Bolles faculty members from all four campuses gathered on the Upper School San Jose Campus February 17 for a day dedicated to professional development, including a two-part morning workshop from Dr. Aric Visser and afternoon Teachers Teaching Teachers sessions.

Visser is the founder of the Baserria Institute, an organization that designs and executes impactful, immersive learning programs and partners with schools to help them do the same. He has over 20 years of experience as a teacher, administrator and community organizer – most recently as the Head of Schools and Programs for School Year Abroad (SYA), a year-long study abroad program for high school students in Spain, France, Italy and China.

In part one of his workshop, held in McGehee Auditorium, Visser defined and gave examples of global competencies in several different areas and provided examples of what has been successful in global competence development, with a particular focus on intercultural competence. He also worked with the group to dispel myths about global competencies by focusing on what they are not. He finished the first half of the session by giving examples and frameworks for assessment.

After a short break, Bolles faculty reconvened in Davis Gym for part two of Visser’s workshop, which touched on the assessment of global competencies both in the classroom and in other parts of the school community. The faculty broke into small groups by discipline to identify work currently being done toward global competence development, with each member bringing a unit from their discipline to examine.

Faculty then broke for lunch in Verlander Hall before beginning back-to-back sessions of Teachers Teaching Teachers, an initiative that invites Bolles faculty members to share their professional or personal knowledge with each other. A total of 32 sessions were available, with offerings ranging from Taichi exercise and kayaking on the St. Johns River to the exploration of DEIB language and roundtable discussions with counselors.

Bolles Associate Head of School Mike Drew, Director of Global Learning and Engagement Natalia Aycart and Upper School Head Moya Marks were integral in the organization of this enriching Professional Development Day. Thank you to all the faculty for their attention, enthusiasm and commitment to learning!

To view pictures from the Professional Development Day, visit our online gallery.