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How do educators combine theoretical concepts with real-life settings?

Transformation is both theoretical and practical. After an insightful discussion about power and agency in the education system, the focus turned to how the concepts behind transformation education translate into educational work. It was time for another four-person panel, but it would be a little different.

After each panelist introduced themselves and their work, it was time for some activities. It started with Ryder Delaloye talking through an exercise on mindfulness and compassion, an approach that he works on as the Associate Director for Social, Emotional and Ethical (SEE) Learning at Emory University. Mindfulness is all about an “opportunity to cultivate emotional hygiene.” He wants the Fellows to take away the importance of training and developing a systems-thinking mindset centered on compassion towards others and the self. Defining compassion as alleviating the suffering of another person, centering a compassionate approach when working with others is important for co-regulation and advocating for a transformative agenda. Delaloye took participants through a deep breathing 
exercise, where he encouraged them to be aware of their surroundings, the people around them and themselves.

Next, it was Lisa Hanna’s turn. Her education journey could be summed up in one word: boxes. From being a student in a rigid schooling system in Northern Ireland to working as a teacher in Scotland for 20 years and now as Deputy Director for Scotland’s National Centre for Languages in the United Kingdom, Hanna strongly feels the need to ‘unbox’ education and explore what are more open, free-thinking ways of teaching and learning could look like. Her teaching background is languages. “Language is so central to your identity. I think we can all agree that we feel the need for that (educational transformation),” says Hanna. Her activity required some movement: the room was split into two, with participants who agreed or disagreed with Hanna’s questions moving to the left (agree) or right (disagree). Some chose to stay in the middle, which became an unofficial neutral response. Her questions were simple: were participants currently using their first language during the program? Did they use the same language in the office as at home? And are language and cultural knowledge inseparable? The activity’s goal? To get people to think about how much language works in and shapes different contexts.

Emma Green’s activity was Fist to Five. It’s an activity she does with her children, and with the students she works with. Her work as a Trauma Response Coordinator for the New Mexico Public Education Department in the United States focuses on advocating for the physical, emotional and mental well-being of students. She had difficulties getting through high school because of a system that failed to recognize her needs beyond textbooks and good grades. As she puts it, “I feel like I was distracted by questions that didn’t matter to me. How can we all start asking the questions?” Fist to Five asks students the important questions: from a fist symbolizing zero to an open palm being a five, how were the Fellows feeling that day? What headspace were they in? Each person had an imaginary talking stick, and everyone else would listen. The latter was just as important as talking. Giving people the space to express themselves shows them that they are valued and that it is a welcoming space for them.

The last panelist to present was Jigyasa Labroo, the cofounder and CEO of Slam Out Loud in Dharamshala, India. It was time for the Fellows to pick up pen and paper to write a three-sentence poem. Creativity is part of her life and her work. “Passion is a problem when children come from families where they can’t afford to be passionate. One of the best gifts I received growing up was the gift of art. My work is about creating safe spaces for children and them to tell their own stories,” says Labroo. She guided Fellows through the poem writing exercise, with the first sentence starting with an emotion of their choosing. Labroo chose love, starting hers off with ‘Love is…’. Then it was time to pick a color that best described them, and then a sound. For Labroo, this activity gives students the time to stop and really think about how they are feeling, and to express themselves in a creative way. 

For all of the four panelists, the message was clear: putting transformation into practice requires new ways of communicating and thinking and giving students the space and freedom to express themselves and what they’ve learned. Small changes like a 10-minute activity can have a big impact on a child’s relationship with their peers, themselves, and their teachers. As the Practice session showed, change doesn’t have to be a chore. 

This article featured in Issue 2 of the Education Futures: Shaping a New Education Story program newsletter. Download the full issue here.