Inclusive Practices and Open Dialogues : The Aus

Maxine Driscoll and James Nottingham

2 min read

About the Meet-Up

Join us for a thought-provoking virtual meet-up designed for PYP schools in Australia and New Zealand. Come be a part of expert-led discussions on topics most relevant to you, take-away actionable insights, and expand your local professional network.

Session 1

Integrating indigenous perspectives in the PYP

Session 2

Does questioning boost student engagement?

About the Sessions

Session 1

Integrating Indigenous Perspectives in the PYP

Understanding and embracing local contexts is at the core of teaching and learning in the IB PYP. Join Maxine Driscoll to explore the importance of integrating Indigenous Perspectives into the curriculum and make these an integral part of all aspects of teaching and learning in your community.

You will:

Understand why it is important to focus on indigenous and aboriginal perspectives in the PYP
Acquire effective strategies to ensure authentic integration in all aspects of teaching and learning
Learn how to inspire meaningful student action within and outside of the school community

Maxine Driscoll

Session 2

Does questioning boost student engagement?

Spoiler alert! Questioning does boost engagement – but only when it’s the right type of questions at the right time for the right purpose. Typical rates of engagement across a learning experience are approximately 50% (Yair, 2000; Gallup, 2023). When the most common form of questioning is used, this drops to one-third! Join this session to discover how inquiry could help student engagement rise to approximately two-thirds.

You will:

Know when students are (or are not) engaging – remember, looks can be deceptive!
Explore tested strategies to increase student engagement and participation
Discover the importance of wait times and how to improve these for everyone
Learn ways to build exploratory talk into everyday classroom interactions

Click here to download James Nottingham’s The Learning Pit illustration so you can integrate questioning, foster LPAs, and encourage dialogue and reflection amongst your students.

James Nottingham

Know your Speakers

Session 1

Integrating indigenous perspectives in the PYP

Session 2

Does questioning boost student engagement?

This event is organised independently of and not endorsed by the IB. Toddle's events are organised to enable exchange of practices and ideas within the educator community axnd are not a replacement for the IB official workshops. Views and opinions expressed by the speakers are their personal views and should not be construed as official guidance by the IB

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Maxine Driscoll

For the past 20 years, Maxine Driscoll has led three IB World Schools in three different countries and her 21st Century Leadership Consultancy - Think Strategic - through floods, military coups, personal tragedy and Covid 19. She has intuitively understood that any organisation must be future focussed, have a clear picture of where they are heading and harness the talents and abilities of all stakeholders to ensure success.

Nita Luthria Row

A former school leader with 12 years of teaching experience in the IB DP and PYP, Nita now works in the social sector at an organisation which believes that quality education is the right of every child in India.She has a passion for words and languages and is now trying to learn to speak Kannada.A forever learner, Nita loves to read and is currently trying to up her sourdough baking game.

Chad Hyatt

Chad Hyatt has been an educator for 25 years. He has been a PYP teacher, PYP coordinator, MYP coordinator, and PYP/MYP instructional coach across the USA. He was a key transdisciplinary learning committee member for the PYP review process and a committee member for the IB program standards and practices design sprint. He has been an Association of Hoosier IB World Schools Board Member since 2015, serving as the MYP vice-president. He is an independent educational consultant with experience in designing and facilitating face-to-face and virtual PD.

James Nottingham

James Nottingham is a sought-after keynote speaker and in-school consultant. He is the author of 11 books about teaching and leadership, with his twelfth - and most comprehensive book – due out at the end of this year. Formerly a teacher’s aide, teacher, and leader in schools in the UK, James makes 2-3 visits per year to Australia and NZ to support schools with questioning, challenge, feedback, growth mindset, engagement, and equity. More about his work can be found at LearningPit.org.

Angela MeeLee

Angela Mee Lee has lived internationally for over 20 years and worked at schools in Japan, Hong Kong, Thailand, Singapore, India and Vietnam. In her present role as Early Year Music facilitator, Angela brings unique artistic expertise to the early childhood learning community by expanding and deepening the ideas of teachers and young children through engagements with materials and musical expression. With over eight years of pioneering different ateliers, Angela introduces ways for schools to start building inspiring learning environments and concrete ideas to develop an authentic transdisciplinary program. She believes building an atelier space is the first step for a community to review mindset and scaffold the potential for change.

The Aus-NZ PYP Meet: Inclusive Practices and Open Dialogues

About the Meet-Up

About the Sessions

Integrating Indigenous Perspectives in the PYP

Does questioning boost student engagement?

Know your Speakers

Up next: Related articles, talks and more

The Aus-NZ PYP Meet:
Inclusive Practices and Open Dialogues