Day 2 Concurrent Sessions

Participants are being invited to engage in conversation with Xavier students in order to explore the meaning of a relational approach to education as experienced on a daily basis at Xavier Educational Academy. Students are not familiar with the theoretical background but are familiar with a strong relational approach.

Richard De La Cuadra is an innovative educator who takes a collaborative and personalized approach to education, changing the way students experience school. He has served as a teacher and administrative leader in a variety of schools. After watching students become frustrated and hopeless in traditional and rigid school settings, Richard set out to create a new education model where learning is student-centered, flexible, stimulating, and personalized. In 2007 he opened the doors to Xavier Educational Academy in Texas, for grades 5-12th. Richard also serves on faculty at the Houston Galveston Institute. richard@xavieracademy.org

Universities today are being challenged to play a greater role in addressing the social challenges facing society, including strengthening democracy, fostering equality and social justice, and generating visions for a better future. This presentation describes a collaborative and research-based leadership approach for developing a strategic plan and reshaping a university’s culture to be more collaborative and innovative. The presentation will demonstrate how the university (a) engaged and empowered key stakeholders in the strategic planning process; (b) socialized and validated the strategic plan; (c) aligned the plan with the existing organizational culture; and (d) created networks of faculty as translators to develop and implement the strategic plan.

Chester (Chet) Warzynski is a university consultant. His previous positions included senior adviser at Carnegie Mellon University, executive director of organizational development at the Georgia Institute of Technology, and adjunct professor in the School of Public Policy; director of organizational development, and lecturer in the School of Industrial and Labor Relations at Cornell University. c.warzynski@cornell.edu

This session will explore the impact of affirmation and technology in engaging over 900 Portland State University (PSU) administrators, faculty, staff and students in realizing the university's commitment to Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging (DEI&B) at its October 2020 "TIME TO ACT" remote summit. Using a host of platforms, participants engaged in an Appreciative Inquiry "4-D" process, exchanging stories of their lived experiences, then collaborating within and across caucuses to dream and design structures for creating a more just and equitable PSU. In addition to examining the summit's planning process and methodology, this discussion will share lessons learned around summit outcomes for the BIPOC community, as well as practices for sustaining the momentum in ways that generate ongoing DEI&B engagement and collaboration.

Dr. Cathy Royal, Ph.D., is a teacher, coach, behavioral science sage, and beloved Nana for helping people discover how to bring antiracist practices into their life and work. Her leadership in Systems Thinking, Social Justice and Appreciative Inquiry has rendered her a powerful social justice advocate since the civil disobedience of the 1960s. Cathy uses her “lived experiences” and always speaks from her heart in coaching social enterprise leaders in authentically aligning roles/structures to vision/values. Cathy was part of the consulting team that co-designed a virtual Appreciative Inquiry Summit with 900 people participating at Portland State University on the topic of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Justice for the campus. Out of this summit over 25 projects were created by students, faculty, administrators and community members. ImagineUStravel@gmail.com

Education often involves hierarchies: "experts" (professors) versus"non experts" (learners), "senior" professors versus "junior" professors. This creates a dichotomy between those "who know" versus "those who know less". In this workshop, we propose a social constructionist-relational approach to education that generates a shift in the power dynamics that have long influenced the world of Western education and encourages an environment where learning/teaching is collaborative and knowledge is co-created for everyone involved in a mutually transformative experience.

Psychotherapist. Director of Centro de Praxis Terapéuticas dedicated to training in narrative and social constructionist approaches. Associate of Taos Institute and member of the council of Taos Latin America (TILAC). Full professor at the Universidad del Salvador, Argentina. Author. Ex editor-in-chief of the Argentine family therapy journal Sistemas Familiares y otros sistemas humanos. Member of the Editorial Board of the International Journal of Collaborative-Dialogic Practices. ktaverniers@gmail.com

Constanza Gottelli. Psychotherapist. Former Psychologist in organizations. Instructor for Psychological First Aid at Red Cross Argentina. Volunteer at Red Cross Argentina for psychosocial support and mental health, gender and diversity, and violence prevention. Assistant professor at the Universidad del Salvador, Argentina, for Family Psychology. TCI - Integrative Community Therapist. constanza.gottelli@gmail.com

This session draws on/shows/illustrates the East Side Institute's decades of experience creating its International Class program is a higher education experiment in which each cohort builds their ensemble into a developmental learning environment. In this ten-month program, 8-20 participants from different countries, cultures and professions challenge the authoritarianism of knowing and generate the power of learning without epistemology, as they immerse themselves in the task of experiencing/interrogating/learning the Institute's practice of social therapeutics and performance activism.

