Education conference promotes concept of success-ready students

Building success-ready students was a focus of the EdCafe miniconference held July 17 at the Efactory Idea Loft.

The nonprofit organization EdCafe is focused on building relationships between educators and the professional community, according to its website.

Jeanette Westfall, educator and co-author of “Learning Agency: A Field Guide for Taking Flight,” opened the program with a keynote titled “Why Real-World Learning Matters: Building Success-Ready Students.” In her remarks, she defined real-world learning as moving the focus from singular and sometimes abstract concepts to more authentic classroom learning challenges and real-life experiences.

“It shifts the focus from this traditional memorization to active problem-solving so that students can build critical thinking, they can learn project management and they can gain career readiness,” she said.

She added that real-world learning is not an add-on.

“Really, it’s the vehicle that makes the learning stick and – my passion – builds true learner agency,” she said.

She encouraged educators to turn learning into a challenge or a puzzle, rather than providing up-front answers.

“This is what drives curiosity, and curiosity, when it thrives, will be the result of kids learning how to problem-solve and navigate challenges,” she said. “When you use it, it just gets better and better and better.”

As a result, she said, students’ critical thinking will be grounded in real-world learning.

“It is the reason we go to school,” she said. “Just think about it this way, every time you’re teaching: Why do they need to learn this?”

A link to business was provided in a roundtable panel with seven educators, among them college and career readiness professionals from Springfield, Nixa and Republic districts, a Missouri National Education Association official and a superintendent.

Will Darter, superintendent of the Everton R-III School District, said for rural schools like his, the community provides a web around the school. In a small town like Everton, that’s churches, gas stations, agricultural businesses and even Dollar General stores.

“Everything kind of funnels through children and into the school,” he said.

That kind of connection presents challenges in Springfield Public Schools, the state’s largest school district. Ashley DeVore, a college and career readiness professional at SPS, said business partners are willing to engage with students, but she said logistics are a lot.

“How do we scaffold this and make sure that we’re getting the right students to you?” she said. “What Will deals with at Everton is going to be different.”

Darter said that educators are always finding ways to pick up the banner for students and to overcome challenges for them.

“The same urgency, no matter the size of your district, is there for every single person,” he said.

Ashtyn Fisher of Walden University said districts need to have businesses investing back into the schools with expertise, resources and interview practice.

Fisher said schools are constantly facing budget restrictions, but businesses who choose to invest resources into student success are really investing in future talent resources.

Haylee Anderson, instructional specialist and founder of EdCafe, said she was blown away by the event and its level of engagement and collaboration across industries.

“I think the role of education is to prepare kids for life,” she said. “Even when you’re an adult and out of the K-12 or higher ed space and you are in the workforce, are you a contributing member to society? It’s not just about one job. I’ve heard the word durable skills come up a lot.”

People need to learn to show up on time, to communicate and to function appropriately, according to Anderson.

“That’s where I see an opportunity to reframe that real-world learning – to be what is necessary to help our society through education,” she said.