Jeff Johnson: Breaking the Gap Between Principals and Teachers

Today, the École branchée educational meetings are making a small foray into the world of school principals, and more particularly in their continuing education. To do this, we talk to Jeff Johnson, one of the organizers of the uLead conference.

The “École branchée educational meetings” are podcast interviews with school stakeholders from here and elsewhere. In this episode, our collaborator (and concept creator), Marc-André Girard, talks in very good French with Jeff Jonhson (@iLEADCommunity).

Originally from Saskatchewan, former teacher in Alberta, then principal in this same province, Jeff Johnson is now in charge of the uLead conference within the ATA (Alberta Teacher Association).

The ATA is an organization that has two objectives: on the one hand, it is a union that represents the teaching profession of Alberta; on the other, it creates professional development opportunities for teachers… and principals.

At the end of April 2016, the 3^e edition of the uLead conference. Before uLead, says Jeff Johnson, there was a 30-year conference for directors in Western Canada with much the same goals. On his arrival as organizer, however, he changed the name of the event to uLead, in order to attract a more international audience. “ULead is above all a conversation. People don't like to sit in a seat to hear someone speak, ”he says. According to him, the participants rather want to talk about their school, to share different experiences. “When we're together, we have stories to tell,” he says.

Does a leadership conference really matter? Mr Johnson pointed out that there is naturally a gap between principals and teachers in schools. It is therefore necessary to sensitize the "leaders" to the factors of success of education everywhere in the world. Moreover, very often, successful models include a relationship of partnership, and not of power, between the administration and its school team. This is the message that such an event wants to convey.

Listen to the full interview:

Bringing down the gap between principals and teachers
Marc-André Girard speaks with Jeff Johnson
ULead conference organizer
Download (.mp3 format)

Psst!

The podcast can be downloaded like downloading a piece of music and then listened to in the car, for example, on the way to work in the morning or on the way home!