For over 30 years international school leaders, teachers, and counselors have come together for PTC professional learning experiences. Each day of every program begins with a “pearl of wisdom,” a “nugget of knowledge,” or a “gem of inspiration” from one of the participants. We are delighted to offer our readers around the world these powerful stories, insights, and strategies, all dedicated to our shared mission of ever more and better learning for our children.
In this Pearl, Courtney shares a story about launching a new humanities course too quickly, without gathering enough input from the wider school community. This led to confusion, student stress, and a drop in enrollment. Learning from this experience, her team later took a full year to co-create a new program grounded in broad collaboration, data collection, and community engagement. The result was more meaningful and sustainable change. Reflecting on this, she emphasizes the importance of thoughtful, collaborative planning. As she puts it, “Go slow to go fast. Ensuring collaboration ensures sustainable change.”
Professional positions cited were the ones held at the time of recording. The positions and schools of those quoted may have since changed.
Courtney Carreon is a teacher at The American School in Japan.
