From 2–4 April, three IGS staff members – Thom Marchbank, Alec Openshaw and Patrice Marchbank – had the immense privilege of attending the Deeper Learning Conference in sunny San Diego, hosted by High Tech High, in addition to visiting e3 Civic High, an innovative charter school embedded among the nine floors of San Diego Central Library.
The Deeper Learning Conference is an extraordinary gathering of global educators, dedicated to reimagining what schooling can be when student voice, authentic learning, equity, and deep engagement are placed at the centre – especially when there is a strong connection to place and community, and when learning is “made visible” through exhibitions of beautiful work. Over the course of the conference, all three experienced incredible keynotes, exhibitions of student learning, and immersive “Deep Dives” — multi-day workshops designed to model deeper learning in practice.
The reflections below offer insight into what each came away from the conference with – including renewed clarity about the kind of learning that matters most … learning that is purposeful, human-centred, and impactful. These reflections represent just a glimpse of the possibilities we might imagine and pursue together in our own context at IGS, especially in our future learning spaces and plans.
Thom Marchbank, Deputy Principal Academic
I saw and participated in so many memorable things over the course of the Deeper Learning conference in San Diego, but the most impactful for me was my Deep Dive, titled “Leading for Deeper Learning”, and facilitated by Melissa Daniels, Director of Leadership Development, HTH Graduate School, and Stacey Lopaz, Director, New School Creation Fellowship, HTH Graduate School – both members of the beautifully-named Center for Love and Justice.
Melissa and Stacey led us into our Deep Dive by emphasising the “Equity Stances” of liberatory project-based learning – Place, Belonging, Identity, Dialogue, Democratisation, and Liberation. Our mission in particular as school leaders was to generate change ideas to advance deeper learning in our local contexts.
Melissa and Stacey first asked us to reflect on a moment of transformative learning that we had experienced as learners during our schooling … in sharing these, we quickly realised that these always have some tell-tale signs. During transformative learning, learners may experience success and a sense of purpose. They may find connections with an adult mentor, or experience challenges and struggle in which they overcome obstacles or failure. Typically, they collaborate through meaningful relationships. They may develop or discover a passion by stepping out of their comfort zone. During transformative learning, we learn by doing, and can find opportunities to challenge systems of power. This may involve a shift in mindset or perspective or creative freedom or a safe space to make mistakes. In the process, learners can find inspiration and new perspectives. Importantly, it may involve the humility of becoming a beginner at something they once felt proficient in, and the satisfaction of creating something tangible.
Transformative learning often takes place, according to work by Sarah Fine and Jal Mehta that Melissa and Stacey presented, in schooling “peripheries” – spaces where students had real choice, learnt by doing, had time to explore things in depth, and where they were welcomed as producers rather than just receivers of knowledge.
To encourage us to think about the transformative learning that happens by design at High Tech High, Melissa and Stacey invited us to consider “what do the walls say?” by going on a “Ghost Walk” of High Tech High’s main campus. What ghosts of learning lingered in the halls? In this brilliantly retrofitted and reclaimed High School campus (previously used for more than 70 years as a Naval Training Centre), it quickly became clear that founders Larry Rosenstock and Rob Riordan’s vision was one where there was a profound symmetry between the kinds of learning experiences that both children and adults had. This was a space that prioritised “beautiful work” through academic excellence-fostering “exhibitions of learning” or “presentations of learning” that connected place to purpose, and brought professionals and the community into the school building, typically in a way that involved project work done in and for the community. The key to it all was the exhibition or presentation – a spur to excellence through the creative challenge of “how best to present the work”. This was overwhelmingly and abundantly in evidence in the eco-aware poem trees, cures for cancer, sociological reports on homelessness in San Diego, statistical reports in equality, 3D periodic tables … even in the artwork in the bathrooms!
During the Deep Dive, we “walked the walk” ourselves through developing our own change ideas that we could take back to our school context, and then presented them to peers on the final day of the conference. While daunting, this was experiential learning at its best – doing what we might ask our peers or students to do in presentations of learning. This was a transformative conference that showcased the breathtaking instantiation of a deeply human enterprise and just what is possible in education.
Alec Openshaw, Head of Staffing
As Ron Berger introduced his Deep Dive session into the world of “Beautiful Work”, he projected the following words quoted from his own book, An Ethic of Excellence, which immediately highlighted the alignment of his vision with our strategic aspiration for Deeper Learning and our own commitment to build good work and character in 2025: “When a student is finished with school and moves into adult life, she will be judged not by her ability to perform on a test of basic skills, but by the quality of her work and her character.”
