James Fellowship: Developing Professional Knowledge

*The James Fellowship is a Shore Foundation initiative named after past parents at Shore, Bill and Elizabeth James. Both are passionate about providing opportunities for teachers to further develop their professional knowledge. This passion has translated into the creation of a gift that enables three staff members per year to build upon their professional development by attending courses or study tours internationally and then return to Shore to share their learnings in the classroom and Common Room.

I pursued two areas of professional learning in the US: Design Thinking and Entrepreneurial Education, and Furniture Design and Construction. During my fellowship, I visited five key institutions: the Nelson Centre for Entrepreneurship at Brown University, Rhode Island School of Design (RISD), the Centre for Furniture Craftsmanship in Maine, Tomas Moser Furniture Production, and Lie-Nielson Toolworks.

My trip began in Rhode Island, where I explored Brown and RISD. At Brown, I learned about Professor Danny Warshay’s See Solve Scale framework, a research-based approach to entrepreneurial processes. It was apparent that Shore’s Design and Technology HSC programme aligns closely with Brown’s second-year student outputs, emphasising problem-solving, scaling solutions, and pitching ideas.

At RISD, I toured the furniture design facilities with Christopher Specce, Head of the Department. We discussed how their four-year curriculum compares with Shore’s projects, concluding that our students achieve remarkable results within a shorter timeframe, as evidenced by HSC results and Shape Exhibition nominations.

In Maine, I attended a Chair Design course at the Centre for Furniture Craftsmanship, learning from renowned designers. Over two weeks, I designed and built a 1:1 scale rocking chair and developed prototypes and jigs now used at Shore for student projects.

Beyond academics, highlights included attending a Boston Red Sox game, enriching an already unforgettable experience.

Mr David Weston
Head of Technological and Applied Studies

*Foreword by Mr David Mason-Jones, Executive Director of The Shore Foundation.