Category: Featured Speakers

Witching for a New Enlightenment: Reclaiming Futures in Education

The systems of international education we know today are not neutral. They are rooted in inherited frameworks that trace back to the Enlightenment period of the 17th and 18th centuries. These frameworks, born in Europe, continue to shape what counts as “knowledge,” how progress is measured, and who is imagined as the ideal learner. Universalism, rationality, meritocracy, and individualism still permeate curricula, policies, and classroom practices.

Yet the Enlightenment was paradoxical. While it advanced ideals of liberty, reason, and progress, it also created hierarchies that excluded vast swaths of humanity. Philosopher Immanuel Kant, for example, described Enlightenment as “humankind’s release from its self-incurred immaturity” — but his writings also included deeply racist classifications positioning white Europeans at the pinnacle of civilisation (Kant, Anthropology from a Pragmatic Point of View, 1798). The same moral code that proclaimed human rights was used to justify colonisation, enslavement, and the pillaging of Africa, Asia, and the Americas.

These are not just historical abstractions. In education today, Enlightenment legacies are alive: universalism that minimises difference, individualism that pits students against each other, and progress narrowly defined by academic achievement. These frameworks allow schools to celebrate “excellence” while quietly reproducing othering and systemic exclusion.

Looking Back to Look Forward

Globally, we see both resistance and regression: the rise of fascist movements, a backlash against diversity and inclusion, and censorship of histories of racism and oppression. At the same time, urgent global challenges — climate collapse, forced migration, deepening inequality — cannot be solved with individualism or exclusion.

Middle schools are uniquely positioned at this crossroads. Young people in these years are forming their identities and asking who they are and where they belong. If we continue to offer them only frameworks of the past — rationality without empathy, progress without equity, universality without nuance — we risk preparing them to uphold systems that do not serve them or the world they will inhabit.

What we need is a new Enlightenment for education: one that is anti-racist, feminist, anti-ableist, queer-affirming, Indigenous-honouring, and deeply relational.

Witching in Education

In the Czech Republic, where the ELMLE conference will gather in Prague, history reminds us of the silencing of women and those who lived outside patriarchal norms. Across Central and Eastern Europe, witch trials persecuted women whose knowledge, independence, or difference was deemed threatening. These histories echo the Enlightenment, where ideals of reason and progress were tied to white male voices while others were cast as irrational or expendable.

Today, “futures thinking” dominates educational discourse — yet the voices most elevated in this space still belong predominantly to men. When men project into the future, they are lauded as visionary; when women do, they are too often branded ambitious, intimidating, or irrational. Invoking “witching” in education is a metaphorical reclaiming: a call to project futures while centering perspectives once silenced, disrupting systems of power, and rooting education in relational, equitable ways. Our students deserve nothing less than educators bold enough to conjure just, inclusive, and humanising futures.

From Cabinets of Curiosity to Communities of Care

The Enlightenment’s “cabinet of curiosities” provides a vivid lens. These collections displayed artifacts, animals, and even human remains taken from colonised lands, framed as celebrations of curiosity and discovery, yet reducing living cultures and beings to objects of spectacle. By the late 19th and early 20th centuries, so-called human zoos were staged in European cities, including Prague, where African men, women, and children were put on display. Curiosity became exoticisation, appropriation, and othering.

Schools risk echoing this dynamic when diversity is treated as a showcase rather than a structural commitment. Flag parades, cultural days, and food fairs may look celebratory, but if they exist without dismantling inequity, they reduce students’ identities to spectacles. Instead of cabinets of curiosities, we need communities of care: spaces where difference shapes school life and students’ identities are honoured as integral, not performative.

Redefining Universality

Universality — the belief in universal truths, rights, and progress — is another enduring Enlightenment legacy. Too often, universality was defined by a small group and imposed on others. True universality cannot mean sameness or assimilation.

Targeted universalism, developed by john a. powell and the Othering & Belonging Institute at UC Berkeley, offers a path forward. It begins with a universal goal — for example, all students thriving — but recognises that different groups face different barriers. Each group may require targeted strategies to reach the shared outcome. True universality means every student has what they need to thrive, even if the supports look different along the way.

