AISC 2024

This presentation will delve into the pedagogy used in the Cambridge Global Perspectives programme. This approach to teaching and learning provides learners with a structured method for developing essential skills in research, reasoning and communication. By utilising a diverse range of global topics as a vehicle, the Cambridge Global Perspectives programme challenges learners to think critically and hone their ability to analyse and reconstruct arguments about global issues through personal research and a rigorous examination of evidence. This presentation will provide educators with an introduction to the Cambridge Global Perspectives programme. It will examine the programme's structure and methodology in detail, followed by examples and student case studies demonstrating teaching and learning approaches in action. 

Expected outcomes: By the end of the presentation, attendees will have gained insight into the pedagogy used in the Cambridge Global Perspectives programme, including its structure and methodology as a critical pedagogy. Through illustrative examples and student case studies, participants will observe the practical application of the approach, equipping them with tangible concepts to integrate into their own teaching environments. Educators will acquire new techniques for cultivating critical thinking, research, reasoning, and communication skills in their students.

This provocative session challenges the foundations of traditional pedagogy by asking: "What if the role of a teacher is not to explain, but to emancipate?" Drawing on Jacques Rancière's radical concept of intellectual emancipation, we explore the creation of "Educational Agoras" - spaces that dismantle hierarchies and foster true intellectual partnerships. The session will explore the types of “thinking partners” that leaders and teachers draw on, from reading and engaging with educational theory and research to literature and art to colleagues and students. This will lead to a thought-provoking discussion of how explicit, sustained, purposeful engagement with “thinking partners” can lead to the emergence of educational agoras where the role of the teacher is to emancipate thinking rather than to assist in the production and reproduction of knowledge. This approach has significant implications for education systems in a time of considerable ecological, geopolitical, economic, and technological change.

In the first part of the session, we will engage with Jacques Rancière's provocative classic text "The Ignorant Schoolmaster" as a way of unpacking the notions of intellectual emancipation and equality of intelligence. This will lead to an exploration of how to reimagine (that is, not to rethink, but to imagine once again) educational relationships as a dialogue of emancipation. We will then apply Guattari's notion of three ecologies (explored at AISC 2023) to consider how an emancipatory approach also nurtures the creation of holistic learning environments. This applies as much to the classroom as to contexts of professional learning, and we will consider how an emancipatory, ecological approach may revolutionize professional learning and development by shifting practice from knowledge transmission and technical expertise to emancipatory practice. The session will conclude with an engaging discussion and interactive design activity focused on nurturing emancipatory educational agoras in participants’ own settings.

Expected Outcomes:
• A provocation to think differently about understanding teacher-student dynamics and the role of the teacher
• Strategies for implementing intellectual emancipation in diverse educational contexts
• Innovative approaches to professional learning that prioritize authenticity and emancipation
• Practical designs for creating spaces that foster intellectual wellbeing and critical thinking
• A call to action for educators to become catalysts for intellectual emancipation

Our collective wisdom asserts that the world is currently changing at breakneck speed, and schools are tasked with preparing the next generation for an “unknowable future”. Meanwhile, external stakeholders expect us to continue generating data they can use to judge our effectiveness today. The system guides students to place maximum value on collecting qualifications and grades that might or might not have enduring value.  

By the age of eighteen, most students will have spent about eighteen thousand hours at school. Are we maximising that investment of time, resources and childhood? There is a significant opportunity cost associated with schooling; we ought to feel obliged to regularly question whether our offer truly honours the trust students place in us.

The teaching profession is a dynamic community of dedicated experts; educational thinking continuously evolves. But are our approaches to learning evolving fast enough? And are we sure they are moving in the right direction?

This workshop will be a chance for educators to come together to explore some fundamental questions about the state of schooling today, other possible futures, roadblocks to progress, and creative solutions to drive immediate improvement. The workshop leader will present, and invite a critical evaluation of his innovative “manifesto for education”.

Expected Outcomes: Participants will engage in new discussions around foundational questions about the role of schools and our core hopes and intentions for education, alongside more practical considerations about why we do what we currently do and the barriers to implementing a paradigm shift in our profession.

By the end of the session, delegates will be enthused to continue this dialogue, exploring further how schools must radically change, to better support students to become fully actualised humans leading successful, useful and happy lives, no matter where the future takes them.

For many years, a range of scientific disciplines have sought to "bridge the gap" between academic evidence and classroom practice. There are teachers with masters degrees and PhDs. There are the curriculum writers. There are consultants. Countless books have been written but most teachers still in the classroom will tell you that there is simply not enough time for research in modern learning environments.

Meanwhile, those same scientific disciplines are facing a more recent challenge: the reproducibility crisis. As Artistotle so aptly put: The more you know, the more you realise you don't know. Modern efforts to reproduce results from even heavily cited papers are coming up short.

With each classroom being affected by many different external variables, some of which greatly impact learning, why are we looking outside the classroom for answers to be handed down?

