OISE students collaborate with American colleagues to move beyond conversations on school policy

April 12, 2012

OISE-HGSE EXCHANGE

^{OISE students Jason Brennan and Katie Higginbottom with Ben Levin and OISE-HGSE exchange students in OISE's 12th floor Community Lounge}

OISE doctoral students and their colleagues at the Harvard Graduate School of Education (HGSE) participated in an informal exchange that saw students from both faculties visiting Toronto- and Boston-area schools for a week in January and in February.

A joint virtual seminar between students in Ben Levin’s course, Administrative Theory and Education Problems I: People and Power, and students in the Doctor of Educational Leadership (EdLD) class Remaking Education Policy, taught by Robert Schwartz at Harvard University, soon evolved into a proposal to move beyond classroom conversations into local schools to see first-hand the work being done, as well as learn about each others' research.

OISE doctoral students Katie Higginbottom and Jason Brennan, and HSGE colleague Paul Perry coordinated reciprocal trips that provided the students opportunities to explore unique facets of both Massachusetts and Ontario education systems and expand on conversations started in the previous semester through additional classes, visits to external organizations, and at social events.

While in Ontario, EdLD program students visited elementary, secondary, public, Catholic, and French-immersion schools, toured the Toronto District School Board's Model Schools Program for Inner Cities, and met with program coordinators and administrators. They also visited The Learning Partnership, a not-for-profit organization focused on innovating and improving public education in Canada through a variety of initiatives for students and educators. Finally, OISE and HGSE students attended Ben Levin’s seminar, Politics and Education, where his book, How to change 5,000 schools was a primary resource. Professor Levin's seminar enabled the Canadian and American students to learn from one another and start conversations around the systemic educational concerns that translate across the American and Canadian border, as well as compare solutions offered in each jurisdiction.

In a reciprocal gesture, Paul Perry coordinated a schedule for OISE students interested in learning more about Massachusetts’ education system. OISE students toured a ‘turn around’ pilot school and a charter school to better understand issues in America's education system and important differences in Ontario schools. They also sat in on lectures and participated in activities with the EdLD cohort and classes elsewhere at Harvard.

“All of the students involved felt the learning experienced to be an important part of their early doctoral work at the University of Toronto. We would like to continue to provide more of these valuable opportunities to future OISE students,” said Jason Brennan.

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