Catalyst Global Community for Education Leaders Completes Multinational Launch

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“Action and outcomes, rather than solely knowledge sharing, are at the heart of our Catalyst community,” said professor and researcher Stephen Heppell, cofounder of Catalyst.

(Image credit: Jason Dixon Photography (DC))

Catalyst, a global community for education leaders, concluded its launch event series across four continents last week, finding that education leaders around the world share similar challenges and concerns about prevalent nonacademic topics that impact student learning. 

Event gatherings were held in Sydney, Johannesburg, London, and Washington, D.C., attracting education leaders from the national, district, and school levels. Since its launch in October, Catalyst has attracted 400 participant members across 18 countries in four continents. 

Regardless of locale, education culture, and school structure, four consistent challenges emerged:

  1. Implementing social and emotional learning programs to meet the needs of all students. 
  2. Creating a culture of equity and building student agency.
  3. Future-proofing technology purchases to support emerging instructional trends, including personalization and differentiation. 
  4. Creating immersive learning spaces that improve student learning.

“Action and outcomes, rather than solely knowledge sharing, are at the heart of our Catalyst community,” said professor and researcher Stephen Heppell, cofounder of Catalyst. “We see too often that educators are isolated — in their own states, provinces, or countries. They’re facing largely the same challenges but working independently to solve them. Catalyst provides a home for problem-solvers to work together, developing and sharing effective, pragmatic, and tested solutions.” 

Scarlett Lewis, Founder of the Jesse Lewis Choose Love Movement, talking about why social and emotional learning is so important for students and sharing results about the impact of the Choose Love Movement.

Scarlett Lewis, Founder of the Jesse Lewis Choose Love Movement, talking about why social and emotional learning is so important for students and sharing results about the impact of the Choose Love Movement. (Image credit: Jason Dixon Photography (DC))

Through in-person meetings and an online hub, Catalyst links education innovators with experts and each other to jointly create, implement, and refine new approaches to tackling some of the most complex challenges in the sector. The next series of Catalyst events will take place in the beginning of 2020 at major conferences worldwide — bett, FETC, TCEA, didacta, and SXSW EDU — where attending educators can easily participate and contribute to the conversation around these pressing education issues. 

Catalyst’s international roster of founding partners includes Jaime Goldstein, Director of Strategic Projects and Innovation Grants, the Harvard Initiative for Learning & Teaching; Nancy Conrad, founder of The Conrad Foundation; professor and researcher Stephen Heppell; education strategist Ken Shelton; SMART Technologies; and Learnit World Limited. 

Education leaders and those interested in driving change in education globally are invited to join the Catalyst community for free at www.educatalyst.com 

TL Editors