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Curriculum Reimagined: Navigating Change for Deeper Engagement

Curriculum Reimagined: Navigating Change for Deeper Engagement

Tuesday, January 7, 2025 at 3:30 PM (EST) to Tuesday, February 18, 2025 at 5:00 PM (EST)

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Making changes to curriculum can be daunting, but the alternative isn’t appealing—nothing will stifle a student’s engagement more than stale material that’s misaligned with their needs and interests. Before reviewing what you teach, it’s essential to have a clear understanding of why you teach it. This program will guide participants through a process to identify (and possibly update) the values at the heart of their curriculum, consider new perspectives on the role that content plays in learning, explore models and frameworks that push learning to new levels, and build a plan for thoughtful and effective change–whether at the scale of the single classroom or the full school.

Schedule

Five 90-minute virtual sessions (via Zoom) plus 1-2 hours of asynchronous engagement between sessions (via Canvas).

All sessions occur from 3:30-5:00 PM on the following dates:

  • Jan 7 
  • Jan 14
  • Jan 28
  • Feb 4 
  • Feb 18
Learning Objectives

Participants will be able to:

  • Thoughtfully question curricular approaches and draw from a range of examples to expand their thinking about curriculum.
  • Connect their beliefs about learning, kids, and school to current and imagined practices around curriculum, assessment, and instruction.
  • Articulate the realities and change principles that inform effective curricular leadership in their school.
  • Design and refine an action plan to move perceptions and practices around curriculum forward in their classroom, department, division, or school.
  • Develop a cohort micro-community within the larger group, and learn from and connect with peers and colleagues from other schools.
Target Audience

This program is suited to anyone with a hand in school curriculum. Breakout and cohort groups will ensure that people in similar roles get tailored learning experiences based on their roles relative to curriculum. 

  • Academic administrators and leaders 
    • Heads of school and associate heads for teaching and learning
    • Division directors and assistant division heads 
    • Deans of studies and academic deans
  • Teacher leaders 
    • Department chairs 
    • Grade team leaders
  • Classroom teachers 

Registration Options

Credits Price
SAIS Member
$375.00 See QTY Discounts
Non-Member School
$449.00 See QTY Discounts
SESSION 1: Redefining Curriculum: A Fresh Look at What Drives Learning

January 7, 2025, 3:30-5:00 PM Eastern

  • What are we teaching?
  • Why are we teaching it?
  • What is curriculum? What could it be?
  • What purpose does curriculum serve?
SESSION 2: Aspirations & Audits: Curriculum as a Tool for Alignment and Innovation

January 14, 2025, 3:30-5:00 PM Eastern

  • Where are we headed? Where are we now?
  • What outcomes are being generated by our current curriculum? What outcomes might be possible with a new curriculum?
SESSION 3: Curriculum Reimagined: Innovative Approaches for Modern Classrooms

January 28, 2025, 3:30-5:00 PM Eastern

  • What models, frameworks, and examples can help us think differently about curriculum?
  • How might new ways of thinking challenge us (both productively and unproductively)?
SESSION 4: Transitions & Transformation: Curricular Leadership Within Schools

February 4, 2025, 3:30-5:00 PM Eastern

  • What are the realities (opportunities and barriers) at my school? How does effective change happen?
SESSION 5: Action Planning & Feedforward: Next Steps in Advancing Curriculum

February 18, 2025, 3:30-5:00 PM Eastern

  • What are my next steps, and how can I be effective in shaping curriculum in new ways?

Facilitators:

Rob MacDonald

Rob most recently served as director of academics at NuVu Innovation School in Cambridge, MA, where he led the development of curriculum and learning around a studio-based and growth-centered model. His career in education began at Phillips Academy in Andover as a math and English teacher. He then spent 23 years at Beaver Country Day School in roles that included classroom teacher, department chair, and head of Beaver’s research & design team. Throughout his career, he’s worked to tap into the curiosity that's innate in all students, develop strategies for increasing student agency and engagement, build growth-centered assessment systems, and create opportunities for students to do work that’s meaningful and impactful. Rob’s work as a consultant has included projects focused on supporting early-career teachers, developing more efficient and effective systems for driving school change, assisting with the schedule redesign process, and helping schools design and leverage makerspaces.

Meera Shah

As an independent school educator and academic leader for over two decades, Meera has mentored teachers, overseen the professional growth of faculty at the department and all-school level, run leadership teams, and shepherded curricular and programmatic change in schools. As founder and lead consultant of Trey Education, she's provided one-on-one thought partnership and mentorship for academic leaders, facilitated custom all-school leadership development programming for department chairs, coached teachers and developed teacher mentorship programs, facilitated team retreats, partnered with regional associations for professional learning, supported schools and leaders with program visioning and development, optimized schedules, conducted senior administrative searches; and more. In short, Meera provides strategic school leaders with added capacity, expertise, and third-party perspectives and facilitation. Meera partners with schools with the belief that change, growth, and empowerment are intertwined, and thus prioritizes authentic relationships, responsive design, and collaboration in her work.
Event Policies & Acknowledgments

Payment may be made by credit/debit or ACH. The form defaults to credit/debit but ACH is selectable.

The program is non-refundable.