uLead2026 - The Summit of Educational Leadership

The presenter will describe the importance of principals, district teachers, coaches, and supervisors taking the lead in using a whole school approach to improve the mathematics learning of their students. The presenters will provide participants with a better understanding of what the changes should look like, along with key "look fors" and a proven list of actions to take in order to achieve that improvement.

Leading a school community through digital change isn't just about learning the newest tools; as leaders, we also need a deliberate focus on culture, skills and collaboration. In this session, we will discover practical ways to use AI tools, develop ethical AI practices, and explore strategies to lead AI implementation in your school community. 

School and system leaders in Alberta are leading in a moment unlike any other. At the same time as they are nurturing learning communities and improving classroom and organizational conditions, they are also responding to repeated and compounding shocks—labour disruption, staffing shortages, growing student complexity, fiscal constraint, policy volatility, and heightened public scrutiny. The result is leadership work that is more emotionally demanding, cognitively complex, and relationally intensive than ever before.
 
Drawing on Alberta-specific findings from TALIS 2024 and Alberta Teachers’ Association pulse research, this session explores what the data tell us about leadership conditions, workload, well-being, trust, and professional agency in today’s public education system. Participants will examine how system pressures are experienced in schools and impact culture.  This session will also explore how school leaders can use compassionate approaches as powerful mechanisms to strengthen community, sustain staff, and protect the core work of teaching and learning.
 
This session will invite school and system leaders to move beyond deficit narratives and crisis management toward evidence-informed strategies for leading through uncertainty. Participants will leave with a clearer understanding of the structural forces shaping their work, shared language for naming complexity and moral tension, and practical insights for fostering collective resilience, relational trust, and purpose-driven leadership—even when the system itself feels unstable.
 

In July 2025, the BC Principals' & Vice-Principals' Association (BCPVPA) soft-launched a new Leadership Competencies framework, the culmination of 2.5 years of collaborative design led by Dr. Andrea McComb and Peter Johnston. Developed through extensive consultation, research, and field-testing, the Competencies offer both a philosophical shift and practical tools for school leadership development. The Competencies are not a checklist but a narrative framework we call Being in the Canoe. The metaphor reflects how school leaders paddle together with staff, students, and communities, navigating shifting currents while maintaining authenticity, humility, and shared direction. The Competencies emphasize five interwoven domains: • Stewardship For The Future of All Children • Fostering a Culture of Curiosity and Inquiry • Growing The Capacity of Self and Others • Contextual Literacy and Agency • Bridging Policy and Practice In this highly interactive session, participants will engage in a carousel-style workshop. Small groups will rotate through each of the five Competencies, exploring them in depth through guided activities, reflective prompts, and facilitated dialogue. At each station, participants will make direct connections between the Competencies and their own school leadership contexts, ensuring the framework is not only understood but meaningfully applied. This session shares how the Competencies were co-designed with members, Indigenous advisors, and international scholars. Participants will also have space to shape their own leadership stories. By the end, attendees will have both a conceptual understanding of Being in the Canoe and a set of practical, personalized connections to take back to their schools and systems.

This session invites participants into a deeper understanding of Nitsitapi—a term meaning “the people,” used by the Blackfoot Confederacy to describe themselves. Rooted in relationship, identity, and connection to land, Nitsitapi reflects a worldview grounded in respect, balance, and community.
Through storytelling, imagery, and personal reflection, participants will explore the cultural teachings, traditions, and ways of knowing that have shaped Nitsitapi identity across generations. This session will highlight the importance of language, kinship, and the land as foundational to understanding who we are and how we live in right relationship with one another.
Participants will be encouraged to reflect on their own sense of identity and belonging, while considering how Indigenous perspectives can deepen our understanding of community, leadership, and shared responsibility.