2011 2013 Prospectus

CAN Mezzanine London N1 6AH The Innovation Unit Limited

49-51 East Road United Kingdom Registered in England and Wales, no. 05997039
CAN Mezzanine London N1 6AH The Innovation Unit Limited
49-51 East Road United Kingdom Registered in England and Wales, no. 05997039
 Contents
Introducing GELP
Aims of the program
Background to the program: Education 3.0

The GELP Offer

Global dialogue and collaboration
Global learning events
GELP Online

Support for implementing C21st teaching and learning

World class consultancy
A news alerting service
GELP+ options

The GELP Commitment

Governance
Focus
Selecting a team
Contribution
Resources

Looking Forward

Further Information

CAN Mezzanine London N1 6AH The Innovation Unit Limited

49-51 East Road United Kingdom Registered in England and Wales, no. 05997039
 Introducing GELP

Aims of the Program

The Global Education Leaders Program (GELP) sets out to transform education, effectively
and sustainably, at local, national and global levels. It is a partnership of thought leaders
and consultants from world-class organizations, collaborating in a new global community
with teams of key education leaders who are seriously committed to transforming education
in practice, and developing the personal skills to lead the changes required.

The program objectives are:

To accelerate and sustain transformation within GELP members local systems and
nations
To develop transformational capacity and personal efficacy within education system
leaders
To advocate and continually refine the vision of 21st Century teaching & learning
To facilitate an interactive and growing global community of education leaders and change
agents

Background to the Program: Education 3.0

The Global Education Leaders Program arose out of a set of key ideas which were explored
in a publications stream commissioned by Cisco in 2008/9. Equipping Every Learner for the
21st Century; The Learning Society; and, in 2010, Learning from the Extremes demonstrate
compellingly why the current system of schooling, developed in the age of industrialization,
is insufficient for the evolving information age and the dynamic conditions of the 21st century.

There are three principal drivers: globalization; demographic shifts; and technological
revolution. Taken together these drivers are rapidly rendering the current schooling system
inadequate.

The central thesis, that it is system transformation, not school improvement which is the
necessary response is now more widely acknowledged. However, the implications of this are
neither widely fully understood nor accepted. A transformed system:

aims to provide equitable access to higher order capabilities;

is achieved through holistic change because the system is complex and interdependent;
is characterized by a transfer of ownership from teachers to learners; and
is accelerated by collaborative learning technologies.

The outcomes may be described as C21st learning, Next Generation Learning, or in an

analogy with the development of the Web as Education 3.0.

CAN Mezzanine London N1 6AH The Innovation Unit Limited

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 Around the world, pioneering leaders are seeking to realize this vision. As they do so, they
are working to construct roadmaps as to how to achieve these objectives.

GELP has so far welcomed teams from:

Australia
Brazil
British Columbia, Canada
Chaoyang District, Beijing, China
England
Finland
India
The Innovation Lab Network (ILN/USA)
New York City, USA
New Zealand
Ontario, Canada
South Korea
Victoria, Australia

The partners in GELP are:

Cisco
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation,
Promethean Ltd
Ellen Koshland Family Fund
Innovation Unit

The program also draws on specialist contributions from a wide range of partners, including to
date, the Hay Group; the Harvard Graduate School of Education; McKinsey & Co; Bridge; and the
Asia Education Foundation.

CAN Mezzanine London N1 6AH The Innovation Unit Limited

49-51 East Road United Kingdom Registered in England and Wales, no. 05997039
 The GELP Offer:

The core GELP offer to participating teams includes:

Global dialogue, community and collaboration

Global Learning Events

Members gather every six months to share practices, goals and challenges as they work
through the process of leading transformation in their systems. Global events are hosted
in participating countries and cities, creating opportunities to make connections with local
systems through wider stakeholder meetings and visits to schools. Partner
organizations, invited specialists and the consultancy team lead sessions at the events
to facilitate professional learning experiences of the highest quality.