Lois Holzman is director of the East Side Institute, the center for social therapeutics and performance activism. She champions the role of play, performance and ensemble building as central to supporting people to grow themselves and their communities, humanize the mental health field and the social sciences, and effect social change and global cultural transformation. She is a Taos Associate and recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award from AERA’s Cultural Historical Research SIG. lholzman@eastsideinstitute.org

Carrie Lobman is the Leader of Education & Research at the East Side Institute and Associate Professor & Chair of the Department of Learning & Teaching at the Graduate School of Education, Rutgers University. She researches the relationship between play, performance, learning and development for people of all ages. Her publications include Unscripted Learning and Development and Democracy: The Role of Outside of School Experiences in Preparing Young People to be Active Citizens. clobman@eastsideinstitute.org

Indigenous peoples’ experience of relationship is holistic, interconnected, and community oriented. In this presentation Indigenous thought leaders explore concepts such as: "all my relations" and relationality with an intention to inform policy/practice within child welfare, education, justice, and healthcare. Guiding questions include: How is Indigenous ways of describing relationship currently reflected in our policies and procedures? What would a system or structure look like that is centered on Indigenous views of relationality?

Jordan White is mixed ancestry and identifies himself as a Metis Person. He has European roots in Scotland, Ireland and Poland and Indigenous roots from Northern Manitoba (Bunibonibee Cree Nation), central Saskatchewan (Mistawasis First Nation) and elsewhere. He is employed at the local health authority and works with the Youth Concurrent Disorders program. He recently accepted an Indigenous seat on the provincial education committee with the British Columbia Association of Clinical Counsellors. jordan.d.white@hotmail.com

Len Pierre is Coast Salish from Katzie (kate-zee) First Nation. Len is an educator, consultant, TEDx Speaker, social activist, traditional knowledge keeper, and cultural practitioner. He specializes in the development of educational programs and services with decolonization and reconciliation as its core values. Clientservices@lenpierreconsulting.com

Marissa McIntyre is a Nlaka’pamux and Mixed Settler woman living on the unceded territories of the Coast Salish First Nations in so called British Columbia, Canada. She graduated from Simon Fraser University in 2018 served the Urban Indigenous population until the beginning of 2021 where she began her journey as an Indigenous Cultural Safety Educator. Marissa.mcintyre@live.com

Antonia Victor is traditionally known as Xoyotiya. He comes from the Sto:lo Nation where he was born and raised fully entrenched in the cultural practices of the Coast Salish people. He is privileged to have worked in and around the Traditional Sto:lo Territory for twelve years. He ensures culture as well as healing are a consistent part of his family, their lives, and loves to offer encouragement and support healing in his community.

Drawing from my PhD dissertation, this workshop will invite participants to explore, analyze and reflect upon the challenges of relational based management in schools: The case of Xavier Educational Academy in Houston, Texas.

Tamara Richter has always been interested in the different settings where learning takes place, either formal or informal. The search for different learning environments took her to explore educational settings in 6 different countries where she got a BA in Educational Science, an MA in Lifelong Learning: Policy and Management and is currently finishing a PhD in Education, researching Relational School Management. tamrichlon@gmail.com

This learning showcase shares a participatory action study of a leadership program examining learning through key assignments designed to elevate the role of creation, multimodal storytelling, artifact sharing and critical dialogue in course design and pedagogy. Results, implications and considerations for opening decolonized, liberatory spaces will be explored along with practices for democratization and solidarity within socially constructed higher ed course experiences. Participants will engage in self-reflection, critical dialogue and shared learning throughout the session.

Dr. Rebecca Vlasin is a Clinical Assistant Professor at the University of Colorado-Denver. She’s been teaching and leading within inclusive community-based early learning contexts for over 25 years. She finds joy and fulfillment from engaging with infants, toddlers and diverse leaders working together to transform early care and education. She is also the parent of an autistic teenager and a current college senior. She is a core faculty member in the Buell Early Childhood Leadership Program. rebecca.vlasin@ucdenver.edu

Sena Harjo is an active participating member of the Seminole, Choctaw and Creek tribes. She is currently finishing her PhD dissertation at CU Denver. Sena earned a Master’s Degree in Early Childhood Leadership and Administration from the University of Denver (DU) in 2013. She loves to spend time with her family and friends and is passionate about her artwork, her culture and her community. sena.harjo@ucdenver.edu

Robert McMullen is a graduate of the Buell Early Childhood Leadership Program (BECLP) and a staff member of the Children’s Museum of Denver at Marsico Campus. He has been involved in the nonprofit cultural sector in Denver for roughly fifteen years, most recently spending the better part of four years in the field of Early Childhood Education. He is a Denver, CO, native, witnessing the transformation of his community and the whole of the city into a burgeoning, cosmopolitan metropolis. robert.k.mcmullen@ucdenver.edu

"What Family Means to Me" is an adaptable team activity using simulation and applied theatre techniques to help foster trust, collaboration and meaning-making for geriatric healthcare team members working with families in distress. This showcase offers participants the opportunity to experience, adapt and try the activity to fit their unique educational settings. Time will also be dedicated to reflecting on what we have learned as educators from our collective experiences during the showcase session.

