Overview
Gathered at the Hotel Shattuck Plaza in Berkeley, the 21CSLA State Center hosted its fifth biannual hybrid fall retreat on October 8–9, 2024. Facilitated by 21CSLA Director, Rebecca Cheung, 76 virtual and in-person attendees (including the State Center, Regional Academies, and State Agency guests) collectively reaffirmed their commitment to creating effective and powerful professional learning environments for TK–12 school leaders throughout California. The theme of the fall retreat was Connecting Research to Our 21CSLA Practice: Designing Even More Impactful and Comprehensive Professional Learning.
This retreat was made possible thanks to the invaluable assistance of 14 Center team members who took an active role in facilitating and presenting during the retreat, accompanied by Danny Solórzano from the Leadership Board. Additionally, 20 Center team members contributed to hybrid learning and/or note-taking and documentation. This collective endeavor reaffirms our dedication to hybrid learning and ensuring inclusivity for all participants. The retreat also cultivated a sense of community and collaboration amongst Regional Academies and between the State Center and Regional Academy teams to engage in powerful learning together.
Modeling Hybrid and Digitally Mediated Learning Formats
Given that over 50% of 21CSLA professional learning offerings occurred in full virtual or hybrid formats during 2023–2024, the 21CSLA State Center team made deliberate efforts to utilize the Retreat as an opportunity to model the incorporation of virtual attendees into all discussions and activities. Modeling continuous improvement, the hybrid facilitation team employed feedback from past retreats to elevate the learning experience by designating hybrid participation tables, the use of digitally mediated tools, and interactive strategies to support each component of the agenda.
One virtual attendee shared: “All hybrid facilitators were extraordinary in making sure hybrid participants were fully included and valued. I am so glad I had a chance to experience the learning in this format. I think the hybrid support team did a phenomenal job ensuring everyone was supported virtually or in person. ”
Attendees at the retreat were also encouraged to join the virtual space concurrently to facilitate more significant interaction and dynamic conversations across both audiences. To make the retreat equitable and accessible, all participants used the 21CSLA Digital Learning Hub to find all necessary retreat resources, information, and materials.
Intentionally Centering Equity
Equity is a key design principle of 21CSLA and is embedded throughout the content. A specific example is when the retreat kicked off with a powerful land acknowledgment from Oakland Technical High School Assistant Principal who is a member of the Bay Area Regional Academy (BARA) Latinx Affinity group and Principal Leadership Institute (PLI) and Leadership Support Program (LSP) Alum, Errico Zeno Bachicha. Errico shared his story and challenged the group to consider how self-awareness can support school leaders in not “taking on the role of the oppressor.” This framing reverberated throughout two days of dynamic programming designed to foster meaningful dialogue, intentional collaboration, and continuous improvement in service to students across California.
Other examples include breakout sessions focused on designing professional learning to implement Ethnic Studies and understand Ethical Artificial Intelligence as well as a whole group session on building collective knowledge regarding listening as an essential practice of equity leaders. Continuing a jazz metaphor that has been used over time, the Collective discussed how jazz musicians inform conceptions of democracy and the work of leaders for equity. Participants discussed the challenge of “what happens if someone plays the wrong note,” active listening, and the importance of intentional collaboration. Board Chair Jabari Mahiri and board member Danny Solórzano extended the concept of listening to the power of storytelling and story listeners and what it means to feel a true sense of belonging.
Connecting Research to Practice
The theme of the fall retreat was Connecting Research to Our 21CSLA Practice: Designing Even More Impactful and Comprehensive Professional Learning.
Leading voices in the field shared their research on why developing equity-centered professional learning for school leaders is critical as we seek to improve schooling for California’s most marginalized students. One regional academy leader confirmed, “This retreat has helped me make the connections between current research around the most impactful and transformative learning needed for leaders and affirmed for me the practices that can be elevated/leveraged in professional learning moving forward.”
Michelle Young, Dean of UC Berkeley’s School of Education, shared her framework for powerful learning experiences, which is a key component of the 21CSLA Guidance Document. Dean Young’s presentation focused on creating a deeper understanding of how adults learn and intentionally developing content that prepares leaders to be culturally responsive, courageous, and community-focused.
Dr. Jabari Mahiri, chair of the 21CSLA Leadership Board, moderated a session with the president and CEO of the Learning Policy Institute and leading educational leadership scholar, Linda Darling-Hammond. Dr. Darling-Hammond shared research from her book, Developing Expert Principals: Professional Learning That Matters, and underscored that “the task today (for school leaders) is transformation, not administration.”
Darling-Hammond’s presentation included the theory of “Three R’s for Thriving Schools” (relationship-centered, restorative, and responsive), which she maintains are essential in reimagining schools to become more equitable. The “Three R’s” were a refrain throughout the retreat as participants grappled with how to connect this theory to their daily work.
One attendee stated, “This retreat has deepened my understanding by helping me further understand the integration of research across the organization with various types, approaches, and implications of information that support the approach and practices. An additional layer to this was the humanization of research and data through the presenters and speakers, highlighted by Linda Darling-Hammond's presentation.”
Additional Information
In addition to the remarkable speakers, the retreat provided an opportunity for group sensemaking of 21CSLA materials, including the LPI Impact Report, the recent 21CSLA External Evaluation Report from RTI, and the Transformative Learning for School Leaders 21CSLA research brief.
Attendees also participated in three break-out sessions, choosing from six timely topics including an opportunity to work through problems of practice in our “helping trio” format and an overview of the Center’s newly developed “Professional Learning Packages”.
Closing Reflections
The retreat concluded with a closing reflection activity, where participants were welcomed to share their “aha” moments, connections, and ideas. As one participant noted, “There were many opportunities, structured and informal, for us to gauge our leaders' engagement with and understanding of where the work is for them. Perhaps even more important, we got the chance to check in and deepen our relationships, which will help us move forward.”
Another participant summarized our experience, “I am so proud to see such a diverse group of Californians working hard to make education better for students across the state.”
Thank you to all participants, organizers, and speakers for helping us continue to innovate and elevate the work of 21CSLA. We look forward to meeting again at UCLA in Spring 2025 for our next retreat.