Meeting the goals in today’s in-person and virtual classrooms involves building students’ communication, collaboration, problem-solving, creativity, and critical thinking skills. Designing classrooms and online learning environments around these goals requires teachers to step back and allow for more student leadership and inquiry.

The same can be said for school leaders. Our teachers will more easily transfer these skills when they see inquiry successfully practiced at the leadership level. But what does that look like? What does it mean to step back and allow teachers to ask questions and pursue answers to their questions? What might we give up and get back in return? TheLeading Inquiry workshop explores these questions, offers school leaders practical tools to embed inquiry in every part of their work, and models what’s possible in an online learning environment.

Like the students we serve, adult learners have specific needs when it comes to acquiring new knowledge and skills. This online workshop is designed to ensure that teachers and teacher leaders:

1. are taught in ways the brain learns best,
2. have time to practice as authentically as possible,
3. see the immediate application to their work,
4. leave with a plan of action, and
5. feel supported by a community of professionals.

Using the same “inquiry five” framework that we share with teachers as they deepen their inquiry practice in classrooms, we will use the following five strategies for leaders to reflect upon and use in their instructional leadership practice:

• Impromptu Networking
• Inquiry Self-Survey

#2 Stay Curious: What are you still curious about?

• Consultancy Protocols (Troika)

• Appreciative Inquiry (Heard, Seen, Respected)
• The Question Formulation Technique for Leaders

• What are we looking for in inquiry-based classrooms?
• Setting up faculty-driven feedback loops

#5 Extend Thinking Time: Do you protect time for your teachers to reflect, collaborate, discuss, and integrate new information?

• Rethinking the staff meeting
• Spiral Journaling

In addition to her work with her inquiry consultancy, Inquiry Partners, Kimberly teaches undergraduates at the University of Washington’s College of Education in Seattle, USA. Kimberly has experience at all levels of educational leadership and grade levels. She is a former teacher, principal, senior program officer at the Gates Foundation, and director for Teach for All in Argentina.

Kimberly is the former Chair of the International Baccalaureate Americas Regional Council and currently serves on the Board of Teach For America Washington. Kimberly received her BA in History and Philosophy from Skidmore College and her MA in Administration and Policy Analysis from Stanford University.

12th, 19th, 26th September 2020
10:00 am Melbourne Time
8:00 am Hong Kong Time

11th, 18th and 25th September 2020
5:00 pm San Francisco Time
8:00 pm EST