Workshop and Speaker Details
Joel Jr LLaban - Director of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Justice of the International Schools Services (ISS)
⚠️ Please note that due to circumstances beyond our control, Joel Jr Llaban will join us remotely for all sessions
Joel Jr LLABAN | (siya, he, him) is the Director of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Justice of the International Schools Services (ISS). He was previously a Learning Specialist, Instructional Coach, and Schoolwide DEIJ Lead at The International School of Kuala Lumpur. He has worked at the International School of Brussels, International School of Beijing, and Cebu International School. He has been working in education for 19 years as a classroom teacher with concurrent involvement and leadership in schoolwide curriculum, assessment, professional development, innovation and futures of learning, and strategic planning. He also served as a department coordinator and an accreditation coordinator. He is trained in international accreditation as a team evaluator and has been involved in accreditation visits to different international schools representing NEASC and CIS. Currently, Joel serves in the advisory role of the Council of International School’s Board Committee on Inclusion, Diversity, Equity & Anti Racism. He is also a member of the Editorial Team of The International Educator (TIE Online). Joel holds a Master of Education in International Education Administration from Endicott College in Massachusetts and a Certificate of International School Leadership from The Principals Training Center. He is a proud member of AIELOC and ISS Diversity Collaborative. Connect with Joel on Twitter @JoelJrLLABAN.
Session 1: Keynote - Pursuing our Collective Pathways for Equity, Inclusion & Belonging
Bettina Love wrote, “What good is an education if you must shed who you are?” But why do children and adults shed identities? What does it mean to matter, thrive, and belong? What are the enablers and barriers to authenticity and full participation? How can we design learning ecosystems where it centers the humanity of those who are historically and systematically marginalized, ‘othered’ in our communities? How can we nurture communities where it centers and values our intersectional identities? How much have we taught ourselves and our children to love ourselves, our special identities, in its fullness?
Session 2: Workshop - Designing Transformative Actions on DEIJ: Co-Creating with Intentions
In this workshop, we will explore anti-racist leadership mindsets, characteristics, practices, tools, and frameworks that might be able to support us in leveraging transformational and innovative change in our schools grounded on anti-racism, diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice. We will harness our individual, institutional, and collective power, positionalities, agency, autonomy, and liberatory consciousness to transform cultures and systems. Our shared learning is aimed to impact and influence our decisions, development, and actions on leadership and learning, policies and structures, establishment of DEIJ teams, among other elements of schooling.
Session 3: Workshop - DEIJ: Culturally-Sustaining Pedagogy for Inclusion and Belonging
Django Paris wrote, “What do you bring with you when you walk into the room?” as a teacher, as a student, as a school leader, as a person. What parts of who we are reflected and valued in the spaces where we co-exist? What parts of our learning spaces are identities validated, affirmed, othered, erased, and/or silenced? What are our roles and responsibilities as educators in sustaining the intersectional identities of children so they can lead, live, and love in their most authentic selves without shedding any parts of who they are?
Session 4: Workshop - DEIJ: Culturally Responsive School Leadership
This workshop is designed as a community conversation of leaders in different areas in education to lean into a range of tools and reflection questions that aim to raise awareness and build capacity for culturally responsive school leadership. How do I personally reflect on my histories with power, privilege, power, and oppression? How do the structures and cultures at school contribute, reproduce, and dismantle systems of oppression? How and when do I adjust schooling practices based on these reflections? (Khalifa, 2021)
For the past 18 years Dave has worked in schools in Australia, England, Singapore, Korea, Switzerland and Japan. He is currently the Whole School Principal at Tokyo International School, a K-10 IB school in Japan. He is a workshop leader, site visitor and consultant for the IB, a Compassionate Systems Master Practitioner and serves on the advisory board of HundrED organisation in the area of Social Emotional Learning. Dave is passionate about helping every learner find and nurture what is most important to them.
