Session 1: Growing Global Digital Citizens
Lee Watanabe Crockett, Founder and CEO, Wabisabi Learning
Over the last decade, schools are increasing to models of 1:1 computing, BYOD and other models. These are technology initiatives, not learning initiatives and a huge opportunity has been missed. Working with hundreds of schools around the world, we have crafted a complete program for transforming the application of these technologies to grow global digital citizens—responsible, ethical citizens in a digital world.
In this workshop, we’ll analyse your acceptable use policies and create an effective digital citizenship program that allows students to develop a code of ethics that will help them learn mindsets of conscientious and responsible behaviour while taking responsibility for themselves, others and everything around them.
Extensive resources will be provided that will provide a solid foundation for your school-wide program.
Session 2: Thinking, self esteem and the being well agenda
Ian Gilbert, Founder and CEO, Independent Thinking
A year-long approach to emotional health, happiness and making people's brain hurt.
Session 3: Breaking down the silos: How one school has cross-pollinated ideas, strategies and knowledge across K-12 teachers for better student outcomes.
Kirsten Macaulay and Kaye Chalwell, St. Andrew's Cathedral School, NSW
A successful K–12 school culture is determined by the values, shared beliefs, and actions of the many teachers in a school’s environment (Owen, 2014). As all schools are complex organisations, it can be challenging to bring together the different voices of all teachers (Carpenter, 2015). However, it is essential that schools create structures that provide opportunities for K – 12 teachers to learn and develop their practice (Admiraal, Schenke, De Jon, Emelot & Sligte, 2021). This is a worthwhile endeavour as effective professional growth, workplace satisfaction, collective efficacy and student achievement have been positively connected to teacher professional learning communities (Voelkel & Chrispeels, 2017).
In this workshop, Kaye and Kirsten will outline the structures that have allowed their school to become an authentic learning organization, where every student and teacher is on a learning journey. The learning journey allows everyone to articulate goals that are relevant to their context but underpinned by a shared language of learning. With a shared language of learning, teachers have opportunities to focus collaborative discussions on pedagogy that transcends grades, subjects and silos in schools. By focussing on commonalities of our pedagogy, rather than our context and content differences, K – 12 teachers have the opportunity to share and grow their practice for the benefit of all in the learning community (Gore & Rosser, 2021). This has the potential to flow through to student activities beyond the classroom walls. In addition, these structures enable a proliferation of teacher-driven, bespoke opportunities for meaningful professional conversations that have a positive impact for our students. This workshop will provide opportunities for participants to share and reflect on how a variety of professional learning structures could be applied in their schools and context to enable the cross-pollination of ideas, strategies and knowledge across K-12 teachers for better student outcomes.
Session 4: Capturing the lived experiences of a strengths-based approach through the narratives of students
Marnie Thomas, Newcastle Grammar School, NSW
At Newcastle Grammar School (NGS) we place wellbeing at the heart of everything we do. As a Visible Wellbeing School we use the SEARCH pathways of Strengths, Emotional Management, Attention and Awareness, Relationships, Coping, and Habits and Goals (SEARCH) as our framework for whole school flourishing (Waters & Loton, 2019). As the world becomes increasingly interested in wellbeing and the Positive Education approach grows globally (Seligman & Adler, 2018) it is becoming more apparent that we must draw upon the evidence-base to ensure that what we are offering our students is not only effective, but is doing no harm (White & Kern, 2018). While some meta-analyses are emerging on specific fields such as social-emotional learning (Durlak, Weissberg, Dymnicki, Taylor, & Schellinger, 2011) there are still many approaches adopted by schools that are under-analysed. The data-driven SEARCH meta-framework which we have embraced at NGS does not simply deliver a one-off intervention, it offers an embedded approach across interconnected systems throughout the whole school (Waters & Loton, 2019). The first pathway of the SEARCH framework is Strengths, and it is the language of strengths that underpins everything we do at NGS. But how do we know if this language is resonating with students? Through a phenomenological investigation, this pilot study considered what we can learn through the narratives of students that arise from a strengths-based approach, capturing their lived experiences. Qualitative methods were used to collect student strengths narratives and NVivo software was used to identify themes. Preliminary findings revealed that the students involved in the pilot study embodied the language of strengths and were able to use it in a nuanced, contextualised, and personalised way. This pilot study contributes to the limited knowledge of the lived experiences of a strengths-based approach in schools, presents a replicable process for ongoing research, affirms the power of student voice along with the importance of narrative identity in adolescents. Furthermore it provides rich evidence for not only the benefits of a strengths-based approach but Positive Education more broadly.