Education

There is no more powerful way to shape the psyche of a nation than through its educators. For over 25 years, Roy Group practitioners have had the pleasure of working closely with educational leaders across Europe and North America. We’ve moved teams to leadership excellence in rural and urban settings; in large schools and small; in private and public institutions; and from K–12 to post-secondary.

The conduct of an educational leader ripples outward, shaping everything and everybody inside the system they are working in. Roy Group’s experience working with universities, colleges, public schools and independent schools has borne out our belief that instilling a culture of character in educational institutions supports the development of leadership at all levels.

Leading Others To Make Their Finest Contribution

You’ve come to this career as a vocation, not a job. You’ve been called. You understand the magnitude of the impact that an engaged educator can have on a human soul — impact that inspires far-reaching effects that unfold over the course of a lifetime.

Knowing that time is a scarce commodity and that public expectation is ever-increasing, Roy Group provides one-to-one support to senior team members in developing their own leadership, and is available to work with you to engage your teams and the wider community. As the skill and confidence of your senior team grows, we help identify the individuals and opportunities that will enable a culture of coaching and rich feedback to emerge and become systematized.

Why Roy Group Chooses To Serve In The Education Space

Quite simply, there are no leaders with greater societal significance or impact than those in the education sector. Employees can leave bad leaders; young people cannot.

Roy Group partners with schools to develop great leaders who can then roll the learning outward, to other leaders within their schools. We engage your team in the practices of coaching, conflict management and engagement, broadening your team’s ability to apply these competencies across the spectrum of the complex and emotionally demanding situations we see in schools.

Instilling a coaching culture invites everyone into making their finest contribution. Good leadership transforms schools, colleges and universities into responsive, supportive places for young people to learn and grow. Witnessing excellence modeled by their adult leaders leaves a lasting impression in the wet cement of a young human’s soul. Roy Group helps you understand how to leverage that power to its most profound effect.

Pain Points We Address

  • Leading teachers is different from leading in the classroom.
    It’s that classic conundrum: what made you so great with your students got you promoted to admin. But leading teams of educators — individuals known for their autonomy and intellectual independence — is a different gig. Roy Group helps you convert your skills from being in the classroom to being in charge of teams of educators.
  • Schools have to adapt faster than anyone else.
    Social change happens quickly — and the public is looking at you to respond. You’ve been tasked to deftly handle things that few other workplaces even have to consider: security risks, familial poverty, severe developmental and behavioural differences, intelligently educating about volatile sociopolitical issues. It’s a complex and ever-shifting set of demands that requires extraordinary leadership to navigate.
  • We need more leaders.
    So often in an institutional setting, the leading is left to the administrators, while everyone else sticks to their content areas. But you can’t do it all yourself; you need to distribute leadership for your school to shine. Roy Group gives you the tools to bring your teachers and students into a stronger sense of personal agency and thereby a fuller competency in leadership. The double win? Your culture emanates outward, ensuring smooth succession of leadership.
  • Recruiting is hard.
    With a growing awareness of the social significance and emotional demands of teaching, prospective applicants have become more selective about where they want to work. They’re choosing to align with institutions that offer a positive, growth-oriented organizational culture. If your school’s culture is weak or toxic, you’re not going to find the best people to serve on your team. Roy Group works with you to develop the kind of culture people crave.

A Commitment to Coaching Yields Powerful Results

Since 2011, Roy Group has worked with St. Michaels University School to develop a strong and engaged culture to meet the current and future needs of the organization. In 2017, our coaching partnership was recognized as a top-five finalist for the International Coach Federation’s PRISM Award. The Prism Award recognizes organizations with outstanding coaching programs that yield discernible and measurable positive impacts, fulfill rigorous professional standards, address key strategic goals and shape organizational culture.

Roy Group’s relationship with SMUS originally arose from the Head of School’s desire to find a coach for himself. Shortly after engaging Roy Group, the Head realized he wanted to support coaching opportunities for members of the school’s senior management team. This initiative quickly evolved to become a cornerstone of the organization.

Developing shared language and a feedback-rich environment has supported the emergence of a school-wide coaching culture that grows to this day. Through innovative coaching workshops, custom projects and one-to-one coaching, the senior management team has engaged all employees — as well as students — in the development of a strong coaching culture that has spread throughout the school.

Read the ICF Prism Award case study here.

Ian Kennedy

Leading learning in schools is a complex and challenging task. Roy Group has provided our teacher leaders with the tools, language and confidence needed to create the space and environment that enhance feedback-rich and performance-oriented conversations. Roy Group practitioners walk with you in a safe and experiential manner that allows you to practice, grow and hone your skills. This practice has allowed me to take a step back, reflect and redirect difficult conversations into positive outcomes and action. Working with Roy Group has fundamentally helped me develop as a leader and educator.

IAN KENNEDY, DIRECTOR OF INSTRUCTION
WEST VANCOUVER SCHOOL DISTRICT (SD45)

Julie Rousseau

The partnership we have established with Roy Group has been invaluable in transforming our teams and our organization into a feedback-rich learning culture. As Head of School, I have appreciated Roy Group’s willingness to adjust their program to meet the needs of our school, our teams and our individual team leaders. Through an ongoing and collaborative partnership, we have successfully planned a coaching program that would be integrated at all levels of the organization. Roy Group has provided us with meaningful and engaging one-on-one coaching sessions, small group retreats as well as highly interactive whole school workshops. Their work has been extremely well received in all settings. Many faculty and staff have also shared that the training they have received has had a positive impact in their own personal lives.

JULIE ROUSSEAU, FORMER HEAD
YORK HOUSE SCHOOL

Lois Harder

We send seasoned professionals and respected community leaders to the Roy Group’s coaching sessions and they consistently report that the experience is top-notch. Not only do they gain important insight and skills, they are inspired to develop stronger relationships both professionally and personally.

LOIS HARDER, DEAN, FACULTY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES
UNIVERSITY OF VICTORIA