Masters Hosts Event on Collaboration and Creativity

Middle and high school educators from around the region gathered at The Masters School on Tuesday, October 16 for a much-anticipated day-long New York State Association of Independent School (NYSAIS) workshop dubbed Quest for Effective Collaboration in the Classroom.

Erik Johnke, Associate Director of Studies at CITYterm, was one of the organizers behind the event.
 
“I can’t think of a time when teaching collaboration is more important — for the future of our students and for the future of the planet,” Johnke said, detailing why this was an important topic for educators to analyze. “So many of the problems that our students will be asked to solve — healthcare coverage, climate change, affordable housing, disruption due to a changing economy — are interdisciplinary in nature and will require a collaborative approach. So, we have a moral obligation to teach our students the skills of collaboration. And that, by the way, is a core part of the Masters Mission – to be a power for good in the world.”
 
John Spencer delivered the workshop’s keynote address, touting the value of collaboration to inspire creative work in students. Spencer, a former middle school teacher and current professor at George Fox University in Oregon, co-authored the bestselling books Launch and Empower. He gave a talk at the White House in 2013 on guiding students to be future-ready through creativity and design thinking.
 
The 33 attendees tackled various topics during the day, ranging from learning to love the struggle of managing a collaborative effort in the classroom to selecting design projects that require students to hone their collaborative skills. Participants also shared ideas for different synergistic projects, fleshing out the various aspects of each one with their peers.

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