Summit
Holistic Think Tank Summit
4-5 March 2023
Ohio State University, Archie M. Griffin Grand Ballroom, Columbus, Ohio
What if our schools built courses that stretched beyond the silos of the classroom and holistically engaged youth? This was the goal of our conference: to bring together teachers, administrators, and students to discuss how we can promote meaningful, cross-curricular learning experiences that challenge and engage our students.
Prof. Pasi Sahlberg, a fierce advocate of hands-on, interdisciplinary learning in the Finnish system, showcased a full outline of our open-access Interdisciplinary School Subject, a cross-curricular framework and lesson database primarily aimed at ages 10-15.
- Pasi Sahlberg’s call to action for rethinking curriculum, was followed by various hands-on presentations by Holistic Think Tank partner organizations on resources pertaining to interdisciplinary learning.
- This was followed by presentations from both HTT and our grantees: Fab Foundation, Human Restoration Project and The School of Education from Sheffield University.
- The participants then attended the official premiere of the film “Good Day” produced by Holistic Think Tank. You can learn more about the movie from the “film” tab, where you can also find the production.
- In the afternoon, we hosted interactive sessions and workshops on international interdisciplinary learning and opportunities for everyone to get involved. Participants had the opportunity to engage with others and develop action plans for their own classrooms. In addition, presenters talked about education reform efforts in Poland and the United States.
- And at the end of the day, we had an open discussion to reflect on the day’s activities, share ideas, and build a network of collaborative educators.
- Prof. Pasi Sahlberg is a professor of education policy at the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia and a former senior specialist at the World Bank in Washington, DC, director general of the Ministry of Education in Finland, and a visiting professor at Harvard University. He has gained working knowledge in over 60 countries worldwide, and his book “Finnish Lessons 2.0: What Can the World Learn from Educational Change in Finland” has won many awards and, even more important, has inspired thousands of educators around the world.
Here are links to materials we presented at HTT Summit 2023 to teachers and educators from various countries around the world. The set of materials consists of a summary of research conducted by HTT in schools in 10 countries around the world, a synthesis of the first phase of our grantees’ work, as well as the concept of the IDS (Interdisciplinary Subject) that HTT is working on together with the grantees.