NESA Learning Futures Summit FAQ

The Summit welcomes educators, students, and chaperones from NESA Member and Affiliate Schools, as well as schools beyond the NESA region. Each group participates as part of a shared, intergenerational learning experience.

• Teachers and school leaders will participate as learners, exploring future-focused pedagogies, collaborating with students, and considering new ways to integrate student agency into their teaching practices.
• Students in Grades 7-12 (Years 8-13) from NESA region schools and beyond will contribute their voices, take on leadership roles, and co-create solutions for real-world challenges in teams of 5-20.
• Educator chaperones will accompany and support students by facilitating engagement and providing guidance during sessions, ensuring a safe learning environment as well as the after-hour welfare of the students from their school.

No. Each school may choose the participation model that works best for them:

• A student delegation accompanied by required chaperones
• An educator or educator delegation
• Both students (with required chaperones) and educators

The program is intentionally designed to be meaningful for each group independently, while providing shared opportunities for learning and connection.

All educators are welcome. Those who may find particular value include:

• Classroom Teachers: Looking for future-ready practices and student-led strategies.
• Instructional Leaders: Exploring innovative pedagogies and supporting instructional growth.
• Specialists & Support Staff: Advancing student well-being and holistic learning across the school.

Schools choosing to bring students should register a minimum of 5 and a maximum of 20 students, as they will be working in teams throughout the event.

Chaperones accompany and support student delegations by:

• Facilitating student engagement and participation
• Providing guidance during sessions
• Ensuring a safe learning environment and the after-hour welfare of the students from their school

Chaperones are present during learning sessions but are not active participants, and they do not attend educator social gatherings.

Each school is responsible for determining the appropriate number of chaperones per student, and for ensuring adequate supervision in line with its own child protection and safeguarding policies.

Yes, in intentional ways. The Summit offers time for learning together, and also time for focused learning within each group:

• Together: Intergenerational sessions bring students and educators into meaningful dialogue and collaborative problem-solving to enhance learning for all.
• Separately: Targeted workshops address the distinct learning needs of each group: educator professional growth and student leadership development.

The Summit is founded on three core pillars:

• Innovation in Education: Exploring and applying future-ready tools and pedagogies.
• Compassion & Agency: Supporting students in taking action and leading initiatives that impact their communities.
• Intergenerational Collaboration: Engaging in shared learning and joint problem-solving between students and educators.

The Summit is designed to engage both students and educators in powerful, purposeful co-learning. Delegates will collaborate and contribute in different ways:

• Educators engage in future-ready pedagogies, collaborate with students, and participate in workshops that enrich professional growth and classroom impact.
• Students design and lead future-focused sessions, collaborate with educators, reflect with peers, and develop leadership skills to drive change in their communities.

Participants will leave the Summit with:

• Sustainable lifelong learning habits that support standards-based learning in every classroom and discipline.
• Future-ready practices and pedagogies that elevate inquiry, creativity, and authentic problem-solving.
• Approaches for cultivating student agency and supporting shared ownership of learning.
• A mentor mindset characterized by dignity, high expectations, reciprocity, and shared responsibility for growth.
• Enhanced critical and reflective thinking and problem solving abilities.
• A deeper understanding of diverse and developmental perspectives, strengthening empathy.
• Practical experience with project-based learning, collaborative work, and action planning.
• Tools and frameworks needed to initiate innovation and drive for positive social change.
• Strengthened leadership abilities, including communication, facilitation, and collective decision-making.

Intergenerational learning challenges the traditional dynamic where adults are the "knowers" and students the "receivers" – instead positioning both as learners and teachers, and creating a shared language for improvement. 

This horizontal structure embodies the Mentor Mindset – high expectations and shared responsibility for growth – and models authentic partnership and dignity.

When educators and students co-experience challenge and support, they develop mutual understanding, reciprocal empathy and insight, which:

• Dismantles stereotypes and humanizes both groups: Adults see students’ capacities, creativity, and resilience; students see adults’ vulnerability, persistence, and care.
• Makes learning visible and shared, something that unfolds between generations in real time: The group becomes a living model of collective efficacy and psychological safety – essential conditions for deep learning identified by thought leaders such as David Yeager, Carol Dweck, and John Hattie.
• Drives lasting change: When both students and adults engage in structured challenge and support – wrestling with complexity together – they carry that mindset back to classrooms, leadership teams, and communities, ensuring the learning doesn’t stop with a single cohort.

The summit aims to:

• Foster inquiry-based learning: Promote a culture of curiosity by encouraging critical questioning and exploration.
• Encourage action-oriented, project-based learning: Provide a platform for designing and implementing projects that address real-world challenges and drive meaningful innovation. 
• Promote compassion and empathy: Deepen understanding of diverse developmental perspectives through shared narratives and dialogue.
• Facilitate intergenerational dialogue: Create spaces for meaningful conversations across age groups, challenging myths and stereotypes about learning, and supporting the development of individual and collective learning stories.
• Empower global changemakers: Inspire participants to see themselves as agents of change by highlighting youth–adult partnerships, elevating lived stories, and sparking innovation and futures work.
• Develop leadership: Nurture leadership grounded in critical thinking, collaborative decision-making, and a shared commitment to positive impact.
• Cultivate Lifelong Learning Practices: Model learning as a shared, ongoing process by promoting reflective practice and personal growth across generations.

Bringing students and educators together creates an innovative space for meaningful dialogue, collaborative problem-solving, and shared growth — strengthening school culture and amplifying impact across the region.

Together, we will model the kind of dignity-centered, co-created learning culture that NESA champions: one that is equitable, human, and future-focused.

To advance this vision, the Summit will:

Encourage innovation in teaching & learning

• Promote innovative teaching strategies and technologies that students and educators can explore and apply.
• Engage participants in future-focused learning to prepare for evolving challenges in education and beyond.

Cultivate a shared vision of global citizenship

• Integrate empathy, sustainability, and social responsibility across student and educator sessions.
• Inspire compassionate, informed action in our communities through a shared vision of global citizenship.

Promote intergenerational learning and synergy

• Create collaborative learning experiences that draw on educator expertise and student insight.
• Bring students and educators together to co-create learning through mutually enriching experiences.

Support long-term impact and collaboration

• Forge meaningful connections between students, educators, and schools.
• Extend the Summit's impact by promoting a culture of co-learning and enabling ongoing partnerships and initiatives.

Educators and students will receive a NESA Certificate of Participation acknowledging their attendance at the event.