Our Mission, Vision, and Values state that:
The Academy of Process Educators is a scholarly and a practicing community. We inspire, transform, empower, innovate, and foster learning through process education methods.
In the Academy’s most recent Strategic Plan there are ideas that center on increasing member engagement and expanding the reach of the Academy. Over the past 5 years or so there have been many discussions about how we might reach these aims. The following goals appear to connect directly with the concepts of member engagement and expanding the reach of the Academy. In an effort to make significant progress on these Strategic Goals the Board has become focused on actions that would leverage the knowledge and skills of current members to reach three of our stated goals.
- Build strategic alliances of mutual value (partnerships)
- Cultivate an inclusive, engaged membership that values contributions of all stakeholders
- Elevate standing of PE Conference
Recently the Academy Board has been discussing the possibility of changing the official name of the Academy to reach a wider and more diverse audience, thereby making significant progress on achieving the goals stated above. This effort could help the Academy become more visible in the Academic universe, increase research efforts, and cultivate a more diverse membership.
The proposal is to rename the Academy as the International Academy of Process Educators. We currently have active members in a number of countries including Canada, Norway, Australia, and several African nations. Their membership would be validated if this name change is adopted. We have members with international connections across the globe. We could leverage those relationships to bring in new members and their ideas on Principles of Process Education. We could potentially locate future Conferences in their home countries. As our world is shrinking, such international alliances between educators will become more critical as we continue to examine teaching and learning.
The Board needs to hear the opinion of members concerning this name change. We have started a topic on the Academy Forum (on the Member Site) seeking thoughts and ideas. Please take some time this month to provide input through the forum.
