Wanna Go to SXSWEDU 2019?
With a click of the mouse, I selected the last radio button on the SXSWEDU 2018 evaluation form and hit “Submit.”
The conference evaluation form was merrily on its way to the organizers. There were the usual questions about takeaways, the learning experience, about what would make me want to go back again, and what would stop me from doing so.
I would go to SXSWEDU again because …
- The values of SXSWEDU resonate with the core of who I am. I value access and equity, social justice, arts for learning and turning schools outward to engage with the community.
I want to come together again with a community of people who share my passion to use education to impact the community, if not the world. Educational institutions are now run like businesses most of the time. While institutions need to generate income to be sustainable, the mission of schools/educational institutions is to develop the individual and provide opportunities for him/her so he/she can secure a better future. I loved hearing courageous stories and conversations of visionaries who turned their institutions outward to serve the needs of their students and community. I want to be a part of those doers, and not just be a taker and listener.
- I enjoy being in a conference that is focused on taking transformative action and one that does not just focus on theoretical proposals. I love research conferences, don’t get me wrong, but for a change, I loved hearing about programs that succeeded, and relished the tinge (spirit?) of playfulness that infused many of the sessions. My spirit soared when I heard a rap starting off a session!
“The history we are living today is predicated by things that happened in the past.” “As teachers we must breathe new life into history.” #SXSWedu18 #soundtrack63 pic.twitter.com/kegq0Eh9Zu
— Kat Sauter (@katnsauter) March 7, 2018
See you again in 2019 as a more active participant.
