Darlene Demerchant

Background

About Darlene Demerchant

I spent 8 years as as an Inclusive Schooling Consultant, Curriculum Coordinator, and in Senior Leadership in the Canadian Arctic with the Kitikmeot Board of Education and the Nunavut Department of Education. Since I have served as a Learning Resource Teacher, Learning Resource Coordinator, Vice-Principal, and Director of Curriculum of Instruction at St. Margaret's School in Victoria BC. I feel very privileged to have worked at a school where colleagues across grades co-created the types of supports at differing levels of intensity to proactively and responsively adjust to the needs of learners from ECE to Grade 12. My passion for teacher professional learning and love of teaching brought me back to the role of learning resource teacher, supporting students and teachers in the classroom. I am currently serving at St Michaels University School in Victoria BC as a Learning Resource teacher while pursuing my Doctor of Education degree at Western University. I hope to continue my work in education with a focus on professional learning and leadership. My problem of practice reflects my life-long passion and wish for all children to thrive and learn at high levels. No one teacher or leader can accomplish this work alone. Collectively, as a professional learning community, teachers and school leaders can ensure success for all children. My research is informed by recognizing RTI as an approach that can bring about this change and foster teacher self-efficacy, which may influence collective teacher efficacy. I am interested in helping schools implement equitable multi-level systems of support for every learner based upon responsiveness to effective instruction and intervention. I also taught elementary and middle school mathematics courses at Concordia College in Edmonton, Alberta; Northern Lakes College, Alberta; and the University of Victoria, British Columbia. Specialties: equity, diversity, and inclusive education, response to intervention, teacher professional learning models and growth plans, curriculum development, differentiated instruction and assessment, mathematics pedagogy, educational resource evaluation, government procedures and processes, hiring practices, grant writing, contract administration