This course will induct participants into how to foster greater interdependency among team members by helping them understand how to manage the different beliefs, behaviours and priorities that exist in their team. Teacher lead teams that communicate effectively and work interdependently improve student learning!
Essential Question – What do I need to know and be able to do to lead a team that is working interdependently to achieve a shared purpose?
Over-Arching Goal – By the end of the workshop, participants will understand and have confidence to facilitate team meetings, identify team goals, as well as to develop and foster strong relationships with and amongst team members.
Workshop Outcomes
During this learning experience you will learn and practice how to excel in the following aspects:
- Understand and appreciate different leadership expectations.
- Practice effective communication skills.
- Gain awareness of self and others and how to manage the disparity.
- Learn how to facilitate effective meetings, ensure equity and foster interdependence.
- Understand your role during different stages of team development.
- Learn strategies to ensure your team works interdependently to achieve its goal.
- Learn to give feedback relative to the team goal.
The speaker will facilitate the workshop, meaning learning will be activated and reinforced through discussion and team planning, so participants must come prepared to talk about their teams and experience.
Information & Price
Date: October 24 & 25, 2025 (Friday and Saturday)
Time: 8:30 – 16:30, both days, inclusive of lunch and tea breaks
Location: Canadian International School of Guangzhou
Early Bird Registration discount of $75 USD per individually registered participant is available until September 12, 2025.
ACAMIS Members
$450 USD per person (Includes the DiSC Behavioural Assessment and licensed course materials). After September 12 the rate will be changed to $525 USD per person.
Non-members
$550 USD per person (Includes the DiSC Behavioural Assessment and licensed course materials). After September 12 the rate will be changed to $625 USD per person.
This is a Certificate Program, 16 Hours of Professional Development will be Awarded.
Workshop Preparation
The facilitator will survey each participant to understand their expectations, assess their familiarity with the proposed content and identify case material for activities.
Every participant will be given Michael Iannini’s online self-guided book study: Hidden in Plain Sight: Realizing the Full Potential of Middle Leaders, from which they will be assigned at least 2 chapters of reading assignments for each module.
DiSC Workplace Behavioral Survey – Participants will complete the DiSC Behavior Survey prior to the workshop. Participants’ customized Behavioral Profile reports will be reviewed in the workshop and used throughout the workshop as a tool for developing greater awareness about self and other.
The DISC model groups four common behavioural patterns found universally in all people on earth. This simple four quadrant model is used to articulate the common ways that all human beings tend to act and communicate.
DiSC Outcomes:
- DiSC provides a common language to help teams understand one another and work better together
- Develop awareness of self and other to improve communication
- Identify and hone key facilitation skills
- Improve confidence and influencing skills
- Reduce conflict and avoid misunderstandings
- Demonstrate capacity to devise and deliver a compelling value proposition
Program Agenda
This program is divided into four (4) modules, 2 modules will be covered on each day
Module 1 - Team Formation
Overview:
Group norms are formed in the first meeting, whether you intend them to be or not, and once formed can be incredibly difficult to address in later stages of team development. This module will help you define your role as a leader, establish processes to facilitate effective team meetings and provide you the tools necessary to ensure your team is clear about its purpose and buys into the processes that will govern the team.
Essential Question: What do I need to know and be able to do to lead a collaborative team?
Learning Objectives:
- Participants will explore the why, what, and how of collaboration
- Participants will learn how teams develop in stages and activities appropriate for each stage
- Participants will learn how to manage effective meetings, ensure equity and foster interdependence.
- Participants will use tools and strategies to establish group norms.
Module 2 - Collaborative Communication (DiSC) and Meeting Management
Overview:
To be influential and capable of motivating disparate team members, team leaders must understand how to adapt their leadership style to accommodate the beliefs and behavioral patterns of team members. Participants will use their DiSC results to learn to adapt communication for different team members and use communication strategies to mitigate barriers to communication.
2-3 months into the school year group norms begin to get tested and members will begin to question their role on the team. The team leaders role at this stage should be more focused on reinforcing the purpose of the team, the role that each member plays and how to foster greater interdependency between each team member. Effective meeting management at this stage of the team’s development is crucial.
Essential Question: How can I adapt my communication and leadership style to improve my influence and effectiveness as a meeting facilitator?
Learning Objectives:
- Participants will explore and understand how to accommodate different beliefs about leadership.
- Participants will gain an understanding and appreciation of different work styles.
- Participants will learn how to manage 5 difficult team member behaviors.
- Participants will demonstrate assertive communication skills.
- Participants will assess meeting management practices and identify strategies to improve them.
