Last week I was fortunate to attend a Student-Center Learning Research Conference, hosted by JFF.
JFF is a non-profit organization that works to bring change into the traditional American workforce and the education system.
I really enjoyed the conference because I learned many things about why it is important to center education around the students rather than a curriculum. I love that JFF has actual high school students on their panel and they listen to them and make sure to listen to their ideas, their questions and concerns.
I found that the conference did connect to out Leading With and Purposeful Play. In YDEV we tend to lead youth lead and be in charge of their own learning and this is exactly what the conference was about. We find a purpose in everything that we do and we make sure to always put youth first. We make sure they know that they are important, that they are being heard, and that their needs are being met.
I truly enjoyed the conference because I learned many new things and felt even more connected with ydev. I am looking forward to going to more conferences like this one, in the future.
Thanks for your post Marishell. I would love to know more specifically how you saw "leading with" take shape. Does putting youth at the front of the room constitute "leading with"? What language did folks use to talk with and about young people? What other clues could you find about the presenters' ideologies?
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