For international middle schools, this means asking: What does each student need to feel belonging, learn deeply, and lead courageously? How do we remove structural barriers that hold some back while privileging others?

Rethinking What It Means to “Do Good”

During the Enlightenment, European men defined “goodness” in ways that aligned with their own values, often weaponising morality to justify conquest. Charles Mills argues in The Racial Contract (1997) that ideals of justice and equality were never meant for all — they were racially exclusive.

In education today, we see echoes of this when inclusion is treated as benevolence rather than solidarity. Doing good cannot be about bringing students into existing systems on our terms. It must be about changing the systems themselves.

Goodness isn’t a permanent state but something we create together — it’s the sum of how we keep showing up with accountability, humility, and transformation.

Practical Steps Toward a New Enlightenment

  1. Interrogate and decolonise the curriculum
    Audit whose knowledge is centred and whose is absent. The ISADTF’s Humanising Pedagogy reminds us that learning and teaching is never neutral — it either reproduces exclusion or cultivates dignity, belonging, and shared power. Make space for historically marginalised voices, indigenous histories, and multiple knowledge systems, and ensure students’ lived experiences shape what is taught.
  2. Rethink success and assessment
    Move beyond narrow academic measures. Value collaboration, empathy, creativity, and contribution. Design assessments that honour multiple ways of knowing.
  3. Reimagine school culture and policies
    Examine who current rules serve and who they marginalise. Build systems of accountability where power is shared across staff, students, and families.
  4. Ethically renew international education’s promise to students
    UNESCO’s Reimagining our futures together: A new social contract for education (2021) calls for education to emphasise cooperation, solidarity, and collective well-being — preparing learners to build inclusive and sustainable futures.
  5. Embrace targeted universalism in practice
    Set universal goals for belonging and thriving, but design targeted strategies for different groups of students. Equity means ensuring everyone has what they need to flourish.
  6. Prioritise ongoing reflection and learning
    Commit to professional development that engages bias, privilege, and systemic oppression. Make space for discomfort as part of growth.

Why This Matters Now

Students are watching. They notice contradictions between what schools claim to value and what they reward. If we continue relying on frameworks rooted in outdated Enlightenment ideals, we leave them unequipped for the crises of our time.

But if we embrace curiosity not as spectacle but as solidarity, compassion not as charity but as justice, and courage not as bravado but as transformation, we can cultivate citizens ready to build something new.

A Call to Witching

The Enlightenment was never universal — but the next Enlightenment can be. It will be defined not by a few men in salons and academies, but by communities of educators, families, and young people daring to imagine otherwise.

Perhaps what we need is not another age of reason, but an age of witching: reclaiming knowledge, power, and perspectives that patriarchal and colonial systems sought to suppress. If the old Enlightenment placed people in cabinets of curiosity, the new one must build circles — or covenants — of belonging. If the old Enlightenment universalised through exclusion, the new one must universalise through equity.

This is how we cultivate curious, compassionate, and courageous citizens. This is how we reimagine education for our time. And the future begins now.

References

Aow, A. (2022). What it means to be and do ‘good’. Council of International Schools. https://www.cois.org/about-cis/news/post/~board/perspectives-blog/post/what-it-means-to-be-and-do-good

Blanchard, P. (2008). Human zoos: Science and spectacle in the age of colonial empires. Liverpool University Press.

International Schools Anti-Discrimination Task Force [ISADTF]. (n.d.). Humanising pedagogy guidelines. International Schools’ Anti-Discrimination Task Force, Humanising Pedagogy Committee.

Kant, I. (1798/2006). Anthropology from a pragmatic point of view (R. B. Louden, Trans.). Cambridge University Press.

