Worldwide Innovative Education Forum

Dr Deirdre Butler, Education Department, St Patrick’s College, has just returned from the Worldwide Innovative Education Forum. This event funded by Microsoft celebrates the impressive work that teachers and school leaders from around the world are doing to help students realise their full potential.  During the week Dr Butler presented the work of the new research initiative also funded by Microsoft to the International Advisory council.  She had been asked to do so as she is an advisor to this new “Innovative Teaching and Learning” research (www.itlrearch.com ) and has also piloted some of the work with the current cohort of St Patrick’s College students participating in the Digital Learning strand of the MEd programme.

Dr Butler also acted as a judge for the Innovative Teachers Forum. More than 250 regional winners from more than 60 countries participated and 12 awards were made in 4 categories (Content, Community, Collaboration and Educator’s Choice).  Although there was no Irish winner this time in the Innovative Teacher forum there was great cause to celebrate in the School track as two Irish school leaders which both have a long association with St Patrick’s College were selected for very prominent roles in the expanded Innovative Schools programme.  Microsoft is expanding its Partners in Learning Innovative Schools program from a pilot program to a full-scale global program with the addition of 30 new Pathfinder Schools and 12 Mentor Schools, representing 35 countries.  The innovations at these schools have a global interest and are replicable models that other schools can follow. http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/press/2009/nov09/11-04ief09pr.mspx

Scoil Naomh Fiachra, Clontubrid, a small rural school in Co. Kilkenny was recognised as a Pathfinder School.  Tommy Maher, the principal, has been a longstanding active member of the Empowering Minds community and a previous winner of the Worldwide Innovative Teacher (Helsinki, 2007).  The schools chosen to participate in the Pathfinder Program were selected after a very vigorous application process, which included nominations from all around the world. Each school in the program was selected because of their vision for learning, their demonstration of strong school leadership with a proven record of innovation and successful change implementation.

Seamus Ryan, Asst. CEO of Meath VEC accepted the Mentor School Award on behalf of Meath VEC in recognition of their work with expanding the vision for school improvement to the county as a result of Dunshaughlin Community School’s involvement in the pilot phase of Microsoft’s Innovative Schools Programme.  Dr Butler and Ms Margaret Leahy also of the Education Department in St Patrick’s College have been heavily involved in this ISP process with Meath VEC since 2007 and have developed the professional development framework for teachers, which is now to be scaled to the entire Meath VEC. 

 

 

Last Updated: Monday November 23 2009