Adaptive Schools Seminars® present a practical set of ideas and tools for developing collaborative groups in becoming effective and better equipped to resolve complex issues around student learning. Professionals learn to talk about the hard-to-talk-about details of learning, teaching, assessment and the cumulative effects of their work with students. The work of the Adaptive Schools Seminars is to develop the resources and capacities of the organization and of individuals to cohesively respond to the changing needs of students and society.

The 4-day seminar not only explores what makes teams effective, but how to develop skills as facilitators and informed group members in informal and formal settings, in small and large groups. It takes participants beyond the idea of professional learning communities to the actual implementation, describing specific ways to weave the collaborative fabric of a faculty, develop group member skills, and acquire the principles and understandings to engage in a continuous cycle of team and individual improvement. Adaptive Schools is the “how” of professional learning communities: how to function in groups, how to lead them, and how to facilitate them for improved leading, teaching, and learning.

Day 1 Learning Outcomes - Participants will have:

• An understanding of research findings regarding professional community in schools

• An understanding of the WHAT, WHY, and HOW of becoming adaptive

• Structures and processes for collaborative conversations

Day 2 Learning Outcomes - Participants will have:

• An extended repertoire of facilitation strategies

• An understanding of four group member capabilities

• An understanding of the Seven Norms of Collaboration

• Increased skills with authentic paraphrasing

Day 3 Learning Outcomes - Participants will have:

• A framing of meetings as learning opportunities

• Structures for successful meetings

• An understanding of how to integrate Norms of Collaboration in meetings

• increased skills posing mediative questions

Day 4 Learning Outcomes - Participants will have:

• Structures and standards for successful meetings

• Perspectives and tools for discussion

• How to embrace group conflict as a resource for decision making

• Tools, concepts, and strategies to transfer into one’s own context

Adapted from Thinking Collaborative and Adaptive Schools Seminars® Learning Guide