Collaboration is one of the most frequently used words in education and, in some ways, the least taught. Our ability to collaborate and our willingness to engage respectfully with one another matters for the health of the school and the collective well-being of all within it. How do we stretch ourselves at our learning edges to become our best adult selves at school? How do we communicate well with one another in service of our students? How do we intentionally speak about building skills and capacities of adults in order to create an even healthier, professional, collaborative culture in our school? Based on Jennifer Abrams’ new book, Stretching Your Learning Edges: Growing (Up) at Work, the full day pre-conference session will explore 5 ideas around which every school employee can develop his or herself to become an even better value-add to the school and discuss to what it takes to intentionally create a healthy professional learning culture across the whole school community.

How do you define a successful education? How is learning fostered at your school? How do you access and leverage research on human learning to optimize teaching and learning? This session will guide participants in answering these questions in the context of a rich body of research on how to align and improve teaching and learning with evidence from cognitive science.

Research suggests that for most of the past century the way we’ve taught hasn’t been conducive to learning. Traditional approaches to schooling foster academic performance, which hinders learning for mastery. School’s aspire to develop students who are engaged, driven, intellectually curious, creative, confident and who learn effectively, usually with little training on the science of how to achieve this. As a result, this is unnecessarily elusive, but common when how we teach or assess is not aligned to the science of learning.

Learning is a scientific process, and for students to learn optimally they must be taught (Bjork et al., 2013: Dunlosky 2021). This is true regardless of cognitive abilities and disposition towards learning. Students often use ineffective strategies because they are rooted in widely held misconceptions. This is crucial, since misconceptions about teaching and learning (based on intuition) have led to an epidemic of disengagement in schools, provoking learners of all ages being unprepared for future employment and prosperity (UNICEF, 2022). Additionally, according to recent data, these students may not be adequately prepared for higher education or the workplace. As such, a global crisis is emerging of learners of all ages unprepared for future employment and prosperity, increasing achievement and opportunity gaps with “uneducated, uninspired, and unskilled” learners (UNICEF, 2022)

Fortunately, there is exciting momentum toward an industry overdue for change. The focus of schooling is shifting away from time bound and grade-based assessments and towards mastery, skill-based, and learner-centered instruction. How does the future of schooling and assessments align with the mountain of evidence on learning? How can 130 years of scientific research on human learning optimize teaching and learning?

This session will provide an overview of the extensive body of research in cognitive science, the Science of Learning. This portion of the workshop will challenge conventional paradigms about how we believe we learn compared to how we learn optimally. It will be a mix of reading, interactive lecture/presentation with live polling, reflection and interactive discussion. The poll will encourage participants to assess their own school’s teaching practices in relation to research on human learning, followed by the delivery of dynamic mini-lessons to address misconceptions in teaching and learning before leading to reflection and group discussion. This active learning experience is designed using learning theory from cognitive science to model the application of research to instruction.

Learn how to be an effective change agent and innovate while aligning instruction with learning science. Gain a high-level understanding of how students learn and a toolbox of methods to support faculty and promote a learner-centered approach. Highlights include reflections on areas of strength and for growth along with a visual aid that communicates the value of the Science of Learning. Prepare to align teaching for learning empowered with a rich body of research and evidence base, making your school synonymous with a place that creates curious and confident lifelong learners.

Participants will...

• Identify organizational strengths and set tangible goals for continued growth.

• Define barriers for implementation and explore possible solutions.

• Learn what every educator must master to leverage the learning science and teach effectively.

• Identify what every student must master to become sophisticated (effective, efficient and self-directed) learners

• Develop a comprehensive understanding of learning including the skills and behaviors effective learners utilize such as:

  • understand the hierarchy of human learning, including attention, processing speed, and working memory.

  • form an understanding of metacognition, executive function, and long term memory, that will trickle down to faculty and students.

  • discover how emotions influence specific cognitive domains critical for learning.

  • explore ways to cultivate intrinsic motivation and create a community with a strong sense of inclusion and belonging. 

We know that the #1 contributor to the performance of our school heads and principals is their wellbeing. For leaders with a partner or spouse, the quality of this relationship is the most impactful factor on the leader’s wellbeing and performance. This workshop is an opportunity to explore the dilemmas that leaders and their partners face in their highly visible roles and what opportunities there are for ensuring their relationships thrive. We will focus on these two questions;

1. exploring the relevance of these issues to leaders and their colleagues (i.e. role, place, importance, significance, expectations, support, respect, connection, value, safety, trust, confidentiality, time, balance, etc)

2. co-design possible options for addressing these issues by supporting leaders and schools to invest in leaders and their partners.

