The fall 2024 edition of our newsletter, Cotsen Connect, explores several professional growth opportunities that our Foundation was honored to provide to hundreds of current and alumni educators over the summer and early fall. It also highlights a few upcoming events that we hope many of you will attend.
As I reflected on these opportunities, and the learning and growing inherent in the interactions participants experience through them, I was once again reminded of the power of community for those of us who chose teaching as our life’s work.
For educators who spend hours ensconced in classrooms making magic for children, being part of a vibrant, collaborative community of peers is not just beneficial – it is important for growth and innovation. Community in education goes far beyond networking; it is, at its best, a shared space where experiences, insights, and challenges can be openly exchanged and respected. Strong communities support meaning-making and scaffold the construction of knowledge of its members by providing a nurturing social-cultural context for learning and growing.
The entire ART of TEACHING staff is committed to working with you this year to continue building and sustaining a community that acknowledges present challenges that confront educators daily yet works toward our aspirations. From your school-site cohort to the multi-school cohorts, communities of practice, and opportunities to learn with others from across the ART of TEACHING network at trainings and conferences, the Foundation seeks to provide you with a robust and powerful professional community that maximizes your learning. In the spirit of our shared pursuit, we invite you to engage in this community as you endeavor to provide artful teaching that inspires children. We have planned many exceptional professional growth experiences for you this year and look forward to seeing you enjoy the Cotsen community throughout 2024-2025.
Sincerely,
Jerry Harris
Executive Director
Cotsen Foundation for the ART of TEACHING