Patti MacDonald was a member of the leadership team at The Bishop Strachan School in Toronto for a decade, spending eight years as the Principal and two years as the Vice Principal of the Junior School. She was a teacher in the classroom for over 20 years before transitioning into a leadership role. She taught all grades from JK-Grade 8 as either a classroom or specialist teacher as well as children from 18 months to 5 in an early learning setting. Patti’s career has spanned involvement in public, independent and university-affiliated schools in Canada and the U.S. Patti completed her B.A. in Psychology from Glendon College/York University, her E.C.E. from Seneca College, her B.Ed. From Brock, her M.Ed. from OISE/UofT and is currently a PhD Candidate.
Patti has a passion for educational research and innovation and is committed to continual professional growth using alternative pedagogies. Dedicated to the idea that we need to be educating leaders for the schools we want rather than training them for the schools we have, Patti has been intentional in her contributions to mentoring programs for new teachers. Patti acted as the educational consultant for a new independent school in Harlem, New York and facilitated the elementary education group at the Klingenstein Summer Institute, part of the Klingenstein Centre for Independent School Leadership at Teachers College, Columbia University. She was Vice-Chair of the Ontario Reggio Association from 2009-2018 and currently serves on the Board of WorldVuze.