Erin O’Connell, teacher of English at The Pennington School, has been accepted to the 2020–21 Leadership+Design Fellowship.
As one of a handful of educators selected, O’Connell will engage in a year-long collaboration with Leadership+Design, an organization committed to creating the future of teaching and learning.
“Addressing the challenges of distance and hybrid learning requires flexibility and focus on what’s most important: in our case, the student,” O’Connell said in a prepared statement. “I am looking to Leadership+Design to challenge my own thinking, open me up to new ideas and approaches, and help me move my ideas into realities.”
Recognizing that flexibility and adaptability are crucial within the rapidly shifting educational landscape, Leadership+Design supports educators in becoming innovators and changemakers in their own schools and communities. To put human-centered design thinking into practice, each Leadership+Design Fellow will develop a project delving into a specific area of engagement or research. The project gives fellows the opportunity to grow their leadership capacity and sharpen their skills as innovators and problem solvers, according to the statement.
“At Pennington, I am hoping to further enhance the mentoring program and overall faculty support services,” said O’Connell, who, in addition to her role as an English teacher, serves as a faculty mentor and the director of the Peer Leadership program.
O’Connell has spent her entire career at The Pennington School, and she sees her fellowship as a perfectly timed opportunity to help the school grow, according to the statement. Despite the many hardships of the pandemic, O’Connell remains optimistic that schools and teachers will use this time as an opportunity to reevaluate their curricula and methodologies.
“Innovation in education is a requirement right now,” O’Connell said in the statement. “Although I wish more than anything in the world that there was not a life-threatening pandemic, this time will force us to slow down, look around, and hopefully reimagine teaching and learning. It is a time for change. I have to believe that this moment has something to teach us if we are just open to learn.”
The Pennington School is an independent coeducational school for students in grades 6-12, in both day and boarding programs. The curriculum is college preparatory, with an emphasis on individual excellence, fostering the development of the whole student through academics, athletics, community service, and the creative and performing arts.