Engaging Visionary Superintendents | engage2learn
Future Ready Superintendent Institute: Building on the Visioning Work
In 2012-13, Shannon Buerk, CEO for Engage Learning, will be facilitating the TASA Future Ready Superintendent Institute, which is the extension of the work done by the Texas Visioning Institute– Creating a New Vision for Public Education in Texas. The purpose of the Future Ready Institute is to build capacity with a next generation of superintendents to create and sustain the student-focused learning platforms of the future. The format of the Institute will be 5 two day sessions with expected outcomes including: enhanced capabilities of individual participants to lead in times of change, increased capacity to transform the system including a sustained collaborative network within the participants, and clarity of vision as the participants create models of future-ready schools throughout the state. In the spirit of student-focused learning, the design of the Institute will be modeled after elements of project-based learning, action research, the flipped classroom, and design thinking. The sessions will be customized dynamically in response to the participants as they discover new insights that can shape and enrich the sessions. 39 Superintendents from the state of Texas were selected from statewide applicants to take part in the Institute.
Superintendents’ Transformational Leaders Collaboratives:
Engage! Facilitates Think Tanks for Superintendents from Regions 6, 10 and 20. The New Vision for Public Education in Texas and the resulting Visioning Network have spawned an era of focus on transformation in school districts across Texas. During the fall and spring of 2012-13, Chief Learning Officer for Engage! Learning, Shannon Buerk, will be facilitating Superintendents’ Transformational Leaders Collaboratives in three different regions of Texas. In total, over 125 superintendents will participate in these sessions. The purpose of the Collaborative Institutes is to engage superintendents in meaningful dialogue about education with thought leaders and with each other to design transformations for each of their districts. The idea of the Collaborative was birthed and originally funded by the Regional Consortium for Innovation in Region 10, a group of superintendents and education service center directors, to facilitate an opportunity for leaders to share ideas and create the next generation of education in each of their districts. One desired outcome is to create cohorts of progressive educational thinkers focused on strategically designing continual improvements of public education in Texas to meet the needs of today’s learners. Additionally, each individual will be equipped to initiate strategic changes in his or her own district.
As we move from industrial age, one-size-fits-all education systems to technology-enabled, individualized, engaging and relevant learning platforms, it is imperative that leaders work together to be catalysts for these changes. Leaders can learn from each other and design more innovative and sustainable solutions together. Leaders must model the collaboration and critical thinking needed by students in the modern world as they develop solutions that make sense. The Texas Visioning Network has proven that leaders working together can produce results that can make a difference. The Transformational Leaders Collaborative is modeled after this type of venture with a vision for sustainable collaboration and practical solutions.