We are considering designing initiatives to support couples in leadership and look forward to gauging the interest of other EARCOS delegates.

This one-day session, led by Angela Browne, is designed to empower school leaders with the knowledge and skills to effectively lead diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives. Using an equity maturity approach, Angela will guide participants through a comprehensive process to ask the right questions at the right time, enhancing their DEI leadership. Participants will learn to evaluate their current DEI practices, understand critical aspects of equity maturity, and develop practical strategies for fostering an inclusive school culture. Through interactive activities, real-world examples, and collaborative discussions, attendees will leave with actionable insights to improve their school's DEI efforts immediately.

Participants will learn how to:

• Use an equity maturity approach to assess their school's current DEI status and identify areas for growth

• Ask the right questions at the right time to enhance DEI leadership and strategic planning

• Develop a clear understanding of inclusive policies and practices that support diverse student and staff populations

• Engage the entire school community in DEI initiatives, including students, parents, and staff

• Address and overcome common challenges and barriers to DEI implementation

• Measure the impact of DEI efforts and make initial data-driven adjustments

This intensive preconference institute is designed for board members seeking to deepen their understanding of the complex landscape of international school governance. Through a combination of theories of governance, case studies, and practical guidance, participants will gain the advanced skills and knowledge necessary to navigate the unique challenges and opportunities presented by governing schools in an increasingly complex world. 

Institute Highlights

• Comparative Governance Models: Examine diverse governance structures across the region, including for-profit, non-profit, and proprietary models. Analyze how governance works within each approach and discuss strategies for adapting models to specific contexts.

• Special Break-Out Sessions: Engage with your peers in mini-sessions for new board members, board chairs, and experienced members ready to play a larger role.

• Strategic Planning and Decision-Making: Develop a comprehensive understanding of strategic planning processes in international schools. Explore methods for effective decision-making, risk management, and crisis response in a global context.

• Financial Sustainability and Resource Management: Delve into the financial aspects of international school governance, including budgeting and fundraising. Learn how to ensure financial sustainability while maintaining educational quality and mission alignment.

• Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI): Examine the importance of DEI in international school governance. Discuss strategies for fostering inclusive school cultures and promoting diversity among students, faculty, and staff.

• Global Leadership and Cross-Cultural Challenges: Understand essential leadership skills for navigating diverse cultural approaches to governance. Learn how to build effective relationships with stakeholders from different backgrounds.

• Case Studies and Simulations: Engage in real-world case studies and simulations to apply theoretical knowledge to practical situations. Analyze complex governance challenges, and develop innovative solutions in a collaborative environment.

By the end of this preconference institute, participants will be equipped with the knowledge and skills necessary to govern their schools effectively in an increasingly complex and unpredictable world. They will be prepared to make informed decisions, manage resources efficiently, foster inclusive school cultures, be more effective in the boardroom, and ensure the long-term sustainability of their institutions.

We often conceive of cognition and learning as brain-based endeavors; however, research in neuroscience and human development provides valuable insights into the nature of our “extended minds.” Our extended minds encompass three additional ways in which human beings engage with, learn about and make sense of the world: embodied cognition, situated cognition and socially distributed cognition. Workshop participants will learn about the research that drives our understanding of the extended mind, and explore how these other types of cognition are foundational to the deeper learning and human-centered intelligence young people will need to employ in a world shaped by artificial intelligence and advanced technologies. Participants will have opportunities to apply the ideas to their own practice, identifying ways to better tap into the broader cognitive capabilities of all young people and adults in their schools.

This workshop may be of most interest to educators, parents and school leaders. It will also be relevant to system-level leaders who are responsible for assessing and credentialing learning, accountability and adult preparation.

In this full-day workshop, we explore the theory and science of purpose and how it relates to the global shift toward learning that helps children thrive. We will divide our time into two parts:

From our own childhood experiences to our roles as educators, we have all witnessed the limitations and inadequacies of assessment and grading systems. Join Lee Ann for an eye-opening session, based on her new Corwin book, that examines common assessment and grading practices and explores the profound impact they have on student learning. Learn how a pervasive misunderstanding about the difference between formative and summative assessment affects student motivation and engagement. Consider the enduring skills and understandings that are most important in life–and aren’t even included in most compilations of academic standards. Find out why the typical 4-point rubric is a deficit-based assessment and what to do instead. And discover how authentic, informal conversation with students can be seen as valid information for summative assessment. Drawing from decades of experience and extensive research in classroom assessment, Lee Ann will walk through a framework for reimagining the entire assessment and grading system. 