The questions this presentation hopes to raise are: where are the experts located when we consider each classroom as it's own vessel, who is responsible for ensuring change is meaningful and effective and what sort of standards of evidence do we need in order to make informed decisions about teaching and learning?

We invite you to a discussion about what could be next.

Expected Outcomes:
We hope that by sharing our small approach to a large problem, we can create relationships with other interested educators. The model we are proposing relies on a large community of educators in order to be successful. This means the barriers to entry must be as low as possible, while still maintaining an acceptable level of intellectual rigour.

The notion of Cultural Responsive Pedagogy relates to ways both teachers and school leaders need to adopt a more dynamic relationship between home/community culture and school culture. Whilst from a pedagogical perspective this links to ways teachers adapt their pedagogy to ensure it is aligned with the cultural needs and backgrounds of our students, from a leadership perspective it is indicative of ways we need to be dependent on localised as well as Westernised approaches to leadership when working with staff from non-Western cultural contexts. In turn, this has clear relevance with International School leaders in Asia, as they seek to develop relationships with local as well as expat staff, interactions between leaders modelling expectations for students interaction, and those of the broader school communities. This presentation will use the research on leadership in Confucian societies, as well as broader research on ethical leadership to consider models for leadership when working in International Education in an East Asian Cultural Context.

Expected Outcomes:
I will present a model for leading in a cross-cultural leadership context as a means of reflecting on what culturally responsive leadership looks like in International Schools in the Asia Pacific Region.

We are confronted with global crises: political instability, environmental destruction, and increasing global inequalities. The dominant, evidence-based discourses in education do not seem to be offering adequate responses to these crises.

I consider crisis as an opportunity to interrupt the ‘normal’ order; to consider the conditions that have given rise to it, what it says about who we are as humans and how we might be able to imagine and do things differently to work towards collaborative, participatory, plural, just and imaginative futures. In this keynote, we will tackle the questions ‘How can educators respond to a world in crisis and create alternative futures in the present?’ and ‘How can the imagination be put to work in educational spaces?’

We will shift the focus from problem-solving and crisis responses to possibility and mutual aid. We will explore educational practices that involve imaginative, utopian and speculative thinking and acting. Education and schools in particular will be repositioned and reimagined as spaces where alternative futures emerge, starting here and now.

In this provocation we will apply a speculative and imaginative approach to thinking and taking action called ‘utopia as method’ to a theme/challenge/idea that is pertinent to international schooling. We will work with a theme/challenge/idea of your choice, reflect on school values and principles and (re-)imagine how your school might implement alternatives, starting today. At the start of the session, we will also briefly look at the conceptual and theoretical background of utopia as method.

Expected outcomes:

• Developing a foundational understanding of utopia as method, which allows you to apply a basic version of the method in your own educational context;
• Re-imagining a theme/challenge/idea that is pertinent to international schooling in such a way that immediate action can be taken in your own school context.

The global COVID-19 pandemic and following financial turbulence and energy crisis prompted an increased focus on the urgent need for financial literacy education in national curricula. The OECD spearheaded the trend by promoting guidelines following the 2008 Global Financial Crisis and introducing PISA Financial Literacy Assessments for 15-year-old students. This presentation offers critical insights into why financial literacy is essential, whose interests it serves and how financial literacy curricula are constructed. Critical pedagogy lens helps examine definitions, purposes (both social and political), policy responses and teacher support for delivering financial literacy education in K-12 schools. The presentation reveals problematic aspects of teaching financial literacy including inadequate teaching resources and teachers' PD, lack of student agency, and the consumerist and conflicted outsourcing of financial literacy curricula and creation of teaching resources to for-profit financial organisations. The Ontario Financial Literacy Scope and Sequence of Expectations is an excellent example of a sophisticated, world-class, integrated curriculum. However, dominant neoliberal policies and marketisation of education influence heavily the implementation of such curricula. Educators suggest more investment and alignment among key stakeholders is necessary in co-creating and embedding financial literacy into K-12 curricula.

Key words: financial literacy, critical pedagogy, consumerism, hidden curriculum, teachers’ professional development

Expected Outcomes:
Participants of this presentation can expect to become familiar and empowered to discuss and evaluate the urgent need to incorporate financial literacy into K-12 curricula, but also become more critical while reflecting on the inherent conflict of interest embedded in the subject of financial literacy. Considering which financial institutions and organisations currently promote and create teaching materials and who benefits from financial literacy at schools challenges current status quo which uncritically assumes that financial literacy is important without considering whom it supposes to serve and to which ends. Teachers of all subjects can foster internal dialogues to embed financial literacy cross-curriculum in schools and consider the role of financial literacy to prepare the next generation to manage own financial wellbeing and financial inclusion in the era of AI, digital finance and disappearing money replaced by digital fiat currencies.

Teachers can also expect to learn more about critical pedagogy as an educational philosophy in promoting social justice and critically examining power and political structures in education systems. The works of Arendt, Bjorklund, Freire and Henderson empower today’s teachers to address learning gaps through the lens of citizenship education and empower students to ask “big why” questions.

