Dr. Kendra Roach and Ms. Erica Battle
On Wednesday, February 7th, 2024, a ceremony was held at the Aurora Anguilla Resort & Golf Club to mark the opening of the first National Symposium on Instructional Leadership (NSIL). The symposium sessions, which covered three days, were held under the theme Accelerate Excellence: Empowering Leaders, Transforming Education.
During the opening ceremony, Chief Education Officer, Bren Romney, stressed the importance of the symposium.
“This is perhaps the first time that all leaders of the education system, from the pre-primary, primary and secondary levels are gathered in a forum of this nature,” he said. “It is my fervent hope that this symposium and future symposiums of this nature will serve to challenge us to examine our general management practices, and in particular, our instructional leadership practices throughout the education system.”
“By way of definition,” he said, “instructional leadership is leadership that supports the development of teaching and learning. It is also referred to as pedagogical leadership, learning centered leadership, leadership for learning, or the more common, student centered leadership. These terms can be considered under the broad umbrella of instructional leadership which represents the specific and focused practices in which school leaders engage to intentionally support the development of effective teaching in schools.”
The Honourable Minister of Education, Ms. Dee-Ann Kentish-Rogers, made reference to the dedication that teachers should have to their vocation.
“This National Symposium on Instructional Leadership is about recognizing a passion and dedication that teachers have which they apply to the school environment and our students,” she said. “This symposium will equip our teachers with the tools to effectively manage how that learning culture is shaped within the Anguillian school system, and it provides teachers with the opportunity to create lasting impacts.”
Also speaking at the ceremony was the Honourable Premier, Dr. Ellis L. Webster, who said that the innovative symposium is destined to transform the dynamics of teaching in the Anguillian context. He said that when we emphasize youth development through enhancing education – making it more accessible and practical – and when we place emphasis on sporting activities and culture, then excellence and empowerment are borne out.
“Today,” he said, “we are training and supporting our teacher leaders who are preparing tomorrow’s leaders, our students, empowering them and, in many cases, influencing their future.”
He said that instructional leadership is a process that supports teachers to deliver quality education to their students, and that the quality of instruction is the foremost single factor which impacts successful student outcomes.
“Throughout this symposium,” he said, “our teachers’ leaders will become students, and I know these sessions will be innovative, inspiring and empowering. They will transform the way our teachers impart knowledge and skills to our students who are entrusted in their care.”
The primary objective of the three-day NSIL was to reinvigorate, update and equip instructional leaders with the tools to support their teams’ capacity to deliver quality education to Anguilla’s students.
A total of 62 instructional leaders from the secondary, primary and pre-primary sectors attended the symposium, including : Principals; Deputy Principals; Heads of Department; Curriculum Officers; and Education Officers, as well as the Senior Policy Officer in the Department of Education, Dutch St. Maarten; and the Permanent Secretary of Education, Anguilla.
An impressive array of internationally based educators shared information and inspiration. These included: Mrs. Erica Battle, Founder of Life Changes in Progress; Dr Desha Powell, Deputy Superintendent, Virgin Islands Department of Education; Mr. Bill Blass, Innovation Coordinator for Instructional Technology, Information, Library Media and Federal Programs in the Parkway School District, St. Louis, Missouri, USA.
Also sharing information was Dr. Kendra Roach, the primary symposium consultant who helped the Department of Education plan the event. Dr Roach, who has Anguillian connections, is the Co-Founder of the Leader’s Branch, St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands.
