iLEAD Maker Team Member Angie Nastovaska Impacts the Global Educational System Again.
By the iLEAD Maker Team
 
Some of most popular buzzwords on the global educational scene are "equitable education," "cross-disciplinary rigor," "social emotional learning," and "digital literacy." At iLEAD, these aren't just buzzwords; it's what we are committed to, a different way of doing education.

In connection with the collaborative work on the Maker team, the global educational scene, represented by International Baccalaureate, reached out to Dr. Angie Nastovska, requesting her professional support in the development of workshops. This multifaceted  role takes her on a second journey to the Hague, Netherlands, on Sept. 7. This will be her second time asked to serve, but this time in a very different and more impactful capacity.

Earlier this summer, Angie and distinguished IB team members began to develop global workshops for administrative PLs on digital literacy, e-Assessment, and technology integration for all IB programmes, which include primary years, middle years and the Diploma Programme. 

The workshops are aimed at training administrators, and also IB teachers, on the "Why" and "How" behind these concepts. The workshops will be released by the end of 2016 and be available to teachers and administrators on all seven continents.

Angie is also part of a new global focus group that was tasked with responding to the latest research that addresses the failure of learners in college due to the lack of social-emotional  readiness. Here's just one of many articles on the subject which alert us to the need to prepare our learners: "Unacceptable: many Teens... that used then current research to underline the obvious" (Flury, 2007).  

Educators have become more aware of the importance of social emotional learning. According to the 2007 " Condition of Education " report, by the U.S. Department of Education's National Center for Education Statistics, "Nearly half of all college freshmen never earn a degree." More now than ever, "This dropout rate, in many cases, is not due to any lack of academic skill. Instead, the reasons are related to a lack of emotional, social, and self-care abilities needed for a major life transition. Numerous studies cite self-esteem, stress, anxiety, depression, and minor health issues as the most accurate predictors of grade-point averages and enrollment-retention figures for college freshmen."

Given this acute need, the megaminds of the International Baccalaureate Global Headquarters decided to develop a team of prominent educators to help them design a Social-Emotional Portfolio System that will help all learners not only know and understand the IB learner outcomes but also use them as an authentic tool belt for college and career readiness. The work of the Maker Team related to social emotional learning (SEL rubrics, PBL process with balanced SEL and AR, participation in global survey such as the GALLUP poll, using academic data for individual and team success-MAP, ILPs, WOOP goal setting, Character Lab and the 7 Habits) has given us a priority among the world educators. 

This month, on September 7, Angie Nastovska is representing the United States during this task force event in the Hague, Netherlands.

In a following update, we will share experiences and resources gathered from this wonderful trip. We are so proud of the work our Dr. Angie Nastovska is doing!



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