In collaboration with the Ontario Principals’ Council (OPC), Trillium Lakelands District School Board (TLDSB) recently welcomed educators from Sweden through an Education Study Tour.
Lomma, a municipality in southern Sweden, has a strong tradition of educational excellence. Over the past two years, a dedicated team from Lomma — consisting of a superintendent of schools, seven elementary school principals, and their colleagues — have successfully completed the internationally renowned OPC – International School Leadership Certificate Program. As the culminating experience of their learning journey, the team embarked on a study tour to TLDSB that took place on April 7 to 10.*
This visit offers a unique opportunity to gain valuable insights into the Ontario education system at the school, district, and provincial levels. Participants explore the varying roles of school administrators across international contexts, observe effective classroom practices, and collaborate with peers to build a global professional network. Additionally, they aim to contribute to and learn from international best practices in educational leadership and administration.*
On day one of the tour, the Lomma Team met with TLDSB senior administration who provided background on the Ontario education system, and delivered a presentation outlining the Board’s 2022-2027 Strategic Plan and instructional leadership priorities. In the afternoon, the Lomma Team then presented the structure of the education system in Sweden and provided cultural highlights about their municipality.
“It was a pleasure to host the team from Lomma, Sweden, and to have the opportunity to share our strategic actions as a learning organization,” explained TLDSB superintendent of learning, Jennifer Johnston. “We are seeing significant improvements in student achievement, equity, and well-being as a result of our focus on supporting educators to use data to drive effective and explicit classroom practices. We have also been placing an intentional focus on supporting principals to prioritize instructional leadership daily. The Lomma team had important reflections to share with us about the interesting similarities and differences between the two education systems, and said they were impressed to see the work of our educators, principals, and superintendents in action.”
The next two days consisted of elementary school visits in the City of Kawartha Lakes to Alexandra Public School, Parkview Public School, Queen Victoria Public School, and Scott Young Public School. Throughout these tours, the Swedish educators visited classrooms and child care centres during instructional periods to see real-time learning taking place, and were able to ask questions of the educators and administrators.
On the final day of the tour, the Lomma Team visited the TLDSB Lindsay Education Centre where they were joined by members of the TLDSB Indigenous Student Success Team, educators from Langton Public School, and local Indigenous community partner, Brittany Taylor. The educators took part in a smudge and learned about how Indigenous teachings are embedded into the curriculum in TLDSB. They then visited I.E. Weldon Secondary School for the final school visit, where they learned about the school’s Grade 8 transition to high school strategies and toured the school.
“The OPC and the Lomma Team deeply appreciate TLDSB’s generosity in facilitating this collaboration,” said OPC instructor/consultant, Joni Heard. “They hope this partnership will foster lasting connections between Swedish and Canadian school and system leaders, strengthening global educational ties and sharing best practices.”
*Provided from OPC.
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Media inquiries:
Carolynne Bull
Manager of Communications Services
Work: 1-888-526-5552 extension 21252
Email: Carolynne.Bull@tldsb.on.ca
