AISA Members' Circular Vol 6 No 1 August 2015 by Association of International Schools in Africa

AISA Members’ Circular August 2015 | Vol. 6 No. 1

In this issue:

Note from the Executive Director AISA Professional Learning Institutes 2015-16 Updates and Offers from Associates and Friends of AISA

Note from the Executive Director

Stay Connected!

A warm welcome back to our AISA members and friends to the new school year. Over the break we’ve been working hard to develop a new AISA website that we know you will find both useful and informative. I’d like to thank Chanel Ryall (our Partnerships & Communications Coordinator) for all the work she has put into developing the new site. It will be online from 1st September, so please be sure to check it out and return to it regularly for all the news, events and info about our association. This year sees the launch of our new Professional Learning Institutes (PLIs). AISA’s Director of Professional Learning (Graham Watts) will be describing these targeted learning opportunities in more details elsewhere in this circular. I would like to alert members to the research and thinking that has gone into our new approach to supporting your professional learning. The research tells us that longer, more sustained learning opportunities are far more effective to education professionals than short bursts of input. This is because the deeper thinking that a longer format programme offers us results in changes in the way we do things. This in turn leads to improvements in student learning. That is not to say that shorter format sessions are not great for raising awareness about a new topics. With the expansion of online access at many of our schools in Africa we believe the possibilities for online and blended learning are also expanding. AISA is therefore offering you a variety of face-to-face and online professional learning opportunities, services, resources and collaborative networks that are all aimed at • • • •

improving student learning developing and implementing strategic thinking and planning increasing school effectiveness developing the capacity of all school employees

This year AISA will continue to develop and expand our programmes in Child Protection and Service Learning. We will also start a new programme aimed at ensuring all our schools have a robust Code of Governance in place. AISA’s new international accreditation criteria for all our school members, together with the purposeful and innovative AISA programmes on offer means that being a member of AISA ensures you’re part of a network of the best international educators in Africa.

Email info@aisa.or.ke Facebook Association of International Schools in Africa (AISA) Twitter @AISA_Schools Website www.aisa.or.ke YouTube Association of International Schools in Africa (AISA)

Have a great year! Dr Peter Bateman Executive Director Association of International Schools In Africa

AISA Professional Learning Institutes

Institute High impact professional learning is at the core of AISA’s work. This year we are delighted to introduce our 15 Professional Learning Institutes (PLI). These are designed to support, inform and challenge the practise not just of teachers but all those working in international schools and who have a role in improving school effectiveness.

Each PLI is a deep learning experience over two or more days with the same facilitator, recruited from the best in the world. The topics for these institutes have been identified by AISA members as their priorities for this year and are structured to empower participants to develop mastery in the topic and crucially be ready to go back to school and implement the changes they have been learning about. Each PLI will also be the start of an online community of practice so participants can share their next steps, seek advice and develop good practices overtime. In future years, advanced level PLI in similar topics to those offered this year will be available for those seeking extended learning to embed and sustain practice into the long term.

Places are limited at each PLI so be sure to make the most of the Early Bird booking offer to secure your place. A further reminder that there will be no AISA Educators Conference this year (2015/16) so please be sure to take full advantage of these PLIs and register soon.

AISA Professional Learning Institutes 2015-16 Access more details at www.aisa.or.ke/2015PLI

22-23 August, 2015: Learning Through Inquiry American International School Johannesburg (AISJ), SOUTH AFRICA

15-18 September, 2015: Cognitive CoachingTM American International School Johannesburg (AISJ), SOUTH AFRICA

4-6 September, 2015: Algebratic Thinking in Pre K- Grade 8 Classrooms American International School Johannesburg (AISJ), SOUTH AFRICA

2-3 October, 2015: Child Protection Lincoln Community School Accra, GHANA

Updates and Offers from AISA Associate Members & Friends of AISA The Common Ground Collaborative Learning Event 8-10 October, 2015 – Bucharest: Learning and the Story Tellers In recent years, we have seen the emergence and professionalisation of a number of roles in schools that previously didn’t exist or, if they did, were not articulated around professional standards and competences. This learning event is built upon the idea that those working in the fields of admissions, marketing and communications are connected by three common strands: Telling the STORY We are all learning to tell the story of our school and help other people find their place in the story. Connecting with the PEOPLE We are all finding new ways to connect with people with empathy and understanding.

Children’s Africana Book Award Winner for 2015: The Red Pencil The Children’s Africana Book Awards were established in 1991 by the Outreach Council of the African Studies Association to encourage the publication and use of accurate, balanced children’s materials on Africa in U.S. schools and libraries. The awards’ jury includes African Studies and Children’s Literature scholars. The Red Pencil, winner of the 2015 best book for older readers: Are ethnic cleansing and large-scale violence against civilians a topic that can be raised with readers between eight and twelve years of age? Pinkney and Evans’ The Red Pencil shows that this is indeed possible. Their brilliant rendering of the large-scale violence that took place in Sudan’s westernmost province of Darfur in the years following 2003 respects both the sensibilities of young readers and the dignity of the victims. The Red Pencil is in all aspects a remarkable achievement.

Managing the PROCESS We are all supported in our work by a set of principles, processes, protocols, and good practises. Participants will have opportunity to explore these strands and, over the course of the event, plot the course of their learning: determining where they want to be, where they are now, and how they will close the gap. Click here for more information or to register Free Data-Base Resource Available To Africa Schools JSTOR is a growing digital library of academic journals, books, and primary sources and is free for schools in Africa. Simply go to JSTOR to register your school and begin accessing hundreds of free resources.