Mills, C. W. (1997). The racial contract. Cornell University Press.

powell, j. a. (2020). Targeted universalism: Policy & practice. Othering & Belonging Institute, University of California, Berkeley. https://belonging.berkeley.edu/targeted-universalism

Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage. (n.d.). Slavic witchcraft: A living tradition. Smithsonian Folklife Magazine. https://folklife.si.edu/magazine/slavic-witchcraft

UNESCO. (2021). Reimagining our futures together: A new social contract for education. UNESCO. https://www.unesco.org/en/social-contract-education

You can join Angeline in her pre-conference workshop, “Leading Inclusive Change: with Compassion, Connection and Collaboration”

Angeline will facilitate two session topics during our main conference:
  • Humanising Pedagogy
  • Becoming a Totally Inclusive School: the Role of Language

Angeline is an international educator, author, consultant and pedagogical leader. She has undertaken multiple roles within schools, as a teacher, curriculum coordinator, accreditation coordinator and professional learning and development coordinator. Angeline leverages these experiences to support collaborative learning communities with enhancing inclusive mindsets and systems, designing humanising pedagogical approaches and achieving shared inclusion and intercultural goals. Angeline is an advocate of intersectional inclusivity, coaching, concept-driven learning and teaching and contributes as an active citizen on social justice issues through her advocacy across multiple networks and work with the Council of International Schools. Her co-authored book, Becoming a Totally Inclusive School: a Guide for Teachers and School Leaders was published by Routledge in November, 2022.

You can connect with Angeline @ https://www.angelineaow.com/ 

Preparing for the Future: Using AI With Students

Artificial Intelligence is no longer an abstract future—it’s here, shaping industries, careers, and daily life. If we continue teaching as though nothing has changed, we risk preparing students for a world that doesn’t exist. The question isn’t whether students should use AI, but how we guide them to use it with integrity, creativity, and purpose.

That guidance begins with structure. Classrooms need an AI Matrix—a clear framework outlining when and how AI should be used. Just as we teach when calculators are appropriate or when sources must be cited, we need shared expectations that help students see AI as a tool to extend their thinking, not replace it. Pairing this with transparency is essential: students should disclose how AI supported their work, building trust and clarity rather than suspicion.

Ultimately, success comes down to setting classroom expectations. Students thrive when they know the rules of engagement—what’s encouraged, what’s off-limits, and how to acknowledge their process. When we establish these norms, we not only reduce misuse but also invite deeper conversations about ethics, authorship, and the role of technology in learning.

AI is part of the world our students are entering, and it’s our responsibility to help them navigate it wisely. Our goal as educators is not to hold them back, but to prepare them for their future—not our past. Artificial Intelligence is no longer an abstract future—it’s here, shaping industries, careers, and daily life in profound ways. From healthcare diagnostics to creative arts, AI is redefining possibilities and demanding a new set of literacies from the next generation. If we continue teaching as though nothing has changed, if we cling to outdated pedagogical models, we risk preparing students for a world that doesn’t exist, a past that no longer serves as an accurate blueprint for their future. The critical question facing educators isn’t whether students should use AI, but how we guide them to use it with integrity, creativity, and purpose, ensuring it serves as an accelerator of human potential rather than a substitute for it.

That guidance begins with clear, actionable structure. A comprehensive and dynamic framework that explicitly outlines when and how artificial intelligence tools should be integrated into the learning process. Just as we painstakingly teach students the appropriate times to use a calculator for complex mathematical problems, or the stringent requirements for citing sources in academic work, we need to establish shared expectations for AI usage. A framework helps students to perceive AI as a powerful tool to extend their thinking, to augment their problem-solving abilities, and to explore new dimensions of understanding, rather than a mere replacement for their own intellectual effort. Pairing this structural clarity with radical transparency is essential: students should be required to disclose precisely how AI supported their work, detailing the tools used and the specific stages of their process where AI was leveraged. This practice fosters an environment of trust and clarity, dismantling the suspicion that often arises when AI usage is left unaddressed.

