During my time as a graduate student (MEd and PhD) I was able to secure provincial and national funding for my scholarly work. In my MEd tenure, I received the Ontario Graduate Scholarship ($15 000) plus an entrance scholarship and access to a research assistantship. In my doctoral tenure, I received the SSHRC Joseph Armand Bombardier Canada Graduate Scholarship ($105 000) and other honourable internal funding opportunities as a result of my research. These funding opportunities have given me ample experience in learning how to seek out and apply for funding for a variety of purposes. I am skilled at aligning a funder’s scope and objective with the objectives of my own projects and writing an appropriate budget, timeline, executive summary, and final report, which typically accompany grants and financial awards. These skills are transferable to leadership roles where grants and funding need to be secured to support school initiatives such as outdoor structures and school-wide events.
Prior to becoming a full time teacher, I co-edited a book entitled “Immigrant and Refugee Students in Canada” (Brush Education). In this book, I co-authored several chapters and oversaw the research contributions of scholars across Canada. I kept detailed records of correspondences, negotiated contracts, provided feedback related to our project goals, and organized a round-table event at the Canadian Society for the Scholarship of Education’s Annual Conference. These skills are transferable to educational leadership where I will be uniting a large group of people towards common goals in an organized manner.
In my role as a teacher, I developed the organization to support desired practices by taking on the role of keeping the art room stocked and ordering new art supplies as necessary. The approach I used in this endeavour relied on collective responsibility. I added a white-board to the art room so people could list items they were hoping to have available and I posted friendly reminders about sharing supplies in a communal way. I modeled my values by offering specialty supplies I had when people in the school community requested them.
Another way that I helped to develop the organization was by creating digital versions of many paper forms that teachers in the early years division were using. I created digital startup forms for parents to fill out so teachers could easily access a spreadsheet with all of the information they needed about their students. Furthermore, I converted many of the assessment forms into digital formats so that we could use an ipad or laptop to run assessments and see whole-class data at a glance. This was useful for my own needs but also for engaging in PLCs an professional development.
CourtneyAnnePhD 