Council for School Leadership (CSL) is one of the ATA’s 21 specialist councils, which exist to foster the professional development of teachers who are interested in common curriculum or specialty areas. The CSL’s mission is promoting and advancing excellent practices in educational leadership. It supports the professional development of its members through creating and delivering a variety of events and activities. The CSL also promotes lifelong learning and strives for close relationships with Alberta’s colleges and universities. To foster knowledge and professionalism in the field of educational administration, the CSL encourages and supports both theoretical and practical research.

Exchanges

The ATA administers exchange programs that are open to administrators as well as teachers. Short-term exchanges of one or two weeks enable administrators to job shadow a counterpart from elsewhere in Alberta, Canada or overseas.

Year-long exchanges are also an option. These involve switching places for an entire year with a counterpart from Australia, Germany, the U.K. or another province in Canada.

Find out more at www.teachers.ab.ca > Public Education > Teacher and Administrator Exchanges.

Publications

Leadership Update

Published four to six times a year, this newsletter discusses current issues of interest to school administrators.

CSL Magazine

The CSL publishes an edition of the CSL Magazine several times each year, typically in months when the ATA’s Leadership Update is not published. The magazine contains interesting timely articles for aspiring and current school leaders and division-level leaders that are written by Alberta CSL members and also drawn from international principal organization publications.

uLead Podcast

The CSL regularly produces podcast episodes of the uLead Podcast, which are available from a variety of podcast sources such as Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Recent episodes have featured Dr. Lynora Saxinger, Dr. Michael Rich and Armand Doucet. This relatively new podcast already has hundreds of subscribers. ❚