GELP Online
In addition to the global events, a GELP website offers a platform for communications
and sharing resources. Targeted opportunities for ongoing collaboration on common
goals and priorities are provided in convened and facilitated seminars and discussions.

Online activity is designed and facilitated to reflect the range of interests, challenges and
stages of development amongst participating teams.

Support for implementing 21st century teaching and learning

World Class Consultancy

Each team works with a consultant to refine, strategize, and address their challenges
Consultancy support is tailored to the needs of the team, but principally takes the form of
induction into the Program;
support and facilitation at each of the global events;
a consultancy visit after the first Global Event; and
three planned and debriefed Telepresence1 meetings.

These elements amount to a total of 12 days per year consultancy support.

1
Telepresence is a video conferencing facility provided by Cisco, which brings people together
virtually with the appearance of being in the same room. For more details visit
http://www.cisco.com/en/US/solutions/ns669/public_telepresence.html

CAN Mezzanine London N1 6AH The Innovation Unit Limited

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 A news alerting service

GELP consultants, specialists and partners have roles and responsibilities that give them
unrivalled access to emerging ideas and evidence likely to be helpful to teams. Early
notification of new research and thought leadership, along with analysis by the GELP
team of the implications for GELP related work will be posted regularly in the online
community. Online seminars will be hosted where issues are of especial importance and
interest to GELP members.

GELP+ Options

In addition to the core GELP offer, members can purchase a range of optional services:

Additional consultancy visits

Supplementary consultancy visits may be desirable, for example for engaging a wider
group of stakeholders or for making connections between GELP and other development
work.

Leadership development
Individual and/or team coaching is available for members. Individual Coaching is offered
through a virtual process Coaches supporting individual team members liaise with the
consultants to make sure the team can benefit from the individuals work. However,
coaching insights are not shared, and remain confidential between the member and the
coach.

GELP Stakeholder conferences

Participating teams may elect to host GELP conferences for a wider group of
stakeholders, which draw upon and build on themes explored in the GELP global events,
in order to advance their GELP work in their context. Planning, presentation, facilitation
and evaluation of GELP conferences are available from the GELP team by separate
negotiation with the Program Management Team.

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49-51 East Road United Kingdom Registered in England and Wales, no. 05997039
 The GELP Commitment

Participation in GELP requires a considerable commitment from teams to:

Appropriate governance
Identifying a focus
Selecting a team
Making an active and sustained contribution
Providing suitable resources

Appropriate governance
Teams agree a defined governance model, including an Executive Sponsor, to ensure the
appropriate awareness of and support for team members participation and goals for their
program experience.

Identifying a focus
Teams identify a focus or priority for their reform agenda for which they wish to leverage GELP
resources. Plans for this will be stretched and challenged through the GELP process and
support, and will also be progressed and accelerated through the work of the team during the
year.

Selecting a Team
Leaders take part in GELP in teams. Most teams comprise four or five members. Teams are
selected by an Executive Sponsor, usually the person negotiating participation in GELP, and
the Program team. Selecting the right candidates is critical. The Program sets high expectations
not only of their commitment during the formal phase of the program, but of their ability to apply
the lessons to their system, extend the programs ambitions and gather a wider network of
influential leaders.

GELP members are:

Respected, high potential system leaders, in a position of influence, already tackling
challenging reform issues
Bold and innovative thinkers, intellectually curious and willing to learn; ready for
Education 3.0
Networked and connected influencers, able to build coalitions and inspire others
Leaders with a global perspective, who are willing to devote time and energy to the
program

They are usually:

In a significant education system leadership role, with ten years experience
Currently leading significant change or reform
Tipped for future potential and progression
With a track record of strong managerial leadership

