CAIS in Point

“The Responsibilities of Privilege”, a provocative title to an interesting long weekend in Lake Louise. At first glance, the theme seems to connote a 19th century obligation by the monied classes to engage in charity and “good works” or Rudyard Kipling’s “white man’s burden” calling for an aristocratic sacrifice for the less fortunate. For how many years did independent schools in Canada foster this culture of us and them? How many of our current parents still choose to send their daughter or son to an independent or private school not necessarily because of quality of programme and facilities, but more for whom, the parents perceive, is kept out? This year’s Head’s and Chair’s Conference challenged attendees to think not just about the sense of social responsibility that we should be inculcating in our students, but rather the responsibilities that we have as schools who are in the privileged position of educating thousands of bright, future citizens and leaders of not just Canada but a broad international  community. Traditionally, as schools, we tend to take an “activity” focus to tackling global and local social and economic issues. Many of our schools are active in community service activities, fundraising, global work projects, and environmental initiatives. While these kinds of activities are not limited to independent schools, our schools are often seen as leading edge advocates for service and social conscience. Is this enough? Digging a well in Honduras, raking leaves for seniors in Winnipeg, raising money for AIDS in Africa, or collecting non-perishables for the NDG food bank are all laudable activities. But, to what extent do these positive initiatives by our students become internalized as lifelong values by our graduates? How do we, as schools, ensure that our students take on the responsibilities of privilege as adults? What measurable outcomes are built into our activities? What evidence do we collect of participation and commitment beyond that required by individual schools? In many cases, we give students experiences and hope that they “stick”. It is our “responsibility of privilege” to do more than that. It is our responsibility to make the development of a social conscience just as central to our school outcomes as we make the mastery of senior calculus or the writing of a compelling independent research essay. That is the real message that we should take away from Lake Louise. Organizing a conference for such a disparate group as the Heads and Chairs of eighty very different and very independent schools from across the country is a daunting task. Balancing the scheduling of talented and stimulating speakers with the provision of productive “face to face” time is a tremendous challenge. CAIS member schools owe a debt of thanks to conference organizers: Jack Grant (West Island College); Dave Hauk (Rundle College); and Catherine Raaflaub (STS/Appleby) for their tireless efforts on all of our behalf. Participants came away feeling that they had started conversations in a broad range of areas and were keen to carry them forward throughout the school year. For them, the “privilege” of spending a weekend in the glorious ambience of Lake Louise, came with the responsibility of effecting positive change back at school. So, in the 21st century, what are the “responsibilities of privilege”? We live in a privileged society. It doesn’t take a John Ralston Saul, a Stephen Lewis or a Samantha Nutt to convince us of the blessings we enjoy living in a prosperous, open democracy such as Canada. That is the easy part. The real challenge is to decide what as schools, or groups of schools, we can do to make a difference, not just in the short term through community and global service projects, but in the long term in developing graduates who will leave our schools with the skills and values needed to change the world. That is our responsibility of privilege. Jim Dr. James Christopher

CAIS Restructures its Board

At this year’s Annual General Meeting held in Lake Louise, Alberta, the member schools of CAIS voted unanimously to update the structure of the Board of Directors of the Association to more accurately reflect both the nature of membership and best practice for associations.

Under the new model, there is a Chair, Past-Chair, Vice-Chair, and Treasurer with specific responsibilities. In addition, there are six regional directors, a Head and a Chair from each of: Eastern Canada (Quebec and Atlantic Canada); Central Canada (Ontario); and Western Canada (British Columbia and the Prairies) and one independent. The Executive Director sits as an ex-officio, non-voting member of the Board.

