Dr. Steve Marable, assistant principal at Renaissance Academy was recently recognized by The International Society for Educational Planning (ISEP) for his dissertation, “Green Schools – The Implementation and Practices of Environmental Education in LEED and USED Green Ribbon Public Schools in Virginia.” His research study earned the 2014 Outstanding Dissertation Award. As part of this prestigious award, Marable was invited to present his study in Cyprus at the ISEP’s annual conference. Marable wrote about his experience presenting and collaborating with educators throughout the world here. 

Background

It’s been a few weeks since I returned home from North Cyprus where I attended the annual conference for the International Society for Educational Planners. Since then, I have found myself back into my daily and weekly routines within my administrative role. However, my experience was such a unique and valuable one that I felt the need to share them. I hope you find value in them too.

Earlier this summer I was contacted by Adam Nir, professor at the University of Jerusalem and ISEP President, and notified that my dissertation received the outstanding dissertation award from ISEP and was invited to attend the conference in October to present my study and receive the award. Intimidated and excited, I agreed to attend the conference and quickly worked to update my passport and arrange my travel plans.

At North Cyprus

I remember feeling a bit nervous for my presentation and it did not help that I was presenting right before our lunch break. I presented the study in September at the Virginia Educational Research Association’s annual conference, so I felt okay about my presentation. However, my anxiety did increase a bit after one professor presented his quantitative study on the effectiveness of school leadership through improvisation. During the presentation, he seamlessly explained the detailed results of his study, which included the p-values, t-tests, analysis of covariance and some other terms that have not been part of my vocabulary since taking Quantitative Methods II about 12 months prior.

Finally, after growing anticipation, I was presented with the award and then I made my presentation to the audience. Afterwards, I was quickly set at ease as many professors from several countries asked me thoughtful questions regarding my study. As we were dismissed for lunch, several professors, retired superintendents, and doctoral students asked me questions about the study and welcomed me to the organization. My initial thoughts were that I would present my study and sit quietly through the rest of the conference, learning as much as possible. However, I was taken aback from the kind and warm welcome that I received from so many people. I was invited to eat lunch with several professors, to which I quickly agreed. During lunch they continued to ask me questions about my study and we discussed many facets of education and educational leadership from many countries.

That evening, several musically inclined members of ISEP invited everyone to meet up to enjoy some acoustical music and comradery. We talked, laughed, listened and enjoyed music of many genres. I listened to a professor from Israel play ‘Amazing Grace’ on the piano, an American professor play ‘Big Bad Leroy Brown’ on guitar, a variety of jazz and folk…including traditional Turkish folk music.

Over the next few days, I continued to meet people and build relationships through one common interest: helping to continuously improve education for our students. I listened to research about closing the literacy gap for underfunded students in Saudi Arabia, how schools in Poland are utilizing ongoing professional development to assist teacher growth, how three American universities are developing international partnerships to help develop educational leadership programs in other countries, effective leadership in schools in Israel, and perceptions of the effectiveness of homework in Cyprus, and the list goes on. Many of these concepts are familiar to our classrooms, schools, divisions, and states. I was surprised to find that many countries experienced similar trends and issues. This gave me a new perspective and understanding of ‘global awareness.’

While on my trip, I was also able to visit some castles, mosques, and cathedrals that were built over Cyprus’s long history through many different empires. I was sure to take a ton of photos and notes to share with our social studies teachers. Currently, we are planning to co-teach a few lessons in our world history classes.

I was thankful for the opportunity to meet so many brilliant individuals and build so many friendships during my visit. I have continued to stay in contact with many of my new colleagues since my return. Moreover, I was honored to be able to represent our fine division at this conference. The experience was a blessing that I will not forget.

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