The conference’s title, “Preparing 21st Century Minds: Using Brain Research to Enhance Cognitive Skills for the Future,” was what piqued Hess’s interest in the conference.

Brewster works hard to ensure that its academic program prepares students for the world in which they will learn and live, and Hess was curious to see if the information presented at the conference would affirm that Brewster’s program is current in proven best practices in teaching and learning for student success.

Several ideas shared at the conference had direct connections to how Brewster has evolved in recent years.

For example, Charles K. Fadel, co-author of 21st Century Skills: Learning for Life in Our Times (2009) called for schools to rethink what is taught around three dimensions – knowledge, skills, and character – and to achieve a “balance between direct instruction and projects.” Brewster has recently revised its curriculum to find the appropriate balance between content coverage in different disciplines and the application of that knowledge through its project-based learning initiative. Fadel’s words confirmed that Brewster is on the right track with these types of revisions.

Harvard researcher Dr. Shelley Carson spoke of the important role that creativity will play in the 21st century and how vital it is that schools take steps to nurture creativity in their students. Brewster’s project-based learning initiative, in which students have the freedom to explore topics of their choice and develop creative, useful solutions to problems, speaks directly to how Brewster is cultivating this concept.

Dr. Robert Swartz, director of the National Center for Teaching Thinking, discussed the value in decentralizing the classroom into small groups and the importance of teaching students how to work well in groups. Brewster has been committed to the concept of teamwork and collaboration for nearly two decades, and the school curriculum’s intentional cooperative learning practices accomplish this objective extremely well.

Dr. Suzy Cox, researcher on the impact of technology in education, advocated for schools to adopt certain technology tools that will help support the “Five Minds for the Future” advocated by author Howard Gardner. She touted the value in taking advantage of technological resources as a way to engage students more deeply in a variety of higher order thinking skills. Some of the tools that she promoted were tools that engaged students in the gathering and analysis of real time data, podcasting, website creation, blogging, and media creation. These tools have been a part of Brewster’s technology repertoire for many years so again this affirmed the relevancy and importance of Brewster’s curriculum.

The above is just a sample of the direct connections to the Brewster program that Hess found as he listened to the various experts. The conference was very stimulating and extremely affirming that Brewster is absolutely on the right track with where it is headed in its efforts to provide the best possible education for its students, Hess commented.