WELCOME and THANK YOU for reading! This newsletter covers what happened in September and will give you a heads up on what to look for in the months following.

In this issue (please note the links below will only work when viewing this newsletter in a browser):

The next board meeting is October 8, 2025

6:00 to 7:30pm Eastern

(23:00 to 00:30 UTC)

As always, ALL board members and directors are welcome!

Zoom information is available on the Member’s site

PE Meta-Learning: Bridging Emotional and Theoretical Knowledge

Evolving pedagogical narratives—especially those rooted in Process Education (PE)—invite us to rethink how we approach teaching, learning, professional development, and self-growth. These narratives reframe education around contemporary challenges, placing personal stories, empathy, and lived experience at the heart of the learning process.

For both educators and learners, the classroom presents a litany of complex demands: increasingly diverse student populations, emotional labor, and shifting professional roles.

Among today’s most resonant concepts, Process Education offers a framework that values reflection, growth, and meta-learning—learning how we learn.

This fall, I chose to confront the persistent challenge of bridging emotional and theoretical knowledge by promoting meta-learning through personal storytelling. Since Fall 2022, at the invitation of Virginia State University’s Academic Intervention Coach and fellow PE practitioner Rev. Dr. James Delano Douglas, I’ve collaborated with two PE-practitioner colleagues—Paul Kaseloo (Biology) and Grace Ndip (Chemistry)—to shape our institution’s Freshman Experience Program.

After experimenting with various methods over the years, I took a new approach this fall:

inviting students to develop impromptu stories of their choice, then share and analyze them as a bridge between emotion and theory—without AI-generated assistance. Expecting the worst—fearing we may have lost a generation to iPhone texting and declining penmanship—I braced myself for questionable prose. What I witnessed instead was stunning: thoughtful, expressive writing that revealed the power of joyful learning over passive reception. In every class, students demonstrated that when learning is meaningful, it transcends expectation and becomes a deeply human experience.

With this message, I warmly invite your insights and contributions as we begin shaping the theme and tracks for our upcoming (hybrid) annual conference, scheduled for June 1–4, 2026, at West Coast University’s La Palma campus in Anaheim, California. Each year, the conference features six distinct tracks designed to bridge the expansive landscape of contemporary teaching and learning scholarship. We welcome your ideas to help us craft a program that capitalizes on emerging concepts, innovative practices, and the evolving narratives that define education today.

Wishing everyone a productive and joyful fall (northern hemisphere) or spring (southern hemisphere) season!

The 2026 PE Conference will be hosted by West Coast University at their La Palma location in Anaheim, California. 

Dates: June 1st to 4th, 2026.

Location: West Coast University La Palma campus in Anaheim.

Address: 2411 W La Palma Ave, Anaheim, CA 92801

Parking: Campus parking

Airports: John Wayne Airport, Fullerton Municipal Airport, and Long Beach Airport

Hotels/rates: available at: https://maps.app.goo.gl/KWZYz61JisTo697LA (the conference hotel has not yet been selected, so stay tuned!)

Choose where you'd like to listen...

Educators interested in creating a more impactful and effective learning environment will want to delve into this methodology, which provides a step-by-step process for significantly enhancing student learning performance, growth, and development.

This deep dive offers a practical framework, consisting of ten key steps, designed to cultivate an environment where students take greater ownership, responsibility, and control of their learning. It emphasizes that establishing this environment early in a course is critical for developing mutual trust and respect, which minimizes judgment and allows for more effective assessment and, ultimately, student success.

This episode is based on the Faculty Guidebook module "3.1.3 Methodology for Creating a Quality Learning Environment" by Apple and Smith. Denna Hintze generated this podcast with Google's Notebook LM, checking and approving its content and quality.

On Thursday, September 18, Academy members Christine Kroll and Josh Morrison conducted a faculty development workshop entitled “Smarter Teaching with A.I.” This session was organized into a few parts:

1. Brief overview of Process Education and its key principles and values
2. Four custom GPTs created by Pacific Crest to aid in the teaching and learning process
3. Examples of creative uses of Google’s NotebookLM tool for student learning and learning material creation
4. Custom Google Gem design sprint
5. Build-Your-Own Gem design session

Several faculty and staff participated in this on-campus, hands-on session, and innovative ideas were generated on how to use GPTs for various academic and administrative tasks.

HERE are the key insights generated from the SII feedback received from participants to date, courtesy the Insight Generator GPT.

 You're Invited:

Be Part of Designing the Academy’s Future

Event: Designing for Growth – Strategic Innovation for Academy Engagement

Date: Tuesdays, Oct 29 and Dec 3

Time: 6:00 PM ET

Where: Zoom (link provided upon registration)

Are you passionate about the future of the Academy—or perhaps looking for a meaningful way to re-engage? Join us for an energizing 75-minute session where members will collaborate in small groups to design innovative strategies for increasing membership and conference participation.

Whether you're a longtime contributor or just curious about getting more involved, your voice matters. This is your chance to shape where we go next—while building connections and walking away with one practical action you can take in the next 30 days.

Prep work: study the IAPE home page and create a draft of your own answer to the question “What does the International Academy of Process Educators do?”

An invitation from Pacific Crest:

This intensive, practitioner-focused workshop showcases 10 high-quality, customized AI Agents (GPTs) developed using the Pacific Crest Design Process. Attendees will gain direct insight into what makes an AI Agent not just functional, but transformational. Participants will then go on to build their own AI Agents!

Cost $500 per person

Bring 2 from your college, the 3rd attends free!

(Academy members receive a 10% discount for all Pacific Crest events when registering as an individual.)

