Mary Scholl
The Institute for Collaborative Learning
Costa Rica
Mary Scholl’s work has spanned across Latin America, Japan, Korea, Libya, South Sudan, and Saudi Arabia, where she has designed and implemented educational projects, often in collaboration with public institutions and ministries of education. She is the executive director at the Institute for collaborative Learning in Costa Rica.
Presentation 1: Listening as Innovation: Reimagining Feedback Through the Critical Response Process
26/07/2025 23:00 UTC
How can feedback become a tool for transformation rather than evaluation? This session introduces the Critical Response Process (CRP), a dynamic, inclusive approach to feedback that fosters curiosity, trust, and co-creation. Participants will experience CRP in action and explore its potential to reimagine learning, teaching, and professional development across cultures and contexts—shifting from judgment to generative dialogue.
Key takeaways:
Transform Feedback into Dialogue: Participants will learn how to use CRP to shift feedback from evaluative judgment to constructive, curiosity-driven conversation.
Foster Trust and Agency in Learning Spaces: Educators will explore how CRP cultivates safer, more inclusive environments that support reflection, risk-taking, and learner empowerment.
Apply CRP Across Contexts: Attendees will leave with practical tools to integrate CRP into classroom teaching, professional development, and collaborative curriculum design.
Presentation 2: Sustaining Practices for Resilient, Trauma-Informed Teachers
26/07/2025 12:00 UTC
In 2024, the presenters developed a course for English language teachers on Trauma-informed Instruction. The course included instruction on knowledge, strategies, and tools to support students who have experienced trauma; however, it also included an equal amount of experiential mindfulness and relational agility practice. These practices, such as meditation, nonviolent communication, and holding space, became the transformational element of the course. In this workshop, we will explore the practices that hold and sustain resilient educators as they engage in creating trauma-informed schools.
Key takeaways:
Trauma-informed instruction requires a regulated teacher, making sustained teacher well-being a necessity
Sessions will include practice and reflection on co-regulation, mindfulness, and other practices tied to resilience and regulation
When working with topics of SEL or Trauma-informed pedagogy, it's essential to include relational agility practices for both teachers and learners
Co-presenter: Kim Carroll
🟦 AI-DEBATE 2: Is AI a Threat to Educational Equity or a Tool for Justice?
27/07/2025 01:00 UTC
As AI becomes more prevalent in classrooms worldwide, the question remains: will it narrow or widen the opportunity gap? This session explores the tension between AI’s potential to personalize learning at scale and its risks of reinforcing bias and deepening educational inequality. A thought-provoking debate designed to challenge assumptions and surface bold ideas for AI policy and practice.
Prompt:
Will AI close or widen the opportunity gap in global education?
Moderator: Jessica Maddry