Building Coherent Ecosystems: Policy, Practice, and Multi-agency Collaboration for Student Flourishing

Educational inequity is a systemic challenge shaped by complex conditions that extend far beyond the school gates. Examining what an ecological approach to educational equity means for research, policy, and practice, this joint session brings together perspectives from the United States and Singapore.

The presentations consider how schools interact with families, communities, public agencies, universities, and social service organizations to construct more coherent systems of support, while remaining deeply attentive to the institutional and policy contexts that shape these relationships. Drawing on an ecological framework of equity, Dr. Joseph Bishop examines the decentralized American landscape, illustrating how education policy must interconnect with public health, housing, and community services to support highly mobile and marginalized youth. Investigating from the Singaporean context, Dr. Teng Siao See explores stakeholders’ experiences of a state-led, cross-sector coordinated effort to forge wraparound support for underprivileged students, discussing the transformative possibilities of an equity ecology.

Together, the speakers explore the real-world possibilities and structural tensions of multi-agency collaborations. By juxtaposing these two distinct educational systems, this seminar offers a rich dialogue on how policy, ground-level practice, and strategic partnerships can be designed to build more responsive, coordinated, and equitable environments for student flourishing.

Register via this link: https://forms.cloud.microsoft/r/V8i1jx41sG