The Formation of Strategy Teams: Curious, Persistent, Creative
We divided up into small working groups to take ownership for driving the documentation of our philosophical and pedagogical approach: best practice research, content, strategies, skills for clear scope and sequence documents. As a completely new program, we had to ensure alignment across the grades. This would also ensure that our practices reflected the sales pitch our parents heard. 

What documents needed articulation?

• Collaboration in the Lower School: This document encompassed all of our Essential Agreements for interactions, ongoing meetings (a wide variety of types of meetings), homeroom/specialist responsibilities for tier 1 instruction, steps to collaborate with learning support for tier 2 or 3 support, approaches to behavior issues, playground agreements, etc. Over two years, this document expanded to articulate all expectations clearly.
• Assessment Handbook: This document encompassed our approach to assessment elaborating our cycles of reporting through conferences or formal student reports. It also elaborated ways to conduct assessment, to triangulate data and how to use assessment to make decisions about teaching and learning.
• Language & Literacy Scope and Sequence: This document encompassed our beliefs about language development and literacy instruction. We strove to align to the Science of Reading through Structured Literacy and the application of a functional approach using Systemic Functional Linguistics. It explained the strands that must be included in the homeroom practices each week for holistic literacy instruction. It also elaborated the AERO standards and UK Birth to 5 Matters for the Early Years. This document also included our host country, the Spanish Language for homeroom teachers to be informed.
• Philosophy of Play: This document opened the discussion to our Early Years team and how we would approach learning and teaching in Kinder 1, 2, 3 and into grade 1. We had to learn a holistic, developmental program that made space for play with a team who had not been exposed to play-based learning yet. In the document, we defined play and playful guided by Harvard Project Zero's newest publication. Then we began to unpack over the next two year, through ongoing training, what continuous provisions implies; how we can invite, nudge and provoke interest; the role of the teacher and the role of the student. Over time, we wanted to have the resources and spaces for play-based learning to always be available to all ages on campus. 
• Mathematics Essential Strategies: This supporting document encompassed our approach to reasoning by developing skills for problem-solving through strategies that build and extend upon one another. This aligned to NZ Mathematics and Pam Harris' resources for problem strings as well as her top models and strategies document. Our school chose to participate in the CBI Mathematics Project Pilot which would take time for us to fully understand and internalize the phases and understandings. So, it remained important to us to map out our strategies and models sequentially.
• Documents launched after school start:
  • Technology Usage / Digital Citizenship / Scope and Sequence
  • Social and Emotional Learning / Safeguarding and Child Protection

The Design of our Initial Program of Concept-Based Inquiry

As a CBCI consultant, I took the team through the introduction to teaching for conceptual understanding. We reviewed the Structure of Knowledge, the role of facts and concepts, the ways to identify a concept. Then we reviewed the purpose of learning to scaffolding the thinking by assessing generalizations. It is important to understand why we generalize and how we assess those generalizations - statements of understanding. Then we reviewed the the types of questions we can pose.

Additionally, every teacher was provided a copy of Concept-Based Inquiry in Action which became our guide for a book study throughout the school year. Also, we frequently referred to it during collaborative planning meetings when thinking about strategies to use at each stage of the cycle. To further support this process, our team also joined the CBI Mathematics Project which organizes units aligned to the same cycle for inquiry leading to generalizations as a form of assessment.
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Using the Standards that we had agreed upon, we began to identify the concepts that we could use to build a program of inquiry. It was a messy process with lots of sticky notes and moving concepts around. We began with science and then added social studies until we could identify the conceptual lens that would be the driver of the unit. This would allow for authentic connections by specialist teachers. This was an initial attempt with almost all teachers new to inquiry-based learning except two. There was great enthusiasm as we brainstormed in small teams the units of inquiry for the upcoming launch. As small groups began to present their units of inquiry, they share their reasoning for the units and how they drew upon the standards. Others across the team provided feedback for further revision or adaptations. I chose to take a supportive stance even when I saw some units as potentially challenging for one reason or the other so that teachers could thoroughly experience the process of creating a unit, rolling it out and then later reflecting and revising based on their own experiences with the units of inquiry. 

Time and ongoing support would be the strategies that we would rely upon to build strategies and tools for full implementation. Our team as well as our brand new incoming cohorts of students faced a sharp learning curve. The majority of our students transferred because of a learning challenge and they had never been exposed to inquiry-based learning. It would take time!

In June 2024, we conducted a vertical and horizontal review of our Program of Concept-Based Inquiry to improve our units of inquiry as transdisciplinary learning opportunities. Our review process intentionally uses processes to provide participation that is authentic and agentic. I want to see teachers in reflective conversation about practice and content. This yields meaningful changes for improvements. Taking the time to make it interactive always pays off. Teachers are active, on their feet, observing, discussing and making notes. This brings the level of energy up, engagement increases and participation is more meaningful.