Shoshana designs relational, collaborative and appreciative educational methods, curriculum, and care models for knowledge mobilization and sustainable practice change on interprofessional healthcare teams. Shoshana’s career spans 25+ years in community, hospital, long-term care, and corporate settings as an educator, researcher, social innovator, geriatric social worker, psychotherapist, gerontologist, clinical simulationist, instructional designer, subject matter expert and facilitator. shelfenbaum@baycrest.org

Daniel Galessiere, MScPT, BScKin is an interprofessional educator for the Ontario Centres for Learning, Research and Innovation in Long-Term Care at Baycrest. Daniel is currently involved in healthcare delivery research, educational design of online, in-person and simulation-based education, and facilitates individual, team and leadership training locally, provincially and nationally. Daniel is a clinical simulationist and physiotherapist with 12 years of experience as a clinician and preceptor in the private clinic and geriatric hospital settings. dgalessiere@baycrest.org

Cathy Smith, PhD, CHSE, is an Interprofessional and Simulation Educator at the Ontario CLRI at Baycrest and consults with educational and assessment organizations around the world, working with learners at all stages. She has developed and facilitated curriculum for diverse formats, ranging from face-to-face to web-based platforms. She serves on the editorial board of the International Journal of Healthcare Simulation. Her particular research interest in on the role of Simulated Participants in simulation-based education for health professionals. smith.cathy06@gmail.com

What's the best way to help adult learners translate academic theories successfully into sophisticated, applied practice? For countless generations, the primary context for acquiring and using complex, behavioral skills was the guild, a scaffold for learning built on the committed, personal relationship between a master and an apprentice. In this experiential conversation, we’ll propose reinvigorating such a relationship between early-career OD practitioners and seasoned, senior professionals as an essential approach for developing and deploying critical professional skills.

Peter F. Norlin, Ph.D., former Executive Director of the OD Network and Principal of ChangeGuides, now serves early-career, emerging OD practitioners as a professional coach and mentor. For 35+ years, he has worked with both two-person partnerships and Fortune 100 companies, and had faculty appointments at Vanderbilt University, Johns Hopkins University, and Georgetown University. Based in Ann Arbor, Michigan, he is also a member of the NTL Institute. peter@peternorlin.com

Julian Chender is an Organization Design and Development practitioner and founder of the OD Salon. A graduate of Swarthmore College and the American University MSOD program, he is the recipient of the OD Network's 2020 Emerging Practitioner Award. julian@odsalon.org

For the caring educator, providing safety and integrity for young people is a priority, but when it comes to sexual assault prevention, most adults don't know where to begin. Now there is a comprehensive and evidence-based program that gives teachers the skills and support needed to educate students in an open, non-threatening way. Be Strong, Be Wise (BSBW) offers discussion, rather than lecture, as its primary learning format. Educators will be given a pathway to help their students determine what "unwanted sexual touch" means to them, as well as how to use the five safety "tools" that lower risk. The BSBW safety framework is designed to strengthen relationships on all levels, and creates a deeper sense of self in every student who attends the course.

Amy Carpenter, LCSW, CYI, is a bestselling author, educator, and psychotherapist with over twenty-five years of experience. Her work has been featured on CBS, NBC, ABC, USA Today and hundreds of nationally-syndicated newspaper and magazine outlets. She is the founder of the Be Strong, Be Wise Sexual Assault Awareness and Safety program, and the author of two books in the bestselling Be Strong, Be Wise series. bestrongbewise.com or amycarpenter458@gmail.com

The intersection of race and gender is forefront in our national discourse. Often professors intentionally decide to keep race and gender out of their classroom conversations because they don’t know how to dialogue in a way that is safe for all. This self-preservation tactic, unfortunately (and unintentionally), adds to the systemic racism and misogyny that we are working to dismantle. How might professors not only talk about these topics in their courses, but do so in a relational and secure manner that places empathetic dialogue at the center of every lesson?

Kara Kaufman is a professor of History and of Gender and Women’s Studies, and also works as an online-learning instructional designer at North Shore Community College in Massachusetts. She received her Ph.D. from the Taos Institute in 2010, and continues to bring relational practices to everything she does. kkaufman@northshore.edu

Using the article "The Four 'Is' of Appreciative Online Teaching: Invite, Imagine, Integrate, Inspire," published in the May 2021 International Journal of Appreciative Inquiry, author Mary Kiley will discuss her research gathered from interviews with remarkable online educators. Participants will be encouraged to share their stories of positive online educational experiences and to collectively "dream big" on how we might use this "Four I's" framework to amplify the relational nature of in-person education.

Mary is an enthusiastic educator at St. John’s Preparatory School in Danvers, Massachusetts, USA and Idioma Education and Consulting, LLC. Deeply enhanced by earning certificates in the fields of Appreciative Inquiry, practitioner and Positive Psychology, she is passionate about sharing their inherently dynamic and creative power with others. mkiley@stjohnsprep.org

When the pandemic hit, 100 performance activists, improvisers, musicians, coaches, educators, clowns, therapists, and actors gathered online to see how we might be able to be of help to our fellow human beings as we weathered this crisis together. Now a year since our launch, the Global Play Brigade has provided over 275 free, relational, play, educational and emotional support sessions, to 5000 people across 62 countries. In this playful, philosophical and improvisational presentation, we'll explore how strangers crossing borders and playing together is providing a relational space to create community, social connection, and social change.

