Maximising Conference ROI: Translating Insights into School-wide Impact
How do you harness the wealth of knowledge and inspiration amassed from educational conferences. share pragmatic strategies for translating conference learnings into actionable steps capable of fostering growth within school communities.
Here’s a breakdown of the key discussions:
1. Pre-Conference Alignment (03:15)
I highlight the significance of aligning conference attendance with both individual and school-wide objectives to ensure purpose-driven participation.
"It's vital that a school leader, a mentor, a coach is involved in that discussion so that they can tease out together what's going to be best for the individual and what's going to be best for the school."
2. Engaging Post-Conference Speakers (05:13)
I explore the possibility of inviting inspiring conference speakers for more personalized engagements within the school to extend the learning and inspiration.
"... a more powerful option is to draw on the energy that I took from the conference by bringing that speaker into our school."
3. Structured Sharing Sessions (06:39)
I advance a modified approach to sharing key conference learnings within the school to ensure a more targeted and personalised knowledge transfer.
"It's all about ensuring that the key messages reach the most engaged and the most relevant audience."
4. Post-Conference Coaching (10:05)
I introduce a coaching methodology to delve deeper into the conference learnings and ensure a committed action plan for implementation.
"Utilising these post-conference coaching sessions can really ensure that you're delving into those strategies, that there's an accountability framework involved, but also there's a depth of understanding from what comes from these conferences and a commitment to act."
5. Post-Conference Survey (11:58)
I discuss the essence of conducting post-conference surveys to gauge the effectiveness and impact of the conference attendance, and to facilitate a continuous improvement approach.
"... you can start tracking the effectiveness of impact after the conference, and hopefully gamify it a little bit so you can start to improve your score every time someone goes to that conference, getting more and more out of the conference every time, and make informed decisions about the future conference attendance."
I underscore the potential of these strategies in creating a ripple effect of continuous learning and improvement within the whole school community. I encourage listeners to implement at least one of the strategies discussed and share their experiences.
Thank you for tuning in, and as always, if you found this episode useful, please share your experience. You can find me online on Twitter, LinkedIN and Instagram: @leaningshane. My website is shaneleaning.com.
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About the host
Shane Leaning is a passionate leadership development enthusiast with over 11 years of international teaching and leadership experience. His approach to coaching and professional development is all about approachability and attentiveness to the unique strengths and contexts of schools and educators. Shane believes that empowerment fosters growth and success for both educators and students alike.