Critical thinking in schools is largely based on a 'progress' model. It relies on us all saying that something in the past was 'NOT' a satisfactory way to conduct our lives, and that we need to correct our weaknesses. Karl Popper, Nassim Taleb and others lead this critical thinking paradigm.

My presentation recognises the strength in this position AND states that it is inadequate as a framework. The word 'AND' is also critical to learners. The words 'OR' and 'WITH' also matter.

Using the work of Michael Polanyi and Hans Georg Gadamer I argue that students lose a sense of meaning and purpose in themselves if the focus of critical pedagogy is only on identfying problems and correcting them.

I refer to three powerful metaphors: Education as an act of translation, education as a personal pilgrimmage and education as being like a tree - with many branches to traverse.

Expected Outcomes:
I wish to challenge the predominant framework in critical pedagogy. In one sense I wish to laud it and recognise its strengths, but also to help educators think beyond it.
I am hopeful for a more generous and open pedagogy that is based in human agency but not human autonomy.
Practically, such a pedagogy improves student well-being and creates better schools.
Our school is one example.

The presentation will showcase how a culture of respectful dialogue can be cultivated using the "Seven Norms of Collaboration" from Thinking Collaborative. These norms serve as a foundation to empower students and educators to have rich, thoughtful conversations and maintain respectful dialogue.

The key points covered in the presentation include:
-The Seven Norms of Collaboration provide a structured protocol to promote genuine inquiry, clarification of thinking, and expression of one's own ideas and perspectives.
-Implementing these norms helps raise awareness and understanding of different perspectives and experiences among students and educators.
-Through dialogue and discussion guided by the norms, students are able to delve into relevant, real-world issues, critically analyze actions and outcomes, and reflect on their own roles and responsibilities.
-Developing a culture of respectful dialogue using the Seven Norms of Collaboration enables students and educators to have meaningful, productive conversations on important topics.

The presentation aims to demonstrate how these collaboration norms can be effectively applied in educational settings to foster an environment conducive to open-minded, thoughtful exchange of ideas.

Expected Outcomes:
- Participants will leave with an understanding of how to promote a culture of thinking and develop a greater sense of community within in their learning environments. They outcomes will include:
- Increased Engagement and Participation:
Students feel more empowered to actively participate in discussions and share their perspectives.and develop
a willingness to explore different viewpoints.
- Improved Communication and Listening Skills:
Participants learn to listen more attentively and ask clarifying questions to better understand each other's
thinking.
- Greater Empathy and Perspective-Taking:
Participants gain a deeper appreciation and increased empathy for diverse backgrounds, experiences, and
perspectives.
- Enhanced Critical Thinking and Problem-Solving:
Students are able to delve into complex, real-world issues and analyze that lead to better-informed conclusions
and decisions.
- Stronger Collaborative Relationships:
Educators and students build more positive, trusting relationships based on mutual respect and open
communication.
- Increased Awareness of Personal Roles and Responsibilities:
Participants develop a stronger understanding of They are better equipped to reflect on their own roles and
responsibilities in addressing important issues and how their individual actions and choices impact others and
the larger community.

In today's global educational landscape, fostering effective collaboration among educators from diverse cultural and linguistic backgrounds is essential. This workshop addresses a critical challenge: how can educators from varied backgrounds work together to share and learn from their collective professional knowledge effectively? Drawing from my experience at the Education Development Institute (EDI) in Qatar, this session explores an intentionally disruptive learning design aimed at addressing epistemic injustice within professional learning teams.

Participants will delve into the framework of Collaborative Professionalism (Hargreaves & O'Conner, 2018) and engage in hands-on activities that highlight the principles of joint work and mutual dialogue. The session will showcase a bilingual professional learning program that encouraged inclusive practices and facilitated deeper understanding and genuine dialogue among team members. Attendees will share practical strategies for creating inclusive and equitable learning environments that honor and leverage linguistic and cultural diversity.

Join me for an interactive and thought-provoking session that not only challenges conventional leadership practices but also provides actionable insights to foster new transcultural discursive practices within your own educational contexts. This workshop is ideal for leaders and educators committed to enhancing critical pedagogy and fostering inclusive professional learning communities.

Expected Outcomes:
1.    Enhanced Understanding of Inclusive Collaborative Professionalism: Participants will gain an understanding of the tenets of Collaborative Professionalism (Hargreaves & O'Conner, 2018) and how these principles can be applied to foster joint work and mutual dialogue in diverse educational teams.
2.    Practical Strategies for Inclusive Practices: Attendees will share inclusive strategies such as bilingual agendas, intentional language shifts, and the use of visible thinking tools to facilitate equitable participation in professional learning.
3.    Building Transcultural Discursive Practices: Through discussions, participants will reflect on their current practices and develop plans to implement new strategies within their own educational contexts, promoting critical pedagogy and inclusive professional learning communities.