Cathy Salit is a performance activist, jazz singer, coach, and improviser. She’s been a radical educator since she was 13, when she dropped out of school and started her own high school in NYC. As CEO of the leadership consultancy Performance of a Lifetime for 23 years, Cathy pioneered an improvisational, social therapeutic/constructionist approach to help top brand companies grow their leaders and teams. She’s the author of Performance Breakthrough, and is faculty of the East Side Institute. csalit@globalplaybrigade.org

The participants will have the opportunity to be exposed to children's voice regarding how Covid-19 pandemic influenced their wellbeing related to school participation. The session presents the results of a research conducted in November and December 2020 with teenagers from Romania, exploring the impact of online school. Children’s representations are full of meaning and creativity and led us to a world that emphasizes the need of a relational approach in terms of education. In this context, how can we as professionals contribute to the wellbeing of children? What practices should we take into consideration in order to make children’s voices to be heard?

Alexandra Galbin is an associate professor at Alexandru Ioan Cuza University of Iasi, Department of Sociology and Social Work, Iasi, Romania. She follows a postdoctoral program of research within the Alexandru Ioan Cuza University of Iasi with a theme concerning the social construction of school participation. Her areas of interest are education, appreciative inquiry, social constructionism, social intervention and organizational development. alexandra.galbin@gmail.com

This short session shares the findings from an Action Research project conducted for a doctoral degree. It tests the specific effects of educational supervision through the approach of Appreciative Inquiry.

Fabio is a lecturer at the Roma Tre University. He graduated in Pedagogy and obtained his Doctorate in Theory and Educational Research with a thesis on professional recognition of social educators and the testing of a supervision model according to the method of appreciative orientation. Currently his research and professional topics are educational counseling and parenting support. Fabio is also president of a professional association of educators and pedagogists. fabio.olivieri@uniroma3.it

OBLIQUITY provides a humanities-centric educational opportunity for trainees which empowers our participants to process the difficult realities of medical care through an interdisciplinary lens. The program seeks to address physician and medical student burn-out which remain a significant burden despite efforts to provide wellness initiatives to students and staff. Our session will illuminate the intersection of poetry, humanities, and the opportunity for educators to include the arts as an integral part of medical education.

Manisha Bharadia is a third-year medical student at the University of Alberta. She is also the founder and senior curator of OBLIQUITY – a Canadian humanities and medicine workshop series that seeks to highlight the essential interconnectedness of the arts and sciences (www.obliquity13.com). Bharadia's most recent publications Cinnamon (CMAJ Humanities) and Endurance (Murmurs) explore the intersections of familial roles, autonomy, and duty. obliquity@ualberta.ca

Ashaka Patel, apatel12024@meds.uwo.ca

Pamela Brett-MacLean, an associate professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Alberta, completed her PhD in Interdisciplinary Studies (Arts and Health) at the University of British Columbia in 2007. Dr. Brett-MacLean is currently director of the Arts & Humanities in Health & Medicine (AHHM) program in the Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry which supports a wide range of educational offerings and opportunities for community engagement. She is also a Taos Institute associate. pbrett@ualberta.ca

The Well-Being Project is a collaborative qualitative research assignment, part of the Critical Psychology curriculum at Antioch University, L.A. The project seeks to deconstruct the common use of the term “well-being” that presents with a neutral, unified meaning. It envisions a quilt of conversations that juxtapose multiple perspectives from different ages, backgrounds and cultures. Honoring the possibilities of Performative Social Sciences, students and participants use a range of expressive arts media.

Lucy Cotter, MFT is the co-founder of the Narrative Counseling Center in Los Angeles. She holds an MA in Child/Marriage Counseling from Pacific Oaks College, and an MFA from Otis College of Art. An Adjunct Faculty member at Antioch University, her courses include The Psychology of Couples in Fiction and Film, Postmodern Psychotherapies and Critical Psychology. narrativetalk@gmail.com

Medicine's social mandate recognizes the importance of introducing changes to systems and practices to meet the healthcare needs of marginalized populations. Providing up-to-date socially accountable curriculum content is a constant challenge for medical educators, given restricted curricular time and limited availability of faculty. The DISCuSS model (Diversity, Identify, Search, Create, Sustainability, Social accountability) provides a community-engaged, iterative approach to curriculum development that ensures timely introduction of socially accountable educational modules.

Helly Goez, MD, Professor, Pediatrics, is the inaugural assistant dean Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI), Faculty on Medicine and Dentistry, University of Alberta. She is committed to building a diverse, equitable and inclusive workplace and learning environment, where differences are seen as strength. goez@ualberta.ca

Pamela Brett-MacLean, an associate professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Alberta, completed her PhD in Interdisciplinary Studies (Arts and Health) at the University of British Columbia in 2007. Dr. Brett-MacLean is currently director of the Arts & Humanities in Health & Medicine (AHHM) program in the Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry which supports a wide range of educational offerings and opportunities for community engagement. She is also a Taos Institute associate. pbrett@ualberta.ca

Joanne Rodger, PhD is the Director, Program Quality & Accreditation in the MD Program in the Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry and an Adjunct Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Education at the University of Alberta. Dr. Rodger’s research areas of interest include teacher-librarian education, teacher-librarian leadership, the emotional labour of public library workers, and curriculum development in medical education. degroot@ualberta.ca