Ultimately, successful integration of AI in education comes down to setting explicit and consistent classroom expectations. Students, much like adults, thrive within a framework of clear boundaries and understood guidelines. When they know the rules of engagement—what types of AI use are encouraged for exploration and innovation, what applications are off-limits due to academic integrity concerns, and how to appropriately acknowledge their process and the tools they employed—they are empowered to make responsible choices. When we proactively establish these norms, we not only significantly reduce the potential for misuse and academic dishonesty but also invite deeper, more meaningful conversations about the complex ethical dimensions of AI, the evolving nature of authorship in a technological age, and the transformative role of technology in human learning and creativity.
AI is not an isolated phenomenon; it is an intrinsic part of the world our students are entering, a foundational element of their future careers, civic engagement, and personal lives. It is, therefore, our profound responsibility as educators to equip them with the knowledge, skills, and ethical understanding necessary to navigate this landscape wisely and effectively. Our overarching goal is not to hold them back from engaging with these powerful tools, nor to insulate them from technological progress, but rather to proactively prepare them for their future—a future shaped by AI—rather than inadvertently trapping them in the methodologies and limitations of our past.

You can join Jeff in his pre-conference workshop: “Empowering Educational Leaders: Leveraging AI for Personal and Schoolwide Transformation”

Jeff will facilitate two session topics during our main conference:

Setting Up AI-Ready Classroom Structures for Success

Build Your Own AI Assistant: A Hands-On Guide to Creating Custom GPTs for School Leadership 

Jeff Utecht is a lifelong educator, innovator, and global thought leader in modern learning. The child of two educators, Jeff’s journey began in Spokane, where his passion for authentic learning first took root. From volunteering as a teacher at 17 to receiving a Bill and Melinda Gates Technology Grant in 2001, Jeff has continually pushed the boundaries of education by exploring technology’s transformative power in the classroom.

With over 75,000 educators upskilled worldwide, keynote addresses spanning the globe, and a reputation for creating sustainable change in schools, Jeff remains driven by a singular mission: to ensure we prepare students for their future, not our past. Today, he shares insights drawn from decades of experience as a teacher, leader, and consultant, inspiring audiences to reimagine what’s possible in education.

The Middle Leader Manifesto

We asked one question to 160 Aspiring, Middle and Senior Leaders in our Leading from the Middle programme: what does it take to grow into an excellent middle leader?

By Ewan McIntosh

Know what you want.

Have a goal to start with. Even better, have a cause. A strong cause helps guide your project towards a meaningful and valuable outcome.

Simple ideas are ambitious ideas.

There’s no such thing as a small change. Change meets with resistance whatever it is. A simple, clear vision with concrete ideas is a starting point to making any change happen. Make your ideas clear, not clever: draw them so a seven year old can understand and a 57 year old Principal gets excited. “Everything should be as simple as possible but no simpler,” said Einstein. Simple sells. Simple can be easily understood. Simple happens.

It’s about them, not about you.

No Middle Leader is an island. Listening, really listening, is how we build anything worth building. Listening to others is vital, but also listen to yourself. The power of reflection is key to seeing the learning opportunities.

Be vulnerable and lead from behind. Your team makes you a leader, not you. A leader without a team is dancing alone. Find your first follower, and get them to bring a friend. And then you can start being a leader.

Great leaders don’t just run on their gut. They don’t just have hunches. They run on data, too. Data can be on a spreadsheet or on the face of the person in front of you right now.

Find your Brains Trust.

The collective is more powerful than the parts that make it up.

Share, think, wrestle with ideas, constantly shift your perspective and seek out the folk who challenge your ideas with heart. If you work in a school, that should include some students. And it should include people who don’t work in your neighbourhood, who can show you there’s always another way.

And your Brains Trust can also be your ally when you need a reality check.

Make your ideas portable.

The way you communicate your ideas matters, but what matters most is that the idea is memorable on first sight. Make the idea inspirational and memorable. Big ideas are hard for people to deal with. They don’t know what to do. They can’t see the next step. Inspirational ideas are ideas that happen. Memorable ideas are ideas that have happened. Inspirational, memorable ideas are stealable, ones that others can build on.

Leaders create leaders.

Middle Leaders don’t hide out of sight, or keep their ideas hidden. They rock the boat and throw ideas over the side to test the water. Where there are ripples there’s enough interest to keep going, to refine, rebuild and create an alternative way of doing things. Great leaders create ideas that others can borrow, and use to become even better leaders themselves.

Plan serendipity.

