By Mastery Schools Australia | 10 August 2022
On Tuesday, 26th July, 3 of our Master Teachers set off to Eugene, Oregon USA to attend the 48th National Direct Instruction Conference and Institutes event hosted by National Institute of Direct Instruction (NIFDI). With a purpose to enhance their learning, this BIG decision has paid off in more ways than we could have imagined…
Whilst Matt participated in the networking side of this event, Rachel and Libby participated in the Direct Instruction (DI) Leadership Institute sessions to become certified trainers of DI. Although the process was nothing short of strenuous, let alone the journey, the team of 2 underwent a lengthy application process and were required to undertake an enormous amount of research and study to be considered for the program.
But regardless of this onerous process, both Rachel and Libby come out on top as they became certified trainers of DI – being 2 of 20 elite trainers worldwide that can train others in DI. To put that into perspective, this accomplishment makes Toni, our award winning Director of Teaching and Learning, Rachel and Libby 3 of only 6 elite DI trainers in Australia! …It’s only up from here!
How does this further benefit MSA?
The Conference was also a great opportunity to network with other schools and forge relationships where we can communicate and build practice to improve our student’s results. These relationships will also see many visitors come to Australia to see our Master Teachers in action at MSA.
Another huge benefit to attending this conference was the connections we made with many of the authors of our DI programs, one of them being Owen Engelmann, the son of Siegfried Engelmann – the founder and developer of DI (see pictured). To our great honour, they were super impressed with what we are doing and the positive impact that our implication of DI has made within MSA.
One great benefit of going to the US was that it affirmed to us that we are already doing a great job for our students but now we have enhanced our practice and put MSA on the global map as a school that is re-engaging students and improving results for those students who come into our care.
We are so thankful to Libby, Rachel and Matt for passionately committing to this DI journey and our mission to see EVERY student succeed and furthermore, that MSA is a part of the ever-growing DI family. We have a lot of eyes looking over us as we make learning accessible and offering ‘success as the fun we offer’.
Resources
‘Institute on Becoming an Effective DI Trainer