2010
Department of Education

In his role as Social Studies and Economic Education Program Development Specialist with the Department of Education, Darryl was project lead for three student curriculum resources related to the culture, heritage and history of our province. The resources include a website outlining the Newfoundland Regiment in the Great War, a poster depicting the First Ministers, and a senior high text book - Newfoundland and Labrador Studies.

Presented with the task, Darryl created the products with only a small team and specialized technical skills. Through his leadership, commitment to excellence, creativity, innovation, and ability to engage others, he succeeded in finding a way to present 3D artifacts online, as well as to digitize a large number of documents for the website. He was successful in finding images and material for the poster that did not currently exist within government. He developed effective collaborations with other government departments and organizations.

In particular, he established a strong working relationship with The Rooms whose partnership with the Department of Education was pivotal in the success of all of these projects. While developing the textbook he established a framework to present the arts in conjunction with the social sciences and incorporated subjects that had not previously been researched. None of these tasks would have been successful without his commitment to ensuring collaboration with stakeholders.

The resulting products exceed the initial vision and effectively meet the needs of students, teachers, researchers and the public. Darryl was able to bring out the best in his team to make exemplary products which balance a range of complex and sometimes controversial issues.

The level of inclusiveness that exists in the textbook serves as an example for future development. The collaboration with Aboriginal and other cultural groups provides for a balanced representation thereby illustrating how to tell a story from many points of view. Darryl was able to successfully challenge traditional design assumptions and his leadership underscored the importance of maintaining a high degree of factual accuracy.

Although these resources are one-time products, the framework from which they were derived is an on-going practice. The lessons learned are guiding future products and will help grow a shared vision on what can be accomplished by strategically aligning common goals. Most importantly, these resources will help shape the thinking of a generation of students about their sense of place – Newfoundland and Labrador - in a positive and powerful way.