Accidental conversations tend not to happen when they’re programmed in as a Zoom meeting. Unless you plan for serendipity. How can you make meetings last 8 minutes, not 60, and start at a weird time that makes people show up early, not on time or late?

Side projects can be the work. The unexpected outcome is often the outcome worth going for.

20% done is an invitation to feedback. 90% done is an invitation to ship.

Feedback is the place where good ideas become great. Iteration isn’t a formula. It’s a mindset.

Build ideas bit by bit with others. Coach the idea, not the person. The ability to reflect and be flexible, change the plan when it needs to be changed. We used to say “fail fast”. Really we need to “learn fast”. Trial and error allows us to do that.

Ask questions that drive an idea forward. Don’t be critical with your question. Don’t question like you don’t believe — question like you need to know more to make an idea happen.

‘No’ is the start. Be bold with your changes so that others will argue with you! Suddenly you’re in a conversation about your cause.

Iterate. Iterate. Iterate. Then iterate again.

When you tell the story again and again, when you run projects again and again, when you keep pushing the flywheel around just one more turn, eventually you get the perpetual motion that makes the whole thing fly. Speed trumps perfection. Get stuff done, find out what needs to be done better, and keep going.

Revisit your scrapheap.

We always throw out ideas that didn’t work out first time around. Keep them somewhere. When you’re lacking inspiration, head back to your old projects and those that fell over at the first hurdle. Revisit them with fresh perspectives. Then coal can maybe become diamonds. Journal it. Anyone who ever came up with anything kept a journal. Write and draw everything that you notice.

Communicate clearly, differently, often.

When you’re trying to communicate your idea clearly, one way might be visually, but other ways help more people understand. Collaborate with a “cabinet of talents”, people whose skills add to yours.

There’s power in small conversations — every conversation is a step closer to finding the nugget that paves the way for the idea to come to life.

Don’t hold your cards close to your chest — make sure you share your ideas far and wide. The better your idea the more likely others will want to borrow it. Then they can make it their own and improve upon the original idea.

Time is your most valuable resource — start using it that way.

Use time wisely. It’s one of the only non-renewable resources that we have. Be effective with your meetings, make sure your team is working on useful tasks. Don’t waste people’s time with meaningless tasks or laborious meetings.

Actually do it.

Leadership isn’t a book. It isn’t a PhD. It isn’t just reading about it. Leadership is what you achieved by trying something out.

Download a high-res version of the manifesto as a poster, for free.

Ewan McIntosh is the passionate and energising tour de force behind NoTosh. He’s a highly-regarded keynote speaker and host at events around the world, marrying intense prep work and a natural capacity to listen and shine a light on the best stories participants have to share.

Ewan will be facilitating a pre-conference on “Leading from the Middle” as well as our host of conversation during our plenaries each day.

‘Defeating Habit with Originality’ – How We Can Teach Students to Study Differently

By Martin Griffin and Steve Oakes

Much of what we do as learners is the result of ingrained habit. Many of us will be able to recall a time in our own education when results at a new level of study suggested our approaches to learning were no longer effective. How did we respond? Usually by doubling-down; doing more of the same, pedalling harder and hoping.  

In many cases students eventually give up, concluding they’re not intellectually capable of study at a new key stage or more challenging level. But they’re often wrong. We’ve worked with thousands of students who are well capable of handling new ideas and of exploring and interrogating new concepts and material. It’s the non-cognitive elements of study that defeat them – the fresh habits, routines and approaches they’ll need. What worked for pupils in Year 7 might not work in Year 9; new levels of study demand new tactics and strategies. 

This is the work we’ve been doing for the last ten years now: defining which non-cognitive factors seem to have an impact on performance, and then developing a series of tools that support pupils changing the way they work. Our strategies are designed to encourage, as art director George Lois put it, ‘the defeat of habit by originality’. 