We have made the case for schools to develop inclusive cultures in which all members of a community feel known, loved, safe and successful: wherein each stakeholder can claim a sense of belonging, of being seen and valued, and where psychological safety in the environment encourages innovation and creativity. Research links between student achievement and inclusion have been well-documented and are related to increased student engagement and a positive school climate.

Yet, after a year of presenting our findings in different cultural contexts around the world, we began to ask ourselves some questions: To what extent is inclusion a truly universal concept? Is it as valid in high-context cultures as it is in low-context cultures? What might school leaders need in terms of knowledge, skills and attitudes, to make inclusion a reality in their schools? And, most importantly, we also asked the question, “What is the experience of students who may feel and understand inclusion in a school setting, only to go home into a community where expectations for behavior may be different? What code-switching skills might the student need?”

We have come to understand that inclusion is in fact, a universal construct. To honor the individuality of the cultures that schools serve, ‘what inclusion looks like’ must be co-constructed within a school community. Participants will experience different perspectives on what inclusion means and how it is manifested across a variety of cultures including high- and low-context, hierarchical and egalitarian, and collectivist and individualist.  Participants will walk away with specific strategies and skills to engage leadership teams and faculty in conversations focusing on developing and deepening an inclusive, adaptive, and collaborative school culture. This includes dialogic structures that create the space where everyone feels known, loved, safe, and successful.

A new model of leadership is needed to help us be more effective in leading our schools. Events and trends of recent years have created a shift in teachers', students’, and stakeholders’ sense of purpose, autonomy, priorities, and values. At the same time, there are important school goals to advance despite these shifts. This session will describe the new context of schooling that is impacted by unavoidable global conversations, and suggest ways for leaders to focus on new skills to continue to be inspiring, relevant, and ahead of the change we experience. Regardless of your role at school, the need for you to bring your beliefs and values wisely and safely to this conversation has never been more needed.  Questions we will explore include: How does leadership look in the age of complex sexual identity issues, DEI, resistance, SEL, and cancel culture, AI, etc? Why are our current leadership skills that have brought us so far not the same skills required to take us to the next level? What does this new phase of leadership look like? We are often faced with challenges that are beyond right or wrong, beyond clear value orientation (past, present, or future value orientation), and beyond the habitual ‘Serving’ to ‘Authoritarian’ leadership style continuum. Please join us for structured learning that will help us navigate emerging trends and strengthen our ability to lead with optimism and competence. It will also support attendees in clarifying, simplifying, and communicating their vision.

As instructional leaders we work alongside teachers to ensure evidence-based pedagogy is embedded into instruction. We craft plans for our schools and facilitate professional learning to bring the goals in our plans to life. We’re in and out of classrooms looking for the impact of teacher learning on student achievement. 

But how do we know what impact in the classroom looks like? What are we looking for? How often are we supposed to visit each classroom? How do we effectively facilitate reflective conversations with teachers? We talk about teacher observations, but how can we make them impact improved teaching and learning? 

If you have found yourself wondering about any of these questions and are looking for a framework for teacher observation that defines what well researched practice should look like and how to implement it in your context, this session will explore how Trust-Based Observations increases the impact of instructional leadership and makes what John Hatties says about TBO a reality: “demonstrating collective teacher efficacy in action.” Seoul Foreign School joins us to share their experiences and insights. 

During this highly interactive workshop anchored in the core tenets of Trust-Based Observations, Craig, a team of leaders from Seoul Foreign School along with participants will discuss, explore and learn how to use observations to create a culture of trust that improves teaching, learning and retention, including:

• An Interactive exploration of current participant experiences with observation and its effect on teaching, learning, and culture

• A research based, interactive discussion on what does and doesn’t improve teaching, learning, and culture

• How to use observations to embed a culture of trust, create safe spaces for healthy risk-taking and innovation, and make collective teacher efficacy the norm

• Experiencing and discussing the observation process through both the Trust-Based Observations and a more traditional lens.

• Learning to blend observation and professional development in order to maximize school improvement

How do successful schools leverage philanthropy to achieve their ambitious goals? This workshop will provide a comprehensive framework, examining the key characteristics that drive success and the steps to becoming a philanthropic school. Dave will lead a hands-on, practical session designed to help school leaders establish their own goals and create a personalised roadmap. The workshop will address essential issues, challenges, and decisions that need to be made along the journey.