My first foray into the world of leading a PYP workshop

I finished my WSL training last year and have been patiently waiting for the chance to facilitate my first workshop. I have moved from Australia to Singapore. I wanted to be closer to the action. I was hoping to receive a workshop with familiar content, such as Making the PYP Happen in the Classroom. Although it would be challenging to develop these understandings with teachers new to the programme I was confident that I could facilitate this quite successfully. I was also hoping to be paired with an experienced workshop leader from whom I would learn the ropes.

So…I received the email. It was Making the PYP Happen. I was excited. It was in a couple of months…that would give me time to prepare. It was in Hyderabad…India. Never been there before – sounds like an adventure! And I was facilitating by myself!! OK…not exactly to plan…

At first I was a little worried. I expressed this concern to the IB and received a very supportive reply – “You’ll be fine :)”

Bouyed by the inspirational pep talk I received I commenced to plan my workshop. I read through the documentation and discovered that there are 12 key understandings for the workshop. This would be a challenge to do them justice in a three day workshop – I can’t imagine doing it at a 2 day in-school workshop. I used the resources available on the OCC – this was excellent. 28 sample planners! Kathy Derrick was amazing – shared a planner with powerpoint and supporting workbook and answered a thousand ridiculous emails. A few drinks still owing for Kathy. I worked through the planning, adjusting the powerpoint and planner to suit my style and to incorporate some little gems I have collected from throughout the years. I was ready!

I found out that a mate would be there also running a different workshop. @noahbeaumont for those tweeps out there. We connected on Twitter and arranged to meet up at the hotel to hold hands and explore the city a little on the first day. On the way there I had the pleasure of experiencing Changi Airport – love the Oasis lounge! Conserving energy and preparing my body for the rigourous flight ahead.

After a longing embrace Noah and I hit the town like the authentic seasoned travellors we are – a private car with a driver. We had what could be described as the worst day in tourist history. Slight over exaggeration – but close. We had been driving for only ten minutes when we saw the stereotypical game of cricket. In a field. Dirt pitch. Twenty random guys playing. Noah ordered the driver to pull over and we tried to jump out of the car to join the game. Our driver hesitated and wouldn’t let us out of the car. “Too dangerous” he claimed. He explained that we were in quite a poor area of the city and he was worried that the locals might enjoy seeing two large leather wallets run onto the field to join the game. We drove on. We visited a palace which was quite nice. It was rather humourous though as our guide, whose name was Neil (may have been spelt Neel), gave us a very detailed tour of the palace. “That’s a car.” “A carpet.” “A table.”  There was also an eclectic mix of everyday items on display. Cutlery, crockery, a shoe, a swiss army knife… I’m sure they dated back to 1983. After the palace, we visited an over-priced tailor (where we sat on the fully mattressed floor), India’s equivalent of Kmart and a delightful restaurant for lunch with a lovely view of an air conditioner. All in all – a great day!!

That afternoon we visited the school for the WSL briefing. The school was ridiculously welcoming. They greeted us with gifts (in fact they greeted us with gifts every day!) and planted a tree in our honour. They will send us a photo of our tree every six months to show us how much it has grown! We spent some time setting up our classrooms and orientating ourselves to the school. The support from the school was unbelievable. It was as though I had been assigned a team of staff to assist with my every need. Every time I turned around there was someone asking me if I wanted a coffee, had enough chairs, enough glue sticks, needed help with the IT…it was truly amazing. This level of support continued for the entire workshop. It was lovely to meet the other WSLs – experienced and passionate educators from schools throughout the Asia-Pacific region. They were excited to hear it was my first workshop and took the rookie under their wings, always on hand to offer assistance and advice. The IB rep Marcia was equally as supportive. She constantly popped into my room to join in discussions and just be there in case I required any assistance.

The next day saw the commencement of the workshops – we listened to the Governor of the school speak passionately about his vision for the school. For something different. For a truly International school for India. The school Mission Statement gives an insight into the unique vision of this wonderful school:

“Sreenidhi International School is a vision translated into reality of giving students a modern, meaningful and wholesome education. We have made this possible through an ongoing conversation between students, teachers and parents. Our aim is to ensure that every child learns to be intellectually sceptical yet optimistic, doubting yet positive, unconventional yet constructive, competitive but not destructive.
A student who studies at Sreenidhi will be a renaissance individual in a universal sense.” http://www.sreenidhiinternational.com/Mission.aspx

Marcia spoke about the IB and took participants through an engaging overview of the Organisation as well as the myriad of support materials that exist and presented some exciting new development for the future.  I then met my workshop group and lead them back to our room.

What an interesting group of individuals with whom I would spend the next three days. There were a number of PYP Coordinators, some classroom teachers (early and later childhood), some single subject teachers (Art, PE, Library), a Principal (who had no PYP experience and whose school was being Authorised in July) and even a CEO of a school that will open in August. I think differentiation would be the order of the day!

The next three days were an absolute whirlwind. Taking this group of educators through the intricacies of the PYP, creating experiences to embed some understandings, asking and answering questions together, applying our knowledge in the context of the planner, laughing, working late into the night to prepare for subsequent days, sharing meals, some drinks, a game of pool, ridiculously bumpy bus trips, security scanners everywhere…it was an amazing ride.

A highlight actually came at the end of the last day. As a gesture of appreciation we organised a game of cricket on the field at the school. This game was about saying thankyou to the staff, the cleaners, the security guards, the caterers, the students of the school and the random people just hanging around in case they can help. The people who had looked after us so well for the past three days. Did we get a huge turn out for our game? Not really. We had about 20 people. A handful of students, some teachers from the school, a couple of the school leadership, some security guards, a cleaner and a groundsman. And an Aussie and a Pom. It was sensational!

More so than I have over the past few years, I felt the community that is the IB. The support I received prior to the workshops as well as throughout it. The cameraderie of the WSLs. The shared experiences I had with the participants. The atmosphere within the school. We really are all on a journey with so many similarities. It was powerful to spend this time with educators with vastly different perspectives. From the large, prosperous schools in Delhi to the poor local schools in Hyderabad with no facilities and no money who work every Saturday because they value collaboration but have no time to meet during the week.

This experience has renewed my sense of community. I feel refreshed and empowered and inspired. I can’t recommend this experience more highly! Get amongst it people!!