Some of our strategies are all about vision and motivation. We’ve all seen the impact a magnetic goal can have on learners… but goal setting needs to adjust as students grow. It isn’t just a case of plucking potential grades from the air, writing them down and hoping for the best. High vision students are increasingly aware of who they are and what they stand for, and this growing self-awareness allows them to create a compelling vision of what success looks like and what the future holds for them. They don’t just focus on a ‘what’ (‘I want to be a doctor.’); they know their ‘why’ (‘Fairness is important. Equal access to healthcare is crucial. I want to help solve the inequality problem.’)  

Another group of strategies we’ve developed are all around effort. As students begin working at a higher level, the successful ones snack on learning rather than binge: they read a chapter of a textbook per week, summarise their notes in four half-hour sittings, write an essay in stages, review their understanding by testing themselves on a topic. In short, they actively set themselves work. This switch from the passive completion of directed tasks, to the active sequencing of independent study sessions is a crucial part of unlocking higher levels of effort.  

Some fresh habits we need to teach are all about organisation. There comes a tipping point in your education where you can no longer carry all your notes around with you. At key stage 1 and 2, a single plastic wallet with your homework in will suffice. Now there are textbooks, files, folders, jotters and handouts. Middle-level students need to use a range of tactics to arrange their resources thematically – i.e. by topic – rather than chronologically, and they also begin to project manage. For more distant deadlines and tasks that require multiple sittings, successful students adjust their approach to study so they can effectively sequence their work. We need to teach them how to make strategic assessments of what needs doing next and why.  

A fourth group we’ve developed are all about revision and preparation. Many students hit crisis-point when their beloved practice strategies, used successfully in the past to memorise information, seem suddenly useless. Middle-level students begin to wake up to the realisation that knowing the information isn’t enough; the information needs to be fully absorbed … and then used to analyse unfamiliar data, solve a problem, construct an argument in the form of an essay, evaluate an approach, or critique a case study. For students loyal to memorising information, this can be a shock. High practice students learn to adjust the way they revise, mastering the content as the course goes on so that the bulk of their preparation involves high stakes exam-style problem solving. They are calmer and better prepared as a result.   

And finally, we’ve put together a whole range of fresh strategies to help students with the attitudinal component of study. All pupils face ‘the dip’, that moment when progress halts and backslides. It might have happened before, but what works at one level – reconnecting with our successes, reminding ourselves of our positive qualities, comfort eating and watching a bit of TV – might need adjustment as challenges arise more frequently. High attitude students have a broader and more robust range of tactics when times are tough. They might be adept at benefit-finding. They might have a strong support network they regularly rely on, because they don’t equate asking for help with intellectual inferiority. And they have techniques for handling stress; they know exams are not a test of their self-worth.  

There has been much debate around the extent to which academic performance is predicated on inherited intelligence. Are we genetically fated to achieve certain outcomes, or are we architects of our own results? Each new generation of scientists and researchers places us somewhere else on the nature/nurture continuum. 

But as you might expect, our take is different. It doesn’t matter whether the latest research points us to the inherited cognitive ability end of the spectrum or not. It is the non-cognitive element of study – our habits, systems and behaviours – that we can most easily change as we grow. So rather than debating precisely what proportion of our success is due to genetic predisposition or emphasising a past-equals-future paradigm, we should instead be supporting students in changing the ways they work as the programme of study demands change.  

That way, we prepare them more effectively for an uncertain future.   

Posted with permission from Martin Griffin and Steve Oakes who will be some of our keynote speakers at ELMLEConnect in Malta, January 27-29. Want more information on how to register for our conference? Go here.

A School’s Role in Delivering Sexuality Education

By Miguel G. Marshall, Sara Silverio Marques, Justine Ang Fonte, Amy Patel

(an excerpt from NAIS Sexuality Education: An Overview for Independent Schools)

Perhaps the chief role of independent schools in the context of sexuality education is to bring to the surface the core values of their communities and discuss how those values align with their missions and how those values may influence discussions and curriculum around sex and sexuality at their school.