This session gave participants the opportunity to explore a small sample of an incredible archive, curated by EL Education and Harvard University, of 50 years worth of high quality student work from around the world. Examining, discussing and critiquing samples of work from a variety of disciplines and stages of learning provoked us to consider what strategies teachers might implement to support their own students to create beautiful and meaningful work every day, and not just in long-term projects. Critical examination of models of excellence with students is a crucial step that also serves as a provocation to stoke students’ own effort and creativity, as they consider what they can borrow to create something novel.
“The pride and accomplishment in crafting beautiful work ignites a deeper commitment to school,” says Berger. Self-efficacy, belonging, attendance and wellbeing are all elevated when students produce beautiful work that is meaningful and in which they have immense pride. And beautiful work is not just aesthetically beautiful, but high-quality, which Berger defines as work that demonstrates complexity, craftsmanship and authenticity.
What an awesome challenge for each teacher at IGS to consider how we can support students to create this kind of work within the context of our own discipline. And to renew our confidence in our students’ ability to create high quality work – their potential really is astounding – and to communicate and maintain such expectations. And what an opportunity to expand our conception of student achievement to include not just high-quality work and all that entails, but also the mastery of knowledge and skills that comes through the production of such work, and perhaps more importantly, the character that is built when students engage in a daily process of critique and revision in the pursuit of beautiful work.
Patrice Marchbank, Director of the Bibliothèque
Attending the Deeper Learning Conference 2025 in San Diego was such an energising and affirming experience. From the moment that the conference opened, with music, joy, laughter, and powerful celebrations of student learning, I found myself surrounded by educators who believe in the power of student voice, equity, and deep engagement – and who are working actively to shape more inclusive and empowering learning environments. One of the most transformative parts of my time at the conference was participating in my Deep Dive session, entitled “Explore the Power of Cultural Identity”, facilitated by Dawn McCuin from High Tech Elementary Chula Vista and her Grade 4 daughter, Nia.
The session was hands-on and collaborative, and I found it deeply reflective. We were encouraged to consider how embedding cultural identity into our classrooms can create spaces where every student feels seen, valued, and empowered. It was a powerful reminder that when we take time to know our students – who they are, where they come from, what matters to them – we create the conditions for real engagement and success. This really resonated with me in thinking about IGS’ multilingual mission as an inclusive and joyful space of deeper learning through “unity through diversity”.
One particularly moving moment for me came during a presentation by Dr. Imani Nicolis, an African-American veterinarian who spoke about her journey overcoming systemic barriers, and how the belief of two teachers – who recognised and nurtured her aspirations – helped shape her path. She really reminded me of the long-term impact educators can have when we can listen deeply and believe in our students.
Nia McCuin, the Grade 4 daughter of the Deep Dive facilitator, proudly shared her “Identitree” – a beautiful metaphorical representation of her cultural identity as part of the Roots to Rise project. “I basically made me on a tree,” she explained, “and it made me feel proud.” It was a simple yet profound testament to the importance of giving children opportunities to explore and express their identity.
As part of the Deep Dive, we rotated through five interactive stations – each demonstrating how cultural identity could be meaningfully incorporated across different Key Learning Areas: Science, Maths, Writing (through poetry), Reading (through folktales), and Social Studies. These rich examples sparked ideas for how I could adapt similar practices in our IGS context.
For our own mini-exhibition of learning – something that is the cornerstone of the “High Tech” approach – we were invited to select a content area, craft an essential question, make a cultural connection, and develop a learning activity around it. Importantly, the aim wasn’t to produce a finished product, but rather to start a meaningful conversation. I was fortunate to find a copy of Aunty Joy Murphy’s Welcome to Country, and – very, very far from Wurundjeri Country – I used this beautiful text to anchor my exhibition. It offered a profound way to invite students into conversations about place, belonging, and Indigenous culture, and highlighted the quiet power of literature in building cultural awareness … and it was a real hit with my fellow educators during the presentations, especially given that many of them are involved in fierce and proud language and cultural revival efforts in their own communities.
Throughout the workshop, we were continually asked: whose voices are missing from our curricula? Too often, as we came to realise, the answer is children’s voices – their interests, stories, and perspectives. This session not only reminded me of that truth, but equipped me with practical ways to help bring those voices to the forefront at our School.
