“It’s like there’s two doors and they both lead to hallways and one has treasure in it and that’s good for you and only you. The other hallway has people who are stuck in it and they can’t get out but if you let them out they’ll be free. But you can only open one door. So the empathic decision would be to find a third door. ”
Below is a list of offerings, Opal School teacher-researchers offered shortly before the school closed in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic in June of 2021. Pieces of these workshops are still embedded within Opal School Online. Offerings like these invited quests to reflect on ongoing practice-based research with the intention of improving practice, advancing teacher professionalism, and transforming ideas about what is possible when working with children.
Constructing Collaborative and Courageous Learning Communities
October 25-27, 2018
Playful Inquiry depends on collaboration and courage. Join Opal School teachers in considering how powerful learning communities are constructed throughout the school year – starting in its very first days.
This program is sold out! Please choose from one of our other 2018-2019 offerings.
Opal School Visitation Days 2019: Investigating the conditions that invite, extend, and sustain playful inquiry
February 6-8 or March 6-8
Designed to immerse participants in Opal School practice, this multi-day workshop supports educators’ examination and application of approaches to playful inquiry through negotiated curriculum. Visit Opal School classrooms in session to observe, analyze, and reflect on inquiry-based learning through the tools of the arts and sciences. Talk with teachers about the joys and challenges of a practice that holds a strong image of children as thinkers, planners, and contributors to the community.
These programs are sold out! Please choose from one of our other 2019 offerings.
Reading the World: Finding intersections between literacy, creativity and sustainability
April 10-12, 2019
What conditions do human beings need to thrive? What is the role of schooling in creating these conditions? How do we support children to connect their reading of the world to the things we do in school? To what extent is making space for these readings necessary for democracy? How do we best support the transition between reading the world and reading the word in a way that strengthens the relationship between empathy and agency?
Empathy, Agency, and Changemaking: International Educator Study Tour
May 13-15, 2019
Educators working in international schools have demonstrated increasing interest in Opal School’s approaches to learning. This three-day session supports an intimate encounter with Playful Inquiry immersed with colleagues sensitive to the unique demands of working in a global context.
Summer Symposium 2019
June 19-21, 2019
Every summer, hundreds of educators committed to recognizing, celebrating, and extending the creative and cognitive capacities of children join Opal School teacher-researchers for three full days of renewal through synthesis, dialogue, materials exploration, and reflection.