In today’s rapidly changing world, education stands at a crossroads. Traditional models are being challenged, and new technologies, along with evolving societal needs, are demanding a fundamental rethinking of how we teach and learn. To explore these critical issues, we sat down with Tracy Moxley, GESS Dubai 2024 Speaker, a seasoned educator with extensive international experience, particularly in the UK, Spain, and the UAE.
Moxley has worked with diverse school models, from low-cost schools in Africa to innovative online learning programs. Her firsthand experience with global partnerships, coupled with her involvement in a pioneering cloud-based diploma program, makes her a valuable voice in the conversation about the future of education.
Tracy Moxley
EdDesign spoke with Tracy about the vital role of community in shaping a thriving school environment, the potential of technology to address teacher shortages and expand access to quality education, and the transformative power of international collaborations. This conversation with Tracy Moxley offers valuable insights and thought-provoking ideas for educators, policymakers, and anyone invested in shaping a brighter future for education.
Beyond the Classroom: Defining Community in Education
— How do you define “community” in the context of a school?
— I think the community aspect of education and schools is, as you say, so important. Schools are, in many respects, the central hub of the community. They can be a really strong force in the community, not only for students, but for all the different partners that schools can align with. From my perspective, there’s a real learning opportunity there for our students, offering authentic experiences. By using the different potentials of the community and bringing them into school, school becomes a much richer environment for everyone, teachers included.
— Could you elaborate on the different forms a school community can take?
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— We’ve got a global community now, with virtual and face-to-face communities. The school itself is a community, with different partnerships within it: students and teachers, but also parents. We bring in businesses to schools and have connections with different local partners, like farms or local businesses, and these can be internships or universities. Community is really what you make it.
— How can these diverse connections contribute to the students’ learning experiences?
— We can have mothers’ groups and parents’ groups. School can be a vibrant place for learning for all who live within the community. When we talk about our school community, it includes all of those different groups and people coming in and being part of learning for our students. For instance, if students are doing internships, they can have meetings with local businesses and explore different experiences. Through global exchanges or field trips, they can get the most out of learning and prepare themselves for work. Not everyone will go to university; some students will want to look at vocational opportunities, and they can start honing their skills for that. So community, for me, is all of those things, including communities you can connect with across the globe, both online and in person. I’ve had experience of both, and both can be really fulfilling.
— Can you give some specific examples of how schools can build strong communities?
— To be honest, I find that any communication tool used by the different people within that community is useful. In schools now, you’ll find WhatsApp groups, different parent groups, even a class community can have a WhatsApp group. Parents can communicate within the group, and there might be a teacher representative in there communicating and feeding information into the group. That can be really useful. You can also have a celebration day, for example, where you’re inviting parents from the local community to support the school and the students. You might also invite businesses in.
— Besides communication tools, what are other ways to involve the wider community?
— You have teacher-parent scenarios, and also governor’s groups, where you rely on the expertise of individuals who have businesses or have been very successful, and they can bring their success and knowledge into school, which is really useful. You can also have community volunteering, with students going out and volunteering not only in the local community, but also globally.
— How can schools measure the success of their community-building initiatives?
— I think the key is to continue that communication and to continue project-based learning. For example, students who went to Uganda, aged 13 and 14, had no idea of the history of the country. That’s something you can carry on and continue.
— Can you give a specific example of project-based learning connected to community-building initiatives?
— When students travel to different countries, that’s education itself. With the added bonus of actually having been in the country, they can say: “We went to Uganda, we saw X, Y, and Z,” and come back with that excitement, which can generate further educational interest for the students.
Two Paths to Community: Affordable Schools and Parent-Led Initiatives
— Do you have any favorite schools in terms of how they foster a sense of community?
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— From my perspective, I think my most favorite schools were the schools that I visited in Kenya, and in Africa, and in Uganda. So I spent some time in Kenya, and in Uganda, working with what is described as a kind of low cost, affordable schools, and they were the most joyful actually and it was something that we, you know, our international students who visited just said, these schools are amazing because they weren’t particularly wealthy, they didn’t have wonderful buildings or structures, but in terms of the community and the community spirit that was something that it was actually palpable when you went into the school you welcomed, people were delighted to see you that you’d come to be, and you knew that, you know, that was a real community that you could actually just jump into and be part of without any issue whatsoever.
— I’ve heard of some interesting community-led schools, where parents and local residents come together to create a school. Have you seen this model in action?
— Yeah, I think I heard of one school in London, where a group, a community group, a group of parents are joined together, and it actually opened a school but it’s not a model that I know very much about or have heard very much about so it’s quite rare I would have thought.
From my perspective, the schools I visited in Kenya and Uganda were the most memorable. I spent some time there working with low-cost, affordable schools, and they were the most joyful. Our international students who visited said these schools are amazing because, although they weren’t particularly wealthy and didn’t have wonderful buildings or structures, the community spirit was palpable. When you went into the school, you were welcomed, people were delighted to see you, and you knew that was a real community that you could just jump into and be part of without any issue whatsoever.
Technology's Role in Solving the Teacher Shortage
— Do you think online platforms and technology can help solve the problem of teacher shortages?
