September Colloquium - September 24, 2004 Ethical Leadership in Times of Conflict

This colloquium further develops the principles of our highly successful colloquia series of last year, enabling practitioners from the field to engage with renowned scholars on an issue of shared concern.
The September colloquium features Dr. Daniel Vokey, assistant professor in the Philosophy of Education in the Faculty of Education here at UBC. Dr. Vokey instructs courses for the MEd and the EdD programs in which practicing and aspiring administrators learn to use ethical theory to address the challenges of leadership in education.
As one initiative to extend this work, Dr. Vokey has collaborated with the SLC in developing a workshop format for the September colloquium. Over the course of the day, participants will draw upon the lessons of experience and the resources of different moral theories to form specific plans for developing their own ethical leadership and for enhancing the ethical leadership exercised in BC at school, district, and provincial levels. The format will include small group work for district teams to build a collective capacity for ethical reasoning even as the specific contexts of conflict in a district are considered. The small groups will be facilitated by faculty members of the Educational Administration program at UBC, including Dr. Andre Mazawi, Dr. Michelle Stack, Dr. Wendy Poole, Mr. Alex Holm, Mr. Mark Edwards, Dr. Kit Grauer, Deputy Head of Curriculum Studies, and visiting scholar Dr. Keith Walker.

During the morning of the colloquium, participants will be invited to consider what can be learned from the ethical challenges that arose during the contract dispute between the teacher's federation and the government in 2001-2002. In the afternoon, we will individually and collectively plan how to increase the capacity of leaders and learning communities to work through what conflicts might arise in the upcoming contract negotiations. We expect these opportunities will be of value to your school leaders, whether they are administrators, teachers, parents, trustees, district staff, or students.
Participants can expect an intense, interactive day; and to leave with specific objectives for enhancing their own ethical leadership and that of others in their learning community. As with past colloquia, participants will be provided with research materials to further advance what they learn during the day.
A monograph, based upon the joint experiences and reflections of practitioners and researchers, will be published following the session. This monograph will serve to include the wider BC school community in our deliberations and discoveries.

Registration limited to 40 people

We are opening registration to district teams, individuals, and to other partner groups. Since there are only 40 spaces for the colloquium, early registration will be extremely important. The colloquium details are as follows:

The registration fee for the colloquium will include pre-colloquium reading, colloquium materials, lunch, and nutrition breaks.

Inquiries and communication regarding the conference may be made by phone at 604-827-5350, or by e-mail to slc.edu@ubc.ca. Registration forms and fees may be sent to the above address, or faxed to 604-822-8234.