Get your coffee and discuss with at least one partner about one of the questions in the previous session.
Start with a reflection on day 1 over coffee.
Free chat over coffee:
The largest study in educational research history demonstrates that moving harms learning. But this finding is incomplete. Ota’s hopeful message is that, by understanding the issues involved in mobility and how to address them, we can harness the vast potential for growth in a life moving amongst cultures—both for our students and ourselves.
In this first presentation, Ota introduces attachment theory and cutting-edge neuroscience to explain what happens to us when we move or when people we care about move away. Across the lifespan, mobility strains mammalian brains in identical ways. We adults, like our students, need a plan to stay psychologically healthy while working in international education. Ota’s experiential presentation will help us see the internationally mobile environment as our brains experience it, while simultaneously inviting us to examine how we cope with such environments, so we can better assist the students and schools we serve.
The largest study in educational research history demonstrates that moving harms learning. This finding is incomplete. Ota’s work explores the vast potential for growth in a life moving amongst cultures, and how we can harness it for our students and ourselves.
In Session 2 of the day, Ota examines how the psychological challenges described in his first presentation can only be tackled at the community level. He presents a framework for building comprehensive “Transitions Teams” at international schools. This practical workshop will help you assess your school’s current level of transitions services, interact with professionals at similar schools, and identify realistic goals for moving a resilient Transition Team at your school forward.
Are you seriously interested in mobility issues at international schools? Have you already been involved in addressing mobility, or have the themes in one or more of Ota’s workshops piqued your attention? The introduction in this final session quickly guides you to the collision of two big ideas: transitions must be addressed for optimal learning to occur, but no single school can accomplish the task alone, because the issues span multiple schools. What should school staff do?
Ota’s final session is an attempt to provide admissions and school staff with a platform to discuss the macro-challenges involved in addressing mobility at international schools worldwide. How do you address an issue that transcends single schools? Are networks of “Safe Passage” schools possible? Are nascient networks already emerging? What role could accreditation play in the future?
Answers to these questions are already beginning to take form, as Ota and others prepare to host the first-ever international conference on addressing mobility at international schools in The Hague, Netherlands, on March 22, 2017. Join the debate, and let him convince you to continue the debate in The Hague in 2017!
One day we woke up and (collectively) realised that we might have been doing admissions all wrong. Or at least part of it. So we began to re-imagine a very different kind of learning experience for families visiting the school. This interactive workshop will tell the story of what happened next, actively engage participants in some of the key issues, and challenge you to re-imagine the future of school admissions.
Not only do certain trends here in China have impact globally, but the challenges Admissions staff are facing here can be learned from by all. This is a case study highlighting the needed skill of adaptability for any effective Admissions team. During the panel discussion, experts from the education and relocation scene in China will share their perspective and experience on the following topics, then answer questions from the audience:
1. How much of admissions is sales and how much is counseling?
Some days it feels like we are “selling the school” and some other days it feels like we are counseling parents. What are the do’s and don’ts in each of these positions?
2. What are the skills needed for successful admissions management?
Looking around the room, what are the participants’ professional skills and abilities? What is the story of our coming into admissions? What more do we need and what do we need to do away with to be successful?
3. Admissions – Marketing – Communications – same family?
In many of our schools these are either the same person or the same department. How should these three very important components come together to best represent and help your school mission?
This discussion-based session focuses on how the job has changed. It examines: heightened competition; the shift from admission to enrollment management; the changed customer; new trends in assessment including character assessment; leadership; and, technology.
