Educators and schools believe in the importance of preparing students to succeed in their future. Whilst the definition of success may vary, it is reasonable to assume that educators and schools who deeply care about their students pay attention to the development of life-worthy skills and dispositions. These are at times called future-ready, or 21st century skills and dispositions. A school’s guiding statements (mission, vision, values, learner profile, profile of graduate, SLRs, etc) aim to capture these skills and dispositions.

Whist many schools have powerful guiding statements, it is challenging to align school-life and student learning experiences to them intentionally, to ensure success for all students at school and beyond. This includes the identification of key indicators for these skills and dispositions, the explicit and authentic teaching experiences, and the evaluation of success. Mission driven schools show intentionality in the manner in which they operationalize their guiding statements.

This workshop will focus on top ranking skills and dispositions, provide simple, research-based indicators for each of them, and provide resources that help teachers teach and assess each indicator. The desired outcomes of this workshop are to empower teachers and school leaders to concretize and demystify life-worthy learning in their schools and to provide them with tools, processes, and strategies to support their teachers to do the same. The

Workshop will also demonstrate the power of how a common institutional understanding around these life-worthy skills and dispositions can help schools achieve their mission more effectively.

• Develop a big picture understanding of how schools mission and core values can translate into student learning experiences.

• Define key skills and dispositions in their own context/schools.

• Understand how these could be unpacked to key and teachable indicators based on synthesis of sound research and school context.

• Develop understanding of how curriculum units and discipline areas provide natural opportunities for the explicit teaching of these indicators.

• Explore resources and examples of how these indicators could be integrated in teacher planning and teaching.

• Make a assessment of personal/institutional practice in order to identify strengths and areas for growth.

• Explore ways to evaluate student growth in these areas. Note: whilst assessment is foundational to learning; the explicit, purposeful, and authentic teaching of these indicators are a key focus of these two days.

• Know how to develop a similar approach in their own schools/teams/classes.

• Appreciate how school culture can be transformed as teachers collaboratively work on developing an common understanding of what matters most ie. ‘walking the talk’.

Who Should Attend:

• Elementary, middle, and high school classroom teachers

• Elementary, middle, and high school curriculum and learning coaches

• Elementary, middle, and high school administrators

Registration:

• This workshop has limited space. Please register as soon as possible to guarantee your participation.

Fees:

• The cost of the workshop is 50 USD or 1500 NTD for EARCOS schools. This fee covers the meals, snacks, and materials for the conference. The fee is $150 USD or $4500 NTD for non-EARCOS schools.

• Please see the Payment Information for detailed instructions.

Questions:

• For any questions regarding the Weekend Workshop please contact workshop coordinator Rachel Bishop rbishop@ast.tc.edu.tw.