An additional role that independent schools can play that intersects with sexuality education is developing media literacy. According to research on the health effects of media on children and adolescents (Strasburger et al., 2010), a century ago to be “literate” meant you could read and write. In 2009, however, it meant having the ability to decipher a bewildering array of media and make sense of them all (Strasburger et al., 2010). In the context of 21st century media literacy, it is important for educators to strive to be reliable sources of accurate, non-judgmental information, and have a willingness to engage in direct, honest conversations with students (Goldfarb & Lieberman, 2016). Providing a forum for the discussion of sexuality education is important because of the fundamental role human sexuality and relationships play in the independent school goals of developing character and inspiring high-achieving students. As we have discovered in our research, sexuality, in and of itself, intersects and overlaps with character-development, values, and achievement.

Schools are also wrestling with finding time (and money) to support programs outside the traditional core subjects. Health education and sexuality education curricula may be interpreted as competing with the ultimate mission of core academic schooling. This challenge is not unique to independent schools; it also impacts public schools (Hall, McDermott Sales, Komro, & Santelli, 2016).

Further, independent schools always consider the role that families play. Families may identify a range of knowledge associated with sexuality that they find developmentally inappropriate for children. Although such information is often influenced by religious values and cultural backgrounds, it may not be the case with all families (Robinson & Davies, 2017). Additionally, cultural context and background affect how individuals receive and interpret messages about sexuality (Goldfarb & Constantine, 2011). This information is important to keep in mind when engaging families around the topic of sexuality.

No matter what approach to sexuality education an independent school chooses, the following prompts can start discussion.

1. Consider where you and your school stand on issues about gender, power, trust, hierarchy, and human nature.

● Do your or your school’s stances influence your perceptions about sexuality education? If so, how?

2. Consider the Circles of Sexuality

● What topics does your school already emphasize or discuss with students? Where are the gaps?

● How might the circles integrate with ongoing efforts in social and emotional learning (SEL) and faculty professional development?

○ Recall the SEL framework includes: a. Self-awareness

■ Self-management

■ Social awareness

■ Relationships skills

■ Responsible decision-making (Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning, 2017)

3. Consider whether your school helps develop values and educates for character? What are these values? Do they apply to sex and sexuality? Do they apply to human development?

4. Consider, as a community, the ethnic, racial, cultural, personal, religious, and moral concerns and undertones of sex, sexuality, and sexuality education.

5. Consider how a school’s mission statement influences inclusivity and exclusivity of difference and different types of peoples.

6. Consider intersectionality and how students’ diverse backgrounds and experience may affect their personal beliefs, values, and knowledge about sexuality (Breuner et al., 2016).

● According to the Independent School Diversity Network, “intersectionality” (or intersectionalism) refers to intersections between different groups of people identifying in various -isms or social identifiers; the interactions of multiple systems of oppression or discrimination. Find more information about this topic from: http://www.isdnetwork.org/what-is-diversity.html and https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2016/10/intersectionality-the-many-layers-of-an-individual/.

7. Consider how school dress codes reflect a social focus on adolescents’ dress as an expression of sexuality (Fortenberry, 2014).

8. Considering the role of values:

● Where do your own values come from? (Think of the role of your family, friends, media, religion, school, politics and other factors.)

● Have your own values changed over time?

● To what extent are your values implicit and taken for granted? To what extent are they the result of careful reflection?

● Do you think of values as having universal validity? Or do they apply only within cultures or traditions?

● Can schools avoid teaching values? If not, what sort of values should they teach, and how should they teach them?

● What values (either explicit or implicit) underpin any program of sex education familiar to you?

● Make a list of your own sexual values. Now write another list for someone you know well whose personality differs from you. How much common ground is there between the two of you (Halstead & Reiss, 2003)?

9. Regarding the implementation of sexuality education lessons and curricula, consider:

● Skills development in finding information or resources to make it easy to pursue new information when needed or when interest arises;

● Assigning homework or supplemental individual assignments that allow students to explore a topic of interest to them;

● Conducting activities that help students identify personal values, or start connecting topics learned in class to personal behaviors or situations they may encounter; and

● Including time in the curriculum for student questions and integrating these topics into subsequent activities to cover topics of intrinsic interest to your students. (Silverio Marques, 2014)

● Teens, Health, and Technology: A National Survey conducted by the Center on Media and Human Development, School of Communication, Northwestern University gathered a nationally-representative sample of 1,156 U.S. adolescents. Data from this survey showed that 43 percent of teenagers have viewed pornography online, 27 percent have viewed how to play alcohol drinking games, and 25 percent have viewed how to get tobacco/nicotine products (Wartella et al., 2015).