Hollis Lai, PhD, is an Associate Professor and Director of Innovation and Quality Improvement in the School of Dentistry in the Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry at the University of Alberta. Dr. Lai is an expert in psychometrics and quantitative methods. hollis1@ualberta.ca

Tracey Hillier, MD, is Executive Dean and Director of the Alberta Institute, Co-Director of the Situated Knowledges: Indigenous Peoples and Place Signature Area, and member of the Indigenous Advisory Council at the University of Alberta. Dr. Hillier completed residencies in family medicine and diagnostic imaging, and a Master’s in Health Sciences Education. She is passionate about improving health care for diverse and marginalized populations. thillier@ualberta.ca

As educators and students in a Child and Youth Care degree program (AKA CYC community members) we will share our learning journey. We then invite conversation, curiosity and dialogue to explore relational pedagogy in public post-secondary programs.

Dr. Christine Slavik, Associate Professor and Department Head of the Child, Youth and Family Studies Department at The University of the Fraser Valley, embraces relational practice through contemplative pedagogy. Christine holds a Certificate in Appreciative Inquiry Facilitation and is a Certified Trainer of the Appreciative Leadership Development Program, is a qualified Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction program facilitator, through the Centre for Mindfulness in Medicine, Health Care, and Society. Christine.slavik@ufv.ca

Mark Littlefield is a graduate of the Child and Youth Care (CYC) program. He is completing an EdD in practice at Simon Fraser University where his research focuses on his relational pedagogical identity which is evolving and emerging within the relationships he experiences with students, colleagues, curriculum, and the field of CYC practice. The courses he most loves facilitating are practicum and Capstone, because in both courses he can “dance” with students as they explore their emerging CYC identity. mark.littlefield@ufv.ca

Leadership, psychological safety, communication culture, hierarchy, safeguarding knowledge, safeguarding resources are all components of a school's safety culture. If we wanted to find out about these features, what questions should we ask adults and children in the schools to see if the school has a good safeguarding culture?

Bertie is a former secondary Deputy Head and is reading for an MSc in Organizational and Social Psychology at the LSE. He is interested in how culture causes safeguarding failure in schools and how those failings are similar to other man-made disasters. He realized that a culture model had not yet been created for schools to measure their vulnerability to peer on peer abuse or pedophile infiltration. b.w.cairns@lse.ac.uk

My invitation to dialogue will discuss the nature of literacy and arts-based teaching in schools. Particularly, I'm curious to discuss the supports teachers would need to have confidence in the use of arts-based teaching techniques in their classrooms. Additionally, I would love to discuss my upcoming doctoral research and how it relates to work I have already undertaken exploring literacy through dramatic conventions such as monologues, original song compositions, paintings, shadow puppetry, dance, and ventriloquism.

Harrison Campbell, BE.d, MA: Harrison Campbell is a Doctor of Philosophy student at the Werklund School of Education, University of Calgary. His area of scholarship explores the use of theatrical phenomenology in understanding secondary student experiences of literacy. His PhD research has been funded by The Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, through the Canada Graduate Scholarships, and The Killam Trusts through the Izaak Walton Killam Doctoral Memorial Scholarship. harrison.campbell@ucalgary.ca

I want to talk and share experiences of teaching Open Dialogue in different countries and different settings(Workshops, continuous education, Supervision) and the importance of using reflexive Processes and collaboratively. How much of the principles and Elements of Open Dialogue must be lived by the teacher to reach the participants.

Werner Schuetze is a Child- and Youth Psychiatrist, Adult- Psychiatrist, Psychotherapist, Family therapy, Open Dialogue Trainer. He has been a clinical psychiatrist in different settings and contexts. A turn of his career happened, when he came across Open Dialogue with the chance to implement this approach into his hospital in Nauen, close to Berlin. He is a Trainer for Open Dialogue in different countries, trying to live a collaborative teaching model. Retired since 2013. dialogischepraxis@gmx.de

We invite participants to join us in a reflective conversation of how do we practice relationality as an intention. How about critical consciousness? How does one locate relationality? How might we practice relationality with a critical consciousness? What are our choice points of responsiveness for inclusion? Justine & Saliha will kick us off by sharing their stories of teaching within a mental health context in higher education and invite you to share yours.

Saliha Bava, PhD, is Associate Professor of Marriage & Family Therapy at Mercy College. She is advisory board member & associate at Taos Institute and serves on the Council for International Collaborative-dialogic Practices Network. Co-author of the Relational Book for Parenting, she consults on relational intelligence for an inclusive world. She directs the Relational Play Lab and resides in NYC with her family. Connect: drbava@gmail.com or @thinkplay. drbava@gmail.com

Justine D'Arrigo is trained as a marriage and family therapist and is an assistant professor at California State University, San Bernardino, in the masters in counseling program. Justine’s teaching research and clinical interests are all informed by a critical relationality that attends to cultivating collaboration while navigating socio-political contexts. justinedarrigo@gmail.com

Educating as relating requires new ways of working with each other where our collaborations are not just a critique of the old, but are themselves new practices of learning. Join us for a conversation exploring the role of playfulness in creating a self-organized community for deconstructing/reconstructing educational practices. The content will be emergent, and the process will utilize improvisational tools that can be used beyond the conference.