The membership of this year’s Board of Directors is as follows:

Chair- Tam Matthews (Head, Ashbury College)
Past Chair- Claire Sumerlus (Head, Balmoral Hall School)
Vice-Chair- Patricia Dawson (Head, Crofton House School)
Treasurer- Ian Robinson (Head, The Sterling Hall School)

Directors: 

Angela Burgos (Head, Centennial Academy)
Tony Fata (Chair, Lower Canada College)

Paul Duckett (Head, The Country Day School)
Beth Egan (Chair, Pickering College)

Bill Jones (Head, Southridge School)
Rob Cruikshank (Vice-Chair, St. George’s School of Vancouver)

Archie Kaiser (Independent – Halifax)
Jim Christopher (Executive Director)

Welcome Fraser Academy

Congratulations to Fraser Academy on becoming the eightieth CAIS member school!

At the CAIS annual general meeting on October 15, 2006 the Fraser Academy was unanimously voted in as a member of our organization. Fraser Academy offers a unique and special service to students and families in Vancouver and we are pleased to count them as one of our member schools.

Led by School Head Stephan Grasmuck and his committed team, Fraser Academy is a co-ed day school that was founded in 1982 and works with learning disabled children to help them achieve their full potential. Details can be found at www.fraser-academy.bc.ca

Welcome to the CAIS group!

War Child

Samantha Nutt, founder and Executive Director of War Child Canada delivered an inspiring and well received presentation in October at the 2006 CAIS Heads and Chairs conference in Lake Louise. Samantha’s dynamic personality and obvious passion for her work left many of our group wanting to know more about War Child, and how they might become involved, or involve their school and students.

War Child was founded seven years ago as an independent charitable organization working in North America and around the world to aid children affected by war, as well as to raise awareness of children’s rights everywhere. A medical doctor, Samantha’s humanitarian work with War Child makes her an outstanding role model for today’s youth and has resulted in her receiving various prestigious awards and high profile recognition. To find out more about War Child and Samantha please visit www.warchild.ca 

By request, Samantha promptly followed up her presentation with an e-mail outlining where to find out more about some of War Child's current programs. Details of their humanitarian, youth and educational programs (including the annual music fundraiser) can be found in the recent War Child Annual Report www.warchild.ca/ar2005/. Please contact Samantha directly at sam@warchild.ca  if you would like her to forward you a hardcopy.

Also, Paula MacKinnon paula@warchild.ca, a certified teacher, runs the Youth Programs and would be happy to talk to anyone about program details. As the leaders and educators of today’s youth, it may be of interest to know that War Child Canada recently conducted a national youth survey; Youth Opinion Poll: Canadian Youth Speak Out On Global Issues and Canada's Role in the World . The findings clearly show that Canadian youth care about the future of our world and rely on educators to provide them with meaningful information on global issues. To see the survey results please visit: http://www.warchild.ca/news_article.asp?ID=158
 
As much as we were motivated by Samantha, she was clearly moved by the reception she received at our conference. In her words:

“It was a pleasure spending time with the CAIS group in Lake Louise.  Again, I am honored to have been asked to speak to the group and inspired by the tremendous enthusiasm to do some good in the world!”

If you have any questions on how your school can become involved with War Child please visit the website, or contact Samantha or Paula directly.
 

Statistics and CAIS Benchmarking

In our hectic, sometimes chaotic schedules it can be easy to forget our goals, why we’re pursuing them and ultimately how we’ll achieve them. The examination of statistics pertaining to our field can help kick start some dialogue within our teams. The Canadian Education Statistics Council collects a wide variety of information that may prove valuable when evaluating our schools. Please visit http://www.cesc.ca/mainE.html  to review their most current data. Although not geared towards independent schools much of the information collected is relevant to our group. Population size and cultural diversity affects all schools, public or independent. Are we offering languages and specific courses that suit the population of our schools? Is there anything we can do as a group or individually to expand our potential student base? These are just a couple of the questions that a statistics review can trigger.

At CAIS, we are in the process of collecting data for our annual Benchmarking survey. While reviewing last year's report we began assessing the statistics we collect now, and what information we might gather in the future that would be of further value to our schools. We are investigating ideas for next year, and conducting some benchmarking of our own to evaluate the standards in our field. We will keep you posted as we continue to develop methods to stay current and serve your needs.