2013 ASCD Annual Conference Theme

LEARNING: Our Story. Our Time. Our Future.

Every learner has a story. Our stories are unique and powerful. They are shaped by past experiences and driven by current challenges, and they prepare us for our future. 

ASCD recognizes the multiple voices within the global community that embrace innovative, customized learning for all. Our time requires confronting and addressing systemic inequities. 

We are the ones we have been waiting for. The time for change is now!

Our Story.

• Our story is about educators finding a voice that reflects good practice and celebrates
  successful learning stories, with a goal of sharing knowledge and affirming the self-esteem of the teaching profession.
• Our story is about giving educators a space to tell their own story, rather than having others tell it.
• Our story is about building the future of learning from the ground up with input from all educators, not just experts.

Our story is your story.

Our Time.

• Our time emphasizes that "we are the ones that we have been waiting for"—that the current generation of learners can truly initiate the learning revolution.
• Our time underscores that the new learning paradigm and access to all accumulated knowledge provides learners with unique and unprecedented opportunities to make lifelong learning a reality.
• Our time reminds us of the need to rekindle our passion for learning as the answer to uncertainty and fast-paced change.
• Our time seeks to raise awareness that learning is an integral and continuous process, not restricted to the academic dimension that has traditionally dominated schooling.

Our time is your time.

Our Future.

• Our future is about envisioning a better education, breaking through our current constraints to build the school of the future, one that is customized to the needs of every learner.
• Our future is about bold and innovative ideas, about providing a forum to think of the future of education as a first step to making it happen.
• Our future is about understanding and evaluating the influence of technological developments and the role of educators in harnessing these unstoppable changes for their ethical and meaningful use.
• Our future is about reassessing our curricula to emphasize critical thinking, creativity, and other skills that are increasingly important today and in future contexts.
• Our future is about giving students opportunities to share their voices to become active protagonists in the shaping of our future.
• Our future is about globalization and the need to live with and learn from each other.
• Our future is about us: learners who are engaged, resilient, and able to find relevance through rigorous and meaningful educational activities.
• Our future is about moving beyond single measurements and standardized outcomes for educational success.
• Our future is anchored by the tenets of the Whole Child Initiative.

Our future is your future.