Flexing Teacher Collaboration

When educators have dedicated time to learn together and collaborate, students benefit. At St. George’s School of Montreal, Flex Days are late-start mornings dedicated to professional development. They give faculty the space to refine practice, align curriculum, and design connected learning across the Elementary and High School. Reintroduced for 2025–26 after a successful pilot, the initiative keeps instruction responsive, research-informed, and tied to the school’s strategic priorities.

Why Flex Days Work

Decades of research point to a powerful driver of student achievement: Collective Teacher Efficacy, the shared belief among educators that together, they can positively impact learning. In John Hattie’s Visible Learning research, it ranks among the highest-impact influences on student outcomes. The through-line is simple. When schools protect time for educators to jointly plan, analyze evidence, and iterate practice, students win.

This view aligns with guidance from Canada’s EdCan Network, which synthesizes educational research nationwide:

“Effective PD combines many qualities. It is reflective, interactive, practical, continuous, teacher-driven and embedded in teachers’ work. It encourages teachers to explore and take risks, to think actively and deeply about their professional practice. It engages teachers in collegial and collaborative dialogue. And it is grounded in current research on teaching and learning.”

— Bernie Froese-Germain, EdCan

At St. George’s, Flex Days operationalize this research: intentional time, purposeful collaboration, and measurable gains in classroom practice.

“Across both campuses, our Flex Days focus on deepening experiential learning. These mornings open up big-picture planning. Teachers work across grades and subjects on school-wide initiatives, cross-curricular projects, and new hands-on learning opportunities for students. Setting aside this precious planning time unlocks a level of creativity that simply isn’t possible in the regular schedule.”

— Laura Officer, Elementary School Teaching and Learning Coordinator

Inside a Flex Day Morning

Facilitated by Dani Jansen, High School Teaching and Learning Coordinator, a most recent Flex Day session centred on a proven framework for reflection: What? So what? Now what? Together, teachers examined how to model reflective thinking and embed self-assessment into the curriculum. The goal is to help learners see themselves as capable learners who understand what they are learning, why it matters, and how to improve. “This builds metacognitive skills and deepens students’ understanding of why their learning matters. As John Dewey stated, we do not learn from experience; we learn from reflecting on experience,” said Officer.

Educators collaborated across departments and shared ideas. They also built on last year’s successes while exploring new learning opportunities for the year ahead. At the Elementary School, plans for Literacy Week include author visits that will connect directly to classroom learning and spark student-led projects. High School faculty reflected on standout experiential learning moments, including a project made possible through the Head’s Fund: a professional recording session for senior jazz students at Fast Forward Studios. Participants gained hands-on experience with music production, refined their ensemble listening, and learned industry-standard recording practices under the guidance of sound engineers. Listen to their recordings on Bandcamp.

Positive Momentum

Feedback following the first Flex Day sessions was clear. Time to co-create, reflect, and share practice is essential. Educators valued the opportunity to learn from one another and left with strategies they could bring directly into their classrooms. With more Flex Days ahead under the leadership of Officer and Jansen, teachers are embracing the cycle of continuous professional growth. “Getting together to work on school-wide issues, especially in the morning when we are fresh, allows us to think through strategies that certainly strengthen our teaching,” said Jeff Deeprose, English Department Head.