Building an Online Community — In Person

Last week, students from the first two cohorts of Harvard Graduate School of Education’s International Education Policy and Management (IEPM) pathway traveled from around the world to Appian Way for a three-day forum — bringing the school’s on-campus experience to life for students in its online master’s program. The gathering offered students opportunities to learn in person, build connections with classmates, and collaborate with peers and faculty across the HGSE community.

“I’m very happy to see these two cohorts come together and connect not only with each other across cohorts and within the cohort, but also connect with faculty,” said Professor Fernando Reimers, faculty co-chair of IEPM.

The two-year, part-time online master’s pathway allows students to deepen their expertise in systems, policy, and leadership while not leaving their current roles, expanding their professional networks across borders and offering global perspectives to their work shaping education worldwide.

“It’s incredible. It’s like seeing everybody in 3D, and an amazing opportunity to deepen those relationships,” said master’s student Rafael Monteforte, who traveled to Cambridge from Brazil. “It’s so amazing to finally meet incredible people you’ve been working with the last few months.”

Students were given time to meet in person with their advisers, take in faculty panels about their work across the educational spectrum, and even host panels to showcase their own work. A workshop from HGSE’s Career Services Office, free professional headshots, and plenty of time to network with peers and faculty were included throughout the weekend. The two cohorts also shared a colloquium with Stefania Giannini, former minister of education in Italy, who is at HGSE as a Chen Yidan Visiting Global Fellow.

“For them, it is clearly valuable,” said Reimers. “There are things we can do on campus that are not impossible, but more challenging to do online. So I’m glad we can do this.”

Reimers noted the three-day forum is an optional experience for those in the IEPM pathway, but provides the opportunity for students to take advantage of the vast resources on HGSE’s campus.

“They get to see and feel what the school really is about,” said Professor Karen Mapp, who spoke to students in a faculty panel. “It’s a real thing, with real people. And I do think that being able to come to campus sort of knits together this community in a way that’s really special.”

Mapp’s panel, co-led by Harvard Kennedy School’s Marshall Ganz, focused on community-based change and social impact. At one point, Ganz asked the students to say hello in their first language, suddenly filling the room with a mix of greetings he called “the music of the future.”

Many students took the weekend in Cambridge to engage in on-campus traditions like stocking up on school gear in Harvard Square, exploring Gutman Library, and taking a guided campus tour through Harvard Yard.

Some students even squeezed in a longtime aerobic tradition at Harvard as well. On Sunday morning, Senior Lecturer Jim Honan took a group of IEPM students across the Charles River to Harvard Stadium for a workout, climbing up and down the concrete steps of the historic stadium which opened in 1903.

“You can only see the difference when you come here, but we are lucky because we have an incredible cohort,” said Alina Grigore, who traveled from Romania. “We’re all very empathetic, and the teachers are all amazing.”

She did note one big advantage of the cohorts coming together on Appian Way, something you can’t do online.

“The hugs,” Grigore said. “Because we were able to hug each other.”