As part of our ongoing mission to positively impact public education beyond the confines of our own two schools, Gateway launched the Powerful Learners Conference in 2019 as a forum for educators, youth workers, tutors and administrators from across the Bay Area to come together and learn concrete strategies designed to increase students’ belief in themselves as learners and their power in the classroom and beyond. Last year’s event saw attendance more than triple as it became clear that educators are eager for opportunities to build students’ non-cognitive and social emotional skills.
We’re thrilled that on Saturday, February 6, 2021, we’ll host our third Powerful Learners Conference as a virtual event, allowing us to serve an even wider audience of educators.
Unlike many education conferences, which can be organized around one content area or student age range, the Powerful Learners Conference is focused on student agency, or non-cognitive skill development, including social emotional learning through an equity lens. This refers to skills like self-advocacy, organization, and effective collaboration, which can be taught to students of all ages and incorporated into any class, regardless of academic subject. Not only are these skills essential for thriving in grades K-12, they are foundational for success in college and the workplace, as well.
We’re excited to welcome presenters from the public education and nonprofit sectors as well as Linda Darling-Hammond, one of the co-authors of the Learning Policy Institute’s case study of Gateway Public Schools as our keynote speaker. Dr. Darling-Hammond is President and CEO of LPI, as well as a Charles E. Ducommun Professor of Education Emeritus at Stanford University, where she founded the Stanford Center for Opportunity Policy in Education.
If you know an educator who has an amazing strategy to share, send them our way! We are currently accepting presentation proposals (due December 11) as well as event sponsors. Registration for interested attendees opens soon. Scholarships are available to ensure every educator who wants to attend can participate in the day of collaboration and learning.