InterContinental Hotel - Abu Dhabi
Full Bio
CHRIS WRIGHT is an experienced educational leader. He has been head of three schools, has worked in the tertiary sector in education research and teacher education and currently works at a school system level as Director of Education for a school company that runs 50 schools.
Mr Wright is an experienced national and international workshop leader with a special focus on facilitating workshops for school leaders and leadership programs. He is the co-author of a development course for the new IB Leadership Pathway.
Mr Wright has always felt that it is a great privilege, as well as responsibility, to be a school leader. He believes ‘schooling’ is about human flourishing, developing the sense of ‘self’ and the nurturing of character.
The role of education is to help students to know themselves and prepare them to thrive and be responsible contributors in a fast changing and challenging world.
3-Hour Workshop: Thursday, Oct. 19
Coherence in Education Systems: Schools of Human Flourishing - A Focus on Vision
What should the purpose of education be? Few would argue with the widely shared ambition to continue to raise the bar and improve academic standards, supporting young people on their journey to thrive in adult life and in the workplace.
However, the current definition of educational outcomes, the focus on accountability and criteria for success that place a dominance on academic progress are at the expense of models of schooling grounded in human development. Education is about more than the flight towards academic success. It is, at its heart, about human flourishing.
A role for the school leader is to be the chief story teller for the community. This workshop will give you, as a school leader, reflection time to re-consider your chief story: how do you define the purpose of schooling, and how do you embed this in the intricate life of your school? To what extent is your mission compelling to all stakeholders? How do we lead with a passionate sense of vision?
This last question takes us to the heart of systems thinking: how to build schools that enable human beings to flourish through all that they do -- policies, processes, practices and people.
A complete education is one that nourishes the mind, body and spirit. The whole child is the whole point. A number of questions act as leitmotifs throughout this workshop:
- As a leader, who am I?
- Why am I here?
- What do I really value?
- What drives me?
- Who am I dancing for?
- Who inspires me and how?
- What is the nature of my CV – the ‘course of my life’?
- How then shall I lead?
- How do I ensure that all teachers live out this vision with passion?
In reflecting on these questions for ourselves we are journeying on the road to developing schools of human flourishing.
As leaders, you are facilitators of adult learning. This workshop will provide you with practical tools to explore these key questions about the purpose of schooling with your staff at school.
Target Audience: School heads, principals, curriculum and instructional leaders, board trustees and others in leadership positions.
Continuum Levels: 2, 3 = Deepening Understanding (theory-based learning, investigating models, identifying experts) | Initiating Implementation (setting structures, developing skills, piloting practice, scaffolding support)
NESA's Learning Continuum:
3-Hour Workshop: Friday, Oct. 20
Coherence in Education Systems: Schools of Human Flourishing - A Focus on Developing Our Culture
School leaders are architects of school culture. How do you, as a school leader, develop a school culture that celebrates human flourishing, that educates both the heart and mind of all students and staff?
A role for the school leader is to be the chief story teller for the community and to define the culture of the school. In this context culture can be understood as ‘the way we do things around here.’ This workshop will give you, as a school leader, reflection time to re-consider your chief story: what do you value and promote? How do you embed your school’s mission in the culture of your school? These questions take us to the heart of systems thinking: how to build schools that enable humans to flourish through all that they do -- policies, processes, practices and people.
In this workshop, we will professionally inquire into the following: What is our school culture? Who defines it? What are my beliefs and values which inform the culture of the school? How do we make these explicit? How shall I lead? Where and how is organizational culture of importance in our schools? Is there a difference between organizational culture and national culture? Do values, beliefs and actions related to education differ among cultures? What values and beliefs about education are prevalent in other parts of the world and in different cultures? How can/should these differences be managed by leaders in international contexts?
A complete education is one that nourishes the mind, body and spirit: the whole child is the whole point. A number of questions act as leitmotifs throughout this workshop:
- As a leader, who am I?
- Why am I here?
- What do I really value?
- What drives me?
- Who am I dancing for?
- Who inspires me and how?
- What is the nature of my CV – the ‘course of my life’?
- How then shall I lead?
- How do I embed the mission into the living culture of the school?
- What is special about my school?
- Why should people come to my school?
In reflecting on these questions for ourselves we are journeying on the road to developing schools of human flourishing.
Target Audience: School heads, principals, curriculum and instructional leaders, board trustees and others in leadership positions.
Continuum Levels: 2, 3 = Deepening Understanding (theory-based learning, investigating models, identifying experts) | Initiating Implementation (setting structures, developing skills, piloting practice, scaffolding support)
NESA's Learning Continuum: