EduCon & the work left for us to do 2

At the EduCon 2.4 Hack Jam

On November 1st, EduCon 2.5 proposals are due. EduCon is “an innovation conference where we can come together, both in person and virtually, to discuss the future of schools.” I enjoy the conference very much both for the people and sense of possibility I feel when I’m there. While there is always work to be done in terms of deeply including parents, students, and innovation-sketpcial teachers in such events, EduCon feels small and earnest enough to get better at doing so. I think the EduCon tribe itself feels empowered to invite people in and to dare more in conversation at each year’s event. I’m not satisfied with my own recruiting efforts, but I like that EduCon – more than any other event I attend – makes me think about what I want the future of schooling (and EduCon) to look and sound like for my students, my children, my profession, and parents everywhere, including myself.

EduCon, despite its growing pains, always makes me wonder what we should be doing next. It is about the work left for us to do, rather than the work we have already done. It is about working together no matter where we are; it is about setting personal and pedagogical agendas for change.

It is, in the end, a good thing, and I hope you will consider attending and proposing a conversation of your own. EduCon is equal parts sincere, passionate, urgent, fun, purposeful, and playful.

Working through drafts of proposals this month with generous and wonderful collaborators, I am already excited by the possibilities of what could happen at and after our proposed sessions – and I am reminded again of how exciting it is to work with students, parents, and colleagues to discover what can still happen in our schools each day and in each life.

Curious about what you might come away with from EduCon? Check out these collections of attendee reflections archived by the supremely wise, kind, and generous Shelley Krause: