Those who CAN do…Teach! Educators on Leading Change

Session 1

Daniel Baron, Donnan Stoicovy, Renee Owen, Jenn Moore — Ashoka U.S. Changemaker Schools Network: The Project School, Park Forest Elementary School, Academy for Global Citizenship, Rainbow Community School

Room 1072

The world is changing faster than ever. Our success—as individuals, institutions, and a society—increasingly depends on our ability to be changemakers, equipped with the skills and mindset to see through problems to solutions. Ashoka is selecting and partnering with schools that are ready and able to help lead a transformation in education such that children grow up prepared to thrive in a world of accelerating change. Ashoka is collaborating with these leading schools to enhance and amplify their models and collectively identify and address the challenges to making such an education a reality for all children. By connecting Changemaker Schools with each other and the broader education network at EduCon, we will highlight their efforts and distill and broadcast their core strategies so to accelerate these schools’ leadership in transforming education. During this session, educators (principals and teachers, or “change leaders”) from the Ashoka U.S. Changemaker Schools Network will share their experiences in supporting teachers to create and sustain positive change. We will demonstrate concrete methods to effectively engage youth as changemakers and active participants on social justice issues and in their local communities. We will also help participants understand the framework change necessary to shift our education system to better prepare students for challenges in a world that increasingly demands leadership, empathy, teamwork and changemaking skills. Participants will learn why empathy is a critical and foundational skill for students across and beyond the curriculum and why having teachers who can model and embody it is absolutely crucial.

Conversational Practice

Rotating fishbowl— 1. Ashoka participants set up the chairs in a circle, so everyone sits in a large circle, presenters included. 2. After someone intro's Ashoka and explains the network, the presenters sit in a small circle of chairs in the middle of the large circle and respond to questions, similar to a fishbowl. Each presenter first talks a bit about his/her role/experience/perspective. 3. The Ashoka facilitator throws out a few questions that the presenters respond to in order to begin the conversation. 4. When a participant/observer has a question/contribution, s/he comes up and taps a presenter on the shoulder to take his/her place and switches seats with them, then asking his/her question. This process goes on for the entire session. 5. Many participants rotate through the inner circle with their questions and this keeps the flow of the conversation steady.