Session 2: Workshop - The Compassionate Systems Framework
Global warming, social inequality, migration flows and epidemics of substance abuse—the challenges that humanity currently faces are parts of interdependent global systems. As we seek solutions to these worldwide issues, we must also find ways to help young people cope with the complexity of them. This workshop will offer an introduction to the Compassionate Systems Framework, which offers one such approach. Drawing on theories and practical tools from social emotional learning and the field of complexity science, the framework provides a pathway for learners to develop both a cognitive and affective foundation for intercultural understanding and global citizenship. Participants in this workshop will engage with tools and simulations around global issues of social justice, as well as deepening their capacity to sense into the systems they are a part of.
Jane Kise, Ed.D. is a consultant, coach, and author of over 25 books, including Holistic Leadership, Thriving Schools; Intentional Leadership, Differentiated Coaching, and Unleashing the Positive Power of Differences. She founded Differentiated Coaching Associates to increase leadership effectiveness. She works with business and education leaders and their teams to improve communication, collaboration, conflict resolution, classroom instruction, and change management—the five “big C’s” of her organizational consulting.
With 25 years of coaching experience, Kise works to form partnerships that align her skills with client needs, with clear, realistic parameters around goals, resources, time frames, and coordination with other initiatives. The focus is ensuring that leaders can be more intentional, systemic, and practical in their work.
Session 2: Workshop - Doable Differentiation
Too often, differentiation is framed as a complex, the time-consuming 30process. In this workshop, teachers will gain an understanding of how to embed several quick but effective strategies in lessons they are already teaching–-and also see how the strategies can be used in deeper ways.
Helen is Director at HM Education Consultancy Ltd and Little Red Hen International Ltd. She provides high quality training, coaching and consultancy support in a range of UK and international contexts. Her portfolio is underpinned by her extensive experience as a teacher, school leader and National Strategies Consultant. Developing people is Helen’s strongest motivation and she is committed to investing in professional learning.
In her current role, Helen is a consultant with a range of schools in the UK and internationally, working collaboratively to drive improvement. As a Lead Facilitator with ECIS and a Lead Training Consultant with Cambridge Assessment International Education, she has worked extensively with leaders and teachers across the world to develop their effectiveness. In addition, Helen works with other global organisations, including High Performance Learning, to transform schools and support growth. She is also an accredited Senior Practitioner Coach with the European Mentoring and Coaching Council supporting executive leaders, empowering them to lead change and secure impact.
Session 2: Workshop - What makes an Excellent Middle Leader?
The step from teacher to middle leader is an important one. Middle leaders are the engine room of any school; they work together with teachers to ensure great learning happens. But what is it that makes an excellent middle leader?
In this session, middle leaders will secure their understanding of what effective leadership is and how they can shape an ambitious vision for their area of responsibility. They will explore how their values influence their leadership of both people and processes. By the end of the session, they will have a toolkit of practical strategies and approaches to lead with confidence.
Session 3: Senia 1 - Inclusive Culture -Sheila O’Shea (Oaba International) and Emily Easterday (ASIJ)
Let's explore foundational elements of inclusive culture that create a sense of belonging in our schools! This collaborative session will provide options for delving into a shared understanding of inclusion among faculty/staff and actualising the voice of our school community. You'll walk away with ideas for implementation this school year in your school setting.
Session 3: Senia 2 - Collaborative Co-Teaching - Erin Power (ASIJ) and Jenny Shirota (Canadian Academy)
Whether you are new to co-teaching or looking to refine your practice, this session is designed to encourage participants to reflect on their co-teaching experience and take it to the next level. We will look at the effectiveness of different co-teaching models and participate in a guided reflection on how to improve teaching and learning in the co-taught class.
Session 4: Senia 3 - UDL (Universal Design for Learning) - Kim Davis (Canadian Academy) and Jasmin Wandell (Yokohama International)
Have you heard of UDL and are wondering what it is all about? Come and engage in our workshop and explore the UDL framework through practical activities and strategies to allow the access and participation of all our students in learning opportunities. After our time together, you will walk away with 1) An introduction to the UDL framework, 2) How the UDL framework guides the design of instructional goals, assessments, and materials to support all learners, and 3) Strategies to start using in your classrooms today.