Whether you're an educator, developer, coach, or curious innovator, you’ll walk away with a clear framework and hands-on experience for creating AI Agents that foster self-growth, enhance decision-making, and elevate performance in any domain.

Workshop activities

Over the course of the workshop, participants will:

• Interact with exemplary AI Agents in live demos
• Break down what distinguishes quality AI Agent design
• Apply the Pacific Crest Design Process to craft AI Agents that integrate methodology, growth capability, and quality mindset
• Learn how to align AI Agents with life, learning, and leadership purposes

* * *

Day 1 Showcase of 10 GPTs

Days 2 & 3  Participants build their own AI Agents using GPT Designer, Universal Manual Designer, Problem Solver, etc.

Limited Seats Available. Reserve your spot early.

Take your AI Agent design expertise to the next level.

Our intrepid President Elect, Josh Morrison, has two new journal articles that are now listed as "in press" at the National Teaching & Learning Forum: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/loi/21663327. 

The first article, appearing in the upcoming December issue, is entitled "A Brief History of Process Education." The second, appearing in the March 2026 issue, is entitled "Just-In-Time Assessment Strategies for Lasting Learning." 

Both articles are PE-related, bringing the key principles of Process Education to broader audiences. 

LinkedIn is a global professional social networking site (for hoomans), and the Academy has its own page that you can contribute to any time! Joining the page, commenting on posts, and adding your own helps contribute to the development of the Academy and expands its reach. (Ever further, possibly even into adjoining star systems...) Joining LinkedIn is free and provides access to a wide variety of professional organizations, development opportunities, and employment opportunities. (Possibly even opportunities to advance non-Terran science.)

Visit https://www.linkedin.com/groups/12108331/ and request to join today!

(HOOMANS ONLY)

Here's a roadmap for getting from an initial idea to final publication in the International Journal of Process Education, followed by key links for the IJPE and then some good advice from around the web.

IJPE links:

Review criteria    Style guide    Scope & Mission    Submission portal

Other helpful links we found around the web:

• From ideas to studies: how to get ideas and sharpen them into research questions
• Research ideas matter: Guidance for research students and early career researchers
• How to go from research idea to published paper in 10 (mostly painless) phases 
• Ten simple rules for structuring papers 

We REALLY like those 10 Rules for Structuring a Paper from Mensh & Kording, available at the National Library of Medicine! Read the short paper for further explanation of each rule.

Principles (Rules 1–4)

Rule 1: Focus your paper on a central contribution, which you communicate in the title

Rule 2: Write for flesh-and-blood human beings who do not know your work

Rule 3: Stick to the context-content-conclusion (C-C-C) scheme

Rule 4: Optimize your logical flow by avoiding zig-zag and using parallelism

The components of a paper (Rules 5–8)

Rule 5: Tell a complete story in the abstract

Rule 6: Communicate why the paper matters in the introduction

Rule 7: Deliver the results as a sequence of statements, supported by figures, that connect logically to support the central contribution

Rule 8: Discuss how the gap was filled, the limitations of the interpretation, and the relevance to the field

Process (Rules 9 and 10)

Rule 9: Allocate time where it matters: Title, abstract, figures, and outlining

Rule 10: Get feedback to reduce, reuse, and recycle the story

Summary of the September 10 Board Meeting

. . .

Present: Chaya J, Jim M, Patrick B, Peter S, Matt W, George D, Yuqin H, Josh M, Steve B, Grace O, Steve S.

Key Discussions

• Sponsorship: The board discussed potential sponsorship of the ISETL conference, with fees starting at $500 for bronze-level recognition.
• Conference Planning: For the upcoming summer conference, parking has been reserved. A list of potential hotels, priced around $150 plus tax, will be sent out, and the possibility of a block rate was raised.
• Outreach: The group affirmed its focus on using its LinkedIn page for outreach, aiming for one to two posts per week.
• Journal Visibility: A suggestion was made to increase the visibility of the International Journal of Process Education (IJPE) by having it indexed in search engines like ERIC.

Announcements & Deadlines

• Newsletter Articles: Due to Denna by September 20.
• Winter Meeting: An online meeting is scheduled for January 3, from 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM ET.
• Summer Conference: The conference will take place from June 2-4, with a pre-conference institute on June 1.

The DRAFT minutes from the September 10 Board Meeting are available HERE.

In order to act effectively, we need to be informed. What follows are several sources and resources I've found, read, and recommend. Please use what you can and stay safe.

• Advisory to Academic Workers https://www.aaup.org/sites/default/files/2025-09/AAUP-Advisory-to-Academic-Workers-9-30-25.pdf
• Court Rules in AAUP v Rubio: Trump Admin Violated First Amendment   https://www.aaup.org/news/court-rules-aaup-v-rubio-trump-admin-violated-first-amendment
• ‘A perfect storm’ — more colleges at risk as enrollment falls and financial pressures mount  https://www.cnbc.com/2025/09/30/colleges-at-risk.html
• How Charlie Kirk’s Professor Watchlist reshaped free speech on campus  https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/charlie-kirk-professor-watchlist-free-speech-college-campus-rcna231448
• If you have not yet subscribed to Letters from an American by History Professor and author Dr. Heather Cox Richardson, I absolutely recommend it: https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com

Finally, from Dr. Timothy Snyder (click to learn about him), American historian specializing in the history of Central and Eastern Europe, the Soviet Union, and the Holocaust, we share the Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century. 

Let us know:

• What have you achieved (WHO and WHAT)
• Suggest someone for an open board position (give us a NAME and POSITION)
• Request a workshop (please let us know the TOPIC, WHY you would find it valuable/useful, and CONTACT information so we can follow up with you)
• Pretty much anything else!