● Consider the role that your school may play in pedagogically addressing the viewing of negative health information online (e.g., pornography, how to play alcohol games).

10. Consider:

● Where does sexuality education fall within the broader context of the school mission and curriculum?

● Where do conversations need to happen to reflect on human sexuality prior to implementing a curriculum or program?

● Does your school want to use an established curriculum, develop its own, integrate concepts into existing classes, or adapt a curriculum to your needs?

● There are different ways to incorporate health and sexuality education into the school setting, including:

○ Health classes

○ Transdisciplinary projects

○ Guest speakers

○ Using literature from authors representing a diversity of sexual identities

○ Having a “wellness day”

○ Hosting workshops for parents

○ Conducting professional development for faculty

Ultimately, it may be our school communities’ values — moral, ethical, religious, or otherwise— and what we want for our students that determine our approach to sexuality education. Indeed, “moral education (and values education more broadly) is inextricably bound up with sex education, just as it is with education in general” (Halstead & Reiss, 2003). “The key questions now are what sort of values schools should teach in sex education, and what approach they should adopt” (Halstead & Reiss, 2003)? What values a school community espouses and how a school goes about cultivating and representing those values is unique to every independent school.

REFERENCES

Breuner, C. C., Mattson, G., Committee on Adolescence, & Committee on Psychosocial Aspects of Child and Family Health. (2016). Sexuality education for children and adolescents. Pediatrics, 138(2), e1–e11. doi:10.1542/peds.2016-1348

Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning. (2017). What is SEL? Retrieved July 1, 2017, from http://www.casel.org/what-is-sel/

Fortenberry, J. D. (2013). Puberty and adolescent sexuality. Hormones and Behavior, 64(2), 280–287. doi:10.1016/j.yhbeh.2013.03.007

Goldfarb, E. S., & Constantine, N. A. (2011). Sexuality Education. In Encyclopedia of Adolescence (pp. 322– 331). Elsevier. doi:10.1016/B978-0-12-373951-3.00086-7

Goldfarb, E. S., & Lieberman, L. (2016). Sexuality Education During Adolescence. In J. J.Ponzetti, Jr. (Ed.), Evidence-based Approaches to Sexuality-Education: A Global Perspective (pp. 218–236). New York: Routledge.

Hall, K. S., McDermott Sales, J., Komro, K. A., & Santelli, J. S. (2016). The state of sex education in the United States. The Journal of Adolescent Health, 58(6), 595–597.doi:10.1016/j.jadohealth.2016.03.032

Halstead, J. M., & Reiss, M. J. (2003). Values in sex education: From principles to practice. London: RoutledgeFalmer.

Robinson, K. H., & Davies, C. (2017). Sexuality education in early childhood. In L. Allen & M. L.

Rasmussen (Eds.), The palgrave handbook of sexuality education (pp. 217–242). London: Palgrave Macmillan UK. doi:10.1057/978-1-137-40033-8_11

Silverio Marques, S. (2014). Developmentally-Appropriate Sexuality Education: Theory, Conceptualization, and Practice (Doctoral dissertation). University of California, Berkeley. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/1665572178

Strasburger, V. C., Jordan, A. B., & Donnerstein, E. (2010). Health effects of media on children and adolescents. Pediatrics, 125(4), 756–767. doi:10.1542/peds.2009-2563

Wartella, E., Rideout, V., Zupancic, H., Beaudoin-Ryan, L., & Lauricella, A. (2015). Teens, Health, and Technology: A National Survey. Evanston, IL: Northwestern University. Retrieved from http://cmhd.northwestern.edu/wp- content/uploads/2015/05/1886_1_SOC_ConfReport_TeensHealthTech_051115.pdf

Posted with permission from Justine Ang Fonte who will be one of our keynote speakers at ELMLEConnect in Malta, January 27-29. Want more information on how to register for our conference? Go here.