Carrie Lobman, Ed.D., is associate professor at the Rutgers University Graduate School of Education. Her research examines the relationship between play, performance, learning and development for people of all ages. Her publications include Unscripted Learning: Using Improvisation across the K-8 Curriculum and Development and Democracy: The Role of Outside of School Experiences in Preparing Young People to be Active Citizens. carrie.lobman@gse.rutgers.edu

Gwen Lowenheim teaches at Pace University in the Composition component of the English Department with international and local students. She is a learning design specialist, organizational developer, who trains educators and social entrepreneurs internationally in a social therapeutic approach that brings creativity and innovation into classrooms, organizations and community-based programs around the world. glowenheim@eastsideinstitute.org

Jorge Burciaga-Montoya, M.Ed. lives in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico. He is a full time professor at the Universidad Pedagógica Nacional del Estado de Chihuahua (UPNECH). He has a Masters in Community Education and training in Social Therapy from the East Side Institute of New York. He has worked with youth NGO’s and is a founding member of the Fred Newman Center for Social Therapy and also of the Performing Communities the Esperanza Coalition in the US-Mexico Border. jburciaga77@gmail.com

Sue Davies teaches at New York University Wagner and the George Heyman Center for Philanthropy and Fundraising and the Masters in Professional Writing Program. She has been a featured speaker at programs sponsored by: Women in Development, the Association for Fundraising Professionals, the Foundation Center and Do Something. Sue has served on the Boards of Directors of the All Stars Project, Women in Development/NYC, Association for Fundraising Professionals/New Jersey, and Leadership Newark. suedaviesnyc@gmail.com

Tomas Pernecky is Professor of Applied Philosophy, Tourism and Event Studies in the Faculty of Culture and Society at the Auckland University of Technology, New Zealand. His research interests range from epistemology and social ontology to specific areas of social constructionism and sustainable leadership. Tomas received the 2014 Vice Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Teaching. tomas.pernecky@aut.ac.nz

Tugce B. Arda Tuncdemir is a PhD student in Curriculum and Instruction, emphasis on Early Childhood Education at Penn State. From 2010 to 2013, she worked in Ege University, Department of Early Childhood Education as a graduate assistant while completing her master’s degree, emphasis in Social & Emotional Development in Early childhood. tugce.tuncdemir@gmail.com

Engage in a discussion about igniting "We Power" to co-construct the future of education after the toll of the COVID-19 pandemics. Amid racial unrest, political division, and a global pandemic, children have been overexposed to fear, stress, grief, and other negative emotions and events. To improve our future, our children must be involved in shaping it.

Shira Levy, NCSP, MAPP, is a School Psychologist, Psychology Associate, children's author, and Positive Psychology expert. Shira brings Positive Psychology and Positive Education to her clients, helping to create flourishing communities. She is the co-author of "Stan and the Four Fantastic Powers: First Ever Appreciative Inquiry Book for Kids" a book that emphasizes intergenerational conversations to help children dream and design the future, creating a sense of ownership, hope and pride. srlevy@aacps.org

Jessie works has worked as a Title 1 public school educator in Boise, Idaho for the past 9 years. With undergraduate degrees in Human Physiology and Elementary Education, and a Masters of Applied Positive Psychology from the University of Pennsylvania, she is passionate about integrating well-being into classrooms to support both student and teacher flourishing. Jessie deeply believes that in order for students to thrive, teachers must first have the skills and understanding of what it means to live well. jessiespurgeon@gmail.com

Building upon principals from adrienne maree browns' "Emergent Strategy: Shaping Change, Changing Worlds," and conversations around Systems Theory, Scholars Miller and Taylor will discuss how a syllabus can be shaped with the input of students and have greater impact and exponential learning outcomes. "An individual can have a breakthrough, but an entire system of ideas, what we called an episteme, these emerge from the multitude, none of them conscious of the act." - Ito and Howe

Malesha Jessie Taylor is a transdisciplinary vocal artist and professor whose work can be found in opera, jazz, experimental installations, African diasporic ritual, yoga and dance music. Her TEDx talk entitled, “What Do You See?” is a part of her developing auto-ethnography Transcending Performance: Exploring Black Liberatory Praxis in Vocal Arts. She currently teaches at HBCU- Clark Atlanta University and California State University, San Marcos. malesha@musesalon.org

Uzoma Obiora Miller is a Ph.D. candidate in Transformative Inquiry at The California Institute of Integral Studies, his dissertation, Dynamic Modes of Storytelling: A Reflexive Ethnography of Fisk University’s Cultural Resource Landscape, critically assesses how the institution’s community members know and apply their vast reservoir of artifacts, collections, art pieces and museums, and historical homes. Miller has over 20 years of teaching experience in History and Political Science, and currently teaches at Clark Atlanta University and Atlanta Metropolitan State College. uzomaobiora@yahoo.com

Responding to the seemingly disparate needs to incorporate both asynchronous online and relational education can be fraught with questions and concerns. LIPHA, a serious education game app designed to be used asynchronously while featuring relational and collaborative practices in healthcare, will be explored. Participants will be invited to discuss the challenges, opportunities and questions the session evokes for their own setting, and for the field of relational education.

