Professional development

Throughout each year there are opportunities for Heads of school, RS Reps, Curriculum Directors and Teachers to participate in formal and informal PD opportunities.

The RS International Conference and Annual Regional Meetings offer networking and presentation opportunities for Heads of School and attending Faculty Members. Whilst the Round Square conferences are predominantly designed for our student delegates, they also include a dedicated programme for attending adults, usually contained to the first two days, including Good Practice Carousels at which teachers and Heads of School are encouraged to present workshops and share their good practice. The carousels are interspersed with structured networking, including connect-and-collaborate sessions focused on student exchange, resource-sharing, academic collaboration, and group problem-solving. Other presenter-led sessions focus on issues such as Risk Assessment, Curriculum Development and structuring and delivering Service Projects.

Throughout the remainder of each conference, adult delegates are encouraged to join keynote speaker, workshop, service and adventure sessions with their students. This opportunity to work with their own students, and those from other schools, in different contexts is often a powerful observation and reflection exercise for all concerned, providing insights into how students learn and interact outside the classroom, and opportunities to stretch and develop their own skills and experience in working with an internationally-mixed and diverse group of learners.

Round Square also offers structured meetings and workshops specifically for adults. Global and Regional 2-day Workshops, and hands-on Praxis sessions, in particular themed around the Discovery Framework and Service Learning, provide opportunities to develop RS themed concepts and content to use back-at-school.  For those adults that volunteer to take on the role of Project Leader or Deputy Leader on a Round Square International Service Project, there is pre-project training, and the project itself can be a life-changing professional development opportunity. Informal opportunities are also available to act as mentors to faculty members in incoming RS schools (and to be mentored!).

Beyond the structured programme of PR opportunities for Round Square acts as a catalyst to learner-led Professional Development, inspiring, encouraging and supporting action research projects initiated by faculty members in RS schools, creating opportunities for teachers and Heads of School to get involved in its own global research projects, and inviting faculty in all RS schools to develop and contribute resources to our library. Teachers in Round Square schools also utilise the RS network to access opportunities to visit or teach at other RS schools around the world on a teacher exchange.