2025-2026 Edvance Leadership Trend #5: Educational Entrepreneurship

By Tim Bentum  |  April 22nd

Issue in Brief: Since the pandemic, there has been undeniable growth and increased entrepreneurship in education across Canada and around the world. In a 2023 paper on this topic, Charting New Horizons for Independent Education in Canada, Dr. Deani VanPelt notes that as of 2021 in Ontario there are nearly two dozen different types of special emphasis schools in operation. These include educational emphasis programs such as Montessori, Waldorf, Reggio Emilia, sports emphasis programming, and many more. Many Edvance principals have also identified an increase in alternative education models in their local communities including micro-schools (small, tailored education), hybrid schools (part time at home, part time in a traditional building), online schools (curriculum delivered partially or fully online), and a wide range of other educational emphasis types (e.g. Montessori, forest school, STEM etc.), including a 264% growth in homeschooling in the same period.

Increased Competition - A result of the increased diversity of schooling options is naturally increased competition in the independent school space. In response, Christian school leaders are increasingly in conversations with parents comparing their school with several other alternate independent school options in the region. Christian school leaders may also be asked to consider starting up one of these types of programs within their existing structure. For example, it is not uncommon for Christian school principals to be asked about the possibility of adding a French immersion stream to their present programming. Forest or outdoor education options are growing in popularity in response to screen-saturated culture. There has also been a resurgence in interest in classical forms of education, again, in part due to parental concerns about educational quality, screen time and increased knowledge about child development.

Core Educational Vision - Although increased educational options in the independent school space may create opportunities, it also raises important questions about the core educational vision of Christian schools. Leaders must take primary responsibility for defining and creating ongoing clarity around the educational vision. What does the vision look like? How do we know it is being accomplished? How is learning celebrated? In the Edvance Leaders’ Survey from May 2025, survey respondents noted overwhelmingly (100%) that their own ongoing professional development was not among their top five tasks in a regular or average work week. Further, only 5% (2/38) of school leaders responding to the survey noted that planning or leading staff professional development was among their top five tasks in a given week. Again, this is perhaps not a surprise given the demands on leaders’ time, but it raises questions about the ongoing stewardship of the educational vision of the school.

Prioritizing PD - In our survey, 45% (17/38) of school leaders identified planning and/or leading staff professional development and their own professional growth as areas they felt they needed to spend more time. When asked about their level of involvement in creating and implementing the learning vision at the school, 74% (28/38)  of respondents saw themselves as ‘very involved’. Taken together, this suggests school leaders definitely see their role as leading the learning vision, but who may often struggle to find the time to prioritize the professional development that drives the growth of the learning vision.

Practical Steps to Consider:

1. Do you have a professional learning plan? – A professional learning plan is a document that is tied to the mission/vision of your school and outlines 2-4 practical goals for teacher professional development for a given period of time. This resource is a central feature of a flourishing school and the stewardship of an educational vision. If you would like guidance on putting together or enhancing your current professional learning plan, please contact Justin Cook at justin.cook@edvance.ca.
2. Do you have both quantitative and qualitative measures of mission/vision fulfilment? – The school leader should have common, easily understood metrics and artifacts that point to the fulfilment of the educational vision at the school. For example, ideally a visitor to the school will be able to identify some of these key markers within a few minutes of arriving. Concretely, a principal may ask themselves: What kind of display is most prominent as you enter into the school building? Does it relate to dynamic Christian learning at the school or is it the athletics trophy case? Artifacts point to what is important at the school and what the learning vision at the school may look like. For a more complete synopsis of quantitative and qualitative measures of learning, check out the Edvance Health Indicators Dashboard on the Edvance Affiliate Portal (login required).
3. Is the leader appropriately involved in directing, owning, and embodying the educational vision? – Given all the demands on the leader’s time, it is not uncommon for a principal to feel like they become distant from the actual learning going on in the classroom. This is a common and even healthy tension because it is important that school leaders focus their time and energy on systems level issues such as human resources, financial management, and board leadership. All these priorities take time, and they need to be managed competently by the school leader. It is equally important for the leader to direct, own, and embody the learning vision at the school, including a deep understanding of the educational language and core educational concepts that are central to the learning vision. In other words, there is a healthy balance to be struck given all the competing items on a principal’s plate, which also underscores the value of leadership teams. A leader may need to ask themselves: Does the teaching staff see me talking about and embodying the learning vision with integrity and authenticity?