Nancy Lhoest-Squicciarini

Nancy Lhoest-Squicciarini has been a teacher, coordinator, school leader, facilitator and coach. In her current role as Head of Community Relations at the International School of Luxembourg, the energetic New Yorker looks after her school’s reputation. This involves leading and supporting ISL’s admissions, communications, marketing and development initiatives and representing the school on a global stage at leading training and accreditation organizations, such ECIS, CIS or the PTC. Her passion for education and her constant drive for innovation has helped ISL to be recognized as a pioneer amongst leading international schools.

Nancy, over the last 30 years you have been such a force in education in all your different roles and functions. We could talk about so many trailblazing initiatives but we would like to pick out your PD Online Platform the ‘Virtual Learning Loft’, a pioneering format that you have launched at ISL in response to the global pandemic.  

With great pleasure. The ‘Virtual Learning Loft’ is a series of 1-hour webinars for educators. It enables participants to connect, learn and develop networking opportunities on a global scale, and of course, promote ISL as a learning organization. Let me give you some background to the idea that led to the development of the ‘Virtual Learning Loft’.

In 2009, after being appointed Assistant Principal responsible for Teaching and Learning, I was fortunate to develop partnerships with organizations such as Chapters International and Educational Collaborative for International Schools (ECIS). These relationships led to the ISL Institutes, a series of professional development workshops hosted by ISL and targeting inquisitive international school educators from around the world. For ten years, these workshops attracted and engaged countless teachers, curriculum designers, school leaders and other educational experts in learning experiences geared towards positively impacting and influencing student learning. In light of COVID-19, “face to face” conferences were no longer an option, so we decided to redesign and reimagine the ISL Institute and developed the ISL Virtual Learning Loft (#ISLLoft).

Virtual webinars have specific constraints. How did you manage to recreate the very personal, high-energy atmosphere and social interaction that has become a trademark of your face-to-face events?

It’s true, it’s impossible. Yet, with the flurry of virtual meetings and webinars, I wanted the ISL Loft to differentiate itself. Virtual facilitation was a new “beast” and appropriate training for facilitators was limited at the time. The rapid popularity of the term “Zoom-out” led me to reflect on potential pitfalls, such as screen fatigue and poor meeting facilitation.

What made ISL Institutes successful was the quality of the relationships and connections with other international educators. Regardless of the setting, attendees need to feel connected. With this idea in mind, the ISL Loft fundamentals emerged. Connecting all attendees’ hearts was the priority, in resonance with the concept Head, Heart, and Hands of Transformational Learning, which provided the approach when planning and organizing ISL Loft events. Upon entering the virtual meeting, attendees are engaged in an intentional inclusion activity to deliberately promote connections and embrace the power of relationships, the HEART. The HEAD was the deliberate type of thinking designed for that specific session. Lastly the HANDS, has two implications. First, the intentional and planned “takeaway” that each participant leaves the session with and secondly, the virtual movement of the attendees.

You mentioned screen fatigue earlier on. Right now there are lots of webinars and online conferences available. What makes the ‘Virtual Learning Loft’ special in comparison to other formats?

Based on my experience, I think there are two significant factors that differentiate the ISL Loft from other virtual webinars. Our guests are not only renowned experts within their fields but also educators I have worked with before and admire their work. Co-facilitating with John Mikton, Head of Educational and Media Technology, we both acknowledged that the quality of the relationship with our guests is a crucial element of success. It makes the virtual session sound and feel like a gathering of friends. Past guests included Ewan McIntosh, Jennifer Abrams, Fran Prolman, Jim Ellis, Susie March, Scott McLeod, Tonya Gilchrist and Jeff Utecht, to name just a few, and their generosity and friendship have enabled the ISL Loft to be a powerful platform for discussion and collaboration. The second most significant factor are the participants and their loyalty to the ISL Loft. We have educators who attended every event due to the relationships they have developed. The start of many ISL Loft events is saying hello, having a bit of fun and a laugh.   

Thank you, Nancy. Good luck with the upcoming ISL Learning Loft events. Keep pioneering and stay connected! www.islux.lu/about/learning-loft