"Pedagogy of the Hopeful": ICS Faculty Prepare for Election Season with The School for Ethics and Global Leadership

The Indian Creek faculty enjoyed an excellent workshop, presented by the School for Ethics and Global Leadership (SEGL) as part of their preparation to guide the School community through the 2024 election season. This session, titled Pedagogy of the Hopeful: Education for the Next Generation provided teachers with understanding, confidence, and tools to help engage students in non-partisan conversation that seeks viewpoint diversity. SEGL is a semester school with campuses in DC, London, and Johannesburg that is devoted to creating ethically strong, internationally aware students. Led by SEGL Founder and Head Noah Bopp and Academic Dean (and former ICS teacher and alumni parent) Colleen Kyle, Tuesday’s workshop was enlightening, interactive, and specifically tailored to the ICS mission and vision.

Peppered with honest conversation and thoughtful activities, the workshop focused on setting guidelines for growth discourse at ICS. “Growth discourse” is conversation that maximizes students’ intellectual, interpersonal, and ethical growth. The model shared by SEGL guides individuals to: 1) begin with belonging; 2) value intent AND impact; 3) avoid echo chambers; 4) follow the STAR ( See - Think - Act – Reflect) structure. Following these growth discourse guidelines creates an atmosphere of conversation that helps students to grow.

Throughout the workshop, members of the faculty discussed the difference between partisan and political conversation and emphasized that sometimes it’s necessary to spend time with discomfort to achieve growth.  The group also reflected on what qualities a non-partisan teacher displays. This was summarized as an educator who begins with belonging, teaches students to think critically and independently, understands that students learn from the inside out (not the outside in), believes that students are innately good, seeks unheard voices, avoids taking stands on issues that lack consensus, and values growth over comfort.

By the end of the workshop, the faculty agreed that keeping discourse rooted in the Creek values of kindness, well-being, and the pursuit of excellence, while enacting the mission to inspire authenticity, connection, and curiosity, viewpoint diversity can exist in a way that leads to understanding and growth. 

 

This workshop was a highly anticipated piece of the teachers’ back-to-school training, as the ICS faculty seeks to guide students through the presidential election season in a way that is educational and inspires confidence and optimism about the world.  Head of School Booth Kyle was pleased with the level of engagement displayed by the faculty. “This was a great day, and I have loved seeing all divisions of the school working on and talking about important topics.” Middle School Spanish teacher Alexandra Vranas Carita spoke for many, sharing, “I am very grateful for this training. I was worried about teaching during and about the election coming into this year, but now I feel that I have a toolbox at hand and am ready to use this as a teaching opportunity.”

 

The Pedagogy of the Hopeful workshop was part of an ongoing professional development series to help ICS teachers to navigate this election cycle in a way that honors the school’s values. The full faculty is also invited to participate in a 13-part AIMS Election Preparation series over the next several months. This education is necessary and important as ICS seeks to create a true culture of kindness, well-being, and excellence.