I attended the International Coalition of Girls Schools Conference this June with Alice, Margot, and Fran. It was a wonderful way to come back to the mission and purpose of our school with educators from around the world. It was also nice to be there with a few people so we could see more workshops, compare notes, and debrief key takeaways with one another.
I attended a pre-conference workshop by Julia Pool from Burn-In and found it to be one of those presentations that sticks with you, and you immediately know you will be circling back to its content again and again. The workshop focused on things educators do (or can do) to sustain themselves in a profession that is demanding and that we are so committed to doing well. Additionally, I attended a presentation by The Agnes Irwin School about their process for removing cell phones from the school day and took great notes on the research they provided and the shared obstacles that they were experiencing that we also see in our own ways.
While other workshops I attended were interesting and expanded my general knowledge about schools, the workshop offered by Kate Medley from Aylesbury High School in the UK on perfectionism in high-achieving girls was also helpful. Many of the tools and strategies provided for supporting students are already embedded within our Advisory, HEART, and SEL curriculum so I didn't walk away with a list of concrete strategies to employ to assist in our own efforts with this (one can dream!), but I did find the wealth of student comments she gathered in her research insightful. The wondering I'm left with is what are ways in which we can use the power of student voice as we continue to ask ourselves how we can help students with perfectionism.