In September 2022, Falk Lab School director Jill Sarada and research coordinator Katrina Bartow Jacobs traveled to Bielefeld, Germany, to attend the Researching Schools Conference, organized by Lab Schools Europe. The conference’s theme was “Bridging Research and Practice at Laboratory and University Schools,” and Sarada and Bartow Jacobs were invited to present on Falk Lab School’s approach to research. 

The opportunity to attend the conference arose from Sarada’s connection to the International Association of Laboratory Schools (IALS), of which she is currently president. While IALS’ membership is truly international, there are relatively few laboratory schools in Europe. One proponent of European lab schools is conference co-organizer Timo Zenke, of Laborschule Bielefeld (a lab school connected to Universität Bielefeld), who has participated in numerous IALS events and obtained a grant from the European Union aimed at promoting shared research and projects among European nations.

The culmination of the grant was the Researching Schools Conference, and Zenke invited IALS members to tour Laborschule Bielefeld and connect with representatives of the other European lab schools presenting at the conference.  

Sarada and Bartow Jacobs spoke about the conference, what they heard and saw there, and some of the ideas they were excited to bring back to Falk Lab School. 

Q: What did you present on at the Researching Schools Conference? 

Katrina Bartow Jacobs: We did two presentations while we were there. One was a poster presentation that was a snapshot of Falk Lab School. It focused on our research but in the context of who we are and what our goals are. Then we did a presentation on our research fellowship model and on using teacher research and improvement science as a culture change driver and an aid in the professionalization of teaching. We presented on rethinking what research is and how that shifts the roles and possibilities of a lab school. 

Q: What kind of response did you receive? 

Jill Sarada: One teacher came up to Katrina afterward and said a specific thank you, that this was the most meaningful session. 

Katrina: They felt really centered in the work. 

Jill: They felt seen as teachers. 

Q: What kinds of ideas or meaningful connections came from the conference? 

Jill: I remember one woman we talked to, from Amsterdam, she called it action research. We were seeing connections between what we are trying to do, as well as places for collaboration and places for extending the work. 

Katrina: I had some really great conversations with the German folks and some of the folks from Toronto about how to keep ensuring collaboration between the university unit and the school unit. How do you keep including teachers as central voices in that work? And how do we continue to create space and time for teachers to be as involved as they want to be? I think we are starting to do that this year, but it gave me ideas about what is possible. 

Jill: And we heard about the kind of research that's happening other places and the questions that other schools are exploring. I'm thinking particularly about Michael Odell at the University of Texas at Tyler. He’s done studies on their lab schools—one rural, one urban, and one suburban school. He’s done some research on the lab school experience for kids in these different places and it’s yielding the same testing results no matter the setting, and he’s really intrigued by these test results. 

Katrina: I was excited to learn that we are not the only ones doing this work. We're doing it differently than other schools and I think our model has a lot to offer, but the Researching Schools Conference was a collaborative space to learn how institutions are thinking about these connections and thinking about the roles of teachers as drivers of research. We shared struggles and left with a lot of thoughts and possibilities of stuff we can do immediately or dream toward. 

Q: Did you come back re-energized? 

Katrina: It was really rejuvenating to realize there's this whole culture of lab schools internationally and there are people in similar roles to mine. And I learned so much about how we can grow this model and sustain it and really see it as part of a larger belief in the relationships between universities and schools. 

Seeing lab schools growing in these countries is really amazing because in the U.S. we hear about more lab schools closing than opening. It was a really rejuvenating look at all these schools that are thriving, and most are government funded. These are countries where the government is really investing money in education … 

Jill: Being a lab school can be an isolating experience. We’re lucky to have three in Pittsburgh, but usually there's just one in a particular city. So connecting with lab schools and doing the important work of demonstrating, researching, and teaching children in ways connected to universities and communities was reaffirming. As with any community, when you find a place and people with similar experiences, you have a sense of belonging.