ICGS 2026, Toronto
ICGS was fantastic this year with a number of great sessions and speakers. I left feeling good about the work we're doing, having new ideas to keep it going, and relief at knowing how hard so many other schools are leaning into the challenges of our day, too!
Here are some notes from several sessions attended:
2026 Conference Theme:
The work continues and increases in complexity and magnitude:
-have a robust and large team of collaborators
-extend grace
Workshop: Safer School Trips
full of concrete advice and establishing best practice:
-preparation is key
-work with a 3rd party organizer
-train for incidents
presentation was validating of our preparation/organization for outdoor ed; we do a number of things well
big takeaway - training for faculty, even with 3rd party trip support
-has me thinking about ways to partner with BAWT and/or NAL for training for chaperones on outdoor ed so everyone feels equipped to look after themselves and students in the outdoors
-dovetails clearly with conversations with faculty, too
Workshop: Evaluating Instruction through the Lens of how Girls Learn
Used 3 scenarios to explore the gaps that might show up in our school's tools for evaluating instruction:
student quietly disengages from class, does not actively participate, submitted written work shows mastery; grade is high
student leans on group mates in collaborative work to do the heavy lifting, participates but doesn't stretch self or go deep or contribute in the same way as group mates; submitted group work is strong, grade is high
classroom has a positive, warm atmosphere, where teacher affirms contributions to class, and every student participates; questions asked of students are requests to recall previously stated material; students overwhelmingly answer correctly and feel great about the class
Presenters then asked what elements of our respective instruction evaluation tools capture these scenarios? What gaps start to show up? What is the tool lacking the capacity to capture?
Presentation presented the question of think about the archetypes of students in our schools who are successful but not thriving in the learning process, and then examine instructional tool critically to see if, where, and how it captures those students and practices to support their needs.
Workshop: Building a Culture of Feedback
Presentation focused on building a culture of feedback in the aftermath of the pandemic when evaluation and teacher feedback systems had been put on hold. Presenter came to the school from public school and teacher training experience. Presenter notes that this is a journey in progress and presenting from a spirit of collaboration and shared experience.
Challenges encountered:
-many teachers had gone years without observations or feedback
-informal observations made people nervous and stressed
-experienced teachers did not see the value in regular feedback
Presenter's actions:
-used a variety of resources for feedback frameworks from public school system and education researchers; customized a tool for school and tailored to its mission
-use the tool for formal observations
-use a post-it note of praise for informal observations
-instituted instructional rounds with mixed groupings of teachers (cross grade level and cross discipline) because all research says this is best practice
Next round of challenges encountered:
-many teachers did not know how to give feedback to colleagues in meaningful ways (skewed in the direction of kind and full of praise but not helpful because even the praise lacked specificity and depth like "I'm so impressed by what you're doing in the classroom with students. You're such a talented teacher!")
-tool is comprehensive but too cumbersome
Wins:
-some "aha" moments for teachers in teaching practice that have felt valuable
-greater openness to observation, especially informal observation
-more buy-in about seeing observation and instructional feedback as modeling lifelong learning (less fear about repercussions, termination of employment, and/or cynicism in being able to learn anything worthwhile)
Next steps:
-presenter has started capturing data from classrooms on frequency in which girls state something like "I don't know if this is right, but..." and/or immediately discredits their own response at the end of a statement; providing data to faculty to dig into and explore the conversation from a data-informed place
-refine the tool to still be effective but also less cumbersome
-examine the calendar and flow of observations of the school year; even as the presenter's primary responsibility in her role, it's hard to schedule observations 2x/year for faculty (this year only managed a fall observation for faculty)
-view the tool and the scheduling as things to continuously revisit and not see as "done"
Workshop: Social Media Panel
UK, US, Australia - Girls High School Heads
Panel consisted for 3 heads of schools; one from the UK, one from the US, and one from Australia
Discussion focused on 1) social media, 2) AI, and 3) evolution of ed tech
US head looks to UK and Australia for guidance, UK head looks to Australia, and Australia has established it's processes and how it maintains focus on the critical elements and not get lost in the noise
UK and Australian heads are grateful for changing legislation in their respective countries, but note the lack of a plan to enforce these new laws (e.g. social media bans for kids under 16) and fear it will fall to schools and parents to do so, which is a flaw in the design
Partnering with Parents:
-high school heads report that parent anxiety is resulting in kids feeling judged and becoming more likely to hide their online behaviors from parents/trusted adults - that is of concern
-parents are asking school to protect/safeguard students from the risks associated with technology - heads replied that the best thing they can do is equip students to be able to protect themselves
AI Engagement:
-broadly, girls are interacting with AI like an "HR department" (focused on ethics, policy, governance), and boys are interacting with AI like "CEOs" (they're more a part of how it's getting built and developed); we need some girls to be "CEOs" with AI, too, or they won't be factored into how it's developed
-don't want emphasis on girls engaging with AI to become equivalent to being successful the same way the push to have more girls in STEM seemed to also define a narrower path to success at the expense of other pathways
Misogyny Online
-all heads acknowledge that their students are dealing with an increasingly ugly version of misogyny online that they are all trying to prepare them for in age appropriate ways that are not too late
Key Takeaway:
-this landscape just gets more and more complex and is more than a K-8 school can manage in time or age-appropriateness; girls high schools are leaning hard into this work and continuing the journey where we leave off in ways that are inspiring and full of hope