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 And have demonstrated that they are:
Politically astute
o Analyses constituencies and stakeholder to understand motives and interests
o Engages stakeholders effectively and smoothly
o Realistic about the possibilities and boundaries for action
o Do they mobilise stakeholders and political leaders behind a challenging or
innovative reforms?
A collaborative leader
o Builds alliances and coalitions
o Sustains strong and reciprocal relationships with peers
o Uses sophisticated and, if necessary, indirect influencing tactics
o Can they bring their peers together to commit meaningfully to initiatives?
Confident and courageous
o Believes they can make difference
o Shows a forthright and accurate assessment of their strengths and abilities
o Challenges the status quo, even when it is personally risky to do so
o Do they take high risk stands for something they believe in deeply?
Resilient
o Puts problems and challenges into the proper perspective
o Picks themselves up rapidly after setbacks
o How do they respond to career setbacks?
Outward looking
o Eager to learn and to be exposed to new ideas
o Learns from experience and mistakes
o Tolerant, curious and enquiring
o Are they still learning personally and on behalf of their system?
Energetic
o Sustains pace, energy and engagement under pressure
Visionary and inspirational
o Communicates a clear and compelling sense of direction
o Generates enthusiasm and commitment in others
o Whats their five year vision for your [locality/region/etc.]? What impact has
this made on their team?
Analytical and a creative systems thinker
o Breaks up complex problems into constituent parts to plan action
o Makes decisions justified by appropriate and relevant evidence
o Sees major trends and patterns
o Sees the connections and interplays between different parts of complex
systems
o Advances and tests hypotheses about interventions in systems
o Develops and shares new ways of looking at the world
o Tolerant of ambiguity and uncertainty

CAN Mezzanine London N1 6AH The Innovation Unit Limited

49-51 East Road United Kingdom Registered in England and Wales, no. 05997039
 They will also be:
highly knowledgeable about their education system
interested in and committed to global education reform
fluent in English (materials can be made available in translation, but for Global Events
and in online exchanges, a good command of English is required.)

Making an active and sustained contribution

In their first year, each individual team member will fully participate in the program through:

induction completed through one to one meetings and telephone calls and a local team
workshop;
two global events at six monthly intervals
online interaction in the form of seminars, discussion groups and informal,
asynchronous exchanges with other GELP members, consultants and specialists
between events;
ongoing contribution to GELP related work within the participating team, which may
include workshops (local) or other virtual meetings that will be jointly defined with their
consultant(s); and
feedback to the GELP Program Management Team regarding individuals and teams
experiences of leading transformation, with agreement for GELP to publish case studies
and success stories based on work completed through the Program.

Providing suitable resources

The program development and delivery costs for the first year of participation in GELP are
provided by funding partners. Teams need to cover the costs of their expenses such as:
travel and accommodation to attend two global events;
travel incurred while working together between events, if the team is geographically
dispersed;
the time to attend global and other local events; and
time and any other resource required to support their day-to-day work towards achieving
the aims identified in their GELP foci or priorities.

In addition, teams may request to co-host a global event which involves providing:
an appropriate venue & catering for up to 50 delegates over 3.5 days; and
a contact to work with the GELP Management Team to plan the agenda and logistics of
the event including half a day spent visiting local schools.

Hosting an event is proving to be an attractive option for teams. Other than travel savings, the real
benefit is the opportunity to include additional, local education leaders for part of the event to both
showcase leading practices and create further awareness of their vision and plans for 21st Century
education.

CAN Mezzanine London N1 6AH The Innovation Unit Limited

49-51 East Road United Kingdom Registered in England and Wales, no. 05997039
 Looking forward

Teams take part in the program for one year in the first instance. At the end of their first year,
members wishing to continue in the program can choose to subscribe to GELP as an
individual or as a group. Subscribers can expect to:
attend the Global events;
take part in formal (e.g. webinars and other scheduled, facilitated) and informal
(asynchronous, moderated) online activity;
receive updates via the news alerting service and other GELP communiqus;
access GELP+ optional services at GELP rates; and
continue to influence the direction of GELP through their participation.

Further information

GELP is led and managed by Innovation Unit, a non-profit organization based in London,
England.

You can contact the Program Management Team by:

calling +44 020 7250 8092

or by emailing GELP@innovationunit.org

CAN Mezzanine London N1 6AH The Innovation Unit Limited

49-51 East Road United Kingdom Registered in England and Wales, no. 05997039