Raquel Meyer RN PhD manages the Ontario Centres for Learning, Research and Innovation in Long-Term Care at Baycrest with a focus on design and evaluation of educational innovations to enhance interprofessional care. Her career includes 15 years with the University of Toronto’s Nursing Health Services Research Unit where she completed her doctorate and an early career research award. Her expertise integrates the areas of educational innovation, human resources, leadership, health policy and care delivery models. rmeyer@baycrest.org

Shoshana Helfenbaum MSW RSW DGrt is an Interprofessional Educator at the Ontario Centres for Learning, Research and Innovation in Long-Term Care at Baycrest. Shoshana designs curriculum and educational methodology in relational-centred care. Her focus is mindfulness, simulation and Appreciative Inquiry for knowledge mobilization and sustainable practice change on interprofessional teams. Her career spans 20+ years in community, hospital and long-term care settings as a geriatric social worker, psychotherapist, gerontologist, clinical simulationist, instructional and eLearning designer. shelfenbaum@baycrest.org

Daniel Galessiere, MScPT, BScKin is an Interprofessional Educator for the Ontario Centres for Learning, Research and Innovation in Long-Term Care at Baycrest. Daniel is currently involved in the design and facilitation of education to long-term care teams, healthcare simulation and knowledge dissemination via virtual serious games, eLearning, workshop, seminar and conference presentations. Daniel has 12 years of physiotherapy experience as a clinician and preceptor in both the private clinic and geriatric hospital settings. dgalessiere@baycrest.org

Paulo Freire, bell hooks, Mihaly Csikszentmihaly, and Gholdy Muhammad make the case that liberation and joy are desired outcomes for students. In Student-Driven Inquiry (SDI), learners research a personally selected topic of interest, and in this deep, meaningful learning, connect with others in the classroom community and beyond as they seek and deliver support on work that matters. Join us in conversation about the power of SDI to generate Relationality in the classroom.

Shelly is the head librarian and research instructor at Arbor School of Art & Science and is also an adjunct professor at the San Jose State University School of Information. shellycbuchanan@gmail.com

Africa S. Hands, PhD is assistant professor of library science at East Carolina University. Her research focuses on library services to historically marginalized communities, first-generation students and professionals, and library and information science education. She is the author of Successfully Serving the College Bound (ALA Editions, 2015). She holds a PhD in information systems from Queensland University of Technology and an MLIS from San José State University. handsa19@ecu.edu

An efterskole is a unique Danish independent residential school for students between 14 and 18 years old. Each efterskole is a self-governing independent institution and each school embraces a common educational focus on enlightenment for life, general education and democratic citizenship. We will visit Idrætsefterskolen Ulbølle a school for adolescents with special educational needs and talk about a school culture based on social constructionist principles using sports to build strong relationships.

Thomas Buch is a 61-year-old Dane. He was educated as a teacher in 1985. Founder of Idrætsefterskolen Ulbølle 2005. Principal at Idrætsefterskolen Ulbølle since 2005. Educated in systemic management from MacMann Berg, Denmark. In the process of completing the “International Diploma Program in Social Construction and Professional Practice” at The Taos Institute. Has written an assignment here, how to create a special school that is inspired by world-class talent development environments. tb@ieu.dk

I will share the story of Lyceum Global delivering a summer leadership youth summit to serve 54 students of age 14-18 virtually from 40 different cities in Vietnam. The theme of the summit was "Living with G.R.A.C.E." (Gratitude - Respect - Accountability - Courage - Engagement) and how through interactive 8-day program on the virtual platform of social media (Facebook Group, Facebook messenger) and Zoom, we were able to encourage the youths to engage, develop their personal characters and inspire six youths to deliver some service learning project for their local communities using the theme of GRACE.

Dr. Anhlan Phuc Nguyen, ICF ACC, PMP, DBA is the Executive Director of Lyceum Global (https://lyceumglobal.net), a social global enterprise specialized in professional and life skills development for success. Dr. Nguyen is an author of the #1 Amazon International Bestseller book titled “Living in GRACE” Living your best life now! (October 2020). She is an ICF certified professional coach specialized in emotional intelligence and coaching for transformation. anguyen@icevn.org

Trauma is the most pervasive public health issue of our time. We are educators but we are also first responders. In order to build safe, stable relationships with our students, we must ensure we are emotionally resilient. In this session we will discuss the impact of secondary trauma and a framework for resilient communities. Through peer support and active listening we can disrupt burnout and bias in our schools.