Ongoing professional development on restorative practices conducted by one of our team members. This was supported by further development of our handbook on learning support as well as identifying a curriculum framework to include in our program - Second Step with Safeguarding and SEL Curriculum Standards and Benchmarks by ICMEC and CASEL.

I facilitated ongoing professional development on Systemic Functional Linguistics after school to make SFL relevant and accessible. These lessons were organized for a grade 2 classroom level; however, the lesson lab experience opens doors to ideas for ways to make adjustments for different levels of challenge.

End of Year Professional Growth Reflection
In June of 2025, our Lower School team dedicated time to reflect once more. This time, I organized a reflection that focussed on a continuum of personal growth and development through the lens of our pedagogy. If you click through the images below, you will see examples of the continuum (beginner to world class). Based on feedback from our NEASC visitor, we had focussed our program on 4 pedagogical anchors as follows: 

• Concept-based Inquiry
• Approaches to Learning
• Inclusion and Differentiation
• Progress Monitoring and Reflection

I asked our team members (including myself) to honestly consider personal strengths and potential areas for growth. Areas for growth can be seen as opportunities to explore and extend on what we know now. They do not have to be seen as a weakness. The objective was to end the school having given thought to goals for development and making those reflections visible to our community. This information would inform the faculty meetings calendar for PD as well as the identification of resources for supporting PD.

This image above highlighted by Julie Stern on LinkedIn was helpful for guiding our conversations with a trusted colleague. I encouraged everyone to partner up with a trusted colleague to discuss how they were growing and what personal goals he/she might be considering to move their learning journey forward. Everyone on our team participated, including myself. The energy in the room was engaging. Teachers were reflecting, writing reflections and sharing honestly with one another. Exit tickets were used by each individual to identify personal strengths and areas for growth.

UPDATE:
Unfortunately, I was unable to see this endeavor through due to sudden layoffs over the summer of July 2025. It is terribly sad when one invests so heavily in an organization (knowledge, skills, schema and passion) and cannot see the results or impact of the vision-casting and investment - all the hours dedicated (evenings, weekends, vacations), the intellectual knowledge and the energy. The school's value of caring (integral to the guiding statements) did not manifest in the financial management or strategic planning of the institution. 

When I launched the program with our team, we spoke of taking 5-6 years to develop our team's collective capacity to facilitate concept-based inquiry using an embedded language approach. We believed that all teachers are language teachers so developing our capacity to use strategies that support that was a significant aim that would require ongoing sustainable support. Our homeroom teachers were learning to provide critical structured literacy lessons. Secondly, we wanted to develop our ability to facilitate reasoning by integrating the Problem Strings recently published by Pam Harris and Math-is-Figureoutable with the CBI Mathematics project. These goals were no small endeavor whatsoever; however, I bid the school farewell. I look forward to the next learning community in whom I will have the opportunity to inspire and pour my energy into; a community with belonging, care and financial sustainability.

It is not my custom to write about concepts in terms of only one nation but recently these concepts have been at the forefront of my thinking and reflection. As I watch the news or read about the issues arising daily around the world, I ponder these things in terms of my home country, the USA. Education is the most important gift we can offer our children. It is through equitable education that we can build a strong united nation. We cannot marginalize people and expect a united future. Our definition of success and prosperity needs to shift. Read the article from NPR and watch the TED Talk by First Minister of Scotland Nicola Sturgeon. Consider the multiple benefits of shifts in mindsets, processes and policymaking...

 Schools can perpetuate the systems currently in place, maintaining the status quo or schools can transform a society. We can transform our country through education that promotes international mindedness and values the process of learning over passing exams. We need a country of people who love to learn, who are creative and innovative. We need a unity, peace and contentment. Which path will we choose for our education system?

Later in the same week, I received my weekly update from TED Talks. Over the past two years, the issue of how we measure our success as a nation in terms of a growth economy have bothered me. How can we tackle the sustainability issues if we are constantly told our economy has to grow and produce above and beyond the previous years' growth indicator? How is it possible to not abuse the remaining natural resources if the we feel as nations that sales and material wealth are our priorities? I really believe this approach taken by Scotland, Iceland and New Zealand to form a network of Wellbeing Economy Governments is something the world should carefully consider. While I value the free market economy and the American dream, I also do not see the need for promoting such materialism and waste. If we truly want to provide a future for our youth, then changing our measurement of success is vital for a sustainable future. 

To measure our economy in terms different parameters is groundbreaking:

• Number of people working and sustainable employment
• Number of people receiving health care, general health of a nation
• Happiness factor - general human wellbeing, fitness and mental health
• Equal pay and closing the gender gap
• Access to nature and green space
• Resources consumed, reused and recycled
• State of sustainability - human and material resources
• Access to education, multiple literacies
• Decreased violence and benefits of preventative programs