Session 4: Senia 4 - How we use Data Francis Saez (Nagoya International)
We use data to enhance our teaching practices and support our students. Purposeful use of data guides us to not lose sight of the fact that we can use it to help students improve behavior, enhance our teaching and students' learning, use the information for interventions, and lastly, how to collect data for IEPs.
Session 3 - Tokyo International School sessions
We are excited to have a team of facilitators from Tokyo International School leading session in the afternoon on a range of topics.
Exploring abstract representations of emotions through playful artmaking.
Elen Delafouge Jones Wall, MYP Art
We are always expected to be able to verbalize our emotions but often this can be a challenge for us and our students. This workshop will hopefully provide you with some ideas of how to explore emotions visually without the need to label them. You will have the opportunity to explore this through playful exploration of colour mixing, mark-making and texture-making.
Karacter: A focus on character and values to shape a positive school culture.
Daniel Reynolds, TIS Head of School
In this workshop you will examine the culture at your school and how it links to your school's mission, vision and values.
We will then discuss how to go about creating a positive school culture with character and values as the cornerstones.
You will also see concrete examples of this being put into action at Tokyo International School.
Science of Reading
Ellie Sato, Learning Support Teacher
In this workshop we will explore how reading and well-being are interlinked. Reading is the foundation of all learning, therefore helping students learn how to read to the best of their ability is a key component of well-being. We will also dive deeper into the science of reading to understand the components of a well balanced literacy intervention program.
Physical Literacy
Makoto Kosaka, MYP/PYP P.E. and Athletics Director
In this workshop you will learn the importance of developing physical literacy. Physical literacy can be described as the motivation, confidence, physical competence, knowledge and understanding to value and take responsibility for engagement in physical activities for life.
Food Rules
Gary Wilberforce, PYP Grade 3
Food and diet can be a cause of stress for many people. In this discussion we will talk about people’s relationship with food, share successes and struggles, and try to dispel some myths and fears that people have around food.
Session 4 - Tokyo International School sessions
We are excited to have a team of facilitators from Tokyo International School leading session in the afternoon on a range of topics.
Question Formulation Technique
Jared Barnes PYP Grade 2
How can we improve our skills as an inquirer? The Question Formulation Technique (QFT) is a structured method for generating questions and improving questioning skills. The skill of asking questions is a worthwhile, lifelong learning skill that builds confidence, critical thinking skills and strengthens the ability to actively participate in society. This interactive workshop will share the steps of the QFT and how to successfully set up a QFT session in your classroom.
The power of Growth Mindset
Nicole Carney, PYP Grade 3
In this workshop we will explore how creating a Growth Mindset culture in your classroom can lead to empowered, confident learners who see out opportunities to challenge themselves, regardless of academic abilities. We will view just some of the many resources and strategies you can use to promote a growth mindset in each of your students.
Incorporating the teachings of yoga and meditation both in and out of the classroom
Tess Scagliarini, MYP Science
Mindfulness is directly linked to not only well-being, but also to improved academic performance and mental health. In this workshop, we will explore some quick, easy and effective strategies that can be seamlessly incorporated into your lesson plans to promote well-being and benefit students and teachers alike. Using the eight strands of yoga as a guide, we will explore how the teachings of yoga and meditation can be translated in a fun, exciting and meaningful way to benefit your and your students’ well-being. In this session, you will participate in and unpack various techniques that can be used both in and out of the classroom.
Artmaking for Wellness
Paul Langtree, PYP Art (Max: 24 people)
During this hands-on workshop, we will explore a range of art-based mindfulness techniques. Each one is aimed at helping you tap into your inner-zen and enhance your inner-wellness. All techniques are designed to allow you to continue your wellness art-making beyond the workshop.
Using brain breaks to enhance physical and emotional wellbeing
Howard Bartlett, PYP Grade 5
We’ll discuss ways in which teachers can promote physical and emotional well being using various forms of brain break routines within a classroom environment. Howard will share the brain breaks he uses, and other participants will come with their own ideas on how to get kids up and moving throughout the day.