In a collaboration between educators from the University of Leuven — who recently organized a conference on the future of schooling — and the ATTC school leadership program, this is a special series of Leading Education with Heart and Soul about the grammar of schooling. 

Each episode explores one or two key dimensions of what constitutes the fundamental “grammar” of schooling. 

This time, we ask: can we have, imagine, or create a school without… the invisible and the body? Guests are Daniel Gaivota and Walter Kohan, and we discussed two often-overlooked dimensions of schooling: the invisible dynamics and embodied experiences that escape formal measurement and quantification. These are their thoughts:

• ​In an era dominated by datafication, schools, unlike tech corporations, produce relatively little data. Yet they are saturated with invisible layers: emotional, social, and relational dynamics.
• ​Rather than relying solely on measurable data and standard metrics, according to Daniel we should explore these invisible layers through Cryptics, a more open, flexible language that helps tracing the tacit and shadowed languages of learners.
• ​The use of Cryptics functions as a counterweight to hypervisibility and surveillance. With Cryptics we can protect the hidden and invisible aspects of school.
• ​Walter states that the visible and invisible can be compared to the physical and the mental. But maybe it’s more accurate to say there are both visible and invisible bodies and minds.
• ​Education should focus on real people with real bodies and minds, even if they don’t fit the perfect mold.
• ​This is especially important in thinking about gender and identity, asking: what is hidden, and what new realities might we discover.

This podcast has been made possible through the support of the ATTC ⁠School Leadership Program⁠, the educational consultancy ⁠School Matters⁠, and the retreat facility ⁠The Valley of the Good Life⁠.