Deep Learning in our District

This is a pasted portion of the article that focuses on the Deep Learning initiative within our district. Please see link below for the full article

OTTAWA CATHOLIC SCHOOL BOARD (OCSB)

The OCSB has 84 schools and about 41,000 students. They joined our Deep Learning initiative three years ago, immediately developing a plan for system-wide change. They moved from seven schools to 21 to all 83 schools. I don’t have the space to describe the multiple strands of communication and involvement that characterized the change, but let’s just say it was systematic and two-way within the district in its deliberations. The essence of the model is displayed in Figure 1, which is essentially our model from Deep Learning, but I use OCSB’s version here.

Figure 1

Here is an example of the strategy: “Each month the board has a common focus that is shared across all 83 schools at the monthly staff meetings. Over the ten-month school year, all four learning elements and all six global competencies will be explored in every school” (interview with district leaders). Multiple overlapping ideas are used and reinforced through interaction and digital devices. The district continues to perform above provincial levels (although it should be noted that good outcome measures of the global competencies are not yet available).

EdCan Network. "From Signals to Seas of Change | EdCan Network." EdCan Network. 22 Feb. 2018. Web. 2 Apr. 2018. https://www.edcan.ca/articles/signals-seas-change/