A Data Culture for Everyone
This month, join two-time Learning2 leader Alfredo Papaseit as he muses on the power of creating a data-driven culture in your school.
Alfredo is a Technology and Design Coach at Taipei American School. A Maker, occasional speaker and Seymour Papert devotee, his interests and abilities lie primarily in the areas of Physical Computing, multimedia creation, data science and languages, both human and computer-based. You can find him on Bluesky and LinkedIn.
I like to fantasize about the future. I sometimes imagine a future where data seamlessly integrates into education, making research an essential part of teaching practice. And by research, I don’t just mean reading articles and discussing them in faculty meetings—I mean actively conducting ongoing research as we teach. Imagine this: I am working with a student in my classroom and need a deeper understanding of how to support them. With just a click, I could access a visual summary (maybe even layered into my view) that shows their progress across subjects, the languages they speak, their interests, their fears, and their unique abilities. Having this kind of information at my fingertips could transform how I interact with and support each student, giving me instant insights to guide my interactions.
In my role as the Lower School Technology Coach at Taipei American School, I have set a personal goal as part of my professional growth plan, to foster a more natural relationship with data in our teaching and learning. My school, like most schools, generates an abundance of reports, spreadsheets, and assessments. The challenge lies in transforming this wealth of information into actionable insights. This is something I am actively trying to do—viewing it as an opportunity not to create more data, but to better leverage the data we already have in ways that empower teachers and support students.
Increasing data literacy is not about overwhelming educators with complex dashboards or endless metrics. It is about simplifying access, building confidence, and making it meaningful.
Data should be more than numbers on a page—it should tell the stories of our students, celebrating their successes and uncovering areas where they need support. Too often, it feels like data is something “done to us,” imposed from the top down. That’s why fostering a sense of ownership and collaboration among educators is so important.
As part of my efforts to enhance data utilization in the Lower School, I have started with data already familiar to our teachers, such as reading and math assessments. These serve as accessible entry points, making data more manageable and meaningful for educators. Building on this foundation, I’ve begun introducing dynamic dashboards to transition away from static spreadsheets. While still in the early stages, these visual tools are starting to help coaches and teachers identify trends, sparking more focused and actionable discussions about student progress. Looking ahead, my next steps will focus on gathering "warm data"—qualitative insights that explore the underlying "whys" behind the patterns—to enrich our understanding and drive more nuanced inquiries into student learning and wellbeing.
Beyond the tools, creating a data-driven culture is about mindset and how we work together to ask meaningful questions: “What’s working? Where can we improve? How can we better meet our students’ needs?”
These conversations are essential for ensuring that every student has the opportunity to thrive. It’s not about having all the answers but about asking better questions and taking intentional steps forward.
This work isn’t just a professional challenge—it has become a passion. And I am certain that every small step toward better data literacy contributes to ensuring that our students develop into healthy, well-rounded individuals supported in all aspects of their growth and learning.
