Inspired Teaching attends, facilitates at Changemaker Education Summit

November 16, 2016

(Photo credits: top photo – Ashoka Spain; middle – @jimpknight; bottom – Moira Malone)

During the week of October 17, Sammy Magnuson, Inspired Teaching’s Manager of Strategic Initiatives, traveled to Killarney, Ireland for Ashoka’s Changemaker Education Summit. Inspired Teaching is working closely with Ashoka to promote a collective vision in which every young person builds the skills to thrive in, and contribute to, our complex and rapidly changing world.

The Summit convened a select group of innovators and leaders in the fields of education, social entrepreneurship, business, and government to share best practices in support of each other’s work, generate partnerships, and develop concrete plans to work towards systems-level change in education.

Sammy Magnuson (right) helps organize plans to collaborate with global change leaders.

Sammy led a session entitled Changing Mindsets in the Classroom and Beyond. Participants experienced Inspired Teaching’s intellectually, emotionally, and physically engaging professional development, through which we help teachers radically re-think their role in the classroom and community. By the end of the session, the group had generated a list of concrete strategies, identifying what works best when asking teachers, leaders, and the public at large to look at something familiar – like school – in a new way. Their reflections included:

“Our goal is not just to change the mindsets of the people we train directly, but to also think about how they can become changemakers themselves. We can’t just change their minds about what are the pedagogies they use. You also have to train them on training others.”

“Changing mindsets must happen through hearts and minds. One of the best tools to use is modeling the attitudes and dispositions you want to see in others. Be the change you want to see. We must also create safety for people, in order to enable them to be ready to change mindsets.”

As Inspired Teaching works to shift the norm so that the education system promotes engagement, rather than compliance, among all children, working with aligned partners is critical. The Summit revealed the power of exchanging best practices, grounded in experience, and working together to change mindsets towards our shared vision.

Participants at the Summit discuss ways to collaborate toward global systems change in education.

We look forward to continuing our work with Ashoka and other innovators and leaders in our field, similarly dedicated to shifting the norm in order to build a better world with our young people. Ross Hall, Director of Education for Ashoka Europe, called participants of the Summit to focus on our common goals, which continue to guide our collaboration:

“We need to transform the very idea of education so that it is understood not simply ‘as the acquisition of knowledge and the development of skills, but also in terms of the development of vast and powerful potentialities inherent in the very nature of every human being.’
“We need to transform the idea of education systems so that they are understood as engines not only for employment and economic growth but for making a better world.
“We need to build new learning ecosystems that ensure that every young person is benefiting from experiences inside and outside of school that are explicitly intended to empower them to make a better world – to go about their lives making decisions and taking action that improves our collective quality of life.”

Learn more about the Changemaker Education Summit here or watch the video below.

Micaiah Anderson

Community Outreach Specialist

As a Community Outreach Specialist, Micaiah is responsible for program promotion and outreach support for Inspired Teaching events and workshops. Micaiah has a passion for collaborating with community members to build-power and connect. She is an educator with a heart for youth and has experience supporting students fight injustices within their schools and communities. She has a BA in Political Science from, the real HU, Hampton University & anticipates graduating in May 2024 with a Masters of Arts degree in Educational Policy Transformation from Georgetown University.

AUTONOMY

"I want to have a say in what happens to me."

Autonomy is the need for independence; the ability to make choices, to create, to explore, and to express oneself freely; to have sufficient space, to move around, and to feel unrestricted with opportunities to exercise free will.

Brady Maiden

Outreach Coordinator

As the Outreach Coordinator, Brady helps maintain Inspired Teaching’s social media presence and supports the organization’s mission to connect with DC community leaders, educators, and parents. Brady has her Master’s in Public Policy from George Mason University and her BS in Political Science from Northern Arizona University. She is passionate about community, equity, and coalition building recognizing that learning and growing with the community at large is how we continue to be impactful.

What brings you joy in life?

I find joy in spending time with my friends and family and meeting new people. I like going to concerts and festivals, and finding new books to read.

The Learner’s Cycle, Wonder-Experiment-Learn, and the Teacher’s Cycle, Observe-Plan-Instigate, comprise Inspired Teaching’s approach to engaging students in inquiry-based learning.

When they are engaged in the Wonder-Experiment-Learn Cycle, students are immersed in learning. They take the lead in designing authentic learning experiences around their own interests and their school’s standards of learning. Each discovery leads to a new question which in turn leads to more wondering and more learning. In the Wonder-Experiment-Learn Cycle, Learn is not a destination or an endpoint; it is a deeper understanding, leading to a deeper wondering and new possibilities that create new entry points to further exploration. The cycle continues because what students have learned generates more wonderings that require more experiments that foster more learning – and on and on.

The Observe-Plan-Instigate Cycle is the work of an Inspired Teacher. While a student is expected to follow the Wonder-Experiment-Learn Cycle, the teacher joins them on the learning journey while following their own cycle of Observe-Plan-Instigate. This cycle ultimately serves to ensure an inquiry-based atmosphere is at play in the classroom.

Jaqueta Abbey

Teaching and Learning Specialist

Jaqueta is the Teaching and Learning Specialist for Inspired Teaching. In addition to her current role with Inspired Teaching, Jaqueta is a first-grade teaching assistant. Her background features a variety of traditional and non-traditional experiences in the field of education, including working as an adjunct professor, teaching summer reading programs to children and adults, and tutoring children in the foster care system. Jaqueta earned a B.A. in Communication Studies from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and an M.A. in Interactive Media from Elon University.

What brings you joy in life?

Creative self-expression! In addition to my passion for storytelling, I love dancing of all kinds. I've studied belly dance, bachata, and Brazilian Zouk among other styles. I also enjoy glass fusing, crocheting, photography, and cross stitching. These art forms allow me to express myself and build connections with other people at the same time. I think life would be a lot less vibrant without artists and storytellers!

Michelle Welk

Communication & Marketing Specialist

As Communications and Marketing Specialist, Michelle is responsible for finding and creating new ways to highlight Inspired Teaching and promote its programs in order to expand and deepen the organization's impact. Michelle has worked in communications in an array of settings, from creative agencies to state politics to national nonprofits. She has a BA in Journalism from Temple University in Philadelphia and is passionate about education, access, and equity.

What brings you joy in life?

My son, the beach, making a persuasive argument and good food!

Max Peterson

Real World History Assistant Teacher

Max received his Bachelor’s degree in History and African American Studies from Boston University in May 2016. He has worked in museum curation at the Museum of the White Mountains in New Hampshire and the Smithsonian National Museum of American History. Max has worked with young people of varying ages from young children to young adults transitioning to college.

Feedback and Accountability

We grow through feedback and an understanding that the quality of our work is a reflection of what we are learning, but the shift to remote learning this spring disrupted a lot of the tools teachers were used to using to evaluate student growth. How might we do things differently this fall? Participants in this workshop will explore ways to bring meaningful assessment into the virtual and/or socially-distanced classroom and approaches to student feedback that strengthen motivation, and build relationships and achievement.