Presentations
Schools in Transformation, Making the Most of Strategic Changes
Date Thursday, Dec 2 Time – RoomBishop
We will examine whole-school, whole-system, whole-community approaches of schools that embrace change.
Asha Alexander
Principal of GEMS Legacy School and Executive Leader - Climate Change, GEMS Education , United Arab Emirates
Asha Alexander is the Principal at GEMS Legacy School, Dubai and the Executive Leader of Climate Change at GEMS Education. She received her Master of Science in Educational Leadership from The Walden University, Minnesota in 2011. She holds Masters’ degrees in Education as well as English from Bangalore University, India. With 33 years of experience in the provision of education to K-12 students, she has overseen the school’s transition to an exclusively digital curriculum. Passionate, driven to achieve aspirational goals and ready to take on any challenge, she believes in nurturing students’ hearts and minds and is particular about a value-based education. Forward-thinking, she is a believer in all things digital. She is excited by the prospect of watching every child achieve his or her potential. Ms. Alexander is a UN certified Climate Change Leader and has made presentations at COP 25 and numerous other international webinars and conferences and has conducted workshops on leadership, and change management for several schools in India and the UAE. She has led the school’s Twinning Program with more than 20 schools that enable teachers, students and schools to develop partnerships with schools around the world to embed the Sustainable Development Goals.
Links
Kevin Fullbrook
director, Al-Bayan Bilingual School, Kuwait
Kevin Fullbrook is the Director at Al-Bayan Bilingual School, Kuwait. Having started his career as a Math and Physical Education teacher in a remote Australian school, he then taught at a range of schools across the country before serving in leadership positions in Australia, China, and the Middle East. Kevin is passionate about creativity and innovation in education and speaks at conferences and workshops around the world on design-thinking, innovation, and community engagement.
Links
Moderator
Rosa Garcia Calero
Programme Director, eLearning Africa, Spain
Rosa García Calero works as independent consultant in the field of education and ICTs. Starting as the International Relationship Manager in the Spanish Association of Educational Centres (CECE), she worked on building European and international networks and managing EU projects in the field of education and ICTs. She became Vice-President of EFVET (European Forum of Vocational Education and Training) and was also a member of the council of various other European Associations directly linked with education. She has managed different EU projects and, as an evaluator and reviewer of the European Commission, has focused on projects related to innovation and ICT practices for education and training. Rosa is highly committed to the future of education worldwide and in Africa in particular. In 2010, Rosa started working for the eLearning Africa conference, and in 2017 she became its Programme Director.
Links
https://www.linkedin.com/in/rosa-garcia…
Anti-fragile Schools: Building Strong, Resilient Organisations That Thrive on Change, Kevin Fullbrook
We often overestimate our organisations ability to adapt to change. We try to plan for a range of different possible scenarios and hope that our systems are flexible and robust enough to cope. What if we have it wrong? What if instead, we plan on the premise that unforeseen and adverse events will happen, and design systems and organisations that not just withstand the challenges, but thrive on them./>Complex systems, such as schools, need to be more than just robust, they need to be anti-fragile. They should be designed to expect, embrace, and use change to grow and develop.
In this session we will explore the concept of the anti-fragile organisation, and practical steps and case studies on how you can build an approach within your organisation that thrives on change and challenge.
Outcomes:
- Characteristics of anti-fragile schools.
- How to build flexible, resilient systems.
- Real-world case studies and examples.
Beyond Resilience: Learning by Doing for Deeper Learning and Deeper Engagement
In this presentation, you will learn about innovative practices we have been working on for the past few years to change the teaching and learning model. We will also share some of the practices that came out of our risk-taking approach during the pandemic at a time when so much of teaching and learning became mass manufactured. You will learn about our Student-Directed Projects; how we have redefined the use of space and time during the school day; our focus on student choice and inquiry; and how we promote innovation with a purpose.
Outcomes:
Pathway to innovate with a purpose; ideas for design implementation in your institution.
- Identify and design deeper learning competencies
- Highlight key elements of student choice and inquiry-based learning
- How to design projects that promote student agency and collaboration
- Ideas to design projects in which students innovate with a purpose
- Ideas to transform institutional practices
Empowering Student Agency through Collaboration, Asha Alexander
The presentation highlight our practices which are guided by resilience, empathy, leadership and sustainable living, to empower student voices across the world and place them at the forefront as ambassadors of the planet. The global impact envisioned is student-led collaborative initiatives and targeted actions towards achieving the SDGs by 2030. The objective of this presentation is to build collective consciousness and efficacy towards creating a sustainable future for all.
Outcomes:
- Empower student voice and action towards building a sustainable tomorrow
- Collaborate with students, educators and the wider community to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals to transform the world
- Equip students with future fluencies to be resilient in all adversities