CEESA Conference – Gary Percival

The title of the 27^th annual CEESA conference in Sofia was ‘Transforming Education Through Communities’. In order to accommodate more flexibility, and to facilitate attendance at a wider variety of sessions, the conference was structured differently this year. In the first instance, there was no keynote speaker, and, instead, far more speakers and workshops were made available. As well as the more formal talks and presentations, we were encouraged to choose from a series of short workshops (anything from 20 minutes to half an hour in length), which were running simultaneously.

The concept of ‘community’ that was explored during the conference was very broad, as made evident from the scope of talks, workshops and presentations. For example, I attended the following: ‘Language Arts Team Discussions’, ‘Building Bridges: Building Communities’, ‘Learning Communities in the Literacy Classroom’, ‘Tired of Your Jive – Teaching Language Variation’, ‘Help for Refugees’, and workshops on multi-sensory learning and creating reading groups. One of my favorite sessions was by an IICS parent, Judy Saruhan, who explained ‘The Power of Empathy: Moving from Argument to Understanding and Collaboration’. The following is a selective sample of the many other sessions on the program: ‘PLC’s at Work in International Schools’, ‘Creating Communities of Inclusion’, ‘Collaborative Facilitation’, and ‘The Science of Mindfulness Practice in the School Setting’ by Tim Burns. Unfortunately, I had to miss some of the more intriguing – such as ‘Building Community Through Morning Announcements’ – owing to engagements elsewhere.