Emily Santiago is a licensed Educational Psychologist and founder of the Center for Cognitive Diversity. She has worked as a school psychologist and educator (K-13) for over 24 years in school districts across the US and abroad. Her experiences led her to develop an accredited Trauma Informed Specialist certification program that provides training and emotional support for educators to transform their schools. Emily currently resides in Southern Oregon with her family. emily@cogdiv.com

In artistic practice, improv requires that participants relate in a way that involves accepting interdependence as a condition of achieving things together. In this presentation, we draw on examples of our own facilitation of a particular improvisational exercise. The presentation provides an integration of the practice itself (a version of the exercise) with reflections on how it was taken up and experienced. This presentation considers some of the tensions activated through improv's requirements of interdependence - from both the perspectives of students through reflections and responses, as well as our own tensions as academic instructors.

Cathy's work is about reimagining how we relate to each other, ourselves and worlds around us. Cathy combines her training in theatrical improvisation, modern dance, and physical theatre with her social work education and PhD research to create an arts-informed practice that helps to expand, disrupt, and challenge ways of thinking, doing and being. Her central practice is the unscripted art of improvisation: focused on interdependence, and oriented by a vision of a more socially just future. cathyjoypaton@gmail.com

Ann Fudge Schormans (Ph.D.) is an Associate Professor in the School of Social Work at McMaster University. Drawing on critical disability studies and employing inclusive, co-researcher methodologies and knowledge co-production, along with arts-informed methods, recent projects explore use of city space by people with intellectual disabilities; intersection of intellectual disability and homelessness; parenting experiences and aspirations of people with intellectual disabilities; and a project with disabled survivors of large-scale institutions developing post-secondary curriculum materials. fschorm@mcmaster.ca

I will present the idea of positioning and re-positioning as active ways of working with changes in and outside the classroom as well as among professionals in schools.

Rene Kristensen, Master of Science, Taos Associate, college professor from Denmark training teachers in appreciative, inclusive work in schools and kindergartens. Her main focus is to develop helpful practices based on appreciative diversity and play with language. rene@rkris.dk

In their ninth year of collaboration, Prattsburgh Central School District and Keuka College have partnered to provide classroom experiences for students in an Adolescent teacher preparation program while they tutored students who are differently abled at the school. Each partner dedicating themselves to their partner’s interests has helped empower classroom teachers as well as college students. Join us to talk about partnerships between PreK-12 School Districts and institutions of higher education.

Peter Kozik is Associate Professor of Educational Studies at Keuka College where he teaches Adolescent Methods, Assessment in Inclusive Schools, and Educating At-Risk Youth. He is a co-author of The Highly Effective Classroom: Evaluating Teachers of English Language Learners and Students with Disabilities. pkozik@keuka.edu

Kory Bay is the Superintendent of the Prattsburgh Central School District and a member of the Advisory Board for the Keuka College Division of Educational Studies. bayk@prattsburghcsd.org

Join us to hear about our collaborations between innovative secondary schools and the digital app, Clanbeat. We welcome you to a short presentation on how we are responding to student well-being issues in meaningful and reflective ways.

Toby Cann and Triin Noorkoiv are secondary school teachers who work in the UK and Estonia. Having taken part in pilots with Clanbeat, they are involved in teacher-led explorations of the app and rethinking how we organise and deliver curriculum that is relevant, relational and co-created. tcann@halcyonschool.com and Triin@clanbeat.com

We share experiences of training with concern to modern aesthetics appropriation of the representation of experience and reality through the imposition and overrepresentation of the text, reason, and evidence/perception. We discuss and invite a conversation on decolonial possibilities that are conducive to liberating aesthesis from aesthetics, for the senses to be heard and their place to be recognized in the configuration of responses to social suffering.

marcela's ancestry is Muisca, African and South European de Colombia. In her immigrant English, her work is informed by the Australasian narrative therapy and U.S. Black feminism. In her Espagnol Colombiano y Spanglish, she is influenced by Andean decoloniality, the coloniality of gender and Chicanx borderland activismo as a response to Eurocentrism. She is a practicing licensed Marriage and Family Therapist. marcela.polanco@sdsu.edu

Jon Frith is a biracial (White/Latino), Spanish/English/Spanglish speaking male. His mother is an immigrant from Guatemala, and his father was born here in the U.S.; his ancestry traces back to English and Germanic heritage. He completed his undergraduate at San Diego State University in the field of Education and his Master’s in Marriage and Family Therapy. His clinical work is approached through a non-judgmental, non-pathologizing lens, while being mindful of systemic forms of oppression that have a direct impact on clients’ lives. jfrith3@gmail.com

Although there is dialogue in the educational literature that considers post-third-person learning, there is little in the area of collective learning systems, what I have termed Transformative Learning Communities or TLCs, as well as the process of Generative Collective Wisdom (GCW) where the theory, lived experience, and praxis of intersubjectivity (Gozawa, 2017; Gunnlaugson, 2007, 2009, 2011) and interbeing (Hanh, 2001) are privileged. I argue that a radical conceptualization of TLCs and GCW will support humans coming into relationship to create a more sustainable, regenerative and thriving future. (Wahl, 2016, loc.3).

Laurel Tien, Ph.D. is Director of the Transformative Learning Community specialization in the Individualized MA program at Antioch University. In her teaching and research over the past ten years she has focused on holistic, integral and transformational approaches to education. She is co-editor of the academic journal Holistic Education Review. ltien1@antioch.edu