Session Sponsors: Dr. John Mckenna & Dr. John Hunt

This session will focus on the conceptualization of educational planning as a discipline, examining salient ideas about leadership approaches and how they engage people in program development, implementation strategies, professional learning opportunities, infrastructure improvements, and organizational assessments in school settings, especially as we focus on the opportunities, advancements, and possibilities for the future. While we still face natural and manmade disruptions such as continuing iterations of the coronavirus, school shootings, national and political intrusions into the school environment, etc., educators are beginning to learn how to deal with such issues in their professional settings and now look to advance new programs, practices, and methods to meet the challenges of our ever changing world . Consistent with ISEP’s focus this year on planning for the next decade and beyond, as impacted by current exigencies as well as future ones, session presenters will explore topics related to both contemporary and future approaches for human resources planning in educational settings and present their research, findings and recommendations to improve and enhance educational models for the next decade and beyond

Possible topics for session presenters include (but are not limited to) the following:

• The ever-changing nature of educational leadership and the development of programs, practices, methods and strategies to meet the unexpected realities of our contemporary and future world and to establish a vision for that future.
• Creative and innovative methods to meet the instructional needs and prepare students for the future.
• Researched based ideas and solutions to strategically lead educational organizations to success in our ever-changing global society.
• The link between organizational outcomes in education (such as student achievement) and effective instructional leadership and human practices. For the next decade and beyond.
• Strategic and serendipitous planning as it relates to program development and implementation and leadership strategies utilized to create professional learning experiences while engaging staff in the process.
• Approaches for empowering and sustaining key partners /stakeholders to actively engage in the change process to meet the demands of the future.
• Strategies for surviving in the current politicized environment while remaining properly focused on the needs of students, parents, staff, teachers, administrators and the entire educational community.
• Common elements/frameworks of “best practices” in planning for effective leadership, professional development, and organizational assessment for the next decade and beyond.
• Systems thinking, strategic planning, “outside the box” possibilities and approaches in educational leadership, teacher empowerment, the use of technology, and human resource practices for contemporary global village in meeting an organization’s needs for the future.
• Lessons learned, during the pandemic, regarding how to meet the educational and emotional needs of students, as well as how to determine which new educational strategies and approaches developed during this time period are worthy of retention and which should be modified or eliminated.
• Strategic and serendipitous planning and organizational accountability assessments to maximize future success.
• Recommendations for leaders and organizations to proactively plan to successfully lead their organizations into the future.
• Planning for personal, professional, and organizational change in education.
• International and comparative experiences and studies in education that relate to our theme of planning for people, things and ideas for the next decade and beyond.

Potential Themes and Keywords: leadership approaches; coping with rapid unplanned changes; ; the next decade and beyond; future leadership strategies; ideas and solutions; enhanced and improved models; creative and innovative methods; providing educational services in a politicized environment; strategic and serendipitous human resource planning theory; instructional leadership; human resources plan implementation; professional learning opportunities, technological advancements; planning partners; empowerment of  staff/teachers/administrators; vision for the future.