Module 3 - Goal Setting
Overview:
Establishing transformative team goals requires a team leader to first assess their team’s capacity for change. The capacity of a department to work interdependently towards achieving a transformative goal will largely be dependent on each team members’ capability of attending to the transactional aspects of their work.
All teams in a school will have a different capacity to collaborate transformatively. In this module participants will learn to assess their team’s capacity for working interdependently to achieve a shared goal. Participants will learn how to establish an effective team goal, in the form of an inquiry, that addresses the needs of each team member, the team and the school.
Essential Question: How do I align individual, team and school objectives into a transformative team goal, that my department has the capacity to achieve, and will improve student learning?
Learning Objectives:
- Participants will assess their team capacity to work interdependently to achieve a transformative goal.
- Participants will be introduced to Sandboxing to insulate the team from outside influences that can undermine goal attainment.
- Participants will learn to facilitate effective goal setting processes that are inquiry based.
- Participants will understand that pursuing goals is an iterative process that requires periodic tuning.
Module 4 - Action Planning Through Inquiry
Overview:
Turning vision into reality requires actionable steps and a plan grounded in purposeful inquiry. This final module empowers participants to bridge the gap between vision and day-to-day leadership through focus questions that translate into measurable goals and actions. By creating a personalized action plan, participants gain a roadmap for implementing their vision with precision and accountability. This ensures they leave the retreat with clear next steps that are both actionable and measurable.
Essential Question: How can I translate my vision into actionable steps that drive measurable outcomes?
Learning Objectives:
- Develop actionable focus inquiry questions to guide leadership practices in alignment with their vision
- Create a personalized action plan based on these inquiries, mapping connections from vision to goals to actions
Tools:
- Focus Inquiry Framework
- Action Planning Template
Speaker's Biography
Name
Claire Peet
Years of Experience
16 years
Career
Experienced International Educator, Leadership Development Specialist, Professional Coach, Dynamic Speaker and Trainer
Read Claire's Biography
Claire Peet is an an experienced international educator and leadership development specialist. Throughout her career, Claire has consistently demonstrated her unwavering commitment to fostering growth and empowering individuals to make and sustain change. As a professional coach, Claire works with educators and leaders one to one, whilst also giving back to the international education community through her Coaching in Education WeChat group and monthly webinars.
As a trusted partner to schools, Claire excels at aligning strategic priorities with professional development programming for school improvement. Her unique blend of skills integrate people centric practices, learning and development, and leadership capacity building, all aimed at elevating standards and fostering a culture of continuous improvement within the international education community.
Claire is widely recognized as a dynamic speaker and trainer. She possesses a wealth of knowledge in building learner and faculty engagement through the cultivation of relationships, trust, and effective communication. Claire's deep understanding of the critical link between well-being and achievement enables her to empower workshop participants to develop essential skills such as active listening, self-awareness, powerful questioning, and providing constructive feedback. By equipping individuals with these invaluable tools, Claire guides them through challenges, enhances their communication toolkit, and ultimately enables them to thrive in their professional endeavors.
Host School
Canadian International School of Guangzhou (CIS) is the first Alberta, Canadian accredited, Pre-K to Grade 12, International School that is fully registered in both Canada (Alberta) and China. Authorised to offer the Canadian (Alberta) High School Diploma, the IB Primary Years Program (IB PYP) and Advanced Placement (AP) courses, our curricula and programs focus on innovation, creativity and critical thinking skills, best preparing students for the challenges and opportunities they will face as global citizens. A CIS education is a gateway to studying in top-ranked universities in USA and Canada, Europe, Australia, US, Singapore, Hong Kong and more! With 100% of students attending top 100 universities around the world, our academic excellence and holistic approach to education will best prepare your child for the challenges and opportunities they will face as global citizens.
Dean Croy
Head of School
Canadian International School of Guangzhou
Merchant Hill, 122 Dongyi Road of Panyu District, Guangzhou
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Refund Policies
If notice of cancellation re the registered participant/sponsor is received:
- 30+ days pre-event: 80% of fee is refundable
- 15-29 days pre-event: 40% of fee is refundable
- Less than 15 days pre-event: no refund
Online PD Programs - No refund will be granted re participants commencing an online PD program and withdrawing part way through. Course material fees (re DiSC surveys, book fees, etc) are not refundable once access is granted.
Refund Due To PD Event CancellationIn the event of cancellation of a conference, workshop or online PD program, we will fully refund the registration or sponsorship fee(s) paid. However, we will be unable to refund any travel, visa or accommodation expenses incurred or course material fees where access has been granted.