“We can’t do it alone. No individual alone can transform our schools into places where all children get what they need every day.” Elena Aguilar, The Art of Coaching Teams
In this most unusual of school years, Agency by Design Oakland has adjusted our fellowship and organization to meet the needs of the times.
The first announcement is that our leadership structure has changed to a more distributed model. Brooke Toczylowski, formerly Executive Director, and Paula Mitchell, formerly Fellowship Director, are now Co-Directors of Agency by Design Oakland. Both are excited to lead the organization together through this extraordinary time of change and opportunity.
We believe in collaborative governance structures that distribute leadership to a team. Seen here is our Fellowship Leadership Team, which designs, facilitates and coaches our Oakland teacher fellowship. From left to right: Paula Mitchell, Teacher on Special Assignment at Grass Valley Elementary School, Alia Ghabra, Humanities teacher at Elmhurst United, Susan Wolf, Teaching Artist, Ilya Pratt, Director of the Design+Make+Build Program at Park Day School, and Brooke Toczylowski, Instructional Coach at Oakland International High School.
“If you want to go fast, go alone.
If you want to go far, go together. “
Secondly, as the current conditions have taxed even the most resilient of us, we have shifted the Oakland fellowship from a focus on individuals to a focus on teams. We know that maker-centered learning pedagogy holds the promise of creating both more equitable and engaging learning environments and we need this now more than ever. We decided to shift our focus to teams in order to help foster conditions for sustainability, spreadability and success at sites. To this end, we are also intentionally engaging site leaders for the first time in the fellowship experience. Principals and school leaders will join their teams for three experiences throughout the year. This work is supported by our participation and collaboration with Maker Ed’s Making Spaces Program, a national network of hubs supporting schools to integrate making.
The message of collaboration, joy and healing that we set as the themes for our ‘20-’21 fellowship seemed to resonate with our applicants. Upon opening our application process in June, our leadership team was immediately struck by the thoughtfulness and creativity of the applications and their stated desire to be in community with one another. At this particular point in history, humans desire to be in fellowship with one another and teachers, who are often stuck in the silos of their classroom, are realizing how much they need each other to meet the demands of distance learning.
In addition to figuring it out together, our latest group of fellows are dedicated to bringing culturally responsive pedagogy and equity through making into their practice. Perhaps because of this, or because we are in such extraordinary times, our fellowship is one of the most diverse we’ve ever had, with the largest number of second year fellows to date. We are thrilled to have so many returnees and are looking forward to the creation of richer experiences with the entire cohort. We are committed to discovering what student agency looks like during distance learning to ensure that all are cared for and engaged during this challenging time. We will update you on this work as the year progresses; below is a snapshot of our cohort makeup.
We wish you health, happiness, and even joy during this difficult time.
In Community,
Paula & Brooke
P.S. Show Up for Democracy- VOTE!