Participants read, learn, and respond to the ideas posted by others.
The idea for the discussion group came over a year ago when Marsha Levy, a specialist with the Calgary Board of Education, spoke with me about starting an electronic discussion group to address educational change. The membership of The Change Agency includes teachers, principals, superintendents, professors, and graduate students. Topics that members have discussed since The Change Agency began to operate in the last week of January 1995 include the preparation of students for employment, teacher professionalism, and the structure of the Alberta Teachers' Association. Students in my graduate classes in staff development and school leadership during the 1994-95 academic year could choose to have their contributions to The Change Agency form part of the basis of their course work. Another assignment option available to the graduate students included working in planning teams, with representatives of school districts from across southern Alberta, to design a series of seminars for the Centre for Leadership in Learning.