Truths that I will take with me to nurture and grow
Giving and receiving feedback is one area that I am both comfortable and confident. I was very fortunate to have a mentor who taught me the significance of feedback early in my career. It was reinforcing to know that much of my original learning about feedback; timely, clear, and detailed, (Boud & Dawson, 2023; Wiggins, 2012) is still considered best practice. Some of my new learning around feedback; goal referenced, tangible, and actionable components, (Wiggins, 2012) are elements that I am striving to utilize more often in my daily practice. Reflecting regularly and using intentionality to remind myself to avoid some of my previous mistakes in feedback; like sandwiching feedback for growth in between two positive items, being too gentle and soft, or being too general, (Center for Creative Leadership, 2014) has been an area of growth for me.
Program and teacher evaluation is a regular responsibility in my role as an administrator. Having a framework like the Kirkpatrick model (Mahmoodi et al., 2019; Smidt et al., 2009) to utilize to ensure reflexivity and accountability in achieving desired goals is already having a significant impact on my efficacy. Based on prior learning and intuition, I have been using some components and a slightly modified version of the four levels (reaction, learning, behaviour, results) of the Kirkpatrick framework (Mahmoodi et al., 2019; Smidt et al., 2009); but my utilization was without the comprehension of the intentionality and structure of this process. Learning about the objectives and intent behind the framework to support regular progress monitoring of programming has been an enlightened shift in my thinking and reflection that contributes to newfound strength and confidence in program evaluation decision-making.
I am eager to continue to share my learning with others based on a few purposeful shifts in my professional growth routine. I plan to continue to connect and make time for professional conversations with a group of colleagues from Yorkville and our provincial CSL (Council for School Leadership). This has already proven to be an invaluable opportunity to learn from each other and to practice giving and receiving quality feedback. An area that I am excited to expand upon and to continue to build is this blog/website for my project. I imagine it to be an important hub to house collected and relevant resources, as well as a place to blog and reflect on my own journey through assessment and evaluation which will contribute to my ongoing reflexivity. I am also hopeful that I can create an interactive component on the website to encourage others to engage and share their learning. This will be an attempt to create an inclusive professional learning environment where all voices have an opportunity to be heard. This will utilize my own learning around using a protocol structure to ensure equitable participation for sharing and discussion (Hammond, 2020b). My goal is to continue to embrace the opportunity to be a leader who exemplifies lifelong learning, leveraging opportunities to share knowledge to enhance understanding, and embracing mistakes and failures as integral components of the learning process rather than judgments on performance.
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