NWAIS Leadership Institute

June 24-26, 2024

Alderbrook Resort  - Union, WA

Speaker and Session Information

Announcing Our Two Workshop Facilitators:

Antonio Viva

Executive Director and Advisor at Artisans Asylum and Senior Associate, Leadership+Design

Last summer Antonio Viva officially joined the Leadership+Design team after serving as a board member and a long-time collaborator on projects and programs. Before L+D, Antonio spent 12 years as the Head of School at Walnut Hill School for the Arts in Natick, MA. Last year, Antonio served as the Executive Director of Artisans Asylum, one of the oldest and largest maker-spaces in the United States.



A child of immigrants and a first-generation college student, Antonio has dedicated his life to promoting diversity and inclusion. His passion for this work began during his undergraduate years at Union College in Schenectady, NY, and continued throughout his career as a public school arts teacher. Antonio is a sought-after speaker where he addresses topics such as understanding global risks, fostering creativity, design, and effective leadership. Antonio has been featured by numerous regional independent school associations across the United States and has worked as an executive coach and advisor. Antonio resides in the Boston suburbs with his family and two cats and maintains his personal art studio at Artisans Asylum.

presenting:

The Conscious Educator: Transformative Practices for School Leaders

This engaging session introduces educators and leaders within the NWAIS community to the transformative concept of conscious leadership. Focused on self-awareness, mindfulness, and positive impact, participants will explore how to develop a personal practice that enhances their leadership capabilities. Through a blend of interactive discussions, reflective exercises, and actionable insights, attendees will learn strategies to foster empathy, resilience, and a collaborative culture in their schools. This workshop is an invaluable opportunity for those looking to lead with authenticity and inspire sustainable change in the educational landscape.

and a follow-up workshop: 

Thinking Like Futurists - Looking to Signals and Trends

As educators, we design the experiences students will have as part of their journey with us. Thinking like futurists allows educators to consider what signals and trends may be on the horizon and how to plan for a preferred future together. There is no singular recipe to long term sustainability and evolution, and adaptation looks different in different industries. As schools navigate the volatile, complex, ambiguous and uncertain future, we should be thinking about playing the long game, and thinking like a futurist is a mindset that we can develop, practice and apply to our work. In this session, attendees will have the opportunity to practice a little futurist thinking, identifying the signals of our possible futures, the trends that raise new questions, and developing a shared understanding and vocabulary around what it means to think and plan like a futurist.

And Kapono Ciotti

International School Leader and Executive Director, What School Could Be

Kapono Ciotti attributes his educational philosophy to his own schooling experience in a progressive, social-constructivist school during his early years in Honolulu, Hawaii. He taught in Honolulu, Hawaii, and Dakar, Senegal, for over a decade before moving into school leadership. Kapono has led schools in the United States and Egypt, where he put into practice the philosophy of "students making the world a better place," shifting school culture to impact-based education practice. His strong belief in education being an act of social justice drives his work.

Kapono has worked internationally in educational change organizations, leading the work of Deeper Learning and place and culture-based pedagogy, and he is currently the Executive Director for What School Could Be. In these roles, he has trained teachers in over 100 schools and school districts over four continents, impacting hundreds of thousands of students. In addition, Kapono spent 15 years as National Faculty for the National Association of Independent Schools in Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Justice, facilitating national and international learning experiences. As a curriculum writer, he has authored multiple curricula for federal and non-profit programs. His work has significantly contributed to the organizations What School Could Be, The Buck Institute, EdLeader21, The Pacific American Foundation, and many others.

Kapono holds a Ph.D. in International Education Leadership from Northcentral University, a Master's degree in Social Change and Development from the University of Newcastle, and a Bachelor of Language and Culture from the Evergreen State College. He currently lives between Hawaii, Cairo, Egypt, and Dakar, Senegal.

presenting: 

What School Could Be - An Educator's Toolkit to Sustainable Innovation

Children deserve a creative, uplifting education that prepares them to lead lives of purpose.  In this uncertain and emerging era of generative AI, a changing climate, and social unrest, our schools face numerous challenges. But this is also an era of hope and opportunity.  How might we navigate these rough waters to manage change? How might schools place students at the center of their educational journey as protagonists of their own learning? And how might we do this in a way that inspires and uplifts a generation of educators? Join me in exploring these questions as we reimagine what school could be.  

This session will utilize a set of protocols to engage participants in a personal and professional journey. The journey will culminate with appreciative inquiry, a sense of "horizon" in their school's innovation journey, a series of small steps towards their horizonal goal, and a network of educators to support them.

and 

Leading Cognitive and Cultural Inclusions through The Landscape Model of Learning

The industrial era of education, where we presumed a common starting and ending point for all, has never served students or teachers. While such systems may have helped schools standardize education and make it more efficient, they can make students feel perpetually behind, hold back our most talented, and ignore the "middle." Furthermore, it excludes, by definition, those who do not conform to the norm, and can be taxing on teachers. Rather than aspiring for simply access for all students, authors Jennifer D. Klein and Kapono Ciotti have developed The Landscape Model of Learning (2022) to help schools ensure the highest levels of personal success possible for all students. Recognizing that students are positioned across a landscape when it comes to their learning and growth, the model provides strategies for developing an asset-based understanding of what each student brings into the learning ecosystem. The entire model hinges on student protagonism, or agency, and the goal is a level of "inclusive prosperity" which leverages talents and passions to ensure all students reach their own highest possible level of success.

This session will provide an overview of the three elements and eight principles of the Landscape Model. Participants will have an opportunity to experience inclusive strategies, and to start thinking about how they might use the model to build more inclusive prosperity in their classrooms and school communities. Participants will engage in a rich design session, and will leave with an action plan to implement in their schools.

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