THE SASKATCHEWAN EDUCATIONAL LEADERSHIP UNIT
(SELU) is a department-based unit that promotes leadership development through:
the design and implementation of professional development;
research on educational leadership and matters affecting educational leadership;
the provision of a forum in which significant educational and administrative issues can be addressed;
the provision of a communication link among the various organizations involved in education.
The clients of the Unit consist primarily of administrators at the school level, line and staff officers normally housed at the central office of a school system, and school boards and their members. However, the Unit has also worked with parents, teachers and students on leadership development activities.
The Saskatchewan Educational Leadership Unit is a non-profit agency which serves as a coordinator, developer and administrator of leadership development activities.
It is a collaborative agency designed to utilize the entire pool of experts and expertise in the Province of Saskatchewan.
Its integral place in the Department enables it to draw upon the resources needed to provide consistently high quality, relevant services to the professional community.
Since its creation in 1985, the Unit has provided services to the professional community through such activities as:
Saturday seminars;
system-based leadership development programs;
school system amalgamation and efficiency projects;
school effectiveness and system effectiveness reviews;
short-courses for in-school administrators;
conference planning and delivery;
in-depth research studies in such areas as finance, the principalship, board/CEO evaluation, school effectiveness and rural education.
THE SASKATCHEWAN PRINCIPALS’ SHORT COURSE
The Saskatchewan Principal's Short Course has been offered by the Department for over thirty years as a means of ensuring up-to-date training for in-school administrators, particularly those new to the role.
The major goal of the Short Course is to provide an intensive inservice for current and future school administrators using practitioners, researchers and faculty as resource people. The activities of the Course enable participants:
to examine the role of the principal from the perspectives of educational leader, school manager, personnel director and change agent;
to focus on the issues affecting the role of the principal, e.g., education and the law, organizing the school program, and supervision;
to learn about some of the new developments in education; and,
to share experiences, insights and concerns with other practitioners.
Though activities include a number of topics of special interest to beginning vice-principals and principals, many of the issues are relevant to those already in an administrative position. Numerous opportunities are provided for discussions in small groups. The topics include:
Team Building
Leadership
Law: issues and cases with respect to students, parents, teachers and principals
Concerns of beginning principals
Linking Schools and Community Services
Managing Money
School Effectiveness
Educational Technologies
Integrating Aboriginal Needs
Community Involvement
Dealing with Local Trustees
Timetabling
THE NATIONAL CONGRESS ON RURAL EDUCATION
The National Congress on Rural Education is a regular event planned and facilitated by the Department since its initiation in February 1996. The Congress, which attracts over 500 presenters and participants from across Canada, is held in Saskatoon.
The Congress is designed to bring together communities of practitioners, researchers and policy makers. Sessions are organized with these groups in mind. Specifically, this Congress is relevant to students, parents, trustees, teachers, community organizations, administrators, university personnel, business agencies and all who have an interest in rural education. The theme for the conference varies from year to year, but the topics for sessions frequently include: small schools; school finance, building partnerships in rural communities; parental involvement; multi-gradedness; technology and distance methodologies; school and system amalgamation; and leadership in First Nations contexts.
The Congress has heightened the leadership role of this Department in the area of rural education. Additionally, it has become a forum in which teachers, trustees, parents, community members, university personnel and business agencies can come together to examine issues and alternatives in the provision of educational opportunities in rural and small schools.
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