— It's an interesting question. And yes, I think potentially they can be really beneficial. For instance, having an agreement with another school and doing an exchange, or actually bringing teachers over to teach for, let's say, half an academic year, can be hugely beneficial. I don't think they're that common within schools at the moment.
— Beyond teacher exchanges, how specifically can online platforms address this shortage?
— One of the things that has grown is the increase in online education, with teachers coming in online to teach classes to multiple groups of students. I've had experiences with that. And I suppose I'm quite controversial in that I think those kinds of experiences can be massively beneficial to different groups of students and schools around the world if they can't get teachers.
— Could you share an example of a successful online education program you've been involved with?
— I was involved with a cloud-based diploma program that started in 2014. We had students, for example, in rural areas who couldn't get to school, but they were IB level students who could do the program. We could have them taught by teachers from different countries around the world, in different time zones, resourced with completely online digital books.
— How did you manage the logistics of such a geographically diverse program?
— If students couldn't access the live sessions, we'd record them so they could access them later, do the work, submit it for marking, and have an interview with a mentor in their time zone. That became really successful. It was a pre-COVID, UAE-based, progressive project that's still ongoing today. It's been sustainable, not necessarily for a full IB, although that is absolutely possible, but for students in the UAE to do a hybrid, where they do some subjects face-to-face and some online, with teachers from other countries. There are a lot of projects like that. Again, it's quite controversial because many people prefer face-to-face learning. They think having a face there is necessary, and I wouldn't disagree. But the actual learning can go online.
— What are your thoughts on this "pedagogical Uber" concept, and do you see similar initiatives already taking place?
— I actually really would love projects like that. For example, there was a project where children in Africa were being taught by teachers in Europe, the UAE, and other parts of the world. They get a lesson, they get something out of being able to connect online, and that's difficult in certain African countries. I mean, it can be, but it's very easy to solve. It's easy to set up with some resources, and then you're set up and you can run with it. For me, there's loads of potential there still to be tapped into in terms of utilising expertise around the world for teaching.
Transforming Education: A Global Perspective
— How important is it for schools to foster connections with the global community?
— So in some of my experiences, we have connected with schools in different places around the world where students can go and visit on a regular basis because they're part of, we see them as part of our school community. Teachers can do global exchanges. We can have much more of a valuable and rich relationship with another small school that might be in Uganda with a bigger international school that is in Dubai, for example. And so those kinds of relationships, I think, are really exciting and deliver additional experiences to students and teachers on both sides of that relationship. And it's a win-win from my perspective.
— Could you give a specific example of how such a partnership operated in practice?
— No, it was a school in Uganda, and we were an international school in Spain. And we were connected to them. I've also worked with schools in Abu Dhabi, and we connected to schools in Africa. And so, you know, students would go and visit, we would have a project that we, you know, would have deadlines on. Students could learn a few lines of the local language, they'd go to the market, they'd be given missions. So it wouldn't just be a kind of holiday visit. This would be a full project where students would go into the school, and they would build something, they would create something, they would leave an imprint, which was a much more positive one. Share things with the students, maybe take different books or, you know, laptops that, you know, weren't using here anymore and connect with them in that way. So we'd sort of set up the communication tools as we would go.
— Beyond the student benefits, how do these partnerships impact the teachers and the schools themselves?
— Yeah, and often how very easy it is to go in and actually have that win-win relationship with them. You learn a great deal and so do they, and those kinds of, you know that teacher exchange as well can be amazing can be really valuable. We did teacher exchanges with the Middle East, and with India, and having teachers come over and students come over and visit the schools in Dubai, and in Abu Dhabi, and just go and visit, go into classrooms, do lesson observations, look at different strategies for teaching and learning, and also bring the best strategies to us, as well as… those types of relationships and connections can just be really, really valuable and have a great impact on both partnerships.
Reimagining Education: Preparing Students for a Complex World
—What are your thoughts on the future of education? How can we prepare students for the challenges of a rapidly changing world?
— You mentioned AI, virtual worlds, and the need for systemic change. How do you envision assessments and qualifications evolving in this new landscape?
— Students are involved in different community groups online, in different chat groups and platforms, and then they're in school, face-to-face with the teacher, doing algorithms. We need to look at how we can enhance our educational systems, and it's right the way through. We can't just do it within schools. We need to look at the full picture: universities, employers, schooling, in terms of qualifications. How do they change? What does that look like? Do I need to sit an exam to show that I'm capable in math, or can I create something, create an app, and say: “Look, I can do this. Would that make a difference?" Would that count as expertise in our new world? Education always lags behind, and we're still in a place where we were 100 years ago, effectively.
— It seems like there's a lot of potential for innovation in education, especially in the UAE.
— The UAE has always been a really competitive market, but its propensity to open unique and different schools that offer something to different communities and parents is still happening. We're still seeing an average of 15 to 20 schools opening every year for something else. That is still rolling. I think that competitive nature also ensures that we're always trying to be on our best game, always trying to do something more, have a unique selling position. And I think the concept of reimagining education, reviewing, revising, producing something that is valuable to our students now and in the future is still a very attractive proposition for everyone in the UAE.
January 2025
